Social Watch news
Published on Thu, 2014-04-10 22:15
Is European Union really committed to Human Development? EU has made an undeniable progress in promoting the integration of policy coherence for development (PCD) at the discursive level, nevertheless European policies developed in the last five years have not only had profoundly negative consequences for other countries and people, but have made living conditions significantly precarious for large part of the population living in Europe. There appears to be a more than significant gap between the policy commitments undertaken by the European institutions and Member States, and the real actions to promote greater PCD at both EU and national levels.
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Published on Tue, 2014-04-08 14:56
“Partnerships” for sustainable development are increasingly being promoted as a major, if not the primary, enabler for the implementation of the successor international sustainable development goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. However, a growing number of civil society groups warn against a partnerships approach that places primary emphasis on enticing private sector participation and investments as this risks reinforcing the corporate capture of the post-2015 agenda.
This one-and-a-half hour Public Forum seeks to provide critical perspectives on the major issues and challenges associated with partnerships with the “private sector” for sustainable development.
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Published on Fri, 2014-04-04 10:40
Uruguayan ministers at the
Social Watch meeting.
Photo: Wolfgang Obenland.
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Alternatives to austerity programs do exist, conclude civil society organizations and networks from around the world that met in Montevideo, convened by Social Watch to discuss strategies to face the multiple global crises. In the opening of our debates, the Uruguayan ministers of Interior, Eduardo Bonomi, of Labour, José Bayardi, and of Social Development, Daniel Olesker explained the way in which they managed to eradicate extreme poverty, reduce inequalities and grow at the same time. See the video here. (To see the English subtitles, press on the CC at the bottom right of the video).
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Published on Thu, 2014-04-03 17:37
Photo: equitybd.
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In a panel discussion held in Dhaka Reporters’ Unity Mr. Roberto Bissio, the Coordinator of Social Watch, a global civil society alliance working in more than hundred countries, said that the enforcement for human rights and addressing inequalities should be the main concern in setting post 2015 development agenda.
The panel discussion titled “Post 2015 Development Agenda: Future Global Development Partnership” organized by EquityBD, Social Watch Bangladesh and Unnayan Samunnay. The panel discussion is moderated by Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of EquityBD and other speakers of the session are Ahmed Swapan of VOICE, Aminur Rasul of Unnayan Dhara Trust, Prodip K Roy of Online Knowledge Society, Dr Sohel Iqbal, Badrul Alam of Bangladesh Krishok Federation (BKF) and Barkat Ullah Maruf of EquityBD.
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Published on Wed, 2014-04-02 18:30
On April 3-4 2014 the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Financing Sustainable Development holds a consultation on the theme “Co-Creating New Partnerships for Financing Sustainable Development,” in the city of Helsinki, Finland. This committee was established by the outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development called for the establishment of an intergovernmental committee of experts on financing for sustainable development tasked with preparing a report “proposing options on an effective sustainable development financing strategy to facilitate the mobilization of resources and their effective use in achieving sustainable development objectives.”
In a statement for the occasion, Righting Finance said that “In view of the systemic market failures of the past decade, we are convinced now more than ever of the need for an effective and capable government as a protector and guarantor of human rights in development rather than a mere enabler of private sector development.”
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Published on Thu, 2014-03-27 18:27
For the last quarter of the twentieth century, Latin America suffered from low growth, rising inequality, and frequent financial crises, i.e. currency, sovereign debt and banking crises. For instance, between the early 1980s and 2002 there were at least 26 major banking crises involving 15 countries. Sovereign debt defaults and currency crises were frequent, as were ‘double’ or ‘triple’ financial crises (as in the case of the Tequila crisis of 1994, Ecuadorian crisis of 1999, and Argentinean default of 2001-2). The cost of such crises was massive, as during the three years subsequent to their outbreak the cumulative output losses reached up to 98 per cent of GDP. During this period, the high income inequality that afflicted Latin America for centuries rose further – from a Gini of 48.9 in early 1980s to 54.1 in 2002 (See Figure 1) – including because of the impact of devastating financial crises on growth, employment, relative prices and public subsidies.
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Published on Fri, 2014-03-21 09:02
Developing countries voice various concerns and priorities on differentiation, means of implementation, global partnership and a narrative in the 9th session of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals
The first of five intergovernmental consultation sessions in the second phase of the United Nations Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) took place on 3-5 March in New York. The eight OWG sessions thus far constituted the “input” phase. They took place over the course of one year, from March 2013 to February 2014.
The OWG is a key process for the follow-up of the outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 (Rio+20). The Co-chairs of the OWG are Ambassadors Macharia Kamau of Kenya and Csaba Korosi of Hungary.
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Published on Fri, 2014-03-21 08:57
The basic parameters of the future development agenda were laid out at the autumn session of the UN General Assembly. The roadmap was presented and initial answers given as to where the global journey should be taking us from 2015 on. The train to genuine sustainability could soon jump the tracks.
At its core, the Post-2015 Agenda will interlink sustainability and the fight against poverty and hunger in a single framework binding on all countries. Compared to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) shall now also guarantee peace and security, a democratic say, the rule of law, equal rights as well as human rights. So far, so good.
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Published on Fri, 2014-03-21 08:47
With the outbreak of the “Arab Springs” the IMF rushed to Middle East and North Africa’s transitional governments to provide loans conditional upon the implementation of a fiscal consolidation approach to economic crisis.
These programs were accompanied by austerity measures contrary to the aspirations of the Arab populations for social justice, causing political instability. The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), The Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) and New America Foundation (NAF) Middle East Task Force, recently conducted a study of IMF recommendations to Arab governments.
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Published on Fri, 2014-03-14 09:30
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Uruguayan ministers in the
Social Watch meeting.
Photo: Wolfgang Obenland.
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A meeting aimed at coordinating global advocacy on a new development agenda was held last February 23-24 in Istanbul, convened by the UN Secretary-General’s adviser on development planning, the UN Foundation, the Overseas Development Institute of the UK and CIVICUS. Social Watch addressed a letter to the meeting arguing that "joint civil society action around Post-2015 has to focus on goals and commitments for the countries of the North, the necessary changes of the consumption and production patterns in these countries, and the structural framework conditions shaped by these countries, particularly in the global financial, investment and trade systems".
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