Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises

A/HRC/RES/26/22View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2014.

What other versions does this mandate have?

2 versions · 2011–2014

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2014	A/HRC/RES/26/22	Human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises	1,490	19%Compare
2011	A/HRC/RES/17/4	Human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises	1,536	–

What subjects does this mandate have?

13 subjects

Business Enterprises Conferences Consultations Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines Human Rights Legal Remedies Principles Programmes of Action Report Preparation Transnational Corporations Trust Funds Working Groups

What’s in this document?

18 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the work of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises in the fulfilment of its mandate, including the convening of regional forums to discuss challenges and lessons learned from implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights with States and other stakeholders in a regional context;³

³See A/HRC/26/25.

Recognizes that the effective implementation of the Guiding Principles should cover a broad range of public policy areas, and encourages all States to take steps to implement the Guiding Principles, including to develop a national action plan or other such framework;

Calls upon all business enterprises to meet their responsibility to respect human rights in accordance with the Guiding Principles;

Welcomes the efforts of the Working Group to build a database of national action plans and other relevant data on global progress in the implementation of the Guiding Principles, and in this regard encourages States to submit information on their national action plans and other relevant initiatives, with annual reports on the implementation of such commitments, and invites all relevant stakeholders to submit relevant information to the Working Group;

Also welcomes the efforts of the Working Group to develop guidance for the development and implementation of effective national action plans, including with regard to access to both judicial and non-judicial remedy, and encourages all States and other stakeholders to engage with the Working Group in developing such guidance;

Encourages the Working Group to identify and promote best practices in the national implementation of the Guiding Principles, and to reflect its findings, including in global progress on the implementation of the Guiding Principles, in its annual reports to the Human Rights Council;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue work to facilitate the sharing and exploration of the full range of legal options and practical measures to improve access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuses, in collaboration with the Working Group, to organize consultations with experts, States and other relevant stakeholders to facilitate mutual understanding and greater consensus among different views, and to publish a progress report thereon before the twenty-ninth session of the Human Rights Council, and the final report to be considered by the Council at its thirty-second session;

Welcomes the role of the Working Group in guiding the first two annual Forums on Business and Human Rights, encourages all stakeholders to continue to attend the Forum, and decides that the two-day Forum should continue to be held on an annual basis, with the addition of one meeting day to allow for the preparation and sharing of new tools and experience;

Invites the Working Group to include as an item of the agenda of the Forum on Business and Human Rights, among others, the issue of access to remedy, judicial and non-judicial, for victims of business-related human rights abuses, in order to foster mutual understanding and greater consensus among different viewpoints;

Decides to extend the mandate of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises as set out in Human Rights Council resolution 17/4 for a period of three years;

Encourages all States, relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, treaty bodies and civil society actors, including non-governmental organizations, as well as public and private businesses to cooperate fully with the Working Group in the fulfilment of its mandate by, inter alia, responding to communications transmitted, and for States to reply favourably to requests for visits by the Working Group;

Invites international and regional organizations to seek the views of the Working Group when formulating or developing relevant policies and instruments, and invites the Working Group to continue to collaborate closely with relevant United Nations bodies, including the treaty bodies and the special procedures;

Requests the Secretary-General and the High Commissioner to provide all the resources and assistance necessary for the Working Group to fulfil its mandate effectively, including for developing guidance for the implementation of the Guiding Principles and the organization of the Forum in a sustainable manner;

Welcomes the efforts made by national human rights institutions to enhance their capacity to support the effective implementation of the Guiding Principles by all stakeholders;

Also welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the challenges, strategies and developments with regard to the implementation of resolution 21/5 by the United Nations system, including programmes, funds and agencies,⁴ and the recommendations made therein, underscoring the need to embed the business and human rights agenda and the Guiding Principles throughout the United Nations system;

⁴A/HRC/26/20.

Further welcomes the study by the Secretary-General on the feasibility of a global fund to enhance the capacity of stakeholders to implement the Guiding Principles,⁵ and requests the High Commissioner to consult with States and relevant stakeholders to develop concrete options and proposals to inform a decision on whether to create such a fund, and to submit a report thereon to the Human Rights Council at its twenty-ninth session;

⁵A/HRC/26/20/Add.1.

Emphasizes the importance of stakeholder dialogue and analysis to maintain and build on the results achieved to date to prevent and address business-related human rights abuses, and to inform further deliberations of the Human Rights Council on business and human rights;

Decides to continue its consideration of this question in conformity with its annual programme of work.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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