Negotiations of the UN binding treaty on business and human rights seek to fill in existing gaps in international human rights law to provide greater protection for victims of corporate harms. With a revised draft coming up, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) submitted its comments on the proposed reformulations offered by the process’s Chair, explaining how more can be done to strengthen the text and provide real change for affected people and communities.
Geneva, 28 October 2026. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) submitted comments to the Secretariat of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises (OEIGWG).
Created in 2014, the Group is tasked to elaborate an international treaty to hold corporations legally accountable for their human rights abuses and violations.
The submission analyses the textual suggestions proposed by Ecuador in its capacity as Chair-Rapporteur of the OEIGWG, and provides recommendations to strengthen the draft.
FIDH welcomes several positive developments in the proposed changes, which would strengthen human rights protections.
However, during the session, FIDH emphasised the need to ensure the meaningful participation of affected communities, establish stronger safeguards for conflict-affected areas, and implement effective mechanisms to hold companies accountable and provide remedies for victims.
FIDH reiterates its call for States to seize this opportunity to adopt an ambitious treaty that covers all business enterprises and protects the full range of human rights, including the right to a healthy environment. Human rights must take precedence over any conflicting commercial or investment interests.
Doing so would ensure that the binding treaty effectively achieves the purpose it set out to fulfil: to bring about justice and accountability whenever corporate activities impact rights and the environment.
Read FIDH’s submission here.
Additional resources:
– FIDH’s contributions to the UN Treaty negotiations over the years
– FIDH’s comments on the Chair-Rapporteur’s reformulated text on articles 4 to 11
– FIDH’s analysis and recommendations for the Updated Treaty Draft from 2024
