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;
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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.
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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.
The Centre does not accept funding from companies or company foundations, in order to maintain its
independence and to prevent any possible perception of a conflict of interest. Please consider making a
donation to help us continue our work.
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