11th UN Forum on business and human rights

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(Versión en español adjunta)

Interpretation available in English, French and Spanish

Session organized by the UN Working Group on business and human rights

Brief description of the session:
The worst forms of business-related human rights abuse tend to happen in conflict-affected contexts. The 2020 report by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights on conflict situations shows the need for heightened human rights due diligence in conflict situations, while tools and guidance developed by the Working Group, UNDP, and others have begun to elaborate on the specific steps business can take to manage the heightened human rights risks in these contexts. Using examples from recent conflict situations, this session will consider how business can respond, including discussion of the actions business can take to prevent and mitigate harm, the human rights dilemmas businesses must address, and the role of business in fostering an enabling environment for peace and stability.

Key objectives of the session:

• Discuss business actions in recent conflicts and the extent to which they undertook heightened human rights due diligence;
• Discuss dilemmas and challenges to conducting heightened human rights due diligence, and how these dilemmas can be overcome;
• Offer lessons learned from such business activity; and,
• Provide insights into how businesses can make a responsible exit which considers human rights impacts.

Key discussion questions:

• What are the human rights dilemmas faced by businesses operating in conflict-affected areas? What are some of the challenges businesses face in responding in a rights-respecting way? What are some of the internal and external obstacles that must be overcome?
• What are the appropriate policies, regulation, and adjudication to protect against corporate-related human rights abuses in conflict and post-conflict situations?
• How has heightened due diligence been implemented in these contexts? What specific measures did business take, and why, in recent conflict and post-conflict situations?
• What are key lessons learned from recent conflict situations, and how can these be applied going forward?
• How can business, civil society, and government partner to ensure respect for human rights during times of conflict?

Background to the discussion
Since the endorsement by the Human Rights Council of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011, the number of civil wars has almost tripled, with a six-fold increase in battle-related deaths. For the first time in a decade, in 2021 high-intensity armed conflicts accounted for more than half of all cases of armed conflict worldwide.  According to the Secretary-General, by mid-2022, displacement due to conflict and violence had reached historic levels with over 100 million people, or more than 1 per cent of the global population, having been forcibly displaced. 
This means that very many human rights abuses take place in conflict-affected areas and other situations of widespread violence and that human rights abuses spark or intensify conflict. For businesses, this means that many face complex challenges in respecting human rights as they operate in such environments, either because their activities require them to be in or to re-enter conflict-affected areas, or because they become caught up in the outbreak of a conflict.

Additional background documents

• The Working Group report on Business, human rights and conflict-affected regions: towards heightened action: A/75/212. Read the executive summary.
• Implementing the third pillar: lessons from transitional justice guidance by the Working Group – Report of the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises A/HRC/50/40/Add.4.
• Heightened Human Rights Due Diligence for Business in Conflict-Affected Contexts: A Guide
• What do the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights say about protecting and respecting human rights in conflict-affected contexts?
• Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, Business and human rights in conflict-affected regions: challenges and options towards State responses, A/HRC/17/32, 2011 (A companion report to the Guiding Principles focused on policy options for States)
• Report by the Working Group on gender dimensions of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (with policy recommendations on gender and conflict), A/HRC/41/43.
• Guidance for Business in Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Contexts
•  Business and Human Rights Resource Centre on business actions as a consequence of Russian armed conflict in Ukraine