Dear Readers,

I am delighted to present you with NomoGaia’s Annual Report for 2011. This year, we began human rights assessment in India, Uganda and Jordan. This work represents an expansion into new regions, new industries and new significant human rights challenges, including endemic corruption, child labor and political unrest.

We also started a dialog with the World Bank about large-scale land investments, which may culminate in an international presentation next spring.

This process may change the way foreign firms conduct land deals in developing countries, providing much-needed protections to the people who live off of the land.

We also continue to make progress on our ongoing projects. Paladin’s uranium mine in Malawi recently complied with NomoGaia’s recommendation to collaborate with government to bring anti-retrovirals to the HIV-positive population at the mine. Our recommendation that the company develop a full-scale AIDS awareness, education, testing, counseling and treatment program has now been met. Without this development, the community and workforce would be utterly unprotected from the influx of high-risk populations. HIV rates remain lower than the district capital’s average.

Most significantly, we have contributed key components to the United Nations’s Guiding Principles for Human Rights and Business, particularly in the field of human rights impact assessment. Because of your past generosity to NomoGaia, we were able to be in Geneva to participate in these discussions in person, and I am thrilled to announce that the UN Human Rights Council unanimously accepted these principles in June. This is a major milestone in the recognition of corporate duties toward human rights. The impact that these principles could have on the communities and lives of workers in developing countries cannot be overstated. For the first time, many international companies are now seeking guidance and resources on conducting human rights assessments, and with your continued support, NomoGaia is prepared the rise to this challenge.

NomoGaia’s rising public profile has propelled us to grow, and in 2012 we will add a new member to our team. Blair Kanis will begin work on January 1, 2012, contributing legal expertise and extensive experience in Latin America to our ongoing research.

Thank you very much for your continued support,

Kendyl Salcito
Executive Director, NomoGaia

Download the complete report at the top of this page. Detailed financial data is available on Nomogaia’s annual form 990 through the IRS.