Human Rights and Business Treaty

ESCR-Net members and allies are working collectively to advocate for a strong treaty at the United Nations to prevent and remedy human rights violations by transnational corporations and other companies. This page provides key documents and examples of collective advocacy towards the development of a binding instrument.

About

Around the world, ESCR-Net members and others are confronting widespread and systemic corporate human rights abuses. This trend is intensified by lack of effective regulation in both the home and host States of corporations and a failure to ensure effective access to remedy and accountability.

For more than a decade, ESCR-Net members have been taking collective action to advance the development of a clear and comprehensive international human rights framework on corporate accountability, including an international binding treaty on human rights and business.

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Advocacy Tools

Over the last three months, members of the CAWG engaged in a process of collective critique and analysis of the second revised draft Treaty that was published on 7 August. Click below to see our collective submission on the Second Revised Draft Treaty on Corporate Accountability.

Collective Submission

In summary of our in-depth collective submission on the Treaty, you can also click below for an ESCR-Net advocacy paper highlighting all our key demands for a stronger draft Treaty, Article by Article.

Advocacy Position

Key documents

From the 5th IGWG / Desde la Quinta IGWG

Interventions by ESCR-Net members during negotiations of Draft Treaty // Intervenciones de los miembros de la Red-DESC durante negociaciones del Borrador de Tratado

ESCR-Net members react to negotiations on the Draft Treaty - October 2019 // Miembros de la Red-DESC Reaccionan a las Negociaciones sobre Borrador de Tratado - octubre 2019


SIDE EVENTS FROM THE 4th IGWG // EVENTOS PARALELOS DEL 4rto IGWG (2018):


MAKING THE BINDING TREATY WORK FOR WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS


CORPORATE CAPTURE IN THE BINDING TREATY: how this Treaty can effectively address corporate capture, and how we can protect the Treaty process from being captured

PDF


PROTECTING DEFENDERS: how the Treaty should consider human rights defenders in the fight for corporate accountability

PDF


Hacia un tratado vinculante sobre ETNs y derechos humanos: miradas desde América Latina

PDF

Coalitions and Regional Advocacy

Treaty Alliance

Co-founded by ESCR-Net to help coordinate actions
and communications across diverse allies in the treaty process.

#Feminist4BindingTreaty

An alliance of feminist organizations, co-founded by several
ESCR-Net members and supported by CAWG

Treaty Initiative

A joint project of ESCR-Net and FIDH to develop initial
legal proposals for the treaty based on regional consultations

Latin America
Intervention in a public hearing of the IACHR in Colombia,
in March 2018 (video in Spanish only).

Collective submission to Special Rapporteur
on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights.
You can also find ESCR-Net's submitted documents in English 


Africa
Plenary panel at African Coalition on Corporate Accountability (ACCA)
4th General Assembly in South Africa, in November 2017
as well as member interventions at the African Commission on
Human and Peoples Rights