ESCR-Net’s Corporate Accountability Working Group is pleased to announce the release of its Collective Report on Business and Human Rights.
Presented directly to Members of the 8th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva during the first week of June 2008, this Collective Report on Business and Human Rights aims to bring light to situations in which companies have harmed the enjoyment of human rights.
Prepared in collaboration with 40 civil society organizations around the world, this Collective Report surveys 159 cases of alleged human rights abuses by, or involving, companies in order to illuminate the scope of these incidents, analyze existing gaps in the protection of human rights in the context of business, and offer recommendations to the United Nations on how to strengthen business accountability to human rights. Envisioned as a space to offer testimony of the actual impacts that business conduct has on the human rights of individuals, communities and indigenous peoples, the report reasserts in qualitative terms that business impacts on fundamental rights are widespread. That is, they are not limited to certain countries or regions, nor do they occur only within certain sectors or affect only certain rights. In the surveyed cases from 66 countries, business enterprises have had significant negative impacts upon the enjoyment of all types of human rights, in different political systems, around the world and across industries. Read more