Annual report
Policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis have greatly exacerbated national and global inequalities. Blatant examples are the unfair distribution of care work, relying mainly on women and poorly remunerated if at all, and the global disparity in the distribution of vaccines.
The dominant interests of rich countries, and corporate powers continue to dominate political decision-making. Given the urgency of the COVID-19 crisis and the other unresolved global problems, most notably the climate emergency, it is high time for transformative policies at all levels.
This is the key message of the Spotlight on Sustainable Development Report 2021. The report is launched on the first day of the Global Week to #ACT4SDGS by a global coalition of civil society organizations and trade unions.
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The COVID-19 pandemic and the national responses to it brought the world almost to a complete lockdown. All over the world, States have intervened, to various degrees, to restrict the freedoms of their citizens in order to slow down the spread of the pandemic and prevent healthcare systems from collapsing.
What makes the situation even worse is that many countries were already confronted with massive social, ecological and economic problems before the crisis. These have not now disappeared. Climate change with its devastating consequences continues at a rapid pace; systemic racial and gender discrimination perpetuate inequality and injustice and undermine social cohesion; the increasing number of authoritarian regimes is a serious setback for human rights and the urgently needed socio-ecological transformation. The Spotlight Report 2020 unpacks various features and amplifiers of the COVID-19 emergency and its inter-linkages with other crises.
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Social Watch 1997 focuses on the issue of poverty. It includes a methodological proposal to build the Fulfilled Commitments Index. Twenty five national reports provide on the field up-to-date information. 260 pages.
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Social Watch 1998 is devoted to the issue of equity. A Chart of Progress Towards Commitments, tables and statistics are included. An indicator of political will is introduced, and tested in sixteen countries. Information on the follow-up at the national level is provided for thirty five countries. 260 pages.
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Social Watch 1999 provides an assessment of progress so far: "While the goals targeted are feasible many countries have failed to make a sufficient effort. The assistance has yet to materialize, the participation of citizens is paltry and globalisation os not benefiting those who need it most". It includes a wall chart, and national reports from thirty two countries. 222 pages.
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Social Watch 2000 evaluates achievements five years after the historic conferences of Beijing and Copenhagen. NGO coalitions from 45 countries report on national anti-poverty strategies. An updated and expanded wall chart measures progress and setbacks.
Surprisingly, the greatest achievements happened in some of the poorest countries, even if they failed to find recognition, aid or the "enabling environment" that the rich nations promised.
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World maps on poverty and wealth distribution.
Country by country progress towards the internationally agreed Social Development Goals
Recent trends in development assistance
The distribution of public expenditure in the world
The evolution of the gender gap in the world
Current status, progress and political will regarding Social Development Goals
In-depth reports on: anty-poverty strategies; the need for transparency in financial markets; ownership and participation in antipoverty strategies; the gender agenda and the Monterrey consensus; World Summit on Racism; The EU and the Millennium Development Goals.
48 country profiles by national citizen's coalitions.
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Social Watch 2001 emphasises the issue of wealth distribution. Eradication of poverty cannot be achieved in a context of outrageous disparities among and within nations. Social Watch coalitions in 47 countries track the evolution of indicators that measure poverty. The charts show how countries stand on key social indicators and how much progress they have made toward their goals. Two world maps indicate the extent of inequity by showing distribution of the world’s income.
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Can the market provide the essential services needed by the poor? The faith in privatizations as the way to reach the goals of access to safe water, basic education and health for all is not echoed by the Social Watch coalitions from around the world in their 2003 report on "The Poor and the Market".
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Fear and want still stand on the way of human security around the world and are major obstacles to achieving the development goals agreed to by all countries of the world, concludes the Social Watch Report 2004.
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