The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights is a collaborative effort by governments, major multinational extractive companies, and NGOs to provide guidance to companies on tangible steps that they can take to minimize the risk of human rights abuses in communities located near extraction sites. The principles documents provide guidance to companies in developing practices that maintain the safety and security of their operations while respecting the human rights of those who come into contact with security forces related to those operations. The Principles give guidance on risk assessment, public safety and security, human rights abuses, and the interaction between companies and private and public security.
The written principles represent a voluntary agreement between participating companies, governments and NGO's on what steps companies should take to ensure their security practices respect human rights. To distinguish between the principles and the multi-stakeholder initiative, the principles are frequently abbreviated to the VPs and the tripartite organization is abbreviated to the VPI (Voluntary Principles Initiative).[1]