Social Watch news

Sources: ECLACXinhua.

The delay in approving a new ceiling for public debt in the United States is threatening the international financial system, and this could have a dramatic impact on the value of assets, exchange rates, levels of global activity and, as a result, on demand for goods and services produced and exported by Latin America and the Caribbean, warned the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Source: The Star.

The outcome of the 1992 Earth Summit was large in ambition but poor in implementation. With the world in even larger crisis, the search is on for stronger institutions, as a meeting in Solo last week revealed, wrote Martin Khor in his most recent column for The Star, one of the leading Malaysian newspapers.

Photo: dsb nola/
Creative Commons

Source: Pew Research Center.

Wealth gaps between ethnic communities have risen to record highs in the United States. The median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black ones and 18 times that of Hispanic families, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of government data.

Foto:Sitio de la Cumbre de los
Pueblos

Source: Lívia Duarte’s report for the World Social Forum

Representatives of 150 social organizations and movements from various countries announced in Rio that the Peoples’ Summit will be held in parallel to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20), which will take place next year from June 4-6. 

(Ilustration: Eurostep)

Source: Eurostep.

The European Commission launched seven sustainability schemes which will be used to verify actual mitigation impact of biofuels. The launch, however, has raised fresh concerns about the European Union’s policy on this matter, with critics arguing those plans fall short in addressing the social impacts of biofuel production, reported Eurostep.

Incidents in Abbasiya.
(Source: Signalfire.org)

Source: Report by Salma Shukrallah, Al Ahram

Parties and civil organizations, amongst them Mosharka (national focal point of Social Watch), demand that Egypt's military council and government take responsibility for Abbassiya violence. The groups call for an independent committee to investigate the episode, as they compare it to the infamous 'Battle of the Camel'.

Aung San Suu Kyi. (Photo:NLD)

Source: Mizzima, reproduced by Burma News International

The National League for Democracy (NLD), opposition party banned by the Burmese military regime, plans to take its case to the United Nations Council of Human Rights (UNCHR). Thai-based Burma Lawyers’ Council (BLC, focal point of Social Watch) supports the move, reported Mizzima, a news agency run by Burmese journalists exiled in India.

Members of the new Coordinating
Committee of Social Watch.
(Photo: Social Watch)

Source: Social Watch

Leonor Briones, of Philippines, and Tanya Dawkins, of the United States, were elected as co-chairs of the Coordinating Committee of Social Watch on 16 July, after the network’s Global Assembly, held in Manila last week. The 15 members of this body were chosen in a gender balanced way and represent Latin America, Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and the Arab region.

Source: The Star of Malaysia

Two rating agencies, Moody’s and Standard and Poor, warned they might downgrade United States debt from its AAA status if the political impasse over a possible default continues, wrote Martin Khor, Executive Director of South Centre, in his most recent column for The Star, one of the leading Malaysian newspapers. There are several reasons why the world, and especially the developing countries, should be alarmed at this situation.

Source: Ceské Noviny

The Social Watch 2010 report released on Thursday in Prague criticised the Czech Republic for cutting welfare benefits and the planned government reforms that it says threaten low-income families who may fall into poverty, reported the Ceské Noviny newspaper

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