ICAR, UCCA, and ISER Reinforce Complementarity of NAPs and Treaty Process at Third OEIWG Session
Today, ICAR, along with the Uganda Consortium on Corporate Accountability (UCCA) and the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER), commented on the complementarity of domestic processes to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) through National Action Plans (NAPs) and engagement in the binding treaty process on business and human rights at the third Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIWG) on the creation of a binding treaty on business and human rights.
Following comments from the floor at the third OEIWG on the creation of a binding treaty on business and human rights which alluded to the treaty process as undermining ongoing processes to implement the UNGPs through NAPs on business and human rights, ICAR, UCCA, and ISER made the following statement (excerpted below):
"The ongoing treaty process should not be seen as undermining the implementation of the UNGPs through NAPs, nor should a State’s creation and implementation of a NAP excuse it from participating in the treaty negotiations. Efforts to develop and implement NAPs and the treaty process are not in competition; rather, they can be seen as strongly benefiting and reinforcing one another."
This statement reiterates comments submitted to ICAR during the first and second sessions of the OEIWG in June 2015 and October 2016 respectively.