Article
Big business becomes Mrs Robinson's affair
But the meetings she [Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights] has now tend increasingly to be with companies, not heads of state. Her stock answer, when asked what is the worst human rights problem in the world, is 'extreme poverty' that denies people basic rights to health, housing and education. At a time when power is shifting from governments to multinational corporations, they must shoulder some of the responsibility, she argues. [refers to ABB, Barclays, Body Shop, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, MTV, National Grid Transco, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Statoil]