News

Author: 
Roberto Bissio Coordinator, Social Watch International Secretariat

We refer to “the eighties” and “the nineties” to designate the closing decades of the 20th century, so how should we baptise the first decade of the new century?

In 2000, at the start of this inaugural decade of the third millennium, there was universal optimism, but now when we came to assess what was really achieved perhaps we should call it “the double-O decade” because the results have been exactly that: “nothing whatsoever”.

2010 marks the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. To commemorate this and review commitment achieved so far, the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) resolved to conduct its 54th session in New York from 1-12 March 2010. The Social Watch network was in New York to present new findings and reports and also partnered with other NGOs to organize parallel civil society events.

It is time to put an end to the gender blindness of current economic policies concludes a new occasional paper by the international civil society network Social Watch entitled “Putting gender economics at the forefront. 15 years after the IV World Conference on Women”. The publication is launched March 9 2010 in New York to mark the 15th anniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

PRESS RELEASE
According to the information that arises from the Gender Equity Index 2009, launched on Tuesday in New York by Social Watch, those countries and regions where gender inequality was more serious are those that show less progress. By contrast, improvements were achieved on countries where inequality was not so serious. Besides the logical growth of the gap between countries or regions in relative better and worse situation, it seems clear that when it comes to fighting gender inequity, the starting point is significant.

 

Social Watch Statement through its Host Organization the Third World Institute (which has ECOSOC status) delivered by Natalia Cardona

3 March 2010, New York

Thirty years after the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and 15 years after the Fourth World Conference on Women, women all around the world still struggle for gender equality and respect for their human rights and freedoms. Despite certain progress, discrimination against women still prevails in all spheres of public life. The United Nations Member States still have not fully implemented their commitments to gender equality as an essential condition for sustainable economic and social development.  Furthermore, disagreements and tensions among member states and a crisis of unlimited proportions in global geopolitics and global governance have led to the muddling and compromise of basic human rights.

Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki at the ambassadorial-level meeting of the group of the Least Developed Countries *

New York, 25 February 2010
Mr. Chairman, Mr. Cheick Sidi Diarra, High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for inviting me to this meeting as the International Coordinator of LDC Watch. It is my regret that I could not be with you at the meeting in person today; however, I would like to share with you a few words, specifically on the preparatory process towards the LDC IV that is underway.

Two months have gone by since the Copenhagen Climate Conference that ended in failure. Through an undemocratic and non transparent process, the Copenhagen Accord was produced which was not adopted by the Conference, but only taken note of.

We are of the view that the time has now come for civil society groups and social movements to make their views known on the process and outcomes of the Copenhagen Conference.

Author: 
Jana Silverman Coordinator of Campaigns and Communications Social Watch International Secretariat

In January 2010 – almost ten years after the first World Social Forum (WSF) – over 35,000 social activists met in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to debate topics as diverse as the conference on climate change held in Copenhagen in 2009, the resurgence of US militarism in Latin America, and the growing criminalization of social protest.  Moreover, the future of the WSF, and the relationship among the Forum, NGOs and progressive governments were analyzed.

Author: 
Jana Silverman Coordinator of Campaigns and Communications Social Watch International Secretariat

After ceding to pressure from NGOs around the world, the International Monetary Fund opened up its process of investigating the possible impacts of a global Financial Transactions Tax (FTT). NGOs working on finance and development issues are currently preparing written commentaries and will be participating in face-to-face meetings with Fund officials to advocate for the implementation of the tax. The possibility of turning the vision of Keynes and Tobin into concrete financial policy is now more palpable than ever. Civil society must keep up the pressure.

Syndicate content