Feed aggregator

SDGs SDGs:  16 - Peace, justice and strong institutions

Summary

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region.
• The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the disengagement area near Petrivske.
• The SMM continued monitoring the situation in the disengagement areas near Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska.
• It monitored adherence to localized ceasefires to facilitate the drilling of water wells and repairs to water pipelines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region.
• The Mission’s freedom of movement continued to be restricted, including again at a checkpoint of the armed formations near Bezimenne and at a border crossing point near non-government-controlled Voznesenivka.*

Ein Leben ohne finanzielle Sorgen zu haben ist für Katja (19) das Wichtigste. Sie bietet darum auf einer Escort-Plattform ihre Jungfräulichkeit für umgerechnet 108'840 Franken an – inklusive Jungfrau–Zertifikat eines Arztes.

Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) has opened a new pre-trial criminal investigation into former President Petro Poroshenko, in an act seen by many as politically motivated and a symbol of Ukrainian politics at its worst.

Affaire Yekatom et Ngaïssona: la CPI confirme une partie des charges et renvoie l’affaire en procèsAffaire Yekatom et Ngaïssona: la Chambre préliminaire II de la CPI confirme une partie des charges de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l’humanité et renvoie l’affaire en procès. Aujourd’hui, 11 décembre 2019, la Chambre préliminaire II de la […]

L’article Affaire Yekatom et Ngaïssona : la CPI confirme une partie des charges et renvoie l’affaire en procès est apparu en premier sur Afrik.com.

Children pan for gold along the Bosigon River in Malaya, Camarines Norte, the Philippines. © 2015 Mark Z. Saludes for Human Rights Watch

By Komala Ramachandra and Juliane Kippenberg
WASHINGTON DC, Dec 11 2019 (IPS)

Millions of adults and children around the world suffer abuses as workers who obtain raw materials, toil on farms, and make products for the global market. They are at the bottom of global supply chains, for everything from everyday goods like vegetables and seafood to luxury items like jewelry and designer clothing that end up on store shelves worldwide.

“Ruth,” age 13, is one of them. We met her processing gold by mixing toxic mercury with her bare hands into ground-up gold ore near a mine, during our research in the Philippines. She told us that she had  been working since she was 9, after dropping out of school, though she often doesn’t get paid by the man who gave her bags of gold ore to process.

It’s dangerous being on the lowest rung of this global ladder. In 2013, over 1,100 workers died and 2,000 were injured when the Rana Plaza building, which housed five garment factories, collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Since then, some progress has been made in making factories safer in Bangladesh, but there have not yet been sustainable reforms there or in other countries. To keep up with the demands of consumers, women experience a range of labor abuses in Bangladesh and elsewhere.

Multinational corporations, some of the wealthiest and most powerful entities in the world— 69 of the richest 100 entities in the world are corporations, not countries—have often escaped accountability when their operations have hurt workers, the surrounding communities, or the environment

In January 2019, the Brumadinho tailings dam in Brazil collapsed, killing at least 250 people—mostly workers—and unleashed a wave of toxic sludge. The dam had collected waste from a mine extracting iron ore, which is used globally in construction, engineering, automotive, and other industries.

In December 2019, more than 40 people, mostly workers, died in a factory fire in India’s capital, Delhi. Workers were asleep inside the factory, which makes school bags, when the fire erupted.

The era in which voluntary initiatives were the only way to encourage companies to respect human rights is starting to give way to the recognition that new, legally enforceable laws are needed. Although the debates vary by country, the overall trend is promising for the workers and communities that are part of multinational corporate supply chains.

Increasingly, lawmakers are acknowledging that companies need to take human rights—including freedom from unsafe working conditions, forced labor, and wage theft—into account, and are writing laws that require them to do so.

Multinational corporations, some of the wealthiest and most powerful entities in the world— 69 of the richest 100 entities in the world are corporations, not countries—have often escaped accountability when their operations have hurt workers, the surrounding communities, or the environment.

And governments aligned with powerful companies have frequently failed to regulate corporate activity, or have not enforced and even eliminated existing protections for workers, consumers, and the environment.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide voluntary guidelines for companies on their human rights responsibilities, but they aren’t enforceable. Industry-driven voluntary standards and certification schemes, which have grown rapidly in recent years, can be useful, but are not sufficient: many companies will only act when they are required to do so by law.

These standards also don’t cover key human rights and environmental issues in companies’ supply chains, and the systems for monitoring compliance with the standards haven’t always been able to catch and rectify problems.

Both the Rana Plaza factory and the Brumadinho dam had been inspected by auditors hired by the companies just months before disaster struck.

In recent years, France, the Netherlands, Australia, and the UK have passed laws on corporate human rights abuses. But some of the existing laws don’t have any teeth. Australia and the UK, for example, merely require companies to be transparent about their supply chains and report any actions they may have taken to address issues like forced or child labor, but do not actually require them to prevent or remedy these issues. Furthermore, neither country has penalties  for companies that don’t comply with the law.

France’s 2017 law is the broadest and most rigorous regulation currently in effect, requiring companies to identify and prevent both human rights and environmental impacts in their supply chains, including the companies they control directly and those with which they work.

Companies in France published the first “vigilance plans” under this law in 2018. Failure to comply can result in lawsuits, and the first legal action under the duty of vigilance law was filed in October 2019.

Laws like the one in France, with requirements for company action, consequences when they fail to follow through, and a way for workers to hold companies accountable, open the door for greater protections for workers around the world.

