Social Watch news
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
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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Published on Thu, 2014-03-13 14:08
About two dozen Iraqi women have demonstrated in Baghdad against a draft law approved by the Iraqi cabinet that would permit the marriage of nine-year-old girls and automatically give child custody to fathers.
The group's protest was on International Women's Day on Saturday (local time) and a week after the cabinet voted for the legislation, based on Shiite Islamic jurisprudence, allowing clergy to preside over marriages, divorces and inheritances.
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Published on Thu, 2014-03-13 10:27
The training on Gender-Responsive Budgeting, Budget Analysis and Policy Advocacy was organized for experts of National Budget Group (NBG) in Baku last February under the project: “Your Money, Your Future: Improving Public Finance Policy and Management in Azerbaijan”. The purpose of the training was to increase the awareness and knowledge of civil society experts about the public finance policy analysis and writing capacity, policy advocacy, gender-responsive budgeting and provide them with relevant information on the concept, tools and practices.
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Published on Thu, 2014-03-13 09:52
Despite commitments to enhance coherence of development, financial, monetary, trade, investment and other key policies, global economic policymaking remains fragmented and incoherent. “Coherence among the various areas of international policymaking is critical to ensuring that actions in one policy area do not undermine the goals or actions in another,” said a report released by the UN Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, Mr. Cephas Lumina (“the Independent Expert”) and prepared for the General Assembly.
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Published on Fri, 2014-03-07 07:17
Uruguayan president José Mujica.
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Uruguayan president José Mujica meets with international civil society during a "strategy meeting" organized by Social Watch and demand action from the powerful governments of the world. February 2014, Montevideo.
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Published on Mon, 2014-03-03 23:00
Civil society activists from five Arab countries are urging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to ease pressure on their governments to reduce food and fuel subsidies until stronger social-protection schemes and other basic reforms are implemented.
In a new report, the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) and the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) argue that social safety nets in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen are inadequate – or, in some cases, too corrupt — to compensate for the loss of critical subsidies on which the poor and even the middle class depend.
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Published on Mon, 2014-03-03 15:43
In a new working paper entitled "Corporate influence in the Post-2015 process" GPF's Lou Pingeot discusses the influence of transnational corporations in the Post-2015 process. This working paper by Brot für die Welt, Global Policy Forum and Misereor provides an overview of the main corporate actors in the post-2015 process and how they shape the discourse on development. The paper advocates for more transparency around the participation of corporations in UN processes, including their financial support to UN initiatives, and for more reflection on the risks of a corporate, private interests-driven development agenda.
The paper draws conclusions from its findings and makes recommendations for how to deal with corporate interests in global policy making in the future.
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