Report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises - Business, human rights and conflict-affected regions: Towards heightened action (A/75/212) [EN/AR/RU/ZH]

Summary

In the present report, the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises clarifies the practical steps and outlines practical measures that States and business enterprises should take to prevent and address business-related human rights abuse in conflict and post-conflict contexts, focusing on heightened human rights due diligence and access to remedy.

I. Introduction

1. Since the endorsement by the Human Rights Council of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011, the number of civil wars has almost tripled, with a six-fold increase in battle-related deaths – peaking in 2016 with 53 countries experiencing conflict. According to the Secretary-General, over 71 million people have been forcibly displaced by war, violence and persecution, resulting in the world’s largest humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War. Many of these situations are “protracted crises with multiple adversaries, stalled peace processes, organized crime and attacks from violent extremists or terrorists.”

2. This bleak picture means that, more than ever, the most egregious human rights abuses take place in conflict-affected areas and other situations of widespread violence and, conversely, that human rights abuses spark or intensify conflict.

3. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) exacerbates the risks of violent conflict further. This pandemic causes more serious harm in conflict-affected countries by taxing the resources of already weak State institutions, complicating peace and development efforts, fuelling inequalities and further impacting the health and safety of vulnerable groups.

4. For businesses, this means that many face complex challenges in respecting human rights as they operate in such environments, either because their activities require them to be in or to re-enter conflict-affected areas, or because they become caught up in the outbreak of a conflict.

5. The Guiding Principles were drafted at a time when the connection between violent conflicts implicating business was brought to the world’s attention, as for example in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Myanmar and Sierra Leone. These exceptional situations are recognized in the Principles as an issue of particular importance and it is emphasized that States should support business respect for human rights in conflict-affected areas.

6. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, whose mandate preceded that of the Working Group, outlined a range of State policy options to prevent and deter corporate-related human rights abuses in conflict contexts. The Guiding Principles and the additional work of the Special Representative in 2011 provided initial guidance on the role of business along the conflict cycle.

7. In the present report, the Working Group further identifies and clarifies a range of policies and tools that States, alone or when acting as members of multilateral organizations, and businesses, could employ in conflict-prone regions to help ensure that business does not stimulate or exacerbate conflict or negatively impact peacebuilding.

8. The report is informed by a series of bilateral and multi-stakeholder consultations with States, civil society organizations, business representatives and experts in several regions of the world, comprehensive research and submissions by stakeholders.