Weekly Update - 18 November 2015

• breakdown of participants: 32% NGOs, 22% business, 12% govt.
• follow the events here
• materials launched at Forum include: 
  • Toolkit by ISHR on fostering positive engagement between human rights defenders & business
  • Global Reporting Initiative report links sustainability reporting standard & UN Guiding Principles
  • "Utilizing National Action Plans to Promote Human Rights Due Diligence in Development Finance"
  • Ranking Digital Rights: Internet & telecommunications companies ranked on freedom of expression & privacy 
• blog series on measuring implementation of UN Guiding Principles

Uwe Gneiting, Private Sector Department at Oxfam America

• Development Director, UK/Europe (deadline 3 Dec)
• Middle East and North Africa Researcher & Representative (deadline 30 Nov)

Intl. Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) & European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ)

• assesses existing plans by govts. of Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom

MiningWatch Canada; Canadian Press

• summary profile of lawsuit also provided

Electronic Component News Magazine (USA); Conflict Minerals Law (USA)

• petitions were attempting to challenge earlier ruling that part of the Conflict Minerals Rule violates free speech of companies

• provides information on domestic legal frameworks for govt. & corporate accountability for labour exploitation

War on Want (UK)

• cites Associated British Foods, Glencore, Vedanta - media statements by companies & previous responses on this issue provided

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Voice of America

Movement of People Affected by Dams; Guardian (UK); Associated Press; Reuters; BHP Billiton; Vale

• also available in Portuguese

United Food and Commercial Workers Intl. Union (UFCW), FAT (Authentic Labor Front), Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and Research (PODER)

• abuses said to be ongoing in USA & Mexico
• includes allegations of sham unions & a "campaign of coercion" against workers seeking a living wage & improved conditions

Ecologist

• previous response by Mira Company also provided

Financial Review (Australia)

Global Arbitration Review

• we invited adidas & Mizuno to respond - responses provided

Special Rapporteurs & Independent Experts of the UN Human Rights Council; NGO Forum on ADB; Amnesty Intl.

Diplomat (Japan)

Guardian (UK)

Law Society of England and Wales (UK)

Construction Week Online

• roundtable on legally binding treaty on business & human rights (Geneva, 19 Nov)
• "Learning Lab on Public Procurement & Human Rights" (Geneva, 19 Nov)
• launch of the Network on Business, Conflict & Human Rights (Geneva, 19 Nov)
• summit on transforming CSR in Qatar (Doha, 23-25 Nov)
• workshop on ethical trade (London, 24 Nov)
• "Sustainable Seafood Sourcing Conference" (London, 25-26 Nov)
• course on effective worker representation in the supply chain (London, 25 Nov)

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (2 posts: Development Director, UK/Europe; Middle East and North Africa Researcher & Representative)
• Accountability Counsel (South Asia Consultant)
• Deighton Pierce Glynn (Paralegal)
• Publish What You Pay (Policy & Research Advisor)
• Social Accountability Intl. (Intern)
• Verisk Maplecroft (Senior Analyst - Labour Rights)