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II. HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN NAP PROCESSES 1. Engaging with human rights defenders States should engage with human rights defenders in the development of a NAP to ensure that efforts toward implementation of its business and human rights duties adequately incorporate defenders’ invaluable perspectives. Consulting human rights defenders enables States to: • Learn from and incorporate human rights defenders’ opinions, views, and experiences in the NAP process; • Understand the link between human rights defenders’ rights and the wider business and human rights context; • Gain insight on how existing policies affect human rights defenders and how to better address concerns related to human rights defenders and business in the NAP content; • Build and strengthen relationships to facilitate future consultations, feedback, and buy-­‐in during NAP implementation, evaluation, and revision; • Demonstrate State respect for human rights defenders as key stakeholders and show commitment to prioritising human rights defenders in the NAP. It is vital that a diverse range of defenders and potentially affected communities are fully consulted and able to participate in all stages of the development, monitoring, evaluation, and updating of NAPs. It is especially important that States engage effectively with disempowered, isolated, or at-­‐risk human rights defenders who may find it more difficult to participate. Given their historical exclusion from such processes, additional efforts should be made to engage women human rights defenders and female community leaders, and other minority groups. Where these consultations identify current gaps in human rights protection, States should be bold in proposing new laws, policies, and actions, and the repeal or amendment of others where necessary, through the NAP. The results of human rights defender participation and consultation should be periodically published in accessible, user-­‐friendly ways and elucidate how the input of human rights defenders was considered. Engagement with human rights defenders should not only take place within the State developing a NAP, but also by their embassies in countries where their corporations operate. The State also has an obligation to protect defenders participating in the NAP process from any reprisals they might suffer for this involvement. 10