National Human Rights Commission of Korea Annual Report 2017
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the National Assembly, jointly with the office of National Assembly member Hong Il-pyo. The
purpose of the forum was to increase consensus on the establishment of the NAP on Business
and Human Rights and discuss improvements to the National Contact Point (NCP) of the
OECD.
The forum was attended by 180 or so participants from the National Assembly, government,
economic organizations, businesses, and public organizations. It kicked off with a keynote
address by Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chair of the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business
Conduct, on “OECD’s business & human rights grievance mechanism.” Session 1 included a
presentation on international trends in business and human rights and an overview of the NAP
on Business and Human Rights of American and German businesses. Session 2 featured an
sized enterprises, and an assessment of NCP operation in Korea.
Rights in major countries to stakeholders of the National Assembly, government, and businesses,
building consensus on the need for a NAP on Business and Human Rights in Korea. It also
heard various opinions regarding the action plan and options to improve the NCP.
● Participation in the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights
From 27 to 29 November, the Commission participated in the UN Forum on Business and
Human Rights 2017 in Geneva, Switzerland.
Chaired by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, the forum was attended with
more than 3,000 participants from national human rights institutions, government, business,
academia, community groups and civil society. With the central theme “Realizing Access to
Effective Remedy,”, the forum was organized to discuss state responsibility and specific ways
to realize corporate respect for human rights envisaged under the UN Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights.
The Forum program included a number of sessions dedicated to non-judicial grievance
mechanisms, corporate respect for human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals,
grievance mechanisms in the NAPs on Business and Human Rights, and grievance mechanisms
of national human rights institutions.
Commission's
Major Activities
The Commission presented key progress and content of the NAP on Business and Human
Part 2
overview of human rights compliance in Korean public institutions and small- and medium-