Social Watch E-Newsletter - Issue 200 - January 30, 2015

Issue 200 - January 30, 2015
 
   
 

On the way to the Addis Ababa Conference on Financing for Development

   
 

"The sovereign debt of today, particularly in developed countries that are highly indebted, is the results of the irresponsible indebtedness of the private sector that was bailed out with public monies" said Roberto Bissio, Social Watch Coordinator, at the first preparatory session of the Addis Ababa Conference on Financing for Development on January 28, 2015. Bissio therefore suggested that the conference should return to the analysis of EXTERNAL DEBT (including public and private debt) as more appropriate to identify vulnerabilities than the current reduction of the agenda to "sovereign debt".
Further, the Social Watch representative called for the conference to address the link of finances with inequalities and with the transformation of unsustainable consumption and production patterns.
Read here his complete intervention or see the video here.

   
   
 

Civil Society response to the FFD Elements Paper

   
 

A broad international group of Civil Society Organizations following the Financing for Development (FfD) process prepare a response to the FFD Elements Paper.
This document has been developed by the very broad international group of Civil Society Organizations following the Financing for Development (FfD) process. While the group is diverse and positions might differ on specific issues, this document expresses the elements of common concern.
CSOs welcome the opportunity to provide our comments on the FfD Elements Paper. Overall, they find that the document provides a good starting point for the first drafting session (with the caveat on the structure of the outcome document which is mentioned below) and includes most (but not all) of the policy proposals necessary to ensure a successful outcome of the Third Conference on Financing for Development.
Read the letter here or download the pdf version here.

   
   
  European citizens call for increased aid to developing world
   
 

An overwhelming majority of citizens in the 28–member European Union (EU) – which has been hamstrung by a spreading economic recession, a fall in oil prices and a decline of its common currency, the Euro – has expressed strong support for development cooperation and increased aid to developing nations.
A new Eurobarometer survey to mark the beginning of the ‘European Year for Development,’ released Monday, shows a significant increase in the number of people in favour of increasing international development aid.
The survey reveals that most Europeans continue to “feel very positively about development and cooperation”.
Additionally, the survey also indicates that 67 percent of respondents across Europe think development aid should be increased – a higher percentage than in recent years, despite the current economic situation in Europe. Read more

 

   
   
 

The Third UN Conference on Financing for Development will take place in Addis Ababa in July 2015. The key question will be how to finance the Sustainable Development Goals.
In September 2015 the UN will finalize the new global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The political negotiations within the Open Working Group (OWG) have produced an ambitious catalogue of 17 main goals and numerous sub-goals, all of which focus equally on economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development. It is yet to be seen whether the goals put forward by the OWG will be watered down by the time the negotiations are over. Several countries have already announced their opposition to specific proposals. Read more

   
   
 

Human rights experts warned that World Bank plans to delegate responsibilities for environmental and social monitoring to private banking institutions sub–lending on its behalf will effectively weaken both the level of protection currently offered by environmental and social safeguards and the Bank's accountability for their implementation.
The analysis was part of a letter to the World Bank President Mr. Jim Kim by 28 UN human rights thematic mandate–holders – an unprecedented number acting together on a single issue – conveying several concerns regarding the World Bank's latest draft of its Social and Environmental Safeguards (‘draft ESF’). Read more

   
   
 

 

 
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