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This study investigates numerous Cash Transfer Programmes (CTPs) around the world. It scrutinises…
This study investigates numerous Cash Transfer Programmes (CTPs) around the world. It scrutinises their respective designs, aims, and efficiency, highlights similarities, and derives implications regarding their viability as instrument in NGOs’ development cooperation endeavours.
Report
Compared to the years during the COVID-19 crisis, in some countries of the Global South the…
Report
Compared to the years during the COVID-19 crisis, in some countries of the Global South the debt situation has slightly eased. For most countries there, however, the debt situation remains tense. In 130 of the 152 countries surveyed in the Global South, the debt situation is at least slightly critical; in 24 of these countries, the situation is very critical. Overall, 55% of the countries surveyed are critically or very critically indebted – in contrast to only 37% before the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, countries in the Global South have to make more debt service payments to their external creditors than ever before. For 45 countries, more than 15% of government revenue flows into debt servicing.
The global debt crisis is gripping more and more countries in the Global South. It is…
The global debt crisis is gripping more and more countries in the Global South. It is threatening the livelihoods of millions of people. At the same time, many over-indebted countries are suffering massively from the impacts of climate change. Bone crushing debt servicing is hampering urgently needed adaptation measures.
Position paper
How to best make use of the Act from the perspective of communities and…
Position paper
How to best make use of the Act from the perspective of communities and rights-holders.
The impact of international value chains and the activities of multinational corporations on human rights and the environment has been known for a long time. This led to the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011. However, recurring reports of human rights violations and environmental destruction in the value chains of transnational—including German—companies have increasingly led to a realization among legislators that such voluntary approaches are insufficient to ensure corporate accountability and that binding rules of human rights and environmental due diligence are needed instead.
After years of civil society activism, advocacy and litigation efforts before German courts, on 1 January 2023 a corresponding law came into force in Germany. The purpose of this guidance note is to inform relevant stakeholders—those affected by human rights violations and environmental destruction along the transnational value chains of German companies, as well as civil society organizations in producing countries—about this new law and its possibilities. In this way, the guidance is intended to support affected persons and their stakeholders to use this new instrument as effectively as possible to promote their rights and demands.
This postion paper is also available in French, Spanish, Portuguese and German
Briefing
A briefing on how German MEPs are taking demands from the business lobby literally on the…
Briefing
A briefing on how German MEPs are taking demands from the business lobby literally on the EU supply chain law.
Publisher: Misereor & Global Policy Forum
Year of publication: January 2023
Pages: 4
At least 272 people…
At least 272 people were killed on 25 January 2019 when the B1 dam near Brumadinho (Brazil), broke at the Córrego do Feijão iron ore mine. Twenty-one of the dead were never found. The toxic sludge destroyed buildings,and polluted fertile soil and large sections of the Paraopeba River, which supplies the region’s drinking water.
Towards a regulatory and institutional framework
The possible worsening of conflicts and social crisis as a result of the planned trade…
The possible worsening of conflicts and social crisis as a result of the planned trade liberalization commitments in the area of investment, intellectual property and energy in the frame of the "modernization" of the EU-Mexico Trade Agreement is of paramount importance. So far, on the European Union side, the possible effects of the agreement have not been fully investigated. It is completely unacceptable that the decided Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) will only start at a time when the negotiations are nearing completion.
Lessons from transnational human rights litigation. Published June 2014.
This working paper gives an overview of the debate from the early efforts to formulate…
This working paper gives an overview of the debate from the early efforts to formulate the UN Code of Conduct to the current initiative for a binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights.
Adopted in 2011, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide for the first…
Adopted in 2011, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights provide for the first time an internationally recognised set of recommendations for realising human rights in business. Misereor and Germanwatch followed the elaboration of these Guiding Principles very closely, and see them as a first component of a more comprehensive regime to protect human rights in business. The Federal Republic of Germany and the German business community are now called upon to implement these UN Guiding Principles comprehensively.
Against this background, the present report should be seen as a first comprehensive and joint contribution to this debate.
The engagement of the private sector for global sustainability and the achievement of…
The engagement of the private sector for global sustainability and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is important. Yet, it involves risks and potentially negative side effects as companies will need to overcome "business as usual" to transform their business models fundamentally according to the Agenda 2030.
This working paper examines the role and influence of business actors in the process…
This working paper examines the role and influence of business actors in the process towards the Post-2015 agenda of the UN, with particular attention to the influence of large transnational corporations. Published January 2014.
Policy briefing
What can the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development achieve?
T…
Policy briefing
What can the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development achieve?
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) will take place in Seville in June 2025. This briefing outlines central challenges of the FfD process and suggests political reforms for the international financial architecture.
Editor: Brot für die Welt, Global Policy Forum Europe and Misereor
Pages: 12
Published: January 2025
Discussion paper
The present study gives an overview of approaches, concepts and examples. However,…
Discussion paper
The present study gives an overview of approaches, concepts and examples. However, since there are many approaches and concepts and even more practical experiences, the study cannot be complete but can only pick some prominent examples and serve as a starting point for the platform project. Participants of the platform project will add many more approaches, concepts and examples from their practical work to this initial collection and enrich it with their expertise, views and experiences.
On June 28, 2019 the EU and Mercosur concluded the…
On June 28, 2019 the EU and Mercosur concluded the negotiation of the text of the Association Agreement. Besides Trade, the deal includes two additional pillars on Political Dialogue and Cooperation. However only the Trade pillar has been published raising concerns about the impacts that agreement would bear on human rights and the environment as no human rights clause or sustainability impact assessments have been made available.
The Policy Brief looks at the myths and risks of the planned EU-Myanmar Investment…
The Policy Brief looks at the myths and risks of the planned EU-Myanmar Investment Protection Agreement currently being discussed. The paper argues that the benefits of the IPA are highly overstated, and the risks seriously underestimated.
Changing course to ensure a better life for all. Memo drafted by the Misereor focus group…
Changing course to ensure a better life for all. Memo drafted by the Misereor focus group 'Economic growth and development'.
Responding to global challenges - towards a fairer sharing of costs! Published by…
Responding to global challenges - towards a fairer sharing of costs! Published by CIDSE.
