By: Andy Rowell and Eveline Lubbers Compelling new evidence suggests the Nigerian military killed four Ogoni elders whose murders led to the execution of the playwright and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995. The evidence also reveals that the notorious military commander Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Okuntimo, whose troops were implicated in murder and rape, was in the [...]
Dem. Rep. of Congo: Women Working in Gold mines
Thursday, December 2nd, 2010By: Georgina Cranston, in Guardian (UK) An audio slide show telling the story of women working in gold mines, their poverty & effects on their health. http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/1003387
Stop the Pain in Aboriginal Communities
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010By: Donna Kennedy-Glans Ten days ago, I moderated the viewing of a documentary called CRUDE at the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival in Calgary. In this film, producer Joe Berlinger shares the plight of Aboriginal communities in Ecuador impacted by oil exploration and exploitation in their communities. It’s a very long and complicated tale. It [...]
Guiding Principles for the Implementation of the UN ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’
Monday, November 22nd, 2010Author: Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights, Professor John Ruggie Dated: 22 Nov 2010 Today…Professor John Ruggie, posted the draft “Guiding Principles for the Implementation of the UN ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework” on his online consultation forum. The forum, intended to gather views from a broad range of [...]
Alien torts: Trial trails
Thursday, October 7th, 2010from The Economist WHEN lawyers for a group of Burmese villagers used an obscure American law in 1996 to sue Unocal, an oil company, for using forced labour and other abuses while constructing a pipeline in Myanmar, human-rights campaigners saw a new way of attacking companies (as opposed to their executives in person) for misdeeds [...]
Guide on How to Develop a Human Rights Policy
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010By Lucy Amis, United Nations Global Compact A human rights policy can take many forms and has no uniform definition. At minimum, it is a public statement adopted by the company’s highest governing authority committing the company to respect international human rights standards and to do so by taking steps to identify, mitigate, and report [...]
Guidance on Responsible Business in Conflict-Affected and High-risk Areas: A Resource for Companies and Investors
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010By United Nations Global Compact, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) “Guidance on Responsible business in conflict-affected and High-risk areas: a Resource for companies and investors” aims to assist companies in implementing responsible business practices in conflict-affected and high-risk areas consistent with the Global Compact Ten Principles. It seeks to provide a common reference point for [...]
Supply Chain Sustainability: A Practical Guide for Continuous Improvement
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010By UN Global Compact, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) Supply chain sustainability is increasingly recognized as a key component of corporate responsibility. Managing the social, environmental and economic impacts of supply chains, and combating corruption, makes good business sense as well as being the right thing to do. However, supply chains consist of continously evolving [...]
Doing business while advancing peace and development
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010By United Nations Global Compact Conflict affects a society at all levels. It destroys human lives, reduces the prospects for sustainable growth and development and weakens a state’s ability to govern. Conflict significantly slows down social, political and economic development processes. For example, weak infrastructure in conflict-affected areas such as por communications and limited access [...]