59 Q 57. What form(s) should communications take? The form of the communication should fit the purpose. If the purpose is to communicate to potentially affected stakeholders how the enterprise is addressing a human rights risk it has identified, then the communication could be limited to that group and should take account of literacy, language and cultural communication barriers (for instance whether verbal communications are considered more respectful than written communications). Meetings with the group or its legitimate representatives may be the most appropriate and successful. If the purpose is to account also to shareholders and other interested parties, including civil society, for how the enterprise is addressing a specific risk or risks in general, then documents and presentations at an annual general meeting, web updates, messages to electronic mailing lists of those who selfidentify as interested parties or similar means of communication might be appropriate. The question then arises as to when an enterprise should produce formal public reports on how it is addressing human rights. As Guiding Principle 21 makes clear, enterprises whose operations or operating contexts pose a risk of severe human rights impact should report formally on how they address it. A wider public interest is engaged wherever the enterprise is at risk of involvement in human rights impact that is extensive or irremediable (see Guiding Principle 14). Public reporting is therefore appropriate. There may even be reasons for some enterprises with lesser human rights risk profiles to include information on their human rights performance in regular, formal public reports. For instance, the internal process of writing a report can help to embed within an enterprise an understanding of human rights issues and of the importance that respecting human rights holds for the business itself. The additional transparency that reporting of this kind provides can help protect the enterprise’s reputation and build wider trust in its efforts to respect human rights. These strengthened stakeholder relationships may be helpful if or when the enterprise needs to deal with unforeseen challenges.