The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are a set of guidelines for States and companies to prevent, address and remedy human rights abuses committed in business operations.
They were proposed and drafted by UN Special Representative on business and human rights John Ruggie during his 2005-2011 mandate, and endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011. In the same resolution, the UN Human Rights Council established the UN Working Group on business and human rights.
Click here for our (archived) portal on the work of UN Special Representative Ruggie, including background materials prepared in connection with the Guiding Principles and the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework.
The UNGPs rest on three pillars
I
Protect
State duty to protect human rights
II
Respect
The corporate responsibility to respect human rights
III
Remedy
Access to remedy for victims of business-related abuses
Further Reading
UN Working Group
The UN Working Group was established by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011, following its endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
OHCHR leads the business and human rights agenda within the UN system.
2024 UN Forum on Business & Human Rights
This year's forum will take place in Geneva on 25-27 November 2024
In Memory of Prof. John G. Ruggie, 1944-2021
The business and human rights community paid tribute to the author of the UN Guiding Principles, who sadly passed away in September 2021, mourning this loss and commemorating the achievement, life and legacy of John Ruggie.
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