News Archives » Faith Responsible Investing
VOICE Wins Significant Housing Agreement with Bank of America October 12th, 2012
On the evening of Monday October 1st, VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) had a remarkably successful action to push forward mortgage relief for affected homeowners in Prince William County, VA. Following all-day, intense negotiations, last minute accommodations, and a lot of fluid politics, 800+ VOICE leaders packed St Paul United Methodist Church in Woodbridge, VA and emerged with some impressive agreements.
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Oblate Newsletters from Iquitos, Peru Highlight Work with Indigenous October 11th, 2012
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI on a recent visit with children at the parish of Santa Clotilde
An interesting and informative series of newsletters from the Oblates in Iquitos, Peru, is now available on the Spanish section of this website.
The Oblates are working in the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, located in Santa Clotilde, a town on the Rio Napo in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. It has a population of about 2,000 people and serves as the capital district for about 23,000 people in 100 villages, spread over 400 km. of the Napo River and its tributaries. All transport is river water, with occasional planes. Most are native peoples who continue to live through hunting, fishing and subsistence farming.
Today in the parish, Oblate Fathers Edgar Nolasco OMI, and Roberto Carrasco Rojas OMI, with the Pastoral Coordination, Apostolic Vicariate, San Jose of the Amazon, are working with Norbertine priest and medical doctor, Jack MacCarthy, O. Praem, and many lay workers and volunteers.
For more information and to access the newsletters, please visit http://omiusajpic.org/espanol/global/america-latina-y-el-caribe/peru/peru-iquitos/
Ask Congress to Help Stop Human Trafficking September 7th, 2012
Many things we use routinely – like our food and clothes – are too often tainted by slavery’s footprint. A new bill in Congress wants to change this.
The “Business Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act” (H.R. 2759) would require companies with at least $100 million in income to publicize the measures they are taking to combat this kind of slavery in their supply chains. Although the bill doesn’t require organizations to take action against slavery, it opens the door for competition to improve standards and practices by making the public aware of which companies are taking action to combat slavery – and which ones are not. Rather than subject businesses to confusing and often conflicting state laws, H.R. 2759 would establish clear requirements that would apply equally to companies across the country.
Supply Chain legislation was passed last year in California, and is having an effect as companies comply with the law. Supply chains are important; this is where most of the labor used to create a product is to be found.
Three other important bills to reduce human trafficking are also in need of support:
- Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act
- Strengthening the Child Welfare Response to Human Trafficking Act
- End Human Trafficking in Government Contracting
United Nations Fights Human Trafficking September 7th, 2012
In New York, the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) through their Stop Trafficking in Persons Committee is focusing on world sports events where sponsoring businesses can make a big difference in stopping human trafficking. In particular, task force members wrote letters to the London Olympics Organizing Committee and all Olympic sponsors asking them to take a public stand against human trafficking. Companies can prevent human trafficking by evaluating their supply chains in order to end forced labor, child labor, and unscrupulous recruitment practices.
The United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking, UN.GIFT, has as its mission to promote a global approach to the problem of trafficking in persons. Trafficking criminal networks are so extensive that they cannot be dismantled by governments alone. Trafficking is an organized crime so it must be fought in an organized way. UN.GIFT makes an effort to involve all stakeholders — business, academia, governments, civil society and the media – in partnerships against trafficking.
For further details or to support UN.GIFT, go to www.ungift.org/knowledgehub/en/about/index.html
New SEC Rules to Reduce the Use of Conflict Minerals August 29th, 2012
The Missionary Oblate JPIC Office applauds the final rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to restrict the use of Congo conflict minerals and increase transparency in extractives-related payments.
On August 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission, in a 3-2 vote, adopted a rule requiring public companies to disclose information about their use of minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo where militias linked to atrocities have profited from mining minerals. Conflict minerals mined in war-torn Congo are essential to the manufacture of high-tech electronics, jewelry and other goods. The rule is know as Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
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