EarthRights International: Below are highlights from our recent work but, first, here’s a brief announcement:
Katie Redford, ERI’s co-founder and US Office Director, will be presenting at the 2nd annual Inspiring Women Summit, May 7th-13th, which will bring together empowered women from all over the world to share their stories. This virtual event, which is free, will provide a forum for 40 women to tell how they’ve confronted the issues and challenges facing them and their communities and achieved amazing successes.
Increasing Pressure for Responsible Business Practices in Burma
Our last newsletter highlighted The Burma-China Pipelines: Human Rights Violations, Applicable Law, and Revenue Secrecy, a damning ERI report linking major Chinese and Korean companies to widespread land confiscation, and cases of forced labor, arbitrary arrest, detention and torture, and violations of indigenous rights connected to the Shwe natural gas project and Burma-China oil transport projects in Burma (Myanmar).
Since its March 29 release in Seoul, Korea, the publication has received significant media coverage, including an op-ed in the New York Times by ERI’s Senior Consultant Matthew Smith, and articles in TIME Magazine, numerous newswires, the Korea Times, and Burma-focused media like the Democratic Voice of Burma, the Irrawaddy, and Mizzima News. ERI is campaigning along-side other Burma-focused organizations to postpone these destructive projects until the people of Burma can meaningfully participate in development decisions, while at the same time working to mitigate potential impacts of the projects while increasing local benefits.
Welcome, EarthRights School Burma Class of 2011
The EarthRights School Burma (ERSB) class of 2011 has arrived! The students have completed their orientation, are settling into life in Chiang Mai, and will soon begin courses on government, the environment, civil society and other issues critical to the future of their communities. While most of our past ERSB alumni have come from areas along the Thai-Burma border, this year the majority of the students hail from inside Burma, representing 9 different ethnic groups from throughout the country. Many are already working as community organizers and environmental activists and have committed themselves to a minimum of one year’s service with their organizations after completing their training at ERSB. We wish the new students all the best in the months to come!