Operating in Challenging Contexts: What Does Heightened Due Diligence Mean for Swiss Companies?

Written By focusright

Many Swiss companies operate in conflict-affected or otherwise challenging contexts. Often, they depend on raw materials or products from such areas. These contexts amplify human rights risks and make standard due diligence insufficient, as the current escalation of violence across the MENA region shows, where millions of migrant workers have suddenly been left stranded and exposed to severe risks. Many companies are now confronted with the question how they should react to the new geopolitical environments and how they can safeguard the rights of their own workers and those in their value chain.

Heightened human rights due diligence (hHRDD) helps companies act responsibly in such situations and navigate uncertainty with clarity and preparedness. This blog post outlines what hHRDD is about, why it matters, where companies often fall short, and how organisations can navigate these complexities strategically.

WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?

The recent retaliatory strikes in the MENA region have again demonstrated how rapidly a seemingly stable environment can shift into crisis. As borders close and missile strikes affect both conflict and non‑conflict countries, transportation routes are disrupted, leaving more than 20’000 seafarers trapped on their vessels under threat of attack in and around the Strait of Hormuz.

In these contexts, heightened HRDD becomes essential. hHRDD is not a new set of expectations but the adaption of due diligence in challenging contexts where risks are significantly elevated due to conflict, widespread violence, weak governance, authoritarianism, corruption, or severely restricted civic space.

In such contexts hHRDD is needed, as:

  • risks escalate faster

  • the operating environment changes quickly and is unpredictable

  • business activities influence conflict dynamics – even when companies intend to remain neutral

  • access to reliable information becomes harder, while misinformation, political sensitivities, and security risks rise

Heightened HRDD therefore requires deeper context analysis, enhanced stakeholder engagement, stronger conflict sensitivity, and more agile risk management. It aims to understand not only the impacts of the business on people but also on the context dynamics itself.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

For companies that are active internationally the strategic implications of hHRDD are substantial.

  • Rising geopolitical volatility increases corporate exposure:
    Current conflicts in Eastern Europe, the MENA region and other regions in the world, as well as the global rise of authoritarianism have shown how quickly a context can deteriorate. Companies may suddenly face:

    • Heightened security risks for their workforce or in their value chains

    • Restrictions on transport routes and disrupted supply chains

    • Sanctions or export controls

    • Shifting relationships with state and non‑state actors

    • Reputational scrutiny from media, investors and the public

    • Heightened risks of complicity in human rights abuses

  • Regulators expect more:
    Regulatory frameworks in Europe (such as the CSDDD) and in Switzerland (such as the DDTrO) demand risk-based due diligence. Operating in challenging contexts is not an exemption to this requirement - it is precisely where regulators and further stakeholders expect due diligence to be strongest.

  • Business continuity depends on robust anticipation and preparedness
    Companies working in challenging contexts face operational disruptions, workforce safety risks, and challenges in engaging suppliers or securing infrastructure. Heightened HRDD strengthens resilience by ensuring that companies:

    • Understand local power dynamics

    • Anticipate rapid escalations

    • Avoid actions that worsen tensions

    • Protect employees and affected communities

    • Make informed decisions about remaining, suspending or exiting

Ultimately, responding appropriately to challenging contexts is not only a HRDD requirement, it is a matter of strategic resilience.

WHAT IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED?

Drawing on focusright’s work across industries and geographies, several recurring blind spots stand out:

  • Superficial context analysis: Many companies rely on high‑level country risk ratings or news monitoring. But in challenging contexts, real risk drivers lie in localised dynamics such as informal power structures, weak governance and corruption, restricted civic space and violent conflicts.

  • Stakeholder engagement risks: Meaningful engagement is central to due diligence, yet in restrictive environments traditional engagement models may be inadequate as affected people might be exposed to retaliation. Many businesses default to desk research, missing critical perspectives.

  • Limited access to reliable data: Companies often underestimate how quickly information becomes politicised or inaccessible. They may overlook the insights of diaspora groups, exiled human rights defenders, journalists, or civil society that cannot operate on the ground.

  • Underestimating the company’s influence on context dynamics: Even routine decisions – hiring, security arrangements, procurement, land use, or relationships with authorities – can shift local power balances. Many companies overlook how seemingly neutral business activities may exacerbate tensions.

  • Lack of preparedness for rapid change: Challenging contexts evolve faster than internal governance structures can respond. Companies often lack:

    • Early warning indicators

    • Clear escalation pathways

    • Scenario planning for political deterioration

    • Pre-defined exit or suspension criteria

  • Misjudging the role of staying versus exiting: Exiting too quickly can harm workers and communities. Exiting too late can expose the company to severe human rights risks. Many companies lack structured frameworks to weigh these dilemmas.

WHAT IS FOCUSRIGHT’S TAKE?

At focusright, we support organisations in navigating the complexities around challenging contexts. We see heightened HRDD as a structured, conflict‑sensitive, and integrated management process rather than an add‑on to existing policies.

Drawing on international guidance (such as the UNDP Guide on hHRDD) and hands‑on project experience, we support organisations in developing practical, tailored, and actionable approaches to hHRDD. Thereby, we emphasize on the following elements:

  • A sound context analysis includes the mapping of:

    • Conflict dynamics and local power structures

    • Key actors (state, non‑state, business, civil society), including vulnerable groups

    • Drivers of tension

    • Media and information ecosystems

    • Connections between business operations and context economies

    A thorough context analysis creates the foundation upon which all subsequent due diligence steps depend.

  • In challenging contexts, engagement must be:

    • Careful and protective of rightsholders

    • Inclusive of credible proxies where direct contact is unsafe

    • Sensitive to contextual politics

    • Adaptive to the needs of vulnerable groups

    • Coordinated across the company to avoid contradictory messaging

    Meaningful engagement increases access to insights that cannot be obtained through desk research alone.

  • Companies often underestimate the creative forms of leverage available. In challenging contexts, leverage rarely comes only from contractual authority. It may be exercised through:

    • Industry associations

    • Home‑state diplomacy and embassies

    • Investors

    • International organisations

    • Multi‑stakeholder initiatives (MSIs)

    Particularly multi-stakeholder set-ups can play a catalytic role by providing collective leverage and supporting joint action where individual companies have limited influence.

  • Companies must be prepared for rapid geopolitical change. This particularly means:

    • Establishing early warning indicators

    • Defining escalation mechanisms and crisis management processes

    • Developing responsible exit or suspension strategies

    • Ensuring alignment across leadership of different functions

    The current conflict in the MENA region shows that companies must be ready to act quickly while safeguarding those most affected.

 

FURTHER RESOURCES

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