Ghana and Cameroon, with ActionAid Ghana's support, co-hosted the Africa Region Intersessional Consultation on the United Nations Legally Binding Instrument for Transnational Corporations and Business Enterprises.

The governments of Ghana and Cameroon, with support from ActionAid Ghana, co-hosted the Africa Region Intersessional Consultation in Accra on the United Nations Legally Binding Instrument to Regulate the Activities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights.

ActionAid Ghana, with funding from the Norwegian Agency for Development Corporation (Norad), collaborated with civil society organisations to support the governments of Ghana and Cameroon in hosting a consultative meeting on the UN Legally Binding Instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights. The Africa Region Intersessional Consultation is in sync with the ActionAid Ghana Combating Modern Slavery project funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Corporation (Norad).

Held on October 3, the consultative meeting, the first of its kind in the Africa region ahead of the ongoing textual negotiations by the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group in Geneva, Switzerland, was led by the legal institutions of the governments of Ghana and Cameroon. The consultative meeting, which involved all fifty-four (54) African states, generated an informed African position on the LBI ahead of the 9th session of the textual negotiation of the October 2023 Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG) in Geneva, Switzerland.

Speaking at the event, the Country Director, John Nkaw, called for an International Tribunal to supervise compliance with human rights in the operations of transnational corporations and other businesses, as well as within their value chains. He indicated that sanctions should be meted out to transnational corporations and other business enterprises that violate human rights in the course of their own operations and within their value chains. He explained that “the operations of businesses can have a profound impact on the rights of people and communities. While some of these impacts are positive, such as increasing access to employment, they are often negative consequences including forcible eviction, various forms of labour exploitation, and damage to the environment. The impacts of this are experienced hardest by women, children, indigenous communities, and other marginalised people’’. Collaborating with other CSOs, ActionAid Ghana demanded stern supervision by the International Tribunal of Transnational Corporations' compliance and sanctions to ensure full respect for human rights and the protection of ecosystems.

Chairing the meeting, the Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Honourable Diana Asonaba Dapaah, lauded the opportunity given to the African continent to strategically deliberate and agree on key legal issues and interpretations that would favour the rights of children and women. She stressed that having a treaty on business and human rights is mandatory; and as such, it is incumbent on Africa, which provides a substantial majority of the world’s natural and human resources for the operations of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, to have a voice on what is captured in the draft treaty to address issues of abuse and violations of human rights, modern slavery, and other forms of human exploitation. She argued that voluntary principles have failed to prevent corporate abuses, necessitating binding provisions. The treaty must also establish strong accountability mechanisms, so violators do not go unpunished.

Explaining the essence of prioritising issues around domestic laws, agroecology, and the importance of international human rights law, Mr. Nkaw reiterated that it is imperative that there be a strong and deliberate gender approach, including considering the gendered impacts and experiences of women who are directly or indirectly affected by the operations of transnational corporations and other business enterprises in affected communities. He called for the removal of gender-specific barriers to access to justice that women experience in holding corporations and other business enterprises to account and guaranteeing protection for women human rights defenders, especially defenders of smallholder farmers in the agro value chain industry.

Participants of the meeting

The meeting was attended by about 80 delegates from both African States, including ministers of state, human rights advocates and institutions, ambassadors of African missions in Ghana, and Geneva, Switzerland, UN agencies in Accra, Ghana, local, and international civil society organisations, academia, and the media. Key amongst these delegates are representatives from the Office of the Attorney General, Ghana,  the Nigeria High Commission in Ghana, the Ministry of Justice, Zambia, the embassy of Zimbabwe in Ghana, the Embassy of Democratic Republic Of Congo, South African High Commission, Zambia High Commission, Togo Embassy, Ethiopian Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Ministry Of Justice, Malawi, Ministry Of Gender Labour And Social Development, Uganda, Ethiopian Embassy, Accra, Lawyers For Human Rights, Embassy Of Cote D' Ivoire and key government officials from Cameroon who joined on a virtual platform. 

Other priorities highlighted at the meeting were: comprehensive coverage of the activities of transnational corporations; binding obligations on corporations; environmental protection; preventing corporate capture; and effective liability. Active, continuous engagements were noted to be imperative at the October treaty negotiations to ensure Africa’s position is well reflected and integrated.

Speaking from a virtual transmission, the Vice Foreign Minister of Cameroon, H.E. Felix Mbayu, stressed the need for the treaty to effectively regulate transnational corporations' activities along entire supply chains, not just limited to first-tier subsidiaries. He emphasised that, given that the headquarters of transnational corporations cannot always be sued directly in practice, comprehensive jurisdiction provisions are imperative where human rights abuses occur locally. This would help overcome the barriers victims frequently face in attempts to hold parent companies legally accountable.

After a series of active engagements, both Cameroon and Ghana delegates agreed it was important to centre and mainstream gender justice in all legally binding treaties. Delegates stressed that feminist approaches are essential to recognising diversity in the experiences of vulnerable and marginalised groups exposed to harm.

Additionally, the Cameroon and Ghana delegates contended that binding treaties and due diligence legislation should highlight women’s access to justice in all spheres. The team also advocated that states’ duty to protect should be strengthened through the establishment of gender-responsive systems and structures. They noted that it is critical to strengthen existing judicial structures and establish non-judicial remedies where possible. Lastly, the delegates affirmed the need to prioritise ethnic minority communities’ control and ownership of land.

ActionAid Ghana participated in the 9th session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group held from October 23–27, 2023, in Geneva, Switzerland, to closely monitor the procedures of the treaty.