Social Watch E-Newsletter - Issue 254 - April 22, 2016

Issue 254 - April 22, 2016
 
   
 
 

Global tax governance after the Panama Papers

   
 
The Panama Papers story, the latest in a series of tax evasion scandals, evidences the importance of global cooperation on tax issues. Countries in the global North and South were shown to offer preferential treatment to foreigners— from Panama to Luxemburg from the Cayman Islands to Hong Kong. Individuals as well as huge transnational corporations are using a fragmented and inconsistently regulated global system of trans-border taxation to evade and/or avoid taxes. Developing countries are losing more than one trillion US dollars per year in illicit financial flows, the majority of which can be attributed to the abuse of transfer pricing rules. A panel chaired by former South African president Thabo Mbeki estimates the losses of Africa alone at approximately 50 billion US dollars per year. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) puts global revenue losses from Base Erosion and Profit Shifting at an annual 100 to 240 billion US dollars. Read more
   
   
 
 

How development aid is being redefined and diverted to private interests

   
 
The traditional definition of aid is being eroded at the same time that governments have committed to achieving the UN's ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Jeffrey Sachs, special adviser to the UN Secretary-General on development, told IPS Thursday.
"A lot of governments have a kind of magical thinking which is, we're all for the Sustainable Development Goals but don't come to us if you want to achieve them, go borrow from the private markets," said Sachs.
Aldo Caliari, who represents civil society in UN Financing for Development (FfD) negotiations, told journalists here Monday that there has been a "significant shift in the language" in these negotiations towards "a larger presence of the private sector". Read more
   
   
 
 

Transparency and accountability in the private sector

   
 
A move towards increased transparency and accountability in the private sector should not only apply to extraterritorial obligations, but also be used to fulfill economic and social rights (ESR) domestically. This could very well be done via the Dodd-Frank Act, which sets forth mechanisms that serve not only to fulfill and protect certain rights, but that also provide the legislative framework for third party accountability. These rights include the right to housing, credit, and an adequate standard of living, among others. Read more
   
   
 

The money needed to fight climate change and make the Sustainable Development Goals a reality is hidden in tax havens and stowed away in the pockets of vulture funds, as world leaders gather at the UN to sign the climate treaty and discuss the new goals.
Tove Maria Ryding, Tax Coordinator at the European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), said: “As the Panama Papers showed us, there is no lack of money in the world. However, instead of being used to fund poverty reduction and climate action, billions of dollars are tucked away in tax havens. Read more

 
   
   
 

Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) discusses the newly issued World Bank report on the welfare of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan, based on the analysis of UNHCR data. ANND points some significant aspects not addressed, especially the effects Syrian pre-crisis public policies. It highlights the gap between the lack of proper socioeconomic assessment of both refugees' and hosting communities and the fact that resilience and integration policies are already been negotiated with the Lebanese and Jordanian governments. This is while there no such efforts dealing with Egypt, Iraq and mainly Turkey, who are receiving large numbers of refugees. In addition, the Civil Society organizations are channeling a large share of the humanitarian aid, while they have, as well as the Syrian refugees' and hosting communities, no proper voice in the debate. Read more

 
   
 

 

 
SOCIAL WATCH IS AN INTERNATIONAL NGO WATCHDOG NETWORK MONITORING POVERTY ERADICATION AND GENDER EQUALITY
Social Watch >>
Social Watch E-Newsletter
For comments, sugestions, collaborations contact us at:
socwatch@socialwatch.org
To stop receiving this newsletter send a message with the subject "unsubscribe" to: 
socwatch@socialwatch.org