These 14 introductory reports, speeches, and guides from a range of sources provide an overview of business & human rights issues.  For introductory materials on specific issues, please see these issue introductions.

"Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations 'Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework" [PDF]
John Ruggie, UN Special Representative on business & human rights, report to UN Human Rights Council, 21 Mar 2011; Guiding Principles were endorsed by the Council on 16 June 2011.
- see also Addendum to 2008 Ruggie report [PDF], surveying “scope and patterns of alleged corporate-related human rights abuse”

"The corporate responsibility to respect human rights: An interpretive guide" [PDF]
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights [official guidance on interpreting UN Guiding Principles], Nov 2011

"Human Rights: A Global Perspective"
Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights & President of Ireland, remarks to UN Global Compact US Network Meeting, 28 Apr 2008

"What executives need to know (and do) about human rights"
Anthony Ewing, professor at Columbia Law School, partner at Logos Consulting, 1 Feb 2013

"Respecting Human Rights - An Introductory Guide for Business"
German Global Compact Network, twentyfifty, German Institute for Human Rights, Dec 2012

"Business and Human Rights: An Oxfam perspective on the UN Guiding Principles"
Oxfam Intl., 13 Jun 2013

"The UN Protect, Respect, Remedy Framework & Guiding Principles: Driving Change?"
CIDSE, Mar 2013

"How to use the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in company research and advocacy"
SOMO, CEDHA & Cividep India, Nov 2012

"Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses: A Guide for Victims and NGOs on Recourse Mechanisms"
Intl. Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Apr 2011

“The difference between CSR and human rights”
Christopher Avery, Director, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, in Corporate Citizenship Briefing, Aug-Sep 2006

“On the margins of profit – rights at risk in the global economy”
Human Rights Watch, 18 Feb 2008

"Red Flags - Liability risks for companies operating in high-risk zones"
Intl. Alert & Fafo Institute, 2008

“ESCR-Net collective report on business & human rights”
ESCR-Net, 2008

"Business, human rights and accountability"
Nicholas Howen, Secretary-General, Intl. Commission of Jurists, 21 Sep 2005