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United Nations Global Compact
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The UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises

 In 2005, the United Nations Human Rights Commission requested that the UN Secretary-General appoint a Special Representative (SGSR) with a mandate to :

  1. identify and clarify standards of corporate responsibility and accountability for transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights;
  2. elaborate on the role of States in effectively regulating and adjudicating the role of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with regard to human rights, including through international cooperation; 
  3. research and clarify the implications for transnational corporations and other business enterprises of concepts such as “complicity” and “sphere of influence”; 
  4. develop materials and methodologies for undertaking human rights impact assessments of the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises;
  5. compile a compendium of best practices of States and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

The mandate also requested the SGSR to provide “views and recommendations” in relation to these issues for consideration by the Commission. The Secretary-General appointed Professor John Ruggie as United Nations Special Representative for Business and Human Rights in July 2005.

[ Web portal for the UN Special Representative on Business and Human Rights]

Due Diligence and Sphere of Influence

The work of the SRSG on business and human rights has shown that all human rights have the potential to be relevant to all businesses, regardless of sector or country of operation. It also emphasizes that respecting human rights means not causing harm to human rights. Exercising "due diligence" in identifying and managing human rights risk will help business respect human rights and avoid complicity in human rights abuse. Many businesses in the Global Compact are keen to go beyond the avoidance of causing harm to help support and promote the enjoyment of human rights. This is encouraged - Principle 1 of the Global Compact speaks of supporting human rights as well as respecting them. The concepts of due diligence and sphere of influence are explained in more detail below.

Due Diligence

The responsibility to respect human rights and to thereby not cause harm is the baseline standard for all organizations in all situations. Organizations should exercise due diligence to become aware of, prevent and address adverse human rights impacts linked to their activities.

The due diligence process should consider three sets of factors: the country contexts in which the organization operates; the potential and actual human rights impacts resulting from the organization’s activities; and the relationships connected to those activities. How far or how deep this process must go will depend on the circumstances.

Sphere of Influence

Socially responsible organizations will typically also have a broader capability and often desire to support the promotion of human rights within their sphere of influence. Likewise, stakeholder expectations often extend to the belief that organizations can and should make a positive contribution to the realization of human rights where they are in a position to do so.

The concept of "sphere of influence" can help map the scope of an organization's opportunities to support human rights and make the greatest positive impact. While these opportunities may be greatest with respect to an organization's own operations and workers, the ability to act gradually declines as consideration moves outward to the supply chain, to local communities, and beyond. In some cases, organizations may wish to increase their leverage or sphere of influence through collaboration with other actors. The assessment of the opportunities for action and leverage will depend on the particular circumstances, some specific to the organization and some specific to the context in which it operates.

Contact

Ms. Ursula Wynhoven
wynhoven@un.org
+1-212-963-5705

(Last updated 6 August 2008)