Vicky Bowman receives honour for outstanding contribution to human rights
31 October 2023
Vicky Bowman, Director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), and member of IHRB’s International Advisory Council, has been appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for her ‘sustained and brave contribution to promoting human rights, democracy and transparency in Myanmar’. She received the honour from Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal at an Investiture Ceremony on 27 October at Buckingham Palace, having been awarded the honour in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2023 in June.
Vicky has been Director of MCRB since July 2013, and until last year was based in Myanmar. Prior to this she was a British diplomat, serving inter alia as Ambassador to Myanmar (2002-2006). She also worked on human rights and transparency for global mining company Rio Tinto (2011-2013).
"I am delighted to receive this honour which I believe recognises not only my work, but the effort and achievements of all those involved in MCRB."
"Ten years ago, the Centre embarked on a pioneering model for putting the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights into practice in Myanmar, which was coming out of decades of economic and political isolation. We undertook extensive field research and consultation to gather knowledge on positive and adverse human rights impacts of businesses in Myanmar. We promoted dialogue between Myanmar and foreign companies, civil society and government. And we built their capacity to adopt international standards and good practice, including through our advocacy on questions of policy and law, and our publications. I am proud that this model has proved its worth, even after the 2021 military coup in Myanmar.
"Leading MCRB has been an intellectually rewarding, exciting, and occasionally challenging, experience. I remain committed to supporting responsible business in Myanmar, a country which remains very close to my heart. This is needed more than ever to support the economic resilience of those living through the ongoing political crisis. I also plan to continue sharing the lessons learned from Myanmar to support implementation of the UN Guiding Principles in other equally ‘challenging contexts’."
- Vicky Bowman, Director of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB)
About MCRB
IHRB’s work in Myanmar began during 2012 in the context of the newly launched democratic reform process. This led to the joint establishment in 2013 with the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), and the appointment of Vicky Bowman as Director.
MCRB was established to provide a trusted, impartial forum for dialogue, seminars, and briefings to relevant parties committed to responsible business in Myanmar, as well as access to international expertise and tools. In its initial phase, it developed a new methodology, the Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA) which has since been adapted for use elsewhere. This drew on environmental and social impact assessment methodologies, but applied a human rights lens to an entire sector, based on field research and consultation. It highlighted the actual and potential impacts of each sector and made recommendations for government, businesses and other stakeholders on how to increase positive and reduce negative impacts of investment. SWIAs were completed for oil and gas, mining, tourism and the ICT, as well as a pared down assessment of the private security sector.
MCRB has also led action in on disability and LGBT+ inclusion in employment, promoted business integrity, transparency and good corporate governance, and undertaken research on the links between biodiversity, business and human rights.
The Centre has been funded by six government donors including the UK, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands and Ireland.
Read more about MCRB’s work.
