Weekly Update - 11 November 2015

• “Foreign direct investment in Myanmar: What impact on human rights?” – ITUC report
• Jade industry: "How Myanmar’s Landmark Election Could Influence One Of Its Most Lucrative, and Shady, Industries" - Vice
• "What is the future for Myanmar’s workers?" - Equal Times
• see our Myanmar Foreign Investment Tracking Project- a public database of foreign companies investing or operating in Myanmar, and their human rights commitments

 
(Photo credit: Htoo Tay Zar CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

• The perfect, the good and unclear conflict lines, by Harriet Berg, Norway Govt.

• session flyers: protection of whistleblowers, promoting due diligence during recruitment, company-community relations in complex environments
• other sessions include: business & climate justice, sustainable development goals & the private sector, human rights due diligence across sectors
• blog series on measuring implementation of UN Guiding Principles
• check where Business & Human Rights Resource Centre will be at the Forum

BSR, Global Business Initiative, Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition, Intl. Chamber of Commerce, Intl. Council on Mining & Metals, Intl. Organisation of Employers, IPIECA, UN Global Compact, USCIB, World Business Council on Sustainable Development

• briefing for companies on key elements of existing NAPs (GBI & Clifford Chance)
• USA: 32 civil society organizations urge US Govt. to commit to company ownership transparency in its NAP (Global Witness commentary also provided)
• guidance on children's rights in NAPs (Danish Institute on Human Rights, Intl. Corporate Accountability Roundtable & UNICEF)

Rachel Wilshaw, Oxfam GB

• Amnesty says Shell has failed to clean up Niger Delta oil spills; includes company comments

• “Land Governance In Malawi: Lessons From Large-Scale Acquisitions”
• Environmental campaigner receives heavy sentence in Cameroon in defamation suit brought by SGSOC Company 

Daily Nation (Kenya)

NorthumberlandView.ca; Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Canada); Canada's Ministry of the Attorney General

• strategic lawsuits are often used by companies to silence opponents to projects

Boycott Campaign against agribusiness from Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil)

La Jornada
 

Mesoamerican Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders

• see also: Abuses against human rights & environmental defenders in Latin America / 39 NGOs report on responsibility of states & companies

IndustriALL; AFP; Associated Press; Reuters

Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE) & Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

IndustriALL

YangJiang Daily (阳江日报

• original article with company comments in Chinese (unofficial English translation also provided)

ASEAN CSR Network & Singapore Management University

CBC News

Reuters

Daily News (Egypt)

Tasnim News Agency

• workshop on UN Guiding Principles reporting framework (Warsaw, 12 Nov)
• towards a legally binding treaty on business & human rights (Brussels, 12 Nov)
• roundtable on role of business in responding to needs of refugees (London, 12 Nov)
• "Enterprise 2020 Summit" (Brussels, 16-17 Nov)
• launch of the Business and Human Rights Journal (Geneva, 16 Nov)
• discussion on worker exit from Apple suppliers (New York, 17 Nov)
• panel on promoting accountability for labour exploitation (London, 17 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: Consultant for project on Gulf construction industry; Development Director, UK/Europe; Middle East and North Africa Researcher & Representative; Project Manager, Migrant workers in the Gulf construction industry; Communications Intern)
• ACCESS Facility (Internship)
• BSR (Director, Human Rights)
• UNICEF (Senior Consultancy: Palm Oil Sector Study)
• Traidcraft (Policy & Advocacy Adviser)