the State and the conduct concerned. A reasonable link exists when a business enterprise has its centre of activity, is registered or domiciled or has its main place of business or substantial business activities in the State concerned. When adopting measures to meet this obligation, States must not violate the Charter of the United Nations and general international law nor diminish the obligations of the host State under the Convention. States should enable access to effective judicial and non-judicial mechanisms to provide remedy for children and their families whose rights have been violated by business enterprises extraterritorially when there is a reasonable link between the State and the conduct concerned. Furthermore, States should provide international assistance and cooperation with investigations and enforcement of proceedings in other States. Measures to prevent the infringement of children’s rights by business enterprises when they are operating abroad include: Making access to public finance and other forms of public support, such as insurance, conditional on a business carrying out a process to identify, prevent or mitigate any negative impacts on children’s rights in their overseas operations; Taking into account the prior record of business enterprises on children’s rights when deciding on the provision of public finance and other forms of official support; Ensuring that State agencies with a significant role regarding business, such as export credit agencies, take steps to identify, prevent and mitigate any adverse impacts the projects they support might have on children’s rights before offering support to businesses operating abroad and stipulate that such agencies will not support activities that are likely to cause or contribute to children’s rights abuses. Both home and host States should establish institutional and legal frameworks that enable businesses to respect children’s rights across their global operations. Home States should ensure that there are effective mechanismsin place so that the government agencies and institutions with responsibility for implementation of the Conventionand the Optional Protocols thereto coordinate effectively with those responsible for trade and investment abroad. They should also build capacity so that development assistance agencies and overseas missions that are responsible for promoting trade can integrate business issues into bilateral human rights dialogues, including children’s rights, with foreign Governments. States that adhere to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises should support their national contact points in providing mediation and conciliation for matters that arise extraterritorially by ensuring that they are adequately resourced, independent and mandated to work to ensure respect for children’s rights in the context of business issues. Recommendations issued by bodies such as the OECD national contact points should be given adequate effect. D.International organizations All States are called upon, under article 4 of the Convention, to cooperate directly in the realization of the rights in the Convention through international cooperation and through their membership in international organizations. In the context of business activities, these international organizations include international development, finance and trade institutions, such as the World Bank Group, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, and others of a regional scope, in which States act collectively. States must comply with their obligations under the Conventionand the Optional Protocols thereto when acting as members of such organizations and they should not accept loans from international organizations, or agree to conditions set forth by such organizations, if these loans or policies are likely to result in violations of the rights of children. States also retain their obligations in the field of development cooperation and should ensure that cooperation policies and programmes are designed and implemented in compliance with the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto. A State engaged with international development, finance and trade organizations must take all reasonable actions and measures to ensure that such organizations act in accordance with the Conventionand the Optional Protocols thereto in their decision-making and operations, as well as when entering into agreements or establishing guidelines relevant to the business sector. Such actions and measures should go beyond the eradication of child labour and include the full realization of all children’s rights. International organizations should have standards and procedures to assess the risk of harm to children in conjunction with new projects and to take measures to mitigate risks of such harm. These organizations should put in placeprocedures and mechanisms to identify, address and remedy violations of children’s rights in accordance with existing international standards, including when they are committed by or result from activities of businesses linked to or funded by them. E.Emergencies and conflict situations There are particular challenges for both host and home States inmeeting their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the child when businesses are operating in situations where protection institutions do not work properly because of conflict, disaster or the breakdown of social or legal order. It is important to emphasize that the Convention and the Optional Protocols thereto apply at all times and that there are no provisions allowing for derogation of their provisions during emergencies. In such contexts, there may be a greater risk of child labourbeing used by business enterprises (including within supply chains and subsidiaries), of child soldiers being used or of corruption and tax evasion occurring. Given the heightened risks, home States should require business enterprises operating in situations of emergency and conflict to undertake stringent child-rights due diligence tailored to their size and activities. Home States should also develop and implement laws and regulations that address specific foreseeable risks to children’s rights from business enterprises that are operating transnationally. This can include a requirement to publish actions taken to ensure that companies’ operations do not contribute to serious violations of children’s rights, and a prohibition on the sale or transfer of arms and other forms of military assistance when the final destination is a country in which children are known to be, or may potentially be, recruited or used in hostilities. A home State should provide businesses with current, accurate and comprehensive information of the local children’s rights context