The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights: An Interpretive Guide

This guide is designed to support the effective implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights ("Guiding Principles"). It provides additional background, detail and assistance in understanding the Guiding Principles, and complements the commentary contained in the Guiding Principles themselves. It defines key concepts, elaborates on the foundational and operational principles underlying the corporate responsibility to respect, and includes a series of questions and answers for businesses. The guide was prepared by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in full collaboration with Professor John Ruggie, the former Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights.