Colombia – Guidance to business

By Daniel Morris | 14. April 2021

VIII. FUNDAMENTAL PILLARS

i. Fundamental Pillar 1: The State’s obligation to protect human rights

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Strand 3 [Eje nº 3]: Dissemination of the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights and of instruments and strategies related to the promotion of these rights

  • The Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights and International Affairs, together with the Escuela Superior de Administración Pública, will implement a training module on international standards on business and human rights and the actions contained in this NAP aimed at public servants, companies, monitoring, surveillance and control bodies of business activities.

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  • The Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights and International Affairs, together with the support of academic sectors, will hold training sessions on international standards on business and human rights and the actions in the Plan, aimed at public servants, companies and bodies responsible for monitoring, surveillance and control of business activities.

 

Strand 4 [Eje nº 4]: Promoting inclusion and non-discrimination in business activity

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  • The Ministry of Labour will provide training on specialised labour demand services aimed at strengthening human talent management (gestión del talent humano).

Strand 5 [Eje nº 5]: Articulating spaces for social dialogue and effective participation

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  • The Civil Aeronautic Department will provide technical assistance in aeronautical and airport matters to territorial entities that have air transport infrastructure, as a strategy for their strengthening.

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  • The Ministry of Labour will carry out one (1) training and awareness-raising activity about Human Rights and Enterprise with the members or with the Technical Secretariat of the Permanent Commission for the Coordination of Wage and Labour Policies (CPCPSL) and in the 32 Departmental Sub-Commissions for the Coordination of Wage and Labour Policies (SDCPSL).
  • The Ministry of Transport will implement strategies for the improvement of the road infrastructure of the country’s indigenous, Afro and peasant communities through support in the formulation and structuring of projects, training in sources of financing upon request and technical accompaniment in the territory to facilitate the prioritisation and rationalisation of projects.
  • The Ministry of Culture [Mincultura] will disseminate through territorial strategies the guiding document on the protection of human rights with special emphasis on the most vulnerable populations in the cultural and creative sector.

 

Strand 6 [Eje nº 6]: In areas affected by violence, provide guidance and assistance to companies in order to promote the promotion and guarantee of human rights

  • The Observatory of the Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights, together with the National System for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, will be responsible for identifying areas where there is a possible impact on human rights. Once this analysis has been carried out, the Business and Human Rights area, together with business associations and local authorities, will train companies on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Strand 7 [Eje nº 7]: Provide guidance and assistance to businesses and enterprises targeting vulnerable populations

  • The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism will incorporate the gender approach in the national government’s rural and urban entrepreneurship strategies focused on the most vulnerable population (framework of the integral routes of productive inclusion).

Strand 9 [Eje nº 9]: The state as economic actor

  • The Ministry of Finance and Public Credit will implement a human rights and business training strategy targeting companies owned or majority owned by the Ministry of Finance.

 

ii. Fundamental Pillar 2: The duty of business to respect human rights

Strand 1[Eje nº 1]: Provide companies with the tools to fulfil their responsibility to respect human rights

  • The Ministry of Labour will promote respect for the fundamental right of association, unionisation and bargaining through accompaniment and training.
  • The Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights and International Affairs, together with the Business Associations, the National Apprenticeship Service (SENA) and the Regional Competitiveness Commissions, will generate spaces for the exchange of good business practices in the field of human rights.
  • The Presidential Advisory Office for Human Right s and International Affairs will prepare and update contextual documents that allow companies to understand the environment in which they operate or will operate.
  • The Presidential Advisory Office for Women’s Equity (CPEM) will provide technical advice to private companies on the implementation of gender equity initiatives.
  • The Ministry of Telecommunications [Mintic] will elaborate the “Guide on Human Rights and Business: A document on the application of human rights and business principles” for the specific context of the Information and Telecommunications Technologies (ICT) sector.
  • The National Road Safety Agency will generate road safety activities in the business sector, focused on promoting safe mobility for vulnerable actors.

Strand 2[Eje nº 2]: Promoting corporate human rights due diligence

  • The business associations will provide training opportunities aimed at promoting due diligence in the development of business activities. This will be done through the dissemination of the OECD Guidelines described in chapter IV “International Standards”.
  • The Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights and International Affairs will disseminate methodologies, tools and recommendations to inform corporate human rights due diligence processes.
  • The Procurement Agency [Colombia Compra Eficiente] will disseminate the due diligence framework established by the entity in the Guide for Socially Responsible Public Procurement within state entities.

Strand 3 [Eje nº 3]: Train public and private companies on the need to mitigate the consequences of possible human rights impacts due to their operations, products or services provided, with an emphasis on those located in the region

  • The Presidential Advisory Office for Human Rights and International Affairs will coordinate, together with the Presidential Advisory Office for the Regions, virtual training sessions so that teams from the governors and mayors’ offices can learn about and replicate the need to respect human rights in business activities in the region, including the need to respect human rights in the situation caused by Covid-19 as well as in its reactivation phase. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism will support this action by participating in these training activities, disseminating and promoting the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
  • The ICBF [Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar]  will provide technical assistance, advice, training and accompaniment to public-private agents in the integral respect of children’s rights, as well as in the implementation of the principles and actions set out in the Rights of the Child, as well as in the adoption and implementation of the Business and Childhood Strategy [Estrategia de Empresa y Niñez] within the framework of business activities in Colombia.
  • The Presidential Advisory Office for Women’s Equity (CPEM) will implement an advocacy strategy for companies to promote actions to close gender gaps and empower women and girls from the logic of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Shared Value.
  • The National Infrastructure Agency will provide training, education and awareness-raising scenarios for communities in the projects promoted by the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI).
  • The Ministry of Labour [Mintrabajo] will carry out awareness-raising and guidance actions for companies in the employability route of the SPE [Servicio Público de Empleo], to strengthen the management of human talent and labour demand, incorporating services that seek to mitigate the organisational barriers present due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

iii. Fundamental Pillar 3: Access to remedy mechanisms

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Strand 2 [Eje nº 2]: Access to non-judicial remedy mechanisms

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  • The SIC [Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio] will provide technical assistance to companies to design and strengthen their grievance mechanisms with a focus on human rights and business.