Saturday, 27. January 2007
EU-ACP: Programming Aid or Imposing Governance Models?
“Let Africans decide on their own development model”. This was the message coming out of gatherings of African and European NGOs in the context of the World Social Forum in Nairobi. The series of workshops has been organised by Coasad, CNCD, Grapad, Groupe ACP francophone and Eurostep on the programming of European community aid under the 10th European Development Fund (>>> click headline link).
The Cotonou Agreements, which are supposed to guide EU-ACP relations, insist on the need to establish a balanced partnership in which the ability of ACP countries to take policy decisions in all sovereignty is respected. However participants to the workshop criticized the EU for using aid money to direct ACP countries towards economic choices that would be in the interests of the European economy in general and certain major European transnational corporations in particular. Aurélien Atidegla, president of Grapad, said that “the objectives of European aid money allocated to ACP regions are very clear. It is aiming at forcing ACP countries to take the necessary steps to engage in Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union. We even understand that certain ACP countries have been threatened to see their aid allocation diminished in the case of a refusal to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement.”
Part of the aid money under the 10th European Development Fund has now been made conditional to the fulfillment of certain criteria defined in the so called “governance facility”. Participants have been very critical of this new mechanism which is seen as another avenue to promote European interests in Africa. While criteria used to allocate money under the “governance facility” include recipients’ commitment to privatise their economies and to adopt market friendly policies, Florent Sebban, policy advisor at Eurostep expressed his disappointment at “this new diversion of European aid money, which will only be in the interest of the elites both in Africa and in Europe. This is once more in contradiction with European commitments to make aid work for the poorest”.
The absence of national parliamentarians and civil society actors from most of the national programming processes in the ACPs could explain why the priorities identified in draft country strategy papers seem to be so far from people’s concerns. “You will not eradicate poverty without involving people in the decision making process. The participation of grass roots movements from everywhere in the country in the programming process is essential to achieve the MDGs. This has not happened yet” said Barry Paul from St Francis Community Development Programme in Kenya.
Saturday, 27. January 2007
NGOs in Davos: Increasingly Marginalised, says Oxfam
Non-governmental organisations are becoming increasingly marginalised at Davos, according to Oxfam's Barbara Stocking. In an entry to the 'comment is free...' blog of the Guardian (>>> click headline link) the director of Oxfam GB wrote:
"Davos is disorienting because the huge number of people, most of them very rich, makes it a very different event from my usual Oxfam visit. Tramping through the snow in Davos is a good equaliser though, with a chance for a bit of speed lobbying, whether in the shuttle bus between venues, or sitting next to a world leader in the plenary hall...
I have a worry this year that the voice of non-governmental organisations such as Oxfam won't be heard. Our presence seems to have been becoming increasingly marginalized over the last few years - you almost never see an NGO as part of a panel in the main Congress Hall and few of us get to speak in major workshops. A bit of organised lobbying is required on that front too."
Friday, 26. January 2007
Trade Unions in Davos: The Gorilla in the Living Room of Globalisation
The delegation of global trade union leaders attending the Davos World Economic Forum Annual Meeting has launched a strong attack on the activities of private equity firms and hedge funds, as undermining decent employment and sustainable business. Philip Jennings, General Secretary of Union Network International, accused them of being "like a global vacuum cleaner hoovering up assets any place, anywhere, any time" and pledged that the international trade union movement would "bring them out of the shadows."
Need for a global "green jobs" agenda
The trade union movement's concerns have also been reflected in comments made by several high-profile figures from intergovernmental bodies, academia and business at the Forum. The union delegation has also criticised business leaders for ignoring the employment and social aspects of action around climate change, pointing to the urgent need for a global "green jobs" agenda, a proposal welcomed in discussions with Achim Steiner, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme. The unions plan to deepen their existing close cooperation with UNEP to work on solutions which integrate employment concerns with the urgent need for action on global warming.
"We have been giving a clear message to business and government representatives here that globalisation is not working for millions upon millions of people" said ITUC President Sharan Burrow. "A massive rip-off of wealth is taking place, with a tiny cohort of the world's richest people creaming off vast amounts of money while incomes for the great bulk of the worlds' population are stagnating or falling. This is the gorilla in the living room of globalisation, and politicians and companies ignore it at their peril" she added.
Friday, 26. January 2007
Ten Green Tests for the German EU Presidency
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) has launched ‘Ten Green Tests' for Germany 's Presidency of the EU. EEB, Europe 's largest federation of environmental citizens' organisations, has set these benchmark tests for each six-month Presidency since 1998, following them up with an end-of-term performance assessment. EEB's Ten Green Tests form part of an extended Memorandum to the German Presidency, drawn up by our staff and EEB's 12 German NGO members, presenting our principal ideas and most urgent demands.
