Publications

From October 23 to 27, 2023, 76 states met at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to negotiate an international human rights treaty to regulate companies and their value chains (also known as the “UN Treaty”). Since the UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 26/9 in 2014 and mandated an intergovernmental working group to draft such legally binding instrument, it has met nine times. After a slow start, the process has emerged surprisingly stronger from the ninth round of [...]

Private foundations play an increasingly important and influential role in global health; however, this role has been poorly monitored and largely unevaluated, prompting calls for greater accountability. At a minimum level, clear information should be provided about their grant-making activities. We describe the global health granting patterns of three private foundations: the Rockefeller Foundation (RF), the Wellcome Trust (WT), and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), using data publicly available on their websites, for the years 2018 – 2020 [...]

National and regional go-it-alone efforts characterized government action against the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO), as the overarching and coordinating health body, to ensure equitable and efficient distribution of vaccines and other necessary medical products to contain the pandemic was not heeded. Several governments, philanthropic foundations, and the WHO launched the global multi-stakeholder initiative (MSI) Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) at short notice, with participation of pharmaceutical industry and other MSIs, as a key [...]

In spring 2023, guidelines for a feminist foreign and development policy were presented to the German Federal Cabinet. An international treaty on business and human rights, as negotiated in the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council since 2014, would address the discriminatory global power structures and structural causes of global inequality and contribute to a systemic change in the sense of a feminist foreign and development policy. Women and marginalized groups are particularly affected by exploitative business practices in global [...]

The European Union (EU) is on the verge of introducing an EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). An agreement among the EU institutions involved is to be reached by the end of 2023. This also brings the EU’s active participation in negotiations at the United Nations (UN) level on an international legally binding instrument on business and human rights, also known as a “UN treaty,” ever closer. After all, it is in the EU’s interest that high standards apply [...]

The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) offers a unique opportunity to prevent human rights violations and environmental damage in value chains of European companies and to finally give those affected a real chance to claim compensation. In February 2022, the EU Commission presented a proposal for a corresponding directive. It goes beyond the German Supply Chain Act in several respects. However, it also contains numerous loopholes, largely as a result of pressure from business lobby groups. In [...]

Since 2014, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Coun­cil in Geneva has been negotiating an internationally binding agreement on business and human rights – also known as the UN Treaty. From October 24–28, 2022, the intergovernmental working group on a legally binding in­strument on transnational corporations and other busi­ness enterprises with respect to human rights (OEIGWG) met for the eighth time. The countries of the global South as well as the major industrialized nations were present at the meeting. New [...]

On 11 March 2022 at United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York City, Secretary-General António Guterres addressed an audience of Member States, UN staff and other stakeholders at the final consultation meeting on his proposed Our Common Agenda. He urged Member States: “The process surrounding Our Common Agenda is an opportunity to recommit to our fundamental enduring principles while overhauling the practices of multilateralism for a new age.” The report details this new multilateralism to be “an inclusive, networked [...]

From October 25-29, 2021, the UN open-ended intergovernmental working group on the elaboration of a legally binding instrument on Business and Human Rights met for the seventh time at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in Geneva. Two developments provided a new dynamic compared to previous sessions. For the first time since the intergovernmental working group’s establishment in 2014, the United States and Japan participated in its meeting. Germany expressed its views for the first time. In addition, the [...]

In 2014, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) mandated an intergovernmental working group to draft an international treaty for the protection of human rights in the global economy. Since then, the intergovernmental working group, which consists of governments, representatives of civil societies and business, has been meeting annually to negotiate the current status of the draft. The third revised draft constitutes the basis for negotiations during the seventh meeting of the working group from October 25 to [...]