Chile

By Daniel Morris | 28. November 2017

Pillar 1: The State Duty to Protect Human Rights

Strand 1: Training in the Field of Business and Human Rights

Action point 1.1 (page 30)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will: …

DIRECON [the General Directorate of International Economic Relations] will raise awareness and further knowledge of relevant international instruments and their link with the United National Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, such as the Tripartite Declaration of Principles Concerning Multinational Business Enterprises and ILO’s Social Policy, and ISO 26,000. The above will be carried out through presentations, seminars, dialogues, briefings and publications in the website, as relevant.

Action Point 1.4 (page 31)

The Ministry of Energy will:

  • Through the Division of Participation and Social Dialogue, within the implementation framework of the Indigenous Chapter of the 2050 Energy Policy, perform the following actions:
  • Develop training sessions in renewable energy for indigenous leaders with focus on business and human rights.
  • Perform activities to transfer experiences and knowledge to companies, so that they have information available for the development of energy projects in
    indigenous contexts.
  • Develop actions to train business enterprises about human rights and corporate activity, focusing on indigenous rights and cosmovision.
  • Train indigenous peoples about business and human rights. This initiative will be performed in conjunction with the Indigenous Affairs Unit of the Ministry of
    Social Development, which will facilitate coordination between initiatives carried out by both institutions within the context of the Action Plan.

Action Point 1.5 (pages 31-32)

The Ministry of Social Development will:

  • Through the Indigenous Affairs Coordination Unit, carry out a Training Plan including indigenous peoples related subjects for businesses operating in the North and South macro-zones, including the focus introduced by United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Contents of these training sessions will include relevant international standards, which will be discussed with indigenous representatives and have the involvement of business enterprises. Through the Indigenous Affairs Coordination Unit, it will publish a Participatory Guide concerning Indigenous Rights and Cosmovision of Indigenous Peoples, allowing to advise and train business enterprises about these peoples and the respect for their rights
  • Train staff on the Guiding Principles, including professionals from the Division of Social Policies and the Division of Social Assessment and Investment.
  • Through the Division of Public-Private Cooperation, include the focus on business, human rights and sustainable development in training activities about Public Incentives to Benefit Social Development by means of:
    • Workshop-seminars about Public Incentives to Benefit Social Development for Business Enterprises and public-private cooperation in accordance with the Guiding Principles and the 2030 Agenda, thus strengthening the State-Business nexus and promoting due diligence in human rights.
    • Introduction of a module about the “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and their connection with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” in a workshop-seminar organised by business senior and executive staff.
  • Through the National Disability Service, will:
    • Train public and private business enterprises to include inclusive for disabled people in inductions and training programmes.
    • Organise seminars to public services and bodies, business enterprises and the civil society to address subject concerning disability. Also, a course about Human Rights and Disability will be given at universities, and outreach actions will be carried out involving public services and bodies, business enterprises and the civil society.

Strand 2: Dialogue

Action Point 2.1 (page 34)

Through the Indigenous Affairs Coordination Unit of the Ministry of Social Development, opportunities for involvement and dialogue will be generated at a local level between business enterprises and indigenous peoples aimed at preparing a territorial development plan seeking to generate a dialogue at a local level involving municipalities, thus carrying out a participatory exercise about what happens in a territory and how this is planned. This would consider the participation and planning demands regarding territorial matters of indigenous peoples submitted within the context of the Participatory Dialogues of this Plan, as well as what is set out in Convention 169, the national regulations connected with such Convention, and the national instruments of territorial planning.

Strand 3: Inclusion and Non-Discrimination (page 35)

The Country Guide on Business and Human Rights to Chile identifies groups at risk of suffering different adverse human rights impacts by business operations, such as women, indigenous peoples, migrants, LGBTI individuals and people suffering from disabilities. Potential negative impacts on these groups may take place both inside the business enterprise (hiring, firing or discrimination) and outside the business for situations derived from corporate activity.

