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	Those who produce food are among world's hungriest by Hilal Elver Special Rapporteur on the right to food   Oct. 2018 (UN News)   Agricultural workers have the hardest time accessing food for themselves, and are often excluded from national labour and social protection frameworks, the Special Rapporteur on the right to food highlighted this week.   'Agricultural workers, including women, children and migrants and plantation workers, are increasingly faced with low wages, part-time work, informality, and a lack of social and economic protections', said Hilal Elver, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, as she presented her annual report to the UN.   Agricultural workers make up approximately one third of the world's workforce - 1.3 billion people - and often work in industrialized food systems which focus on increasing food production and maximizing profitability, at the expense of workers.   According to the Rapporteur, more than 170,000 agricultural workers are killed doing their jobs every year; the risk of a fatal accident is twice as high in food production than in other sector.   Those working on farms or plantations, face 'regular exposure pesticides and to long hours spent in extreme temperatures without adequate access to water', said Ms. Elver, and migrant workers are particularly vulnerable as they face 'more severe economic exploitation and social exclusion than other agricultural workers' and 'lack the fundamental protections otherwise extended to citizens'.   The human rights expert noted that employers are more likely to consider migrant workers as a disposable, low-wage workforce, silenced without rights to bargain collectively for improved wages and working conditions.   Children are also extremely vulnerable: about 108 million of them face the same dangers through agricultural work due to insufficient risk-prevention and lack of control measures. More than two thirds of the child labour workforce employed in the broader agricultural sector.   The Special Rapporteur urged governments to take action to ensure that the people who produce our food do not go hungry, and that their fundamental rights are fully respected.   'Labour rights and human rights are interdependent, indivisible, and mutually inclusive', she stated, adding that 'the full enjoyment of human rights and labour rights for agricultural workers is a necessary precondition for the realization of the right to food'.   States bear the primary duty to respect, protect and fulfill the right to food of agricultural workers under international human rights law and to regulate the national and extraterritorial behaviours of the private sector.   'It is time for States to step up, and take swift and urgent action to hold accountable those who commit human rights violations against agricultural workers and to prevent further violations', the expert said.   http://hilalelver.org/resources/thematicreports/agricultural-workers/ http://hilalelver.org/resources/thematicreports/ Visit the related web page
	Too many companies globally are ignoring their human rights responsibilities by ICJ, FIDH, OHCHR, Business & Human Rights Centre   July 2019   European Citizens call on EU to engage on UN treaty to ensure that businesses respect human rights.   This week saw the publication of the landmark revised draft of a UN treaty which aims to prevent human rights abuses by transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and close existing gaps in access to justice for victims.   A coalition of European civil society groups welcomes the publication of the revised draft UN Treaty on business and human rights and calls on the EU to conduct a thorough analysis of it.   This is particularly important as the revised draft addresses many of the EU's previous concerns, by building on the existing UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and defining which business activities should be covered.   A new analysis should build the basis for a determined, proactive EU engagement in the upcoming 5th session, taking place in October 2019 in Geneva. We urge the EU and its Member States to analyse the content of the revised draft and work in a transparent, inclusive process. This includes sharing their legal analysis, consulting civil society groups and working towards preparing the EU's participation in the formal negotiation session.   Communities have struggled for decades against corporate abuses such as environmental damage, landgrabs, discrimination and harassment, or appalling working conditions in the bottom of global value chains.   Facing many barriers to justice, victims struggle to hold corporations accountable, and often experience threats, intimidation and violence when they try to do so - with women facing particular gender-based rights violations.   The ongoing process for a UN Treaty is a historic opportunityto address the fragmentation of international law and change the current asymmetry of power between people, the planet and corporations, by regulating business activities in international human rights law.   Regrettably, the EU has so far engaged reluctantly in this important international process, despite numerous calls from the European Parliament and from over 580,000 European citizensthat it should do so.   As the world's largest economy and trading block, the EU has a crucial role to play with regards to holding its businesses accountable.   The lack of substantive EU engagement in the UN Treaty process is in stark contrast with the EU's strong push for the expansion and enforcement of investor rights in bilateral agreements. Rather than further prioritising corporate interests over people's rights and the environment, the EU should invest that level of effort and engagement for protection against harmful business activities.   We need the EU's political commitment to address the issue of corporate impunity for human rights abuses.   Should the EU fail to organise a joint position on the UN Treaty, Member States must fulfill their responsibility, speak up during the negotiations and bring their experience and perspectives to the international discussion.   The undersigned call on the EU to live up to its commitments to champion human rights and gender equality and accordingly negotiate with other countries, to ensure that the treaty will adequately serve to protect the women and men suffering from business-related abuses, and to grant them appropriate remedy for harms caused.   