ICCR Applauds Action Taken by the UN Commission
on Human Rights to Promote Business and Human Rights

NEW YORK, NY///April 22, 2005///The Promoting Human Rights Working Group of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility affirms the UN Human Rights Commission's establishment of a mechanism to address critical human rights issues related to business. The Commission adopted a resolution on April 19th requesting the UN Secretary General to appoint a Special Representative on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises for an initial period of two years.

"The Special Representative will play a significant role in clarifying and promoting internationally recognized human rights standards as they apply to the business sector," said Doris Gormley, Social Responsible Investing Consultant to the Jesuit Conference, USA and co-chair of ICCR's human rights working group. "We expect the Special Representative to set up a multi-stakeholder process to reach broad international consensus on the obligations of companies to promote and protect human rights within their areas of activities and sphere of influence."

The resolution passed by the Commission is a reflection of the growing expectations of the global community that human rights is a central business issue and needs to be addressed by the United Nations. Forty-nine Commission members voted in favor of the resolution and three members, including the United States, voted against. The US played a destructive role in the Commission proceedings by weakening the resolution, then voting against it.

"This action builds on the ground-breaking work of the Commission's Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights," explained David Schilling, director of ICCR's Global Corporate Accountability Program. "The UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights provides the key framework to advance human rights standards and implementation mechanisms that will benefit businesses and the communities in which they operate."

"How a company responds to the human rights agenda has a significant impact on its business performance and the public's perception of a company," stated John Wilson of Christian Brothers Investment Services and co-chair of ICCR's human rights working group. "As shareholders in many transnational corporations, we will increase our advocacy to get companies to adopt comprehensive, transparent human rights policies and practices based on the UN Norms. The Commission's action keeps the human rights agenda at the center of the business agenda."

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility is a coalition of 275 religious investors from the Catholic, Jewish and Protestant communities with a combined investment total of over $110 billion. ICCR members own shares in many large transnational corporations and have pressed corporations to adopt policies on a range of social issues, including human rights, labor rights and the environment. In addition to religious institutional members, ICCR has 25 associate members and 54 affiliate members who join in company actions to promote corporate social responsibility. These institutions include socially responsible investment firms, public pension funds, union pension funds, foundations and universities.

For the text of the resolution and related information, click here:

CONTACT:
David Schilling, Director of Global Corporate Accountability, ICCR; 212-870-2928; dschilling @ iccr.org

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