Accountability beyond Corporations: The Applicability of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises to Non-profit Organisations

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to investigate the degree to which the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises – meant for businesses – apply to Non-Profit Organisations’ (NPOs) operations and accountability. Based on a legal analysis of complaints handled by the National Contact Points (NCPs) in Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom against NPOs, this paper shows that OECD Guidelines apply to certain types of NPOs, even if these organisations are by nature non-profit. It presents three conditions under which the OECD Guidelines can apply to NPOs: first, the NPO needs to operate in at least two countries; second, it must operate within a signatory state of the OECD Guidelines; and third, the OECD Guidelines violation must have occurred in relation to the business-activity of the NPO.