OHCHR Consultation on Access to Remedy in the Tech Sector: 23-24 September

 

Following up on the work of the B-Tech Project and Accountability and Remedy Project, OHCHR will host a two-day consultation on 23-24 September 2021 on Access to Remedy in the Technology Sector. The multi-stakeholder consultation will focus on the challenges involved in seeking and delivering remedies for harms connected to the technology sector, and practical ways to address them. A draft concept note and agenda is available here. Further details will be shared next week.

 

The consultation will take place in a hybrid format, with

-          in-person participation in Room XVIII of the Palais des Nations in Geneva, and

-          online participation via the Zoom platform.

 

Interpretation in English, French, and Spanish will be provided.

 

Please follow this link to register (mandatory for all participants). Registered participants will receive the Zoom link on Wednesday, 22 September.

 

 

 

 

Accountability and Remedy Project Update

 

 

Despite numerous setbacks due to COVID-19, the Accountability and Remedy Project (ARP) team has been busy promoting ARP in many different ways. For instance, all of the webpages associated with the project have been updated to include more information, summaries of the reports, and overviews of the key documents of each phase of the project. Additionally, the team has worked to incorporate ARP guidance into a range of initiatives on access to remedy, reviews of remedial mechanisms, and standard-setting processes. Notably, the recently-released NAP from Peru makes explicit reference to ARPs I and II. Some other notable updates from the past months and current announcements may be found below.

 

New Releases

 

Mandatory HRDD Last week, OHCHR released Recommendations to the European Commission regarding the EU Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Directive. The note provides recommendations in light of the European Parliament's resolution of 10 March 2021 on corporate due diligence and corporate accountability and focuses in particular on issues connected with the translation of human rights due diligence into a binding legal standard, and on corporate accountability and remedy.   This note builds upon earlier work of the office on mHRDD connected to ARP I: ·         HRDD / legal liability report ·         Issues paper on mHRDD ·         Key considerations for mHRDD Access to Remedy and Tech In coordination with OHCHR's B-Tech Project, the ARP team helped produce a series of foundational papers on the application of the third pillar of the UNGPs in the technology sector: ·         Basic concepts and principles ·         A “remedy ecosystem” approach ·         Designing and implementing effective company-based grievance mechanisms ·         Understanding the perspectives and needs of affected people and groups   The B-Tech Project provides authoritative guidance and resources for implementing the UNGPs in relation to digital technologies.

 

Resources on the Way

 

Call for Input In furtherance of its work on access to remedy (A2R), OHCHR will be producing an interpretive guide on the third pillar of the UNGPs.   In 2012, OHCHR published a document unpacking the second pillar: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: An Interpretive Guide. The A2R interpretive guide will follow a similar format as the 2012 guide: it will provide (1) definitions of key concepts relating to access to remedy, and (2) answers to a series of questions relating to each principle in the third pillar that will help unpack its meaning.   We are seeking input on which questions to be addressing in the A2R guide. You may submit your input until Monday, 9 August through this online form or through a Word document available here. Forthcoming Materials The ARP team is currently working on a number of materials worth highlighting: ·         Interpretive Guide on Access to Remedy: see call for input ·         Compilations of ARP Guidance: official booklet versions of the guidance from ARPs I-III ·         Short notes summarizing ARP guidance: these will contain simplified versions of the recommended actions from ARP ·         UNGC/OHCHR e-learning course on BHR: although the course has been launched, the module on A2R is not yet published   If you have suggestions of materials we should develop, or if you are producing relevant materials, please let us know at: business-access2remedy@ohchr.org.

 

General Updates / Events

 

UNGPs' 10th Anniversary June 2021 marked the 10th anniversary of the UNGPs and provided a timely opportunity to reflect upon what has been achieved and what more is needed with the business and human rights agenda.   The Human Rights Council held a panel discussion on the 10th anniversary, during which the High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted the importance of ARP.   The OHCHR Business and Human Rights Unit also made a submission to the UNGPs 10+ project in which it highlighted some of the key thematic activities and interventions undertaken by the office in the past decade. The UNGPs 10+ project is an initiative of the Working Group on Business and Human Rights that has taken stock of progress made over the past ten years and which will produce a roadmap for action going forward. Events Since beginning its work on ARP IV, and despite the setbacks due to COVID-19, the team has participated in many different events and trainings, including: ·         sessions at the annual forum and different regional forums; and ·         presentations for bar associations, businesses, and judges.   Relevant ARP meetings in which OHCHR took part and which can be made public are available in the events section of the ARP IV page.     If you would like to notify the ARP team of, or invite us to, relevant events, or propose organizing an event with us, please contact business-access2remedy@ohchr.org.