Social Watch Report 2010
Social Watch Report 2010
Social Watch Report 2010
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SOCIAL WATCH REPORT <strong>2010</strong>
SOCIAL WATCH REPORT <strong>2010</strong>After the fall
SOCIAL WATCHCoordinating CommitteeTanya Dawkins (USA) and Emily Joy Sikazwe (Zambia), co-chairs. Barbara Adams (New York), Nancy Baroni (Canada), Yao Graham (Ghana),Yasmin Ismail (Egypt), Allam Jarrar (Palestine), Himanshu Jha (India), Gustavo Luna (Bolivia), Edward Oyugi (Kenya), Norayda ArabellaPonce Sosa (Guatemala), Maria Victoria Raquiza (Philippines), Genoveva Tisheva (Bulgaria), Mirjam van Reisen (Brussels) and Roberto Bissio(Uruguay, ex officio).The International Secretariat of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> is based in Montevideo, Uruguay, hosted by the Third World Institute (ITeM).Editor-in-ChiefRoberto BissioEditorAmir HamedProduction ManagerAna ZeballosAssistantNathalia BlancoAssociate EditorsKaren Judd, Tina Johnson, Jon SteinbergEditorial TeamGustavo Alzugaray, Enrique Buchichio, Silvana SilveiraEditorial Team AssistantLorena LogiurattoResearch TeamJuan Andrés Moraes (Departamento de Ciencia Política, Universidad de la República, Uruguay)Santiago López Cariboni (Department of Government at the University of Essex)Advocacy and NetworkingAna Inés Abelenda, Mariana MásTranslationOlga Acosta, Laura Bissio, Clio Bugel, Lucía Colombino, Marcela Dutra, Bachir El Omari,Richard Manning, María Laura Mazza, Álvaro Queiruga, Álvaro Sahonero, Alejandra Trelles, Mercedes UgarteTechnical supportArturo GonzálezWeb design and developmentXimena Pucciarelli, Ernesto Rapetti© Copyright <strong>2010</strong>INSTITUTO DEL TERCER MUNDO18 de Julio 1077/ 903, Montevideo 11100, Uruguayitem@item.org.uyFax: +598 (2) 902 0490 ext.113Made possible thanks to the funding and support of the European Union and Oxfam Novib.The International Secretariat of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> also receives funding and support from the Ford Foundation and the Coalition of the FlemishNorth South Movement - 11.11.11.The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the EuropeanUnion, Oxfam Novib, the Ford Foundation or the Coalition of the Flemish North South Movement 11.11.11.The content of this publication may be reproduced by non-governmental organizations for non-commercial purposes (please send us copies).Any other form of reproduction, storage in a retrieval system or transmission by any means for commercial purposes requires prior permissionfrom ITeM.Original layout: MONOCROMOLayout: FORMA ESTUDIOwww.formaestudio.comPhone: +598 (2) 916 3273Cover photo: ©istockphoto.com/vesilvioInfographics BCI article: www.icodemon.comPrinted by: Gráfica MoscaPrinted in UruguayEdición hecha al amparo del Art. 79 de la Ley 13.349(Comisión del Papel)ISSN: 0797-9231Dep. Legal: 353.487For orders and requests please contact:<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>Casilla de Correo 1539Montevideo 11000, Uruguaysocwatch@socialwatch.orgwww.socialwatch.orgPhone: +598 (2) 902 0490Fax: +598 (2) 902 0490 ext.113
Socioeconômicos (Inesc); Rede Dawn;Ação pela Tributação das TransaçõesEspeculativas em Apoio aos Cidadãos(Attac); ActionAid; Articulação deMulheres Brasileiras (AMB); Articulação deMulheres Negras Brasileiras; AssessoriaJurídica e Estudos de Gênero (Themis);Associação Brasileira de OrganizaçõesNão-Governamentais (Abong); AssociaçãoBrasileira Interdisciplinar de Aids (Abia);CEN/Fórum de Mulheres do Piauí;Centro de Articulação de PopulaçõesMarginalizadas (Ceap); Centro deAtividades Culturais, Econômicas eSociais (Caces); Centro de Cultura LuizFreire; Centro de Defesa da Criança e doAdolescente/Movimento de Emus; Centrode Defesa dos Direitos Humanos BentoRubião; Centro de Estudos de Defesado Negro do Pará; Centro de Mulheresdo Cabo (CMC); Centro de Pesquisa eAssessoria (Esplar); Cidadania EstudoPesquisa Informação e Ação (Cepia);Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT/Fian);Comitê Latino-Americano e do Caribe paraa Defesa dos Direitos da Mulher (Cladem);Comunicação, Informação e Educaçãoem Gênero (Cemina); Comunidade Baha’í;Conselho Estadual dos Direitos da Mulher(Cedim); Fala Preta; Fórum da AmazôniaOriental (Faor); Fórum de Mulheres deSalvador; Fórum de Mulheres do RioGrande Norte; Grupo de Mulheres NegrasMalunga; Instituto da Mulher Negra(Geledés); Instituto de Estudos da Religião(Iser); Instituto de Estudos, Formação eAssessoria em Estudos Sociais (Pólis);Instituto de Pesquisa e PlanejamentoUrbano e Regional (Ippur/UFRJ); InstitutoPatrícia Galvão; Laboratório de AnálisesEconômicas, Sociais e Estatísticas dasRelações Raciais (LAESER); MovimentoNacional de Direitos Humanos (MNDH);Nova; Rede de Desenvolvimento Humano(Redeh); Rede Mulher de Educação; RedeSaúde; Ser Mulher – Centro de Estudose Ação da Mulher Urbana e Rural; SOSCorpo; SOS Mata Atlântica• Bulgaria:Bulgarian Gender and ResearchFoundation (BGRF), office@bgrf.org,www.bgrf.org;BGRF Sofia, BGRF Plovdiv, BGRFHaskovo, ATTAC Bulgaria; Bulgarian-European Partnership Association(BEPA); Confederation of IndependentTrade Unions in Bulgaria (KNSB);“Demetra” Association Burgas• Burma:Burma Lawyers’ Council, aunghtoo@csloxinfo.com, www.blc-burma.org• Cambodia:SILAKA, silaka@silaka.org, www.silaka.org;NGO Committee on CEDAW; NGOForum on Cambodia; Gender andDevelopment for Cambodia GAD/C;Women for Prosperity (WFP); Committeefor Free and Fair Election in Cambodia(COMFREL); Cambodia DevelopmentResearch Institute (CDRI); CambodiaWomen for Peace and Development(CWPD); Neutral and ImpartialCommittee for Free and Fair Electionin Cambodia (NICFEC); Women MediaCenter; CEDAW• Cameroon:Fédération des Organisations de laSociété Civile Camerounaise (FOSCAM),mballamballa2001@yahoo.fr, andelac@yahoo.com, www.foscam.org;Dynamique Citoyenne; Centrale Syndicaledu Secteur Public (CSP); INTERACTION;Fondation Conseil Jeune (FCJ); Collectifdes ONG pour la Sécurité Alimentaireet le Développement Rural (COSADER);ASSOAL; Centre de Recherches pourle Développement Durable en Afrique(CREDDA); Centre Régional Africainpour le Développement Endogène etCommunautaire (CRADEC); FemmeSanté Développement (FESADE);CIPRE; Collectif des ONG Agrées auCameroun (CONGAC); Réseau Nationaldes Habitants du Cameroun (RNHC);ReachOut; SYDEV; Ligue des Droits etLibertés; NWADO; Voies Nouvelles; UnMonde Avenir; Centre de Recherche etd’Appui pour le Développement intégréde la Femme (CRADIF); CEPI; CARDDED;Governance and EntrepreneurshipConsulting Group (GECOG)• Canada:Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives(CCPA), ccpa@policyalternatives.ca,www.policyalternatives.ca; CanadianFeminist Alliance for InternationalAffairs (FAFIA), nbaroni@fafia-afai.org, www.fafia-afai.org; The North-South Institute (NSI), jfoster@nsiins.ca,www.nsi-ins.ca; Women inInformal Employment: Globalizing andOrganizing (WIEGO), www.wiego.org• Central African Republic:Groupe d’Action de Paix et deFormation pour la Transformation(GAPAFOT), crosiribi@yahoo.fr,gapafot@yahoo.fr, www.grip.org/rafal/membres/gapafot.htm• Chile:ACCION, Asociación Chilena de ONG,info@accionag.cl, www.accionag.cl; Centro de Estudios Nacionalesde Desarrollo Alternativo (CENDA),mpascual@cendachile.cl, www.cendachile.cl• Colombia:Plataforma Colombiana de DerechosHumanos, Democracia y Desarrollo –Secretaría Técnica Corporación Cactus,direccion@cactus.org.co, www.plataforma-colombiana.org• Costa Rica:Red Costarricense de ControlCiudadano, Centro de Estudios yPublicaciones Alforja (CEP Alforja),ciudadania@cepalforja.org, www.cepalforja.org;Agenda Cantonal de Mujeres deDesamparados (ACAMUDE); AgendaPolítica de Mujeres; AsociaciónCentro de Educación PopularVecinos; Asociación Centroamericanapara la Economía, la Salud, y elAmbiente (ASEPESA); Asociación deProfesores/as de Segunda Enseñanza(APSE); Asociación Madreselva,Derechos Humanos y Salud Integral;Asociación para el Desarrollo delTrabajo; Capacitación y AcciónAlternativa (PROCAL); Centro para elDesarrollo y Capacitación en Salud(CEDCAS); Colectiva por el Derechoa Decidir; Comisión de DerechosHumanos (CODEHU); Coordinadorade Organizaciones <strong>Social</strong>es para laDefensa de los Derechos de la Niñez(COSECODENI); Defensa de Niñas yNiños Internacional (DNI); Dirección deExtensión Universitaria de la UniversidadEstatal a Distancia; FederaciónCostarricense de Organizaciones dePersonas con Discapacidad (FECODIS);Fundación Pedagógica Nuestra América;Fundación Promoción; Liga Internacionalde Mujeres por Paz y Libertad (LIMPAL);Movimiento Diversidad; Mujeres Unidasen Salud y Desarrollo (MUSADE); RedesComunitarias de Salud de la Provinciade Puntarenas (Pacífico Central);Servicio de Paz y Justicia (SERPAJ);Sindicato de Empleados/as del BancoNacional (SEBANA); Unión Nacional deEmpleados de la Caja Costarricense deSeguro <strong>Social</strong> (CCSS, UNDECA)• Cyprus:Centre for the Advancement ofResearch and Development inEducational Technology (CARDET),pambos@cardet.org, www.cardet.org;KISA–Action for Equality Support andAntiracism in Cyprus; MediterraneanInstitute for Gender Studies• Czech Republic:Ecumenical Academy Prague,ekumakad@ekumakad.cz, tozicka@ceskoprotichudobe.cz, www.ekumakad.cz;Advanced Development Technologies(ADEPTTs); Centre of Global Studies;Gender & Sociology Gender Studies;Forum 50 %; Economy and SocietyTrust; Nesehnuti Masarykovademokraticka akademie• Ecuador:Centro de Derechos Económicos y<strong>Social</strong>es (CDES), cdes@cdes.org.ec,www.cdes.org.ec• Egypt:The Egyptian Association forCommunity Participation Enhancement(EACPE), cpe_eg@yahoo.com, www.mosharka.org;National Association for Human Rights;New Woman Centre; Research andResource Centre for Human Rights• El Salvador:Asociación Intersectorial para elDesarrollo Económico y el Progreso<strong>Social</strong> (CIDEP), cidep@cidepelsalvador.org, www.cidepelsalvador.org;Comité de Familiares de Víctimas deViolaciones a los Derechos Humanosde El Salvador “Marianela García Villas”(CODEFAM); Fundación Maquilishuat(FUMA); Centro para la Defensa de losDerechos Humanos “Madeleine Lagadec”• Eritrea:Eritrean Movement for Democracyand Human Rights (EMDHR),danielrezene@gmail.com• Estonia:Estonian Roundtable for DevelopmentCooperation, info@terveilm.net, www.terveilm.net• European Union:European Solidarity Towards EqualParticipation of People (EUROSTEP),admin@eurostep.org, sstocker@eurostep.org, www.eurostep.org• Finland:Service Centre for DevelopmentCooperation (KEPA), info@kepa.fi,www.kepa.fi• France:Secours Catholique-Caritas France,michel.roy@secours-catholique.org, www.secours-catholique.org; Coordination SUD, dupont@coordinationsud.org, www.coordinationsud.org• Germany:<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Germany, jensmartens@globalpolicy.org, klaus.heidel@woek.de, www.social-watch.de;Asienhaus; Deutscher Caritasverband;DGB-Bildungswerk; FIAN SectionGermany; Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung; GlobalPolicy Forum Europe; IG Metall; INKOTANetzwerk; Ökumenischer TrägerkreisArmut/Reichtum – Gerechtigkeit; PaxChristi; Philippinenbüro; Pro Asyl; Terredes hommes Germany; World Economy,Ecology & Development (WEED),Werkstatt Ökonomie• Ghana:Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana(NETRIGHT) – Convenor of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>Ghana, netright@twnafrica.org;Third World Network Africa; ABANTUfor Development (ROWA); GhanaTrades Union Congress (GTUC);General Agricultural Worker’s Unionof GTUC (GAWU); Gender Studies andHuman Rights Documentation Centre(Gender Centre); Women’s Initiative& Self Empowerment (WISE); TheCoalition on the Women’s Manifestofor Ghana (WMC); Integrated <strong>Social</strong>Development Centre (ISODEC);Foundation for GrassRoots Initiativesin Africa (GrassRootsAfrica); Centre forDemocracy and Development (CDD);Civic Response; National CoalitionAgainst Water Privatisation (NCAP);Institute for Democratic Governance(IDEG); Save the Children Ghana; GhanaAssociation of Teachers (GNAT); GhanaAssociation of the Blind; ConsumersAssociation of Ghana; Christian Councilof Ghana; Ghana Registered NursesAssociation (GRNA); University of GhanaStudents Representatives Council;National Union of Ghana Students(NUGS); Ghana Federation of Labour;Ecumenical Association for SustainableAgricultural & Rural Development(ECASARD); Fataale Rural Foundation;Civil Society Coalition on Land (CICOL)• Guatemala:CONGCOOP – Coordinación de ONG yCooperativas, congcoop@congcoop.org.gt, www.congcoop.org.gt;Asociación de Desarrollo Defensa delMedio Ambiente y Recursos Naturalesde Guatemala (ACCION ECOLOGICA);Asociación de Desarrollo para AméricaCentral (ADEPAC); Asociación para elDesarrollo Integral (ADI); Alternativa parael Desarrollo Ambiental (APDA); Centrode Documentación y Educación Popular(CIEP); Centro de Investigación, Estudiosy Promoción de Derechos Humanos(CIEPRODH); Coordinadora Cakchiquelde Desarrollo Integral (COKADI);Coordinadora Mesoamericana para elDesarrollo Integral (COMADEP); ConsejoCristiano de Agencias de Desarrollo(CONCAD); Federación de CooperativasAgrícolas de Guatemala (FEDECOAG);Fundación para el Apoyo Técnico enProyectos (FUNDATEP); Fundación parael Desarrollo Comunitario (FUNDESCO);Asociación (IDEAS); Instituto deEnseñanza para el Desarrollo Sostenible(IEPADES); Proyecto de DesarrolloSantiago (PRODESSA); Servicios yApoyo al Desarrollo de Guatemala(SADEGUA); Servicios de CapacitaciónTécnica (SERCATE)• Honduras:Centro de Estudios de la MujerHonduras (CEM-H), cemhhonduras@yahoo.es, anmfech@yahoo.es, www.cemh.org.hn;Articulación Feminista de Redes Locales;<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> in the worldVI<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Centro de Estudios y Acción para elDesarrollo de Honduras (CESADEH);Centro de Hondureño de Promoción parael Desarrollo Comunitario (CEHPRODEC);Marcha Mundial de la Mujeres–CapítuloHonduras; Mujeres Sindicalistas(Sindicato de la Educación SIEMPE),Red de Mujeres Colonia Ramón AmayaAmador, Red de Mujeres Colonia CruzRoja, Red de Mujeres del Municipiode La Paz, Red de Mujeres Jovenesdel Distrito Central, Red de MujeresPositivas de Honduras, REDMUNA• Hungary:ATTAC Hungary, benyikmatyas@gmail.com, http://attac.zpok.hu;Foundation for the Hungarian <strong>Social</strong>Forum Movements; Hungarian AntifascistLeague; Karl Marx Society; Worker’s FreeTime Association of Ferencvaros• India:National <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Coalition(NSWC), info@socialwatchindia.com,nationalsocialwatch@yahoo.co.in,www.socialwatchindia.net;Adivasi Sanghamam; Agragati; AsianDevelopment Research Institute;Association for Democratic Reforms(ADR); Centre for Community Economicsand Development Consultants Society(CECOEDECON); Centre for PolicyStudies (CPS); Centre for WorldSolidarity (CWS); Centre for Youth and<strong>Social</strong> Development (CYSD); CommunityDevelopment Foundation (CDF); DalitBahujan Shramik Union (DBSU);Ekta Parishad; Forum of VoluntaryOrganisations (West Bengal, Kolkata);Gene Campaign; Gramin Yuva Abhikram(GYA); HOPE; Institute of DevelopmentStudies; Institute for Motivating SelfEmployment (IMSE); KABIR; Karnataka<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>; Kerala <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>;LJK; Madhya Pradesh VoluntaryAction Network (MPVAN); MayaramSurjan Foundation (MSF); NationalCentre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS);Oxfam Novib; People’s Campaign forSocio-Economic Equity in Himalayas(PcfSEEiH); Pratham; PRS LegislativeResearch; Rejuvenate India Movement(RIM); RTDC- Voluntary Action Group(RTDC- VAG); SAFDAR; SamarthanCentre for Development Support; SouthAsian Network for <strong>Social</strong> and AgriculturalDevelopment (SANSAD); SPAR, SwarajFoundation; Tamilnadu <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>(TNSW); Uttar Pradesh Voluntary ActionNetwork (UPVAN); Vidyasagar SamajikSuraksha Seva Evam Shodh Sansthan,Vikas Sahyog Pratisthan (VSP); Youth forVoluntary Action (YUVA)• Indonesia:Women Headed HouseholdEmpowerment Program (PEKKA),naniz@centrin.net.id;Alfa – Omega; ASPPUK; FITRA;Formasi Indonesia; Forum KeberdayaanMasyarakat Bengkulu; Forum LSM DIY;Forum Perempuan; Kalimantan; INFID;LP2M Padang; Nurani Perempuan;PCSSF – Papua; PeningkatanKeberdayaan Masyarakat (PKM) Sultra;Perekumpulan Sada Ahmo, PerkumpulanPanca Karsa; PERSEPSI; PKBI Bengkulu;PKM Nasional; Seknas Walhi; SwaraParangpuan Sulut• Iraq:Iraqi Al-Amal Association, baghdad@iraqi-alamal.org, www.iraqi-alamal.org;Iraqi Council for Peace and Solidarity;Iraqi Women Network; REACH org• Italy:<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Italian Coalition,info@socialwatch.it, jason.nardi@socialwatch.it, www.socialwatch.it;Amnesty International–Italy; AssociazioniCristiane Lavoratori Italiani (ACLI);Associazione Ricreativa e CulturaleItaliana (ARCI); Campagna per laRiforma della Banca Mondiale (CRBM);Fondazione Culturale ResponsabilitàEtica; Lunaria; Mani Tese; Sbilanciamoci;Ucodep; World Wildlife Fund – Italy(WWF)• Jordan:Jordanian Women’s Union,jwu@go.com.jo, www.jordanianwomenunion.org;Jordanian Association to CombatIlliteracy• Kenya:<strong>Social</strong> Development Network(SODNET), sodnet@sodnet.or.ke, www.sodnet.org;Kenya Human Rights Commission(KHRC); Kituo Cha Sheria; Huruma<strong>Social</strong> Forum; SEATINI; Daraja-CivicInitiatives Forum; Kenya Organizationfor Environmental Education (KOEE);Sustainability Development <strong>Watch</strong>(Sus<strong>Watch</strong>-Kenya); Migori Clan; <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong>/Futa Magendo Chapters; Bunge LaMwananchi; Kenya Debt Relief Network(KENDREN); Undugu Society; Realityof Trade (Kenya); Haki Elimu; MakueniResidents Association; Logolink; KenyaLand Alliance; KETAM; Child Fund Africa;Rarieda <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>; Nyeri <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong>; Release Political Prisoners(RPP); BEACON; Kenya-Cuba FriendshipAssociation; Mazira Foundation• Korea, Rep.:Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice(CCEJ), suyoung@ccej.or.kr, iccej@ccej.or.kr, www.ccej.or.kr• Lebanon:Arab NGO Network for Development(ANND), annd@annd.org, www.annd.org;Ecole <strong>Social</strong>e-USJ; LebaneseDevelopment Forum; LebaneseNGO Network; Lebanese PhysicalHandicapped Union (LPHU); NajdehAssociation; Secours Populaire Libanais• Lithuania:Centre for Civic Initiatives, girvydas@pic.lt, www.pic.lt• Malaysia:Third World Network (TWN), twnet@po.jaring.my, www.twnside.org.sg;Consumers Association of Penang,meenaco@pd.jaring.my, www.consumer.org.my;Cini Smallholders’ Network; PenangInshore Fishermen Welfare Association;Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of theEarth, Malaysia); Teras PengupayaanMelayu• Malta:Koperazzjoni Internazzjonali (KOPIN),kopin@maltaforum.org, jmsammut@maltanet.net, www.kopin.org• Mauritania:Réseau des organisations de lasociété civile pour la Promotion de laCitoyenneté (RPC), resrpc@gmail.com,dogoli56@yahoo.fr• Mexico:DECA Equipo Pueblo, pueblodip@equipopueblo.org.mx, www.equipopueblo.org.mx; ESCR CivilSociety Coalition (Espacio DESC);DECA Equipo Pueblo; Casa y Ciudadde Coalición Hábitat México; CátedraUNESCO de Derechos Humanos de laUniversidad Nacional Autónoma deMéxico; Centro de Estudios <strong>Social</strong>esy Culturales Antonio de Montesinos(CAM); Centro de Derechos HumanosMiguel Agustín Pro Juárez (PRODH);Centro de Investigación y Promoción<strong>Social</strong> (CIPROSOC); Centro deReflexión y Acción Laboral (CEREAL)de Fomento Cultural y Educativo;Comisión Mexicana de Defensa yPromoción de los Derechos Humanos(CMDPDH); Consultoría Especializada enJusticiabilidad de los DESC (CEJUDESC);Defensoría del Derecho a la Salud; FIANSección México; Instituto Mexicanode Democracia y Derechos Humanos(IMDHD); Instituto Mexicano para elDesarrollo Comunitario (IMDEC); LigaMexicana de Defensa de DerechosHumanos (LIMEDDH); Oficina Regionalpara América Latina y el Caribe de laCoalición Internacional del Hábitat;Radar-Colectivo de Estudios Alternativosen Derecho• Moldova:National Women’s Studies andInformation Centre “Partnership forDevelopment”, cpd@progen.md, www.progen.md• Mongolia:Democracy Education Centre (DEMO),demo@magicnet.mn, www.demo.org.mn;Transparency Foundation; ResponsibleMining Initiative• Morocco:Espace Associatif, contact@espaceassociatif.ma,www.espace-associatif.ma;Association Démocratique des Femmesdu Maroc (ADFM); AssociationMarocaine des Droits Humains (AMDH);Organisation Marocaine des DroitsHumains (OMDH); Union Marocainedu Travail (UMT); TransparencyMaroc; Réseau pour le droit à la santé;Association de Développement LocalRabat (ADL); Association Professionnelledes Tapissiers; Association ChantierJeunesse; Association Marocainepour l’Education de la Jeunesse;Confédération Démocratique du Travail;Organisation Démocratique du Travail;Forum des Economistes Marocains;Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches AzizBlal (CERAB); Coordination contre lacherté de la vie; Said SAADI; AbderrahimDIAB• Mozambique:Liga Moçambicana dos DireitosHumanos, cnesta@gmail.com, www.ldh.org.mz;Grupo Moçambicano da Divida;Associacão dos ParlamentaresEuropeus para Africa (AWEPA); Rede deOrganizações Contra Sida (MONASO);Sociedade Aberta; Jornalistas Para osDireitos Humanos• Nepal:Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN),akarki@rrn.org.np, sarba@rrn.org.np,jyoti@rrn.org.np, www.rrn.org.np;National Alliance for Human Rights and<strong>Social</strong> Justice (the national networkof more than 1,000 human rightsorganisations0; Child Workers ConcernCentre (CWIN); NGO Federation of Nepal(the national network of more than 4,500NGOs); General Federation of NepaleseTrade Union; South Asia Alliance forPoverty Eradication (SAAPE); LDC<strong>Watch</strong>; Jagaran Nepal; Children-Womenin <strong>Social</strong> Service and Human Rights(CWISH)• Netherlands:OXFAM NOVIB Netherlands, www.oxfamnovib.nl; National Committeefor International Cooperation andSustainable Development (NCDO),info@ncdo.nl, www.ncdo.nl• Nicaragua:Coordinadora Civil (CC), fidelmoreira@ccer.org.ni, voceria@ccer.org.ni, www.ccer.org.ni;Acción Ciudadana; Asociación deMujeres Nicaragüenses Luisa AmandaEspinoza (AMNLAE); Consejo dela Juventud de Nicaragua (CJN);Coordinadora de ONGs que trabajan conla Niñez y la Adolescencia (CODENI);Federación de Organismos NoGubernamentales (FONG); Federaciónde Organizaciones por la Rehabilitacióne Integración (FECONORI); Foro deEducación y Desarrollo Humano (FEDH);Mesa Agropecuaria y Forestal (MAF);Movimiento Comunal Nicaragüense(MCN); Movimiento PedagógicoNicaragüense (MPN); Red de Mujerescontra la Violencia; Red Nicaragüense deComercio Comunitario (RENICC); RedNicaragüense por la Democracia y elDesarrollo Local; Red de Vivienda; UniónNacional de Agricultores y Ganaderos(UNAG)• Nigeria:<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Nigeria: Socio EconomicRights Initiative (SRI), onyegur@yahoo.com;Africa Youth Growth Foundation;Campaign for Child’s Right and Survival(CCRS); Care and Action Research(CaRE-NGO); Chiamaka CooperativeUnion; Christian Foundation for<strong>Social</strong> Justice & Equity; CommunityConservation Initiative; CommunityHealth and Development Advisory Trust(COHDAT); Community Life AdvancementProject (CLAP); Conscientizing againstInjustices and Violence (CAN); Credit &Thrift Society; Daughter of Virtue andEmpowerment Initiatives (DOVENET);Destiny Daughters of Nigeria (DEDAN);Federated Ebonyi Women Association(FEWA); Friendly Environment andHuman Development Foundation(FEHDF); Initiative Development Now(IDN); International Centre for YouthDevelopment (ICYD); Kanewa WomenGroup; Life Intervention Project(LIP); Methodist Diocese of Enugu;Mindset and Community AdvancementOperations (MICADO); National Councilof Women Societies (NCWS Abia StateBranch); National Productivity CentreCoop; Natural Resources DevelopmentMotivators; Nigerian Concerned Groupfor Environment, Population andDevelopment; NOB Movement for theLess privileged; Oasis of the Elderly,Youth & Family Development (OEYFAD);Osa Foundation; Otia DevelopmentFoundation; People’s Rights Organization(PRO); Rural Life ImprovementFoundation (RULIF); Safe Motherhood& Child Survival Organization of Africa(SMACS); Safe Motherhood LadiesAssociation (SMLAS); SEDAFRICA;Survival Foundation Network (SUFON);Volunteer Societies of NigeriaOrganization on AIDS (VOSONOA);<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>VII
Women Empowerment and PovertyAlleviation (WEPA); Women in Nigeria(WIN); Women in Nigeria (WIN), ImoState; Women of Virtue; Women Survivaland Development Association; WomenUnited for Economic Empowerment(WUEE); Youth Resource DevelopmentEducation and Leadership Center forAfrica (YORDEL AFRICA)• Pakistan:Civil Society Support Programme(CSSP), csspsindh@yahoo.com, soonharani@yahoo.com;Indus Development Foundation,qureshiaijaz@yahoo.com• Palestine:Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO),j_allam@hotmail.com, www.pngo.net;Arab Association for Human Rights;Bisan Center for Research andDevelopment• Paraguay:Decidamos, Campaña por la ExpresiónCiudadana, direccion@decidamos.org.py, www.decidamos.org.py;Educación Comunicación y TecnologíaAlternativa (BASE–ECTA); Centro deDocumentación y Estudios (CDE);Centro de Estudios Paraguayos AntonioGuasch (CEPAG); FE Y ALEGRÍAMovimiento de Educación PopularIntegral; ÑEMONGUETARA Programade Educación y Comunicación Popular;Servicio de Educación y Apoyo <strong>Social</strong>(SEAS–AR); Servicio de EducaciónPopular (SEDUPO); Servicio Paz yJusticia Paraguay (SERPAJ–PY)• Peru:Comité de Iniciativa, Grupo de AcciónInternacional de la ConferenciaNacional sobre Desarrollo <strong>Social</strong>(CONADES), cedep@cedepperu.org,hecbejar@yahoo.com, www.conades.org.pe;Asociación Nacional de Centros deInvestigación; Promoción <strong>Social</strong> yDesarrollo; Centro de Estudios para elDesarrollo y la Participación (CEDEP);Grupo de Economía Solidaria; GrupoGénero y Economía; PlataformaInteramericana de Derechos Humanos,Comité Perú; Red Jubileo 2000• Philippines:<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Philippines, sowat@info.com.ph, info@socialwatchphilippines.org, www.socialwatchphilippines.org;Action for Economic Reforms (AER);ALAGAD-Mindanao; Albay NGO-PONetwork; Alliance of CommunityDevelopment Advocate; Alliance ofCommunity Development AdvocatesProvincial NGO Federation of NuevaVizcaya; Alliance of ConcernedTeachers(ACT); Alternate Forum forResearch in Mindanao (AFRIM);Alternative Community-CenteredOrganization for Rural Development(ACCORD); Asian NGO Coalition forAgrarian Reform and Rural Development(ANGOC); Bantay Katilingban; BanwangTuburan; BAPAKA; Bataan NGO-PONetwork; Bisaya Alliance Growth andSustainable Sugar Estate (BAGASSE);Bohol Alliance of Non-GovernmentalOrganizations (BANGON); Broad Initiativefor Negros Development (BIND);CARET Inc.; Caucus of DevelopmentNGO Networks (CODENGO); Caucuson Poverty Reduction; CCAGG;CCF Reconciliation Center; Centerfor Migrant Advocacy Philippines(CMA–Phils.); Center for Policy andExecutive Development (CPED); CentroSaka, Inc.; Civil Society Network forEducation Reforms (E-Net); CMLC;COMPAX–Cotabato; Co-Multiversity;Convergence; Daluyong Ugnayan ngmga Kababaihan (National Federationof Women’s Group); DAWN-SoutheastAsia / Women & Gender Institute; EarthSavers Movement; Ecowaste Coalition;ELAC–Cebu; Emancipatory Movementfor People’s Empowerment; Focus onthe Global South – Philippine Program;Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC);Global Call to Action Against Poverty –Philippines; Health Care without Harm;IBASSMADC; Iloilo Code of NGOs;Indicative Medicine for AlternativeHealth Care System Phils., Inc. (INAM);Initiatives for International Dialogue(IID); Institute for Popular Democracy(IPD); Institute for <strong>Social</strong> Studiesand Action (ISSA); Institute of PublicHealth Management (IPHM); IntegralDevelopment Services, Phils. (IDS-Phils); Jaro Archdiocesan <strong>Social</strong> ActionCenter; Jihad Al Akbar; Justice for Peaceand Integrity of Creation-IntegratedDevelopment Center (JPIC-IDC); KAMAM;Kaisampalad; Kalipunan ng MaramingTinig ng Manggagawang Inpormal(KATINIG); Kasanyagan Foundation Inc.(KFI); Kinayahan Foundation; KitangladIntegrated NGO’s (KIN); Konpederasyonng mga Nobo Esihano para sa Kalikasanat Kaayusang Panlipunan; La Liga PolicyInstitute; Labing Kubos Foundation,Inc.; Lubong Salakniban Movement;Management & OrganizationalDevelopment for Empowerment (MODE);Medical Action Group (MAG); MicahChallenge; Midsayap Consortiumof NGOs and POs; Mindanao LandFoundation (MLF); Mindanawon Initiativefor Cultural Dialogue; Multi-sectoralorganization of CSOs for environmentaland development in Marinduque(KASAMAKAPA); Nagkakaisang Ugnayanng mga Manggagawa at Magsasaka saNiyugan (NIUGAN); National Councilof Churches in the Philippines(NCCP);NATRIPAL; NEGRONET; Negros OrientalCenter for People’s Empowerment(NOCFED); NGO-PO Network of Quezon;NGO-PO of Tabaco City; Oxfam GreatBritain; Paghiliusa sa Paghidaet-Negros;Panaghugpong sa Gagmayng BayanihangGrupo sa Oriental Negros (PAGBAGO);Participatory Research Organization ofCommunities and Education towardsStruggle for Self Reliance (PROCESSBohol); Partido Kalikasan; Partnershipfor Clean Air; Peace AdvocatesNetwork; Philippine Alliance of HumanRights Advocates (PAHRA); PhilippineCenter for Investigative Journalism(PCIJ); Philippine Human Rights InfoCenter; Philippine Network of RuralDevelopment Institutes (PhilNet-RDI); Philippine Partnership for theDevelopment of Human Resources inRural Areas -Davao; Philippine RuralReconstruction Movement (PRRM);Phil-Net Visayas; Piglas Kababaihan;PIPULI Foundation, Inc.; Positive ActionFoundation Philippines, Inc. (PAFPI);Public Services Labor IndependentConfederation (PSLink); Research andCommunication for Justice and Peace;Rice <strong>Watch</strong> and Action Network (RWAN);Rural Development Institute of SultanKudarat (RDISK); Rural Enlightenment &Accretion in Philippine Society (REAPS);SAMAPACO; SARILAYA; Save the IfugaoTerraces Movement (SITMO); SillimanUniversity; <strong>Social</strong> Action Center ofMalaybalay Bukidnon; Southeast AsiaRegional Initiatives for CommunityEmpowerment (SEARICE); StudentCouncil Alliance of the Philippines(SCAP); Sustainability <strong>Watch</strong>; TambuyogDevelopment Center; Tanggol Kalikasan;Tarbilang Foundation; Task ForceDetainees of the Philippines (TFDP);Tebtebba Foundation, Inc.; TechnicalAssistance Center for the Development ofRural and Urban Poor (TACDRUP); TheCommunity Advocates of Cotabato; ThirdWorld Studies Center (TWSC); U.S. Savethe Children; Unity for the Advancementof Sus Dev and Good Governance;Unlad Kabayan; UPLift Philippines;Womanhealth Philippines; Youth AgainstDebt (YAD)• Poland:KARAT Coalition, secretariat@karat.org.pl, www.karat.org; The Networkof East-West Women (NEWW-Polska),neww@neww.org.pl, www.neww.org.pl;Campaign Against Homophobia;Amnesty International Poland; ATDFourth World; eFTe; Nobody’s ChildrenFoundation; Polish Society of Anti-Discrimination Law; SOS Children’sVillages Association in Poland;Association for Legal Intervention;TUS Foundation; Feminist Think Tank;Panoptykon Foundation; Polish Women’sLobby; Democratic Union of Women;Active and Creative Women Association;Silesian Centre for Equal Opportunities;Polish Women League• Portugal:Oikos–Cooperação e Desenvolvimento,jjfernandes@oikos.pt, catarina_cordas@hotmail.com, www.oikos.pt;Portuguese Network of LocalDevelopment Associations (ANIMAR)and the Portuguese National Platform ofDevelopment NGOs (Plataforma Nacionalde ONGD)• Romania:Civil Society Development Foundation(FDSC), fdsc@fdsc.ro, valentin.burada@fdsc.ro, www.fdsc.ro;Asociatia pentru Dezvoltarea Organizatiei(SAH ROM); Asociatia Specialistilor inResurse Umane (AUR); ConfederatiaCaritas Romania• Senegal:Association pour le DéveloppementÉconomique <strong>Social</strong> Environnemental duNord (ADESEN), adesen@yahoo.com;ACAPES; ENDA Tiers-Monde; NationalAssociation of Invalid persons inSénégal (ANHMS); Democratic UnionTeachers (UDEN); Sénégal’s Unionteachers (SYPROS); Action JeunesseEnvironnement (AJE), Enda Graf Sahel;Coalition des Associations de jeunescontre la Faim (AYCAH Sénégal)• Serbia:Association Technology and Society,mirad@eunet.rs, www.eccf.su.ac.yu/tid/english.htm; Victimology Society ofSerbia, vds@eunet.rs, www.vds.org.yu• Slovakia:Slovak-European Cultural Association(FEMAN), daniel.klimovsky@upjs.sk;University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik inKošice• Slovenia:Humanitas, info@humanitas.si, www.humanitas.si• Somalia:Somali Organization for CommunityDevelopment Activities (SOCDA),socda@globalsom.com;Banadir University; Baniadam reliefand development organization; Civilsociety in Action; Elman Peace AndHuman rights; Hamar University;Islamic University; HINNA; Horn relief;Humanitarian Agency for Relief andDevelopment; IIDA Women DevelopmentOrganization; Iiman women DevelopmentOrganization; Indian Ocean University;Iniskoy Human Rights Organization;Isha Human Rights Organization; KalsanVoluntary Organization For Women;Mogadishu University; Coalition ofGrassroots Women Organization(COGWO); Network for Somali NGOs;FPENS; North and South Somali WomenWidows Group; Community for Reliefand Development; Peace Action SocietyOrganisation for Somalia; Peace andHuman Rights Network; Somali PenNetwork; Resource ManagementSomali Network; Saacid VoluntaryOrganization; Schools Association forFormal Education; Sifa Women VoluntaryOrganization; SIRWA; Somali WomenBusiness Association; Somali ConsultantAssociation; Somali Engineering Union;Somali Health Care Organization; Somaliindependent Newspaper Association;Somali Institute of Management andAdministration Development; SomaliJournalists Network; Somali LawSociety; Somali National Network of Aidsservice Organization; Somali Peaceline;Somali Rehabilitation Relief AndDevelopment Organization; Somali ScoutOrganisation; Somali Young WomenActivist; Somali Youth Council; Somalinkfor Relief and Development Organization;SSWC; Subiye Development VolunteerOrganization; Tadamun <strong>Social</strong> Society;Talawadag Network; Ummo RumanWomen Organization; Umul Kheyr; WanleWeyn Human Rights and DevelopmentOrganization; We are Women Activist;Women care Organization; YouthAnti AIDS/HIV; Youth Movement forDemocracy; Dr. Ismael Jumale HumanRights Organization; Somali WomenJournalist; Network for Somali NGO• Spain:Plataforma 2015 y más,coordinacion@2015ymas.org,www.2015ymas.org; Intermón Oxfam,info@intermonoxfam.org, www.intermonoxfam.org;ACSUR-Las Segovias; Asamblea deCooperación por la Paz; Asociación deInvestigación y Especialización sobreTemas Iberoamericanos (AIETI); ComisiónEspañola de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR);Cooperacció; Economistas sin Fronteras;Fundación CEAR; Instituto de EstudiosPolíticos para América Latina y África(IEPALA); Instituto de Promoción yApoyo al Desarrollo (IPADE); InstitutoSindical de Cooperación y Desarrollo(ISCOD); Liga Española de la Educación;Movimiento por la Paz, el Desarme y laLibertad (MPDL); Observatorio DESC;Paz y Solidaridad; PTM-Mundubat;Solidaridad Internacional• Sri Lanka:Movement for National Land andAgricultural Reform (MONLAR),monlar@sltnet.lk, www.monlar.net;Law & Society Trust (LST)• Sudan:National Civic Forum, h_abdelati@hotmail.com;Al Amal <strong>Social</strong> Association<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> in the world VIII <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
• Suriname:Equality & Equity, bakboordcarla@hotmail.com, carlabakboord@parbo.net;Foundation Double Positive; UltimatePurpose; ProHealth; The Network ofMarroon women; Women’s RightsCentre; Culconsult; Institute for PublicFinance• Switzerland:Alliance Sud–Swiss Alliance ofDevelopment Organisations, pepo.hofstetter@alliancesud.ch, www.alliancesud.ch;Bread for All; Caritas; Catholic LentenFund; Helvetas; Interchurch Aid; Swissaid• Syria:Syrian Environment Association (SEA),sea-sy@scs-net.org, www.sea-sy.org• Tanzania:Southern Africa Human Rights NGONetwork (SAHRiNGON) -TanzaniaChapter, sahringontz@yahoo.com,info@sahringon.or.tz, www.sahringon.or.tz;Laretok -le- Sheria na haki za binadamuNgorongoro (WASHEHABINGO); KituoCha Maadili Kwa Jamii (Centre forsocial ethics); Action For Relief andDeveopment Assistance (AFREDA);Africaan Youth Development Foundation;Association for the Prevention of Torture(APT); Campaign for Democracy andHuman Rights; Campaign for GoodGovernance (CGG); Centre for Widowsand Children Assistance (CWCA); ChamaCha Walemavu Tanzania (CHAWATA);Chiara Children’s Centre (CCC);Children’s Dignity Forum (CDF); DisabledOrganization for Legal Affairs and <strong>Social</strong>Economic Development (DOLASED);Economic and <strong>Social</strong> Organization (ESO);Environmental Human Rights Care andGender Organization (ENVIROCARE);HAKIELIMU; Helpage International;Human Rights Centre for DisabledPersons; Journalist’s Environmentalassociation of Tanzania (JET); TheLeadership Forum; Legal and HumanRights Centre (LHRC); Lumbesa GroupEconomic; Health & <strong>Social</strong> DevelopmentAssociation; Mocuba CommunityDevelopment Foundation; NationalOrganization for Legal Assistance(NOLA); Tanzania Girls Empowermentand Training Centre; Taaluma WomenGroup (TWG); Tanzania Centre forConflict Resolution; Tanzania GenderNetworking Programme (TGNP);Tanzania Home Economics Association(TAHEA); Tanzania Self DevelopmentAssociation (TSDA); Tanzania MediaWomen’s Association (TAMWA); TanzaniaWomen of Impact Foundation (TAWIF);Tanzania Women for Self Initiatives(TAWSEI); Tanzania Women Lawyer’sAssociation (TAWLA); Tanzania WomenVolunteers Association (TAWOVA);Tanzania Women and Children WelfareCentre (TWCWC); Tanzania Network ofWomen Living with HIV/AIDS; TanzaniaYouth Awareness Trust Fund (TAYOA);Training for Sustainable Development(TSD); United Nations Association ofTanzania (UNA-TANZANIA); WinnersNational Association (WINA); WomenAdvancement Trust (WAT); Womenand Children Improvement Agency(WOCHIA); Women in Action forDevelopment (WADE); Women in Lawand Development in Africa (WILDAF);Women’s Legal Aid Centre (WLAC);Women’s Research and DocumentationProgramme; Centre for Human RightsPromotion (CHRP); Women Wake Up(WOWAP); The Community Supportand Development Network (CSDN);Biharamuro Originating Socio-Economic Development Association(BOSEDA); Community ParticipationDevelopment Association (COPADEA);Kigoma-Kasulu Non GovernmentalOrganization Network (KIKANGONET);Kigoma and Ujiji Non GovernmentalOrganization Network (KIUNGO-NET);Free Ambassadors Women and ChildrenMission Tanzania (FAWACM); Health andMedicare Foundation for the Albinism(HEMFA); Kikundi Cha WanawakeKilimanjaro Cha Kupambana Na Ukimwi(KIWAKUKI); Kilimanjaro WomenInformation Exchange and ConsultancyCompany Limited (KWIECO); MoshiParalegal Organization; Lindi Women’sParalegal Aid Centre (LIWOPAC); BabatiParalegal Centre (BAPACE); TanzaniaMineworkers Development Organization(TMDO); Wasaidizi wa Sheria na Haki zaBinadamu Serengeti (WASHEHABISE);Ileje Environmental ConcervationAssociation (IECA); Mbozi BiogasEnergy and Environmental ProtectionAssociation (MBEPA); TUSHIRIKI;Morogoro Paralegal Centre; KivuliniWomen’s Rights Organization; KuleanaCenter for Children’s Rights; MwanzaWomen Development Association(MWDA); Women and Child Vision(WOCHIV); Centre for Environment andHealth (CEHE); Community Developmentfor All (CODEFA); Development Visionand Mision Group (DEVMI) BagamoyoBranch; Kibaha Paralegal Centre; YouthPartnership Countrywide (YPC); VijanaVision Tanzania; Economic and <strong>Social</strong>Organisation (ESO Organisation);Tanzania Disabled Persons Movement;Wazee na Ukimwi Singida (WAUSI);Mategemeo Group Mlalo (MGM);Muungano wa Vikundi wa WafugajiKanda ya Korogwe Magharibi(MVIWAKOMA); Orphans and VulnerableChildren Care Centre (OVCCC); ParalegalAid Scheme for Women and Children;Society for Women and Aid in AfricaTanzania Chapter (SWAATKORO); TangaAids Working Group (TAWG); Umoja waWalemavu Zanzibar• Thailand:<strong>Social</strong> Agenda Working Group (<strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> Thailand), suiranee@yahoo.com;Chulalongkorn University ResearchInstitute; HomeNet Thailand; DrugStudy Group; Focus on the Global SouthThailand; Foundation for Children’sDevelopment; Foundation for Women;Peace and Conflict Study Centre;Peace and Culture Foundation; PoliticalEconomy Centre; Women Network forthe Advancement and Peace• Tunisia:Tunisian League for Human Rights,sjourchi@yahoo.fr; TunisianAssociation for Democratic Women,bochra.bhh-avocate@voila.fr• Uganda:Development Network of IndigenousVoluntary Association (DENIVA), info@deniva.or.ug, www.deniva.or.ug;Acoke Rural Development Initiatives(ARDI); Action Aid Uganda; Action forDevelopment (ACFODE); Action for SlumHealth and Development; Action for YouthOrganization Uganda; Action Line forDevelopment (ALFORD); Action to PositiveChange on People with Disabilities; AdultEducation Centre; Adyaka OrphanDevelopment Initiatives (AODI); Africa2000 Network Uganda; Africa for ChristInternational; African Child CareFoundation; African International ChristianMinistry (AICM); Agency for PromotingSustainable Development Initiative (ASDI);Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentProgramme; Akiika Embuga Women’s SelfHelp Association; Akwata Empola WomenDevelopment Association; AnakaFoundation Gulu; Anthony YouthDevelopment Association (AYDA); AntiCorruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU); AruaDistrict Farmers Association; Arua DistrictIndigenous NGO Network (ADINGON);Awake Bushenyi; Bagya Basaaga OrangeFreshed Potato Growers and Processors(BBOFPGAP); Bahai Faith InternationalNational Spiritual Assembly of The Bahaiof Uganda; Bakatawamu Information andDevelopment Empowerment (BIDE);Bakonzo Culture Association; BalyalwobaRehabilitation and Development Agency(BARDEA); Banyo DevelopmentFoundation; Basic Needs UK in Uganda;Bedmot Child and Family Programme;Benevolent Support Child ProgrammeKampala; Bidhompola CommunityDevelopment Association Mayuge(BICODA); Bileafe Rural DevelopmentAssociation (Arua); Blessings ChristianRehab Ministries; Blind But Able Self HelpProject; Budde Women’s DevelopmentAssociation; Budongo Forest CommunityDevelopment Organization (BUCODO);Bugiri District Literacy and Adult EducationNetwork (BLAEN); Bugisu Civil SocietyForum (BUCINET); Build Up Again ExPrisoners Association (BAP); BukogolwaWidows and Orphans Care Centre;Bundibugyo Association of the Disabled;Bundibugyo District NGOs/CBs Forum;Bunyoro Youth Development Network;Bushenyi District Civil Society OrganizationForum (BUDCOF); Buso Foundation;Buwagi Rural Development Foundation;Ceazaria Complex Public Library; Centrefor Community Enterprise; Centre forConflict Resolution (CECORE); Centre forEnvironmental Technology and RuralDevelopment (CETRUD); Centre for PeaceResearch (CPR); Centre for the IntegratedDevelopment; Child Aid InternationalLyantonde; Christian Children’s NetworkInternational; Community Action for RuralDevelopment Association (CARD);Community Based Rehabilitation Alliance(COMBRA); Community DevelopmentResource Network (CDRN); CommunityEffort for Women Development Concerns(CEWDCO); Community EmpowermentPartnership; Community Health andDevelopment Association-Uganda(COHEDA-Uganda); Community IntegratedDevelopment Initiatives; Concern for theGirl Child; Cultural Agency for <strong>Social</strong> andEnvironment Development (CASRDEN);Development and RehabilitationOrganization (DABO); DevelopmentTraining and Research Centre (DETREC);Ebnezer Rural Ministries Uganda (ERIMU);Engabu Za Tooro Tooro Youth Platform forAction; Enhance Abilities Initiatives (EAI);First African Bicycle Information Office(Fabio); Forum for Women in Democracy;Foundation for Development andInternational Links (FODILI); Foundationfor Human Rights Initiatives (FHRI);Foundation for Rural Development(FORUD); Foundation for Rural/UrbanPoverty Alleviation (FORUPA); Foundationfor Urban and Rural Advancement (FURA);Foundation for Young Orphans (FYO);Fountain of Hope Ministry Pader; Friendsin Need Association (FINA); Friends ofOrphans Pader; Friends Orphanage School;General Community DevelopmentAssociation; Genesis Microfinance BureauxLtd (Genefina); German DevelopmentServices; Goal Uganda; God’s MercyUganda (Traditional Herbs); Good HopeFoundation for Rural Development; GospelPace-Setting Ministries (GPM); Grass RootWomen Development Organization(GWODEO); Green Pasture ChristianOutreach; Gukwatamanzi FarmersAssociation Ltd; Gulu Community BasedManagement Network Project (GCBMNT);Gulu District NGO Forum (GDNF); GuluFoundation Community BasedRehabilitation; Gulu Women EmpowermentNetwork; Gwosusa Emwanyi Women’sAssociation; Habitat for Humanity;Hamukungu Women Association Group;Hewasa Health through Water andSanitation Programme; HIV/AIDS Care andSupport Project; Holistic Services forUganda; Hope after Rape; HopeAssociation; Huys Link CommunityInitiative; Ibanda Rural DevelopmentPromoters; Ibanda Zero GrazingAssociation (IZGA); Iganga District NGO/CBO Forum; Ikongo Rural DevelopmentAssociation; Initiative for Women Equation(IWE); Integrated Care and DevelopmentInitiative; Integrated EnvironmentalDefence (INED); Integrated FamilyDevelopment Initiatives (IFDI); IntegratedRural Development Initiatives; InternationalAnti Corruption Theatre Movement;International Child Welfare Organization;International Institute for Cultural andEthical Development; Jamii YaKupatanisha; Jinja Diocesan CoordinatingOrganization (JIDDECO); Jinja Mothers’Savings and Credit Scheme; Joint Energyand Environment Project (JEEP); JointEnergy to Save the Environment (JESE);Jonam Development Foundation; KabaaleDistrict Civil Society OrganizationsNetwork; Kabale Civil Society Forum(KACSOF); Kabale Farmers NetworkingAssociation; Kabarole Intergrated Women’sEffort in Development (KIWED); KabaroleNGOs and CBOs Association (KANCA);Kabarole Research and Resource Centre(KRC); Kabbo Women’s Assistance Financeand Project; Kabongo Women’s Group /Dodoth Community Based DevelopmentAssociation; Kakuuto Network ofIndigenous Voluntary Associations(KANIVA); Kamengo Business Institute;Kamuli Lutheran Church; Kamuli LutheranChurch HIV/AIDS Care and SupportProject; Kamuli Network of NGOs(KANENGO); Kamwenge Bee KeepersCooperative; Kamwenge DistrictIndigenous Voluntary DevelopmentOrganizations Network (KADIVDO);Kanyenze Rural Women’s Organization;Kapchorwa Civil Society OrganizationsAlliances (KACSOA); Karambi Women’sAssociation; Kasangati Orphans FundSociety; Kasawo Namuganga DevelopmentAssociation; Kaserengethe RuralDevelopment Initiative Women Group;Kasese District Development Network;Kasilo Christian Youth Association;Katakwi Evangakinos People Living withAIDS (HIV/AIDS (KEPLWA); KayungaDistrict Farmers Association; KibaaleDistrict Civil Society Network; KibukuMultipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd;Kicwamba Nyankuku Rural Development;Kigezi Health Care Foundation; KiguluDevelopment Group; Kiima Foods; KiiraAdult Education Association; KinawatakaWomen Initiative; Kinyamaseke United<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>IX
Women Club; Koboko Civil SocietyNetwork; Koka Women DevelopmentProgramme; Kumi Network ofDevelopment Organizations; KumiPentecostal Assemblies of God;Kyakulumbye Development Foundation;Kyebando Associates Club; LiraCommunity Development Association;Literacy and Adult Basic Education; LittleSister of St. Francis; MakindyeMultipurpose Youth and Vendors Group-CBO; Malukhu Youth DevelopmentFoundation; Masindi District EducationNetwork; Matilong Youth Mixed FarmingOrganization; Mbarara District Civil SocietyOrganizations Forum; Mengo Child andFamily Development Project Ltd; MpigiWidows Entrepreneurs (MWEA); MpigiWomen Development Trust (MWODET);Ms Uganda; Mt. Rwenzori Initiative forRural Development; Mukono MultipurposeYouth Organization (MUMYO); MusingiRural Development Association;Nabinyonyi Development Group;Namutumba District Civil SocietiesNetwork; Nangabo Environment Initiative(NEI); National Community of WomenLiving with HIV/AIDS (Nacwola) Kamuli;National Foundation for Human Rights inUganda (FHRI); National Union of DisabledPersons in Uganda (NUDIPU); NationalWomen Association for <strong>Social</strong> & EducationAdvancement; Ndiima Cares Association(NDICA); Network of Ugandan Researchersand Research Users (NURRU); NgeyeDevelopment Initiative (NDI); NileVocational Institute (NVI); NorthernUganda Rural Association; NorthernUganda Vision Association; NtulumeVillage Women’s Association; NtungamoDistrict Farmers Association; NtungamoDistrict Local Government CBO; NtungamoDistrict NGOs/CBOs Forum; NtungamoRural and Urban Development Foundation;Nyabubare United Group; NyioDevelopment Association; Organization forRural Development; Osia IntegratedFarmers’ Cooperative; PalissaDevelopment Initiative; Pallisa DistrictNGOs/CBOs Network; Pamo Volunteers;Participatory Initiative for RealDevelopment (PIRD); Participatory RuralAction for Development; Peace Foundation;Plan International Kampala; Poverty Alertand Community Development Organization(PACDO); Poverty Alleviation Credit Trust;Prayer Palace Christian Centre Kibuye;Protecting Families against HIV/AIDS(PREFA); Rakai Children Trust; RakaiCommunity Strategy for Development(RUCOSDE); Redeemed Bible Way ChurchOrganization; Riamiriam MorotoNakapiripiriti Civil Society Network;Ruhama Bee Keeping Group; RuralInitiative for Community Empowerment;Rural Initiatives Development Foundation(RIDF); Rural Productivity for DevelopmentAfrica; Rushenyi Youth Drama Actors;Rushooka Orphans Education Centre;Rwenzori Agriculture DiversificationPromotion Organization; RwenzoriInformation Centre (RUCNET); RwenzoriOrganization for Children Living UnderDifficult Circumstances; Rwenzori PeaceBridge of Reconciliation; Rwoho BakyaraTwimusyane Tukore; Samaritan Partnersfor Development; Saving and CreditSociety; Single Parents Association ofUganda; Small World Counselling HealthEducation Association; Soroti DistrictAssociation of NGOs/CBOs Network; SorotiRural Development Agency; South EasternPrivate Sector Promotion EnterpriseLimited; Spiritual Assembly of Uganda; St.Francis Tailoring Helper Programme;Sustainable Agriculture Society of Kasese;Sustainable Agriculture Trainers Network;Talent Calls Club; Tecwaa Child and FamilyProject Bweyale-Masindi; TemeleDevelopment Organization (TEMEDO); TheAged Family Uganda; The Forestry Collegeat Nyabyeya; The Modern Campaignagainst Illiteracy; The Organization for theEmancipation of the Rural Poor; TheUganda Reach the Aged Association; TheUnited Orphans Association; The YouthOrganization for Creating Employment;Tirinyi Welfare Circle; Tororo Civil SocietyNetwork; Tororo District NGO Forum;Trinita Rural Integrated CommunityDevelopment Association; TripartiteTraining Programme; Triple B KaseseCommunity; Tukole Women’s Group;Tusubira Health and Research Foundation;Twezimbe Rural DevelopmentOrganization; Uganda Change AgentAssociation; Uganda Christian PrisonersAid Foundation; Uganda Church WomenDevelopment Centre; Uganda Coalition forCrisis Prevention (UCCP); UgandaDevelopment Initiatives Foundation;Uganda Environmental EducationFoundation; Uganda EnvironmentalProtection Forum (UEPF); Uganda GenderResource Centre; Uganda Human RightsActivists; Uganda Indigenous Women’sClub; Uganda Joint Action for AdultEducation; Uganda Martyrs Parish; UgandaMedia Women’s Association; Uganda MidLand Multipurpose DevelopmentAssociation; Uganda Mid LandMultipurpose Development Foundation;Uganda National Action on PhysicalDisabilities (UNAPD); Uganda OrphansRural Development Programme; UgandaProject Implementation and ManagementCentre (UPIMAC); Uganda RestorationGospel Churches Organization; UgandaRural Development and TrainingProgramme; Uganda Rural Self HelpDevelopment Promotion (SEDEP); UgandaSupport for Children and WomenOrganization; Uganda Women FoundationFund; Uganda Women Tree PlantingMovement; Uganda Women’s Finance andCredit Trust Limited; Uganda Women’sWelfare Association; Uganda Women’sEffort to Save Orphans; Uganda YoungMen’s Christian Association; Uganda YouthAnti AIDS Association; UN Association ofUganda; United African OrphanageFoundation; United HumanitarianDevelopment Association; UnitedOrphanage School; Urban RuralEnvironment Development Programme;Victoria Grass Root Foundation forDevelopment; Voluntary Service TeamMubende; Voluntary Services Overseas;Voluntary Services Trust Team; VolunteerEfforts for Development Concerns;Vredeseilanden Coopibo-Uganda; WakisoEnvironment Conservation andDevelopment Initiative; Wera DevelopmentAssociation; Women Alliance and ChildrenAffairs; Women Together for Development;World Learning Inc; World Light CaringMission Initiative; Youth Alliance inKaramoja (YAK); Youth DevelopmentFoundation; Youth DevelopmentOrganization–Arua; Youth Initiative forDevelopment Association; YouthOrganization for <strong>Social</strong> Education andDevelopment• Ukraine:Liberal Society Institute, okisselyova@voliacable.com, okisselyova@yahoo.com• United States of America:Global-Local Links Project, dawkinst@mindspring.com; Institute forAgriculture and Trade Policy (IATP),iatp@iatp.org, www.iatp.org;Action Aid USA; Center of Concern;Hunger Notes• Uruguay:<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Secretariat, socwatch@socialwatch.org, www.socialwatch.org;Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudiossobre el Desarrollo (CIEDUR); CNSMujeres por Democracia, Equidad yCiudadanía; Instituto del Tercer Mundo(ITeM); Instituto Cuesta Duarte PIT-CNT;Mujer y Salud en Uruguay (MYSU)• Venezuela:Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos(PROVEA), provea@derechos.org.ve,www.derechos.org.ve• Vietnam:VUFO-NGO Resource Centre, director@ngocentre.org.vn, www.ngocentre.org.vn;Animals Asia Foundation; ActionAidVietnam; Volunteers in OverseasCooperative Assistance; AdventistDevelopment & Relief Agency; Aideet Action; Academy for EducationalDevelopment; Australian Foundationfor the Peoples of Asia and the Pacific;Asociacion Aida, Ayuda, Intercambio yDesarrollo; Allianz-Mission eV; AmericanRed Cross; Multisectoral and IntegratedDevelopment Services; Australian Peoplefor Health, Education and DevelopmentAbroad; Aid to Southeast Asia; TheAtlantic Philanthropies Vietnam Limited;Australian Volunteers International;Agronomes & Veterinaires SansFrontieres; Brot für die Welt; BirdLifeInternational; Bremen Overseas Researchand Development Association; CareInternational; Caritas Switzerland;Christian Blind Mission; CanadianCenter for International Studies &Cooperation; Ymparisto ja kehitys ry;Center for Educational Exchange withVietnam; Cooperazione e Sviluppo;ChildFund Vietnam; Children’s Hopein Action (formerly: Canadian HungerFoundation); Compassion International;Clinton Health Access Initiative; Childrenof Peace International; CounterpartInternational; Children of Vietnam;Clear Path International; Catholic ReliefServices; Church World Service; DKTInternational; Development Workshop;Enfants & Developpement; Eau Agricultureet Sante en Milieu Tropical; Eye CareFoundation; Kansen voor Kinderen; EastMeets West Foundation; Environnementet Developpement du Tiers Monde;Friendship Bridge; Friedrich Ebert Stiftung;Fred Hollows Foundation; Family HealthInternational; Foundation for InternationalDevelopment / Relief; NGO Fontana;Fundacion Promocion <strong>Social</strong> de la Cultura;Fund for Reconciliation and Development;Global Community Service Foundation;Global Education and DevelopmentAgency; Glocal Ventures, Inc.; GlobalNeighbour International; DeutschesRotes Kreuz; Groupe de Rechercheset d’Echanges Technologiques; HagarInternational; HealthBridge Foundationof Canada; Swiss Association forInternational Cooperation; Habitatfor Humanity; Handicap InternationalBelgium; Holt International Children’sService; Handicap International France;Helen Keller International; Heifer ProjectInternational; International DevelopmentEnterprises; Institute of InternationalEducation; ETEA, Institucion Universitariade la Compania de Jesus; InternationalWomen’s Development Agency; Lien Aid;Lutheran Church Missouri Synod WorldMission; Survivor Corps (LandmineSurvivors Network); Loreto VietnamAustralia Program; Mines AdvisoryGroup; Maryknoll; Mennonite CentralCommittee; Medisch Comite Nederland;Médecins du Monde France; MedicalEducation Development ResourcesInternational Exchange; Supply ChainManagement System Project; MarieStopes International Vietnam; NorwegianChurch Aid; Norwegian Mission Alliance;Orbis International; Operation Smile;Oxfam Great Britain; Oxfam Hong Kong;Oxfam Quebec; Oxfam Solidarity Belgium;PACT, Inc.; Program for AppropriateTechnology in Health; PathfinderInternational; Plan in Vietnam; PopulationCouncil; Prosperity Initiative; The PearlS. Buck International, Inc; PopulationServices International Vietnam; PeaceTrees Vietnam; Save the Children;Sai Gon Children Charity; StichtingNederlandse Vrijwilligers; Samaritan’sPurse International Relief; Cruz RojaEspanol; The Asia Foundation; Terre desHommes Foundation – Lausanne; TriangleGeneration Humanitaire; Vredeseilanden(Islands of Peace); Volunteers for PeaceVietnam; Volunteers in Asia; VietnamAssistance for the Handicapped; VolunteerService Abroad New Zealand; VoluntaryService Overseas; Vietnam Plus (MekongPlus); Vietnam Veterans of AmericaFoundation; Vietnam Veterans MemorialFund; WOOLCOCK; World ConcernVietnam; World Population Foundation;World University Service of Canada; WorldVision International; Worldwide Orphan;Xin Chao – Kinderhilfe Vietnam; Youthwith a Mission• Yemen:Human Rights Information and TrainingCenter, hritc@y.net.ye, www.hritc.net• Zambia:Women for Change (WFC), wfc@zamnet.zm, www.wfc.org.zm;Basic Education Teachers Union ofZambia (BETUZ); Zambia Institute ofEnvironmental Management (ZIEM);Non-Governmental Coordinating Council(NGOCC); 2410; Gallant Youth ofZambia nX<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>: promoting accountability<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, a network that today has members in over 60 countries around the world, was created in 1995 as a “meeting place for nongovernmentalorganizations concerned with social development and gender discrimination.” This network was created to respond tothe need to promote the political will required for making the United Nations promises come true. <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, which is continuallygrowing both qualitatively and quantitatively, has published 15 yearly reports on progress and setbacks in the struggle against povertyand for gender equality. These reports have been used as tools for advocacy on a local, regional, and international level.From its number 0, published in 1996, to this presentissue, the 15th, the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong> has broughtto light more than 650 reports from civil society organizations,all of them sharing the aim of remindinggovernments of their commitments and trackingtheir implementation, both country by country andat the international level.The present issue, featuring contributions from63 national <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalitions, sustains theflame that brought the network into existence in1995: the need to generate tools and strategies torectify the lack of accountability mechanisms andensure compliance with international commitmentsrelated to social policies and development goals.In the decade <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> was created, a seriesof high-level United Nations conferences, startingwith the ‘Children’s Summit’ in 1990 and ending withthe Millennium Summit in 2000, redefined the globalsocial agenda. In 1995, the <strong>Social</strong> Summit (Copenhagen)and the Women’s Conference (Beijing)defined, for the first time, the eradication of povertyand gender equality as common universal objectives,setting concrete targets and timelines to achieve thegoal vaguely formulated in 1946 in the UN Charter as“dignity for all”. To promote the political will neededfor those promises to become a reality, the <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> network was created as a “meeting place fornon-governmental organizations concerned withsocial development and gender discrimination” (<strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> No. 0, 1996), by a group of civil societyorganizations.Thus, the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong> was formulatedas a powerful tool for the presentation of internationallyavailable statistical information and for reportingon qualitative aspects of the issues addressedthrough analyses by social organizations workingat a national level. A yearly publication, the <strong>Report</strong>is devoted to progress and setbacks in the struggleagainst poverty and for gender equality, two largelyoverlapping objectives, since the absolute majorityof the persons living in poverty are women.The <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> yearly reports, while addingan international dimension to local efforts andcampaigns, became the first sustained monitoringinitiative on social development and gender equity ata national level, and the first to combine both in oneinternational overview.The report Nº0, published in 1996, featuredcontributions from 13 organizations; since then, thenetwork has been steadily rising. Currently, <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> has members (“watchers”) in over 62 countriesaround the world, and membership grows each year.The local, the global and the <strong>Report</strong>Every year <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> chooses to analyze a differentsubject in depth through its <strong>Report</strong>, usually focusingon topics under discussion on the international agendathat can be addressed from a local perspective. Expertsfrom diverse origins and disciplines contributealternative views on the issues through thematic articles.This international perspective is complementedwith national and regional reports through whichmember organizations contribute a local perspective,reporting on the state of affairs in their countries inrelation to each year’s specific theme.In addition, <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> produces indexes andtables with comparable international information,presenting a macro-perspective of the situation relatedto certain dimensions of development while alsoproviding national level readings. <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> hasdeveloped alternative indicators to measure progressor setbacks in gender equity and the meeting of basichuman capacities, which are now used as referenceMemorandum of Understanding betweennational groups and the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> network1. Coalitions must be based in the country and be active in social development issues in thatcountry (not exclusively as academics or consultants).2. Their basic commitment to the international network is to provide a national report, with theirown conclusions and determination of priorities, to be included in the annual publication.3. They are expected to use their national report and the global report in lobbying activities ata national level.4. They must be open to the incorporation of other organizations, work actively to broadenawareness of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> and encourage the participation of other organizations.5. They are responsible for raising funds for their activities. National coalitions are not dependentfor funds on, or financially accountable to, the Secretariat or any other international <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> entity.6. Each coalition determines its own organizational structure.7. <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> membership and the exercise of governmental functions are absolutely incompatible.8. Cooperation with other national platforms should be encouraged at sub-regional, regionaland global levels.9. In cases of conflicts between members/participating organizations of a coalition on issuesrelated to <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> (e.g. nomination of the focal point, contribution to the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong><strong>Report</strong>, nomination of delegates to the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Assembly) all parties involved have todemonstrate their willingness to solve the problems at national level. If, in exceptional cases, anagreement cannot be reached, the Coordinating Committee can take the necessary decisions.10. In order to demonstrate their affiliation to the network all coalitions are encouraged to usethe <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> logo for national activities directly related to goals and objectives of <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong>. They are requested to inform the International Secretariat about these activities. Inother cases they have to seek permission from the International Secretariat or the CoordinatingCommittee in advance for other uses of the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> name and logo.The Memorandum of Understanding was adopted during the 1st General Assembly, Rome, 2000, and it was last updatedin October 2009.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> XI XI tema
Keynote Address by the Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari at the inauguration of the “Evaluating Committeesand Committee System: Changing Contours of Governance and Policy” seminar, organized by the National <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> CoalitionIndia in November 2009.points for both civil society and international institutions.These are: the Gender Equity Index (GEI) andthe Basic Capabilities Index (BCI).Although members use the document for advocacywork in diverse situations, report launches, aswell as indexes launches, are key opportunities fordissemination of its contents, taking place both inrelevant spaces of international and national debateand decision-making. The report is published by theSecretariat in several languages: Spanish, English,French, Arabic. Some national coalitions also publishtheir own versions of the report: Spain, Italy, CzechRepublic, Germany, Poland, Europe, India and Brazil.Other coalitions publish an array of materials. TheCzech and Italian <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalition, for instance,publish the Gender Equity Index, while Ghana’s <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> has published a compilation of its nationalreports and the Beninese <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalition issuesa quarterly, <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Bénin. Also, in December2009 the first European <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> reportwas launched: Migrants in Europe as DevelopmentActors: Between hope and vulnerability.Also, Occasional Papers are published, mainlyto help build the capacity of member coalitions, regionaltraining workshops have been organized, andposition papers have been produced. For example,in <strong>2010</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> published Beijing and Beyond– Putting Gender Economics at the Forefront – 15years after the IV World Conference on Women. 1 This1 Available from: . The firstOccasional Paper by Mirjam Van Reisen, The Lion’s Teeth, examinesthe political context in which <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> was created. The second,by Ana María Arteaga, Control Ciudadano desde la base, analyzesthe democratization of international human rights instrumentsexperience in Chile in 1997. The third, a compilation by PatriciaGarcé and Roberto Bissio, introduces the experience of monitoringCopenhagen goals through the concrete example of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>.Papers 4 and 5, coordinated by the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Social</strong> SciencesResearch Team, address poverty and inequality in Latin Americaand the links between poverty and human rights. Occasional Papersavailable from: .publication was launched on 9 March <strong>2010</strong> at the UNheadquarters in New York, during the review of theCommittee on the Status of Women marking the 15thanniversary of the adoption of the Beijing Declarationand Platform for Action.Through its website, blog, and presence insocial networking platforms, <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> is alsoutilizing new multimedia and tools to disseminateinformation on gender, development and humanrights issues, generate discussions among fellowcivil society practitioners, and conduct outreach topolicymakers and journalists. Advocacy, communicationsand campaigning strategies will complementeach other to achieve its goals. At the same time,<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> will make efforts to publish the report inadditional languages and formats that allow reachingwider audiences.Additionally, on several occasions, <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>spokespersons have addressed the UN General Assemblyand other intergovernmental bodies on behalfof the network or wider civil society constituencies.In August 2009, <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> established an officein New York to enable a continuous presence at theUnited Nations and to coordinate advocacy effortswith country missions at the UN, international agenciesand other NGO networks. It has been assistingthe participation of members in global decision makingprocesses and informing regularly about them tothe national coalitions.A flexible networkAs the “meeting place” has grown, several aspects ofit have evolved, but the founding ideas and objectivesremain. In preparing for their participation in the Copenhagen<strong>Social</strong> Summit, civil society organizationsadopted flexible and ad hoc ways of organizing as anetwork. No formal governing structure or steeringcommittee was created and no stable coordinatinggroup was established. Non-governmental organizations(NGOs) preferred to inform each other andThematic reports XII<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
coordinate activities in horizontal open spaces, anapproach that some analysts regard as a forerunnerof the organizational format later adopted by theWorld <strong>Social</strong> Forum. Many of the NGOs that tookpart in the <strong>Social</strong> Summit later formed the backboneof <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>. As a result, the structure and functioningof the network preserves much of originalflexibility and openness.In addition to national coalitions, the networkis structured around three bodies: the General Assembly,the Coordinating Committee and the InternationalSecretariat. In recent years, some regionaland sub-regional coordination structures were establishedas a space for articulation–not as a necessaryintermediate body to link the national with theglobal.The <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> network is not an incorporatedentity and it did not start by drafting its governingbylaws. Instead, a short Memorandum of Understandingbetween national groups and the network(see box) became the basic framework establishingmutual expectations, respecting both the autonomyof national coalitions and democratic horizontaldecision-making. A key principle that distinguishes<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> from other international civil societynetworks is that no central body provides fundsfor its members. These operational principles helpavoid the tensions associated with donor/recipientrelationships within the network – since there aren’tany – and also the loss of energy that could resultfrom lengthy discussions about money, budgetingand reporting, as well as procedural matters. It hasalso resulted in members’ strong sense of tenureover the network.National coalitions organize the way they want– or can – according to the conditions in each country.The membership of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalitions isvery diverse, including research institutes or centres,NGOs, grassroots organizations, trade unions,women’s groups, rural organizations and others.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> XIIItema
General AssemblyThe General Assembly is the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> network’shighest directive body. Policy discussion and medium-to long-term strategic planning happens inits realm, which serves as a decision-making forum.However, it is also a space for reinforcing the sense ofbelonging and strengthening the network’s identityand unity. It takes place every three years and up tonow has been held four times: in Rome 2000, Beirut2003, Sofia 2006, and Accra 2009. 2 The 2011 Assemblywill be held in the Philippines. In addition tosetting medium- and long-term priorities and identifyingpotential alliances in advocacy strategy, theAssembly elects members of the Coordinating Committeeto whom coordination and political leadershipbetween assemblies are delegated.Coordinating CommitteeThe Coordinating Committee (CC) is the key politicalbody for the ‘daily’ work of the network, with anorganizational structure which requires fluid communications,facilitated principally through an emaillist, plus biannual face-to-face meetings and regulartelephone conferences to discuss specific issues.As the CC’s task is to “ensure the political visibilityand participation of the network in relevantspaces and processes,” 3 its composition endeavoursto represent a geographical and gender balance, aswell as considering the contribution, in terms of experienceand capabilities, that members can provideto the whole network. In general, the CC’s decisionsare adopted by consensus, and every single decision(and discussion) is communicated to the watchersin a timely manner. The constant participation oftwo Secretariat members as ad hoc members of theCC ensures coordination between the two bodies,the function of the Secretariat being to support andimplement the strategic decisions made.International SecretariatThe Secretariat is the main executive body of <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong>. The first external evaluation of the network(1995-2000) noted that, “Of the various roles in the<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> network, that of the Secretariat haschanged the most” (Hessini and Nayar, 2000). Originallythe Secretariat’s function was limited to responsibilityfor the production of the <strong>Report</strong>, but due to thenetwork’s growth it has subsequently incorporated aseries of new functions, including research, capacitybuilding, campaigning, promotion of the networkand its representation in international forums.Promoting accountabilityThe Accra Assembly, held in October 2009, endorsedthe concept of “mutual accountability” among membersand among the different bodies of the network(secretariat, CC, members). <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> believesthat the key action to achieve poverty eradication,gender equality and social justice happen primarilyat local and national level and, therefore, its internationalactivities and structures should be accountableand at the service of national and local constituencies,and not the other way around.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> will achieve its objectives througha comprehensive strategy of advocacy, awarenessbuilding,monitoring, organizational developmentand networking. <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> promotes peoplecentredsustainable development. Peace is a preconditionfor the realization of human and women’srights and the eradication of poverty. But also povertyand lack of respect for human rights are at the root ofmany armed conflicts. Therefore the devastating impactof conflict and post-conflict situations on peopleis of particular concern for <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>.ReferencesFriedlander, E. and Adams, B. (2006). <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> externalevaluation 2001-2005. Available from: .Hessini, L. and Nayar, A. (2000). A Movement Toward <strong>Social</strong>Justice. An Evaluation <strong>Report</strong>. Strategic Analysis for GenderEquity (SAGE). New York.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> No. 0 (1996). The starting point. Instituto del TercerMundo. Montevideo. Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> (2006). Strategy and Framework of Activities2007-2009. Available from: .Van Reisen, M. (2001). The lion’s teeth. The prehistory of <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong>. Instituto del Tercer Mundo. Montevideo. Availablefrom: .2 Final reports, working papers and other materials from thesefour Assemblies available from: .3 The document describing the nature and mandate of theCoordinating Committee was agreed at the 2nd GeneralAssembly, Beirut 2003. Available from: .Thematic reports XIV<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Table of ContentsDear Leader,......................................................................................... 3Roberto BissioAfter the fall: a New Deal is imperative............................................... 5Roberto BissioMEASURING PROGRESSBasic Capabilities Index..................................................................... 43Ten years after the Millennium DeclarationProgress on the social indicators has slowed downGender Equity Index........................................................................... 47THEMATIC REPORTSThe economic crisis: time for a new social deal............................... 13Edward Oyugi, <strong>Social</strong> Development NetworkGender in times of crisis: new developmentparadigm needed................................................................................ 17<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Gender Working GroupUN Women born: can it meet the policy gap challenge?.................. 19Genoveva Tisheva and Barbara AdamsGlobal climate: the Copenhagen collapse......................................... 21Md Shamsuddoha, Equity and Justice Working GroupBangladeshClimate funding and the MDGs.......................................................... 23Ian PercyCritical shareholding: how to use a financial leverageto promote human rights and the environment................................. 25Andrea Baranes, Campagna per la Riforma della BancaMondiale (CRBM)Mauro Meggiolaro, Fondazione Culturale Responsabilità EticaPrivatizing European development finance: the role ofthe European Investment Bank........................................................... 29Antonio Tricarico, Campagna per la Riforma della BancaMondiale (CRBM)The Treaty of Lisbon and the new perspectives forEU development policy....................................................................... 33Mirjam van Reisen, Europe External Policy Advisors (EEPA)Simon Stocker, EurostepThe Arab States and the MDGs: no progress withoutsocial justice...................................................................................... 37Ziad Abdel Samad, Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)Net Official Development Assistance by DevelopmentAssistance Committee Country.......................................................... 49Public expenditure.............................................................................. 50Status of ratifications of international treaties mentionedin the Millennium Declaration........................................................... 54Ratifications of fundamental International LabourOrganization Conventions.................................................................. 56NATIONAL REPORTSAfghanistan..................................................................................... 58argentina......................................................................................... 60Armenia............................................................................................. 62bahrain............................................................................................. 64bangladesh..................................................................................... 66benin.................................................................................................. 68bolivia............................................................................................... 70BRAZIL................................................................................................ 72bulgaria........................................................................................... 74burma................................................................................................ 76Cameroon......................................................................................... 78canada.............................................................................................. 80CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC........................................................... 82CHILE.................................................................................................. 84colombia.......................................................................................... 86Costa Rica........................................................................................ 88CROATIA.............................................................................................. 90g
cyprus.............................................................................................. 92czech republic................................................................................ 94EGYPT................................................................................................. 96el salvador..................................................................................... 98ERITREA............................................................................................ 100Finland........................................................................................... 102France............................................................................................. 104germany......................................................................................... 106ghana.............................................................................................. 108GUATEMALA...................................................................................... 110Honduras....................................................................................... 112hungary.......................................................................................... 114somalia........................................................................................... 162spain................................................................................................ 164Suriname........................................................................................ 166Switzerland.................................................................................. 168tanzania.......................................................................................... 170thailand......................................................................................... 172uganda............................................................................................ 174united states of america........................................................... 176Uruguay.......................................................................................... 178VENEZUELA....................................................................................... 180yemen.............................................................................................. 182zambia............................................................................................. 184india................................................................................................. 116indONESIA........................................................................................ 118iraq.................................................................................................. 120italy................................................................................................. 122kenya............................................................................................... 124lebanon.......................................................................................... 126malaysia......................................................................................... 128malta............................................................................................... 130mexico............................................................................................. 132Moldova......................................................................................... 134MOROCCO......................................................................................... 136nepal............................................................................................... 138Nicaragua...................................................................................... 140Nigeria............................................................................................ 142PALESTINE........................................................................................ 144paraguay........................................................................................ 146peru................................................................................................. 148poland............................................................................................ 150portugal........................................................................................ 152Senegal........................................................................................... 154serbia.............................................................................................. 156slovakia.......................................................................................... 158slovenia......................................................................................... 160
Dear Leader,We know You are a most busy person and this letter mayarrive to your hands when You are preparing to go to NewYork to attend the United Nations summit that will review theminimum goals on social development that You and YourColleagues promised back in 2000 to achieve by 2015.Yet, even knowing how busy You are, dear Leader, wedare ask You to go on reading, first because it is good forcompassionate rules like Yourself to stop every now and then tohear the voiced of the ruled, and second because it might helpYou avoid the temptation to claim a victory that is not there.Remember when one of Your Colleagues claimed“Mission Accomplished” eight years ago? And then the warhe claimed had been won went on and on and the guy whohad dared to say he was wrong won the next election by alandslide? Yes, of course nobody is putting a similar “GoalsMet!” sign at your back when You will address the GeneralAssembly, but many spin doctors want you to add your voiceto the “glass half full” theory and You will be tempted to arguethat an extra final effort will suffice to achieve in the next fiveyears the task of eradicating poverty that has not really startedduring the last ten.This report will help You think twice. The public and thepress have a good memory, Your Excellency, and to makematters even more difficult, everybody can now read on theinternet the Millennium Declaration, where ten years ago 189World Leaders like yourself committed to “spare no effort tofree our fellow men, women and children from the abject anddehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which morethan a billion of them are currently subjected” and set 2015 asthe target for reducing that proportion to half.As your advisers may have warned You, in 2008 one ofyour ministers signed into the Accra Action Agenda statingthat “1.4 billion people – most of them women and girls – stilllive in extreme poverty” and the World Bank, which is thesource of those estimates (and of the delusionary idea thatpoverty can be described by income alone, when we all knowit is complex and multidimensional) well that same WorldBank has estimated in January this year that “64 million morepeople may be living in extreme poverty by the end of <strong>2010</strong>due to the crisis.“ It will defy your mathematical abilities totry to explain to the press how on earth 1.5 billion peoplecurrently living in extreme poverty can be shown as being ontrack to reducing “over a billion” to half.In fact, the issue is not even whether or not the world isgoing to meet the targets five years from now. The MDGs werenever intended as planning targets, but they are still politicalcommitments, made by leaders like You to define priorities.They are valuable because they can be used as benchmarksin evaluating progress. And many evaluations show thatprogress in social indicators has actually slowed down sincethe year 2000 instead of speeding up!Not that we doubt your abilities to address and convincethe public, of course. Without that gift, You wouldn’t havebeen popularly elected. (If You haven’t been popularly elected,please correct us and we will apologize publicly for ourmistake.) But even for a speaker as eloquent as Yourself, itwill be difficult to argue that “no effort was spared” when theworld military expenditures last year were 15 times largerthan the total aid received by developing countries and 49 percent larger than in 2000 when Your Colleagues promised “toestablish a just and lasting peace all over the world.”On top of preventing You from concurring in those blatantmistakes, the reading of this 15th annual <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> reportwill help You stay in tune with the concerns and the mood ofyour citizens. This report is, in fact, the result of a bottom-upprocess. It is not an opinion commissioned from consultantsbut the conclusions of hundreds of organizations andmovements that are active year-round on social developmentissues. Their objective in contributing to this effort is,precisely, to draw the attention of leaders like You to theissues that concern them and to help You meet your promisesand design more equitable, gender-sensitive and pro-poorpolicies.Each of the national <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalitions thatcontributed to this report decided on their own priorities andthemes and each one raised its own funds and defined its ownways to consult with the grassroots to gather evidence andvalidate their findings. They did not shy away from criticizingYou and Your Government, the policies in place, the powerfulelites in your country or the governance systems wheneverthey felt it was necessary. We hope You agree with us thatthe voicing of critical views helps strengthen democraticprocesses. But even when the reports find that much can(and needs to) improve under Your Leadership, we also knowthat other 191 leaders share the responsibility with You andthus, on average, only 0.5% of the blame corresponds to Youpersonally.Collectively, though, when You and Your Colleaguescome together in the General Assembly of the United Nations,You will have all the responsibility for your deeds as wellas for your inaction, as there is no other world governancemechanism with a higher authority. Yes, we know that somespecialized agencies and organizations are in charge offinances or trade and those bodies have their own decisionmakingprocesses, but who sits in their respective assembliesif not ministers that You choose and command?<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>3
We know your attention span is short and You havemultiple demands and little time to spare. You may argue that,yes, poverty is a priority for You and equal rights for women isa cause that You and Your Spouse are committed to, whateveryour respective genders might be. In fact we have never foundany leader taking the opposite view and defending poverty,slavery or the denial of education to girls. But there are otherurgencies requiring Your Time and even if You have read thisletter so far You may feel tempted not to read the entire reportand perhaps some adviser might summarize its summary in afew bullet points for You. It might spare You that effort to justgo on reading a few more lines. The final message emergingfrom this report is simple: as everybody understands thatpromises made need to be kept and that it is fair that You arereminded of them, citizens everywhere adhere to the “polluterspay” principle. Those that created the problem should pay forthe cleanup and the damage they caused. And that is valid foroil spills, for climate change and for the financial crisis.If basic principles of justice are applied, the resourcesand the political will could be found to create the “morepeaceful, prosperous and just world” that all of You Leaderspromised to us a decade ago. We may even be tolerant withYour Shameful Delay in that task, same as we expect You to betolerant with some of the impatient and maybe disrespectfulwordings included in this report. As You may understand,after a decade of not seeing words matched with actions,some among us expect You to “kick some ass,” if You pardonthe expression. Actually, that is precisely what we expect Youto do. The sooner, the better. We promise to applaud loudly. nYours respectfully,Roberto Bissioon behalf of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>PS: If You need any assistance in finding out precisely whereto kick, please go on reading this report.4 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
After the fall: a New Deal is imperativeRoberto Bissio<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> International SecretariatThe good news is that the People First strategyworks. People First was the title of the 2009 annualreport of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> and its main message. Weargued, based on evidence from around the world,that the ethical imperative of investing in peopleliving in poverty, women in particular, was also thebest economic strategy to combat the global economiccrisis after the collapse of Wall Street at theend of 2008.One year after, this is exactly what happened inplaces as far apart as China and Brazil, two developingcountries severely affected by the crisis that tookfast and decisive measures to stimulate local consumptionby helping its poorest people. Accordingto the Brazilian <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalition “recovery wasachieved on the strengths of domestic demand, fedby policies to raise the minimum wage; social policies,of which Bolsa Família (Family Grant) is the mostimportant; credit expansion policies led by publicbanks; and, to a lesser extent, fiscal policies underthe umbrella known as Program for Growth Acceleration.Lower income groups were also the targetof policies that have been expanding the number ofpeople receiving cash benefits (equal to a one-monthminimum wage), such as (…) people with disabilities,poor people over 65 years old, and extendedretirement benefits to rural workers (even in the caseswhere no previous contributions were made).”Less than USD 7 billion invested in Bolsa Famíliawere not only a success for the reduction of extremepoverty, but also “provided important support fordomestic demand, particularly for non-durable consumptiongoods. Since poor families tend to consumeall of their income, these grants (built) a floor underany possible reduction of consumption in the country.Expenditures based on Bolsa Família (…) becomesomebody else’s income, which will also be spent,giving additional stimulus to other activities. The decentralizednature of the program allows these stimulito be directed at local activities, magnifying the impacton employment and on additional consumption.”The bad news is that around the world mostcountries directed trillions of dollars to the otherend of the economic chain, via tax cuts to the richor subsidies to banks and big corporations and thenthose plans, which did not really help to reduce unemployment,were stopped or reduced as soon asthe financial sector became profitable again.This is the case, for example, in Canada, wherethe local <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalition reports that “deficitreduction is being used as a cover to further reducesocial spending. While stock markets, corporateprofits and GDP rebound from the massive globalfinancial meltdown, it is expected that full recoveryfor the privileged will be accompanied by furtherbacksliding in equality and development levels athome and abroad.”Even more devastating effects of the crisis arereported by some developing countries. In Indonesia,for example, the national <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> reportsthat “the global financial crisis has placed an additionalburden on top of problems as a large foreigndebt, corruption and a lack of consistency betweenmacroeconomic policy on the one hand, and concreteactions to reduce poverty on the other. Theseverest effects of the crisis have been felt by workers,since companies lay off their employees as a firstoption to save their assets.”According to the estimates by the World Bankand the International Labour Organization, thenumber of people around the world losing their jobsor falling below the extreme poverty line is countedby the tens or even hundreds of millions. In manycountries, Slovakia among them, the national <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> reports observe a tendency by politicians topromote “xenophobia, intolerance and discriminationagainst minorities” as a way to govern with doubledigit unemployment figures.Unkept promisesA decade ago, at the Millennium Summit, over 100heads of State or Government signed this pledge:“We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, womenand children from the abject and dehumanizingconditions of extreme poverty, to which more thana billion of them are currently subjected.” The eightMillennium Development Goals or MDGs, extractedout of the Millennium Declaration set time-boundtargets, the first of which were to reduce by half, between1990 and 2015, the proportion of people livingin extreme poverty and who suffer from hunger. TheMDGs collectively summarized the most urgent collectivetasks of the international community, createdbenchmarks and agreed standards against whichgovernments and international organizations canbe made accountable and inspired unprecedentedglobal mobilizations, such as the “make povertyhistory” campaign of 2005 with billions of peoplearound the world watching the simultaneous “Live8” concerts.Speaking to the heads of State in September2005, when the MDGs were reviewed, five years afterthe Millennium Summit, Leonor Briones, from <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong>-Philippines, said on behalf of civil societyorganizations: “The Millennium Development Goalswill not be reached by 2015, [if] the environmentcontinues to be devastated, and global issues ontrade, debt and official development assistance remainunresolved.”Goal 8 of the MDGs called explicitly for the establishmentof global partnerships around trade, aid,debt cancellation and technology transfer in order toenable developing countries to achieve the other sevengoals on poverty and hunger, health, education,gender equality and environmental sustainability.Some progress has been made towards thisgoal in terms of cancelling the bilateral and multilateralexternal debts of some of the poorest countries,Nigeria and Iraq, but this is far from enough.On trade, there are no positive moves. A developmentround of trade negotiations started in Dohain September 2001. Its development componentis insignificant and even so it is still far from beingconcluded. Technology transfer has been made evenmore expensive by the strict enforcement of intellectualproperty rules. Foreign aid has not increasedat all. It was 0.44% cent of the income of the donorcountries in 1992 and 0.43% in 2008.The non-compliance of developed countrieswith their commitments under Goal 8 is certainlynot unrelated to the lackluster progress on the otherGoals. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of theUnited Nations acknowledges this “failure to deliveron the necessary finance, services, technical supportand partnerships” and adds that it was “aggravatedby the global food and economic crises as well asthe failure of various development policies and programs.”Thus “improvements in the lives of the poorhave been unacceptably slow to achieve, while somehard won gains are being eroded.” 1 The uneven distributionof resources within developing countries isanother major obstacle. During the first years of the21 st century, many developing countries experiencedhigh levels of economic growth, but poverty reductionand job creation lagged behind.Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, former editor of the UNDP’sHuman Development <strong>Report</strong> argues that the MDGs“were political commitments, made by world leaders,that define priorities in a normative frameworkand that can be used as benchmarks in evaluatingprogress. In this framework the appropriate questionis whether more is being done to live up to that commitment,resulting in faster progress.” The researchshe conducted while studying the evolution of eachof the indicators over time, instead of looking at thetargets being met, shows that “for example, whileaccess to safe water is touted as an MDG success,only a third of the countries improved at a faster rateafter the year 2000.” In summary, “in most indicatorsand in most countries, progress has not accelerated”in the last decade, when compared with theprevious one. 21 “Keeping the promise: a forward-looking review to promotean agreed action agenda to achieve the MillenniumDevelopment Goals by 2015,” General Assembly documentA/64/665, United Nations <strong>2010</strong>.2 Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and Joshua Greenstein, “How shouldMDG implementation be measured: Faster progress ormeeting targets?” International Policy Centre for InclusiveGrowth–UNDP, Working Paper number 63 May, <strong>2010</strong>.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>5
The same conclusion is reached by a UNDPstudy of development trends in the last four decades,as reflected in the Human Development Index (HDI)since 1970: “We find that 110 of the 111 countriesshow progress in their HDI levels over a 35-yearperiod. HDI growth is fastest for low-HDI and middle-HDI countries in the pre-1990 period.” 3Not surprisingly, this is the same conclusion of<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>’s own analysis of the Basic CapabilitiesIndex, which combines some key MDG indicators(see the figures in this same report): While the keysocial indicators still show progress, its improvementdecelerates after 2000.And those findings are consistent with the reportsfrom the grassroots. In Nigeria, for example,the local watchers observe that “civil society organizationshave pointed out that practically all projectsfocused on achieving the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) are lagging behind.”The official positive spin on the MDG assessmentsrelies mainly on the World Bank figures forGoal 1. Defining and measuring poverty by incomealone, the World Bank comes to the conclusion thatthe number of people living under extreme povertyline of USD 1.25 a day decreased from 1.9 billionin 1981 to 1.4 billion in 2005, when the last internationalsurvey was conducted. 4Brazil, Vietnam and particularly China accountfor most of that reduction. In fact, in China alone,the number of people under that line decreased from835.1 million in 1981 to 207.7 million in 2005. Areduction of 627 million in China, while in the sameperiod the world reduction was 500 million, meansthat outside China, poverty increased in that periodby more than 127 million people.In fact, according to the <strong>2010</strong> progress reportby the Secretary-General of the United Nations, thenumber of people under the $1 a day poverty line“went up by 92 million in sub-Saharan Africa andby 8 million in West Asia during the period 1990 to2005.” Further, “the poverty situation is more seriouswhen other dimensions of poverty, acknowledgedat the 1995 World Summit for <strong>Social</strong> Development,such as deprivation, social exclusion and lack ofparticipation, are also considered.” 5 And those figuresrefer to 2005, when an international survey onhousehold incomes was conducted that allowed the3 George Gray Molina and Mark Purser, “Human DevelopmentTrends since 1970: A <strong>Social</strong> Convergence Story, “HumanDevelopment Research Paper <strong>2010</strong>/02, UNDP, , <strong>2010</strong>.4 Martin Ravallion, and Shaohua Chen, “The developing worldis poorer than we thought but no less successful in the fightagainst poverty,” World Bank, 2008; see also UN, MillenniumDevelopment Goals <strong>Report</strong>s, 2009, <strong>2010</strong>.5 Keeping the promise: a forward-looking review to promotean agreed action agenda to achieve the MillenniumDevelopment Goals by 2015, <strong>Report</strong> of the Secretary-General, February <strong>2010</strong>].establishment of the PPP (Parity Purchasing Powerof the different national currencies, used to adjustthe poverty line).Since 2005, according to the World Bank, thefood crisis and the global financial crisis have sentat least another 100 million people under the povertyline. From a grassroots perspective, this is summarizedby the Senegalese <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> report in a fewdramatic words: “Poverty is spreading, and is alsobecoming feminized and is mostly rural.”More aid is needed, but is nowhere to befoundMany <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> national coalitions in povertystricken countries come to the conclusion that theonly way to achieve the internationally agreed goalsby 2015 is through more aid from the internationalcommunity.This is the case reported by <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>-Benin, where the government resources are constrainedby external and internal debt and foreigndirect investment is not flowing in at the requiredvolume, and pays no taxes when it does, leaving thecountry at the mercy of foreign donors to pay forbadly needed basic social services. And similarly inTanzania, where the local report finds that “the effortsof the Government to improve the lives of Tanzanianshave been in vain, primarily due to the lackof commitment on strategies both at the nationaland international levels: ODA disbursement is oftenlate and does not go with the Tanzanian nationalbudget process.”In the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) theinflow of aid has created what the national <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> report calls “apparent improvement” in theWest Bank economy, but the overall picture remains“fragile”, particularly in the Gaza Strip where the continuedIsraeli siege and blockade undermine prospectsfor development, perpetuating a deepeninghumanitarian crisis. Since 2007, when the blockadeof Gaza was imposed, extreme poverty has tripledin Gaza, which is probably the most aid-dependentarea in the world, with over 80% of the populationrelying on food aid.Afghanistan, another conflict-affected country,is the second top aid recipient (after Iraq), but stillthe local social-watchers conclude that “more andbetter aid is imperative,” since conditionalities associatedwith development assistance and the practiceof tying aid to only buying from the donor countryor hiring donor’s nationals as consultants erodesthe usefulness of the grants. Much more money isspent in the war in Afghanistan than in helping peopleand since “nearly all the major donors are alsobelligerents; there is no space to talk about humanitarianism.”Meanwhile in Somalia, also torn by warring factions,the reluctance of donors to deal with eitherregional armed groups or the national authoritieshas created a situation where “resources from piracyare almost as significant as those coming from theEuropean Commission.” In Somalia’s gender-biasedsociety, war and poverty hit women the hardest andhard working civil society organizations like thosethat report through <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> struggle againstdesperation to preserve community links as a basisfor any future reconstructions efforts.Peace is a pre-condition, but it is not enough. InLebanon, the national <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> report observesthat “since 1992 the post-war financial architecturehas combined expansionary reconstruction policieswith restrictive monetarist ones, leaving narrow fiscalspaces for socio-economic development.” Themain conclusion is that, in order to respond to thepriorities of reducing poverty and discrimination,“development should be rights-based.”The case of Guatemala shows that, in the opinionof the local watchers, if structural problems ofinequality of wealth and income distribution arenot addressed, it is “difficult to develop an effectivefight against hunger, which continues to representa systematic violation of human rights in the country.Thus, the impact of development aid has beenslight, particularly as regards the poverty reductionstrategy, the peace program and the fulfilment of theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs).”In Cameroon the “watchers” have joined othercivil society organizations in demanding for themanagement of international aid to become moreefficient, by improving coordination, involving citizensand taking gender into account. And similarlyin Morocco, while ODA is “scant,” it faces majorimplementation problems by the lack of concertedefforts between the Government and civil societyorganizations, particularly in the priority area ofeducation.A major “acceleration” in the progress towardsthe MDGs, as requested by international organizations,seems very unlikely, considering that in spiteof all evidence of its being badly needed, developmentassistance has not increased substantiallyin the last decade and is likely to be reduced as aconsequence of the crisis. Thus, in Germany, whileChancellor Angela Merkel insists that “we are, and remain,committed to achieving the Millennium DevelopmentGoals for Africa” as a “moral responsibility,”her Development Minister, Dirk Niebel, commentsthat “there would be no way we could achieve an ODAratio of 0.51% in just one year” as committed by theEU. Germany’s ODA contributions in 2009 were USD2 billion less than in 2008.Development Assistance also went down inPoland, even when it was already very low, as wellas in Spain, reversing a recent trend to increase it.Due to the financial crisis, the promise of Portugal tomaintain its level of aid is judged as “questionable”6 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
