Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the School of Advanced Study

Human Rights Consortium

Mining in Colombia and Latin America: will the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights improve accountability?

Panel 4: Due diligence and accountability in practice

This panel will examine where and how changes can be made to improve 'due diligence.' It will assess how the due diligence requirements of the Guiding Principles can address methods of company reporting and prior consultation and rebalance the relationship between profit and the rights of people, local communities and the environment. The discussion will take into account judicial and non-judicial mechanisms for communities wishing to hold companies to account for their behaviour in third countries in order to address the remedy principle, looking especially at Colombia as an example of business investing in areas of conflict.

Louise Winstanley - Programme and Advocacy Manager, ABColombia

The UK will launch its initial strategy on implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in September 2012 and this conference will provide an opportunity to discuss and debate this strategy, to engage with the UK government on how it can best fulfil its commitment to 'Protect, Respect and Remedy', and with corporations on their ideas for the implementation of responsible mining practices and due diligence requirements.

Issues of natural resource governance are invariably at the centre of development and human rights debates as the extractive sector represents a growing part of Latin American economies. In Colombia, the government has identified the mining and energy sector as a key component of its current National Development Plan and one of the 'backbones of the Colombian economy'.

What changes can be made to take into account the voices of local indigenous, afro-Colombian and campesino communities?

What are the challenges for companies investing in countries with poor human rights records and how are they meeting them?

How is human rights due diligence seen from a Southern perspective?

What difference could the UN Guiding Principles make and what concrete actions should governments be taking to improve the mining industry's environmental and social performance?

Tackling these questions will be experts from a range of disciplines and key public bodies, including scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers, as well as representatives from the legal sector and mining industry. We are pleased to welcome indigenous and campesino community leaders from Colombia, including Embera and Awá indigenous peoples, to share the impact mining is having on their communities.

Human Rights Consortium

Mining in Colombia and Latin America: will the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights improve accountability?

Panel 4: Due diligence and accountability in practice

This panel will examine where and how changes can be made to improve 'due diligence.' It will assess how the due diligence requirements of the Guiding Principles can address methods of company reporting and prior consultation and rebalance the relationship between profit and the rights of people, local communities and the environment. The discussion will take into account judicial and non-judicial mechanisms for communities wishing to hold companies to account for their behaviour in third countries in order to address the remedy principle, looking especially at Colombia as an example of business investing in areas of conflict.

Louise Winstanley - Programme and Advocacy Manager, ABColombia

The UK will launch its initial strategy on implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in September 2012 and this conference will provide an opportunity to discuss and debate this strategy, to engage with the UK government on how it can best fulfil its commitment to 'Protect, Respect and Remedy', and with corporations on their ideas for the implementation of responsible mining practices and due diligence requirements.

Issues of natural resource governance are invariably at the centre of development and human rights debates as the extractive sector represents a growing part of Latin American economies. In Colombia, the government has identified the mining and energy sector as a key component of its current National Development Plan and one of the 'backbones of the Colombian economy'.

What changes can be made to take into account the voices of local indigenous, afro-Colombian and campesino communities?

What are the challenges for companies investing in countries with poor human rights records and how are they meeting them?

How is human rights due diligence seen from a Southern perspective?

What difference could the UN Guiding Principles make and what concrete actions should governments be taking to improve the mining industry's environmental and social performance?

Tackling these questions will be experts from a range of disciplines and key public bodies, including scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers, as well as representatives from the legal sector and mining industry. We are pleased to welcome indigenous and campesino community leaders from Colombia, including Embera and Awá indigenous peoples, to share the impact mining is having on their communities.

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Freedom to Trade, Free Trade and Laissez-Faire: Latin American Approaches to Economic Liberalism in the 19th Century

Speaker: Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas (Visiting Professorial Fellow, ISA)

There were at least four stages in the 19th century transition from mercantilism to 'free trade'. The first involved the freedom to trade with any country; the second led to the application of the same tariffs on imports from all countries. The third required the sharp reduction of the tariff rates themselves. The fourth assumed the subordination of the state to the market. This presentation will explore how far Latin American countries advanced along this continuum in the 19th century.

