...On 17 March 2023, the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (OEIGWG) presented its report from the 8th negotiation session and the revised draft of the binding instrument, including State proposals, to the Council...

The Working Group was established under the Human Rights Council resolution 26/9 in 2014. The mandate of the Working Group is to develop a legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights. Following the adoption of the resolution, many civil society organisations, including ISHR, have contributed significant time and resources to provide constructive inputs and ensure that the Binding Treaty can deliver access to justice for victims and communities. However, progress has stalled, and there is a widely-held view that, following the 8th session, there is a need for urgency in completing the process – there is no better reason for that urgency than the ongoing barriers, threats and killings facing defenders working on corporate accountability, epitomised by the case of Berta Caceres.

In his speech to the Council, the ambassador of Ecuador to Geneva, as the Chair of the treaty-drafting process, emphasised the importance of improving access to justice and reparations for victims of human rights abuses by businesses and their activities. He also noted that a binding instrument (treaty) would complement and enhance the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and pre-existing voluntary measures...

The 9th negotiation session will take place in October 2023, but significant work has been proposed prior to this date in order to meet the goal of advancing the text. The end of March 2023 marked a deadline for inputs from civil society actors to the most recent text, but [there are] future milestones and possible opportunities for engagement...

The current revised draft only refers twice to human rights defenders in the operative paragraphs. ISHR urges the negotiators to accelerate the process, focus on human rights defenders within the text and include reference to defenders...