National Action Plans
State Strategies for Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Introduction
Objectives
In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) in an effort to guide governments, corporations, and o ther relevant stakeholders in ensuring that business operations around the world do not result in human rights abuses. Since the adoption of the UNGPs, many States have committed in principle to these new standards, yet significant work remains to be done to formulate actual implementation strategies – such as National Action Plans – to carry out these commitments. (NAPs) The g oal of this Project is to produce a Toolkit to support the development and evaluation of State-‐level measures to implement the UNGPs. The Toolkit will comprise three parts: (1) National Baseline Assessment (NBA) methodologies that can be used to assess a State’s point-‐of-‐entry performance in implementing the UNGPs; (2) guidelines for NAPs, addressing both their minimum content and a human-‐rights based process for their development; (3) a mapping of different possible modalities for assessing States’ performance on their commitments to the UNGPs on a periodic basis, at regional and international levels. The P roject will actively seek to inform and complement actions and initiatives in this area by all relevant actors, including States and the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
1. Map and analyze dedicated measures taken by States to implement the UNGPs, from a human-‐rights perspective; 2. Formulate recommendations, including for (i) National Baseline Assessment (NBA) methodologies; (ii) a model NAP and NAP process; and (iii) potential modalities for periodic evaluation of State implementation, for instance, via reporting and monitoring at regional and international levels; 3. Develop a strategy to promote implementation of Project recommendations by all stakeholders. Timeline
August 2013 Project Team established and Project launched Oct. 2013 Bilateral consultations to April 2014 Oct. 2013 European Civil Society Dialogue, Brussels, Belgium Nov. 2013 African Civil Society Dialogue, Accra, Ghana Consultation with NANHRI Members, Accra, Ghana Dec. 2013 Global Consultation at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Geneva March 2014 Latin America Dialogue on National Implementation of Business and Human Rights Frameworks, Bogotá, Colombia April 2014 Dialogue with Global Business Initiative Members, London, United Kingdom Asia-‐Pacific Dialogue on National Implementation of Business and Human Rights Frameworks, Delhi, India June 2014 Project Toolkit and Report finalized and publicly disseminated
National Action Plans:
State Strategies for Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
Background
The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) (“Project Team”) have been closely following developments on NAPs and other State-‐level strategies for implementation of the UNGPs across the world. Since 2011, we have initiated research ourselves, and in conjunction with partners, in the areas of UNGPs baseline assessment methodologies, UNGPs national action plans, human rights-‐based approaches to processes of developing NAPs, and international or regional mechanisms for periodic monitoring of national UNGPs implementation measures. In earlier interventions, we have highlighted the critical need for NAPs to be developed – relying on human rights-‐based approaches – and then publicly communicated, as a basis to hold governments to account for progress on implementation of the UNGPs and the fulfillment of the duty to protect human rights. In this Project, ICAR and DIHR will collaborate to draw on their ongoing engagements with this agenda to develop a Toolkit that includes a robust, human rights-‐based methodology and template for national baseline assessments, NAP development, and follow-‐up reporting and accountability measures, which could take place, for instance, via Universal Periodic Review (UPR), peer review, and global or regional dialogue processes. METHODOLOGY The Project Team’s current knowledge-‐base includes experiences of a variety of UNGPs implementation pilot processes that are already underway around the world, led by project partners and collaborators. During the Project, this platform will be supplemented with desk research and consultations with civil society organizations, NHRIs, and other stakeholders. Stakeholders will then be invited to review and feed into an exposure draft of the Toolkit, both electronically and during consultation events. A revised version of the Toolkit and a final Project Report will be launched in June 2014 and disseminated widely. Throughout, opportunities will be sought to inform and complement our process with initiatives by all relevant actors, including States and the UN Working Group on Business and Human RIghts, as well as civil society actors and NHRIs.
About
Our Project Team
The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) is a coalition of human rights, development, environmental, and labor organizations that creates, promotes, and defends legal frameworks to ensure businesses respect human rights in their global operations. The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) is Denmark’s national human rights institution (NHRI). DIHR undertakes research and tool development to promote knowledge, understanding, and respect of human rights nationally and internationally. The Human Rights and Business Department within DIHR focuses on the private sector and its role in respecting human rights. For more information about this Project, please contact: • Project Directors: Amol Mehra, Director, International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) Claire Methven O’Brien, Special Adviser, DIHR, Human Rights and Business • Project Fellows: Sara Blackwell, Legal and Policy Fellow, ICAR, sara@accountabilityroundtable.org Catherine Poulsen Hansen, Adviser, DIHR, cph@humanrights.dk