Weekly Update - 13 May 2015

Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, ALMÁCIGA, Intl. Work Group for Indigenous Affairs 

• foreword by Pavel Sulyandziga, member of UN Working Group on business & human rights
• case studies based on experiences of indigenous peoples from Cambodia, Colombia, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Peru, Tanzania
• we invited companies linked to allegations to respond; responses from Essar, SABMiller, Tanzania Conservation/Thomson Safaris provided
• Cerrejón indicated it will respond; we will indicate whether HAGL, Taipan Resources & Tullow Oil respond

(credit: AIPP Printing Press)

• including in UN work interfacing with investment, trade, financial institutions; sustainable development "post 2015" framework; private sector partnerships

• ESCR-Net and FIDH hold first consultation of Binding Treaty initiative, in Thailand
• Business organizations call for comments on draft observations on UN business & human rights treaty process (deadline: 22 May) - Intl. Organization of Employers

• Global Witness raises concerns about rigour of standards

Centre for Social & Economic Rights

domain-b (India); Quartz

• commentary: "The difference 55 million GBP compensation from Shell makes" (Joe Westby, Amnesty Intl.)

Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies; Future Agricultures Consortium

• G8 initiative associated with negative impacts on locals, including alleged land grabs

Open Society Foundations

RT News

Pasadena Now (USA)

• refers to steps by AT&T, Coca-Cola, Comcast, Ericsson, Henry Schein, Standard Chartered, T-Mobile & many others via US Chamber of Commerce corporate aid tracker

Bangkok Post

Indonesia Investments; Jakarta Post; AntaraNews

• investigation uncovers 1,400 crew members forced to work long hours without pay

• company comments provided (only in German)
• we are inviting Holcim to respond & will indicate whether it does next week

Reuters; Global Times (China)

• plant was shut down in 2014 following alleged lead poisoning in 300 children

Arnaud Poitevin, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

An Phoblacht (Ireland); RTE; Mandate Trade Union

• we invited Dunnes Stores to respond; it did not do so

German Institute for Human Rights

+972 Magazine (Israel)

• we invited Orange and Cellcom to respond - they did not do so; we are in the process of inviting Pelephone to respond

Migrant Rights

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre; Notre Dame Univ. Law School

• series of "Climate Dialogues" to take place in London (27 May), Geneva (17 June), New York (Autumn 2015)

Association française pour les Nations Unies

• stakeholder forum on US National Action Plan (Washington DC, 13 May)
• e-learning course on corporate social responsibility (online, 20 May - 30 June)
• conference on aligning corporate sustainability with Sustainable Development Goals (Bangkok, 20 May)
• Business & Climate Summit 2015 (Paris, 20-21 May)
• course on business & human rights development (Copenhagen, 26-27 May)
• "Climate Change & Intl. Human Rights Law: The Challenges for Business" (London, 27 May)

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (2 internships: Research & Projects Intern; Legal Research Intern)
• African Development Bank Group (Independent Review Mechanism Expert)
• CSR Asia (2 posts: Senior Project Manager; Project Manager)
• Institute for Human Rights and Business (Research Consultants, Nairobi Process)
• Institute for Multi-Stakeholder Initiative Integrity (Human Rights Research Intern)