Media advisories Special Procedures

Luxembourg postpones country visit by UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

22 July 2022

GENEVA (22 July 2022) – The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights was scheduled to undertake its first country visit to Luxembourg from 18 to 28 July to assess efforts to identify, prevent and address adverse impacts of business operations on human rights and the environment.

At the request of the government, the visit has been postponed at the last minute, citing inter alia the unavailability of officials. The visit would have been the first visit ever by any Special Procedures mandate holder to Luxembourg, which has a standing invitation to special procedures and has recently been elected as member of the Human Rights Council and has therefore increased responsibilities to cooperate with human rights mechanisms.

The Working Group is currently in discussions with the government to find alternative dates, noting that the visit may be postponed for a long period of time given the existing commitments of the Working Group to visit other countries in 2022 and 2023.

The Working Group would like to thank all stakeholders who engaged in the preparation of the visit and in organising meetings in the country. It invites them to continue sharing any relevant information to allow the Working Group to continue to assess the situation in Luxembourg while waiting for dates of the visit to be confirmed.

The Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises was established by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011. Its current members are: Ms. Fernanda Hopenhaym (Chairperson),Ms. Pichamon Yeophantong (Vice-Chairperson), Ms. Elżbieta Karska, and Ms. Anita Ramasastry.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights country page: Luxembourg

For more information and media requests please contact:

Ms. Sonia CUESTA (sonia.cuesta@un.org ) or write to hrc-wg-business@un.org

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact Jeremy Laurence (+41 79 444 7578) or Dharisha Indraguptha ((+41 79 506 1088 / dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

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