y the local watchers. Bulgaria is also falling short onmeeting the targets or ensuring the quality of its assistance.Much worse is the situation in Italy, wherein spite of its G8 presidency last year, the Governmentis “dismantling” its development cooperation.Some countries like Malta, which showed positivefigures, are shown by the local watchers as engagedin creative accounting, by adding to the reportedODA resources spent locally to support migrantsand refugees. Other countries, such as Slovenia have“neither a strategy for development cooperation nora system to evaluate aid efficiency.” And, on top ofthis, the commitments “will be difficult to upholdin the current situation, with national budget cuts inalmost every sector.”Finland seems to be one of the few exceptions,since the new Development Policy Program has introduceda remarkable shift. Yet, the Finnish watchersstill report it lacks a “focus on social developmentand social rights” plus the danger that keepingpercentage commitments might still result in a decreaseof the absolute numbers, due to the shrinkingeconomy. The best reported results in this regardare those of Switzerland, where after much publiccampaigning the Government has finally presentedin June <strong>2010</strong> a proposal to increase Swiss ODA.South-South cooperation is the source of manyhopes in this context, where emerging economiesare seen as new alternative markets and also newsources of aid. Yet, <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> India notes that inits behavior as donor India “attaches the same conditionsto its external aid that it refuses to accept as arecipient country, typically linking assistance to thepurchase of Indian goods and services.”Since foreign aid can at best complement thenational efforts to achieve basic dignity for all, asrequested by the MDGs and the human rights obligationsof all countries, where are the resources goingto come from? Many developing countries want toattract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) to help meettheir development objectives.Yet, in times of crisis FDI tends to behave, likeODA, in a pro-cyclical way. This is the case in Serbia,where the local social-watchers report that “theflow of Foreign Direct Investments has slowed as aconsequence of the global financial crisis, makingthe economy more fragile and unstable. Anti-crisismeasures are based on taking out new loans fromthe international financial institutions and cuttingpublic expenditure on education, health care andpensions–all of which risk pushing even more peopleinto poverty.”Foreign investment is a double-edged swordThe watchers in Zambia have found that FDI “hasplayed an increasingly important role in the country’seconomy, rehabilitating the copper industry andboosting production and exports of non-traditionalproducts and services. However, this investment hasnot been used effectively to promote developmentand reduce poverty. Instead, it is contributing to anerosion of people’s rights, including developmentrights, the right to food, education, a clean environmentand women’s participation in political decisionmaking.”Similarly in Nigeria, the impact of foreigninvestment “is not yet being felt by the poor. Legislationfavouring FDI should be accompanied bymechanisms that guarantee transparency. Despitethe Government’s allocation of financial and otherresources to combat poverty, the sad fact is thatpoverty has continued to grow at a fast pace overthe last 15 years.”In Bolivia, “Foreign Direct Investments does notgenerate better conditions (…) since this systemtakes more money out of (the country) than it generatesin domestic economy.”In Uganda, the Government hopes to attractinvestor and at the same time increase citizen participationand control over public affairs by integratingInformation and Communication Technologies(ICT) into their development management as well asinto a variety of areas of social life. The local NGOsreport through <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> that “if the Governmentwants to bring about a real improvement of livingconditions, its effort should be consistent with povertyreduction strategies and investments in humandevelopment.”In many places, instead of being complementary,the same policies that should make the countryattractive to foreign investors make it vulnerable toforeign shocks and destroy the social fabric. “TheGovernment’s belief that it is possible to reduce povertyand inequality while at the same time embracingthe neoliberal agenda has proven not only unrealisticbut also imprudent,” conclude the watchers inCroatia, where recession in 2009 nullified severalyears of social improvements.The watchers in Hungary reach a similar conclusion:“Despite the fact that it was the first country inEastern Europe to adopt International Monetary Fundprescriptions in 1982 and that it was more highly developedthan its neighbours when it embraced a marketeconomy, Hungary is now the weakest economyin the region” and “wavers between potential socialupheaval – if a change of direction is not made – andthe total collapse of a very vulnerable economy. Thephantom of right-wing extremism lurks in the background,fed by popular discontent.”In India, the national <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalition observesthat “FDI is also adding to the ‘jobless growth’phenomenon” and “even though FDI inflows haveincreased over the years, its ability to deliver genuine(and inclusive) financing for development remains indoubt. In order to make sure it benefits the countryas a whole, including domestic businesses and localcommunities, the country’s economic structuresmust facilitate the creation of the enabling environmentneeded to promote greater FDI spillover effects,both to domestic business and to local communities.”Mother Nature, another victimThe environment has been a victim of the crisis asmuch as the social sector. In Germany, according toWorld Wildlife Fund, only six out of the 32 stimulusmeasures had a positive impact on the environment,and just 13% of them can be considered sustainable.In Bahrein, the country’s rapid development that willallow it to meet most of the MDG targets “has beenreached at the cost of the environment” accordingto the local social-watchers. “Biodiversity loss is onthe rise. Green palm trees, for example, have beenreplaced by concrete complexes” and the claiming ofland for urban development “from the sea at the expenseof bays, lagoons and beaches (…) has causedthe destruction of natural habitats and the extinctionof many marine species.”In Thailand also, the local <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalitionis concerned about the high environmental cost ofpolicies striving for industrialization at any cost. Evenworse is the case of Bangladesh, “a minuscule polluter(but) an enormous victim of global warming”and of the financial crisis. Both of them originate inthe richest countries and affect the most the peoplethat live in poverty and had no blame or part in creatingthem.Taxation and representationSometimes the strategies to deal with the crisis attemptto “export the problem” and obtain short termbenefits making others pay. In the Czech Republic,the watchers’ report that society is “riddled with corruption”and “deeply affected by inequality, discrimination,racism and segregation.” At the same time,“exports of weapons are on the rise in contradictionof the official foreign policy goals of supporting humanrights and development and assisting with humanitarianaid.” In Finland, civil society groups findthat official development assistance is frequentlysupporting Finnish investments abroad, which oftenhave “negative impacts on human development” inthe poor parts of the world.At the receiving end of those wrong aid and financialpolicies, a country like Ghana is found by thelocal <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> report to be dependent “on foreignaid and international financial institutions over the lastthree decades or more.” The result has been “massunemployment, huge balance of payments deficitsand low manufacturing and agricultural output.”While the 1992 constitution “provides the legal basisand specific policies to enhance the welfare and protectionof women and children, (…) the Government’sminimal investment in education, health, water re-<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>7
sources and rural development shows the low priorityit places on these goals.” The likelihood of achievingthe MDGs by 2015 is deemed as “remote.”Based on similar experiences, including havingsuffered deep financial crises recently, the watchersin Argentina have concluded that “development is notpossible without economic autonomy and domesticallymobilized resources, such as taxes. The successivepolitical and economic crises that have shakenthe country demonstrate that when the developmentmodel prioritized the financial sector over the productivesector the result was dismal for the vast majorityof the population. It is imperative for the State to regaincontrol of the economy, make it less dependenton foreign capital, and implement a fairer tax systemand finance production as well as consumption.”The issue of taxes comes up again and againin the reports from the national <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalitions.The main reason for lack of progress in Peru,in spite of marked growth in the economy “and anincreased public sector budget” is that “the Statehas not undertaken a much-needed reform of the taxsystem, organized a universal social security systemfinanced from taxes nor made budget allocations totackle issues related to gender or the environment.”In neighbouring Chile, “the present (tax) systemis clearly regressive in that it is based primarily onindirect taxes, especially the value added tax (VAT),whereby the burden is spread indiscriminately acrossthe population as a whole. If the Government is to beable to finance a national development policy it willhave to implement tax reform geared to retaining thebig copper enterprises’ excessive profits.” However,the new Government’s strategy “is to facilitate conditionsfor the expansion of capital and investmentin natural resource exploitation,” including “tax incentivesfor private mining enterprises in an alreadyregressive taxation system.”Also in Kenya, the main demand from the localwatchers is for the Government to implement a fiscalpolicy that stabilizes the economy while altering “theamount and structure of taxes and expenditures,” aswell as the distribution of wealth. At the same time,development financing should be tied to democraticreforms. The process should challenge the centralizinglogic of power, emerging from a public discussionmediated by values of equity and dignity.” TheKenyan watchers have subsequently played a majorrole in observing the transparency and fairness of theconstitutional referendum in <strong>2010</strong>.On the positive side, after electing a reformorientedgovernment in Paraguay, the local watchersfind that “thanks to increased income from taxationand plans for development assistance, there are nowmore resources to meet the needs of the people,invest in infrastructure and still comply with debtcommitments.” In those favourable circumstances,focusing on the extreme poor is not enough and “inaddition to working towards the MDGs, the Governmentshould also revise the existing developmentmodel in order to bring about a fairer distribution ofwealth in the country and provide better protectionfor vulnerable population sectors.”To make it possible for other governments tocollect their own taxes, under heavy internationalpressure the Swiss Government has made somecompromises and the legendary bank secrecy hasbegun to totter. Yet the Swiss watchers report thatinformation exchange in tax matters has hardlychanged vis-à-vis developing countries. Also, whilethe country “champions maximum openness ofborders for trade in goods and services, it insulatesitself against immigration from non-European countries.”Nevertheless, a positive development hasbeen the drafting by the Federal Cabinet of “a law onfreezing and repatriating stolen assets.”The high reliance on extractive industries, evenwhen taxed or nationalized, also makes countriesvulnerable. In Venezuela the national <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> reportobserves that high oil prices on the internationalmarket allowed for an improvement in the MDG indicatorsfrom 2004 to 2008. Today, the global financialcrisis and increased social unrest caused by weakeningsocial programs have put this progress at risk.”Yemen is also seen as “over-dependent on exportingpetroleum” and as a consequence “the restof its productive system is very weak and in consequencethe economy is unable even to adequatelyfeed its own people. The country will have to diversifyits agricultural production, overcome its environmentalproblems – above all the exhaustion of itsfresh water reserves – protect its products in thehome market and become more competitive. At thepolitical level it will have to implement stronger genderpolicies to enable women to really integrate intosociety”, conclude the Yemeni watchers.Crisis means opportunitiesGender equality is such an important factor in reachingsocial development that the watchers in severalcountries devote their reports entirely to this issue.In Armenia, the Government is recognized for havingmade plans and set up bodies to promote genderequality. However, “these have not had the expectedresults due to the lack of financial resources, whichhas led to inadequate implementation.” In Iraq, thenational <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> report introduces the conceptof “gender justice”, which “means far morethan courtroom justice for crimes against womenand girls; it encompasses equitable treatment andparticipation of women in the negotiation of peaceagreements, the planning and implementation ofpeace operations, the creation and administrationof the new Government (including agencies andinstitutions focused on the needs of women andgirls), the provision of the full range of educationalopportunities, participation in the revival and growthof the economy, and the fostering of a culture thatenhances the talents, capabilities and well-being ofwomen and girls.”The everyday reality in Iraq is far from that goal.“The fragile political situation and weak rule of lawhave transformed Iraqi society into an unsafe environmentfor development and stability. Iraqi womenface difficult conditions (…). Every day women andgirls are forced into marriages, murdered for the sakeof ‘honour,’ coerced into committing suicide, beaten,raped, trafficked into sex work and restricted in theirautonomy and mobility.”But even in such a dire situation there is roomfor optimism: “Crises can break down social barriersand traditional patriarchal patterns, providing windowsof opportunity for the construction of a morejust and equitable society where women’s rights areprotected and gender equality becomes the norm ininstitutional and social frameworks. Such opportunitiesmust be seized not only to promote socialrehabilitation but also to encourage and support newinstitutional structures, legislation and its enforcementfor the protection of political, economic, socialand cultural rights.”A change of scenario is also taking place in Nicaraguawith a demographic shift in which for the firsttime in history the dependent child population isshrinking fast while the weight of people in workingage is rapidly increasing. <strong>Watch</strong>ers in the countryhave noted that this “demographic bonus” offers a“historic opportunity” to develop the country in thenext 20 years” provided that the government applies“suitable public policies to ensure that young peoplecan enter the labour market and that they can do sowith good levels of education, training and health.”If the Government does not invest in education nowit will be too late.The watchers in Cyprus are also among thosecontributing optimistic visions and experiences.“The island has passed all the stages that most developingcountries are currently facing: colonial rule,the struggle for independence, internal conflicts,external invasion and refugees. In this historicalcourse, the empowerment of society through theprovision of free access to public goods and servicesfor those who suffer has been central to the pathto recovery.” In Cyprus the new National StrategicPlan for 2011-2015 challenges the current statusquo in development trends. Its two primary areas offocus are education and partnerships between publicinstitutions and civil society organizations. The local<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> report sees a clear opportunity to “leadthe way in the shift in development trends away frommarket-centred policies towards social justice, humanrights and equality.”Inequities are mentioned in many country reports,precisely, as a major obstacle for achieving8 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
social development goals. In Colombia, for examplethe watchers observe that even when “the countryenjoyed considerable economic growth up to 2008”this “did not translate into any improvement in thesocial situation”: unemployment has increased,wealth has become even more concentrated in fewhands, and “the fact that international aid is administeredthrough the central Government is an obstacleto alternative projects being undertaken.”In Uruguay, in spite of the crisis “the country’seconomy continued to grow and its poverty andindigence rates improved considerably thanks tosocial policies, which in the more prosperous yearshad been given priority over macroeconomic objectives.”Nevertheless, the watchers find problems stillto be tackled, “such as high poverty and indigencerates among people of African descent and the factthat more and more heads of households at the verypoorest level are women. To remedy these situations,combating inequities of gender and/or race shouldbe an integral part of economic policy.”In Suriname, where economic targets have beenpursued without consideration to equity issues, thelocal watchers report “adverse development effects”of economic growth “by widening inequalities in analready vulnerable society.” “With over 60% of thepopulation living below the poverty line, the countryfaces many social problems including in housing,access to health, education and gender equality.Finding a balance between ethnic group interestsand those of the nation at large is a pre-requisite forsustainable growth and development.”Inequalities can be based on ethnicity, gender orgeography. In the case of Mexico, the watchers reportthat “the official line is that (the country) is solidly ontrack to reach the MDGs by 2015.” However “whilethere has been progress in health and education anda reduction in extreme poverty” in national averages,“serious inequalities across different regions” persist.While Mexico City has development indicatorscomparable with some countries in Europe, there arestates in the south of the country with figures similarto those of the least developed parts of the world.In addition, in Egypt the national <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>report insists that economic growth alone is notenough. “The country’s failure to ensure that increasedeconomic growth is reflected in the livingstandards of its citizens represents the main challengethat the Government will have to face in the nextfive years in order to realize the MDGs by 2015.”No progress without democracyIn El Salvador, which elected its first leftwing governmentlast year, the local <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> coalition reportsa strong commitment to achieving the MDGs. “PresidentFunes pledged to tackle poverty and unemploymentby means of a global economic recovery planwhich includes measures to stabilize the economy,invest in infrastructure projects, including the expansionof electricity to rural areas, and compensateworkers and their families for the loss of jobs. Amongthe most groundbreaking measures was the extensionof the <strong>Social</strong> Security system to cover domesticworkers, of which some 90% are women.”While the Farabundo Marti National LiberationFront coming to power in El Salvador raises so manyhopes, in Eritrea, the country has been led for almost20 years by a Government that evolved from a liberationmovement but whose right to rule has not beenconfirmed in free and fair elections. As a result, accordingto the report from watchers in exile, “politicalrepression has never been as glaring as during thefirst decade of the new millennium. The Governmentis continuously frustrating the economic and developmentalaspirations of the people” and “in the faceof new sanctions imposed by the UN Security Councilin December 2009, economic recovery and socialdevelopment will continue to be unreachable goals.”Democratic and accountable institutions arealso seen as a necessary precondition by the watchersin Burma. “The 2008 Constitution and the generalelections scheduled for <strong>2010</strong> will only perpetuatemilitary rule and stagnation. Transparent, fair andaccountable institutions are necessary for development,which cannot coexist with rampant humanrights abuses, corruption and political oppression.”Before any attempt at tackling poverty is even possible,they argue, “the United Nations Security Councilshould establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigatecrimes in the country” and strong legal andjudicial institutions have to be put in place.Such a process has started in the Central AfricanRepublic, where “thanks to political pacification”,“a process to reactivate the economy and improvehealth services, security and governance is underway.” This has been very slow, according to the local<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> report, “and the fact that the startingpoint is so critically low means it will be impossible toachieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)within the stipulated time frames.” Yet the very factthat there is movement and political space for civilsociety to critically monitor and report on the processis in itself a source of hope.The ability to monitor and report is seen as indispensableby the watchers in Malaysia. “The MalaysianPlan reports paint a rosy picture, highlightingachievements but not acknowledging failures,there continues to be concerns as to the accuracyof Government statistics and assessments.” Giventhe minimal monitoring and accountability over allocation,both from the Federal and state coffers “itremains to be seen whether the Government’s developmentagenda, particularly for vulnerable groups,will be carried out as planned.”Writing from a country going through a tumultuoussocial and political transition, the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>national platform in Nepal summarizes the commonview of the whole network when it states that “theresponsibility for overall development” lies primarily“in the hands of the citizenry” and there is no way inwhich the multiple problems, ranging from climatechange to the impact of the crisis, from gender inequitiesto corruption, migration and peace buildingcan be handled one by one in isolation. A “new developmentprogram” is needed at all levels.A program of justice“If the poor were a bank, they would have been rescued,”is the sarcastic comment that many peoplemake when the additional money needed to achievethe MDGs (estimated at around USD 100 billion ayear) is compared with the trillions of dollars disbursedin the last two years in the richest countriesto rescue failed banks and try to reverse the effectsof the financial crisis.In practice, though, the less privileged in richand poor countries alike not only suffer the directconsequences of the crisis in the form of loss of jobs,savings and even their households, but are also requiredto pay for the rescue and stimulus packagesthrough higher taxes and reduced salaries and socialbenefits.In this context, to call for “more of the same”is not the answer. More aid money and better tradeterms for developing countries are an ethical imperativenow even more than before. But, to face thedramatic social and environmental impacts of thecurrent multiple crises, we need to move beyonda “business as usual” approach and start workingtowards a comprehensive justice program:• Climate justice (recognition of the “climate debt”,investment in clean technologies and promotionof a decent job creating green economy).• Financial, fiscal and economic justice (the financialsector should pay for the crisis they created,through a financial transaction tax or similarmechanism, speculation needs to be regulated,tax heavens and the ‘race to the bottom’ in taxpolicies ended or reverted, developing countriesallowed defensive control of capital flowsand policy space).• <strong>Social</strong> and gender justice (achieving the MDGs,promoting gender equality, universal basic socialservices and “dignity for all”) and…• Plain old justice (judges and tribunals) to demandthe basic social rights.In times of unprecedented crisis, courage to be boldand innovative is required from leaders.The notion that the polluter should pay for thecleanup of the mess created by his or her irresponsiblebehavior is not just based on justice and commonsense but is also a political demand that the<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>9
leaders cannot ignore. Similarly, the citizens fromaround the world support the notion that the costsof the financial crisis should be paid by the financialagents that were “too big to fail” but did so anyhow.It is unfair and politically unviable to expect citizensto carry alone the burden of this failure, in form ofhigher taxes and lower salaries and the deteriorationof social security, education and health services.Over the last 20 years, a tiny amount of people(only 10 million) who represent less than half of 1%of humanity, have taken at least USD 1 million eachfrom their respective governments, and placed it inthe offshore shadow economy. This amount of overUSD10 trillion of undeclared and untaxed money isnot a buried treasure hidden in some cove, but isactively flowing through the electronic networks,speculating against national currencies, creatinginstability in legitimate global trade and inflating financial“bubbles” that in turn create, for example,price distortions in agricultural commodities thatlead to the food crisis.Reclaiming control over those wild financialforces of enormous destructive potential over alleconomies is a subject of international collaboration.The United Nations is the legitimate body to negotiateand make decisions around international tax collaboration;the establishment of a Financial TransactionTax and earmarking of a substantial proportion ofthe resources it generates to development; effectivelycurbing illicit financial flows, including thosederived from tax evading “transfer pricing”; and lastbut not least, the establishment of fair debt workoutmechanisms for sovereign debts and an affirmationof the legitimacy of debt standstills and moratoriafor developing countries burdened by a crisis theydid not create.Ten years ago the Millennium Declaration promised“a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.”<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> is committed to helping citizens aroundthe world to hold their governments accountable tothat promise and we expect the leaders of the worldto formulate the action plan to make it happen. n10 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
THEMATIC REPORTS<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>11 tema
The economic crisis: time for a new social dealMore and more people are realizing that the global financial crisis is merely a symptom of a more systemic problem – a crisis ofthe “real economy” – that those responsible refuse to acknowledge. The capitalist system cannot be reformed or tinkered withthrough inadequate social security measures that leave the core of its societal logic intact. Only a complete transformation ofsociety organized around a new logic can lead to a world in which meeting human needs, not corporate profits, is the priority.Edward Oyugi<strong>Social</strong> Development Network, Nairobi, KenyaThe dynamism and aggregate wealth that the capitalistsystem has been able to produce in the last 200years have come at a steep price. With remarkableresilience, this system has weathered many internaland external challenges, but there have been significantcosts both for human stakeholders and increasinglyfor the natural environment.As its historic fortunes decline, both capitalism’svictims and beneficiaries face the elusive prospectof addressing the decline in productivity, lackof equity, widespread poverty and worsening of itsdistributive inefficiency. As more and more peoplerecognize, the global financial crisis today is merelya symptom of a more systemic problem. There is acrisis of the “real economy” – a crisis of capitalismthat is suffering not just from ephemeral ailments butfrom a terminal illness. 1In the past, capitalism survived by repeatedlypurging itself of debt and endemic social democraticdeficit by off-loading the costs of the necessary strategicadjustments onto the weak and the poor. Thecrisis would end only after a massive devaluation ordestruction of capital, accompanied by large-scaleunemployment and a fall in wages. The rate of profitwould then be restored with a renewed if not greaterprospect for higher growth rates.Capitalism thus destroys the social fabric byratcheting up unemployment, destroying neighbourhoodsand provoking social tensions and violence.The result is growing inequality, severe unemploymentand unacceptable poverty levels for the majorityof humanity. This time around the generic characteristicsare nearly the same, but the effects of thedamage seem to resist any remedial measures. Itcan be seen that:• <strong>Social</strong> and humanitarian needs keep escalatingas the resources needed to deal with them steadilydecrease or, in many cases, simply evaporate.The situation of Greece in <strong>2010</strong> is an example.1 For more on this issue see F William Engdahl, “FinancialTsunami: The End of the World as We Knew It,” GlobalResearch, 30 September 2008; Henryk Grossmann, The Lawof Accumulation and Breakdown of the Capitalist System,tr. Jairus Banaji (London: Pluto Press, 1992); RudolphHilferding, Finance Capital – A Study of the Latest Phase ofCapitalist Development, tr. Morris Watnick and Sam Gordon(London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1981).• <strong>Social</strong> cohesion is under a level of stress not seenfor decades mainly due to the fact that less privilegedgroups are competing for scarcer serviceswhile more and more families are becoming‘newly’ vulnerable and therefore in need of externalsupport from non-traditional sources.• Gains made across regions during the last decadeare in jeopardy of being completely lost notonly in the least developed economies but alsoin developed ones.• Growth is merely artificial if it is fuelled by unemployment.The systemic framework of the crisisNeo-liberal policies pursued by corporate sectordriveninterests have caused this crisis. However, it isnot completely accurate to argue that neo-liberalismmeans a deregulation of markets; it is rather closetregulation of the market in the interests of the ownersof capital, as the issue of patents makes transparent.From time immemorial, “intellectual property” wasunregulated; the men and women who invented thewheel and agriculture made no money out of theseinventions, despite the fact that all subsequent generationshave made use of them. It is only under capitalismthat corporations rush to patent not only theirown but also other people’s inventions and discoveriesso that, for example, pharmaceutical companiescan make obscene profits by selling life-saving drugsat prices that condemn most patients who need themto death. Thus when regulation or lack of it is beingdiscussed, it is important to be conscious of the factthat either way will work in favour of the hegemonicinterests in a given political economy. What may passas under-regulation will, on closer examination, constituteregulation on the sly and in the interest of theruling section of society.Neo-liberalism has usually ensured that regulationsprotecting the economically disadvantaged inparticular and the public in general are “abolished.”This is why from the 1980s to date an orgy of deregulationhas been orchestrated in most of the advancedcapitalist economies, spreading swiftly under all regimesinfluenced by the IMF and the World Bank. Toprepare the way for neo-liberalism to extend its rootsin the world economy through the Washington Consensus,the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999.This had been passed in 1933 amid the collapse ofthe banking system to segregate commercial banking(taking deposits and lending) from the much morerisky business of investment banking (underwritingand selling stocks and bonds) and helped to halt therun on banks. After deregulation the subsequentand vigorous pursuit of a “securitization revolution”helped consolidate the elite warriors of the capitalistglobal economy – the Wall Street tricksters.The system rests on the unplanned interactionof thousands of multinational corporations and ofmajor governments of the global North. It is moreor less like a traffic system without lane markings,road signs, traffic lights, speed restrictions or evena clear code stating that everyone has to drive onthe same side of the road. No doubt this will makeit very difficult to prevent the crash in the financialsector from generalizing into something much moreserious in the next few months or years. The soonerwe acknowledge the fact that only a minority benefitsfrom capitalism, the sooner we can create a democraticsolution for the majority. If the cause of thisunending misery is systemic, the solution must besystemic as well.Shock transmittersThe processes of international economic integrationare increasingly leaving peripheral states – andpoor states in particular – with diminishing authorityto regulate conditions defining the relationshipsbetween capital and labour, the operationalmechanisms and conditions of access to internalmarkets, and the quantum of budgetary allocationfor equitable social development. Given that statesstill remain the legitimate framework for systemsof formal political participation, there is a loomingdanger of a legitimacy vacuum opening up as theseprocesses extend their sway into all manner of illegitimatejurisdictions.For many countries and societies in the South,accelerated integration into the global economy hasbeen accompanied by growing inequality and marginalization.Local and national institutional frameworksand instruments of social policy have beenundermined and rendered ineffective when dealingwith the effects of neo-liberal globalization. Supranationalentities such as the IMF, the World Bank andthe World Trade Organization (WTO) shape not onlyglobal social distribution, regulation and provisionbut also national and local social policy dispensations,bringing about the disempowerment of largesections of society. 22 Bob Deacon with Michelle Hulse and Paul Stubbs, Global<strong>Social</strong> Policy: International Organizations and the Future ofWelfare (London: Sage, 1997).<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>13The economic crisis: time for a new social deal
Unfortunately not many countries of the Southhave developed the necessary steady hands requiredfor hitting the reset button in order to either reclaimthe policy space for protecting the vulnerable in theirsocieties or cut the transmission channels that havebrought the effects of the crisis to the homes andworkplaces of the vulnerable. At the macroeconomiclevel, developing countries have mainly been affectedby the crisis through the following transmissionmechanisms:• Unregulated financial markets.• International trade, unevenly tilted in favourof the powerful industrial economies of theNorth.• Unregulated capital flows into more attractivelairs of capital accumulation.• Bad government budgeting.• Counter-productive aid.• Corruption.Mechanisms for social protection that could obviatethe malign influence of the above fall into a numberof categories and corresponding instruments of intervention.First, at the protection level, measuressuch as social assistance, through public and privatetransfers, disability benefits, pension schemes andsocial services could provide immediate relief tothe most vulnerable in each society. For instance,the World Bank estimates that remittances to Kenyareduced the number of people living in absolute povertyby 8.5%. 3 Yet Kenya experienced a drastic fall ininternational remittances of over 10% in the secondhalf of 2008.Second, at the prevention level, mechanismssuch as social insurance, social transfers and savingclubs could help forestall damage to traditional copingstrategies and mechanisms. Third, at the promotionlevel, a wide variety of economic opportunitiescould be made accessible through instruments suchas easy and sustainable access to credit, school-feeswaiver, school feeding programs, public work programsand agricultural starter assistance packages.This would, of course, promote resilience throughincreased livelihood diversification and general socialsecurity.Finally, at the social transformation level, differenttypes of underlying vulnerabilities could beaddressed using social protection mechanisms 43 Kenya –Country Progress <strong>Report</strong>, World Bank, 2008.4 For more on this issue, see: Andy Norton, Team Conway andMick Foster, “<strong>Social</strong> Protection Concepts and Approaches:Implications for Policy and Practice in InternationalDevelopment,” Working paper 143, Overseas DevelopmentInstitute, London, 2001; Stephen Devereux, <strong>Social</strong> Protectionand the Global Crisis (Brighton: IDS, 2009); Charles Knox,“Response to ‘<strong>Social</strong> Protection and Global Crisis’,” 14 May2009, available from: ; Anna McCord, “Global Financial Crisis: Poverty and<strong>Social</strong> Protection, Evidence for 10 Country Case Studies,” AnODI Briefing Paper, London, August 2009.larly in a crisis such as the current one. To that extentit is an important counter-cyclical policy. However,the social protection responses to the ongoing neoliberalcapitalist crisis have been not only minimalbut also chaotic, to say the least. Admittedly differentcountries have opted for a wide range of socialprotection measures and some have made good theirdetermination to meet their pre-crisis commitments.Kenya and Uganda fall into this category among developingcountries. Others, such as Ghana, have goneout of their way to exceed their pre-crisis coveragerange even at the risk of widening an already almostunsustainable fiscal deficit. However, a large numberof countries have put social protection measureson hold and chosen instead to focus on addressingmacroeconomic stabilization challenges. Nigeria, forinstance, has opted for fiscal stimulus regimes while,at the same time, regulating an ever widening-deficit.This could only be possible through a judicious reductionin social sector spending that would otherwisetrigger off micro-economic tremors.In addition to economic pressures, some countriesare also being dealt severe blows to their humandevelopment and socio-economic stability due tothe constricting domestic policy spaces requiredfor decisive action. While advanced and emergingeconomies have some room to manoeuvre, manydeveloping economies find themselves under thedouble bind of government and current account deficits.Consequently, their policy and fiscal space hasshrunk. At a time when targeted, counter-cyclicalpolicies should be put in place and governmentspending on the social sector should be expanding,they are forced to take the opposite path.All countries must have the ability to introducecounter-cyclical policies, with international help, inorder to reverse the trends of insufficient demandand growing unemployment. It is imperative thatspecial lending facilities are made available underfavourable conditions for this purpose. Recent IMFand World Bank documents seem to recognize andappreciate the lessons learned from previous crisesand structural adjustment policies; yet the claim isheard again that “prudent” macroeconomic policiesmust remain in place. Thus the first question tendsto be whether developing countries can “afford” thebudgetary allocation needed to promote social securityfor men and women alike.A new social deal is requiredThere is a strong urge for more efficient allocation,rationalization and spending of social protectionresources. At present, relevant efforts remain fragmentedand ill-targeted in terms both of programmingand of strategic objectives and modalities ofimplementation. Large scale and long-term budgetaryexpenditure and reliable donor support will beneeded for social protection schemes to reach andThematic reports 14 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
enefit those impoverished by the crisis. There areseveral systemic challenges, which may touch on theneed to mainstream social security into the clamourfor social democratic reforms. This will call for acomprehensive readjustment of economic systems,allowing for:• Stabilization of employment.• Stability between private and public sectors.• Expanded coverage of basic social insurancesystems involving both private and public sectors.• New labour relations that seek to reinstate aproper power balance between capital and labour.• Equity in access and distribution of resourcesfor social development.<strong>Social</strong> protection can no longer remain isolated anddisjointed from a society’s struggle for democraticrenovation. The demand for its realization must bewoven into the democratic wirings of a nation’s politicaleconomy and its democratic potential. Suchpolitical economy requires a New Deal that is solidlygrounded on a new social-democratic contract thatgoes beyond Franklin D Roosevelt’s dream of savingcapitalism from the depression of 1929. It is clearthat he was not elected on a New Deal program andhe had no intention of implementing policies associatedwith the New Deal when he first took office. Hewas persuaded to enact these policies by the loomingpressure and threat of mass unrest following the telltalesigns of a crisis foretold many times by critics ofthe system. It was obviously a question of grantingreforms and concessions from above or risking a potentiallyuncontrollable social explosion from below.Although Roosevelt’s New Deal succeeded in lettingoff some steam by putting people to work in a seriesof massive public works projects, it was nowherenear enough to guarantee the long-term survival of asystem, the driving logic of which is running out ofdemocratic rationale. It was World War II that reallypulled the US out of the Great Depression. 5 In otherwords, it was production for a war that killed millionsof people and brought billions in profits to the corporateworld economy that “saved” US capitalism as thebellwether of the global market economy.The role of social security<strong>Social</strong> protection in the foreseeable future will remaina patchwork of fragmented, uncoordinated,ill-focused and always reactive palliatives no longersuited for meeting the long-term challenges facingneo-liberal capitalism. The situation calls for a fundamentalrethinking of the principles as well as thepolicies underlying our inherited social contract andthe political and economic paradigm inspiring itsdesign and architecture. There is a need to start fromscratch and rethink the appropriate functions of allthe sectors that make up the economy: the state, civilsociety, citizenry and environment.The complex, largely unwritten deal between ademocratic state, a social market and a non-hegemonicsociety should be one that provides the necessarysocial security for empowered citizens in orderfor them to navigate a dynamic political economythat serves every member of a given society. However,there is a worsening situation that has defiedtraditional explanation by apologists of neo-liberalcapitalism. Reliable pension plans and employmentopportunities are disappearing in the jungle of a deregulatedmarket economy as health conditions ofthe majority of citizens deteriorate with no signs thatimpatiently awaited recovery would bring any positivechange. Real wages remain stagnant, incomeand wealth inequality are reaching record levels, andmore families are falling out of the middle class. Thesituation calls for a brand new deal, designed to renovatethe moribund neo-liberal market economy.This new social market economy must rearrangethe balance of power between capital and labour,state and society, rural and urban, North andSouth, centre and periphery. Such a social contractshould be designed to promote long-term growthand broadly shared prosperity and to support individualsand families not as employees but as citizens.This should help put forward concrete policy proposalson affordable health care for all, broad-basedasset ownership, retirement security and lifelongeducation.Human needs on topEventually the peoples of the world will come to realizethat it is capitalism itself, not this or that rottenor corrupt individual or party that is the causeof so much instability in the economy and miseryamong the majority of the members of our societies.Nonetheless, illusions about the effectiveness of thevarious forms of stimulus packages aimed at savingcapitalism from its self-destructive logic remain unrealisticallyhigh for many. How could it be otherwise,in a sense, given the unfavourable balance of socialforces contending for a democratic redefinition of thefuture of mankind? Whereas the pressure for changefrom popular forces is mounting, they are not yetstrong enough to bring it about.So while we cannot afford to continue actingrecklessly against reforms, even those with minimalsocial-democratic content and largely offering palliatives,we must remain steadfast against reformism,particularly the type that argues that somehow theneo-liberal capitalist system can be made kinder,gentler and more responsive to the deepening plightof its victims. The system, by its very nature, is basedon the exploitation of the many by the few, of ownershipand control over the vast majority of the wealthof society by a tiny handful of the population. It cannotbe merely reformed or tinkered with throughephemeral social security measures that leave thecore of its societal logic intact. Only a complete transformationof society around a new logic can lead to aworld in which meeting human needs, not corporateprofits, is the priority. n5 Chalmers Johnson, “Going Bankrupt: The US’s GreatestThreat,’ Asia Times Online, 24 January 2008. Available from:.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>15The economic crisis: time for a new social deal
Gender in times of crisis: new development paradigmneededDespite some progress, commitments to gender equality are far from being implemented. Uneven progress towards theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) – all of which have gender dimensions – as well as increasing poverty and inequalityare due not only to external shocks and crises but also to underlying structural imbalances. Policymakers need to rethink macroeconomicsand recognize that economies depend on an extensive care economy in which the main workforce is female. Thetime has come for a new development paradigm with equal rights and opportunities for all. Will the new UN gender entity, UNWomen, be able to catalyze such a shift?<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Gender Working Group 1In 1979, many of the governments of the world madelegal commitments to women’s rights by signing theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminationagainst Women (CEDAW). Sixteen yearslater, in 1995, the 4th World Conference on Womenadopted a comprehensive plan of action towardsgender equality, the Beijing Platform for Action. InSeptember <strong>2010</strong>, the world’s leaders will meet in NewYork at the MDGs Summit to assess progress towardsthe MDGs, including reducing poverty and inequalityand discuss how best accelerate such progress in theface of multiple and overlapping crises on climate,food, energy, finances and the economy.In spite of some progress, the commitmentsmade in Beijing and the CEDAW are far from fullyimplemented, nor is gender equality always a componentof sustainable economic and social developmentprograms. By any measure, including <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong>’s Gender Equity Index (GEI), there is urgentneed for progress in this area, since governmentsare quick to sign on to international instruments butslow to ensure their implementation.Growing poverty and uneven progress towardsthe MDGs – all of which have gender dimensions –are due not only to external shocks and crises butalso to underlying structural imbalances. In times ofcrisis, it is women who bear the brunt of decreasedfinancing for development, having to find ways tofeed and support their children and other dependantsas household income falls, and taking on moreunpaid work as social services are cut. The poor –and women are the poorest among the poor – haveno cushions and reserves to cope with crises. Yet,the same countries that cannot find money to funddevelopment mobilized trillions of dollars to rescuebanks and corporations.The quest for a new development paradigmCrises such as the food, fuel and financial crises arenot gender-neutral. They exacerbate already existing1 This article is the result of the work of the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>Gender Working Group, based on findings from the <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> Occasional Paper 06, Putting gender economicsat the forefront (March <strong>2010</strong>). The writing was done byEnrique Buchichio and Amir Hamed, from the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>Secretariat.inequalities and highlight the negative effects onwomen and women-dependent economies. Yet, fewmeasures that countries have taken to respond tothe crisis have prioritized women’s employment andlivelihoods. Without carefully targeted measures,poor women are bound to fall through the cracks,obliged to seek more precarious jobs with lower productivity,meagre incomes and lack of social protection.Many become more vulnerable to traffickingand dangerous or illegal forms of work.Measures to protect women from the worst impactsof the crises are essential. Also badly needed,however, are long-term social development policiesthat solidly embrace gender as a key step towardsequality and increased human well-being. <strong>Social</strong>indicators take twice as long to recover from crises –as seen in previous crises in Asia and Latin America– and these must be carefully monitored along witheconomic growth. Economic growth is no longer avalid measurement of human and social well-being.A paradigm shift is needed which must be reflectedin practice. It is not a question of aiming for growthand formulating some policies for women, or forpoor families, but of designing and implementinga new development paradigm with equal rights andequal opportunities for everyone.Despite progress in terms of legal and policyframeworks towards gender equality, women’smovements worldwide have become frustrated withthe failure of States to implement these frameworksand deliver on their commitments. As Norah MatovuWing, Executive Director of the African Women’s Developmentand Communication Network (FEMNET)stated: “The change achieved in the political, social,economic status and situation of African womencannot be denied. However, the concern is that thoseenjoying these benefits remain a minority.” 2 Andchanges in the daily lives of women are few and far,especially for those in rural areas and those forced tomigrate within countries and abroad.Gendered impacts of the economic crisisThe economic crisis in 2008 and the subsequentrecovery plans at national, regional and internationallevels have failed to acknowledge, under-2 African Women NGO Review Beijing +15, November 2009.Available from: .stand, analyse and rectify the gender impact of thefinancial crisis. Continuous denial of its genderimpact coupled with the failure to include womenas part of the solution runs the risk of returning to a“business as usual” recovery strategy which, in thelong term, will have detrimental consequences onthe real lives of women, men, and children as wellas the environment.This current economic crisis is unlike previousrecessions in that this recession has had – and willcontinue to have – a much greater, albeit differentiated,impact on women. In contrast to past periodsof economic downturn, women today “are the singlebiggest – and least acknowledged – force foreconomic growth on the planet,” at least accordingto The Economist, which suggested that, over thepast few decades, women have contributed moreto the expansion of the world economy than eithernew technologies or the emerging markets of Chinaand India. 3 This reality is being completely ignored.Furthermore, the unprecedented numbers of womenin the labour market means that they contribute tohousehold incomes far more than ever before.Therefore, women’s integration into the workplacewill mean not only a greater direct impact of the crisison women themselves but also on households,where incomes will be significantly affected by femalejob losses.But more importantly, the economic positionof women at the start of the recession was by nomeans equal to that of men. With employment patternscharacterized by gender segregated labourmarkets, gender gaps in pay, higher levels of parttimework and high concentration in the so-calledinformal sector with lower earnings and little or nosocial protection, women are not in an advantageousposition to weather the crisis.It is important to recognize the interdependentand multi-layered dimensions of the financial andeconomic crisis in order to understand their full impacton women and gender relations now and in thefuture. For the most part, the gender dimensions ofthis crisis have been overlooked. Official unemploymentpredictions in Europe, for example, give similar3 Ruth Sunderland, “This mess was made by men. Now letthe women have their say,” The Observer, 1 February 2009.Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>17Gender in times of crisis
figures for women and for men. However, these fail totake into account the over-representation of wo menin part-time work, an area which is excluded fromunemployment statistics. In 2007, the percentageof women working part-time in the EU was 31.2%,four times higher than for men. 4 Women are also themain providers of public services, representing up totwo-thirds of the workforce in education, health andsocial care; it is therefore likely that female unemploymentwill rise disproportionately with cutbacksin public sector spending.In order to understand the effects of public spendingcuts on women, in both the short and the longterm, a gender impact analysis should be conductedbefore the cuts are made. State responses to this crisishave focused on male-dominated sectors (e.g., the carindustry or the construction sector), but reductionsin public expenditure will undoubtedly result in thetransfer of services such as caregiving back to women,further restricting their ability to fully participate in allaspects of life. Similarly the impact of expenditure cutsto support services in socio-economically disadvantagedcommunities will result in a greater reliance onwomen both within families and in the community.All over the world, women’s unemploymentrates are increasing due to outmoded gender conceptionsand cuts in public spending, while at thesame time their participation in the informal economyand in “voluntary” work has increased as socialprotection measures are removed and women areexpected to fill in the gaps.Global challenges: a quick overviewIn Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the MiddleEast, women’s movements have acknowledged thepositive effect of international agreements on thelives of women and girls. However, some regionsare also registering increases in religious extremismand/or right-wing conservatism that is linked to theperpetuation and propagation of discriminatory lawsagainst women. Many States and political partiesare manipulating the right of people to cultural andreligious diversity as a pretext for violating humanrights, including the rights of women, girls, peopleliving with HIV/AIDS and persons with different sexualorientations. 5 The political oppression of womenand their rights is also compounded by armed conflictand an excessive focus on militarization ratherthan human well-being as a means of security.Variations of this phenomenon are visible inAfrica and other developing regions the crises have4 European Women’s Lobby, Women and the economic crisis:the urgency of a gender perspective, <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.5 See for example <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, Putting gender economicsat the forefront – 15 years after the IV World Conference onWomen, March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .reached through various channels of transmission. Ithas also become necessary to use a gender perspectiveto decode situations within households, sincepeople who share the same space have asymmetricpower relationships. 6 Moreover, despite currentchanges in social roles, the division of labour by sexwithin households is still very rigid. The limitationsplaced on women by this division of labour, as well asthe social hierarchies based on it, determine an unequalsituation within three closely-linked systems:the labour market, the welfare or social protectionsystem and the household.Latin America and the Caribbean: lackof gender policiesThe decrease in trade – both in volume and in value–, the drop in remittances and unemployment alongwith an increase in poverty are the principal negativeconsequences of the global economic crisis in LatinAmerica. Over 2 million people lost their jobs in 2009and, despite forecasts of greater economic growthin <strong>2010</strong>, those jobs will be difficult to recover. 7 Thisis compounded by the report by the EconomicCommission for Latin America and the Caribbean(ECLAC) that 2009 exports dropped by 24% as aresult of the crisis. 8So far, responses to the crisis in the region havefocused on stabilizing the financial sector and on actionsto sustain demand, employment and supportfor vulnerable populations. However, very few of themeasures taken by governments in Latin Americaand the Caribbean mention women, despite the factthat the impact of the recession is greater on them,in terms both of unemployment and of more precariouswork, with lower productivity and less socialprotection. Gender inequality needs to be takeninto account in these policies since accumulation ofprofit is not only based on the exploitation of naturalresources, but also on the basis of cheap labour,women’s labour being the cheapest of all.The production process includes, though doesnot formally acknowledge, a double burden on womenwithin the household (or “voluntary” work) andthrough lower wage jobs in order to increase profits.Over the last decade, salaries went down in most ofthe countries of the region, largely due to the inclusionof more women in the labour market.At the 10th Regional Conference on Women inLatin America and the Caribbean, in August 2007, 336 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Research Team, Gender and poverty: acase of entwined inequalities, 2005. Available from:.7 ILO, 2009 Labour Overview for Latin America and theCaribbean, Geneva, January <strong>2010</strong>.8 ECLAC, International trade in Latin America and theCaribbean 2009: crisis and recovery, January <strong>2010</strong>. Availablefrom: .governments approved the Quito Consensus callingfor the adoption of all needed affirmative actionmeasures and mechanisms, including legislative reformsand budgetary measures, to ensure women’sparticipation and rights. 9 The inability to enforce thecommitments made in Quito demonstrates deficienciesin gender equality policies which are linked tothe weakness of States in adopting and enforcingmechanisms for the advancement of women andto the predominance of skewed “welfare” policies,based more on charity than on human rights.At the recent 11 th Regional Conference onWomen in Latin America and the Caribbean in July<strong>2010</strong> in Brasilia, Brazil, ECLAC presented a paper thatexamines the achievements made in gender equalityand the challenges women still face in the region. 10This proposes a new social covenant to redistributethe total workload (paid and unpaid) between menand women, in order to facilitate women’s access tothe labour market. 11African region: a drop in the oceanDespite the advances in legislation geared towardsgender equity and judicial process, African womenexpressed disappointment with their Governmentsfor being quick to sign onto human rights instrumentsand endorse different policies at the internationaland regional levels but extremely slow indelivering on their commitments.The Africa NGOs Shadow <strong>Report</strong> on the Beijing+15 found that “the many practical steps taken overthe last five years are a drop in the ocean when assessedagainst the many promises made by AfricanGovernments on the fundamental issue of achievinggender equality, equity and women’s empowerment.In short, African leaders are falling far short of theexpectations of African women.” 12While State policies currently do reflect someelements of “gender equality” frameworks, on thewhole, these stop short of fully addressing issues ofwomen’s empowerment and in particular, sexual andreproductive health and rights.9 “Latin American and Caribbean countries approveQuito consensus,” 14 August 2007. Available from:.10 ECLAC, What kind of State? What kind of equality?, July<strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .11 For more on this region see: <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, “Latin Americaand the Caribbean: no solution to the crisis without genderpolicies,” <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .12 FEMNET, “The Africa Women’s Regional Shadow <strong>Report</strong> onBeijing + 15,” 10. Available from: .Thematic reports 18 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
UN Women born: can it meet the policy gap challenge?Genoveva Tisheva and Barbara AdamsWomen’s organizations and groups worldwide celebrated the UN GeneralAssembly resolution, adopted on 2 July <strong>2010</strong>, to establish the UN Entity forGender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or UN Women. This newentity will be headed by an Under-Secretary General and will consolidate andcombine into one the four existing gender-specific entities, increase operationalcapacity at the country level and have greater authority and resourcesto advance women’s empowerment and advancement.Particularly notable in the resolution are the paragraphs regarding theimportance of civil society participation in the new entity. The new organizationwill expand its operational presence at the country level includingengagement with women’s groups and other civil society organizationsinvested in gender equality and the empowerment of women.This resolution would not have happened without the strong advocacyand determined commitment of women’s movements and other civil societyorganizations over the last four years, beginning with the adoption of the2006 System-Wide Coherence Panel report on UN Reform, which includeda recommendation to establish a new entity to increase the authority, resourcesand capacity of UN work on gender equality. Recognizing the needfor a strong civil society effort to influence the shape of the new entity, manyof these groups united in the Gender Equality Architecture Reform or GEARCampaign. Charlotte Bunch, former Executive Director of the Center forWomen’s Global Leadership, a founding member of the GEAR Campaign stated:“We have high expectations for this new agency –the women’s groupsand other social justice, human rights and development organizations thatplayed a pivotal role in this effort must now work to ensure that the new bodyhas the human and financial resources necessary to succeed.”A lot depends on who the UN Secretary-General appoints to new Under-Secretary General position to head the new organization. There is generalagreement that this person must combine the vision, experience and determinationto not only expand the work of the UN entity for gender equality butto hold the other parts of the UN system accountable for advancing genderequality in all countries. This is particularly important in the current period,as both the international community and countries worldwide accelerateefforts to advance progress towards achieving the MDGs by 2015, while atthe same time confronting the ongoing impact of the worse global financialand economic crisis in 40 years.The first major challenge facing UN Women, therefore is whether itwill adopt the traditional model of multilateralism where the decisions aremade only by governments and the political process tends to water policyrecommendations. This has failed to promote sustainable development toall countries or address the “policy gap” between macroeconomic policiesand gender justice approaches. Gender equality advocates in CSOs, governmentsand UN agencies must start closing this gap, and the test for UNWomen is whether it will provide the necessary vision and leadership.The policy gapThe financial and economic crisis has challenged not only the resources fordevelopment but also the policies to make it inclusive and sustainable. Asgovernments seek to reduce their budgets and their public expenditures inthe face of the debt they have incurred to address the crisis, many of the areasin which these reductions will be felt are in the provision of social services,including education and health, which are essential for women’s empowerment.This in turn threatens to reverse the gains in women’s empowerment,not only because the services will become more limited and more expensiveto access, but also because the cuts will increase the unpaid labour of womenin making up for them through what is known as the “care economy,” basedon the incorrect assumption that women are by nature dedicated to care andthat they have the time and capacity to provide it.At the same time, it is these sectors in which women’s employmentis most concentrated, thereby adding to women’s job losses, based on theassumption that if governments reduce spending on public services, andinstead subsidize private sector initiatives, the private sector will step upprovide them, thereby creating jobs for both men and women. This assumesnot only sustained demand, despite the loss of household income andimposition of new fees, but also that the main source of household incomeis men’s employment, while women’s earnings are secondary. This at atime when the UN has affirmed – and the MDG targets reflect – that the keystrategy with regard to reducing poverty is providing full, productive anddecent employment, especially for women and youth. Policy responses tothe economic crisis are in many cases perpetuating all of these outdated anddiscredited assumptions, thus disproportionately disadvantaging womenand enhancing the policy gap.This and other reports have stressed the need for developing countries’governments, which had no part in causing this crisis, to be allowed sufficientpolicy space to expand fiscal policy to respond to it, in order to promoteemployment and protect social spending. In response, international lendinginstitutions, such as the IMF and World Bank, have indicated a greaterwillingness to support more flexible fiscal policies and continued socialspending, at least in some cases. What is most urgently needed therefore, isconcerted efforts by civil society, including women’s organizations, to makesure governments take that space, in ways that protect the rights and promotethe well-being of all sectors of their societies. This is the new directionthat the new gender entity, UN Women, must inspire and lead.The GEAR network of women’s and civil society organizations and networksis contacting UN representatives at all levels to work with the transitionprocess and assure the new Under-Secretary-General of their readiness to supportthe new entity to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment.“We know that this is only the beginning,” said Rachel Harris of the Women’sEnvironment and Development Organization (WEDO). “We must continue toensure that we are building a United Nations that really works for all women onthe ground. This requires the active engagement of all stakeholders.” nIn the context of the global economic and financialcrisis, the first people to lose jobs in the formalsector in Africa have been those at the lower levels,and the majority of these are women. Women stillremain largely invisible in the formal economy, andwomen’s unpaid labour continues to be unrecognizedand increasing as they are forced to shoulder the socialand economic impact of macroeconomic policies.Feminist economists have repeatedly noted thatgendered impacts of the global crisis have increasedwithin a political context that impinges upon the timeburdens of women and forces women to absorb additionalcare burdens as market-based services orpublic services become less accessible. This contextalso includes higher unemployment rates for women<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>19Gender in times of crisis
and/or an increase in women’s marginalization intothe informal sector, and potentially a worsening oftheir working conditions. 13The Arab region: economic empowermentfor womenContrary to the myth of a single homogenous “MuslimWorld,” women’s groups in the Arab region have beenpushing for transformation from within their communities,fighting against conservative interpretations ofIslam that deny gender equality and for gender justiceat the local level. Despite the common culture, there isa marked difference among Arab countries in terms ofimplementing the Beijing Platform. This can be tracedback to several factors, including the way in whichdifferent countries interpret religious texts in relationto women, which are reflected in the personal statuslaws and the responsibilities that they are allowed toexercise outside the boundaries of home and family.Although all Arab States have signed and ratifiedthe CEDAW, they have done so with so manyreservations that the purpose of the convention isdefeated. Other countries, such as Afghanistan, forexample, have ratified the Convention but have neversubmitted a report to the CEDAW Committee.Much has been said about the role religion playsin the region especially in terms of the advancementof women. The use of the word “fundamentalisms” torefer to conservative interpretations of Islam has longbeen debated by feminists in the region 14 and new initiativesare emerging that seek to reform Muslim FamilyLaw from within. 15 Women’s groups in the regionacknowledge that a lack of political will – rather thanreligious tradition – is the main obstacle to increasingwomen’s participation in positions of leadership.In December 2009, a number of women’s organizationsheld a regional consultation meeting inCairo to evaluate the achievements and challengesfaced in the Arab region since the adoption of theBeijing Platform. The regional meeting included 235women’s rights leaders and civil society representativesfrom 14 countries and concluded by outliningfuture priorities in the Arab region towards the fulfilmentof the Beijing Platform. 1613 Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era(DAWN), “Re-imagining Feminist Politics and Strategiesin the Global South.” Available from: .14 For more on this see Anita Nayar, “Food for thought on‘fundamentalisms, in <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, “The Arab region: 30years of CEDAW,” <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .15 See Musawah–For equality in the family. Available from:.16 Regional Beijing+15 NGO Shadow <strong>Report</strong> Issued by Women’sRights Experts, El-Karama, <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .Although women’s labour force participationhas increased in this region, it is still very low comparedto other regions, and there is a high level ofeconomic dependency with all the social consequencesthis implies. Women are often employedin the informal sector, and when they own their ownbusinesses, they usually do not actually managethem, having to leave this to a male family member.When they are in formal employment, they typicallyare paid less than their male colleagues, although fewcountries collect this data. 17The Arab region is by no means immune to theeffects of the global economic crisis which resultedin economic slowdown and affected people’s abilityto exercise their human rights. Some women’s rightsadvocates argue that the current crisis has givengovernments the chance to change their macroeconomicpolicies to facilitate greater investment inadvancing gender equality. Others have questionedthis strategy arguing that in Muslim contexts, policiesand programs to support women’s empowermentcannot be effective if their implementation isblocked by forces located between women and theState institutions – such as traditional and religiouscustoms and practices. 18Asia Pacific: progress and pending issuesIn October 2009 organizations and networks fromthe Asia Pacific region representing a broad sectionof women and girls gathered at the NGO Forum onBeijing +15 and reaffirmed the Beijing Platform asa strategic document for women and girls’ empowerment, human rights, peace, human security andgender-inclusive development. The Forum also identifiedthe concurrent crises in development, debt,climate change, food security, conflicts and finances,and increasing violence against women as having themost severe impact on the rights of women and girlsacross the region. 19The Forum also highlighted the ratification ofthe CEDAW in all but four countries – Brunei Darussalam,Nauru, Palau and Tonga – as a positive step.Additionally, several countries in the region such asThailand, Cambodia and the Philippines in South-17 Mona Chemali Khalaf, Women’s control over economicresources and access to financial resources, UN Economicand <strong>Social</strong> Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA),31 August 2009. Available from: .18 Vivienne Wee, Farida Shaheed et al., “Women empoweringthemselves: A framework that interrogates and transforms,”Women’s Empowerment in Muslim Contexts, 2008. Availablefrom: .19 Final Declaration of the Asia Pacific NGO Forum onBeijing +15. Available from: .east Asia; and India, Nepal and Bangladesh in SouthAsia now have National Action Plans to combat violenceagainst women. 20 Laws and policies are beingadopted to strengthen women’s economic securityand rights in such vital areas as decent work and accessto credit and markets. Some countries adoptedquotas or other affirmative measures to increasewomen’s representation in political decision-makingin a number of countries, such as Afghanistan, Indonesiaand Timor Leste, while others took stepsto improve health outcomes for women and girlsand implement measures to reduce gender gaps inliteracy and in primary and secondary education.Despite these advances, the Forum recognizedthe enormous and complex challenges still facingwomen and girls in the region and the struggle tocope with recurrent crises. Participants were especiallyconcerned about the impact of these crises onwomen’s rights. Participants called for sub-regionaleconomic integration and national developmentplans that rest on the principles and practices ofecological sustainability, food sovereignty, financialinclusion, universal social protection, economic solidarityand fair trade.ConclusionThe needs of women and girls today go beyond advancingthe Beijing Platform for Action and implementingCEDAW to include sustainable developmentplanning that places human well-being at the core.Regional forums such as the Asia Pacific NGO Forumpoint out to the need for sub-regional economicintegration and national development plans that reston the principles and practices of ecological sustainability,food sovereignty, financial transparency,universal social protection, economic solidarity andfair trade.This global recession is a perfect time to createa new model of development in which gender equalityand social inclusion must be a key priority. It isnecessary to rethink macroeconomic models basedon keeping inflation low and deficits in check andrecognize that a growing economy demands liveablewages and the contribution of all people to economicproductively. This also requires the recognition thata productive economy depends on an extensive careeconomy in which the main workforce is female. Thetime has come for a new development paradigm withequal rights and equal opportunities for everyone. n20 Noeleen Heyzer, keynote address, Asia Pacific NGO Forum onBeijing +15, Manila, October 2009.Thematic reports 20 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Global climate: the Copenhagen collapseThe 15 th UN Climate Change Conference, held in Copenhagen in December 2009, failed to produce an equitable, legallybinding agreement that either set targets of ambitious emission reduction, financing and technological support or detailed a pathof green development to avoid dangerous climate change impacts. The Copenhagen Accord is neither a collective effort forcombating climate crisis nor a comprehensive framework that requires the effective, transparent and responsible participationof all stakeholders – governments, civil society organizations and financial institutions – in an integrated manner.Md ShamsuddohaEquity and Justice Working Group Bangladesh 1The 15 th Conference of the Parties (CoP15) of theUnited Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC), held in Copenhagen in December2009, did not result in the legally binding agreementrequired to achieve the goal of keeping the globalaverage temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.The Parties’ different interests divided the UNFCCCinto two groups: Annex I (which includes 40 industrializedcountries and transitional economies) andnon-Annex I countries. The 26 so-called “representativegroup of leaders” – the majority of them fromAnnex I countries – only managed to develop an Accordthrough an un-transparent, top-down and veryrestrictive process.The “bottom-up pledge and review” mechanism2 of emission reduction under the Accord willnot fulfill the reduction targets that the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change advises – 25-40%below the 1990 level. The pledges made so far underthe Accord do not reflect the delegates’ call for “ambitious”and “robust” mitigation commitments oractions. In fact, the adoption of a “non-binding” Accordis a diplomatic gain for developed and advanceddeveloping countries.Copenhagen: lost expectationsSince the Bali Action Plan was adopted at the 13 thConference of the Parties in December 2007, thousandsof delegates have worked on the Ad Hoc WorkingGroup on Long-term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA) and the Ad Hoc Working Group on FurtherCommitments for Annex I Parties Under the KyotoProtocol (AWG-KP). Even in Copenhagen, despitehaving many differences, delegates worked hard toclose as many gaps as possible and then put forwardthe most up-to-date documents arising from the twoworking groups to the final plenary.Against this backdrop, there was a parallel attemptby the Danish presidency to impose a proposalfrom the “representative group of leaders.” Whenthe Danish Prime Minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen,placed the Copenhagen Accord before the CoP and1 This paper does not express the position of any country,party or group.2 This mechanism calls for a dynamic form of internationalcooperation, where countries should be enabled to makerenewed pledges for emission reduction on a continuousbasis.asked for its adoption, he was severely criticized for atop-down decision-making process that violated theUN charter and challenged the organization’s traditionaland historic customs of decision-making.While the climate talks had so far been amongthe most transparent international negotiations,Copenhagen was very restrictive to civil societyparticipants, even though they had valid accreditationand a mandate for participation throughout theprocess. In the final days civil society representationwas reduced to only a few hundred. Although a fewdeveloping countries and least developed countries(LDCs) supported the Accord’s adoption, many developingcountries strongly condemned the processas “un-transparent” and “undemocratic” andwere opposed to endorsing the Accord as a CoPdecision.Finally, during an informal negotiation facilitatedby UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, theParties agreed to adopt a CoP decision by which theCoP “takes note” of the Accord, which means thatthe meeting did not approve or pass it. The Accordcan therefore not be termed a “collective effort” forcombating climate crisis. Building a collective effortrequires effective, transparent and responsibleparticipation of all stakeholders – governments, civilsociety organizations and financial institutions – inan integrated manner, ensuring that all work fairlyin the service of global prosperity, welfare and sustainability.A robust mitigation targetStabilizing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations inthe atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerousanthropogenic interference (DAI) 3 with the climatesystem is the ultimate objective of the UNFCCC.On the basis of scientific predictions, it is generallyagreed that the increase in temperature needs tobe below 2 degree Celsius. 4 The developing worldhas called on industrialized countries to commit to3 To define DAI “one must take into account issues that arenot only scientific, but (…) economic, political, and evenethical in nature.” See Michael E Mann, “Defining dangerousanthropogenic interference,” Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences of the United States of America.Available from: .4 UNFCCC, “<strong>Report</strong> of the Conference of the Parties on itsfifteenth Session, held in Copenhagen from 7 to 9 December2009, Addendum. Part Two: Action Taken by the Conferenceof the Parties at its fifteenth Session,” FCCC/CP/2009/11/Add.1, 30 March <strong>2010</strong>, 5. Available from: .40-45% cuts in emissions by 2020 compared to the1990 benchmark. 5In the discussions all Parties asked for a “robust”and “ambitious” emission reduction, althoughwhat exactly these words meant remained vague.Likewise, the Accord did not mention any quantitativefigures of emission reduction that the developedcountries would undertake after 2012, either as anintegrated target or as individual country targets.Although the overwhelming majority of countriesassociated with the Accord reaffirmed that climatechange is the greatest current global challenge, itsets no mandatory or binding emission targets.More than 120 countries – contributing morethan four fifths of global GHG emissions – have optedto endorse the Accord, and many have submitted anotification of their voluntary emission reduction viathe “pledge and review” process. However, althoughpledges are subject to international scrutiny, there isno mechanism in place to make ensure that actionsare taken to achieve the target. Furthermore, even ifthe current pledges are honoured in full, the globalmean temperature may increase by 3 degrees ormore by the end of the century. 6Undermining the spirit of the ConventionThe UNFCCC provides a strong foundation for aninclusive, fair and effective international climatechange regime that effectively addresses the imperativeto stabilize the climate system while recognizingthe right of countries to develop in order to addresspoverty and food security. The Convention is basedon the principle of equity where developed countries,who are most responsible for the climate changeproblem, need to “take the lead,” as well as the principleof common but differentiated responsibilities forall countries. Thus, the adoption of a non-binding accordis a diplomatic gain for developed and advanceddeveloping countries.5 The Kyoto Protocol set 1990 as the benchmark yearagainst which agreed emissions reductions were to bemeasured. However the 2007 Fourth Assessment <strong>Report</strong>by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)calculated emissions reductions targets against 2000 as thebenchmark year.6 Wolfgang Sterk et. al., “Something Was Rotten in the Stateof Denmark – Cop-Out in Copenhagen,” Wuppertal Institutefor Climate, Environment and Energy, April <strong>2010</strong>. Availablefrom: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>21Global climate: the Copenhagen collapse
The attempt by developed countries to strengthenand expand the “pledge and review” model underthe guise of the Copenhagen Accord would haveallowed them to evade their responsibility and thecarbon debt that they owe to developing countriesfor their historic and excessive use of the Earth’satmospheric space. This over-consumption has resultedin an adaptation debt, as developing countrieshave suffered – and continue to suffer – the worstimpacts of climate change, and also an emissionsdebt. Therefore, developed countries must undertakeambitious domestic emission reductions in order toallow developing countries to increase their own tomeet their sustainable development needs.Financing adaptation: enormous cloudsbut little rainThe broader strategies for combating climate change(e.g., mitigation, adaptation and support to existingdevelopment and growth) are interlinked and are areal challenge to developing countries, which willrequire new, additional and incremental financialresources for their implementation.Adaptation financing – financing the adaptationof developing countries to climate change – isrequired to build their social and economic capacityto absorb current and future shocks. These include:climate proofing 7 development, economicgrowth, official development assistance (ODA) andexisting infrastructure; additional investments fornew infrastructure; costs of community level andcommunity-based adaptation; capacity building; restorationof eco-system services; addressing massdisplacement; and mainstreaming adaptation intopoverty reduction strategies and other relevant governmentpolicies and programs. Thus the amount ofadaptation finance is a critical concern to the LDCs,Small Island Developing States (SIDS) 8 and Africancountries that are likely to be the most affected by theimpacts of climate change.Several studies have estimated the amount offinances required for adaptation. Oxfam estimatedmore than USD 50 billion, 9 UNDP USD 86 billion 10and UNFCCC USD 28-67 billion 11 per year. Anotherreport on financial flows produced by the UNFCCCSecretariat put the financial resources needed by7 “Climate proofing” is a shorthand term for identifying risksto a development project, or any other specified naturalor human asset, as a consequence of climate variabilityand change, and ensuring that those risks are reduced toacceptable levels.8 There are 52 SIDS – both UN and non-UN member states –out of which 10 are LDCs.9 Oxfam, “Adapting to climate change: what’s needed in poorcountries, and who should pay,” Oxfam Briefing Paper 104,2007. Available from: .10 UNDP, Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2007/2008: Fightingclimate change. Human solidarity in a divided world,NewYork, 2007). Available from: .11 UNFCCC, “Investment and financial flows to address climatechange,” background paper, 2007. Available from: .2030 at USD 130 billion for mitigation activities andseveral hundreds of billions for adaptation in developingcountries alone. Against these different estimations,mostly based on various “top-down” methodologies,developing countries asked for 1-1.5% ofdeveloped countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP)in addition to their existing ODA commitment. Chinahas suggested that developed countries should commit0.5% of GDP for such climate change paymentsin addition to the 0.7% Monterrey Consensus 12 ODAtarget (i.e., USD 260 billion in 2007). 13Given this context, the Copenhagen Accordforesees USD 30 billion of “new and additional resources”for the period <strong>2010</strong>-2012 as the collectivecommitment by developed countries ‘”with balancedallocation between adaptation and mitigation.” 14 AlthoughLDCs and SIDS, as well as Africa in general,will have preferential access to the adaptation fund,the present commitment is insignificant. Furthermore,there is no indication of the amount of adaptationfinancing beyond 2012. Long-term funding projectionfor adaptation actions in the most vulnerablecountries is ignored in the Copenhagen Accord.The reality is bleak: while developed countriesshowed common and indifferent interest in solvingtheir financial crisis resulting from market failure,they have been reluctant to show such interest insolving the climate crisis for which they are responsible.Yet, in comparison with the USD 20 trillion ofdirect bailouts and no-strings guarantees offered bydeveloped country governments to the private sectorduring the crisis, the amount needed to addressclimate change is relatively modest. 15Legitimizing the neo-colonial instrumentWhatever the amount, the ideology of climate financingis of critical concern to developing countries. Inthe concluding plenary of CoP 15 many of Westerndelegates wanted to link the funds they were offeringto developing countries as a pre-condition foraccepting the Accord – something that developingcountries’ delegates termed “offering a bribe”. EdMiliband, Minister for Energy and Climate in the UK,very specifically said that unless delegates acceptedthe Accord, “we will not operationalize the fund.” 16The delegate from the US also spoke in a similarvein.This attempted linkage of finances to the acceptanceof the Accord is not in line with the fundingnotion of the UNFCCC under which developed12 Adopted during the International Conference on Financing forDevelopment held in Monterrey, Mexico, 18–22 March 2002.13 Based on the fact that 2007 OECD/DAC’s ODA of USD 104billion amounted to 0.28% of DAC Gross National Income(GNI). Source: OECD (2008).14 UNFCCC, “<strong>Report</strong> of the Conference of the Parties on itsFifteenth Session,” op. cit.15 Antonio Tricarico, “If Keynes could sit at the climatenegotiations table... Proposal for an ‘International ClimateUnion’ and a SDR-based ‘Global Climate Fund’,” CBRMDiscussion Note 1, <strong>2010</strong>.16 Reuters, “U.S.-led climate deal under threat in Copenhagen,”19 December 2009. Available from: .countries committed themselves. Moreover, somehave pointed to ODA once again as the most likelysource of funds – despite the fact that donor countrieshave completely failed to meet even existingODA commitments over the last 30 years. At present,all international adaptation funding instruments −with the exception of the recently operational KyotoProtocol Adaptation Fund − are replenished throughODA-type bilateral donations, mostly through theexisting financial architecture.There has been a long battle between developedand developing countries in setting the financial architecturefor adaptation and mitigation financing.Developed countries have wanted the existing financialarchitecture, the Global Environment Facility(GEF), to manage the fund while developing countriesdemanded a different institution since they considerthe GEF funding model as difficult to access. Thisissue was resolved by the consensual establishmentof an independent Adaptation Fund Board, whosemembers are selected by – and are under the directauthority of – the Convention’s Parties.Given the patterns of differentiated historic responsibilities,the costs of adaptation are seen asdebts to be borne by the largely responsible industrializedworld. Debts cannot be repaid by loans oreven by grants – this notion is beyond the so-called“donor-recipient” or “patron-client” relationship.Additionally funding is given to the countries alreadyeligible for concessional loans from Multilateral DevelopmentBanks (MDBs), meaning that the participatingcountry has to be in compliance with theloan conditionalities determined by the MDBs. Theseinstitutions lack the credibility to manage such fundsbecause of their poor record on social and environmentalprotection, lack of democratic governance orcommitment to transparency and accountability, andsignificant current and past lending for fossil fuels. 17The MDBs are neo-colonial instruments; legitimizingthem as the operating entity for climate finance isnothing but a remodelling of developed countries’aid politics.Killing KyotoFollowing the frustrating outcome of the CopenhagenConference, new polarization on climate diplomacyhas emerged. The Accord also does not bringmuch clarity on how the negotiation process willmove forward.As for the Bali Action Plan, adopted at CoP 13in December 2007, the negotiation are proceedingunder two tracks: the AWG-LCA, which is negotiatingthe enhancement of actions to ensure full, effectiveand sustained implementation of the Convention;and the AWG-KP, which is tasked with setting thereduction targets for the post-2012 commitmentperiod at a time when scientific evidence demandsdeep cuts in the range of at least 25-40% by 2020.Only the Kyoto Protocol provides a commitmentperiod from 2008–2012 and sets legally binding collectiveand individual targets for Annex I Parties,17 ActionAid, “Cereal Offenders,” Policy Briefing, July 2008.Available from: .Thematic reports 22 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
varying from country to country, in order to reduceGHG emissions.Almost all the developed countries – includingAustralia, Japan and the EU – raised their united voicesto dismantle the Kyoto Protocol, collapsing thetwo tracks into one and producing one single legaloutcome through ensuring inclusion of the advanceddeveloping countries. The US, for example, neitherintends to ratify the Protocol nor accepts a legallybinding agreement; it prefers instead a bottom-upkind of “implementing agreement.” Through a setof clear decisions under the UNFCCC, this wouldformalize and strengthen the existing provisions ofthe Climate Change Convention for voluntary, nonbindingand economy-wide emission commitmentsto reduce GHG and report on emissions. This “pledgeand review” approach is in plain contradiction of theKyoto Protocol and leaves countries with leeway onwhat kind of targets to adopt and how to meet them.While the Kyoto’s approach specifies targets for aspecific period and assessments on whether thosetargets have been reached, the process called forin the Copenhagen Accord resembles the negotiationsin the context of the World Trade Organization(WTO), where every few years countries make newpledges to reduce their trade barriers. 18The Kyoto protocol, which created a global coalitionbetween politicians, experts, bureaucrats, civilsociety organizations and people across the world,outlined an integrated approach to face the challengesof climate change. Now, the approach of “cherry picking”the preferable options by developed countries isreminiscent of the words of the Bush administrationthat “Kyoto is dead.” 19 At the time, this statement waswidely denounced in countries around the world;now these countries need to work to keep the KyotoProtocol functioning towards its next phase.A way forward to CancunAt CoP 15 in Copenhagen, as at CoP 13 in Bali, thecountry Parties negotiated through three majorblocs: (a) the European Union, (b) the US, supportedby Canada and Japan and (c) the G77 and China.Among these, the last is the major one with 132countries including developing countries, LDCs andAOSIS. It is the platform of almost all the non-AnnexI countries that are historically not responsible forthe present climate crisis but, given the disparity ineconomic comparability and GDP growth, it is alsothe most heterogeneous group and is mostly drivenby the interests of the advanced developing countries(China, Brazil, India and South Africa).These three blocs led to “triangular climate diplomacy.”For example, the EU took its stance to producea single legal outcome and attempted to pushprimarily the US, but also the advanced developingcountries, into accepting binding commitments. Onthe other hand, as mentioned above, the US pushed18 Harro van Asselt, “Copenhagen chaos? Post-2012 climatechange policy and international law,” Amsterdam LawForum, 2(2), <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .19 Dick Thompson, “Why U.S. Environmentalists Pin Hopes onEurope,” Time, 26 March 2001. Available from: .Climate funding and the MDGsIan PercyThe USD 30 billion in “new and additional” fundingchampioned in the Copenhagen Accord isfar from assured. The amount may reflect UNpriorities and a commitment to climate changemitigation and adaptation, but the historicaltrend is not encouraging. Developed countrydonors are not on track to meet the target of0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) to beprovided by 2015 for ODA; already there arereports from Finnish civil society, for example,that climate funding is being drawn from its developmentbudget. 1 The situation is similar inmost countries that have made the pledge. Inaddition Better Aid reports the projection thataid receipts are to lose over USD 2 billion onceclimate funds to middle-income countries beginto erode the aid budget. 21 Better Aid. Available from: .2 Ibid.for an “implementing agreement.” For their part, theadvanced developing countries stressed the historicalresponsibility of all the industrialized countries,including the US, and urged them to lead in combatingclimate change as they have committed to inArticle 3.1 of the UNFCCC.Significant divisions also took place amongother members of the G77 and China group; the SIDSand LDCs demanded Long-term Cooperative Actionnegotiations on a protocol that would function alongsidethe Kyoto Protocol. This group also demandedpreferential allocation of adaptation finance, whichthe other advanced developing countries did not support.Unlike in global geo-politics, the positions ofUS and China appear to converge in global climatediplomacy since both countries prioritize their nationalrather than the global interest.The emerging multi-polarity in the global climatediplomacy translates into a number of key actors ableto block substantial progress in the future negotiationleading to the 16 th CoP to be held in November<strong>2010</strong> in Cancun (Mexico). Without a complementarypolicy position among the advanced developingand developed countries, including the US, positiveoutcomes and breakthroughs in climate policy areunlikely. Besides, the division of UNFCCC partiesinto two groups – Annex I and non-Annex I countries– is no longer appropriate, given the complexity ofglobal climate policy. Even though many developingcountries and emerging economies insist that thisdichotomy must be maintained, some differentiationwithin the group of non-Annex I countries is neededin order to speed-up the negotiation process.The Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) will not be met, and development islagging behind other stated goals in many areasof the world. A lack of development funding isoften cited as a reason for slow progress onmeeting targets. Based on current trends it iseasy to imagine a severe drop in ODA reservedfor non-climate activities. Political leaders,especially in the Organization for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD), are underincreasing pressure to show results for the aidthey provide. There is a real danger that lessquantitative development goals could be forgottenin favour of verifiable climate changemitigation and adaptation strategies.In order to ensure that donors and developingcountries do not lose sight of developmentcommitments, baselines for climate fundingmust be established at the 16 th Conference ofthe Parties in Cancun. Without verifiable andsuccinct qualifications for “new and additional”funds, there is a danger that education andother development priorities could end up playingsecond fiddle to wind farms and biomassprojects. nConclusionA recent analysis of the Copenhagen outcomes 20by UNDP notes that the conference fell short of acomprehensive agreement on a future frameworkon climate change. However if Parties were to usethe Copenhagen Accord as an overarching politicalguidance on the core issues, the technical negotiationsunder the AWG–KP and AWG LCA could besignificantly advanced and the texts finalized morequickly, while taking into account the concerns ofthose countries that did not agree to the Accord.Meanwhile, the first meeting of country Partiessince the Copenhagen Conference extends the mandateof the two ad hoc working groups – the AWG-LCA and the AWG-KP. In fact, there are significantmerits for such a two-track approach since much ofthe required institutional framework already exists.If this approach is not taken, then the progress thathas already been achieved in the negotiation processwill be jeopardized. n20 Alina Averchenkova, “The Outcomes of Copenhagen:The Negotiations and the Accord,” UNDP Environmentand Energy Group Climate Policy Series, February <strong>2010</strong>.Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>23Global climate: the Copenhagen collapse
