http://127.0.0.1:8000 Tracking the positive and negative impact of over 3000 companies worldwide. en-gb Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:16:56 +0000 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:16:56 +0000 http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html Haggis avery@business-humanrights.org avery@business-humanrights.org http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/790490 Triple Bottom Line Investing (TBLI) CONFERENCE™ is the largest comprehensive learning and networking event on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investment on a yearly basis in Asia and Europe. We are now accepting presentation proposals and sponsorship commitments for TBLI CONFERENCE™ ASIA 2010 on May 27-28, at the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Chinzan-so, Tokyo, Japan. Your proposal must be received on January 31, 2010 to be considered... Thu, 27 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/790490 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/146073 On 7 April 2010, the Responsible Sourcing Network (a new project of As You Sow) and the Institute for Human Rights and Business, in partnership with Anti-Slavery International and Boston Common Asset Management, will convene a meeting in Brussels to address forced child labour in Uzbekistan’s cotton sector. The meeting will bring together brands, retailers, civil society organizations, investors, trade unions, industry associations and others... Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/146073 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/889573 I read your…article on Media misreporting and Apple’s CSR and would like to offer a comment. .. Firstly, hats off to Apple for a very transparent and readable report...For those of us in major brands who…have had to deal with the media, it comes as no surprise that bad news sells papers…Efforts by companies to manage the complexities of workplace conditions which are impacted by…thread-bare industrial relations… and a host of other factors is often left at the door when an emotional touchstone is available for a headline about “child labour”. However, your stated concern that the apple story will reinforce the conservatism of many Asian companies who are “cautious about being transparent…” perhaps misstates the risk…I am therefore hopeful that the Asian companies that subscribe to your newsletter see that the merit of transparency far outweighs the risks of media exposure… it lifts their standing, rather than diminishes it. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/889573 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/808382 GI-NET seeks to fill an Analyst position in its Conflict Risk Network (CRN) program. CRN coordinates a network of institutional investors, financial service providers and related stakeholders interested in addressing the role corporate actors…play in areas affected by genocide and severe conflict…The successful candidate will…[c]onduct…research and compile key financial data on companies materially involved in select GI-NET Areas of Concern…[T]ailor corporate responsibility standards and recommendations for responsible corporate behavior in select GI-NET Areas of Concern. Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/808382 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/629993 The United Nations is launching a set of Women’s Empowerment Principles…to mark International Women’s Day 2010. The principles – an initiative of the UN Global Compact and the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) – are a code of conduct for companies on gender equality…The principles are rooted in human rights and recognise the fundamental importance of equality and non-discrimination within the international human rights framework…Launch of the Women’s Empowerment Principles is a welcome step in ensuring that gender considerations sit squarely within the broader business and human rights framework…Gender is not an add-on to this debate; it is of fundamental importance and needs to be a strong component of any accountability framework for business and human rights. [refers to Rio Tinto] Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/629993 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/528185 Twenty out of 22 countries have not met the two-year deadline…to complete external verification of their progress under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a voluntary multistakeholder initiative, which aims to increase transparency of natural resource revenues. Validation…is a critical quality assurance mechanism which underpins the credibility of the EITI…Opaque and unaccountable natural resource management can lead to corruption and mismanagement…The EITI was established to ensure that revenue payments to governments from oil, gas and mining companies are fully disclosed to the public…so that citizens can check how the money is managed…Transparency is needed…to ensure citizens get a fair deal...Open licensing procedures, contract disclosure and a clear picture of how revenues are being spent are equally crucial. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/528185 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/492184 Con motivo del centésimo aniversario del Día Internacional de las Mujeres, el Fondo de Desarrollo de la ONU para las Mujeres (UNIFEM) y el Pacto Global de la ONU (UNGC) hicieron el día 8 un llamado a la comunidad empresarial para que pongan en práctica de manera activa medidas encaminadas a impulsar el empoderamiento y la inclusión de las mujeres en la fuerza de trabajo, sobre todo en reclutamiento y contratación....presentaron...un documento llamado "Principios de Empoderamiento de las Mujeres: Igualdad es Negocio" que incluye siete pasos que las compañías deben dar para empoderar a las mujeres en los lugares de trabajo. