2020 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights

This session is organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI)

The session will be held virtually on the hosted UN platform Interprefy.
Registration is mandatory through Indico here. Registration opened until 18 November.

Once your registration is approved, you will receive and email from SCHED inviting you to create your profile. This will allow you to access the agenda of the Forum as well as the session “National human rights institutions as preventive watchdogs”. Please make sure to check your spam folder.

Please contact registrationforumbhr@ohchr.org if you have any queries regarding the session and registration.

Brief description of the sessions

This session is part of the 2020 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights that will take place virtually from 16 to 18 November 2020. This year’s theme will be “Preventing business-related human rights abuses: The key to a sustainable future for people and planet”.

The important role of NHRIs in promoting the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and preventing business-related human rights abuses is widely accepted. In July 2018, the Human Rights Council (A/HRC/RES/38/13) requested the UN Working Group “to analyse further the role of national human rights institutions in facilitating access to remedy for business-related human rights abuses, and to convene a two-day global consultation on these issues, open to all stakeholders, and to inform the Council by its forty-fourth session as appropriate”. In line with this mandate, the Working Group invited NHRIs and other stakeholders to provide input. It also organised, in collaboration with GANHRI, a global consultation in Geneva in October 2019. Based on these and other outreach activities, the Working Group is currently drafting a report to be issued in June 2021.

The UN Human Rights Council (A/HRC/RES 44/15) encourages the UN Working Group “to continue its work on the role of national human rights institutions in promoting business and human rights”. Against this background and in line with the overarching theme of the 9th UN Forum, this session will focus on showcasing various measures and strategies adopted by NHRIs to prevent business-related human rights abuses. This issue has assumed a critical significance in times of Covid-19.

Key objectives of the session

The session seeks to:

• illustrate, through selected case studies, how NHRIs can prevent business-related human rights abuses by adopting a range of measures;
• highlight the challenges and limitations that NHRIs often face in achieving this objective and discuss potential strategies to overcome these challenges and limitations; and
• discuss what more is required to support and strengthen the role and ability of NHRIs in preventing business-related human rights abuses.

Key questions

• What steps have different NHRIs taken to prevent business-related human rights abuses in times of Covid-19 or generally?
• What are good practices adopted by NHRIs in preventing business-related human rights abuses?
• How could the internal capacity of NHRIs be built around business and human rights standards?
• What could be done to enhance the independence and autonomy of NHRIs so as to strengthen their role as effective “preventive watchdogs” in the field of business and human rights?

Additional background documents and relevant links

• https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/ProjectOnRoleNHRIS.aspx
• https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/RES/45/22

Format of discussions

To register visit here. Registration opened until 18 November.

• • All participants are requested to register.
  • Once your registration is approved, you will receive an email from SCHED (go to Programme) inviting you to create your profile. Please make sure to check your spam folder. This will allow you to access the agenda of the Forum as well as to create your own agenda, link to your social media, provide feedback and download an app in your cellular phones.
  • Interpretation in English, French and Spanish available.

The session will be held virtually on the hosted UN platform Interprefy. Due to the constraints of the virtual platform, those attending the session as viewers will not be able to take the floor and speak. However, participants will be able to comment and send questions through the chat function. We thank you for your understanding and we look forward to your active participation.

Virtual roundtable discussion of 8 speakers.
The discussion will start with 3 minutes interventions of speakers and will be then followed by a discussion with the moderator.

Speakers

Moderator: Surya Deva