A/HRC/11/13 page 13 42. The adverse consequences of this scarcity of support are demonstrated in the earlier example of developing country investment negotiators signing contracts that adversely affect their States’ duty to protect, at least in part because of capacity shortfalls that also extend to other policy domains. 43. Finally, international cooperation involves joint problem-solving by States. Nowhere is this more desperately needed than in conflict situations. The current international human rights regime cannot possibly be expected to function as intended where societies are torn apart by civil war or other major strife. It is therefore unsurprising that the most egregious corporate-related human rights abuses typically occur amidst conflict. The Special Representative has found that all stakeholders want greater guidance on how to prevent corporate-related abuse in conflict affected areas. Therefore, he is exploring the possibility of working with an informal group of home and host States to generate ideas about effective approaches and tools States could employ to help achieve that end. D. Summing up 44. Governments are the most appropriate entities to make the difficult decisions required to reconcile different societal needs. Yet, as the Special Representative noted in his 2008 report, most Governments take a relatively narrow approach to managing the business and human rights agenda. Human rights concerns remain poorly integrated into other policy domains that directly shape business practices. Therefore, a major objective of the Special Representative’s renewed mandate is to assist Governments in recognizing those connections and advancing the business and human rights agenda beyond its currently narrow confines. IV. THE CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY TO RESPECT 45. In paragraph 4 (b) of resolution 8/7, the Human Rights Council asked the Special Representative “to elaborate further on the scope and content of the corporate responsibility to respect all human rights and to provide concrete guidance to business and other stakeholders”. This section summarizes the responsibility to respect and addresses several issues requiring further elaboration. 46. Companies know they must comply with all applicable laws to obtain and sustain their legal licence to operate. However, over time companies have found that legal compliance alone may not ensure their social licence to operate, particularly where the law is weak. The social licence to operate is based in prevailing social norms that can be as important to the success of a business as legal norms. Of course, social norms may vary by region and industry. But one of them has acquired near-universal recognition by all stakeholders, namely the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, or, put simply, to not infringe on the rights of others. 47. By near-universal is meant two things. First, the corporate responsibility to respect is acknowledged by virtually every company and industry CSR initiative, endorsed by the world’s largest business associations, affirmed in the Global Compact and its worldwide national networks, and enshrined in such soft law instruments as the ILO Tripartite Declaration and the OECD Guidelines. Second, violations of this social norm are routinely brought to public attention globally through mobilized local communities, networks of civil society, the media including blogs, complaints procedures such as the OECD NCPs, and if they involve alleged