2014 UN Universal Periodic Review of the United States

On 15 September, 2014, Accountability Counsel submitted a report to the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United States. The UPR is a mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council that aims to improve human rights in each of the UN member countries. The human rights situation in each member country is reviewed once every 4.5 years, and each review period invites input from a diverse range of stakeholders, including UN agencies, national human rights institutions, and NGOs.

Accountability Counsel’s submission to the UPR of the United States focuses on the United States’ implementation of the Access to Remedy pillar of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We note the progress that the United States has made to date to implement the Guiding Principles and outline additional actions that are necessary, including:

• The need to establish a non-judicial grievance mechanism at the Export-Import Bank of the United States;
• The need to revise the policy and practice of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation’s (OPIC) Office of Accountability to lessen complex procedural barriers and make that mechanism more fair and accessible;
• The need to revise the procedures of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) National Contact Point of the U.S. (US NCP), to enable that office to serve as a forum in which communities harmed by U.S. corporate activities can access remedy; and
• The need to establish permanent laws in the U.S. that ensure that U.S. funding to international financial institutions is tied to the provision of access to remedy for business-related human rights abuses.

Read our full submission here.

Additional information on the UN Universal Periodic Review is available here.