Social Watch news
Published on Sat, 2018-03-03 08:57
The just released Canadian federal budget for 2018 takes some positive steps forward on gender equality and science funding, but comes up short on the bold policy moves that will make a real difference —universal child care, pharmacare, health care, and tax fairness. The government promised their citizens a budget guided by gender analysis this year, and in many ways it delivered: pay equity legislation for the public sector, ‘use it or lose it’ second parent leave, a long-awaited increase in funding to women’s organizations, and additional investments for addressing workplace harassment and funding to rape crisis centres. |
Published on Fri, 2018-03-02 14:25
An interview with Barbara Adams, on the problem of private finance within the UN development system, and the need for civil society action in response to these growing trends. Adams speaks about the United Nations' turn to the corporate sector and the trend for multi-stakeholder partnerships. This has been reinforced by the 2030 Agenda, and the push for its implementation and achievement of the SDGs. The accompanying policy influence, programme distortions, undermining of the 2030 Agenda and ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals have, however, not been adequately addressed. |
Published on Tue, 2018-02-06 14:00
While real GDP growth for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as a group is forecast to strengthen somewhat to 5 per cent in 2017 and 5.4 per cent in 2018, the modest improvements in the international context fall short of what would be needed to spur growth and structural transformation in the LDCs. This is one of the main conclusions of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in a new report titled "Selected Sustainable Development Trends in the Least Developed Countries 2018". |
Published on Thu, 2018-02-01 00:00
Social Watch invites you to participate in our renewed collective effort to make governments accountable for the ambitious promises they made us. The 2030 Agenda, adopted in 2015 at the highest level by the United Nations encapsulates in 17 Sustainable Development Goals a vision of sustainable development without poverty, with less inequalities and more social and gender justice while respecting planetary boundaries. The Social Watch network has contributed to making those commitments accountable to the peoples by publishing and bringing to the consideration of the United Nations national reports from 47 countries and highlighting their findings in the global Spotlight reports. The High Level Political Forum (HLPF) is the United Nations body mandated by the 2030 Agenda to have a “central role in overseeing a network of follow-up and review processes at the global level.” The HLPF will meet in New York, next July 9 to 18 for an in-depth review of Goals 6, 7, 11, 12, 15 (the so-called “environmental goals”) and SDG17 on implementation. The theme will be "Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies". Forty-eight countries will present their national reviews and there will be regional preparatory meetings in March and April and issue-specific conferences between February and June. There are many different ways and opportunities for national groups and coalitions to contribute. See more detail on how Social Watch offers some opportunities to participate in the guidelines. At the Social Watch secretariat we are looking forward to hear more about your plans and help put you in touch with others doing similar efforts. |
Published on Mon, 2018-01-15 16:03
Lessons from the WHO experience |
Published on Wed, 2017-12-13 16:39
A non-binding declaration on Women and Trade signed by 118 countries was made public today during a press conference at the Hilton Hotel, where the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is taking place. The “Joint Declaration on Trade and Women's Economic Empowerment” states without offering evidence that “international trade and investment are engines of economic growth for both developing and developed countries, and that improving women's access to opportunities and removing barriers to their participation in national and international economies contributes to sustainable economic development”. |
Published on Tue, 2017-12-12 00:00
The statement by women’s rights groups that calls out the WTO Declaration on Women’s Economic Empowerment which it says “appears to be designed to mask the failures of the WTO and its role in deepening inequality and exploitation”. |
Published on Mon, 2017-12-11 10:51
In India, PPPs are expected to mobilize about half of the US$ 1 trillion target for infrastructure investment by the end of the 2012-2017 Five Year Plan. The government has been actively promoting PPPs in many sectors of the economy and the report by Social Watch India presents a mixed picture. Many of the highway/road construction projects like Golden Quadrilateral and seaports like the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) have been deemed a success. The report observes, however, that “many times PPPs are good in theory, but in practice… they have transmogrified into avenues for the realtors to become rich at the cost of the tax payers”. Some promoters who excelled at gold-plating projects 'persuaded' public sector banks to lend on questionable assumptions and collateral. These promoters took out their equity money in the construction phase and exited the project under various conditions. Given India's rank in 'enforcing contracts' of 178 out of 189 countries, this should cause little surprise, since PPPs are essentially contracts. The biggest losers have been Indian citizens. Public sector banks now have a pile of stressed loans, which can now be remedied only by recapitalization from the tax payer. |
Published on Fri, 2017-12-08 17:20
The international workshop 'Strengthening Public Policies for the 2030 Agenda and the Launch of the Spotlight Report 2017: Reclaiming Policies for the Public' was held in Beirut, Lebanon. This session looked into the role of different actors in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda: states, private sector and civil society. The panel discussion particularly discussed the roles for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in localizing the Sustainable Development Goals in regional and national contexts. Among the issues that were discussed is how CSOs can bring the voice of the poorest and most marginalized citizens to the national, regional and international fora. In addition, the session touched upon the CSOs contributions to implementation, including as service delivery agents and the accountability of CSOs and their role in making the other actors accountable. |
Published on Tue, 2017-11-28 16:13
“Data is the new Gold” headlined a 2014 article in the business press on the marketing power it offers. “Each click, like, and share creates new data in the world, much of which can be used to deliver relevant marketing information and bring increased value to consumer audiences.” Picking up on the potential of so-called Big Data to measure national and global progress on development goals agreed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2030 Agenda has driven a variety of new initiatives, bringing together a vast array of global corporations, foundations, and CSOs ready to mine this new seam. Three of these new data initiatives are the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD), Data 2X and the Digital Impact Alliance, all of which are housed at the United Nations Foundation (UNF) and which therefore claim only to advance UN goals and priorities, not the UN itself. Most of them are financed by a few major donors, public and private. |
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