SOCIAL WATCH E-NEWSLETTER - Issue 122 - March 15, 2013

Issue 122 - March 15, 2013
Social Watch Report 2013
 
 

Malta: Not all aid is development aid

Malta, like all New Member States of the European Union, pledged to reach a level of official development assistance (ODA) of 0.17% of its gross national income (GNI) by 2010 and to increase it to 0.33% by 2015. Does Malta keep its promises to eradicate poverty in the world?

Civil society organizations have expressed their concern given that the government spends a large amount of ODA funds in the detention of irregular immigrants, many of them asylum seekers, the vulnerability of most of which is recognized through their refugee status or other forms of protection. Although the improvement in the distribution of ODA should be noted, 88% of bilateral aid is not clear. This is the reason why the government has been most criticized by NGOs in Malta and abroad.

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Thailand: The energy inequality makes development unsustainable

Thai villagers protestingto stop the Xayaburi
Dam. (Photo: internationalrivers.org)

The approval of the 2010-2030 Energy Development Plan in Thailand will promote energy inequality among the population and the poorest will bear the heavy environmental costs of power plants, coal plants and even nuclear reactors, undermining the achievements of the MDGs that the country claims to have achieved by 2015.

Academics, civil society organizations and local community organizations have expressed their opposition, proposed a new plan based on a holistic approach to energy planning and urged to shift from the strong dependency on fossil fuel to use energy more efficiently using sources of renewable energy.

The latest Energy Development Plan (2010-2030), elaborated mainly by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, is strongly influenced by the demands of the automotive and foundry industries, which will lead the national development plan for the next 20 years.

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Finance: Illicit flows undermine human rights, says UN expert
"Illicit financial flows - generated from crime, corruption, embezzlement and tax evasion - represent a major drain on the resources of developing countries, reducing tax revenues and investment inflows, hindering development, exacerbating poverty and undermining the enjoyment of human rights," a United Nations independent expert has said.
In an interim report presented at the current twenty-second session of the UN Human Rights Council, Independent Expert on foreign debt Mr Cephas Lumina said that it is estimated that, on average, developing countries lost between US$783 billion and US$1,138 billion in illicit financial outflows in 2010.
The expert added that these flows have increased in real terms to 8.6 per cent over the period 2001-2010, suggesting that existing measures to tackle the problem have not had a significant impact.
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SOCIAL WATCH IS AN INTERNATIONAL NGO WATCHDOG NETWORK MONITORING POVERTY ERADICATION AND GENDER EQUALITY
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