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Business and Human Rights: a resource website

 

   Business support for initiatives promoting civil and political rights: Some examples   

See also the following sections of this website:

NEW (recent additions to this section; top item is most recent addition)
World Bank Institute and University of Michigan Business School E-Conference Program on "Business, Democracy and Peace" - October 7 - November 1, 2002 -...This e-conference introduces the argument that businesses may have significant contributions to sustainable peace. (World Bank and University of Michigan Business School, 7 Oct.-1 Nov. 2002)

Websites:

Learning [U.N. Global Compact]: Case Studies -...Case studies will be drawn from the pool of examples that are submitted to the Global Compact Office. The most promising examples will be identified by an academic steering committee and selectively enlarged to provide further detail and depth. (U.N. Global Compact)

Learning [U.N. Global Compact]: Examples by Company Name - Beginning in January 2002, all companies participating in the Global Compact are required to make an annual submission to the Global Learning Forum focused on the factual elements of company actions in support of the nine principles. These submissions will be known as "examples" and will respond to the following two questions, "What have you done?" and "What was the result?" (U.N. Global Compact)

Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum

Programa Empresa Responsable (CEDHA - Centro de Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente) {···español}

General:  

World Bank Institute and University of Michigan Business School E-Conference Program on "Business, Democracy and Peace" - October 7 - November 1, 2002 -...This e-conference introduces the argument that businesses may have significant contributions to sustainable peace. (World Bank and University of Michigan Business School, 7 Oct.-1 Nov. 2002)

Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility Abroad: The Human Rights and Democracy Perspective (Lorne W. Craner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights & Labor, 18 June 2002)

Corporate Social Responsibility [India]: CII [Confederation of Indian Industry] and Ficci [Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry] must speak out on Gujarat - Many leaders of Indian industry have raised the issue of corporate social responsibility in the context of the communal violence in Gujarat. While some have been bold enough to be willing to be quoted, in reports appearing in this newspaper and The Indian Express, many others have echoed these sentiments in private, afraid to go on record. (Financial Express [India], 20 Apr. 2002)

When exploration rights meet human rights: OIL INDUSTRY: The importance of remaining on good terms with the local community is more than just a matter of security -...what is clear is that simply building a fence, calling in the local military or a private security firm and getting on with the business of extracting, transporting and selling oil is no longer good enough [refers to Premier Oil, Shell, BP, Occidental Petroleum, Statoil, ExxonMobil] (Sarah Murray, Financial Times, 15 Mar. 2002)

Global firms challenged to push human rights: America's global corporations should be doing more to promote rights in the countries where they do business, one of the [Bush] administration's human-rights leaders [Paula Dobriansky, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs] said Monday. (R.C. Longworth, Chicago Tribune, 5 Mar. 2002)

John Kamm's Third Way [China]:...Kamm's own experience has convinced him that businesses can speak out for human rights and, if they do it right, not put their profits at risk. In December, he met with the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing to try to persuade it to press the Chinese government on human rights...And Kamm says that corporations should not just speak the rhetoric of human rights or even settle for promoting democratic practices by example; they should be engaged in the practical work of prisoner releases. (Tina Rosenberg, New York Times Magazine, 3 Mar. 2002)

Amnesty International USA Award Remarks by BSR's Bob Dunn [CEO, Business for Social Responsibility]:..."At their worst, companies support repressive governments, rely on the military and police to secure private gain, and engage directly in the abuse of their own workers. At their best, companies can bring pressure to bear on regimes that are human rights violators, collaborate with others to promote economic and social justice, and they demonstrate respect for the rights of others wherever they do business around the world.." (Bob Dunn, CEO, Business for Social Responsibility, 28 Jan. 2002)

Reebok Announces 2002 Human Rights Award Recipients: Four Women to be Honored - The 2002 winners include the founder of the first independent labor union in Indonesia; an advocate for abused children in Zambia; a rescuer of young girls enslaved as prostitutes in India; and an activist at the forefront of a new generation of civil rights leadership in the United States. (Reebok, 3 Dec. 2001)

General Assembly Considers UN Partnerships With Private Sector:...In preparation for the General Assembly debate the Global Compact office prepared an extensive report exploring the range of cooperation between the UN, the international business community, and civil society. (U.N. Global Compact, 12 Nov. 2001)