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Freedom to Trade, Free Trade and Laissez-Faire: Latin American Approaches to Economic Liberalism in the 19th Century

Speaker: Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas (Visiting Professorial Fellow, ISA)

There were at least four stages in the 19th century transition from mercantilism to 'free trade'. The first involved the freedom to trade with any country; the second led to the application of the same tariffs on imports from all countries. The third required the sharp reduction of the tariff rates themselves. The fourth assumed the subordination of the state to the market. This presentation will explore how far Latin American countries advanced along this continuum in the 19th century.

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Freedom to Trade, Free Trade and Laissez-Faire: Latin American Approaches to Economic Liberalism in the 19th Century

Speaker: Professor Victor Bulmer-Thomas (Visiting Professorial Fellow, ISA)

There were at least four stages in the 19th century transition from mercantilism to 'free trade'. The first involved the freedom to trade with any country; the second led to the application of the same tariffs on imports from all countries. The third required the sharp reduction of the tariff rates themselves. The fourth assumed the subordination of the state to the market. This presentation will explore how far Latin American countries advanced along this continuum in the 19th century.

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Transition from War to Peace, Learning From El Salvador 1992-2012 - Q&A Session

Dr Diego Sánchez-Ancochea, Dr Mo Hume, Professor Jenny Pearce and Ambassador Werner Matías Romero

Closing remarks: Professor Kevin Middlebrook, Professor of Politics, Institute for the

Study of the Americas, School of Advanced Study, University of London

A panel to celebrate the 20 the anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords of El Salvador

On 16th January 1992 the Government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed in Chapultepec, Mexico City, the Peace Accords that ended the most painful chapter in recent Salvadoran history. During the twelve-year armed conflict more than 75,000 people died.

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Transition from War to Peace, Learning From El Salvador 1992-2012 - Introduction and Opening remarks

Professor Kevin Middlebrook

Ambassador Werner Matías Romero of El Salvador

A panel to celebrate the 20 the anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords of El Salvador

On 16th January 1992 the Government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed in Chapultepec, Mexico City, the Peace Accords that ended the most painful chapter in recent Salvadoran history. During the twelve-year armed conflict more than 75,000 people died.

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Transition from War to Peace, Learning From El Salvador 1992-2012 - "Politics of Peace: Building the Post War State: An Overview"

Professor Jenny Pearce, Professor of Latin American Politics and Director of the

International Centre for Participation Studies, University of Bradfordv

A panel to celebrate the 20 the anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords of El Salvador

On 16th January 1992 the Government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed in Chapultepec, Mexico City, the Peace Accords that ended the most painful chapter in recent Salvadoran history. During the twelve-year armed conflict more than 75,000 people died.

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Transition from War to Peace, Learning From El Salvador 1992-2012 - "Social Peace: Poverty, Social Inclusion and Security: the Ongoing Challenges"

Dr Mo Hume, Lecturer on Politics, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of

Glasgow

A panel to celebrate the 20 the anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords of El Salvador

On 16th January 1992 the Government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed in Chapultepec, Mexico City, the Peace Accords that ended the most painful chapter in recent Salvadoran history. During the twelve-year armed conflict more than 75,000 people died.

Institute for the Study of the Americas

Transition from War to Peace, Learning From El Salvador 1992-2012 - "Peace Economics and Growth Economics"

Dr Diego Sánchez-Ancochea, University Lecturer in the Political Economy of Latin

America, The Latin American Centre, University of Oxford

A panel to celebrate the 20 the anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords of El Salvador

On 16th January 1992 the Government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) signed in Chapultepec, Mexico City, the Peace Accords that ended the most painful chapter in recent Salvadoran history. During the twelve-year armed conflict more than 75,000 people died.