Initiative and Newsletter on Trade and Human Rights Launched by Kenan Institute - Washington Center
Published 04-08-05
Submitted by Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Decisions to grant normal trade relations to Ukraine and Vietnam, approve the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and review a decade of WTO membership involve questions of human rights, democratization and trade. Yet policymakers often fail to coordinate trade and human rights objectives and risk perpetuating human rights problems.
To ensure that citizens and policymakers have the latest information, news and scholarship in this arena, The Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise-Washington Center has launched an initiative and a newsletter.
The Human Rights and Trade Partnership Project aims to develop greater understanding of the relationship between trade policies and agreements and human rights. Project staff will examine allegations of conflict between trade and human rights objectives and make explicit recommendations to policymakers on how they may achieve both important goals. Dr Susan A. Aaronson, senior fellow and director of Globalization Studies at the Kenan Institute, and Jamie Zimmerman, associate director of Globalization Studies, will direct the project. The project, funded by the Levi Strauss Foundation, builds upon the earlier success of the Kenan Institute initiative on Global Corporate Social Responsibility Policies (www.csrpolicies.org), funded by the Ford, UN and Levi Strauss Foundations.
Global Intersections is a monthly newsletter, distributed free of charge to those interested in issues of linkages between trade, democratization and human rights. It will be a valuable resource as policymakers weigh important questions. Interested individuals can subscribe to the newsletter by either 1) emailing join-hr-trade@listserv.unc.edu or 2) contacting Amanda Dixon, research assistant for the Globalization Studies Program at adixon@kenan.org.
The Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise is a research and outreach arm of Kenan-Flagler Business School at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Kenan Institute offers knowledge, solutions and networks that help companies and communities prosper. The Kenan Institute's Washington Center works at the intersection of international business and international development, partnering with corporations to build the development rationale for trade, improve community involvement programming and promote market-led growth in developing countries. For more information, visit www.kenaninstitute.unc.edu.
