NGO Watch®

NGO: FIFA Must Pressure Qatar on Anti-LGBT Policies

August 08, 2018

Human Rights Watch has called on the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to threaten to pull the 2022 World Cup out of Qatar if the country’s government fails to end censorship of foreign media relating to LGBT rights and repeal its laws criminalizing same-sex relations.
NGOs Call for Investor-State Arbitration Restrictions in Tanzania Treaty

August 03, 2018

Christopher Kidanka reports that nongovernmental organizations are calling for the revision of the Dutch bilateral investment treaty with Tanzania to restrict the ability of companies to file complaints against the Tanzanian government using an investor-state dispute settlement system alleging harm due to new government rules and regulations.
NGOs Object to Business Influence in Asia-Pacific Trade Talks

August 03, 2018

Pavan Kulkarni writes that nongovernmental organizations are warning that businesses are having an “undue influence” on the negotiation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a trade deal among Asia-Pacific countries, Australia, and New Zealand, calling for governments to perform a human rights impact assessment of the deal prior to its agreement.
Aramark Responds to NGO Pressure on Plastic Supplies

August 03, 2018

Environmental activist organization Greenpeace has applauded food service company Aramark for plans to phase out various single-use plastic items from its worldwide operations, calling on other food service companies to use Aramark as an example and take “immediate” action on plastics use.
Ireland Advances Ban on Importation of Israeli Settlement Products

August 02, 2018

Amnesty International is applauding the advancement of Irish legislation that, according to the nongovernmental organization, puts the country in compliance with its international legal obligations by prohibiting the importation of goods made in Israeli settlements located in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
NGO Pushes for EU Leadership in Global Fishing Governance

July 30, 2018

Dr. Samantha Burgess of the environmental activist organization WWF calls for EU institutions to play a “pivotal leadership role” in the global governance of policies to counter illegal fishing in line with the UN’s comprehensive environmental and social targets contained in its Sustainable Development Goals.
NGO Pushes for Western Courts to Pursue Alleged Shell Abuses

July 30, 2018

Charity Ryerson of the Corporate Accountability Lab reviews the history of litigation and other attempts to hold Dutch energy company Shell responsible for alleged environmental and human rights abuses in the Niger Delta and blames “individualistic” Western legal systems for failing to redress such abuses by companies in Africa.
NGO Creates Center for Sport and Human Rights

July 27, 2018

The Institute for Human Rights and Business has established a Center for Sport and Human Rights, with members including the International Federation of Association Football and the International Olympic Committee, to pressure businesses involved in sporting events to ensure compliance with the global human rights agenda.
NGOs Push for Japanese Firms' Divestment from Coal

July 24, 2018

Environmental activist groups have warned they will closely monitor Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group’s actions following its President’s statement on reconsidering the company’s support of coal-fired power plants, stating that the only viable way forward for the company is a policy that “ceases all new lending to coal fired power generation and coal extraction.”
Dutch Food Industry Agrees to Supply-Chain Standards

July 23, 2018

Dutch government officials, businesses in the food sector, and nongovernmental organizations have signed an International Responsible Business Conduct (IRBC) Agreement setting out standards for Dutch food supply chains to comply with global environmental and human rights standards - the sixth such IRBC deal concluded across the country’s industries.