"The key priority for Germany over the next six months must be to deliver a sustainable energy policy", said John Hontelez, EEB's Secretary General. "With this we can fight climate change and thus contribute to energy security and economic competitiveness. The Presidency must also halt the marginalisation of environmental policies, especially on waste, and review the role of Impact Assessments. And there must be decisive steps to reduce greenhouse gases produced by cars."
EEB expects the Presidency to speed up implementation of the EU Energy Efficiency Action Plan, using standards and market instruments. There should be agreement on sector-specific targets for energy production from renewable energy sources. Strict environmental criteria must be enforced through a comprehensive and mandatory certification system for biofuels, and nuclear energy must be excluded from consideration. Climate change continues to be an important priority. EEB looks to the Presidency to achieve agreement on an unconditional EU greenhouse gas reduction target for 2020 of at least 30 per cent. Aircraft emissions should also become a mandatory item in the EU's Emissions Trading System.
Among the other top issues in EEB's Ten Tests are the need to have an honest and robust mid-term review of how effectively the EU's Sixth Environmental Action Programme has been implemented. The Presidency must also focus on ensuring better regulation better protects the environment, preventing any political commitment which reduces environmental protection or the EU's ability to monitor compliance. Cleaning up transport is another priority, with legally-binding requirements for fuel efficient cars, and ambitious proposal for lorries and buses. The remaining items concern reducing fine particles in the air , a dramatic improvement of the Waste Framework Directive, soil protection , making the market work for ecological innovation reform, and continuing the crack-down on mercury .
The text of the Ten Tests, as well as an extended Memorandum to the German Presidency, is available on the EEB website (>>> click headline).
Thursday, 25. January 2007
German EU Presidency Should Champion Fair Trade, Peace and Climate
Trade justice, climate change and gender issues should be key issues for Germany’s EU presidency, according to the Association of German Development NGOs (VENRO). This call is made in a policy manifesto - mainly dealing with Africa – written in co-operation with organisations from throughout Europe and Africa. As well as identifying seven general themes, it urges the Berlin government to take a number of concrete measures in the first half of this year.
VENRO calls on the EU to
* Promote trade justice by devising safeguards to protect the vulnerable
markets of developing countries.
* Prioritise conflict prevention.
* Boost funding for renewable energy as part of efforts to tackle climate change.
* Base its economic and environmental policies more on the ‘polluter-pays’ policies principle.
* Promote an agenda of universal access to prevention techniques, support services, treatment and care to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS.
* Promote equality between men and women in access to decision-making bodies and processes, as well as the greater involvement of women in their activities.
* Give greater recognition to the role which NGOs play in development.
Thursday, 25. January 2007
Trade Unions at WEF on Company Tax, Private Equity and CSR
A delegation of 12 international trade union leaders at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos are calling companies to account on corporate taxation, the role of private equity investment and the social and environmental responsibilities of business. With the launch of the bampaign "Decent Work for a Decent Life", the union representatives put the spotlight on major impediments to decent jobs in the global economy.
"The fact that corporate tax rates are plummeting around the world as countries engage in competitive tax-cutting is having a massive negative impact on resources for good public services. This makes the global challenge to create decent employment and tackle world poverty harder by the day", said ITUC General-Secretary Guy Ryder, who along with ITUC President Sharan Burrow is leading the delegation in Davos. "The main theme at the Davos forum, The Shifting Power Equation, raises many key issues about the direction of the global economy, and the fault lines which continue to exist", he added.
The labour leaders published a Statement to the WEF (>>> click headline) analysing the growing shift of power away from working people, as fundamental rights at work are undermined, workers' share in productivity gains diminish and social protection is a distant hope for many millions of people around the globe. The statement highlights also the issue of private equity and hedge fund investment into the spotlight. With some US$600bn in such acquisitions spent in 2006, double the amount of the previous year, questions about transparency, corporate governance and sustainability are critically important, not least for the working women and men whose employment, rights and working conditions are often threatened by the behaviour of these funds.
With economic growth remaining relatively high around the world, the phenomenon of "jobless growth" also features on the union agenda at Davos, where the labour leaders also held meetings with top officials of a range of intergovernmental institutions to push forward the call for global policy coherence with social and environmental concerns at the centre of decision-making.
Ryder and Burrow are joined in Davos by ITUC Deputy President Luc Cortebeeck (CSC Belgium) OECD-TUAC General Secretary John Evans, leaders of national trade union centres Agnes Jongerius (FNV Netherlands), G Rajasekaran (MTUC Malaysia), Abdullah Muhsin (Iraqi trade unions), Mirai Chatterjee (SEWA) and Global Union Federation general secretaries Philip Jennings (UNI), Anita Normwark (BWI), Fred van Leeuwen (EI), Neil Kearney (ITGLWF) and David Cockroft (ITF).
Anmelden
|
Volume 2008 
Pilot Issue
Top of page
Imprint
