On September 24, 2014, President Obama announced plans to develop a U.S. National Action Plan (NAP) on responsible business conduct. The NAP will be consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI) are pleased to co-host a one-day consultation on April 16, 2015 in Washington D.C. The consultation is hosted as part of the series of open dialogues initiated by the U.S. Government and is premised on the following objectives:
Focusing on the policy and regulatory functions of the government as the framework and foundation for conversation. In other words, starting with the “State duty to protect,” as defined under Pillar 1 of the UNGPs, which includes trade, investment, public procurement, and remedy;
Discussing the full range of tools that the U.S. government has at its disposal including: policy and regulation; promotion, guidance, and education; monitoring and enforcement; transparency and reporting; judicial and non-judicial remedy; and collaboration with civil society and business on the ground;
Learning from what is already in place, including having a frank dialogue on successes, shortfalls, and lessons learned from the viewpoint of all stakeholders;
Aiming to offer pragmatic and clear inputs on some pre-identified, prioritized issues rather than aiming to address every aspect of the U.S. government’s role regarding responsible business conduct; and
Establishing deeper relationships between government officials from diverse agencies who will be responsible for carrying forward the NAP, civil society representatives, and business leaders.
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For further information, please contact Ari Alvarez, ICAR’s Program Assistant, at [email protected] or Joanna Reyes, GBI’s Operations Manager, at [email protected].