New dynamics - new prospects? (UN Treaty)
From October 25-29, 2021, the UN open-ended intergovernmental working group on the elaboration of a legally binding instrument on Business and Human Rights met for the seventh time at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in Geneva. Two developments provided a new dynamic compared to previous sessions. For the first time since the intergovernmental working group’s establishment in 2014, the United States and Japan participated in its meeting. Germany expressed its views for the first time. In addition, the proceedings of this year's session differed from previous years. The third [...]
IMF Special Drawing Rights
On August 23 2021, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) performed the long desired payout of special drawing rights (SDRs) to the tune of 650 billion US dollars. Especially for countries of the Global South, the SDRs are a welcome cash injection. Unlike the EU and the USA with their economic recovery programs worth trillions, developing countries have so far only been able to mobilize few financial resources to cope with the impacts of the crisis, and for this reason too, they are lagging behind in vaccination campaigns for their people as well as in the sustainable restoration of their [...]
From the Supply Chain Act towards an international Level Playing Field
In 2014, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations (UN) mandated an intergovernmental working group to draft an international treaty for the protection of human rights in the global economy. Since then, the intergovernmental working group, which consists of governments, representatives of civil societies and business, has been meeting annually to negotiate the current status of the draft. The third revised draft constitutes the basis for negotiations during the seventh meeting of the working group from October 25 to 29, 2021, in Geneva.