Social Watch news

Anwarul K. Chowdhury, Photo: UN

Sources: “Major Salvaging Needed for LDC IV in Istanbul”, by Anwarul k. Chowdhury: http://bit.ly/iUGLfA

More than forty heads of government and high officers representing 48 countries with a population of 880 million people. A week of discussion. One official meeting and three parallel forums arranged for civil society, the business sector and the parlamentarians. But the week-long fourth Conference on the Least Developed Countries (UNLDC IV) that will begin this Monday in Istanbul “does not promising at all”, according to Bangladeshi ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former UN Under-Secretary-General.

Espace associatif

Source: “Le Matin”, Moroccan newspaper

The main francophone Moroccan newspaper, Le Matin, expressed its support to the consultation process launched by the Associative Space, focal group of Social Watch in that country, towards the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Río + 20”), to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012, the same as the long remembered 1992 Earth Summit. Furthermore, the process reflects the current approach of Social Watch to sustainable development issues, on which its next annual report will be focused. 

Through its 2012 International Forum, the Association for Women’s Rights on Development (AWID) aims to explore how economic power is impacting on women and the planet, and to facilitate connections among the very diverse groups working on these issues from both human rights and justice approaches so that together they can contribute to stronger, more effective strategies to advance women’s rights and justice.

 

Source: United Nations News Centre: http://bit.ly/iMUztZ

The 2010 Revision of World Population Prospects, released yesterday by the UN, indicate that the global population will surge past 9 billion before 2050 and eventually pass 10 billion before the end of the century, Babatunde Osotimehin, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), reported this week.

The projections also reveal that the total population should reach the 7-billion mark on 31 October this year.

 

Source: PNGO (http://www.pngo.net)

The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in Gaza and the West Bank) welcomed the national reconciliation agreement that put an end to the tragic stage of division between the two major political parties, Fatah and Hamas. 

Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Press (TAP): http://bit.ly/m3izfC 

The Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH, national focal point of Social Watch) denounced "the repeated assaults questioning religious beliefs and opinions of individuals and groups by adopting a religious discourse," reports TAP news agency.

The LTDH called upon authorities to "put an end to torture, arbitrary arrests and violation of criminal proceedings," emphasising the need to respect the physical integrity and ensure fair trials, according to the report of TAP (Tunis Afrique Presse News Agency).

Source: KPH-Article (posted by Giacomo Viggiani at Equal-Jus.eu)

After years of lobbying by Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH, focal point of Social Watch in this country), with support of European institutions and civil society organisations, the Polish Minister of Internal Affairs announced that will prepare a new version of the application form for those Polish citizens who want to get married abroad with there same sex partner.

Photo: Deb Ransom, Canada government

A recent report coordinated by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) highlights the sharp decrease in support for women’s issues under the Stephen Harper government, whose Conservative Party's won its first legislative majority since 1988 on Monday, assuring his re-election.

Bahraini Ministers reporting
to the press. (Photo: BNA)

The Bahraini Military Public Prosecution is accusing 24 doctors and 23 nurses, paramedics and administrators who attended victims of the security forces “for their involvement in the recent deplorable unrest”, said the Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowment Minister, Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al-Khalifa, on Tuesday.

Gustave Assah

Africa lacks adequate development monitoring and reporting mechanisms, as is shown in the “imbalance” between the usual indexes and the reality, warned the Civic Commission for Africa (C-CfA), representative regional coalition of civil society organisations, at the third TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) Ministerial Follow-Up Meeting, which was held this Sunday and Monday in Senegal.

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