Deputy Ombudsman intervenes at the 10th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights

The Deputy Ombudsman, Teresa Anjinho, addressed the 10th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, which takes place from 29 November to 1 December 2021, under the theme: “The next decade of business and human rights: increasing the pace and scale of action to implement the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”

Teresa Anjinho participated in the Forum as a speaker in the session focused on “The role of national human rights institutions in facilitating access to remedy: Different avenues”.

In 2008, the UN Special Representative, John Ruggie, proposed a framework to the UN Human Rights Council addressed fundamentally to the relationship between business activity and human rights, based on three pillars: the duty of States to protect, the duty of business to protect and access to effective remedies. The UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed this understanding and subsequently formalised the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) in 2011.

The Forum was established in that context, ten years ago now, to serve as a global platform for stakeholders “to discuss trends and challenges in the implementation of the Guiding Principles and to promote dialogue and cooperation on business and human rights issues, including challenges faced in particular sectors, operating environments or in relation to specific rights or groups, as well as the identification of good practices.”

Among other initiatives, a set of recommendations has been drawn up to help frame the reciprocal collaboration of National Human Rights Institutions and of these with other judicial and non-judicial recourse mechanisms, with the aim of facilitating and improving redress mechanisms for rights holders affected by business-related harm, notably in cross-border and transnational cases.

To learn more about Forum 2021 – Business and Human Rights click here.