Save the Date
Current Issues in International Business,
Human Rights and Sustainability
A Discussion with
Adjunct Professor Lelia Mooney
Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 3:45-5:00 p.m.
Hotung 1000, Georgetown University Law Center
600 New Jersey Avenue N.W., Washington, D.C.
Refreshments Provided, No Attendance Fee
But Please Register by Emailing Allison Donahoe at: ad1448@georegtown.edu
Efforts to strengthen the relationship between business, human rights and sustainability has gained significant momentum in recent years, owing largely to the passage of the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) in 2011, the 2012 U.N. Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Today, with the private sector, governments, civil society, and international organizations, Because of these developments and the ensuing emergence of multi-stakeholder initiations involving governments, the private sector, investors and civil society networks, one can speak of an emergent international “soft law” system firmly rooted in internationally-acknowledged hard law principles. This emergent system challenges lawyers to think creatively, and “outside the box” in solving the underlying problems.
For example, corporate lawyers working in the transnational or cross-border field are likely to confront questions dealing with social, environmental, human rights and environmental concerns, while those involved with issues of national, regional and hemispheric security and defense will likely encounter similar challenges in advising their governmental and NGO clients. Advocates for environmental and human rights organizations will find that their work directly intersects with such legal areas as corporate, securities, trade, investment, and transnational dispute settlement. Whatever their specialties, legal practitioners today need a broader set of skills and strategies, and a more comprehensive knowledge and appreciation of human rights, environmental and natural resources management, in order to develop effective cross-sector collaborations.
Professor Mooney is a recognized expert in the field with substantial practical, on-the-ground experience. She will highlight some of the key trends, current challenges and practical opportunities emerging from this evolving field of practice, many of which she will be covering as part of her upcoming GULC Summer Course on the subject. Her professional background can be found on the next page.
Sponsored by the GULC Center on Transnational Business and the Law,
a part of the Georgetown Institute on International Economic Law (IIEL)
Cosponsored by the D.C. Chapter of the Inter-American Bar Association (IABA D.C.)
In coordination with Foreign Lawyers at Georgetown (FLAG), the Latin American Law Students Association (LALSA) and the Georgetown International Law Society (GILS)
Prof. Lelia Mooney
Professor Mooney is a widely-respected expert on rule of law, governance, business, human rights and sustainability, gender and social inclusion, conflict management and transformation and multi-stakeholder engagement. Her twenty years’ career includes working with a wide range of stakeholders across the Americas and in Africa, Asia and Europe leading initiatives with academic institutions, governments, civil society organizations and networks, the private sector and international organizations.
She currently serves on the Board of the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights and its Working Group on Business and Human Rights. She previously served as the Chair of the United Nations and International Organizations Committee, Rule of Law Officer, Diversity Officer, Membership and Secretary of the Board and Council of the American Bar Association Section of International Law.
She has been the Director of the Inter-American Democracy Network, a Senior Technical Expert on the Worldwide Women’s Legal Rights Initiative with Partners of the Americas, a Director at Partners for Democratic Change and most recently, a Senior Program Officer and Director of the International Network to Promote the Rule of Law at the United States Institute of Peace.
Prof. Mooney is the author of several publications in English and Spanish, including «Promoting the Rule of Law: A Practitioner’s Guide to Key Issues and Developments,» and «The Business, Human Rights and Sustainability Sourcebook,» both published by the American Bar Association.
She has spoken at numerous conferences and panels in the United States and abroad and has taught seminars at the Inter-American Defense College in Washington, D.C., the University of Defense of Argentina and several other academic initiatives. She served on the International Steering Committee Board of the Voluntary Principles for Business and Human Rights and the United Nations Global Compact Business for the Rule of Law Initiative.
Bilingual in English and Spanish, Prof. Mooney also speaks French and Portuguese. She is a trained attorney from the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE) in her native province of Corrientes, Argentina, and holds an LL.M. in Law in Development Studies in the United Kingdom and an LL.M. from the Georgetown University Law Center.