Human Rights, Humanitarian Assistance,Refugees

On June 18, the Advisory Committee for the National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights convened for its inaugural meeting. 

1. The meeting brought various participants including Mr. Kenji Yamada, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Anita Ramasastry, member of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, as well as representatives from the business sector, a trade union, academia, civil society organizations, international and other organizations, as well as the relevant ministries and agencies of the Government of Japan. 
2. In his welcome speech at the beginning of the meeting, Vice-Minister Yamada stated that, taking into account diverse inputs from experts from various quarters, the Government of Japan makes efforts to develop the NAP with the aim of issuing it in mid-2020. 
3. Prof. Ramasastry made expert remarks, encouraging governments to promote responsible business conduct through developing NAPs. She also commented that one of the key roles that NAPs can play is to raise awareness of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Remarks (PDF) ).
4. The Committee members expressed various opinions regarding the NAP formulation process and the identification of priority areas for the upcoming NAP. 
5. The Government of Japan continues to work on developing the NAP while taking into consideration various comments, including the ones presented at this meeting.