- January 6, 2009 - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights is delighted to announce the launch of BASESwiki. This is a new on-line resource focused on the non-judicial mechanisms available around the world to help companies and their external stakeholders resolve disputes.¹ It is a global, interactive forum where anyone can share, access and discuss information about these mechanisms and the resources and experts that can support their use.

During two years of consultations by the SRSG on issues of access to remedy, stakeholders from all sides have reported that access to non-judicial grievance mechanisms is hampered by the lack of readily available information about them. This information gap has also prevented effective learning about different models of mechanism and how they can be improved. And it has made it harder for companies to benefit from information about the outcomes of non-judicial processes as an indicator of how to prevent future disputes from arising.

BASESwiki seeks to address this information gap. It is a resource for all stakeholders - companies, NGOs, mediators, lawyers, academics and government officials. And it will cover mechanisms based in companies, industry associations, multi-stakeholder initiatives, government agencies, national, multilateral and international institutions. BASESwiki can currently be accessed in English, French and Spanish. Chinese and Russian language portals will follow in the first few weeks of 2009, followed shortly by Arabic.

The content of the wiki will be built over time by and for its community of users. Users can also make suggestions about how the site should develop, new areas it should cover or how it could be better organized to enable searching. The site will shortly have a new 'community portal' where users can network, exchange ideas, and share information about relevant events.

The SRSG encourages all interested parties to contribute information about relevant mechanisms or experts in this field. To get involved, simply go to www.baseswiki.org and register for full access to start editing and adding to the site. The site includes instructions on how to contribute. Your participation is essential to ensure the success of this new resource in advancing improved access to ever more effective means of non-judicial remedy! Please join us!

In the event of questions, please contact admin@baseswiki.org.

UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Business & Human Rights

UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Business & Human Rights

In July 2005, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Harvard professor John Ruggie as his Special Representative on Business and Human Rights. In 2008, Ruggie proposed a policy framework for better managing business and human rights challenges, based on three pillars: the state duty to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, including business; the corporate responsibility to respect human rights; and the need for greater access by victims to effective remedy, judicial and non-judicial. The Human Rights Council was unanimous in welcoming the framework, and extended Ruggie's mandate by three years with the task of operationalizing it. Ruggie's aim is to develop guiding principles for each of its three pillars; his mandate concludes in 2011.

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