2018 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

http://webtv.un.org/search/part-i-panel-on-progress-on-the-un-guiding-principles-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5971665695001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights&page=2

Organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief Description:
This Forum session led by the Working Group will provide an opportunity for States to share updates on progress in implementing the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and for all relevant stakeholders to engage in open dialogue on ways forward.

Under the 2018 Forum’s central theme “Business respect for human rights –building on what works”, the Working Group invites States to share information about:

(a) Regulatory and policy developments to provide guidance, incentives and/or requirements for business enterprises to carry out human rights due diligence in order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts across operations and value chains;
(b) Updates on national action plans on business and human rights (in line with Human Rights Council resolution 26/22, paragraph 4), including assessments of impact of the implementation of existing plans.

The Forum’s regional track will provide further opportunities for exchange about such initiatives and stakeholder perspectives on the ways forward.


Part I – Government leadership to drive business respect for human rights – Lessons learned from around the world and ways forward 

• Opening remarks by Dante Pesce, Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Business & Human Rights – Government action to drive business respect – what is the current state of play?
• Government panel to share experiences on new developments and commitments for moving the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights from paper to practice [broad focus: legislation, regulation, national action plans and other policy frameworks]
• Open dialogue: Government action to drive corporate human rights due diligence: what works? Lessons from regulatory and policy action 
  • Interventions by other states from the floor 
  • Interventions by other stakeholders from the floor

Background to the discussion:
In its  2018 report to the General Assembly (A/73/163), the Working Group highlights how States are performing in promoting corporate human rights due diligence. It notes that the human rights due diligence standard set out in the Guiding Principles is increasingly reflected in government policy frameworks and legislation, including mandatory disclosure of risks of modern slavery in supply chains. In the 20 national action plans on business and human rights that have been issued to date, Governments have reaffirmed the expectation that business enterprises exercise human rights due diligence.

The report also highlights gaps: A lack of government leadership in addressing governance gaps remains the biggest challenge. A fundamental issue is that host Governments are not fulfilling their duty to protect human rights, either failing to pass legislation that meets international human rights and labour standards, or failing to enforce legislation that would protect workers and affected communities.

 While some home Governments have introduced due diligence or disclosure legislation, such efforts also remain patchy or uncoordinated. Governments are not providing enough guidance on human rights due diligence and support tailored to national business audiences, including small and medium-sized enterprises. A lack of policy coherence in government practice is part of the overall picture, and Governments are not leading by example in their own roles as economic actors.
The key message to Governments is that they should use all available regulatory and policy levers, such as: policy tools and frameworks, including national action plans in order to enhance policy coherence overall; legislation, regulation and adjudication; economic incentives in “economic diplomacy” and public procurement; leadership by example in their role as economic actors; provision of guidance (including for SMEs); and promotion of multi-stakeholder dialogue.
The Forum provides an opportunity for States and other stakeholders to engage in dialogue on the emerging practices, shortcomings and solutions highlighted by the Working Group.

How to participate:
States that wish to share their experiences and perspectives are invited to pre-register by sending an email to wg-business@ohchr.org  with cc to bhrforum@ohchr.org including in the subject line:
“Forum GOVT. ACTION – [country name]”.
Although speaking time is limited (3 minutes for statements), all States will be able to submit statements to be posted on the Forum webpage. States should indicate whether they would like to speak in part I or part II, or both.
States are encouraged to participate with representatives from across relevant Government ministries, departments and agencies.

Other participants wishing to join the multi-stakeholder dialogue on lessons learned and ways forward are also invited to sign up in advance by sending an email to: wg-business@ohchr.org  with cc to bhrforum@ohchr.org including in the subject line: “2018 Forum GOVT. ACTION session – Multi-stakeholder dialogue - [name of organization]”. Interventions should be no more than 2-3 minutes in order to allow time for as many stakeholder perspectives as possible. Written statements may be submitted for posting on the Forum web page. Those signing up for the speaker list should indicate whether they wish to speak in part I or part II, or both.

http://webtv.un.org/search/part-ii-panel-on-progress-on-the-un-guiding-principles-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5971981765001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights&page=2

Organized by UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief Description:
This Forum session led by the Working Group will provide an opportunity for States to share updates on progress in implementing the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and for all relevant stakeholders to engage in open dialogue on ways forward.

Under the 2018 Forum’s central theme “Business respect for human rights –building on what works”, the Working Group invites States to share information about:

(a) Regulatory and policy developments to provide guidance, incentives and/or requirements for business enterprises to carry out human rights due diligence in order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their adverse human rights impacts across operations and value chains;
(b) Updates on national action plans on business and human rights (in line with Human Rights Council resolution 26/22, paragraph 4), including assessments of impact of the implementation of existing plans.

The Forum’s regional track will provide further opportunities for exchange about such initiatives and stakeholder perspectives on the ways forward.

Tentative agenda
Part II: National action plans on business and human rights - Impacts, lessons learned and ways forward

• NAPs – what has been the impact to date? A quick overview 
• Getting started, lessons learned 
• Open dialogue: translating plans to action
  • Government interventions 
  • Other stakeholders
• Wrap-up by the Working Group

Background to the discussion:

In its 2018 report to the General Assembly (A/73/163), the Working Group highlights how States are performing in promoting corporate human rights due diligence. It notes that the human rights due diligence standard set out in the Guiding Principles is increasingly reflected in government policy frameworks and legislation, including mandatory disclosure of risks of modern slavery in supply chains. In the 20 national action plans on business and human rights that have been issued to date, Governments have reaffirmed the expectation that business enterprises exercise human rights due diligence.

