1 D. SWIA Methodology The methodology for this ICT SWIA has been developed by IHRB and DIHR in cooperation with MCRB. Myanmar is undergoing rapid changes so companies operating in the sector will need to be well-equipped to assess and manage change. This SWIA, building on existing impact assessment and management techniques and on the UN Guiding Principles, emphasises the ongoing management of potential negative and positive impacts as well as the need to use management systems that can adapt to situations (i.e. actual impacts) that were not predicted at the design stage of a project. Table 4: SWIA Mitigation Hierarchy Companies should seek to address potential human rights impacts using a mitigation hierarchy: • first anticipate potential impacts in order to avoid or prevent them • where avoidance is not possible, minimise the impacts that occur, and finally • remedy impacts that occur. The Three Pillars of the UN Guiding Principles and SWIA Three Levels of Business Impact: Sector, Project and Cumulative The SWIA responds to the three pillars of the UN Guiding Principles as follows: • • Pillar I. State Duty to Protect: This includes a detailed examination of whether Myanmar’s ICT policies and laws can promote or hinder responsible business. The analysis looks in particular at whether they are aligned with relevant international human rights standards. Where they are not, it identifies the gaps. Pillar II. Corporate Responsibility to Respect: Within this Pillar, the SWIA looks at a range of operations across the ICT sector and examines the impacts of the sector at the three levels of impacts identified below. • Sector-level: This level of assessment considers the broader, aggregate, countrywide impacts, positive and negative, of the sector on the national economy, the country’s governance and the overall environment and society. In order to be able to address the root cause of potential negative impacts, the SWIA includes an analysis of the relevant policy and legal frameworks that helps shape business conduct (where available) and the national context that businesses and civil society need to address in order to achieve more responsible business conduct. The SWIA also draws out recommendations on opportunities to improve human rights outcomes at the sectoral level. A sectoral view should help stakeholders see the ‘bigger picture’ of potential negative impacts of projects in a whole sector, as well as potential opportunities for positive human rights outcomes, and to make choices based on a broader perspective. • Cumulative level: Where there are numerous ICT operations in the same area, this may create cumulative impacts on surrounding society and the environment that are different and distinct from impacts of any single company or operation. Managing those impacts typically requires the government authorities to participate or take a 52 PAGE CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION