"Enhancing the accessibility, dissemination and implementation of the Accountability and Remedy Project" Report on the Status of the ARP IV Project

1. In 2013, as part of its mandate to advance the promotion and protection of human
rights globally, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) initiated a process to strengthen the implementation of the access to remedy pillar
of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
2. In its resolution 26/22, the Human Rights Council requested the High Commissioner
for Human Rights to continue work on improving access to remedy and to report back to the
Council. In November 2014, and pursuant to that mandate, OHCHR formally launched the
Accountability and Remedy Project with the goal of delivering credible and workable
recommendations for enhancing accountability and access to remedy in cases of business-
related human rights abuse.
3. In the first six years of the project, and in response to a series of mandates from the
Human Rights Council, three substantive phases were completed, with each phase resulting
in recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of one of the three categories of
grievance mechanisms referred to in the Guiding Principles: State-based judicial
mechanisms,  State-based non-judicial grievance mechanisms 5 and non-State-based
grievance mechanisms6
4. Following those phases of work, the Council adopted resolution 44/15, in which it
requested the High Commissioner to continue the work in the area of accountability and
remedy. In response to that mandate, OHCHR started a fourth phase of the project devoted
to enhancing the accessibility, dissemination and implementation of the project’s findings to
date. The present report covers the main activities undertaken during that phase of the project,
some examples of good practices of uptake of findings and recommendations from the project
and ideas for what the project should focus on going forward. An addendum to the present
report provides details from two multi-stakeholder consultations convened during the fourth
phase of the project in response to resolution 44/15.

The Report may be accessed HERE.  The Addendum HERE.