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Spotlight On… The Spanish Social Watch Coalition
The Spanish Social Watch (SW) Coalition, constituted by Plataforma 2015 y más [Platform 2015 and Beyond] since 2006, joins the efforts of the social organizations which, within the global SW network, are working for sustainable human development and the fulfilment by governments of international agreements in the fight against poverty and inequality.
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Pan Asian Social workshop in Delhi and CC meeting in Dar es Salaam
During February 22-24 2010, in New Delhi, India, Social Watch held the Pan Asia Social Watch capacity-building workshop. The aim of this workshop was to strengthen the technical capacities of national Social Watch coalitions in Asia and in the analysis and monitoring of public policy, as well as to forge links between the different member organizations of Social Watch in Asia as well as to construct, at the regional level, a common advocacy and campaigning agenda for Social Watch.
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New Social Watch reports available at the web site
A number of Social Watch reports have been published over the first few months of 2010. In addition to the French version of the international annual report, the regional Arab report and several annual reports from the national Social Watch coalitions in Italy, Czech Republic, Poland and Spain have been published.
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Somalia: The role of NGOs in the peace process
The chaos that has gripped Somalia for so long has many causes and effects. Examination of recent history can lead to a greater understanding and hopefully teach us a lesson for the future. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were not always active, but they play a crucial role in the peace process.
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‘Keeping the Promise’: UN Secretary-General Releases His MDG Report
Last March, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presented his MDG report, entitled Keeping the Promise, and in his remarks called for the adoption of a global action agenda for accelerating progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), when world leaders meet at a UN Summit in New York in September.
“The Summit is an opportunity to keep our promise to billions, yes, billions, of poor and vulnerable people. This is our common responsibility: Governments, civil society, the private sector, social and religious movements, the UN itself. It is a practical necessity and a moral imperative. The Millennium Declaration gave us the promise — the pledge by world leaders to spare no effort to build a fairer, more sustainable world. The MDGs gave us the framework,” Mr. Ban said in his remarks to the General Assembly today.
Outlining the ‘action agenda’, Mr. Ban said that it “should be specific, practical, and results-oriented, with concrete steps and timelines. And it must set out who does what, so that we can monitor our efforts and promote accountability for individuals and institutions alike.”
The report, intended to refocus and accelerate progress towards achieving the MDGs by the targeted 2015, describes and examines elements of success, emerging challenges and opportunities, lessons learnt, and provides concrete recommendations for action to speed up MDG progress. Furthermore, the report aims to provide a basis for Government deliberations leading to the 20-22 September Summit on the MDGs.
“We must not fail the billions who look to the international community to fulfill the promise of the Millennium Declaration for a better world. Let us meet in September to keep the promise,” Mr. Ban says in his report.
The full report can be accessed by visiting
"Rethinking Poverty": UN assesment on the World Social Situation
The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), released last February its Report on the World Social Situation 2010 titled "Rethinking poverty". This Report seeks to contribute to rethinking poverty and its eradication. It affirms the urgent need for a strategic shift away from the market fundamentalist thinking, policies and practices of recent decades towards more sustainable development- and equity-oriented policies appropriate to national conditions and circumstances. Such national development strategies should seek to achieve the development goals. Responsible development and counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies to foster productive investments and generate decent employment must be at the core of this effort.
While some modest reforms of global economic governance have been instituted since 2008, too little is being done too slowly to significantly improve conditions, especially for the poor. Much more needs to be done to ensure food security as well as to provide adequate financing and technology support for developing countries to cope with climate change.
The Report on the World Social Situation 2010 makes a compelling case for rethinking poverty and poverty reduction efforts. Ultimately, the primary task going forward is to implement coherent, sustainable approaches that put people at the centre of feasible national development strategies so as to rapidly improve the quality of life of current and future generations.
The Report is prepared on a biennial basis by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
Over the years, it has served as a background document for discussion and policy analysis of socio-economic matters at the intergovernmental level, and has aimed at contributing to the identification of emerging social trends of international concern and to the analysis of relationships among major development issues which have both international and national dimensions.
Full report available.
New book summons to discuss Latin America’s extractive model
Ecuadorian economist Alberto Acosta’s latest book is called The Curse of Abundance*. Since the arrival on the scene of the new Latin American left, many voices have been heard which call for a rethinking of the region’s production and development models. In the author’s words, “…the alternative proposals described in this book constitute a challenge, a spark to enliven democratic debate on the development model, a discussion which is becoming more and more urgent in Latin America”.
The book focuses on Ecuador’s oil bonanza and forecasts threats to the environment posed by large-scale metal mining. It is intended as an invitation to discussion, a “starting point in order to continue the debate on the harsh reality which we were facing even before the establishment of today’s Latin American republics:the curse of abundance.”
Alberto Acosta is an economist who specializes in energy and foreign trade. He lectures on Economics at Flacso Quito and is one of the founders of the current government party, the PAIS Movement. After resigning his position as Chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly owing to a variety of pressures and differences with the presidential incumbent, Acosta has maintained a critical and independent stance, and has even turned down the opposition’s proposals that he become their presidential candidate.
Available only Spanish.
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