STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK ON A NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS FOR MALAYSIA 2014.39 Cases where the overseas human rights impacts of Malaysian companies have attracted controversy include the involvement of Malaysian companies in development projects in other ASEAN countries that are causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts,40 the role of Malaysian palm oil companies in contributing to the region’s transboundary haze pollution,41 and the activities of Malaysian companies in conflict-affected areas.42 As explained, the overseas human rights impacts of companies operating in ASEAN are especially significant given the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community. 37. The Guiding Principles provide a useful operational framework for determining the appropriate policy and regulatory measures to use. For example, the operational Guiding Principles draw attention to the following measures that could potentially be used to address inadequate ESIAs and poor community engagement in relation to development projects (the list is not exhaustive): § § § § § § Plug gaps in legislation and law enforcement that may be permitting these problems to occur (Guiding Principle 3a) Disseminate effective guidance to companies on how to conduct ESIAs and community engagement (Guiding Principle 3c), for example, by promoting the use of international guidance such as the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Good Practice Handbook on Stakeholder Engagement and the World Bank’s Involuntary Resettlement Sourcebook on planning and implementing development projects43 State-linked agencies that finance and provide other support to development projects could require robust environmental and social due diligence, including the conduct of prior and informed community consultations, as a condition of their provision of financing and support (Guiding Principle 4) Government-linked companies (GLCs) engaged in development projects may set a good example to other businesses by benchmarking their practices against international standards such as the IFC Performance Standards (Guiding Principle 4) The Government may encourage multilateral development banks (MDBs) of which it is a member to ensure that the development projects they finance conduct adequate environmental and social due diligence and adequate prior and informed consultations with affected communities (Guiding Principle 10) The Government may also require or encourage companies involved in development projects to establish operational-level grievance mechanisms to address grievances of affected communities (Guiding Principles 28 and 29). 38. As another example, the operational Guiding Principles draw attention to the following measures that could potentially be used to address child labour and forced labour (the list is not exhaustive): § § § Strengthen legislation and law enforcement (Guiding Principle 3a) Require companies to report on the due diligence measures they are taking to ensure that their activities and supply chains are not involved in child labour and forced labour (Guiding Principle 3d) Government agencies conducting public procurement may include in their tender specifications requirements for suppliers to demonstrate that they have systems in place to prevent the use of child labour and forced labour in their operations and supply chains (Guiding Principle 6) 14