Plenary meeting of Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights - summary of proceedings
Participants in the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights held an Extraordinary Plenary Meeting on 15-16 September 2011 in Ottawa, Canada. At the meeting, the Plenary took a number of steps, including adopting a set of governance rules and identifying host government outreach and in-country implementation as a priority. According to the US State Department, the
"new core document [adopted at the meeting]...outlines the expectations of the initiative’s participants, and lays out a plan to pursue the creation of a legal entity for the initiative. These long overdue moves put the initiative on stable foundations for its second decade. Several participants also announced a pilot project to explore ways of verifying and guiding the ways that companies live up to the commitments they make. This will help companies maintain high standards while they do business in some of the toughest areas in the world."
Speaking of the steps taken at the meeting, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Michael H. Posner said, "There were some outside observers who thought it couldn't happen--but the participants of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs), companies, governments, and civil society alike, have much to be proud of today. We've taken a big step forward toward putting the VPs on firm footing for the next ten years."
"Breakthrough in the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights", US Department of State, 20 Sep 2011
"Keynote Remarks at Extraordinary Plenary - Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights", John Ruggie, Harvard Univ., former UN Special Representative on business & human rights, 15 Sep 2011
The meeting also recognised the following publication:
"Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights - Implementation Guidance Tools", developed & co-financed by Intl. Council of Mining & Metals, Intl. Finance Corp., Intl. Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association, with support from Intl. Committee of the Red Cross