Update of OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises should incorporate commitment to indigenous rights

By | 25 January, 2011

OECDThe OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises should advance compliance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Special Rapportuer stressed at a meeting with a working group of state delegates to the Organziation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris on 25 January, 2011.

The working group is currently developing an updated version of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, which are intended to advance responsible business practices by companies from or operating in OECD member and other states accepting the Guidelines. The Special Rapportuer also called on the the working group to consult directly with indigenous peoples on the update of the Guidelines, since indigenous peoples often are directly affected by multinational enterprises, especially those seeking to extract the natural resources found within indigneous territories.

Information on the update of the OECD Guidelines can be found here
See PDF: Summary of remarks, Professor James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples