Social Watch E-Newsletter - Issue 156 - December 6, 2013

Three days into the first month since super Typhoon Yolanda flattened many parts of central Philippines, media groups, netizens, and disaster risk reduction advocates come together to talk on steps to ensure that the funds and goods donated for Yolanda victims will be accounted for and will match of the needs of about 11 million people it affected.

More than tracking where foreign aid goes as the country continues to recover from Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), citizens need to keep an eye on how government’s calamity funds are spent, Dr. Leonor Briones, lead convenor of Social Watch Philippines advised civil society organizations on December 4th.Read more

West Bengal Social Watch releases a Citizen’s Report on the performances of the 15TH West Bengal State Legislative Assembly till date. West Bengal Social Watch organized a ‘Discussion Meet on Current State of Affairs vis-à-vis Role of Citizens’ on November 30, 2013.

Shri Chittotosh Mukherjee, former Chief Justice of Kolkata & Mumbai High Courts participated in the Press Conference hold on November 30, 2013.
The citizens have therefore the right to know how their representatives are discharging their duties in the Assembly. The report is an attempt to provide some basic information about the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and, in particular, about the functioning of the present Assembly (15th Assembly), which was constituted in May 2011. The report also contains critical analysis of some data, including a brief analysis of certain instances of deviant parliamentary practices..Read more

The report "The Human Trafficking Cycle: Sinai and Beyond is based on the graphic testimonies of refugees from the Horn of Africa, the vast majority being Eritrean, who have been through the torture camps of Sinai.   It is estimated that between 25,000 and 30,000 refugees have been held as hostages in Sinai, of whom many have died or disappeared. That total value of the entire Sinai Trafficking cycle is calculated to be of the order of 600 million USD.

The Human Trafficking Cycle: Sinai and Beyondshows that for the survivors of Sinai the challenges do not end when they are released, but continue as most remain trapped in situations of insecurity and without the support they need to recover from the physical and psychological trauma of their experiences.

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Like all companies, financial companies can and must do more to recognize their frequent role in violating human rights and take action to respect human rights.  At the recent ESCR-Net  Peoples’ Forum on Human Rights and Business, held between November 5-7 in Bangkok, close to a 100 civil society and grassroots organizations from around the world deliberated on the direction of the corporate accountability movement, and they reiterated the need to establish strong systems of accountability to combat corporate human rights abuses. Read more