Human rights due diligence requires more than understanding regulatory requirements. In conflict-affected and high-risk supply chains, informed decision-making depends on a nuanced understanding of local stakeholder dynamics, informal power structures, evolving conflict dynamics, and the political and legal environment in which operations take place.
We help companies identify human rights and environmental risks at an early stage, understand how local developments may affect their operations, and translate complex realities into informed priorities and decisions.
Many organizations have established risk management, compliance, and ESG systems.
However, these approaches are often insufficient in conflict-affected and high-risk environments, where key risk drivers frequently emerge outside formal structures. Risks are shaped not only by laws and contracts, but also by local power dynamics, conflict actors, security arrangements, and historical tensions that may be difficult to identify from a distance.
01Informal power structures and stakeholder dynamics are difficult to identify yet often determine critical developments on the ground.
02Business activities - such as land use, sourcing, or security arrangements - may unintentionally influence existing tensions and conflict dynamics.
03Political, social, and security conditions can change rapidly, directly affecting risk exposure and operational viability.
04Companies often have limited leverage over both state and non-state actors.
05The perspectives of affected or marginalized groups can be difficult to access, particularly where engagement carries security risks or logistical constraints.
Without a robust understanding of local realities, risks are frequently identified too late or prioritized incorrectly. This undermines compliance efforts, weakens decision-making, and increases exposure to reputational, operational, legal, and regulatory risks. It may also increase the likelihood of unintentionally contributing to conflict dynamics or overlooking impacts on affected communities.
Context intelligence is therefore not supplementary information. It is a prerequisite for effective risk management and responsible business conduct.
You operate, invest, or source in conflict-affected or high-risk environments.
You require a stronger evidence base for complex location, sourcing, or investment decisions.
Existing risk assessments are too generic or no longer reflect current realities.
You need to meet human rights due diligence requirements and are uncertain whether enhanced due diligence measures are necessary.
How we work
01
Define the Context and Decision-Making Need
Together, we identify the relevant geography, business activities, stakeholders, and decision-making requirements. We also consider applicable regulatory obligations and governance frameworks.
02
Analyze Dynamics and Risk Exposure
We assess conflict dynamics, stakeholder landscapes, and human rights risks within the relevant context, including interactions between your activities and local developments. Where appropriate, findings are validated through local expertise and field-informed perspectives.
03
Develop Decision Options
Insights are translated into prioritized risks, scenarios, and practical decision options that can be directly applied to operational, strategic, and compliance-related decisions.
What you get
A consolidated and context-sensitive risk picture
Prioritized risks, scenarios, and early warning indicators
A structured basis for investment, security, sourcing, and compliance decisions
Transparent documentation suitable for internal and external review processes
We examine power structures, economic interests, conflict drivers, and stakeholder dynamics to identify the underlying forces shaping local developments.
02
Stakeholder and Affected Group Analysis
We identify relevant stakeholders and potentially affected groups, paying particular attention to vulnerabilities, inequalities, and power imbalances.
03
Information Triangulation
We cross-reference multiple sources - including documents, interviews, local data, and field-informed expertise - to reduce bias and strengthen analytical reliability.
04
Integration of Local Expertise
Where possible, we complement analysis with local knowledge and field-based perspectives to better understand developments and their operational implications.
How We Support You
01
Context & Risk Briefings with Regular Updates
Business decisions in conflict-affected and high-risk areas are often made on the basis of incomplete, outdated, or conflicting information. Informal power structures, local stakeholder dynamics, and evolving conflict dynamics frequently remain overlooked, despite their significant influence on a company's risk exposure and operating environment.
We provide context-specific analysis of conflict dynamics, stakeholder landscapes, and emerging risk trends, including relevant sanctions regimes and regulatory developments. Our assessments draw on both direct field experience and a thorough understanding of the specific characteristics of your operational context. Where relevant, we examine informal power structures, existing tensions, conflict drivers, and potential impacts on affected and vulnerable populations.
Findings are presented in a clear and actionable format so that they can be integrated into strategic and day-to-day decision-making processes. Where required, we provide regular updates and monitoring to ensure that you identify relevant developments early and make decisions based on current information rather than outdated assumptions.
Through these briefings, you gain a nuanced understanding of local dynamics and a reliable basis for risk assessments, investment decisions, security planning, supply chain management, and broader strategic decision-making.
