Call to Action:
Help us get our Business Resolution adopted at General Assembly 2020!
“Embodying Human Rights in Our Investment Decisions” is a business resolution that will be up for consideration at this year’s General Assembly (GA,) the annual meeting of our Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). The resolution is an intersectional effort sponsored by Black Lives of UU (BLUU), UUs for Justice in the Middle East (UUJME), UU Refugee and Immigrant Services and Education (UURISE), UU Ministry for Earth (UUMFE) and UU Peace Ministry Network (UUPMN). Notably the Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) and Investment Committees of the UUA were closely involved in the writing of this resolution and are in full support of it.
The resolution has a good chance of being adopted by the 2020 General Assembly, especially if we can achieve widespread awareness and support for it. In addition, widespread awareness of the resolution will be of great help in ensuring effective future use of our investment power in pursuit of our social justice goals.
We therefore ask you to assist us in promoting this Business Resolution to assure its adoption by the 2020 General Assembly:
- Inform yourself, your fellow congregants and delegates to GA from your congregation about the resolution. Share copies of the resolution and this FAQ sheet about it at coffee hour, share on social media and write about it for your congregation’s newsletter. Here, for example, is a short article about the resolution by Curtis Bell (UUJME) that was printed in the newsletter of his church in Portland, Oregon.
- If you can, become an online delegate yourself through whatever mechanism your congregation has established so you can speak and vote in support of the resolution. The cost is $150 and the General Assembly is entirely virtual this year, including the plenary sessions where the Business Resolution will be debated and voted on by delegates. Only official delegates from UU congregations can speak and vote on the resolution. Each congregation determines who will be the delegates from that congregation. More details on this year’s General Assembly are available here.
The overarching purpose of this proposed Business Resolution is to enhance the work of Unitarian Universalists for social justice by strengthening the use of corporate investment/divestment, shareholder advocacy and community investing in support of human rights, including the human rights of immigrants, people of color and Palestinians, as well as the human rights of all people to live in healthy environments free from the horrors of war. The proposed resolution would enhance the effective use of corporate investment/divestment and shareholder advocacy by Unitarian Universalists in the achievement of their social justice goals in two main ways:
- by calling on the UUA to cease purchasing of securities by the UU Common Endowment Fund (UUCEF) of corporations that are directly complicit in egregious human rights violations and violations of international law, to divest from such companies, and to maintain explicit guidelines for incorporating human rights considerations in their investment decisions and shareholder advocacy; and
- by developing formal mechanisms for communication between the UUA Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) and Investment Committees and the larger UU community of UU social justice organizations, congregations and individual UUs.
The proposed text of the resolution is on the UUA website.