We are ready to support our government delegations, the European Commission, parliamentarians and MEPs in this historic task. http://bit.ly/2lOfdJ4   http://www.fidh.org/en/international-advocacy/european-union/citizens-demand-the-eu-stops-stalling-on-a-treaty-to-ensure-that   * Signed: ActionAid International, FIDH, CIDSE, Global Policy Forum, Commission Justice et Paix Belgique, agencies   * OHCHR: Legally binding instrument to regulate, in International Human Rights Law, the activities of Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises. (Current draft July 2019): http://bit.ly/2YRLiSi   http://www.ohchr.org/EN/hrbodies/hrc/wgtranscorp/pages/igwgontnc.aspx   Oct. 2018 (OHCHR)   Too many companies globally are ignoring their human rights responsibilities and governments are failing to regulate and lead by example in business practices, a group of independent UN experts says.   A report by the experts urges business to exercise human rights due diligence to comply with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and recommends ways states - in their roles as regulators as well as owners, investors, trade promoters and buyers and investors should fix shortcomings.   'Human rights due diligence is about preventing negative impacts on people', said Dante Pesce, who chairs the Working Group on Business and Human Rights. 'Basically it involves identifying risks to people across the value chain, being transparent about those risks and taking action to prevent or remedy them. To be meaningful it needs to be informed by real stakeholder engagement, in particular with communities, human rights and environmental defenders and trade unions'.   'Making progress in tackling adverse business-related impacts on people's rights and dignity is a critical and urgent issue', Mr. Pesce said. 'In fact, ensuring that human rights are respected across their own activities and value chains, is the most significant contribution most companies can make towards sustainable development'.   The group's report, presented to the United Nations General Assembly today, found that increasingly investors were scrutinising and pressuring companies to manage human rights risks and prevent abuses, but also that more investors should join the trend.   The report revealed a few companies in various industries are leading the way, but most businesses seem unaware of their human rights responsibility or unwilling to implement human rights due diligence. On government performance, the expert group found a few promising legal and policy developments, but also that more action is needed.   'In spite of an overall picture of slow progress, the good news is that human rights due diligence can be done', Mr. Pesce said. 'Numerous tools and resources are available and business enterprises can no longer cite a lack of knowledge as an excuse for inaction. They just need to get started, and investors and governments should push them along. Evidence is clearly suggesting that doing the right thing is also the smart thing to do'. http://bit.ly/2pXq1mX   Oct. 2018   UN treaty on business and human rights; a historic opportunity to remove barriers to justice   While international law has defined the duties of states to protect human rights, it has not regulated enough the responsibility of corporations for their human rights violations. A turning point was reached on 25 June 2014, when the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted a resolution on the elaboration of an international legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, also referred to as UN Treaty.   The UN Resolution called for the establishment of an Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) with the mandate to elaborate the Treaty. After a few years of sessions to establish the ground of the Treaty, in July 2018 the Presidency of the OEIGWG published the Zero Draft of the UN Binding Treaty.   This marks a decisive moment for the process towards shaping a UN Treaty that can bring value to global efforts towards preventing adverse human rights effects of business activities and providing access to justice for affected people and communities.   http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/binding-treaty/intergovernmental-working-group-sessions/fourth-un-intergovt-working-group-session-on-proposed-business-human-rights-treaty-15-19-oct-2018 http://bit.ly/2RVkg5Y   Oct. 2018   Open Letter to States concerning an International Legally Binding Instrument on Business and Human Rights from over 150 international scholars and experts in the fields of public international law, human rights law, business and human rights and international economic law:   An International Legally Binding Instrument as a Necessary Complement to Existing Instruments   "We acknowledge the positive contribution made by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other initiatives in providing guidance on the relationship between business and human rights. Significant gaps, however, remain in ensuring that businesses respect human rights and effective remedies are available to victims of business-related human rights abuses.   There is also no legally binding international framework to facilitate mutual cooperation and international assistance among states to hold business enterprises accountable for human rights abuses. We believe that an international legally binding instrument would strengthen and complement existing regulatory initiatives and evolving good practice regulation at the national level".   We strongly urge all states to engage constructively and in good faith with the process of negotiating an international legally binding instrument. By doing so, states will demonstrate their continuous commitment to respect, protect and fulfil all human rights amidst the challenges of the 21st century: http://bit.ly/2NCSk3s   June 2018   We, over 200 civil society organizations and members of the Treaty Alliance, a broad platform of civil society organizations and social movements in support of the adoption of an international human rights treaty on transnational corporations (TNCs) and other business enterprises (OBEs), and other undersigned organizations, call on all UN Member States to engage without delay in active and constructive negotiations of the substance of the treaty to improve the human rights of communities and people affected by the operations of TNCs and OBEs and their access to effective remedy, and to put an end to corporate impunity for human rights abuses.   