Critical shareholding: how to use a financial leverage topromote human rights and the environmentIn several countries, civil society organizations and networks have started to buy a few shares of companies accused of havingnegative social and environmental impacts, namely in their investments in the global South, in order to actively participate in thelife of the firm. This is a new form of advocacy, and a new campaigning tool: critical shareholding. The targeted companies arecriticized for their poor democratic governance and controversial sustainability record and performance. If the financial actorsand managers still want to invest in unsustainable companies, violating human rights and harming the environment playing in acasino economy, let’s make clear that we don’t want to be their accomplices and prevent them from playing with our chips.Andrea BaranesCampagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale (CRBM)Mauro MeggiolaroFondazione Culturale Responsabilità EticaThe “Pioneer Fund,” created in Boston in 1928 isusually considered the first case of an institutionalinvestor looking at non-economic parameters in itsinvestment strategies. The fund encouraged investmentin accord with religious belief, excluding the“sin shares” of companies operating in sectors suchas tobacco, gambling or arms.A new idea of ethical finance emerged in thelate 1960s in the US, when civil rights and later antiwarprotests began to explode. In 1968, studentsat Cornell University demanded that the board divestin shares of companies involved in trade withSouth Africa. The “Pax World Fund” was created afew years later, excluding companies involved in theVietnam war.The rationale for excluding some investmentswas therefore broadened, and started to include socialconsiderations. More importantly, beginning inthe late 1960s, not only some specific sectors, suchas armaments or gambling, were excluded, but sotoo were individual companies and banks involvedin such activities. Later, some new criteria started tobe taken into account, namely, the companies’ humanrights and environmental records. This turnedout to be a powerful way to boycott companies doingbusiness with racist regimes (e.g., South Africaunder Apartheid) or dictatorships (e.g., Chile underPinochet).Boycotting versus participatingHistorically, these first cases were extremely importantin highlighting the role that shareholderscan play in influencing the behaviour of a company.Several cases of disinvestment in and of boycottingspecific companies, countries or sectors achievedimpressive results. It is widely recognized, for instance,that the massive campaign against companiesmaintaining economic and trading relationswith the Apartheid regime in South Africa played atleast some role in propelling the change to a modern,democratic system.However, divesting in company shares meanscutting all relations with the company, togetherwith the chance to try to influence its behaviour. Bycontrast, being a shareholder means owning a part,however small, of the company, thus maintaining arelationship and actively participating in the life of thecompany to try and shift its overall social record.The role of financial marketsThis idea is becoming more and more important inthe context of modern financial markets. The scopeand role of finance have grown enormously in thelast years, as seen in the so called “financialization”of the global economy. Apart from a few exceptions,the majority of the shares of the companies listedon today´s stock exchanges are owned by investmentfunds, pension funds and other institutionalinvestors. Accordingly, to meet the demands andexpectations of these institutions, the daily value ofthe company´s shares becomes the main objectivefor its managers, steadily replacing the long-termgoal of sustainable development. The stock optionsand other bonuses for top management have dramaticallyincreased this trend.More broadly, “shareholders interest” is rapidlyreplacing “stakeholders interest.” Some of theworst consequences of modern finance, includingexcessive volatility and speculation, may be at leastpartially linked to this shift. At the same time, thehuge power of the financial world could be used tochallenge the social and environmental behaviour ofindividual companies.The principles of critical shareholdingIn several countries, civil society organizations andnetworks have started a new form of advocacy, anda new campaigning tool: “critical shareholding.” Theidea is quite simple: buy a few shares of companiesaccused of having negative social and environmentalimpacts, particularly with regard to their investmentsin the global South, in order to actively participate inthe life of the firm. In general, companies are targetedfor their negative environmental, social and humanrights records, their questionable impact on localand national development processes, their lack oftransparency, weak democratic governance, and fortheir overall lack of accountability.The goal of critical shareholding is at leastthree-fold:First, it provides an opportunity to bring thevoice of Southern communities and internationalcivil society organizations directly to the companyboards and shareholders. Too many projects carriedout by Northern transnational corporations badlyimpact on the life and the fundamental rights of localgroups in the global South. The latter have no chanceto make their voice heard in the country where themother company is based. The critical shareholdinginitiative may therefore be an effective tool to try tobring this voice directly to the board, the managersand the shareholders of the company. From acampaigning point of view, given the prominent roleof the financial markets and the share values, actingdirectly as a shareholder will gain greater companyattention. This is all the more true for the top managers,whose annual income depends more and moreon stock options and other bonuses directly linkedto the company´s stock market performance. Thiskind of engagement may therefore serve to highlightthe social and environmental performance of thecompany in order to reduce its broader negativedevelopment impacts and to foster a more activedialogue between the company and all of its stakeholders.Secondly, with regard to the general financialculture, critical shareholding is an instrument of “economicdemocracy,” increasing the knowledge and theparticipation of small shareholders and of the generalpublic in financial matters. Being a shareholderdoesn’t merely mean looking for the highest profitsand dividends in the shortest time. The current crisishas shown the threats of a financial system basedupon the short-term maximization of profits. Being ashareholder implies rights as well as duties, namely toactively participate in the life of the company; this isregarded as central in any development process bothin the North and the South, given the prominent roleof the private sector in most societies.Finally, from the investors’ point of view, criticalshareholding increases the representation of thesmall shareholders in the life of the company. A 2009OECD report points out that one of the main reasonsfor the crisis was the poor corporate governanceschemes of many companies. 1 The same OECDreport pledges to increase the participation of thesmall shareholders in the life and the decisions ofthe companies. Critical shareholding goes precisely1 Kirkpatrick, Grant, The corporate governance lessons fromthe financial crisis. OECD, 2009. Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>25Critical shareholding
in this direction and may contribute to increase democratizationand accountability of private sectoroperations.International networks and initial resultsIn several European countries, as well as in the US,active shareholder engagement has become a widespreadpractice. The interventions and proposals ofsmall active shareholders helped in many cases toimprove companies´ environmental and social responsibility,governance and accountability, and longterm sustainability. This strategy has already beenused in campaigns targeting Northern corporationresponsibility in solidarity with affected communitiesin the global South in order to promote their right todevelopment.The pioneer in shareholder engagement practicesis certainly the Interfaith Center on CorporateResponsibility (ICCR) based in New York. 2 As acoalition of 275 religious orders, Catholic, Evangelicand Jewish, ICCR engages US companies it investsin, filing and voting resolutions at the companiesAnnual General Meetings (AGM) and meeting thecompanies’ directors and managers. The first ofsuch resolutions was submitted in the early 1970s,asking companies such as General Motors to withdrawtheir financial and commercial support fromApartheid South Africa. ICCR South Africa resolutions,presented by the Episcopal Church, never gotmore than 20% of shareholders votes, but indeedhelped influence public opinion and put Apartheidunder the spotlight of financial markets. In the yearsbefore the end of Apartheid (1994), the direct investmentsof US companies in South Africa declined by50% and, as Timothy Smith – one of the first executivedirectors of ICCR – put it: “Without responsibleshareholding initiatives the fight against Apartheidwould have been far less effective.”The ICCR mission statement declares: “Webelieve that investments should offer somethingmore than an acceptable financial return.... Insteadof selling the shares of companies that acts againstenvironmental, human rights or governance rule, weprefer to act as shareholders and press for change.”As of <strong>2010</strong> it has submitted more than 200 differentresolutions at AGMs of US companies on issuessuch as excessive executive compensation, toxicchemicals in products, animal testing, weaponizationof space or foreign military sales. Many resolutionshave been withdrawn before the AGMs, because thecompanies have agreed to negotiate with ICCR members.The percentage of shareholders that voted forICCR resolutions varies from the nearly 40% of derivativesresolutions submitted at Bank of America,Citigroup and Goldman Sachs’ AGMs, asking formore transparency in the trade in financial deriva-2 For further information see: .tives, to the record 97.9% of HIV/AIDS resolutionssubmitted at Coca Cola’s AGM in 2004, asking themultinational to disclose a report on the potential financialimpacts of HIV/AIDS and other pandemics onthe company’s balance sheet and business strategiesin developing countries. After the resolution, whichwas meant to make Coca Cola aware of the HIV/AIDSemergency in East Asia and Africa, the company hasstarted publishing a detailed report, as required bythe active shareholders, investing in prevention andhealth care for its employees in poor countries.Similar ICCR resolutions have convinced theUS clothing giant The Gap, to disclose the full list ofits subcontractors in developing countries as well asan assessment of social and environmental risks foreach of them.But not only religious investors are putting thecompanies under the spotlight in shareholders meetings.In the last 10 years also the big pension fundshave started to raise their voice. In the US the mostknown is Calpers (Californian Public Employees RetirementSystem). Calpers, with 1.4 million membersand nearly 200 billion dollars under management,have started to use its investment shares as a wayto engage US corporations. Calpers’ campaigns,aimed mainly at condemning bad governance practices(e.g., excessive executive compensation), haveobtained a broad and unexpected success, so thatSean Harrigan, Calpers’ chairman until 2004, hadto resign due to mounting pressure from US multinationals.On September 2006, California GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger, supporting the Sudan DivestmentTask Force, adopted a targeted divestmentpolicy from companies that operate in South Sudan(where the Darfur civil war continues) for the CaliforniaPublic Employees Retirement System (CalPERS)and California State Teachers Retirement System(CalSTRS) and decided to indemnify the boards ofboth funds for this action.Besides Calpers and Calstrs, many other publicemployee pension funds have started putting pressureon US companies in their AGMs, includingthe New York State Common Retirement Fund, theConnecticut Retirement and Trust Plans of the NewYork City Comptroller’s Office. “In the last years,”according to a survey by the US <strong>Social</strong> InvestmentForum, “these funds have submitted tens of socialresolutions based on ILO (International Labour Organization)Conventions, on climate change issuesor equal opportunities.”In Canada the attention of pension funds forsocial and environmental issues is stimulated byBatîrente, the Quebec-based pension funds of Caissed’économie Desjardins (a bank created and entirelycontrolled by trade unions). 3 Batîrente managesabout EUR 350 million, has more than 20,000 mem-3 See: .bers and selects the shares it invests in according toESG (environmental, social and governance) criteria.“In the beginning we have supported resolutionssubmitted by other funds or organizations”, saysDaniel Simard, Batîrente’s coordinator. “But in thelast few years we have started presenting our ownresolutions.” Together with Oxfam, Batîrente hasconvinced Metro, a retailer in which the fund invests,to sell fair trade coffee, while it has asked Sears, anotherretailer, to publish a social report according toGRI (Global <strong>Report</strong>ing Initiative) guidelines.With the exception of Great Britain, wheresome financial institutions such as the Co-operativeBank, Hermes or F&C Asset Management have beenpioneering shareholder engagement, in Europe thispractice is still marginal and rarely hits the headlines.In the continent of familial and banking capitalism,stock exchanges have never played an importantrole. And, as a consequence, activists have preferredother ways of pressuring companies. But somethingis changing also in continental Europe. The mostinteresting news comes from Switzerland. Its nameis Ethos. Born in 1997 by the initiative of two publicpension funds, Ethos Foundation for sustainableinvestment, manages today EUR 500 million on behalfof some 90 public pension funds in Switzerland.Ethos is delegated by pension funds to exercise votingrights (connected to the shares the funds investin) at Swiss companies AGMs. Excessive managerremuneration, directors’ reputation and mismanagement,and scarce transparency when dealing with“toxic” financial products are the main issues thatEthos presents. Most of the targets are financial orpharmaceutical corporations, like UBS or Roche.In some cases Ethos’ proposals are backed also byother investors or by common shareholders and areable to get more than 50% of shareholder votes, as ithappened this year in the UBS Annual General Meeting,where the Board proposed to discharge formerUBS board members of their responsibility for thecompany’s financial collapse. Ethos voted against,and with it the majority of shareholders, who are nowthinking of suing the company for mismanagementand financial damage to its customers. Ethos votesin more than 100 Swiss company AGMs each year.For non-Swiss companies it delegates internationalpartners belonging to ECGS (European CorporateGovernance Service).In some cases, shareholder engagement is associatedwith traditional campaigning strategies. InMarch <strong>2010</strong>, a coalition of UK trade unions, NGOsand investors attempted to get thousands of pensionscheme members to join an e-mail bombing campaignaiming at forcing oil giants BP and Royal DutchShell to reconsider investments in environmentallycontroversial oil sands developments in the Albertaprovince of Canada. The coalition included UNISON,the UK and Europe’s biggest public sector union withThematic reports 26 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
more than 1.3 million members and the Public andCommercial Services Union (PCS), the fifth largesttrade union in the UK. In what they said was an“unprecedented public mobilization,” the coalitionhas asked savers to e-mail their own pension fundmanager to push them to support shareholder resolutionsagainst oil sands projects that were due to bevoted on at the BP and Shell AGMs in May. Other coalitionmembers included Greenpeace, World WildlifeFoundation and the Co-operative banking group.Over 140 pension schemes, fund managers andprivate investors joined forces with FairPensions,a London-based lobby group, to file a shareholderresolution at Shell’s AGM on May 18.In Italy, the Fondazione Culturale ResponsabilitàEtica (FCRE), controlled by ethical-ecological bankBanca Etica, has also decided to combine traditionalNGO campaigning tools with a new form of engagementthrough investment in big companies. 4 Backin 2008, FCRE bought some shares of Italian oil andutility companies (Eni and Enel, respectively), in orderto take part in their Annual General Meetings,giving voice to environmental and social NGOs, suchas Greenpeace Italy and CRBM, based in Italy and developingcountries. In the last three years, the Foundationhas challenged the social and environmentalrecord of both companies, backed by a number ofassociations in Nigeria, Chile, Congo-Brazaville, Kazakhstanand other countries where Eni and Enel areinvolved, along with their subsidiary operations incountries listed as tax havens.Critical shareholding as a campaigning toolWhile several results have been achieved throughthe active participation of small shareholders, somecritical aspects shall not be underestimated. Firstly,it must not be acknowledged that the dialogue with acompany has to pass only through the ownership ofshares. This assumption would precisely reinforcethe idea that shareholders are gaining more andmore weight with respect to the other stakeholders.Being an investor may grant some rights, but in noway should substitute the other channels of dialogueand of putting pressure on a company. This is all themore true if the dialogue or the confrontation withthe company deals with something as fundamentalas human rights.Quite the opposite, critical shareholding mustbe considered as one tool among a range of differentinstruments that have to be put in place in a campaign,and it should come together and reinforceother campaigning tools.Moreover, the small shareholders shouldn’t expectimpressive results and shifts in the companies’behaviour, just after participating in a few AGMs.Critical shareholding is an instrument that may bring4 See: .results in the long run, insisting year after year in adifficult dialogue with the company and the otherinvestors.Another major criticality is the difficulty of raisingcorrect information regarding specific companiesor projects. This is all the more true given theflow of information that has to be faced. The biggestshare of information on the company is delivered tothe investors and the specialized media usually fromthe company itself.Almost all the companies listed on the stockmarkets have developed strong CSR policies in orderto show their correct behaviour, and often to picturethemselves as “green” or “sustainable”. Moreover,the great and growing role of the firms specializedin rating the companies after their social and environmentalrecord should not be underestimated.Being included in some indexes, such as the DowJones Sustainability Index or the FTSE for good isoften publicized as a major argument for “demonstrating”the commitment towards sustainability. Infact, even though several of these index and ratingcompanies have been criticized for not providing aserious screening among the companies, and fornot investigating deeply into the overall behaviour,they represent a major source of information for thefinancial community.To overcome this flow of information, the activitiesshould therefore be carried on in close cooperationwith the affected communities. More broadly, aserious research work is needed in order to obtainresults.ConclusionsMost companies listed on the stock exchanges areowned by a multiplicity of shareholders: institutionalinvestors, investment funds, pension fundsand retail shareholders. This extreme fragmentation,among other things, gives enormous powerto financial groups holding just a small percentageof different companies. A related problem has todo with the excessive power in the hands of the topmanagers with respect to shareholders. On the otherhand, this same multiplicity of small shareholdersopens up new opportunities. In the last few years,millions of women and men worldwide have startedto shift towards more responsible consumption.More and more, people are aware that they have thepower to “vote through the supermarket basket.” Wecan choose the products of some companies andnot others, depending on their behaviour. The fairtrade movement has shown how important criticalconsumption has become. This is a major culturalchange, one that began some decades ago and isstill taking place.A similar cultural shift must now take placeregarding our money and investments. How manypeople would lend money to someone asking it tofinance an anti-personnel weapon or cluster bombsbusiness? How many people would lend their moneyto someone intending to bet it in a casino? On theother hand, how many of us ask our banks, pensionor investment funds how our money is used? In afew words, our money, channeled through financialinvestments has a huge power and can heavily influence,both positively and negatively, the social andenvironmental record of both companies and banks.A strong alliance is needed to take control ofthis power. Responsible investors have the technicalcapacity to engage in critical shareholding. NGOshave the knowledge and the relationships with thecommunities impacted by the investments of thetransnational corporations. The media have thechance to inform small investors and workers aboutthe use they could make of their savings. Potentially,a huge amount of people and capital could be mobilizedfor critical shareholding activities, thus leadingto concrete changes in the behaviour of the biggestcompanies in the world.Active shareholding has already produced someresults in several cases, and has led to better companygovernance and more participation from smallshareholders. At the same time, more involvementand coordination from civil society, socially responsibleinvestors and small shareholders is neededin order to bring about concrete improvements incompanies´ social and environmental record in themedium term.Finally, but most importantly, critical shareholdingis not only about improving the social and environmentalrecord of the listed companies. Promotingan “economic democracy” means much more. Therecent financial crisis has proved that our savingswere put at risk in a casino economy. We have totake back control of our money and our investments.Through critical shareholding, the financial culture ofthe small investors may be increased. It is not just amatter of improving the behaviour of a company. Anew financial culture is needed.To summarize the impact of the financial crisis:first, our money was not used to promote a bettereconomy; second, it was put at risk; third, investmentin the financial casino contributed to burstingthe bubble and precipitating the financial crisis;fourth, the crisis has had huge impacts on peopleslives all over the world; fifth, huge bailouts have beenmade to save the financial system that caused thecrisis. Ultimately, these bailouts will be paid by ourtax money.Enough is enough. If the financial actors andmanagers want to continue to invest in unsustainablecompanies, violating human rights and harmingthe environment, if they still use our money to playin a casino economy, let’s raise our voice and makeclear that we don’t want to be their accomplices andprevent them from playing with our chips. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>27Critical shareholding
Privatizing European development finance:the role of the European Investment BankEU development finance architecture needs to be revamped in light of the significant changes that have taken place over the lastfew years due to the global crisis. Civil society organizations are raising concerns about the fundamental ambiguity surrounding thestatus of public banks such as the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is clearly not a regional development bank even thoughit pretends to finance development through friendly investment operations. There is a risk that the debate on rethinking Europeanaid and the wider role of development financing could be influenced by approaches promoting a corporate-driven agenda.Antonio Tricarico (coordinator)Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale (CRBM)European development finance is at a crossroads.The impact of the financial and economic crises onpublic finance in most EU member states is reversingthe trend seen in the last decade of increased OfficialDevelopment Assistance (ODA). 1 Although Europeangovernments remain major donors, providing morethan half of global ODA, it is increasingly clear thatthe EU as a whole will not reach its 2015 targets. Atthe same time, efforts to increase aid quality and effectiveness,strongly supported by European donorsin international forums, are at risk. 2In this negative context, a new and opportunisticnarrative has been emerging in official circles in Brusselsand in other European capitals that a more “holistic”approach to international development cooperationand development finance is needed. It aims towiden the definition of development finance to includecommercial and investment activities and prioritizeprivate sector intervention as an engine of economicgrowth and possibly development at large.At first such an approach might look like a reworkingof a Washington Consensus-style “trickledown effect.” However, despite the ideological biasin favour of private markets, a new vision and strategydealing with public and private partnership andreciprocal roles is being developed. This sees developmentfinance as not simply an instrument forpushing macroeconomic policy reform in the globalSouth – as has happened in the last decades – butincreasingly as a public lever to move private capital.In the context of economic crisis and the renewedimportance assigned by the G20 to developmentfinance and international financial institutions as keyinstruments of international public finance, this approachhas also become instrumental in supportingEuropean business worldwide at a time when privatecapital markets have dried up.Thus European development finance risks becomingpart of a long-term bail out plan benefitingEuropean business – framed by someone as “cor-1 CONCORD, “Broken EU aid promises push MillenniumDevelopment Goals out of reach, says CONCORD as OECDannounces aid figures,” media release, Brussels, 14 April<strong>2010</strong>.2 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC),Development Cooperation <strong>Report</strong> (Paris, <strong>2010</strong>).porate welfare” – instead of helping the poor in theglobal South who had no responsibility for creatingthe crisis but suffered the most from its impacts.The involvement of the private sectorFinancing to the private sector by multilateral developmentbanks 3 (MDBs) has increased ten-fold since1990, from less than USD 4 billion to more than USD40 billion per year. Private sector finance is now amajor part of the overall portfolio of many multilateralsand constitutes nearly half of global ODA.Since the Monterrey Consensus in 2002 thepremise that financing for development was increasinglyto be extracted from international capital marketshas been implemented by major developmentinstitutions, with an increasingly residual and auxiliaryrole for aid in capacity- and institution-building,promoting an enabling environment for private investment,both domestic and foreign. These ideaswere reiterated at the Doha Review Conference onFinancing for Development in December 2008.Of course, development is much more thanaid spending, and the private sector can be a vitallyimportant engine for sustainable development, butprivate companies can also have detrimental impactson poverty, human rights and the environment, inparticular in the context of international private investments.Furthermore it should be clarified whichprivate sector – foreign or domestic, for profit orother actors – should be primarily awarded scarceinternational public support for achieving developmentgoals and under what conditions.International civil society has recently highlightedthat MDBs’ approach to the private sectorand development has not always sufficiently focusedon promoting sustainable development or reducingpoverty. 4 MDB project selection and monitoring andevaluation procedures have tended to prioritize commercialrather than social and environmental returns.The rapid growth of “arms-length” financial sectorinvestments through intermediaries such as private3 International or regional inter-governmental agencies suchas the World Bank or the African Development Bank.4 Action Aid, Bretton Woods Project, Christian Aid, CRBM,European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) andThird World Network (TWN), Bottom Lines, Better Lives?Multilateral Financing to the Private Sector in DevelopingCountries – Time for a New Approach, March <strong>2010</strong>.Available from: .banks or private equity firms is a particular cause forconcern. As shown by new research several MDBbackedintermediaries operate via offshore financialcentres and could contribute to capital flight from theglobal South to the North. 5New approachThis trend culminated at the EU level in the proposalfor a “whole of the Union” approach 6 – drawing onthe G8-sponsored idea promoted under the ItalianPresidency in 2009 of a “whole of a country approach.”This would mean that not just ODA but alsoexport credits, investment guarantees and technologytransfers are counted towards the EU’s developmentcontribution. Trade and investment promotioninstruments would be used to leverage foreignprivate investment in developing countries as a keyengine for development.Such an approach draws on transformationsthat have already taken place within European developmentfinance. The EU “house bank,” the EuropeanInvestment Bank (EIB), which since the 1980shas slowly but consistently increased its volumeof operations outside the EU, has become a playerin development finance comparable with EuropeanCommission (EC) aid and major European bilateraldonors. The EIB can be regarded as a “European InternationalFinancial Corporation,” given its mandateof most often lending directly to the private sector forproject operations. At the same time, similar institutionsat bilateral level – the so-called European DevelopmentFinance Institutions (EDFIs) – financiallysupport primarily member countries’ private sectoroperations abroad in the name of development andare also growing their business and scope of action.European governments have already turnedtheir attention to how to boost these mechanismsrather than rethinking the ODA infrastructure throughinnovative financing mechanisms for development.5 Richard Murphy, “Investment for development: derailedto tax havens,” draft report on the use of tax havens byDevelopment Financial Institutions prepared for IBIS, NCA,CRBM, Eurodad, Forum Syd and the Tax Justice Network,April <strong>2010</strong>.6 Commission of the European Communities, “SupportingDeveloping Countries in Coping with the Crisis,”Communication from the Commission to the EuropeanParliament, the Council, the European Economic and <strong>Social</strong>Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Brussels, 8April 2009.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>29Privatizing European development finance
Such a strong emphasis on supporting internationalinvestment as a primary engine for development – ata time when the EU is reviewing its overall investmentpolicy 7 – is also undermining opportunitiesto energize domestic resources mobilization. Thiswould be the most sustainable long-term approachto development because of its capability to reducethe aid and foreign investment dependency of developingcountries and insulate them from the impact ofexogenous shocks and crises.At the same time, the entry into force of the LisbonTreaty at the end of 2009 has structurally establisheddevelopment goals, and in particular povertyreduction and eradication in the long term, as horizontalobjectives of overall EU external action 8 – aswell as human rights protection and promotion andthe promotion of democracy. However, implementationof the new Treaty has opened a wider discussionabout how development matters will be operationalizedin the new external action service of the EU underthe guidance of the newly established High Representativeof the EU for Foreign Affairs and SecurityPolicy, and consequently how development policiesand goals – as defined in the European Consensuson Development of 2005 9 – could be subordinatedto the Union’s commercial, security and wider geopoliticalpriorities. In this context the use of some ofthe limited development budget at European level forthe new external service has become a controversialpolitical issue. 10In this new political context, the review of the externallending of the EIB, which started in 2009 and isexpected to be completed early in 2011, has generateda wider debate well beyond the future of the Bank’slending in developing countries, triggering a new reflectionon the need to change the European developmentfinance architecture. This will likely become amajor battleground between civil society and Europeaninstitutions and governments – among otherstakeholders – in the next few years and in the run-upto the EU new budget definition for the period 2013-2020. It is worth looking more carefully at the currentdebate and advance bold questions and proposals onhow to avoid the increasing privatization of Europeandevelopment cooperation in its goals and practice.7 Seattle to Brussels Network, “Reclaiming public interestin Europe’s international investment policy,” civil societystatement on the future of Europe’s international investmentpolicy, Brussels, 12 May <strong>2010</strong>.8 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Availablefrom: .9 Available from: .10 Cidse, Eurostep, CONCORD and Aprodev, “Lawyers revealAshton’s EEAS proposal breaches EU law,” media statement,Brussels, 26 April <strong>2010</strong>.The European Investment Bank: a case studyThe task of the EIB is to contribute towards the integration,balanced development and economic andsocial cohesion of EU member states. 11 Outside theEU, it operates under various mandates. In December2006, the European Council approved a new EIBExternal Lending Mandate (ELM) for 2007-2013.This provides up to EUR 27.8 billion (USD 35.3 billion)of EU guarantees – an increase of over EUR7 billion (USD 9 billion) compared to the previousmandate – for providing loans to projects in countriesoutside the EU, except the Africa, Caribbean andPacific (ACP) regions.In terms of the ACP, the EIB operates under theCotonou Partnership Agreement between the EUand the 79 ACP countries, assigning EUR 1.7 billion(USD 2.2 billion) from its own funds and EUR 2 billion(USD 2.5 billion) under the Investment Facility,a fund financed from the European DevelopmentFund (composed of EU member state contributionsadministered by the EC) and managed by the EIB.Civil society organizations monitoring EIB lendinghave raised several concerns in the last decadeabout the fundamental ambiguity around the statusof this public bank, which is clearly not a regionaldevelopment bank as it finances supposedly development-friendlyinvestment operations withoutstatutorily abiding by European development policiesand goals. In short, EIB lending outside the EUhas mainly focused on co-financing large-scaleinfrastructure operations, energy projects aimedat increasing energy security for the EU and privatesector development interventions – includingthe private financial sector in the global South – sothat most EIB loans have first benefited Europeancompanies and exporters before local communities’needs.At the occasion of the approval of the new ELMin 2006 a specific provision to hold a mid-term reviewof mandate implementation was included for the firsttime 12 under pressure from a few EU member states.These countries expressed their concern about thegrowing mission creep in the EIB through this ofteninconsistent and unclear enlargement of the scope ofthe Bank’s action outside the EU.The review process has also included twoexternal evaluations, the most important of whichwas carried out by an ad hoc steering committee of“wise persons” established by the Bank and the ECand chaired by Michel Camdessus, former head ofthe IMF. Among the recommendations in the final11 See: .12 “Council Decision of 19 December 2006,” Official Journalof the European Union, 30 December 2006. Available from:.report, 13 several concerns were raised including thatthe “[EIB’s] translation of EU policies into EIB lendingstrategies and the economic and sector analysisof country needs are very limited; the EIB efforts tomonitor project implementation, ensure local presenceand follow up on environmental and social aspectsappear still insufficient; [and] the EIB ability tosatisfy the mandate requirements on developmentaspects is only indirect.” 14However, the Camdessus report in the end restatesthe supremacy of private sector support asthe core business of the Bank. It also contradictorilycalls for a significant expansion of the role of the EIBin development finance by topping up its mandatewith EUR 2 billion (USD 2.5 billion) for a new climatefinance mandate, increasing the Bank’s investmentsbeyond the EU guarantee (including social sectors)and the range of financial instruments offered, andundertakes concessional lending by mixing EIBmoney with EU grants.Corporate welfare and developmentdeceptionsThe EIB was founded as an investment bank. It ishard to transform the institution into a developmentone given the difficulty of changing its culture, as theexample of the IMF in the last ten years has clearlyshown. 15Nevertheless, the EIB has been granted a significantrole in the ‘Whole of the Union’ approach since2009 in the context of the financial and economiccrises. Since more resources were needed and EUmember states were not keen to increase their ODAcontributions, the EIB remained the only institutionthat could easily lend more through bond issuing incapital markets and increasing the community guaranteescheme for its external lending. Civil societyis extremely concerned about the proposal that theEIB should fill the development role that EU memberstates have failed to provide in the crisis context. 16The EIB lends at quasi-commercial rates, thus generatingnew foreign debt in developing countries.Moreover, as an investment bank, the EIB is not bestplaced to provide a holistic and meaningful response13 Michael Camdessus et al., “European InvestmentBank’s external mandate 2007-2013 Mid-Term Review:<strong>Report</strong> and recommendations of the steering committeeof ‘wise persons’,” February <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.14 Ibid, 26.15 Eurodad and Counter Balance coalition, “Joint submissionof the European Network on Debt and Development and theCounter Balance coalition to the Wise Persons Panel in thecontext of the mid-term review of the European InvestmentBank’s external mandate,” Brussels, 28 January <strong>2010</strong>.16 Alex Wilks, Corporate welfare and development deceptions.Why the European Investment Bank is failing to deliveroutside the EU (Brussels: Counter Balance, February <strong>2010</strong>).Thematic reports 30 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
for developing countries in times of crisis. This isparticularly true for low-income countries, whichshould be given grants to meet the needs generatedby the crisis and, in the worst case scenario, shouldonly take up concessional lending but never commercialdebt. 17Even though foreign direct investment (FDI)might contribute to endogenous development processes,this is only the case to a limited extent and undersome very specific conditions, as documented indetail by the United Nations Conference on Trade andDevelopment (UNCTAD). 18 Counter-cyclical financialinterventions in the context of the crisis require amuch more ambitious approach than a mere leveragingof EIB financing in the South. Current attemptsto limit negative environmental and social effects onlocal communities are welcome, but they are a poorsubstitute for strengthening other more effective developmentassistance mechanisms within the EU aidarchitecture. These principles are also valid in thecase of the promotion of global public goods such asfinance for climate mitigation and adaptation measures.Even though climate finance should be keptclearly separate from aid, it should take into account anumber of lessons learnt on how aid should be channelledand delivered in order to be more effective.Forcing a transformation of some EIB lendinginto proper development finance instruments by establishingoperational links with the EU aid system– European Development Fund, funding instrumentfor development cooperation (DCI) and EuropeAid– may be too risky if done in a rush and without theappropriate guarantees that the EIB will live up tothe standards of EU aid. The intrinsically differentnature of these institutions and mechanisms wouldjeopardize hard won and still limited progress slowlyachieved within Europe as concerns the implementationof key aid effectiveness priorities (among whichare recipient country ownership, alignment to recipientcountry strategies and transparency).The EIB should not expand its role in other developmentfinance areas, such as technical assistance.The EU Court of Auditors found in a report in2007 that EU technical assistance remained highlyineffective. 19 Recent studies have shown that it ismainly a vehicle for supporting Western firms anddoes not mobilize effective resource deployment inthe South. Technical assistance should instead be,17 Eurodad and Counter Balance coalition, op. cit.18 UNCTAD, “Economic development in Africa. Rethinking therole of foreign direct investment” (New York and Geneva:United Nations, 2005). Available from: .19 “Special <strong>Report</strong> 6/2007 of the European Court of Auditorson the effectiveness of technical assistance in the contextof capacity development,” Official Journal of the EuropeanUnion, 21 December 2007. Available from: .as a minimum, demand-driven, tailored to the recipientcountries’ needs and have a strong capacitybuildingcomponent. 20In the short term, rigorous do-no-harm policieshave to be put in place in order to align EIB lendingto cross-cutting EU development and human rightsobjectives that should guide overall EU external actionand minimize negative development impacts onthe ground. Resources generated by the EIB – whichcould be blended with grants – should be transferredto other existing European mechanisms or otherinternational financial institutions (IFIs).EU development finance architectureThis recommendation would trigger in the mediumterm the need to redefine the overall EU developmentfinance architecture. This approach is in line withthe key priority of the aid effectiveness agenda toreduce fragmentation and duplication among donorledinstitutions.In this regard, the steering committee of ‘wisepersons’ went beyond the remit of its work and madesome clear suggestions concerning the integrationof the EIB with the renewed European developmentfinance architecture. It identified the need to developan EIB subsidiary in order to manage the externallending of the Bank and at the same time an “EUplatform for external cooperation and development,”providing a comprehensive coordination mechanismbased on an optimal model for blending grantsand loans and building on principles of mutual reliancebetween financing institutions. This shouldbe open to the participation of the European Bankfor Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), theCouncil of Europe Development Bank and Europeanbilateral financing institutions – in particular EDFIs –and with appropriate beneficiary involvement. Thismechanism would accelerate needs identified by theEuropean Council at the end of 2008 21 concerningcommon guidelines for matching grants and loans atEuropean level, thus leveraging additional resourcesfor development finance.At the same time, concerning the medium-termand next EU budget period the Camdessus <strong>Report</strong>highlights two possible solutions that – in line withshort-term developments – would drastically changethe European development finance architecture: theestablishment of a “European Agency for ExternalFinancing,” which would integrate the external financingactivities of the EIB and the external investment-relatedfinancing activities managed by theCommission (thus excluding most of the EU devel-20 Eurodad and Counter Balance coalition, op. cit.21 Council of the European Union, “Framework on loans andgrants blending mechanisms in the context of externalassistance,” Financial Counsellors Working Group, 11December 2008.opment budget); or the creation of a European Bankfor Cooperation and Development, which would bea major European instrument bringing the externalactivities of the EIB under a common shareholdingumbrella together with the external activities of theEC and the EBRD.So far European institutions have been debatingthese proposals internally, without taking public positions.However, there is a growing appetite for the EIBto be used as a key vehicle in the wider external actionservice of the EC, possibly with the combination ofadditional resources, and keeping the centrality of financialsupport for private sector development withinthe overall action. In the meantime, EDFIs have statedtheir interest in cooperating closely with the EIB andpromoting the idea of a joint platform, with some pilotactivities in the field of climate finance.Civil society believes that the EU does not needto establish its own development bank. 22 There is noneed to add yet another MDB to the existing globaland regional ones when much work still has to bedone to reform and improve their effectiveness. Signingmemorandums of understanding between theEIB and IFIs has produced limited outcomes so far.The EU could consider transferring more resourcesto existing IFIs instead if appropriate reforms areput in place. In this regard, IFIs should implementstrict standards of responsible finance and Europeangovernments should perform with more coordinatedand effective action on their boards.Concerning the proposal for an agency, it ishighly questionable that the EU would better structureand possibly expand the private sector lendingdimension of development finance, partially drawingon its development budget to make some concessionallending to the private sector, while not puttingsimilar efforts into enhancing the actual core of developmentfinance architecture and its developmentcooperation instruments.The future of EU development financeThere is a need to rethink the EU development financearchitecture in light of significant changes thathave taken place due to the crisis, the possible failureof the Millennium Development Goals’ agenda andnew challenges posed by international cooperationand the promotion of global public goods.From this perspective tackling an EIB transformationis central for pushing wider EU developmentfinance in the right direction. In the short term theEIB should remain just an investment vehicle, eventhough its scope of action outside of the EU should berestricted (both geographically and sectorally). TheEIB’s external action should also be strictly alignedwith overall EU development and human rightsobjectives. Moreover, development effectiveness22 Eurodad and Counter Balance coalition, op. cit.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>31Privatizing European development finance
principles go beyond aid and should also be appliedto public-backed investment banking in developingcountries, including those promoted by EDFIs.Furthermore, the EIB must ensure that all itsinvestments have clear development outcomes, inparticular in sectors where it is most active such asinfrastructure, energy and extractives. As a publicinstitution it also needs to ensure that the companiesand investments it supports comply with the highestfinancing standards with the aim of ending taxevasion and capital flight to the EU and help restorestolen assets to the countries of origin.However, in the long run – starting with thenew EU budget period 2013-2020 – more effectiveinstitutional alternatives should be found to this institutionconcerning its lending outside the EU. Inparticular, lending to Asia and Latin America shouldbe stopped while prioritizing the increase of developmentsupport for low-income countries of theseregions through existing EU mechanisms (DCI), IFIsand new regional institutions. As for the lending toCentral Asia, the EIB should only financially supportEBRD-decided interventions, given that the EIB isalready an EBRD shareholder together with the ECand EU member states. Regarding lending to neighbouringregions (Eastern and Southern) the EIB as aninvestment bank should adopt a stringent developmentand human rights perspective and clear prioritiesin line with overall horizontal EU developmentand human rights objectives of external action.The effectiveness of EIB’s action and its relationshipwith the European Partnership and NeighbourhoodInstrument (ENPI) in these regions should bereviewed once again before the adoption of a new externalmandate in 2013. Finally, regarding ACP lending,in the context of the Investment Facility reviewin <strong>2010</strong> the EC and member states should explore allpossible alternatives beyond 2013 for the managementof the European Development Fund resourcescurrently administered by the EIB, including regionalIFIs, existing EU mechanisms and eventually newmechanisms to be established. 23 n23 Ibid.Thematic reports 32 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
The Treaty of Lisbon and the new perspectives for EUdevelopment policyThe Treaty of Lisbon contains provisions designed to tackle poverty and social exclusion within the EU, something particularlysignificant at a time when <strong>2010</strong> has been declared the European Year for Combating Poverty and <strong>Social</strong> Exclusion, and whencurrently 16% of its population are poor. European resources for development cooperation have continued to increase inrecent years. However, contributions to social sectors in developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, have beensignificantly reduced. The drastic decrease in the European Commission contribution to education and health in developingcountries is unacceptable and must be redressed.Mirjam van ReisenEEPASimon StockerEurostepThe Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on 1December 2009, was hoped to provide the EuropeanUnion (EU) with “modern institutions and optimizedworking methods” to tackle the challenges of today’sworld both efficiently and effectively. 1 This simplificationof working methods – something clearly neededin the EU – has been realized by the Treaty along withthe need for transparency and the establishment ofnew democratic rules. In terms of external policy, politicalgoals and the need to create new instrumentsfor foreign affairs have been underlined in order toface the issues of our rapidly changing world andpromote the EU as a global actor.Following the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbonby all EU member-states, the European developmentcooperation policy goal has been clearly defined.The Treaty stipulates that all policy efforts should begeared towards “the reduction, and, in the long term,the eradication of poverty” (Article 208).The Treaty also contains specific provisions fortackling poverty and social exclusion within the EU.According to Article 9, “In defining and implementingits policies and activities, the Union shall takeinto account requirements linked to the promotionof a high level of employment, the guarantee ofadequate social protection, the fight against socialexclusion, and a high level of education, trainingand protection of human health.” Moreover, Article3 clearly stipulates that the Union should “combatsocial exclusion and discrimination, and shall promotesocial justice and protection.” 2 The year <strong>2010</strong>has been declared the European Year for CombatingPoverty and <strong>Social</strong> Exclusion. This is especiallyrelevant in <strong>2010</strong>, as Europe is identifying how it willrespond to the challenge of the financial stability ofthe Euro, which has challenged the EU as a whole.1 Full text available from: .2 Consolidated versions of the Treaty on European Unionand the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.Available from: .The European Parliament has been given newpowers to adopt trade agreements; a trade committeeis now in place in the European Parliament toensure greater checks and balances are in place formonitoring EU trade relations with third countries.In addition, the European Parliament has negotiateda greater role with regard to foreign affairs,and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs andSecurity Policy of the EU, Baroness Catherine Ashton,has agreed to report regularly to the EuropeanParliament.EU relations with developing countriesThe EU’s relations with developing countries arebased on the principle of non-discrimination, anda leading objective in these relations is the eradicationof poverty. The Treaty also identifies the fourCs – coherence, consistency, complementarity andcoordination – as key elements. The “coherence”principle is of primary importance for achievingdevelopment cooperation policy goals, as it statesthat “the Union shall take account of the objectivesof development cooperation in the policies that itimplements which are likely to affect developingcountries” (Treaty of Lisbon, Article 208). This objectiveis applicable to all EU institutions, includingthe European External Action Service (EEAS). TheCourt of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issueda judgment in November 2008 whereby EuropeanInvestment Bank (EIB) operations in developingcountries must prioritize development over anyeconomic or political objective.The implementation of the Treaty of Lisbon allowsfor the establishment of the EEAS, whose remitshave been widely debated. The implementation of theEEAS is a significant change within the current Europeandevelopment policy framework. Its primarygoal consists of providing a single diplomatic servicefor the EU, which will support Baroness Ashton. Asa legal opinion drafted for Eurostep by Daniel R. Mekonnenpointed out: “The EU needs a system of developmentaid and cooperation that has these checksand balances in place. As a partner that manifeststhe criteria of good governance in its relationshipswith others, especially with weaker counterparts,the EU will be better positioned if it can advocategood governance not only in principle but also inpractice.” 3 There is a broad consensus that the EEASmust promote policy coherence for development, asthe Treaty of Lisbon applies to its remit, which setsthe eradication of poverty as a central objective forEU relations with developing countries.The EC position paper on “Policy Coherence forDevelopment: accelerating progress towards attainingthe Millennium Development Goals,” stressedthe fact that aid alone is not sufficient to achieve theMDGs. 4 Covering 12 main areas: trade, environment,climate change, security, agriculture, bilateralfisheries agreements, social policies (employment),migration, research/ innovation, information technologies,transport and energy. The policy coherencedocument notes that trade and agriculture are the twomain areas in which improvement of the GeneralizedSystem of Preferences of the EU and its current agriculturalproduction pattern needs to be realized.Missing from this list of priorities is climatechange, which is surprising given the concern thatEuropean citizens have about this issue. Accordingto Eurobarometer, the EU polling mechanism,63% of citizens consider climate change as a veryserious problem and 24% a fairly serious problem.Most Europeans (62%) believe climate change isnot inevitable; only 10% consider it is not a seriousproblem and 3% do not know. Furthermore, 47%of respondents consider climate change to be oneof the two most serious problems facing the worldtoday. Interestingly, only poverty scores higher, beingplaced in the top two by 69% of those polled.This makes a joint approach to environment protection/climatechange and poverty especially attractiveand relevant. While sustainable development is wellaccepted as a crucial component of poverty eradication,there is an urgent need for a binding visionbetween the EU and developing countries, includinggood examples and opportunities that show howprinciples can be put into action.Following the EC communication, in May <strong>2010</strong>the European Parliament adopted a resolution on3 Daniel R Mekonnen, “The draft council decision on theestablishment of the European External Action Service and itscompliance with the Lisbon Treaty–Legal Opinion Drafted forEuropean Solidarity Towards Equal Participation of People,”Eurostep, May <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .4 Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>33The Treaty of Lisbon and the new perspectives for EU development policy
Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) which carriedmore than 70 recommendations. The resolutionnoted that:5• the so-called “Singapore issues,” such asliberalization of services, investment and governmentprocurement, new rules of competitionand stronger enforcement of intellectualproperty rights, do not assist in achieving theeight MDGs.• EU export subsidies for European agriculturalproducts have a disastrous effect on food securityand the development of a viable agriculturalsector in developing countries.• EU financial contributions within the frameworkof Fisheries Partnership Agreements (FPAs)have not helped to consolidate the fisheriespolicies of partner countries, largely due to alack of monitoring of the implementation ofthese agreements, the slow payment of assistance,and sometimes even the failure to usethis assistance.• As a major arms exporter, the EU exports or facilitatesthe shipment of arms to the same countrieswhere millions are spent on developmentassistance; the EU-15 spends approximatelyEUR 70 billion per year on development aid,while the value of the EU arms exports amountsto approximately EUR 360 billion annually.• “Global Europe: competing in the world,” whichoutlines EU trade strategy, shows that bilateraland regional free trade policy strategies fosterEU access to developing countries’ raw materialsmarkets, including agricultural commodities,by opening them to large EU companies atthe expense of small-scale farmers and start-upindustries.• Financial liberalization, including speculativeand volatile financial flows, over which developingcountries have little control, has generatedsignificant instability at international level withdisastrous impacts on developing countries’economies. 6The European Parliament concluded that there aremany more cases of incoherence that impact negativelyon the achievement of the MDGs, which theEuropean Commission should address.5 This refers to four working groups set up during the1996 World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference inSingapore.6 Parliamentary Committee on Development, <strong>Report</strong> on theEU Policy Coherence for Development and the ‘OfficialDevelopment Assistance plus’ concept: explanatorystatement, 2009, 17. Available from: .Financial crisis impact on poverty withinthe EUWhile the EU Treaty sets a clear legal framework forthe eradication of poverty inside and outside the EuropeanUnion; in reality, poverty has increased in Europeand in developing countries due to the financialcrisis. Eurostat statistics assert that the effects of thecrisis on the European labour market are far fromover. In fact, in 2009 unemployment increased byover 5 million people to around 21.4 million in the EU,much of it due to job losses in the past 12 months. 7According to the EU, about 80 million or 16% of thepopulation are currently living in poverty. 8The subprime mortgage crisis, with its majoradverse consequences for banks, financial marketsand the real economy around the globe, sheds lighton the inefficiencies of EU regulation and capacity totake appropriate actions to protect from speculationagainst the Euro. Following the early crisis effect inEurope and the financial collapse in Greece, the EUhas strengthened its common approach to bring Europeannational budgets under tighter control. Futuresanctions are threatened against European governmentswith regard to managing their economies, anda willingness to tighten up the bloc’s Stability andGrowth pact – which sets limits for member statespublic deficits and debt – has been clearly stressedby European leaders.However, besides reinforcing controls on nationalbudgets, setting up a “preventative surveillance”system, there is no EU plan on how to shieldpoor citizens in the EU from the consequences ofausterity measures, nor any EU policy on protectingsocial sectors in Europe. As underlined by LàzloAndor, the European commissioner for employmentand social affairs, “we should all see that we are stillin a phase of fragile recovery.” Andor emphasizedthat until he sees “robust growth in all memberstates,” he will be more concerned “that prematureausterity can undermine both economic recoveryand the growth of jobs.” 9Certainly, new forms of institutions are emergingwhich are not foreseen in the Treaty of Lisbon. Asa good example, Herman Van Rompuy, the Presidentof the European Council is chairing a task Force onEuropean economic issues, a group consisting ofministers of finance of almost all the 27 MemberStates, and representatives from the EU institutions(such as Jean Claude Trichet, the President of the EuropeanCentral Bank). While this group is working on7 Remko HIJMAN, « Population and social conditions, »Eurostat Statistics in Focus, 79/2009, 1. Available from:.8 Committee of the Regions, Local and regional responses topoverty and social exclusion, June <strong>2010</strong>.9 European Voice, “Andor warns of hasty austerity measures,”24 June <strong>2010</strong>, 2.fiscal sustainability and greater budgetary discipline,one of its first priorities is “the need to strengthen ourfiscal rulebook: the Stability and Growth Pact,” asVan Rompuy stated. 10 The institutional framework ismoving, then, toward austerity policies.There is concern that a rejection of a neo-Keynesianapproach, to set up countercyclical measuresagainst recession will lead to increased poverty inEuropean countries, deepening the economic recessionin Europe. In a recent address to investors, VanRompuy emphasized the strength of the EU in itscombination of a strong economy and well-developedsocial support system, including a highly educatedpopulation, as well as “Europe’s attractivenessto investors and entrepreneurs... In fact, it is thisdouble attractiveness which makes our continentunique. Europe’s message to the world is that onecan have both. Economic growth and social justice.Efficient political decisions and democratic accountability.Adaptation to the times and a preservation ofone’s heritage. A good place to invest and to live.”The EU president has also indicated that cutsin education, climate and social inclusion would notbe acceptable: “We will stick to five main targets, allquantifiable. Research & development & innovation,education, employment, climate and social inclusion.(…) We have to preserve that type of expenditure (forinstance on education) and tax deduction in a periodof budgetary cuts. This is not a soft option.” 11Repercussions outside the EUIn a time of economic crisis, developing countriesneed EU support more than ever. Partnerships shouldclearly be shouldered by the European Commissionand the EU member states. From a developing countryperspective, economic austerity responses to thecrisis in European member states will undoubtedlyhave strong negative impacts on their still strugglingeconomies. As the World Bank stated, “the recessionhas cut sharply into the revenues of governments inpoor countries. Unless donors step in to fill the gap,authorities in these countries may be forced to cutback on social and humanitarian assistance preciselywhen it is most required.” 12European resources for development cooperationhave continued to increase from USD 11.2 billion10 Keynote speech by Herman Van Rompuy, President of theEuropean Council, at the World Investment Conference <strong>2010</strong>,“Europe’s Attractiveness in a Changing World,” La Baule,France, 2 June <strong>2010</strong>, 3. Available from: .11 Ibid.12 World Bank, Global Economic Prospects <strong>2010</strong>: Crisis,Finance, and Growth, Washington, DC, <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.Thematic reports 34 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
in 2005 to USD 15.4 billion in 2009. 13 However, socialsectors in developing countries, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa have been significantly reduced. TheEuropean Court of Auditors in its 2009 report concludedthat in “Sub-Saharan Africa, the health MDGswere most off track.” 14 According to a recent article,“the Development Assistance for Health (DAH) togovernment had a negative and significant effect ondomestic government spending on health such thatfor every USD 1 of DAH to government, governmenthealth expenditures from domestic resources werereduced by USD 0.43 to USD 1.14.” 15 It appears thatsocial sector support through General Budget Supportdoes not automatically increase expenditure inthose sectors.On an overview of European commitments,basic health and education allocations have consistentlydecreased since 2005; as stated by Alliance2015, “this has resulted in a total of only 5.7% of allaid managed by the European Commission being allocatedto basic health and education in 2008, whichis a decrease from 11% in 2005.” 16 Allocations tobasic health and education in Sub-Saharan Africahave dropped from 8% of total aid allocation in 2005to 1.5% in 2008. 17 Figures show that the percentageof allocations to food decreased from 4% of totalfunding in 2005 to 1.5% in 2008, basic health from4.7% (2005) to 1.3% (2008) and basic educationfrom 2.7% (2005) to 1.1% (2008). 18 For achievingthe MDGs in time, “the EC would have to increasefunding from EUR 605 million to EUR 971 millionannually for education and from EUR 460 million toEUR 1.5 billion for health to help close the financinggaps,” according to Alliance 2015. 19The budget target of 20% of total aid for basichealth and education for Asia and Latin America wasreached in 2009. However, as noted, the concern isthat the spending target for Africa is clearly plummeting.Applying the fundamental principle of nondiscriminationenshrined in the Treaty of Lisbon, theEuropean community must apply the 20% target toall other regions.Policy for Coherence in Development sets asa central objective the need for the European Unionto apply its standard of balancing the economic andthe social as a measure of progress internally andexternally. The European Commission and the EEASshould lead by example, especially as they will be increasinglyrepresenting the whole of the EU abroad.The drastic decrease of the European Commissioncontribution to education and health in developingcountries is unacceptable and must be redressed. n13 Mirjam Van Reisen, ed., The EU’s Contribution to theMillennium Development Goals: Keeping the goals alive(Prague: Alliance 2015, <strong>2010</strong>).14 European Public Health Alliance, “European Court of Auditorsslams EC development health financing,” Available from:.15 Lu, C. et al., “Public financing of health in developingcountries: A cross-national systemic analysis,” The Lancet, 9April <strong>2010</strong>.16 Alliance 2015, op cit., 21, table 2.1.17 Ibid., table 2.2.18 “Alliance 2015 calls on the EU to agree to binding aid targetsto reach MDGs,” 2 June <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .19 Ibid.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>35The Treaty of Lisbon and the new perspectives for EU development policy
The Arab States and the MDGs: no progress withoutsocial justiceThe Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be met in the Arab region by 2015 at the current rate of progress. Themain reasons for this slow pace are the international community’s weak support for Goal 8 concerning global partnershipsfor development, and the feeble political concern with achieving economic and social justice in the region. Other significantregional barriers to achieving the goals include lack of commitment to the notion of human rights and the principles of “goodgovernance,” fragile political stability and deficient democracy, and lack of a peaceful and sustainable framework for action.Ziad Abdel Samad, Executive Director 1Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)The year <strong>2010</strong> is very important for the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) process because itmarks 10 years since the adoption of the MillenniumDeclaration and five years before the end ofthe proposed implementation period. A preparatoryreview step has already taken place during hearingswith civil society groups held by the UN in June <strong>2010</strong>,and the entire process will be discussed by the UNGeneral Assembly in September.This is therefore an opportune time to objectivelyevaluate efforts to reach the goals, assess theprocesses, and come up with concrete recommendationsaimed at redirecting efforts as necessaryand including different stakeholders towards effectiveachievements. This is particularly true now thatalmost all the country-based analyses, even the mostoptimistic among them, affirm that the goals are unlikelyto be met by 2015, at least with the current rateof progress and given the implications of the globaleconomic crisis.The global partnership agreed to under Goal 8,is a clear recognition of the need to enhance globalcommitments to complement the national and localefforts of developing countries. Nevertheless theseglobal commitments have so far not been translatedinto concrete and explicit decisions and implementationpolicies. To begin with, a consistent lack ofpolitical will is clearly revealed through the declinein Official Development Assistance (ODA). Indeed,despite pledged commitments, ODA is still far behindthe target. The most optimistic figures show that itdoes not exceed 0.31% of Gross Domestic Product(GDP). 2 For Least Developed Countries (LDCs), 3 thepercentage reached is 0.09% instead of the committed0.15-0.20%. 4 The two other main targets in-1 The author is grateful to Marc Van de Weil for his valuableassistance.2 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), Development aid rose in 2009 and most donors willmeet <strong>2010</strong> aid targets, Available from: .3 Five Arab countries are considered to be LDCs: Comoros,Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.4 Majed Azzam, Assessing the MDGs in the Arab region: A Survey ofKey Issues, Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), 2009.cluded in Goal 8 – fair trade policies and debt relief –have not been met either.More problematic is the narrow approachadopted by G-8 countries, together with some UNagencies and other international institutions, limitingthe debates on MDG achievement to a discussion ofmoney and aid, thus reflecting a highly contested visionof the development challenges. Instead nations’capacity for development should be the main objective.Yet there is also a lack of vision and capacity atthe national level for a comprehensive and inclusiveeconomic strategy, with transparent budgets that revealproper mobilization of local resources and howthey can best be used. Ideally nations’ empowermentwould enlarge their choices, improve their developmentalperformance and achievements, and securea more adequate use of their resources.The Gleneagles summit of the G-8 in 2005 concludedwith a pledge to deliver USD 150 billion tofight poverty. However, the food, fuel and financialcrises, as well as increased concerns about climatechange, served as an excuse not to fulfill this commitment.These crises are a consequence of the currentglobal system: on the one hand, it is unable tohold multinational corporations accountable andresponsible; on the other hand, it is unable to adoptand implement relevant and effective solutions tothe challenges of poverty, development and injusticearound the world. This system is more focused onundertaking emergency measures to overcome theimmediate impact of the crises than in long-terminterventions to comprehensively address the rootcauses of unemployment, increasing poverty, andpolitical, social and economic marginalization.In late 2008 the heads of state that met duringthe review conference on Financing for Developmentin Doha failed to arrive at a comprehensive visiontowards achieving the MDGs. Instead of addressingthe core issues behind the global financial andeconomic crises, these leaders reiterated the G-20“emergency” decisions focused on addressing theimmediate impacts of the crises. Civil society groupsparticipating in Doha criticized the outcomes, callingfor a new deal to replace the Washington Consensusbased on a comprehensive revision of current globalpolicies by the international institutions and the G-8.The effort by the UN General Assembly to addressthis issue through the formation of the Stiglitz Commissionand later the High Level Conference on theWorld Financial and Economic Crisis in June 2009,also ended in a stalemate – reflecting the inability ofthe international community to agree on a holisticapproach to development instead of protecting theinterests of multinational corporations.MDGs challenges in the Arab regionThe Arab Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009, througha focus on the concept of human security, revealsthat human development indicators in the region lagfar behind the promises made. 5 It underlines the economicchallenges, highlighting that Arab countries’dependency on oil production has made their economiesvulnerable to global changes in oil prices. Anadditional major economic challenge is their relianceon foreign investment, which greatly increases theirvulnerability to global economic depressions suchas the one experienced during the past few years.Furthermore, Arab economies are service-oriented,which means they have increasingly weakened theirproductive sectors.Unemployment remains a major challenge. TheArab Labor Organization indicates that, in 2008, unemploymenthad risen to 14.4%, more than doublethe global rate of 6.3%. Although the rate varies fromone Arab country to another, unemployment amongyoung people is very high, exceeding 50% of theunemployed population. The average unemploymentamong youth in the region is 25.5%, 6 which is thehighest in the world. Moreover, persistent genderdiscrimination in the labour market has led to greaterunemployment rates among women.Equally pressing, aggregated poverty in theregion now exceeds 39%, which means that almost140 million Arab citizens are living belowthe upper poverty line and not enjoying their rightto an adequate standard of living. 7 National MDGsreports prepared by governments with technicalassistance from UNDP indicate that the region willnot be able to solve the challenge of famine. Estimationsin 2004 showed that 25.5 million people5 UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States, Arab HumanDevelopment <strong>Report</strong> 2009: Challenges to Human Security inthe Arab Countries, New York, 2009.6 Arab Labor Organization, 2003. See: .7 UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States and League of ArabStates, Development Challenges in the Arab States: A HumanDevelopment Approach, New York, May 2009.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>37The Arab States and the MDGs
faced famine and malnutrition, a significant increasecompared to 1994. 8 The report prepared byUNDP and the Arab League on development challenges in the region shows that, despite progressin Syria and Sudan on self-sufficiency in seeds,there has been no tangible progress in food securitysince 1990. 9ANND: the MDGs assessmentIn 2000, 22 Arab leaders adopted the MillenniumDeclaration and pledged to achieve the MDGs by2015. During the last decade, many political, economicand social developments have affected thereform processes in Arab countries. The “War onTerror” launched with the 2001 invasion and occupationof Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation ofIraq in 2003, the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006, thecontinuous deterioration in the living conditions ofthe Palestinian people, especially after the siege ofthe Gaza Strip in 2007, as well as the internal conflictserupting in countries such as Algeria, Lebanon,Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, have been among themain destabilizing events in the region. The situationis worsened by the devastating effects of thefood crisis, climate change and the fluctuation inoil prices, negatively affecting domestic efforts toachieve development goals.Despite these challenges, however, achievingthe development goals is also the responsibility ofexisting national systems and institutions and, morespecifically, the regimes and authorities currentlyin power. The ANND MDGs assessment thereforeexamined financing and development goals, genderissues and mainstreaming of the goals in nationalpolicies.As far as financing and mobilizing resourcesfor development and the MDGs is concerned, mostArab countries have failed to marshal local or regionalresources as a result of ineffective policiesoriented towards attracting foreign investments, aidand loans. 10 Yet, foreign investments have not hadthe expected positive impacts so far; ODA was notallocated according to basic human needs and wasquantitatively not sufficient to support governmentsin making the necessary progress to meet the goals.Moreover, countries lack public administrations thatcan manage the available resources. Ultimately, theimpact of using loans to invest in non-productivesectors and economic activities led to an increaseof the debt service in many Arab countries and wasactually a setback to achieving the goals.8 UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States, op. cit.9 UNDP Regional Bureau for Arab States and League of ArabStates, op. cit.10 See Ayah Mahgoub, 2009. Available from: .In regards to mainstreaming the MDGs in nationalpolicy-making and the overall evolution ofMDGs processes at national levels, particularly theinclusion of various stakeholders and civil societyorganizations, slight progress has been achieved.However, the processes still lack adequate mechanismsfor effective participation. Effective results arelacking due to the absence of functioning democraticinstitutions, high military spending, the burdens ofdemographic evolution, and economic policies thathave led to increasing wealth disparities and massunemployment. Within this context, governmentsin the Arab region have not integrated MDGs targetsinto their national development plans. Furthermore,global policies have contributed to squeezing theirpolicy space, further constraining national effortstowards development.Regarding the mainstreaming of a gender dimensioninto the MDG process, it must be noted thatwomen in the Arab region remain generally excludedfrom political and economic life. At the root of this exclusionis the patriarchal structure of Arab societiesand the influence of traditional and religious normsand values. One clear example is the number of significantreservations by all Arab states that have ratifiedthe Convention on the Elimination of All Formsof Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), weakeningits implementation. Excluding women fromMDGs processes results in a waste of resources andopportunities for progress.Thus, the economic models followed by Arabcountries and the inadequate national strategies theyput in place for social development are two majorreasons behind the lack of progress on the MDGsfront. Accordingly one of the recommendations forthe future is institution building and extensive reformationof the political governance system in theregion towards more transparency, accountabilityand responsibility.Observations at the national level 11Looking at the MDGs at the national level, a lack ofgovernmental commitment to their achievementclearly surfaces. Although the declared official positionsshow a positive attitude towards the MDGs andhighlight the necessity of their achievement, suchpositions remain strictly verbal and are not translatedinto actual governmental policies or into concretenational strategies or plans of action.A comprehensive rights-based approach islacking in economic and social policies. Poor governancepractices are often the main underlying factorsbehind the ineffective use of resources. Moreover,11 This section is based on reports by ANND members on theMDG process in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Sudan,Tunisia and Yemen, which focused on national challengesand the relevance of the adopted policies, and highlighting aset of civil society recommendations to advance the MDGs.national contexts reveal weak political will to meetfundamental human needs and achieve progresson the provision of basic human rights. Instead, itbecomes apparent that the various groups in powermaintain a relation with citizens based on nepotismand the exploitation of unequal power relations, reinforcedby their totalitarian and authoritarian nature.Four major factors are observed across various nationalcontexts, and held to be directly or indirectlyresponsible for such problematic national contexts:• The consistent lack of democracy, participationand good governance. This is reflected in weakpolitical participation, opaque and unaccountablepolitical systems, and unskilled, inefficientand unproductive public administrations. Theseare serious obstacles that prevent Arab countriesfrom mobilizing and adequately usingnational resources, whether natural, financialor human.• Systemic challenges related to the lack of transparencyand integrity in public policies and inthe delivery of social services. The absence of ahuman rights concept in national policy-makingleads to a misunderstanding of the “State ofrights.” <strong>Social</strong> protection and population wellbeingmust be seen as intrinsic to human rightsinstead of as a gift from the politicians in power,which distorts the relation between the citizenand the state.• A consistent lack of stability, security and peacein the region has contributed to structural instabilityand turbulence in development policies.This context has resulted in foreign investors’limited interest in the Arab region, the waste ofresources and means for development, and thelow productivity rates caused by the mismanagementof time and resources.The consistent lack of a rights-based approach inpolicy-making contributes to the lack of comprehensivenational strategies for social development.Additionally, the region shows a significantcontrast between its economic and developmentindicators. Most oil-producing Arab countries havegone through a period of relatively positive economicgrowth due to the rise in oil prices. A spill-over effectof this is that the region, as a whole, has witnessedone of the best economic growth results in the world.However, this has not been reflected in progress onthe development front, as most countries continue toshow very low human development results. Indeed,given that the MDGs and development goals in ge neralhave not been a priority for Arab leaders, there hasbeen no proper policy for wealth redistribution amongcountries as well as within countries in the region.Despite such problematic contexts, many officialMDGs reports have attempted to reflect a moreThematic reports 38 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
positive situation. Consequently they have failed toformulate concrete and measurable indicators ofgovernmental strategies, and often remain limitedto abstract and normative recommendations for thefuture. In general, most official reports have falselyattempted to show the governments’ commitment toallocating its resources to development targets andthe MDGs. They have also tried to reflect confidencein attaining these goals by 2015. In doing so, theyhave failed to disclose the evident weaknesses inmany national contexts.Whereas most of the reports mention the inclusionof different stakeholders in the process ofevaluating the MDGs, it is not clear to what extent thisparticipation has been effective or what criteria havebeen used for including them. It is most likely thatthe tendency to include non-governmental partnersfrom academia and civil society reflects the demandsof UN and donor partners rather than genuine nationalparticipatory approaches.Many reports over-emphasize the responsibilityof donors for the inadequate level or conditionalnature of their development assistance without at thesame time addressing national policy-making andinstitutional performance problems. Examples arethe Egyptian and Yemeni official MDGs reports.The Saudi official MDGs report focuses onlyon achievements and fails to sufficiently identify existingchallenges and weaknesses, nor does it putforward any recommendations for the future. TheBahrain report even avoids formulating any targets,claiming that Bahrain is not a “typical” developingcounty despite its clear commitment to addressingthe challenges mentioned in its country report. Anindependent, neutral, and objective evaluation ofthe MDGs’ monitoring process itself is commonlyomitted, with the sole exception of the Palestinianreport, which succeeded in depicting a more realisticaccount of the situation.The official country reports for Bahrain, Lebanon,Jordan, Sudan, Yemen and the PalestinianAuthority state that the MDG and related reportingprocesses are inclusive. Indeed, most of these reportsresult from the work of a technical committeesupervised by the national ministries of planning (orother similar bodies) and have been technically and financiallysupported by the UN country offices, includingall relevant agencies. However the country reportsfor Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia were drafted bytheir governments with the support of UNDP alone.This raises questions about the relative neutrality, theaccurate collection and representation of data, andthe genuineness of the governments’ attempts toachieve progress on the development front.Observations from the Universal PeriodicReview processesHuman rights in the Arab region are constantly violatedby the states, an observation made in scores ofreports including those issued by the UN and severalinternational non-governmental organizations(NGOs) such as Human Rights <strong>Watch</strong> and AmnestyInternational. However, Arab states continue to insiston their reservations in relation to international humanrights conventions, thus preventing any tangibledevelopmental progress from materializing.A particular problem is that social and economicrights in many Arab countries are not properly addressedby their governments. An analytical overviewof the results from the Universal Periodic Reviewsof several Arab countries undertaken under theauspices of the UN Human Rights Council reaffirmssuch observations.In relation to the right to an adequate standardof living, including the rights to housing and to water,severe violations are seen in, for example, Egypt,Iraq and Yemen. The reviews concluded that moreresources should be allocated to improve economicand social development measures, through policies tofight poverty, and to improve access to human rights.In relation to the right to work, including workingin adecuate conditions, severe violations are seenin most Arab countries, particularly related to vulnerableworking groups such as women and migrants.Child labour remains a challenge in addition to thehigh percentage of unemployment among youngpeople compared to global levels.As for the right to education, despite efforts undertaken,many Arab countries show limited accessto basic education and high levels of illiteracy. Whilea number of them slightly improved quantitativeeducation indicators, the quality of education withrespect to the needs of the labour market remainsa big concern.As for the right to health although there has beenan increase in governmental efforts to improve accessto public health care, indicators do not confirmany relevant progress. This is probably due to thefact that the health sector in the region is largely concernedwith implementing safety nets and targetingspecific groups, and thus excludes a large number ofpeople from health care programs and services.ConclusionsIn order to meet the MDGs by 2015, considerable additionalefforts and political will are needed to enhancethe adoption and implementation of developmentalpolicies. Towards this end, concrete and measurabletargets can serve as a tool to evaluate progress.Enhancing the efficiency of public administrationsremains a major challenge, and requiresa number of concrete measures. Public servantsshould be trained to deal with people and their needsin a more respectful way, guided by a rights-basedapproach. Moreover, empowering public regulatorsand enhancing citizens’ respect for these regulationsis an important step towards improving the implementationof public policies and national strategies.A sincere political commitment, reflected inconcrete public policies and development implementationplans, should be based on integrity andtransparency. Indeed, citizen participation throughcivil society organizations and other interest groupsis an important factor to reach successful results.This calls for a reform of the administrative system inorder to overcome the systemic character of corruptionthat weakens it. It is worth noting in this regardthat the adoption and implementation of the UN Anti-Corruption Convention would contribute to reformingthe system of public policy-making.These recommendations are not easily achievablewithout explicit political commitment. Thereare three prerequisites for the above-mentionedrecommendations: democracy for securing properparticipation, accountability, and responsibility;good go vernance for securing appropriate resourcemobilization and investment; and social justice forsecuring comprehensive and inclusive policies. Unfortunately,as these prerequisites are still missing,the region’s inability to reach the MDGs by 2015 becomesonly too apparent. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>39The Arab States and the MDGs
MEASURING PROGRESS
BASIC CAPABILITIES INDEXTen years after the Millennium DeclarationProgress on the social indicators has slowed downThe <strong>2010</strong> Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) developed by <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> shows that in the last 20 years poverty reduction has sloweddown. The evolution of this index since 2000, when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were set, indicates thatprogress is decelerating instead of accelerating, and the international community’s efforts have not translated into a more rapidimprovement in social indicators. <strong>Social</strong> progress does not automatically follows economic growth and better (non-monetary)indicators are needed to more accurately monitor the evolution of poverty in the world.In his Keeping the Promise report of February <strong>2010</strong>,UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said that theMDGs “are the world’s quantified, time-bound targetsfor addressing extreme poverty, hunger anddisease, and for promoting gender equality, educationand environmental sustainability. They are alsoan expression of basic human rights: the rights ofeveryone to good health, education and shelter.”Yet, even when the goals are “quantifiable”, theyare not easy to measure. A set of 38 indicators oneach of the specific targets under each goal has beendeveloped by the United Nations, but data are missingfor most of the countries. On the most importanttarget of reducing the proportion of the populationliving with less than one dollar per day, data from2005 or after are only available for 67 countries.The current picture as shown by the BCIThe BCI was designed by <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> as an alternativeway to monitor the situation of poverty in theworld. Most of the available poverty-measurementare based on the premise that poverty is a monetaryphenomenon and they measure, for example, howmany persons live with an income of under one dollara day. The BCI, like other alternative (non-monetary)ways of measuring poverty, is based instead ona person’s capability of accessing a series of servicesthat are indispensable for survival and human dignity.The indicators that make up the BCI are amongthe most basic of those used to measure the MDGs.The BCI is the average of three indicators: 1)mortality among children under five, 2) reproductiveor maternal-child health, and 3) education (measuredwith a combination of enrolment in primaryeducation and the proportion of children reachingfifth grade). All the indicators are expressed in percentagesand they range from 0 to 100. Under fivemortality, which is usually expressed in numberof deaths per thousand children born alive, is expressedas 100 minus that value. So that, for example,a value of 20 deaths per thousand becomes2% and, when deducted from 100, yields a basicindicator value of 98. Thus, the theoretical maximumvalue in infant mortality is 100, which would meanthat all children born alive survive until they are fiveyears old. Reproductive health takes the maximumvalue 100 when all women giving birth are attendedby skilled health personnel. Similarly, the educationindicator registers 100 when all school age childrenare enrolled in education and they all attain five yearsof schooling. These three indicators are then aver-AcceptableMediumLowVery LowCriticalNo DataAcceptableMediumLowVery LowCriticalNo DataAcceptableMediumLowVery LowCriticalNo DataBasic Capabilities Index <strong>2010</strong>ÍNDICE DE CAPACIDADES BÁSICAS <strong>2010</strong>Basic Capabilities Index 2000BASIC CAPABILITIES INDEX 2000Basic Capabilities Index 1990<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 43 Basic Capabilities Index <strong>2010</strong>ÍNDICE DE CAPACIDADES BÁSICAS 1990
BCI EVOLUTION BY COUNTRYCountryBCI2000BCIEvolutionBCI <strong>2010</strong>CountryBCI2000BCIEvolutionBCI <strong>2010</strong>CountryBCI2000BCIEvolutionBCI <strong>2010</strong>Afghanistan 45Albania 99 e 97Algeria 94 d 96Angola 57 d 60Argentina 97 d 98Armenia 95 h 94Australia 99 h 99Austria 99 h 99Azerbaijan 90 d 94Bahamas, The 94 d 97Bahrain 95 h 95Bangladesh 61 h 61Belarus 98 h 99Belgium 99+ e 99Belize 91 d 96Benin 78 d 85Bhutan 63 g 85Bolivia 82 h 83Bosnia and Herzegovina 97 h 97Botswana 91 h 90Brazil 88 g 96Bulgaria 98 h 98Burkina Faso 55 g 69Burma 67 g 77Burundi 53 g 66Cambodia 65 d 70Cameroon 75 h 75Canada 99 h 99+Cape Verde 93 f 87Central African Republic 63 d 65Chad 50 d 54Chile 98 h 98China 97 d 99Colombia 87 d 94Comoros 74Congo, Dem. Rep. 58 g 78Congo, Rep. 73 d 80Costa Rica 96 d 97Cote d'Ivoire 73 d 74Cuba 98 h 99Cyprus 95 h 96Czech Republic 99 h 98Denmark 99 h 99Djibouti 72 d 76Dominica 96 f 92Dominican Republic 90 h 90Ecuador 95 f 88Egypt, Arab Rep. 83 d 91El Salvador 88 d 91Equatorial Guinea 66 d 68Eritrea 56 g 76Estonia 99 h 99Ethiopia 48 d 53Finland 99+ h 99France 99 h 99Gabon 84Gambia, The 76 f 72Georgia 94 d 97Germany 99+ h 99Ghana 66 g 77Greece 94 d 99Guatemala 69 g 88Guinea 54 g 67Guinea Bissau 55 d 60Guyana 85 d 91Haiti 63 d 67Honduras 80 d 84Hungary 97 h 98Iceland 99+ h 99India 67 d 73Indonesia 85 d 90Iran, Islamic Rep. 93 d 95Iraq 81 d 88Ireland 98 h 99Israel 96 h 96Italy 95 h 99Jamaica 94 e 93Japan 99+ h 99+Jordan 97 h 97Kazakhstan 95 d 97Kenya 65 d 71Kiribati 88 f 82Korea, Dem. Rep. 92Korea, Rep. 99+ h 99Kuwait 94 h 94Kyrgyzstan 95 h 95Lao PDR 59 d 63Latvia 99 e 97Lebanon 94 e 92Lesotho 74 d 78Liberia 70 f 67Libya 96Lithuania 99 h 98Luxembourg 99 h 99Madagascar 61 g 76Malawi 72 e 70Malaysia 96 d 97Maldives 88 d 92Mali 62 d 69Malta 95 d 97Mauritania 69 d 71Mauritius 98 h 98Mexico 92 d 96Moldova 91 d 96Mongolia 94 d 96Montenegro 97 h 97Morocco 78 g 88Mozambique 62 g 71Namibia 86 d 90Nepal 54 d 58Netherlands 99+ h 99New Zealand 98 d 99+Nicaragua 76 d 81Niger 48 g 59Nigeria 64 f 61Norway 99 h 99Oman 94 h 94Pakistan 55 g 65Panama 94 h 94Paraguay 81 d 89Peru 82 d 88Philippines 79 d 81Poland 99 h 99Portugal 98 d 99Qatar 96 e 94Romania 97 h 97Russian Federation 99 h 98Rwanda 57 g 79Saudi Arabia 92Senegal 70 d 71Serbia 97 d 98Sierra Leone 55 d 61Singapore 98 h 98Slovak Republic 98 h 98Slovenia 99 h 98Somalia 58 h 57South Africa 85 h 86Spain 99 h 99Sri Lanka 98 h 99Sudan 79 e 77Suriname 91 h 91Swaziland 77 d 81Sweden 99 h 99Switzerland 98 h 98Syrian Arab Republic 92 d 96Tajikistan 86 d 93Tanzania 63 g 75Thailand 96 h 96Togo 71 d 74Trinidad and Tobago 96 h 96Tunisia 94 d 97Turkey 90 d 95Turkmenistan 91 d 98Ukraine 97 h 97United Arab Emirates 92 d 95United Kingdom 99 h 99United States 97 h 97Uruguay 97 d 98Uzbekistan 96 d 97Venezuela, RB 94 f 91Vietnam 86 d 93Zambia 68 d 75Zimbabwe 82 d 87References: f Major regression e Regression h Stagnant d Slight progress g Significant progressNote: values in italics are estimates.Measuring progress 44 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
CHART 1. BCI and per capita GDP in the world (1990-2009)90888684828078BCIper capita GDPBCIper capita GDPaged, so the total value of the index will vary between0% and 100% (see BCI Evolution by Country table inprevious page).The figures show that overall, since 1990, theworld has made progress in its efforts to reducepoverty. In the last 20 years the BCI has grownworldwide and so has per capita income. Chart 1shows the average total value of the BCI and ofcapita income in CPP (constant purchasing power)dollars for three points in time (1990, 2000 and2009).Per capita income growth accelerated from17% in 1990-2000 to 19% between 2000 and2009, but BCI growth slowed from 4% in the1990s to 3% in the first decade of this century.This indicates that the Millennium Declaration andthe international community’s efforts to reach thegoals it set have not translated into more rapidprogress in social indicators, even when resourceswere available. On the contrary, the data in Chart1 confirm the findings of recent research, whichshow that since 2000 progress in these indicatorshas become slower. 1An analysis of the behaviour of aggregated BCIlevels shows big variations between different regionsof the world. These units of aggregation make sensefor at least two reasons. First, there are patterns ofgeographic diffusion in the design and implementationof public policies geared to reducing poverty andsatisfying basic needs, as captured by the BCI andother ways of measuring absolute poverty. Second,the countries that make up each region show clearpatterns of inter-dependence so they tend to behavein similar ways as regards the evolution of some ofthe socioeconomic indicators.For the purposes of Chart 2, the average BCIfor each region was calculated by weighting eachcountry BCI according to its population. The graphshows that all the regions have increased their BCIvalues, but some of them did it only marginally. Thedeveloped countries have a very small increase becausetheir values are nearing 100% and cannot getany better. These countries have the highest levels1 Fukuda-Parr and Greenstein, “How should MDGimplementation be measured: faster progress or meetingtargets?” Working paper 63. International Policy Centre forInclusive Growth, May <strong>2010</strong>.1990 2000 200982.8 86.4 89.48,884 10,390 12,32414,00012,00010,0008,0006,0004,0002,0000of human development and equity and the lowestpoverty levels, and they also have the highest basiccapability levels as measured by the BCI.Second, the countries in transition, LatinAmerica, the Middle East and Northern Africa showprogress in the 1990-2009 period. However, the biggestadvances were registered between 1990 and2000 and their evolution between 2000 and 2009is relatively slower. Again, the data show that BCIgrowth has been decelerating since 2000, when theMDGs were set, instead of accelerating.Third, the BCI for South Asia maintained its pre-2000 growth rate in the subsequent decade, andSub-Saharan Africa is the only region that has progressedmore rapidly since 2000 than in the previousdecade, when it hardly made any progress at all. Boththese regions started from very low levels, and theyneed to accelerate even more if they are to reachaverage acceptable levels in the next decade. SouthAsia is progressing faster than Sub-Saharan Africa.This region consists of a small group of countriesand its average is highly influenced by India, whichgrew five points in the index between 1990 and 2000and another five points since. The enormous andheterogeneous Sub-Saharan Africa group was thusleft with the lowest BCI values in <strong>2010</strong>.Average progress on the BCI among the developingcountries in East Asia and the Pacific is veryslow because of the great weight that China has inthis region. China has relatively high BCI values butthey are progressing very sluggishly, which stands instark contrast to the country’s behaviour as regardsper capita income or the percentage of the populationliving on less than one dollar a day. In the last20 years China has made tremendous progress onthese two indicators, but its big progress in basicsocial indicators took place before the 1990s.Table 1 shows an alternative way of looking atrecent evolution, based on the levels determinedby the BCI values (Critical, Very Low, Low, Mediumand Acceptable). Over the last 20 years the group ofcountries with medium and acceptable values on theone hand, and the group of countries with low, verylow and critical values on the other, inverted theirpositions in the sense that the former increased from40% to 61% of all countries for which the BCI can becalculated, and the latter fell from 60% to 39% of allcountries considered. In both groups the big fall inChart 2. Evolution of BCIby regions (1990-2009)1<strong>2010</strong>08060ICBPIB per cápita4020090888684828078ICBPIB per cápita1990 2000 20091990 2000 200982,8 86,4 89,48.884 10.390 12.324Developed countriesTransition countriesDeveloping countries:East Asia and PacificLatin America and CaribbeanMiddle East and North AfricaSouth AsiaSub-Saharan Africathe number of countries in the worst situation andthe increase in the number of countries with relativelybetter levels came about before 2000, and inthe new millennium change has been slower.Some cases of recent evolutionAs well as big changes among the regions, there havebeen some notable changes among countries withinregions. Europe and North America are relatively homogenous;the levels of variation among the countriesmaking up these two geographical areas arelow. Moreover, these regions have not shown substantialprogress as they are made up of countriesthat already have satisfactory levels on the index. Onthe other hand, other regions have higher levels ofvariation in their evolution over the last 20 years (seeChart 2). All the levels on the general map in Evolutiontable contain countries that have progressed andothers that have regressed.In the group with the “acceptable” BCI levels,Albania made the most progress in the 1990s butthen regressed the most in the subsequent decade.This regression was relatively slight, but it indicatesa lack of continuity in efforts to improve performanceon the BCI indicators. As to the group with intermediatevalues, it is illustrative to focus on the best andTABLE 1. Evolution of BCI by levels(in number of countries).1990 2000 <strong>2010</strong>Critical 42 35 22Very Low 18 17 22Low 34 19 19Medium 29 43 40Acceptable 33 50 58Total 156 164 161<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>45 Basic Capabilities Index <strong>2010</strong>
worst performers. At the top end of the scale it is nosurprise that Brazil has done well; it has very highrates of economic growth and a sustained politicalcommitment that has led to substantial povertyreduction in the last 20 years. At the bottom end ofthe scale, as can be clearly seen from the situation ofmany countries in Sub-Saharan Africa that have highincomes from oil and other extractive industries, thebenefits of natural resources do not automaticallytranslate into improved social well-being, even incountries that have healthy economic indicators. It isevident that it is not enough to simply supply fundsand provide services geared to poverty reduction,there also has to be collective action on the part ofthe agents that lead the political system. Without thiscommitment there cannot be social progress.Lastly, but by no means the least important, weshould look at several other countries in other BCI levels.In the low level, Guatemala and Bhutan have madeenormous strides. In the very low level, countriesemerging out of conflict, such as Rwanda improvedconsiderably in 2000-2009, whereas Sudan’s BCIvalues continued their systematic decline over the 20years period. In the critical BCI level some countriessuch as Burkina Faso, Burundi and Guinea have donecomparatively well but others like Nigeria, have not.Looking to the futureIn the light of the recent evolution in BCI values itis clear that extreme poverty, measured in terms ofaccess to a pool of services that are basic to humansurvival, will continue to decrease over time, butthe speed of poverty reduction is not automaticallydetermined by the economy. Even at moderately loweconomic growth rates BCI indicators tend to fall.This has been also the case with other non-monetarypoverty measurements like Unsatisfied Basic Needs,which were evaluated in a good part of Latin Americain the 1980s. If the long term trend in BCI ratings isfor progressively fewer countries to find themselvesin the critical level and for more and more countriesto attain values that are consistently above 90%,CHART 3. Evolution by broad groups oflevels (in percentages)7060504030<strong>2010</strong>0Critical, Very Low and Low BCI ValuesMedium and Acceptable BCI Values1990 2000 <strong>2010</strong>CHART 4. BCI evolution by regions to 2015Average 2009Average 2015Sub-Saharan AfricaSouth AsiaEast Asia and PacificLatin America and the CaribbeanMiddle East and North AfricaCentral AsiaEuropeNorth Americamonitoring social progress will have to move fromusing average national indicators to other measurementsthat provide more levels of variation anddisaggregation, particularly in countries with higherBCI values.To make such a monitoring possible, a commitmentfrom the international community is needed togenerate better and more accurate statistics, withappropriate gender, regional and ethnical discrimination.In fact, these kinds of indicators are available formany developed countries, but very little statisticalinformation is available about the rest of the worldin this respect. Many countries will jump up to thegroups with medium or acceptable BCI values inTechnical Notes:I. The BCI indicators:1. Education: a) The percentage of childrenthat reach the fifth grade in primary education;b) Net enrolment rate in primary education.The Education indicator is made upof the average of these two values (a and b)2. Mortality among children under five. Thevalue of this indicator is represented asI1=(100-M), as the rate of survival until theage of five, where M is the death rate in thefirst five years of life per 1,000 births.3. The percentage of births attended by 70 skilledhealth personnel.60II. The BCI has been calculated for three pointsin time, with different sources of free access information(for the complete list of sources, see50). So as to complete 40 thedata for 1990, 2000 and 2009, the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>research team constructed a system of approximatemeasures (or proxies) that maximize the30information available. For 1990 this involved 20considering all the data available in a range of5 years, taking 1990 as a base and assuming 10+/- 2 years. In cases where no information before1990 was available, the five-year range was 0 stilltaken but up to 1995 inclusive. For 2000, we tooka five-year range with 2000 as the base year and0 20 40 60 80 100 120the coming years and there will be progressivelymore countries with stagnant values because the BCIcannot exceed 100%. The worldwide pattern of sustainedBCI growth, albeit with slower growth ratessince 2000, indicates that more and more countriesshould be monitored using more sophisticated indicatorsthat more accurately capture the evolution ofnon-monetary poverty in the world.Yet, the linear projections in Chart 4, based onthe data from the 1990-2000 and 2000-2009 periods,also show that if current trends in the evolutionof the BCI are maintained, big regions of the worldwill still be far from reaching acceptable levels in2015. na criterion of +/- 2 years. Lastly, for 2009, weapplied the criterion of the latest data availablesince 2005. 1III. There is a high level of correlation amongthe values of the three indicators, and the valuesof each indicator are correlated with its valuesat different points in time, so for countries forwhich we did not have information about thepercentage of births attended by skilled medicalpersonnel, we imputed values based on the othertwo indicators in the index (education and infantmortality).IV. So as to be able to categorize countries’ evolution,the <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> team applied the followingcut-off points: less than one negative standarddeviation from the average of evolution (SevereRegression); between one negative standard deviationfrom the average and -1% of the variationin the rate (Regression); between -1% and 1%of variation in the rate (Stagnation); between 1%Valores de ICB Crítico, Muy bajo y Bajoof Valores variation de ICB in Medio the rate y Aceptable and a standard deviationover the average variation (Slight Progress); andmore than one standard deviation over the variationaverage (Significant Progress). n1990 2000 <strong>2010</strong>1 The BCI values shown in the “diamonds” that appear inthe national reports correspond to the BCI <strong>2010</strong> values.PPÁfricaAAsia OrientaAmérica LatMedio Oriente y NAméMeasuring progress 46 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
