http://somo.nl daily 1 2008-08-14T14:26:25Z http://somo.nl/news-en/grievance-mechanisms-central-to-new-human-rights-programme In the next four years, SOMO will be working on the improvement of grievance mechanisms for victims of human rights violations by enterprises. To this end, the new human rights fund of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted SOMO over €1.5 million. No publisher noor 2012-01-31T17:08:16Z News Item http://somo.nl/news-en/questions-in-the-dutch-parliament-concerning-alleged-breaches-of-the-oecd-guidelines-by-dutch-grain-trading-company-nidera On 25 June 2011, an OECD Guidelines complaint was submitted against the Dutch grain company Nidera. The complaint, submitted by the Argentinean NGOs CEDHA and INCASUR and the Dutch NGOs Oxfam Novib and SOMO to the National Contact Point (NCP) for OECD Guidelines in the Netherlands, related to the activities of Nidera in Argentina. In the past year, degrading working conditions were observed on the company’s plantation for seed cultivation in San Pedro near Buenos Aires. Partly on the basis of the OECD Guidelines complaint, published in OECD Watch’s “Quarterly Case Update”, Labour Party parliamentarians Pauline Smeets and Sjoera Dikkers put questions in the Dutch Parliament on 29 June regarding the way in which the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation gathered information on the company. No publisher marije 2011-08-17T11:00:09Z News Item http://somo.nl/news-en/oecd-watch-press-release-oecd-updates-ethical-business-standards-but-fails-to-ensure-enforcement Today, on its 50th anniversary, the OECD will formally adopt a revised text of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises – 10 years after its last major review. The Guidelines set out government expectations for responsible business conduct. While there are valuable additions to the content and scope of the Guidelines, OECD governments failed to agree on more stringent measures to ensure company compliance. This compromises the effectiveness of the OECD Guidelines in resolving conflicts between business and society. These are the conclusions of OECD Watch’s “Statement on the update of the OECD Guidelines for MNEs”, also published today. No publisher virginia 2011-10-26T09:46:52Z News Item http://somo.nl/news-en/behavioural-guidelines-for-companies-for-approval-to-the-un-human-rights-council John Ruggie, the special UN representative for human rights and business, presented the definitive Guiding Principles. Organisations such as SOMO can use these to hold businesses accountable when they disregard their human rights policy. There is a large basis of support for these guidelines among various stakeholders, but the principles are not enforceable. In June, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations is expected to approve the recommendations of Ruggie. No publisher Edith 2011-04-20T08:23:29Z News Item http://somo.nl/news-en/global-business-global-rights-debate-companies-are-arguing-for-better-rules In many places in the world where companies cause damage, victims are not entitled to compensation and have difficulty holding companies to account. During the Global Business, Global Rights debate, organised by the MVO Platform and De Balie, politicians, businesses, lawyers and social organisations debated on the options for tackling infringements. Another key subject discussed was better access to the law for victims. Because who can victims go to if there is no adequate legal system to hand? No publisher Edith 2011-01-27T14:24:09Z News Item