The report also highlights gaps: A lack of government leadership in addressing governance gaps remains the biggest challenge. A fundamental issue is that host Governments are not fulfilling their duty to protect human rights, either failing to pass legislation that meets international human rights and labour standards, passing legislation that is inconsistent, or failing to enforce legislation that would protect workers and affected communities.

 While some home Governments have introduced due diligence or disclosure legislation, such efforts also remain patchy or uncoordinated. Governments are not providing enough guidance on human rights due diligence and support tailored to national business audiences, including small and medium-sized enterprises. A lack of policy coherence in government practice is part of the overall picture, and Governments are not leading by example in their own roles as economic actors.
The key message to Governments is that they should use all available regulatory and policy levers, such as: policy tools and frameworks, including national action plans in order to enhance policy coherence overall; legislation, regulation and adjudication; economic incentives in “economic diplomacy” and public procurement; leadership by example in their role as economic actors; provision of guidance (including for SMEs); and promotion of multi-stakeholder dialogue.

The Forum provides an opportunity for States and other stakeholders to engage in dialogue on the emerging practices, shortcomings and solutions highlighted by the Working Group.

How to participate:
States that wish to share their experiences and perspectives are invited to pre-register by sending an email to wg-business@ohchr.org  with cc to bhrforum@ohchr.org including in the subject line:
“Forum GOVT. ACTION – [country name]”.
Although speaking time is limited (3 minutes for statements), all States will be able to submit statements to be posted on the Forum webpage. States should indicate whether they would like to speak in part I or part II, or both.
States are encouraged to participate with representatives from across relevant Government ministries, departments and agencies.
Other participants wishing to join the multi-stakeholder dialogue on lessons learned and ways forward are also invited to sign up in advance by sending an email to forumbhr@ohchr.org, cc: wg-business@ohchr.org  with cc to bhrforum@ohchr.org including in the subject line: “2018 Forum GOVT. ACTION session – Multi-stakeholder dialogue - [name of organization]”. Interventions should be no more than 2-3 minutes in order to allow time for as many stakeholder perspectives as possible. Written statements may be submitted for posting on the Forum web page. Those signing up for the speaker list should indicate whether they wish to speak in part I or part II, or both.

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/panel-on-lessons-from-legal-developments-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972507124001/?term=

Organized by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Conectas Human Rights and Frank Bold

Short description of the session:
Recently, the EU and a range of countries around the world have adopted or started to consider legislation that requires businesses to either address or communicate how they address human rights impacts. This includes for example the Brazilian “dirty list” of slave labor, EU Non-financial Reporting Directive, the French Duty of Vigilance law, the UK Modern Slavery Act, and the Responsible Business Conduct bill currently discussed in the Swiss Parliament. These initiatives differ in purpose, human rights risks addressed, and type of legal obligations, but they all utilise the concept of Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD).
This session will take stock of the experience with these developments, with a focus on their outcomes, impacts on corporate accountability, and implementation by companies in order to draw lessons for further legislative developments.

Session objectives:

1. Summarise lessons from implementation of HRDD requirements by companies.
2. Clarify what are effective means of ensuring HRDD by regulation and necessary elements of such regulation.
3. Identify key information on the conduct of HRDD that should be disclosed.

Key discussion questions:

1. How are companies implementing HRDD regulations? What is feasible and what is best practice?
2. What are the lessons for designing effective legislative framework to incentivise companies to respect human rights effectively?

Format of the session:
After the initial remarks, the audience will be dived in groups and asked to agree on a reflection not longer than 1 minute that will be subsequently presented. Moderator will facilitate these reflections and quick reactions by the panel. This process will be followed by discussion with audience. At the end of the session, speakers and the moderator will summarize their main ideas.

1. Kick-off remarks (30 mins): Experience with implementation of HRDD regulations & lessons for legislative design
2. Discussions and reflections by audience in groups (15 mins)
3. Feedback from groups and discussion in plenary (30 mins)
4. Concluding remarks (10 mins)

Background to the discussion
This session will discuss experience with the implementation of three legislative strategies adopted by different countries that aim to improve corporate responsibility to respect human rights.
Brazilian regulation establishes that the Labour Ministry shall periodically disclose a list with information on the employers found using slave labour – the so-called “dirty list”. The regulation does not impose due diligence obligations. However, financial institutions, voluntarily, consider it in their decisions to extend credit, pressing companies to adopt higher supply chain monitoring and screening standards.
The EU Nonfinancial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and UK Modern Slavery Act (MSA) require certain companies to disclose information about their human rights due diligence. NFRD requires  companies to disclose their human rights policies and risks roughly in line with the definition in the UN Guiding Principles, while UK MSA requires companies to produce a statement setting out the steps they are taking to address slavery in their operations and supply chains. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and its partners created an open central registry to host modern slavery statements. The analysis of these statements indicates that there is still a long way to go to achieve good reporting. The session will also present first findings about the quality of companies’ disclosure pursuant to the NFRD carried out by the Alliance for Corporate Transparency.
The French duty of vigilance law requires large companies to develop and disclose a plan that identifies and addresses human rights and environmental impacts including in the activities of their subsidiaries and established suppliers. The law also stipulates that this new obligation establishes a duty of care owed to the victims of violations that an adequate vigilance plan could effectively prevent or mitigate. Similar legislation is currently being considered by the Swiss Parliament in response to the successful public initiative.