A/HRC/33/31 To guarantee equal access and non-discrimination 6. States have committed to guarantee equality and non-discrimination. They should strive to ensure universal and transparent access to affordable and appropriate financial services across income, gender, geography, age and other groups. This implies establishing effective regulation, recourse mechanisms and consumer protection agencies to prevent predatory lending and ensure greater financial literacy of consumers. To ensure empowerment of excluded groups 7. Specific barriers to women’s access to finance must be eliminated. Women and girls must have equal access to financial services and the right to own land and other assets. Indigenous peoples’ rights should be fully reflected in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In particular, their rights to their lands, natural resources and territories, and to the benefits from their traditional knowledge should be protected. Actions likely to impact their rights should not be taken without their free, prior and informed consent. Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decisionmaking related to and to benefit from the use of their knowledge, innovations and practices. The human rights of migrants should be protected, regardless of their status. Discriminatory barriers to their development should be removed. Migrants should not be treated as an economic commodity. Policies on remittances should take into account that remittances are private sources of finance and seek to reduce their costs. To respect human rights and do no harm 8. As businesses assume an ever-expanding role in the development and economic spheres their adherence to the human rights responsibilities outlined in the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights becomes increasingly critical. Businesses must respect human rights and do no harm. These responsibilities apply in the context of public private partnerships, blended finance instruments, foreign direct investment and all private business activities. With regard to public-private partnerships and blended finance, the risks and benefits of investments should be shared equitably between public and private investors. Both private and public sector partners must meet their respective human rights responsibilities and obligations. In working together, States and businesses should incorporate social, environmental, labour, human rights and gender equality considerations into their activities and subject public private partnerships to human rights safeguards and rigorous due diligence, including human rights impact assessments. To protect persons from human rights abuses committed by private actors 9. States have an obligation to actively prevent private activities, including investments, from undermining human rights. States should establish appropriate regulations and oversight mechanisms to protect human rights from the potentially negative impacts of public-private partnerships and blended finance instruments. Measures should be taken to ensure that the provisions of international trade and investment agreements do not protect investor interests at the expense of State policy space to promote the realization of human rights. To ensure accountability 10. All States should adopt policies and institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks to encourage responsible and accountable investment in sustainable development. Such frameworks should include human rights and sustainability criteria and align investor incentives with sustainable development. They should go beyond voluntary reporting and require all companies to undertake mandatory economic, environment, social and 13