A/HRC/34/47 I. Introduction 1. The open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights was established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 26/9 of 26 June 2014, and mandated to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights. In the resolution, the Council decided that the first two sessions of the working group should be dedicated to conducting constructive deliberations on the content, scope, nature and form of the future international instrument. Following its first session, held from 6 to 10 July 2015, the working group presented its first progress report to the Council at its thirty-first session (A/HRC/31/50). 2. The second session, which took place from 24 to 28 October 2016, opened with a video message by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The High Commissioner congratulated the Chair-Rapporteur and stated that business entities had a vast and growing impact on peoples’ lives, including on gender relations, the environment, neighbourhoods and access to land and other resources. When businesses paid insufficient attention, they often infringed on people’s human rights. The High Commissioner underlined the importance of preventing and redressing business-related human rights abuses and of ensuring greater accountability and access to remedy for victims. He referred to the outcomes of the accountability and remedy project of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) (see A/HRC/32/19), suggesting that the project could provide some guidance for the working group discussions. He welcomed the embrace of civil society voices and the constructive involvement of States and other stakeholders in the working group discussions, reiterating the full support of his Office and wishing the working group success in its deliberations. 3. The High Commissioner’s message was reinforced by the remarks of the Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division, who emphasized the need for improved mechanisms of accountability with respect to corporate human rights abuses. II. Organization of the session A. Election of the Chair-Rapporteur 4. The working group elected María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, Permanent Representative of Ecuador, as Chair-Rapporteur by acclamation following her nomination by the representative of Honduras on behalf of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States. B. Attendance 5. The list of participants and the list of panellists and moderators are contained in annexes I and II, respectively. 3