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A fair approach to human rights |
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Written by Alison Maitland
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Sunday, 06 July 2008 |
On a grey March morning three years ago Greg Regaignon, a human rights researcher, headed into New York City for breakfast at Tiffany?s. Michael Kowalski, chief executive of the world-famous jeweller, had invited him in to discuss its revised position on acquiring gems from Burma.
Their meeting followed a report in Professional Jeweler, a trade publication, that Tiffany planned to resume sourcing gems from Burma in line with a US Customs ruling that they were exempt from a ban on Burmese imports if cut and polished elsewhere. Mr Regaignon, New-York-based head of research at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, had spotted the article and sought confirmation from Tiffany.
The centre, a non-profit organisation that raises awareness of companies? human rights impacts around the world, posted both the article and Tiffany?s response on its website and included both in its weekly newsletter. Thus alerted, the US Campaign for Burma raised concerns with Tiffany, Mr Regaignon says. Two days later Tiffany said it would not buy gems from Burma after all, a decision that drew plaudits from activists.
On the discussion with Mr Kowalski, Mr Regaignon says: ?We met in his office for an hour and it was plain he is extremely engaged in these issues. He was very concerned, probably not surprisingly given Tiffany?s brand equity, and it seemed to me he was personally committed to operating in a responsible way.? He says many big jewellers have followed Tiffany?s lead.
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Beyond the "genocide Olympics" |
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Written by Economist.com
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Monday, 19 May 2008 |
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 Why many firms are taking a bigger role in promoting human rights
BY THE standards of any previous boss of Coca-Cola, Neville Isdell is remarkably enlightened. Under his leadership, the soft-drinks giant has adopted a strategy of extending access to water supplies in the developing world, especially in Africa, where Mr Isdell spent 26 years. It is an active member of several organisations committed to promoting human rights, including the United Nations Global Compact. Even so, Mr Isdell now finds himself accused by human-rights activists of "complicity" with one of the world's most prominent human-rights abusers--the government of China.
No doubt sponsoring this summer's Beijing Olympics once seemed like a good idea to Coca-Cola and a gaggle of other big companies such as General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, McDonald's and Samsung. The marketing benefits of the Olympics are believed to be huge, which is why Coca-Cola has been doing it continuously for 80 years.
No doubt sponsoring this summer's Beijing Olympics once seemed like a good idea to Coca-Cola and a gaggle of other big companies such as General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, McDonald's and Samsung. The marketing benefits of the Olympics are believed to be huge, which is why Coca-Cola has been doing it continuously for 80 years.
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Essay: Business and human rights ? A personal account from the front line |
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Written by Sir Geoffrey Chandler
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Friday, 25 April 2008 |
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 Sir Geoffrey Chandler charts the rise of the business and human rights movement over the past two decades
The privatisation of the world economy which followed the ending of the Cold War made the corporate sector a more important international influence on human rights for good or ill than any other constituency. Its spreading supply chains touched directly the lives of millions. Its operations affected the social and physical environment wherever it worked. Directly or indirectly it influenced the political scene. Unlike the environmental movement, which had long recognised the importance of companies and engaged in dialogue with them, the human rights movement was very slow to react. Indeed companies and human rights NGOs viewed each other with mutual ignorance, prejudice, suspicion and hostility.
If we were to respond to the challenge of this new world, somehow someone had to cross this divide, finding a common language with which to engage in dialogue and create a mutual understanding.
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