Social Watch E-Newsletter - Issue 324 - March 9, 2018

"Civil society organizations are natural allies of the United Nations, but the partnership modality is not the primary way for civil society to engage with the UN" argued Barbara Adams at a panel discussion on "Strengthening partnerships and stakeholder engagement" that took place in the framework of the ECOSOC Operational Activities for Development on 27 February 2018. From a CSO perspective, she added, the primary way of leveraging resources for the Sustainable Development Goals is fair and progressive taxation. Read more.

Civil society organizations and networks submit this Alternative Report to the Committee with the aim of contributing to its important and urgent work in the supervision of the situation of ESC rights in Mexico.
The report reflects the collective experience of many years in the investigation, documentation and defense of these rights, and seeks to clarify the current situation in the country, as well as identify key obstacles, setbacks, limitations, and challenges for the full enjoyment of ESC rights.
The report includes input from civil society organizations and networks from different Mexican states, who collaborated over a period of almost 3 years. This input reflects an important part of the ESC rights panorama in the country. As for the State’s combined reports, produced through a largely internal government process. Read more

Morocco is planning to build Africa's tallest building and a bullet train between its main cities, but local Social Watch groups argue that the people need instead basic infrastructure for clean water, health services and education. Read more.

The SDGs do not explicitly recognize the links between women’s human rights, gender equality, and needed structural reforms in global economic governance and policies. One of the dimensions of global economic dynamics that must be urgently addressed is the role of the private sector, and particularly the limits that need to be established to corporate power. The role of the private sector in the global economy and finance is undeniable.
Corporations have also developed their own understanding of the positive relationship between women's empowerment, gender equity and development. Their view can be seen at the least as a double standard, if not as simply hypocrisy. For one thing, ‘corporate social responsibility’ initiatives designed to improve women´s lives are all too often rooted in the belief that women's economic empowerment amounts essentially to women's entrepreneurship. Read more

This panel will focus on approaches to advancing gender equality for rural women by analyzing the challenges small-scale women farmers face due to economic stressors such as food insecurity, hunger, and poverty. It will highlight women’s contributions to implementing the UN SDGs, including in the unorganized sector of farm workers. The presentations will affirm the importance of engaging women in policy-making around more equitable and sustainable production and consumption. Read more
Monday, March 12, 2018 - 2:30 pm -- Church Center for the UN

Social Watch invites you to participate in our renewed collective effort to make governments accountable for the ambitious promises they made us.
This report will be launched next July during the meeting of the High Level Political Forum of the United Nations that will review at ministerial level the Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Almost three years after the adoption of this ambitious agenda, the 2018 report will look at how it is implemented. The Guidelines for the 2018 Social Watch contributions are available in English, French and Spanish.