Published for the first time in 2010, FIDH’s guide on Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses seeks to provide a practical tool for victims and their (legal) representatives, NGOs and other civil society groups (unions, peasant associations, social movements, activists) to seek justice and obtain reparation for victims of human rights abuses involving multinational corporations. To do so, the guide explores the different judicial and non-judicial recourse mechanisms available to victims.

In practice, strategies for seeking justice are not limited to the use of recourse mechanisms, and various other strategies have been used in the past. Civil society organisations have for instance set up innovative campaigns on various issues such as sweatshops in the textile industry profiting multinationals or illicit diamond trafficking fuelling conflicts in Africa. Such actions have yielded results and can turn out to be equally (or even more) effective than using formal channels. While this guide will not focus on such strategies, they are often used alongside and reinforce the use of recourse mechanisms.

In June 2021, the guide was updated and published in an all new, online format with of view of making it more widely known, accessible and more easily readable. You can find out more about the guide and on how to navigate its new format in the sections below.