02
Human Rights & Environmental Risk Assessments
Companies operating in conflict-affected and high-risk areas remain responsible for the human rights and environmental impacts of their activities, business relationships, and supply chains. At the same time, volatile operating conditions, limited access to information, and complex stakeholder environments make it significantly more difficult to identify, assess, and prioritize relevant risks.
We identify and assess human rights and environmental risks across your operations, business relationships, suppliers, and value chains. Our analysis covers both actual and potential impacts and examines the interaction between your activities and local conflict dynamics, recognizing that business operations can influence and be influenced by developments on the ground.
Our assessments are aligned with the legal and regulatory frameworks relevant to your organization, including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), and the EU Forced Labor Regulation.
You receive a transparent and defensible prioritization of risks, practical recommendations for mitigation and management, and a solid foundation for human rights due diligence processes, internal decision-making, and communication with regulators, investors, auditors, customers, and other stakeholders.
03
Stakeholder Engagement and Consultations
Companies are increasingly expected to incorporate stakeholder perspectives into their decision-making processes. In conflict-affected and high-risk environments, however, meaningful engagement can be particularly challenging. Security concerns, power imbalances, lack of trust, restricted access, and social tensions may prevent important perspectives from being heard and considered.
We support you in identifying relevant internal and external stakeholders and designing engagement approaches that are appropriate to the context and level of risk. This includes the design and facilitation of structured consultation and dialogue processes with affected communities, local stakeholders, worker representatives, civil society organizations, and other relevant rights holders and stakeholder groups.
Our approach is tailored to the realities of each operating environment and balances the needs of your organization with the perspectives and concerns of affected stakeholders. Particular emphasis is placed on the transparency of engagement processes and the clear documentation of findings and outcomes.
As a result, you gain a deeper understanding of local perspectives, identify risks and tensions at an earlier stage, and establish a stronger foundation for human rights due diligence, conflict-sensitive operations, and sustainable long-term business decisions.
Value
What you gain
01
Informed Decision-Making
You receive a structured analysis of the conflict dynamics, stakeholder environments, risks, and developments most relevant to your business activities. Findings are presented in a way that enables management, compliance, legal, sustainability, and operational teams to work from a common evidence base and make informed decisions with greater confidence.
02
Risk Prioritization with Ongoing Updates
We prioritize human rights, environmental, operational, and conflict-related risks based on their relevance to your business activities and operating environment. Where appropriate, we complement these assessments with regular updates on significant developments to ensure that risk evaluations remain current and your organization can respond proactively to changing circumstances.
03
Stakeholder Mapping
We provide a transparent overview of relevant stakeholders, their interests, influence, relationships, and potential areas of tension. Where appropriate, we can also support direct engagement with key stakeholders. This helps make power structures, conflict dynamics, and vulnerable or particularly affected groups visible and ensures that they are appropriately considered in decision-making processes.
04
Defensible Documentation
Methodologies, sources, assumptions, and findings are documented transparently and systematically. This creates a robust foundation for human rights due diligence processes, internal governance and compliance systems, audits, sustainability reporting, investor engagement, and potential regulatory or legal review processes.
Practice examples
Anonymized project scenarios
The following scenarios are generalized and do not include confidential client, country, or project details.
01
Supply Chain Operations in a High-Risk Sourcing Market
Context
A company sourced key inputs from a region characterized by limited access to reliable information and elevated human rights risks.
Challenge
Procurement, compliance, and management teams lacked clarity on which local developments, stakeholders, and risk factors were most relevant to the supply chain and how these factors could affect existing sourcing decisions.
Approach
We analyzed local conflict dynamics, stakeholder landscapes, and key risk drivers, assessing their potential implications for human rights, business operations, and regulatory compliance requirements.
Outcome
The company gained a coherent and evidence-based understanding of the operating environment, enabling it to strengthen sourcing decisions, improve risk management processes, and engage stakeholders on the basis of reliable and defensible information.
02
Operations in a Geopolitically Volatile Environment
Context
A company was planning to establish and operate activities in a region experiencing rising geopolitical tensions and military escalation.
Challenge
Existing risk assessments focused primarily on general security and market risks but did not provide a sufficient basis for evaluating how regional conflict dynamics could affect the project site, critical infrastructure, supply chains, and long-term operational viability.
