The Social Watch Global Assembly finished on Friday. (Photo: SW)

Source: Social Watch

International advocates of social and economic justice attending the 5th Social Watch Global Assembly in Manila urged governments to ratify the implementation of Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers following its adoption by the United Nations International Labor Organization (ILO) in June.

Economist Armine Yalnizyan. (Photo: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

Source: The Star.

Income inequality in Canada is widening as the rich get richer while poor and middle-income people lose ground, says the Conference Board of Canada in a report released Wednesday, according to The Star newspaper.

“While the poor are minimally better off in an absolute sense, they are significantly worse off in a relative sense. And where is the middle-class in all of this? These are important questions for society,” said board president Anne Golden in an interview.

The 33-year trend which has accelerated since 1993 raises questions about the country’s economic well-being, including whether Canada is using all the skills and talents of its citizens and whether social cohesion and fairness are being undermined, says the report titled "How Canada Performs: Is Canada becoming more unequal?"

Co-chairs of Social Watch Tanya Dawkins and Emily Sikazwe, SW Philipines lead convenor Leonor Briones and convenor Marivic Raquiza, SW coordinator Roberto Bissio and vice president of the Philippines Jejomar Binay. (Photo: Social Watch)

Sources: Manila Bulletin, GMA News.

Philippine government has no reason to apologize for the persistent diaspora of workers, said Vice President Jejomar Binay in the opening session of the 5th Social Watch Global Assembly on Tuesday in Manila, according to Manila Bulletin newspaper.

Annual Report on Women

Source: Inesc (in Portuguese)

Brazil’s Annual Report on Women, released this month by the government, shows that 43.1 per cent of women have suffered some kind of violence in their own homes. The percentage falls to 12.3 per cent in the case of men. “The Annual Report is essential for the political struggle in favour of women’s rights”, said Eliana Gracia, expert of the Institute for Socioeconomic Studies (Inesc, one of the focal points of Social Watch in Brazil).

Roberto Bissio (Photo: Social Watch/Agustín Fernandez)

Source:InterAksion, news portal of TV5:

The principles of accountability are universal and  “the ‘naming and shaming’ mechanisms are essentially the same", but the means for attaining those principals vary from country to country, said Roberto Bissio, Social Watch coordinator, on Tuesday, the first day of the network's Global Assembly that is taking place in Manila, Philippines. 

Bissio explained, in short, that when "a situation of injustice or rights violation is detected, information is gathered, a demand is articulated, solutions are proposed and the authorities are engaged to solve the problem or remove the obstacles."