GENDER EQUITY INDEXGEI values in 2009<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> has developed the Gender Equity Index (GEI) 1 in order to contributeto the understanding of gender-based inequities, and to monitor its situationand evolution in the different countries and regions of the world, accordingto a selection of indicators relevant to gender inequity in three dimensions,namely education, economic participation and empowerment. nCountry GEI 2009 EducationEconomicActivityEmpowermentCountry GEI 2009 EducationEconomicActivityEmpowermentAlbania 55 96.3 61.9 6.6Algeria 53 96.5 39.4 22.4Angola 60 75.3 71.3 32.8Argentina 72 98.8 61.9 56.2Armenia 58 97.1 71.2 4.6Australia 75 95.2 75.0 55.0Austria 71 95.1 61.0 56.6Azerbaijan 60 91.1 73.3 15.3Bahamas 79 98.1 80.7 58.9Bahrain 46 98.0 34.1 6.0Bangladesh 53 85.8 53.5 18.9Barbados 76 99.0 73.2 57.0Belarus 66 96.6 72.7 28.9Belgium 72 96.0 64.2 56.2Belize 63 98.2 45.9 44.1Benin 42 53.9 54.7 17.8Bolivia 66 94.8 65.7 37.6Bosnia and Herzegovina 61 93.3 76.0 13.0Botswana 66 98.8 49.0 49.5Brazil 68 96.5 64.6 43.6Bulgaria 73 96.1 71.6 52.6Burkina Faso 54 68.8 76.6 17.7Burundi 64 75.8 88.1 27.9Cambodia 62 78.1 83.5 23.2Cameroon 51 80.4 57.1 14.3Canada 74 95.9 73.8 53.7Cape Verde 54 97.8 40.1 22.6Central African Republic 46 55.8 70.0 11.4Chad 43 46.2 74.9 9.2Chile 62 97.1 45.9 42.8China 68 92.4 73.3 38.6Colombia 75 98.8 69.7 56.5Congo, Rep. 45 65.4 57.4 12.6Costa Rica 67 98.2 54.3 47.9Côte d'Ivoire 39 64.5 38.1 15.2Croatia 75 99.4 70.7 56.0Cuba 70 96.7 52.0 61.7Cyprus 65 97.9 68.2 29.0Czech Republic 68 96.8 64.0 43.4Denmark 79 97.6 78.6 61.1Djibouti 47 74.5 56.2 10.8Dominican Republic 65 97.5 49.9 47.1Ecuador 72 98.5 64.3 54.3Egypt 44 91.3 25.1 15.2El Salvador 68 99.1 51.2 52.3Equatorial Guinea 44 73.8 49.4 7.9Eritrea 47 62.1 54.3 24.8Estonia 73 97.6 71.2 50.8Ethiopia 53 64.8 69.7 25.5Finland 84 98.6 78.5 75.7France 72 96.6 71.7 47.8Gabon 53 77.7 65.9 16.7Gambia 50 72.5 60.8 17.7Georgia 62 94.7 49.7 42.5Germany 78 93.8 67.6 73.0Ghana 58 79.4 82.5 11.0Greece 65 95.9 61.2 38.6Guatemala 51 93.7 36.7 23.5Guinea-Bissau 47 46.9 58.3 35.6Guyana 60 96.7 47.1 35.7Honduras 69 99.1 53.6 54.2Hong Kong 75 95.7 66.0 62.4Hungary 70 96.1 68.3 44.9Iceland 78 98.7 78.8 55.2India 41 77.5 36.6 7.9Indonesia 55 96.8 52.8 16.0Iran 54 97.1 45.7 20.5Ireland 69 98.1 63.3 46.9Israel 72 97.1 75.2 44.1Italy 64 96.8 54.6 42.1Jamaica 61 99.0 64.7 18.3Japan 59 91.5 55.3 30.21 The GEI values that appear under the shape of diamonds in the national reports are those included in the IEG 2009, developed by the <strong>Social</strong> Sciences Research Team, Departamento de Sociología de laFacultad de Ciencias <strong>Social</strong>es de la Universidad de la República, Uruguay, composed by Gabriel Errandonea (Coordinator), Gabriel Gómez, Daniel Umpiérrez and Ruy Blanco.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>47Gender Equity Index 2009
GEI values in 2009Country GEI 2009 EducationEconomicActivityEmpowermentCountry GEI 2009 EducationEconomicActivityEmpowermentJordan 47 98.8 33.5 9.4Kazakhstan 74 97.3 75.1 50.4Kenya 59 85.3 80.6 11.2Korea, Rep. 53 80.0 53.9 23.6Kuwait 49 97.6 46.3 4.2Kyrgyzstan 70 98.8 65.8 45.5Laos 52 80.6 59.2 16.8Latvia 75 97.1 71.0 57.0Lebanon 47 98.4 36.2 6.2Lesotho 64 99.5 57.6 35.9Lithuania 76 97.3 75.6 53.8Luxembourg 61 98.2 60.1 23.5Macedonia 67 96.1 55.5 50.1Malaysia 58 98.6 46.6 29.7Maldives 61 97.9 58.6 26.2Mali 53 65.5 77.3 17.0Malta 58 96.7 49.5 28.5Mauritania 51 75.0 57.3 19.2Mauritius 60 98.3 47.5 34.5Mexico 61 98.8 44.3 38.5Moldova 74 97.9 71.8 51.9Mongolia 70 99.4 58.2 52.6Morocco 45 84.0 29.2 21.4Mozambique 64 67.6 91.5 34.2Namibia 71 96.5 65.6 50.8Nepal 51 74.1 57.1 22.5Netherlands 77 95.7 70.7 65.4New Zealand 78 97.5 76.1 59.2Nicaragua 52 98.5 36.4 19.7Niger 47 54.0 65.8 22.1Nigeria 44 76.9 47.0 9.3Norway 83 96.2 82.0 69.8Oman 46 96.7 23.5 17.6Pakistan 43 75.9 34.2 18.0Panama 70 98.1 60.8 50.4Paraguay 67 97.6 55.6 47.2Peru 70 98.8 63.4 47.0Philippines 76 98.5 63.5 64.8Poland 70 96.2 68.8 45.2Portugal 73 97.6 69.1 52.8Qatar 48 98.0 32.7 12.2Romania 71 97.3 74.6 42.0Russia 71 97.3 71.2 45.1Rwanda 84 88.2 84.6 77.8Samoa 49 92.7 44.5 8.6Sao Tomé and Principe 49 98.3 35.2 12.3Saudi Arabia 43 96.4 18.9 12.8Senegal 55 76.4 61.3 27.1Sierra Leone 45 65.9 52.8 15.1Singapore 63 95.0 58.6 36.5Slovakia 69 97.0 67.2 42.2Slovenia 65 81.8 70.7 42.8Solomon Islands 47 82.4 58.2 0.0South Africa 75 98.9 51.4 73.8Spain 77 98.4 58.3 74.1Sri Lanka 58 98.0 43.0 32.4St Lucia 71 98.2 59.1 55.4St Vincent and Grenadines 60 96.6 59.5 23.6Sudan 43 86.4 29.1 12.4Suriname 56 97.5 46.1 23.8Swaziland 49 95.0 35.8 15.7Sweden 88 96.3 83.8 82.9Switzerland 62 91.8 71.3 23.4Syria 54 93.3 38.8 29.2Tajikistan 52 78.2 65.8 12.2Tanzania 72 80.5 83.9 51.3Thailand 70 98.3 71.7 40.6Timor-Leste 66 95.1 67.0 34.9Togo 47 71.8 49.4 18.7Trinidad and Tobago 70 98.1 53.7 58.6Tunisia 50 96.8 33.5 18.6Turkey 46 85.3 35.8 17.3Uganda 67 83.1 81.1 37.4Ukraine 69 97.4 66.9 44.0United Arab Emirates 50 97.3 33.4 19.2United Kingdom 74 97.5 72.8 51.1United States of America 74 97.0 72.3 52.3Uruguay 69 97.1 64.0 45.1Uzbekistan 57 89.7 68.9 12.5Vanuatu 54 76.0 79.5 6.5Venezuela 68 98.3 60.8 43.9Viet Nam 74 96.5 81.3 44.0Yemen 30 49.2 34.4 6.3Zambia 56 79.0 64.0 25.6Zimbabwe 58 88.1 67.0 17.6Measuring progress 48 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Net Official Development Assistance by Development assitance committee (DAC) CountryUSD millionPer cent of GNI1992-1993 AVERAGE1997-1998 AVERAGE200420052006200720081992-1993 AVERAGE1997-1998 AVERAGE20042005200620072008Australia 984 1,011 1,460 1,680 2,123 2,669 2,954 0.36 0.27 0.25 0.25 0.30 0.32 0.32Austria 205 477 678 1,573 1,498 1,808 1,714 0.11 0.23 0.23 0.52 0.47 0.50 0.43Belgium 840 823 1,463 1,963 1,977 1,951 2,386 0.39 0.33 0.41 0.53 0.50 0.43 0.48Canada 2,457 1,876 2,599 3,756 3,683 4,080 4,785 0.46 0.32 0.27 0.34 0.29 0.29 0.32Denmark 1,366 1,670 2,037 2,109 2,236 2,562 2,803 1.03 0.98 0.85 0.81 0.80 0.81 0.82Finland 499 388 680 902 834 981 1,166 0.56 0.32 0.37 0.46 0.40 0.39 0.44France 8,093 6,024 8,473 10,026 10,601 9,884 10,908 0.63 0.41 0.41 0.47 0.47 0.38 0.39Germany 7,269 5,719 7,534 10,082 10,435 12,291 13,981 0.36 0.27 0.28 0.36 0.36 0.37 0.38Greece – 176 321 384 424 501 703 – 0.15 0.16 0.17 0.17 0.16 0.21Ireland 76 193 607 719 1,022 1,192 1,328 0.18 0.30 0.39 0.42 0.54 0.55 0.59Italy 3,583 1,772 2,462 5,091 3,641 3,971 4,861 0.33 0.15 0.15 0.29 0.20 0.19 0.22Japan 11,205 9,999 8,922 13,126 11,136 7,679 9,579 0.28 0.24 0.19 0.28 0.25 0.17 0.19Luxembourg 44 103 236 256 291 376 415 0.31 0.60 0.79 0.79 0.89 0.92 0.97Netherlands 2,639 2,994 4,204 5,115 5,452 6,224 6,993 0.84 0.80 0.73 0.82 0.81 0.81 0.80New Zealand 97 142 212 274 259 320 348 0.25 0.26 0.23 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.30Norway 1,144 1,314 2,199 2,786 2,954 3,728 3,963 1.09 0.86 0.87 0.94 0.89 0.95 0.88Portugal 264 255 1,031 377 396 471 620 0.31 0.25 0.63 0.21 0.21 0.22 0.27Spain 1,411 1,305 2,437 3,018 3,814 5,140 6,867 0.27 0.24 0.24 0.27 0.32 0.37 0.45Sweden 2,114 1,652 2,722 3,362 3,955 4,339 4,732 1.01 0.75 0.78 0.94 1.02 0.93 0.98Switzerland 966 904 1,545 1,772 1,646 1,685 2,038 0.39 0.33 0.40 0.43 0.39 0.38 0.42United Kingdom 3,082 3,648 7,905 10,772 12,459 9,849 11,500 0.31 0.27 0.36 0.47 0.51 0.35 0.43United States 10,916 7,832 19,705 27,935 23,532 21,787 26,842 0.17 0.09 0.17 0.23 0.18 0.16 0.19TOTAL DAC 58,318 50,276 79,432 107,078 104,368 103,485 121,483 0.31 0.23 0.26 0.33 0.31 0.28 0.31of which:DAC-EU countries 31,483 27,199 42,789 55,750 59,034 61,538 70,974 0.44 0.33 0.35 0.44 0.43 0.39 0.43Source: OECD, Website Database <strong>2010</strong>. .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>49 Net Official Development Assistance by DAC Country
PUBLIC EXPENDITURE: the governments of the world agreed on...“Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitledto realization, through national effort and international co-operation and inaccordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic,social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free developmentof his personality.”Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 22, 1948.“We call on the industrialized countries… to implement the enhancedprogramme of debt relief for the heavily indebted poor countries withoutfurther delay and to agree to cancel all official bilateral debts of thosecountries in return for their making demonstrable commitments to povertyreduction.”Millennium Declaration, Paragraph 15, 2000.HUMAN RIGHTS:The right to health services, education and social security is enshrined in:UDHR - Art. 22, 25 & 26CERD - Art. 6CESCR - Art. 9, 12 & 13CEDAW - Art. 11 & 14CRC - Art. 24, 26 & 28INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS:Public expenditure and debt are considered in:Millennium Development GoalsWorld Summit for <strong>Social</strong> DevelopmentFourth World Conference on Women -Beijing Platform for Action - Critical Areas of ConcernPublic health expenditure(% of GDP)Public education expenditure(% of GDP)Total debt service(% of export of goods,services and income)Military expenditure(% of GDP)Country 2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)Afghanistan 8.8 7.9 7.6 1.6 1.5 2.1 2.2Albania 6.6 6.6 7.0 2.5 3.7 3.1 3.0 1.3 1.5 1.8 2.0Algeria 3.5 4.3 4.4 2.9 2.7 2.9 3.1Andorra 7.2 7.4 7.6 1.7 2.3 2.6Angola 2.1 2.8 2.5 2.6 2.6 10.7 13.2 9.8 2.5 4.5 4.4 3.8 2.9Antigua and Barbuda 5.0 5.2 4.7Argentina 10.4 10.2 10.0 4.8 4.5 5.5 20.2 31.1 13.1 10.7 1.0 0.9 0.7 0.8Armenia 5.4 4.7 4.4 2.7 2.7 3.0 7.2 6.8 7.0 12.7 2.9 2.9 3.0 3.2Aruba 4.8 4.8Australia 8.7 8.8 8.9 4.8 5.2 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8Austria 10.4 10.2 10.1 5.4 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9Azerbaijan 4.3 3.9 3.7 2.3 2.0 1.7 1.9 2.6 1.8 0.8 0.9 2.3 3.4 2.9 2.7Bahamas 6.4 6.8 7.3 0.5 0.6 0.8Bahrain 3.8 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.4 3.2 2.7Bangladesh 3.1 3.3 3.4 2.5 2.6 2.4 5.4 3.8 4.8 3.9 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1Barbados 7.0 7.1 7.0 6.9 6.9 6.7 0.9 0.8Belarus 6.6 6.4 6.5 5.9 6.1 5.2 3.7 3.3 3.9 3.1 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.4Belgium 9.8 9.5 9.4 6.0 6.0 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.1Belize 3.6 3.6 4.0 5.1 34.5 15.7 69.3 10.5 1.0 1.0Benin 4.7 4.7 4.8 3.9 3.6 7.2 7.0 4.2 1.1 1.0 1.0Bermuda 2.0 1.2Bhutan 3.7 3.6 4.1 7.3 5.1Bolivia 5.3 5.1 5.0 6.3 14.3 8.4 11.7 11.3 1.8 1.6 1.7 1.5Bosnia and Herzegovina 9.2 9.4 9.8 5.0 5.4 5.0 4.4 1.6 1.5 1.3 1.4Botswana 7.4 6.0 5.7 9.7 8.1 0.9 1.0 0.7 2.9 2.6 2.6 3.4Brazil 8.2 8.5 8.4 4.5 5.0 44.7 37.3 27.8 22.7 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.5Brunei Darussalam 2.5 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.4 2.4Bulgaria 7.7 7.2 7.3 4.5 4.2 21.9 12.2 15.2 14.7 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.2Burkina Faso 6.7 6.3 6.1 4.5 4.5 4.6 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.8Burundi 11.0 13.1 13.9 5.1 7.2 39.8 40.1 40.0 28.1 6.2 4.9 4.7 3.8Cambodia 6.4 5.9 5.9 1.6 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.6 1.1 1.1 1.1Cameroon 4.8 4.8 4.9 3.1 3.3 3.9 20.2 11.1 10.0 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.5Canada 9.9 10.0 10.1 4.9 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3Cape Verde 4.6 4.9 4.5 6.0 5.7 5.7 6.9 4.9 4.0 3.5 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6Cayman Islands 2.8 2.6Central African Republic 4.3 4.0 4.1 1.4 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.6Chad 4.4 4.9 4.8 1.9 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0Measuring progress 50 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Public health expenditure(% of GDP)Public education expenditure(% of GDP)Total debt service(% of export of goods,services and income)Military expenditure(% of GDP)Country 2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)Chile 6.1 6.0 6.2 3.4 3.2 3.4 14.9 20.8 13.9 18.2 3.6 3.7 3.4 3.5China 4.5 4.4 4.3 3.1 2.4 2.2 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0Colombia 6.3 6.2 6.1 4.0 3.9 4.1 3.9 35.6 30.5 21.3 16.2 3.3 3.4 3.3 3.7Comoros 3.1 3.2 3.3Congo, Dem. Rep. 6.1 6.6 5.8 2.3 2.4 2.1 1.4Congo, Rep. 2.4 2.1 2.4 1.8 2.0 1.3 1.0 1.3 1.1 1.4 1.3Costa Rica 7.3 7.7 8.1 4.7 4.7 5.0 7.7 6.2 6.4 10.5Côte d'Ivoire 3.9 3.9 4.2 4.6 3.5 2.8 4.4 9.2 1.5 1.5 1.6 1.5Croatia 7.0 7.1 7.6 1.6 1.7 1.6 1.8Cuba 9.3 7.6 10.4 9.8 9..1 13.3Cyprus 6.1 6.2 6.6 6.3 7.0 3.8 3.6 3.2 3.7Czech Republic 7.2 7.0 6.8 4.3 4.6 2.0 1.7 1.5 1.5Denmark 9.5 9.6 9.8 8.3 7.9 1.3 1.4 1.3 1.3Djibouti 6.8 6.5 7.2 8.4 8.4 8.7 4.8 6.1 6.5 6.3 6.3 6.5 4.2 4.1Dominica 6.0 5.9 6.2 4.1 4.8 10.4 10.4 11.5Dominican Republic 5.5 5.6 5.4 2.2 8.2 9.9 8.6 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.6Ecuador 5.2 5.3 5.8 29.5 23.9 18.7 2.6 2.3 2.9 2.8Egypt 6.0 6.3 6.3 4.8 4.0 3.7 3.7 6.1 5.6 4.9 4.7 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.3El Salvador 7.1 6.6 6.2 2.7 3.0 3.0 3.6 10.9 13.4 11.1 9.9 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5Equatorial Guinea 1.6 1.9 2.1Eritrea 3.6 3.6 3.3 2.0Estonia 5.0 5.1 5.4 4.9 1.9 1.9 2.2 2.2Ethiopia 4.1 3.9 3.8 5.5 5.5 4.3 6.9 4.3 2.8 2.8 2.3 1.9 1.5Fiji 4.2 3.7 4.0 0.8 0.8 1.5 1.3 1.4 1.3Finland 8.5 8.3 8.2 6.3 6.1 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.3France 11.1 11.0 11.0 5.6 5.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.3Gabon 4.6 4.7 4.6 3.4 1.3 1.2 1.1Gambia 6.1 6.6 5.5 11.8 11.8 12.7 0.6 0.5 0.7Georgia 8.6 8.4 8.2 2.5 3.0 2.7 2.9 7.4 8.8 4.6 4.2 3.3 5.2 9.2 8.1Germany 10.7 10.5 10.4 4.5 4.4 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3Ghana 7.3 6.1 8.3 5.4 7.0 4.9 2.9 3.2 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.7Greece 9.4 9.5 9.6 4.0 3.4 3.4 3.3 3.5Grenada 5.9 6.9 7.1 5.6 7.7 7.6Guatemala 6.0 6.8 7.3 3.0 3.0 12.4 12.5 13.2 12.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.5Guinea 5.6 5.8 5.6 1.7 1.7 12.9 9.6Guinea-Bissau 6.3 5.9 6.1 4.0Guyana 6.9 7.2 8.2 8.5 8.1 6.1 3.8 3.4 2.3 2.0Haiti 4.6 5.8 5.3 3.6 3.4 4.5 1.9Honduras 5.8 5.8 6.2 5.0 4.0 3.8 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.7Hong Kong (China) 4.2 3.9 3.5 3.3Hungary 8.3 8.1 7.4 5.5 5.4 1.4 1.2 1.3 1.2Iceland 9.4 9.1 9.3 7.6 7.6India 4.2 4.1 4.1 3.2 3.2 13.1 7.6 13.7 8.7 2.8 2.6 2.5 2.5Indonesia 2.0 1.9 2.2 2.9 3.6 3.5 15.4 23.1 16.3 13.4 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.0Iran, Islamic Rep. 6.6 6.9 6.4 4.7 5.1 5.5 4.8 3.8 3.8 2.9Iraq 3.8 3.3 2.5Ireland 7.3 7.1 7.6 4.8 4.8 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6Israel 8.0 7.9 8.0 6.2 6.2 7.7 7.8 8.4 8.0Italy 8.9 9.0 8.7 4.4 4.7 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.8Jamaica 4.1 4.1 4.7 4.6 5.5 16.3 11.9 17.3 14.2 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.5Japan 8.2 8.1 8.0 3.5 3.5 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9Jordan 9.4 8.5 8.9 6.4 5.9 5.7 16.0 4.8 4.7 6.1 5.9<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>51Public Expenditure
Public health expenditure(% of GDP)Public education expenditure(% of GDP)Total debt service(% of export of goods,services and income)Military expenditure(% of GDP)Country 2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)Kazakhstan 3.9 3.6 3.7 2.3 2.6 2.8 42.2 33.7 49.6 41.8 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.0Kenya 4.4 4.5 4.7 7.3 7.0 6.4 6.6 9.2 6.5 5.7 4.5 1.7 1.7 1.8 2.0Kiribati 13.8 14.7 19.1Korea, Dem. Rep.Korea, Rep. 5.7 6.0 6.3 4.1 4.2 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.6Kuwait 2.2 2.1 2.2 4.7 3.8 4.3 3.6 3.8 3.2Kyrgyzstan 6.0 6.7 6.5 4.9 5.5 6.6 10.0 4.9 6..4 8.2 3.1 3.2 3.1 2.4Lao PDR 4.3 4.0 4.0 2.4 2.9 3.0 2.3 17.3 16.2 15.2 0.4 0.4 0.3Latvia 6.3 6.9 6.2 5.1 39.1 33.3 33.5 37.7 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.9Lebanon 8.5 9.1 8.8 2.6 2.8 2.6 2.0 18.7 20.7 18.6 14.0 4.4 4.6 5.1 4.4Lesotho 6.2 6.7 6.2 14.2 13.8 12.4 7.4 3.9 6.9 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.6Liberia 9.4 9.8 10.6 2.7 0.2 0.1 103.8 131.3 1.0 1.0 0.5Libya 2.6 2.4 2.7 1.5 1.1 0.9 1.2Lithuania 5.9 6.2 6.2 4.9 4.8 16.6 21.8 36.6 30.6 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.6Luxembourg 7.7 7.3 7.1 0.8 0.8 0.7Macao (China) 2.4 2.3 2.0Macedonia 7.8 7.6 7.1 4.7 9.7 16.9 15.3 8.7 2.2 2.0 2.1 2.0Madagascar 3.7 3.9 4.1 3.2 3.1 3.4 2.9 5.8 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.1Malawi 10.7 12.9 9.9 1.2 1.2 1.2Malaysia 4.1 4.3 4.4 7.5 4.7 5.6 4.0 4.8 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.0Maldives 10.6 10.4 9.8 7.8 8.0 8.1 7.2 4.9 5.6 6.2Mali 5.5 5.7 5.7 4.1 3.8 6.3 4.4 2.9 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.0Malta 8.5 8.4 7.5 1.7 1.6 1.5Marshall Islands 13.6 14.4 14.7Mauritania 2.9 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.9 4.4 3.6 3.1 3.8Mauritius 4.2 3.8 4.2 4.4 3.9 5.8 5.8 2.9 2.8 0.2 0.2 0.2Mexico 5.9 5.7 5.9 5.0 4.8 17.5 18.8 12.3 12.1 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.4Micronesia, Fed. Sts. 13.1 13.3 13.2Moldova 8.4 9.4 10.3 7.2 7.5 8.3 8.2 10.2 12.2 9.5 11.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.4Monaco 4.6 4.4 4.0Mongolia 3.9 3.9 4.3 5.1 2.3 2.1 1.3 1.2 1.4Montenegro 9.6 9.3 8.9 2.0 1.4 1.5Morocco 5.2 5.2 5.0 5.9 5.5 11.3 12.2 11.5 10.3 3.4 3.3 3.2 3.3Mozambique 5.4 5.0 4.9 5.2 5.0 3.7 1.6 1.1 1.2 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9Myanmar 2.1 2.1 1.9 3.2 2.5Namibia 7.3 7.2 7.6 6.0 6.5 2.6 2.5 2.6 3.0Nepal 6.0 5.6 5.1 3.8 4.6 5.0 4.5 3.6 1.9 1.7 1.6 1.5Netherlands 9.1 8.9 8.9 5.5 5.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.4New Zealand 8.8 9.3 9.0 6.5 6.2 6.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1Nicaragua 7.4 7.6 8.3 6.6 5.5 11.7 7.3 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6Niger 5.7 5.9 5.3 3.3 4.1 3.7 6.3 25.9 3.1Nigeria 6.6 6.5 6.6 15.8 1.4Norway 9.1 8.6 8.9 7.0 6.5 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.3Oman 2.6 2.4 2.4 3.5 4.0 11.8 11.0 10.4Pakistan 2.8 2.7 2.7 2.3 2.6 2.8 2.9 10.1 8.6 8.9 8.7 4.0 3.8 3.6 3.3Palau 11.4 10.5 10.8Panama 7.5 7.0 6.7 3.8 17.5 21.9 5.6 9.2Papua New Guinea 4.3 3.3 3.2 11.2 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.4Paraguay 6.7 6.4 5.7 10.9 7.2 6.0 4.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8Peru 4.5 4.3 4.3 2.7 2.5 2.5 26.5 12.8 24.7 12.5 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.2Philippines 3.7 3.8 3.9 2.5 16.8 19.6 13.0 15.5 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8Poland 6.2 6.2 6.4 5.5 5.7 28.6 24.3 25.5 25.0 1.9 1.9 1.9 2.0Measuring progress 52 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Public health expenditure(% of GDP)Public education expenditure(% of GDP)Total debt service(% of export of goods,services and income)Military expenditure(% of GDP)Country 2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)2005(%)2006(%)2007(%)2008(%)Portugal 10.2 9.9 10.0 5.4 5.3 2.2 2.1 2.0 2.0Qatar 4.0 4.2 3.8 3.3Romania 5.1 4.5 4.7 3.5 18.2 18.4 19.2 25.3 2.0 1.8 1.5 1.5Russian Federation 5.2 5.3 5.4 3.8 3.9 4.1 4.0 14.6 13.8 9.2 11.5 3.7 3.6 3.5 3.5Rwanda 7.6 11.0 10.3 3.4 4.8 4.1 8.1 9.7 4.0 1.9 1.9 1.6 1.5Samoa 4.6 4.8 5.0 4.6 5.4 7.7San Marino 7.5 7.2 7.1Sao Tomé and Principe 12.6 12.6 11.2 39.8 39.1 39.2Saudi Arabia 3.2 3.4 3.4 8.0 8.3 9.2 8.2Senegal 5.4 5.8 5.7 5.1 4.8 6.4 5.7 4.4 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.6Serbia 9.0 9.3 9.9 12.1 13.9 2.4 2.3 2.4 2.3Seychelles 5.3 5.0 5.1 5.0 7.9 20.6 12.4 1.7 1.5 1.7 1.0Sierra Leone 5.7 4.0 4.4 3.8 6.5 9.1 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.8 2.3Singapore 3.3 3.2 3.1 2.8 4.5 4.3 4.0 4.1Slovakia 7.0 7.3 7.7 3.8 3.8 1.7 1.6 1.5 1.6Slovenia 8.5 8.3 7.8 5.7 5.7 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.6Solomon Islands 4.6 4.7 4.6 8.9 2.0SomaliaSouth Africa 9.1 8.8 8.6 5.4 5.4 5.3 5.1 4.5 6.6 5.5 4.4 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.4Spain 8.3 8.4 8.5 4.2 4.3 1.0 1.2 1.2 1.2Sri Lanka 4.0 4.2 4.2 4.6 8.7 6.9 9.3 2.5 2.8 2.9 3.0St. Kitts and Nevis 5.4 5.8 6.0 9.9 17.6 16.7 17.9St. Lucia 5.7 6.4 6.3 5.5 6.5 6.3 5.9 7.3 7.7St. Vincent and the Grenadines 5.9 6.0 5.4 8.0 7.0 10.3 13.4 10.3Sudan 3.8 3.8 3.5 6.6 4.6 3.3 2.5 4.3 4.2Suriname 7.8 7.6 7.6Swaziland 7.4 6.6 6.0 7.9 8.3 7.9 1.5 1.6 1.9 2.4 2.2 2.1Sweden 9.2 9.1 9.1 7.0 6.9 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3Switzerland 11.2 10.8 10.8 5.7 5.5 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.8Syrian Arab Republic 4.2 3.9 3.6 5.3 4.9 5.1 4.4 4.1 3.4Tajikistan 5.0 5.0 5.3 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.5 4.1 2.5 1.9 3.1Tanzania 3.9 6.5 5.3 4.3 3.1 1.5 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 0.9Thailand 3.5 3.7 3.7 4.4 4.5 4.0 13.7 9.4 8.2 7.7 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.5Timor-Leste 14.9 16.4 13.6 7.1Togo 5.9 6.4 6.1 3.4 3.6 3.7 2.0 2.4 1.2 1.6 2.0Tonga 4.7 5.2 4.4 3.9 3.4 3.1 1.2 1.4 1.5Trinidad and Tobago 4.7 4.4 4.8Tunisia 6.2 6.1 6.0 7.2 7.1 12.6 14.3 11.3 1.6 1.6 1.3 1.3Turkey 5.7 4.8 5.0 37.0 32.3 31.5 29.5 2.5 2.5 2.1 2.2Turkmenistan 3.4 2.8 2.6Uganda 6.4 6.6 6.3 3.8 9.0 5.2 2.1 1.7 2.4 2.2 2.3Ukraine 6.9 6.9 6.9 6.1 6.2 5.3 13.0 18.1 16.9 19.4 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.7United Arab Emirates 2.6 2.6 2.7 1.3 1.9United Kingdom 8.2 8.5 8.4 5.5 5.6 2.4 2.4 2.4 2.4United States of America 15.4 15.5 15.7 5.4 5.7 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.3Uruguay 7.9 8.1 8.0 2.7 2.8 3.5 3.9 33.8 85.5 15.5 14.6 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.2Uzbekistan 5.0 5.3 5.0Vanuatu 3.4 3.2 3.6 6.1 1.3 1.7 1.4Venezuela 5.4 5.7 5.8 3.6 3.7 9.4 13.0 7.0 5.6 1.4 1.6 1.3 1.1Viet Nam 6.0 6.6 7.1 5.3 2.6 2.1 2.2 1.9 1.8 1.9 2.1 2.0Yemen 4.4 4.3 3.9 5.2 2.6 2.5 2.9 2.4 4.9 4.3 4.9 4.5Zambia 7.0 6.4 6.2 2.0 1.5 1.4 10.9 3.8 2.5 3.2 2.0 1.9 1.3 1.8Zimbabwe 8.9 9.3 8.9 3.8Source: World Bank indicators, .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>53Public Expenditure
STATUS OF RATIFICATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL TRATIES MENTIONED IN THE MILLENNIUM DECLARATIONUp to August <strong>2010</strong>A: Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 1998. Entry into force: 1 July 2002.B: Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, 1997. Entry into force: 1 March 1999.C: Protocol II on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices as amended on 3 May 1996 annexed to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 1996. Entry into force:3 December 1998.D: Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1997. Entry into force: 16 February 2005.E: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, 2000. Entry into force: 12 February 2002.F: Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, 2000. Entry into force: 18 January 2002.G: Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992. Entry into force: 29 December 1993.H: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, 1994. Entry into force: 26 December 1996.A B C D E F G HA B C D E F G HAfghanistan ● ● ● ● ● ●Albania ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Algeria ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Andorra ● ● ● ● ●Angola ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Antigua and Barbuda ● ● ● ● ● ●Argentina ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Armenia ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Australia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Austria ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Azerbaijan ● ● ● ● ●Bahamas ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Bahrain ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Bangladesh ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Barbados ● ● ● ● ● ●Belarus ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Belgium ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Belize ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Benin ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Bhutan ● ● ● ● ● ●Bolivia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Bosnia and Herzegovina ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Botswana ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Brazil ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Brunei Darussalam ● ● ● ●Bulgaria ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Burkina Faso ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Burma ● ● ● ●Burundi ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Cambodia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Cameroon ❍ ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Canada ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Cape Verde ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Central African Republic ● ● ● ● ● ●Chad ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Chile ● ● ● ● ● ● ●China ● ● ● ● ● ●Colombia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Comoros ● ● ● ● ● ●Congo, Dem. Rep. ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Congo, Rep. ● ● ● ● ●Cook Islands ● ● ● ● ●Costa Rica ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Côte d'Ivoire ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Croatia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Cuba ● ● ● ● ● ●Cyprus ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Czech Republic ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Denmark ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Djibouti ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Dominica ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Dominican Republic ● ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Ecuador ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Egypt ❍ ● ● ● ● ●El Salvador ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Equatorial Guinea ● ● ● ● ●Eritrea ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Estonia ● ● ● ❍ ● ●Ethiopia ● ● ● ● ●European Comunity ● ● ●Fiji ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Finland ● ● ● ● ● ● ●France ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Gabon ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Gambia ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Georgia ● ● ● ● ● ●Germany ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Ghana ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Greece ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Grenada ● ● ● ● ●Guatemala ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Guinea ● ● ● ● ● ●Guinea-Bissau ❍ ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Guyana ● ● ● ● ● ●Haiti ❍ ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Honduras ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Hungary ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Iceland ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●India ● ● ● ● ● ●Indonesia ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Iran, Islamic Republic ❍ ● ● ● ●Iraq ● ● ● ●Ireland ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Israel ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Italy ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Jamaica ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Japan ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Jordan ● ● ● ● ● ● ●● Ratification, accession, approval, notification or succession, acceptance, consent to be bound or definitive signature.❍ Signature not yet followed by ratification.Measuring progress 54 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
A B C D E F G HA B C D E F G HKazakhstan ● ● ● ● ● Qatar ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Kenya ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Romania ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Kiribati ● ● ● ● ● Russian Federation ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Korea, Dem. Rep. ● ● ● ● Rwanda ● ● ● ● ● ●Korea, Rep. ● ● ● ● ● ● Saint Kitts and Nevis ● ● ● ● ● ●Kuwait ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● Saint Lucia ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Kyrgyzstan ❍ ● ● ● ● ● San Marino ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Lao, PDR ● ● ● ● ● ● Saint Vincent and Granadines ● ● ● ● ● ●Latvia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Samoa ● ● ● ● ● ●Lebanon ● ❍ ● ● ● Sao Tomé and Principe ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Lesotho ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Saudi Arabia ● ● ● ●Liberia ● ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ● Senegal ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Libya ● ● ● ● ● Serbia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Liechtenstein ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Seychelles ❍ ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Lituania ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Sierra Leone ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Luxemburg ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Singapore ● ● ● ● ●Macedonia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Slovakia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Madagascar ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Slovenia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Malawi ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ● Solomon Islands ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Malaysia ● ● ● ● ● Somalia ● ❍ ● ● ●Maldives ● ● ● ● ● ● South Africa ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Mali ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Spain ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Malta ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Sri Lanka ● ● ● ● ● ●Marshall Islands ● ❍ ● ● ● ● Sudan ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Mauritania ● ● ● ● ● Suriname ● ● ❍ ● ● ●Mauritius ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Swaziland ● ● ● ● ● ●Mexico ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Sweden ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Micronesia, Fed. States ● ❍ ● ● ● Switzerland ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Moldova ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Syrian Arab Republic ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Monaco ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● Tajikistan ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Mongolia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Tanzania ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Montenegro ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Thailand ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Morocco ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● Timor-Leste ● ● ● ● ● ●Mozambique ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● Togo ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Namibia ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Tonga ● ● ● ●Nauru ● ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ● Trinidad and Tobago ● ● ● ● ● ●Nepal ● ● ● ● ● Tunisia ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Netherlands ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Turkey ● ● ● ● ● ●New Zealand ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Turkmenistan ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Nicaragua ● ● ● ● ● ● Tuvalu ● ● ● ●Niger ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Uganda ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Nigeria ● ● ● ❍ ● ● ● Ukraine ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Niue ● ● ● ● United Arab Emirates ❍ ● ● ● ●Norway ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● United Kingdom ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Oman ❍ ● ● ● ● ● United States of America ❍ ● ❍ ● ● ❍ ●Pakistan ● ● ❍ ● ● ● Uruguay ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Palau ● ● ● ● ● Uzbekistan ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Panama ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Vanuatu ● ● ● ● ● ●Papua New Guinea ● ● ● ● ● Vatican ● ● ● ●Paraguay ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Venezuela ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●Peru ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Viet Nam ● ● ● ● ●Phillippines ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Yemen ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ●Poland ● ❍ ● ● ● ● ● ● Zambia ● ● ● ● ● ●Portugal ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Zimbabwe ❍ ● ● ● ● ●Source: United Nations Treaty Collection website, Database “Status of Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary General” (untreaty.un.org/).● Ratification, accession, approval, notification or succession, acceptance, consent to be bound or definitive signature.❍ Signature not yet followed by ratification.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>55Status of Ratifications of International Traties
atifications of fundamental ILO ConventionsUp to August <strong>2010</strong>C87: Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948.C98: Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949.C100: Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951.C105: Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957.C111: Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958.C138: Minimum Age Convention, 1973.C182: Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999.Countries that have ratified all these conventions:Albania; Algeria; Angola; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Austria;Azerbaijan; Bahamas; Barbados; Belarus; Belgium; Belize; Benin; Bolivia; Bosniaand Herzegovina; Botswana; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cambodia; Cameroon;Central African Republic; Chad; Chile; Colombia; Comoros; Congo, DR; Congo,Rep.; Costa Rica; Côte d’Ivoire; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Djibouti;Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea;Estonia; Ethiopia; Fiji; Finland; France; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Grenada;Guatemala; Guinea; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; Hungary; Iceland; Indonesia; Ireland;Israel; Italy; Jamaica; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lesotho; Libya; Lithuania;Luxembourg; Macedonia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Malta; Mauritania; Mauritius;Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Mozambique; Netherlands; Nicaragua; Niger;Nigeria; Norway; Pakistan; Panama; Papua New Guinea; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines;Poland; Portugal; Romania; Russian Federation; Rwanda; San Marino; Sao Tomeand Principe; Senegal; Serbia; Seychelles; Slovakia; Slovenia; South Africa; Spain;Sri Lanka; St Kitts and Nevis; St Vincent and Grenadines; Swaziland; Sweden;Switzerland; Syria; Tajikistan; Tanzania; Togo; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Turkey;Uganda; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Uruguay; Venezuela; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe.Countries that have notratified all the mentionedconventionsFreedom of associationand collective bargainingEliminationof forced andcompulsory labourElimination ofdiscrimination in respectof employment andoccupationAbolition of childlabourCountries that have notratified all the mentionedconventionsFreedom of associationand collective bargainingEliminationof forced andcompulsory labourElimination ofdiscrimination in respectof employment andoccupationAbolition of childlabourC 87 C 98 C 105 C 100 C 111 C 138 C 182Afghanistan d d c c c d cAustralia c c c c c d cBahrain d d c d c d cBangladesh c c c c c d cBrazil d c c c c c cBurma / Myanmar c d d d d d dCanada c d c c c d cCape Verde c c c c c d cChina d d d c c c cCuba c c c c c c dEritrea c c c c c c dGabon c c c c c d cGhana c c c c c d cGuinea-Bissau d c c c c c cIndia d d c c c d dIran, Islamic Rep. d d c c c d cIraq d c c c c c cJapan c c d c d c cJordan d c c c c c cKenya d c c c c c cKorea, Rep. d d d c c c cKuwait c c c d c c cLao PDR d d d c c c cLebanon d c c c c c cC 87 C 98 C 105 C 100 C 111 C 138 C 182Malaysia d c 4 c d c cMexico c d c c c d cMorocco d c c c c c cNepal d c c c c c cNew Zealand d c c c c d cOman d d c d d c cQatar d d c d c c cSaudi Arabia d d c c c d cSierra Leone c c c c c d dSingapore d c 4 c d c cSolomon Islands d d d d d d dSomalia d d c d c d dSt. Lucia c c c c c d cSudan d c c c c c cSuriname c c c d d d cThailand d d c c d c cTimor-Leste c c d d d d cTurkmenistan c c c c c d dUnited Arab Emirates d d c c c c cUnited States of America d d c d d d cUzbekistan d c c c c c cVanuatu c c c c c d cViet Nam d d d c c c cLiberia c c c d c d cSource: ILOLEX. ILO website Database (www.ilo.org/).c Convention ratifiedd Convention not yet ratified4 Convention denouncedMeasuring progress 56 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
NATIONAL REPORTS
100AfghanistanMore and better aid is imperative0634 After more than a quarter of a century of war and almost a decade of international community8579involvement 49 in ending 100 the Taliban47regime, Afghanistan 100 remains unstable. 64Despite huge spending onsecurity, this is still weak in many parts of the country. The Government’s domestic revenues are limitedIEG of Yemenand= 67spending is mostly covered by grants, loans and the external budget. Aid for development has beenBCI of Zambia = 75IEG of Zambia = 56insufficient and in many cases wasteful and ineffective. Such resources should be used not for politicaland military gain but to establish a humanitarian space for development – especially in conflict zones.93100 100 100100 100100093100026100Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (CHA)Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong>Sanayee Development Organization (SDO) 1Dr Mudassir Rasuli 100100BCI = 0Children reaching5th grades/dIn 2001 the Taliban regime was overthrown by then/dforces of the Northern Alliance and the American-ledcoalition. An interim Government came into power0– based on the Bonn Agreement 2 0s/d– which in 2004s/dn/d74 approved a new Constitution. That same year, one74year after the presidential election, the parliamentaryelection took place. After a short period of relativepeace in most part of the country, the situation beganto deteriorate due to the activities of Taliban-armedgroups. The International Security Assistance Force(ISAF) brought in more and more forces and providedtraining to the national army and police; however,the situation continued to worsen year after year.The Government faces the challenge of fightingarmed opposition groups 100 and has also had to deal100 100 100100 100100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5– morally and politicallyINGLES BCI– to faceof Afghanistanthe problems=of0povertyand governance. Aid is critical to this effort, but itmust be spent more responsibly and effectively.tion, relief and development works. The destructionof infrastructure has 100continued with the burningof rebuilt schools, government offices and otherpublic buildings in the southern region. Things aren/dsomewhat more settled in the north, east and centralregions.Production and resources0allocationn/dn/dThe country has launched its own poverty reductionstrategy paper, the Afghanistan National DevelopmentStrategy, which was developed as a requirementfor debt relief. With USD 8 billion of externaldebt, the country has been considered a Highly IndebtedPoor Country since 2009. A recent debt reliefinitiative from the Paris Club cancelled USD 1 billion,which will allow the country to spend more on developmentand social protection.As the Government’s revenues can only partlySecurityReconstruction and development 100 are taking place cover the current budget, 100 the development budget100with shocks – like a serious drought in 2008 – that side by side but are jeopardized by insecurity and is totally funded by external resources. The currentaffect the poorest people in rural areas. At the sametime, it needs to demonstrate its 54legitimacy throughimplementing the Constitution, holding electionsand managing the work of reconstruction and development.criminality. Armed opposition groups are able tolaunch operations even against the “green zone” inthe capital. 5 The number of civilian casualties hasbeen increasing annually and almost 6,000 Afghanbudget for <strong>2010</strong>-2011 is USD 2.37 billion, 18% higherthan the 2009-<strong>2010</strong> budget. 54The major portion isallocated to security and military upgrading. In contrastonly 14% and 7% of the budget was allocated00civilians were killed or injured in 2009 – more than0to education and health respectively. The development99budget has decreased to USD 1.7 billion forThere have been some positive changes in 16 each 100 day. 6 Statistics released by the UN AssistanceMission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) show that <strong>2010</strong>–2011, a 31% reduction over the 2009–<strong>2010</strong> 9699health-related indicators – for example, the under-5 96100 100mortality rate shows 74100a reduction from 257 to 161per 1,000 live births thanks to the expansion of basic100 1002009 was the deadliest for civilians since 2001, with2,412 civilian casualties – 14% higher than the 2,118100budget. Although 74100each year there is a slight growthin government revenue, limited resources for infrastructure,agriculture and education hamper effortshealth services and improved immunization coverage.Also the infant mortality rate has gone down anti-Government INGLES elements BCI and of Canada 25% (596) = 100 IEG of Canada = 74in 2008. Of these 67% (1,630) were attributed toIEG of Canada = 74to pro- to achieve poverty elimination and universal educationfrom 129 to 111 per 1,000 live births. Births attendedby skilled personnel have increased from 15% in2005 to 24% in 2008. There is no recent informationon the maternal mortality rate; the latest data showedGovernment forces. The remaining 8% (186) couldnot be attributed to any of the conflicting parties asthey died as the result of cross fire or unexplodedordinance. 7coverage.The import of materials for construction – suchas cement and steel – exacerbates the problem ofcapital flight abroad. Due to a lack of skilled labour,1,600 per 100,000 live births (one of the highest in The ISAF led by the North Atlantic Treaty Or-the big contractors for public projects bring people100100100the world). 390For a country that after Niger has the world’slowest level of human development, 4 it is imperativeganization (NATO) along with the Afghan national in from other countries and local labour plays only aarmy and police are not able to guarantee a peaceful small part in these activities.and secure environment, especially in the south of Agriculture is one of the biggest sectors of thethe country. Furthermore, corruption is widespread. economy, mainly through poppy cultivation. In the1 The report was also reviewed by Abdul Aziz Naderi, These factors have hampered planned reconstruc- last decades it has been strongly affected by drought.Programme Director of SDO. 0 60With its old technology and 0 very 6 basic irrigation infrastructure,99the sector also has to compete with2 “Agreement on Provisional Arrangements in Afghanistan 5 Much of central Kabul has been barricaded off to protect98Pending the Re-establishment 36 of Permanent Government military 889998bases, embassies, government offices and imported products from 36 countries such as Iran, Pakistan83and Uzbekistan where these technologies are100 Institutions.” 100 See: .Baghdad.much more developed. Furthermore, due to lack of3 Central Statistics Organization, “National Risk and6 “UNAMA calls for safety first, as civilian casualties riseVulnerability Assessment,” 2008. Available from: .7 Ibid.8810010083National reports 58 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010097
AidAfter the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001, therewere large-scale pledges of aid by donors that quicklyled to the rehabilitation of many urban centres androads as well as small public infrastructure projectsin rural areas. However, these have not yet improvedthe living standards of people in rural areas. The onlybig investments have been in high-return sectorssuch as construction and telecommunications, inwhich a total of USD 1.3 billion had been invested bythe end of 2008. 8International assistance constitutes around90% of public expenditure. The effectiveness of aidhas a major role on peace and stability in the country.However, aid has been insufficient and in many caseswasteful and ineffective. It is also estimated that 40%has returned to donor countries in corporate profitsand consultant salaries. The manager of a privateconstruction company based in Kabul stated in December2007 that some private companies who getdirect contracts from the big contractors take 50%of the budget before sub-contracting with a thirdcompany. 9Spending on reconstruction is only a fraction ofmilitary spending. The cost of keeping one Americansoldier in Afghanistan is approximately USD 1 milliona year, 10 and some 57% of the almost USD 47billion in US aid since 2001 has gone to training andequipping the Afghan forces. 11Little progressSince 2001 there have been some significant achievementsin Afghanistan such as the establishment ofdemocratic institutions and ministries, improvementsin health care and immunization, the expansionof primary education, the construction of roadsand transport infrastructure, economic growth andthe formation of state security forces. Furthermore,there are many cases of well-delivered aid – forexample, in the education sector or in communitybasedrural development projects that are part of theNational Solidarity Program (NSP) – that have madea significant difference to Afghans’ lives.However, most Afghans still endure conditionsof hardship and millions are living in extreme poverty.A large proportion of the aid has been drivenby donor priorities instead of being responsive toAfghan needs. Too many projects are designed todeliver rapid, visible results rather than to achieve8 Ibid.9 Quoted in Matt Waldman, Falling Short: Aid Effectivenessin Afghanistan, ACBAR Advocacy Series (Kabul: AgencyCoordinating Body for Afghan Relief, 2008), 29. Availablefrom: .10 Christopher Drew, “High Costs Weigh on Troop Debate forAfghan War,” The New York Times, 14 November 2009.11 Curt Tarnoff, “Afghanistan: U.S. Foreign Assistance,” CRS<strong>Report</strong> for Congress, 25 June <strong>2010</strong>.Facts on aid to Afghanistan• There is an aid shortfall of USD 10 billion –equivalent to 30 times the annual nationaleducation budget; donors have committedto give USD 25 billion in aid since 2001 buthave only delivered USD 15 billion.• An estimated 40% of aid goes back to donorcountries in corporate profits and consultantsalaries – some USD 6 billion since 2001.• Largely due to lack of coordination and communication,the Government does not knowhow one third of all aid has been spent since2001 – some USD 5 billion.• The US military spends close to USD 100million a day in Afghanistan; yet the averagevolume of aid spent by all donors since 2001is just USD 7 million per day.• Over half of aid is tied, requiring the procurementof donor country goods and services.• Over two thirds of aid bypasses the Government.sustainable poverty reduction or capacity-buildingobjectives.One quarter of all aid to Afghanistan has beenallocated to technical assistance – which is intendedto build government capacity – yet much of this hasbeen wasted or its impact has been limited. Too oftenpromotion of the capabilities, status and rightsof women has been an afterthought or perfunctoryissue in the design and execution of projects. Mostaid has been directed to Kabul or other urban centresinstead of rural areas where it is most needed andwhere more than three quarters of Afghans live. Sectorssuch as agriculture have been under-supporteddue to a lack of prioritization.Furthermore, according to the Paris DeclarationSurvey, over half of all aid to Afghanistan is conditioned.Thus, donors often require procurementof services or resources from their own countries,which deprives the Afghan economy of valuablesupport and increases the cost of projects. Donorsrarely, if ever, publicly report on objectives and thereis little evidence that they are being met. 12The humanitarian spaceIn Afghanistan there is no humanitarian space foraid workers to provide humanitarian aid, especiallyto the people in areas controlled by armed oppositiongroups.12 Matt Waldman, op. cit., 9.• According to the latest figures from theOrganisation for Economic Co-operationand Development (OECD), less than 40%of technical assistance is coordinated withthe Government and only one third of donoranalytical or assessment work is conductedjointly.• Profit margins on reconstruction contractsfor international and Afghan contractorcompanies are often 20% and can be ashigh as 50%.• Most full-time expatriate consultants, workingin private consulting companies, costUSD 250,000-500,000 a year.Source: Matt Waldman, Falling Short: Aid Effectivenessin Afghanistan, ACBAR Advocacy Series (Kabul: AgencyCoordinating Body for Afghan Relief, 2008).After the fall of the Taliban, most donors consideredAfghanistan to be post-conflict and the UnitedNations Organization for Coordination of HumanitarianAssistance (UNOCHA) was officially closedfor the country. Humanitarian activities were thenhandled by UNAMA until recently when UNOCHAresumed its activities. Most of the donors and humanitarianorganizations (except the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross) are not able to negotiateaccess with the other side of the conflict.The Taliban perceives aid agencies as pro-Government,so it is difficult for NGOs to reach areaswhere the Government does not have any control.There is no consensus among the donors, NGOsand community about humanitarian needs. In manycases, the insistence by the military forces on workingwith NGOs has led to the perceived or actualmilitarization of aid. 13 Nearly all the major donorsare also belligerents; there is no space to talk abouthumanitarianism when even NATO describes NGOsas “soft power” and as pro-Government agents. n13 Sippi Azarbaijani-Moghaddam, Mirwais Wardak, IdreesZaman and Annabel Taylor, Afghan Hearts, Afghan Minds:Exploring Afghan Perceptions of Civil-Military Relations(British and Irish Agencies Afghanistan Group, 2008).Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>59Afghanistan
argentinaFinancial and taxation justice: a historic debtThe Argentine experience shows that development is not possible without economic autonomy anddomestically mobilized resources, such as taxes. The successive political and economic crises that haveshaken the country demonstrate that when the development model prioritized the financial sector overthe productive sector the result was dismal for the vast majority of the population. It is imperative forthe State to regain control of the economy, make it less dependent on foreign capital, and implement afairer tax system and finance production as well as consumption.100FOCOAgostina ChiodiRodrigo LópezThe path towards development is not a chimera projectedinto the future; we are treading it today withdemocratic practices, and in modern societies it ispossible for governments to lead the economy and notthe other way around. What has happened in the lastfew decades in Argentina makes it very clear that reducingthe country’s dependence on foreign financingstrengthens its autonomy in economic policymaking.Recent history shows that autonomy is a necessarycondition for development, but it cannot beachieved if the country is dependent on external financing.Without such financing, taxes would haveto become a legitimate and viable basis for domesticresource mobilization, without which development issimply not possible.Argentina has improved with regard to taxation(see the following section) in that in recent years asit has managed to increase the ratio of taxes to GDPto 30%, although this is still far short of the 50% levelthat pertains in developed countries. However, thetax system is still regressive insofar as those whoearn less contribute proportionally more, and it is stillpro-cyclical as its yield follows the ups and downsof consumption. The largest tax contribution comesfrom indirect taxes, of which the main one is the valueadded tax (VAT). This is currently levied at 21% (veryhigh compared to global levels) and there are veryfew exemptions or lower-rated items. By contrast, theincome from financial investment is exempt. 1One very important measure taken by the currentadministration, led by Cristina Fernández, wasto nationalize state employee retirement and pension100funds, which had been privatized in the 1990s. It hasthereby regained control of a source of domestic financingfor development and has not had to private-76sector seek loans with double-digit interest rates.A brief history0Until the military 79coup in 1976, the Argentine economy99was essentially a real economy, characterized by a patternof accumulation based on import substitution.100 100 100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 98 97GEI = 72Children reaching5th grade0100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5After 1976 thisBCIwasofreplacedArgentinaby an=arrangement98thatfavoured the financial sector over the productive economy.In this new system the oligopolies took out loansto invest in the domestic financial market rather thanto expand production, repaying them with currencythat was provided by the 100 state through its own foreignindebtedness. In order to implement this model, thestate used force to grind down the working class andrepress protest, resulting in a era 59of terror in which tensof thousands of people were killed or disappeared.These changes were accompanied by changes0in the functions of the State, since it was the Statethat maintained domestic interest rates at higher83levels than international rates, in order to increase100 53100their value in the Argentine market. This was theobjective of the 1977 financial reform, which ensuredthat the State would no longer be financedthrough the central BCI of bank Central but would African seek Republic financing = 65through the financial sector. 2 Before democracy wasre-established in 1983, the State took over the privatedebts of hundreds of enterprises, and the country’sforeign debt mushroomed from USD 7 billion to USD45 billion in just seven years. 3100This model was consolidated 97 in the 1990s,putting Argentina solidly in line with the WashingtonConsensus, which included deregulation, relaxation2 Adrián D´Amore, Interview with 0 economist EduardoBasualdo, “Los sectores dominantes no quieren que sigaaumentando la participación de los asalariados”, Zoom, 30100100May 2008. Available from: .100 100Economic activityEmpowerment99 9899100100 621003 María de Monserrat Llairó and Raimundo Siepe, “La It could be said that a financial system does not functionas such when it can no longer finance produc-evolución del endeudamiento externo argentino y su relación1 Tax exemption for the IEG profits Finland made by physical = 84 personscon los organismos financieros internacionales: desde 1976BCI of Germany = 99tion. The far-reaching IEG of Germany deregulation = that 78 followed thethrough financial rents – this includes fixed-term deposits a la salida del default (February 2005)”, Latin Americanand income from the purchase, sale and dividends derived Research Centre for Development and Integration, Faculty of 1977 reform meant the system of specialized banksfrom shares and government bonds.Economic Sciences, University of Buenos Aires.was replaced by a universal bank model, which gave1000EducationIEG of Argentina = 72of labour laws, privatization, public expenditure reductions,taxation discipline, and economic, tradeand financial liberalization. In addition to impoverishinglarge swathes of the population, this policy producedlarge-scale de-industrialization, outsourcing,unemployment, increased 100 foreign indebtedness, andstructural poverty that according to National Statisticsand Census Institute stood at 56% in 2002.After four years of recession, the one-to-onepeso to the dollar exchange rate collapsed, leadingto the financial crisis of 2001. This marked the end0 11of a 30-year period in which the real economy was atthe service of the financial economy, and 56 opened theway for change that could provide an opportunity to100 70100reverse this trend.Starting in 2003 the Néstor Kirchner Governmentembarked on a strategy of high economicgrowth that stimulated employment and improvedIEG of Central African Republic = 46the quality of life of the working class. Over the nextsix years, GDP increased at an annual rate of 8%, theeconomy maintained a tax and foreign surplus andthere was a successful process of debt reduction.This was made possible through a range of measures100that included competitive currency exchange rates,retention of export taxes, government 73 control of thecapital account and measures to stimulate production.However, further progress towards developmentmeant the Government had to tackle somelimiting factors and find 0an alternative to financialvaluation as a capital accumulation model.94The financial 100 system 6810056100100100100National reports 60 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>10091100
a clear advantage to the commercial banks over theinvestment, development, cooperative and publicbanks. Credit is concentrated in the financing of consumption,enabling the banks to enjoy secure profitsby charging very high interest rates that are very oftendisguised in credit cards or other purchase systems.So although the banks have high levels of liquiditythey are not making the loans necessary for productiveinvestment. Hence it has turned out that the dictatorship’sfinancial institutions’ law is negativelyaffecting the credit situation for small and mediumproducers and hampering redistribution, and it willhave to be reformed if the country is to develop.Foreign direct investmentForeign direct investment (FDI) increased greatlyduring the wave of privatization in the 1990s, butwhat this involved was more a change of ownershipthan a genuine process of investment as such. In thatperiod transnational enterprises came increasinglyinto the Argentine economy and many domestic enterpriseswere sold to external owners.This foreign capital now controls most of theindustry in the country. In recent years FDI has gonemore and more into extractive industries such as theoil business and mining, and to activities linked to otherprimary products such as soybeans, but all of thesesectors have a very low impact in terms of providingjobs. To make matters worse, the profits are sent tohead offices abroad and the production processesdamage the environment and constitute a danger tothe local population. To rectify this situation the countryneeds much stricter regulations and a new kindof relation with the movers of foreign capital that willmake it possible to promote development instead ofmerely producing primary goods for export.Foreign debt and capital flightThe Government has reduced the debt-to-GDP ratiofrom 120% to 40% in less than five years, but it mustavoid contracting further indebtedness so as not tohang a mortgage round the neck of future generations.In order to obtain financing for development, the Governmentwill have to annul the mechanisms wherebycapital generated in the country is systematically sentabroad, thereby keeping growth separate from capitalaccumulation. Insofar as it underpins this capitalflight, the financial system has contributed to economicinstability and repeated collapses. 4 Thereforeit is essential to change the model, to leave financialrevaluation behind and to place the financial system atthe service of production and development.4 For example during the hyperinflation of 1989-1990, the2001 crisis and the current blockage in the financial accountthat started with the beginnings of the international crisis in2007.At present, the Government is planning to usea portion of central bank reserves to set up a fund toensure debt payment, although sectors of the oppositionwould prefer this to be done with resourcesgenerated by cuts in public spending. While assetssuch as reserves can of course be used to cancelliabilities such as debts, there are two importantconsiderations to be kept in mind. First, the legalityand legitimacy of these liabilities must be clearlydetermined, since many private debts contractedduring the dictatorship period, for example, weretaken over by the State, but now the courts have ruledthat some of these transactions were illegal. Second,foreign debt repayment should be subordinated tothe priorities of a development strategy.In the <strong>2010</strong> national budget, some 10.16 billionArgentine pesos (about USD 2.6 billion) wereallocated to health and somewhat less than USD 5billion went to education and culture, but the amountallocated to interest payment on the public debt wasUSD 6.8 billion. 5 The country can hardly be aimingat development if debt interest is eating up nearly asmuch investment as in health, education and cultureput together.Instead of waiting for genuine productive investmentto materialize due to confidence on the partof foreign and local investors, the State itself shouldbe promoting the opening up of new conditions tofoster productive business, and it should guide investmentinto areas that are strategically importantfor economic development. For example, if the Governmentsets up a new development bank this couldbe a good instrument to channel the resources fromcontributions to retirement pension funds into developmentprojects, along the lines of the successfulNational Development Bank of Brazil. 6Another important initiative of this kind is theBanco del Sur, 7 which is mandated to foster developmentand regional integration in Latin America byopening up new alternatives for financing based onthe principles of equality, equity and social justice.Today Argentina’s economy is highly concentratedtowards primary products, with a high5 Ministry of Economy and Public Finance, official data fromthe <strong>2010</strong> budget. Available at: .6 This National Development Bank (BNDES), set up to fosterimport substitution industrialization, became the bodyresponsible for formulating and executing industrial policyin Brazil. Even in the liberal phase in the 1990s, the BNDESaccounted for some 25% of the total credit offered by thebanking system. In 2002, its percentage share reached oneof its highest peaks (33%), which meant it was complyingperfectly with its mandate to act in an “anti-cyclical” way.Source: Claudio Golonbek and Emiliano Sevilla, “Un estudiode caso sobre Banca de Desarrollo y Agencias de Fomento,”Centro de Economía y Finanzas para el Desarrollo de laArgentina, Working Document No. 20, May 2008. Availablefrom: .7 Set up in 2009 by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, itincludes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay andVenezuela.proportion of foreign capital, and consequently theUS dollar operates as the value reserve and the coreelement around which economic relations are organized.For the country to grow its economic prioritiesmust include changing its productive structure,bringing about a shift from foreign to domestic capital,and tackling the problem of concentration of themeans of production. It will also have to dismantlethe neo-liberal structure of the central bank, discussthe matter of its autonomy and make changesto its founding charter. A government entity that isin charge of formulating exchange rate, monetaryand financial policy cannot be so divorced fromthe wishes of the people, nor can its only aim be tomaintain the value of the country’s currency withoutconsidering the structural conditions that actuallydefine that value.Concluding reflectionsAll of the factors analyzed here contribute to the country’songoing poverty, poor showing on human developmentindexes and failure to advance the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs). In addition, bothdevelopment and democratization also depend onadvancing gender equality. Women’s economic empowerment,through greater education and incomeopportunities, and the autonomy needed to takeadvantage of them, would constitute real progressnot only towards the education, electoral and employmentindicators in MDG3, but towards manyother MDGs, including poverty reduction, improvingmaternal health and reducing infant mortality.In spite of these realities, human rights of Argentinewomen are still not seen as a developmentgoal and there is no comprehensive program tomainstream gender equality into development. Ifthe human right to development, which is based inthe principles of the UN charter and was proclaimedby the UN General Assembly in its 1986 Declarationon the Right to Development, is to be made effectivein practice, civil society organizations must demandthe prompt implementation of concrete public policiesand strategies to ensure decent conditions oflife and allow people to lead fruitful lives within theframework of sustainable development for the wholecountry. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>61Argentina
ArmeniaGender equality: history must be honouredThe country’s Constitution states that women and men are equal. However, no adequate mechanismhas been put in place to turn these words into reality. This declared equality, inherited from the Sovietsystem, in fact perpetuated gender discrimination throughout the transition to democracy and the freemarket. Women’s situation has worsened and today they suffer discrimination in all aspects of theirlives. The Government has not grasped the magnitude of the problem, and any attempts to abide by itsinternational commitments in this matter have been weak and insufficiently supported.Center for the Development of Civil SocietySvetlana A. Aslanyan 1100In Armenia, unlike in almost every other country,Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 94 GEI = 58Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermentconcern for gender equality is 56 rooted in a long history,ancient as well as recent, and is reflected in legislationpassed in different political contexts. Given50these traditions, it would not seem too difficult to0098 rectify existing inequalities, but in fact, the situation71991009897of women has deteriorated over the last 20 years.100 100 62100100 100100 100The reasons for this include lack of vision or strong Births attended bycommitment on the part of the State, a lack of coordinationskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationamong the actors involved, and a lowlevelIEG of Argentina = 72be paid like in anyBCIotherof Armeniakind of job,= 94as is laid down inArmenian legislation.” 3The first Armenian Republic (1918-1920) wasone of the first countries in the world to give womenthe right to vote and to be elected to public office,and at that time some 100 8% of members of Parliamentwere women. In 192095Dr. Diana Abgar wasIEG of Armenia = 58100of awareness among the population.There can be no sustainable development forArmenia unless it is built on equal opportunities forwomen and men. Civil society organizations, with thesupport of some international institutions, are lobbyingfor a change in public 100 policy that would restorewomen to the place in society that the country’s historyhas granted to them.appointed ambassador to Japan, which makes herthe first female ambassador in history (the RussianA tradition of equalityAlexandra Kollontai, who is generally thought toEqual rights for women are rooted in Armenia’s ancienthistory; the country’s ancient codes testify that only in 1923).be the first, was named plenipotentiary to Norway0 110even before the Common Era women were 56 treated During the Soviet era the State provided free83as equal members of society in areas such as inheritanceand property rights, among others. For accessible medical services, 24 days of paid holidayscompulsory schooling, tertiary education, 99 free and100 70100100 100example, it is written in the Code of Shahapivan of per year, and pre- and post-natal leave among other443 BC that “women have the right to ownership of a benefits. In 1920 abortion was legalized and medicalcare in that BCI area of was Chile guaranteed. = 98 However, it isepublic = 65 family property if the husband has left his wife for noIEG of Central African Republic = 46reason” and also that “a woman has the right to bring worth mentioning that even abortion legislation wasa new husband into her home.”strongly related to the changing role of women inShahamir Shahamirian, the 18th century society since the main objective of the Soviet administrationwas to get women into the workforce.writer and philosopher and author of the first ArmenianConstitution, 2 maintained, “Every human being,100100whether Armenian or of some other race, whether Discrimination: theory and practiceman or woman, born in Armenia or brought there In spite of this apparent progress, 8173women in Sovietfrom another country, shall live in equality and shall Armenia had to carry a double burden and sufferedbe free in all their occupations. Nobody shall have the structural discrimination. Women worked outsideright to enslave another person and workers should and also inside the home, cooking and cleaning, doingthe laundry and obtaining 0 food on the way to or01 Main researcher and head of the research team at the from work. This double burden was made heavier10094 in the absence of infrastructure support and 92 lack ofDuring this time no women held a top position inthe power hierarchy, in either the Government or Parliament.Moreover, although it was stated that womenand men had to be paid equally, in fact women wereemployed in all the low-paid jobs. The notion that Sovietpower used women as cheap labour was reflectedin the refrain of a popular folk song of that time: “Babipashut babi jnut – mujiki uchet vedut” (Women plough,women harvest – and men monitor and manage).10043There were provisions to defend equality in thepost-Soviet Constitution of 1995, which gave women0equal rights in politics, work and family. In most casesthese provisions were in line with international laws.97However, they were 46not applied in day-to-day life.96100 100 100More recently the transition to democracy and the adventof free market have had a negative impact on thesituation of Armenian women in many areas includingIEG of Chile = 62their economic status. Today the country does nothave a national policy for dealing with the inequalitieswomen have to live with in their daily lives.The Government has made little effort to remedythis situation; the authorities consider that the matterof gender inequality was resolved during the Soviet100era. The appropriate legislation exists but there areno effective mechanisms to enforce it, which meansthat women are discriminated against in all aspectsof life including participation in politics.100Women who are excluded from economic andpolitical processes usually 0 11continue with their traditionalroles in society. In Armenia they suffered83Linguistics Institute of the National Academy of Sciencesmore serious consequences when the 79country100 of Armenia. 100 A somewhat 68 different version of this article 100100technology, which 57100100 100ensured these daily tasks were underwent its haphazard and confused transitionappeared in Natalia Cardona, Elsa Duhagon and Amir Hamed, more time-consuming than necessary.from a totalitarian society with central planning andeds., Occasional papers 06 Beijing and Beyond: Puttinga rigid economy to a free market economy based ongender economics at the forefront, <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, March<strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .BCI of Ghana = 77IEG of Ghana = 582 This was the first known blueprint for a constitutionaldemocracy.3 Shahamir Shahamirian, Vorogayt parats (Snare of Glory),Madras, India, 1773, republished in Tiflis in 1919, Article 3.86100democracy.There are no women’s representative bodies,parliamentary women’s groups or official gender ad-National reports 62 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010096
visers. In one exceptional instance in 2002, a womanwas appointed vice-minister at the Ministry of <strong>Social</strong>Security to coordinate action on women’s rights. Shedid not stay long, and when another woman was appointedto the job she was soon dismissed. Actually,women’s issues are dealt with by the Department ofWomen and Infancy, which was set up in 1997 by theMinistry of <strong>Social</strong> Security in collaboration with theMinistry of Health’s department to protect maternaland infant health.This lack of gender-sensitive institutions is onlytoo evident in the way the country reports about itsinternational commitments. For example, Armeniawas among the 191 countries that pledged to attainthe Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by2015, including MDG3, to promote gender equalityand the empowerment of women. In 2005, thecountry issued its first intermediate progress report.Although this report was a combined effort by theGovernment, civil society organizations, internationalorganizations and UN partners in Armenia, itwas clear that the policies were closely tailored tothe country’s situation and the targets agreed uponwere more elastic than those that were internationallyaccepted.The role of civil society organizationsAfter the 1995 UN Fourth World Conference onWomen in Beijing, Armenia’s already existing women’sorganizations became more active and newones were created. In addition, various internationalorganizations – including UNDP, the United StatesAgency for International Development (USAID) andthe Organization for Security and Co-operation inEurope (OSCE) – initiated research on gender equity.These bodies, along with other international donors,have provided numerous grants for women’s NGOsand this has helped them to grow and consolidate.One of the main objectives of these women’sNGOs is to promote the empowerment of womenand this operates as a unifying idea that transcendsthe various and diverse fields of activity in which theyare involved. From the beginning, these organizationspromoted civil rights for women and lobbied foraction on social problems that affect women. Theyhave done good work to defend and foster women’srights and leadership, to improve the way women aretreated and to combat gender violence.Achievements and failuresThe Government has made plans and set up bodiesto promote gender equality. However, these have nothad the expected results due to the lack of financialresources, which has led to inadequate implementation.At the same time there is a lack of awarenessabout the issue among the population as a whole.As part of the implementation of the Beijing Platformfor Action, the Prime Minister issued a decree in1997 setting up a committee to put into practice the1998-2000 Gender Policies Development Program.However, this scheme to improve the situation ofwomen was never implemented due to the lack offinancial resources. A voluntary consultative bodycalled the Women’s Council was subsequently set upin 2000 under the mandate of the Prime Minister, buthis successor later abolished this body.The Government’s greatest achievement inthis area has been to obtain parliamentary approvalfor the “Republic of Armenia 2004-<strong>2010</strong> NationalAction Plan to improve the situation of women andstrengthen their role in society.” This plan definedthe key principles, priorities and aims of public policyto tackle issues relating to women’s rights andgender equality. Based on the relevant provisionsin the country’s Constitution it is geared towardsimplementation of the UN Convention on the Eliminationof all Forms of Discrimination against Women(CEDAW) and the recommendations of the BeijingPlatform for Action. Its mandate also covers documentsfrom the Council of Europe’s committee ongender equality, the MDGs and the relevant sectionsof other international instruments to which the Republicof Armenia is committed.The action plan consists of seven sections thatdeal with the following goals:• Guarantee equal rights and opportunitiesamong women and men in decision-makingand in the social and political sphere.• Improve women’s social and economic situation.• Improve the education sector.• Improve women’s health.• Eliminate violence against women.• Examine the role of the mass media and culturalinstitutions in the presentation of reports aboutwomen’s issues and the construction of a modelfor women.• Introduce institutional reforms.Several informational pamphlets have been publishedto clarify some of these points. One such pamphletcontained the findings and recommendationsof a research initiative on gender violence includingstatistical data disaggregated by sex. In the last decadevarious bodies were set up to deal with socialconcerns and matters of health and employment,including the Institute of Ombudsman in 2004. However,they have lacked adequate financing and hadno power to develop or maintain effective policiesto overcome gender inequality and establish equalrights and opportunities for women and men. Otherobstacles have been created by the failure to put inplace mechanisms for coordination among the differentbodies involved and for implementation. Thelow level of public awareness about the issues alsoneeds to be addressed.In 2006 the UNDP published a SummaryPamphlet about Gender Equality and an ElectronicBulletin about gender and change. The pamphletprovided general information about gender, nationaland international frameworks, and mechanisms toprotect and promote women’s rights. It was aimed atpolicy makers in central and local Government, civilsociety organizations, defenders of women’s rights,researchers and anyone seeking basic informationon human rights.Trafficking in womenWomen and girls are trafficked from Armenia tothe United Arab Emirates and Turkey for commercialsexual exploitation and both women and menare trafficked to Russia for the purpose of forcedlabour. 4A Committee on Trafficking of Women was setup in 2002 with representatives from all interestedgovernment ministries and bodies as well as fromNGOs. It developed the concept of the fight againsthuman trafficking and two national action plans forthe periods 2004-2006 and 2007-2009. These planscovered all aspects of human trafficking includingthe improvement of pertinent legislation, researchinto the nature and scope of the problem, preventivemeasures, information dissemination and providingassistance for those affected. However, like the otherbodies mentioned, the Committee lacked money andpower to implement these policies effectively. Thecountry’s police force also established a departmentto combat human trafficking in 2005.ConclusionThe use of women’s liberation as a propagandatool during the communist era was so effective it isstill generally considered that gender equality wasachieved in Armenia a long time ago. It is only througheducating women about the essence of democracythat they have begun to understand the importanceof activism to tackle “hidden discrimination” and thelack of mechanisms to implement legislation. Feministscholars and women advocates should take jointaction to address the situation of Armenian womenand establishing real gender equality. n4 See for example, U.S. Department of State, Trafficking inPersons <strong>Report</strong>, Washington, DC, 2009. Also according toofficial figures in the course of 2009 the number of personsofficially identified as trafficking victims was 60, almostdoubling the previous year.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>63Armenia
ahrain10051Much to be done10093100519084<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> BahrainAbdulnabi AlekryWith the exception 81 of Millennium Development Goal 7,90relating to the environment, 84 Bahrain has achieved 81 – or is43about to achieve – the Millennium 100 Development Goals. However, 100 remaining challenges include eliminating the wideincome gaps that generate relative poverty, developing more technology-based education, passing laws to promotewomen’s empowerment and making information on sexually transmitted diseases more widely available. In termsIEG of Tanzania = 72BCI of palestinaIEG of palestinaof the environment, policies are needed to prevent depletion of groundwater sources and stop the destruction ofbiodiversity due to the growth of the construction sector and the increase in land reclaimed from the sea.100 100 100100 100The Bahrain Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)progress report (2004-2007), prepared by a group ofexperts from Government, academia and civil social0100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 95 98GEI = 46Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermentorganizations (CSOs), as well 6as UNDP indicated0that Bahrain has successfully achieved and even surpassed006the MDG targets. 1 However, critical reading99349899reveals several shortcomings in understanding and883498100 100 100100 100100 100implementing the MDGs in official strategies. A parallelBirths attended byCSO assessment – linking targets and financing skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationfor development – could contribute to a more objec-IEG of Bahrain = 46tive assessment of progress.privatization policies,INGLES BCIthoseofsectorsBahraininvolved= 95inIEG of Bahrain = 46The engagement of the private sector and newVision 2030development – such as ports, transport, electricity sources of financing helped to create jobs and reducedunemployment – according to the Labourproduction, public housing, health, education andBahrain’s Economic Vision 2030 strategy, which involvesthe national economy, the Government andsociety, highlights the following: 1002municipal services – have been opened to privatesector investors. This is expected to generate newfinancial and material resources 100 for the MDGs.Minister, Dr. Majeed Al Alawi – from 16% in 2002to 3.7% in February 2009. 3 This reduction was alsodue to the establishment 100 of the Unemployment InsuranceSystem, which allows citizens registered83• “Economic growth will be driven by increasedMDGs: achievements and challengesprivate sector productivity and by Bahrainisas unemployed to receive financial assistance forbecoming the employees of choice for highvalue-addingcompanies”;to find a job or further training. Furthermore, thesix months during which the Ministry helps themMDG 1 – Eradicating extreme poverty and23hunger.average salary of the newly 23 employed increased,• The Government will gradually 0 move away from00In the Bahraini context, this translates into eradicatingrelative 83poverty. The Government has upgraded and private sector with low incomes. A mixed publicalthough there are still many Bahrainis in the publicservice provision towards generating and enforcingforward-looking 37 policies in areas such 94 as9737 948097long-term measures to form a safety net for needy and private fund was also established to provide100 finance 100 and the economy, health care, education, 100100 100100 100100families that includes allowances for those below grants to CSOs for the implementation of developmentprojects.the environment, security and social justice;a certain income level, subsidized housing and reducedfees for public services through the Family• Bahraini society in 2030 will be a meritocracybased on hard IEG work of Guatemala and talent. = Basic 51 care willINGLES BCI of Guatemala = 87be available irrespective of abilities, and all BahrainisMDG 2 – Achieving IEG of Guatemala universal primary = 51education.will enjoy equalopportunities.Bank. The Royal Charity takes care of orphans whilethe Ministry of <strong>Social</strong> Development supports thehandicapped.Bahrain achieved this goal a long time ago. The challengeOne of the major goals of Vision 2030 is to developnow is providing an education that is moreVision 2030 recognizes the challenges to the economya sustainable economy based on knowledge creative, diversified and technology-based. Therein today’s competitive and globalized world. and added value, led by the private sector, that will are pilot plans on information technology that are100100100Bahrain is a highly ranked country in terms of attractingforeign investment – especially in real estate seekers are not qualified or refuse to take certain and secondary institutions.generate highly rewarding work. Many Bahraini job being – or will be – applied in primary, intermediate86development, banking, finance and services. Several kinds of work due to the low salaries offered. Thefree zones have been opened to encourage manufacturersto establish businesses. 21 Also, through initiatives: establishing a Labour Market Authority, empowering women.Government has therefore put in place a number of MDG 3 – Promoting gender equality and210which regulates the market 0 and controls employmentGender equality and the 0empowerment of women96permits, allowing immigrants to change jobs; have been addressed more positively since the 20011 Ministry of <strong>Social</strong> Development and UNDP, The Millennium29 8483Development Goals: Work in Progress 2004–2007, 2007. taxing the employment of immigrant workers; 962984settingNational Charter, which stipulates equal political100 Available 100 from: .up a fund to finance the training of job seekers100 100and support young entrepreneurs to start their own100 100rights for men and women. The Supreme Council2 Bahrain Economic Development Board, From Regional businesses through the Development Bank; encouragingprivate INGLES banks to BCI finance of Morocco small and = medium 88 IEG of Morocco = 45Pioneer to Global Contender: IEG of Morocco Economic Vision = 452030.3 Habib Toumi, “Bahrain’s unemployment rate down toAvailable from: .facilities for small enterprises incubators.0010010010078National reports 64 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100 10094
of Women, established in 2002, has been the mainfacilitator of women’s empowerment in all fields andlevels. One key indicator of these changes is the increasein the female/male ratio in tertiary education(2.46), with women comprising 70% of students. 4Regarding the economic dimension, femaleparticipation in the labour force in 2008 was 35%compared with 86% male participation. 5 The numberof women with a business license or practicing businessis increasing dramatically 6 . Women are as entitledto family allowances as men. But the numberof women who occupy leading positions in both theprivate and public sector is still disproportionatelylow in view of their qualifications.Since 2002 women have been more activelyengaged in politics. They have become ministers andmembers of the legislative council, and the new politicalorganizations include women up to leadershiplevels. A quota system is to be adopted in favour ofwomen in candidates’ lists, parliament, consultativecouncils, municipal councils, leadership of politicalorganizations and CSOs. Women should be wellrepresented at all Government levels – starting withthe Council of Ministers. However, the State and thesociety are dominated by a male chauvinistic cultureand practices and Bahrain has yet to adopt acomprehensive strategy to ensure women’s equalitywith men.MDG 4 – Reducing child mortality.Bahrain has been able to meet the requirements ofall three indicators: reducing under-five mortality,reducing infant mortality and immunizing one-yearold children against measles. In 2008 the under-fivemortality ratio was 12 per 1,000 live births and theinfant mortality ratio was 9 per 1,000 live births 7– which is similar to the figures in developed countries.Vaccination against measles covers 100% ofthe population. Comprehensive health services areprovided by both the Ministry of Health and privateentities. CSOs of medical professionals also playa role.The challenges in this area are to further reducechild and infant mortality rates; improve treatmentfor hereditary diseases, especially sickle cell anae-4 Ricardo Hausmann, Laura D. Tyson and Saadia Zahidi, TheGlobal Gender Gap <strong>Report</strong> 2009 (Geneva: World EconomicForum, 2009). Available from: . However, it should be notedthat one reason for women’s higher participation is that alarge number of men are educated overseas.5 Ibid.6 For instance, figures released by the Central Bank ofBahrain (CBB) in 2007 showed an increase in the number ofwomen working in the country’s financial sector. They thenaccounted for 36% of Bahrainis employed in the sector and25% of the total workforce (including immigrants).7 UNICEF, “Bahrain statistics.” Available from: .mia; ensure the quality and affordability of privatehealth services; increase the number of qualifiedmedical personnel; and improve child nutrition.MDG 5 – Improve maternal health.Recorded maternal deaths between 2000 to 2006 didnot exceed 2 per 1,000 newborn. Universal access toreproduction health services has been accomplished,for nationals free of charge and for immigrants withnominal fees. All births are attended by skilled healthpersonnel. Contraceptives are available free at statehealth centres and at an affordable cost in all pharmacies– their limited use is due to either ignoranceor religious mandates. While the percentage of birthsto teenage mothers is very low, it is increasing withmodernization and a more liberal attitude towardssex. Progress should emphasize improvements inhealth care for both the mother and baby duringpregnancy, delivery and post pregnancy.MDG 6 – Combat HIV/ AIDS, malaria andother diseases.Epidemic and contagious diseases hardly exist inBahrain. There is no malaria and only a few cases oftuberculosis among immigrants workers. However,fighting AIDS is a priority and a big challenge fornumerous reasons. It is still considered a disgrace tobe infected with HIV and many conceal their infectionfor this reason or due to ignorance. Action is neededto change people’s attitudes regarding AIDS and theisolation suffered by those with the disease, developmechanisms to catch HIV infection at an early stageand ensure a normal life and treatment for peopleliving with HIV and AIDS.MDG 7 – Integrating principles of sustainabledevelopment into country policies.Sustainable development has been a national strategyfor decades and is highlighted in Vision 2030.Unfortunately the country’s rapid development hasbeen reached at the cost of the environment. Biodiversityloss is on the rise. Green palm trees, for instance,have been replaced by concrete complexes.From 1970 to 2009 more than 90 square kilometreswere reclaimed from the sea at the expense of bays,lagoons and beaches. This has caused the destructionof natural habitats and the extinction of manymarine species.Widespread access to drinking water and basicsanitation was reached several decades ago. Theproblem is that the underground water sources arenot renewable and the quality of water is deteriorating.Increasing amounts of desalinized water – producedfrom electricity – are required, which meansburning more fossil fuel.The majority of slum dwellers are unskilled andlow-paid Asian workers, and there are currently noGovernment plans to build decent housing for them.The housing problem is reaching a crisis level due tothe shortage of affordable public and private housingunits and the takeover of State land by top officials.MDG 8 – Developing a global partnership fordevelopment.Bahrain is well established as a country open fortrade and a hub for international banking and financialservices. It has succeeded through an open doorpolicy to attract international investors. This resultedin a booming economy, with around 6.3% of grossnational product (GNP) real growth in 2009 – thismeans about USD 38,400 per capita. 8 Bahrain is amember of the World Trade Organization (WTO), GulfCooperation Council (GCC) and Arab Common Marketand has concluded free trade agreements (FTAs)with the United States, the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) and other countries.However the Bahraini people have no say inthese agreements, in which the Government and thebusiness sector are the real players. There is a generalfeeling that giving citizens from those countriesbound with Bahrain through FTAs or similar arrangementsthe right to practice their professions or operatebusinesses generates unfair competition.ConclusionAs discussed under the individual goals, majorprogress has been achieved towards the MDGs buta number of challenges remain. In particular there isa need to develop laws and mechanisms to combatdiscrimination against women, to find ways of dealingwith the shortage of natural water resources, toaddress the housing crisis, and to improve the qualityof primary education to make it compatible with theconstantly changing needs of and advances in technology.A national strategy also has to be developedto provide the public with accurate information aboutAIDS and address the sources of HIV infection. n8 Index Mundi, “Bahrain GDP – per capita.” Availablefrom: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>65Bahrain
angladeshFinancing the MDGs: expectations and realityAlthough it is one of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh has seen a steady increase inits economy and some success in attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Howeverinflation and climate change are becoming major challenges in the fight against poverty. Whilethe country is a minuscule polluter, it is an enormous victim of global warming. Donor countriesshould take the additional costs of adaptation and mitigation into account during assessments of aidsupport.Unnayan ShamannayMd. Akhter Hossain 1Despite a huge poverty burden, inflationary pressure,natural disasters, political instability and the worldfinancial crisis, Bangladesh has consistently averageda rate of 5.5% growth in its gross domestic product(GDP) over the last 10 years. 2 With its small economyand limited budget compared to other countries, it hasachieved some remarkable successes in financing andattaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).However it still has a long way to go. 3 The time is ripefor Government, along with civil society organizations,national and international non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) and donor agencies to rethinkfinance and development related to the MDGs if itssuccesses are to be sustainable in the long term.1 Md. Akhter Hossain is a Research Fellow at Unnayan Shamannay.2 European Commission, Country Strategy Paper: Bangladesh2002–2006. Available from: .3 Government of Bangladesh, Millennium Development GoalsNeeds Assessment and Costing 2009–2015: Bangladesh.Available from: .4 Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, <strong>Report</strong> on WelfareMonitoring Survey 2009. Available from: .Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 61 GEI = 5371 Children reaching5th grade100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5Economic activityEmpowerment8653100 100attendance andBCIa highof Bangladeshdrop-out rate=as61children have corruption and lack of coordination in developmentto work for a living. The latest statistics indicate that projects, unemployment, income inequality, unplanned47% of primary school students do not completeurbanization, lack of skills in the agriculturaltheir primary education. 5 Child malnutrition is among sector, climate change and natural disasters, thethe highest in the world; it remains more severe than need to subsidize food and power, downward flowProgress and challenges in meeting the MDGs100in most other developing 100countries including those in of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the recent globalfinancial crisis. These impediments should be95100While continuous budgetary allocations are made sub-Saharan Africa. One in every three babies is borntowards achieving the MDGs, Bangladesh has beenexperiencing tremendous pressure 56 in some sectorsincluding poverty reduction in urban and ruralareas, employment, education, health and the environment.with low weight and 48.6% of children below the ageof five are stunted. Half of all children below the ageof five suffer from malnutrition. 6Despite slow progress in increasing the numberovercome by increased financing for programs toachieve the MDGs, the initiation 56 of new and effectivemeasures and efficient monitoring. As the Government’sresources are inadequate, it has to reach out00of skilled birth attendants, the maternal mortality rate0for external financial support.98The Government has claimed noticeable successin eradicating poverty and hunger over the last 2008 from 724 to 338 deaths per 100,000 live births. 7in Bangladesh more than halved between 1990 and9910099 99Estimated costs of achieving the MDGs100 100 7010020 years but the ratio of poverty and people sufferingfrom hunger is still very high. In addition there is100 100However many challenges remain: 15% of birthstook place in a health facility in 2007, which means100 71100It has been estimated that achieving the MDGsaround the world by 2015 would require about USDcurrently a stalemate in poverty reduction due to that 85% of babies were delivered at home. 8 The 100-120 billion a year, less than 0.5% of global GDP. 9IEG of Colombia = 75inflationary pressure on the prices of basic commoditiesnegative outcomes BCI of in the Croatia education = 98IEG of Croatia = 75and health sectorsIn a recent Government report, the General Economicsand the sudden shock of natural disasters:41.2% of the population is living below the povertyline – 31.9% in poverty and 9.3% in extreme poverty.Another 34.1% is living in situations of extreme vulnerabilityare a result of inadequate Government finance.Although some NGOs are working in the educationand health sectors, poor and inefficient coordinationbetween them and the Government has meant failureDivision of the Planning Commission estimatedthe annual costs for achieving the MDGs in Bangladeshat USD 14.88 billion. 10 Another study, by JubileeNetherlands, showed that according to a UN Millen-and is at risk of falling below the line. 4 to bring about the desired results.nium Project calculation Bangladesh would require100100Poor incentives for attending schools combined Other major challenges94include inflation (especiallyUSD 7.5 billion of annual assistance – five times thewith acute poverty in Bangladesh contribute to lowin food prices), poor revenue collection, amount the country is getting at present (an annualaverage of USD 1.5 billion). 1118095Education455 IRIN, “Bangladesh: Primary-school dropout rate rises to 47percent,” 4 November 2007. Available from: . 00An Issues Note, prepared for an International Seminar on6 UNICEF, “Child malnutrition and household food insecurity Staying Poor: Chronic Poverty and Development Policy,remain 10099major concerns for Bangladesh,” press release,Manchester, UK, 7–9 April 2003. Available from: .7 IRIN, “Bangladesh: Educating girls lowers maternal death 10 Government of Bangladesh, op. cit.rate,” 11 June <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .Available from: .100019IEG of Bangladesh = 531001007National reports 66 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
The Government has also indicated the necessaryaverage yearly investment in a number ofareas: agricultural and rural development, includingemployment generation and road infrastructure(USD 4.83 billion); education, including pre-primary,primary, secondary and non-formal education (USD2.27 billion); gender equality (USD 0.59 billion);health system, including health infrastructure andhuman resources (USD 1.63 billion); child healthexcluding health systems (USD 0.67 billion); maternalhealth excluding health systems (USD 0.26billion); HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (USD0.48 billion); the environment (USD 0.26 billion);energy (USD 1.88 billion); and water and sanitation(USD 2.02 billion). 12Debt repayment is hindering the MDGsFor the first decade after independence from Pakistanin 1971, Bangladesh was heavily dependent onoverseas development assistance (ODA), especiallyfood aid. Although this dependency has been reducedover time the impact remains. Debt repaymentis one of the crucial economic problems the countryis fa cing. Data shows that in 2009 the outstandingexternal debt for Bangladesh stood at USD 20.25 millionand annual debt servicing was around USD 1.4million, equal to 14% of export earnings. 13 For everydollar in foreign grant aid received the Governmenthas to pay USD 1.5 in debt services to foreign creditors,money lost from MDG budget requirements.Meanwhile the annual health budget has averagedabout USD 500–700 million over the last few years.The targets for debt relief are based on arbitraryindicators (debt-to-export ratios) rather than MDGbasedneeds, making Bangladesh ineligible for theHeavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative orthe Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. According toWorld Bank and IMF calculations, the debt-to-exportratio for Bangladesh stands at 146%, which is belowthe official threshold of 150%. As Dr DebapriyaBhattacharya, Executive Director of Centre for PolicyDialogue (CPD) stresses, “Bangladesh has regularlypaid its debts, expanded exports and is now beingpunished for its success.” 14 Since the pace of MDGsattainment is largely dependent on its financing, developedcountries should approve the full or at leastpartial cancellation of the country’s debt.Climate financing: pay attentionThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) predicts that global temperatures will haverisen between 1.8ºC and 4.0ºC by the last decade ofthe 21st century. The impacts of global warming onthe climate, however, will vary in different regions ofthe world. Bangladesh is widely recognized to be oneof the most vulnerable countries in terms of climate.The frequent natural disasters already cause loss oflife, damage to infrastructure and economic assetsand have adverse impacts on lives and livelihoods,especially among the poor.Climate change will relentlessly challenge theability of Bangladesh to achieve higher economicgrowth and eradicate poverty at the expected pace.In the coming years it is predicted that there will beprogressively more frequent and severe tropical cyclones,heavier and more erratic rainfall, higher riverflows, river bank erosion, increased sedimentation,melting of the Himalayan glaciers, sea level risesand warmer and more humid weather among otherphenomena. These changes will cause reduced agriculturalproduction, increased salinity in the coastalbelt, a shortage of safe drinking water and severedrought.In the worst case scenario, unless existingcoastal polders are strengthened and new ones built,the sea level rise could result in the displacementof millions of people – “environmental refugees”– from coastal regions and have huge adverse impactson the livelihoods and long-term health of alarge proportion of the population. It is essential thatBangladesh prepares for this challenge and defendsits future economic well-being and the livelihoodsof its people.A recent study in India found that farmers wouldexperience around a 9% loss in annual farm-levelrevenue as a result of climate change. 15 Being a smallcountry compared to India and with a huge agriculturedependent population, Bangladesh is under threatof a more loss in farm-level revenue due to climatechange. Over the last three decades the Governmenthas invested over USD 10 billion to make the countrymore climate resilient and less vulnerable to naturaldisasters. 16 From 1984 to 2007, the estimated damageto property amounted to USD 7.4 billion while thetropical cyclones in 1970 and 1991 are estimated tohave killed 500,000 and 140,000 people respectively.The Government has recently established the BangladeshClimate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF)with an initial capitalization of USD 110 million and aMulti-Donor Climate Change Trust Fund of USD 150million with the support of the United Kingdom, Sweden,Denmark and the European Union. These fundswill be used for climate change purposes only andshould result in better analyses of climate impactson traditional (agriculture) and non-traditional (telecommunications)sectors. The current stumblingblock is that it has not yet been decided which institutionor ministry will be in charge of the funds.Financing climate change is very challengingfor Bangladesh due to its poor economic base. Sincethe Government has established the BCCRF, it hashad to sacrifice the same amount of investment fromother important sectors such as health, sanitation,education and poverty. The Ministry of Environmentand Forests is currently working out the cost of implementingthe ten-year Action Plan (2009-2018)in consultation with line ministries. It is estimatedthat a USD 500 million program needs to be initiatedin the first two years for immediate actions suchas strengthening disaster management, researchand knowledge management, capacity building andpublic awareness programs as well as urgent investmentssuch as cyclone shelters and selected drainageprograms. The total cost of programs commencingin the first five years could reach USD 5 billion.Moving forwardSince Bangladesh is a major victim of global warming,it needs a huge aid investment in mitigationmeasures for the increasing incidences of naturaldisasters. The country’s contribution to the emissionof greenhouse gases (GHG) is miniscule: lessthan one-fifth of 1% of world total, which reflects itsextremely low consumption of energy. It is the dutyof those countries that are responsible for the higherrate of emissions to finance the adaptation and mitigationstrategies of climate change.Civil society organizations, national and internationalNGOs and various donor agencies shouldalso initiate some coordinated movement to restructuringthe financial instruments of the IMF and theWorld Bank and bring all stakeholders under a singleumbrella to accelerate the achievement of the MDGsin Bangladesh and the world. n12 Government of Bangladesh, op. cit.13 Ahmed Sadek Yousuf and Mohiuddin Alamgir, “Foreignaid: help or debt entrapment,” The Daily New Age, XTRA,15–21 May 2009. Available from: .14 Jubilee Debt Campaign UK, “Country Information:Bangladesh.” See: .15 Kavi Kumar, “Climate Sensitivity of Indian Agriculture: DoSpatial Effects Matter?” SANDEE Working Paper, November2009. Available from: .16 Ministry of Environment and Forests, Bangladesh ClimateChange Strategy and Action Plan 2009, Government of thePeople’s Republic of Bangladesh, September 2009. Availablefrom: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>67Bangladesh
