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• Conducive legal, institutional, and administrative framework; • Fight against impunity and for access to justice for violations against defenders; • Strong, independent, and effective national human rights institutions; • Effective protection policies and mechanisms, including public support for the work of defenders; • Special attention for risks and challenges faced by women defenders and those working on women’s rights and gender issues; • Non-­‐State actors’ respect for and support of the work of defenders; • Safe and open access to the UN and international human rights bodies; • Strong, dynamic, and diverse communities of human rights defenders. In line with Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as other international guidance such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, NAPs should guarantee the free, prior, and informed consent for business operations from affected communities, with human rights defenders having a crucial direct and intermediary role in this regard. In addition to ensuring that businesses respect and enable the work of human rights defenders, it is also important that NAPs address the abuse of authority through which public officials often restrict the work of human rights defenders working on these issues.28 NAPs represent an opportunity for States to outline how they will safeguard these elements and guarantee a safe and enabling environment for defenders working on business and human rights. Given both the role of defenders in promoting business respect for human rights and the violations of their rights they face in doing so, NAPs ought to outline how the State will guarantee the application of the Guiding Principles and the Declaration to defenders working on business and human rights. 3.2. The business responsibility, and the business case, to respect human rights defenders Businesses must respect the rights of human rights defenders and other civil society actors to express their views on and to dissent, protest, and organise against, business activities.29 The business responsibility to respect extends to refraining from harming human rights defenders, restricting their rights, or interfering with their legitimate activities, and consulting and engaging with defenders to identify, mitigate, and remedy the adverse human rights impacts of business operations.30 It also includes ensuring that private security firms or contractors acting for or on behalf of business are not involved in threats or attacks against human rights defenders. 7