Weekly Update - 27 April 2016

Reuters; Associated Press

• company says explosion caused by a leak but has not yet determined the source
• concerns over toxic nature of the explosion & possible impacts on health

Photo credit: Noticias MVS(CC-BY-3.0)

Timothy Hansen, Advocates for Intl. Development (A4ID)

Mariam Bhacker, in Guardian (UK)

Save the Children Japan, World Vision Japan, CSO Network Japan, Human Rights Watch, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and others

• at last year's summit G7 made commitments to ensure “responsible supply chains” but issue is missing from agenda of this year's summit in Ise-shima, Japan

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); New York Times; Ceres

• experts say climate actions needs to be accelerated to meet Paris agreement goals

• company responses from Associated British Food, Coca-Cola, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg’s, Mars, Mondelez Intl., Nestlé, Pepsico, Unilever

Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal

• includes contributions from Claire Methven O'Brien, Danish Institute for Human Rights; Michael Posner, NYU Stern School of Business; eds.: Ken McPhail, Univ. of Manchester & John Ferguson, Univ. of St. Andrews

Universidad Jaume I

HakiMadini; Mlumbi Villagers (Tanzania)

• also provided: Shanta Gold's response

Tiwonge Kumwenda; Nyasa Times 

• we invited Paladin Energy to respond; response provided

TheCable; Premium Times

Over 180 Latin American, Canadian & other NGOs; Due Process of Law Foundation

• see also: Canadian courts review series of claims filed against Canadian mining companies for human rights abuses abroad

Human Rights First; Quartz

Mesa de Sociedad Civil para la Transparencia en las Industrias Extractivas, on Open Society Foundations

Tribune; Daily Star; bdnews24; AFP; SHP; Thompson Reuters Foundation; Human Rights Watch; Clean Clothes Campaign; IndustriALL; Accord on Fire & Building Safety in Bangladesh; Alliance for Workers’ Safety

Daily Star (Bangladesh)

• we invited Kabir Steel to respond; response provided

Myanmar Times
 

Campaign for Survival and Dignity in www.countercurrents.org

• we invited Vedanta to respond; response provided

Mathrubhumi

• we invited Coca-Cola to respond; response provided

Al Jazeera

• includes allegations of modern slavery at carwash used by Kia & Volvo dealerships - comments by companies included

Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on rights to freedom of peaceful assembly & association

Huddersfield Daily Examiner

UNHCR; ILO; World Bank; Al Jazeera; Devex; NBC

FIFA; Guardian (UK); BBC; Intl. Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

Gulf Times; Peninsula Qatar; Live Mint; Construction Week; AFP

Univ. of Seville (Spain), Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies (Belgium), BHRight Initiative

• seminar on Human Rights and Business (27 Apr, Rio de Janeiro)
• Sustainable Extractives Forum (27 Apr, London)
• course on compliance with UK Modern Slavery Act (28 Apr, London)
• launch of Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment (4 May, London)
• conference on how business can tackle modern slavery (5 May, London)

• Project Manager, Protection of Civic Space & Human Rights Defenders (due 3 May)
• China Researcher & Representative, based in Beijing, China (due 16 May)
• Communications Internship (due 2 May)
• IT & Digital Security Volunteer (rolling application)

• Sigrid Rausing Trust (Executive Director)
• Univ. of St. Andrews (PhD Scholarship in Business & Human Rights Reporting)
• Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) (Director, Social Assessment)
• Intl Alert (2 positions: Caucasus Regional Manager, Human Resources Intern)
• Amnesty Intl. (Gulf Migrant Rights Researcher)
• Ranking Digital Rights (Research Director/Manager)
• Principles for Responsible Investment (Manager, Social Issues & ESG Engagements)