eninNo development without aidBenin’s difficulties with development have been aggravated by the international financial crisis.This had a severe impact in the donor countries and brought about a reduction in official aid anddirect investment, and led to massive withdrawals of capital by foreign investors. The country musttake measures to control the movement of capital so as to promote beneficial foreign investment. Inaddition, respecting human rights, which is an essential condition for development, must become anobjective in itself.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Benin100The civil society organizations that make up <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong> (SW) Benin are in agreement with the Government1 in that they are radically opposed to a predatorBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 8593 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 42Empowermentand unequal international economic and financialsystem. They believe that the 19 recent upheaval in180world financial markets points to the need for more00effective global supervision and preventive measuresto protect the world 53 economy.5554958688100 100 100100 74100100 100The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which Births attended bymonitors the stability of currency exchange, has functionedskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationin an inequitable way and to the detriment oftheIEG of Bangladesh = 53the leading countriesBCI of Benindid not=have85the courage toconfront the underlying causes that led to the financialcrisis. SW Benin has issued a call for thehumanisation of the world’s financial system andstricter citizen control over international financialinstitutions.IEG of Benin = 42The impact of external debtpoorest economies. Benin, along with other Africancountries, has suffered the negative consequences ofthis unfair stance on the part of these financial institutions.A redistribution of decision-making power infavour of the poorer countries would contribute torectifying this asymmetry 100 in how the Bretton Woodsinstitutions operate, and would in the current situationmake it possible to take action to sanction the countriesthat caused the imbalances 56 and the crisis.SW Benin has stressed the need for the UN tomake a commitment to pursuing a more democratic0way of working. The principle of “one dollar onevote”, which is how decisions in the Bretton Woods99institutions are taken, is undemocratic. 2 The citizens100 71100of Benin emphatically recommend that the internationalcommunity change to the more democraticsystem of “one country one vote” and that it activelyIEG of Croatia = 75commits itself to the interests of civil society.SW Benin is sceptical about the recommendationsand (minimal) commitments undertaken atthe G-20 summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009to reform the world’s financial architecture, because1001 “Disturbances in financial and banking markets haveeconomic consequences that destroy poor countries’ effortsto develop because they bring about a reduction in resources45to finance small and medium size enterprises, a reductionin credits for the economy, a probable fall in the price ofcommodities and also a predictable 0 reduction in officialdevelopment aid and flows of foreign direct investment”.(Extract from a letter from the President of Benin, BoniYayi, to the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, 28 96October 100 2008). Available 68 in French from: .2 The United States has the equivalent of 17.35% of the votes,and this gives it the power of veto as any modification inthe charter of the IMF or the World Bank requires 85% ofthe votes. In contrast to the United States share, 22 Africancountries taken together have 1.17% of the votes.Financing for developmentIn 2009 and <strong>2010</strong>, the world financial crisis causeda reduction in the flow of funds and foreign directinvestment (FDI) to Benin. Today “...the weight offoreign direct investment is still very slight. FDI hasbeen rather irregular in recent years and on averageonly some 30 billion CFA francs (USD 60 million) peryear has come in, and this mainly benefited industry.In the short and middle term, the effects of the crisison FDI will impact negatively on the population.” 3In addition, even before the crisis FDI did nothave a positive effect on the Benin economy becausesome foreign investors made massive and systematicwithdrawals of capital and benefits and sentthese funds to their head offices or their countriesof origin. Some investors did not even deposit funds100in the country’s central bank or local banks. To make78matters worse, these economic agents enjoy taxexemptions on their income that put them in an evenmore advantageous financial situation. This says alot about the lopsided relation that Benin has withforeign investors, a relation 0 in which the countryitself receives no concrete benefits.Benin should take measures to impose restrictions,for example to control the movement of capital,so as to promote foreign investment that actuallyhas a positive impact in the country.The country’s foreign debt is much lower that thenorm in the West African Economic and MonetaryUnion (WAEMU). However, according to a report bythe Ministry of the Economy, “The level of debt is stilla dead weight that impedes the development of thecountry’s economy, in spite of debt cancellation initiativesundertaken by the international communitythrough the MDRI and the HIPC.” 4Benin’s external debt is rising: in 2006 it stoodat USD 539 million and in 2008 it reached USD 846million. Added to this there is the internal debt, whichin 2005 was around USD 7 million and by 2008 hadrisen to USD 608 million. In 2008, public debt servicepayments amounted to USD 91 million. 5In 2006 the country’s debt decreased, andthis was mainly because of cancellations that weregranted as part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries(HIPC) initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief100Initiative (MDRI). The MDRI enabled Benin to obtaincancellations of multilateral debts to the tune of USD1.16 billion, distributed over a period of fifty yearsstarting in 2006.0 899 100100 10099933778100 100 47100100 1004 The Ministry of Economy, <strong>Social</strong> Security, Development and3 The National Commission to manage the impact of theEvaluation of Public Action; National strategy for attaining theinternational financial and economic crisis on economic andMillennium Development Goals (2007), p. 35. Available inIEG of Hungary = 70 BCI of India = 73IEG of India = 41social development in Benin, “Impact of the world financialFrench from: .Benin” (May 2009).5 National Assembly, “Finance Law”, <strong>2010</strong>.10010010079National reports 68 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
The HIPC resources went to four priority sectors,namely health, access to potable water, educationand an initiative to end isolation. In the 2005edition of a report on the country’s social profile,called The HIPC and Poverty Reduction, the <strong>Social</strong>Change Monitoring Agency stressed that the contributionof relief resources is still low in relation tothe financing needs of various social sectors. Theseresources amount to less than 20% of annual budgetallocations for the four priority sectors under study,and only 2% of the national budget.Foreign aidThe official foreign aid for development that Beninreceives basically consists of support for the budget.In the years 2005 to 2008, the share of foreign resourcesused to cover the country’s budget deficitamounted to 12%, 13%, 15% and 16% respectivelyof the country’s income. 6 In 2009 it was not possibleto allocate the expected 27% for budget support.The provision of foreign resources for Benin fellfrom USD 661 million in 2009 to USD 507 million in<strong>2010</strong>. This decrease was mainly due to the internationalfinancial crisis that most of the donor countriesare undergoing and to the financial organizationsinvolved, or because there are relatively long periodsbefore financing agreements come into force.Estimations of budget aid, which consists mainly ofindirect IMF budget support transfers, plummetedby 57.50% in the <strong>2010</strong> budget. 7On 30 June 2009, the external resources mobilizedamounted to USD 150 million as against aprojection for the year of USD 645 million, which isto say that only 23.2% had actually been provided bythe halfway point. 8Can Benin finance its own development?The obstacles to Benin’s development are so greatthat it would be simply impossible for the country toprogress without assistance. “Pursuit of the MDGswould mean a big increase in public expenditure.The country’s needs in the 2007 to 2015 periodhave been calculated at USD 11.5 billion. To reachthe MDGs, the target of USD 758 million in 2007,expenditure would be around USD 1.92 billion in2015 – which amounts to an annual average of USD1.28 billion.” 9To attain the MDGs it is essential that moreand more resources, external as well as internal, bemobilized. The Government cannot make this commitmentunless the private sector and civil societybecome closely associated with the effort to mobiliseand manage the resources.However, public finances are usually in deficit.In the <strong>2010</strong> general national budget there was aglobal deficit of 7.2% of GDP, with a deficit budgetarybalance of 2% of GDP, which means that Benindid not respect the budgetary criteria of the Pact forConvergence, Stability, Growth and Solidarity thatthe member states of the WAEMU adhere to.In this context in no way is Benin capable offinancing its own development without external assistance.Gender and the FfDThe Government formulated a Growth Strategy forPoverty Reduction (ECRP) in 2007-2009, 10 and inthis, for the first time, aspects of gender were incorporatedinto the various subject areas dealt with. Thisinclusion of the gender perspective is an attempt tocorrect the deficiencies identified in the first PovertyReduction Strategy (ERP) 2003-2005 11 and also anattempt to ensure that the expected results of thecurrent ECRP are sustainable. Thus the whole plan,including the formulation of sector programmes,is designed to cater to women as well as to men, inaccordance with their specific needs.The inclusion of gender equality in the ECRP isa new innovation for Benin, it is part of a Danish andSwiss cooperation agreement and it is backed by theUnited Nations Development Programme throughthe programme to strengthen the study of gender ingrowth policies and strategies for poverty reduction(PAFEGP/ECRPU). Thanks to this programme, thegender perspective is clearly expressed in the financingagreement for the country’s development. Theprogramme is being implemented by the Ministryof the Family and other actors in the country, and ithas technical and financial support from alliancesfor development in a joint financing system that isgeared to alignment, harmonisation and appropriationin line with the spirit of the Paris Declaration.All aspects of the proposed interventions involve asynergy among all the actors involved.Some of the results were as follows:• The inclusion of the gender section in theannual joint revisions of the ECRP, whosememorandum is based on a synthesis of theexecution points of sector gender action andtheir scope.• The process of formulating a national policyto promote the gender perspective, which isbacked by the Technical and Financial Alliances(TFA) and the Government, and is based on theinitiative embodied in the PAFEGP/ECRPU.• To carry out a national study of violence againstwomen, with joint financing from the TFA.• Continuity in external support to establish a systemof sufficient health protection for mothersand children. The Beninese Government hasreinforced measures to implement free caesareanoperations and health care for children upto five years old. 12The role of civil societyCivil society organizations have a role to play,and also responsibilities, in Benin’s developmentprocess. Basically they should try to educate thepopulation and keep them informed, strengthenmanagement and organization capabilities, ensurethe flow of information and guidance, participatein dialogue and work for the benefit of the people atlarge. In this way these organizations can contributeto development in all sectors of public life includingeducation, health, potable water, sanitation, agriculture,environmental protection, financial services,the promotion and defence of economic, social andcultural rights, autonomy for women, the promotionof good governance, rendering accounts, studyingand analysing budgets and providing follow-up ondevelopment policies.The most important role of civil society organizationsin the country is to monitor the human rightssituation, in particular with regard to economic, socialand cultural rights. It is essential to go beyondthe MDGs and tackle the problem of violations ofpeople’s rights. It is imperative that the question ofhuman rights be given priority in any developmentmodel, and every aspect of these rights must becomean objective in itself. n6 General Assembly “Finance law”, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008;The National Commission to manage the impact of theinternational financial and economic crisis on economic andsocial development in Benin, op. cit., p. 73.7 SW Benin, Analysis document and report on the finance law<strong>2010</strong>, p. 19.8 Ibid.9 The Ministry of Economy, <strong>Social</strong> Security, Development andEvaluation of Public Action, op. cit., p. 13.10 Available in French from: .11 National Commission for Development and the Fight againstPoverty, Document of poverty reduction strategy in Benin2003–2005, (December 2002). Available in French from:.12 SW Benin, 2009 Alternative report of civil societyorganizations for the Millennium Development Goals inBenin, p. 57.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>69Benin
oliviaThe wealth does not reach the peopleIn an extraordinarily favourable international context of high prices for prime materials, the countryhas received big financial inflows derived mainly from its hydrocarbon exports. However, the funds theState receives through taxes and fees has not had an impact on the domestic economy. The extractivemodel is such that foreign direct investment does not generate better conditions in the country sincethis system takes more money out of Bolivia than it generates in domestic economy.CEDLABasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 8388 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 66Empowerment100Thanks to an increase in per capita income in recentyears Bolivia has ceased to be a low income countryand has moved up to the middle income level. Thereforeaccess to resources to finance development no38longer depends on access to concessionary 18 credits0from multi- and bilateral organizations in the developed00countries.889595Moreover, the world 55 economic 54 crisis has reviveda camouflaged version of the old debate about Births attended by100 100 100100 66100100 66100reforming the international financial architecture and skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationfinance for development in countries on the periph-figures for taxes on hydrocarbons show that in 2005their share was 15% of total tax income and in 2009the figure was 22%. This was mainly due to higherprices rather than to an increase in the volumes pro-IEG of Benin = 42Bolivia aroundBCI30%oforBoliviamore of= 83total fiscal incomederives from the production of petrol (in the firstthree countries mentioned) and the exploitation ofgas (in the last).” 3Since 2005, the fiscal income that Bolivia hasobtained from the hydrocarbons 100 sector – one of the95biggest sectors in the economy – has been cruciallyimportant in enabling the country to overcome its fiscaldeficit and finance most public investment. 4 Butthese resources are still fragile because internationalprices are volatile in the context of the world crisis.0This might be confused with a typical case of the socalledIEG of Bolivia = 66100430“Dutch disease”, which is distortion caused declined to a little over 50%. 6100by a sudden inflow of foreign currency from natural100 10064resources that the real productive system is unableto absorb. 5 But in fact, in Bolivia, the cause lies inthe structure of the country’s economy, and this hasbeen accentuated BCI by the of recent Czech boom Republic in international = 98prices for prime materials.An analysis of the behaviour of fiscal incomeand its component parts shows that after the crisisthe country went through in the first half of the 1980sthe implementation of severe structural adjustment100policies made it possible to manage 94 to some extent100the fiscal deficit. In the twenty-five years since thattime the fiscal structure has been rather inflexible,with a large proportion of expenditure committedbasically to financing the State and only a relatively duced and exported.1600ery. There is no doubt that the crisis in the capitalistsystem has added fuel to calls for some kind ofreform, however tenuous, but this has not led to realchanges in the financial sphere.Fiscal income and the prime exports modelIn recent years the economies in Latin America havestrengthened their development models linked tothe exploitation and commercialization of prime materialsbased on the increase in international prices.This means that the region’s insertion in the worldmarket is mainly built around activities like mining,oil and gas. But in fact this profile, which has beenre-baptized as neo-extractionism, 1 only goes to consolidatethe international division of labour and anacceptance of the “global institutionality” linked tothe World Trade Organization (WTO). 2The Latin American economies are basicallyexporters of prime materials and in recent yearsthis has meant that most of these countries haveincreased their economic activity and have GrossDomestic Product (GDP) growth rates above 5%.This expansion has been driven by an exceptionally100favourable international context with higher pricesand increased foreign demand.While the fiscal balances in these countries havebenefited from this situation, the nature of the modelis such that transnational enterprises have benefitedmuch more. Some Latin American 0 8 countries receiveconsiderable fiscal income from the exploitation ofnon-renewable resources; 37 according to the 78 ECLAC,100 100in “...countries like Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico andsmall amount going on public investment (no morethan USD 500 million in that period), most of whichwas financed through external public debt.Bolivia’s income situation is very different because,after the tax system was reformed in 1986,value added tax (VAT) basically became the mainsource of State income. This is an indirect tax and itis by nature regressive as it is levied on the consumptionof all the people of Bolivia regardless of whetherthey are rich or poor. Up to 2003, this meant thatVAT accounted for somewhat more than 70% of thecountry’s total tax income, but by 2009 this share had100According to official sources, the State’s 9779incomefrom direct taxes on the hydrocarbons sector100 100100increased from USD 287 million in 2005 to USD 802million in 2009. It may be easier to grasp what thisIEG of Czech Republic = 68means if we compare the contribution to tax incomefrom this sector with the VAT share in the total. In2000 VAT accounted for 40% of the total and by 2009its share had fallen to 35%, but this was on a greaterabsolute tax income base – from USD 420 millionin 2000 it increased to USD 1,2 billion in 2009. The3 Latin America and the Caribbean in the New International79Scenario. Santiago de Chile, ECLAC, 2008.6 Value Added Tax (VAT) shows how highly regressive the939697Bolivian tax system 53 is, even with the increase in State100 4 There 100 were two factors behind this: first, changes in 100 the100 100income from taxes on oil and gas activity since 2005, aftertax regulations for this area, and second, the increase inthe Hydrocarbons Law (No. 3058) was passed and theinternational prices for oil and gas.imposition of a direct tax on hydrocarbons – an aliquot of1 Eduardo Gudynas, “El nuevo extractivismo progresista”IEG of India = 41 5 This leads to an exaggerated expansion of non-transable32% of total hydrocarbons production measured at the(The new progressist extractionism). El Observador No. 8.BCI of Indonesia = 90IEG of Indonesia = 55goods and services – public works, transportation,fiscalisation point, which is not levied on wealth but thatCEDLA/OBIE. January <strong>2010</strong>.communications – due to over-valuation of the country’svaries depending on the volumes of gas and oil produced and2 Ibid, p. 3.currency.their international prices.10097100National reports 70 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100100
A narrow margin for the StateIn the period 1997-2007, the average annual growthrates for petrol and gas production were 4.6% and11.6% respectively, but in the 2006-2007 period theywere only 1.11% and 3.73%. There are various reasonswhy these production growth rates fell. In a diagnosiscarried out as part of the present Government’sBolivian Strategy for Hydrocarbons, three main factorsstand out: the fall in investment in the exploitationand development of fields, the capacity of the plantsfor processing hydrocarbons and the characteristicsof accumulation in the sector. These aspects showthat the oil companies still control production.A first conclusion that can be drawn is that inspite of the considerable increase in State incomethanks to higher prime material prices, the overallorientation of the tax system has not been changedand the main burden is still borne by the people of thecountry. The clearest indicator of this is the increasein tax pressure on consumption, which rose from7.2% of GDP in 1990 to 14.2% in 2009. A secondconclusion is that the gas business still depends oninvestment that the oil companies make in the sector,but under the regulatory framework that has been inforce since 2005 the transnational enterprises arenot obliged to invest in exploration or exploitation. 7As to expenditure, the increase in fiscal incomefrom hydrocarbon rents does not translate intogreater flows of public investment in productive sectors.The resources from the sale of hydrocarbonshave mostly gone on road infrastructure, and verylittle has been channelled into sectors like agricultureor manufacturing. 8 This profile has a lot to do with theways in which Bolivia is integrated commercially intothe dominant markets in the region: the country ismore a bi-oceanic integrating bridge that allows theflow of merchandise between neighbouring countriesthan a partner that can promote and sell its localproduction. 9This scenario means that the hope that a favourableclimate in terms of prices can promote a changein the primary exporter model has wilted in the faceof the enormous problems the country is confronting.And to make matters worse, the transnationalenterprises are continuing to invest in the extractivesectors, and this leaves little margin for the State –which cannot reverse the process of appropriationof surpluses – to undertake initiatives to bring aboutsustainable change.7 “La crisis energética al ritmo de las petroleras” (The energycrisis at the rhythm of the oil companies), El Observador No.4. CEDLA/OBIE. March 2008.8 Juan Luis Espada, La renta de hidrocarburos en lasfinanzas prefecturales. Tendencias de los ingresos y gastos(Hydrocarbon rents in municipal finances. Trends in incomeand expenditure) (1997-2007). CEDLA, 2009.9 This relates to the South American Regional InfrastructureIntegration Initiative (IIRSA) and investment in bi-oceanicroad projects.The crisis and pressure on natural resourcesAccording to some scientific predictions, 1 theworld could reach its conventional oil productionpeak before 2020. This scenario suggeststhat energy prices will continue at high levels andthus constitute inflationary pressure world-wideand stimulate the development and production ofsubstitutes like bio-fuels, also spuring the searchfor other substitutes like the so-called energyminerals, nuclear power and renewable energysources.In this complex panorama, responses to theinternational economic crisis cannot focus exclusivelyon the immediate consequences of therecession and the form that recovery will take. Onthe contrary, these responses should stem froman evaluation of the consequences of maintaininga mode of production that, in the long term, willlead to the over-exploitation of labour and the consolidationof the transnational monopolies thatdominate the exploitation of natural resources.Trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) inBolivia have been variable in the last ten years,but from their behaviour it is clear that there isincreasing concentration in the extractive sectors(hydrocarbons and mining). Official statisticsshow that in 2008 these two sectors receivedmore than 75% of FDI flows, 2 with mining taking agreater share because of international price rises1 UK Energy Research Centre, “Global Oil Depletion. Anassessment of the evidence for a near-term peak inglobal oil production.” August 2009.2 Instituto Nacional de Estadísticas. Inversión ExtranjeraDirecta. (National Statistics Institute. Foreign DirectInvestment) 1996-2001. Central Bank of Bolivia, 2002-2008.ConclusionsAs we have seen, Bolivia’s increase in fiscal incomewas brought about by extraordinarily high internationalprices for prime materials. This rules out plansfor sustainable development because the countryis more dependent than ever on income derivedfrom taxes on primary export activities, which arecontrolled by transnational enterprises. Moreover,these companies regulate their investment flows inaccordance with international price trends and theconditions the Bolivian State has imposed throughframeworks that regulate their activities. nfor these products and investment stagnation inthe oil and gas sector.Another aspect is that an analysis of FDI inthese sectors shows an increase in payments ofdividends on shares and other participation incapital, and in “disinvestment”, 3 especially since2004, and since that time these payments haveexceeded gross FDI. The highest peak for capitaloutflows from the country on the part of transnationalenterprises was in 2005, when it amountedto more than 201% of gross FDI. 4Because of the kinds of activities involved(basically geared to exports), FDI has not generatedbetter conditions for the country. In fact,in this business, more money has flowed out ofBolivia than has come in. Similarly, what is left inthe State’s coffers through taxes and fees fromextractive activities (mainly oil and gas) has goneon public investment in regional projects – likethe bi-oceanic integration project – rather than oninvestments that would have a significant positiveimpact on the country’s economy. n3 Disinvestment is understood as “Investment is theopposite direction (...) it is a kind of return of directinvestment capital to its owner and/or capital financer.”IMF, Guide for compiling balance of payments statistics.Washington, 1995.4 Efraín Huanca, “Generación y uso del excedenteeconómico en Bolivia (The generation and use ofeconomic surplus in Bolivia) 1988-2008”. CEDLA.Mimeo. December 2009 (Partial progress).<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>71Bolivia
BRAZILClouds on the horizonThe fast and strong recovery of the Brazilian economy in 2009 was mostly due to a combination of nonorthodoxcompensatory policies. The Federal authorities broke with the neoliberal orientation followedby previous administrations and by President Lula himself in his first term. The Brazilian experienceshows that social policies can also be supportive of economic growth. However, although the situation isstill under control, as the world economy is turning the page of the international crisis, a second wave ofcrisis and instability may be forming right now with no clear picture of what the outcome may look like.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> BrazilIBASE – Brazilian Institute for <strong>Social</strong> and Economic Analysis100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9693 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 68100EmpowermentIn the last quarter of 2008, the global crisis hit Brazil,breaking the trend towards relatively fast growththat had distinguished the preceding 38 three quarters.44As reported in the 2009 issue of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, the0Brazilian economy was hard-hit when capital inflows00suddenly turned into outflows, sharply devaluing the95 9597989699domestic currency, and threatening a group of large100 100 66100100 100100 65100100firms that had bet on the continuing appreciation of Births attended bythe Brazilian real in the derivatives market.skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationThe shock was serious but not deadly, as inIEG of Bolivia = 66past crises. In fact, after about six months of economicBolsa Família,BCIwhichof Brazilchannels= 96IEG of Brazil = 68income suppleditionsof heightened uncertainty, credit tends tocontraction, the Brazilian economy began to ments to families in extreme poverty, distributes contract because financial institutions usually seekrecover in the second quarter of 2009. Growth has about R$ 12.5 billion (around USD 6.94 billion), safer assets rather than extending profitable butaccelerated since then, and forecasts for <strong>2010</strong> range practically over the entire national territory. Besides riskier credit to firms or to consumers. This causesfrom a minimum rate of 5.5% to about 7% Gross Domesticits effectiveness as an instrument for the reduc-production to contract, since without working capi-Product (GDP) growth. 100 Capital inflows were tion of extreme poverty, 100which has been generally tal firms cannot hire workers 100 or buy raw materialsresumed still in mid-2009, and the country again beganconsidered very successful, Bolsa 95 Família provided and consumers cannot finance their purchase ofto face a period of exchange rate overvaluation, important support to domestic demand, particularly durable goods. The Federal authorities broke with thewith all the risks such a situation brings. During the for non-durable consumption goods. Since poor neoliberal orientation followed by former president43first semester of <strong>2010</strong>, financial instability again increased,families tend to consume all of their income, these Fernando Henrique Cardoso and by Lula himself incaused by the balance of payment problems grants constituted a direct boost to demand, putting his first term which treated public 15 banks as if they0of Greece, Portugal, Spain and Italy, among others,0a floor under any possible reduction of consumption were private.0but it was still early to identify their impact on Brazil. expenditures in the country. Expenditures based on As private banks in Brazil, as in other countries,10097799825Bolsa Família have also an indirect expansionary shied away from loans, Banco do Brasil 91(a commercialbank controlled by the Government, not by100<strong>Social</strong> policies100can64also support100100 100100 100impact on demand and the level of economic activity.economic growthThe original expenditures become somebody else’s the Central Bank), the National Savings Bank (CEF,c = 98The fast and strong recovery of the Brazilian economy income, which will also be spent, giving additional specialized in financing construction and sanitation)IEG of Czech Republic = 68in 2009 was mostly due to a combination of non-orthodoxstimulus to other activities. BCI of The Egypt, decentralized Arab Rep. nature = 91IEG of Egypt = 44and the National Bank of <strong>Social</strong> and Economic De-compensatory policies. President Luiz Inácio of the program allows these stimuli to be directed at velopment (BNDES) were directed to fill the void.‘Lula’ da Silva’s administration has come a long way local activities, magnifying the impact on employmentThe three banks, which cater to different constitu-from the neo-liberal policies that defined his first termand on additional consumption.encies, expanded activities aggressively, takingin office, from 2003 to 2007. Recovery was achieved These expenditures were certainly instrumental market share from private banks, which were thenon the strengths of domestic demand, fed by: policies in preventing the contraction that would result from obliged to expand their own operations. As the three100to rise the minimum wage; social policies, of which the negative impact generated by the balance of paymentsbanks increased their credit supply, they reduced“Bolsa Família” (family grant) is the most important;disparities shown in late 2008 and early 2009. their spreads, putting additional pressure on privatecredit expansion policies led by public banks; and, The Brazilian experience showed that social policies banks to expand in order to avoid losing even largerto a lesser extent, fiscal policies under the umbrella can also be supportive of economic growth, since the shares of their markets.program known in Brazil as PAC (Program for Growth poorest families, who received the benefits, usually BNDES was a particularly important player in16Acceleration). Lower income 0 groups were also the exhibit very high propensities to consume. The macroeconomicthis game, since it finances investment. The increasetarget of policies that have expanded the number ofimpact of these policies compares fa-in investments is a condition to turn this growth spur96 poor people receiving cash benefits (equal to a 9753onemonthminimum wage), such as those with a family such as tax reductions. The latter tends to favour troversy has surrounded the choice of projects tovourably with those implemented in other countries, into a sustainable long- term trajectory. Some con-100100 100income equal to or lower than 25% of the minimum higher income groups (those who actually pay direct which the bank gives financial support, in particularwage per capita, people with disabilities, poor people taxes) which they use to save part of their windfall because of environment concerns but also becauseover 65 years old, IEG and of extended Indonesia retirement = 55 benefits gains, attenuating its expansive impact.of their impacts on local communities, but as a strategicto rural workers (even in the cases where no previous The second pillar of the Government’s countercyclicalelement of a growth recovery process, BNDES’contributions were made).policies was credit expansion. Under con-action was highly successful.National reports 72 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010087
Even more controversial have been fiscal policyinitiatives, among which PAC stands out. The programwas launched amid a heavy barrage of publicity,in part motivated by immediate concerns (theincoming presidential election), but also becauseof its possible impact on the entrepreneurial spiritsof Brazilian small businesses. In part, PAC waslittle more than the consolidation of older projectsof public investment or investment made by stateownedenterprises, most notably Petrobras, the oilcompany controlled by the Federal Government. Anumber of projects seemed to have met all sorts ofdifficulties, including with the audit entities that controlFederal Government expenditures. Many criticspoint out that actual implementation of the projectslisted in PAC fell far short of what was announced,that projects were not always selected rationally orwith the highest social rates of return in mind.Nevertheless, the impact on the entrepreneurialspirit seemed to be positive, stimulating some recoveryof private investment. Even more importantwas the discovery of large new oil reserves knownin Brazil as Pré-Sal which promises to change thecountry’s position in the international oil market. Thetime to actually exploit these reserves is still relativelyfar in the future, but the news itself was enoughto stimulate additional private investments.Other positive factors also made their influencefelt. The early and strongest recovery of the Chineseeconomy had an expansive impact on the whole continent,as exports of minerals and agricultural goodsto China expanded overall exports. The net impactof international trade was, however, negative, sinceimports grew faster than exports. In other words,Brazilians bought more from the rest of the worldthan the rest of the world bought goods and servicesproduced in the country, so the net impact acted tocontract local output.One important difference in this crisis was thebehaviour of the capital account. The Brazilian economysuffered the negative impact of the internationalcrisis in its balance of payments in the last quarterof 2008 mainly in the form of capital outflows.These outflows, however, resulted from the returnof foreign financial investments in Brazil, which weremade in response to stock exchange prospects, andto a smaller degree to interest rates that exceededthose in the rest of the world. As these foreign investorssuffered losses in the markets of advancedcountries, they closed their positions in emergingeconomies and repatriated their capital to make upfor those losses.In contrast with past crises, this time therewas no capital flight by Brazilian wealth-holders. Infact, since the crisis was centered in the developedworld, foreign capital markets were not attractive todomestic financial investors. Domestic market assetscertainly paid more than financial investmentsabroad and with lower risk. The Brazilian economywas not suffering any pressure to make payments,since its public external debt is reasonably undercontrol and its international reserves are high forthe scale of the economy. Capital outflows could beeasily accommodated given these reserves. A preventivedollar swap line negotiated with the FederalReserve strengthened these defenses and reducedany pressures that could lead to capital flight, makingit easier to manage other pressures.Some risks aheadNot everything is that bright, however. It is true thatthe crisis was short-lived and relatively benign in itseffects, considering that this is the second worstcrisis in the history of modern capitalism, after theGreat Depression of the 1930s. By mid-2009, asalready observed, the economy was again moving almostat full steam towards rates of very respectablegrowth, even if far from those reached in countrieslike China or India.Recovery also brings the capital inflows thatmay become very dangerous to Brazil in the nearfuture, since they appreciate the local currency (atrend which resumed after the devaluations of late2008), which hurts exports and stimulate imports,leading to current account deficits and an increasein external indebtedness. The situation is still undercontrol, but it is deteriorating very rapidly and it iscertainly a concern for the near future. The accumulationof reserves per se is not enough to make theposition of the Brazilian economy safe. Increasingexternal debt makes the country more and moredependent on external finance and can turn into a fullfledged crisis if these inflows are interrupted as theywere so many times in the not-so-distant past. Thepicture is even more worrying as no solution seemsto be on the horizon of Brazilian policy makers. It isgenerally recognized that the combination of highinterest rates and overvalued exchange rates canbe lethal, but very little seems to be in the works tochange the situation.On the social policies front, Bolsa Família hasbeen consolidated, and the Lula administrationannounced plans to make it permanent, makingthe grants legally mandatory on future federal administrations.A step forward, at this point, wouldbe to define policies for social advancement, includingconsistent employment policies, policiesto reduce unemployment and the expansion ofthe informal economy, and education and socialpolicies that would not only increase the welfare oflower income groups but also their qualificationsand productivity.On the credit policy side not much needs tobe done at this point. Financial regulation is beingredesigned in international forums but the CentralBank of Brazil does not seem to want to be innovativein this field. The aggressiveness with which publicbanks acted during the crisis seems to have servedas a wake-up call for private banks, which are takingsteps to expand their own credit supply. This can bebeneficial in terms of improving the cost of capitalfor productive activities and to finance consumers’expenditures.It is on the investment front that, together withthe balance of payments risks referred to above,the horizon is more uncertain. The relatively smalldegree of damage caused by the first wave of thecrisis to hit the economy in late 2008 and early 2009seemed to strengthen the investment proclivitiesof the Brazilian economy. However, the investmentrate is still very low, much lower than necessary fora developing economy seeking to make the transitionto developed nation status. In particular, infrastructureinvestments are still very far behind what isurgently needed. Besides, environment concerns arenot adequately taken into account and the countrymay be promoting investments in sectors and processesthat may become rapidly obsolete. Also someinvestment projects, particularly in electric powergeneration, are surrounded by controversy as totheir impacts on local communities and the environment,raising debate as to the wisdom of these typesof investment.The most important risks ahead result fromthe fact that, clearly, the world economy has not yetturned the page on the global financial crisis. As thestrong turbulence hitting the Euro zone has shown,there are still great dangers waiting in the future. Infact, the effects of a full-fledged crisis in the Eurozone may have an even worse impact on developingeconomies and on Brazil in particular, than the financialcrash of 2008. Available policy instruments wereenough to control and overcome the 2008 crisis. Asecond wave of crisis and instability may be formingright now with no clear picture of what the outcomemay look like.One important lesson, however, seems to havebeen learned: that neoliberalism and the laissez passerattitude characteristic of the Brazilian governmentsup to 2005-06 would have been lethal. The activistposture of 2009 may be a better guarantee of a saferfuture for the country’s economy and society. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>73Brazil
ulgariaFinance for development in times of crisisIt has not yet been possible to evaluate the impact of the world economic crisis on progress in education and employment in Bulgaria or onhow much progress has been made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, it is clear that now that the countryis in the process of establishing full membership of the European Union, some development objectives are still a long way off. In the pastit was a recipient of aid and now it is a donor, but it has fallen far short of the target set for Official Development Aid (ODA) in <strong>2010</strong>. Thereare no clear mechanisms or procedures for awarding aid to other countries. Cooperation and communication among the actors involvedhas to be strengthened, the gender dimension has to be included in the aid programs and people’s awareness must be raised.Bulgarian Gender Research FoundationBulgarian European Partnership Association100Prior to the world economic and financial crisis, inBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9894 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 73Empowerment2008, large amounts of capital flowed into Bulgaria,5344which generated high levels of internal demand. Asa consequence, the country’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) increased considerably and employment00098 expanded, but the country also saw an increase in9699997296its current account deficit and the economy overheated,with big pay rises and double-digit inflation. Births attended by100 100 65100100 100100 100When the boom came to an end in the last quarter skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationof 2008, the flow of foreign capital slowed down,IEG of Brazil = 68100non-export areasBCItoofsectorsBulgariathat= 98export as a wayto underpin GDP growth. But according to the IMF,this measure will be successful only if pay rises arebrought quite severely under control. These felldramatically from their peak of 25% in the secondquarter of 2008 to 10.6% in the last quarter of 2009(in both cases compared to the same period in theprevious year).The Government maintains that the changes inits public policies will prepare the country for eventualentry into the euro group, which it sees as theonly viable strategy to escape from the crisis. It alsoargues that maintaining fiscal discipline and intensifyingstructural policies will strengthen the economicfoundations and viability of the economy. Thus ithas set a goal of reducing the deficit to 0.7% of GDPin <strong>2010</strong>, and has taken a series of measures to dothis, including reducing the budget. This has meanta freeze on public sector pay and pensions, a reductionin the public administration and stricter controlof expenditure on health services. The IMF stance isthat although reducing social security contributionscould in principle initially help to reduce the cost oflabour and increase competitiveness, it risks wideningthe financing gap in the social security systemand would thus require greater transfers. This in turnrisks missing the medium-term budget objectivesand might not be sustainable, particularly as regardsthe pensions system.To avoid this possibility, the IMF has calledfor urgent reform in the pensions system. Its recommendationsinclude freezing pensions in <strong>2010</strong>,smaller increases in pensions in the years ahead,and adjustments to the pensions system, includingraising the retirement age or raising the minimumnumber of years of contributions required to qualifyfor a pension.IEG of Bulgaria = 73Persisting backwardnesscausing a reduction in internal demand. At the sametime, the onset of recession among the country’strade partners led to a fall in exports. As a result,GDP contracted by 5.1% in 2009, its first fall sincethe financial crisis of 1996-1997.A long period of adjustmentIn March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)forecast that the country’s economy would start torecover in <strong>2010</strong> and that GDP would grow by 0.2%,although internal demand is expected 15 to fall still further.1 0As a result of the slowdown in investment, atighter credit situation and weak economic activity,25investment may well continue to decrease, 91 and to100100 100make matters worse, domestic consumption will decreaseas employment shrinks. This would make foran even greater deficit in the current account, whichb Rep. = 91 IEG of Egypt = 44has gone from 8.5% of GDP in 2009 to 5.5% in <strong>2010</strong>.According to the IMF report, inflation will probablyremain moderate at around 2.2%, but unemploymentshould increase from an estimated average of7.8% in 2009 to 9.2% in <strong>2010</strong>. 2However, the unions and workers’ organizationsare more pessimistic, foreseeing double-digitunemployment that could go as high as 20%. Averageunemployment as of January <strong>2010</strong> was 9.9%,but in some parts of the country it was over 15%.Following the IMF recommendations, the Governmentexpects that the private sector and alsopublic action will adjust to the new situation, andit has begun to formulate its policies based on thissupposition. For example, the IMF view is that theprivate sector should reallocate resources from1 International Monetary Fund, 1 March <strong>2010</strong>. .2 Ibid.After the recent elections, in the first fewmonths of its administration, the Government triedto initiate discussion about increasing the retirementage and the time periods required to qualify for a pension,but it decided to postpone this reform becauseunemployment was on the rise. At the same time,it stopped transfer payments that according to theConstitution the State is required to make to peopleunder 18 years old, pensioners and people receivingsocial assistance or unemployment benefits. Inan attempt to contain the budget deficit, transfersamounting to a third of the health insurance budgetwere not paid. The health system now lacks sufficient98funds to pay its medical and administrative staff,with the result that hospitals were closed in smalltowns far from the big regional hospitals. However,this led to massive protests and beginning in March,repeated health system strikes.There is still lively debate about the effectivenessof Government policies to cope with the crisis.All of the measures taken up to now are pro-cyclicalin that they involve cutting expenditure and slowingdown the economy, resulting in increased unemploymentand a drift to the informal economy. Thismakes it hard to believe the Government will focus itsefforts on attaining the goal of 0.17% of GDP.98100100In official circles there is a degree of optimism withregard to progress towards the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs), 3 but it is clear that Bulgaria is facingserious obstacles to development, and these have3 UNDP, “Bulgaria Has Grounds for Optimism in Push forMDGs,” Bulgaria, 24 October 2008. Available from: .100100National reports 74 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010095
een aggravated by the world crisis. In October 2008,the country’s second report on the MDGs 4 showedthat it was on the way to attaining some of these objectivesand in some cases results were exceedingexpectations. For example, progress towards the goalof an infant mortality rate of 7 per 1,000 in 2015 waspromising given that from the 2001 figure of 14.4 ithad been brought down to 11.8 in 2006. The situationas regards the long term unemployment target of 7%in 2015 is also encouraging as the rate fell from 9.5%on 2001 to 6% in 2005 and then 3.9% in June 2007. 5In any case, progress towards the MDGs hasto be seen in the context of the transition towardsfull membership in the European Union (EU). In thisframework, Bulgaria’s first report on the MDGs, publishedin 2003, contained goals for 2015 that wereadapted to the process of integration into the EU. 6But while some indicators such as education and unemploymentwere on a par with European averages,others – like monthly income, minimum income, infantmortality and various environmental indicators– lagged far behind. 7 The minimum wage is below the2015 target of 170 euros, which means Bulgaria is stilla “medium low income” country in the EU context.Another factor is that progress towards theMDGs has been accompanied by greater inequalityand exclusion: some 10% of the population accountfor 40% of the country’s income and expenditure.This proportion, which is exacerbated by deterioratingquality and rising costs in the basic educationand health areas, means greater inequality of opportunities.In particular, low incomes, low educationallevels and limited access to health services havebrought about serious social divisions very much tothe disadvantage of some regions and ethnic groups,such as the gypsy minority.Aid: the change from recipient to donorFor more than 15 years Bulgaria enjoyed the benefitsof numerous aid programs financed by Germany,France and the United Kingdom, to help it developwithin the European Union, and it also received assistancefrom countries such as Japan, Switzerlandand the United States.4 UNDP, Millennium Development Goals <strong>Report</strong> for Bulgaria2008, Bulgaria, October 2008. Available from: .5 Bulgaria’s average monthly income target for 2015 is 280euros. In 2001 this stood at only 91 euros but by 2009average monthly income had risen to 300 euros.6 UNDP, Millennium Development Goals <strong>Report</strong> for Bulgaria2003, Bulgaria. March 2003. Available from: .7 According to the 2008 MDG report, the infant mortalityrate per 1,000 live births was 10.4, as against the Europeanaverage of 4.7. In another field, energy from renewablesources, the rate varied from 4% to 7% while in contrast theaverage in the European Union was over 20%.Bulgaria’s second MDG report contained a reviewof the progress that had been made, but thistime from the perspective of a full EU member country–a status it officially acquired on 1 January 2007.With this report the country changed from being arecipient of aid to being an emerging donor, in linewith Goal 8, to promote a world partnership for development.This commitment to actively participate in EUdevelopment policies obliged Bulgaria to contributespecific amounts of official development aid (ODA)set for the new EU members, including 0.17% ofGross National Income (GNI) by <strong>2010</strong> and 0.33% ofGNI by 2015. But Bulgaria is a very long way fromthese targets: in 2008 its ODA decreased from 16million euros to 13 million, which amounted to only0.04% of the country’s GNI. According to a 2007Government report, Bulgarian development assistance“will mainly be used for poverty eradication andtackling economic under development in countriesthat are members (of the EU),” especially parts ofsouth-east Europe and regions on the Black Sea. 8Challenges and opportunitiesMost Bulgarian ODA is channelled to internationalorganizations like the United Nations agencies, theWorld Trade Organization (WTO) and internationalbodies such as the Red Cross. Since 2008, Bulgariahas also been contributing to the European DevelopmentFund (EDF), the main instrument whereby theUnion administers assistance for development. Accordingto a 2009 report, 9 the level of contributionsfrom private donors and humanitarian aid organizationshas been underestimated by the governmentofficials in charge of implementing Bulgarian ODA,and this is one of the greatest weaknesses in the developmentaid strategy as it stands at the moment.There is a clearly-defined framework for howODA should be administered, but Bulgaria does nothave concrete mechanisms or procedures to providetechnical or financial assistance to other countries.This, along with a lack of clarity in the institutionalinfrastructure for aid provision, administration andevaluation, seriously impedes effective implementationof aid programs.Before 2008 there were no annual reports orevaluations about how aid was being managed. Thiswas partly because the country was new to the role ofaid donor, and it seems that monitoring and evaluationprocesses were underestimated. There is almost no8 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Bulgaria’s policy on participationin international development cooperation,” concept paper, 18June 2007.9 Vessela Gertcheva, “Bulgarian Official DevelopmentAssistance and Peacebuilding,” Initiative for Peacebuilding,Partners for Democratic Change International, November2008. Available from: .information about what happened before or whetherany progress was in fact made, and this applies inparticular to the area of financial resources. There is noevidence that the Government even had a plan, sincethere are no public reports about projects or sectors towhich funds were allocated in the years before 2008.The need for transparencyWe have seen that one of the weakest points in Bulgaria’said management system is that it lacks transparency.Information about aid decision-making isnot available to the general public, and it is extremelydifficult to find out anything about aid flows. In Governmentinformation channels such as its Internetsites there is almost no information, or if there is itis hardly relevant.The reality is that decisions about developmentaid are usually taken unilaterally. Some NGOs havebegun to play a more important role in the developmentaid process, but there is still a long way togo. Some NGOs were consulted when the 2009 to2011 medium-term assistance strategy was beingformulated, but if aid mechanisms are to be reallydemocratic these consultations must be extended toinclude discussion of more specific issues and mustinvolve actors from partner countries.Civil society recommendationsNGOs have submitted a number of recommendations,including:• Government should finalize its aid strategy,making national strategy reports for countriesthat it views as a priority.• The Bulgarian Platform for International Development(BPID) should establish strongercontacts with suitable experts in other stateinstitutions.• Funds should be allocated for training forgovernment officials and civil society representativesin order to strengthen dialogue andtransparency.• Evaluations of aid management (including thegender aspect) in the priority countries shouldbe made so as to determine the real needs andensure that Bulgaria’s ODA strategy is tailoredto meet those needs.• Government should work to include gender aspectsas a specific thematic program, and intensifycooperation between gender-focused civilsociety organizations and State institutions.• Government should set up a forum for regularmeetings among stakeholders, including civilsociety organizations, to discuss ODA priorities.• Government should mount a public informationcampaign to make clear exactly what Bulgaria’sODA obligations are. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>75Bulgaria
urma100100100875252No development without justice: denouncing the democratic farce05198100 100 100100 1000Against the backdrop of no 87rule of law, Burma was recently ranked the 5th worst in the world regarding51999899economic freedom. The 100 2008 Constitution and the 100general elections scheduled for <strong>2010</strong> will onlyperpetuate military rule and stagnation. Transparent, fair and accountable institutions are necessaryfor development, which cannot coexist with rampant human rights abuses, corruption and politicalIEG of El Salvador = 68 INGLES BCI of El Salvador = 91 IEG of El Salvador = 68oppression. The United Nations Security Council should establish a Commission of Inquiry toinvestigate crimes in the country.010090Burma Lawyers’ CouncilBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong>100100BCI = 77The military regime, through the State Peace andChildren reachingDevelopment Council (SPDC), has been devastating73 5th gradeBurma’s population by means of s/d rampant humanrights abuses and pervasive criminality since 1988.The SPDC has paired these abuses with impunity,0creating a system in which there is no accountability00s/dfor perpetrators of even the most vicious s/d crimes.6990Criminality and impunity are facilitated by a judiciarythat is subservient to the will of the leaders andbends the nation’s laws to preserve and enhance theJunta’s power.Against this background, the nation’s economy A good exampleINGLESofBCIthe SPDC’sof Myanmarrampant=corruption77has regressed to the point where it was recentlyand disrespect of property rights is the Yaungplaced in 5 th to last position in a ranking of economic Chi Oo case, which concerns a joint venture betweenfreedom. 1 Internationally, the economy is regarded a Singapore-based company and the Ministry of Industryas corrupt and severely mismanaged. 2 Burma is alsoto reopen Mandalay Brewery. Mandalay Beerranked 138 out of 182 countries 100 in the 2009 UNDP became a recognized brand 100 name, but before the end100 100 100100 100100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5Human Development Index, indicating a severe lackof economic and social development. 3 Advances ineconomic development can only s/doccur when thecurrent climate of criminality and oppression endsand perpetrators are brought to justice.of the five-year agreement a dispute arose. Althoughthe Ministry was required to refer the dispute to arbitration,the SPDC seized the factory and all the assets,59subverting the legal process laid down by its own law.The bank accounts of the partner were frozen andbusinesses will be deterred from engaging with theBurmese economy. 100Transparent, fair and accountable institutionsare necessary requirements for economic development,which cannot coexist with n/d rampant humanrights abuses, corruption and political oppression.Burma’s development will only be fully realized once0the judiciary is independent from the SPDC and alln/dparties respect the rule of law. In addition n/d to stronglegal and judicial institutions, the country’s economichealth requires political institutions that provide accessto information and accountability. Actually,there are no institutions of this sort.Pseudo-democratic means to perpetuatethe JuntaFor decades the SPDC has mismanaged the country’seconomy. The 2008 Constitution and the generalelections scheduled 100 for <strong>2010</strong> will perpetuatethe military rule and the corresponding economicstagnation. The Constitution includes problematicarticles that will restrict opposition n/d groups from participatingin the elections and will grant impunity forthe crimes of government officials.000its owners were threatened with arrest for alleged Burma’s 2008 Constitution is not a step forwardfor democracyNo transparency, s/d no developments/dmisappropriation of funds. When the parties wentn/dbut a bald attempt n/dby the SPDC80 80The general lack of trust in the SPDC and its governanceto court, the judge ignored 33 the Singapore company’s to remain in power. It was drafted by the military100 has significant effects on Burma’s economic100 100development. Foreign businesses are reluctant tooperate in a nation where disputes will be settledby a judiciary partial to the Government and wherethe State does not fully respect individual propertyrights. In some cases foreign businesses are shutdown. The Economic Enterprises Law reservesmany sectors of the economy – such as banking,100 100arguments and unjustifiably used its broad discretionunder the law to rule in favour of the Government. 5The Burmese Foreign Investment Law (FIL)guarantees that INGLES no foreign BCI company of Somalia shall = be 57nation-alized during the permitted period of investment. TheFIL also contains a section that allows the SPDC to terminatea contract before it expires. 6 As demonstratedin the Yaung Chi Oo case, the regime and its courts can100 100with no input from opposing political parties or otherlegal experts. The Constitution removes the militaryfrom civilian oversight, breaking a peremptory normof international law and allowing the military to remainthe most powerful institution in the country. 7Article 121 of the Constitution prevents many politicalopponents from running for office because as itprohibits those serving prison sentences from beinginsurance, telecommunications, extraction of specifiedresources and teak harvesting – for the State, company when advantageous to the Government. imprisoning over 2,000 political opponents – in-manipulate these regulations in order to nationalize a elected to a parliamentary seat. Now, the SPDC is10010010087giving the SPDC exclusive control over them. 4To a large extent, a successful market economydividuals who will thus be excluded. 8 Additionally,depends on the trust the market participants the text of the document prohibits key opponents441 Heritage Foundation, “<strong>2010</strong> Index of Economic Freedom:Burma.” Available from: .0efficient, just and affordable 0 judicial mechanism to President if he/she is married 0 to a foreigner. This2 See, for example, Transparency International, “Corruption resolve disputes, including those involving governments.This is clearly not the case in Burma. 98 Without ried to a British citizen, from becoming President. 98provision excludes Aung San Suu Kyi, who is mar-Perceptions Index 2009.” Available from: .3 UNDP, “Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009: Myanmar.”1Available from: .Investment Laws,” INGLES Legal BCI Issues of on Venezuela, Burma Journal RB (August = 91IEG of Venezuela = 68decision of the Commander-in-Chief is final and conclusive”).4 State-Owned Economic Enterprises Law (SLORC Law No.9/89), 1989.2001).6 Ibid.8 Assistance Association of Political Prisoners Burma.Available from: .99100National reports 76 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Sexual violence and rape as a weapon of warAmid constant oppression and violence, women’s status in Burma is worsening.Several grassroots organizations along the Thai-Burma border aredocumenting the rampant human rights abuses committed by members ofthe military. The crimes of the military junta span a wide range of offensesincluding unlawful killings, forced disappearances, rape, forced labor, andforced relocation, among many others. Each of these crimes is harmful towomen but crimes of gender-based violence have perhaps the most profoundimpact on the status of women in Burma.Members of the SPDC commit crimes of sexual violence with shockingregularity. The SPDC uses rape as a weapon of war, especially in its attackson ethnic groups in the eastern part of the country. 1 The regime increased itsattacks on ethnic groups over the past fifteen years – and these attacks includethe systematic use of sexual violence. 2 Many women were gang raped by membersof the military, who sometimes torture and/or murder their victims. 3 Sexualviolence is not a crime committed by a few random members of the military;it is a part of the SPDC’s concerted strategy to attack ethnic and oppositiongroups. 4 Those who commit such crimes are not brought to justice and impunityreigns in Burma. 5 Because the Burmese courts are not independent from themilitary government victims of gender-based violence and other crimes haveno recourse in the Burmese legal system. The culture of impunity that protectsperpetrators of sexual violence allows such crimes to continue unabated.1 See, e.g., Shan Women’s Action Network, License to Rape (May 2002).2 Ibid.3 U.S. Campaign for Burma, People, Politics, Poverty. Available from: (last visited 8 December 2009).4 See Shan Women’s Action Network, supra note 2.5 Ibid.The SPDC’s rampant sexual violence and lack of accountability hasnot gone unnoticed in the international community. The United NationsSecretary General recently acknowledged that the SPDC is in breach of itsobligations under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1820. Andthis resolution was designed specifically to protect women from sexualviolence in situations of conflict. 6 The Secretary General took note of theregime’s widespread use of sexual violence against ethnic minority womenin rural areas; the military’s sexual harassment of unaccompanied womenand girls; the legal system’s inability or unwillingness to adjudicate crimesof sexual violence; and the pervasive impunity that shields perpetrators ofgender-based violence from prosecution.In addition to sexual violence, the SPDC’s war crimes and crimesagainst humanity have disproportionately affected women. Since 1996 theSPDC burned 3,500 villages in eastern Burma. The aftermath was comparedby the Thailand Burma Border Consortium to the severe destruction whichoccurs in Darfur. 7 The massive burning of homes and food has generatedlarge numbers of displaced people. Women are especially harmed throughforced displacement from their homes and they become more vulnerable totrafficking and dangerous work.Source: Putting gender economics at the forefront. 15 years afterthe IV World Conference on Women. <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Occasional Papers 06.February <strong>2010</strong>. n6 United Nations Security Council, <strong>Report</strong> of the Secretary-General Pursuant to SecurityCouncil Resolution 1820, July 15, 2009, S/2009/362.7 Thailand Burma Border Consortium, Press Release: “Rising Instability in Eastern Burma”,29 October 2009. Available from: .the elections will be members of the SPDC or thosefriendly to the current Government.Most shockingly, the Constitution also includesan article that purports to grant amnestyto all SPDC perpetrators. 9 The provision is writtenbroadly and would enshrine impunity for the mostheinous crimes, including crimes against humanityand war crimes. The amnesty article renders theentire Constitution invalid under international law.Granting perpetrators of serious crimes a blanketamnesty violates the Geneva Convention, customaryinternational law and provisions of Security CouncilResolutions 1325 and 1820, which prohibit impunityfor sexual violence in conflict areas.Strong institutions that protect the rule of lawand an independent judiciary are essential for economicadvances. These institutions must embody accountability,access to information and transparency.The 2008 Constitution represents a marked departurefrom the rule of law and will further denigrate the nation’sjudicial system. It will not provide any advancementin transparency, independence or accountabilityfor the nation’s legal or political institutions. It includesseveral articles that will hamper these requirementsfor functional legal, judicial and political institutions.The Constitution will further the military rule that untilnow has destroyed institutional accountability, accessto information and transparency.For its part, the <strong>2010</strong> vote will sanctify the 2008Constitution. After the elections, Burma’s legal, judicialand political institutions will be too weak toeffectively advance the nation’s economy. Insteadof pushing the country forward, the elections willentrench impunity, criminality and unfair politicalpractices. The new Constitution will drive the countryfurther into economic depression and isolation,while this year’s elections will engrain a culture ofcriminality and militarization in the country.RecommendationsEconomic development is tied to strong institutions,good governance, and peace and security. The SP-DC’s constant repression of civil, political, economic,social and cultural rights has translated into minimaleconomic development over the past few decades.The Burma Lawyers’ Council makes the followingrecommendations concerning Burma’s 2008Constitution and the upcoming <strong>2010</strong> elections:• In order to encourage significant economic developmentin Burma and real improvements inthe quality of life, the SPDC must engage in inclusiveconstitutional review with all stakeholders,form an independent judiciary and establishrespect for the rule of law.• The Constitution must establish a politicalsystem that is accountable, provides access toinformation and is transparent.• Because the 2008 Constitution as it is currentlywritten violates peremptory norms of internationallaw, the United Nations Security Councilshould declare it null and void. All States shouldrefuse to recognize the Constitution and theresults of any election based upon it.• Because a partial judiciary and the impunityprovision of the Constitution prevent domesticcourts from effectively judging the SPDC’scrimes, the UN Security Council should establisha Commission of Inquiry to investigate internationalcrimes in Burma. n9 Constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (2008),art. 445 (“No proceedings shall be instituted against thesaid Councils or any member thereof or any member of theGovernment, in respect of any act done in the execution oftheir respective duties.”).<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>77Burma
CameroonAid must be more efficiently managedAlthough Cameroon will not achieve the MDGs by 2015, it may become an emerging country beforethe 2035 deadline set in its 2007 Strategic Document for Growth and Employment. For this to happen,the State must completely overhaul its economic and financial governance, among other things, and putan equal value on the skills of its women, men, young people and adults. In order for the managementof international aid to become more efficient, civil society organizations have issued a call for genderto be taken into account and for better coordination with donors.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Cameroon 1NGO Group for Food Security and Rural Development(COSADER)100Christine AndelaRegional African Centre for Endogenous Community Development(CRADEC)53Jean Mballa MballaGovernance & Entrepreneurship Consultation Group(GECOG)Samuel Biroki0Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 75 GEI = 5176 Children reaching5th grade0100014Empowerment9972968780Between 2004 and 2009 Cameroon managed to100 100 100100 6310010057100maintain political stability except for a wave of protestsBirths attended byin 2008 against the rising cost of living. 2 On the skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationdomestic front a process of political decentralizationIEG of Bulgaria = 73began, while in foreign relations sovereignty over theBakassi peninsula was peacefully ceded by Nigeria. 3In addition, good macroeconomic results made itpossible for the country to reach the decision andculmination points in the World Bank’s Heavily IndebtedPoor Countries initiative, which opened upaccess to debt relief plans and new lines of financefor development programs.However, in spite of this encouraging progress,the country still has serious development problems.Cameroon is ranked 153 out of 182 countries in the2009 UNDP Human Development Index, which estimatesthat over 57% of the population are living onless than USD 2 a day. 4 Data from 2001 show thatsome 32% of the population were illiterate – and therate for women (40%) was almost double the rateamong men (23%). 5 According to official estimates,the unemployment rate in 2007 was 6.2% overall,and 14.1% in urban areas. The under-employmentrate was 75.8%, while the informal sector remained1 The Cameroon National <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Coalition includessome 15 associations and is based on Dynamic Citizenship,an independent network structured around the 10 regions ofthe country.2 In that year there were strikes and street demonstrations inDouala, the economic capital, in protest against the cost offuel and food. These subsequently spread to the rest of thecountry.3 After an international court ruling in 2002, Nigeria ceded itsclaims to the peninsula in August 2008, thus putting an endto a long-running dispute between the two countries thatnearly led to war in 1981.4 UNDP, “Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009: Cameroon.”Available from: .5 CIA, “The World Factbook.” Available from: .by far the largestBCIproviderof Cameroonof employment= 75(90% ofthe total). 6IEG of Cameroon = 51strategy, (d) employment strategy, (e) governanceand state management, (f) the macroeconomic andbudget framework, and (g) the institutional frameworkGrowth and employmentIn this context, the Government set out its long-termgoals in its Strategic Document 100 95 for Growth and Employment(DSCE according to its French acronym),designed to transform Cameroon in successive 10-and start-up and follow-up DSCE mecha-nisms.With a view to accelerating 100 growth, formalizingemployment and reducing poverty, the Governmentbegan implementation with some concrete targets:year phases into an emerging, democratic country by2035 that is united in spite of its diversity. 7 The plan is• To raise the average annual growth to 5.5% in30the <strong>2010</strong> to 2020 period.based on four basic pillars:0• To cut informal work 0 by at least 50% by 2020• To reduce poverty to a socially acceptable level. through the creation of tens of thousands of47• To 98reach the status of a middle income 99coun-formal jobs over the next 10 years. 99try. 100 100•100 100To reduce monetary poverty from 39.9% in• To become an industrialized country.2007 to 28.7% in 2020.• To strengthen the democratic process and nationalunity. BCI of malaysia = 97 The role of official IEG of development Malaysia 58 assistanceIts executive summary presents the DSCE asan integrated development framework with financialcoherence, coordination between government actionand foreign aid, consultation and cooperation100with civil society, the private sector and developmentpartners, and guided by analytical 82 studies to clarifythe management of development. The documentconsists of seven interdependent chapters that dealwith: (a) an examination of development policies, (b)the vision for long-term 0development, (c) growth6 OECD, African Economic Outlook, 2008. Available 8744from:.100 1007 The DSCE is a second generation Poverty Reduction StrategyPaper (PRSP) but it is often criticized by civil societyorganizations for being too restrictive and rather ineffective.BCI of Kenya = 71Available from: [in French].According to data from the Organization for EconomicCo-operation and Development (OECD), theamounts of official development assistance (ODA)that Cameroon receives – through the World Bank,UNDP and the OECD – have varied between 5% and10010% of the country’s budget in the past five years. 8The average percentage among aid-receiving countriesthat have subscribed to the Paris Declaration is12%, so it might be said that Cameroon is not heavilydependent on these resources. 11Of the 13 donors involved 0 in Cameroon theEuropean Union and France are by far the largest. In812008–2013 the EU’s European Development 85 Fund100 100contributed EUR 239 million and the amount of aid8 AFRODAD, A Critical IEG Assessment of Kenya of = Aid 59Management& Donor Harmonisation–The Case of Cameroon, 2007.Available from: .National reports 78 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010097
from France increased considerably thanks to a Contractof Debt Reduction and Development, which wassigned in June 2006 in Yaoundé for EUR 500 million.This means that France is subsidizing the re-financingof all its ODA credits for the 2006-<strong>2010</strong> period.For a very long time foreign donors and theCameroon Government worked separately, eachon its own projects, but things have now improvedthanks in particular to the program to implement theprinciples of the Paris Declaration. The Governmenthas set up a mechanism for dialogue to allocate andutilize the aid more efficiently. This involves twiceyearlymeetings between the General Secretary of theMi nistry of Economy, Planning and Land Distributionand representatives from the donors’ committee, parliamentand civil society. It is through this mechanismthat the Government and its partners define what roleaid is to play in development, employment creationand the vision of Cameroon 2035. They also discussthe reforms the Government ought to implement tomake the aid more effective in terms of results.In 2008 the OECD submitted an evaluation ofthe Cameroon aid situation based on the indicatorsspecified in the Paris Declaration. This concludedthat the Government must improve its leadershipof national development, and donors should ensurethat agreements made in the OECD offices are reflectedin more harmonious management when thetime comes to execute joint projects, which meansthe two sides should assume joint responsibility forthe outcomes.Some public investment projects have yieldedvisible results – for example, new infrastructure inthe cities of Yaoundé and Douala and the constructionof the Cameroon-Gabon-Central African Republictrans-national highway. However, according to astudy by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation(GTZ), Cameroon’s capacity to receive more aidis in many cases limited by the failure of the Governmentand its technical and financial partners to coordinatewith each other or reach agreements aboutpriorities. Moreover, civil society groups criticizepublic officials as being de-motivated, mired in corruption,incompetent and incapable of implementingambitious programs and projects to develop thecountry in spite of the ODA it receives.The main problemsGenderIndicators show that primary schooling for girlshas improved, with the girl/boy ratio rising from0.83 to 0.89 in the 2001 to 2007 period. In secondaryeducation, however, there was a reduction overthe same period: the ratio fell from 0.93 to 0.86. Asindicated above, the illiteracy rate is bigger amongwomen than men. The literacy ratio among youngwomen (ages 15-24) has remained stable at approximately0.88. 9Since more than 55% of the economically activepopulation (female and male) work in the informalagriculture, 10 any sustainable development projecthas to address the needs of this economic sector,which is also that among which poverty is most widespread.Yet the consideration of gender is still verymuch based on the feminization of jobs; women’s labourforce participation in the non-agricultural sectormerely rose from 21% in 2006 to 22% in 2009. 11 Thisincrease is rather small because people’s attitudes togender issues change very slowly. It is more difficultfor women to access the means of production likeland, credit and appropriate technologies. 12In 2009, women were still extraordinarily underrepresentedin decision-making areas such as highpositions in the public sector, national representationand decentralized land collectives. Women held only13.9% of the seats in parliament and headed 12.5%of ministries. There were just 24 women out of 180deputies in the legislature for the 2007-2012 period,a regression from the 1988-1992 legislature in which14.4% were women. 13Cameroon was rated at 51 points by the 2009<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Gender Equity Index, which measuresthe gap between women and men based ona number of different indicators (with 100 pointsdenoting equality). This is below the sub-SaharanAfrica average of 55 points and shows severe regressionsince 2004. 14In view of these data, and going beyond Governmentrhetoric in favour of gender equality, civilsociety is calling for more concrete action to combatinequality in areas where it still persists. Thisincludes proposing a law that would ensure gender-responsive indicators that are in place to measurechanges in the situation of women and men in allsectors during the implementation of the DSCEproject and other plans geared to 2035. The maincomponents of this proposal are:• Setting parity quotas for women/men, youngpeople/adults and the disabled.• Identifying existing institutions or creating institutionsto exercise supervision, direction, application,control, follow-up and sanctioningin this area.HealthUNICEF statistics for 2008 placed the under-five childmortality rate at 131 per 1,000 live births, 15 showingan improvement. However this is still very far fromthe target for 2015. The reduction was made possibleby an increase in vaccinations against measles(coverage went from 64.8% to 78.8%), the promotionof breastfeeding and the fight against childhoodillnesses and nutritional deficiency.From 1998 to 2004 maternal mortality increasedfrom 430 to 669 per 100,000 births. To reach theMDG target for this indicator the figure should be nothigher than 350. 16ConclusionAlthough Cameroon will fail to attain most of theMDGs by 2015, it could become an emerging countrybefore the deadline set in the DSCE. To do this itwill have to, among other things, make sweepingchanges to its economic and financial governanceand place an equal value on the skills of its women,men, young people, adults and disabled populationwith no discrimination of any kind.If development programs are to be implementedmore efficiently and yield good end results it iscrucially important for funds to be managed in amuch better way, which means a far higher degreeof coordination between the Government and itstechnical and financial partners abroad. This shouldstart with jointly setting a clear list of priorities. n9 DSCE, p. 13. Available from: [in French].10 Backiny-Yetna, Prosper, “Secteur informel, fiscalité et équité:l’exemple du Cameroun,” The African Statistical Journal,Volume 9, November 2009.11 World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap <strong>Report</strong>.12 DSCE, op. cit.13 Inter-Parliamentary Union, “Women in Parliaments,” database available from: .14 Available from: .15 UNICEF, 2008. Available from: .16 DSCE, op. cit.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>79Cameroon
canada100100s/dPost-crisis development strategy: “business as usual”s/ds/d0The Canadian Government has studiously ignored the 74 lessons of the recent global economic crisis and adopteda “business as usual” approach. 100 Committed to a quick return 100 to the dominant 100 ideology of the past two decades 100– more market, less government – it has refused to undertake the structural reforms necessary to stabilize theeconomy and promote human development within Canada and its economic partners. Deficit reduction isBCI of Afghanistan = 0being achieved by further cuts to social spending. While stock markets and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) arerecovering, further backsliding is expected in equality and development levels at home and abroad.s/d0s/d100n/Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing(WIEGO)Zoe HornNorth-South InstituteJohn FosterCanadian Centre for Policy AlternativesArmine YalnizyanBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009BCI = 99+100100Children reachingGEI = 745th grade10054EmpowermentThe recent crisis of confidence in the WashingtonConsensus development paradigm has not deterredthe Canadian Government from getting back to businessas usual. For 20 years, the country has pursuedeconomic policies that entrench it among the world’s“plutonomies,” where a small minority – the top 1to 5% – increasingly dominates governance andeconomic growth policy. Canada’s coordination withlike-minded governments has exacerbated globalmacroeconomic and domestic imbalances throughtrade and investment integration policies, intellectualproperty protections, financial deregulation, developmentof ever-more-complex financial instruments,and elite-friendly taxation measures. Redistributivepolicies, such as unemployment insurance, employmentcreation, and poverty eradication have takena back seat in Canadian policy priorities. Despite aglobal crisis of a force unseen in generations, theGovernment does not seem to have considered whichpolicies would best offset the acceleration of economicand financial instability at home and abroad.Rather, there is a reckless determination to return assoon as possible to the dominant ideology of the pasttwo decades: more market, less government.During the crisis “bailouts” to the financial sectorin Canada were prioritized over the investmentsof ordinary citizens. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’sFebruary 2009 stimulus package amounted to CAD18 billion (about USD 17 billion) for 2009-<strong>2010</strong>, andits core features included tax cuts for the wealthy andprofitable corporations. In contrast, USD 186 billionwas made available to support the financial sectorwith almost no conditions. 1 In addition, the Governmenthas failed to advocate for greater regulation ofthe international financial sector; rather it has opposedproposals for new international taxes on thesector, such as those advanced by the United Kingdomand other European governments. Canada’s1 Bruce Campbell, “The Global Economic Crisis and itsCanadian Dimension,” The Monitor, 1 July 2009. Availablefrom: .1000100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5bias toward the “invitation only clubs” of the G-8and G-20 led it to spend 2008 and much of 2009 inUN debates on financing for development opposinginitiatives to move toward a Global EconomicCoordination Council and other comprehensive andinclusive responses to 100 the global crisis. Under coverof an urgent need for deficit 90 reduction, the countryis quickly returning to a failed “business as usual”model of capitalism. Disastrously, this outdatedstance is undermining Canada’s capacity to live upto its domestic and international development commitments.09996100 74100Economic activityBCI of Canada = 100 IEG of Canada = 74EducationSince the mid-1990s, inequality in Canada has grownfaster than in most other Organisation for EconomicCo-operation and Development (OECD) countries. 2In 1976, median earnings among the richest 10%of working-age Canadian households were 14 timesthat of the poorest 10%. 100 By 2007, they were earning223 times as much, and after-tax inequality hasgrown by almost 50% since 1976. 3 Although, Canadaexperienced a period of rapid economic expansionfrom the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s, the pastdecade has also witnessed the accelerated erosion0of its manufacturing sector, a 6critical source of wellpaying,unionized jobs.9899Canada’s domestic development record36Even before the recession over 3 million Canadianswere living below the poverty line. 4 Stag-100 100100 100At home, the fight to reduce poverty, unemployment,and inequality has been severely hampered by nant wages and rising costs depleted savings andcuts to government spending over the last 25 years. led to the ballooning of personal debt as a way forThe share of federal BCI of Government Lebanon = 92 IEG of Lebanon = 47spending in the many to maintain their standard of living. Canadaeconomy was halved between the early 1980s and has lost over 485,000 full-time jobs since Octoberthe late 1990s (see Chart 1). In the short term, the 2008, 5 many of them permanently. Imminent cutsrecession has reversed this trend, but federal fiscal to the public sector will eliminate more well-payingstrategies shaped by short-term stimulus spending jobs. The ranks of the self-employed, part-time, andare now giving way to trimmed-down budgets that temporarily employed have grown since the crisis100100have deficit management at their 97 core. The contributionof the federal level of Government – which sets paid, less secure work. Government income sup-hit, accelerating the longer-term shift towards lowerthe tone for economic strategy and allows subsidiarylevels of government to offer roughly equivalent 2 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developments/dlevels of service – is already near historically low (OECD), “Country Note: Canada,” in Growing Unequal?:levels. Post-crisis budgets 0 will be marked by a furthergutting of social spending, renewed attacks ons/dIncome Distribution and Poverty 0 in OECD Countries,October 2008. Available from: . s/dorganized labour and real wages, and continued 99 zeal100 100 3 Armine 100Yalnizyan, calculated from Statistics Canada 100 datafor privatization.from the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics.An obsession with small government has4 Statistics Canada, Income in Canada, 2007 (Ottawa: Ministrystarved Canada’s social infrastructure in areas such of Industry, May 2009).as health, education, BCI of social Serbia work, = 98 housing, childcare,5 Ken Lewenza, “The Precarious Economy,” The Mark, 6pay equity, employment insurance, anti-poverty October 2009. Available from: .88 8899 990100100100100National reports 80 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
ports, that were scaled back fiercely in the 1990s,were never restored. Consequently of the 1.5 millionCanadians unemployed today, less than half receivejobless benefits. Household debt has risen to recordhighs – by the third quarter of 2009 households onaverage owed CAD1.45 for every dollar of dis posableincome. 6Canadian women, as a group, were already poorerand less economically secure than their male counterpartsbefore the crisis. Women account for 60% ofminimum wage workers, and about 40% of employedwomen work in precarious jobs that are generally poorlypaid with little or no job security or benefits such aspensions. Women also continue to have decreasingand unequal access to employment insurance benefits;in 2008, 39% of unemployed women and 45% of unemployedmen were receiving benefits, down from 83%of un employed women and 85% of unemployed menin the late 1980s. 7 In 2009, the federal Governmentintroduced permanent personal and corporate incometax cuts worth CAD 20 billion (USD 19.6 billion) over thenext five years. Meanwhile, the Government has endedstatutory pay equity provisions, and cuts in public serviceprovision – including education and health – willlikely increase the burden of unpaid and invisible workdone mainly by women.On the international stage Prime Minister Harperstated that he would “champion” the issue of maternalhealth at the G-8 summit hosted by Canada in June<strong>2010</strong>. Yet, abortion and contraception, two fundamentalrights for women, are not included in the plan.Nor has there been movement to improve access tochildcare at home, though Canadian women haveone of the highest employment rates in the world.Currently, UNICEF and the OECD rank Canada lastamong industrialized countries in providing supportto families. 8 The country has also been declining ininternational rankings of gender parity over the pastfew years according to the World Economic Forum. In2006 it placed 14th out of 115 countries in the Forum’s“gender-gap index”; by 2009, it was in 25th place. 9Canada’s development record abroadThe Canadian Government has expressed antipathytowards structural reform of global economic governancesuch as strengthened regulations, taxationon currency and other financial transactions, andgreater accountability to democratic institutions. Themost recent budget reinforced trade liberalizationand Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as core tenets ofCanada’s development agenda. Over the past decade,it has become a net direct investor abroad, with out-6 Roger Sauvé, “The Current State of Canadian FamilyFinances: 2009 <strong>Report</strong>” (Ottawa: Vanier Institute of theFamily, <strong>2010</strong>), 13. Available from: .7 Monica Townson, Women’s Poverty and the Recession(Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2009), 16.8 UNICEF, “The Childcare Transition: Innocenti <strong>Report</strong> Card8” (Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2008).Available from: .9 Ricardo Hausman, Laura D. Tyson, and Saadia Zahidi, GlobalGender Gap <strong>Report</strong> (Geneva: World Economic Forum,2009). Available from: .CHART 1. Federal Spending and Revenues as Share of Economy (1925-2013)45%40%35%30%25%20%15%10%5%0%Historic Averagebound FDI more than doubling from USD 270 billionto USD 591 billion. 10 This phenomenon has beendriven in large part by financial services and naturalresources firms. The finance and insurance industryaccounted for 65% of the outbound funds, with mostof the money flowing to existing foreign subsidiariesin the US. The natural resources sector received16% of the funds, but because of the exploitativenature of the sector these investments have had littledevelopment impact; rather they have led to conflictswith local populations in several countries includingEcuador, Guatemala and Mexico.Although Canada is on track to fulfil its 2005G-8 pledge at Gleneagles to double aid to Africa thisyear, it is currently among the least generous donors(16 th among 22 nations), with only 0.33% of GrossNational Income (GNI) going to aid. Budget <strong>2010</strong> has“capped” Canada’s Official Development Assistance(ODA) at <strong>2010</strong>-2011 levels, which will reduce itspercentage contribution to an estimated 0.28% in2014-2015. That will make it 18 th out of 22. The currentGovernment has also shifted its aid focus fromAfrica to middle-income countries in Latin America,where the country has a stronger trade and investmentagenda. This leaves it with an even weakerplatform for the urgently needed efforts to reach theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. 11Budget <strong>2010</strong> also underscored a shifting approachto foreign policy. In 2005-2006 the Governmentspent roughly USD 3.48 on the Department ofDefence for every dollar spent on ODA; by 2019-2020it envisions spending USD 4.3 on defence for everydollar spent on ODA. Canada has also moved awayfrom its longstanding approach to policy regardingPalestine and Israel, refusing to oppose Israel’s warsin Lebanon and Gaza and regularly voting against UNresolutions critical of Israel. This new policy thrustjeopardizes its reputation as a fair and balancedplayer in international development.The Government has also actively adopted policiesthat contravene the human rights of citizens offoreign nations as well as Canadians. In the name10 Statistics Canada, “Canada’s International InvestmentPosition – Third Quarter 2009” (Ottawa: Ministry of Industry,2009), Table 10. Available from: .11 For more information, see the End Poverty 2015 MillenniumCampaign. Available from: .Budgetary RevenuesProgram SpendingSource: Department of Finance Canada, Fiscal Reference Tables (Revenue figures for 2009-<strong>2010</strong> and 2012-2013 are estimates).of security it has adopted counter-terrorism lawsand practices that fuel discrimination, encouragetorture, or allow unlawful detention and unfair trials.The decision to end the current session of Parliamentjust in time to halt an investigation into the torture ofdetainees in Afghanistan has also fuelled anger andfrustration.Parliament passed the Better Aid bill in 2008with the aim of promoting transparency and accountabilityin aid practices. Yet, the Governmenthas recently been accused of undermining severaldevelopment and aid organizations that do not followits new policy direction, most notably with regard tothe Middle East. 12 For example, the well-regardedecumenical agency KAIROS had its federal fundingslashed without notice after 30 years, while ardentlypro-Israel Conservative party faithful were appointedto lead the Board of the Government-mandatedagency Rights and Democracy. The most recentbudget makes clear that this is the new norm, stating“funding provided to organizations is tied to furtheringgovernment priorities.” 13ConclusionThe Government has studiously ignored the lessonsof the recent global economic crisis and refused toundertake the structural reforms necessary to stabilizethe economy and promote human developmentamong Canadians and the citizens of the world. Inspite of pledges to provide help for those most economicallyvulnerable during the crisis, both stimulusspending and core budgetary measures havefailed to provide the necessary supports to achievethis. Deficit reduction is being used as a cover tofurther reduce social spending. While stock markets,corporate profits, and GDP rebound from the massiveglobal financial meltdown, it is expected thatfull recovery for the privileged will be accompaniedby further backsliding in equality and developmentlevels at home and abroad. n12 James Clancy and Larry Brown, “Stephen Harper’s record ofdenying democracy,” National Union of Public and GeneralEmployees, 24 February <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .13 Department of Finance Canada, Budget Plan <strong>2010</strong>, 163.Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>81Canada
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC10097Many obstacles and slow progress100560The Government has put its Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 98 (PRSP) into practice and some progress has been99made.However, this has been very 100 slow, and the fact that the starting 100 point is so critically 100 low 62 means it will be impossible 100to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) within the stipulated time frames. A process to reactivatethe economy and improve health services, security and governance is under way, thanks to political pacification,BCI of Argentina = 98IEG of Argentina = 72Government measures and international assistance, but it has been hampered by countless structural obstacles. It isessential for the programs to combat poverty not to ignore the commitment to safeguard the environment.99 1000100NGO GAPAFOTPastor Rodonne Siribi ClotaireThe Central African Republic has enormous economicpotential because of its abundant mineral resources,a system of waterways that is excellent foragriculture, livestock and fishing, and more than 6million hectares of jungle in the South containing almostunlimited exploitable natural wealth. However,in spite of these advantages it is underdeveloped inall areas.For years, the country’s social and economicfabric was torn by political and armed conflict, whichcaused unemployment and poverty to increase,weakened the infrastructure and made informal andprecarious occupations the rule in the economy.In this context, if there is no significant and lastingimprovement in the economic, social and securitysituation, the country has 100 no chance of reaching theMDGs within a reasonable period.In March 2003 there was a rebellion headed by76General François Bozize, and in 2005 presidential electionstook place in which Bozize emerged victoriousand gained international recognition. Although this0normalization of the political situation was only partialbecause there are 79 still armed groups occupying parts10099of the country, the economy has been recovering,100 100 100albeit very slowly, thanks to Government measuresand support from the international community. 1 Theflagship of this recovery process is the PRSP, whichhas enjoyed wide support from the very beginning becauseall the interested actors in the country were consultedand extensively involved in its formulation. 2Towards poverty reductionThe PRSP consists of four main goals:• To re-establish security, consolidate peace andprevent conflicts.• To promote good governance and the rule oflaw.1 The 2002 Monterrey Consensus adopted a frameworkwhereby low-income countries that committed to economicstability and good governance would receive greateramounts of development assistance.2 The PRSP was drawn up by the Ministry of Economy,Planning and International Cooperation. It was adopted inSeptember 2007 and presented, one month later, to theinternational community at a donor roundtable in Brussels,Belgium. Available from: [in French].Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 65 GEI = 46Children reaching5th grade0100 53100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5Economic activityEmpowermentEducation• To reactivate BCI and of Central diversify African the economy. Republic = 65 medicines and IEG a of follow-up Central system, African and Republic these have = 46• To develop human capital by improving people’s brought about a slight decrease in the infant illnessaccess to basic social services, above all educationand health, so as to reduce child, infant andmaternal mortality and support the fight againstthe HIV/AIDS pandemic. 100and mortality rates, but the health situation of mothersis still very worrying. In 2006 the HIV/AIDS ratewas 6.2%, which is among the highest in Africa.The situation in education 100 is also alarming. The97illiteracy rate is 51.4%, 4 only 40% of children have theEconomic situationData from the 2008 economic and social report of theGeneral Policies and Strategies Board show that theeconomy grew relatively little after 2007. From 20070to 2008 GDP increased from XOF 798.9 billion (aboutchance of primary education, 73 and while 50% of menhave some schooling the rate for women is a mere30%. In rural areas things are much worse: only 15%of women and 40% of men have schooling. 50According to the 2003 general population andUSD 1,6 billion) to XOF 912 billion (USD 1.7 billion) housing census, more than two thirds of citizens10010094and the growth rate fell from 3.7% to 2.2%. (67.2%, which is 2.6 million people) are living below100 100As to the monetary situation, net external holdingsfell from USD 63.23 million in 2007 to USD62.72 million in 2008, but on the other hand internalcredit and the BCI quantity of Germany of money = in 99the country increasedin 2008.There were difficulties in providing electricity, aslowdown in the country’s main exports (wood anddiamonds) and reduced purchasing power due to arise in the inflation. All these combined to make for a100GDP rise of only 3.5% in 2008. Inflation went up to917%, which exceeded the forecast and was the resultof increases in food and fuel prices.<strong>Social</strong> situationThe social situation is precarious 0 as can be seen fromUNDP’s Human Development Index indicators that in100992009 ranked the Republic at number 179 out of 182100countries. 3 100In the health area efforts have been madesuch as a vaccination campaign, the distribution of3 UNDP, Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009: Central AfricanRepublic. Available from: .100 70100100 68100the country’s poverty line, and again the situationis worse in rural areas (72%) than in urban areas(60%). This poverty in the conditions of life is linkedto deficiencies in the satisfaction of basic needs suchas potable water, decent housing, sewage systems,energy for cooking, health centres and income.In this context, women are victims in two ways: notonly do they suffer the consequences of the generalizedprecarious conditions of existence but they are also100discriminated against and treated unequally in almost allaspects of their lives. They are highly over-representedin the agriculture and livestock sectors (80.8%) – whichtogether make up the biggest economic sector – and29very under-represented in trade (10%).Overall labour market 0 indicators show a highlevel of activity, almost no unemployment (around972%) and that the 50 informal sector predominates.100 100IEG of Finland = 84 IEG of Germany = 7859834 UNDP, “Human Develpment <strong>Report</strong> 2009.” Available from:.BCI of Malta = 97 IEG of Malta = 585 UNDP, “Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2007/2008.” Availablefrom: .1000115610010010093100National reports 82 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010096
Some 80% of people over the age of 15 are in the labourmarket. The low rate of unemployment does notmean that the country is creating decent jobs however;in fact 64% of new jobs are in agriculture and26% in the informal sector in urban areas. The formalsector, public and private, accounts for only 10% ofjobs. One of the factors that aggravate poverty in thecountry is that so many jobs have low productivity.Financing and debtOne of the biggest problems the Government’s fledglingreconstruction policy has to cope with is how itcan finance development with a view to attaining theMDGs. Since 2006, it has adopted a new dynamicthat aims at involving all its partners in the developmentfield by formulating an Economic and <strong>Social</strong>Policy Framework document (the DCPES) that willfunction as a basis for intervention in cases of delaysin debt payments to multilateral partners such as theWorld Bank, the African Development Bank (ADB)and the EU, and also in bilateral debt situations suchas those with China and France.The country has already obtained the cancellationof USD 9.9 million of its debts and the re-negotiationof a further USD 26.2 million with the Paris Club.In October 2008, France made a reduction of USD 48million to open the way for other debt reductions.This decision meant that the Republic was provisionallyrelieved of 90% of its multilateral debt servicepayments, which enabled it to service the remainingdebt on a regular basis and obtain new loans from thedevelopment banks at subsidized interest rates.In 2009, the World Bank provided USD 70 millionfor the productive sectors and for the creation ofinfrastructure including the energy sector. The IMFallocated USD 50 million in budget assistance andto support the balance of payments. There was alsoUSD 34 million from the Fast Track Programme 6 topromote education in the country, which includes theconstruction of new schooling centres, the trainingof teachers and the provision of various kinds ofteaching materials.In addition, some USD 16 million was providedjointly by the ADB and the World Bank as part of thefight against poverty, to finance a community developmentprogram and to support vulnerable groupsin the country’s five districts. This program will facilitatea variety of NGO activities and other initiatives.Some USD 60 million was earmarked to regularizesalaries and make good on three payment delays,which includes the payment of pensions andgrants in 2009. This is an encouraging sign for thecountry’s economy and could be a basis for betterdistribution of income, which will have a positiveimpact on numerous households.AidForeign aid was suspended from March 2003 to July2005, but in September 2007 the Republic signed theParis Declaration. The funding thereby set in motionwere in line with the principles of the Declaration andthe country returned to a medium-term economicplan with donations channelled through the DCPES.This constitutes a preliminary outline for a three-yearaction plan for 2006 to 2008 and for the PRSP in2008 to <strong>2010</strong>.In June 2008, after prolonged efforts by theGovernment and civil society on one side and theEuropean Commission (EC) on the other, a tenth EuropeanDevelopment Funds agreement was signed. 7As part of this agreement, the EC intervention policywould continue to be fully inserted into the Government’sstrategy for the fight against poverty alongwith adherence to the EU principles of cooperationfor development.The main areas for intervention are:• For democratic governance and economic andfinancial reconstruction, around 53% of all resourcesor EUR 72.5 million.• For infrastructure and an initiative to end thecountry’s isolation, around 14% of the resourcesor EUR 19.5 million.• For budget support, about 25% or EUR 34 million.• For other purposes (mainly to put specific programsand projects into operation) about 14%or EUR 11 million.The PRSP was revised in November 2008, and itemerged that the resources mobilized increased globallyto USD 840 million, as against the USD 96 mil-lion originally envisaged. The part of these resourcescorresponding to the 2008-<strong>2010</strong> period is USD 755million – that is to say, 56.5% of the needs acceptedat the roundtable.MDGs – Challenges and problemsThe country will have to overcome a series of obstaclesif it is to progress towards the MDGs, and oneof the most serious is to obtain increased foreignaid and make it more effective. According to the recommendationsof the Paris Declaration, a strategyfor this is urgently needed and there should be anemphasis on:• Improving the country framework for trainingand to program policies to move in the directionestablished for the MDGs, based on evaluatingneeds and formulating global and sectorstrategies.• Improving the macro-budget framework andcapabilities to manage public resources (managementgeared to results, the formulation andimplementation of a framework for expenditurein the medium term and a framework formedium-term sector expenditure).• Coordinating and balancing aid.The acceleration of growth as a way to reduce povertycould run into a number of serious structurallimitations: the lack of a trained workforce – a consequenceof education, training and employment notbeing coordinated – and the difficulties economic operatorshave in accessing normal bank credits, bearingin mind the nature and conditions of the creditthat is offered, the fragile banking system and themarginal role played by micro-finance, all of whichconspire to impede people from obtaining funds atshort notice.In addition, ambition and financial urgencycould lead the country into internal development thatinvolves exploiting its natural resources. Therefore,it is essential that in the fight against poverty thereshould be a commitment to ecology and safeguardingthe environment. n6 A literacy program that involves five ministries and issupported by the French Government, UNESCO and theWorld Bank. Available from: [in French].7 Available from: [in French].<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>83Central African Republic
