A/HRC/35/32 (b) Provide guidance and capacity-building for subsidiaries, partners and other business relationships involving small and medium-sized enterprises on the implementation of the Guiding Principles; (c) Provide guidance to small and medium-sized enterprise partners on best practices towards the implementation of the Guiding Principles; (d) Utilize their strategic position to assist their small and medium-sized enterprise members through capacity-building and training programmes. 76. The Working Group recommends that business and peer group associations: (a) Raise awareness on the responsibility to respect of human rights throughout their membership and support development of practical tools for small and medium-sized enterprises that reflect their particular situation in the given context and sector; (b) Support and ensure the respect of human rights, including the implementation of the Guiding Principles throughout their supply chains; (c) Use their considerable memberships to promote the Guiding Principles through all forms of communications and inform their members of the latest human rights developments; (d) Promote enhanced competitiveness by improving standards that are linked to incentives throughout the market within which small and medium-sized enterprises operate. 77. The Working Group recommends that international organizations and the United Nations system: (a) Integrate the Guiding Principles in tools and guidance and capacitybuilding aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises; (b) Work toward clarifying standards and simplifying the Guiding Principles for small and medium-sized enterprises; (c) Take a leadership role in creating collaborator initiatives that aim to build up knowledge sharing through the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in their activities; (d) Continue to work with States and businesses in order to provide special assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises from the least developed countries and to align such guidance and assistance with the Guiding Principles; (e) Develop and provide online and offline training courses to increase the awareness of the Guiding Principles and their relevance to business. 78. The Working Group recommends that academia, trade unions and civil society organizations: (a) Raise the importance that small and medium-sized enterprises implement the Guiding Principles in relevant forums, such as national action plan processes; (b) Support the development of tools aimed at implementation of the Guiding Principles by small and medium-sized enterprises, in order to ensure that such tools take into account the reality of human rights challenges and perspectives of victims in the respective context; (c) Dedicate increased attention to small and medium-sized enterprises, with a view to improving human rights, through access to remedy and accountability programmes that highlight national and international law; (d) Gather targeted data for small and medium-sized enterprises and their human rights obligations and performance, in order to identify gaps and good practices globally; 20

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