To be successful, the next session should encourage constructive negotiations between States about concrete and detailed elements of the future treaty, so too for the establishment of a road map for their completion, says the Alliance in a recent statement.
The UN Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG) on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights will be holding its third session October 23-27, 2017. With two successful sessions behind it, negotiations will now begin on the basis of a draft presented by the OEIGWG Chair-Rapporteur. As discussions are expected to get more detailed and concrete, constructive and cooperative States’ participation is needed.
The previous two sessions (2015 & 2016) allowed a rich debate and contributed to the identification of a common ground for further progress in the elaboration of the treaty: the primary obligation of States is to protect people’s rights, including extraterritorially, over anything else. At present, regulatory gaps are leading to human rights abuses and violations as well as appalling impunity. Globally, corporations are engaged in operations that result in deep environmental harm, land grabbing and use of slave labor, to mention just a few of a never-ending list.
As echoed by the recently launched statement, which calls for further people’s support, “the introduction and regulation of corporations’ liabilities nationally and internationally is needed so that States finally start meeting their obligations to protect human rights and the environment against harmful activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises”.
Not only is States’ commitment to the process crucial for the success of the session, but also the mobilization and solidarity of all peoples.
Read and sign the statement here and mobilize
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Treaty Alliance has been working together towards a legally binding instrument since 2013, when it first released a series of demands, including the passage of a UN Human Rights Council Resolution to establish an IGWG with a mandate to develop the treaty. www.treatymovement.com
Photo: James Rodriguez (Woman in a protest march against the impact of business operations.)