Action Point 3.6 (page 38)

The Ministry for Women and Gender Equality will:

  • Carry out activities in conjunction with the Danish Embassy to encourage the respect of human rights in women regarding corporate activity. The activities will be performed within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding about “Gender Equality and Sustainability, including Business and Human Rights.”
  • Organise training sessions for union leaders of State business enterprises about the union’s challenges regarding gender-focused demands.
  • Organise training sessions for human resource staff working in State business enterprises and other businesses about the balance between work and family life.
  • Disseminate Chilean Regulation No. 3262 to civil servants and business enterprises.
  • Encourage gender equality in business enterprises through the Iguala Seal. …

Action Point 3.7 (page 39)

The Ministry of Energy will promote the respect of human rights of indigenous peoples in the development of energy projects. It will do this through the implementation of the Indigenous Chapter the 2050 Energy Policy, developing consultation and participation processes pursuant to ILO Covenant 169, and drafting a guide for indigenous participation in the development of energy projects.

Likewise, the Ministry will promote the development of a “gender and energy agenda” seeking to enhance the role of women in the development of a national energy industry, from strengthening their capacity and knowledge in energy subjects to developing startups linked to the industry, and promoting the participation of women in the design and implementation of the Energy Policy.

Strand 4: Transparency and Participation

Action Point 4.1 (page 40)

The Ministry of Energy will:

  • Include, within the framework of the Indigenous Chapter of the 2050 Energy Policy, in conjunction with the Ministry of Economy and the Indigenous Affairs Coordination Unit, business and human rights standards in the Indigenous Participation Guidance in the Development of Energy Projects.
  • Promote, within the framework to implement the Indigenous Chapter of the 2050 Energy Policy, the right conditions for the social and technical viability of power generation projects, with total or partial participation in their ownership by the indigenous communities.

Action Point 4.2 (page 40)

The Public-Private Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Social Development will include questions about the Guiding Principles in the 2017 Study about Social Performance of Business Enterprises, as well as the result of these variables in the final performance report, which will include an analysis of the results and their relationship with the SDGs. Medium and large-size public and private business enterprises will participate in the study.

Strand 5: Public Procurement

Action Point 5.1 (page 42)

The Chilean System of Public Purchases, (Chilecompra), has the mission to facilitate the contracting of goods and services by the State through a public market web platform, in the different purchase procedures. Chilecompra will:

  • Incorporate an “Integrity Agreement” clause38, where the supplier bounds himself/herself to respect human rights in accordance with the Guiding Principles.
    Through the integrity agreement, suppliers commit, inter alia, to act with transparency, probity and truthfulness regarding the information and details submitted in the tender papers. This clause will be included in all terms and conditions of the Framework Agreement, and use thereof will be encouraged in the terms and conditions of public tenders. For the correct understanding of this clause, Chilecompra will train suppliers in its contents, including the issues of business and human rights.
  • Assess the possibility to gather, through a relevant guideline, recommendations for buyers aimed at safeguarding the respect for human rights in the process of acquiring goods and services. …

Strand 6: Strengthening Coherence between Public Policies

Action Point 6.2 (page 52)

The Ministry of Social Development will draft a proposal for gathering information about business and human rights, which includes the following:

  • To review the international experience in the subject;
  • To analyse current instruments for gathering information;
  • To draft a proposal that includes indicators using the information available and require the gathering of new information.
  • Through the National Service of the Elderly, will coordinate dialogues on services that provide elderly residences and a human rights approach through protocols guidelines. The dialogues will be with enterprises at a regional level that provide services of care to elderly people to disseminate the guidelines the Service has define.

Pillar 2: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights

Strand 1: Contextual Issues: Preparation of Documents allowing Business Enterprises to

Action Point 1.1 (page 53)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will streamline they webpage on business and human rights to include tools, guides, guidelines and news, as well as the progress made by the National Action Plan. For this, it will seek the support of international institutions.

Action Point 1.2 (page 53)

The National Human Rights Institute will:

  • Disseminate and update the Human Rights and Business Country Guide to Chile with the participation of business, civil society, trade unions, and academia.

Action Point 1.6 (page 53)

The Environmental Assessment Service will prepare the Guide for Describing the Human Environment with Gender Focus for the Assessment of Environmental Impact. Such Guide is meant for the owners of projects submitted to the SEIA.

