National Action Plans on business & human rights - key take-aways from consultations in Africa, Asia
"Asia & Africa National Action Plans Update to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights", Oct 2015
...[A] coalition of African and Asian researchers led by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (“CALS”) and the Asian Business and Rule of Law initiative at the Singapore Management University (“SMU”)...[is currently working on a project on] national action plans on business and human rights (“NAPs”). The centrepiece of the [Coalition's] proposal was two workshops, one in Asia and one in Africa, aimed at bringing forth the perspectives on NAPs of stakeholders in the Global South...[This] submission, the Coalition’s third, highlights key points that have emerged from our consultations and research. It also draws attention to developments in the two regions that portend the potential for NAPs development in Asia and Africa... [co-authors also include Centre for Human Rights at University of Pretoria, ASEAN CSR Network]
Key Takeaways
1. Unprecedented foreign investment in the Global South brings considerable benefits as well as human rights risks.
Recommendation: NAPs in the Global South can ensure that human rights promotion and protection are not sacrificed for the sake of economic growth led by multinational corporations (“MNCs”).
2. By outlining a State’s domestic regulatory space...NAPs may be able to serve to defend the interests of States in relation to bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”) and oblige foreign investors to respect the State’s right to regulate...
3. NAPs processes in the Global South should consider first identify gaps in existing legislative and regulatory frameworks, and reasons for the failure to enforce them...
4. While economic development dominates the agenda of both regions, forward-thinking businesses based in the Global South understand that inclusive and sustainable growth is necessary.
Recommendation: Progressive businesses, supported by like-minded business associations, such as local Global Compact networks, have a critical role to play in advocating for NAPs in their countries
5. In many Global South countries, the interests of corporations and governments are tightly bound. The...business case for a NAP may include: meeting the need for clear rules of the road and a level playing field so that businesses, ready to be good corporate citizens, are not undercut by bad actors.
Recommendation: Having a clear business case for a NAP is critical to moving governments to act.
6. ...[Although] a NAP in a country in the Global South will focus principally on human rights impacts domestically...countries within Asia and Africa are also home to MNCs...and south-south and intra-regional investment is rapidly growing.
Recommendation: NAPs in Asian and African countries should consider also addressing the extraterritorial application of laws and policies...
7. ...[The] integrity of the NAPs development and monitoring process is crucial.
Recommendation: Process elements should aim to entail: inclusive multistakeholder dialogue,...concrete targets and timetables, regular (two-to-three year) review and updating...transparency, consistency and predictability...
8. ...Recommendation: It may make sense in certain contexts to integrate a NAP for business and human rights into a NAP for human rights.
9. ...Recommendation: National Human Rights Institutions (“NHRIs”) may have an important role to play in many Global South countries in kick-starting the NAPs process.
10. The...consultations identified the following issues as important for all NAPs, in the Global North as well as the Global South, to address.
(a) Labour rights...
(b) ...respect for customary tenure to protect the land rights of indigenous peoples and other vulnerable groups.
(c) ...policies that are gender-sensitive rather than gender-blind...
(d) ...making human rights due diligence mandatory, especially for companies operating in conflict zones.
(e) ...the publishing of contracts and benefit-sharing agreements.
(f) ...implement[ation of] the Sustainable Development Goals...