Blog Archives: February 2011
February 28, 2011
Conflict Minerals Regulations and Round Two of Multi-Stakeholder Responses
Marshall Chase , Associate Director, Advisory Services
In advance of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deadline for comments on proposed conflict minerals reporting rules, a multi-stakeholder group facilitated by the Responsible Sourcing Network has developed a set of comments on the SEC's draft regulations. The comments encourage greater clarity and specificity in certain parts of the regulations, and more importantly, highlight the need to support the continued sourcing of verifiably conflict-free minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and surrounding region. Read more
February 23, 2011
Out of Africa: Water Access & Safety [Photo]
Wei Dong Zhou, Former General Manager, Tanoto Foundation
I just returned from the China-Africa Enterprise Development and Ecocomic Transformation conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. While there, I visited a village about 50 kilometers from the center city to understand local living condition and, in particular, water access and safety. Water access is big issue for most Africa countries, especially in rural areas. Outside the capital of Addis Ababa, each family has access to water only once a day. In addition, the water quality needs to improve significantly since there is no basic canal sanitization system. Read more
February 14, 2011
Egypt and the Realization of Human Rights in the Digital Age
Aron Cramer , President and CEO
Dunstan Allison Hope , Managing Director, Advisory Services
The recent developments in Egypt have provided increasing hope for all of us who believe in democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The events have also provided ample new material for the “cyber-optimists” versus “cyber-skeptics” debate. Read more
February 1, 2011
Egypt and the Complicated Ethics of the Telecommunications Industry
Dunstan Allison Hope , Managing Director, Advisory Services
Like many people, I’ve been watching the scenes of democratic protests in Egypt unfold with a mixture of awe and fascination, fear and hope. I’ve also been reflecting on the implications of these events for the relationship between business and human rights. Read more
February 1, 2011
Taking Worker Rights to Scale—So What If There Isn’t a Business Case?
Ayesha Barenblat, Former Director, Stakeholder Collaboration
I just returned from Singapore, where (thanks to the generous support of the Levi Strauss Foundation) we convened a leading group of worker rights training organizations from around the world to collaborate on ways to scale and deepen the impact of their daunting and difficult in-factory work. Read more