Strand 2: Promotion of Corporate Due Diligence in the Field of Human Rights

Action Point 2.1 (page 54)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will:

  • Promote human rights in the management of public funds to promote exports carried out by ProChile, through the progressive incorporation of analysis mechanisms helping to ensure that business enterprises having access to the tools offered by this entity respect human rights. Likewise, it will establish, if relevant, requirements about sustainability and respect for human rights, as criteria to choose the business enterprises participating in programmes to promote exports and corporate activities, including SMEs and micro SMEs.
  • Disclose to business enterprises who are members of ProChile the United Nations Guiding Principles, thus helping, in this was and as far as possible, to incorporate them in their activities. It will do this through information available in the website, talks or sets of tools to strengthen their capabilities, and/or through the publication of handbooks containing the Guiding Principles or another suitable instrument, with special focus on information and training provided to SMEs.

Action Point 2.2 (page 55)

The Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism will: …

  • Agree, with business enterprises represented in the Social Responsibility Council for Sustainable Development, upon the development of memorandums of understanding, guides, handbooks and guidelines containing best practices, so that they can become an integral part of business and human rights standards in the following subject matters: labour practices, impact on communities, corporate practices and supply chain management.

Strand 3: Reports in the field of Human Rights

Action Point 3.1 (pages 56-57)

The Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism will:

  • Encourage the development of a Guide about the duty of public enterprises regarding human rights.
  • Foster the use of reporting mechanisms about human rights between public business enterprises.
  • Promote, through the Division of Associativity and Social Economy, strategies and mechanisms of accountability and non-financial reporting for cooperatives, which will include the potential risks of their businesses on human rights. To encourage the use of this practice, an electronic template will be developed in 2017, free of charge and freely available, for these bodies to report to the State and their different target audiences.

Contributions by other actors (page 88)

Although this Plan was prepared by State institutions, it seeks to become a platform collecting the existing efforts for the implementation of the business and human rights agenda in Chile. Therefore, it is an invitation for other institutions that may wish to participate and commit actions within this framework.

In this regard, the following institutions will contribute in the development of this agenda at anational level based on the following commitments: …

  1. Fundación Casa de la Paz, with the support of the Inter-Ministerial Working Group, will lead the process to create the “Guías Chile” initiative, with the purpose of gathering business enterprises, civil society organisations and the Government to improve business practices in the field of human rights in the Chile.
  2. Global Compact Chile will organise a series of activities with technical support by the Directorate of Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international organisations. This will have the purpose of building capabilities regarding the Guiding Principles and the Sustainable Development Goals in business enterprises that are members of Global Compact Chile, such as:
  • Creation of a Working Group on Business and Human Right in Global Compact.
  • Introduction workshop about their application, practice and connection with the SDGs.
  • Four working sessions aimed at including the human rights focus and how it is applied by business enterprises about the SDGs.
  • Collection and dissemination of tools for the adoption of due diligence by companies, in line with the SDGs, introducing material available of the Global Compact World Office.
  • Creation, in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the criteria to choose best practices available about human rights in the System for the Integration of Compact Principles (SIPP). The Framework for Reporting in Human Rights will be taken as a reference.
  • Work with the Ministry of Economy to promote the subscription by business enterprises who are members of the Global Compact, in the Ministry’s initiatives that have incidence on this Plan.
  1. The Santiago Stock Exchange will coordinate with trading business the holding of training workshops on business and human rights. For this, it will have the technical support of the Directorate of Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international institutions.
  2. Fundación ACCIÓN Empresa will:
  • Prepare a study about main challenges existing in this field, starting by the corporate role, to comply with the Guiding Principles, with the purpose of contributing strategies to resolve issues through good corporate practices in this field.
  • Create a Corporate Committee for Responsible Supply, aimed at identifying the best corporate practices in place to minimise the infringement of rights in their value chain. It includes 4-6 annual sessions.
  1. The Social Responsibility Council for Sustainable Development will create a working group for business and human rights. This initiative will have the purpose of analysing strategies introducing human rights standards in corporate activity, sharing best practices y reviewing documents and tools to be promoted by the Council in this field.