I've done it !!!

I finished the Stratford-Upon Avon Marathon today in 4 hours 38 minutes 45 seconds. It is a very hilly course and I am so pleased to have completed sub 4 hours 40. My official result can be found on the internet: http://www.chipresults.co.uk/Default.aspx (my race number is 1264).

Thank you so much for your generous support to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. My few hours of torture of my legs have no comparison to the great work BHRRC has been contributing to the society over the years.

For those who have not made donation, please please dig deep your Credit Card :-)) Thank you so much !

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On 8 May 2011, I will be running the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon.  For the 3rd year I am donating my sponsorship to Business & Human Rights Resource Centre – the small, hard-working charity that draws international attention to the human rights impacts (positive & negative) of more than 5100 companies worldwide.  Each donation to my run will be matched by Lord Joffe, up to a total of £12,500.  As a young human rights lawyer Joel Joffe defended Nelson Mandela in South Africa – he then emigrated to the UK, became director of an insurance company and Chair of Oxfam, and now sits in the House of Lords. 

The Resource Centre continues to help the voices of local human rights and environmental defenders to reach decision-makers at far-away company headquarters.  Voices raising cases such as:
- Young children working in India’s cotton fields who are dying of pesticide poisoning.
- IT multinationals sourcing from Chinese factories that dump dangerous metals into China's water bodies.
- A 14-year-old English boy who hanged himself in a privately-run detention centre after being struck by staff.
- A worker sacked by a US-owned hotel chain in Egypt when he refused to change his religion from Coptic Christianity to Islam.

The Centre also draws attention to positive initiatives by companies.

The Centre works for transparency & accountability, so that companies in all countries know their conduct is being watched – this puts constructive pressure on them to respect human rights and to address abuses. 

The aims: to prevent harm to men, women & children, in cases ranging from racial, gender & caste discrimination, to sweatshops, to child labour, to toxic pollution, to torture & killings by private security officers – and to encourage positive steps by companies. 

Your support will help the Centre expand its work.  It needs to recruit new regional researchers based in East Africa, Latin America, Middle East & Portuguese-speaking Africa.  In all these regions there are new opportunities – the Middle East being one example.  I’m glad to report that the Centre recently recruited a new researcher based in my home city, Hong Kong, who is drawing international attention to cases in China, Singapore and Taiwan.

Mary Robinson (former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights & President of Ireland) said: “By supporting the Resource Centre you will be helping build the framework for a fairer world.”  A mainland Chinese advocate wrote to the Centre: “Environmental groups like mine in China do not have the special skills to deal with companies, so it’s really good to have an ally like you.”  An Angolan human rights defender wrote: “By drawing international attention to torture by private security firms working for diamond companies in Angola, and by eliciting responses from the diamond companies, you helped stir up a debate on these issues, which is having an impact in Angola.”

The Financial Times commented: “The Resource Centre has won a big following among companies, governments, investors, non-government organizations and journalists.”

Your donation of any size will make a difference, because the Centre runs a lean operation and keeps expenses to a minimum.  The Centre does not accept donations from companies or company foundations, to prevent any conflict of interest, so donations from individuals are very important to its continued work.

For more info, see the Centre’s website.  If you prefer to donate directly to the Centre by credit card or cheque, see their donation page for details.

The Centre is a registered charity in England & Wales (no. 1096664).  In the United States the Centre is a tax-exempt non-profit under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, so donations by US taxpayers are deductible from their US income taxes to the extent allowed by law.