A/HRC/44/43/Add.2 Annex Report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises on its visit to Honduras I. Introduction 1. Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 35/7, the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, represented by two of its members, Anita Ramasastry and Dante Pesce, visited Honduras from 19 to 28 August 2019. During the visit, they aimed to assess the efforts made by the Government of Honduras and business enterprises to prevent, mitigate and address the adverse impact of business-related activities on human rights, in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework. 2. The experts held meetings in the departments of Colon, Cortes, Intibucá and Francisco Morazán. They met with the Secretaries of Human Rights, Foreign Affairs, Energy, Natural Resources and Environment, and Agriculture and Livestock; the Deputy Secretaries of Labour and Social Security, and of International Trade and Economic Development, and with representatives of the Secretaries of Government General Coordination, and Infrastructure and Public Services, the Revenue Management Service, the Institute for Forest Conservation, the National Institute of Geology and Mines, the National Institute on Women, the National Agrarian Institute, the Property Institute, the National Directorate of Indigenous and AfroHonduran Peoples, the National Directorate for Children and Adolescents, the Commission for the Promotion of Private-Public Partnerships, the National Commission of Banks and Insurance, the Superintendence of Public Private Partnership the National Investment Council and Investment-Honduras (Inversión Estratégica de Honduras). 3. The Working Group met with the governors of the Departments of Colón, Francisco Morazán and Cortes, the mayors of Intibucá and Reitoca, members of Congress chairing different commissions, the National Commissioner for Human Rights and his team, magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, officials of the Office of the Attorney General and its deputy General Director, and representatives of the offices of the Special Prosecutor for Ethnic Groups and Cultural Heritage, for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, Media Workers and Justice System Actors, the Environment, for Human Rights, and against Trafficking in Persons, Sexual Exploitation and Illicit Trafficking in Persons. 4. The Working Group also met with representatives of civil society organizations, trade unions, indigenous peoples’ communities, human rights defenders and affected individuals and communities in Intibucá, Reitoca, San Pedro Sula, Tegucigalpa and Tocoa, and with representatives of companies and business associations covering a wide range of sectors. They included board members of the Honduran National Business Council (Consejo Hondureño de la Empresa Privada), the National Association of Industries, and the Executive Director of the Cortés Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 5. The Working Group thanks the Government of Honduras for its support and assistance during the visit, and its willingness to engage in a constructive discussion on challenges faced and lessons learned in promoting corporate respect for human rights. It also thanks the United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations country teams for their support, and the organizations, businesses, communities and individuals with whom it met for their openness and willingness to engage in a frank and solution-oriented dialogue. II. General context 6. Honduras is a lower-middle-income country that faces major social and economic challenges. Official data for 2019 show that more than 61 per cent of the population lives in 3