Social Watch news
Published on Wed, 2015-06-10 21:25
Speakers at the 20th anniversary
of WSSD: Juan Somavía, chair of
the preparatory process and
former head of ILO, David
Donoghue, co-facilitator of the
post-2015 agenda, María Emma
Mejía Vélez y Oh Joon,
vice-presidents of ECOSOC,
Simona-Mirela Miculescu, chair
of the Comission for Social
Development and Roberto
Bissio, coordinator of Social Watch.
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At the panel to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the World summit for Social Development, Social Watch coordinator Roberto Bissio said that “as we advance into the post-2015 agenda, some key ideas endorsed by the Social Summit are being reaffirmed. Inequalities are back in the agenda, after having disappeared for 15 years, and universality is recovered, with a strong sense of social protection floor. It is urgent, though, to make serious progress in the implementation of those agreed aspirations. Inequalities are in the title of a goal but nowhere to be found on the proposed indicators and a clear financing commitment on social protection floors (cash transfers/benefits for children, for people of working age in cases of maternity, unemployment, disability or work injury, and pensions for older persons, and other schemes) is still missing, even when now as in 1995, the resources are there."
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Published on Wed, 2015-06-10 18:16
Negotiations towards the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, to be held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) on July 13-16, are in full gear. In line with ongoing trends in the landscape of development assistance, deliberations thus far have shown a strong promotion, especially by Northern countries, of increased reliance on private sector sources for development funding. Two new studies set out to interrogate what does this mean for the language on human rights accountability of the private sector that we should expect to see negotiated in the conference, and whether expectations are being met by reality.
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Published on Mon, 2015-06-08 10:13
Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in
Eritrea Sheila B. Keetharuth.
UN Photo/Amanda Voisard
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The UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea has released a damning report about the situation in the country in the Horn of Africa. “It is not law that rules in Eritrea – but fear,” states the report. Some of the violations described in the report may constitute crimes against humanity.
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Published on Tue, 2015-06-02 19:58
The post 2015 process will result in the adoption –by Heads of States at the United Nations on September- of a set of universal and transformative Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets. The success of this agenda is also connected to the outcome of the discussion on indicators, which is taking place within the Inter-Agency Expert Group and the UN Statistical Commission.
One of the innovations brought by the SDGs is the inclusion of a Goal on peace, justice and inclusive institutions (Goal 16). As for all the others goals and targets, the selection of the indicators will be critical to ensure effective accountability and implementation.
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Published on Tue, 2015-06-02 18:08
This table is compiled from quotes of the Sustainable Development Goals as proposed by the Open Working Group and endorsed by the UN General Assembly as the basis for the new development agenda and the “First proposed priority indicator list” compiled by UNSD in preparation of the first meeting of the Inter-Agency Expert Group on SDGs, New York, June 1 and 2, 2015.
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Published on Tue, 2015-06-02 18:05
Almost one third of the targets that define the 17 Sustainable Development Goals approved by the governments at the UN are being de facto rewritten or deleted by the Inter-Agency Expert Group proposal of “priority indicators” published June 1 in New York. Important notions included in the SDGs such as labour rights, women rights to property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources and many commitments of developed countries to support the efforts of developing countries are excluded from the proposed list of indicators and would therefore not form part of the UN reviews of the new development agenda.
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Published on Mon, 2015-06-01 00:00
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Currently, negotiations on bailout deals and Greek economic reform are taking place between the Greek government and its creditors (the IMF, the ECB, and EU member states). Previous budget cuts and other austerity measures intended to reform Greece’s economy, combined with privatizing public services, have done anything but lead to growth. Instead, austerity measures have led to an economic and humanitarian crisis in Greece. One in four people is out of work. Youth unemployment stands at 60 per cent. Child poverty in Greece grew to 40.5 per cent in 2015 from 23 per cent in 2008, while cuts to health services have led to devastating social and health consequences. In fact, because of the conditionality that accompanied the financial support of its creditors, Greece was found to have violated the right to social security due to the austerity measures it imposed, according to the European Committee of Social RightsImposed economic adjustment measures can often have devastating effects on the exercise of human rights, and this link underlines once again the importance of raising sufficient domestic revenues for states to be able to respect, protect and fulfill human rights.
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Published on Thu, 2015-05-28 10:50
Revised global standards on the treatment of prisoners were adopted in Vienna to provide greater protection to persons deprived of their liberty. The detailed guidelines currently in effect were established by the United Nations 60 years ago. The four-year-long revision process took into account contributions by CELS and other national and international human rights organizations.
The text adopted at the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice will be sent to the General Assembly for final approval. Starting in 2011, CELS and other organizations participated in the revision process during meetings of experts and the Commission's sessions.
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Published on Thu, 2015-05-28 09:27
As UN negotiations on the post 2015 framework begin to tackle the complex issues of accountability, review and follow up, the diversity of views, perspectives and the lack of concrete proposals make the likelihood of finding an agreement remote indeed.
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Published on Thu, 2015-05-28 09:21
Ever since the Group of 20 decided to tackle infrastructure as part of its development agenda, in 2010, the push for increasing investment in infrastructure never ceased. Today, infrastructure finance is not only top of the agenda at the Group of 20 – where its sheer continuity would be already remarkable –, but also at public lending institutions, led by the World Bank, and at the United Nations where it is expected to feature prominently in a new financing for development deal for the post-2015 era.
Within the new infrastructure finance agenda emerging in such forums, the USD 85 that institutional investors, and in particular pension funds, are estimated to hold in savings, are seen as playing a starring role.
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