Stakeholders of Japan's National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights issued Joint Comments following dialogue facilitated by the ILO
10 Nov 2020
ILO has participated in the development process of Japan's National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP), which has been released on 16 October 2020, as a member of the Working Group and the Advisory Committee. In response, the stakeholders (*) , including the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (JTUC-RENGO) and the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), comprising the Working Group on Japan's NAP released joint comments at a stakeholders' webinar on the published NAP held on 9 November 2020...
Japan's NAP is the first of its kind developed since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic...
The followings are some of the government policies on labour included in the Japan's NAP, which are relevant to the ILO:
- Disseminate the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998) as well as ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, promote complementary function of human rights due diligence and dialogue/collaboration among stakeholders
- Pursue ratification of ILO core conventions and respect, promote and realize fundamental principles and rights at work towards promoting decent work
- Protect and respect rights of workers, including foreign workers and technical interns, and measures to address harassment
- Promote efforts to respect human rights through human rights dialogue with other countries
- Conclude investment/economic partnership agreements that benefit workers and promote civil society dialogue
- Cooperate with international organizations in awareness raising on the issue of business and human rights among public officials and businesses
- Raise awareness of human rights due diligence among companies operating overseas by Japanese diplomatic offices and government-related organizations in abroad
- Promote decent work in supply chains through financial contributions to the ILO
Joint comments issued on 9 November reiterate the need for a system that ensures the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, including business community, labour, civil society and experts, in the implementation and monitoring phase of the NAP, as well as the need for policy coherency and multi-stakeholder involvement based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights...