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.

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 "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 Beyond shows 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. 

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.

A delegation of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) visited Brussels between the 4th and the 8th of November 2013, where it met with officials at the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly and the European civil society. The delegation focused on five key issues during the meetings, as well as hearings at the European Parliament and deliberations at the forum it organized during the visit with the participation of European CSOs and representatives of the European Commission and the European In-vestment Bank (EIB). These issues are the Euro-Arab political relations, especially regarding the challenges of democratic transition, faced by some of the region’s states and peoples, particularly Egypt and Syria. Euro-Arab economic relations, with a focus on trade relations and ongoing negotiations with Morocco to reach in-depth and comprehensive free trade agreements. The European policy on foreign aid and the relationship with civil society. Issues related to security and peace in the region, and immigration and the movement of citizens between both sides of the Mediterranean.