Machine Translated by Google Machine Translated by Google Question of rights… Human Rights are basic norms designed to guarantee the dignity and equality of all people. Although the State has a preponderant role in safeguarding these rights, an unavoidable role for companies is becoming more and more evident. In this context, Chile has expressed its commitment to the so-called United Nations Guiding Principles on Human Rights and Business, recognizing them as a key tool for sustainability. In this context, assuming the rights approach as one of its pillars of its action and also aware of the need for coordination and public-private cooperation around it, the Ministry of Social Development, with the collaboration of public actors and the business world, offers today this material that contains the capital elements of these principles. It is especially interesting that actors from the business world are aware of these principles, which have strong links with inclusive social development -that is, for all- and with the well-being of society, principles that today have become mainstays of the actions of companies all over the world. What are human rights? Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, without distinction of any nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language or any other condition. Everyone has the same rights, without any discrimination. These rights are interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, equality before the law and freedom of expression; economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to work, social security and education; and collective rights, such as the rights to development and self-determination. 1 Machine Translated by Google How do human rights relate to business? Due to the activities of their operation, companies are related to multiple actors, such as workers, consumers, suppliers, nearby communities, as well as shareholders and State institutions. Its operations produce positive impacts on all these actors, by generating work, infrastructure, services, taxes, knowledge, etc. But at the same time their activities can produce negative impacts on their human rights. For example, a company may put the health and safety of its workers at risk due to unsafe or unhealthy working conditions that expose them to accidents or occupational diseases. A company can also cause pollution episodes that seriously affect their communities. There are more examples, and these are all human rights issues. Companies must prevent their activities from causing or contributing to negative human rights consequences. They must prevent, as well as mitigate or repair these impacts when they occur. For this, they must take into account internationally recognized human rights, which include, at a minimum, the rights established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and their protocols. facultative and the Declaration of the International Labor Organization (ILO) Regarding the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. International social responsibility instruments Various international organizations have generated guidelines to guide companies in matters of social responsibility and respect for human rights. Among them, 4 international instruments stand out that, among other things, have been considered by the Social Responsibility Council for Sustainable Development established by the Government of Chile. Namely: 2 Machine Translated by Google Guidelines of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 1 Development (OECD) for Multinational Companies. They are recommendations addressed by governments to multinational companies. They contain voluntary good practices for responsible business conduct. United Nations Global Compact. Voluntary initiative that works as an 2 integrated work network that promotes the adoption by companies of 10 principles of ethical content in the areas of human rights, work, the environment and the fight against corruption. ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles on Multinational Enterprises and 3 Social Policy. Voluntary universal instrument that develops principles and guidelines for multinational companies, governments, employers and workers in matters of employment, training, working and living conditions, and labor relations. ISO 26,000 standard. Standard of the International Organization for 4 Standardization (ISO) that provides guidance on the fundamental principles and matters of social responsibility that help to integrate socially responsible behavior in any organization, regardless of its size or place of operation. Other initiatives are added to these instruments, this time reporting on sustainability and social responsibility. The Global Reporting Initiative (Global Initiative for Sustainability Reporting, GRI), for example, is an international project whose mission is to promote transparency and responsibility of organizations through the preparation of reports that refer performance and results in the economic dimensions. , social and environmental. There is also the tool of the organization Shift UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework, a specific reporting methodology on human rights, based on the Guiding Principles. 