A/HRC/37/67 B. Attendance 6. The list of participants and the list of panellists and moderators are contained in annexes I and II, respectively. C. Documentation 7. The working group had before it the following documents: (a) Human Rights Council resolution 26/9; (b) The provisional agenda of the working group (A/HRC/WG.16/3/1); (c) Other documents, notably a document setting out the elements for the draft legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (hereinafter, “the elements document”), a programme of work, and contributions from States and other relevant stakeholders, which were made available to the working group through its website.2 D. Adoption of the agenda and programme of work 8. In his opening statement, the Chair-Rapporteur explained how the third session would involve substantive negotiations based on the elements document that was distributed in advance of the session. The elements set out in the document were based on deliberations during the first two sessions, as well as over 200 meetings held since 2014 involving multiple stakeholders. At the core of the elements was the protection of victims of business-related human rights abuse, the elimination of impunity and access to justice. He invited everyone to participate actively, including civil society, trade unions, national human rights institutions and victims organizations, as their role was crucial to the success of the process. He emphasized that future generations should have the right to live in a world in which human rights took primacy over capital. 9. The Chair-Rapporteur presented the draft programme of work and invited comments. A regional organization expressed its regret that consultations on the draft programme of work had not occurred until 18 October, providing little time for negotiations on such an important document. The delegation recalled that, despite the short notice, all attendees had worked hard to find a compromise and praised the Permanent Mission of Ecuador to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. According to the regional organization, a compromise had been tentatively reached on 18 October, whereby there would be two additional elements included in the programme of work. First, a debate reflecting on the implementation of the Guiding Principles would be included at the start of the session. Second, a footnote that was included in the programme of work of the second session would be reproduced, stating “this programme of work does not limit the discussions of this intergovernmental working group, which can include transnational corporations, as well as all other business enterprises”. While the delegation acknowledged that the first element of the compromise was mostly incorporated (albeit without panellists to lead the discussion), it was concerned that the footnote had been excluded. It stressed that that was not a procedural issue, but a substantive one with wide implications, as the inclusion of the footnote would ensure that the working group could also consider abuses involving activities related to national enterprises. Therefore, it requested an amendment to the programme of work to include the footnote. 2 4 See www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/WGTransCorp/Session3/Pages/Session3.aspx.

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