Weekly Update - 12 August 2015

Borneo Project

• community members speak of losing livelihoods, access to water & land, inability to send children to school
• communities currently protesting construction of new dam in Baram
• we invited Sarawak Energy to respond - the company did not respond to the video, but shared news about the communities resettled by Murum dam

(Photo credit: Borneo Project)

• Intergovt. Working Group needs to have an inclusive and consultative process, by Linda Kromjong, Intl. Organization of Employers (IoE)
• human rights defenders must be at core of treaty process and outcomes, by Ben Leather, Intl. Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
• discussion on parent company liability, by Gabriela Quijano, Amnesty Intl.

• seeking feedback from companies, investors, civil society & policymakers
• available in English, French, Portuguese & Spanish

• 19 NGOs call for stronger protections for affected communities & environment

Inter Press Service

Martin Wright, Green Futures Magazine, in Guardian (UK)

EcoWatch

• advocates welcome move, but raise concerns about the climate change impacts of Shell's continued plans to drill in the Arctic

Scroll.in (India)

GRAIN & Réseau d’information et d’appui aux ONG nationales

• we invited Feronia & Unilever to respond - responses provided

Intl. Service for Human Rights, West Africa Human Rights Defenders Network, Collectif des Organisations de Défense des Droits de l'Homme et de la Démocratie

Times Live; South African Human Rights Commission; News24 (So. Africa)

Foley Hoag

Front Lines Defenders

Colectivo CASA

• we invited Newmont to respond - response provided (in English)

Washington Examiner (USA)

Asian Indigenous People Pact

IndustriALL

• we invited Thriveni Earthmovers to respond - response provided

Irrawaddy (Myanmar)

Unofficial translation of Japanese articles by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Leigh Day; Guardian (UK)

Council of the European Union

Guardian (UK)

Mada Masr (Egypt)

Electronic Frontier Foundation; Mada Masr (Egypt)

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

• 2015 Australian Dialogue on Business & Human Rights (Sydney, 19 Aug)
• opportunities & risks for ethical trade in Ethiopia & Myanmar (London, 27 Aug)
• Global Child Forum 2015 (Pretoria, 8 Sep)
• short course on human rights for business people (London, 8 Sep)
• Law Society workshop on business & human rights (London, 15 Sep)

• Global Justice Now (Activism Officer)
• GRI (3 posts: Manager, Reporting Knowledge; Report Services Coordinator; Senior Coordinator, Fundraising & Programs)
• Institute for Human Rights and Business (Researcher)
• Intl. Alert (2 posts: Fundraising Assistant; Senior Programme Design & Assessment Officer, Africa)
• Office of the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (2 posts: Research Analyst; Short Term Consultant, Monitoring & Evaluation)