We consider that talks among member States as well as with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are key to move the process forward.   http://www.cidse.org/treaty-alliance-letter-to-un-member-states/   Feb. 2018   Written Submission to the 3rd session of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (IGWG)   Removing Barriers to Justice - How a treaty on business and human rights could improve access to remedy for victims.   Transnational businesses are important actors on the global stage. Their operations can potentially create real benefits, but they can also cause lasting harm - both to people and the planet. There are now numerous cases involving transnational companies that have been implicated in creating, facilitating or tolerating situations leading to violations of human rights and environmental degradation.   Complaints raised against major transnationals include cases of land acquisition that fail to respect the land rights of traditional and indigenous communities; the industrial use of powerful chemicals impacting on the environment; forced labour; the failure to protect workers and local communities from dangerous substances; dumping of waste; polluting of rivers; tolerance of poor safety standards and working conditions; and accounts of collaboration with State military and paramilitary groups against a backdrop of widespread violence against human rights defenders.   Given these severe international impacts, combined with the fact that dozens of companies and corporate groups are now bigger in economic terms than many individual countries, it is remarkable that they still remain largely outside of the formal regulatory system of international human rights law.   The international human rights supervisory regimes are predicated on State-based systems.   This raises a key question: how can businesses be regulated if they operate across national boundaries yet are only subject to the domestic supervisory frameworks of nation States.   Access to justice for victims of business related human rights violations is a widespread and growing problem around the world. For decades, communities have been bearing the brunt of corporate misconduct without any proper access to remedy.   On a daily basis, people have been risking their lives in order to protect their land, their livelihoods, the environment and their rights as workers.   Often, communities stand alone on the frontline - with international human rights standards on their side, but without (judicial) enforcement to back them up.   This report 'Removing Barriers to Justice' gives an overview of several obstacles currently faced by victims of business - related human rights abuses when trying to access remedy, illustrated by analysis of transnational business and human rights litigation.   The report puts forward concrete recommendations for how the UN treaty can remove barriers to justice while building upon and complementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).   A treaty needs to create an international framework for jurisdiction and choice of law for transnational business and human rights cases, decreasing the likelihood of jurisdictional battles.   Removing legal barriers to corporate liability, the treaty should also establish parent company liability and criminal liability for corporate offenders, as well as a binding duty of care related to companies subsidiaries and supply chain.   Critical to protecting lives and a safe space for civil society, the treaty needs to extend protection to human rights defenders and firmly establishing community participation in relation to business projects.   Improving victims access to courts, the treaty should include provisions on financial and legal support for plaintiffs, reversed burden of proof and victims access to information.   Last but not least, an internationally binding instrument should address the weak links in domestic legal systems by creating agreement on judicial cooperation, mutual recognition and enforcement of judicial decisions, strengthening domestic agencies in responding to transnational cases, stipulating effective sanctions to be imposed by domestic legal processes and establishing an effective global oversight body on implementation of the treaty.   Whether through the use of domestic courts, the establishment of a transnational court and/or a global oversight body, the added value of the treaty will among other things be measured by the remedy it delivers on the ground.   In its report on the right to an effective remedy, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights emphasizes that rights holders should be central to the entire remedy process, if there is to be access to effective remedy.   Furthermore, effectiveness of remedies concerns both process and outcome: if the rights holders are not satisfied at the end of the remedial process, no remedy was achieved. Without effective remedy on the ground, the treaty will fail the very people it is supposed to serve.   * Report by: ActionAid Netherlands, Brot fur die Welt, Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), (CIDSE), Friends of the Earth Europe, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), The Norwegian Forum for Development and Environment (ForUM): http://bit.ly/2xM4Hb5   # The United Nations open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights was established by the UN Human Rights Council in its resolution 26/9 of 26 June 2014, and mandated to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights.   http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/binding-treaty/latest-news-on-proposed-binding-treaty http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/binding-treaty/statements-initiatives-commentaries http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/binding-treaty http://www.business-humanrights.org/en/un-intergovt-working-group-on-proposed-treaty http://bindingtreaty.org/ http://www.fidh.org/en/issues/globalisation-human-rights/fidh-advocates-for-the-adoption-of-an-international-legally-binding http://www.escr-net.org/corporateaccountability/hrbusinesstreaty http://bit.ly/2kd7unq http://www.fidh.org/en/region/asia/china/report-unveils-a-pattern-of-human-and-environmental-rights-violations http://inequality.org/research/world-needs-new-social-contract/ http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/WGTransCorp/Pages/IGWGOnTNC.aspx Visit the related web page
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