Business and Human Rights: Corporation need to be held accountable to their human rights obligations

Multinational corporations continue to perpetrate human rights and environmental abuses through their activities in the countries where they operate, and communities affected by their activities struggle to defend their rights and to obtain justice and reparation. 

FI will be actively participating in the UN’s second Inter-Governmental Working Group (IGWG) on Business and Human Rights, taking place October 24-28, 2016. We are advocating for a legally binding instrument to keep businesses accountable to their human rights obligations, and to ensure access to justice for victims of these abuses.

Five of our partners from around the world will be speaking at events and lobbying decision-makers throughout the week, giving their accounts on how mining has violated several rights of the communities in which they live and work. They include Mr. Henri Muhiya, from the Episcopal Commission on Natural Resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Mr. Jaybee Garganera, from Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) in the Philippines; Mr. Pablo Sanchez, from GRUFIDES in Peru, and Mr. Rodrigo Peret from SINFRAJUPE / Churches and Mining in Brazil. 

  • You can read the Treaty Alliance’s statement here.
  • All written submissions about the need for a Treaty can be found on the IGWG website here.
  • All side events taking place inside the UN can also be found on the IGWG website.