3 Machine Translated by Google United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights The Guiding Principles are a set of guidelines agreed by the international community as a guide that guides both States in their work to protect human rights and companies in their duty to respect them. These principles were unanimously approved in 2011 by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Chile has expressed its commitment to this instrument not only because of its normative importance, but also because it is a valuable instrument for dialogue between the different actors on how to advance in the promotion and protection of human rights in the business sphere. Based on this commitment, the country has started working on the national implementation of this tool. This instrument: It establishes clear and defined responsibilities for both companies and the State in respect of human rights. It does not create new obligations but collects and interprets existing obligations in International Law, establishing guidelines for compliance. It is applicable to all companies, both those operating nationally and transnationally, regardless of their size, sector, location, owners and structure. Pillars of the Guiding Principles This guide is made up of 31 principles structured in 3 pillars: the duty of the State to protect, the duty of companies to respect and effective access to redress mechanisms in human rights. 4 Machine Translated by Google duty of duty of the effective state access to companies TO PROTECT RESPECT MECHANISMS REPAIR Laws, Identify, State judicial regulations, prevent, mitigate and mechanisms. public respond to the policies, negative Extrajudicial incentives. consequences of State claim their activities on mechanisms. human rights through a process of "due diligence" on human Non-state complaint mechanisms. rights. Pillar 1 State duty to protect human rights The Guiding Principles establish that States must protect against human rights violations committed in their territory and/or jurisdiction by third parties, including companies. In this sense, they must adopt the appropriate measures to prevent, investigate, punish and repair these abuses through adequate policies, regulations and submission to justice (Principle No. 1). States must also clearly indicate that it is expected of all companies domiciled in their territory and/or jurisdiction that they respect human rights in all their activities (Principle No. 2). 5 Machine Translated by Google Pillar 2 Duty of companies to respect human rights Businesses must respect human rights. This means that they must refrain from infringing the human rights of third parties and face the negative consequences on these rights in which they have any participation (Principle No. 11). To fulfill this responsibility, companies must (Principle No. 15): a. Have a political commitment to assume their responsibility to respect human rights (Principle No. 16). b. Execute a human rights due diligence process to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their human rights impact. To do this, they must assess potential or actual negative human rights consequences, integrate the findings of their impact assessments into their internal functions and processes, monitor the effectiveness of their response, and communicate externally the measures they take to address the consequences. consequences of their activities on human rights (Principles No. 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21). c. Establish processes that make it possible to repair all the negative consequences on human rights that they have caused or contributed to causing (Principle No. 22). What is due diligence in human rights? According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “human rights due diligence is how a company determines what information it needs to understand its specific human rights risks at a given time and in a given operational context, as well as the measures you need to take to prevent and mitigate those risks” (2012). This human rights due diligence will be different in each company, depending on the size, sector, corporate structure or operational circumstances. However, carrying out this process, along with providing a redress process, provides a framework for the company to know and be able to demonstrate that it respects human rights in its operations. It is a continuous and permanent process, not a single exercise. 6 Machine Translated by Google Pillar 3 Access to redress mechanisms, both by the State and by the companies Both States and companies have the obligation to ensure access to redress mechanisms for victims of human rights abuses related to the actions of companies. And it is that, despite the efforts that a company may carry out to avoid impacts on human rights, it is possible that it eventually causes or contributes to causing negative consequences on them. For this reason, the company must be prepared to face this situation and repair the damage or contribute to repair it. Reparation mechanisms can be state judicial mechanisms (Principle No. 26), for example, the courts of justice; State extrajudicial mechanisms (Principle No. 27), such as administrative mechanisms or the mediation mechanism of the National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines; or non-state (Principle No. 28), as is the case of mechanisms managed by the company itself or regional or international human rights organizations. The Guiding Principles suggest that companies have grievance mechanisms at the operational level (non-state mechanism) as an effective and efficient way to provide access to redress. This modality is not only an internal administrative procedure to process the negative consequences of complaints, but it is also active, as it seeks to facilitate the identification of complaints and address them as soon as possible and systematically. In this regard, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner indicates that "an operational level grievance mechanism is a formal means through which groups or individuals can raise their concerns about the negative consequences that a company may have on them -including, although not exclusively, on their human rights- and they can request a reparation”. 