The meeting will be held on Thursday, January 29, 2015 from 2:30 to 6:00 pm, in the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs of the Permanent Council, and was convened in compliance with resolution AG/RES. 2840 (XLIV-O/14), adopted in the last General Assembly of the OAS on June the 4th, 2014. The purpose of the meeting is for the member States delegations to hold a debate to “foster the exchange of best practices and experiences with respect to the promotion and protection of human rights in business”. This is the first time that a political entity of the OAS holds a special session on this issue.

According to the agenda published by the Permanent Council the following will participate in the meeting: Paulo Vannuchi the Commissioner responsible for the Economics, Social and Cultural Rights Unit of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights; Alexandra Guáqueta, member of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, and OAS officials. The Executive Director of the Center for Human Rights and the Environment (Centro de Derechos Humanos y Ambiente – CEDHA) and the Director of Corporative Responsibility and Institutional Services of REPSOL Corporation will speak during a panel titled “Presentation by representatives of civil society and business”.

The OAS Secretariat for Juridical Affairs is expected to write a summary report on the session and that a proposed resolution will be presented during the 45th OAS General Assembly to take place in June of this year as follow-up on the OAS efforts around the issue of business and human rights.