Social Watch News

Launch of the Open Government
Partnership in New York
(Photo: Inesc)

Sources: Transparency InternationalFinancial Task ForceHumanRights.govInesc

A group of government and civil society organizations from all over the planet, among them the Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos (Inesc, focal point of Social Watch in Brazil), launched this Wednesday in New York the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative that aims to promote transparency, fight corruption, strengthen accountability and empower citizens.

Sources: BantuWatchIPSGlobal VoicesReutersAllAfrica 

The electoral campaign and the polls held on Tuesday in Zambia counted on unusual but effective observers: the citizens themselves could report irregularities via Twitter, SMS, Internet and telephone thanks to BantuWatch. That’s the name of an initiative headed by the Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (Saccord), with the technical support of the Dutch Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (Hivos) and the Social Development Network (Sodnet, focal point of Social Watch in Kenya).

Brazilian minister Guido Mantega
(Photo: Adri Felden/Argosfoto)

Source: Eurostep

As part of the so called BRICS countries (along with China, India, Russia and South Africa), Brazil has established itself as one of today’s most important emerging economic powers. The country has not only become increasingly involved in giving aid to African countries but is also expected to provide help to the European Union’s (EU) indebted member states, as a means to overcome the current financial crisis, reported Eurostep based on news published by several media outlets.

The debate conducted by
Social Watch and Governance Now in New Delhi
(Photo: Chinky Shukla/Jesudasu Seelam)

Sources: Social Watch IndiaGovernance Now
Do regional parliamentarians have a voice in Indian democracy? What is the role of parliamentary committees? What exactly is the ambit of a parliamentarian? Questions like these were debated at “People, Parliament and Performance”, a discussion conducted by Social Watch India in partnership with Governance Now magazine in New Delhi.

Sources: ECLAC, Representatives of the civil society

Representatives of the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean who convened this week in Santiago de Chile didn’t include among their recommendations to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio2012), to be held next year in Brazil, the concept of “green economy”.

Revista Finance & Development

Sources: Finance & Development

Civil society organizations have been arguing in vain for years that combating inequity is not just an ideological position but a practical policy option, and not to adopt it would be fatal for the world economy and for human development. And now at last inequity is becoming a key subject for concern in international financial institutions and among the academics whose theories underpin their operations.


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