7 Machine Translated by Google Human rights holders at risk Strictly speaking, all of a company's stakeholders could be affected by its actions or omissions in the area of human rights. However, the Human Rights and Business Country Guide (www.hrbcountryguide.org) specifically identifies certain individuals or groups. They are between them: Rights holders at risk at work. Social groups at risk of work-related 1 discrimination and under unfavorable working conditions. For example: ethnic minorities, migrant workers, people with disabilities, people with HIV/AIDS, indigenous peoples, sexual minorities, women or other vulnerable groups. 2 Rights holders at risk in the community. Social groups that may be at particular risk of having their human rights impacted by business activities or may be excluded from the benefits generated by business activities. For example: ethnic minorities, migrant workers, indigenous peoples, refugees or internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, sexual minorities, women or other vulnerable groups. Human rights and labor issues The Country Guide on Human Rights and Companies also helps to identify situations that, at the labor level, may put at risk the respect for the human rights of workers or other people. They are between them: child labour. Work that interferes with the health, development, education, or 1 family life of persons under the age of 18. Forced labor. Debt slavery, human trafficking, or other coercion that makes it 2 impossible for workers to freely leave work. Involuntary labor and human trafficking, which generally involves forced labor. Health and safety violations at work. Unsafe or unhealthy working conditions 3 that expose workers to the risk of accidents or occupational diseases. 8 Machine Translated by Google Restrictions on trade union rights. Restrictions on the right of workers to 4 collectively represent their interests. For example, establishing barriers to unionization, unionization discrimination, collective bargaining and strikes. Violations in working conditions. Situation Related Violations 5 labor of workers, wages, working hours and social security. Human rights and impacts on the community Businesses can have negative impacts on the community. The Country Guide to Human Rights and Businesses also helps to identify some of them. Environment. Companies can generate impacts on the environment that affect 1 the health or livelihoods of local communities. For example, water and air pollution, water scarcity, lack of participation or access to information, deforestation and food security. Land and property. There may be impacts related to the company's acquisitions, 2 use and management of the land. For example, displacement and lack of free, prior and informed consent. Transparency and management of profits. It refers to cases of corruption, 3 transparency in public revenues, public contracting and distribution of profits. Security and conflict. Human rights impacts related to the interaction 4 between the company and public and private security providers, and also related to the company's impact on social conflicts. National Action Plan for Human Rights and Businesses In 2013, the Council of Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development (Ministry of Economy) was created in Chile , a body made up of representatives of the State, companies and civil society -and which also has the participation of one of the members of the governance to global level of the Guiding Principles, Dante Pesce–. This advice 9 Machine Translated by Google It constitutes . a permanent institutional framework that contributes to the construction of a public policy on social responsibility for the country. The Action Plan on Human Rights and Business is one of the measures established by said council. The aforementioned plan is a public policy in which specific and measurable actions are established over time to be carried out by the State to advance towards the promotion and protection of human rights in the business sphere. For the above, an Interministerial Working Group was formed in 2015 . It is expected to develop a series of initiatives to be promoted by State agencies and aimed at respect for human rights by companies. The coordination of the Action Plan is carried out by the Human Rights and Business Unit of the Human Rights Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Where to get more information? Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights www.ohchr.org/SP Directorate of Human Rights Ministry of Foreign Affairs www.minrel.gov.cl Council of Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development Ministry of Economy http://consejors.economia.cl Public- interesting posts Private Cooperation Division Ministry of Social Development Country Guide on Human Rights and http://sociedadcivil.ministeriodesarrollosocial.gob.cl Business: www.hrbcountryguide.org (in National Institute of Human Rights English) www.indh.cl High Commissioner's Guide to National Action Plan for Human Rights and Businesses United Nations for Human Rights. The www.tiemposhumanosyempresas.gob.cl corporate responsibility to respect. National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Chile www.direcon.gob.cl/ocde/punto- Guide to interpretation: nacional-de-contacto-pnc/ http://www.ohchr.org/Documents Global Compact Network Chile /Publications/HR.PUB.12.2_sp.pdf www.pactoglobal.cl 10 Machine Translated by Google cooperation PUBLIC-PRIVATE Ministry of Social Development www.desarrollosocial.cl Public-Private Cooperation Division Ministry of Social Development http://sociedadcivil.ministeriodesarrollosocial.gob.cl National Action Plan for Human Rights and Businesses www.tiemposhumanosyempresas.gob.cl