The 5th Session of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises

In June 2014 at its 26th session, Ecuador and South Africa presented to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva a resolution they had drafted proposing an international legally binding instrument on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with respect to human rights. An open-ended intergovernmental working group with the mandate to elaborate was subsequently established, chaired by Ecuador.2 The first session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group (IGWG) took place from 6 to 10 July 2015 in Geneva. A second session was held in October 2016, and a third session in October 2017.  The general elements of the binding instrument were issued by the Chair in September 2017, and a Zero Draft was presented in July 2018, many African states and most importantly Uganda have not been seen to be effectively engaging.