A/HRC/23/32
18.
The Working Group further encourages in-depth national surveys of State entities
and business enterprises on implementation initiatives, to complement the global surveys it
has commissioned.13
A.
State survey
19.
The discussion surrounding the State’s duty to protect from human rights abuses and
adverse effects of corporate activity has developed substantially over the past two decades,
with the Guiding Principles bringing important clarity to the differentiated and
complementary roles of States, business and civil society. Today, policymakers and
business focus therefore not on whether States have a duty to protect against abuse by
business enterprises, but how States should or do engage with multiple stakeholders to fulfil
such a duty by means of preventive and remedial measures. States are now widely expected
to provide explicit guidance to businesses specifically on addressing any adverse impact on
human rights; to ensure that non-judicial and judicial remedy options are available to those
communities, workers, consumers, clients and shareholders whose rights have been
negatively affected by business enterprises; to integrate business and human rights into the
functions of ministries and agencies that interact with and regulate business activity; and to
strive to close any potential regulatory or policy gaps that may hinder the fulfilment of their
duty to protect against corporate human rights abuses. More broadly, international business
organizations voice their demand for greater observance by the State of the rule of law and
the enforcement of anti-corruption measures, which are understood to foster a conducive
environment for business to contribute positively to society and sustainable development.
20.
Given that States design their laws, policies and programmes in accordance with
their own local context and their international legal obligations, it is to be expected that the
Guiding Principles will be implemented in a different way from one State Member of the
United Nations to the next. Still, as implementation of the Guiding Principles kicks off and
advances, there will be emerging trends, best practices and lessons that can be learned
among States with regard to successful measures, obstacles and opportunities to build
capacity among public officials according to the role they play in the individual State.
21.
The above issues were the focus of a pilot survey 14 addressed to all States Members
of the United Nations by the Working Group in October 2012, with the purpose of
obtaining an evidence-based foundation for informing the discussions among stakeholders
on the implementation of the Guiding Principles. The survey also reminded States of the
increasing worldwide social expectation, as shown by the global participation in the Forum,
that they embrace proactively the Guiding Principles. Following an extension of the initial
deadline, as at 31 January, a total of 26 responses from countries all over the world had
been received. The Working Group also conducted selected interviews with Member States
between November 2012 and January 2013 to clarify answers and to collect details of
relevant State implementation initiatives publicly shared at the Forum. The complete results
of the survey and the systematization of further information shared by States on the
implementation of the Guiding Principles are presented in an addendum to the present
13
14
Examples include the baseline surveys among member States of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) commissioned by the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights
and the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN.
For the text of the survey, see www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Business/Pages/ImplementationGP.aspx.
7
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