A/HRC/20/29 A. International standards and initiatives 24. In 2010, the International Organization for Standardization released its social responsibility standard, ISO 26000, which includes a human rights chapter aligned with the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, as articulated in the Guiding Principles.10 25. The Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD), as updated in 2011, now align fully with the corporate responsibility to respect human rights as set out in the Guiding Principles. 11 Recent statements by some National Contact Points, who are mandated to handle complaints on alleged breaches of the Guidelines, illustrate and reinforce the link between the OECD Guidelines and the Guiding Principles. 12 26. The United Nations Global Compact has stated that the Guiding Principles provide the content of the first principle of the Global Compact, and thus form part of the commitment made by some 8,700 corporate participants in the Global Compact. 13 27. The updated International Finance Corporation Sustainability Framework, which came into effect on 1 January 2012, now reflects important aspects of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, as set out in the Guiding Principles. 14 28. Important aspects of the corporate responsibility to respect human rights have also been incorporated into the final draft of voluntary guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security, which is pending final approval by the Committee on World Food Security at its special session in May 2012.15 B. Initiatives by regional intergovernmental organizations 29. The European Commission has issued a communication on corporate social responsibility, in which it expressed its expectation that all enterprises should meet human rights responsibility as defined in the Guiding Principles.16 In the wake of the communication, the Commission initiated projects to develop globally-applicable guidance based on the Guiding Principles for three industrial sectors (oil and gas, information and communications technology, and employment and recruitment) and for small and medium- 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 ISO 26000: 2010 Guidance on social responsibility, International Organization for Standardization. See www.oecd.org/document/28/0,3746,en_2649_34889_2397532_1_1_1_1,00.html. See OECD National Contact Point Norway, “Report: Mining company does not act in accordance with the OECD Guidelines”, available from www.regjeringen.no/en/sub/styrer-radutvalg/ncp_norway/news/report_intex.html?id=664912; and Netherlands National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines, Final report of the National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines in the Netherlands on the Specific Instance notified by CEDHA, INCASUR Foundation, SOMO and Oxfam Novib concerning Nidera Holding B.V., 3 February 2012, available from www.oesorichtlijnen.nl/wpcontent/uploads/final_statement_nidera.pdf. “The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Relationship to UN Global Compact Commitments”, joint note by the United Nations Global Compact and OHCHR, July 2011. Available from www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/human_rights/Resources/GPs_GC%20note.pdf. See www1.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/Topics_Ext_Content/IFC_External_Corporate_Site/ifc+sustainabilit y/sustainability+framework/. See www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/128907/icode/. See ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/corporate-socialresponsibility/index_en.htm, sect. 3.1. 7