Weekly Update - 4 November 2015

• 2015 Corporate Accountability Index ranks 16 firms on disclosure of privacy & freedom of expression policies & practices
• finds "no winners" - even leading firms fall short
• Google received top score, followed by Yahoo, Microsoft, Vodafone, Twitter, and AT&T

(Photo: Ranking Digital Rights)

• Over 400 organisations & individuals consulted
• revised methodology to be published in early 2016
• reports from CHRB consultations meetings & stakeholder submissions provided

• including climate risks in Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative is vital to reclaim space so citizens can demand climate justice (Global Witness & Heinrich Böll Foundation)
• the most effective way of fighting climate change is working across the value chain with growers, suppliers, customers & industry partners (General Mills)

Harpreet Kaur, Southeast Asia Researcher & Representative, on News Minute

• Development Director, UK/Europe
• Middle East and North Africa Researcher & Representative
• Project Manager, Migrant workers in the Gulf construction industry
• Consultancy: Outreach on migrant workers in Gulf construction industry
• Communications Intern

• programme on 3rd day (18 Nov) includes: Human rights defenders; Meaningful community engagement; Beyond audits in the garment sector; Challenges & opportunities for a binding treaty
• where to find Business & Human Rights Resource Centre at the 2015 UN Forum
• blog series on measuring implementation of UN Guiding Principles

• monitoring committees in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Myanmar & Turkey will aim to "safeguard the implementation of the agreement from the factory floor upwards"

Guardian (UK)

• also provided: Facebook's response to paper on real name policy

Nigeria Daily News, Naij, Information Nigeria

• one worker died from burns in liquefied iron spill, one crushed to death by compressor

Minority Rights Group Intl.

• indigenous group claims their homes were burned, they had been beaten & shot at for trying to use land & water near contested area

• article describes arbitration system as favourable to companies, based on interviews with over 30 arbitrators

Survival Intl.

Human Rights Brief

Associated Press

• UN researcher finds many North Korean workers stationed in China & Russia
• conditions include long hours, inadequate food, minimal time off, low pay

Jurist (USA); Xinhua News Agency (China)

Xinhua (China)

CNN (USA)

• haze caused by burning land in Indonesia for pulp, paper & palm oil production
• also provided: previous company responses to 2015 haze in Southeast Asia

Radio Free Asia

• panel found evidence that company illegally seized villagers’ land

Ceylon Today (Sri Lanka); Tribune (Pakistan)

• workers from Egypt, Ghana, India & Philippines report abuses including being confined to vessels, receiving less than half of the Irish minimum wage, excessive working hours
• article contains statements from boat owners & crew agencies alleged to be trafficking workers

• law requires companies to disclose steps they are taking to tackle forced labour & modern slavery

Independent (UK)

Financial Times (UK)

• refers to decisions by Australian pension funds to divest from Transfield Services over reported abuses at its off-shore detention centre

Intl. Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

New Zealand Herald; NRIcafe; Doha News (Qatar)

• judge finds company that owns shopping centre to be guilty of involuntary manslaughter
• 19 people died in 2012 fire, including 13 children in a nursery
• summary profile of lawsuit also available

Human Rights Watch

• course on implementing UN Guiding Principles in agri-food sector (Milan, 6 Nov)
• law & development training, including business & human rights (London, 7 Nov)
• lecture: "Responsibility for Human Rights: Transnational Corporations in Imperfect States" (London, 10 Nov)
• 2015 European Pro Bono Forum (Rome, 11-13 Nov)
• roundtable on role of business in responding to needs of refugees (London, 12 Nov)
• workshop on UN Guiding Principles reporting framework (Warsaw, 12 Nov)
• Senegal CSR Forum (Dakar, 19-22 Nov)
• summit on transforming CSR in Qatar (Doha, 23-25 Nov)

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (5 posts: Development Director, UK/Europe; Middle East and North Africa Researcher & Representative; Project Manager, Migrant workers in the Gulf construction industry; Consultant for project on Gulf construction industry; Communications Intern)
• BSR (Director, Human Rights)
• GoodWeave Intl. (2 posts: New Sector Standards Manager; Supply Chain Innovation Manager)
• Oxfam GB (Private Sector Policy & Support Officer)
• Univ. of Manchester (Research Associate, Business & Human Rights)