Accra meeting discusses Africa position on UN legally binding instrument on business and human rights
A consultative meeting in Accra, Tuesday October 3, 2023 considered the position of Africa on the United Nations legally binding instrument on business and human rights.
The issues of transnational corporations’ operations in Africa and their human rights records have been of intense public interest for many years.
The meeting organised by ActionAid Ghana and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation and co-hosted by the Ghana and Cameroon governments ahead of the 9th Session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland, sought to engage African States and Civil Society Organizations to establish an Africa position on the United Nation’s legally binding instrument that seeks to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights on the continent.
As a background, at its 26th session, on June 26, 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted through Resolution 26/9 by which it decided “to establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, whose mandate shall be to elaborate an international legally binding instrument (LBI) to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.
The process of “elaboration of the LBI set the process of development of a normative instrument in the respect of human rights in relation with the conduct of commercial entities in their transnational context.
The Human Rights Council also decided that the first two sessions of the open-ended intergovernmental working group “shall be dedicated to conducting constructive deliberations on the content, scope, nature and form of the future international instrument.”
Since then, eight State led negotiations have been held between July 2015 to October 2022 at Palais des Nations, Geneva where the Chair encouraged delegations to make textual proposals on the various provisions in line with the adopted programme of work.
During the last session in October 2022 the Third Revised Draft of a Treaty on Business and Human Rights served as the basis for negotiations, and helped advance discussions with State and non-State stakeholders.
The 8th session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group in 2022 was an important step in the process, because key messages and recommendations necessary for the LBI effective progress were adopted.
Over the past decade, Africa has consistently grown in Gross Domestic Product, increased employment, and improved infrastructure. Business has played a critical role in these developments, as shown by the yearly increases in investment and trade flows toward the continent. However, Africa faces numerous challenges on the economic, social, governance and environmental fronts, as well as when it comes to the enjoyment of internationally recognised human rights standards. These differ widely across countries, but issues such as adverse environmental impacts and inconsistent implementation of international and African Union (AU) treaties relating to respecting human rights in key economic activities and investments, remain pervasive in several parts of the continent.
Despite the many challenges, Africa has made significant progress followed by the adoption in 2011 of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, a set of guidelines to operationalize the UN Framework and further define the key duties and responsibilities of States and business enterprises regarding business-related human rights abuses.
In his remarks at the Accra consultation, John Nkaw, Country Director of ActionAid Ghana said the consultation – the first of its kind, provides an opportunity for African countries to collectively agree, from an African perspective, on what they would like to see when it comes to the regulation of the activities of transnational corporations and other businesses.
“We want to ensure that as they carry out their various activities across our continent, corporations demonstrate full respect for human rights and the protection of our ecosystems,” he said.
Among other things, Mr Nkaw pointed out that the operations of businesses can have a profound impact on the rights of people and communities.
“Whilst some of these impacts are positive, such as increasing access to employment, they are often negative and include forcible eviction, various forms of labour exploitation and damage to the environment. The impacts of these are experienced hardest by women, children and indigenous communities and other marginalised people,” he noted.
He further indicated that there is a pressing need to establish international norms of regulating business operations in relation to human rights, urging Africa to urgently play a more proactive role in shaping what this looks like.
“Indeed, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights meeting at its 74th Ordinary session earlier this year recognised that respect for human rights, norms and principles by business enterprises in the countries of operation is a prerequisite for the sustainable development envisaged by the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the operationalisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The Commission recognised that power imbalances, the pressure of attracting investment as well as legal hurdles and vacuums create conditions for violation of human rights, labour and environmental standards. The Commission also called for an effective regional framework to prevent and address business-related human rights abuses and ensure access to effective remedy for those affected, including in the context of trade and investment activities under the Africa Continent Free Trade Area,” he said.
Mr Nkaw acknowledged that various crucial regional processes in this regard are ongoing, including the finalization of the AU Policy Framework on Business and Human Rights, at the international level, efforts are underway to elaborate an internationally legally binding instrument under the auspices of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014.
“This process recognises that voluntary commitments by both states and businesses, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, have had some positive outcomes. However, human rights abuses by corporations persist and this calls for an international legally binding treaty,” he said.
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi