Interpretation is provided into English, French and SpanishOrganized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human RightsBrief description of the session: This Forum session led by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights will feature presentations by Governments that have been taking steps toward integrating the Guiding Principles in the areas of trade, investment promotion and development policy. It will address lessons learned and ways forward for more States to follow.
Background to the discussion: States act as gatekeepers when they provide much needed support to businesses by providing finance and advisory services aimed at expanding export and investment opportunities. As gatekeepers, States can use their leverage to promote a race to the top by setting out clearly the expectation that businesses respect human rights as a precondition for receiving government support for export and investment activities. States can also promote responsible imports by restricting the flow of goods in supply chains that involve serious human rights abuses. Beyond incentivizing business respect for human rights through such “economic diplomacy” tools, a related area concerns the need to embed business respect for human rights in the context of private sector engagement in development policy and cooperation. With the private sector envisaged to play a significant role in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals, and with private sector development becoming an increasingly central part of development cooperation, the latter aspect is in many ways the ‘next frontier’ for the business and human rights agenda.
In essence, all these policy areas need to align with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Specifically, Guiding Principle 4, which sets forth the expectation that States should take additional steps to protect against human rights abuses by business enterprises that receive substantial support and services from State agencies including, where appropriate, by requiring human rights due diligence. The commentary to Guiding Principle 4 indicates that if State agencies do not explicitly consider the actual and potential adverse impacts on human rights of beneficiary enterprises, they put themselves at risk and may add to the human rights challenges faced by the recipient State.
Format of the session:- Introduction by the UN Working Group on Business & Human Rights member, Anita Ramasastry
- Snapshot presentations on innovations and lessons learned
- Open stakeholder discussion on the way forward
Background documents:UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights: Report on “economic diplomacy” as a tool for States to promote corporate respect for human rightsUN Working Group on Business and Human Rights: Report on the state of play of corporate human rights due diligence in all sectors worldwide
UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights: 10 key recommendations for embedding human rights in the private sector's envisaged contribution to the SDGs.
