SOCIAL WATCH E-NEWSLETTER - Issue 13 - November 19, 2010

Issue 13 - November 19, 2010

Social Watch launches its 2010 Report at the European Parliament

The 2010 Social Watch Report "After the Fall. Time for a New Deal" was presented at the European Parliament in a Hearing with civil society that took place 17 November 2010 in Brussels, Belgium.

 

Social Watch supports new alliance to redefine sustainable development
An alliance of civil society groups, networks and foundations, including Third World Network, Social Watch, DAWN, the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, Global Policy Forum, terre des hommes, and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, launched on 15 November 2010 the Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives.

UNDP 2010 report incorporates new Gender Inequality Index
Introducing three new indices, the 2010 UNDP Human Development Report documents wide inequalities within and among countries, deep disparities between women and men on a wide range of development indicators, and the prevalence of extreme multidimensional poverty in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

The G20 should listen to the people instead of bankers say civil society organizations
A declaration signed by nearly 200 civil societey organizations, networks and trade unions around the world demanded world leaders of the G20 that gathered in Seoul, Korea to listen to their citizens instead of to the bankers and urged them to make concrete progress towards the introduction of an internationally coordinated financial transactions tax (FTT).

Civil society technology used to monitor elections in Africa
Two of Social Watch's focal points in Africa: SODNET, from Kenya and Sahringon from Tanzania have come together to share techology tools to monitor elections in Tanzania that took place 31st October 2010. SODNET's experience in monitoring the kenyan referendum on August 4, 2010 with notable results was key to develop the software platform named UCHAGUZI TZ.

Roundtable on gender and regional economic integration
The gender unit of TWN-Africa is hosting a round-table on gender and regional economic integration in Africa on 18-19 November, 2010, in Accra, Ghana. The meeting brings together scholars, feminist economists and gender experts, as well as policy-makers, to discuss issues of gender equity and Africa´s economic integration. http://www.socialwatch.org/node/12419

Roberto Bissio participated at the Annual Assembly of "Coordinadora Civil" in Nicaragua
The Annual Assembly of Coordinadora Civil, Social Watch's focal point in Nicaragua took place on 6 November 2010 and gathered civil society members from grassroot organizations around the country to discuss the challenges ahead. Roberto Bissio, coordinator of SW was invited to participate as a panelist.
(Full text in Spanish)

 

Social Watch launches its 2010 Report at the European Parliament

European Parliamentary Hearing: The Green Paper, The DCI and China: Key points for EU development policy in Asia and Latin America
17 November 2010, Brussels, Belgium

With the launch of the Green Paper on Development Policy by the European Commission in Brussels last week, a new phase of negotiations on EU development cooperation has begun. The outcome of these negotiations will determine EU cooperation with developing countries up to 2020. 

Roberto Bissio, Coordinator of the global Social Watch network comments: "to face the dramatic impact of the current multiple crises (financial, climate, food, fuel) we need a comprehensive approach based on equity and justice between countries and within countries. The kind of growth now experienced by developing countries is not leading to job creation and poverty eradication. Inclusive growth should mean rebalancing the private sector with the interests of citizens and the states´ obligations to promote human rights and provide a social floor for all."

At the hearing, hosted by MEP Gay Mitchell, the 2010 Social Watch report "After the Fall. Time for a new Deal" was launched including the findings of civil society organisations in over 60 countries.

Annabel Meurs, from the Dutch development organisation Hivos, is disappointed that "the Green Paper does not mention child labour, which is one of the main causes leading to poverty." She continues "I welcome the more comprehensive approach in the Green Paper on social protection and decent work and the emphasis on the role of governments in putting social protection schemes in place. The language on social protection is weak and we urge the Commission to elevate the status of this area to a specific chapter in the Green Paper. The Green Paper also needs to define specifically what is meant by inclusive growth and sustainable development."

Himanshu Jha, the national coordinator of Social Watch India comments that "the bilateral relation between the EU and India has to evolve beyond the existing economic growth model. The new model should address existing contradictions in the region relating to the apparent inequalities. The EU has to reorient its policy towards emerging economies by including objectives of the ‘social floor´ and ‘decent work´ into the bilateral relations in a comprehensive way. Coherence of policies should therefore mean that these objectives are also leading in the negotiations on the EU - India trade agreement."

Arjun Karki, coordinator of the LDC Watch network headquartered in Nepal comments: "The Green Paper states that the EU aims to focus on countries in need. This is an old-fashioned approach. We rather prefer that the EU gives priority to the most vulnerable. This requires that the EU invests in climate security, food security, social protection and employment creation in countries that emerge from conflict and are trying to get back on their feet."

"We welcome the consultations the European Commission is proposing on the Green Paper" states Simon Stocker, Director of the network Eurostep, "and we will work with our partners in Europe and in the South to respond to the call of the European Commission. Our interest is that the Green Paper sets a solid base for the next generation of development cooperation instruments to reflect the centrality of the objective of poverty eradication for the EU´s relations with developing countries provided for in the Lisbon Treaty."

For further information contact Verena Winkler (vwinkler@eurostep.org) on +32 474 579 737, or Simon Stocker (sstocker@eurostep.org) on +32 479 489 147

Download the flyer (PDF)

 

 

Social Watch supports new alliance to redefine sustainable development

An alliance of civil society groups, networks and foundations, including Third World Network, Social Watch, DAWN, the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, Global Policy Forum, terre des hommes, and the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, launched on 15 November 2010 the Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development Perspectives. 

The group consists of about 15 leading civil society activists, experts and academics from around the globe. The group will assess conventional and alternative models of development and well-being, reconsider development goals and indicators, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), draw conclusions for future development strategies and provide specific policy recommendations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development 2012. 

We find ourselves at a crucial point in time - fast approaching the 2015 deadline for the MDGs, while preparing for the 2012 Conference on Sustainable Development. Today´s unprecedented coincidence of global crises - economic, financial, food and climate - reveals the dead end to which the dominating models of development have led us. It is now time to break old ground, to draw lessons from these crises and to fundamentally rethink our goals and measures of development and social progress - in North and South.

The time between the Summits 2010 and 2012 provides a unique window of opportunity to reconsider the current development paradigm and to develop strategies towards a holistic, rights-based approach of global development and well-being. The Reflection Group will contribute to this process of rethinking.

Four meetings of the Reflection Group are scheduled to take place throughout 2011. The expected outcome will be presented in a report to be published prior to the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

Group Members

Barbara Adams (Global Policy Forum, US), Beryl d´Almeida (Abandoned Babies Committee, Zimbabwe), Alejandro Chanona Burguete (National Autonomous University of México), Chee Yoke Ling (Third World Network, China), Ernst Ulrich von Weizsaecker (Germany), Filomeno Santa Ana III (Action for Economic Reforms, Philippines), George Chira (terre des hommes India), Gigi Francisco (Development Alternatives with Women for the New Era, Philippines), Henning Melber (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Sweden), Jorge Ishizawa (Proyecto Andino de Tecnologias Campesinas, Peru), Karma Ura (Centre for Bhutan Studies, Bhutan), Roberto Bissio (Third World Institute/Social Watch, Uruguay) Victoria Tauli-Corpuz (Tebtebba Foundation, Philippines), Yao Graham (Third World Network-Africa, Ghana), Jens Martens (Global Policy Forum Europe, Germany), Hubert Schillinger (Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, Germany), Danuta Sacher (terre des hommes Germany) 

Further Information: www.reflectiongroup.org 
Contact: info@reflectiongroup.org

 

 

UNDP 2010 report incorporates new Gender Inequality Index

Introducing three new indices, the 2010 UNDP Human Development Report documents wide inequalities within and among countries, deep disparities between women and men on a wide range of development indicators, and the prevalence of extreme multidimensional poverty in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

The repor t-The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development - finds that most developing countries made dramatic yet often underestimated progress in health, education and basic living standards in recent decades. Yet patterns of achievement vary greatly, with some countries losing ground since 1970.

