A Friends of the Earth International´s delegation is present in Geneva, Switzerland, where the UN´s Human Rights Council is holding its sessions, aiming to urge several governments to participate in the intergovernmental panel of the Council to start defining the terms of a binding treaty on human rights and transnational corporations.
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The group will start working on the first days of July also in Geneva, and FoEI, together with several social movements and organizations gathered in the “Treaty Alliance” (made up by over 500 civil society groups) is pressuring to start the development of an effective agreement aiming to stop human rights violations perpetrated by companies in numerous parts of the world.
In June last year, the UN´s Human Rights Council voted in Geneva in favor of the creation of the intergovernmental group. Over a year later, the group will hold its first session.
Real World Radio interviewed member of REDES-Friends of the Earth Uruguay, Alberto Villarreal, who is present in Geneva. Villarreal, also Latin American and Caribbean Coordinator of the Economic Justice-Resisting Neoliberalism Program of Friends of the Earth International, also made reference to the activities that took place last week in Brussels, Belgium, in parallel to the European Union – Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit. He highlighted the strong resistance of social movements against the free trade agenda imposed by Europe and the US.
The activist also talked about the decision made by the European Parliament on June 10 in Strasbourg, France, to postpone the discussion and voting about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) which is negotiated behind closed doors between Europe and the US.
