Anglophone Africa - Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

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REGIONAL BRIEFING

Anglophone Africa

Business & human rights in Anglophone Africa – A round-up of recent developments February 2011

This briefing highlights reports from a range of sources about how businesses have impacted human rights, positively and negatively, in Anglophone Africa over the past year. The briefing refers to Angola, Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe. All these countries are covered by Abiola Okpechi, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s Anglophone Africa Researcher, even though some are not anglophone. This is not a comprehensive overview. It flags some major issues, cases, developments and trends. For more detail see our website, with sections on over 180 countries, over 5000 companies, and 150 issues. Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is an independent non-profit organization that brings information on companies’ human rights impacts to a global audience. We also seek company responses when concerns are raised by civil society – some of the responses we have received from companies operating in Anglophone Africa are included in this briefing. 1. Key concerns ........................................................................................................................................ 2 1.1 Examples of the “resource curse” ..................................................................................................... 2 1.2 HIV/AIDS and TB .............................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Dams: displacement and other impacts on livelihood ....................................................................... 4 1.4 China in Africa................................................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Business’ impact on children............................................................................................................. 4 1.6 Rights of indigenous people.............................................................................................................. 4 2. Positive developments......................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 HIV/AIDS........................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Human trafficking initiatives during World Cup soccer tournament ................................................... 5 2.3 Certification system for minerals from Democratic Republic of Congo ............................................. 5 2.4 e-waste ............................................................................................................................................. 5 2.5 Fair trade and improvements in flower, wine industries .................................................................... 5 2.6 Mobile phone firms help refugees trace their families ....................................................................... 5 3. Legal, regulatory & policy developments........................................................................................... 6 3.1 Lawsuits ............................................................................................................................................ 6 3.2 Laws & regulatory action................................................................................................................... 6 4. The international business & human rights framework .................................................................... 7 5. Looking ahead ...................................................................................................................................... 7 5.1 Issues ............................................................................................................................................... 8 5.2 The Resource Centre’s plans for the region...................................................................................... 8 6. Follow our work on Anglophone Africa.............................................................................................. 9

 

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1. Key concerns 1.1 Examples of the “resource curse” Many African countries experience the “resource curse” – the idea that countries blessed with abundant natural resource wealth (oil, minerals, timber, etc.) can be more susceptible to conflict, corruption, poverty and human rights abuses. a. New oil economies. As more African countries such as Ghana and Uganda discover new oil wealth, the concern is whether they will be able to avoid the same problems that have plagued the older oilproducing economies. Fortunately, signs are emerging of some concerted civil society initiatives to avoid this, and some governments are taking preventative steps. In Ghana, civil society has undertaken efforts to ensure transparency, accountability and respect for human rights in the oil industry: “Concerns expressed over Ghana's oil”. In Uganda, civil society has been closely watching the oil industry’s development and highlighting problems. These include concerns raised by the Civil Society Coalition on Oil in Uganda about the terms of contracts entered into with oil firms, potential risks of conflict, and the risk of environmental damage caused by gas flaring from a Tullow Oil project. Uganda’s National Environmental Management Authority has expressed concerns about inadequate environmental safeguards for Tullow’s operations. b. Diamonds in Zimbabwe. The killing of at least 214 unlicensed miners in the Marange diamond fields in October-November 2008, and a June 2009 report by Human Rights Watch alleging further abuses around the Marange mines reignited the debate about “blood diamonds” and how to eradicate them. The perceived reluctance of the Kimberley Process to take action led human rights groups to question its efficacy and continued relevance. They argued that the Kimberley Process had lost credibility. The Zimbabwe Government said it would sell diamonds regardless of whether they had Kimberley certification, and harassed human rights advocates who spoke out against the abuses in Marange. Some companies reportedly took individual action to ensure that diamonds from Marange did not enter their supply chains, including Rapaport Diamond Trading Network and Cartier. Zimbabwe meanwhile granted licences to two companies to mine in Marange, Mbada Diamonds and Canadile Miners. Both are joint ventures of state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp., Mbada with New Reclamation Group’s Grandwell Holdings and Canadile with Core Mining & Mineral Resources (New Reclamation and Core Mining are both headquartered in South Africa). In late 2010, the Zimbabwe Government voided Canadile’s concession and arrested several of its executives over fraud allegations. In two separate reports issued in June 2010, NGOs Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada reported that human rights violations were still occurring in Marange. Partnership Africa Canada also published a report on recommended reforms of the Kimberley Process, in June 2010. In July 2010, the Kimberley Process reached an agreement with the Zimbabwe Government to allow export sales under a strengthened system of monitoring and supervision, with civil society participation. In November 2010, the Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition, including Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada, alleged that the government was failing to meet “key commitments” it had made in the July agreement, including “respect for the local civil society monitoring mechanism”. c. Niger Delta. The impacts of oil companies in the Niger Delta continued to make news – various developments meant they came under particular scrutiny this year. • In August 2010, the findings of a Shell-funded investigation by UNEP, which suggested that oil companies were responsible for only 10% of oil spills in the Niger Delta, prompted criticism from environmentalists and other Nigerian civil society groups. • Several deadlines aimed at ending gas flaring have come and gone, but the practice continues. Following a 2009 report by Friends of the Earth International alleging a deliberate policy of gas flaring by Shell to maximise profits, in May 2010 Shell stated that it had initiated a $2 billion campaign to reduce gas flaring in Nigeria.

 

3 • Several oil spills occurred at the Qua Iboe oil fields in Akwa Ibom state in May and June 2010, operated by ExxonMobil’s Nigeria subsidiary; at least one of these reportedly directly harmed fishermen in the area.

Following the US Gulf oil spill in 2010, the Resource Centre launched an online portal on the human rights impacts of oil pollution in the Gulf, and also in Nigeria and Ecuador – where oil pollution has been widespread for decades and where its impacts receive far less attention and remedial action. The Nigeria section of the portal refers to Shell, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Total. This portal will continue to be updated in order to keep an ongoing focus on the issues and to provide a platform to reflect public debate. d. Equatorial Guinea.  Equatorial Guinea was described as a “textbook case of the resource curse” in a July 2009 Human Rights Watch report that details the negative impacts of oil on the country. It refers to US firms operating in Equatorial Guinea, including ExxonMobil, Hess, Marathon, Chevron, Devon, and Vanco Energy. In April 2010, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative denied Equatorial Guinea’s request for an extension of its application; it therefore is no longer an implementing (“EITI Candidate”) country. NGOs have said that the 2010 Energy Security Through Transparency Act in the US will help address corruption and improve people’s lives in Equatorial Guinea, given its requirement that oil firms disclose the revenue they provide to governments. In October 2010, UNESCO suspended plans to grant a prize sponsored by and named for Equatorial Guinea’s President after human rights groups lobbied against it, due to government abuses and very poor health and development indicators despite the country’s vast oil wealth. e. Tax avoidance. NGOs within and outside Africa have been paying increasing attention to the impacts of tax avoidance by multinationals on development in Africa. When companies avoid paying a fair share of taxes and royalties in developing countries, they deprive governments of essential revenues that could be used for development, health, education, housing, access to water and other human rights. According to ActionAid, “poor countries lose more money to tax evasion than they receive in aid”. In October 2009, during a UN consultation on business and human rights, the Resource Centre and Global Witness cohosted a side-panel entitled “Follow the money – How companies are impacting human rights: corruption, payments to rebels, inequitable contracts, tax avoidance, transfer-pricing”. One of the speakers was Edmond Kangamungazi of Caritas Zambia, who described the negative impact that tax avoidance has had on Zambia’s development. The Resource Centre launched a special webpage on tax avoidance. In reports issued in March and May 2010, DanWatch highlighted tax minimisation by multinational mining companies in Ghana, saying this deprived Ghana’s population of much-needed revenue. These reports and responses to them obtained by the Resource Centre from Newmont, Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti, are here. Red Back Mining and Barrick Gold declined to respond. In November 2010, ActionAid accused SABMiller of transferring millions of pounds in profits from subsidiaries in Ghana and other African countries to sister companies in tax havens, depriving the countries where it operates of needed revenues for health, education and other social needs. SABMiller said it rejected ActionAid's interpretation, stating, “SABMiller does not engage in aggressive tax planning...the report includes a number of flawed assumptions...SABMiller companies pay a significant level of tax.” 1.2 HIV/AIDS and TB One of the challenges for companies operating in Africa is how to deal with the continent’s high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and TB. Working conditions, especially in mining companies, sometimes facilitate the spread of those diseases. Despite efforts to de-stigmatise HIV/AIDS, workers still live with stigma and discrimination. Since many African countries have poor health care systems, it often falls on companies to put effective health programmes in place if they are to avoid the negative effects of HIV/AIDS and TB, such as high staff turnover and loss of productivity. As this UN Global Compact “dilemma” workbook demonstrates, a challenge for companies is how to implement effective disease management programmes, while also ensuring that the employee’s right to privacy and non-discrimination are not violated, as alleged in this Namibian case. In June 2010, the ILO adopted a new labour standard aimed at harnessing the power of the workplace in the fight against the disease.

 

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1.3 Dams: displacement and other impacts on livelihood Advocates for affected communities claim that Africa’s large dams have been built at the expense of rural communities, who have been forced to sacrifice their lands and livelihoods and yet have reaped few benefits. The Gibe and Merowe dams, in Ethiopia and Sudan respectively, both came back into the news over the course of 2010. Human rights concerns about them centre on displacement of local people and loss of livelihoods. Gibe Dam: Ethiopia's Gibe 3 Dam has been described as the “most destructive dam being built today” by the NGO International Rivers. Those opposing the dam, such as International Rivers and Survival International, say it will cause 200,000 people to go hungry, destroy livelihoods and fragile ecosystems, and endanger two World Heritage Sites. The Italian firm constructing the dam, Salini Costruttori, says it will not deprive 200,000 people of their livelihoods. In August 2010, the African Development Bank pulled out of funding the project, following the withdrawal of the European Investment Bank. However, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has stepped in to fund it. Merowe Dam: In May 2010, the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, acting on behalf of Ali Askouri (a representative of communities affected by the Merowe Dam in Sudan), filed a criminal complaint in a German court against two executives of Lahmeyer International. It alleged the two were responsible for flooding over 30 villages, displacing over 4700 families and destroying their land. Lahmeyer denies the allegations. 1.4 China in Africa The debate about China’s role in Africa continues. On the one hand, there is recognition of the infrastructural developments that China is bringing to Africa. Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame said in an interview that the Chinese are developing the continent, while Western companies have primarily spread pollution. On the other hand, critics argue that Chinese companies invest in weak governance zones and prop up regimes with bad human rights records. Others highlight poor working conditions at Chinese companies and abuses against workers who protest. For example, in October 2010 11 miners at Collum Mine in Zambia were shot and injured while protesting poor pay and working conditions; two Chinese mine managers were charged in connection with the shooting. Critics also say that the presence of Chinese firms does not benefit local communities to the extent it could because they do not create jobs; instead they often bring their workforce from China, at times including prison labour. 1.5 Business’ impact on children   Child labour remains prevalent on the continent. In Ghana for instance, laws and regulations to combat it have not yielded many results, with around 20% of the country’s children working, and about one-fifth of those working in hazardous conditions. The cocoa industry in particular is plagued by allegations of human trafficking and child labour despite some industry initiatives to bring it to an end. A report on the lives of children working on tobacco farms in Malawi found that each child absorbed up to two packets worth of nicotine a day in the course of their work as tobacco pickers. They were also reportedly subjected to physical abuse. The tobacco industry is also accused of marketing strategies targeted at the continent’s youth, in an effort to create an alternative market to those lost in the West through stringent regulation. 1.6 Rights of indigenous people In a landmark February 2010 ruling, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights held that the eviction of the Endorois people of Kenya from their traditional land in order to facilitate tourism was a violation of human rights, specifically the rights to property, health, culture, religion, and natural resources. The ruling is “the first from any international tribunal to find a violation of the right to development”, according to Human Rights Watch. In Botswana, the plight of the indigenous Bushmen continues to attract attention. For example, the Bushmen and Survival International have protested against companies like Wilderness Safaris, which has a luxury lodge in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve that uses water from the Reserve, while the

 

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government denies water to Bushmen who have traditionally lived in the area. Wilderness Safaris responded that the real conflict is between the Bushmen and the Botswana Government and that Survival International was “using us as a lever to try to get Botswana to change its policies toward the Bushmen.” Despite a 2006 ruling by the High Court of Botswana that their ejection from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to facilitate mining was unlawful, the Government of Botswana continues to frustrate the Bushman’s effective access to their lands by denying them access to water, according to Survival International. In March 2010, the UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous people issued a report in which he stated that the government’s restricted access to the reserve for its traditional inhabitants and denial of services such as access to water “do not appear to be in keeping with the spirit and underlying logic of the [High Court] decision, nor with the relevant international human rights standards”.

2. Positive developments 2.1 HIV/AIDS Some companies are setting strong examples in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Anglo American’s HIV/AIDS programme has been referred to as a model for other companies to follow. It provides testing and antiretroviral treatment to staff and family members. De Beers has a similar program, which it discusses in detail on the UN Global Compact’s Human Rights and Business Dilemmas Forum. Some pharmaceutical firms are taking steps to make anti-retroviral treatments more affordable. 2.2 Human trafficking initiatives during World Cup soccer tournament In April 2010, Christian Brothers Investment Services and 300 investors and faith-based organizations, working with Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa, sent a letter to eight major hotels chains in South Africa urging them to take steps to prevent human trafficking during the World Cup. The Resource Centre invited the firms that did not initially respond to do so, and all of them did subsequently respond: Accor, Best Western, Carlson, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt, Intercontinental, NH Hotels, Starwood. CBIS issued a final report on the campaign, noting steps taken by the chains which it learned about from the responses we elicited: two chains informed their staff in South Africa about child sexual exploitation, one adopted The Tourism Child Protection Code of Conduct, and another had adopted a human rights policy addressing protection of children. 2.3 Certification system for minerals from Democratic Republic of Congo In September 2010, 11 African states approved a certification system for tracing the origin of minerals from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in a step to address the mineral trade’s fuelling of the conflict there. The 11 states are: Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.  2.4 e-waste   Microsoft (in partnership with the UN) and HP launched initiatives to combat the problem of electronic waste being dumped in developing countries, causing health problems. 2.5 Fair trade and improvements in flower, wine industries In Uganda, several flower farms reportedly took steps to improve working conditions and unionisation. In May 2010, Marks & Spencer became the first UK retailer to launch Fairtrade-certified vegetables, a move that the retailer said would create new opportunities to invest in community projects for hundreds of small farmers in Kenya. Several South African wine producers won Fairtrade awards for establishing ethical standards to ensure a better quality of life for their workers. 2.6 Mobile phone firms help refugees trace their families The UN High Commissioner for Refugees partnered with MTN and Ericsson in an initiative to use a mobile phone application to help refugees and internally displaced people in Uganda reconnect with their families.

 

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3. Legal, regulatory & policy developments There were several important legal and policy developments over the past year. 3.1 Lawsuits The trend of filing lawsuits against companies over human rights issues continues, in many countries throughout the region and in “home” states where companies operating in Africa are headquartered. In Nigeria, a local NGO, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), is pursuing a lawsuit in the ECOWAS regional court. It was initially brought against several oil companies: Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC); Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC); Elf Petroleum Nigeria; Chevron Oil Nigeria; Agip Nigeria; Total Nigeria; and ExxonMobil. The suit alleges that years of oil extraction in the Delta have led to "violations of the right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food, to work, to health, to water, to life and human dignity, to a clean and healthy environment, and to economic and social development." All the companies filed preliminary objections rejecting the jurisdiction of the court to hear the suit. In January 2011, the court ruled that it had jurisdiction over NNPC and the Nigeria Federal Government, but not over the other companies. In France, Global Witness, Sherpa, Greenpeace France, Amis de la Terre and Alfred Brownell of Green Advocates Liberia, lodged a complaint before the Public Prosecutor at the Court of Nantes against the Danish firm Dalhoff, Larsen and Horneman (DLH). It alleged that by buying timber from Liberian companies, DLH provided support to Charles Taylor's brutal regime during the civil war in Liberia. They also claim that DLH continued to purchase from Liberian suppliers despite strong evidence of their involvement in corruption, tax evasion, environmental degradation, UN arms sanctions violations and human rights abuses. In June 2009 relatives of Ken Saro Wiwa and nine other Ogoni activists settled their lawsuit against Shell for $15.5 million. The settlement provides compensation for the plaintiffs and also establishes the “Kiisi Trust” to fund initiatives for the benefit of the Ogoni people. The Resource Centre is not aware of any reports of the Kiisi Trust having started its work. In September 2009 the South African Government withdrew its opposition to the lawsuit in US court against Daimler, Ford, General Motors, IBM and Rheinmetall for complicity in apartheid. (The number of companies in the suit had been narrowed earlier in 2009.) The move was a blow to the defendant companies’ argument that the lawsuit undermines South Africa’s sovereignty. In February 2010 a US federal district court allowed the case to go forward. In a potentially far-reaching decision in the Kiobel v Shell case regarding alleged abuses by Shell in Nigeria, a three-judge panel of the US federal appeals court in New York ruled in September 2010 that the US Alien Torts Claims Act (ATCA) cannot be used to sue corporations for violations of international law abroad. One judge on the panel dissented strongly from this holding, although he concurred on other grounds that the case should be dismissed. Already, a US federal court in Indiana has adopted the decision in dismissing the case of Flomo v. Firestone, which alleges forced child labour on rubber plantations in Liberia. The US court of appeals in New York, in a 5-5 vote, has refused a petition by the Kiobel plaintiffs for the case to be reheard by the court’s full panel of eleven judges; it may now be appealed to the US Supreme Court. For further information about lawsuits against companies for human rights abuses, see the Resource Centre’s Corporate Legal Accountability Portal. 3.2 Laws & regulatory action The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) announced that by the end of 2012 it will implement a Common Mining Code. The code will include principles that will seek to ensure the fair allocation of mineral wealth to local communities, and to promote sustainable development. Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf signed into law the Liberia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Act which aims to ensure that the benefits due to the government and people of Liberia from the exploitation of natural resources are "verifiably paid or provided; duly accounted for and prudently used for

 

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the benefits of all Liberians." This law was welcomed by civil society observers; following its passage, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative designated Liberia a “compliant” country. Ghana was also designated “compliant”, in October 2010. Ghana and Uganda are in the process of adopting policies to regulate their oil industries, but there are concerns about the slow pace of adoption, in both Ghana and Uganda. In July 2010, the US Government adopted a new law requiring extractive companies listed with US securities regulators (whether or not headquartered in the US) to list what they pay to each government for the development of oil, gas and minerals. Following pressure from labour unions, South Africa is in the process of amending its labour laws to offer better protection to workers. One of the key components of the Labour Relations Bill is better regulation of labour broking, a practice which, according to labour unions, enables employers to violate workers' rights and flout labour laws. Amendments continue to be made in early 2011. In Namibia, the Supreme Court overturned a government ban on labour broking. The court ruled that the government must first try to regulate labour broking firms before imposing a ban on them. An earlier High Court judgement had upheld the ban, describing the practice of labour broking as exploitative and tantamount to slavery. The Namibian Government is seeking other ways to stop violations of workers’ rights through the labour hire system. Nigeria is in the process of developing a new law to regulate the petroleum industry. The Petroleum Industry Bill, currently under legislative consideration, aims to reform the oil and gas industry and includes provisions designed to minimise the impact of the oil industry on the environment and local communities. Amnesty International and various Nigerian NGOs have made a number of recommendations to improve the bill. The International Commission of Jurists published an overview of the potential of South Africa’s legal system for access to justice regarding corporate human rights abuses. It said that the system has considerable potential, but the main constraint is victims’ very limited access to legal resources. 4. The international business & human rights framework In late November 2010 the UN Special Representative on business & human rights, John Ruggie, issued draft “Guiding Principles”, to implement the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council. These were open for comment until 31 January 2011. Comments were submitted from all regions, including Africa; all comments are available here. Special Representative Ruggie has indicated that after considering the comments he will submit the final text of the Guiding Principles to the UN for translation in early March, before presenting it formally to the Human Rights Council at its June 2011 session. At the same time the Special Representative will also present a paper on follow-up to his mandate. The Guiding Principles and any follow-up to the Special Representative’s mandate will have implications for business & human rights in Anglophone Africa, just as in other regions. Nigeria was one of the governments that co-sponsored the resolution of the UN Human Rights Council authorising John Ruggie’s mandate, along with Argentina, India, Norway and Russia. Botswana, Nigeria and South Africa are three of the 40 jurisdictions surveyed in the mandate’s “Corporate Law Project”, in which law firms from each jurisdiction have reported on “whether and how national corporate and securities law principles and practices currently encourage companies to respect human rights”. The report on Botswana was prepared by the firm Armstrongs; the report on Nigeria was prepared by the firm Olaniwun Ajayi LP; the report on South Africa was prepared by the firm Edward Nathan Sonnenbergs.

5. Looking ahead Below are comments about several business & human rights issues that are likely to arise in 2011 and early 2012, followed by the Resource Centre’s plans for the region.

 

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5.1 Issues South Sudan has just held a referendum in which the population has overwhelmingly voted for independence from the rest of Sudan. There have been disputes over control of the oil-producing region of Abyei. Investors have called on foreign firms operating in Sudan, including telecommunications firms such as MTN and Zain, and oil & gas companies such as CNPC “to ensure that they do not infringe on human rights” themselves, or “become complicit in...violations”. Another resource-related conflict remains a possibility. As the oil industries in both Ghana and Uganda have just come fully on-stream in 2010, they will be closely watched for signs of negative social or environmental impacts. Both countries are finalising the legal and policy framework that will govern environmental management of oil exploitation and the transparency and use of oil revenues; these are expected to be completed and implemented in 2011. In Namibia, there is a rapid rise in uranium mining. Increasing concerns over its impacts on the environment and people’s livelihoods (in particular small-scale agriculture and tourism) will likely be raised. Tanzania also plans to begin uranium mining and processing in the coming years. Wal-Mart is seeking to finalise its acquisition of South Africa’s Massmart in 2011. South African unions have opposed the deal, accusing Wal-Mart of not respecting workers’ rights in other countries; Cosatu has threatened a boycott of Massmart if the deal goes forward. Wal-Mart has said it will honour all existing labour agreements and South African law. National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) from all regions adopted the Edinburgh Declaration on business & human rights in October 2010, in which they agreed to “actively consider how their mandates under the Paris Principles can be applied, or where necessary strengthened, in order to promote and protect human rights as they relate to business.” The Resource Centre will be in touch with all the NHRIs in the region, including those of Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Uganda, to be sure that we highlight any major initiatives they undertake on business & human rights. 5.2 The Resource Centre’s plans for the region Business & Human Rights Resource Centre will deepen its coverage of the issues discussed in this briefing. We will continue to bring the concerns of local advocates to an international audience, ask companies to respond to allegations against them, and provide examples of positive initiatives by companies. In the coming years, we will prioritise our work that helps to prevent abuses, particularly in relation to situations where human rights defenders and others are at risk. We will endeavour to give the human rights impacts of Chinese, Indian, and other emerging-economy companies operating in Africa as much attention as other multinationals. Our Corporate Legal Accountability Portal will profile more lawsuits relating to abuses in Africa, with a focus on cases brought in African courts. Our UN Special Representative Portal will alert our contacts in the region to the outcome of the mandate of UN Special Representative Ruggie, in June 2011; demystify future UN developments; and explain how African human rights NGOs and advocates can participate in any new UN mechanism on business & human rights. Our thematic projects will provide guidance tools and resources for NGOs, businesspeople and others working on particular issues, and will draw attention to specific cases in Africa: •

Our Business, Conflict & Peace Portal will continue to highlight the impacts of companies on conflict and peace-building worldwide, including in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan.

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Our Business & Children Portal, to be launched in 2011, will draw more international attention to companies’ impacts (positive and negative) on the human rights of children.

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Our Business & Freedom of Association Portal, to be launched in 2012, will highlight how companies are impacting the fundamental right to freedom of association.

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The new “Human rights impacts of oil pollution: U.S. Gulf Coast, Ecuador, Nigeria" section of our site will draw attention to newly reported abuses in Nigeria, seek responses from oil companies, and highlight positive initiatives. We will seek funding to make this into a high-profile portal.

 

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If we secure the necessary funding we hope to recruit an East Africa Researcher based in Kenya, and a Portuguese-Speaking Africa Researcher based in Mozambique, which would enhance our impact in those regions. Currently the Resource Centre has two Africa-based researchers: Abiola Okpechi covering Anglophone Africa, based in South Africa, and Aliou Diouf covering Francophone Africa, based in Senegal. Research missions in the region: To date, Abiola has conducted regional research missions to: •

the Copperbelt region of Zambia, where she focussed on revenue issues, mine safety and environmental impacts;

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Ghana, looking primarily at future human rights issues arising from oil development; and

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Nigeria, regarding the impacts of oil pollution.

In 2011, we will conduct a mission to Uganda, to meet local groups seeking to prevent abuses by the emerging oil industry there, and working to ensure revenue transparency. We will also meet oil companies operating in Uganda. We hope to conduct research missions to other countries in Anglophone Africa in future, for example: •

Kenya - human rights impacts of the flower and tea industries;

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Malawi - impacts of the uranium and tobacco industries; and

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Zimbabwe - impacts of diamond mines.

The purpose of these missions is to support the work of local civil society organizations: we seek to find out what their most serious concerns are about companies’ human rights impacts, so that we can bring them to international attention. The missions allow us to build contacts with victims, community groups and NGOs through direct meetings, and also to meet with local companies to inform them about our site and the resources we offer, let them know that we will invite them to respond to human rights concerns, and invite them to send materials about positive steps they are taking.

6. Follow our work on Anglophone Africa You can follow our coverage of each African country here: http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/RegionsCountries/Africa If you would like to receive our free Weekly Updates, the sign-up form is accessible here: http://www.business-humanrights.org/weekly_update_signup Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions or suggestions of material for our website. Anglophone Africa Researcher Abiola Okpechi: [email protected]. Click here to donate today Please consider donating to Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, to enable us to continue our work in Anglophone Africa and internationally, and to offer our information to a global audience without any charge. As we do not accept donations from companies or company foundations, donations from individuals and foundations are essential for our work to continue. The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is a Registered Charity in England & Wales (no. 1096664), and in the United States is a tax-exempt non-profit organisation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.