On 26 June 2014, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 26/9, in which it decided "to establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights, whose mandate shall be to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises."

On 11 July 2024, the Human Rights Council adopted decision 56/116 to enhance the support capabilities of the open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG), including through intersessional thematic consultations in Geneva for a period of three years.

Between the eleventh and twelfth sessions, numerous intersessional activities took place, including the thematic consultations mandated by Council decision 56/116. See the summary report on the 2026 intersessional thematic consultations. Following these consultations, the Chair-Rapporteur also circulated an addendum to the summary report with suggested redrafting of selected provisions of the updated draft legally binding instrument.

The twelfth session of the OEIGWG is taking place from 12 to 16 October 2026 in Room XII of the Palais des Nations. Please note that as Room XII has a limited capacity, participation may need to be limited to five people per non-State delegation. 

A live webcast of the session is available on UN Web TV, and it is possible to listen to a live audio stream in all UN languages.

Please regularly consult this webpage, as more information will be posted as it becomes available. If you have any questions, please contact ohchr-igwg-tncs@un.org.

• Draft instrument
  
  • Updated draft legally binding instrument with the textual proposals submitted by States during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh sessions of the OEIGWG
  • Updated draft legally binding instrument (clean version)
  • Updated draft legally binding instrument (version in track changes)
  • Table indicating where elements of the 3rd revised draft may be found in the updated draft legally binding instrument
• Session documents
  
  • Programme of Work and Methodology for the twelfth session
  • Summary report on the 2026 intersessional thematic consultations mandated by Human Rights Council decision 56/116
    
    • Addendum: Chair-Rapporteur suggested redrafting of selected provisions of the updated draft legally binding instrument
  • Proposed Chair-Rapporteur 2027 Roadmap for the implementation of HRC Decision 56/116
  • Provisional agenda
• Intersessional documents
  
  • Revised Chair-Rapporteur 2026 Roadmap for the implementation of HRC Decision 56/116
  • Non-paper on Articles 12 to 24 of the updated draft legally binding instrument
  • Non-paper on Articles 2 and 3 of the updated draft legally binding instrument
  • Non-paper on Article 1 of the updated draft legally binding instrument
  • Selected legal experts for the OEIGWG
• Correspondence
  
  • Note Verbale by the Chair-Rapporteur of the OEIGWG announcing a change of the dates for the 12th session

Only UN Member and Observer States, specialized agencies and other international organizations, national human rights institutions with "A status" accreditation, and NGOs with ECOSOC consultative status may attend and participate in the public meetings of the OEIGWG.

Please consult the participation page for information regarding how to make interventions during the twelfth session.

Accreditation requirements vary depending on the entity represented. Please consult the accreditation page for the instructions regarding accreditation for the twelfth session.

All registration and accreditation requests must be made online through UNOG’s Indico system.

Please consult the table of side events for information on the side events during the twelfth session.

On 11 July 2024, the Human Rights Council adopted decision 56/116 to enhance the support capabilities of the OEIGWG. Among other things, the Council decided that, starting in 2025, for a period of three years, the working group will convene intersessional thematic consultations each year, in Geneva, with the assistance, as deemed necessary, of legal experts selected by the Chair-Rapporteur for the purpose of discussing clusters of articles of the draft legally binding instrument currently being negotiated in line with the mandate established by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 26/9. In accordance with that decision and the Chair-Rapporteur’s recommendation in paragraph 59(f) of the report on the 11th session of the working group, the Chair-Rapporteur prepared a roadmap for the implementation of HRC Decision 56/116 which provides the dates and methodology for intersessional consultations.

The first thematic consultation took place during 7 to 8 April 2026 in the Palais des Nations in Geneva and focused on Articles 12 to 24 of the updated draft legally binding instrument with the textual proposals submitted by States during the ninth, tenth, and eleventh sessions of the OEIGWG.

• Non-paper on Articles 12 to 24 of the updated draft legally binding instrument
• Proposed programme of work for the first thematic consultation

The second thematic consultation took place during 9 to 10 April 2026 in the Palais des Nations in Geneva and focused on Article 2 (Statement of Purpose) and Article 3 (Scope), as well as Article 1 (Definitions) of the updated draft legally binding instrument. 

• Non-paper on Articles 2 and 3 of the updated draft legally binding instrument
• Proposed programme of work for the second thematic consultation

The third thematic consultation took place during 28 to 29 May 2026 in the Palais des Nations in Geneva and focused on Article 1 (Definitions), Preamble and a general overview of the text and the way forward. 

• Non-paper on Article 1 of the updated draft legally binding instrument
• Proposed programme of work for the third thematic consultation 

Before the twelfth session, the Chair-Rapporteur made available a summary report on the 2026 intersessional thematic consultations, as well as an addendum to the summary report with suggested redrafting of selected provisions of the updated draft legally binding instrument.

An informal consultation on a proposed programme of work and methodology for the twelfth session of the OEIGWG took place on 31 August 2026 in Room IX of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. 

• Draft Programme of Work and Methodology for the twelfth session

The first and second sessions of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights were dedicated to conducting constructive deliberations on the content, scope, nature and form of a future international instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

During the third session, the Working Group discussed elements for a draft legally binding instrument prepared by the Chair-Rapporteur of the OEIGWG taking into consideration the discussions held during the first two sessions.

During the fourth session, the Working Group's discussions focused on a zero draft legally binding instrument, as well as a zero draft optional protocol to be annexed to the zero draft legally binding instrument.

During the fifth session, a revised draft of the legally binding instrument served as the basis for negotiations.

During the sixth session, a second revised draft of the legally binding instrument served as the basis for negotiations.

During the seventh session, a third revised draft of the legally binding instrument served as the basis for negotiations.

During the eighth session, the third revised draft of the legally binding instrument with the textual proposals submitted by States during the seventh session served as the basis for negotiations. Additionally, to help advance discussions during the eighth session, States and non-State stakeholders could also comment on informal contributions presented by the Chair-Rapporteur on select articles of the instrument.

During the ninth session, an updated draft legally binding instrument served as the basis for negotiations.

At its 56th session, on 11 July 2024, the Human Rights Council adopted decision 56/116  to enhance the support capabilities of the OEIGWG.

During the tenth session, negotiations continued on the basis of the updated draft legally binding instrument with the textual proposals submitted by States during the ninth session.

During the eleventh session, negotiations continued on the basis of the updated draft legally binding instrument with the textual proposals submitted by States during the ninth and tenth sessions.