The UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution on 20 April 2005 (by a vote of 49 to 3 with 1 abstention) requesting "the Secretary-General to appoint a special representative on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises...with the following mandate:
(a) To identify and clarify standards of corporate responsibility and accountability for transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights;
(b) To elaborate on the role of States in effectively regulating and adjudicating the role of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights, including through international cooperation;
(c) To research and clarify the implications for transnational corporations and other business enterprises of concepts such as “complicity” and “sphere of influence”;
(d) To develop materials and methodologies for undertaking human rights impact assessments of the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises;
(e) To compile a compendium of best practices of States and transnational corporations and other business enterprises..."
[full text of this resolution can be accessed from our page dedicated to the Special Representative's mandate
See also our website's portal dedicated to the Special Representative's mandate, documents prepared by and for his team, and submissions to the Special Representative.]
