OECD Watch is undertaking a year-long process to strengthen our network’s purpose and strategy. Join us as we engage our members, broader civil society and other key stakeholders to sharpen our impact in the years ahead!
Assessing OECD Watch’s role in a changing landscape
The business and human rights field is shifting rapidly. More governments are exploring or adopting binding legislation to regulate corporations’ value chain impacts. At the same time, the planet is hurtling towards a triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, with myriad associated human rights harms. Corporate accountability is more urgently needed than ever.
For two decades, the OECD Guidelines, due diligence guidance, and voluntary National Contact Point complaint system have played a valuable role. Using these tools, the network has helped build normative and government consensus on the imperative of responsible business conduct, clarify core concepts such as on remedy, stakeholder engagement, and due diligence, and expose diverse harms (still) committed with impunity.
As the landscape evolves, we are reassessing our place within it:
- Amid the shift towards binding law, what contribution can international standards like the OECD Guidelines make to communities pursuing remedy, legal reform, and better business conduct?
- How can civil society best leverage a relationship with the OECD to demand a more inclusive and progressive development policy?
- How can the OECD Watch network best work together to support civil society’s fight for global corporate accountability?
Implementing a staged consultation to strengthen our impact
From July 2024 to June 2025, OECD Watch is undertaking an extensive and inclusive process to evaluate our current impact and recalibrate our purpose and strategy for the future.
July-October 2024: Assessing current performance
We will begin with a “temperature check” to assess our current strengths and weaknesses on core elements, from membership engagement to administrative systems to impact on the field. Through a facilitated process, we will incorporate input from members and our coordination committee, as provided in recent strategy consultations.
November 2024-March 2025: Exploring options for improvement
Next, we will consult extensively with civil society members, partners, and other key stakeholders to identify options to strengthen our purpose, strategy, and functioning as a global network. Through surveys, virtual and in-person focus group discussions, interviews, and other engagement tools, we will seek diverse input to hone our impact for the future.
April-June 2025: Consolidating a path forward
Our upcoming April Global Gathering in Istanbul will provide a pivotal moment to confirm the right path forward with members and partners. From that launch point, we will pursue the fundraising strategy and structural and activity reforms needed to address members’ priorities and meet the new global challenges and opportunities head-on.
Join us
Are you a network member or key civil society, government, or other partner? We warmly invite you to weigh in on the network’s future direction. The first opportunity to do so is at our working dinner in Geneva on November 25th, 18:30-21:00, at the margins of the UN Business & Human Rights Forum. Please fill out the form to reserve your seat at the table.
At the working dinner in Geneva, we will, amongst other things, welcome your input on the following questions:
- What do the current legislative changes mean for the OECD Guidelines and the National Contact Points?
- How can the OECD Watch network better organise itself to maximise the impact of its global membership and relationships at the OECD?
- How can the network best leverage the OECD Guidelines, the changing responsibilities of NCPs, and ongoing RBC policymaking at the OECD to support global civil society organisations in their progress towards justice and accountability for corporate harms?
