If human rights and the environment are endangered by economic activities abroad, corporations based in Switzerland also have a duty: with this message a broad coalition launched the Corporate Responsibility Initiative in Berne today. It is intended to ensure that Swiss companies integrate the protection of human rights and the environment into their business practices in a binding manner.
This afternoon, "blue helmets" delivered weighty mail to the Swiss Federal Council and Parliament. In a petition they called on behalf of 45 organisations and individuals for Switzerland to make a strong case to the UN Security Council for extending the UN mission in Western Sahara to include human rights monitoring.
Speculators should continue to be allowed to place bets on food prices. The Federal Council has recommended that the speculation stop initiative be rejected. Alliance Sud criticizes the decision of the Federal Council and its arguments. The Franconian shock just experienced makes the problem obvious.
The territory of Western Sahara has been occupied by the Kingdom of Morocco for 38 years and the UN mission MINURSO has been on the ground for 22 years. That is exactly how long the UN mission can only look with one eye and not concern itself with human rights violations. That will remain so for another year.
In April 2012, the Federal Council decided to close the Embassy in Guatemala, which is also responsible for El Salvador and Honduras. terre des hommes schweiz and 18 other NGOs are calling for a partial replacement: a human rights representative for Guatemala.
Videos, streams and blogs also play an increasingly important role in development information work. To facilitate access to such web resources, Alliance Sud has developed a multimedia portal with many videos and links to other web resources.
A press release from Alliance Sud
According to a media release by "Recht ohne Grenzen", the petition for a responsible corporate policy submitted in June of this year is beginning to show its first effects. The Foreign Policy Committee of the Council of States (APK-S) has not yet closed the petition. According to the APK-S, the discussion on the campaign's concerns should be deepened "in view of the complexity of the subject and the large number of signatures.
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