A/HRC/11/13 page 4 which they operate and to develop rights-compliant grievance mechanisms, whether acting in Australia or overseas”.5 The Norwegian Government’s 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility White Paper discusses the framework extensively.6 4. Leading business entities have endorsed the framework. In a joint statement, the International Organization of Employers (IOE), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD said that the framework provides “a clear, practical and objective way of approaching a very complex set of issues”.7 It was welcomed by the International Council of Mining and Metals and the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights.8 Forty socially responsible investment funds wrote to the Council, saying that the framework helped them by promoting greater disclosure of corporate human rights impacts, and appropriate steps to mitigate them.9 The oil company, ExxonMobil, in a public commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, cited the framework’s corporate responsibility to respect principle as a benchmark for its own employees.10 5. A joint civil society statement to the Council in May 2008 noted the framework’s value, and several signatories have invoked it in subsequent advocacy work.11 Amnesty International said the framework “has the potential to make an important contribution to the protection of human rights”.12 The Special Representative was pleased by the positive feedback from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at a multi-stakeholder consultation in New Delhi in February 2009, and a NGO briefing in New York in March 2009. Finally, his work is featured prominently in academic writings and the media. 6. This report provides an update on steps the Special Representative has taken towards operationalizing the framework, and it addresses a number of issues related to it that have 5 Senate Official Hansard (No. 6 2008) 23 June 2008, pp. 3037-3038: http://www.aph.gov.au/ HANSARD/senate/dailys/ds230608.pdf. 6 “Corporate Social Responsibility in a Global Economy”, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Norway, 23 January 2009. 7 http://www.reports-and-materials.org/Letter-IOE-ICC-BIAC-re-Ruggie-report-May-2008.pdf. 8 See http://www.icmm.com/page/8331/icmm-welcomes-ruggie-report; and http://www.reportsand-materials.org/BLIHR-statement-Ruggie-report-2008.pdf. 9 http://www.reports-and-materials.org/SRI-letter-re-Ruggie-report-3-Jun-2008.pdf. 10 This appeared on the New York Times op-ed page: http://www.exxonmobil.com/corporate/ news_opeds_20081218_humanrights.aspx. 11 A/HRC/8/NGO/5. 12 http://www.reports-and-materials.org/Amnesty-submission-to-Ruggie-Jul-2008.doc.