2018 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

Organized by the Working Group on business and human rights

Brief description of the session:
This session will feature a presentation by the Chairperson of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Dante Pesce. The presentation will highlight key findings and recommendations from the Working Group's report to the UN General Assembly in October 2018.
The focus of the report is the concept of corporate human rights due diligence set out in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The presentation will highlight key features of human rights due diligence and why it matters; gaps and challenges in current business and Government practice; emerging good practices; and how key stakeholders — States and the investment community, in particular — can contribute to the scaling-up of effective human rights due diligence.

Key documents

• Working Group report on human rights due diligence to the 2018 General Assembly (available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Spanish and Russian)
• Executive summary of the Working Group report on human rights due diligence
• Companion paper I – Corporate human rights due diligence: Background note and elaborating on key aspects
• Companion paper II – Corporate human rights due diligence – Getting started, emerging practices, tools and resources
• Overview of references to human rights due diligence in existing State national action plans on business and human rights
• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• The Corporate Responsibility to Respect: An Interpretive Guide (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights)

Interpretation is provided in Korean

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.

Session led by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Brief description
International investment and trade agreements (IIAs) can foster economic development. At the same time, IIAs could impact adversely the realisation of human rights in diverse ways: e.g., constraining the legal or policy space available to states to regulate the conduct of investors, divorcing rights of investors from their human rights responsibilities, and limiting affected communities’ right to seek effective remedies against investors for project-related human rights abuses.
Principle 9 of the UNGPs therefore reminds States to “maintain adequate domestic policy space to meet their human rights obligations when pursuing business-related policy objectives with other States or business enterprises, for instance through investment treaties or contracts.” But how could states maintain such domestic policy space? What provisions should be explicitly included in IIAs to make them compatible with international human rights law? How could such changes in IIAs contribute to developing an international investment governance framework conducive to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs)?

Session objectives
This session aims to:

• Invite experts dealing with the intersection of investment law and human rights law to develop concrete proposals to inform the current IIAs regime’s reform;
• Provide a platform to brainstorm collectively and critically the potential as well as limitations of developing human rights-compatible IIAs; and
• Inform the UN Working Group’s work concerning guidance to states in implementing Principle 9 of the UNGPs.

Key considerations
While developing reform proposals, the following considerations should be kept in mind:

• One may work individually or in a team to develop a reform proposal;
• In terms of length, each proposal should not be more than 2-3 pages;
• Person(s) submitting a proposal are free to focus on any one or more relevant aspects of IIAs (e.g., rights of states, obligations of investors, exceptions to expropriation, impact assessment, dispute settlement);
• If the proposal is inspired by an existing model IIA or reform proposals mooted by an organisation/academic, this should be expressly acknowledged;
• In developing proposals, person(s) submitting proposals are strongly encouraged to consult and/or consider the views of communities affected by investment projects and
• Email the proposal to forumbhr@ohchr.org latest by 5 November 2018.

Format of the session
The UN Working Group will issue an open call to invite reform proposals for this session. All received proposals will be posted on the project webpage. However, due to time constraints, the proposers of only 3-4 proposals selected by the Working Group will be invited to introduce their ideas. This will be followed by brief comments by expert panellists on the viability of presented proposals and then an open discussion in view of comments or questions from the floor.

Background information
Outcome Document on the Roundtable on “Impacts of the Investment Regime on Access to Justice”
Investment Policy Blog: Managing States’ “Fatal Attraction” to International Investment Agreements
UNCTAD’s Reform Package for the International Investment Regime

http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/human-rights-council/forum-on-business-and-human-rights/watch/plenary-ii-building-coherence-forum-on-business-and-human-rights-2018/5972065478001/?term=

Interpretation is provided in English, French, Spanish and Korean.

Under the title “Building coherence and reaching scale on human rights due diligence – International organizations' leadership perspectives”, the plenary convenes senior leaders from the UN and international organizations working to promote responsible business conduct and sustainability.
The high-level plenary provides an opportunity for signaling alignment of international standards and action to promote corporate respect for human rights, as well as for reinforcing the message that business respect for human rights must be at the heart of corporate contributions to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
A central aim is to signal alignment on the importance of corporate human rights due diligence to enable business enterprises meet their responsibility to respect human rights.