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/492184 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/751724 An international initiative that seeks to promote more openness about how countries profit from their oil, gas, and mining resources [the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative] should not weaken its modest membership standards because governments are unable or unwilling to meet them, Human Rights Watch said today. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/751724 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/629136 One person died…when flames engulfed a nightclub in downtown Moscow...Earlier reports said 250 people had been evacuated from an adjacent residential building, but that there were no casualties in the Opera nightclub. The body was discovered when firefighters were working at the scene of the blaze…"Preliminary information indicates he was a security guard," a spokesman for the emergencies ministry told RIA Novosti. The flames consumed over 1,000 sq. meters of the three-storey nightclub and the roof of the club collapsed. According to officials, the nightclub was closed for 30 days in December last year due to poor fire safety record. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/629136 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/376218 The Global Network Initiative (GNI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Susan Morgan as its first Executive Director...Ms. Morgan expects to begin her role at GNI in May of this year, joining from British Telecommunications (BT), where she was head of corporate responsibility (CR) strategy, policy and business planning. Today, GNI also announces the formation of its Board of Directors...Finally, GNI has published on its website a Governance Charter that establishes a formal decision-making and accountability structure... Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/376218 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/603834 Battles over forcible acquisition of agricultural land for industry are raging across India…[I]n India's tribal belt…indigenous…tribes, known as adivasis, have upset the plans of corporate groups such as Vedanta, Tata Steel [part of Tata Group], Essar Steel and National Mineral Development Corp to tap mineral riches…[C]ritics say that pro-business government officials...brazenly manipulat[e] public consultation processes and overrid[e] community sentiments to take tribal lands…These conflicts…are helping to fuel the radical Naxalite guerrilla movement in the tribal belt…"The Indian regulatory system is robust - it does not leave room for anybody to take advantage," says Mukesh Kumar, Vedanta Aluminium…However, the Church of England and several other social investors recently sold their shareholdings in Vedanta , citing concern for the way the company had handled its relations with local communities…Tata says villagers will be given "land for land", skills training and the promise of a job to one member of every affected household…"I think that development is something that everyone, especially if it's brought by a company like Tata, would find acceptable," says Sanjay Choudhry of Tata Steel... Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/603834 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/609409 Rights activists and residents have accused the Canadian owners [Goldcorp] of Guatemala's largest gold mine of exploiting local communities. Most worrying, they say, is the use of highly toxic cyanide to separate gold particles from the rock. Some residents claim that dangerous waste from the mine is making their children sick. [Parents who work at the mine…said that speaking out against their employer would cost them their jobs. Goldcorp denies these accusations…“investigations have been conducted in Guatemala…in response to allegations of medical conditions and skin rashes…no evidence exists that these conditions are related to the operation marlin mine in Guatemala”] Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/609409 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/869645 Please join us...for a roundtable on the UN framework with emphasis on the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. We have Christine Bader here to share the framework for the UN business and human rights presented and promoted by the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative. Before this framework officially submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011, we would like to hear suggestions and opinions from you! Your participation will be an opportunity to express your concerns and make contribution to this important international policy from China’s perspective... Host: Mr. LIU Kaiming, Executive Director of ICO Date: Wednesday 24 March...[and] Thursday 25 March 2010 Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/869645 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/967875 A lift company has admitted breaching health and safety laws after a banker was crushed to death…Polish-born Katarzyna Woja… was killed as she stepped out of a lift at Broadgate Health Club in…London on 12 March 2003...ThyssenKrupp Elevator UK… admitted one charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act of failing to ensure people not in its employment were not exposed to safety risks. Its failures included not maintaining the lift properly in accordance with its contractual obligations and failing to investigate adequately the cause of previous sudden failures…The firm will be sentenced on 14 May, along with…Holmes Place Health Clubs which has…admitted three charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act…Virgin Active, which acquired Holmes Place in 2006, has described the death of Ms Woja as "an appalling and tragic accident" Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.business-humanrights.org:8001/Links/Repository/967875