98CHILE10056No sustainable development without fair taxationCentro de Estudios Nacionales deDesarrollo Alternativo (CENDA)Hugo Fazio1000Chile not only has one of the most unequal distributions of income in the world, 719910098but is also highly dependent9762 on the export of prime materials, 100 putting it at the mercy 100 of fluctuations in international markets. However, theGovernment’s only development strategy is to facilitate conditions for the expansion of capital and investment innatural resource exploitation. This includes tax incentives for private mining enterprises in an already regressiveIEG of Argentina = 72 BCI of Armenia = 94IEG of Armenia = 58taxation system. The top priority should be a development strategy that allows wealth to be redistributed in amore equitable way. To do this the country must first completely overhaul its unjust tax system.100 100 100100 100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9895 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 62EmpowermentThe Chilean economy is fraught with distortions ofdifferent kinds, in part because financial capital is43allowed to circulate freely. The inflow or outflow of0 11capital has big repercussions on economic activity00and the balance of payments, and under a 56 free flow of83100999796financial capital national budgets are determined by46100 100 70100100 100100 100100changes in international markets and not geared to Births attended bydevelopment strategies or policies. In recent years, skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationhowever, the financial sector in Chile has been lessepublic = 65 attractive than elsewhere in the region for foreign the mining sectorBCIaccountedof Chile =for98IEG of Chile = 62IEG of Central African Republic = 4658.1% of exports, this measure would mean that the effective tax rateinvestors because of its low interest rates and narrowprofit margins.The country does not have a policy to financedevelopment as such; rather it has a series of measuresaimed at attaining specific 100 objectives such asand copper alone made up 52.4% of the total. Thisstructure is clearly deformed, and it will have to bechanged. 2This scenario makes it obvious that the Governmentwill have to turn to 100copper for its developmenton the enterprise’s operations in Australia would goup by 43% to around 57% in 2013. This is more thanthree times greater than the rate levied in Chile. 3If there is to be development in Chile, the excessiveprofits the private 100 copper consortiums aremaking benefit payments, but these are still completelyinadequate.73geared to the national interest. In every year since This was the logic behind how net payments to USresources, and doing so requires policies that are making in the country should stay in the country.81Chile is among the 20 countries with the mostunequal income distribution in the world. There is2006 (except 2009) copper prices on internationalmarkets were extraordinarily favourable, and everythingtransnational enterprises were estimated at the timewhen copper was nationalized under the Popularpoints to this trend continuing in <strong>2010</strong>. Unity Government in line with the so-called “Allendestructural unemployment, small enterprises are000 11suffering the consequences of economic opening,doctrine.” Such a measure today would generateand this has been exacerbated in recent years by the Tax incentivesenormous resources for the country.10092839479increased value of the currency on foreign exchange Who directly receives these huge incomes? Exportingenterprises that are mostly private and mostly The utilization100 100 68100100 57100markets. Poverty rates are far above what official100of resources100statistics show, as has been clearly shown in studies foreign control more than 70% of the copper extractionHigh prices for copper on international marketssector, and the State enterprise Codelco ac-have also meant that tax income from this sectorpublished by the current Treasury Minister, FelipeIEG of Germany = 78Larraín. 1 Therefore what the country needs is an effectivecounts for the BCI rest. of The Ghana high price = 77IEG of Ghana = 58for this metal in has risen, 4 and the way these resources are allocatedeconomic and social development strategythat is adequately financed.recent years has meant very good profits indeed forthese private consortiums.says a lot about the country’s situation. Publicexpenditure accounts for funds received up to theHowever, even though these enterprises are estimated level derived from copper price trends,exploiting deposits that belong to the Chilean people which is calculated on the basis of the average pricethe taxes they pay on their profits are extremely low, up to a horizon of ten years. Income above this levelGreat dependence on marketsChile is above all an exporter of prime resources.100100100A look at the 2009 figures for the biggest export about 4%, a figure set by agreement 96 with the private generated a tax surplus which was placed in financialenterprises shows that once again sales to othercountries consist mainly of prime materials or productswith scant added value. There are more export29destinations now, and more Chilean enterprises areinvolved, but the products 0are basically the sameand different categories may increase or decrease itsconsortiums. Moreover, for years taxation levelshave been fixed by agreement, which amounts to theGovernment renouncing its sovereign rights.In May <strong>2010</strong>, the Government of Australia announcedthat it would impose 0 a 40% tax on the profitsof enterprises exploiting the natural resources ofassets abroad. During the Michelle Bachelet administrationthese funds amounted to more than USD20 billion and in 2009 they were 38 used exclusively tofinance the fiscal deficit. This deficit was incurredthrough increased public 0spending in an attempt tocounteract the recession that hit the Chilean economyin mid 2008, and 44 to compensate for reduced9997939899share in response to prices 50 on international markets. that country. Marius Kloppers, executive director of100 100 100Chile has signed numerous trade agreements, butthese have not changed this basic profile. In 2009,100 100BHP Billiton – the enterprise that is exploiting theworld’s biggest copper deposits in Chile – stated that100 100income caused by the fall in the levels of economicactivity. 5100IEG of Malta = 58 BCI of Mexico = 963 El Mercurio, citing IEG The of Financial Mexico Times, = 613 May <strong>2010</strong>.1 Felipe Larraín, “Cuatro millones de pobres. Actualizando la 2 Central Bank, “Boletín mensual, abril de <strong>2010</strong>.” Availablelínea de pobreza.” Available from: .5 Ibid.08610001005National reports 84 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100100
In March <strong>2010</strong>, the country had USD 14.5 billionin sovereign funds placed abroad. Of this total, someUSD 3.4 billion was earmarked for a specific purpose,the Reserve Benefits Fund. The remaining USD11.1 billion was placed in the so-called Economicand <strong>Social</strong> Stabilization Fund (FEES in Spanish) andwas available for use. Chile was struck by an earthquakeand seaquake at the end of February and sincethen there has been a severe emergency situation,but up to now the funds have not been used eventhough they exceed the USD 8.4 billion over fouryears, which is the figure the Government estimatedthe public sector would allocate to repair the damagecaused by the earthquake. If the official calculationof public needs is taken as a reference, the resourcescurrently in the FEES could be used immediately toalleviate the situation. 6This conclusion is even more inescapable whenwe consider that resources had also been accumulatedin line with the so-called Reserved Copper Law,whereby 10% of the proceeds from sales made bythe State copper enterprise Codelco are allocatedto purchasing armaments; with the high price ofcopper this generated a surplus, as income fromCodelco regularly exceeded the level of expenditurespecified for these purchases in the annual budgetlaw. 7 If the price of copper remains high this willgenerate several billion dollars in income abovewhat was anticipated when the <strong>2010</strong> budget wasdrawn up.A regressive tax systemWhat route did the Government of Sebastián Piñeradecide to take? It promoted a “voluntary” tax increaseon the reduced levy that is paid–depending on operationalresults – by the copper enterprises, whichhad already been benefiting from the fixed-rate taxmechanism for two years. This plan provides for aprize for enterprises that opt to take advantage of it,and this in effect prolongs the fixed-rate mechanismuntil 2025, which amounts to extending the period inwhich the country’s sovereignty is violated.It is clear that this system in no way generates financefor development; it is merely perpetuating thepillage of the country’s natural resources because theforeign enterprises send a high proportion of theirprofits abroad. To make matters worse, the Chileaneconomic group involved in the large copper enterprise(Luksic) is using a part of its extra income toexpand internationally. 8It is for these reasons that Chile needs to completelyoverhaul its tax structure. The present systemis clearly regressive in that it is based primarily onindirect taxes, especially the value added tax (VAT),whereby the burden is spread indiscriminatelyacross the population as a whole. If the Governmentis to be able to finance a national developmentpolicy it will have to implement tax reform gearedto retaining the big copper enterprises’ excessiveprofits in the country – and putting an end to theirfixed-rate tax advantages – and also to reorganizingthe tax situation for shareholders in the big enterprisesso as to prevent indirect evasion in the formof credits against taxes on profits and discounts onpersonal taxes, both of which are features of thecurrent system.The extent of the problem andthe Government’s responseThe sheer magnitude of the resources taken out ofthe country every year can be seen from the balanceof payments figures. Since 2004, some USD 93.9 billionhas left the country as the profits of foreign directinvestment (FDI). Obviously, the amounts vary fromyear to year, depending on prices in the internationalmarkets for exported prime materials. The peak yearswere 2006 and 2007 when the cost of copper soaredto unprecedented levels, and in 2007 the amountremitted abroad reached a record of nearly USD 23billion. All of this goes to show that Chile has the potentialto finance a national development policy, butthis will have to be based on far-reaching changesand accompanied by suitable social policies.However, the Sebastián Piñera Government hasnot taken this path. According to the Minister of Mining,Laurence Golborne, the administration’s mainconcern is to raise investment in the mining sector,even though this means weakening controls on theconditions under which resources are exploited, andkeeping enterprise taxes low. In May <strong>2010</strong>, Golbornestated: “We are facing a gigantic challenge. The investmentplan for mining amounts to USD 45 billion.Today 5.4 million tons of copper are being producedand in 2020 we will be producing 7.5 million, which isCHART 1. Price of refined copper on theLondon Metal Exchange – 2005-<strong>2010</strong>(in USD per pound)YearPrice2005 1.6692006 3.0492007 3.2292008 3.1552009 2.336<strong>2010</strong> 3.600CHART 2. FDI Profit, 2004-2009(Billion dollars)YearSource: Bloomberg.Amount2004 8.22005 11.42006 19.92007 22.82008 17.42009 142004-2009 93.9Source: Central Bank, Balance of Payments.a 50% increase in production.” 9 The problem is thatif the legal framework is not changed this would onlymean that the country’s resources are being pillagedon an even larger scale by the private sector.Golborne does not foresee the same levels ofinvestment growth in the State mining enterprise.According to the Government, rather than allocatingsome of the Codelco surplus to its investmentplans, its first priority is reconstruction and the Stateenterprise can obtain resources, either through incurringdebt or by selling off non-essential assets.Chile needs a national policy for the copper sector, inparticular with respect to Codelco, which would takeon the key role in an adequate national developmentstrategy. n6 Ibid.7 Reserved Copper Law and Budget Authority.8 See Hugo Fazio, “La crisis mundial modifica el mapa dela extrema riqueza,” Centro de Estudios Nacionales deDesarrollo Alternativo (CENDA), <strong>2010</strong>.9 La Tercera, 8 May <strong>2010</strong>.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>85Chile
98100colombiaInsufficient policies71Colombia has focused investment on reducing poverty and enhancing economic, social and cultural rights97in order to achieve the MDGs. Despite this, progress in recent years has not reached even the minimumlevels, and is far below the standards set by the UN Committee on Economic, <strong>Social</strong> and Cultural Rights(CESCR). The country enjoyed considerable economic growth up to 2008 but this did not translate into anyIEG of Armenia = 58improvement in the social situation and the fact that international aid is administered through the centralGovernment is an obstacle to alternative projects being undertaken.100 100 100100Corporación Cactus, Secretaría Técnica Nacional dela Plataforma Colombiana de Derechos Humanos,Democracia y Desarrollo 10005Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 94 GEI = 7589 Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermentIEG of Chile = 62has energy deficienciesBCI of Colombiaand 36%= 94are deficient inIEG of Colombia = 75proteins. 656For more than 40 years Colombia has been torn by43internal armed conflict, resulting in a serious humanitariancrisis with the forced internal displacementsand the need to provide shelter. Colombia000has the world’s second highest number of internal999796 98100refugees: an estimated 46994 million people have been100 100 100100 100100 70100100forcibly displaced, which amounts to almost 9% of Births attended bythe total population. 1skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationIt is also the second worst country in the regionin terms of income inequality, with a Gini ratingof 0.576. 2 The tax system is frankly regressivecountry in the region that is not providing universalbasic education for children. 9 There are exceptions,with a heavy proportion of indirect taxes that fallas some councils have independently eliminated oron low-income sectors levels while higher income The Millennium Development Goalsreduced the cost of education in their localities, butsectors enjoy a range of tax exemptions. Thissituation has been exacerbated 100 by reforms to thesystem for transferring resources from the centraladministration to the various departments, 3 asthis has meant drastic reductions in the amountsspent on health, education and potable water. InAs regards social policy, the State has confined itsefforts to reducing extreme poverty and hunger andworking towards the targets under the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs). In March 2005, the NationalCouncil of Economic and <strong>Social</strong> Policy (CON-PES) laid out a policy and institutional frameworkColombia as a country does not have free education.This creates enormous inequalities as access toschooling depends on each family’s socioeconomicsituation, and although coverage has expanded, only34.1% of the population in the 5 to 17 age bracket isreceiving quality education. 10922005 this loss was equivalent to 0.6% of GDP, to attain these goals in 2019 – four years after the The situation as regards maternal mortality0 11in 2006 it was 1.1%, and in 2007 the loss was MDG deadline (“Document 091”). The Government is similar. Indicators for this variable are still veryestimated at 83 1.3% of GDP, 4 which indicates sustainedregression in the resources that go to these bicentennial of the Battle of Boyacá, a major event in the same as 25 years ago. While the MDG target isexplained that this is in order to coincide with the high – 80 deaths per 100,000 live births –practically79100100 100 100three essential areas. It has been calculated thatin the 2008-2016 period, between COP 66.2 billionthe country’s independence struggle. 7While this decision is consistent with the Mil-to reduce this by three quarters, the CONPES planproposes only a 55% reduction. 11100(about USD 34 million) and COP 76.6 billion lennium Declaration, it has had negative results asIEG of Ghana = 58(about USD 3.9 billion) will cease to be invested in regards the country’s commitments to economic, Government actionhealth, education and potable water.According to official statistics, 27.7% of thepopulation has unmet basic needs. 5 Some 40.8%of households live in a situation of food insecurity,social and cultural rights. Owing to the fact that Statesocial policy is geared to minimum targets, the processof progressively establishing certain rights hasstalled as resources go into programs that supportThe CONPES plan is closely linked to the Government’sdevelopment model for the period 2006-<strong>2010</strong>,the “National Development Plan 2006-<strong>2010</strong>, CommunityState: Development for All”. Briefly, the planmore than 20% of children under five years old only one sector of the population and ignore those proposes to finance poverty reduction and pursuit of100suffer from malnutrition, 63.7% of the population equally affected by problems such as poverty and the MDGs through targeted assistance policies andunemployment. 8economic growth in sectors that generate jobs. 121 Information taken from the Consultoría para los Derechos What is more, even as pursuit of the MDGsHumanos y el Desplazamiento Forzado 38 (CODHES). Available has reduced efforts to improve economic, social 9 PCDHDD, Informe Alterno al Quinto Informe del Estadofrom: . and cultural rights, progress towards the MDGs has Colombiano ante el Comité de Derechos Económicos,2 Ricardo Bonilla and Jorge Iván 0González (coordinators),Bien-estar y macroeconomía 2002-2006: el crecimientobeen inadequate. For example, Colombia is the only <strong>Social</strong>es y Culturales, Bogotá, March <strong>2010</strong>, 105.Available from: .100100 1003 Legislative Act 01 of 2001 and Legislative Act 011 of 2006.4 Centro de Investigaciones para el Desarrollo (CID), Bienestar2005, Bogotá, 2007, 323, 243, 245.7 Alberto Yepes, “¿Desarrollo para todos?” in Sin10 Ibid., 10-11.11 Yepes, op. cit., 92; Instituto Colombiano de Bienestary macroeconomía 2007. Más allá de la retórica (Bogotá: democracia, sin derechos (Bogotá: Plataforma Colombiana Familiar (ICBF), op cit.IEG of Mexico = 61National University of Colombia, CID, 2007), 142.de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo12 Departamento Nacional de Planeación, Plan Nacional de5 National Statistics Department (DANE), National Census[PCDHDD], April 2008), 89.Desarrollo 2006–<strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .100100National reports 86 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
The Government’s main program, called “Familiesin Action,” involves subsidies to families that arebelow the poverty line so long as the mother guaranteesthat her children will regularly attend the educationalinstitution where they are enrolled. In practice,however, the results of this scheme have been unsatisfactory,primarily because there are still problemsof inadequate infrastructure, capacity, programs andteachers; “geographic, social and economic barriersthat block access to educational spaces and services;and attacks on educational communities that are partof the socio-political violence afflicting the country.” 13Another factor is that the program perpetuatesa patriarchal model of the family in which the womancares for the children while the man works in the productivesystem to acquire resources and services.This program “...makes women responsible for whathappens in families as the essential caregiver, andthus impedes the development of policies based onfull recognition of women’s rights, which are widelyrecognized in international treaties.” 14 In sum, asthe program is not combined with policies to raiseproductivity or generate jobs, the subsidies amountto no more than short-term measures that have noreal impact in terms of human development and donot lead to more equitable access to education.Economic growthThe first period of this Presidential administration(2002-2006) coincided with a strengthening growthcycle in the world economy. Several factors favouredeconomic growth in those years, including growingdemand in international markets, increased pricesfor Colombia’s export products (mainly petroleum),an expansion of international credit and falling interestrates.However, economic growth did not translateinto improved quality of life for the poorest sectorsin society. Expert opinion is that the main reason forthis failure is that the Colombian economy is basicallyspeculative. The Government has given priorityto the purchase of public debt bonds issued by theTreasury of the Nation (TES) to the financial sector.This has had two serious consequences, one, thatmany State bodies are not fulfilling their “normalfunctions because their resources are involved inthe purchase of resources in the TES system,” 15 andtwo, that the financial sector has been making goodprofits by lending only to the Colombian State, whichhas meant that less credit is available for enterprisesand families.There was another factor behind the economicgrowth of the 2002-2006 period, namely increasedpublic expenditure to maintain the war effort, that isto say the application of so-called military Keynesianismwhereby the State increases defence spendingto boost economic growth. While this policy doeshave a positive impact at the macroeconomic level,it does not generate employment or narrow the povertygap.In addition, the Government has tackled thecountry’s inability to generate jobs by changing thelegal regulations that govern how labour is contracted.Their basic stance is that structural unemploymentis not the result of de-industrialization, nor is itjust due to cycles in the international economy; it is aconsequence of Colombia having labour legislationthat grants excessive guarantees to workers in theformal economy, which acts as a disincentive forenterprises to generate new jobs with full benefits.In this context, the Government initiated a labourreform program that included lengthening the workingday, reducing extra payments for work on publicholidays and limiting the indemnity payable for dismissalwithout just cause. However, in spite of thesemeasures, the unemployment rate has been rising:from 11.3% in 2008 to 12% in 2009 and then 14.6%in January <strong>2010</strong>. 16The role of international aidInternational aid in Colombia is guided by the ParisDeclaration, which among other things seeks tochannel most aid for democracy and developmentthrough national governments and standardize pro-cedures for how these resources are managed. 17Thus the Presidential Agency for <strong>Social</strong> Action andInternational Cooperation (<strong>Social</strong> Action) receivesa large portion of the resources from the donorcountries, and invests them in line with Governmentpolicy (Strategy to Strengthen Democracy and EconomicDevelopment, 2007-2013).The most significant instance in this area is theG-24, a group of 24 countries that have programsto support development, democracy and civil rightsin a range of countries including Colombia. The<strong>Social</strong> Action body was set up by the Governmentto centralize the administration of international aid,particularly of resources from the United States andEurope, and invest these funds in accordance withthe current development model, even though thisgives rise to all the negative consequences analyzedin the paragraphs above.As a result, initiatives by civil society organizations,which have a vision of development anddemocracy different from that of the Government,no longer receive finance from this source, therebyseriously reducing the implementation of alternativedevelopment models. To make matters worse, theresources allocated to independent developmentcooperation agencies in countries in the G-24 havebeen reduced since these funds are increasinglytransferred to Colombia through the <strong>Social</strong> Actionchannel. Many of these independent aid providershave had to withdraw from Colombia or have mergedwith other agencies or formed consortiums becausethey are so starved of funds. This has the result oflimiting the number of initiatives that can be supported,continuing to marginalize a number of sectorsof the population.While the goal of channelling development cooperationthrough national development plans andbudgets, rather than according to donor priorities, iscommendable, there remains a need to support theadvocacy work of civil society organizations that isso essential to making these plans nationally owned,inclusive and effective. n13 Ibid., 102.14 Ibid., 200.15 Jorge Iván González, “Los banqueros se enriquecen mientrasque la indigencia aumenta,” in PCDHDD, ¿Continuidad odesembrujo?, Bogotá, December 2009, 20. Available from:.16 Carmen Salcedo, “Evolución de la tasa de desempleo,”Portafolio, February 2009. Available from: .17 The Paris Declaration, which was adopted at a forum in Parisin March 2005, is intended to rationalize activities, eliminateduplicate efforts, make planning obligatory, define indicatorsand standardize procedures for aid management.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>87Colombia
100Costa Rica10096Health for all: 37 a difficult target to attain10045Costa Rica 83 faces serious obstacles in extending the right to health to the whole population, and1009997particularly to marginalized 100 groups such as people 100living with HIV and 64AIDS. In addition to therestrictions placed on acquisition of medicines by the Free Trade Agreement with the US, the countryneeds to overcome conservative social resistance in order to adopt legislation promoting the rights ofIEG of Uganda = 67BCI of Uruguay = 98 IEG of Uruguay = 69non-heterosexual women and men. Without devoting resources to meet these challenges, the countryrisks failing to meet the Millennium Development Goal targets related to health.8781100 100 100100 100Programa de Participación Ciudadana, CEP-Alforja 1100Costa Rica’s ratification, in October 2007, of the FreeTrade Agreement between the Dominican Republic,Central America and the US (DR-CAFTA) has posedBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100 94BCI = 97 GEI = 67Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermentnew social challenges with regard 20 to health. Legalanalysis of this document by major human rights36agreement will prevent the State from providing the5497basic right to health. Its implementation– especially99999998100 100 100100 100100 100of Chapter 15, which refers to intellectual property Births attended bywatchdog organizations 2 0makes it evident that the00rights – will make universal coverage in the area of skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationhealth, particularly the provision of drugs for all who100IEG of nicaragua It is preciselyBCIwithof costaregardricato=the97distribution ofthese new drugs, which appear on the market gradually,that the State might face serious difficulties, alongwith increased financial costs. The consequences thatapplying the DR-CAFTA could have on the distributionof drugs in general, and 100 on the consignment of antiretroviraldrugs for people living 99with HIV and AIDS inparticular, are exceptionally worrying.The incapacity of the State to satisfy the demandfor drugs will be made worse for several reasons,including: the rapid obsolescence of pharmaceutical0products; the fact that the most expensive drugs arethose used 90 to counteract degenerative diseases (i.e.,100cancer and cardiovascular diseases), which mainlyIEG of costa rica 67100290need them, economically unsustainable.Another serious issue is that although CostaRica is considered a democratic and egalitariancountry, there is underhand, discreet and veiled discriminationbased on sexual orientation in a moralisticlegal system within a rigid 100 religious and traditionalstructure. The negligence of the Government in notsubmitting – or delaying the submission of – situationreports, such as in the case of the report toUNAIDS on the prevalence of HIV among populationsconsidered to be high-risk, has left gay and290lesbian organizations and those working in the fieldof HIV unprotected, having to adapt to the slow, bureaucraticpace of the State, to the detriment of98their100 68100basic rights.100 100 100affect older adults; and the ban on approving the100 68100apply, rule or practice discriminatory measures onpurchase and distribution of generic products, unlessbrand-name drugs have been granted five years’ religious or sexual choice, social status, economicthe basis of race, nationality, gender, age, political,The provision of drugsIEG of Cyprus = 65The Costa Rican <strong>Social</strong> Security Bank (CCSS) distributesmarket exclusivity. INGLES BCI of Cyprus = 96 IEG of Cyprus = 65situation, civil status or any ailment with regard toabout 11 different generic antiretroviral drugshealth or illness, shall be punished by a twenty toto all medical centres in the country. Over the last Defenceless minoritiessixty days’ sentence.”six years there has been a significant increase in theconsignment of these drugs for people living withThe country’s efforts in the field of maternal andchild health and the prevention and treatment ofThis article provides for less severe punishmentthan that for offences unrelated to discriminationHIV; at the same time, new, less invasive drugs with HIV and AIDS, two of the eight Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs), are hindered 99 by discrimina-lack of protection that the gay/lesbian population,against persons, which is another indication of the100100100fewer side effects – discovered thanks to scientificand pharmaceutical advances – have been added tothe services provided. 342tion against and exclusion of significant populationgroups who are striving to exercise their rights andpromote legislation to obtain new ones. Such is theas well as persons with HIV and AIDS, experience.It is also evidence of discrimination, since this is theonly law in which they are recognized 42 as subjectscase with regard to gay, lesbian, transsexual, transgenderand bisexual groups, 0 whose rights as citizens0with rights.1 Prepared with the support of Francisco Madrigal Ballestero,0Centro de Investigación y Promoción para América Centralde Derechos Humanos (CIPAC); José Carvajal, Asociación of Costa Rica are violated daily.Criminal CodeDemográfica Costarricense; Ericka Rojas and Soledad 97 Díaz99It is within these population groups 100 that the Due to the fact that legislation allows the “value 97 crite-100of Asociación Madreselva 55 and Red de Control Ciudadano,55100 100 100100 100100 100aims with regard to HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductivehealth are particularly sensitive. Progress in imbued with “moralistic and religious prejudice,”ria” of judges to affect their sentencing, this is oftenbased on the study by Family Care International, Los ODM yla salud sexual y reproductiva: Una mirada desde Costa Rica(2009); and Mario Céspedes, CEP-Alforja.terms of legislation, which is yet to be adopted – as which can lead to the application of more stringentIEG of Italy = 64 are the corresponding INGLES budget BCI of allocations Italy = 96– clashesIEG of Italy = 64with a conservative cultural environment that is influentialin political decision-making. There are also2 Roces Inconstitucionales del TLC, Special Commission onConstitutional Implications of the FTA, San José, 2007.3 Data from CCSS Pharmacotherapy Department, 2007.000100contradictions in the State’s approach to designingand implementing public policies for development,particularly with regard to the MDG targets on accessto health services and treatment and prevention ofHIV and AIDS.There is a broad legal framework in Costa Ricathat protects all of its inhabitants, and equality isstipulated in Art. 33 of the Constitution, which statesthat “all persons are equal before the Law” and that“no discrimination which is contrary to human dignityshall be effected.” However, the rights of gays,lesbians and people living with HIV and AIDS areonly reflected in the General AIDS Act (Nº 7771),which stipulates in its Art. 48 that “whosoever98shouldpunishment when an “offence” is committed by ahomosexual (Arts. 156, 161 and 167 of the CriminalCode).48National reports 88 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Labour CodeLabour discrimination is more social than legal; thereis nothing explicit in the Labour Code that providesfor punishment or censure of workers for their sexualorientation. However, there are no proceduralmechanisms in the private sector or in governmentservice to prevent or eliminate discrimination due tosexual orientation.Housing LawCases are constantly arising where the gay/lesbianpopulation has clearly been discriminated againstin one way or another related to housing. One reasonis the stipulations of the Program on HousingAct, in which it is established that in order to obtainfinancing for a dwelling from state entities, atraditional heterosexual nuclear family must exist;that is, a legally married or common law couple ofman and woman and children. With the purpose ofprotecting such nuclear families, access to housingfor non-heterosexual persons is limited and theymust finance their dwellings through trust funds orother more burdensome procedures. These financialguidelines leave gays and lesbians at a disadvantagewhen it comes to obtaining financing at a standardcost and in conditions of equality with the heterosexualpopulation.Family CodeThe lack of legal recognition for same-sex couplesalso prevents them from gaining access to the benefitsof social services, legacies, pensions, migratorystatus, inheritance procedures, proprietary guarantees,and so on.Other laws and regulationsDifferences, invisibilization and open discriminationare present in many other legal instruments in thecountry. This tendency is sometimes hidden in laws,but it is evident in the administrative or operationalregulations of some institutions such as the CCSS,the National Insurance Institute, or the PatronatoNacional de la Infancia (National Children’s Board).In addition, as a result of charges broughtby the Centro de Investigación y Promoción paraAmérica Central de Derechos Humanos (CIPAC) 4 tothe People’s Ombudsman, this agency initiated aninvestigation into the Ministry of Public Education’spolicies with regard to education in human sexuality.It should be noted that the Catholic Church stillmaintains a great deal of power and influence withinthis ministry. The Ombudsman has only made statementsrelated to education for the prevention of HIVand AIDS; a resolution with regard to heterosexismand the concept of family, which is implied and fosteredby means of such policies, is pending.4 A leading NGO that seeks to eradicate social inequityassociated with sexual choice and gender identity.Access to reproductive health servicesCosta Rica has one of the highest prevalence ratesin the use of birth-control methods in Latin Americaand the Caribbean: 81 out of every 100 women betweenthe ages of 15 and 49, who have partners, usecontraceptives. This might suggest that Costa Ricais fulfilling target 5b of the MDGs: “Achieve, by 2015,universal access to reproductive health.”However, despite this, the rate of unwantedpregnancy is 42%, the annual number of abortionsis reckoned to be 27,000, and the birth rateamong women aged between 15 and 19 is 71 perthousand. 5According to the International Planned ParenthoodFederation/Western Hemisphere Region classification,this birth rate is medium.The CCSS, which 80% of family planning usersconsult, offers only two kinds of contraceptivepills: Norgyl and, occasionally, Ovral or Primovlar.These are first-generation oral contraceptives thatcontain high levels of estrogen (ethinylestradiol)and progestogens (norgestrel) and should be usedonly for emergency contraception (e.g., the YuzpeRegimen). Ideally, third-generation contraceptivesshould be used. These act in a manner similar toprogestogens, but have many advantages and farfewer contraindications.There is no specific legislation or public policyin Costa Rica prohibiting, encouraging or promotingthe use of emergency contraception, which is notincluded among the services offered by the country’spublic health system. Recently, the Board of theCCSS rejected the use of emergency contraceptionon legal rather than medical grounds. In this regard,the country is still led by the unscientific opinionsof fundamentalist groups that continue to have agreat deal of influence on political decisions affectingsexual and reproductive health.The female condom is not yet available in thecountry. The CCSS has shown interest in making itavailable to sex workers, but this has not yet beenimplemented. Moreover, this method can providevital (and autonomous) protection for all sexuallyactive women, not just sex workers, from unwantedpregnancy as well as from sexually transmitted diseases,including the human papilloma virus and HIV(Goal 6 and targets 6.1 and 6.2 of the MDGs).Between 1999 and 2009, use of intrauterinedevices fell from 6% to 2% among women agedbetween 15 and 49 with partners. 6 This drop couldbe related to the fact that not all primary health carecentres, known as Basic Comprehensive HealthCare Units (EBAIS), are equipped to provide thismethod.5 Carbajal, José, Tasa de Partos entre mujeres de 15 a 19 añospor Cantón 1995 y 2008 , San José, 2008.6 Cristian Gómez, National Reproductive Health Survey (SanJosé: Costa Rican Demographic Association, 2009).The lack of a wide range of birth control choicesin the public health services could also be affectingmaternal mortality. Many of the 25 maternal deathsthat occur, on average, every year are preventable,since they are associated with conditions existingprior to pregnancy that are aggravated because ofit. For example, according to figures provided by theNational Statistic and Census Institute, 24% of maternaldeaths in 2008 occurred as a result of cardiovasculardisease. 7 In these cases, latest generationoral gestagens, the female condom, and emergencycontraception are effective alternatives.With regard to adolescents, 63.1% of womenhad sexual relations for the first time between theages of 15 and 20, and the average age was 17.1. Theaverage age of their sexual partners was 28.2, whichmeans that the difference in age was 11 years. 8 As forthe birth control method used in the first sexual encounter,56% said they used none. A survey carriedout in 2009 among third cycle high school students(7 th , 8 th , and 9 th grades) included the following question:Have you been taught how to use a condom orcontraceptive sheath in any of your classes duringthis school year? According to Ministry of Healthdata, 30% answered yes and 70% answered no.ConclusionDespite the existence of laws such as the Children’sCode (Law Nº 7739 of 1998) and policies such asthe Ministry of Public Education’s Policies for ComprehensiveEducation in the Expression of HumanSexuality (2001), there is no formal program forcomprehensive education on sexuality in schools.The many attempts that have been made in this areahave failed in the face of fierce opposition from thefundamentalist groups that, as mentioned above,have great influence in political decision-making relatedto sexual and reproductive health.From all of this it can be concluded that thecountry still needs to make greater efforts to fulfilGoal 5 of the MDGs, specifically with regard to targets5a and 5b related to reducing maternal mortalityand achieving universal access to reproductivehealth. n7 National Statistics and Census Institute, “Chart 3.10.Maternal deaths by age group, according to cause of death,2008,” in Vital Statistics 2008. Available from: [in Spanish].8 Gómez, op. cit.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>89Costa Rica
CROATIAAn uncertain scenario100071A lack of up-to-date and reliable data 18 makes it difficult95to determine the extent to which poverty in Croatia is8653deepening as a consequence 100 of the economic crisis, but 100 indicators suggest 100 that the 2009 recession reversed 100recent improvements in the social sphere, making it hard to rein in the country’s growing pauperization.Circumstances are thus more and more unfavourable for the realization of Millennium Development GoalBCI of Bangladesh = 61IEG of Bangladesh = 531 on poverty eradication. The Government’s belief that it is possible to reduce poverty and inequality whileat the same time embracing the neoliberal agenda has proven not only unrealistic but also imprudent.10001910071 Croatian National Bank, “Real GDP growth rate – Croatia.”Available from: .2 Ibid.3 Croatian National Bank, “General information on Croatia– economic indicators.” Available from: .4 The World Bank, Croatia: <strong>Social</strong> Impact of the Crisis andBuilding Resilience, 10 June <strong>2010</strong>, 38–39. Available from:.5 Ibid.6 Ibid.Croatian Law CentreInge Perko-Šeparović, PhD10% in 2008 to 13.5% in 2009. 4 The largest increase Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009Kristina Babić100in vulnerability, from 5.3% 100 95 to 15.8%, occurred in100households with two or more children. 5 IEG = 75Thus in aEmpowermentsingle year the 2009 recession nullified recent social56The years 2001–2009, the period considered for this improvements.56report, cover almost two thirds of the time allotted for Between 2005 and 2008 economic developmentthe realization of the Millennium Development Goalsand the new jobs linked to it led to the opening0(MDGs). Data on Croatia’s gross domestic product0of new workplaces and the reduction of unemployment.0In that period poverty was primarily linked(GDP) during these years show an annual increase98991009999of about 4.4% until 2008, when this decreased for to long-term unemployment and inactivity, mostly100 100 70100100 100100 71100the first time to 2.4%. It then dropped dramatically by concentrated among low-qualified workers. The rate5.8% in 2009. 1 Foreign debt as the main source of additionalof poverty risk in 2008 was highest for the unem-Economic activityEducationfunds needed for public spending increased ployed at 32.6%. However the job loss caused byIEG of Colombia = 75on average by 12.5% annually over the same period, 2 the economic crisisBCI ofmeantCroatiathe number= 98IEG of Croatia = 75of registered The CBS has not yet adopted the Eurostat methodologywhile the growth in public expenditure was 6.7% in unemployed in January <strong>2010</strong> was 20% more thanfor the collection of data on expenditures for2008 and 2.3% in 2009. This has only contributed to the previous year. The reduction in employment, social protection and social transfers. For instance,the deepening of the crisis.the decrease in real income (in relation to the index the category “other liquid receipts” in the questionnaireon household spending is most similar to theof consumer prices) and the pay freeze in the publicIncreasing povertysector have pushed many 100 people into poverty. The Eurostat’s category of 100 social transfers, although it94Although GDP per capita rose from HRK 25.538 “new” poor person differs from the “old” one in that also contains the variable “family pension”.(USD 4.474) in 2001 to HRK 45.379 (USD 7.951) in he/she is better-educated, younger, economically Spending on social transfers and economic2009, 3 this had almost no influence on the poverty active, more often male, works in manufacturing and growth stabilized the poverty rate in the first part45rate during the same period. As the economic and lives in the economically more developed regions. 6 of the period under review, although its effect onfinancial crisis began to unfold, 2008 already showedreducing social inequality was insignificant. The lacksigns of regression in the poverty indicators. The <strong>Social</strong> transfers 00of complete and reliable data for 2009 and the uncertaintyregarding the situation in which Croatia willGini coefficient – the measure of income inequality <strong>Social</strong> transfers can be defined in both a broad or narrowsense. Narrowly defined, in accordance with the be at the end of <strong>2010</strong> make it impossible to 96present100 100100 6810010099developed by the World Bank – went up from 0.28in 2007 to 0.29 in 2008 and the quintile ratio, which Eurostat definition, they encompass income related a total picture of the impact of the crisis. Still therecompares the total equivalent income of the upper to unemployment, maternity leave, care benefits for are many indicators that it will be substantial andand lower quintile (20% of the richest and 20% of the newborns, child allowances, benefits for sick leave that circumstances will be more and more unfavour-poorest), from 4.3 in 2007 to 4.6 in 2008.lasting longer BCI than of 42 Hungary days, benefits = 98 IEG of Hungary = 70for bodily injuriesDue to lack of available data at the time of writing,and care of others, social benefits, benefitsthe poverty rate for 2009 can only been presentedfor rehabilitation and employment of people withbased on simulations done by the World Bank; disabilities, disability pensions, schooling stipendsthe exact data for this variable are due to be published and housing benefits. <strong>Social</strong> transfers in a narrowby the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) in Octobersense are related to benefits awarded to individuals<strong>2010</strong>. The simulations of short-term changes in in cash as opposed to services (e.g., free health care)poverty between 2008 and 2009 show an increase or material goods.in relation to spending of 3.5 percentage points. <strong>Social</strong> transfers should be effective and efficientThe share of households living below the accepted in addressing the risk of poverty so that they havepoverty line of USD 380 per adult increased from a significant redistribution effect and thus reducethe poverty rate. In this regard, public expendituresdirected to social benefits have produced the greatestreductions.able for the effective realization of the goal of povertyeradication. The growing pauperization will be difficultto control.All the factors in play – the drop in GDP combinedwith the growth of debt and public expenditure– make it clear that dramatic budget cuts arerequired. The rebalancing of the budget for <strong>2010</strong> hasbeen delayed and the question is where the cuts willbe made. They should certainly not be in the area ofsocial transfers, which are needed to help alleviatethe increasingly difficult situation of beneficiaries.The budget line for unemployment benefits in2009 was amended three times: on 9 April when theplanned amount of USD 150 million was increasedby some USD 20 million; on 18 July when USD42 million were added; and on 3 August when theamount was reduced by around USD 22 million (dueto a reduction in unemployment as a result of seasonalemployment). The budget line for cash benefitsto citizens and households was amended accord-100National reports 90 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
CHART 1: Employment and unemployment, 2007-<strong>2010</strong> (Thousand)EmploymentUnemployment (registered)2007 2008 2009 <strong>2010</strong> 2007 2008 2009 <strong>2010</strong>January 1,457 1,506 1,525 1,430 299 261 254 310February 1,455 1,504 1,516 1,417 299 260 263 318March 1,461 1,511 1,512 1,412 292 255 267 319April 1,470 1,521 1,513 1,416 278 245 264 309May 1,485 1,535 1,518 263 233 256June 1,499 1,549 1,524 250 222 247July 1,511 1,559 1,526 246 220 249August 1,511 1,558 1,518 243 219 251September 1,503 1,548 1,501 246 222 259October 1,495 1,538 1,485 250 229 273November 1,491 1,530 1,472 253 234 283December 1,481 1,519 1,457 254 240 292Source: The World Bank, Croatia: <strong>Social</strong> Impact of the Crisis and Building Resilience.ingly: the planned amount of USD 68.6 million wasincreased by 10% with the first amendment, thenincreased again by USD 3 million and finally reducedby USD 228.500. These examples show that the Governmentdid a poor job of preparing for the crisis anddid not devise proper measures to tackle it. The lackof foresight found the country poorly equipped torespond and reacting on an ad hoc basis.ConclusionCroatia has entered a long tunnel and recovery will beneither quick nor simple. Knowledge, skills and courageare all needed to choose the right policies and theinstruments and measures to efficiently implement,monitor and evaluate them. Whether social problemscan be effectively solved with ad hoc measures isdoubtful. The optimum use of available means inconditions of ever increasing constraints is vital tosuccessfully overcome the crisis and simultaneouslyreduce poverty.The answer to the question of whether Croatiawill be able to succeed without renouncing the dominantneoliberal paradigm has to be in the negative.To believe that it is possible to reduce poverty andinequality while at the same time embracing the neoliberalagenda is both unrealistic and foolish. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>91Croatia
cyprus100100 94An opportunity for a “social shift”<strong>2010</strong>048CARDETSotiris ThemistokleousCharalambos VrasidasMichalinos Zembylas36The National Strategic Plan for 2011-2015 challenges the current status quo 54 in development trends. Its99999998two primary areas of focus 100 are education and partnerships 100 between public institutions and civil societyorganizations (CSOs). Thus local CSOs will become more active in the international developmentarena and the country has the potential to become a pioneer in social development. For this to happen,IEG of nicaragua BCI of costa rica = 97Cyprus must lead the way in the shift in development trends away fromIEGmarket-centredof costa rica 67policiestowards social justice, human rights and equality.97100 100 100100 100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 96 99Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 65EmpowermentIEG of Cyprus = 65Cyprus isINGLESin the processBCI ofofCyprusdrafting=its96NationalStrategic Plan for Sustainable Development for theperiod 2011-2015. Taking into consideration thehistoric conjunction that EU and the world face,this offers the opportunity for the country to becomea pioneer in alternative 100 development policiesIEG of Cyprus = 65100The gradual transformation of the world into a “globalvillage” under the hegemonic imposition 29 of a common29socioeconomic system has spread the effects of the0financial crisis to almost every corner of the globe.00Central to the current debate on overcoming the crisis100909810098is the notion of “development” and the dire position of100 100 68100100 100100 68100the so-called “developing countries.” Since the 1980s, Births attended bymany aid-receiving countries have been trapped in skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationthe prescriptions of neoliberal international institutionsand exploited through their debts and loans. Inorder to secure Official Development Aid (ODA) andForeign Direct Investments (FDI) from national and internationalinstitutions, they have been forced to apply“free” market and trade policies that would allow easyaccess to local resources 100 by the funding agencies.Such practices, however, minimize social and publicprovisions and weaken the social safety net.0100Breaking away from the neoliberal recipeIn the past few years Cyprus has promoted initiativesthat diverge from the dominant international neoliberaldevelopment model while aiming to raise itsODA. The mid-term strategic plan of 2006-<strong>2010</strong> setas a target the disconnection of ODA from business-and practices. The Plan could 99be directed towards oriented infrastructure and support. Also, as part ofthe development of viable societies, governed by its obligations as a new member state of the EU, theResetting priorities 42democracy and social justice rather than markets country set an ODA goal of reaching 0.17% of grossand industrial exploitation zones. It is well understood42national income (GNI), something that was achievedOn many occasions developed countries promote0their methods and practices as universal prescriptionsthat Cyprus has limited power to influence0the broader international trends in development.in 2008. 2 Additionally, the mid-term strategic plan0has designated the development of social services,of modernity and progress. However, develop-However, as a state active in EU decision-making education, public infrastructure projects and the en-1009799100ment cannot be exported or imposed uniformly in and a provider of ODA, it could provide a leading vironment as target areas. 3975555100 100 100100 100100 100different social, economic and geographical settings. paradigm for the development strategies of other These policies indicate a social orientationAfter the late systemic shortfalls in the economy it small states.towards development. <strong>Social</strong> services in receivingis becoming obvious that the focus must be on First, Cyprus has to design, implement and evaluateits own successful INGLES model BCI of of Italy policies = 96 IEG of Italy = 64countries are focused mostly on issues of health care,IEG of Italy = 64developing functional local civil institutions. Theseand practiceshuman resources development and equal access toshould be from the public sphere and civil societyand promote full democratic participation of all citizensin transparent decision-making processes. Forinstance, the development of aid-receiving countries’educational systems – addressing local needs andfocusing on the local social context – should be oneof the main pillars of development.Local civic institutions may not completely replacethe socioeconomic and cultural imperialismimposed in recent decades on the Global South, 1for development. The island has passed all thestages that most developing countries are currentlyfacing: colonial rule, the struggle for independence,internal conflicts, external invasion and refugees. Inthis historical course, the empowerment of societythrough the provision of free access to public goodsand services for those who suffer has been central tothe path to recovery.At the core of the island’s development processhas also been the close cooperation among allservices and tourism (the last of which reflects themain sectors of the Cyprus economy). Undoubtedlythe aforementioned focal areas have some importantelements of social justice; however there is a lot morethat can be done. The focus on social services, for example,must be oriented towards the development ofagencies that will secure the just distribution of publicgoods and services and promote human rights for all(not only selected individuals).but they have the potential to provide the political resourcesto disrupt hegemonic policies and practices. cessful developmental experiences based on social for Sustainable Development 2011–2015. Available from:private and public social stakeholders. Cyprus’ suc-2 Environment Service, Debate on the National Strategic PlanIn this context, it becomes a necessity to revisit thedominant trends in development and reset the prioritiesof aid-providing states.protection and partnerships should be reflected inthe Government’s policies and particularly in theStrategic Plan. Consequently, any approach towards“development” in the current national debate must [in Greek] (accessed 20February <strong>2010</strong>).3 Environment Service, National Strategic Plan for SustainableDevelopment 2006–<strong>2010</strong>. Available from: [in Greek] (accessed 20 FebruaryMI: Pluto Press, 2005).participation of all citizens.<strong>2010</strong>).00100National reports 92 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Another aspect that should be revisited in thenew National Strategic Plan is the area of education.In the 2006-<strong>2010</strong> Plan, education-oriented aidfocused on scholarships and supporting accessto international educational institutions. 4 The opportunityin the new Plan is to revisit that approachand promote the development of a functional localeducational system in the countries to which Cyprusprovides aid, such as Egypt, Lebanon, Mali, Palestine,Somalia and Yemen.As the current debate for the new Plan rightlyemphasizes, Cyprus has long-standing experience inthe provision of public education along with a privateeducation sector that has rapidly developed in recentyears. This accumulated experience and the technicalcapacity gained must be disseminated in otherdeveloping countries through relevant provisionsin the new Plan.Cyprus considers the new Strategic Plan to be acontinuation of the policies of the period 2006-<strong>2010</strong>.In relation to ODA the goal is to reach 0.33% of GNIby 2015, almost doubling the current level of 0.17%.The Plan focuses on the empowerment of local communitiesand the development of representativesocial institutions in the public sphere and withincivil society. This will reduce conflicts and tensions,especially in neighbouring regions, that otherwisemay have a spill over effect on Cyprus either throughextensive migration or through the reduction of tradeand economic cooperation.The new National Strategic Plan has particularprovisions for “Education for All”. The developmentof education will be based on three pillars: the introductionof sustainable development in the educationaland social context; the development of a democraticeducational environment where teachers andstudents will be agents of change for a sustainableand just society; and the provision of training to dealwith unsustainable practices at all levels of sociallife. The new Plan considers formal public educationto be among the successful causes of developmentin Cyprus. Additionally, it prioritizes social inclusion,democratic procedures and a just society as the leadingattributes with regard to education.Nevertheless, those attributes are only providedfor the local context and are not reflected in the internationaldevelopment priorities. Cyprus’ attemptto re-orient its domestic educational system shouldbe reflected in its approach to international developmentpolicies and in the provisions for the futureODA framework as well as its distribution, in contrastto past practices. At the same time, the Governmentmust attempt to influence its counterparts in theEU to follow those initiatives domestically and internationallyas an efficient measure for protectingthe EU itself from conflicts, tensions and massivemigration flows.The role of civil societyAfter years of lobbying and debates, the Governmentis considering for the first time collaborationwith local CSOs in its overall development policy,a recognition of CSOs’ long-standing expertise andexperiences in development. In addition, the Governmenthas expressed its commitment to collaboratewith them in delivering the national ODA. The NewStrategic Plan sets as one of the national prioritiesthe “development of partnerships between the publicsector and civil society”. Prior to this provision ODAwas mainly directed towards international organizationsand agencies of other states. The introductionof local civil society in national development policiesconstitutes great progress for both the country ingeneral and the local CSOs in particular. The Governmentshould also open up public dialogue and invitecivil society to provide suggestions and have a moreactive role in drafting policies, something that hasnot happened in drafting the New Strategic Plan.Civil society is a key player in development andan effective medium for the provision of aid andservices and the promotion of human rights. Internationalcivil society and CSOs can become agentsof solidarity and social justice. 5 Cypriot CSOs havedirect involvement and experiences in the fields ofreconciliation and social justice, along with the capacityto provide training and education. They cancontribute substantially to the healthy and just distributionof ODA to people in need.The National Strategic Plan 2011-2015 offers asense of hope through initiatives that challenge thecurrent status quo in development trends nationallyand internationally. The two primary areas of focus,which are expected to prove the most influential withregard to processes of reform and progress, are: (a)education and (b) partnerships between public institutionsand CSOs. Any progress in those areas willbenefit tremendously from taking into considerationissues of social justice, inclusion, democracy and fullcivic participation. With the comprehensive shift ofthe new Strategic Plan towards policies focused onsocial development and with local CSOs becomingactive in the international development arena, Cyprushas the potential to become a pioneer for other smallstates in this area. This can only happen if the islandchooses to lead the way for a shift in developmenttrends away from market-centred policies towardssocial justice, human rights and equality. n4 Ibid.5 Reinhart Kössle and Henning Melber, “International civilsociety and the challenge for global solidarity,” DevelopmentDialogues, October 2007. Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>93Cyprus
88100czech republicFurther cutbacks to the Welfare State018At the beginning of 2009, the Czech Government acknowledged 95 that the country would not escape 95 the5554effects of the global financial 100 crisis, 66 as it had previously 100 been trying to convince 66 its citizens. Howeverit did not pursue actions to protect the most vulnerable from the harmful effects. The political sceneis perceived as increasingly riddled with corruption while society is deeply affected by inequality,IEG of Benin = 42 BCI of Bolivia = 83IEG of Bolivia = 66discrimination, racism and segregation. Exports of weapons are on the rise in contradiction of the officialforeign policy goals of supporting human rights and development and assisting with humanitarian aid.100 100 100100 10010008810003897100Ecumenical Academy PragueTomáš Tožička - ed.Economy and Society TrustPetr GočevGender Studies, o.p.s.Linda SokačováFórum 50%Marcela AdamusováGender & Sociologie SOÚ AV ČRZuzana UhdeEuropean Contact GroupHana VíznerováADEPTTsSaša UhlováNesehnutíMilan ŠtefanecThe only positive economic news for the Czech Republicin 2009 was that the rate of inflation fell dueto the global financial crisis. Unemployment roseby two thirds in one year 1 while the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) fell by 4.1%. 1002 Although these resultsdiffer strikingly from the Government’s optimisticforecasts (the 2009 budget assumed a GDP growthof 4.8%), they would have been worse – given exportdependence on the car industry – without a Germanprogram under which people receive money towards0 8a new car if they scrap their old one.It is possible, however, that the tapering off of3778fiscal stimulus packages in EU countries in <strong>2010</strong>100 100could cause the belated downfall of the Czecheconomy. By the end of 2009 unemployment hadreached 9.2% – 539,000 people according to theCzech Statistical Office. The office also recorded aslight decrease in the number of people who werenot “actively searching” for a job but willing to acceptone. By the end of the year there were 173,000in this category, hence 712,000 unemployed peoplealtogether. At the same time, the Employment Officewas registering just 31,000 vacancies. Significantly,Czech public television introduced a new reality showcalled “Don’t give up!” featuring people competingto win a job.1 Czech Statistical Office, “Nejvyšší meziroční pokleszaměstnanosti od roku 1999,“ 5 February <strong>2010</strong>. Availablefrom: .2 Czech Statistical Office, “Meziroční pokles HDP za 4. čtvrtletíbyl upřesněn na 3,1%,” 11 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 98 95GEI = 68Children reaching5th gradeing the drop in consumerBCI of CzechspendingRepublicand thus= 98worseningthe crisis. An increase in the value added tax(VAT) on basic commodities from 5% to 9% hasbeen approved, which will raise prices for basic groceries,medicines, construction and energy, whichrepresent a major part of 100expenditure by low-incomepeople. In partial compensation, 94 their income taxhas been decreased. However, a much more significanttax decrease is taking place in the high-incomegroup – those who earn four and more times theaverage. Moreover, tax on profits should drop to019% by <strong>2010</strong>. This means that business taxes willhave gone 79down by 26% since 1993.96There is also a drive to privatize the pension100 100system. The right-wing media succeeded in convincingthe public that fund-based financing of pensionsoffers a solution to the problem of population aging(although this BCI has of no Indonesia support in economic = 90 theory).For their part, the solutions offered by the socialdemocrats are more focused on the anti-cyclicalpotential of progressive taxation and redistributiontowards low-income earners. None of the Parliamentaryparties propose restricting global tax evasion,100while the Ministry of Industry and Trade web pagestill promotes “tax optimization” through tax havensand off-shore centres. 3 According 61 to the Ekonommagazine, some 7,000 companies had their fictionalresidence in tax havens at the beginning of 2009 andtax evasion amounted to 0approximately CZK 23 billion(USD 1.1 billion). 48139100 100Empowerment100 1009779100 100100 64100100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationIEG of Czech Republic = 68There is growing public scepticism regardingpolitics owing to high levels of corruption. Thecountry fell from 45 to 52 from 2008 to 2009 in theTransparency International Corruption PerceptionIndex and ranks 22 out of 27 EU member states. Accordingto the director of 100Transparency InternationalCzech Republic, “there is no anti-corruption strategy,the former Government paid only lip service to thisand opened the door for private interests to influencepolitical decision-making.” 5Gender inequality 0Women currently make up 22% of the Chamber ofDeputies. After the elections to the European 9753Parliamentin 2009 the representation of women amongCzech Euro MPs dropped to 18%. Political partiesdo not recognize the disproportional representationIEG of India = 41 IEG of Indonesia = 55of men and women in decision-making positions asan important issue and there is a lack of motivationaland educative programs as well as incentives to systematicallyseek more women for elected office.The long-stalled adoption of the so-called“anti-discrimination act” in 2009 made the Czech100Republic the last member of the EU – and one of thelast European countries in general – to prohibit discriminationbased on race, ethnic origin, nationality,sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, belief, religionand opinions, particularly in access to employment,Dismantling the Welfare Stateeducation, health care or 0other 9 services and socialRight-wing parties in the Government are using thebenefits. The tardiness in passing this act revealscrisis to further reduce the Welfare State, aggravat-the typical attitudes 47 towards gender equality among100 100Czech political representatives. 7793100 100 10003 See: .5 Benjamin Cunningham, “Czech Republic ranks amongBCI of Nigeria = 61 IEG of Nigeria = 444 Adam Junek, “Vyhnáni do ráje“ (Expelled into Paradise),Europe’s most corrupt,” The Prague Post, 25 NovemberEkonom, 12 March 2009. Available from: .1000431610082National reports 94 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>10093100
Discrimination against migrants, especiallywomenOver the last two decades the Czech Republic hasseen a significant shift in the area of migrationand integration. The number of foreign nationalsand of those who want to settle in the country on along-term or permanent basis has grown. Officialstatistics show that 436,116 foreign nationals wereregistered as of 31 October 2009, of whom 178,223were women. 6 An additional 300,000 foreign nationalsare estimated to live in the country without a validresidence permit. 7One of the ongoing problems highlighted byNGOs relates to foreign nationals’ access to healthcare. Pursuant to current legislation, only thosewith permanent residence or those with temporaryresidence who are employed have access to publichealth insurance. Other foreign nationals, includingself-employed workers, have to get insured withcommercial insurance companies and pay a highone-off lump sum that covers a considerably narrowerrange of health-care services. As of January<strong>2010</strong> this amount must also be paid for dependentfamily members in the case of family reunionor reunion of mixed marriages. However, there isno guarantee of coverage by insurance companiesand some foreigners(e.g., the elderly, newborns,pregnant women) remain uninsured.These institutional barriers disadvantage womenin particular. Female migrants face multipleforms of discrimination (gender, ethnicity, nationality,age, social status, education level, etc.), especiallyin the labour market but also in access to education,childcare institutions and information. The work opportunitiesof female migrants are largely restrictedto the secondary labour market (inferior, unskilled,poorly paid jobs) or the informal economy (with insufficientprotection of labour rights, work without awork contract, etc.). Currently there is a pronouncedtendency to restrict the entrance of foreigners evenif this means indirect discrimination against Czechcitizens who are in mixed marriages.Racism and segregationIn 2009, unknown assailants in a suburb of Opavathrew two incendiary bottles into the house of a Romafamily where a number of people, including children,were sleeping. After months of intensive investigation,four men, all sympathizers of the right-wingextremist movement, are in custody charged withattempted murder with a racist motive. This caserepresents a breakthrough because the acts, unlikeprevious attacks, were criminalized as attempted6 Czech Statistics Office, Foreigners: by type of residence, sexand citizenship, 31 October 2009. Available from: 7 Czech Statistics Office, Foreigners in the CR 2008. Annual<strong>Report</strong> (Prague: Scientia, 2008).murder. 8 This may have been due to the extensivemedia coverage of the case.Media coverage may also have contributed to thealleged rise in extremist related criminal activity. Accordingto the Ministry of the Interior, the number ofsuch acts has risen by some 10% (from 169 in 2008to 186 in 2009. The number of those accused hasrisen by approximately 16% (from 163 in 2008 to 189in 2009). This apparent increase, however, might bedue to the fact that the courts have become more willingto qualify cases of assault as racially motivated.According to a survey commissioned by theMinistry of Education in 2009, every fourth Romachild of school age is labelled as slightly mentallydisabled. Following the ruling of the European Courtof Human Rights in Strasbourg former “specialschools” were renamed “practical schools” but theiressence has remained the same. Attempts to changethis collide not only with the prejudices of individualprincipals, teachers and psychologists but also withpurely financial interests as special education provisionis subsidized. There is segregation even inordinary elementary schools, and principals of someschools openly admit that they cannot enrol Romachildren since they are under pressure from parentsof non-Roma students who do not wish their childrento study with Roma. Therefore there are divided“Roma” and “Czech” schools in some regions.Since the European Roma Rights Centre(ERRC) published information in 2004 on the suspectedforced sterilization of Roma women in theCzech Republic, civil society organizations have beenmonitoring this issue. In 2009, it became public thata case of involuntary sterilization had occurred as recentlyas 2007 when a social worker forced a womanto agree with the procedure under the threat thather older children would otherwise be placed in achildren’s home.Weapons instead of developmentA new bill on development cooperation was discussedwith representatives of the national platformof development organizations in 2009. While thisclarifies the structure of development activities, theadministration of subsidies in bilateral cooperationremains flawed by a lack of transparency and unclearselection criteria. Another serious problem is the decreasein development funds. Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) amounted to USD 249 million in2008 but fell to USD 224 million in 2009. It was onlyat the expense of a drop in Gross National Income(GNI) that the ratio of 0.12% was maintained, andthe country will not be able to fulfil the EU pledge toraise ODA to 0.33% of GNI by 2015.8 Ministry of the Interior, “Problematika extremismu na územíCR v roce 2009” (The issue of extremism in the CR in 2009).Available from: .An earlier decline in arms production was due toa desire to reduce the arms trade, which was deemedunethical, and the conversion program for the industryexpected a reduction of almost 90% up to 1992.After the establishment of an independent CzechRepublic the program was gradually abolished oneconomic grounds, and obsolete supplies are oftendonated to countries plagued by internal conflict(e.g.,Afghanistan and Iraq), countries suspected ofre-exporting military material and countries in armedconflict (such as Georgia).Legal weapons exports are possible only withthe consent of the Ministry of Industry and Trade,conditional on statements by other Ministries. Inmany cases the weapons exports policy is the antithesisof official foreign policy goals – support forhuman rights, development and humanitarian aid.The country has lately been shipping weapons tocountries where human rights are ruthlessly violated,to regions where they are sold to both sides of anarmed conflict (Lebanon, Israel, Syria) or to placeswhere they served to ignite the conflict directly (as inthe South Ossetia war in 2008).Legal exports of military material are rising andreached an all-time-high of EUR 189.6 million in2008. In mid-2009, despite protests from Czech andinternational NGOs as well as some authorities, Parliamentpassed an amendment to the foreign tradeact that decreases the authorities’ ability to exercisecontrol over weapons exports and allows unlicensedcompanies to negotiate weapons deals. According toFrantišek Janda of Amnesty International, licensedCzech arms exports take place “in a completely nontransparentmanner.” 9 n9 Markéta Hulpachová, “Arms export law raises concern,”The Prague Post, 21 May 2009. Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>95Czech Republic
EGYPT10010010093The rough road 38 to the Millennium Development Goals440Although official 95 reports continue 97 to emphasize that Egypt 98 is on track to achieve the Millennium Development9666 Goals (MDGs), the country 100 has shown only limited progress 100 on some of these. In 65the midst of the worst globaleconomic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Egypt should embark on some profound changes andadopt radical development strategies to move towards fulfilling the internationally agreed goals. This requiresIEG of Bolivia = 66 BCI of Brazil = 96IEG of Brazil = 68development assistance to be more efficiently managed, while employment targeted projects should beincreasingly negotiated and encouraged, along with more partnership with private sector and civil society.100 100 100100 100095 990100The Egyptian Association for Community ParticipationEnhancement (EACPE)Nawara Magdy Belal 100Yasmine Sherif IsmailBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9195 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 44EmpowermentAccording to the Kuwaiti financial investment firm43Global Investment House, the impact of the globaleconomic crisis is now being felt in Egypt, although150“Egypt’s healthy economic growth, along with the00100 implemented reform is believed to protect the country’seconomic performance throughout the concur-9779982591100 100 64100100 100100 100rent global crisis.” True, the Egyptian economy has Births attended bypreserved its real GDP growth, which stood at 5.8% skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationduring the first quarter of fiscal year 2008-09 (July-IEG of Czech Republic = 68•IEG of Egypt = 44Pro-poor growth requires the participation of•the poor in the growth process.Policies to tackle the multiple dimensions of•poverty should go hand-in-hand; perceptionsof dichotomies (e.g., economic versus socialpolicies) can be misplaced.The poor need to participate in and influence thepolicy reform process that goes with povertyreduction strategies.c = 98September 2008), compared to the 6.5% achievedin the first quarter of fiscal year 2007-08. However itmust be noted that the Government set a lower GDPgrowth target of 5.5% for fiscal year 2008-09, afterrealizing growth of 7.2% in fiscal year 2007-08. Forfiscal years 2008-09 and 100 2009-10, respectively, theWorld Bank has forecast GDP growth rates of 4.5%and 6.0%. 1But is the crisis affecting the country’sprogress in achieving the MDGs? According to anMDG midpoint assessment report, 16 issued by the0Ministry of Economic Development, the country is“on the right track to realizing most of the Millenniumwho reported that “povertyBCI ofisEgypt,estimatedArabatRep.40%=in91rural areas and 18% in urban areas.” 5Poverty is not only about incomeThese contradictory measurements are both basedon income levels. However, poverty is not just aboutincome and there are other major aspects to be considered,such as health, hygiene and social exclusion.Thus, composite measures, such as the HumanDevelopment Index (HDI) and the Human PovertyIndex (HPI), which focus on the proportion of peopleliving below certain thresholds in each of the dimensionsof the HDI, should be taken into account.Development Goals by the set date of 2015.” 9796532 In its Egypt National <strong>Report</strong> 2008, the UNDP100100 100According to Egypt’s Minister of Economic Development,highlighted seven guidelines that the Egyptian Gov-Othman Mohamed Othman, “geographic ernment should take into account in order to achievetargeting and other integrated social policies pro-poor economic growth: 6IEG of Indonesia = 55promise to reduce regional lags and gaps…and • The vulnerability of the poor to risk and the lackto also ensure the full realization of national MDG of social protection reduce the pace of growth.goals in all of Egypt.” 3 Regarding poverty reduction,the Minister announced that “the poverty• Inequality of assets and opportunity hindersthe ability of poor people to participate in andrate has fallen from 31% to 26% in rural areascontribute to growth. Gender is a particularlyand from 13% to 8.6% in urban areas.” 4 These100important dimension 100 of inequality.figures however were denied by Gawdat el-Malt,87president of the Egyptian Central Audit Agency, • Policies need to tackle the causes of market fail-The 2009 Human Development <strong>Report</strong> ranks Egypt82 nd among 135 countries for which the index hasbeen calculated. The poverty index measures severehealth deprivation by the proportion of people whoare not expected to survive to age 40. Education ismeasured by the adult illiteracy rate. And a decentstandard of living is measured by the un-weightedaverage of people not using an improved watersource and the proportion of children under age fivewho are underweight for their age. Chart 1 shows thevalues for these variables for Egypt and comparesthem to other countries.100The figures in Chart 2 clearly demonstrate thateconomic growth is not necessarily reflected in theure and improve market access. Market failure quality of life. The country’s failure to ensure thathurts the poor disproportionately. Programs are471 Global Investment House, Annual <strong>Report</strong> 2009.increased economic growth is reflected in the livingAvailable from: . 0 9their livelihoods work 0 better for the poor.that the Government 0 will have to face in the2 Ministry of Economic Development, Millennium• Both the pace and pattern of growth are critical next five years in order to realize the MDGs by 2015. 781Development Goals <strong>Report</strong> 2008- Egypt, Achieving the82for long-term and sustainable poverty 97reduc-tion.strategy in the context of an economic crisis that hasThis means rethinking its financing for development 9847MDGs: Midpoint Assessment, 2008. Available from: .globally become a main obstacle for development.3 Ibid.5 Ibid.IEG of Nigeria = 44 BCI of Paraguay = 89IEG of Paraguay = 674 Egypt.com News, 10 April <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .100100National reports 96 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010085
CHART 1. Selected indicators of human povertyHuman Poverty Index(HPI-1)Probability of not survivingto age 40 (%)Adult illiteracy rate(% ages 15 and above)People not using an improvedwater source (%)1. Czech Republic (1.5) 1. Hong Kong, China (SAR) (1.4) 1. Georgia (0.0) 1. Barbados (0) 1. Croatia (1)80. Solomon Islands (21.8) 68. Georgia (6.7) 117. Angola (32.6) 28. Costa Rica (2) 40. Macedonia (6)Children underweight for age(% aged under 5)81. Botswana (22.9) 69. Vanuatu (7.1)118. Congo (Democratic Republicof the) (32.8)29. Armenia (2) 41. Barbados (6)82. Egypt (23.4) 70. Egypt (7.2) 119. Egypt (33.6) 30. Egypt (2) 42. Egypt (6)83. Vanuatu (23.6) 71. Ecuador (7.3) 120. India (34.0) 31. Jordan (2) 43. Mongolia (6)84. Congo (24.3) 72. Bahamas (7.3) 121. Ghana (35.0) 32. Montenegro (2) 44. Panama (7)135. Afghanistan (59.8) 153. Lesotho (47.4) 151. Mali (73.8) 150. Afghanistan (78) 138. Bangladesh (48)Source: Human Development <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2010</strong>.CHART 2. Human development and GDPSyrian ArabRepublicEgypt0.800.780.760.740.720.700.680.660.640.620.60HumanDevelopmentIndexGDP percapitaPPP USD6,0005,8005,6005,4005,2005,0004,8004,6004,4004,2004,000Source: Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009.Progress in achieving the MDGsThe midpoint assessment of the MDGs for Egyptshows that the country in not strictly “on track,” thatchallenges remain very severe and that, in some areas,especially with regard to the gender gap, thecountry’s performance is very poor. Following is agoal-by-goal assessment.• MDG 1 – eradicate extreme poverty and hunger:There are some remaining challenges – suchas unemployment among women and youngpeople and underweight children.• MDG 2 – achieve universal primary education:As a reflection of the progress in school enrolment,the country is approaching 100 percentliteracy among the 15-24 year old age group.• MDG 3 – promote gender equality and empowerwomen: Although the country has demonstratedits commitment through institutionalarrangements, legislative changes and severalinitiatives and actions, there is still a long way togo – mainly in technical education, empowermentand women’s participation in politics.• MDG 4 – reduce child mortality: There is someprogress, however, official data shows thatgeographic, gender and social inequity remainsbeing high. Furthermore, the relatively high rateof neonatal mortality is still worrying.• MDG 5 – improve maternal health: The effectivenessof national programs that increased theamount of births attended by skilled personnelis evident in the remarkable speed of decline inmaternal mortality.• MDG 6 – combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and othermajor diseases: HIV infection is not restricted toa particular social group and in recent years hasincreased among women, while hepatitis B andC have also become a threat. It is necessary toreorganize the health system from a multisectoralperspective that takes into account the socialcontext in the treatment of epidemics.• MDG 7 – ensure environmental sustainability:The increasing demand on natural resources requiresstronger control measures and adequateenvironmental management strategies.• MDG 8 – develop a global partnership for development:According to the Ministry of EconomicDevelopment “In the past few years Egypt haswitnessed a rising trend in its ODA disbursementsfrom a variety of rich countries and internationalorganizations, and these have beenallocated to fulfill the development needs of differentsectors. Further, Egypt has also benefitedfrom a number of bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements. The share of exports of goods andservices in Egypt’s GDP has been increasingthroughout these years.” 8Impact of the global financial crisisAlthough net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) wasonly USD 3.9 billion in fiscal year 2004-05, in 2007-08period this figure reached USD 13.2 billion. But in thelast fiscal year – with the global economy in disarray– net FDI fell to USD 8.1 billion, according to Egypt’scentral bank. Furthermore, a report on economic performancefor the second quarter of the fiscal year2009-10 by the Ministry of Economic Developmentshows that the number of unemployed has risen to2.37 million people. 9As shown by these figures, the year <strong>2010</strong> maydecelerate Egypt’s progress towards achievingMDGs by the year 2015. In order to avoid such a risk,it is imperative to:• enhance the efficiency of Official DevelopmentAid, which may witness a decrease due to theeffect of global crisis on donors, and harmonizeand align the distribution of ODA according tonational priorities.• negotiate space to adopt more employmentoriented growth policies and ensure their implementation.• strengthen partnerships with the private sectorand civil society in Egypt. n8 Millennium Development Goals <strong>Report</strong> 2008. Egypt, op. cit.9 Egypt News, 21 February <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>97Egypt
100el salvador100 9348Vulnerability and violence, reflections of poverty1005200El Salvador, which elected its first leftwing Government last year, is committed to achieving the MDGs.971009997To do so, the new Government 100 must prioritize reducing 100 poverty and extreme poverty, reforming thehealth system in order to make it accessible to the entire population, developing prevention policies fornatural disasters, and advancing towards gender equality. If El Salvador wishes to attain the MDGs byIEG of france2015,72 BCI of USA 97it is imperative to make efforts to combat the vulnerability of a large partIEG of USAits population,74withoutneglecting violence and criminality.10072 74100 100 72100100 1001000<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> El SalvadorJeannette AlvaradoScarlett CortezMario Paniagua1001 UNDP, El Salvador 2009 Annual UNDP <strong>Report</strong>. Availablefrom: .2 W. Marroquín, El Salvador pobreza extrema y reformafiscal (San Salvador: Ajá! Museum, 2009). Available from:.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9187 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 68EmpowermentThe course of 2009 was marked by 52 events that changed52the political, economic and social direction of the country.The presidential election of March 2009 has becomeone of the country’s main historic events since for00051the first time a candidate of the left – journalist Mauricio8798Funes, of the Frente Farabundo 51999899Martí de Liberación Nacional– became President for a term of five years.Births attended by100 100 100100 100100 100The most serious concerns when President Funes skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationtook office were the economic crisis, resulting in up toIEG of El Salvador = 6850% of the population being unemployed or underemployed,ReducingINGLESincome inequalityBCI of ElrequiresSalvadorboth= 91 IEG of El Salvador = 68fiscal first time the State acknowledges health as a right andand widespread social insecurity; according to reform and an equitable redistribution of wealth. In by regarding it as a public asset, 6 explicitly rejects theUN figures only 2 out of 10 workers had a formal employmenthis inaugural speech in June 2009, President Funes commercialization of health.contract, with social security and a liveable pledged to tackle poverty and unemployment by means In the early months of the new Ministry of Publicwage. According to survey data published in various of a global economic recovery plan which includes Health and <strong>Social</strong> Welfare (MSPAS), medicine to supplynews media, the three major 100problems affecting Salvadoransmeasures to stabilize the 100 economy, invest in infrastruc-hospitals and health units 100was purchased, amountingin 2009 were high crime rates, the lack of jobs ture projects, including the expansion of electricity to to SVC 17,9 billion (just over USD 2 million), with theand the high prices of basic consumer products. rural areas, and compensate workers 73 and their families intention of reinforcing the budget for <strong>2010</strong>, extendingThe need for tax reformpublic contracts for 2009, and n/d supplying hospitalss/dfor the loss of jobs. Among the most groundbreakingmeasures was the extension of the <strong>Social</strong> Security systemwith essential drugs. 7 During the second half of 2009,No Excuses. Reaching the Millennium Developmentto cover domestic workers, of which some 90% are MSPAS invested some USD 150,000 to combat the0Goals by 2015, the 2009 UNDP Human Development0women. The Ministry of Labour undertook a campaign0H1N1 influenza epidemic and thus was able to keep0 <strong>Report</strong>, states that s/d extreme poverty in El Salvador s/d has to eliminate child 69 labour and strengthen labour 90 protectionmortality rates n/d low in comparison with other n/d countriesfallen by over 50% – from 28.8% of households inthrough the legalization of 75 new trade unions. in the region.100 1001991, to 10.8% in 2007. 1100100 100100 100Drugs in El Salvador – both brand-name andHowever, these figures should not imply that Changes in the health systemgeneric – are the most expensive in Central America.the country has overcome the problem of poverty, The new Government also took steps to halt the dismantlingThere is no price or quality regulation policy in place.which remains one of the Government’s principaland neglect INGLES of public BCI of health Myanmar and social = 77secu-In February <strong>2010</strong>, the MSPAS submitted a draft bill onchallenges. There are still over 800,000 people living rity. Among the most serious problems are: the chronic medicines which will guarantee price and quality regulation,in conditions of extreme poverty, which means that and deliberate shortage of drugs, the establishment ofunleashing a flurry of attacks from the media,the issue must be given comprehensive attention, so-called voluntary health care quotas, 3 budget cuts for led by the largest national pharmaceutical companyincluding the investment of greater resources. hospitals and conflicts of interest between ministers and supported by parties of the right. This has stalledAccording to analyst W. Marroquín, countries in and private services which supply the public and social debate on the bill in Congress.100100100the region vary with regard to the fight against extreme security system. 4Public spending on health, which had been fallingin recent years, has remained unchanged at 3.6%poverty, which is somewhat more manageable for El In May 2009 a new health policy was presented59Salvador than for its neighbours. It is s/dreckoned that if El under the name of Construyendo la Esperanza (“Buildingof GDP. The present government’s n/d undertaking is toSalvador were to allocate 6% of the country’s incomeHope”), which reflects the intentions of various reach 5% within this five-year period. If this figure isto this purpose, extreme poverty could be eradicated, social organizations as well as the new Government’s achieved, improvements in access, availability and thebut for Honduras and Nicaragua, 0 8% of national income public commitment to the issue 0 of health. 5 Thus for the quality of care provided by 0the MSPAS should becomewould be needed, s/da figure difficult for them s/d to attain onapparent. Even n/d though improvements of n/d official indicatorsrelated to health services coverage are reported80 their own. 28033100 100 100 3 A public 100 health funding system set up during the previous 100100 100Government in which hospital officials ask patients formoney before providing full care. These resources are usedto cover administrative expenses and salaries.4 Alianza Ciudadana INGLES Contra la BCI Privatización of Somalia de la Salud, = 57Balance de salud 2009, December, 2009.5 Ibid.100for 2009, there is no guarantee of the continuity of6 M. Rodríguez, Construyendo la Esperanza, Estrategias yRecomendaciones en Salud (San Salvador: Ministry ofPublic Health and <strong>Social</strong> Welfare, 2009).7 Alianza Ciudadana Contra la Privatización de la Salud, op.cit.9010099100National reports 98 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010087
many of these strategies, due to their dependence onexternal financing.The final report of the National Family Health Survey2008 (FESAL, in Spanish) highlights a reduction of9 points in the child mortality ratio (for children underthe age of one year). Meanwhile, among the underfivepopulation the reduction was 12 points at nationallevel. 8 However, there is a considerable gap betweenthe levels of progress for the urban and more highlyfavoured population, and the rural population whoseremain socially and economically vulnerable. Most ofthe under-five children who die used to live far awayfrom the large cities, in conditions of poverty and withdifficult access to health services.Maternal mortality continues to be a priority, althoughthe most recent available data indicate a continuationof the alarming figures of recent years, makingit unlikely that the country will meet the MDG target ofreducing the maternal mortality ratio by 75% by 2015.In 2006, there were 82 deaths per 100,000 births, a figurewhich remained the same in 2009. Improvementsin 2007 and 2008 (to 64 deaths in 2007 and 62 in 2008),were mainly due to under-registration. 9In November 2009 it was determined that a totalof 23,731 persons were affected by HIV/AIDS, of whomover 15,000 had been diagnosed with HIV and the restwere suffering from AIDS. 10 UNAIDS has suggestedthat there may be an under-registration of up to 25,000cases. Thus it would be hard to claim that the targetfor MDG5, halting the spread of HIV has been met. Atpresent, the national HIV/AIDS program is only fundedthrough the Global Fund 11 , which places its continuityat risk.In June 2009, the issue of participation and socialregulation was addressed in the paper Construyendo laesperanza. At present, steps are being taken to constitutea National Health Forum, programmed for <strong>2010</strong>; abody which will provide follow-up to all of these mattersand will be coordinated by social organizations.Environmental vulnerability intensifiesThe damage from tropical storm IDA in November 2009once again laid bare the country’s precarious environmentalsituation. In four hours 355mm of rain fell allover the country – a tremendous amount, bearing inmind that during Hurricane Mitch recorded rainfall was400mm over five days. 12 Hardest hit were the high andcoastal areas of the departments of San Salvador, San8 Asociación Demográfica Salvadoreña, Encuesta Nacional deSalud Familiar 2008. Informe final. Available from: .9 MSPAS, Mortalidad Materna en El Salvador, años 2006 al2009, San Salvador, <strong>2010</strong>.10 Ibid.11 The Global Fund was set up in 2002 in order to attract andadminister resources for control and prevention of HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis and malaria, within the framework of the MDGs.12 Maquilishuatl Foundation, Informe de la emergencia IDA,November 2009.Vicente, La Libertad, La Paz and Cuscatlán. Nationwidethere were 198 people registered as dead, 77 missingand 7,428 families who suffered the effects of thestorm. Some 14,300 evacuees were given refuge in the117 shelters installed for the purpose. Landslides andfloods caused bridges to collapse and roads to be cut,which led to the isolation of several of the country’smunicipalities. Heavy losses in bean, maize, sugar caneand coffee crops were also reported.The impact of tropical storm Ida was foreseeable,given the country’s serious social and environmentalvulnerability, as well as the failure of previous administrationsto address the environmental crisis which theneo-liberal economic model has exacerbated. <strong>Social</strong>organizations brought together in the Permanent RiskManagement Board of El Salvador have denouncedthe lack of public policies on the subject of risk managementand territorial legislation, as well as the needto amend the current Civil Protection Act for DisasterPrevention and Mitigation. 13Violence: an obstacle to educationIn 2009 the National Civil Police recorded 4,365 murders– 1,186 more than in 2008 – that is, an averageof between 12 and 13 murders a day. According tothe Central America Human Development <strong>Report</strong> for2009-<strong>2010</strong>, in 2008 the country was second only toHonduras in this regard, with 52 murders for every100,000 inhabitants, compared to 58 in Honduras. 14This makes it urgent to control the activities of gangs,which continue to operate with impunity.The violence and criminality of recent years haveseriously affected the country’s education sector. InJune 2009 alone, the Ministry of Education reportedthat 742 schools were at risk from crime, even morethan in 2008, when 500 schools were in this situation.This reflects the serious problem of juvenile violence,which makes access to education difficult for thousandsof young people, most of whom are attendingBasic Plan and Middle Education levels.According to the latest MDG report for El Salvador,issued in March 2009, among the most difficult goalsis universal primary education, since child labour andpoverty play a leading role in preventing children fromcompleting primary education. With regard to eliminatingthe gender gap in education, while it is true as UNDPreport notes that this has been achieved, it reflects onlythe population enrolled in the formal educational system,excluding the segment of the population whichhas not yet been able to obtain access to this basichuman right. 1513 Available from: .14 UNDP, Central America Human Development <strong>Report</strong> for2009-<strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .15 See: .To address these problems the Government introducedseveral proposals during 2009, including thereduction of illiteracy, which is expected to drop from16% to 3.2% in five years, 16 the school lunch program,the delivery of school packs and free uniforms to thestudent population and the strengthening of educationalprograms in order to improve the quality of educationall over the country.Gender equality a distant goalDespite the fact that in legal terms El Salvador supportsgender equity and encourages the empowerment ofwomen, and has endorsed numerous global conventionsand agreements, Salvadoran women have madescant progress in the 15 years since the Beijing Conference.The achievements that have been made are primarilydue to the struggles of the women’s movementand the will of some of the political parties. 17With regard to the commitment undertaken inBeijing to promote gender balance in its institutions, itcan be seen that the State has made no effort to closethe gender gap and that men still outnumber women inmanagement positions. The share of women in Congressis at present only 9%. 18It is important for <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> El Salvador to repeatthe statements made in 2004 by Ms Yakin Ertürk,Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women to theSecretary-General of the United Nations. Ertürk statedthat the lack of investigation, trial and punishment ofthose who commit acts of violence against women givesrise to a climate of impunity and a lack of confidencein the judicial system. The result is a society in whichwomen are subjected to ongoing sexual, economic andpsychological violence, in a situation of economic disparityand a macho culture which limits their possibilitiesof achieving a decent standard of living.ConclusionIf El Salvador wishes to attain the MDGs by 2015, it isimperative to make efforts to combat the vulnerabilityof a large part of its population, as well as violenceand criminality in society. Vulnerability is apparent inpoverty and extreme poverty rates which are still high,in the health problems caused, among other factors,by the cost of coverage and medicines, in the lack ofa more effective policy for the prevention of naturaldisasters and in the lack of implementation of genderpolicies to put an end to inequity. Also, it is necessaryto put an end to the activities of gangs, which behavewith far too much impunity. n16 Inter-Sectoral Association for Economic Development and<strong>Social</strong> Progress (CIDEP, in Spanish), Balance educativo2008-2009.17 Dina Sales, Informe Beijing + 15 El Salvador, CIDEP,December 2009.18 Prudencia Ayala Feminist Pact; Las Mélidas; Las Dignas;Salvadoran Women’s Organization, statement on LaViolencia contra la Mujer siempre es una EmergenciaNacional, November 2009.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>99El Salvador
ERITREA100 100Held hostage by its own Government100740Eritrea has been led for almost9920 years by a Government that evolved from a liberation movement10098and whose right to rule 100 has not been confirmed in free 100and fair elections. 100 Political58repression has 100 neverbeen so glaring as during the first decade of the new millennium. The Government is continuouslyfrustrating the economic and developmental aspirations of the people. In the face of new sanctionsBCI of spain = 99imposed by the UN Security Council in December 2009, economic recoveryIEG ofandSpainsocial= 77developmentwill continue to be unreachable goals.0100100Eritrean Movement for Democracy andHuman Rights (EMDHR)Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009Daniel R. Mekonnen 100100100BCI = 76 GEI = 47Children reachingEmpowerment5th gradeEritrea is one of Africa’s 33 least developed countries56and one of the world’s heavily indebted poor25countries. 1 Progress towards internationally agreed250social development objectives, such as the Millennium00Development Goals (MDGs), is moving at a788794very slow pace and in 5494several respects things have100 100 6254100100 100100actually got worse since the situation described in Births attended by62 100100<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong> 2009 (the first time Eritrea was skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationincluded in that report). Abject poverty, the principalIEG of Eritrea = 47cause of hunger and under-nourishment, remains repression. ThereINGLESmight beBCIsomeofprogress,Eritrea =particularly76 IEG of Eritrea = 47drought has further compounded the vulnerabilitywidespread.in terms of investing in physical infrastructure such of a greater proportion of the Eritrean society, particularlyDevelopment policy versus human rightswomen and children. 5as schools, hospitals, roads and dams. Little hasbeen invested in people, however, who should be In its <strong>2010</strong> Humanitarian Action <strong>Report</strong>, UNICEFAlthough the aftermath of the global economic crisisthe primary beneficiaries. All public projects in the notes that the number of children with acute malnu-has posed some challenges 100 for Eritrea, foreign country since 2002 have 100 been implemented under trition who were admitted 100to therapeutic feeding cen-direct investment (FDI) and aid have not been seriouslyaffected. A number of mining companies are labour schemes. 2 Combined with the alarming record 2008. It reports that children were more susceptiblearchaic methods of manual labour, including forced tres in 2009 was as much as six times higher than in87involved in exploration for precious s/d minerals, and of human rights violations, this has prompted thousandsto diarrhoea and other infectious n/ddiseases as a resultthere are suggestions that some will begin exportingof Eritreans to flee the country. According to of acute malnutrition, poor sanitation and a shortagein the near future. However, there are neither the the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Eritrea was the of clean water.0institutional and legal guarantees nor the required0world’s second largest refugee-producing country in0Lack of access to water is exacerbating the poortransparency tos/densure this has a positive s/d impact 2008, with 62,700 newly registered asylum seekers. 3 health and nutritionaln/dstatus of children n/dand women.699680on social development. In terms of official developmentA population engaged in an unparalleled and96ongoing In 2009, most of the small-to-medium-sized dams100 assistance (ODA), the EU – the country’s lead-100 100100 100exodus is not in a position to enjoy the benefits of100 100were either dry or had little water left. Out of desperation,100ing (and possibly only) international donor – signed any physical infrastructure built in the country. Thispeople began sharing their borehole drinkingan agreement with the Government in September shows a development policy that is not aligned with a water sources normally reserved for the watering2009 that formalized the amount of EUR 122 millionhuman rights-based INGLES approach. BCI of Iraq = 88of their animals, putting an even greater demand on(USD 150 million) for development aid. Thesethis water supply. 6funds are being provided in the face of disapproval Starvation and denialFor <strong>2010</strong> UNICEF has proposed a nationwidefrom international human rights groups, which are Although Eritrea is located in one of the driest blanket supplementary feeding program targeting 1concerned about whether the money will be spent parts of Africa and suffers from poor and erratic million Eritreans – approximately a quarter of the population– with a particular focus on children under fiveon its intended purposes, in view of Eritrea’s poor rainfall, 80% of the population is dependent on100100100record on transparency. Moreover, allocating such a subsistence farming and seasonal rains. 4 The years old. 7 Estimates by the World Food Programmelarge amount of money to a Government with one of rainy season of 2009 was no exception and, together(WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organizationthe world’s worst records of human rights violationswith a steep increase in 62 the price of staples, (FAO) also reveal that since November 2009 two insends all the wrong messages.This is not the first time that 22 the country has222 G. Kibreab, “Forced Labour in Eritrea,” Journal of Modernreceived enormous amounts 0of ODA. Yet, experience00African Studies, 47 (2009), 64 and 67.5 UNICEF, “Humanitarian Action <strong>Report</strong>: Partneringshows that the role of aid in changing the lives of 3 UNHCR, “Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum Seekers,for Children in Emergencies,” New York, <strong>2010</strong>, 23.9519ordinary Eritreans has been minimal due to flawed Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons,” 95Available from: (accessed 8 March <strong>2010</strong>).4 Bertelsmann Stiftung, “Bertelsmann Transformation Index6 Ibid, 24.1 UN Department of Economic IEG of Nepal and <strong>Social</strong> = 51 Affairs, Rethinking (BTI) <strong>2010</strong>: Eritrea Country <strong>Report</strong>,” Gütersloh, 2009, 9. 7 Jeremy Clarke, “UNICEF Wants $24.8 Million for EritreanINGLES BCI of Nepal = 58 IEG of Nepal = 51Poverty: <strong>Report</strong> on the World <strong>Social</strong> Situation, New York,Available from: (accessed 8 March <strong>2010</strong>).(accessed 8 March <strong>2010</strong>).9 March <strong>2010</strong>).National reports 100 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010093
