A/HRC/31/50 I. Introduction 1. The open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights was established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 26/9 of 26 June 2014, and mandated to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. In the resolution, the Council decided that the first two sessions of the working group should be dedicated to conducting constructive deliberations on the content, scope, nature and form of the future international instrument, and that its first session should be held for five working days in 2015, before the thirtieth session of the Council, and that its first meeting should serve to collect inputs, including written inputs, from States and relevant stakeholders. Moreover, the Council affirmed the importance of providing the working group with independent expertise and expert advice, requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide the working group with all the assistance necessary for the effective fulfilment of its mandate, and requested the working group to submit to it a report on progress made. 2. According to the annual programme of work of the Human Rights Council, it was decided that the working group would meet from 6 to 10 July 2015. 3. The first session was opened by the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, on behalf of the Secretary-General.1 The Deputy High Commissioner opened by introducing a video message by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in which he highlighted that, since the introduction of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international human rights law had been evolving with the increasing awareness that non-State actors have a responsibility to ensure accountability and access to remedies when rights have been abused. Furthermore, he noted that the adoption of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights was an important step; he welcomed the intergovernmental process as a complementary step, and stressed that there was no conflict between advocating for both measures as a means to enhance protection and accountability in the business context. Finally, he urged all member States to work in a constructive spirit in order to further advance human rights. The Deputy High Commissioner welcomed all the participants and noted that their inputs would be essential to the future protection of human rights. She also expressed the readiness of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to assist the working group in all its endeavours. 4. As keynote speaker, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples noted that an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises and human rights could contribute to redressing gaps and imbalances in the international legal order that undermine human rights, and could address the lack of remedy procedures for victims of corporate human right abuses. In that regard, the Special Rapporteur highlighted that, for several decades, indigenous peoples have been victims of serious human rights violations by the actions or omissions of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur underscored that the Guiding Principles should continue to be used as an interim framework while developing the platform for advancing the prevention and remedy of corporate- 1 A webcast of the entire first session of the working group is available from http://webtv.un.org/search/1st-meeting-1st-session-of-open-ended-intergovernmental-working-groupon-transnational-corporations/4339866849001?term=business&languages=&sort=date. 3