Today the non-profit Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is launching its first-ever regional briefing: "Business & human rights in South Asia - a round-up of recent developments." The nine-page briefing is available here: www.reports-and-materials.org/South-Asia-regional-briefing-Jul-2010.pdf

This capsule briefing provides a reality-based snapshot of business & human rights issues in South Asia, with references to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It highlights key developments reported over the past year, emerging issues, concerns raised by local NGOs and civil society about alleged abuses by companies, responses by companies to allegations, and positive initiatives by companies.

Chris Avery, Director of the Resource Centre, said: "We are pleased to be issuing our first regional briefing today, covering the important region of South Asia. The briefing is concise and accessible, not comprehensive. We plan to issue annual region-by-region briefings on business & human rights developments, based on our regional researchers' unique overview of their regions."

Companies mentioned in this briefing include: Bahria Town, Ballarpur Industries, Barclays, Bayer, Bayer Crop Science, Bharti Enterprises, Blue Mango, Brandix, Defence Housing Authority, Dell, Depilex beauty salon, Dow Chemical, Forbes Marshall Group, Garib & Garib, GlaxoSmithKline, Green Hotel, H&M, Habib Rafiq, Himagiri Hydro Energy, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Prudential, Ikea, IndianOil, Jaipur Rugs, La Boulangerie, Lanka Walltile, Merck, Metro Group, OnTime Technologies, People Tree, POSCO, Rahim, Reliance, RL Denim, SammaaN, State Bank of India, Tata Group, Tata Steel, Union Carbide, Vedanta, West Seti.

Also today, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre announced the appointment of Dr. Harpreet Kaur as its new South Asia Researcher & Representative, based in India. The announcement is available here: www.business-humanrights.org/Documents/SouthAsiaAppt

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre tracks the human rights impacts (positive & negative) of 5000 companies in over 180 countries. The site is updated hourly and receives 1.5 million hits per month.

Mary Robinson chairs its 80-member International Advisory Network. Its 22 Academic Partners include leading institutes in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

The Centre has regional researchers based in four regions:

• Aliou Diouf, Francophone Africa Researcher, based in Senegal


• Harpreet Kaur, South Asia Researcher, based in India (starting 2 August 2010)


• Abiola Okpechi, Anglophone Africa Researcher, based in South Africa


• Ella Skybenko, Eastern Europe/Central Asia Researcher, based in Ukraine

Later this year we will appoint an East Asia Researcher (based in Hong Kong). We are seeking funds to establish regional researchers in Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

For further information about the Resource Centre, see the "About us" section of the website.

If you have questions about this regional briefing, please contact:

Christopher Avery, Director - avery@business-humanrights.org
Mauricio Lazala, Senior Researcher - lazala@business-humanrights.org

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
1-3 Charlotte Street, third floor
London, W1T 1RD
United Kingdom
tel: (44) 20 7636 7774 fax: (44) 20 7636 7775

See the Resource Centre website for contact details of additional team members based in India, Senegal, South Africa, UK, Ukraine, USA.

SUPPORT THE RESOURCE CENTRE: Please consider donating to Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, to enable us to continue our work in South Asia and internationally, and to offer our website, special portals, Weekly Updates and regional briefings 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.

Donate online: www.business-humanrights.org/Aboutus/Makeadonation

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is a non-profit organization. In the United States we are a tax-exempt non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. In England & Wales we are a Registered Charity, number 1096664.

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

The Resource Centre is an independent non-profit that promotes greater awareness and informed debate about human rights issues relating to business. Our website is updated hourly with news and reports about companies’ social and environmental impacts worldwide, including alleged abuses, positive steps, and company responses to concerns raised about their conduct. The site has sections on over 4000 companies. It also includes special resources such as all materials issued by the UN Special Representative on business & human rights; a list of companies with human rights policies; profiles of lawsuits against companies. Mary Robinson is Chair of our International Advisory Network. Visit the website for further details and to sign up for free Weekly Updates. See website for contact details of our New York office and team members in Hong Kong, India, South Africa, UK, Ukraine, USA

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