As delivered by Ambassador Hans Brattskar
Check against delivery
On behalf of the core group with Argentina, Ghana and Russia, Norway is pleased to present to the Council the draft resolution on Business and Human Rights: improving accountability and access to remedy.
The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights was endorsed by the Human Rights Council by consensus in 2011 in the resolution 17/4 and established an authoritative framework to prevent and address adverse human rights impact form business activities, based on the three pillars of the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework.
The draft resolution recognizes that the implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights includes implementation of the access to remedy pillar, and it encourages states to take appropriate steps to improve and encourage corporate accountability and access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuse. We welcome the work already presented by the OHCHR in phase I and II of the Accountability and Remedy Project and invite states and stakeholders to consider using the recommendations in the reports.
The draft resolution asks for the continuation of the OHCHR Accountability and Remedy Project to focus on non-state grievance mechanisms and to deliver a report thereon in the 44th HRC session. The resolution also asks the Working group on business and human rights to analyse the role of national human rights institutions in facilitating access to remedy for business-related human rights abuses.
We have had three informal meetings and would like to use this opportunity to thank states and civil society for their active engagement in the negotiations. The resolution has at this point 36 cosponsors, out of which 10 are members of the Council.
Mr President,
I invite the Human Rights Council to adopt this resolution by consensus.