"Assessments of existing national action plans (NAPs) on business & human rights," August 2017

The creation of NAPs on business and human rights is a step toward increased accountability for State action in implementing key business and human rights frameworks, including the UNGPs... Eighteen countries have developed and approved NAPs on business and human rights... This report updates the ICAR-ECCJ November 2015 publication by incorporating assessments of the NAPs of Norway, Colombia, United Kingdom (2016 iteration), Italy, Switzerland, and United States... One positive trend that persists across the assessed NAPs is the inclusion of various government entities during the drafting process... Another continuing trend across NAPs processes is the inclusion of some form of consultation with stakeholders... However, it does not appear that the assessed NAPs included processes to facilitate participation in these consultations by disempowered or at-risk stakeholders... One major weakness across assessed NAPs is a lack of transparency regarding the drafting process. Overall, there was a general failure by States to provide a timeline for their NAP processes or publish terms of reference... Another significant weakness in the drafting process of most assessed NAPs is the failure to conduct national baseline assessments (NBAs) to inform the content of the NAP... Some generally positive trends in relation to the content of the eleven assessed NAPs are that each NAP explicitly states a commitment to the UNGPs, discusses international and regional organizations and standards, and includes some discussion of thematic and sector-specific human rights issues.