Approach
We analyzed relevant conflict dynamics, stakeholder environments, and escalation scenarios, as well as their potential implications for the planned operations. Critical dependencies, stakeholder relationships, and human rights risks were assessed as part of an integrated analysis.
Outcome
The company received a comprehensive risk picture, a prioritized risk matrix, and clear decision-making inputs to support investment planning, security measures, and business continuity strategies.
What sets us apart
Our analyses are context-sensitive, action-oriented, and designed to support regulatory and due diligence requirements.
01
Context-Sensitive
We integrate direct field experience and context-specific expertise into our work. Unlike standardized assessments, our analyses capture informal power structures, local dynamics, and their interaction with your specific business activities and relevant stakeholders.
02
Action-Oriented
Our analyses are designed to support decision-making. We focus on providing clear priorities, practical response options, and escalation points that can be translated into action under real-world conditions.
03
Designed to Withstand Scrutiny
Our methodologies and documentation are developed to be transparent, defensible, and aligned with regulatory expectations. This ensures that findings remain credible and usable in due diligence processes, audits, reporting requirements, and potential legal proceedings.
Key questions from initial conversations about scope, process, and practical implementation.
How are Context & Risk Briefings different from country reports or industry reports?+
Country and industry reports typically provide an overview of political, economic, or regulatory developments. Our Context & Risk Briefings go a step further by connecting local stakeholder dynamics, conflict developments, and risk trends directly to your specific operations, supply chain, stakeholder environment, and decision-making needs. The result is a context-specific analysis designed to inform operational and strategic decisions rather than provide general background information.
How do Context & Risk Briefings remain up to date?+
Briefings can be delivered either as a one-time assessment or as part of an ongoing monitoring process. Updates may be provided at predefined intervals, such as monthly or quarterly, or triggered by significant developments, including security incidents, regulatory changes, sanctions developments, or conflict escalation. This ensures that decision-making remains based on current information, even in rapidly changing environments.
How frequently should risk assessments be updated in conflict-affected and high-risk environments?+
The appropriate frequency depends on the legal requirements, standards, and internal processes applicable to your organization. In conflict-affected and high-risk environments, annual assessments are often insufficient. Many regulatory frameworks require risk assessments to be updated whenever material changes occur. Given that conflict dynamics, stakeholder configurations, and regulatory conditions can change rapidly, updates several times per year may be advisable or necessary.
What sources do you use for conflict analysis?+
Depending on the scope of the engagement, we combine publicly available databases, document reviews, stakeholder information, field-based expertise, and company-specific information. The quality of an analysis depends not only on the availability of data but also on the critical assessment, validation, and systematic interpretation of information within its specific context.
How do human rights risk assessments in conflict-affected and high-risk environments differ from standard risk assessments?+
Unlike conventional risk assessments, human rights risk assessments examine the political, social, and economic dynamics of the local context, as well as the effects of conflict on affected populations. They also consider risks that may be less relevant in more stable environments, including potential involvement in severe human rights abuses, international humanitarian law violations, war crimes, or business activities that may exacerbate conflict dynamics. As a result, these assessments generally require deeper contextual analysis and more extensive engagement with local stakeholders.
Can stakeholder consultations be conducted remotely?+
Yes. Under certain circumstances, stakeholder consultations can be conducted remotely. Digital interviews, focus groups, and asynchronous engagement formats may be particularly useful where security concerns or access restrictions make in-person engagement difficult. Whether a fully remote approach is appropriate depends on the context, the stakeholder groups involved, and the objectives of the consultation. In many situations, a combination of remote and in-person engagement provides the strongest results.
How can stakeholder engagement be conducted in conflict-affected and high-risk environments?+
Stakeholder engagement in conflict-affected and high-risk environments requires a particularly context-sensitive and risk-aware approach. A central principle is "Do No Harm," meaning that engagement activities should avoid creating unintended negative consequences for participants, communities, or the organization itself. This includes assessing potential risks, protecting sensitive information, maintaining confidentiality, and taking existing power imbalances into account. When designed and implemented carefully, stakeholder engagement enables safe and transparent dialogue while generating valuable insights to support informed decision-making and responsible business conduct.
