Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business

What Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business does

Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) was a non-profit initiative established in 2013 as a joint venture of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), with its operational headquarters in Yangon and a UK-incorporated parent entity (MCRB Ltd, registration 08732191) under sole IHRB shareholding. Active until 2024, the organization encouraged responsible business conduct in Myanmar by convening multistakeholder dialogues, conducting sector-level human rights research, and producing guidance for companies operating in high-risk sectors including oil and gas, mining, tourism, ICT, and private security.

MCRB's principal products centered on its proprietary Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA) methodology — a field-research-based analytical framework anchored in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights — and the Pwint Thit Sa (Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises) annual corporate transparency report. Complementing these were an extensive bilingual (English and Burmese) publications library, eNews distribution, and recurring convening forums including the Digital Rights Forum, Thilawa SEZ Multistakeholder Advisory Group, Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights working group, and Responsible Business Seminars. Each SWIA publication was downloaded over 10,000 times, indicating documented uptake among companies, civil society, government, and researchers.

The organization's revenue model was grant-based rather than commercial. MCRB received pooled funding from the governments of the United Kingdom (primary funder via FCDO), Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Ireland, with the UK leading a collaborative funding approach that the organization described as essential to its flexibility. All publications and resources were made freely available online. Following the February 2021 military coup and the eventual 2024 end of donor funding, MCRB ceased new activity, retaining only its UK corporate shell and a static website archive of past work.

Name

Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business

Legal name

Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business Ltd

Website

https://mcrb.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

MCRB was a non-profit initiative (2013-2024) that promoted responsible business practices in Myanmar by conducting sector-wide human rights impact assessments, publishing corporate transparency reports, and convening multistakeholder dialogues for companies, civil society, government, and researchers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Business and Human Rights Advisory

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Human Rights & Social Impact Reporting (UNGP, modern slavery) (EUAHAJAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable & Responsible Supply Chain (ESG, Scope 3) (BPAHAHAM), Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL) (BPADAEAB)

Keywords

• Responsible business research
• Human rights due diligence
• Sector impact assessment
• Corporate transparency reporting
• Multistakeholder dialogue facilitation

Headquarters

HQ city

Yangon

HQ country

Myanmar (Burma)

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: MCRB was funded by the governments of UK, Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Netherlands, and Ireland. Funding ended in 2024. As a non-profit initiative, MCRB did not generate commercial revenue.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

MCRB was a non-profit research and advocacy initiative that encouraged responsible business conduct in Myanmar by producing Sector Wide Impact Assessments (SWIAs), corporate transparency reports (Pwint Thit Sa), and an extensive publications library, while convening multistakeholder dialogues, seminars, and working groups on business and human rights topics between 2013 and 2024.

Product overview

Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) was a research and advocacy organization (active 2013-2024) focused on encouraging responsible business in Myanmar through multiple interconnected offerings: the Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA) methodology for assessing human rights impacts across sectors; Pwint Thit Sa reports incentivizing corporate transparency; an extensive publications and resources library covering business and human rights topics; and multistakeholder dialogue forums including the Digital Rights Forum and Responsible Business Seminars. These products worked together to provide companies, civil society, and government actors with tools, research, and convening spaces to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA): An impact assessment methodology anchored in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, developed and implemented by MCRB for various sectors including oil and gas, mining, tourism, and ICT.
• Pwint Thit Sa

Products and services

• Sector Wide Impact Assessment (SWIA) A methodology for assessing human rights impacts across entire sectors, anchored in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, involving extensive field research in oil and gas, mining, tourism, ICT, and private security sectors. Targeted at companies, civil society, and government actors working in or on Myanmar.
• Pwint Thit Sa (Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises) Annual transparency report that incentivizes Myanmar companies to improve their disclosure practices and recommends improvements to the corporate governance regulatory framework, drawing on international standards. Targeted at Myanmar companies, regulators, and investors.
• Multistakeholder Dialogues
• Responsible Business Seminars

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 10,000 downloads of each SWIA report
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding joint initiative partner of MCRB. IHRB is one of MCRB's founding members and holds the single shareholding of MCRB Ltd (UK entity registration 08732191). Provided international expertise and anchoring for MCRB's work under UN Guiding Principles.
• Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding joint initiative partner of MCRB along with IHRB. DIHR contributed international human rights expertise and tools to MCRB's operations.
• YevercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMCRB's partner organization that will continue to produce Pwint Thit Sa (Transparency in Myanmar Enterprises) reports after MCRB's activities wound down.
• Myanmar Institute of DirectorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMCRB partner intended to receive support from Pwint Thit Sa reports. Works on corporate governance improvement in Myanmar.
• Myanmar Sustainable Business NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMCRB contributed to collective action initiatives including the Myanmar Sustainable Business Network.
• EuroCham MyanmarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMCRB contributed to EuroCham Myanmar's work on heightened human rights due diligence as part of collective action initiatives.
• MADE in MyanmarminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU-funded initiative in the garment sector where MCRB contributed collective action work on heightened human rights due diligence.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Regional players

• Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI): Global standard for transparency in oil, gas, and mining that overlaps directly with MCRB's SWIA coverage in oil and gas and mining sectors and transparency-report production.
• Transparency International Myanmar / National Chapter: Operates in the same Myanmar geography focusing on corporate transparency and anti-corruption - closely aligned with MCRB's Pwint Thit Sa transparency reporting work.

Direct peers

• Shift: Leading center of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Highly comparable as a specialized advisory and capacity-building organization operating in the same business-and-human-rights niche.
• Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI): Alliance of companies, trade unions, and NGOs promoting workers' rights in supply chains, offering multistakeholder governance and due diligence tools directly analogous to MCRB's Pwint Thit Sa and SWIA approaches.
• Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR): Co-founder of MCRB and a National Human Rights Institution providing human rights expertise, tools, and country-level advisory services that mirror MCRB's sectoral due diligence approach.
• Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB): Founder of MCRB and sole shareholder of MCRB Ltd. Operates as a global business and human rights think-and-do tank producing flagship reports and convening platforms on the UN Guiding Principles, directly comparable in mission and methodology anchor.

Emerging players

• Verité: Research and advisory organization focused on forced labor and human rights in global supply chains, comparable in niche specialization on worker rights and supply chain due diligence.

Broad incumbents

• ILO Global Business Network on Forced Labour: UN agency programme convening businesses on human rights in supply chains, comparable in mandate and multistakeholder convening function to MCRB.
• Fair Labor Association: Multistakeholder organization providing independent monitoring and assessment of labor conditions in supply chains, comparable as a longer-tenured peer in human rights due diligence methodology.
• BSR (Business for Social Responsibility): Global sustainability consultancy advising multinationals on human rights, ESG, and supply chain due diligence. Comparable as a larger, established player in responsible business advisory with overlapping methodologies.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/myanmar-centre-for-responsible-business

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business