SOCIAL WATCH E-NEWSLETTER - Issue 115 - December 14, 2012

Issue 115 - December 14, 2012
Social Watch Report 2013
 
 

Iraq: Political rows, insecurity and lack of data hinder development efforts<

Iraqi widow with her sons.
(Photo: CODEPINK Women
For Peace/Flickr/CC)

 

Political disputes and security challenges have hindered the stability required for the development of Iraq, according to the Iraqi Al Amal Association’s contribution to the Social Watch Report 2013. To get on the right track, says Al Amal, the Iraqi government must conduct the census that has been delayed since 2007, to collect reliable information for the design of comprehensive, effective and appropriately funded development plans.

Quality of life has fallen: poverty is not reduced, the educational system draws back and women are becoming more and more vulnerable. The inequalities persist between cities and rural areas and between men and women, summarized Manal J. Putros Behnam,main author of the Iraqi report.
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El Salvador: Social programs reach success, but are economically unsustainable

A Salvadorean woman
learns to write and read.
(Photo: MINED)

 

The first leftist government in El Salvador has been devoted, in the last three years, to support marginalized populations such as the elderly, women, children and the rural population, says the Salvadorean contribution to the Social Watch Report 2013. Improvements in health and education are apparent, but structural changes are needed to ensure the sustainability of the social programs, including a tax reform to finance them with the national budget without relying on external funds.

Successful educational programs include the delivery of educational materials to 1.3 million students, the creation of 60 full-time inclusive schools, providing lunch at schools, strengthening the early childhood education, improving the infrastructure and a National Literacy Plan through which more than 141,000 youth and adults learned to read and write and eight municipalities were declared "free of illiteracy."
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Ghana: Lack of political will hampers development and human well-being

School lunch in Ghana
(Photo: Ndcuk.org)

 

The lack of political will seems to be the main obstacle on Ghana’s road to development and human well-being, but it is not the only one, according to the contribution from civil society organizations of this West African nation to the Social Watch Report 2013.
Ghana has walked a long way towards poverty eradication, food security and education to all, but not all the people have access to medical services, and not all pregnant woman benefit from free health care, so maternal mortality remains very high, aggravating the endemic gender inequities. With this social landscape as a backdrop, the economy experiences a sustained growth, notes the report.

In 2007, Ghana was hailed as one of the first countries in Sub-Saharan Africa on the right track to reach the MDG target of poverty reduction. Between 1992 and 2006 the proportion of those living below the poverty line fell from 36.5% to 18.2%. Enrollment has increased in primary and secondary education. Thus from 1991 to 2008 the levels of registration in kindergarten increased from approximately 56% to nearly 90%. In the same period primary school enrollment increased from 74%d to nearly 95%, and at the level of junior high school it increased from 70% to 79%.
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Raid on Palestinian CSOs proves that “it’s time to put an end” to Israeli occupation
The military raid on the offices in Ramallah of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, member of Social Watch), Women’s Union and Addameer “adds to the Israeli record of continuous violation” of the international humanitarian law and human rights treaties, and proved once again that the occupation “is the major (…) obstacle” that prevents the Palestinian society from reaching its development, stated the Arab NGO Network for Development.
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Reconfirming rights, recognizing limits, redefining goals

The international conference “Advancing the post-2015 sustainable development agenda: Reconfirming rights, recognizing limits, redefining goals” in Bonn will bring together about 250 civil society activists and representatives from key stakeholders in March in order to draw together civil society inputs into this relevant debate.
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