West African Journalists Push for Open Governance: Thirty-one Economic and Financial Journalists drawn from Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Liberia have called on heads of state of West African countries, to promote transparency and accountability and ensure that their governments are accountable to the electorate. (Amos Safo, Accra Mail [Ghana], 6 Sep. 2001)

Companies Tell of Successful Transformation: Speakers from Sanlam and Eskom report progress towards promoting diversity and combating discrimination [panel discussion - U.N. World Conference Against Racism]: The speakers were handpicked to describe how their companies and organisations have succeeded in the struggle for gender and race equality in the workplace. Their performances were polished if lengthy case studies of how businesses can change to reflect the demographics in SA [South Africa] and Sweden, as well as nondiscrimination amid British trade unions...Despite these good intentions, Friday's presentations were met with waves of disbelief from the floor. (Business Day [Johannesburg], 5 Sep. 2001)

Panel Discussion in Durban about Discrimination is Everybody's business - Discrimination is Everybody's Business: From Discrimination to Diversity - A Corporate Led Initiative in the Framework of the UN Global Compact - The World Conference Against Racism...is the launching ground for this initiative...The six companies behind this initiative are the South African Financial Services Group Sanlam, the Swedish Car Manufacturer Volvo Car Corporation, the Brazilian Media Corporation Organizações Globo, the Indian IT Company Satyam, the South African Energy Utility Eskom, and the American Car Manufacturer Ford Motor Company. (United Nations, prepared in advance of the World Conference Against Racism, 31 Aug. - 7 Sep. 2001)

What's Wrong With Corporations? Corporations aren't allowed to be nice. Company directors are legally obliged to act in the best interests of their shareholders' investments - i.e. to make them as much money as possible. Genuine efforts to sacrifice profits in favour of human rights and environmental protection are off-limits. Even if a company's directors took the long view that environmental sustainablity is ultimately essential for economic sustainability, their share price would drop and they would probably be swallowed up by competitors. This is why corporate social and environmental initiatives can't really get beyond the marketing and greenwash stage. (Corporate Watch, 6 Aug. 2001)

Reluctant Missionaries: Can't shut down Big Oil? Then browbeat companies like Shell and ExxonMobil into preaching the gospel of human rights and democracy to their developing-world hosts. As appealing as this strategy seems to global do-gooders, it won't work. Not only are oil companies unsuited for the job of turning the world's most difficult neighborhoods into thriving market democracies, they're increasingly adept at passing the buck of reform to others (Marina Ottaway, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Co-Director of its Democracy and Rule of Law Project, in Foreign Policy, July-Aug. 2001)

Americans are Looking for Good Corporate Citizens, But Aren't Finding Them, According to Hill and Knowlton 2001 Corporate Citizen Watch: A survey conducted by Hill and Knowlton through Harris Interactive found that a majority of Americans consider corporate citizenship - the impact a company has on society - when making investment and purchasing decisions. The bad news is that relatively few give companies high marks in this area.  The report provides further support for the proposition that corporate citizenship is becoming increasingly important to U.S. consumers. (press release, Hill and Knowlton, CSR Wire, 3 July 2001)

Hearings on Religious Presecution in China, Testimony by Gare Smith regarding the role of U.S. multinational companies in promoting religious freedom worldwide [former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; former Director of Global Public Affairs, Levi Strauss & Co.] (testimony before the U.S.  Commission on International Religious Freedom [U.S. Government], 16 Mar. 2000)

relevant sections of Business and Human Rights in a Time of Change (Christopher Avery, Nov. 1999):

Ayala Group: Ayala Group of Companies / Ayala Foundation support for a grassroots project in Philippines aimed at raising awareness of citizens about their basic human rights

Body Shop: Body Shop 1998 international campaign with Amnesty International on behalf of human rights defenders

Levi Strauss: Levi Strauss & Co. support for social justice projects

Reebok: Reebok initiatives in support of human rights

Reebok: Recipients of Reebok 12th Human Rights Awards urge global action to back their causes (Reebok, 21 March 2001)

Richards Bay Minerals: Richards Bay Minerals support for Human Rights (a 72-page Xhosa-language / English-language handbook published in 1991 by the Community Law Centre, designed to provide basic human rights knowledge to South Africans and to encourage discussion about human rights)

Shell South Africa: Shell South Africa support for Creating Your Constitution (an English-Zulu handbook published in 1994 by the Community Law Centre, designed to help rural South Africans understand  the country's Interim Constitution and participate in the drafting of the final Constitution)

Statoil: Statoil support for human rights training programme for judges and public defenders in Venezuela