The year 2020 promises more progress for more people. Parliaments in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Canada, Norway, Finland, and Austria are considering laws that would change the way that companies deal with human rights in their global operations, going beyond transparency and reporting to requirements to identify human rights risks in corporate supply chains and to take steps to prevent them.

In a related development, the International Labour Organization is considering whether a new binding global convention on “decent work in global supply chains” is needed, and will hold a meeting with government, trade union, and employer representatives in 2020 to explore this question.

By adopting robust supply chain regulation, countries will create a new international expectation for responsible behavior for businesses, and more rigorous human rights safeguards for millions of workers, like Ruth, who struggle to survive in their mines, factories, and fields.

The post Building Momentum to Hold Companies to Account appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Komala Ramachandra is a senior business and human rights researcher and Juliane Kippenberg is associate children’s rights director, both at Human Rights Watch

The post Building Momentum to Hold Companies to Account appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Regula Rytz blieb im Bundesrats-Duell gegen Ignazio Cassis chancenlos. Im Interview mit BLICK äussert sie sich zur Wahlschlappe.

Das Flugverbot für die Boeing 737 Max hat dem weltgrössten Reisekonzern TUI einen Gewinneinbruch eingebrockt. Das bereinigte Ergebnis (EBITA) im Ende September abgelaufenen Geschäftsjahr 2018/19 sei um rund ein Viertel auf 893 Millionen Euro gesunken.

Der für Landwirtschaft zuständige EU-Kommissar Janusz Wojciechowski hob in seiner Antrittsrede gestern, am 10. Dezember, die Förderung des ökologischen Landbaus als ein zentrales Ziel der neuen Europäischen Kommission hervor.

MLS-Klub Chicago Fire sucht einen Sportdirektor. Ganz hoch im Kurs: FCB-Serienmeistermacher Georg Heitz.

Le Conseil d'Etat genevois a présenté ses arguments en prévision du vote du 9 février, qui porte sur l'aménagement d'un nouveau quartier d'habitations vers l'aéroport.

Lucien Favre (62) packt in einem Interview aus und spricht Klartext: «Viele Medien sind heute sehr schnell negativ. Es ist schwer, Storys zu verkaufen, wenn es nicht mal ein bisschen Blut gibt.» Und er erzählt, warum er die gleiche Philosophie wie Rafael Nadal hat.

441883 Marina Živaljević

The OSCE Mission to Montenegro organized a workshop for the State Election Commission (SEC) on communication strategies with the national and local media on 9 and 10 December 2019 in Podgorica.

The two-day workshop introduced commissioners and service staff to the principles and practical tools necessary to establish effective communication strategies with the media.

Opening the workshop, Siv-Katrine Leirtroe, Deputy Head of the Mission, said that the media plays an indispensable role in the functioning of any open and democratic society. “Democratic elections are measured by the ability of citizens to participate and exercise their democratic right to vote. To achieve this, the media play a crucial role in explaining the election process to voters,” said Leirtroe. She added that the Mission remains committed to support the SEC as it develops strategies and approaches to engage with the media, since the media is a key tool to enable the Commission to communicate its work and the electoral process to voters.

Veljo Čađenović, SEC Secretary said: “Communication with the media is an important topic for the SEC. Today’s expert offered good ideas and the workshop participants developed a better appreciation for communicating through the media to citizens. We will continue to work with the OSCE in this area.”

Danica Ilić, media expert said that the SEC operates in a diverse media environment. “It is necessary to strengthen the SEC capacity to engage with the media in the public interest. Opening to the media has challenges, but communicating through the media about the work of the SEC will help enhance public confidence in the electoral process,” said Ilić.

The two-day workshop was a part of the Mission’s 2019 project on electoral assistance to the SEC, aimed at improving the transparency of the work of the institution.

Wenn Banken sparen, dann leidet ihr Filialnetz darunter. Für ihre Kunden bleibt der Weg in eine andere Filiale oder ins Onlinebanking. Die Prognose eines Beratungsunternehmens zeigt, dass der Schrumpfungsprozess weitergeht. 500 Bankfilialen sollen verschwinden.

TASR: Szerdán reggel agyonlőtte magát a rendőri testület egyik tagja Homonnán (Humenné/járási székhely) a szolgálati fegyverével – erősítette meg a hírt a TASR-nek a belügyi tárca sajtóosztálya. Az esettel kapcsolatban a belügyminisztérium belső ellenőrzési osztálya folytat nyomozást emberölés ügyében.

Pour les avocats des victimes, l’intention de tuer des prévenus est indéniable.

Le Calame - Les téléspectateurs de la TVM, Dieu sait qu’il n’y en avait pas beaucoup, singulièrement pour les langues nationales,...

Die meisten Kommentatoren würdigen den Verzicht auf die Abwahl von Bundesrat Ignazio Cassis. Sie sind sich aber einig, dass die heutige Zauberformel überholt ist. Das Scheitern hätten sich die Grünen aber auch selber zuzuschreiben.

Les éditorialistes s'inquiètent que l'incompréhension entre citoyens et politiques risque de s'amplifier après la rebuffade infligée à Regula Rytz.

Hunderttausende Kunden des insolventen deutschen Reisekonzerns Thomas Cook können hoffen: Die Bundesregierung will betroffenen Pauschalurlaubern finanziell unter die Arme greifen.