Jordan BDS announced a new victory in their campaign against G4S in the country on 3 October 2017. UN Women is now the fifth United Nations agency to cut ties with the security corporation in Jordan. G4S is subject to a global boycott campaign; despite the fact that it sold off its G4S Israel subsidiary, that provides security services and equipment to the Israel Prison Service, to an Israeli private equity firm, the British-Danish corporation continues to co-own a stake in Policity, the Israeli national police training center in occupied Jerusalem and is therefore responsible for the training of Israeli “police” forces, including the military-style “border police” that enforce occupation in Jerusalem and surrounding illegal settlements. Further, G4S was also involved in the installation of electronic gates and other colonial “security” devices around Al-Aqsa Mosque in summer 2017. We reprint below the statement of Jordan BDS and congratulate the campaign on yet another victory over security corporations profiteering from the occupation and oppression of Palestinians:
UN Women becomes fifth UN agency in Jordan to drop its contracts with G4S following BDS pressure
The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Jordan has dropped its contracts with the world’s largest security firm, occupation profiteer G4S, following an ongoing BDS campaign over the firm’s role in Israel’s violations of human rights.
Jordan BDS welcomes UN Women’s decision and salutes the agency for taking a principled step in line with its core values of promoting human rights and human dignity. Accordingly, UN Women has become the fifth UN agency in Jordan to drop its contracts with occupation profiteer G4S alongside WFP, UNOPS, UNICEF and UNHCR.
G4S has a track record in human and refugee rights violations in many countries across the world, which led dozens of universities, unions, pension funds and more to drop their contracts with the company as well as divest their shares from it following calls by the BDS movement worldwide. The #UNDropG4S campaign began in 2015, in which Jordan BDS took an active part through organizing actions and lobbying with different UN agencies, the latest of which was a demonstration outside UN Women office in Amman in commemorating Al Nakba in partnership with multiple Jordanian civil society organizations.
Jordan BDS demands the local and regional offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP and UNDP MENA) – the last UN office in Jordan to hold contracts with G4S – to follow the lead of the five UN agencies before it that showed a firm commitment to human rights. Our demand is based on UN documents, which UNDP is breaching, including the UN Supplier Code of Conduct, the UN Special Rapporteur for OPT report, and the UN Global Compact. It is truly shocking that UNDP persists with its breach until now and continues to dismiss the values and principles that the agency itself proclaims to defend.
Finally, Jordan BDS confirms that its campaign against G4S will continue, in parallel with the regional campaigns in Lebanon, Kuwait and Morocco as well as globally, until G4S stops profiting from the occupation and fully withdraws from its remaining contracts in Israel including its agreement with the Israeli Police Academy (Policity) in Jerusalem.