A/HRC/38/49 47. In their discussions, participants highlighted the revision completed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2017 of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, to align it with the Sustainable Development Goals and the three pillars of the Guiding Principles. With regard to the third pillar, one key issue was the obligation of Governments to ensure that workers have access to remedy for human rights abuses involving transnational corporations. The role of trade unions in human rights due diligence processes was highlighted, as was the need for access to remedy to be tackled systematically, not only in a voluntary way. 48. A recurring topic at the Forum is the functioning of independent accountability mechanisms of international financial institutions. A critical point made at the Forum in 2017 was the importance of the independence of such mechanisms to allow them to address effectively any grievances raised by communities affected by projects funded by international financial institutions. Transparency, trust-building and awareness-raising with regard to accountability mechanisms and capacity-building to empower communities in their access to them were considered key success factors. One remaining challenge was the lack of coherence between international financial institutions and associated accountability mechanisms, which are often more in tune with realities on the ground. 2. Implications of the international investment regime 49. More than 3,000 international investment agreements regulated foreign direct investments, including provisions for arbitration or dispute settlement between Governments and private investors. While the international investment regime offers protection for investors, however, access to remedy for affected stakeholders is elusive. During discussions, Forum participants highlighted areas in need of reform, aimed at, for example, safeguarding the right to regulate, reforming investment dispute settlement and ensuring responsible investment. The need for a better understanding of the impact that investment agreements have on human rights was noted. 3. The “State-business nexus” and access to the remedy pillar 50. Participants in the Forum addressed the role of the State as an economic actor, and the integration of human rights in the management of export processing zones and export credit agencies. 51. Export processing zones are essentially State-owned enterprises with their own legal infrastructure. In a study on 120 export processing zones, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development had found that, in such zones, “red tape” was typically eliminated and, in some cases, labour inspections and the implementation of environmental standards were more effective. This showed that the integration of standards to manage risks to workers and communities was possible in export processing zones, even though huge differences existed. 52. Some export credit agencies had begun to integrate the Guiding Principles into their due diligence processes, such as those in the Netherlands and Norway. Experience had shown that the integration of the Guiding Principles could improve the focus on disclosure and effective stakeholder engagement in projects supported by export credit agencies. One issue that still required more attention, however, concerned financial institutions beyond export credit agencies: how to effectively exercise leverage to support access to remedy when the financial institution is linked to — but not causing or contributing to — human rights harm. G. Strengthening the third pillar in multi-stakeholder initiatives and platforms 53. Multi-stakeholder initiatives are generally perceived to hold a lot of potential for improving the protection of human rights in business activities and supply chains, even though there is also broad agreement that most of them have not met their potential, in particular when addressing the third pillar of the Guiding Principles. Participants noted that few multi-stakeholder initiatives had grievance systems in place (one figure suggested that 12