The 2010 Human Development Report continues the Human Development Index (HDI) tradition of measurement innovation by introducing new indices that address crucial development factors not directly reflected in the HDI:

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 
The Report features a new multidimensional poverty measure that complements income-based poverty assessments by looking at multiple factors at the household level, from basic living standards to access to schooling, clean water and health care. About 1.7 billion people-fully a third of the population in the 104 countries included in the MPI-are estimated to live in multidimensional poverty, more than the estimated 1.3 billion who live on $1.25 a day or less.

The Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)
For the first time, this year´s Report examines HDI data through the lens of inequality, adjusting HDI achievements to reflect disparities in income, health and education. "The HDI alone, as a composite of national averages, hides disparities within countries, so these adjustments for inequality provide a fuller picture of people´s well-being," said Jeni Klugman.

The Gender Inequality Index (GII)
The 2010 Report introduces a new measure of gender inequities, including maternal mortality rates and women´s representation in parliaments. "The Gender Inequality Index is designed to measure the negative human development impact of deep social and economic disparities between men and women," said Klugman, the lead author. The GII calculates national HDI losses from gender inequities, from the Netherlands (the most equal in GII terms) to Yemen (the least).

Social Watch has been a pioneer in monitoring gender inequities by developing its Gender Equity Index (GEI) that is based on information available that can be compared internationally making it possible to classify countries and rank them in accordance with a selection of gender inequity indicators in three dimensions, education, economic participation and empowerment.

 

 

The G20 should listen to the people instead of bankers say civil society organizations

These organizations have long advocated that such taxes are a practical way to generate revenues needed to fill domestic and international financing gaps, discourage the type of short-term financial speculation that has little social value but poses high risks to the economy and serve as a desperately-needed and sustainable source of financing for health and development. In recent months, the case for an FTT has been strengthened with new inputs from sometimes unexpected sources. There is no reason to delay.

Download the statement in full
http://www.socialwatch.org/sites/default/files/G20%20Statement%20Take%20Action%20on%20FTT%20-%20English_0.doc

For further info contact: 
Susana Ruiz (in Seoul / G20) + 82 (0)10 8062 3180 / sruiz@intermonoxfam.org
Marisa Kohan (prensa en Madrid) + 34 699 984 800 / mkohan@intermonoxfam.org

People's Week of Collective Actions
Civil society organizations in Korea and abroad also mobilized against the G20 meeting in Seoul in the People's Week of Collective Actions that took place 6-12 November 2010. In a call for action signed by hundreds of organizations and networks they state that 20 countries alone cannot define the destiny of the entire world and called for a system change and an end to business as usual. Read the call here : http://www.socialwatch.org/node/12269

 

 

Civil society technology used to monitor elections in Africa

Two of Social Watch's focal points in Africa: SODNET, from Kenya and Sahringon from Tanzania have come together to share techology tools to monitor elections in Tanzania that took place 31st October 2010. SODNET's experience in monitoring the kenyan referendum on August 4, 2010 with notable results was key to develop the software platform named UCHAGUZI TZ.

UCHAGUZI ("decision" in Swahili) is a web and mobile-based technology software that enables collaboration between election observers and citizens to monitor elections in near-real time. The technology-based platform facilitates citizens to amplify their electoral concerns such as missing names in the voting register, vote buying, misconduct by election officials, violence and other electoral offences or positive aspects, good practices and commendable efforts by security personnel or representatives of the electoral body such as peace activities. The platform is being managed by Tanzania civil society in Dar es Salaam and over fifty volunteers in Nairobi at the Innovation Hub (iHUB).

The software platform was first used in Kenya during the August 4, 2010 referendum with notable results. UCHAGUZI works to extend the common practice of election observation by seeking to engage citizens or crowds in election monitoring as a valuable source of information for election observers to verify and amplify information to the respective electoral authorities and making visible their responses. UCHAGUZI increases transparency and accountability in the electoral process by making these interactions open to public scrutiny.