every three Eritreans are facing malnourishment. 8 Thismeans that Eritrea has the second-highest percentageof malnourishment in the world after the conflictriddenDemocratic Republic of the Congo. One sign ofthis is the dramatic increase in the number of childrenbegging in the streets of the capital, Asmara. 9 In spiteof such alarming reports, the Government has neveradmitted the urgency of the crisis. President IsaiasAfwerki has repeatedly denied the looming hunger inthe country and stated that there is no food shortage;the latest such claim came at a briefing he gave tosenior government officials on 8 March <strong>2010</strong>. 10 TheGovernment has also denied access to some humanitariangroups wanting to visit those areas that havebeen most severely affected by starvation.Declining income and excessivemilitary expenditureThere is no officially published national budget, makingit difficult to trace the structure of Governmentincome and expenditure. However, some sourcesindicate that remittances constitute as much as onethirdof the national economy. 11 The country has oneof the largest diaspora communities proportional toits population; more than 1 million out of around 4million are said to be outside of the country. There arethree major types of remittances from the Eritreandiaspora: money sent to relatives in the country;money officially collected by the Government in theform of a 2% income tax; and money collected in thename of support to “development projects,” “nationaldefence,” “the martyrs’ fund” and other causes.Money in the last two categories is collected by Eritreanembassies in major world cities. Remittancesto relatives were in the past sent predominantly viaGovernment-owned financial institutions. Howeverdue to the sustained overvaluation of the nationalcurrency, the Nakfa, many Eritreans now use alternativechannels. This has caused considerable loss ofhard currency to Government coffers. Moreover, dueto the increased political repression, remittances inthe other two categories have dropped significantly.As the Government is one of the most secretivein the world, the Eritrean public does not know howand for what purposes money is spent. There are,however, reports indicating that the country has oneof the highest military expenditures in the world. Intheir 2009 annual reports, the Bonn InternationalCentre for Conversion (BICC) ranked Eritrea as themost militarized country in the world, while theInternational Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)8 “Eritrea: Africa’s Version of North Korea?” The ChristianScience Monitor, 2009. Available from: (accessed 9 November 2009).9 N. Hirt, “Dreams Don’t Come True in Eritrea: Anomie andFamily Disintegration Due to the Structural Militarization ofSociety,” GIGA Working Papers, 119/<strong>2010</strong>, January <strong>2010</strong>,13, 26.10 Ministry of Information, “Raising Productivity Guarantee ofNational Objectives and Vision: President Isaias,” Shabait.com News, 8 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 8 March <strong>2010</strong>).11 The Christian Science Monitor, op. cit.placed it second. 12 Another report shows that Eritreahas an army of 600,000 personnel divided intoregular and reserve divisions. 13 Both have beenunder constant mobilization since the outbreak ofthe 1998-2000 border conflict with Ethiopia, resultingin higher levels of military expenditure at theexpense of economic recovery and social development.BICC reports that 20% of Eritrea’s GDP goesto military expenditure, while Christian SolidarityWorldwide (CSW) and Human Rights Concern–Eritrea (HRC–E) put the figure at up to 25% of GDP. 14Given Eritrea’s miniscule economy and populationsize, its military expenditure and recruitment ratioare exceedingly extravagant.Increasing international isolationFew developing countries can effectively tackle thechallenges of economic development without internationalcooperation. Yet, Eritrea finds itself at oddswith the international community. In the last 10 years,it has been described by the international media andobservers as: “the lonely corner of the world,” “theopen-air prison,” “the North Korea of Africa,” “theinsular and pariah state” and “the centre of attractionfor all the wrong reasons.” 15 This is mainly due to therigid political culture of the Government, its alarminglevel of human rights violations, as well as its archaicand futile experiment in economic self-reliance.At the regional and international levels, Eritrea’sreputation has been tarnished irredeemably due toits destructive role in almost all of the conflicts inthe Horn of Africa. This volatile region has been continuallyravaged by inter-state conventional wars,guerrilla warfare, coups and revolutions. Since itsindependence in 1991, Eritrea has been in a war withall of its immediate neighbours – Djibouti, Ethiopiaand Sudan – as well as a proxy war in Somalia, withwhich it does not even have a common border. Thecountry also had an armed conflict with Yemen.Due to the hostility of its leaders, Eritrea has beenvisibly isolated from major regional and internationalforums, from the Intergovernmental Authority onDevelopment (IGAD) – the regional organization ofthe Horn of Africa countries – up to the African Union(AU) and the UN. In 2009, the level of indignation feltby the international community against the Governmentover its destabilizing activities in the Horn ofAfrica prompted the adoption of stringent punitivemeasures by the UN Security Council against the12 BICC, “Global Militarization Index (GMI),” 2009.Available from: (accessed9 December 2009); IISS, The Military Balance: The AnnualAssessment of Global Military Capabilities and DefenceEconomies, London, 2009. Available from: (accessed 9 December 2009).13 Bertelsmann Stiftung, op. cit., 4, 13.14 CSW and HRC–E, “Stakeholder <strong>Report</strong> on the Human RightsSituation in Eritrea. Submitted to the Universal PeriodicReview of the UN Human Rights Council,” April 2009, 7.15 N. Myers, “Africa’s North Korea: Inside Eritrea’s Open-AirPrison,” Foreign Policy, July/August <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 8 July <strong>2010</strong>).R. Reid, “Traumatic Transitions: Open Season on the EritreanState,” African Affairs, 105 (2006), 638.military and political leadership. Resolution 1907 imposeda new sanctions regime comprising an armsembargo, travel bans and freezing of assets. 16 Thelatter two categories target high-ranking Governmentofficials and the financial institutions directlyor indirectly controlled by them.Resolution 1907 was initiated by IGAD and takenup by the AU, the first time a UN resolution has beenformally initiated by the AU against one of its ownmember states. The Government has reacted witha campaign of misinformation, including the manipulationof diaspora communities to stage “massprotests” against the resolution in major world cities.There are speculations that the resolution may affectFDI as it includes clauses referring to the flow ofcapital by foreign citizens and companies.Challenges aheadNo official travel and research permits are currentlygranted in the country to independent researchers,particularly on human rights and political development.As a result it remains extremely difficult toassess the advances made in and setbacks to theattainment of the MDGs or provide a complete pictureof the real situation on the ground. In spite ofsuch acute limitations, there are still several reliablereports compiled by independent researchers andthink-tanks, and not a few of them depict Eritrea as afailed state in the making and a country already bentto the breaking point. 17The greatest challenge is the lack of political willon the part of the Government to facilitate democratization,respect human rights and liberalize theeconomy. As in previous years, the Government’strack record with regard to its international commitmentsand obligations on poverty eradication, genderequality and the promotion of human rights hasbeen abysmal. Eritrea suffers from repression by theruling party, the People’s Front for Democracy andJustice (PFDJ), and its flawed economic policies andfrom the increased levels of international isolation.Without a peaceful political transition to democracy,these challenges will continue to pose tremendousobstacles in terms of realizing Eritrea’s aspirations ofeconomic recovery and social development. n16 United Nations, UN Doc S/RES/1907, 23 December 2009.Available from: (accessed on 3 June <strong>2010</strong>).17 The Fund for Peace, The Failed States Index, <strong>2010</strong>. Availablefrom: (accessed 8 July <strong>2010</strong>).<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 101 Eritrea
FinlandAid and economic relations still lagging behind people’s welfareAlthough the shift in priorities of its Development Policy Program has been positive in some respects,Finland’s focus on social development and social rights has diminished. There are insufficient mechanisms inplace to ensure that gender equality, the rights of women and vulnerable groups, and combating HIV/AIDSare tackled. In order for development policies and cooperation to be truly sustainable, the country shouldincrease its aid in both absolute and percentage terms. Beyond official development assistance (ODA),innovative financing mechanisms – including financial transaction taxes – should also be introduced.100KEPA<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Finland 1Timo LappalainenThe Finnish Government’s current Development PolicyProgramme, introduced in 2007, brought aboutnotable changes in the country’s policies in this area.It extended the previous focus on poverty reductionto sustainable development of the economy, environment,and society, and placed new emphasis onclimate and environmental policies, and the role ofthe private sector.Finnish NGOs have welcomed the Government’sincreased attention to food security, ruraldevelopment, and environmental sustainability.However they have voiced concerns about the lowerpriority given to social development, the rights of themost vulnerable, and the poverty impacts of trade,investments, migration, and other related policies.Moreover foreign direct investment (FDI) by Finnishcompanies often has negative impacts on human development.NGOs want to see the Government takeconcrete steps to assess all policy sectors in the lightof their impact on poverty in developing countries.ODA: stretching does not mean increasingFinland is one of the few donor countries that havebeen able to increase its percentage of official developmentassistance (ODA) according to internationalcommitments. Unfortunately, however, the financialcrisis has forced the Government to cut back onplanned increases in absolute terms.In <strong>2010</strong> development programs have been allocateda EUR 40 million increase rather than theEUR 50 million increase initially budgeted. For 2011the Government envisions that ODA will rise to a levelof 0.58% of GNI. These trends raise concerns aboutFinland reaching the 0.7% target by 2015.In addition NGOs fear that ODA will be stretchedto cover new policy areas, namely a larger amountof refugee costs and climate financing. The Ministryof the Interior has pushed for ODA to include notonly the costs of refugees who are granted refugeestatus, but also the costs of cases where refugees aredenied asylum. Fortunately the Government has notyet agreed to this.1 The article was written by Eva Nilsson. Tytti Nahi and NiinaPitkänen also contributed to it.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9998Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 84100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5Climate financing, on the other hand, will beincluded in existing ODA instead of being additionalto it, going against the international commitmentson additionality and the recommendations of FinnishNGOs. It is still unknown how the relationshipof climate financing and ODA will be resolved inpractice.It is unfortunate that despite the increasingpressures on ODA funds and the fact that Finlandis a member of the Leading Group on InnovativeDevelopment Finance, the Government has not beenactive in proposing or backing innovative sources offinance. It remains reluctant to support the introductionof a financial transaction tax, despite broad supportfor this from civil society, some national parties,and several European governments. 2Diminishing social aidForests, water, and climate change are the growingsectors of Finnish aid allocation, the argument beingthat these are “areas where Finnish experienceand expertise can be best used to support partnercountries’ own development programmes.” 3 The100 99proportion of aid related to these areas is increasingin all Finland’s long-term partner countries. Becauseof this, the proportion directed to the social sectoris diminishing.Gender equality, the rights of women and vulnerablegroups, and combating 0 HIV/AIDS are supposedto be cross-cutting themes of Finnish developmentcooperation. 99 However, there are virtually no 100 mecha-100 1002 Matti Ylönen, Innovatiiviset rahoituslähteet ja Suomi.Lehtereiltä parrasvaloihin? Ajatuspaja E2:n tilaisuuseduskunnan kansalaisinfossa, 10 September <strong>2010</strong>.BCI of Portugal = 993 Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Government of Finland,Development Policy Programme 2007: Towards asustainable and just world community, Helsinki, 2007,17.0Economic activity1000Empowerment79100 10099100100 100BCI of Finland = 99 IEG of Finland = 84Educationnisms in place to ensure that they are integrated intoaid programs. In fact, a recent evaluation concludedthat these issues are not being well mainstreamed.Financing of specific women’s rights and genderequality programs has gone down. 4Furthermore the Government has withdrawnfrom its objective to concentrate ODA on a smallnumber of long-term partner countries. Instead it hasintroduced thematic cooperation, which focuses onsectors of specific importance to Finland, usually ona regional basis. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs hasformulated new regional framework programmesfor Africa, South Caucasus, Central Asia, WesternBalkans, and the Andes.Finally, the proportion of programmatic aid isdeclining relative to project aid, and the Governmenthas capped general budget support to 25% for itslong-term partner countries. This raises questionsabout Finland’s commitment to the Paris Declarationand Accra Action Agenda on aid effectiveness. Finnishcivil society organizations fear that a strong focuson thematic and project aid diverts attention fromcontext specificity and harmonization.100Foreign direct investmentDevelopment aid alone cannot 53 tackle poverty. Equallyimportant are economic relations with developingcountries, including foreign direct investment (FDI).However, most FDI flows 0from Finland go to the developedworld. The share of Finnish FDI to developingcountries in 2009 was only about 6% 98 of the100total. The majority 69100of these investments were madeto China, Brazil, India and Singapore. InvestmentsIEG of Portugal = 734 Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Government of Finland,Cross-cutting Themes in Finnish Development Cooperation:Evaluation <strong>Report</strong>, Helsinki, 2008, 6.76100100100100100National reports 102 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100100
to sub-Saharan Africa have remained very low, andonly about 0.02% of the total FDI base is in LeastDeveloped Countries (LDCs). 5Statistics do not always tell the whole storyhowever. It is difficult to make exact measurementsof FDI flows as companies transform into multinationals.Finnish companies have been at the top ofEuropean comparisons in outsourcing their productionto subsidiaries all around the world. 6 Investmentscan be made by subsidiaries and these are notincluded in Finnish statistics.In order to increase investments in developingcountries, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has endeavouredto involve the business sector in developmentcooperation, forming advisory clusters ofFinnish firms and institutions working on selectedfocus themes. The Minister for Trade and Developmenthas also been active in visiting poor and middleincomecountries to promote Finnish companies andencourage investments. Furthermore, Finland runs abusiness partnership programme called Finnpartnership,a concessional loans scheme, and private equityexport credit funds. They are all funded with ODA.Two thirds of Finnpartnership’s funds in 2009were allocated to business projects in Asia, withmost applications in 2006–09 being for the emergingeconomies of China, India and Vietnam. Fundinghas been granted to companies of all sizes, even verylarge ones. 7 Finland argues that FDI should contributeto sustainable human development, 8 yet projectsreceiving concessional loans or export credits arenot always evaluated on pro-poor standards. Furthermore,many investments made by large companiesto developing countries focus on raw materialsinstead of productive industries. These rarely createadded value for their host countries’ development.<strong>Social</strong> and environmental impactsPublic discussion about the environmental and socialimpacts of Finnish FDI has been lively. Severalpulp companies investing in Asia and South Americahave been in the headlines for breaching people’sland rights and harming the environment. An exampleis the forestry firm Stora Enso whose acquisitionof land for production facilities in Brazil obliged localpeople to leave their homes. 9 UPM-Kymmene, anotherforestry giant, had to withdraw from Indonesiabecause of accusations of rain forest destruction andforced land acquisition from locals.Problems with biofuel production have alsogained publicity in Finland. The Finnish companyNeste Oil is importing palm oil from Southeast Asiaand has been accused by environmental organizationsof destroying rainforests and grabbing land5 Calculations from Bank of Finland data by economist AiriHeikkila, 10 May <strong>2010</strong>.6 Statistics Finland, ”Suomalaisyritykset ovat ulkomailleulkoistamisen etujoukkoa,” Tieto&trendit 4–5, 2008.7 Finnfund, Toimintaraportti 2009.8 Valtioneuvoston kanslia, Kohti kestäviä valintoja.Kansallisesti ja globaalisti kestävä Suomi. Kansallinenkestävän kehityksen strategia. Valtioneuvoston kanslianjulkaisusarja, 5, 2006, 25.9 Finnwatch, Stora Enso etelän eukalyptusmailla, 2, 2009.from indigenous peoples. Moreover controversiesover cloth production have been raised by Finland’sClean Clothes campaign, launched in the spring of<strong>2010</strong>. Many Finnish clothing companies, such asStockmann, Seppala, Lindex, Halonen, Moda, Top-Sport and Halti, rely on workers that do not receivea living wage.Finnish NGOs have also sought to increase discussionon tax evasion, which is a major obstacle todevelopment. Many companies transfer productionto tax-free zones and profits to offshore jurisdictions,causing developing countries to lose capitaland tax income. Big Finnish companies – such asKemira, Kone, Metsä-Botnia, Nautor, Nokia, Outokumpu,Stora Enso and Wärtsilä – have establishedsubsidiaries in tax havens. It is difficult to find exactinformation on the taxes that companies pay anddo not pay. When the NGO network Finn<strong>Watch</strong> researchedFinnish companies’ tax policies abroad,most companies refused to give out country-basedor subsidiary information, arguing that it was a businesssecret or practically difficult. 10In general FDI has not fulfilled hopes it wouldgenerate economic growth, reduce poverty and providedecent work. Even so the Government has beenpassive regarding issues of corporate responsibilityin and tax evasion from developing countries. Manyproblems related to tax evasion could be tackled byactively supporting the closure of tax havens andthe introduction of international accounting standardson country-by-country reporting. The Governmentis also not actively monitoring whether Finnishcompanies abide by Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD) guidelines formultinational corporations. A Committee on Societyand Corporate Responsibility has been set up with amandate to monitor and report on Finnish companies’conduct, but its resources and profile are notup to the task. 11Basic services threatened by tradeagreementsAnother part of Finnish development policy’s emphasison private sector development is trade. Duringthe last two years the Ministry for Foreign Affairshas supported Aid for Trade and promoted developingcountry imports. Finland has a history of emphasisingthe link between development and trade,including during its EU presidency in 2006. The currentGovernment has also committed itself to policycoherence, but it is not acting on this commitmentin practice. For example, no evaluations have beenundertaken on the impacts of trade agreements onlong-term partner countries.The main forums for setting Finland’s tradepolicy are the World Trade Organization (WTO) andthe EU. Although member states can influence theEuropean Commission’s negotiations, this right hasrarely been used by Finland. Parliament has alsobeen inactive. In contrast to the last electoral period,10 Finnwatch, Köyhiltä rikkaille, Yritysten veronmaksu,kehitysmaat ja vastuullisuus, 1, 2009, 21.11 Eurodad, Reality of Aid <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .the Grand Committee of the Parliament has not setup a special working group on trade matters eventhough the amount and depth of trade agreementsis constantly increasing. Furthermore, the Departmentfor Trade Policy at the Foreign Ministry hasbeen rather brief in its annual reporting on trade anddevelopment to the Finnish Parliament.Most Finnish NGOs think that Finland shouldrefrain from the commercialization of basic servicesand allow for flexibility in intellectual property rights.In Dar es Salaam, for example, the commercial capitalof long-term partner Tanzania, water serviceshave been privatized. Only a quarter of the city’s populationreceives running water as privatization hasled to an increase in prices and limited distribution.Water is one of Finland’s sustainable developmentfocuses, and it should actively ensure that such basicservices really reach the poor. Another example ismedicines, which due to intellectual property rightsare often too expensive for most people in poor andmiddle-income countries.How to tackle the challenges?To make development policies and cooperationtruly sustainable, Finland should ensure that aid isincreased in both absolute and percentage terms.ODA allocations should not be used to cover issuessuch as refugee costs and climate financing; insteaddevelopment cooperation funds should be more effectivelychannelled into concrete poverty reductionmeasures. Beyond ODA, innovative financing mechanisms,including financial transaction taxes, shouldbe introduced by Finland so that some existing financinggaps for development could be closed.It should also be acknowledged that Finnishexpertise cannot bring added value in cases wherepartner country ownership and social policies suffer.Finland’s own welfare state is based on equalityand inclusive societal institutions as key drivers ofeconomic and social development. This experienceshould be a crucial part of its added value and a solidbasis of a search for more effective ways to reducepoverty and promote social protection abroad.Furthermore the Government should monitorcompanies that invest in developing countriesmuch more closely and should not be involved ininvestments that do not commit to socially andenvironmentally sustainable standards. It shouldsupport the introduction of international accountingstandards on country-by-country reporting and theclosing of tax havens in order to halt illicit financialflows out of developing countries.Finally, Finland should actively ensure that tradeagreements are not in conflict with human development.As the country is committed to monitoringthe effects of trade policies on poor countries, theGovernment needs to be more proactive in guidingthe work of the European Commission, drawing fromexperiences in its long-term partner countries. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 103 Finland
FranceReviving the original MDGs spirit100093If we are to achieve the 100 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), every state must demonstrate the9992political will to formulate 100 the necessary global policies 100 as well as 100 to improve 71 progress on concrete 100indicators. This will require a new development strategy that recaptures the original spirit of the MDGs,focusing on people’s needs and improving their quality of life; reaching the poorest sectors of society;BCI of Switzerland = 98IEG of Switzerland = 62promoting gender equality; and acting on the premise that the values of well-being and a better qualityof life are inseparable.10002310090French civil society organizations, NGOs,unions and territorial organizations 110074As in recent national efforts to save the banks, the primaryrequirement in the struggle against poverty andinequality will be political courage and engagementBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100 99BCI = 99 GEI = 72Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermenton the part of the leaders of France and Europe as a0whole. In 2005, French civil society organizations00and local governments insisted that excuses must100end and the country must honour its commitments.9810010097100100 100 58100100 100100 72100100In <strong>2010</strong>, just five years before the MDGs deadline, Births attended bythese groups are demanding that their leaders finallyskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationtake full responsibility for progress and committhemselves to effective IEG of action Spain three = 77 areas: respect as within nations BCI of france= and communities. 99 Immigrants mitted by subsidiaries IEG of france of European 72 companies.for human rights; solidarity with their own people; frequently become scapegoats in times of high In addition, countries should monitor companiesand the inclusion of all stakeholders in development unemployment, terrorism or racial or religiousthat receive public support (financial,planning and implementation.intolerance. One of the primary principles expressedexport credits) to ensure that they respect hu-in the CTM is that all migrant workers man rights, procedures for handling complaintsRespecting human rightsand their families have fundamental rights in from the public, the basic rights of workers and100100100The fight against poverty and inequality is not just a their new country regardless 87 of their legal status.environmental protection regulations.humanitarian question; it also involves respect forThe Convention also guarantees protectionpeople’s dignity and therefore respect for their basic of the supplementary rights of migrant workers Reinforcing solidarity52rights. It follows that efforts to achieve the MDGs who have acquired legal status, including their Governments demonstrated solidarity with their own25must be based on the principle that all human rights rights to be integrated into society in their new people when they re-floated their banks and tried to0are indivisible and interdependent. Consequently country and to enrich 0 and preserve links to their0limit the damage they had caused. We now insist onFrance must:country of origin.87 the same degree of solidarity with ordinary people to 879498• Sign and ratify the 54 Optional Protocol of the In- • Support the International Labour Organization eliminate poverty and inequality.100 100 625199100100 100100 100100ternational Covenant on <strong>Social</strong>, Economic and (ILO) initiative to implement the Decent Work In a world in which about 2% of the populationCultural Rights. Ratifying this Covenant will Pilot Program. In a new study on aspects ofowned 50% of all assets in 2006, 3 redistribut-76support efforts to obtain greater recognition forced labour around the world, the ILO emphasizesBCI that of in a El crisis Salvador situation = 91 IEG of El Salvador = 68ing wealth and expanding access to public goodsIEG of Eritrea = 47of social, economic and cultural rights in the“it is the most on a worldwide scale is imperative. The neo-liberalcountry’s laws and courts. So far, only 32 countriesvulnerable that suffer the most. In this context policies of the wealthy countries were directly reportinghave signed the Optional Protocol. In sup-it is necessary to ensure that adjustments do sponsible for the world financial, food, social, energythe formulation of this Protocol, France not redound to the detriment of the guarantees and environmental crisis. Yet the common people,made an implicit commitment to implementing that were given conscientiously to prevent primarily those in the South, are paying the price.the rights it establishes, but has not yet adhered forced labour and abuses in the treatment of Those who have been responsible for these policies100100100to it. The Protocol will become a dead letter if human beings.” 2should bear the consequences of their decisions.not enough countries sign; 10 states will have73Progress has been made towards some of the• Ensure that companies respect basic rights. Theto ratify it to guarantee active n/d enforcement. TheMDGs, but much more remainsrecommendations of the special representatives/d to be done. Linkingcountries of the South are awaiting the completionof this process, which will make it possiblesolidarity and the redistribution of wealth would en-the goals to financial mechanisms based on socialof the Secretary General of the United Nationsspecify that states have a duty to protect human00for their inhabitants to demand that their rightssure that they are universally 0 achieved.rights, and this duty presupposes implementationof legal measures to defend people 90n/dbe legally established.n/d69 This means that the MDGs will not be reacheds/din thes/d6996without a truly global effort to promote development,• Sign and ratify the International Convention on South who are victims of rights violations com-100 100 100100 100100 100100including a commitment of additional resources. Thethe Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workersand Members of their Families (CTM) to 2 ILO, “The cost of coercion,” Geneva, 2009.states of the South are hamstrung by unsustainableensure that it takes effect internationally, as well Available from: .1003 UN, “Only 2% of the population own half the world’swealth.” Available from: .48National reports 104 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100100
debt service payments and very low returns from theexploitation of their natural resources. This makes itimpossible for them to finance their public serviceswithout external support. It is vital for France to:• Reaffirm its Official Development Assistance(ODA) and channel it to social sectors in poorcountries. In its forthcoming three-year publicfinance legislation, the Government shouldinclude a budget commitment to ODA thathonours France’s European and internationalcommitment to allocate 0.7% of the country’sGross National Income (GNI) to ODA by 2015.France must coordinate its efforts with otherproviders of funds and with the beneficiarycountries to establish a more transparent andeffective allocation of resources that complieswith the points in the Paris Declaration. Prioritymust be given to subsidizing the poorercountries, in particular their social sectors,systematically and through the allocation ofincreased resources to counterbalance loansthat may lead to a renewed crisis–the first signof which would be a burgeoning speculativebubble.• Implement a mechanism to redistribute wealthby taxing financial transactions. These taxeswould generate additional resources that wouldsupplement the traditional public finance allocationsfor efforts to reduce inequality, ensurethe MDGs are attained, adapt to climate changeand preserve the world’s public goods. The firststage of this program would be to levy a taxon inter-bank currency transactions in Europeancurrencies (the euro and sterling) in allparts of the world. A tax of this kind is perfectlyfeasible from a technical point of view; in theshort term, a European currency transactiontax is more viable than world-wide taxes on allfinancial transactions, which could be implementedin a second stage. The United Nationsshould determine the sectors and institutionsthat receive the income from this tax, as this isthe only organization that has the legitimacy todetermine which financial needs should havepriority internationally.• All illegitimate debts should be cancelled. Thecountries of the South should be able to makeinvestments to promote the economic and socialdevelopment of their people. Many of thepoorer countries are still heavily indebted. Foryears, loans that creditors have made withoutany real sense of responsibility have had little orno real positive impact on their ostensible beneficiaries.Those debts are illegitimate. In somecases the loans were secured by tyrannical regimesthat simply stole the money or used it toincrease their military power and oppress theirsubjects (this is known as “odious debt”). Inother cases, the loans were obtained to financeextremely ill-conceived development projects,white elephants mired in corruption that eitherfailed or were never completed. Far-reachingreforms in lending are essential to avoid recurringcrises caused by unsustainable and illegitimatedebts. They should be incorporated ina new debt framework that ensures creditorsand debtors reach joint agreements based ontransparency and mutual responsibility. Thesame principles should be applied if any problemsarise, along with adherence to a sense offairness. A related aspect of indebtedness in theSouth is that the many banks in the North havewelcomed funds that corrupt dictators havestolen from their own people. This illegitimatewealth and the assets acquired with it should bereturned to the countries that were robbed.• Make the fiscal, social and environmental policiesof companies more transparent. Achievingthe MDGs, especially Goal 8, will requirethat companies, particularly transnationals,become more transparent. This would necessarilyinvolve rules requiring exchange of morecomplete fiscal information between states. Toensure that this occurs, France and the EuropeanUnion should impose a legal frameworkthat obligates companies to disclose the impactthat their activities have on development. Thiswould include a full accounting of social andenvironmental impacts in each country wherethey have operations, provided in conformitywith IASB (International Accounting StandardsBoard) practices and in compliance with theEuropean directive on transparency. The frameworkwould also reinforce the automatic exchangeof fiscal information at the Europeanand world levels. The poorer countries wouldnot be directly involved in these measures initially,as they would be implemented progressivelyin Europe and then in the countries ofthe OECD, and would contribute to the ODAthat these countries provide. The resourcesobtained through this process could be usedto strengthen tax administration systems inthe countries of the South. This would enablethese countries to raise their currently low taxyields and enhance their efforts to combat fraudand tax evasion, all issues that undermine theireconomies.Enabling all stakeholders to participatein developmentThe current crisis is a unique opportunity to re-thinkdevelopment and growth policies and strategies andto give the people, starting with the poorest sectorsof the population, a central role in the developmentprocess.The MDGs will only be attained if the effort toachieve them focuses on meeting people’s most urgentneeds, reaching the poorest sectors, establishinggenuine equality between men and women, andadhering to the fundamental principle that well-beingand better quality of life are interdependent values.Ordinary citizens, civil society organizations, localgovernments, parliaments and companies mustall participate in establishing this change in perspective.It will require a new spirit of solidarity amongpeoples, starting at the local level, not only withineach country but in relations between countries. Toachieve this, we propose the following:• Forging a systematic association between civilsociety organizations and populations living inpoverty capable of influencing public policy formulation.We appeal to the French Governmentto implement public policies on the local as wellas the national level that promote the MDGs andare conceived, implemented and evaluated in away that systematically involves civil societyorganizations in all their diversity. In particular,these policies should ensure the participationof organizations that represent the poor and thesocially excluded.• Promoting the role of local governments in implementinga global association. The regionaladministrations that came together in November2009 at the World Summit of United Citiesand Local Governments in Canton unanimouslyagreed on a formal commitment to making localgovernment the 9th MDG. These regional communityrepresentatives must be participantsin the formulation of relevant public policies.In the international arena, France must recognizethat regional governments should have animportant role in development and promote decentralizedaction and investment administeredat the local level.• Promoting parliamentary monitoring of governmentcommitments. As a general principle,a parliament should receive comprehensivedocumentary evidence and hard data that makeit possible for members to evaluate and followup on commitments their government hasmade to advance progress on the MDGs. In particular,France should provide for parliamentaryoversight of French development cooperationpolicies to ensure that they promote genuinedevelopment and reduce poverty. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 105 France
germany59Neglecting the poor and the environment<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> GermanyUwe KerkowDespite the Government’s support 76 measures forbanks and industry of EUR 480 billion and economicstimulus packages of EUR 107 billion, the financialcrisis has clearly left its mark on the German economy.Admittedly there have been fewer job losses than079100 previously feared, but those currently employed 99 haveto manage on less money. In 2009, for the first time100 100 100in the Federal Republic’s more than 60-year history,employees had to accept a 0.4% cut in real grosswages and salaries (approximately EUR 100 ). 1 ThisIEG of Finland = 84decrease in per capita earnings was mainly causedby the expansion of part-time work and a reduction inovertime. The manufacturing sector was particularlyhard hit, with a per capita earnings decrease of 3.6%(although an increase of 4.4% could be observedbased on hourly wages).10056The change of government resulting from the 2009 83 elections has yet to produce any benefits for the pooror others affected by the 100 financial 53 crisis. No new direction 100 is discernable 100 in the 70 labour market or in 100 socialpolicy, and the impoverishment of large sections of society is continuing. Moreover, environmentalissues have played a very minor role in the Government’s response to the crisis. According to WorldWildlife Fund, only six out of BCI the of 32 Central stimulus African measures Republic had = 65 a positive impact IEG of Central on the African environment, Republic and = 46just 13% of them can be considered sustainable.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 99 97Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 78100100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5who cannot meetBCItheirof Germanydaily needs.= 99The President ofBundesverband Deutsche, Tafel e.V., Gerd Häuser,has urged the Government to appoint an Anti-PovertyCommissioner “equipped with far-reaching powers tocoordinate the activities of the four federal ministries 4responsible for poverty reduction, 100 and to act as a pointof contact for private organizations 91 such as the Tafelinitiatives or welfare associations.” 5Economic activityEmpowerment94100 68100energy improvements in the housing sector. Whatwas lacking entirely were “innovative approachesfor traffic reduction and the promotion of energy-Further worsening of social conditionsSome 6.5 million people – more than one in five employees– are working for hourly amounts below the The focus on the environment is nominal efficient products and resource-efficient production29minimum wage according to a report by the InstituteEnvironmental issues have played only a minor processes.” Some 8% of the stimulus measures actuallyfor Work, Skills and Training of the University of0role in the Government’s response to the financialdamaged the environment, and environmental0Duisburg-Essen. 2 The percentage of employees with crisis. Instead, the economic stimulus measures aspects barely featured in the criteria governing the1009997vocational qualifications who are forced to work in were heavily geared towards the expansion of privateallocation of funds. 507transport. The “cash for clunkers” component100 100100 100the low-wage sector has also increased substantially.Workers with no formal qualifications now account is particularly contentious. It consisted of a one-off A confusing and contradictoryfor only around 20% of this sector.payment of EUR 2,500 by the State to owners of development policyThe worsening conditions are affecting all the older cars who purchased BCI of Malta new = vehicle 97IEG of Malta = 58and scrapped Germany is likely to miss, by a wide margin, thedisadvantaged groups in society: by mid-2009, thenumber of recipients of assistance from the Tafel foodbank movement rose to more than 1 million for thefirst time. 3 Tafel welfare initiatives operate in most Germanthe old one. The Verkehrsclub Deutschland (GermanTransport Club – VCD) criticized the concept, arguingthat far more could have been done to protect theenvironment if the allowance had been tied to envi-interim target for an increase in its official developmentassistance (ODA) to 0.51% of gross nationalincome (GNI) in <strong>2010</strong>. In late 2009, the new FederalDevelopment Minister, Dirk Niebel, commented in ancities, receiving food donations from the comronmentalcriteria or if the funds had been invested interview: “The EU’s step-by-step plan is a declara-100100100mercial sector and, with the support of around 40,000 in alternative forms of transport. 96 Moreover, in the tion of intent, not an obligation under internationalvolunteers, supplying basic provisions for people53VCD’s view, developing public transport and retrofittingenvironmental technology would have had alaw. With a starting position of 0.38%, there wouldbe no way we could achieve an ODA ratio of 0.51%greater impact in terms of creating jobs and improvingin just one year.” 8 Germany’s 43 ODA contributions inthe overall environmental balance sheet. 6 2009 amounted to USD 11.982 billion, down from1 Federal Statistical Office, “Development of Earnings Duringthe Economic Crisis in 2009,” Press Release No. 117, 250March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 100 on 6931 May <strong>2010</strong>).100 4 Federal 100Ministry of Labour and <strong>Social</strong> Affairs; Federal 100100 71100Konjunkturpakete nachhaltig?” Study commissioned2 Institut Arbeit und Qualifikation, “IAQ-<strong>Report</strong> 2009-05,” JulyMinistry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women andby the WWF (Green Budget Germany, 12 June 2009).2009. Available from: .9IEG of Portugal = 733 ARD, “Zahl der Tafel-Empfänger auf eine Million gewachsen,”5 ARD, 12 June 2009, BCI of Ibid. Slovenia = 98IEG of Slovenia = 658 “EU-Stufenplan ist keine völkerrechtliche Verpflichtung,”12 June 2009. Available from: .6 VCD background information. Available from: .Domradio online, 18 November 2009. Available from: .1000010010001000EducationIEG of Germany = 78the World Wildlife Fund, found that only 6 out of32 measures have had positive effects. In terms ofthe financial resources deployed, only 13% of themeasures can be considered sustainable.The only item of direct relevance to the environment,according to the 100 report, was the investment in117310010010093100100National reports 106 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010093
USD 13.981 billion in 2008. This fall of almost USD2 billion was mainly due to the end of budget writedownsof debt relief and corresponds to a decrease inthe ODA/GNI ratio from 0.38% to 0.35%. 9 Nonetheless,Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel said: “We are,and remain, committed to achieving the MillenniumDevelopment Goals for Africa. We remain committedto the goal of allocating 0.7% of our gross nationalincome for development by 2015. This is a moralresponsibility as well.” 10In order to achieve this goal, German ODAwould have to be increased by around EUR 2 billionannually with immediate effect. In <strong>2010</strong>, however,the budget of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperationand Development (BMZ), which accountsfor around 54% of German ODA, was increased byonly EUR 256 million to EUR 6.07 billion. 11 In total,German ODA will reach approximately 0.4% of GNIin <strong>2010</strong>. 12What is particularly lacking in German developmentcooperation at present is an ambitious commitmentto protect the climate. In advance of theUN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen,Germany pledged EUR 420 million for internationalclimate protection. 13 In early March <strong>2010</strong>, however,it emerged that only one sixth of this – EUR 70 million– is actually “new money.” 14One aspect that is increasingly dominatingdevelopment policy is civil-military cooperation. InAfghanistan in particular, where Germany’s armedforces, the Bundeswehr, are providing part of the interventionforce, there are greater efforts to dovetailGerman development services with military strategies.The aid organization Welthungerhilfe describesthe problem as follows:Mixing the military and reconstruction mandateshas caused serious damage. Because thedevelopment assistance provided by the provincialreconstruction teams has become part of the military9 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), “Development Aid Rose in 2009 and Most DonorsWill Meet <strong>2010</strong> Aid Targets,” press release, 14 April <strong>2010</strong>.Available from: .10 Federal Government “Regierungserklärung vonBundeskanzlerin Merkel im Wortlaut,” policy statement, 10November 2009. Available from: .11 BMZ, “In Spite of Difficult Environment, Germany’sDevelopment Ministry Takes Germany’s CommitmentsSeriously,” press release, 19 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.12 EU, “Where is the EU in Terms of Financing for Developmentand Where Should the EU Go?” press release, 21 April <strong>2010</strong>.Available from: .13 Focus online, “Deutschland zur Zahlung von 420 Millionenfür Klimaschutz bereit,” 11 December 2009. Available from:.14 Spiegel online, “Regierung Knausert bei Klimaschutz-Zahlungen an Arme Länder,” 5 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:. See also: .Disabled children’s right to mainstream schooling isignored in GermanyVernor Muñoz, the UN Special Rapporteur on theright to education, visited Germany in early <strong>2010</strong>and once again voiced clear criticism of the educationauthorities’ failure to provide enough placesin mainstream schools for children with disabilitiessuch as Down’s syndrome. Although inclusiveschooling is a requirement of the UN Conventionon the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, whichGermany ratified in 2007, around 400,000 disabledchildren (85%) attend special schools. AMuñoz had already submitted a report to theHuman Rights Council in 2007 on his mission toGermany the previous year. In it he stated his beliefthat: “the classification process which takes placeat lower secondary level (…) does not assess studentsin an adequate manner and instead of beinginclusive, is exclusive; since he could verify duringthe visit that, for example, poor and migrant children– as well as children with disabilities – are negativelyaffected by the classification system.” BA Christian Füller, “Menschenrechte nicht für den Mond”,taz.de, 9 June 2009. Available from: .B Human Rights Council, “<strong>Report</strong> of the Special Rapporteur onthe right to education, Vernor Muñoz. Addendum: Mission toGermany, 13–21 February 2006,” A/HRC/4/29/Add.3.strategy, opposition forces are now attacking developmentworkers as well – even though they are politicallyneutral and are bound solely by the principles governingthe provision of humanitarian assistance. 15BMZ’s total support for stabilization and developmentin Afghanistan in 2009 amounted to someEUR 144 million, 16 making Afghanistan the largestrecipient of German development assistance. 17Moreover, at the London Conference on Afghanistanin early <strong>2010</strong>, Niebel announced that the contributionwould be increased further to EUR 250 millionannually. “To that end, we will use the funding of EUR1 billion for the period up to 2013,” according to apress release issued by the BMZ. 18 In comparison,the Civil Peace Service (established by Germany in1999 as a new instrument for peacebuilding and15 Welthungerhilfe, “Entwicklungshelfer in Afghanistan: ‘Niewar die Sicherheitslage so explosiv wie jetzt.’”Availablefrom: (accessed 12 April <strong>2010</strong>).16 BMZ, “Additional Funds for Stabilisation Measures inAfghanistan and for Fostering Good Governance in Pakistan,”press release, 24 November 2009. Available from: .17 Terres des Hommes and Welthungerhilfe, “Kurs aufKopenhagen,” Die Wirklichkeit der Entwicklungshilfe, 17(2009), 57. Available from: .18 BMZ, “Civilian Reconstruction in Afghanistan to BeStrengthened,” press release, 28 January <strong>2010</strong>. Availablefrom: .The Government’s response to this report consistsof just a few paragraphs that do not addressthe substance of the criticism: “Compulsory schoolattendance applies to [disabled children] just as itapplies to non-disabled children and young people.(...) Students with disabilities are taught either inmainstream schools together with non-disabledstudents or in special schools [Sonderschulen] orspecial needs schools [Förderschulen].” C However,it is taking the issue more seriously than thestatement quoted above might suggest: in 2008,the German Institute for Human Rights was commissionedto monitor implementation of the Conventionin the country. D The funding for this workis provided by the Federal Ministry of Labour and<strong>Social</strong> Affairs and the annual budget for the monitoringunit is currently EUR 430,000. nC Federal Ministry of Education and Research, “Bericht desUN-Sonderberichterstatters für das Recht auf Bildung.”Available from: .D See .crisis prevention) received EUR 30 million annuallyfor its activities in both 2009 and <strong>2010</strong>. 19Moving forwardThe Government needs to put more emphasis oneconomic stimulus measures that are sustainableand that address the growing numbers of peopleliving in poverty. Ensuring that people can meet theirdaily needs is a role that, according to <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>,is one of the core functions of the State in advancedindustrialized countries.As regards its development cooperation, Germanyneeds to live up to its ODA responsibilitiesand also commit more funding to climate protection.In the case of Afghanistan, Welthungerhilfe hascalled for the strict separation of mandates, with theBundeswehr dealing with security and developmentworkers dealing with development. In view of thefinancial scale of the support being provided there,this demand is gaining weight. n19 Ibid., 55.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 107 Germany
ghanaMDGs remain elusive5683Ghana’s dependence on foreign aid and international financial institutions over the last three decades or more999746100 100 70 has led to mass 100 unemployment, 100 huge balance of payments 100 deficits and 100low manufacturing and agricultural 100output. The 1992 constitution and other national, regional and international instruments provide the legal basisand specific policies to enhance the welfare and protection of women and children. However, the Government’sepublic = 65 BCI of Chile = 98IEG of Chile = 62IEG of Central African minimal Republic investment = 46 in education, health, water resources and rural development show the low priority it placeson these goals. The likelihood of achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 remains remote.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Coalition-Ghana100100The Ghanaian economy is totally dependent on foreign aidfrom the World Bank, the IMF and 73 donor countries andagencies. As in other developing countries, most of this aidis tied to projects chosen by the donor. This arrangementBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 77 GEI = 58Children reaching815th gradeEmpowermentreinforces dependency, and prevents the country from investingthese financial resources in sectors that are critical000 11100 for improving the lives of its citizens.92839479The Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS100 100 68100100 57100100 100II), the main development policy tool, provided macroeconomicBirths attended bytargets and strategies for the period 2006-09. 1 Its skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationprimary goal was to accelerate economic growth, enabling99Ghana to achieve middle-income status by 2015. Nevertheless,a UNICEF study 2 showed that important socialprotection innovations such as the National Health InsuranceScheme (NHIS), the Education Capitation Grant andthe Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) cashtransfer programme would be 100 insufficient to overcome thefinancial barriers that the barriers that reduce the accessof women and children to healthcare and education. Onthe 2009 Human Development Index (HDI), Ghana ranks152 with 0.526 points. This indicates the challenges that29the Government is facing in its attempt to meet the eight0Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.Revenue mobilization50and budget deficits100 100Achieving the MDGs has become a major developmentstrategy in Ghana’s quest for middle income status by2015 and the elimination of all forms of discrimination.IEG of Malta = 58These ideals are elucidated in Ghana’s developmentframeworks, particularly GPRS I and II. Achievement ofthese goals, however, requires efficient mobilization offinancial resources (government revenue, donor fundingand private investments). While the targeted allocation ofHighly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and Millennium100Challenge Account (MCA) funds for social protection programmeshas been laudable, the Ghanaian Governmenthas fallen short in revenue mobilization, and run perennialbudget deficits. The deficit reached 43 15% percentageof GDP in 2008, though it fell to9.4% in 2009, and wasprojected to be down to 6.0% in 0 <strong>2010</strong>. 3011will ease downward and intersect with the GDP growthtrend in 2011, providing macroeconomic stability to helpconsolidate the gains of economic growth.The Government anticipates that its total revenue willclimb steadily, from USD 5.28 billion in 2009 to USD 9.3billion in 2012, though its estimates have proved overlyoptimistic in the past. The increase is expected to comefrom regular donor grants and projected revenue fromthe emerging oil and gas industry, with a modest boostfrom 2011 to 2012. The <strong>2010</strong> budget statement laid outa progressive restructuring of the tax regime. This is ofutmost importance for the economically disadvantaged,as indirect taxes have tended to weigh more heavily on the99100 100 100Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has become an importantsource of private foreign capital and development of humanresources. Net inflows jumped from USD 970 million in2007 to USD 2.1 billion in 2008. 5 In the third quarter of 2009,FDI soared 262% over the previous quarter. This spurt isexpected to create about 12,000 jobs. 6 Although FDI haspoured into all sectors, in the past year agriculture receivedthe most attention, though mining and construction gotthe most money. While FDI has helped to provide muchneededemployment, its commercial focus and overly gen-IEG of Germany = 78The <strong>2010</strong> budgetBCI ofstatementGhananotes= 77that “for the whole2009 fiscal year, total revenue and grants were projectedat GHC 7.2 billion (USD 5.1 billion), indicating a drop of3.5% below the original budget estimate.” The shortfallhas been attributed to a 2.8% drop in domestic revenueand 6.5% drop in grant disbursement. 100 The <strong>2010</strong> budgetprojects revenues of USD 6.8 billion, 96 with annual inflationof 10.5%. Failure to meet these projections would notbe unusual and would lead to continuing Governmentreliance on IMF loans, which typically come with “restrictedspending clauses” that target social protectionIEG of Ghana = 5810038programs.0097Generally, Financing for Development (FfD) in9398Ghana either fails to meet targeted goals due to shortfalls poor than the rich. 44100 100in revenues or misapplication of funds in an unstablemacroeconomic environment. GDP growth and inflationhave fluctuated, especially in the year 2008-09. Thepotential of Government BCI of Mexico spending = to 96 stimulate economicForeign direct investmentIEG of Mexico = 61growth through job creation and improved living standardscannot be overstated. Ghana exceeded its targetedper capita GDP growth of USD 624.36 for 2008, achievingUSD 712.25. 4 Annual inflation, however, climbed from14.8% in 2005 to 18.1% in 2008, a long way from the1002008 goal of under 10%.100An inconsistent macroeconomic environment ham-72pers the consolidation of development gains—particularlyfor the poor, who typically bear the brunt of cost of erous tax exemptions, stability clauses and environmentalliving increases. The Government shifted from spending degradation erode development 27 gains, particularly for theto consolidate gains in poverty 0 reduction to curtailing economically vulnerable. Until 0 recently, mining companiesexpenditures on major social protection programmes. paid a 3% royalty, far below the 10% levied internationally.100 1 National Development Planning Commission, 82 This reduced GDP growth from 7.3% in 200889to 4.7% in Stability clauses hinder the achievement of equitable rent100 “Implementation 100 of 71the Growth and Poverty Reduction 100100 52100100 612009. The budget projections for <strong>2010</strong> promise inflation76 100Strategy 2006-2009,” Annual Progress <strong>Report</strong> 2008.2 “<strong>Social</strong> protection to tackle child poverty in Ghana,” Briefing Paper,5 Ibid.UNICEF, February 2009. Available from: .BCI of Senegal = 71 IEG of Senegal = 55Poverty Reduction Strategy–GPRS II (2006 – 09),” Available 2009 Investment <strong>Report</strong>, December 2009. Available3 Ministry of Finance and Planning, Budget Statement andEconomic Policy of the Republic of Ghana, Fiscal Year <strong>2010</strong>.from: .from: .100095100 96100010043100National reports 108 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010093
from exploited resources. Establishing the right prices fornatural and environmental capital is essential.The primary beneficiaries of FDI have been foreigninvestors. Comparative studies covering the period 1960-1990 indicate that growth rates in countries with poorresources were two to three times higher than those incountries with abundant resources. 7 Nearly half of the 48countries studied scored in the bottom third of the UNDP2002 HDI. Oil made up more than 30% of their total exportsbetween 1965 and1995. 8Civil society campaigns in Ghana focus on adoptionof the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI)–especially for the emerging oil and gas industry–and theRight to Information Bill (RTI), both of which could improvemonitoring of financing for development and ensure appropriatebusiness practices and the observance of economic,social and cultural rights.Health sector investmentThe health sector has been predominantly financed byGovernment funds, user fees, donor funding and theNational Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). The HealthSector report 2008 raised concerns about the failure ofnew health spending, which was just short of the targetof 15% of government expenditure agreed at the AfricaSummit on HIV in 2001. 9The country has only 1,439 health care facilities and1,500 doctors for a population of 22 million. Maternal mortalitycontinues to increase. Ghana’s reproductive health indicatorsover the last 20 years have seen little improvementor deteriorated. Only 35% of all deliveries are supervisedby qualified medical practitioners; 65% of women eitherdeliver at home or seek traditional help. Infant mortalitydecreased marginally from 64/1,000 live births in 2003to 50/1,000 live births in 2008; 10 while maternal mortalitydeteriorated from 214/100,000 live births in 2003 to580/100,000 in 2008. 11 Home-based deliveries remainquite high (43%), partly due to the continuing rural-urbandisparity in health care provision; 84% of urban births occurat a health facility, compared to only 43% in rural areas.In the northern regions, the death rate among pregnantwomen reaches 700 per 100,000 live births, renderingGhana’s ability to meet MDG 5 a chimera. Child mortalityremains similarly elevated, at 120 deaths per 1000 livebirths. 12 Modern contraceptive usage is actually declining,dropping from 19% in 2003 to 17% in 2008. 13 This couldlead to an increase in unplanned births and unsafe abortions,particularly among young women.Even though health sector funding has gradually increasedover the years, the percentage that goes into actualservice delivery remains low. About 90% of the health sectorbudget is spent on salaries and wages; since 2006 theshare allocated to capital spending has dropped.7 Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Oil and GasRevenue Management International Experience: A SourceBook In View of the Broad National Consultation, GEITI, 2008.8 UNDP, Human Development <strong>Report</strong>-Ghana, 2002.9 See: .10 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) 2008.11 Ghana Maternal Health Survey 2007, op. cit.12 “With six more years to 2015, will MDGs be a dream orreality?” Public Agenda, 18 December 2009.13 GDHS 2003/2008.Education financingIn 2009, the Government revised the Education StrategicPlan (ESP) 2003-15 in response to new opportunitiesand challenges as well as national, regional and globalagreements, including the Education Act 2008 (Act 778),Education for All (EFA), the Education Sector Annual PerformanceReviews (ESAPR), and the MDGs. The guidingprinciples of the new ESP (<strong>2010</strong>-20) include the eliminationof gender and other disparities and efforts to make theeducation system more efficient. 14The country has made some progress: in 2007/08,the primary education gross enrolment rate (GER) reached95.2%, the primary completion rate was up to 88% andgender parity was 0.96. The Government believes most ofthe ESP targets will be achieved by 2015. In recent years,however, progress has slowed. For example, although theGER for primary education increased by 8% between 2004and 2008; achieving the ESP goal of universal primarycompletion (UPC) by 2012 would require an average annualimprovement of 3%, which has not occurred.Progress in reaching targets for girls has been particularlylow. Gender parity is higher at lower levels of the educationsystem such as kindergarten and declines after that.For example, only 32% of girls are enrolled in secondaryschool. 15 In 2008, 80% of boys completed primary school,and only 76% of girls. A number of factors cause the highdropout and low retention of girls, including the absence ofadequate toilet facilities in 52% of primary schools. 16Education spending increased significantly, from4.7% of GDP in 2002 to 10.6% in 2006, however the proportiondropped to 8.4% in 2009. More than 92% of theeducation budget goes to pay personnel, leaving a hugefunding gap in critical areas such as infrastructure, teachingand learning materials, in-service training, facilities andtargeted programs for neglected groups (a large proportionof girls). This gap is estimated at over USD 500 million. 17The Government’s response to the global economiccrisis is to cut spending. Although the education sectorwill not be targeted directly, the ESP plans to promote efficiencyin the education system through the removal of the“subsidy culture.” These planned cost-cutting strategieswill impose additional financial burdens on the population,particularly on poor families already hard hit by theeconomic downturn.Climate changeLike many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana hasbeen battered by growing climate volatility, including continuedflooding and droughts, as well as an increase in temperatureand a concomitant reduction in rainfall in its agroecologicalzones. An apparent rise in the sea level has led tocoastal erosion at a rate of three meters annually along theeastern shore, particularly in the Keta area. Climate changeis a significant threat to Ghana’s sustainable developmentprogress, livelihoods and poverty reduction, especiallygiven the importance of agriculture to the economy.14 Education Strategic Plan <strong>2010</strong>-20–Vol 1, Policies Targets andStrategies.15 “Overcoming Inequalities: why governance matters,” EFAGlobal Monitoring <strong>Report</strong>, 2009.16 Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC),“The impact of rural urban divide on quality basic educationin Ghana,” 2009.17 GNECC, “Ghana Education Financing Brief,” October 2009.The agriculture sector is the largest contributor toGDP (35.7%) and employs about 60% of the labour force;52% of agricultural workers are women, who produceabout 87% of food crops. They are among the country’spoorest and most vulnerable groups due to their low literacyrate and limited access to and control over productiveresources such as land and livestock. They are highlydependent on the ecosystem to provide food, energy, waterand medicine, and this ecosystem is under threat.Since 2007 civil society organizations (GrassRootsAfrica,CARE, ActionAid Ghana, Abantu for Development,FoodSpan Network, SEND Ghana) have been helping ruralwomen and farmers through projects to integrate traditionalcoping strategies and climate change knowledge intolocal government development plans. 18Recommendations• In order to accelerate progress on achieving theMDGs, the Government should:• Focus on strengthening the local economy by emphasizinginvestments in the social sector that promotethe advancement of women and children’s rights.• Derive a higher proportion of revenue domestically,but avoid taxes that place a heavy burden on peoplewith limited incomes; allocate a percentage of oil revenuesto a fund for the education sector.• Provide the girls’ education unit with the human andfinancial resources necessary for effective campaignsand devise comprehensive and localizedstrategies to improve girls’ retention, progressionand completion.• Develop climate change indicators that take accountof gender disparities in formal and informal laboursectors, care work, land ownership and energy usage.• Integrate climate change concerns into developmentplanning, with attention to gender-differentiated impacts.• Link national adaptation and response measures tolivelihoods and challenges such as HIV/AIDs, landdegradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss.For these to be effective, however, several other changesshould also take place. At the international level, a genderperspective must be integrated into a new financial andeconomic architecture based on a balance between theproduction system and non-profit activities that safeguardthe environment. In addition, the WTO round oftrade negotiations must be conducted in a transparentand democratic manner, taking into consideration specialand differential treatment, people’s livelihoods, genderequality and environmental sustainability.Finally, in Ghana as elsewhere civil society organizationsshould continue to play a “watch dog” role to ensuregovernment accountability in meeting commitments andtransparency in financial management. At the same time,these organizations should step up their efforts to workwith governments, sharing best practices that will ensurethe achievement of these targets. n18 Rudolf S. Kuuzegh, “Ghana’s Experience at IntegratingClimate Change Adaptation into National Planning,” 12November 2007.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 109 Ghana
99100GUATEMALAFood security: the challenge for effective aid06Food insecurity is a national scourge, one which calls for urgent, coordinated, effective and sustainable349899883498measures, in the planning 100and execution of which civil 100society must take part. It is not enough to declarea State of Public Calamity – as the Government did in September 2009. The first step in reducingpoverty and achieving economic and social development is breaking the hunger cycle. NationalIEG of Bahrain = 46 INGLES BCI of Bahrain = 95 IEG of Bahrain = 46policies and international financial assistance must be coordinated, prioritizing the urgent needs of theGuatemalan population. Otherwise, achieving the MDGs will remain a distant goal.100 100 100100 100100098100061007897Coordinación de ONG y Cooperativas (CONGCOOP)Norayda A. Ponce SosaHelmer Velásquez100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 8783 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 51Food and nutrition insecurity in Guatemala is widespread,resulting in high indices of morbidity and23mortality, inadequate infant and child growth and development,school learning difficulties and low adult00productivity. Poor, rural, illiterate and indigenous8337 9497populations are those most affected.Empowerment100 100 100100 100100 100The causes of this insecurity are social, economicBirths attended byand environmental; they include poverty, skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationinadequate housing and sanitation, low levels ofsecurity through social funds and welfare programssuch as: Bolsas Solidarias (“Solidarity Sacks”), Mi1 UNDP, 2009 Human Development <strong>Report</strong>. 42 Overcoming Familia Progresa (“My Family Moves Forward”) and42Barriers: Human Mobility and Development, Guatemala,Mi Familia Produce (“My Family Produces”). They2009. Available from: .developed an Inter-Sectoral 0 Food and Nutrition Security0and Vice-President of the Republic, SESAN, international<strong>2010</strong> Annual Operational Plan with five strategic development cooperation ambassadors and representatives,2 Presidency Secretariat for Planning and Programming99(SEGEPLAN), Informe de Avances <strong>2010</strong>. Objetivos de 979999SEGEPLAN, <strong>Social</strong> Cohesion, the Ministry of Foreign 97 Affairs100 Desarrollo 100del Milenio, 67 Guatemala, <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: 100100 100and 100 the FNS National 67 Committee.100.presented at the Conference on Food Insecurity andNutrition Security. System for Food and Nutrition Security<strong>Social</strong> Cost in Latin America and the Caribbean: Context,3 National Institute of Statistics, National Survey on LivingAct, Decree 32.2005 the Congress of the Republic ofpublic = 98 IEG of Slovakia = 69 Consequences and Challenges. INGLES Guatemala, BCI of November Slovak 2009. Republic =Conditions 2006. Available from: .6 Coordinated by the First Lady.Nutrition Security Plan 2009-2012.10002337 9480IEG of Guatemala = 51schooling, domestic and foreign migration; highlyunequal land ownership and access, persistent unemployment,increased prices for basic food basketitems and a scarcity of basic grain products – all ofwhich are exacerbated by the international economiccrisis, climate change and 100 desertification and the ElNiño and La Niña phenomena.••In some areasINGLESof theBCIcountryof Guatemalamalnutrition=reach-87es 75%, one of the highest rates in the world.According to the World Food Program (WFP),Guatemala has the highest rate of child malnutritionin the region (1 child in 4, up to age 5). 4In addition, although 100 chronic child malnutritionreaches 43%, in the the eastern“dry 86corridor”, IEG of Guatemala = 51objectives and a budget of about GTQ 2.218 billion(USD 272,000). Some additional agencies are alsoincluded, such as the FNS Sectoral Board 7 and theNational Food and Nutrition Security Commission. 8On 11 September 2009 the Government ofPresident Álvaro Colom 100presented the InterventionPlan to Guarantee FNS in the priority “dry corridor”A few figuresregion of the country which was hit the hardest departments – El Progreso, Baja Verapaz, Zacapa,by the 2009 drought, figures rose from 1% to Chiquimula, Jutiapa, Jalapa and Santa Rosa – which• Guatemala is ranked 122 out of 182 countries in 10% for children and to 14% for young mothers.will allocate USD 17.5 million for immediate foodthe Human Development Index. 21 1 It is a middleincomedelivery, the development of productive 21 projects andcountry with vast differences in wealth:the organization of medical days for checking and000• Between 1994 and 2004, over 500,000 children20% of the population enjoys 60% of the nationalincome.of Guatemala, 50,000 Solidarity Sacks are deliveredmonitoring vulnerable groups. In the department9629 84under 83age five died from malnutrition, 9677% of2984100 100 100 whom 100 would otherwise be alive. 5 100100 100• Of just over 14 million inhabitants, 50% are inmonthlyto an equal number of families in deprived• According to the Food Security Secretariatdigenous and 54% are rural. 2 Fully one half theurban settlements.(SESAN), some 145,000 families lost theirpopulation (7,140,000) live in poverty, includingsome 2 million in extreme poverty. 3the Strategic Plan for Food and Nutrition SecurityThe projected budget to fulfil the objectives ofIEG of Morocco = 45 crops in 2009 INGLES due BCI to the of Morocco lack of rain = and 88 areIEG of Morocco = 45currently in need of food aid.(PESAN) during 2009 was USD 269.2 million, includingUSD 2.82 million for strengthening capabili-• Declining foreign remittances, especially inthe last year, have added to the poverty risk. Government actionties in order to combat food insecurity. 9At present some 850,000 people are at risk ofThe Cabinet, along with the <strong>Social</strong> Cohesion Council 6falling below the poverty line and 733,500 inplay an important part in defining and implementing International aid fails to address structuraldanger of descending 100 into extreme poverty.100100programs designed to guarantee food and nutrition problems94Programs to implement PESAN 2009 were financedas follows:10010097100National reports 110 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
• Funds implemented by SESAN: USD 1.62 million,from the Inter-American DevelopmentBank, UNICEF and the EU.• Funds administered and coordinated by SES-AN: USD 32.48 million, from USAID, FAO, theEU, the WFP, the World Bank, PAHO and theUN system.In response to the El Niño and La Niña emergency in,several multilateral institutions allocated resourcesto investment in agriculture, education, health, improvingthe situation of children and women of childbearingage, food security, nutrition and the donationof food. These included:• UN system – USD 34.1 million.• UN Central Emergency Response Fund – USD5 million.• PAHO, WHO, UNFPA – USD 5.7 million.• FAO – USD 5.454 million.• EU – USD 31.4 million.• WFP – 200 tonnes of food.• MDG Achievement Fund, which supportedseveral programs to improve the situation ofchildren, food security and nutrition.During 1990-2008 a net total of about USD 5 billion inOfficial Development Assistance (ODA) was receivedfor development, particularly rural development programs.Some 85% came from countries belongingto the Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development (OECD), including 54% from EUcountries; multilateral aid amounted to 15% and theUnited Nations system supplied 5%.Although international development aid hascontributed to combating some of the social problems,the structural problems which are particularlyevident in the inequality of wealth and income distributionhave not been addressed. This has made itdifficult to develop an effective fight against hunger,which continues to represent a systematic violationof human rights in the country. Thus, the impact ofthis development aid has been slight, particularly asregards the poverty reduction strategy, the peaceprogram and the fulfilment of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs).The situation in Guatemala requires effectiveinter-sectoral dialogue that can enable a criticaldebate, with wide stakeholder participation, on theissue of international development cooperation. Developmentfunding has consistently been one-sided,based on the interests of international financial institutions,concerned more with balance of paymentsthan the well-being of the population. In the case ofbilateral cooperation, it is usually guided by the willof the government in power and not by State policy,and therefore does not take civil society organizationsinto account.Another problem concerns the timelines for aiddelivery, which are designed according to the prioritiesof the donors and not the specific needs of eitherthe Government or of the population.The appointment of the Council for InternationalCooperation 10 is the outcome of the Declaration ofthe High-Level Meeting between the Governmentand the G-13 Dialogue Group in 2008. 11 The Councilis responsible for developing a joint plan whichwill make it possible to coordinate aid delivery andmanagement with national development plans, inaccordance with the Paris Declaration 12 and theAccra Agenda for Action (2008), particularly withregard to direct budgetary support and sector-wideapproaches – with emphasis on health, educationand security-justice. It is not known what progresshas been made to date in this respect.MDG 1 – closely related to food security – stipulatesthat extreme poverty and hunger must be eradicated.It is estimated that halving the number of personsliving in poverty by 2015 requires urgent andtransforming measures to address the urgent needsof the 29% of the population, and 32% of the ruralpopulation living in extreme poverty (particularlyindigenous groups), especially in Alta Verapaz and ElQuiché, where 8 out of 10 people are poor.With only five years to go to the target date forachieving the MDGs, 2015, MDG 1, reducing povertyand hunger is a long way from being attained:• The effects of extreme poverty continue to displaysignificant disparities.• Overall malnutrition (in low-weight childrenunder age 5) was reduced from 34% to 24% between1987 and 1998 in global terms, but in thenortheast it rose from 27% to 28% in the sameperiod. In 1998 malnutrition was 33% in thenorthwest and 19% in the metropolitan region.• In general, unequal progress is evident inachieving the eight MDGs, owing mainly to inequality,exclusion and the inequitable distributionof income, which limits the consumptioncapacity of the vast majority of the population.The great challengeAs long as the availability of food locally and nationallyis limited – a situation which could be remediedby storing food in silos or warehouses – it will bevery difficult for the population living in poverty andextreme poverty to take control of the means of productionand achieve adequate access to foodstuffsavailable on the market. This limits their consumptionand their chances of enjoying the minimum serviceswhich enable them to lead a decent life.The Government, as well as civil society andinternational cooperation organizations, have beenweak with regard to harmonization measures to progressivelyguarantee the right to food for the mostvulnerable population. The Government’s responseto economic or environmental crises continues tobe short-term and based on welfare, and is moresensationalist than effective – as in the case of theState of Calamity decree. 13Although fully one half of the country’s populationis indigenous, international aid has neglected totake into account the realities of ethnic or other formof social, cultural or economic differences, in partdue to the failure of the Government to propose theallocation of assistance according to these realities.As a result, improving aid effectiveness continuesto pose a challenge. It is imperative that a greatercommitment towards the social purposes of aidbe undertaken, so that it does not respond only togeopolitical o economic interests (whether of thegovernment or of the donors) that have little to dowith genuine development. n10 The Council for International Cooperation includesthe Presidency’s General Secretariat for Planning andProgramming (SEGEPLAN), the Ministry of Public Financeand the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.11 Composed of Guatemala’s nine highest donors (Canada,Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain,Sweden, the US), together with the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank, the World Bank, the EuropeanCommission, the IMF, the UNDP and the OAS.12 The Paris Declaration promotes the principles of ownership,alignment, harmonization, results-based managementand mutual accountability, in order to achieve greatereffectiveness and impact in development aid; the AccraAction Agenda specifies actions needed in order to fulfilthese principles.13 Government of Guatemala. Decree Nº 10-2009 of 8September 2009, extended by Decree Nº 11-2009 of 7October 2009. Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 111 Guatemala
HondurasFar from the MDGs but near a strong people’s movementIn the wake of the 2009 coup d’état the country is in serious regression in all aspects but mainly asregards human rights, which are being violated with impunity. A people’s movement quickly cametogether to resist the oppression and a National Front against the Coup was formed, but in the corridorsof power there is no political will to pursue remedy social ills or pursue the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs). In this situation what Honduras needs is not just to implement a reform but to lay newfoundations for the State.Centro de Estudios de la Mujer HondurasSuyapa MartínezAna FerreraOn 28 June 2009 there was a coup d’état backed by theHonduran oligarchy in alliance with ultra right wing sectorsin Latin America and the United States. The constitutionallyelected President of the Republic, ManuelZelaya Rosales, was overthrown by force of arms, andthe people of Honduras are still resisting in the streets.The Zelaya Government had been promoting a seriesof measures such as increasing the minimum wagefrom USD 176 to USD 285, 1 that met very strong oppositionfrom private enterprise. In addition, it signed theAlternativa Bolivariana para los pueblos de las Américas(ALBA) (Bolivarian Alternative for Latin Americaand the Caribbean), which raised great expectationsabove all among the common people because it promisedmedical and education services and donations ofmachinery and equipment.Another measure the Zelaya Government took wasto approve the Petrocaribe initiative whereby Hondurascould purchase oil with long-term financing and verylow interest rates, and the savings this yielded wouldenable the Government to set up a trust fund to financesocial development projects. These policies linked Zelayamore and more with the lower classes of the country,and this alliance was sealed when he organised ageneral people’s vote called the “fourth ballot box”.As part of this shift to the left, the President advancedproposals for a reform to the Constitution because,as it now stands, there are fundamental articlesthat effectively bar the people of the country from participatingin local and national decision-making andproblem-solving processes. The President held talksabout this reform with various sectors in the countryand even with the other political parties, and from thesediscussions there emerged the idea of a National ConstitutionAssembly and to introduce a “fourth ballotbox” in the elections of 29 November to ask the peoplewhether they wanted a Notional Constitution Assemblyto be convoked to draft a new constitution. 2 This initia-1 “Gobierno decreta salario mínimo en 5,500 lempiras” (TheGovernment decrees a minimum wage of 5,500 lempiras), LaPrensa.hn. Available from: .2 Golpe de Estado en Honduras, Un Análisis Jurídico porEdmundo Orellana, (Coup Détat in Honduras, a legal analysisby Edmundo Orellana), University professor, 27 September2009Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 8488 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 69097100 67100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5BCI of Honduras = 84tive turned into a public opinion poll that was to be heldon 28 July, but on that day the coup d’état took place.The people’s movement reacted immediately: onthat very day masses took to the streets and kept uptheir resistance for more than 200 days of demonstrations.The National Front against the Coup D’état wasformed, and today is known as the National People’sResistance Front (FNRP–Frente Nacional de ResistenciaPopular).A few months after the coup there was a veryquestionable election. This took place in the context ofan extremely militarised situation, just like in Iraq, withconstant human rights violations, and in November2009 Porfirio Lobo Sosa became President. He is fromthe National Party which, along with the leaders of theLiberal Party, instigated and organised the coup d’état.The new Lobo Government has made a big effortto obtain international recognition, but it has not beenaccepted in strategic organizations in the region likethe SICA or the OAS. The President talks a lot abouthis intention to pursue reconciliation and establishdialogue but this is contradicted by the facts. Withoutconsultation he has unilaterally implemented the socalledLaw of the Vision of the Country, the NationalPlan, the formation of the Truth Commission and thenon-recognition of the FNRP.In the face of this situation the Inter-AmericanCommission on Human Rights (IACHR) has expressedserious concern over the fact that high ranking army officersand ex-members of the armed forces, who havebeen charged with taking part in the coup, are in publicoffice managing departments in the Porfirio Lobo Government.For example, Major General Venancio Cervantes,who was the vice-head of the Joint Chiefs of Staffat the time of the coup, is today the general director ofthe Direction of Migration and Foreigners; BrigadierGeneral Manuel Enrique Cáceres is the director of Civil1000Empowerment54100 10099Economic activityEducationIEG of Honduras = 69Aviation; ex-General Nelson Wily Mejía is in charge ofthe Merchant Marine Administration, and ex-GeneralRomeo Vásquez Velásquez, who was Commander inChief of the armed forces at the time of the coup, isnow manager of the Honduran State TelecommunicationsEnterprise. 3 In addition, the public prosecutor andjudges at the Supreme Court, who were physically andintellectually involved in overthrowing constitutionalrule in the country, are still in the same positions ofresponsibility as before.The Lobo Sosa Government has been in office forseven months but the country is still completely polarisedpolitically and there is resistance from the people’sfront in various sectors. For example, the teachers’union (80% of whose members are women) took tothe streets to demonstrate against the privatisation ofthe Teachers’ Retirement Fund and to try to prevent theState from implementing a general education law thatwould abolish preschool and the basic secondary cyclein public education.Another focus of opposition to the Government isthe collection of women’s organizations that make upFeminists in Resistance (Feministas en Resistencia),a movement that sprang up after the coup. They aredefending the progress that had been made in women’srights, which was threatened when the ruling junta issueddecrees banning emergency contraceptive pills,for example, and cut back the Second Equal Opportunitiesand Gender Equity Plan.In this context of ongoing turbulence and socialconfusion, the FNRP is getting stronger and stronger.This is made up of all the organizations in the socialmovement in Honduras, and their common aim is to3 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, PreliminaryObservations of the Commission on its visit to Honduras, 15to 18 May <strong>2010</strong>.54National reports 112 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
call a National Constitution Assembly to draft a new constitutionthat would include women, young people, thepopulation of African descent, indigenous people andother groups that have always been excluded. The ultimateaim is that these changes would enable the countryto lay new foundations to build on in the future.Economic impact of the coup d’étatIn 2009 the country’s economy was battered from twodirections: not only was it suffering the effects of theworld economic crisis, which brought a fall in familyremittances and also job losses in the maquilas (manufacturingplants that import and assemble duty-freecomponents for export), but it was also reeling underthe impact of the crisis caused by the coup d’état.Initially in 2009 it was expected that the ZelayaGovernment’s plan to cope with the international crisiswould enable the country’s economy to grow by 2%or 3%. 4 But then came the coup, and the internationalcommunity reacted with economic pressure by freezingcooperation funds (which amounted to around USD500 million) and at the same time blocking access toloans from the multilateral organizations. These measureshad a very serious impact on the country’s budgetas external financing had been covering 16.4% of thecentral administration’s budget and 56% of the fundsfor public investment. 5Another very negative factor that exacerbated thesituation in the wake of the coup was that 60% of theproductive businesses and enterprises in the countryclosed down for approximately two weeks, and accordingto the Tegucigalpa Chamber of Commerce andIndustries, this caused losses of around USD 52.6 million.At that time, there was resistance in parts of thecapital city and in the north, which caused further lossesof at least USD 6.6 million. On top of that the CentralAmerican countries closed their borders with Hondurasto put pressure to reverse the situation, and this hasresulted in losses of around USD 3,000 million. 6The two economic sectors that have been hithardest are construction and trade. In July alone theconstruction sector shrank by around 50% and tradeby 11%, and in September trade decreased by a further17%. 7 From January to December the country’s internaldebt increased by USD 505.5 million, two thirds ofwhich went to maintaining the administration of the defacto Government. 8Regression in human rightsWhile the international financial crisis undoubtedlycaused serious problems for Honduras, the armedforces takeover of 28 June amounts to a very seriousregression in the field of human rights. In the periodfrom 3 July 2009 to 20 June <strong>2010</strong>, various mass mediaenterprises were shut down and more than 86 peoplewere murdered for opposing the military coup,including 9 women and 20 members of the lesbian,4 Grupo Sociedad Civil, 2009.5 Grupo Sociedad Civil, 2009.6 Interview with Marvin Ponce, Deputy for UnificaciónDemocrática.7 Interview with Sergio Castellano, Deputy for UnificaciónDemocrática.8 Interview with Martin Barahona, economics analyst.CHART 1. Literacy rates by sexgay, transsexual, transvestite, bisexual and intersexcommunity. 9The murders are perpetrated by paid killers andthey are almost a daily occurrence: “In <strong>2010</strong> at leastseven journalists in Honduras have been killed for reasonsconnected to their professional work.” 10 As ofMay <strong>2010</strong>, nine leaders of the people’s movement hadbeen executed.During the demonstrations by Hondurans resistingthe Government, women suffered various kindsof sexual aggression: they were attacked with gas,beaten with clubs and even sexually abused to humiliatethem as punishment for opposing the coup. Some240 cases of repressive violence of this kind have beenreported and in 23 of these cases the women claimedthere had been sexual aggression of various kinds,including seven cases of rape perpetrated by armedforces personnel. 11Following the coup a whole series of measureswere taken that amount to serious regression in theinstitutional mechanisms to promote and defend women’shuman rights, and these are still in force. Theyinclude the ruling junta’s cuts to the second GenderEquality and Equity Plan. This involved eliminatingimportant aspects of the six core elements of rights,mainly in the areas of sexual and reproductive health,violence against women and women’s participation inpolitics. By executive decree the Government bannedthe distribution and sale of emergency contraceptivepills, and it reformed the Municipal Councils Law soas to convert municipal offices for women’s affairs intogeneral management spaces that cater to all kinds ofpopulations.The MDGs and womenMillennium Development Goal number 3 is to promotegender equality and the empowerment of women by9 Taken from the lists of the Comité de Familiares yDesaparecidos en Honduras COFADEH, Comité de DerechosHumanos CODEH, and Defensores en Línea.10 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, PreliminaryObservations of the Commission on its visit to Honduras, 15to 18 May <strong>2010</strong>.11 <strong>Report</strong> “Las Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos delas Mujeres después del Golpe de Estado” (Violations ofWomen’s Human Rights after the Coup D’état), Feministas enResistencia, 2009.1990 1995 2001 2006 2009Total 87.4 90.1 91.2 92.5 94Women (%) 88.4 91.6 92.7 94.4 95.3Men (%) 86.4 88.4 89.7 90.5 92.6Relation(*) 1.07 1.09 1.08 1.11 1.04Source: MDG <strong>Report</strong> 2009. Author’s preparation based on INE 1990-2009.CHART 2. Monthly income in dollars disaggregated by gender and contextUrbanWomen 304 135Men 386 147RuralSource: MDG <strong>Report</strong> 2009. Author’s preparation based on EPHPM, INE, 20092015. There has been some progress, for example in literacyin the 15 to 24 age bracket , where the rate amongwomen increased from 88.4% in 1990 to 95.3% in2009, but women’s progress in the last three years hasbeen slower than progress among men.Women are better educated than men; this is reflectedin girls’ attendance rates at school, which have alwaysbeen higher than the rates for boys. In 2009,for example, girls’ attendance was 0.28% higher insecondary education and 0.37% higher in tertiary education.12 However, when we cross-check educationlevels against income we find the balance is unfairlytilted against women as men are still paid more forthe same job even though women have better professionaltraining.The country has a democratic representationquota system, but the political parties have never compliedwith the rule that at least 30% of elected positionsshould go to women. Since the coup this situation hasdeteriorated still further because today women candidatesare not allowed to campaign and more than50 have dropped out because there is no guaranteeof transparency in the process. Added to this, there isgeneralised insecurity brought about by the constanthuman rights violations and the militarization of thecountry. At the local level, women’s representation incity councils slipped from 9% after the 2005 electionsto just 6% after the 2009 elections, and in legislativebodies it dropped from 25% to 19.53%.All things considered, it is clear that Honduras isa very long way from fulfilling its international commitmentsbecause there is no political will to pursuethese goals, and the clearest sign of this is the coupd’état itself. The people of the country are demandingthat the constitutional rules be changed completely sothat Honduras can start to build on new foundations.This is far more than just a cosmetic reform to continuedisguising the fact that the country’s wealth is concentratedin very few hands and the neo-liberal-patriarchsystem has not changed at all. n12 United Nations round table for the MDG report, 2009.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 113 Honduras
100hungary100 9510056Neoliberal’s best student is the weakest link in the crisis56980Despite the fact that it was the first country in Eastern Europe to adopt International Monetary Fund99100999970 prescriptions in 1982 and 100 that it was more highly developed 100 than its neighbours 71 when it embraced amarket economy, Hungary is now the weakest economy in the region. The reasons for this are manifoldand have led the country to waver between potential social upheaval – if a change of direction is notIEG of Colombia = 75 BCI of Croatia = 98IEG of Croatia = 75made – and the total collapse of a very vulnerable economy. The phantom of right-wing extremismlurks in the background, fed by popular discontent.100 100 100100 10000ATTAC HUNGARYMatyas BenyikHungary has a unicameral parliamentary systemdominated by two parties – the Hungarian <strong>Social</strong>istParty and the right-wing Hungarian Civic Union.Democratic institutions seem robust and likely toremain so, despite reckless party politics, intolerantrhetoric, high-profile corruption, and radicalizationof the political Right aimed at the minorityRoma population. The political elite is engaged inslandering itself and ready to launch more reformsaccording to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)dictates, but the people strongly resist, as shown byprotests following the recent health care reform. 1There was little novelty in the intervention of theIMF in 2008. However, what is different from othercrises is the response of the international financialinstitutions (IFIs), which supported stabilizationagainst the unprecedented hysteria of transnationalprivate finance. As Hungarian economist and EuropeanBank for Reconstruction and Developmentformer board member László Andor 2 points out,“an explicit objective of the intervention undertakenby the IFIs is to prevent the escalation of the socialcrisis, to protect the business structures of the Hungarianeconomy, including the significant role thatsome Hungarian corporations have acquired in thewider region.” 3In mid-October 2008 a EUR 20 billion creditpackage was announced, based largely on orthodoxstabilization prescriptions. Apart from helping Hungary,the package was a message for the region as awhole. Although Hungary has been probably the onlycountry that went for such pro-cyclical tighteningin this period, the IMF originally demanded further1 This report was prepared in February <strong>2010</strong>. In theparliamentary elections held in April the ruling <strong>Social</strong>istswere defeated, the far-right Jobbik party gained strengthand the Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz) reached a landslidevictory. The new government has promised a lot of changes,but once in power it has been following the neoliberal agendaand dictates of the IMF and EU.2 In February <strong>2010</strong> Laszlo Andor became the new EUCommissioner responsible for Employment, <strong>Social</strong> Affairsand Inclusion.3 László Andor, “Hungary in the Financial Crisis: A (Basket)Case Study,” Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central andEastern Europe 17, no. 3 (2009). Available from: .Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 98 94GEI = 70Children reaching5th grade100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5deficit reduction (in October 2008). In April 2009,when the new Government assumed power, the IMFand the EU agreed to lift the deficit target for 2009from 2.9% to 3.9% of GDP – and to 3.8% for <strong>2010</strong>. 4The best studentWhile most of the former socialist countries joinedthe IMF and the World Bank after 1989, Hungary didso in 1982, enabling it to push forward some marketreforms that its neighbours had not yet adopted.This allowed Hungary to become Eastern Europe’smodel student of neoliberalism. However, this didnot help the country to get out of its massive foreigndebt. The country joined the “new system” with thehighest per capita foreign debt but, unlike Poland,the Government decided to refrain from any potentialdebt reduction schemes.Although Hungary was the most developed ofthe new EU member states, it remained the mostfinancially vulnerable. In the early transition period,the debt-to-GDP ratio did not decrease but increasedin the early transition period, and the “Maastrichtdebt ratio” was only reduced (to about 51%) thanksto a period of extraordinary foreign direct investmentin the late 1990s. 5Andor affirms that “there are further reasonswhy Hungary has turned out to be the region’s weakestlink in the current international financial crisis.”Since GDP caught up with the 1989 level only in4 Ibid.10005 The Maastricht debt is that determined for the excessivedeficit procedure. Its ratio to GDP is one of the criteria bywhich to evaluate public finance in EU Member States. See:L. Andor, “Hungary’s boomerang effect,” The Guardian,29 October 2008. Available from: .99Economic activityEmpowermentEducation1999, he points out, successive governments turnedto risky financial solutions to improve the feel-goodfactor. One government unleashed reckless subsidyschemes for home builders and buyers; another increasedby 50% the public sector wages. Meanwhile,an ambitious road construction program equippedHungary with the best highway network in the region,but at the price of skyrocketing state debt. 6Apart from fiscal policy, monetary policy alsoplayed its role, and contributed to the economy’s fatalfragility. The inflation targeting paradigm – whichwas never intended for small, open economies, dependenton flows of foreign trade, investment andfinance – was adopted by Hungary’s Central Bank,the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) in 2001. The MNBdid not abandon this orthodoxy even when centralbanks around the world had repeatedly reduced interestrates in an attempt to avoid recession in thespring of 2008. Only in July 2009, the MNB startedto lower interest rates. In January <strong>2010</strong>, the inflationrate increased – from 4.2% in 2009 to 6.4%. 7Similarly, nothing happened to reduce theamount of foreign exchange-based domestic lending,despite the fact that excessive currency substitutionwas identified by international observersas a source of financial instability, contributing tothe unsustainable strength of the forint. Accordingto Andor, Hungary has been the country in the regionhardest hit by debt since the second half of the1970s. This is why it has fallen prey to the two greatfinancial crises of the past 30 years. And also thereason why it became a target of panicky speculationand capital withdrawal again in early October 2008,even though the budget rigour imposed since June6 Ibid.7 Ibid.100096100 68100BCI of Hungary = 98 IEG of Hungary = 7045100National reports 114 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100
2006 had considerably improved the fiscal balance(from about 10% to close to 3% of GDP). 8 Andorstates that “the austerity measures of the 2006-2008period, which imposed massive sacrifices sociallyand in terms of forfeited growth, were insufficientto mitigate the mistakes of the previous five years,nor did they improve the overall picture, since thelevel of debt (as compared to GDP) did not declineeven during the time the austerity measures wereimposed.” 9ChallengesThe financial crisis constitutes a complex challengefor Hungarian economic policy and politics in general.The Government now faces some importantchallenges, to resolve which it must:• In the short run, mitigate the fall of the economyand ensure the expansion of liquidity.• In the medium term, create a framework formore dynamic economic growth.• In the long term, achieve some kind of consensusabout how the Hungarian financial systemcould be made less extroverted in order to reducethe vulnerability of the economy and theprobability of similar crises in the future.As Andor concludes, “Eurozone convergence willprobably lie at the heart of this program, althoughthe Irish and the Greek example illustrate that havingthe Euro alone does not save a country fromfinancial turmoil if fundamental imbalances are noteliminated.” 10According to the Hungarian Central StatisticalOffice, in 2009 the number of unemployed peoplewas 28% higher than in 2008. The unemploymentrate went up from 7.9% to 10.1% over a year. Thenet loss of 98,000 jobs involves various costs for theGovernment – such as less revenue, social welfareexpenditures, early pensions and unemploymentbenefits. But there is also an additional cost to societyin terms of health care, vandalism and petty crime.In this context, some of the Government’s austeritymeasures – which will affect most of the keysocial programs – will almost certainly make theemployment situation worse. To give only one example:budget cuts to support programs to incorporatementally and psychologically disabled persons intothe labour market will make training such personsenormously difficult and will, therefore, limit theirchances of finding work.Public services and corruptionThe situation is no different for three of the mainpublic transport companies, namely, the BudapestTransport Company, the State Railroad and HungarianAirlines. To their condition of near bankruptcyand the impossibility of operating without receivingexternal funding is added, in the case of the last two,appalling mismanagement and extremely corruptadministrations. Cutting financial aid could be disastrous.At a local level, the municipalities are undergoinga similar situation. Some of them have alreadydeclared insolvency, others have been forced to gointo debt in order to provide basic services and yetothers have begun to fail to discharge these servicesdue to lack of funds.In addition, despite continuous parliamentaryefforts to provide the country with a legal frameworkwhich would make it possible to fight corruption atthe highest levels according to international standards,things have changed little in this regard. 11 Therehas been no significant progress in the investigationof old scandals and new cases come up regularly. InHungary, the scourge of corruption is far more widespreadthan in any of the other EU countries.The economyThe main problem currently affecting the economyis its overdependence on imports. Not only have nomeasures been taken to change this situation, butit has been enabled and reinforced by the unusualand unjustified strength of the forint, the laxness oftaxation and the existence of import incentives, allof which conspires against the competitiveness ofnational production.A further complex and unfathomable matterwhich the country has been unable to overcome andwhich makes the task of rising above the economiccrisis little less than impossible, involves soaring interestrates. In this, the IMF plays a pivotal role. Everytime the Government attempts to lower the interestrates, the forint rapidly begins to weaken to alarminglevels, which forces the MNB to raise interestrates once again. Thus, the Hungarian economy hasoperated as a large reserve fund for foreign investorsseeking guaranteed high returns, something whichno longer happens in their own countries.One way in which the Government can preventmonetary speculation and the excessive increaseof interest rates is to establish some form of controlover the inflow and outflow of foreign capital.However , the IMF, which the country was forced toresort to in order to overcome bankruptcy, has traditionallyprohibited such measures as restrictions oneconomic freedom. 12 The threat of a sudden currencydevaluation – which would have a disastrous effecton savings and on property values, and which wouldincrease poverty dramatically – has backed the countryinto a dead-end road.Stable consumer prices, which are essential forany economy to function efficiently, are non-existentin Hungary. Most worrying is the increase in theprice of electricity and natural gas, which, added tothe drop in income, has led many families to stoppaying for these services – despite the credit facilitiesoffered by the utility companies in an attempt tomaintain supply.The risks of discontentTwo of the most visible consequences of this stateof affairs are the huge unpopularity of the presentsocialist government and the rapid growth of antimultinationalfeeling among the population. 13 Withpressure on the increase in every sector of society, asocial outbreak would appear to be imminent. This,however, does not imply that the population will setin motion a sudden mobilization which would requirethe Government to abandon IMF directives orthat economic stimulus reforms will be introduced(examples abound of countries which have imposedIMF directives despite protests and even popularuprisings).Among Hungarians, economic insecurity hasled to both apathy on the one hand, and extremismon the other, as manifested, for example, by thegrowth of Jobbik, an ultra right-wing party. The mostextreme cases of emerging right-wing groups and astrong trend towards historical revisionism whichlooks back with nostalgia on the days of the fascistmovements and their symbols are to be found inHungary at present.Intolerance of minority groups and the radicaltendencies of the right have intensified since 2006.There have been assaults against the Roma, includingthe death of six persons and several armed attacks.The Hungarian Guard – an openly xenophobic,anti-Semitic and anti-Roma movement, with closelinks to the Jobbik – continues to recruit membersand strengthen its self-defence system against whatthey call “gypsy criminality,” despite having beendissolved and prohibited by the Metropolitan Courtof Budapest in 2008. n8 Andor, “Hungary in the Financial Crisis: A (Basket) CaseStudy,” op. cit.9 Ibid.10 Ibid.11 One of the most notorious cases involved a director of theMNB and the present Prime Minister, Gordon Bajnai, whotransferred a large portion of their fortunes to offshoreaccounts.12 Recently the IMF has acknowledged the advantage of somecapital controls, although this may not benefit Hungary.13 The notion that not everything should be in private handswas made very clear in the southern town of Pecs, where themunicipality took control of the waterworks, closing the wayto the French company Suez.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 115 Hungary
