Guatemala

Status

In 2017, the Presidential Commission on the Coordination of Human Rights Policy for the Executive (Comisión Presidencial Coordinadora de la Política del Ejecutivo en materia de Derechos Humanos, COPREDEH) invited international expert organisations to submit proposals on providing technical support aimed at developing the country’s first NAP. However, this initiative and previous efforts led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stalled, partly as a result of changes in the institutions and individuals responsible for coordinating the NAP. High levels of polarisation and mistrust between stakeholder groups in Guatemala has also contributed to delays in starting a NAP process.

At the 6th Regional Latin American and Caribbean Forum on Business and Human Regions in 2021, the Guatemalan Presidential Commission for Human Rights & Peace (COPADEH) committed to start a National Baseline Assessment on Business and Human Rights (NBA) as part of the effort to create a NAP.

National Baseline Assessment (NBA)

La Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos of Guatemala (UDEFEGUA) and ICAR have published a shadow NBA (in Spanish) of the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Guatemala, and General Considerations based on the findings.

The shadow NBA was developed with the aim of informing the creation of a future NAP in Guatemala, and to inform all stakeholders, including civil society, academia, government, business groups, and investors to address business-related human rights harms in Guatemala.