financial and economic crisis

“Poverty eradication and women empowerment are our priorities” said Lebanese minister of Finance, Raya Haffar Al-Hassan at the joint launch of the Social Watch report in Arabic and the Arab Assessment of the Millennium Development Goals that took place in Beirut on July 9. Speaking in Behalf of the Arab NGO Network for Development, Ziad Abdel Samad welcomed the minister as “one of us”, remembering her past association with civil society organizations and with the United Nations system, for which she worked before joining the government. He welcomed the public discussion of the budget that is currently happening “for the first time in Lebanon” and challenged the minister to go one step further and invite civil society organizations to actually participate in the elaboration of future budgets.

Source: US Social Forum
Social Watch organized the strategy session "Economic crisis and opportunities to put people first at home and abroad" to identify emerging opportunities to address the economic and financial crisis in ways that advance human rights, social and economic justice and bridge the domestic and international contexts. The event that took place on 24 June 2010 was part of activities within the US Social Forum held in Detroit.

Mr. Roberto Bissio, Coordinator of Social Watch, spoke at the Conference "Making Equal Rights Real" organized on 1 May 2010 by The Institute for Health and Social Policy. The meeting was an opportunity for an international group of leading practice, policy and academic experts to present and discuss how people have found creative and effective strategies for ensuring that their national and international legal rights are met. Bissio said the economic crisis has brought governments back to a leading role and the key question now is what do governments do with the economy and how much people-centered are their policies.

Source: IFIs Latin American Monitor
Representatives of over 40 Latin American civil society organizations gathered in Montevideo on 10-11 December 2009 to discuss and propose alternatives to the current financial system in a panel organized by Social Watch Uruguay.

Kashmir, India 2008. Photo by John Isaac - UN Photo

From June 24-26, 2009, the historic UN Conference on the Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impacts on Development took place in New York, marking the first opportunity since the global implosion of the financial markets in September of 2008 in which all countries - notwithstanding their geopolitical importance or size of their economies - could participate in the search for a global solution to what is truly a global crisis.

Syndicate content