Natural Resources and Violent Conflict - WaterWiki.net

getting it done 261agencies, and civil society organizations. To date, four working groupshave provided preliminary recommendations (on transparency, conflictimpact assessment and risk management, multiple-stakeholder initiatives,and revenue-sharing regimes), but it is too early to assess theeffectiveness of this instrument beyond its relative success in raisingawareness among some businesses and facilitating dialogue. 51The Global Compact is not the only UN initiative dealing with corporatesocial responsibilities in terms of human rights. Most noticeableis a working group of the UN Subcommission on the Promotionand Protection of Human Rights, which is drafting an addendum tothe UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights entitled HumanRights Principles and Responsibilities for Transnational Corporationsand Other Business Enterprises. The draft text calls for business enterprisesto be subject to independent, transparent, and open measuresallowing for the verification of compliance. 52OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The guidelinesconsist of voluntary principles and standards recommended by OECDgovernments to multinational enterprises operating in or from adheringcountries (about 36) for their operations in any country, includingthrough their supply chain. Of relevance to the issue of conflict resourcesand armed conflicts, this instrument recommends that enterprises conducttheir affairs with transparency, refrain from discriminating amongpotential employees, refrain from paying bribes or making contributionsto political parties (unless legally permissible), and “abstain fromany improper involvement in local political activities.” The guidelinesalso state that enterprises should “respect the human rights of thoseaffected by their activities consistent with the host government’s internationalobligations and commitments” (para. II.2).While not legally binding, the guidelines represent a clear statementof public policy at the interministerial level and include a procedure ofimplementation with some similarities to a judicial process; they arebinding on member states, but not on multinational enterprises (Howen2001). With specific reference to enterprises operating in conflictaffectedcountries, an OECD background note invites enterprises tocontribute by “improving management in the immediate vicinity of theiroperations (especially of security forces and resettlement operations);[and] participating in the search for long-term solutions to these countries’problems by helping them move toward healthier public governance(in particular by becoming more transparent in their financialrelations with troubled host countries)” (OECD 2002, p. 13).The guidelines have received support from the G-8’s 2002 AfricaAction Plan, which refers to their role in “intensifying support for the