A/HRC/41/49
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
1 May 2019
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Forty-first session
24 June–12 July 2019
Agenda item 5
Human rights bodies and mechanisms
Report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and
transnational corporations and other business enterprises on the
seventh Forum on Business and Human Rights
Summary
The present report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and
transnational corporations and other business enterprises on the seventh Forum on Business
and Human Rights, held from 26 to 28 November 2018, provides an overview of key
observations and messages emerging from the event. The title of the 2018 Forum was
“Business respect for human rights – building on what works”. The main focus was the
second pillar of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights – the corporate
responsibility to respect human rights – and, in particular, the requirement that companies
exercise human rights due diligence to prevent adverse impacts on people. The programme
included more than 70 different sessions and gathered more than 2,700 participants from a
range of backgrounds, including States, business, civil society, international organizations
and affected groups and individuals.
Owing to the large number of sessions held during the Forum, the report does not
provide a detailed summary, but rather a broad overview and key messages emerging from
the discussions that took place over the three days. It should be read together with the
programme, session concept notes, statements and session web recordings of the Forum,
which are available on the Forum website (www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/
Forum/Pages/2018ForumBHR.aspx).
GE.19-07108(E)
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