V. United Nations partnerships with the private sector

B. Lack of capacity and understanding to grapple with the implications of the Guiding Principles

84. A lack of capacity and understanding to grapple with the implications of the Guiding Principles is cited as one of the most common challenges and one reason why uptake of the Principles has not been quicker.^[67] An important role of the Global Compact is to continue to collaborate with OHCHR to develop and disseminate guidance on how to implement the corporate responsibility to respect human rights in practice, both on general aspects and in relation to thematic issues.^[68] Global Compact initiatives with other United Nations agencies on women’s empowerment (with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women), children’s rights (with the United Nations Children’s Fund) and indigenous peoples’ rights have helped to raise the awareness of business as to how to respect and support the rights of these groups.^[69] In addition to producing and promoting guidance on key elements of the Guiding Principles, the Global Compact has addressed issues such as the role companies can play in respecting the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, business efforts to support the rights of older persons and the role of business in addressing the adverse human rights impacts of climate change. It also undertakes training for business representatives at the local level through its local networks, at the global level through interactive online webinars and through capacity-building events at key business and human rights conferences, such as the annual Forum on Business and Human Rights and the African Regional Forum in 2014. With its potential for reaching a wide business audience globally, it would seem obvious that strengthened resources for the Global Compact specifically to promote the Guiding Principles could deliver significant progress.

Link to full text of the report: Report-WGBHR-2015-eng