Session organized by the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations at Geneva (Chair-Rapporteur of the OEIGWG)
Interpretation in English, French, Spanish and Russian will be provided by DOCIP for Indigenous Peoples
Brief description of the session:
The open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights was established by HRC Resolution 26/9 of June 2014, with the concrete mandate “
to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises”. Since 2015, the Working Group has held seven sessions, with increasing participation by States and other relevant stakeholders taking part in the sessions’ discussions and deliberations. In the last 4 years (4th, 5th, 6th and 7th sessions), this process has incorporated a new pragmatic, inclusive and progressive approach in full synergy with other existing frameworks. In spite of the remaining different views and assessments regarding certain provisions of the
Third Revised Draft of the legally binding instrument, several States and other relevant stakeholders that participated during the 7th session of the OEIGWG from 25-29 October 2021 recognized the improvements introduced in the text, noting the greater clarity and consistency among its various provisions.
The future legally binding instrument (LBI) and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) can and should be complementary and mutually reinforcing. Recent advances in legal and regulatory initiatives, as well as those in the process of elaboration, including the OEIGWG at the international level, clearly demonstrate the need for non-binding standards on business and human rights to be complemented with binding norms. This will help achieve the common objective of strengthening the protection of human rights and promoting effective corporate accountability and redress for victims of abuses committed in the context of business activities.
Key objectives of the session:
The session aims to:
- Facilitate the stock-taking and lesson-sharing between governments and other relevant actors, on how the two processes mentioned above can benefit and strengthen each other, in light of the conclusions of the 7th session of the Working Group and the recommendations of the Chair-Rapporteur, and the concrete recent legal developments, trends, challenges and good practices in preventing and addressing business-related human rights impacts.
- Explore the opportunities provided by the LBI to make concrete progress towards the protection of human rights in the business sector, improved accountability and more effective remedies for victims, as well as to strengthen the complementary implementation of the UNGPs.
Key questions:- How can the future LBI and the implementation of the UNGPs promote and facilitate the respect, protection and fulfillment in the context of business activities?
- In terms of process, how States and all relevant actors could contribute constructively to build consensus around the draft text of the LBI?
Background to the discussion:
Ecuador, in its capacity of Chair-Rapporteur of the OEIGWG, has submitted the Zero Draft in 2018, the Revised Draft (Rev.1) in 2019, the Second Revised Draft (Rev.2) in 2020, and in 2021 the Third Revised Draft (Rev.3). The Rev.3 sought to further align its provisions with existing instruments and frameworks, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the ILO Tripartite Declaration on Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, and other relevant ILO instruments, as well as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, among others, under a pragmatic and progressive approach.
The 7th session concluded with the adoption of the recommendations of the Chair-Rapporteur and the conclusions of the Working Group, which included inter alia, the Chair-Rapporteur invitation to a group of Ambassadors in Geneva to act as “Friends of the Chair” to start consultations with a view to facilitate and advance work on the draft legally binding instrument during the inter-sessional period. The Chair-Rapporteur will update the draft legally binding instrument taking into consideration the compilation of the concrete textual proposals submitted by States during the seventh session and the outcomes of the consultations as reported by the “Friends of the Chair”, and circulate it, no later than the end of July 2022. In addition, the Chair-Rapporteur will note the concrete textual proposals submitted by the civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders during the 7th session, for the appropriate consideration of the States in the work on the draft legally binding instrument after the session. They will be consulted by the “Friends of the Chair” and be invited to submit written inputs.
The full report and documents of the 7th and previous sessions can be found at
https://bit.ly/30Eg57J
