Registration for the III International Seminar on Human Rights and Business is now open

The III International Seminar on Human Rights and Business is part of a series of events that have been organized in recent years by Homa – Centre for Human Rights and Business of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora – Brazil. This event will take place in the city of Rio de Janeiro – Brazil, from 27 to 29 April, 2016, aiming to bring together national and international leaders and experts in the field, social movement activists, NGOs, trade union movements and other social players involved in the process of protection and defense of human rights in the context of violations by companies.

The third seminar is sponsored by the Ford Foundation and has the support and partnership of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, the Center for Human Rights at PUC-Rio and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Registration is free, but the number of participants is limited, so make sure to register as soon as possible!

Relevant issues in the current scenario of debates on Human Rights and Business will be discussed, such as:

• The Process of development of an international binding instrument on Business and Human Rights,
• Development and international consulting process of the Peoples’ Treaty;
• The implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in Brazil: Critical Perspectives
• The impact of mining and violations of Human rights;
• Processes of resistance and handling mechanisms of human rights violations in its different dimensions;
• Public Funding and Large Enterprises

The following international speakers have been confirmed:

• Prof. Juan Zubizarreta – University of the Basque Country – OMAL (Spain)
• Prof. Surya Deva – City University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong – China)
• Prof. Sheldon Leader – University of Essex (United Kingdom)
• Carlos Lopez – International Commission of Jurists (Geneva)
• Alberto Villarreal – REDES (Uruguay)

Click here to register.

Items for presentation in working groups’ communication format will not be accepted, but papers, case studies and critical reviews are welcome for publication in Homa Publica – International Journal of Human Rights and Business, to be released during the third seminar. The call for papers can be found here. All participants are invited to submit their work to the Journal, and we emphasize that these will undergo double blind peer review.

For further information on other confirmed and to be confirmed speakers, event schedule, accommodation suggestions, and contact, please visit the event website: http://homacdhe.com/iii-seminar/en/home/

About Homa

Created in February 2012 and running with support from the Ford Foundation since its establishment, Homa is an academic centre that aims to develop research in the area of Human Rights and Business, always seeking to contribute to the protection and defense of human rights, which is why these always come before “business” on the Centre’s name.

Currently, Homa is divided into three core research lines:

• Global Agenda on Human Rights and Business: Analyzes the application and implementation of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Process of development of an International Binding Instrument on Human Rights and Business;
• Public Funding and Large Enterprises: Analyzes public funding for large companies and enterprises that violate Human Rights and the responsibility of the funding entities for such violations;
• Mechanisms of confrontation against Human Rights Violations by Companies: Investigates specific cases of human rights violations by companies in Brazil; Researches collaborative tools of judicial resistance for victims of human rights violations by companies in Brazil.