Business and Human Rights (BHR) is one of the emerging issues for which the international community seeks to adopt a binding instrument. The United Nations Guiding Principles on BHR constitute a worldwide standard for preventing and addressing the adverse effects of business activities on human rights. These principles provide an internationally accepted framework for enhancing standards and practices regarding BHR.
The United Nations Guiding Principles on BHR also provide a normative framework based on the State’s obligations to protect human rights, the responsibility of companies to respect these rights and the need to ensure that victims have access to effective judicial and non-judicial remedies.
Within the National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct (NCP), the CNDH participated in several activities related to BHR, including the annual meeting of the NCPs adhering to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises on 17-18 November 2022, in Paris. The national NCP was also reviewed by peers from France, Poland, and Turkey with the support of the OECD secretariat from 20 to 22 October 2022. The review resulted in a report that included recommendations to improve the national NCP performance.
In this context, the CNDH continues to call for the adoption of a national BHR action plan, involving all relevant stakeholders from government sectors, parliament, the private sector, unions, NGOs, etc. The CNDH also calls on enterprises to implement the principles of human rights due diligence in line with the OECD Due Diligence Guidance.
Enhancing Morocco’s conventional practice, the CNDH recommends the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR), ratification of Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, Completing the procedure for ratifying draft Regulatory Law No. 97.15 relating to the right to strike, etc.
