Country
Popularization
Multi-Stakeholder
Engagement
Policy Work
• Government to sign
the legally-binding
instrument to regulate
in international human
rights law transnational
corporations and
business enterprises.
• NHRI to harmonize
various overlapping
laws on BHR, using
UNGP BHR as
framework.
Conclusion
The UNGP-BHR, approved by the UN in 2011, provides a responsive
framework to address the human rights violations occurring in the rural areas
of Asia today. These violations are committed against peasants and indigenous
peoples as they struggle to defend their land rights against the encroachments of
big business and even government. This is why civil society, under the leadership
of the LWA and ANGOC, are advocating that land rights be considered as human
rights, and that all countries adopt the UNGP BHR.
At the country level, UNGP BHR adoption can be catalyzed and
institutionalized through the drafting and implementation of NAPs. Though
NHRIs are crucial in terms of advocacy and technical support, NAPs can only
be implemented by governments, under the leadership of their respective
NHRCs. It is the executive branch that has the mandate and power to execute
law and policy. In addition, joint CSO-NHRI/NHRC monitoring of BHR in land and
agricultural investments has also been proposed by the civil society sector.
At the regional (Asian) level, it is important for regional bodies such as
ASEAN, SAARC, SEANF, AICHR, and OHCHR to be proactive in addressing BHR
issues, engaging both CSOs and private sector in the dialogue processes. CSOs
should also produce alternative/shadow reports on the implementation of
BHR and other human rights tools/declarations.
There is much work to be done, as government-business-CSO engagement
on the UNGP BHR is only at its initial stages. However, the activism of a lead
group of CSOs, as well as the receptiveness of the NHRIs is a positive sign.
Hopefully, sometime in the future, conflict in the countryside can be resolved and
ANGOC and KPA
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