Establishing an Independent Sovereign Debt Workout Mechanism
Oscar Ugarteche, Senior Research Fellow, Instituto de Investigaciones
Económicas, UNAM, Mexico and member of the Latin American Network on
Debt and Development (LATINDAD)
Beyond a new debt crisis
Gail Hurley, Policy and Advocacy Officer, European Network on Debt and
Development
Africa's trade during the crisis and the conclusion of the Doha Round
Tina Nanyangwe, formerly Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection
The role of the UN in addressing the crisis - Recommendations from the UN Commission of Experts
Dr. José Antonio Ocampo, Director, Program in Economic and Political Development, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University and member of the Commission of Experts of the President of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System.
Presentation regarding Bill C-300 - An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries
Karyn Keenan, Program Officer, Halifax Initiative
October 22, 2009
The Halifax Initiative is a coalition of human rights, environmental, faith-based, development and labour organizations. Our objective is to transform public international financial institutions to achieve poverty eradication, environmental sustainability and the full realization of universal human rights.
My work focuses on the operations of public institutions that provide support to the private sector, in particular the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group and Export Development Canada. The latter, a Crown corporation, is Canada’s export credit agency and will be the focus of my comments this morning.
The Halifax Initiative is a coalition of human rights, environmental, faith-based, development and labour organizations. Our objective is to transform the international financial institutions to achieve poverty eradication, environmental sustainability and the full realization of universal human rights.
The Halifax Initiative supports the review of Export Development Canada’s Environmental Policy and disclosure practices, and is grateful for the opportunity to provide input to the review process.
1. Project environmental and social standards
a. Compliance
Government Squanders Opportunity to Hold Extractive Companies to Account
(Ottawa- March 26, 2009) Today’s government announcement on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has squandered the important consensus reached by industry and civil society organizations on how to ensure that the overseas operations of Canadian extractive companies adhere to international environmental and human rights standards. Almost two years ago, the multi-stakeholder Advisory Group to the National Roundtables on CSR in the Extractive Sector submitted its consensus report to the Canadian government. Today’s long-awaited response ignores the report’s central recommendations.
Click here for complete paper in pdf
Prepared by Özgür Can and Sara Seck, for the ECA-Watch, Halifax Initiative Coalition and ESCR-Net
INTRODUCTION
International human rights law has traditionally focused on establishing the obligations owed by states to individuals. Much recent attention has been given to the question of whether non-state actors, such as transnational corporations, can be considered subjects of international law and as such duty bearers of international human rights obligations. However, less attention has been given to the equally significant question of whether financiers of transnational corporate activities have an obligation to ensure that the activities they support comply with international human rights norms. This paper will explore the international human rights obligations of one type of financial institution: officially supported export credit and investment insurance agencies (Export Credit Agencies or ECAs). ECAs are primarily public or publicly mandated institutions that support and subsidise national trade and investment activities, particularly in developing and emerging markets.
Director
Policy and Government Relations
Export Development Canada (EDC)
151 O'Connor Street
COLOMBIA: THE STRUGGLE AGAINST PRIVATIZATION OF TELECOM
This meeting will be in English and Spanish
SPEAKER: Jorge Lerma, President, Union Sindical de Trabajadores de las Communicaciones (USTC)
WHEN: 7 pm, Tuesday, December 2, 2003
WHERE: PSAC Meeting Rm, Ground Floor, 233 Gilmour Street
SPONSORED BY: CUPE, CUPW, PSAC, ODLC, Sisters in Solidarity, CLC, CEP, CAW, NGO Working Group on EDC