The technology is based on Ushahidi ("witness" in Swahili), a crowd sourcing platform that is able to accept SMS text messages from the "crowd" or any person with a cell phone or computer to record events happening at any location instantly.  People are also able to call in reports by voice or via email and Twitter. Since the first deployment of Ushahidi in Kenya, the platform has been used as a crisis map after the 2010 earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, as an election monitoring service in places like India, Burundi, Mexico and Afghanistan, and by major news services such as Al Jazeera and the Washington Post.

The platform has built off the successes of Uchaguzi Kenya to include 2,000 monitors in Tanzania, 30,000 trusted sources plus messages from the crowd. Uchaguzi TZ´s shortcode is 15540, and the developers and volunteers working in the tem started receiving and mapping messages a week to the election. "So far we have received close to 370 reports that mostly include names missing in the voter registry and a tensive mood in some parts of the country", Philip Thigo, Programme Associate, SODNET. For more information and reports, please visit: www.uchaguzi.or.tz

UCHAGUZI is a collaborative initiative between TACCEO (Tanzania Civil Society Consortium on Election Observation) Tanzania; HIVOS, Netherlands; Haki Elimu, Tanzania; Jamii Forums, Tanzania; TWAWEZA, CRECO (Constitution and Reform Education Consortium), Kenya in association with USHAHIDI and SODNET (Social Development Network), Kenya as technology & strategy partners.

For more information on Uchaguzi and further insight on election monitoring using technology or interviews on October 31, 2010, Please contact Eric Hersman (erik@ushahidi.com) or Philip Thigo (pthigo@sodnet.or.ke)

See daily status reports of UCHAGUZI Tanzania:
 Friday 29 October 2010, PDF
Sunday 31 October 2010, PDF

 

 

Roundtable on gender and regional economic integration

The gender unit of TWN-Africa is hosting a round-table on gender and regional economic integration in Africa on 18-19 November, 2010, in Accra, Ghana.  The meeting brings together scholars, feminist economists and gender experts, as well as policy-makers, to discuss issues of gender equity and Africa´s economic integration. 

BACKGROUND

Regional economic integration in Africa has been a long-standing goal in discussions about economic development in Africa. The on-going global financial and economic crisis has brought renewed attention to the role that regional integration could have played in Africa´s ability to withstand global shocks. However there are as many different notions of economic integration as there are protagonists.  These vary from at one extreme, the open regionalism promoted within neo-liberal ideology which sees regional integration as a means for the "smoother and gradual integration" of Africa into the global economy; and at the other extreme, the contrasting notion of regional integration as the means through which Africa can disengage from globalisation. In between these, are notions of regional integration which aim to enable Africa engage with the global economy on its own terms.

At the basis of all the different conceptions are contestations about the nature of Africa´s economic challenges and the specific issues that need to be addressed for Africa´s development. They also have implications for the way in which questions of gender equity are addressed.

 

 

Roberto Bissio participated at the Annual Assembly of "Coordinadora Civil" in Nicaragua

La realización de la Asamblea Genereral Anual de Coordinadora Civil (punto focal de Social Watch en Nicaragua) el pasado 6 de noviembre, contó con la participación de delegaciones de las redes territoriales y organizaciones temáticas que la integran, así como también invitados de otras organizaciones de la sociedad civil. Roberto Bissio Coordinador de Social Watch fue uno de los oradores invitados.

Además de revisar el trabajo desarrollado durante el 2010 y de aprobar sus planes de trabajo para el 2011, la Asamblea General debatió sobre los aportes realizados para el análisis del contexto económico, político y social del país.

Información relacionada:
Convocatoria a la Asamblea Anual de Coordinadora Civil
"Propuesta a la Nación para que cambiemos el rumbo del país" (pdf): Documento de discusión presentado Coordinadora Civil, sobre la situación económica, política, social, de gobernabilidad, de los derechos humanos, y ciudadana que atraviesa el país.

 

 
SOCIAL WATCH IS AN INTERNATIONAL NGO WATCHDOG NETWORK MONITORING POVERTY ERADICATION AND GENDER EQUALITY
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