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Fifth session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights

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The first and second sessions of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (OEIGWG) were dedicated to conducting constructive deliberations on the content, scope, nature and form of a future international instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.  During the third session, the Working Group discussed elements for a draft legally binding instrument prepared by the Chairperson-Rapporteur of the OEIGWG taking into consideration the discussions held during the first two sessions. During the fourth session, the Working Group’s discussions focused on a zero draft legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, as well as a zero draft optional protocol to be annexed to the zero draft legally binding instrument.

The Permanent Mission of Ecuador, on behalf of the Chairmanship of the OEIGWG, prepared a revised draft legally binding instrument based on these previous sessions, as well as other activities of, and inputs received by, the Chairmanship (see A/HRC/40/48, para. 91(b)).  This revised draft served as the basis for direct substantive intergovernmental negotiations during the fifth session of the OEIGWG, which was held from 14 to 18 October 2019, in Geneva. The report of the fifth session is available here.

Webcast of the session.

Documents

Submissions received following the call for additional textual suggestions on the revised draft legally binding instrument

Note verbale
English | French | Spanish

Written contributions

States

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Other stakeholders

Oral Statements

General statements:

States

Observers

International Organizations

National Human Rights Institutions

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Panel on Preamble, Articles 1 and 2: 

States

Observers

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Al Haq

CETIM

CCFD

EEB – European Environmental Bureau

FIDH

Friends of Earth

IOE

TNI 1-2

WomanKind WorldWide

Panel on articles 3 and 4 :

States

Observers

Intergovernmental Organization

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Panel on article 5  :

States

Observers 

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Panel on article 6:

States

Observers 

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Panel on articles 7, 8 and 9:

States

Observers 

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Panel on articles 10, 11 and 12:

States

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Panel on article 13:

States

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Panel on article 14 to 22:

States

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status

Concluding remarks:

Non-governmental organizations with ECOSOC consultative status
(Due to lack of time, these could not been delivered orally)

Accreditation

Only UN Member and Observer States, specialized agencies and other international organizations, national human rights institutions with "A status" accreditation, and NGOs with ECOSOC consultative status may attend and participate in the public meetings of the OEIGWG. Others may be able to access the public gallery or side events during the session.

Accreditation requirements vary depending on the entity you will be representing.  Please consult the accreditation page to find instructions on how to properly request accreditation based on your designation.

Side Events

Conference rooms XXII, XXIII, and XXIV were reserved for side events during the fifth session. Please consult the table of side events to see when and where each side event took place.

Side event flyers and concept notes:
Monday, 14 Oct. – Room XXIII – Global Policy Forum – Concept note
Tuesday, 15 Oct. – Room XXIII – Christian Aid – Concept note - Flyer
Tuesday, 15 Oct. – Room XXIV – Franciscans International – Flyer
Friday, 18 Oct. – Room XXII – Docip - Flyer

Oral Engagement During the Session

During each segment of the Programme of Work, there will be time for discussion, during which States, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, national human rights institutions, and non-governmental organizations (with ECOSOC status) will be allowed to intervene, in that order.
In order to speak, specialized agencies, IGOs, NHRIs, and NGOs are requested to send an email to igwg-intervention@ohchr.org with the following information:

  • The session during which the oral intervention is to take place: e.g., “Tuesday morning, covering articles 3 and 4;”
  • The type of organization speaking: e.g., specialized agency, IGO, NHRI, or NGO;
  • Name of the organization;
  • Name of the speaker;
  • A copy of the oral statement (if possible): to aid the interpreters and report writers.

This email should be sent during the session preceding the one the organization intends to speak at.  As with the Human Rights Council, the order of the speakers will be prioritized based on when the request was made.  Speaking slots will depend on the number of requests received and the time allocated under the Programme of Work (subject to adjustment due to time management).
Please note:

  • Only NGOs with ECOSOC consultative status may make an oral statement.  Where the speaker is not from the inscribing NGO, an authorized representative from the latter must authorize this in writing.
  • To take the floor, NGO speakers should use the conference-table seats reserved for that purpose.
  • In order to allow for the largest possible number of substantive contributions, participants are kindly requested to limit their interventions to be as concise and succinct as possible. A time limit for each intervention may need to be imposed, at the discretion of the Chair, depending on the number of speakers for each panel.
  • Abusive or disrespectful language or derogatory and inflammatory remarks by any participant will not be tolerated during the session. All participants should ensure that a sense of respect and tolerance permeates the discussion.
All statements will be posted as received on OHCHR’s website following the conclusion of the session. If the statement delivered is substantially different from the document initially received by the secretariat or if you do not wish the statement to be published online, please inform the secretariat.  In line with the OHCHR disability policy, oral interventions without written scripts cannot be shared on the website.

Intersessional Consultations

During the intersessional period between the fourth and fifth sessions, the Permanent Mission of Ecuador, on behalf of the Chairmanship of the OEIGWG, held a series of open informal consultations with Governments, regional groups, intergovernmental organizations, United Nations mechanisms, civil society and other relevant stakeholders, as one of the bases for the preparation of the revised draft legally binding instrument. Information on these consultations is as follows:

  • First open informal consultation: Thursday, 6 June 2019, 15:00-18:00 Palais des Nations (Room XXV)
  • Second open informal consultation: Friday, 14 June 2019, 15:00-18:00, Palais des Nations (Room VIII)
  • Third open informal consultation: Tuesday, 18 June 2019, 15:00-18:00, Palais des Nations (Room IX)

The themes for these consultations.

An informal consultation on the Updated Draft Programme of Work for the 5th session also took place from 10:00 to 11:30 on Wednesday, 9 October in room XXIV at Palais des Nations.

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