Sector wide impact assessments (SWIA)

Sector wide impact assessments (SWIA)
A Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA) looks at the actual and potential impacts of a specific business sector in a particular geographic context.

A Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA) looks at the actual and potential impacts of a specific business sector in a particular geographic context through several different levels of analysis in order to build a complete picture of the potential impacts of an entire sector on society and human rights.

A sectoral view will help stakeholders see the “bigger picture” of potential negative impacts of a sector’s activities, as well as potential opportunities for positive human rights outcomes, and to make choices based on this broader perspective. A SWIA is carried out according to a set of widely accepted impact assessment steps. The process involves both desk-based and field research.

The original methodology for SWIA was developed by the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) and the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), as part of the programme of work of the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB), which DIHR and IHRB jointly founded. 

As part of this collaboration, four SWIAs have been completed, focusing on: the oil and gas sector, the tourism sector, the mining sector and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. Read more about the SWIAs carried out as part of MCRB here.

Since then, the methodology has been applied by DIHR and its local partners in other countries and sectors. As part of the Sustainable Oceans project SWIAs have been conducted in the capture fisheries sector in Bangladesh and the salmon industry in Chile.

The below explainer on SWIAs, which could serve as inspiration for stakeholders who are keen to carry out, participate in, contribute to or fund a SWIA, explains in further detail what a SWIA is, the methodology and process of a SWIA, as well as how much time and resources are required to carry out a SWIA. It concludes with some examples of past and current SWIAs and examples of outcomes achieved through these SWIAs.