Human rights Institutes concerned about OECD Common Approaches

In their submission to the OECD ECWG consultation with CSOs on 19 November 2013, the Danish, French and German national human rights Institutes identified the following main issues of concern regarding the consistency of actions of the OECD Working Party and national export credit agencies with the requirements of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights3:

• Integration of human rights: How is respect for human rights being effectively integrated as an evaluative criterion for ECA-sponsored activities at national level, in line with the state duty to protect human rights, as set out in Pillar I of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the corporate responsibility to respect, under Pillar II?
• Improving transparency: Transparency is prerequisite to accountability of state and private sector duty bearers to human rights standards, but is currently lacking in relation to export-credit supported activities. What role will the Common Approaches, and the Working Party, play in resolving this?
• Grievance mechanisms: What steps are the Working Party and national authorities taking to meet the requirement for effective mechanisms to provide a remedy for any complaints relating to ECA-sponsored activities, in line with the requirements of Pillar III of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights?