We signed up for the 2017 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights with some trepidation because of its chosen theme of “Realizing Access to Effective Remedy”. This is the third pillar in the UN Guiding Principles, supplementing the guidance on state duty to protect human rights (the first pillar) and on the business responsibility to respect human rights (the second pillar). The third pillar, recognizing the importance of having effective remedies to human rights violations, has been deemed the weakest pillar but one that seemed to evoke the most complaints in past forums. Much to our surprise, the 2017 Forum and its thematic focus went more smoothly- and more constructively – than we had expected. Read more here. Continue reading “Remedies and Other Initiatives at the UN Business and Human Rights Forum”
The Future of Work
The theme of “the future of work” has been catching our attention – and the attention of many deliberative bodies this year. Both the G20 and G7 have launched initiatives related to this theme, and we certainly saw how it permeated special sessions at the International Labour Organization in April and June and at the WTO Public Forum in September. Our intern Jacob Haddad had the opportunity last week to attend events featuring more updated insights into the murky world of fortune-telling about jobs and sustainable livelihoods. One was a Trade Dialogue event at the WTO on 30 October, another was a stimulating panel at the Graduate Institute, and yet another was a more pragmatic review by the ILO Governing Body on how the ILO is preparing to deliver a definitive ILO perspective on the future of work at its Centenary celebrations in 2019. Of course, we also appreciate the ongoing deliberations of the ILO’s Governing Body on so many related issues, as noted in our commentary below. Continue reading “The Future of Work”
The Civil Liberties Perspective on Charlottesville
I have long been a defender of civil liberties for all groups, as long as they do not condone or engage in violence, but we were horrified by the evil on display in Charlottesville, Virginia. And we were further offended by the damage of a failed American president whose words and behavior were so lacking of a moral compass to condemn in no uncertain terms the fundamental evils of what these groups were advocating – and doing! To suggest that there were “fine people” on “many sides” of this confrontation is shocking, indeed.
Continue reading “The Civil Liberties Perspective on Charlottesville”
Reflections on Liberation
The Carrefour de la Liberté is a traffic circle near our vacation home in Southern France. We have seen this traffic circle grow from a modest intersection in the 1980s into the substantial traffic circle that it is today. Five busy roads feed into the traffic circle, and its large grassy center features abundant displays of seasonal flowers and colorful iron sculptures of felines. To one side of the traffic circle, there is a World War II memorial. (To another side of the traffic circle, there is a permanently parked pizza truck – actually a double-decker bus – but that’s for another story.)
Family Photos
