A/HRC/41/49 However, it was recognized by all speakers that more alignment between business practices and the Guiding Principles was needed to build coherence and reach scale. 24. Speakers furthermore emphasized the critical role of business in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and that respect for human rights must be the foundation for corporate engagement. The close collaboration among different institutions was noted, in particular with regard to human rights due diligence. It was noted that the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct issued in 2018 represented a further important step towards a common understanding of corporate human rights due diligence that was fully aligned with the Guiding Principles. All participants stressed the importance of partnerships with all stakeholders in order to scale up the action to address business-related human rights protection gaps and to make respect for human rights a bedrock for corporate engagement in support of the 2030 Agenda. C. Closing plenary4 25. The Forum concluded with statements by key stakeholder constituencies. Participants emphasized a common message: Governments in general are not meeting their duty to protect; there is insufficient political will, a lack of policy coherence, and they are not leading by example. They acknowledged the increasing participation of the private sector in the 2018 Forum, where the private sector represented almost 30 per cent of participants, but stressed the need to attract those businesses that were not embracing human rights. All speakers stressed the need for stakeholders to work together in partnership to drive State and business action and accountability. 26. Key messages from stakeholders included the call by the indigenous peoples’ caucus for all actors to respect indigenous peoples’ rights and to consult with indigenous communities in connection with business projects. States needed to comply with their obligations towards indigenous peoples, including through national action plans, and to take adequate measures against companies that violated indigenous people’s rights. The caucus representative furthermore noted the essential importance of the third pillar of the Guiding Principles: the need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached and the need to protect human rights defenders in law and in practice. A call was made to make more spaces available for the participation of indigenous groups within the United Nations. 27. A representative of the Brazilian NGO Justiça nos Trilhos, which was the recipient of the first Human Rights and Business Foundation Award, presented at the 2018 Forum, emphasized the need to protect human rights defenders and affected communities and their right to speak out against harm caused by business activities. 28. The representative of the International Trade Union Confederation stressed the need to scale up ambition. Governments and business should address issues such as respect for freedom of association and collective bargaining and the fight against modern slavery, forced labour and trafficking. Governments should pass mandatory due diligence legislation in order to create a level playing field for all actors. The gender lens was considered critical. 29. From the perspective of international employers, it was stressed that it was important to focus on and find solutions at the local level in order to widen the implementation of the Guiding Principles. While the need to explore better ways to engage with bigger companies was noted, it was emphasized that engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises needed to be tailor-made to a much larger extent. 30. The Chair, on behalf of the Working Group, provided reflections on key takeaways, which are summarized in section VI below. 4 A video of the closing plenary available at http://webtv.un.org/search/plenary-iii-forum-on-businessand-human-rights-2018/5972698700001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on%20Business %20and%20Human%20Rights&page=2. 7