Call for Written Inputs: Working Group on Business and Human Rights; Project on business in conflict and post-conflict contexts

 

I am delighted to pass along a call for written inputs which has been announced by the Secretariat of the Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

As part of its mandate to promote the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights launched a project in 2018 to clarify the practical steps that States and business enterprises should take to implement the Guiding Principles in conflict and post-conflict contexts.

 The Working Group invites all interested parties to submit relevant information and materials to help inform the project. Submissions that address one or more of the identified focus areas are encouraged.Case studies and good practice examples from past and current conflict situations in different regions are welcome.

Deadline is 10 April 2020.

Details follow below--English with links.

 

 

UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Project on business in conflict and post-conflict contexts

Background

As part of its mandate to promote the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights launched a project in 2018 to clarify the practical steps that States and business enterprises should take to implement the Guiding Principles in conflict and post-conflict contexts.

Why this project: while it is well documented that the worst forms of business-related human rights abuse tend to happen in conflict-affected contexts, a better understanding of the practical measures that all actors should take to prevent and address business-related human rights abuse is still needed.

Project scope and focus

Against this background, the Working Group's project will aim at identifying and clarifying policies and practices for States and business, including public and private investors, across the full "conflict cycle" and the three "Protect, Respect and Remedy" pillars of the Guiding Principles.
In this context, the project will focus around key issues such as: 

• What are or should be the home and host States' appropriate policies, regulation and adjudication to protect against corporate-related human rights abuses in conflict and post-conflict situations?
• What specific measures should business take in conflict and post-conflict situations and what does "enhanced" human rights due diligence look like in practice? How does/should the process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for actual and potential impacts in conflict and post-conflict situations differ from "non-conflictual" contexts?
• What does responsible and sustainable investment in post-conflict and reconstruction contexts look like in practical terms? What actions should be taken (and avoided) by actors in the financial sector – both public financial institutions and private investors – to meet their responsibilities under the Guiding Principles, and to use their leverage to support outcomes that do not undermine human rights and sustainable peace?
• What is the role of business in transitional justice? What are the implications of the Guiding Principles in a transitional justice context?

Call for inputs

The Working Group invites all interested parties to submit relevant information and materials to help inform the project. Submissions that address one or more of the identified focus areas are encouraged.
Case studies and good practice examples from past and current conflict situations in different regions are welcome.
Deadline: 10 April 2020.
For submissions or questions about the project, please write to unwgbhrconflictproject@gmail.com and wg-business@ohchr.org.

Outputs

The Working Group's recommendations will be presented in a report to the UN General Assembly in October 2020.
The recommendations will be disseminated in the last quarter of 2020, with active outreach to actors in the peacebuilding and conflict prevention area, governments, business and the investment community, as well as engagement with civil society and international institutions.
The report will be a key input to the 2020 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights (Geneva, 16-18 November).

Project methodology

The project was initiated with expert consultations in Geneva in October and November 2018 as well as an open multi-stakeholder discussion at the 2018 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights. These discussions helped inform the scoping of the of the project. The project is informed further by:

• Regional consultations
• Expert and multi-stakeholder consultations (including at the 2019 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights)
• Consultations with governments
• Research (desk-based and interviews with practitioners)
• A questionnaire distributed to all governments
• Open call for input

The Working Group seeks to develop evidence-based guidance, taking into account both emerging good practices and existing gaps and challenges. It seeks to consult as widely as possible with all relevant stakeholders, including governments, civil society, business, investors, academia, national human rights institutions, trade unions, UN and other international organizations, and affected stakeholders and human rights defenders working on the ground.

Regional consultations

MENA region consultation: Beirut, 22 March, 2019

• Concept note: English Arabic

Asia-Pacific region consultation: Davao, Philippines, 4-5 September, 2019

• Concept note: English

Consultations in other regions will be held in 2020.

To receive updates about the project

If you would like to receive email updates about the project, please sign up here. The email list will only be used to inform about publications, events and requests for inputs related to the Working Group's project. You can unsubscribe any time by sending an email to: unwgbhrconflictproject@gmail.com. We use a Google form to collect and store the information (only name, organization and email address). The contact list will deleted after the completion of the project at the end of 2020.

Resources and links

• Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights - Implementing the United Nations "Protect, Respect and Remedy" Framework, UN Document A/HRC/17/31.
• What do the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights say about protecting and respecting human rights in conflict-affected contexts?
• Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Business and human rights in conflict-affected regions: challenges and options towards State responses, UN Document A/HRC/17/32, 2011 (A companion report to the Guiding Principles focused on policy options for States)
• Report by Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Corporate human rights due diligence: emerging practices, challenges and ways forward, UN Document A/73/163, 2018 (This report does not address conflict contexts specifically but provides a general overview of 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.):
• Full report in all UN languages
• Executive summary
• Companion paper on tools and good practice elements
• Report by the Working Group on gender dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (with policy recommendations on gender and conflict), UN Document A/HRC/41/43.