A/HRC/4/99 page 5 According to Ms. Soentoro, women in particular have been negatively impacted by these projects, their loss of livelihood and increased poverty making them more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and violence. Ms. Soentoro stated that FIs have an obligation to ensure that human rights violations committed by corporations do not happen in the projects they financially support. She recommended that human rights protection be given priority over commercial development. 12. Karyn Keenan (Programme Officer, The Halifax Initiative) said that public financial institutions are key actors in the area of human rights and transnational corporations (TNCs). Export credit agencies (ECAs) have a responsibility to regulate and adjudicate the role of TNCs with respect to human rights. As State organs, ECAs are bound by the international obligations of their State, including those concerning human rights. International financial institutions (IFIs), in particular the International Finance Corporation (IFC), are critical to international cooperation efforts in the regulation of TNCs. As intergovernmental organizations with international legal personality, IFIs are subject to international law, including those human rights that are recognized under customary law. Although they have taken preliminary steps towards addressing human rights, they are far from discharging their human rights obligations. Similarly, while one ECA has started to address responsibility for its international human rights obligations, others lag far behind. Ms. Keenan encouraged the Special Representative to focus a level of attention on these institutions commensurate with their substantial influence over the operations of TNCs and to call for leadership from public financial institutions in the fulfilment of their human rights obligations. 13. Herman Mulder (former Senior Executive Vice President, ABN AMRO, and senior advisor to the Global Compact and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) stressed that the primary responsibility for human rights protection rests with States. Business is not responsible for State failures. However, business can play an important role in ensuring human rights and must respect human rights. While human rights are universal, business must delineate for itself the “must”, “ought to” and “can” with regard to human rights, which may differ among different businesses and situations. Business needs principles, guidance, case studies, and tools, and should actively embed human rights in its strategies, core processes and operations. Public disclosure of standards and performance by business is crucial, such as through the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Other multi-stakeholder initiatives are important for incorporating human rights into the values and processes of financial institutions worldwide. Mr. Mulder emphasized that while the financial sector cannot be held responsible for its clients’ actions, it is responsible for the selection of its clients and suppliers, and therefore active engagement by FIs is of the essence. Discussion 14. The first part of the discussion focused on the degree of consensus and clarity on the human rights responsibilities of financial institutions. There was general consensus among participants that financial institutions have human rights responsibilities, but a range of opinions as to the nature of those responsibilities and their application to specific FIs. The challenge of translating international human rights standards into meaningful obligations for FIs in both the public and private sector was discussed at length, with concern expressed by some that human rights treaties and standards were being paraphrased and therefore diluted. For example, international instruments often inspire company policies, but their interpretation may be