Statement at a Third Committee Interactive Dialogue with the Chair of the Working Group on Human Rights & Transnational Corporations, Surya Deva

Anthony Bonville
Third Committee Advisor
New York, New York
October 14, 2021

AS DELIVERED

Mr. Chairman, the United States thanks the Working Group for its work in disseminating and promoting implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The UN Guiding Principles represent an important global consensus on a state’s duty to protect human rights and corporate responsibility to respect human rights. We commemorate the life and legacy of Professor John Ruggie, who made human rights his life’s work, which was reflected so well in these Guiding Principles.

We were pleased to see the Working Group’s most recent report taking stock of the UN Guiding Principles at 10. The report encourages reflection on both the progress made and the challenges that still lay ahead. We take note of the section on National Action Plans, which highlights that the process of developing National Action Plans has helped to foster improved policy coherence.

The United States looks forward to revitalizing our National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct which was announced by Secretary of State Blinken on the 10-year anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles.

And finally a question for Mr. Deva, Mr. Chairman, what are the Working Group’s key priorities looking ahead to the next year?

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