A/HRC/39/24 efficiency of educational activities. Finally, participants recommended intersectoral collaboration between the government, the judiciary, the parliament, the national human rights institution, civil society and academia, because all parts of society had a specific and interconnected role to play in human rights education. C. Preventing human rights abuses by private actors 29. The third session, which focused on preventing human rights abuses by private actors, was moderated by a human rights officer from the Women’s Human Rights and Gender Section of OHCHR. The panellists were Zainah Anwar, Director of the global civil society movement Musawah; Matthias Thorns, Director of Stakeholder Engagement at the International Organization of Employers; and Lene Wendland, Chief of the Human Rights and Economic and Social Issues Section of OHCHR. 30. Ms. Anwar focused her presentation on the work of women’s rights groups in countries where private actors and State authorities used religion to justify human rights violations and abuses. She noted that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was the human rights treaty that had attracted the most reservations, with some 60 per cent based on religion, notably on its article 16 regarding marriage and family relations. Therefore women’s demands were thwarted in many States, and she noted that the work of women’s rights groups was demonized as being against Islam or morality. There was limited space for debate and change, with little reflection of women’s rights in decision-making processes. She noted that if it was only religious leaders who were seen to have the right to talk about Islam, then women would fear speaking out; many secular human rights activists had also disengaged with religious issues. However, non-governmental organizations such as Sisters in Islam (at the national level) and Musawah (at the international level) were working to build knowledge and courage to deal with a misogynistic reading of religion. Civil society efforts, for example writing letters to newspapers, submitting memorandums for law reform, and challenging in court a book ban and fatwa against Sisters in Islam, aimed to build a rights-based democratic culture. 31. She asserted that religion could be a source of empowerment and liberation if ideological non-State actors ceased silencing any demands for equality. Musawah had undertaken capacity-building and engaged in international advocacy, including by submitting to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women thematic reports and country-specific statements on reservations that justified the repression of women. Furthermore, she noted that the Beirut Declaration and its 18 commitments on “Faith for Rights” was important in order to turn the principles into action on the ground, for example by refining curriculums, teaching materials and textbooks wherever some religious interpretations, or the way they were presented, may give rise to the perception of condoning violence or discrimination (twelfth commitment). 10 She stressed the importance of devising a human rights-based counter-narrative in order to build knowledge and prevent violent extremism. 32. Mr. Thorns addressed the prevention of abuses by companies, in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (A/HRC/17/31, annex). The related due diligence process served in better understanding whether a company had potential or actual human rights issues. In practice, however, there may be challenges in view of the high number of suppliers and intermediaries of transnational companies. Progress had been made in the past decade with the increasing use of due diligence and with the endorsement of the Guiding Principles in 2011. Due diligence had also been introduced in French law, 11 the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. 33. Companies were expected to be transparent regarding the findings on their human rights practices, however he emphasized that companies faced criticism when they declared problems in their supply chain and could consequently be removed from the United Nations 10 11 8 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Press/Faith4Rights.pdf. See www.assemblee-nationale.fr/14/ta/ta0924.asp.