Business & Human Rights Resource Centre appoints Julia Mello Neiva as Brazil, Portugal & Portuguese-speaking Africa Researcher & Representative March 2013 Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is pleased to announce the appointment of its first Brazil, Portugal & Portuguese-speaking Africa Researcher & Representative: Julia Mello Neiva, based in São Paulo, Brazil. Julia will draw attention to the human rights impacts (positive & negative) of companies in these regions; highlight under-reported cases and concerns raised by civil society; seek company responses to alleged abuses; undertake research missions; and build contacts with NGOs, companies, investors, journalists and government representatives. She will begin working with the Resource Centre on 1 April. Julia commented: “More than ever, understanding and monitoring companies’ behaviour and responsibilities is fundamental to prevent and remedy human rights abuses considering their growing power and impact over vulnerable groups in a globalized world. This is especially important taking into account the current scenario in which the global South has gained space as a global player, implementing mega-development projects, at the same time that northern countries face a challenging economic and social crisis. Human rights are at stake, especially for poor and affected communities. Working at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre is a rare opportunity to monitor and contribute to human rights protection in such different and challenging environments." Julia will be responsible for the Resource Centre’s coverage of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Julia was appointed following a recruitment process that drew over 460 candidates. Eight were interviewed, all of whom were of a very high calibre. The Resource Centre’s recruitment of this post was supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, supported by GIZ. About Julia Mello Neiva Julia, a national of Brazil, was involved in the founding of the non-profit organization Conectas Direitos Humanos (Conectas Human Rights) and worked for many years there in various roles, including Justice Program Coordinator, based in São Paulo. Her responsibilities included coordinating several projects on the promotion of human rights in Brazil by means of strategic litigation, research and advocacy, and capacitybuilding training courses for human rights activists. She also conducted research for an International Commission of Jurists’ publication on “Access to Justice: Human Rights Abuses Involving Corporations Brazil”. More recently Julia has been one of the two coordinators and teachers of the first academic course in Brazil on business and human rights, at the Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas in São Paulo. She has also been the International Coordinator of a project to stimulate and support civil society oversight of public policies at the local level. Julia also created and taught (together with two other Brazilian lawyers including the Dean of a leading São Paulo law school) a business & human rights course specially created for a leading international mining corporation. Julia’s experiences with Portuguese-speaking African countries include assisting the São Tomé and Principe Government to draft and implement laws establishing oversight and transparency bodies to manage oil revenues; coordinating a human rights fellowship for advocates from Mozambique, Angola and East Timor; 2 and working with the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa to assist Angolan civil society organizations in drafting “shadow reports” on economic, social and cultural rights in Angola, for submission to various United Nations human rights mechanisms and bodies. Previously Julia coordinated research trips to Brazil for a project seeking to connect students from UCLA School of Law and Columbia University Law School with activists and other policymakers promoting raceconscious social inclusion policies in Brazil (the “Global Affirmative Action Praxis Project (GAAPP)”, a joint programme of the African American Policy Forum and Columbia University); she also collaborated with human rights projects at the Columbia Law School Human Rights Clinic and at the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), both in New York. Julia also served as an intern at the Attorney General’s Office for the State of São Paulo, working on a project on juvenile courts. Julia received a post-graduate degree in human rights at University of São Paulo, an LLM degree with a human rights focus at Columbia University School of Law in New York, and a Bachelor of Law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. Julia is fluent in Portuguese, English and Spanish, and has a good level of French. ______________________________________________________________________ About Business & Human Rights Resource Centre The Resource Centre, a non-profit organization, provides the leading information hub on business & human rights: www.business-humanrights.org. The website tracks reports about the human rights impacts (positive & negative) of over 5000 companies in over 180 countries, and provides guidance tools and resources. The site is relied on by businesspeople, NGOs, investors, governments and the United Nations. We seek responses from companies when concerns are raised by civil society. The response rate is over 75% globally. Advocates thank us for bringing global attention to their concerns and for eliciting responses from companies. Companies thank us for providing them the opportunity to present their responses in full. This process often leads to real improvements on the ground. Our researchers are based in Brazil, Colombia, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Senegal, South Africa, Thailand, UK, Ukraine and USA. Special portals on the Resource Centre’s website include: “Getting Started – an introduction to business & human rights” “Tools & Guidance” “Business, Conflict & Peace” “Business & Children” “Business & Freedom of Association” “Corporate Legal Accountability” “UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights” “UN Working Group on business & human rights” “UN Special Representative on business & human rights” “Human rights impacts of oil pollution: US Gulf Coast, Ecuador, Nigeria” Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and President of Ireland, is Chair of the Centre’s International Advisory Network. Our Academic Partners comprise 23 leading academic institutions. The Resource Centre’s aim is to encourage companies to respect human rights, avoid harm to people, and maximise their positive contribution. 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