The FINANCIAL — New York – On 27 June, the United Nations Human Rights Council reaffirmed its 2011 endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
This resolution was adopted by consensus on the heels of the Council’s adoption of a 26 June resolution also relating to business and human rights, which established an inter-Governmental working group to negotiate an international legally binding instrument, according to UN Global Compact.
The 27 June resolution was tabled by Argentina, Ghana, Norway and the Russian Federation, with an additional 40 co-sponsoring countries from all regions. The resolution extends the mandate of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights for an additional three years, and the Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights by an additional day (the 2014 Annual Forum is scheduled for 1-3 December in Geneva). The resolution emphasised the role of UN Member States in implementing the UN Guiding Principles, including through the development of national actions plans or other such frameworks, and called for additional work in the area of access to remedy, with requests to the Working Group, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Annual Forum to focus on this issue. The UN Global Compact actively promotes the Guiding Principles and their implementation to businesses and stakeholders, focusing on the corporate responsibility to respect.
The 26 June resolution, tabled by Ecuador and South Africa and co-sponsored by Bolivia, Cuba, and Venezuela, was adopted following a vote (20 members in favour, 14 members against, 13 abstentions). This resolution established an open-ended (no time limit) inter-Governmental working group to negotiate an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations with respect to human rights. The inter-Governmental working group is expected to starts its deliberations in mid-2015, and will meet for one week every year. The UN Guiding Principles remain the authoritative global standard for addressing adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity.
The UN Global Compact will support the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights in the organisation of the African Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights, to take place 16-18 September in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The African Regional Forum and 2014 Annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights will focus on key challenges and opportunities in implementing the UN Guiding Principles, according to UN Global Compact.
Discussion about this post