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Rights and Banks: Event at Warwick on 24 October
"Banks and Rights: Business and Human Rights in the Financial Sector" by Mark Wiegla - Monday 24 October 2016, 12-1.30pm, Room R0.03/4, Ramphal Building
Banks are under attack for empowering human rights violations around the globe. Lenders can improve corporations' practices and sensibilities. They can also empower businesses to run amok. Questions addressed will include: What international governance structures come into play? How do they work and are they effective? What are banks' best practices and actual roles? How do different kinds of financial institutions, including development banks and state-owned financial institutions, operate in this area with different purposes and values? Do banks help or harm human rights?
Mark Wielga is Director of Nomogaia, a non-profit think tank devoted to business and human rights policy and practice. He is active in field work on business in human rights in Africa, Asia and Latin America and in creating leading models of human rights due diligence. Mr. Wielga is a career lawyer, law professor and lecturer.
Funding for Scoping Study of EU Trade Governance
James Harrison, Co-Director of the Centre for Human Rights in Practice, has recently been granted funding for a scoping project analysing the social dimensions of the EU's external trade policy including human rights and labour standards issues.
The project will develop an inter-disciplinary collaboration between Queen Mary's at the University of London and Warwick in economic geography, business management, law and international political economy to investigate a range of social issues in the governance of the European Union’s external economic relations
Earlier in 2012, James Harrison acted as an advisor to the ‘Alternative Trade Mandate’ project - a civil society initiative which envisages, inter alia, what a more human rights-friendly EU trade policy would look like.
Centre Co-Director gives evidence to Canadian Parliament
Since 2008 the Centre has provided support and methodological guidance to the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CICC) and the Canadian Parliament's Standing Committee on International Trade with regard to proposals for a HRIA of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
In June 2012, Dr. Harrison was asked to give evidence to the Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada in relation to the first year's human rights report. His written evidence is available here.
Dr Harrison commented: "It is a shame that this first report does not reflect the hard work that has been undertaken by so many people to create a rigorous human rights reporting process. As academics, it is our job to push policy-makers when their efforts do fall short, in the hope that there will be improvement in the future."