wfn.org | United Methodist Women express concern on investment agreement

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

April 2, 1998	CONTACT: 	Linda Bloom, (212) 870-3803 New York
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by Kelly Martini*

WASHINGTON, D.C. (UMNS) -- Leaders of United Methodist Women expressed
concern here March 28 about how the Multilateral Agreement on Investment
will affect women.

The UMW response came after a meeting with Antonia Juhasz of the
Preamble Center. That meeting occurred before the 28th annual interfaith
legislative briefing.

The Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) would require the free
flow of investments between signatory countries, she said. It was
negotiated behind closed doors in Paris by 29 members of the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).  

"The OECD has been called a club of the world's
wealthiest nations," said Juhasz, whose work includes research,
education and action on the agreement. "The MAI is the most important
international agreement to come along in the past 40 years, and no one
wants to talk about it."

UMW leaders are primarily concerned that there has been little
opportunity for public discussion about the MAI and its impact, said
Anna Rhee, an executive with the Women's Division, United Methodist
Board of Global Ministries.

"We are concerned about the almost secretive nature of the negotiations
and the lack of public debate over this significant international
economic agreement that will impact the lives of women around the
world," she explained.

"It's a corporate bill of rights designed to protect profits at the
expense of workers, and the health and security of communities and
families everywhere."

The agreement would enable corporations to quickly move investments --
such as factories and other operations -- around the world with few
regulations to hinder them, according to Juhasz.

The MAI would require the repeal of any local, state and federal laws
that could prevent corporations from receiving the full benefits of
their investments, she added.

The agreement would attack policies meant to address
women's poverty and inequality, according to Rhee.

"We need an investment agreement that is fashioned with full citizen
participation -- (with) economic, environmental, and social priorities
-- that holds multinational corporations and investors accountable to
citizen-defined priorities," stated a new pamphlet on the MAI
co-sponsored by the Women's Division.

Congress could vote on the agreement as early as this summer.
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*Martini is executive secretary of communications for the Women's
Division.

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