Launch of the Social Watch 2008 Report: Human Rights and Development in Focus

The 2008 Report has been launched internationally in Doha, followed by numerous activities organized by Social Watch national coalitions. The impact of these events might help insure that national governments and international institutions do not leave rights behind while trying to cope with the multiple crises affecting the entire world and especially its poorest and most vulnerable inhabitants.

Social Watch Coordinating Commitee member Mirjam van Reisen and Social Watch Coordinator Roberto Bissio participate in the launch of the 2008 Social Watch Report at the European Parliament

A rights-based approach is essential to finding sustainable solutions to the financial, food, energy, and climate change crises currently threatening the planet, argued members and allies of Social Watch during the international launch of the 2008 Social Watch Report, Rights is the Answer, which took place on December 1 in Doha, Qatar, as part of the International Conference on Financing for Development organized by the United Nations.

At the launch, representatives from diverse Social Watch coalitions gave testimonies on how fundamental flaws in the global financial architecture and lack of political will have prevented countries from complying with their international commitments to respect human rights, end gender discrimination and eliminate poverty.  According to Roberto Bissio, Social Watch Coordinator, “in recent years, new rights were created for the international financial institutions and companies, without any corresponding rights for people”, thus making it difficult to implement social and economic policies that promote development from the ground up.

Kinda Mohamadieh of the Arab NGO Network for Development, which forms part of the Social Watch coalition in Lebanon, decried the negative social effects of neo-liberal economic policies in the Arab region at the launch, stating how “the economic system in the region is anti-democratic, because it concentrates the wealth in the hands of the few who are in power”.  Also present as speakers at the global launch of the 2008 Report were Niemat Kuku, representative of the Social Watch coalition in Sudan, Prof. John Langmore of the University of Melbourne, and MEP Corina Cretu from Romania. 

In addition, a “pre-launch” event highlighting the contents of the 2008 Report was also held in Doha as part of the Civil Society Forum which preceded the official Conference.  At this event, Prof. Leonor Briones offered her insights to the audience of NGO practitioners, trade union activists, and representatives of intergovernmental institutions on how the Social Watch coalition in the Philippines uses budget analysis as a tool to hold the government accountable for promoting economic and social rights. Colm O´Cuanacháin, Senior Director of Campaigns for Amnesty International, also spoke at the event, arguing that without the full participation and empowerment of the world’s citizenry, combined with tools to ensure the accountability of governments and of other non-state actors that impact upon rights, the benefits of globalization will not translate into more social development and stronger protection of human rights. 

The international launch events in Doha were followed by a host of activities organized by Social Watch national coalitions with the goal of disseminating locally the Report’s messages on linking human rights to development policies. Many of these national initiatives were held on or around December 10, the day in which the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was commemorated.

For example, Decidamos, the focal point of Social Watch in Paraguay, presented the Report on December 4 to local press, political analysts, members of civil society and governmental representatives, emphasizing the need to improve gender indicators in the country.  Social Watch member organizations in Canada held their launch on December 8 in the capital city of Ottawa, alerting the public about growing income inequalities among Canadians.  In Poland, the Social Watch national coalition publicly delivered the Polish-language version of the Report to their Parliament on December 10, and in Argentina, human rights organizations affiliated to Social Watch launched the Report on that same day, celebrating not just 60 years of the UDHR but also 25 years of uninterrupted democracy in the South American country. 

Other launch events took place over the past weeks to wide acclaim in Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Ghana, Spain, Zambia, as well as the European Parliament, and more are yet to come, in India, Italy and this year´s World Social Forum, among other places. It is hoped that the impact of these activities will extend beyond the events themselves, and contribute to the actions of civil society to insure that national governments and international institutions do not leave rights behind while they are in the process of constructing solutions to ameliorate the present crises that are affecting the entire world and especially its poorest and most vulnerable inhabitants.