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Setback for Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Prior Consultation in Peru May 29th, 2013
The Peruvian government is refusing to publish a database on indigenous peoples and has excluded from the consultation process, coastal and mountain communities, where mining activity is concentrated.
The implementation of the Law of Prior Consultation of Indigenous Peoples over legislative or administrative measures that directly affect them — in effect for a little over a year — is facing huge setbacks in Peru. In late April, in the context of falling metals prices and slowing economic growth in China and Europe, the government temporarily waived prior consultation on 14 mining projects located on the coast and in the mountains and that are currently in exploratory phase.
Pope Francis and Shareholders United in Priorities May 28th, 2013
In this blog on Huffington Post, Fr. Seamus Finn OMI examines the connections between faith-driven shareholder activism and a recent talk by Pope Francis on some of the important issues that have been publicly debated since the near collapse of the financial system.
2012 International Religious Freedom Report Available May 22nd, 2013
The International Religious Freedom Act is a law passed by the US Congress that mandates the preparation of the International Religious Freedom Report. Produced by the US State Department, this report shines light on the challenges that people face as they seek the right to worship as they wish.
Read the 2012 International Religious Freedom Report
Oblates and other Faith-Based and Socially Responsible Investors Work to Clean up Garment Industry Supply Chain May 16th, 2013
The Missionary Oblates, Oblate Investment Pastoral and GS-JPIC Rome have joined with more than 100 other institutional investors, with over $1.2 trillion in assets under management, in a statement condemning the broken supply chain system in the garment industry, especially in Bangladesh. This system, much of which urgently needs fixing, continues to result in huge loss of life in unsafe factories, as well as unfair remuneration for workers, many of whom are young parents.
This large coalition of religious groups and investors is pressing major American retailers to join a sweeping plan to improve safety in Bangladesh apparel factories, calling on them to act together to force changes in overseas workplaces.
Read the article about investor activism in the garment sector in the New York Times…
List of Signatories to the investor statement…
Additional press coverage:
Clothing Retailers Pressed on Safety Issues May 12th, 2013
Photo credit: Emma L. Herman
The Rev. Seamus Finn, OMI (OMI JPIC Office Director) was quoted in a recent New York Times article on the building collapse and fires in the Bangladesh garment industry, saying: “What happened in Bangladesh is a game-changer because of the gravity of the situation and the tremendous loss of life,” Father Finn said. “People are really coming to life about this and saying, ‘We need to do something.’ ”
Rev. Finn is circulating a letter among other faith-based and socially responsible investors – groups that control more than $100 billion in assets — expressing displeasure with U.S. retailers. He says the retailers have not done nearly enough to improve workplace safety for the more than three million garment workers in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh labor costs in the garment manufacturing industry are the lowest in the world. Decent factory operations there are under tremendous pressure from their purchasers to lower costs, with the buyers threatening to ‘take their business down the road’ unless their terms are met.
