“Draft: national action plan on business and human rights Introduction 14 October – 2015”

Colombia has a strong commitment for the protection and the respect for Human Rights and by means of Decree 4100 of 2011, created the National System for Human Rights as a request for the coordination and articulation of the entities and public policies to guarantee the rights of the entire population. In addition, during the years 2012 and 2013 a participative process was carried out to formulate a proposal for the Integral Public Policy on Human Rights in which 33 Departmental Forums were held with the presence of more than 19,000 social leaders and 9,000 organisations, including representatives from national and territorial institutions to identify problems in the areas of human rights and design action plans in an integrated manner. As a result of this process, in August 2014, The Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights (formerly the Presidential Programme on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law) presented the Colombian Government the National Strategy on Human Rights in order to supply the government agencies with the necessary tools to facilitate the adoption of the Focus Based on Rights by the actions developed by the National System. It was through this large scenario of discussions that the need for a guidance framework was identified that would allow for the harmonisation of business activities with respect to human rights according to the leaders of the United Nations who in July 2014 published the Guidelines for Public Policy on Business and Human Rights. This document was formulated with the participation of civil society organisations, corporations, government entities and with the technical cooperation of the International Community.