Start main page content

Civil society supports African treaty on business and human rights

- CALS, LHR and AIDC

Last week's African Regional Indaba provided a platform to discuss the binding treaty on business and human rights

Civil society organisations last week hosted the 7th African Regional Indaba on the United Nations binding treaty on business and human rights. The Indaba provides a space for stakeholders to discuss a collective approach to corporate accountability for human rights abuses globally, and on the continent in particular. One of the outcomes of the discussions was a proposal for a regional treaty to regulate transnational corporations with respect to human rights.

The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS), the Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) last week hosted the 7th annual African Regional Indaba on the United Nations binding treaty on business and human rights. The proposed treaty has the potential to be an important tool for holding transnational corporations accountable for their role in human rights violations around the world.

Background

Transnational corporations (TNCs) are large and economically powerful. They often operate in countries with weakened regulatory systems, which allows them to accumulate massive profits at the expense of human rights. It is difficult to hold TNCs accountable for human rights violations since international law traditionally applies to states and not private companies. Existing mechanisms such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are voluntary and inadequate. What is needed is a binding international instrument to clarify states’ obligations under international law to regulate transnational corporations with respect to human rights.

In June 2014, the UN Human Rights Council adopted a resolution sponsored by Ecuador and South Africa which established a working group to develop such a treaty. The working group published a “zero draft” of the treaty in July 2018 for negotiation at its next session. Since then, four revised drafts of the treaty have been published and six rounds of negotiations have taken place at the UN in Geneva. This process of drafting and negotiation may take several more years before consensus is reached and the treaty is adopted. Countries can then elect to sign onto the treaty in order for it to apply in their jurisdiction.

There are, however, still disagreements over significant sections of the treaty including scope, legal liability, preventative measures such as due diligence processes, jurisdiction and enforcement mechanisms. There has been increasing opposition from corporate-friendly states from the Global North which seek to weaken the treaty’s binding obligations. African state and civil society delegates have an important role to play in resisting these regressive proposals in an effort to ensure that the treaty is effective and responds to the realities of those impacted by corporate abuse, especially in the Global South.

An African regional perspective

On 28 and 29 May, our organisations brought together representatives from African states, human rights bodies, social justice organisations, labour and affected communities to discuss our approach ahead of this year’s negotiations set to take place in October. The annual Indaba provides a space to reflect on the treaty process thus far, identify key challenges, share recent cases of human rights violations and develop a collective position centring African voices and community perspectives.

In addition to preparing for the next round of negotiations in Geneva, one of the outcomes of this year’s Indaba included strong support for an African regional treaty on corporate accountability. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted a resolution in March 2023 which similarly calls on the African Union to finalise a Policy Framework on Business and Human Rights. The Framework aims to promote responsible business conduct and protect human rights in Africa, recognising the importance of balancing economic development with human rights standards.

In our own words

“In the current geopolitical context, it is essential for African states to consolidate their commitment to protect the rights of affected communities,” says Anesu Dera, head of Business and Human Rights at CALS. “This means continuing to advocate for an effective binding treaty which responds to the realities of corporate abuse in Africa. We do not have to wait for the process to conclude at the United Nations, however. An African treaty on business and human rights has the potential to address corporate impunity on the continent now.”

“It is essential to develop a common African position on the binding treaty,” says Pacharo Kayira, Deputy Permanent Representative of the government of Malawi to the United Nations. “Briefs from civil society are an important part of this. An African regional treaty can reflect the African context and African values and may prove more progressive than a negotiated international instrument.”

“A binding treaty on business and human rights must place our lived experiences of human rights violations by corporations in the extractive sector at the forefront,” says Katlego Malesa, project co-ordinator at community network Sekhukhune Combined Mining Affected Communities.

“While unbridled extractivism continues on our continent, the urgency for a legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of TNCs across their supply chains cannot be overstated,” says Maxine Bezuidenhout, head of Alternatives to Extractivism and Climate Change at AIDC. “For too long, our continent and her people have been relegated to casualties of wealth accumulation. This business-as-usual approach that externalises costs on communities and the environment and emboldens the architecture of impunity must be dismantled. The perpetrators of human and environmental violations be held accountable.”

For inquiries, please contact:

For inquiries, please contact:

From the Centre for Applied Legal Studies:

From Lawyers for Human Rights:

 From the Alternative Information and Development Centre:

Share