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Given that defenders working on business and human rights face high levels of stigmatisation and criminalisation, the act of engaging them in the development of a NAP can strengthen their legitimacy and contribute to their protection. It may also open doors for future consultation around specific business and/or human rights policies and projects. At the time of the publication of this guidance, eight States have produced NAPs, of which only four make direct mention of human rights defenders.41 However, only the United Kingdom has made explicit commitments to support human rights defenders through its embassies abroad.42 The UK NAP is also the only NAP to refer to defender protection, in the context of funding local civil society organisations.43 Other NAPs merely reference the importance of consulting with human rights defenders and other stakeholders in general.44 A NAP developed with defender input and which contains commitments that prioritise protection of defenders will help safeguard the ability of these vital stakeholders to contribute to and critique State and corporate actions, thus enhancing the overall impact of the policies and actions included in the NAP. 2. Checklist for involving human rights defenders in NAPs The following checklist contains the minimum elements needed for States to ensure adequate human rights defender participation in NAP processes. It is designed for use in concert with the NAP Checklist found in Annex 5 of the ICAR-­‐DIHR NAPs Toolkit. However, States should consult local defenders at the outset of the NAP development process to adapt and enhance the checklist according to their specific context. In a joint report, ‘Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) on Business and Human Rights,’ ICAR and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) identified as a positive trend that all the governments who have thus far published NAPs have conducted some form of consultation with stakeholders in their development.45 The ICAR-­‐ECCJ assessments also point out, however, that none of these governments took steps to facilitate the participation of disempowered or at-­‐risk stakeholders.46 By using the checklist below, States can work toward filling this gap by setting positive precedents and creating good practise in terms of human rights defenders’ involvement in NAPs. 11