A/HRC/44/56 Category of participating stakeholders Multi-stakeholder initiatives National human rights institutions States Percentage 1.3 2.9 12.7 United Nations entities/intergovernmental organizations 6.7 Other 4.5 7. Participation has increased significantly since the first session of the Forum was held in 2012, when some 1,000 people registered. Private sector representation has also grown steadily, reaching over 30 per cent of the total in 2019. Over 57 per cent of registered participants were women and 58 per cent of those with official speaking roles were women. II. Key messages from the plenary sessions A. Opening plenary1 8. The eighth session of the Forum was opened by the Secretary-General (through video recording), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the VicePresident of the Human Rights Council, the Minister for Foreign Trade and Nordic Affairs of Sweden and the Chair of the Working Group. In their opening remarks, they highlighted the important role played by the Forum in helping States and businesses to implement the Guiding Principles and the relevance of the Guiding Principles for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 9. The Secretary-General reiterated that the Guiding Principles provided the authoritative framework for businesses and States in preventing and providing remedy for human rights abuses occurring in business operations and welcomed the call for States to step up their efforts, including by adopting regulations to promote responsible business conduct and to provide remedy to affected people. He highlighted the crucial role of civil society in ensuring corporate accountability. Recalling the persistent challenges posed by inequality, the climate crisis and other factors, he furthermore encouraged the private sector to adopt and promote business practices that helped to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 10. The High Commissioner stressed the urgent need for States to put the three pillars of the Guiding Principles into practice and to move from making commitments to taking concrete action. States must not only pass or uphold coherent legislation that meets international human rights and labour standards but also develop and implement effective policies, regulations, adjudications, economic incentives and guidance. Moreover, they must promote dialogue among relevant actors. The High Commissioner noted that some progress had been made by companies with regard to respect for human rights and the implementation of human rights due diligence processes. Unprincipled business practices remained, however, and these continued to generate preventable human suffering, impede inclusive and sustainable development and fuel inequalities. She expressed concern about the increase in attacks and killings of human rights defenders and highlighted emerging human rights issues connected to the digital revolution, which required from Governments policy responses grounded in human rights standards. 11. The Vice-President of the Human Rights Council 2 emphasized that, by endorsing unanimously the Guiding Principles, the Council had established an authoritative framework to prevent and address adverse human rights risks and the impact of business activities. She noted the key role played by the Council in advancing the business and 1 2 See http://webtv.un.org/search/-stepping-up-government-leadership-forum-on-business-and-humanrights-2019/6108649717001/?term=&lan=english&cat=Forum%20on% 20Business%20and%20Human%20Rights%202019&sort=date&page=2. The Permanent Representative of Croatia to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva. 3