Social Watch E-Newsletter - Issue 175 - July 4, 2014

The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted, through a vote, a historic and significant resolution to start a process for an international legally instrument on transnational corporations.
Officially entitled “Elaboration of an international legally binding instrument on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with respect to Human Rights” (A/HRC/26/L.22) the resolution was adopted on 26 June at the 26th session of the HRC.
The resolution was co-sponsored by Ecuador and South Africa, and also supported by Bolivia, Cuba and Nevezuela. In the vote on the resolution, 20 Members of the HRC supported the resolution, while 13 Members abstained, and 14 Members voted against it. Read more

Last week, human rights advocates had a reason to celebrate, as the United Nations Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva, decided on June 26, 2014 to establish an open-ended intergovernmental working group whose mandate is to elaborate a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights.
Not only is the resolution a big achievement in itself. It is also a powerful message of hope to all those in the trenches of facing human rights abuses as a result of the unchecked growth of borderless corporate influence. It proves that people organized across borders, and their political action, still can make a difference. The resolution was achieved against big odds, and even as companies exerted pressure to knock it down, directly and through their influence on important governments. In fact, many governments did not withstand the pressure and voted against, such as the case of United States and many European countries in the Council, while others preferred to abstain. Read more

The “Gujarat Social Watch Report 2014 - Assessment of National Green Tribunal” is an assessment of working of National Green Tribunal published by Gujarat Social Watch, member of Social Watch India.
Gujarat Social Watch works for strengthening the governance process in Gujarat. The report trys to understand the working of National Green Tribunal (NGT) and reviews and analyzes its functioning with respect to cases filed and the judgments given by Pune bench for cases from Gujarat till February 2014.
The major objectives of these interventions were to learn the organizational structure of the NGT, find out the impact of the NGT in acquiring the right to get clean environment, to check the legal procedure to transfer the pending cases to the NGT from state courts. It has helped to understand the impact of environmental court on existing judiciary system and to know how it has helped people to get justice. 
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The International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) is glad to announce the launch of the call for applications of the eighth edition of the ICAE Academy of Lifelong Learning Advocacy (IALLA), that will be held in the Arab Region, from October 13 to 26, 2014 in Madaba, Jordan.
The ICAE Academy of Lifelong Learning Advocacy is the main international training programme that the International Council for Adult Education (ICAE) has created with the aim of broadening the vision on adult learning and  helping new leaders acquire advocacy skills through a participatory methodology that includes an interlinkage analysis within and beyond the field of adult learning and education, and promoting networking as an effective mechanism for collective learning. The deadline to apply is July 15, 2014. Read more