A/HRC/44/43/Add.2 96. The Working Group was pleased to learn that, on 11 February 2020, the Honduran National Business Council and the Honduras Foundation for Social Corporate Responsibility (FUNDHARSE) signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a technical committee on the creation of a local Global Compact network. 97. The Working Group hopes that the above initiatives will encourage other business associations and businesses to take their responsibility under the Guiding Principles seriously and to contribute to the State’s efforts to ensure that business and investment do not come at the cost of human rights and the environment. In achieving that goal, the Working Group urges businesses to see human rights defenders not as enemies but as constructive, valuable partners who have knowledge of local conditions, can provide information on the potential impact of projects, and help foreign companies and investors to understand the local context. 98. The Working Group notes that other stakeholders, including international and regional development finance institutions and commercial banks, play an important role. They can exercise leverage by requiring that the companies in which they invest uphold human rights standards in their business practices; this includes, for example, ensuring that environmental and social impact studies of projects they finance are firmly grounded in international human rights standards. 99. The Working Group also emphasizes the role of third States when their companies invest in Honduras. Guiding principle 4 requires States to impose human rights due diligence as a precondition for providing their support, where the nature of business operations or operating context pose significant risk to human rights.29 IX. Development of a national action plan on business and human rights 100. At its review during the second cycle of the universal periodic review, in July 2015, Honduras accepted a recommendation on developing a national action plan on business and human rights (A/HRC/30/11). The Working Group welcomes this commitment and commends the leadership of the Ministry of Human Rights in this context. 101. The Working Group also positively notes that the Government of Honduras shares its views regarding the need to proceed cautiously and slowly in the process of developing a national action plan. Before developing it, the Government has to begin by ensuring an enabling environment for multi-stakeholder engagement. This includes the recognition that building trust among all stakeholders represents a precondition for such engagement, and will take time. The political will for ensuring meaningful step-by-step engagement in the process should be demonstrated by concrete actions. The approval of a consultation law in accordance with international standards for building trust with indigenous communities and other civil society actors is a case in point. 102. Transparency and inclusiveness at every step of the national action plan process is essential. Also, the Government should fully acknowledge that some of the key actors in this process continue to be systematically criminalized and face violence in social conflicts where businesses are involved, and should take concrete measures to address these issues to rebuild trust. X. Conclusions and recommendations A. Conclusions 103. A central issue observed by the Working Group was the lack of a robust legal and policy framework to protect against business-related human rights abuses, in a context in which development projects and investments appear to have outpaced protection of people and the environment. The lack of accountability and access to 29 See A/HRC/17/31, p. 9, commentary to guiding principle 4. See also A/HRC/38/48. 17