Background

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Over the past decade, the development of National Action Plans (NAPs) on Business and Human Rights (BHR) in Asia has driven a new wave of policy engagement, capacity building, and public awareness around corporate accountability. In the last five years alone, eight NAPs have been adopted across the region. These processes have brought together governments, businesses, civil society, and national human rights institutions to identify priority human rights risks, establish coordination mechanisms, strengthen civil society advocacy, and embed international standards – such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights – into domestic contexts. 

 

Although NAPs are voluntary and non-binding, they have often laid the groundwork for stronger regulatory approaches, including emerging initiatives on mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD). By fostering cross-sector dialogue, building technical expertise, and creating baseline commitments, NAPs have helped normalise the expectation that businesses must proactively identify, prevent, and address human rights risks. In many countries, the process has mobilised diverse stakeholders and set the stage for future legislative and policy reforms. 

 

Despite these gains, challenges persist. Effectiveness has been uneven due to limited resources, weak monitoring frameworks, insufficient participation from rights-holders, and gaps in follow-through after adoption. In some contexts, action has remained concentrated at the national level without meaningful integration into provincial or sectoral policies. 

 

As the region moves towards mHRDD frameworks, the foundations laid by NAPs are proving invaluable. They provide critical lessons on effective design, stakeholder engagement, and capacity-building – ensuring that new laws are not only compliant on paper but deliver real impact in practice. For mHRDD to succeed, it must address the shortcomings of past approaches by ensuring legal clarity, enforceability, and meaningful inclusion of affected communities. 

This session will explore how lessons from NAP development and implementation in Asia can inform the design and roll-out of mHRDD measures, bridging the gap between voluntary commitments and binding obligations in ways that are both effective and context-sensitive. 

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Key Objectives

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• Analyse the role of NAPs in building political will, capacity, and stakeholder coalitions that pave the way for mHRDD. 

• Identify common gaps and challenges in NAP implementation that mHRDD processes must address to be effective. 

• Facilitate exchange among policymakers, civil society, and business leaders on aligning voluntary and mandatory approaches to advance corporate accountability. 

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Guiding Questions

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• ·       How have NAP processes in Asia influenced regulatory thinking and market expectations on corporate human rights due diligence? 

• ·       What lessons from NAP implementation, including successes and shortcomings could inform the design of mHRDD in the region? 

• How can mHRDD frameworks build on the inclusivity, capacity-building, and cross-sector collaboration fostered through NAPs, while ensuring enforceability and remedy for rights-holders? 

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Format

• This session will be held in a panel format with opportunities for interventions from the floor.

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Session Partner