india10056Emerging trends in financing for development0Donor resources 99 for financing development in most countries are closely linked to progress on71 commitments agreed by national governments. This fails to include the concept of citizen participationand stresses the role of the private sector. Civil society in India has been demanding greater attentionto social considerations in implementing national development plans and the matching budgetaryIEG of Croatia = 75allocations. The People’s Mid Term Appraisal of the 11th Five Year Plan demonstrates that there isurgent need for a greater involvement by civil society in formulating and designing public policies.99 100100 100 100100<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> IndiaHimanshu Jha100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 73 GEI = 4178 Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermentSpeaking to the UN General Assembly in September2008, Indian Prime Minister 45Manmohan Singhstated that developed countries should honour theircommitments to global development. However, the0Government’s own commitments are still not met,00 899 as shown by the latest poverty figures. The PlanningCommission Expert Group report on poverty96933778100 100 68100100 47100100 100in November 2009 calculates that 37% of the Indian Births attended bypopulation currently lives below the poverty line, far skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationabove the official poverty estimate of 27.5%. TheIEG of Hungary = 70situation in rural areas is even worse, with 42% of thepopulation living below the poverty line. 1India accounts for 1.95 million deaths of underfivechildren every year, one of the highest rates inthe world, 2 which is up to 60% higher in rural areas.There is also a substantial gender gap, with70 deaths per 1,000 males and 79 deaths per 1,000females. 4 According to UNICEF less than 25% of therural population use toilets and only 4 out of 10 girlscomplete eight years of schooling.These trends are alarming in view of the globalcommitment to the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) and the Government’s own national commitmentsas articulated in the National DevelopmentGoals. In this context it is pertinent to look at how Indiaintends to finance the achievement of its developmentgoals, particularly with regard to foreign directinvestment (FDI), Official Development Assistance(ODA) and public expenditure on the social sector.FfD through FDI: BCI a of mechanism India = 73 for growthand equity?In recent years there has been a renewed emphasison attracting FDI as a way to finance development,especially by the least developed, developing and transitionaleconomies. India has shown a similar interestin attracting FDI through market liberalization ofvarious kinds, opening markets on finance and tradeand relaxing labour and environmental standards.Policies include allowing 100% foreign enterpriseownership through what is known as the “automaticroute,” which includes increasing caps on foreignequity, removing restrictions on specific kinds of investmentand extending these FDI offers to retailingand agriculture. 5 As a result, India has seen a constantincrease in foreign equity flows in recent years; in2009-<strong>2010</strong> investment inflows totaled USD 22.96 billion,compared to USD 4.34 billion in 2005-2006. 6Whether this increased inflow is resulting in theIEG of India = 41desired “spill over” effect is a different story. In the2009 UNCTAD Investment Climate <strong>Report</strong>, India iscategorized as an “under performing” country. Whilethe importance of regional trade blocs is growing asa means of enhancing intra-regional trade relations,it is clear from the list of major investing countries(Mauritius, Singapore, USA, UK, Netherlands, Cyprus,Japan, Germany, United Arab Emirates andFrance) that India has been slow to enter into regionaltrade dynamics, in spite of forging allianceswith the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN). At the regional level, the South Asian Free1 Indian Planning Commission, <strong>Report</strong> of the Expert Groupto Review the Methodology for the Estimation of Poverty,November 2009. Their methodology is expanded to includehealth and education along with income. Available from:(accesed 27 May <strong>2010</strong>).2 Save the Children-India, “Child Survival 2009,” 2009.Available from: .3 Government of India, National Family Health Survey-3, 2007.Available from: 4 Missing females are discriminated against either before birthso that they are never born, or thereafter in such a way thatdoes not allow them to survive. See: “India: the accumulatedeffects of inequality,” <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong> 2005, Roarsand Whispers. Available from: .5 Ministry of Finance, Union Budget and Economic Survey2007-2008. Available from: (accessed 27 May <strong>2010</strong>).6 Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry ofCommerce and Industry, FDI Fact Sheet <strong>2010</strong>.100Trade Agreement (SAFTA) has completely failed. Onthe other hand, it is precisely because its economy–particularly its financial sector–is not completelyopen that India has been able to withstand the globaland regional economic crises.Part of the logic behind efforts to attract FDI isto develop regions of the country that have been leftout of socio-economic development. However, theemerging pattern is not very encouraging, since regionswhich are already developed (mainly Mumbaiand Delhi) continue to attract more FDI than do lessdeveloped regions such as states in the northeast.Indeed, the latter continue to be outside the mainstream,in spite of the fact that the Government hasoffered concessions to both domestic and foreign investorsin the form of excise exemptions, income taxexemptions and investment subsidies for promotingindustrial activities in these regions.As a part of its move towards market liberalization,the Government has eagerly pursued the establishmentof Special Economic Zones (SEZs) acrossthe country, which has negatively impacted millionsof farmers and marginalized communities. Estimatesshow that close to 114,000 farming households andanother 82,000 families dependent on farming wouldbe displaced by SEZs. This amounts to a completecollapse of rural economies in these areas, motivatinglarge-scale protests in West Bengal, Orissa,Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and other regions.A substantial proportion of FDI goes to the servicessector, knowledge based industry and the manufactureof relatively low tech consumer goods. FDI isalso adding to the “jobless growth” phenomenon asmost of it is providing jobs in the organized sectorwhich accounts for mere 7% of the total workforce.The recent move towards attracting FDI in theretail sector has generated much debate and discus-79100100100100National reports 116 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>10010010074
sion. The move is posing a serious threat to smallretailers – small time traders who are 15 million inall and constitute 98% of the total retail trade in thecountry, contributing 10% of the GDP. 7 This will haveserious implication considering the fact that this sectionof the retail trade also employs 10% of the totallabour force (the second largest after agriculture).From the consumers’ point of view this also meansserious implications for accessibility and affordabilitysince poor and low income households might findit comparatively easier to approach the local retailer.Even though FDI inflows have increased overthe years, its ability to deliver genuine (and inclusive)financing for development remains in doubt. In orderto make sure it benefits the country as a whole, includingdomestic businesses and local communities,the country’s economic structures must facilitate thecreation of the enabling environment needed to promotegreater FDI spillover effects, both to domesticbusiness and to local communities.Trends in external aid: India as a recipientand a donorIndia is one of the top recipients of Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA), with 2% of the totaldisbursed worldwide. 8 External assistance, whichincludes both loans and grants, has increased exponentiallyfrom the early 1990s which was also theperiod when India adopted a Structural AdjustmentPolicy promoted by the International Financial Institutions(IFIs). The bulk of external assistance is still inthe form of loans, which contradicts an earlier commitmentby donors to keep loans to 35% of externalaid, while the rest – 65% – was to be in grants.The reduction of bilateral grants has adverselyaffected development work at the grassroots level,where the majority of NGOs are active. An estimated1.2 million NGOs are currently working across thecountry with a total annual income of 17,922 Crores(USD 16 million). 9 The financing for these NGO“partners in development” (viewed as such by theGovernment and increasingly by the groups themselves)has been shrinking over time, and is likely tobe further reduced in the future.The utilization of external assistance has beena constant problem in India, especially in the light ofits Federal governance system. Estimates of externalaid received by the Government for <strong>2010</strong>-2011 showthat the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and theMinistry of Urban Development received the largestamounts of external aid, while the Ministry of Womenand Child Development received a mere 0.95% of thetotal. 10 There are considerable regional variations aswell; for instance, in 2007-2008 some relatively bet-ter off states, such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Naduand West Bengal received the largest amounts ofcentrally disbursed assistance for externally aidedprojects. Other regions, especially in the Northeast,received little or no funds from this budget.From aid recipient to aid donorIndia’s position as an aid recipient country shiftedin late 2003 when the government then in powerdecided to limit the receipt of bilateral grants to fivecountries (US, UK, Japan, Germany and the RussianFederation) and the European Union. Other countriescould route funds through the multilateral agenciesdirectly to civil society organizations, which involvedthe latter in more rules, including permits to operateand receive foreign funds. Many also find theirfreedom to operate curtailed, delays in sanctions andexecution at various levels and considerable increasein their administrative costs.Recent trends confirm India’s orientation asa donor country. Its <strong>2010</strong>-2011 total in grants andloans to foreign governments was INR 23.83 billion(USD 509 million). Among the recipients, Bhutanreceived the largest amount with USD 149 million,Afghanistan received USD 53 million and Africa USD32 million. 11India also provides training to scholars, bureaucratsand officials from other developing countriesunder the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation(ITEC), a foreign aid program established in1964. 12 Allocations for this program have increasedover the years, reaching USD 21 million in <strong>2010</strong>-2011. 13 Contrary to popular belief, this trend is notnew; India helped countries such as Nepal andMyanmar long before ITEC was established. Thecriticism of India as a donor, however, is that it attachesthe same conditions to its external aid thatit refuses to accept as a recipient country, typicallylinking assistance to the purchase of Indian goodsand services. 14The mantra of public-private partnershipsThe model promoted under the mantra of publicprivatepartnership (PPP) aims to increase nationalownership of development through more inclusiveparticipation by civil society organizations, localand grassroots representatives, public agenciesand private players. As it has evolved, the modelhas dropped most of the public part of the partnershipand focused primarily on the private aspect. Theexamination of “management contracts” shows that“the risks are borne by the Government while thecompanies do not invest a penny… the companiessimply provide ‘super managers,’ with completecontrol over the management, finances and assetsof the utility and get a fat annual fee.” 15Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, aflagship government program for urban infrastructureand basic services for the urban poor reflectsthis model, as almost all of its funds have attachedconditionalities. The reforms are linked by the statesand the urban local government to funding grantsand loans which violates the “subsidiarity principle”(by which reforms, loans and grants should runtheir own separate course) and is highly coercive.The City Development Plans, which are meant tobe formulated in partnership with various actors,including civil society, are developed without anycitizen interface.A case in point is the privatization of certain activitiesof the Delhi Water Board, which proceededsolely on the blueprint provided by the World Bank,ADB and USAID. As a result, most of the costs areborne by the Government including the difficult taskof cost recovery; the process of privatization hasresulted in a decline in the Board’s assets and theoverall value of its services, resulting in the takeoverof Board assets and functions by multinationals.Another problem was that the World Bank intervenedat every stage of the implementation of the project,such as, for example, deciding the eligibility and selectioncriteria for bidders and awarding consultancycontracts. 16Similar trends can be seen in the health andeducation sector, despite the failure of this modelin Punjab, one of the first states to initiate reforms.In its first five year review of the program in Punjab,the State public disinvestment commission recommendedthat it be closed down, citing the ineptadministration and favouritism in the health department.17 Yet it is evident in <strong>2010</strong> that the PPP modelremains dominant.ConclusionFinancing for development in different countries isinextricably linked to progress governments havemade on its commitments. Civil society in India hasbeen demanding greater attention to program implementationand matching budgetary allocations.There is great need for civil society to become moreengaged in the FfD process, not only at the implementationor the outcome level but also in formulatingand designing public policies, as shown by thePeople’s Mid Term Appraisal of the 11 th Five YearPlan. The Appraisal, organized by CSOs and supportedby the Planning Commission, is an exampleof greater involvement at the policy level and of howand in which direction the CSOs should move. n7 E A S Sarma, “Need for Caution in Retail FDI,” Economic andPolitical Weekly, New Delhi, November 2005.8 OECD, “ODA to the Developing World: Summary,Development Aid at a Glance 2007,” 2007.9 Society for Participatory Research in Asia, Invisible, YetWidespread: The Non-Profit Sector in India, December 2002.10 Government of India, Estimates of Provision for ExternallyAided Projects in Central Plan Included in Budget Estimates<strong>2010</strong>-11, Expenditure Budget Vol-I, <strong>2010</strong>-11. Available from: (accessed 28May <strong>2010</strong>).11 Government of India, Expenditure Budget -<strong>2010</strong>-11, Grantsand Loans to Foreign Governments, <strong>2010</strong>.12 Dweep Chanana, “India as an Emerging Donor,” Economicand Political Weekly, New Delhi, 21 March 2009. See also:.13 Government of India, Grants and Loans to ForeignGovernments, Op. cit., various years.14 Sonia Cahturbedi, “India’s double standard on internationalaid as donor and receiver,” India Daily. Available from: (accessed 28 May<strong>2010</strong>).15 Bhaduri Amit and Arvind Kejriwal “Urban Water Supply:Reforming the Reformers,” Economic and Political Weekly,New Delhi, 31 December 2005.16 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> India, “Citizens <strong>Report</strong> on Governance andDevelopment 2007,” New Delhi 2007.17 Ibid. The People’s Mid Term Appraisal of the 11th Five YearPlan, held in New Delhi on 4-5 February <strong>2010</strong>, was organizedby the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, theNational <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Coalition and Wada Na Todo Abhiyan,among others.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 117 India
indONESIAMore is needed100951004300The global financial crisis has placed an additional 100 burden on Indonesia, which was already facing97problems such as a large 100foreign debt, corruption and 100macroeconomic policies 64 that have failed to 100takeconcrete action towards poverty elimination. The severest effects have been felt by workers, sincecompanies lay off their employees as a first option to save their assets. Civil society insists that theBCI of Czech Republic = 98IEG of Czech Republic = 68Government must take strategic steps to integrate poverty elimination into the national budget.100 79100<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> IndonesiaM. Firdaus (ASPPUK)Wahyu Susilo (INFID)Nani Zulminarni (PEKKA)100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9094 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 55EmpowermentAlthough Indonesia performed better than its neighboursduring the global recession, the country is stillsuffering from the impacts of the financial crisis that160 800shook the world economy in the middle of 2008.Also, despite the fact that the Central Bank estimated799337789697growth of 5.6% for <strong>2010</strong> and as much as 6.5% for53100 100 100100 100100 1002011, the announcement of several policy decisions Births attended byseem to reflect the Government’s anxiety. These decisions,skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationaimed at giving some security toeconomicactors and investors, failed to have this impact andinstead created uncertainty regarding the nationaleconomy.One reason that the country outperformedits neighbours is that it is less reliant on exports.Nevertheless, many sectors – such as rubber andpalm plantations, the wood and furniture industries,mining, manufacturing (especially textiles and garments),the automotive industry, electronics andcrafts – were severely hit. The SMERU ResearchInstitute, which registered the different levels of impactin 2009, has noted that the crisis hit the hardestamong people with the lowest income. 1 Instability inthe labour market led to a reduction in wage levelsand an increase in informal jobs. Women have sufferedmore than men from income declines or joblosses – for instance, many women have alreadylost their employment in the handicraft and furnitureindustries in Lombok Barat and Jepara. Things couldbecome much worse if the garment industry collapsessince most its workers are women. 2An additional obstacle to povertyeliminationBefore the global crisis hit the Government had increasedits poverty elimination budget from Rp 51trillion (USD 5.5 billion) in 2007 to Rp 58 trillion (USD6.3 billion) in 2009. 3 Unfortunately, the level of resultsdoes not match the size of the budget: poverty wasreduced by less than 2%.1 SMERU, “Monitoring the Socioeconomic Impact of theGlobal Financial Crisis in Indonesia.” Available from: .2 Ibid.3 Dian Kuswandini, “Fixing poverty: In numbers we trust?”,The Jakarta Post, 27 December 2008.4 National 100 Development Planning Institute, Indonesia MDGs<strong>Report</strong> 2009, Jakarta.99100 1005 Tempo, 26 October 2008.6 Dian Kuswandini, op. cit.07 Wahyu Susilo, “5 years to Millennium Development GoalsBCI of Switzerland = 98deadline”, GCAP-SENCA, 29 October 2009. Available from:.100IEG of India = 41The percentageBCI ofofIndonesiapeople living= 90below the povertyline (out of the total of some 230 million inhabitants)has been fluctuating: 15.97% in 2005, 17.75%in 2006, 16.58% in 2007, 15% in 2008 and 14.5%in 2009. 4The Government goals 100 for reducing the povertyrate were 9.5% in 2005, 8.9% in 2006, 7.9% in 2007and 6.6% in 2008. 5 The initial goal of 8.2% in 2009was subsequently adjusted to 612%-14% but the realpoverty rate was still higher. 6 Poverty eliminationIEG of Indonesia = 559 billion was allocated for education and USD 1.7billion for health. 8Impact on workersA number of recent controversies regarding Governmentfavouritism are 100reminders that in times ofcrisis it is the workers rather than the powerful whopay the costs. The corporations insist in laying offtheir workers in order to save their assets, with thesupport of the Government’s policy. 9 In addition toprograms in many government institutions at the 250,000 jobs lost since September 2008, the InternationalLabor Organization predicted that 170,00000 9national and local level will not be able to resolve theproblem of poverty without bureaucratic reform and Indonesian workers were laid off in 2009 as a result81more political will. 39of the global financial 47crisis. The unemployment rate100 100100At the same time, the effects of the global in Indonesia last year was estimated to 77 100be more thancrisis make the reduction of poverty more difficult 8% and rising. 10since Indonesia is facing such problems as a large For example, special treatment was givenforeign debt, corruption BCI of Nigeria and a = lack 61IEG of Nigeria = 44of consistency to Bumi Resources, the largest mining companybetween macroeconomic policy on the one hand,and concrete actions to reduce poverty on the other.In August 2009, Bank Indonesia reported that thecountry’s foreign debt had reached USD 165 billion. 7in Indonesia, when the company’s share price felldramatically and many voices in the Government insistedon stepping in to save it. Its major shareholderis PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk, a corporation chairedBudget statistics issued by the Ministry of Finance by Aburizal Bakrie, who is also the chairman of the100100show that the budget for foreign 93 debt payments is Golkar party (part of the ruling coalition).bigger than the budget for the education or healthsectors: USD 10.4 billion was allocated for foreigndebt payment and interest in 2009 while only USDThe financial crisis is also a threat to Indonesianmigrant workers since it has caused their countriesof residence to employ more local workers. The IndonesianLabor Union Confederation 23 warned thatsome 300,000 migrant workers 0 were expected toreturn to Indonesia by the end of 2009 after being92100 711008 Ibid.9 Ames Gross and Andrew Connor, “Indonesia in the GlobalFinancial Crisis: What HR Managers Need to Know”, PacificIEG of Switzerland = 62Bridge, March 2009. Available from: .10 Ibid.8210090100National reports 118 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100 9910074
laid-off in host countries such as South Korea andMalaysia. 11The Government wrongly expected that remittancessent from abroad by migrant workers wouldprovide an alternative source of revenue during thecrisis. Some analysts and policy makers even arguedthat the Government should seek to increase thenumber of those earning overseas so that remittancescould help reduce volatility in the Indonesianrupiah. 12 Indonesia expected remittances from itsoverseas workers to rise to around USD 10 billionin <strong>2010</strong>. 13The MDGs in IndonesiaRecently, the National Development Planning Instituterecognized that Indonesia would not achieve theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015,especially those related to maternal mortality rates,HIV and the environment. 14 According to UNDP –Indonesia: 15• More than 35 million people or 15.4% of thepopulation live below the national poverty line.• The proportion of the population with sustainableaccess to clean water and sanitation hasnot increased significantly.• More than 30% of people in urban areas and50% in rural areas do not have access to pipeddrinking water.• Indonesia’s maternal mortality rate of 307 per100,000 remains one of the highest in SoutheastAsia.• HIV and AIDS infections are accelerating sharplyacross the country, with Papua and high-riskurban areas of particular concern.• Approximately 95% of children enrol in primaryschool but only 81% continue to secondaryschool.• Between 1997 and 2000 Indonesia lost 3.5 millionhectares of forest annually.Tackling poverty: more efforts neededBesides the increase in budgeting and fiscal stimulus,the Government has taken some steps in order toreduce poverty including Law 40 2004 regarding theNational <strong>Social</strong> Security System. 16 This law aims toprovide social security for all citizens, not just thosewho are registered as poor in the National StatisticsOffice. It establishes five national social securityprograms covering health insurance, work accidentinsurance, old age pensions, pension insurance andlife insurance. The law calls for a mechanism to beset up to collect funds from compulsory contributionsto ensure that all citizens are able to providefor their minimum basic life needs, including accessto health care. However, the Government has onlyapplied one regulation, concerning the proceduresand organization of the <strong>Social</strong> Insurance Committee,while other important aspects – such as establishingthe <strong>Social</strong> Insurance Administration Office to implementthe law – were ignored. Thus, the old insurancesystem is still working as usual.Poverty has been reduced very slowly and withoutleading to improvements in human developmentin 2009 and <strong>2010</strong>. In the 2009 UNDP Human Development<strong>Report</strong>, 17 Indonesia is considered a countrywith several problems and a decreasing quality oflife for its population. Its ranking in the Human DevelopmentIndex has slipped from 107 in 2005 to111 in 2009, worse than the Philippines (105) andPalestine (110).The Government must take strategic steps totackle this situation. First, it must integrate povertyelimination into the national budget, supporting theefforts of civil society organizations and avoidingoverlapping and ineffective programs. Second, Governmentreforms must include the eradication of corruptionand the establishment of good governance.The existence of a strategic plan for debt reductionand efforts to avoid new indebtedness are fundamentalto facilitating sustainable development. n11 Hera Diani, “Future Looks Bleak for Laid-Off IndonesianWorkers”, The Irrawaddy, 19 November 2009. Availablefrom: .12 Reuters, “Indonesian Migrant Workers Expected to SendMore Money Home in <strong>2010</strong>,” The Jakarta Globe, 30 October2009.13 Ibid.14 “RI to miss MDGs target”, The Jakarta Post, 20 April <strong>2010</strong>.15 See: .16 Available from: .17 UNDP, Human Development <strong>Report</strong>, New York, 2009.Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 119 Indonesia
iraq100Persistent gender-based violence an 56 obstacle to developmentand peace 25250The fragile political situation and weak 78 rule of law have transformed Iraqi society into an unsafe environment for development5494and stability. 62 Iraqi women face difficult conditions, bearing more responsibilities and responding 54100 100to numerous 62 challenges.Every day women and girls are forced into marriages, murdered for the sake of “honour,” coerced into committing suicide,beaten, raped, trafficked into sex work and restricted in their autonomy and mobility. Arising opportunities must be seizedIEG of Eritrea = 47not only to promote the social rehabilitation INGLES BCI of the of country Eritrea = but 76 IEG of Eritrea = 47also to encourage and support new institutional structures,legislation and its enforcement for the protection of women’s political, economic, social and cultural rights.94100 100 100100 1001000100010087Developing Programs for Women and YouthBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> police for fear of reprisal by their families. In light ofIraqi Al-Amal AssociationBasma AlKhateeb100100the security, social and 100 cultural context, as well asBCI = 88Children reaching of experiences from other conflict situations, it is875th gradereasonable to assume that cases are significantlyWhile Iraqi women have generally s/dplayed an activeunder-reported.n/drole in their society, the long years of conflict andA review of reports from human rights organizationsinternational sanctions have had a heavy impact onand newspaper articles over the period March0them. They have suffered from violence and the destruction002003-May 2008 gives an indication of the magnitudeof the s/d country’s socio-economic s/d fabric.of the problem. n/dA 2005 study by the Ministry n/d of State699680A survey conducted in 2008 by Oxfam and the Al-96 for Women’s Affairs, reported some 400 cases of100 100 100Amal Association estimated that 35.5% of women100 100100 100rape documented between the fall of Saddam Hussein’s100were acting as heads of households, primarily as a Births attendedSurviving under-5regime (April 2003) and the time of the study. 5result of the conflict. 1 Especially in the rural areas,A report for the period April 2004-September 2005women were undertaking tasks that were traditionallyINGLES BCI of Iraq = 88(17 months) gives a figure of about 400 rapes ofperformed by men while also carrying out their least one form of emotional or psychological vio-females and 35 rapes of males. 6 Yet, another re-traditional roles and struggling daily to meet even the lence and 21.2% reported experiencing physical violence.port states that between February and June 2006most basic needs.2 According to a UNICEF survey, 59% of girls (5 months), approximately 60 females were rapedWomen are guaranteed equality before the law and women aged 15-59 believe that a husband is justifiedin Baghdad alone while another 80 were “sexuallyin beating his wife. 3 The percentage of women abused in other ways.” 7100100100under the 2005 Constitution (Art. 14). This also guaranteestheir right to life and personal security (Art. married before the age of 18 was 26.8% in 2006; for Notwithstanding the guarantees contained in15) and prohibits violence (Art. 29). The right to libertyurban women it was 25.8% and for rural 28.9%. 4 the Constitution, the Iraqi Penal Code of 1969 andand dignity (Art. 37) reinforces these principles, There are also problems 62 in the law itself. Al-subsequent orders of the Revolutionary Commandwhile the prohibition against punishment except as though Iraq is a party to international human rights Council (RCC) contain provisions that condoneprovided by law (Art. 19) reinforces 22 the illegality of treaties including the Convention on the Eliminationviolence against women by 22 providing for shorter“honour killings.” Despite these 0 protections, however,of All Forms of Discrimination 0 against Women sentences and, in some 0cases, impunity regardingincreased conservative male-dominated values, (CEDAW), there are still provisions within the nationalthe perpetrator’s criminal responsibility. Under thelaw that either excuse95 continuing armed conflict and a flawed law enforcementsystem expose women and girls to many 74 forms assault and murder of women and girls or provide the State cannot take any action without 74 100100the con-19the rape, abduction, 95 Penal Code, rape is a private offence, meaning that100 10057100100 10010057of violence.mitigated sentences for perpetrators. Under the sent of the complainant or a legal guardian. One ofGender-based violence IEG of Nepal = 51pretext of restoring honour and maintaining order Code’s most controversial provisions is Article 398,within the family, INGLES such BCI national of Nepal laws = subordinate 58 IEG of Nepal = 51women to men and perpetuate violence within thefamily and society.Local and national surveys indicate that violenceagainst women and girls in Iraq is widespread, withregional variations, and occurs at all levels of society.Much of this relates to long-standing culturalpractices and the ongoing challenges in establishing100the rule of law. The most common reported formsinclude beatings, burns, female genital cutting (inthe north of the country), forced and early marriage,and emotional, psychological and 41 physical violenceincluding honour crimes.A survey conducted at the 0 national level showedthat 83.1% of women reported at least one formof marital controlling behaviour, 33.4% reported 98 at100 72100Sexual violenceIt is extremely difficult to get accurate data on the100number of cases of rape and 93 sexual violence in Iraqsince statistics are not maintained by the medicalor judicial authorities. There are only a handful ofshelters for women outside of Iraqi Kurdistan andsurvivors do not report to the medical centres or theby which the perpetrator can be excused of rape andsexual assault if he marries the victim. In the absenceof any provision to the contrary, this mechanismapplies even in cases where the victim is a minor. 85 American Bar Association and Iraq Legal Development100Project (ABA/ILDP), The Status of Women in Iraq:Update to the Assessment of Iraq’s De Jure and De FactoCompliance with International Legal Standards, December2006. Available from: . 416 IRIN, “Iraq: Focus on increasing cases of abused women,”014 September 2005. Available 0 from: (accessed 7 July <strong>2010</strong>).2 Ministry of Health, Ministry of Planning and Development99977 IRIN, “Iraq: Local NGO warns of rising cases of sexual87Cooperation and World Health Organization, Republic 99 of Iraq98100 100 100abuse,” 10014 June– Iraq Family Health Survey <strong>Report</strong> 2006/7. Available from:722006. Available from: (accessed 7 July <strong>2010</strong>)..1 Oxfam International, In Her Own Words: Iraqi women talk8 The law provides that the sentence will be reinstated orabout their greatest concerns and challenges – A survey,3 UNICEF, Progress for Children: A World Fit for Children –proceedings will resume if the defendant divorces the victimIEG of Thailand = 702009. Available from: .4 Ibid.the end of proceedings.National reports 120 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Advocates of this provision argue that it protects theinterests of the victim as her honour may be restoredby virtue of the marriage, thus avoiding a potential“honour killing” by the family or community. In reality,however, it serves to institutionalize the shameand dishonour associated with rape and thus furtherjeopardizes the victim’s life and safety.Murder with mitigating circumstancesHonour crimes occur for a range of reasons includingadultery, refusal to marry a man chosen by thefamily, attempting to marry someone of whom thefamily does not approve, having pre-marital sex, beinga victim of rape or even the suspicion of committingany of these acts. They most commonly involvekillings but also include other forms of violence suchas mutilation.The Iraqi Penal Code treats honour killings differentlyfrom other murders. Laws permitting mitigatedsentences for honour crimes were suspendedin Iraqi Kurdistan in 2000 but remain in effect in therest of Iraq. RCC Order No. 6 of January 2001 gaveeffect to a broader category of honour crimes by permittingmitigated sentences for the killing of a wifeor close female relative when it relates to honour.Under Article 130 of the Penal Code, such reducedsentences may be as low as one year (where thefull penalty would have been death), or six months(where the full penalty would have been life imprisonment).This is inconsistent with the illegality ofthe practice and serves to enforce it as a form ofextra-judicial punishment, which is prohibited bythe Constitution.The CEDAW Committee has expressed its deepconcern regarding honour killings in Iraq. 9 In coordinationwith a number of national and internationalstakeholders, Iraqi women activists are campaigningto change the law, advocating for parliament to dropthe “honour killings” statute so that perpetratorsare prosecuted for murder. However, there is greatscepticism, given the weakness of the Governmentand the conservatism dominating parliament thatreform will happen any time soon.Many other crimes go unpunishedThere are others crimes of gender-based violencewhere the existing law does not protect the victim.On the contrary, in most cases the perpetrators gounpunished or their sentences are mitigated. Theseinclude:• Kidnappings and abductions. Under Article423 of the Iraqi Penal Code the abduction ofa woman carries a maximum prison sentenceof 15 years; however, as in the case of rape andattempted rape, the penalty is voided by theabductor’s marriage to the victim.9 CEDAW Committee, “Summary record of the 468 th meeting,”CEDAW/C/SR/468, 14 June 2000. Available from: (accessed 7 July <strong>2010</strong>).• Domestic violence. Under Article 41 of the Codea husband is legally entitled to punish his wife;while the law specifies that such punishment ispermissible “within certain limits prescribed bylaw or by custom,” there are no specified legallimits and the customary limits are undefined.• Trafficking and prostitution. While the Constitutionprohibits trafficking of women and childrenand prostitution is a criminal offence, womenand girls sold into prostitution have little, if any,recourse. Moreover, trafficking crimes are notspecifically enumerated in the Ministry of theInterior statistics on criminal activity and are notcovered in police training curricula.• Female genital cutting (FGC). Although not acommon practice in the south of Iraq, there arereports that FGC has resurfaced in the north.There are no specific laws against the practiceand although the Ministry of Health states thatdoctors are not permitted to perform such proceduresthere is no legal mechanism to enforcethis prohibition.• Religiously motivated violence and tribal practices.An ABA/ILDP <strong>Report</strong> in 2006 stated thatamidst the mounting sectarian tensions in Iraqextremist Sunni and Shiite groups were demandingthat women wear the hijab and avoid“immoral” or “un-Islamic” behaviour or faceviolent consequences. 10 In Basra, Iraq’s secondlargest city, 133 women were killed and mutilatedin 2007, their bodies dumped in trash binswith notes warning others against “violatingIslamic teachings.” 11• Violence against women in detention. Whilemedia coverage of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraibfocused on the torture, sexual abuse andhumiliation of Iraqi men, a variety of sourcessuggest that female prisoners suffered similartreatment, including rape. According to aHuman Rights <strong>Watch</strong> report the secrecy surroundingfemale detentions “resulted from acollusion of the families and the occupyingforces:” families feared social stigma and theMulti-National Force in Iraq feared condemnationby human rights groups and anger fromIraqis. 12 According to the US State Department,abuses of women such as threats, intimidation,beatings and the application of electric shocksalso occurred at the hands of the Iraqi police. 13Emerging opportunities“Gender justice” remains largely an illusion inpost-conflict societies such as Iraq, although some10 ABA/ILDP, op. cit.11 MADRE, “Who is Killing the Women of Basra?” 9 January2008. Available from: .12 Human Rights <strong>Watch</strong>, “Climate of Fear: Sexual Violence andAbduction of Women and Girls in Baghdad,” Iraq, 15(7), July2003. Available from: .13 US Department of State, Iraq Country <strong>Report</strong> on HumanRights Practices 2005, 8 March 2006. Available from: .progress is being made. The term means far morethan courtroom justice for crimes against womenand girls; it encompasses equitable treatment andparticipation of women in the negotiation of peaceagreements, the planning and implementation ofpeace operations, the creation and administrationof the new Government (including agencies andinstitutions focused on the needs of women andgirls), the provision of the full range of educationalopportunities, participation in the revival and growthof the economy, and the fostering of a culture thatenhances the talents, capabilities and well-being ofwomen and girls.Crises can break down social barriers andtraditional patriarchal patterns, providing windowsof opportunity for the construction of a more justand equitable society where women’s rights areprotected and gender equality becomes the normin institutional and social frameworks. Such opportunitiesmust be seized not only to promote socialrehabilitation but also to encourage and support newinstitutional structures, legislation and its enforcementfor the protection of political, economic, socialand cultural rights.RecommendationsThe following actions suggest how the internationalcommunity – the UN, donor states and internationalagents – can provide support to Iraqi women:• Negotiate terms with the Iraqi Government tofulfil its commitments and obligations concerninghuman rights issues and empower womento participate in political power, peace-buildingand national reconciliation processes.• Prioritize financial support for gender equalitytraining in the Ministries of Interior and Justice,the Judicial Institute, universities and lawschools and NGOs.• Provide legal awareness training for Iraqi civilsociety organizations, in particular on UN SecurityCouncil Resolution 1325 (SCR 1325) 14and fund advocacy and lobbying training, workshops,conferences and media campaigns.• Assign a gender advisor to diplomatic missionsin Iraq in order to follow up the internationaland national commitments on gender issuesin the country.• Render relief assistance to Iraqi refugees in Jordanand Syria, where the majority are womenand children, and facilitate measures of asylumfor those who have applied for refuge in Europeanand North American countries. n14 SCR 1325, adopted by the Security Council on 31 October2000, was established to address the impact of war onwomen and increase women’s contributions to conflictresolution and sustainable peace. Available from: (accessed 7 July <strong>2010</strong>).<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 121 Iraq
italy10010099The dismantling of development cooperation2910029100Italian <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Coalition 1The Italian society has been 90 hit hard by the financial crisis. The Government’s main response was to cut981009868 resources in key sectors 100 including education, health, 100 welfare and funds for 68 local authorities. Financingfor development has also suffered a drastic reduction, and Italy is not meeting its internationalcommitments. The Government’s disregard for development cooperation in the same year as theIEG of Cyprus = 65 INGLES BCI of Cyprus = 96 IEG of Cyprus = 65Italian presidency of the G8 is not surprising to civil society organizations, which have been criticizingthe country’s lack of strategies in terms of the financing for development agenda.100 100 100100 100100The social impact of the financial crisis has beenhuge in Italy. It has affected not only the country’sBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 99 99Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 64Empowermenteconomy in general – the national deficit increased425.2% in 2009 and over 9,000 enterprises closed42(23% more than in 2008 2 ) – but workers and families0in particular. The unemployment rate increased to00almost 8% 3 and a third of households are experiencingdifficulties in reaching 55 the end of month without55991009710097100 100 100100 100100 100going into debt. 4 Among them, migrants have beenthe hardest hit. 5Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationThe banking system has not been particularlyIEG of Italy = 642008, while it is estimatedINGLES BCIthatofa thirdItalyof=Italians96avoidIEG of Italy = 64paying taxes). 6affected, nor has it applied the incentives it receivedfrom the Government to help businesses and individualswith credit facilities. At the same time, theGovernment has cut resources in many key sectorssuch as education, health, welfare and funds for localauthorities. In 2009, the G8 meeting took placein the Italian town of L’Aquila, which had recentlybeen devastated by an earthquake, amid criticismof Italy’s lack of strong leadership in the pre-summitprocess and recent cuts to its aid budget. It was ayear of further privatization of public companies andinfrastructure together with more corruption andtax evasion (corruption cases increased 229% over1 Jason Nardi wrote the introduction; “Disregard fordevelopment cooperation” was written by TommasoRondinella, “The financing for development agenda”by Andrea Baranes (CRBM) and Roberto Sensi (MAIS),“Violations of human rights abroad” by Alessandro Palchetti(Amnesty International – Italian section), “MDG3: Lackof strategies for gender equity” by Beatrice Costa (Coord.Campagna 30 anni CEDAW–Lavori in corsa) and “MDG7: Areferendum for public water” by Tommaso Fattori (ForumItaliano dei Movimenti per l’Acqua).2 La Stampa, “Crisi, nel 2009 picco di imprese fallite,” 1March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .3 The unemployment rate for Italy in 2009 was 7.8% comparedto 6.8% in 2008. The projected rate for <strong>2010</strong> is 10.5%. See:Economy<strong>Watch</strong>, “Italy Economic Statistics and Indicators.”Available from: .4 Keynesiano, “Crisi: Duro impatto della recessione sulmercato del lavoro,” 29 January <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.5 According to major money transfer operators, during the firstpart of 2009 remittances decreased by between 10 and 15%with respect to 2008. See: Giulio Giangaspero, “Le rimessedall’Italia in tempo di crisi,” Working Paper Cespi, 63/2009.Available from: .00Disregard for development cooperationRecent State budgets have decreed the dismantlingof development cooperation. For the 2009-2011period EUR 321.8 million, 331.26 million and 215.7million (USD 398 million, 409.73 million and 266.63million) have been allocated, respectively, representinga cut of 56% in the resources available forthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ cooperation projects.The Government’s actions in this area in the sameyear as the Italian presidency of the G8 might seemcontradictory; however, it is not surprising consideringthe expense of organizing the G8 event itself– which cost far more (an estimated USD 600 million7 ) than the annual allocations for internationalcooperation.According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD), 74% of Italianofficial development assistance (ODA) is channelledthrough the multilateral system. This means that adequatetransparency and democratic accountabilityare lacking on the effectiveness of the country’s participationin international institutions managing financingfor development. In <strong>2010</strong>, Italian ODA will bewell below the commitment of 0.50% of GNI, leadingEurope to miss the collective target of 0.56% despitethe good performance of countries that have already6 NPR, “Culture of Corruption Creeps into Italian Life”, 12March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .7 Anuradha Mittal, “G8 Summit: Feed the Hungry or FuelHunger?” Foreign Policy in Focus, 8 July 2009. Availablefrom: .0100gone beyond it. 8 An attempt to reform the systemof development cooperation – necessary to ensuregreater effectiveness, coherence and resource stability– was started during the former legislature but hasnow been abandoned.In January <strong>2010</strong>, the first OECD report in sixyears on development cooperation in Italy (the socalledPeer Review) was presented in Rome. In 2004the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) hadsuggested 13 essential reforms to be implementedby 2009. These included, among others, an increasein the resources committed and in their reliability,better prioritization, recruiting new experts, streamliningadministrative procedures and setting up themonitoring, evaluation and approval of a new lawdefining a regulatory framework for the Italian systemof cooperation. Unfortunately, the 2004 recommendationswere largely ignored and the list simplygrew. The recommendations have become 19, 9 includingthe continuing need for a new law, adjustingthe volume of resources to commitments made atthe international level, paying attention to policy coherence,and the implementation of monitoring andevaluation processes.The financing for development agenda:lacking strategiesNotwithstanding the shrinking role of the G8 and theemergence of the G20 as the new international forum,the Government has tried to use its presidency of the8 See: OECD, Italy: Development Assistance Committee(DAC) Peer Review 2009. Available from: .9 OECD, “Italy (2009) DAC Peer Review–Main Findings andRecommendations” (2009). Available from: .National reports 122 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
former to reinforce its public image, both domesticallyand internationally. However, Italy kept an extremelylow profile during the main multilateral summits in2008-2009 dedicated to financing for developmentand the impact of the global crisis on development. 10The only original proposal it put forward was the ideaof establishing “Global Legal Standards,” a set ofrules intended to regulate finance, limit speculativeactivities and help the global recovery after the crisis.So far, this proposal – the content of which is still beingfinalized – has not obtained sufficient internationalbacking or led to major action towards much-neededtougher regulation of financial markets.Within the framework of the EU Aid for Trade initiative,developed in 2007 with the Joint Aid for TradeStrategy, Italy’s aid programmes do not yet includeany specific strategy about trade. The European Commission’sAid for Trade Monitoring <strong>Report</strong> 2009 11notes that aid for trade is part of the assistance strategiesfor less than 25% of Italian partner countries.There are also many concerns related to the quality,quantity and objectives of the programmes.Most aid for trade goes to infrastructure, whichtogether with capacity building accounted for 76% ofthe total spending during the 2002-2006 period. Italyis at the forefront in promoting private companies’ investmentin infrastructure projects with both bilateraland multilateral aid programmes, in particular withthe European Investment Bank. The latter is financingcontroversial projects in African countries, such asdams (Gigel Gibe in Ethiopia and Bujagali in Uganda)and extractive activities (Democratic Republic of theCongo and Zambia), without clear developmental,social or environmental benchmarks.More broadly it is still unclear whether, in theaftermath of the financial crisis and of recent mergersand acquisitions affecting Italian multinational companies,the Government is willing to review bilateralinvestment treaties that have had severe implicationsfor developing countries in the last few years. At thesame time the Government is not taking any meaningfulleadership in promoting higher standards forexport credit agencies that back Italian companies’investments worldwide, often with negative consequencesin the global South.Violating human rights abroadIn its report on the oil industry in the Niger Delta, 12Amnesty International documents the impact on thelocal population and the environment of explorationand petroleum production activities conducted bymultinational petroleum companies. One those mostactive in Nigeria is the Italian company Eni, which hasa presence in 77 countries and is the fifth largest oil10 At the Global Financial and Economic Crisis Conferencein June 2009, where many countries were represented atministerial level or above, the Italian delegation was headedby an official at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.11 Available from: .12 Amnesty International, Nigeria: Petroleum, Pollution andPoverty in the Niger Delta, London, 2009. Available from: .group in the world after Exxon Mobil, BP, Royal DutchShell and Total.The petroleum industry in the Delta involves theNigerian Government and subsidiary companies controlledby multinationals such as Eni, Shell and Total,as well as local companies. The huge oil fields haveproduced billion-dollar profits for the country, but mostof the people residing in the extraction areas live in poverty.Pollution and environmental damage have had aprofound impact on the land, water and air, violating thehuman rights of the Delta’s population. Amnesty maintainsthat the extraction companies operating withinthe Delta, including Eni, must start clean up activities,consulting the communities and keeping them updatedabout the results. Companies must also make public allthe information regarding the impact of their activitieson human rights, including environmental impact assessmentsor any other study conducted on the effectsof their operations on local communities.A look at the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs): civil society in actionMDG 3: Lack of strategies for gender equity. Civil society’stimely analysis of reports and planning documentsis very important in the area of gender equalitypolicy, where vagueness prevails and information andsharing of actions, results and strategies are lacking.A good example was the preparation of the dossier forBeijing+15 and Convention on the Elimination of AllForms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW);although it was accurate in terms of Italy’s compliancewith global commitments, it showed huge gapsin terms of consultation with civil society and thetransparency of the process. In particular the reporton CEDAW did not respond to the areas about whichthe CEDAW Committee had expressed concerns atthe time of the 2005 report, namely the health of migrantwomen, the persistence of gender stereotypesin the media and the inadequate political participationof women at the local and national level. The recentreport lacks a strategic vision and a systemic policy topromote equal opportunities and the empowermentof women; it lists measures, laws and data without aclear timeline and shows slight concrete progress onissues that need greater institutional commitment.In November 2009 the Ministers of Equal Opportunitiesand of Welfare presented the plan Italy2020: Programme of Actions for the inclusion ofwomen in the labour market. Most of these actionsare based on part-time jobs, assuming that the reconciliationof work and care responsibilities shouldcontinue to be resolved largely, if not exclusively, bywomen themselves.MDG7: A referendum for public water. The rightto access to water is covered by a number of internationalcommitments. MDG 7 calls for reducing theproportion of people without sustainable access tosafe drinking water and basic sanitation. The UnitedNations Economic Commission for Europe Conventionon the Protection and Use of TransboundaryWatercourses and International Lakes promotespublic participation in relevant decision-makingprocesses, 13 and the EU Water Framework Direc-13 Available from: .tive states that “water is not a commercial productlike any other but, rather, a heritage which must beprotected, defended and treated as such.” 14For 15 years, in Italy there has been a processof gradual privatization of the management of integratedwater services (IWS) as an autonomousinitiative by local authorities or through nationallaws that have pushed in this direction. Half the Italianpopulation is now served by mixed-ownership(public-private) joint-stock companies and the otherhalf by totally publicly owned joint-stock companies.In cities such as Arezzo and Aprilia, where privatepartners first became involved, there has been anexponential increase in prices and a sharp reductionin investment. In the last decade, prices went up by62% (compared with inflation of 25%) and investmentsfell by two thirds from EUR 2 billion to EUR 0.7billion. Consumption of privatized water is expectedto grow close to 20% in the next 10 years.In reaction to the disastrous effects in social andenvironmental terms, and with respect to the right towater in Italy and worldwide, a strong Italian movementhas grown over the past decade, bringing togetherhundreds of national and local organizations,associations and committees. In 2007, over 400,000signatures were collected in support of a law proposedby the people – which Parliament did not take up – thatoutlines a new model of public ISW management. Atits heart it is the democratic participation of citizensrather than the maximization of profit. Then, in <strong>2010</strong>,a campaign was launched and collected over 1 millionsignatures for a referendum in 2011 on public and participatorymanagement of water as a common good.Alongside the civil society movement many localauthorities are also taking action. The Puglia Region,for example, has adopted a resolution againstthe privatization of AQP, the largest aqueduct in Europe,and outlined future ISW management throughinstituting a law on public management.ConclusionThe current financial crisis has led to drastic cuts inthe development cooperation sector. Italy’s proposalfor “Global Legal Standards” has received limitedattention so far and much-needed financial sector reformhas been delayed. As the country grows poorerand more xenophobic, 15 with migrants and especiallyRoma people suffering continuous discriminationsand violence, civil society organizations are attemptingto defend constitutional rights under attack, suchas free press and an independent judicial system.If Italian cooperation does not fulfil the OECDrecommendations, its contribution to the MDGswill be almost irrelevant or even counterproductive,since it will be slowing European action and globalleadership. In particular, the first target of MDG 8 (to“address the special needs of the least developedcountries, landlocked countries and small islanddeveloping states”) needed a significant increasein ODA. As a result of Italian policies, this target nowlooks even further away from achievement. n14 Available from: .15 Grazia Naletto, ed., Rapporto sul razzismo in Italia (Rome:Manifestolibri, 2009).<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 123 Italy
kenya100 95A victim of skewed power relations1003098<strong>Social</strong> Development Network (SODNET)Prof. Edward Oyugi, P. Thigo, J.Kipchumbah, A. MatungaSEATINI KENYAOduor Ong’wenKenya Debt Relief Network (KENDREN)Vitalice MejaBEACONRebecca TanuiDaraja–Civic Initiatives ForumDon Bonyo<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>/Futa Magendo ChaptersJames Maina MugoElimu Yetu CoalitionOpiata OdindoKenya Treatment Access Movement (KETAM)James KamauThe current crisis of neo-liberalism gives developmentpolicy actors an opportunity to reenter thedebate on public policy and open a discussionabout the kind of development we want and howsuch development should 100 be financed in a sustainableway. It also impels us to re-think the financialrequirements for development in the context ofdwindling official and private financial inflows, a47mounting debt burden and an increasing budgetdeficit. This re-examination must begin with a0recognition that at both global and national levels,finance is a function of power relations rather thana neutral resource. It has to look at both money 99 as100 63100value and at the institutions that control it, primarilycorporations, financial institutions and governmentagencies that deal with the critical functions of regulation,budgeting, expenditure and auditing.IEG of Peru = 70Since its adoption as a policy framework forinternational cooperation in financing developmentin 2002, the Monterrey Consensus has become themajor reference point of resource mobilization forthe development of Southern economies. All six areaselaborated in the consensus rely on traditional100market-based methods for raising development finance,with a formal commitment to process and implementation.However, the 2008 37Doha review conferenceon Financing for Development (FfD) failed toprovide the necessary traction. 0 It did not address thecontradictions between financial capitalism, caughtup in a speculative 8183frenzy, and the ethical imperatives100 100of equitable social development. A new FfD consensusis needed, based on new perspectives.0The global financial crisis98has led to endemic unemployment, 99 a growing budget deficit and a rise in the99country’s debt. The Government 100 must implement a fiscal 100 policy that stabilizes 100 the economy while altering 100the amount and structure of taxes and expenditures, as well as the distribution of wealth. It must alsoensure efficient allocation of public resources and social transformation in all spheres of life. At the sameBCI of malaysia = 97time, development financing should be tied to democratic reforms. The processIEG of Malaysiashould58challenge thecentralizing logic of power, emerging from a public discussion mediated by values of equity and dignity.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 71 GEI = 59Children reaching82 5th grade8744100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5The quest for BCI a link of Kenya between = 71 financingand developmentMainstream perspectives on financing for developmenthave been excessively focused on financinginstruments, volume of resources mobilized – bothdomestic and international 100 –, debt sustainability andsystemic and coherence issues. 97 These are diversionsfrom the real imperative: creating a viable nexus betweenfinance and development.For the past 20 years, Kenya has been attemptingto write a new Constitution that would re-define0power relations between citizens and their government.This constitutional review process has been10099held hostage by tribal competition for power. At100 100a time, when inter-ethnic conflict is a real danger,Kenyan authorities are reluctant to inform the publicabout the deleterious effects of the global financialcrisis on the national BCI of economy. Poland = 99The crisis has led to endemic unemployment, agrowing budget deficit and a rise in the debt portfolio.In 2008, the growth rate declined to 2.1%. In thefirst quarter of 2009 it climbed to 4%, but droppedto 2.1% in the second quarter. This slowdown in100economic growth has reduced 96employment and increasedpoverty. 1 To mitigate the effects, the Governmenthas introduced measures such as the StimulusPackage, which targets various sectors of theeconomy. The funding allocations, however, have apparentlybeen made without 0 regard to sectoral priorities;they implement a development policy strategycreated 100 without broad based consultation. 99Shaping100 100an effective strategy would require a redefinition ofEconomic activityEmpowermentEducationIEG of Kenya = 59power relations centered on values of equity, dignity,participation and devolution. This would makeit possible to establish a social contract that couldbe the framework for a people-driven financing fordevelopment process.Cross-generational povertyThe current Kenyan constitutional order was inheritedfrom the colonial government. It perpetuates45a culture of political and economic supremacy ofthe privileged sections of society, subjugating the0majority of the population in a life of poverty from onegeneration to the next, despite the illusion of change69in every successive election. In an otherwise 96 inherentlypeaceful society the recent post-election violenceand earlier intermittent violent conflicts havebeen generated by tribal competition for patrimonialIEG of Poland = 70authority in the country’s successive post-colonialrepublics.Despite its difficulties, the country enjoys a hightax yield, with a tax-to-GDP ratio of over 20%. It isable to finance a large share of its budget; externaldonor support finances a much smaller proportion100than in other countries in the region. On the revenueside, the Government has continued its efforts tomobilize domestic resources for poverty reduction45efforts by broadening the tax base through tax policyreforms and modernization of domestic tax andcustoms administration. 0However, this efficiency inrevenue generation and tax collection has not beensufficient to guarantee poverty reduction. 9764The Government needs a fiscal policy that stabilizesthe economy and establishes controls over100 100 10087100 100 100IEG of Uganda = 670the amount and structure of taxes and expenditures1 Francis M. Mwega, “Paper 17: Kenya,” OverseasBCI of Uruguay = 98 while promoting IEG redistribution of Uruguay of = wealth. 69 This policyDevelopment Institute, Global Financial Discussion Series.Available from: .and4710010000118185100 100National reports 124 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100 94100
social transformation in all spheres of life. Revenuegeneration should move beyond the administration,compliance and monitoring of the tax system. Thecitizenry must demand transparency and accountabilityover the use of public resources in improvingpublic service delivery. The chart 1 demonstrateshow skewed revenue composition is.The Constituency Development Fund Act:cementing the power structureAttempts have been made to shift the focus of powerto the grassroots level. This shift embraces the notionof subsidiarity to signify a shift of power from theCentral Government to local levels of public authority.However, the implementation of the concept has notbeen altogether successful. Such is the case with theintroduction of devolved funds and, more specifically,with the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), establishedunder the CDF Act of 2003 2 . This legislationis intended to affirm the rights, roles and responsibilityof citizens, especially at the grassroots level, indetermining priorities and finances for development.It was originally conceptualized and designed to addresshistorical injustices in resource allocation bythe Central Government, especially during the erasof presidents Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi (1963to 2002), when resource distribution was based onpolitical allegiance. At its inception in 2003 after thedefeat of the Moi regime, the CFA was lauded for itsboldness in shifting development priority planningfrom the Central Government to the constituency level.It became a fundamental pillar in the reform processthat was meant to discipline neo-liberal democracy infavour of the logic and principles of subsidiarity.The CDF was established to help subregionsthat had been starved of development finance as apunitive measure and to control imbalances in regionaldevelopment generated by partisan politics.Ultimately, it cemented the domination of the rulingelite over livelihoods and community life. In mostcases, the devolved funds have elevated Membersof Parliament who are in-charge of the colossal kittyinto life lords. The Member of Parliament, as thePatron of the fund, is given power to appoint theConstituency Development Funds Committee andthe Accounting Officer. 3 This absolute power over resourceallocation at the grassroots level reflects thecurrent paradigm of neo-liberal democracy, which isbased on the putative efficacy of market forces. 4 Inpractice, it ensures that the Member of Parliamenthas the power and resources to sustain a culture ofpatronage and clientelism and, by extension, perpetuatesthe patronage culture of earlier regimes,2 CDF Act, Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 107.3 Ibid.4 Corinne Kumar. “South Wind, Towards A New PoliticalImaginary,” in Dialogue and Difference ,( London; PalgraveMacmillan, 2005).which starved political adversaries and oppositionzones of much needed development funds.Citizens must be involvedThe danger of not involving citizens in resource mobilizationand allocation to the local level is that it hasan adverse effect on the livelihood systems of communitiesat the household level. Members of Parliamenthave been known to allocate resources suchas infrastructural development funds to their homesareas and political strongholdsand to divert educationbursary funds to their political supporters 5 .The Constituency Funds Committees charged withresponsibility for managing the kitty are also filledwith relatives and friends. For instance TransparencyInternational survey in the Coast Province found that73% of respondents were not familiar with the operationof these funds. The same survey reported that60% of residents attributed their lack of involvementin CDF projects to their political filiation. 6 During theseven years that the funds have been allocated, despiteeconomic growth of 6% 7 in the first five yearsof post-Moi era, poverty has not only escalated, ithas intensified and has recently become even worse:over 56% of the Kenyan population lives below thepoverty line, a sharp rise from 42% in 2007. 8Devolution of resources without devolution ofpower to determine how these resources are to beused is merely an extension of the current paradigmof development in countries like Kenya and those ofthe Global South. This raises the question of whetherthere is real interest in empowering communities tocontrol their own destinies.Policies of Western development partnersthat link financing for development to democraticreforms, do not generate new power arrangementsthat could lead to equitable and effective use of resources,which would improve community life. Infact, such development financing, especially when itis funneled through civil society organizations to promotelocal development, is tied to an aid paradigmthat, in most cases, has actually been an attempt toshift power to foreign government and companiesThe current FfD paradigm should be recastto challenge the centralizing logic of power anddecentralize it to the communities and collectives.The centralizing logic within the notion of liberaldemocracy has an implicit bias toward marginalizingand oppressing the majority. A new paradigmis needed that aspires to create a world that inspiresgrowth of both individuals and collectives ratherthan profit or gain.5 George Ochieng, “CDF <strong>Social</strong> Audit <strong>Report</strong>-Nyanza,” 2009.6 Pwani Coalition on Good Governance, Citizen’s Monitoring<strong>Report</strong> <strong>2010</strong>.7 Budget Speech of the Minister of Finance, 2007. Availablefrom: (accessed 20 February, <strong>2010</strong>).8 Available from: .CHART 1. Composition of ordinaryRevenue 2008-200926.1%ValueAdded Tax14.2%Excise Duty7.1%Import Duty8.7%A-in-A35.9%Income Tax7.9%Other TaxesSource: Ministry of Finance, Budget Statistics 2008-2009.This new FfD paradigm must be created througha popular conversation mediated by values of equityand dignity. Every individual man, women, youth andchild should be asked to contribute to the processand help determine development goals.A new paradigmdeveloped through this process would createdevolved levels of power that would inform a newdevelopment logic based on the social developmentneeds of all citizens. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 125 Kenya
lebanon10054A new set of goals is needed10010010054990100Lebanon has one of the highest debt-to-GDP ratios in 99 the world and lacks a comprehensive vision and969674 action plan to increase 100 productivity and efficient resource 100 allocation for pro-poor 74 growth. Since 1992the post-war financial architecture has combined expansionary reconstruction policies with restrictivemonetarist ones, leaving narrow fiscal spaces for socio-economic development. In order to respond toIEG of Canada = 74 INGLES BCI of Canada = 100 IEG of Canada = 74the priorities of reducing poverty and discrimination, a more contextualized set of development goalsis needed in which long-term financing for development is part of an overall strategy for growth.100 100 100100 1000010083Lebanese Union for People with Disabilities (LPHU)Rabih Fakhri100On the tenth anniversary of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) they remain a priority for Lebanon.This was reflected by their integration into theBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009BCI = 9210090Children reachingGEI = 475th gradeNational reports 126 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>Empowerment<strong>Social</strong> Action Plan (SAP), a pillar of the economic0 6reform plan submitted by the Government to the00 699 Lebanon Donors Conference (LDC) Paris III in 982007.368899983683SAP identified social reforms and outlined a variety100 100 100100 100100 100100of interventions such as safety net mechanisms, Births attended bycash transfers and the overall reform of education skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationand health services. However, although an interministerialcommittee was established to oversee years) is anotherIEG of Lebanon = 47 INGLESfactorBCIthatofcorrelatesLebanonwith=poverty,92 IEG of Lebanon = 47The Lebanese financial architectureSAP’s implementation, three years later the plan is inthe pilot stage and the committee is inactive due tothe political instability.The latest MDGs report (2008) highlightsthat Lebanon is on track 100 to fulfil the goals relatedsince 48.4% of the unemployed are young people. 4The poor are under-represented among salariedemployees; they are most likely to be active in nonwagedjobs – two third of the poor are in this situation– which increases their 100 vulnerability. 5Rebuilding the State apparatus and the country’sphysical infrastructure was at the core of post-warreconstruction plans implemented in the early 1990s.During the early post-war period of 1992-1997 themacroeconomic model 100 relied heavily on the flow ofto education and child and maternal mortality. Yet97foreign capital. It is estimated that the direct cost ofpoverty persists as a serious challenge to developmentDevelopment should be rights-based the first period of reconstruction exceeded USD 4efforts. A recent study found s/d a modest declinein the percentage of people living in extreme povertyfrom 10% in 1997 to 8.5% in 2007 (although it had0dropped to 8% in 2005), while 28.5% are defined asRights-based development is needed for people tolive decent lives. Lebanese laws remain discriminatoryagainst marginalized groups and gender gaps in0policy-making hinder the process of reform. Womenbillion. 8 Lebanese financial authorities n/d adopted a fixedexchange rate policy in order to control inflation; asa result the country over-borrowed in order to accumulatereserves needed to defend its monetary policy099poor. A fifth of the s/dpopulation lives between s/dthe lower still cannot confer their nationality on their children, and interest n/d rates jumped to previously unknown99n/dand upper poverty thresholds. 1and other articles of the penal code continue99to toleratelevels (35% on 12-month treasury bills in 1995).99100 100 100There is a correlation between poverty and regional“honour crimes” and marital rape.100 100100 100The growth generated by the reconstruction100disparities, lack of education, gender andunemployment. Findings show that 82% of the extremelypoor and 78% of the poor are concentrated inthe North, Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley; boththe North and Bekaa had the lowest share of per capitanominal expenditure in 2004–2005. One out of fiveamong the poor is illiterate while the average is one outof eight among the better off. The gender gap in educationcontinues, with illiteracy among females twice thatamong males at 11.8% and 5.6%, respectively. 2Unemployment is much more widespreadamong the poor – 14% compared to 6.7% for thenon-poor – with rates of poor unemployed womenalmost double that of men (26.6% and 13.5%respectively). 3 Unemployment among youth (15-24People with disabilities are another group sufferingfrom systematic discrimination. Half of peoplewith disabilities INGLES in Lebanon BCI of are Serbia illiterate = 98 and only26% of those capable of work are employed. 6 Disabilityrights advocates continue to lobby for lawsthat would guarantee their access to education,employment, health and financial assets. As HoudaBoukhari has stated, it is not physical impairmentbut cultural bias that makes the lives of people withdisabilities more cumbersome: “In the Lebanesecultural context the birth of a disabled child is seenby many as not only a misfortune, but as shamefuland embarrassing.” 74 UNDP Lebanon, Millennium Development Goals <strong>Report</strong> 2008:boom ended abruptly in 1997. Simultaneously, publicdebt skyrocketed with interest payments accountingfor more than the half of State revenues. By 2004 publicinvestment in the State apparatus was 107% of theinitially planned investment and in the infrastructure itwas 190%. At the same time, the resources allocatedto social and productive sectors did not exceed 50%and 90%, respectively, of what was planned. 9The Government has sought Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) as a key factor in sustaining financialstability – debt restructuring, currency appreciationand current State expenditure. In 2002 it was able toLebanon, Beirut, 2008. Available from: .1 Heba Laithy, Khalid Abu-Ismail and Kamal Hamdan, Poverty,Growth and Income Distribution in Lebanon (Brasilia, Brazil:International Poverty Centre, 2008). Available from: .2 Ibid.3 Ibid.5 Ibid.6 Data from the Lebanese Physical Handicapped Union.7 Houda Boukhari, “Invisible Victims: Working with Mothers ofChildren with Learning Disabilities,” in Gender and Disability:Women’s Experiences in the Middle East, ed. L. Abu-Habib(Oxford: Oxfam, 1997), 37.8 Ghassan Dibeh, Foreign Aid and Economic Developmentin Postwar Lebanon, United Nations University – WIDERResearch Paper No. 2007/37, June 2007. Available from:.110 221009 Ghassan Dibeh, The Political Economy of PostwarReconstruction in Lebanon, United Nations University –WIDER Research Paper No. 2005/44 , July 2005. Availablefrom: .
collect around USD 10.1 billion during LDC Paris II;later in 2007 an amount of USD 7.5 billion was pledgedas foreign aid (grants and soft loans) in LDC Paris III.In the latest progress report – December 2009 – theMinistry of Finance highlighted the receipt of USD 3.7billion out of USD 5.87 billion agreed. Figures show thatover half of these funds go to budget support.Spending and developmentA breakdown of public expenditure shows that debtservicing and public services consumed the bulk ofpublic resources between 1997 and 2006. Yet spendingon education and health represented only 15%and 6%, respectively. Furthermore 88% of spendingon education went as wages for public servants while86% of the resources allocated to health financedhospitalization of individuals in private commercialhospitals. 10 Resources allocated for the developmentof these two sectors were minimal.The Lebanese taxation system was reformed inearly 1990 towards the supply side. The top incometax rate went down from 32% to 10% and taxes onfinancial companies became a 10% flat rate – with areduction to 5% for companies involved in construction.The productive sector pays a progressive taxrate of between 3% and 10% on profits. 11 Value addedtax (VAT) was introduced in 2001 as a 10% flat rate.However, rent-based activities such as real estatetransactions, banking and financial activities areexempted from VAT, in addition to gambling activitiesand air transport for goods and persons. A close reviewof public revenues shows that taxes contributed67% for the period 2000–2009, with indirect taxesmaking up the major share. In 2009 indirect taxesrepresented 75% of overall tax revenues – VAT 32%,gasoline 11%, customs 11% and other 21% – whiletaxes on profits, wages, gains, interests and realestate registration account for only 25%.Such a regressive taxation system, togetherwith 10 years of wage freezes and restrictive monetaristpolicies, has worsened the living conditions ofmiddle- and low-income workers. Wealth concentrationincreased during this period as the poorest 20%of Lebanese consumed only 7.1 % of total consumptionwhile the richest 20% consumed 43.5%. 12 Some2% of depositors hold 59% of bank deposits. 13Foreign direct investment (FDI)Between 2000 and 2007 Lebanon attracted importantamounts of FDI – for example, 28% of the overall FDI10 R. Fakhri, Efficiency of public expenditures in Lebanon andother transitional democracies, Beirut, <strong>2010</strong>.11 Wassim Shahin, “The Lebanese Economy in the 21stCentury,” in Lebanon’s Second Republic, ed. K. Ellis(Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2002).12 Laithy et al., op. cit.13 Fafo, Ministry of <strong>Social</strong> Affairs and UNDP, “Al-Wadeh Al-Iktisadi Al-Ijtimai, Dirassa L Ahwal L Maisha,” 2004, 55–57.Chart 1: Public expenditure by type (1993-2009)454035302520151050Wages andSalariesInterest Paymentsand Foreign DebtPrincipalRepaymentthat flowed to the Economic and <strong>Social</strong> Commissionfor Western Asia region in 2003 – with the highestFDI-to-GDP ratio. 14 However, FDI is rarely orientedto the real economic sector (in which good and servicesare produced); instead, real estate, banking andtourism consume most of it (almost 90% in 2007). 15Construction permits jumped from 9 million squaremetres in 2007 to 16.1 million in 2008. 16 This correlateswith the growth of USD 918 million in the inflowof Arab FDI between 2007 and 2008. 17 Likewise thevalue of transactions in this sector grew an averageof 17.6% per year for the period 2003-2008 (and54.4% in 2008 alone). 18 Chart 2 shows that mostof the gross capital formation in 2000-2007 was14 Economic and <strong>Social</strong> Commission for Western Asia, ForeignDirect Investment <strong>Report</strong> 2008. Available from: .15 Investment Development Authority in Lebanon, Advantagesof Investing in Lebanon. Available from: .16 Bank Audi, Lebanon Real Estate <strong>Report</strong>, July 2009. Availablefrom: .17 Ibid.18 Ibid.Other CurrentExpendituresCapital Expenditures1993 - 19992000 - 2009Other TreasuryExpenditures,UnclassifiedExpenditures andCustoms CashiersSource: Author’s calculation based on data available at the Ministry of Finance.Chart 2: Gross fixed capital formation by type of GDP for the period (2000-2007)25201510502000Construction/GDPOther productsMachinery and equipmentMetal worksFurnitureTransportation2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007Source: Author’s calculation based on Lebanese National Accounts (2000-2007).generated by the construction sector. However theseprofits are exempt from taxes.Concluding remarksSince Lebanon’s debt-to-GDP ratio (153% in June2009) is among the highest in the world, it is imperativefor a debt management strategy to pointthe way for ODA to invest in increasing productivityrather than its exclusive use in the debt restructuringprocess. Also, a dynamic counter-cyclical financialarchitecture has to be implemented. Governmentmust provide more incentives for FDI to invest inlabour-intensive economic activities rather than thisbeing exclusively allocated to real estate and financialactivities.A poverty reduction strategy should go beyondachieving MDG 1. SAP is only a limited, short-termintervention. Development policies have to promotejob creation for middle- and low-skilled labour. Theyhave to ensure decent work conditions for the poor– in this context waged jobs are still a key factor forpoverty reduction. Finally, the structure of taxes hasto be reformed towards more direct taxes on profitsgenerated out of transactions in real estate andthe financial sector. A more equal taxation systemis needed to enhance the re-distributional effect ofresources. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 127 Lebanon
99malaysia53Some progress, multiple challenges72Third World Network100Malaysia is officially aiming to become a developed country by 2020. However, although the living968780standard of the population 100 has 63 seen improvement in 100terms of essential services57and employment, thecountry is riddled with corruption, affecting implementation of development projects that seek to providebasic needs such as drinking water, sanitation, education, health care and food security, as well as monthlyIEG of Bulgaria = 73BCI of Cameroon = 75IEG of Cameroon = 51financial assistance to households living in extreme poverty. Also, the conversion of tropical forests intoplantations, particularly oil palm,threatens indigenous peoples' livelihoods and the country's biodiversity.100 100 100100 100According to government data compiled by UNDP in2005, 1 Malaysia claimed to have achieved all the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) except for MDG6 and 8 where it was reported to have insufficient information.The first 10 years of the MDGs fell within the 8 th and9 th versions of the Malaysia Plan, the country’s five-yeardevelopment blueprint since its inception in 1966. Duringthis period, Malaysians (a population of 26.7 million)have generally seen improvement in essential servicesand employment. However, the problem of corruptionremains, affecting implementation of projects to providepotable water, waste management, basic sanitation,education, health care, and rural roads as well asmonthly financial assistance to households living inextreme poverty.While both the 8 th and 9 th Plans firmly acknowledgedthe need to promote an equitable society byeradicating poverty and reducing imbalances amongand within ethnic groups as well as regions, they wereskewed towards narrowing income inequality betweenthe Bumiputra (a Malay term implying being nativewhich includes Orang Asli and Orang Asal) and theChinese, the second largest ethnic group (25% of thepopulation), and had emphasized increased Bumiputracorporate equity ownership. The target of reaching30% of equity ownership in all economic sectors by1990, was missed.Due to a major change in national politics afterthe 2008 general election– when for the first time theruling coalition lost its two-thirds control of Parliament– the 10 th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015) sought to reformthe economy in a more “inclusive” manner by meansof a New Economic Model. 2 This Model, which was100formulated by the National Economic Advisory Councilin <strong>2010</strong>, presents an overall framework for transformingMalaysia from a middle-income to an advanced47nation by 2020. It assesses the country’s strengthsand weaknesses, taking into account the effects of thefinancial crisis.00Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100 95BCI = 97 GEI = 58Children reaching5th grade98100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5Country-specific targetsMalaysia has made considerable progress towardsdeveloping its own targets and indicators to suit itssituation and specific needs. A High Level Policy Dialogue,organized by the Malaysia Human Rights Commissionand UNDP in July 100 2005, 3 recommended thata human rights approach to development should bemainstreamed into national policies 82 and programs andcountry-specific MDGs targets. It called for the 9 th MalaysiaPlan to present disaggregated data for povertyand inequality to better identify the most vulnerable0groups, such as the Orang Asli and Orang Asal, whoare still deprived of their basic right to an adequatestandard of living.8744100 100While development programs outlined in the threeMalaysia Plans covered a large number of MDGs targets,they acknowledged that poverty still remains in differentregions, in both BCI rural of and Kenya urban = areas. 71 Rapid industrializationhas also brought with it the problem of urbanpoor and a growing migrant population, estimated at2 million in 2009, increasing demands for housing andeducation. Anti-poverty policies focus on self-help andincome generation among poor households, largely100through land development schemes, but results haveEconomic activityEmpowerment99100 10097Indigenous communities, which account for 12%been mixed; in some places these have had negative of the population, are neglected in many parts and increasinglysocial impacts and further disempowered people.face displacement from their forested home-Land development schemes in Peninsular Malaysia45land to make way for development projects such asspearheaded by the Federal Land Development mega dams and vast monoculture plantation schemes,Authority (FELDA) have been 0 credited with raising rural leading to escalating land conflicts. 0 5 A report by the Humanliving standards through the creation of rubber plantationsRights Commission of Malaysia in 2007, following(1960 to 1980) and oil palm plantations 9969981001 UNDP Malaysia, Malaysia: Achieving the Millennium 99(from an investigation of such conflicts experienced 96 by the100 Development 100 Goals –63Successes and challenges, Kuala 100100 100100 100mid-1970s). According to the last three MalaysianLumpur, 2005. Available from: .Indian-Malaysian Online, 8 April 2002. Available from:2 Economic Planning Unit the Prime Minister’s Department,.IEG of Peru = 70BCI of Poland = 99IEG of Poland = 7010th Malaysia Plan 2011–2015, Putrajaya, <strong>2010</strong>. Available 3 UNDP Malaysia, Human Rights Perspectives on MDGs and 5 For more information on indigenous people’s land conflicts,from: .Beyond, Kuala Lumpur, July 2005. Available from: .see the Forest Peoples Program: .100007699BCI of malaysia = 97 IEG of Malaysia 58471001000Educationto 5.1% in 2002 and to 3.8% in 2009. Extreme poverty –generally associated with rural communities and urbansquatters – decreased from 1.4% in 1999 to 1% in 2002and to 0.7% in 2009.Poverty and indigenous communities100Nevertheless, media reports on the plight of indigenouscommunities, the urban poor and plantation workersof Indian origin reveal that living standards for thesemarginalized groups have remained unchanged fordecades. Most rubber and oil 11 palm plantations still use0the colonial wage system, determining daily wages byamount harvested and their respective prices on the81world market rather than by the hours worked. 85 Wages100 100as low as RM 12 (USD 3.75) per day are commonlyoffered by logging and plantation companies to ruralindigenous peoples in Sabah and Sarawak. MinimumIEG of Kenya = 59monthly wage demands by 180,000 plantation workersin the National Union of Plantation Workers (NUPW)have been unsuccessful for 60 years. 4 In the last 20years, workers have became even more vulnerable asemployers can easily replace them with cheaper foreignworkers who are not allowed to form unions.10001430National reports 128 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010096
Penans, an indigenous tribe in Ulu Belaga, Sarawak,noted that the Government’s poverty eradication programdid not reach the community, which lived in abjectpoverty. 6Food security remains a challengeThe success of Malaysia in its export-oriented manufacturingand agricultural commodities sectors has resultedin a lower priority for food production. Rice – thestaple food – is the only crop that has been targetedfor some degree of self-sufficiency. With agriculturaldevelopment largely focused on export-oriented cropssuch as oil palm, which had an export value of USD 15.6billion in 2009, 7 there is less land for food production.Of the 6.4 million hectares of agricultural land, 4 millionand 1.3 million are cultivated with oil palm and rubberrespectively.Ageing farmers, abandoned rice fields, and yearsof insufficient priority on food production causeda panic during the global food crisis in 2008, whenThailand and Vietnam reduced their rice export. Thisis despite the fact that under the 9 th Malaysia Plan, atarget had already been set to raise Malaysia’s rice selfsufficiencylevel to 90% by <strong>2010</strong> from 72% in 2005.However, in the 10 th Malaysia Plan the target has beenrevised downward to 70%. 8Over the last 10 years, Malaysia’s has experienceda growing food import bill, which rose steadily fromUSD 3.44 billion in 2000 to USD 9 billion in 2009. 9Meanwhile, encroachment of large-scale oil palm monocultureinto the interior of Sabah and Sarawak is alsoaffecting the food production of the indigenous peopleswho still practice subsistence agriculture.Education and healthMost young Malaysians (aged 7 to 12) receive a fullprimary education. Enrolment increased from 2.9 millionstudents in 2005 to 3 million in <strong>2010</strong> against anestimated 2.5% decline in the birth rate. 10 Various educationalsupport programs – such as a textbook loanscheme, subsidized meals, and boarding facilities – assistthose from low-income households. While therehave been efforts to improve educational services inrural areas and close the rural-urban performance gap,little information is available on the implementation ofthese strategies.The Malaysian public health service is generallyregarded as one of the best in the developing world.A comprehensive immunization program from birthuntil age 15 ensures a low under-five mortality rate.6 Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), Penan inUlu Belaga: Right to Land and Socio-Economic Development,Press Statement, Kuala Lumpur, 2007. Available from:.7 “Malaysia aims for record palm oil exports in <strong>2010</strong>,”Commodity Online, 9 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .8 Economic Planning Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department,op. cit.9 Austrade, “Processed food to Malaysia: Trends andopportunities,” Australian Government website, 30 April<strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .10 Ministry of Education. See: .The childhood immunization program against mostvaccine-preventable diseases is provided free in all governmentfacilities.Statistics show that the rate of HIV-infection hascontinued to decline from the peak of 6,978 cases (28.5cases per 100,000 population) in 2002 to 3,692 (13.3cases per 100,000) in 2008. 11 The Ministry of Health estimateda notification rate of 10.0 cases per 100,000 in2009. However, the profile of the epidemic is changing,with more women being infected. In 1990 only 1.1% ofreported HIV cases were women, but this increased to9.0% in 2002 and to 19.1% in 2008. 12In 2003, following the 2001 WTO Doha Declarationon Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)and Public Health, Malaysia became the first country inAsia to issue a “government use” compulsory licensefor selected antiretroviral (ARV) drugs patented bycorporate drug giants, owing to their exorbitant costs,which drastically limited access. Generic versions of thedrugs were imported from the Indian company Ciplafor use in public hospitals and clinics for a period oftwo years beginning 1 November 2003. The effect wasto reduce the monthly cost of treating a patient fromUSD 375 to USD 63-69, a drop of between 68% to 83%depending on the combination of drugs. Another effectwas that the patent holders lowered their own prices,benefiting patients who receive private treatment.The Government is considering privatizing healthcare through a health insurance financing scheme, although70% of the population relies on affordable publichealth care. With a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ofUSD 157 billion, the country’s 2009 health care budget(USD 4.3 billion) is far below the 6% of GDP recommendedby the World Health Organization.Environment, biodiversity and safedrinking waterAlthough environmental policy-making has improvedand a full-fledged environment ministry is now in place,environmental protection still takes a back seat to thequest for industrialization and wealth creation, in spite ofmany promising conservation policies and legislation.Timber extraction has largely been carried outin an unsustainable manner so that production hasdeclined over the years, necessitating the import ofround logs and sawn timber to meet the demand oflocal sawmills. In 2005, the timber industry and theGovernment entered into a plan under which, to continuesupporting the industry that had destroyed theforests in the first place, plantation forests would bedeveloped by private companies with Governmentsoft loans and tax-free incentives. These plantationshave expanded nearly 30-fold in three years from1,626 hectares to 44,148 hectares in 2009. 13 Accordingto 2005 forestry data over 1.5 million hectares11 Malaysian AIDS Council. See: .12 Ministry of Health, “<strong>2010</strong> UNGASS Country Progress <strong>Report</strong>– Malaysia,” March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .13 J. Hance, “Scientists warn that Malaysia is convertingtropical forests to rubberwood plantations,” Mongabay,24 June <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .of Malaysia are plantations, comprising 7.5% of itstree-covered areas.The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation(ATBC) has sounded an alarm that the conversionof tropical forest into plantations, particulary oilpalm threatens indigenous people’s livelihoods andthe country’s biodiversity and endangered species, andalso releases significant greenhouse gases. 14 Many ofthe country’s iconic mammals such as the rhinoceros,elephant, tiger and orangutan are threatened by shrinkinghabitats, contributing to human-wildlife conflicts.Scientists have warned that these species will be extinctin less than 20 years if deforestation continues at thepresent rate.Besides terrestrial biodiversity loss, marine fisheriesresources have been depleted since 1970, so muchso that fish biomass declined as much as 90% between1971 and 1997 in some fishing areas. According to aDepartment of Fisheries’ survey, these resources on thewest and east coasts of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah,and Sarawak were already over-exploited in 1997. 15Malaysians have one of the highest water consumptionrates in the world at an average of 300 litresper person per day – exceeding the UN recommendationof 165 litres per person per day. But that is only forpopulations that are connected to the potable waternetwork. Vulnerable groups such as those living insquatter colonies and indigenous communities have tocontend with less in terms of both quantity and quality.Rural and indigenous communities that once reliedon rivers for drinking water increasingly have to turnto harvesting of rainwater as most rivers are contaminatedby industrial logging and pesticide run-off fromplantations.In Selangor, the most industrialized state, thewater privatization agreement has been challenged incourt for its lopsided terms that ensure high profits forthe concessionaires and a disproportionate burden onthe poorest in society. For years, conservationists havecalled for a demand management approach towardswater, with inculcation of water conservation habitsand rainwater harvesting at the household level, so asto avoid the financial and environmental cost of damconstruction. However, government policies have beenslow to respond.ConclusionWhile the official Malaysian Plan reports paint a rosypicture, highlighting achievements but not acknowledgingfailures, there continue to be concerns as to theaccuracy of Government statistics and assessments. Itremains to be seen whether the Government’s developmentagenda, particularly for vulnerable groups, will becarried out as planned given the minimal monitoringand accountability over allocation both from the Federaland state coffers. n14 Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, “TheConversion of Malaysian Native Forests – Resolutionopposing conversion of Malaysian native forests to nonnativerubberwood plantations.” Available from: .15 For more information, see: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 129 Malaysia
malta1001009776Measuring the real commitment to development aid10073910079Kopin MaltaJoseph M. SammutSince Malta’s 99 accession to 100the EU, there has been significant 100 progress in official development assistance94(ODA). This increased 100 by 65% in 2009 over the previous 100 year. The 100 country 68 has created a promising 100framework for its commitment to poverty eradication in developing countries, the achievement of the MDGsand the promotion of good governance and respect for human rights. On closer examination, though, is notIEG of Finland = 84BCI of Germany = 99IEG of Germany = 78clear whether Malta is willing to implement its development agenda fully or only partially. The Governmentshould develop clear criteria and processes with regard to project selection, expenditure and evaluation.100 100 100Malta joined the EU in 2004 and has subsequentlymade efforts to reach a level of official developmentassistance (ODA) amounting to 0.17% of its grossnational income (GNI) by <strong>2010</strong> and to increase itsODA/GNI ratio to 0.33% by 2015. Malta is also a signatoryof the UN Millennium Declaration in which itpromised to work towards achieving the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs).Is Malta honouring these promises? Significantprogress can be seen in the short span of five years(2004–2009) immediately following the country’saccession to the EU and its consequent shift todonor-country status. The Government establisheda written policy regarding overseas aid and became“partially” transparent in showing how the ODAfunds are being distributed. 1001 Available from: .IEG of Yemen = 672 Adopted during the European Council on 15-16 December2005. Available from: .0Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 97 GEI = 5891 Children reaching5th grade100100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5Economic activityEmpowermentthose funded byBCIofficialof Maltaaid agencies.= 97The Ministry of tively doubled by including spending on refugees insideForeign Affairs (MFA) has invited NGOs recognized the country. Genuine ODA is understood to be moneyby the Government to submit small grant proposals allocated as development aid to improve the welfare offor “on the ground” projects in the Global South. the poor in developing countries and not money spentThe Policy acknowledges that development, especiallyon refugees or foreign students attending school ineconomic development, 100 cannot come about the donor country. In addition, 100 Malta wrote off EURA good framework for development cooperationunless there is a secure and stable 96 political climate in 6.5 million in debt owed by Iraq in 2004, and this wasthe countries receiving development assistance. It also included as part of its ODA for 2003–2005. 4 The MFAIn October 2007 the Government 53 launched its firstOverseas Development Policy document. 1 It is basedon the values that underlie Malta’s Foreign Policy:0solidarity, respect for the international rule of lawrecognizes that the lack of good governance, developmentand security are factors that contribute to migrationas well as a brain drain in the developing world,0especially if economic problems such as a high rate ofrefuses to issue a clear and transparent breakdown of43the declarations it made to the EC on its ODA. 5Statistics on ODA in 2006 show a figure of EUR06.8 million, equivalent to 0.15% of GNI. That was a– including humanitarian law – and the furtherance inflation and unemployment prevail. Thus, the Policy decrease from previous years. In 2007, the EC said100of democracy, human rights and good governance. 98100provides a framework for humanitarian assistance 10082in that Malta had spent EUR 7.5 million (0.15% of GNI)100 100 69100100 100100 71100In accordance with the European Consensus on which Malta recognizes the continuum between emergencyin ODA, while budgetary estimates show that theDevelopment, 2 the Policy has as its overall objectiverelief, rehabilitation and development. Post-MFA only approved EUR 209,000 for this. NGOs be-the pursuit of poverty eradication in the context of emergency rehabilitation assistance, including reconstructionand reconciliation BCI of Slovenia efforts, = forms 98IEG of Slovenia = 65lieve that the rest of the money was used for otherIEG of Portugal = 73sustainable development, including the achievementan intrinsic purposes such as the detention of asylum seekers.of the MDGs, as well as the promotion of good governanceand respect for human rights.The document also acknowledges the importantrole played by non-state actors – the private sector,part of the country’s humanitarian response.Thus, the Overseas Development Policy in itselfis a good document emphasizing all importantaspects of development cooperation. The questionOnly two out of 11 grants focused on Africa: a RotaryClub project for a telecoms centre in Eritrea and acontribution to a Belgian Red Cross HIV action planin Libya. The other aid outlays included assistance forsocial and economic partners and civil society in is whether the MFA is willing to implement it fully or the construction of playgrounds in Bethlehem and a100100100general – who have become major players in internationalonly partially.93container sent to Albania; donations to the Common-development cooperation. It provides the basiswealth Secretariat, international institutions such asfor a healthy dialogue between Government and civil Not all aid is development aidthe United Nations and related relief funds; conferences;society and offers the latter an opportunity to put In 2004 and 2005 the European Commission (EC)and money for a Tunisian Christian cemeteryinto effect its valuable knowledge, experience and showed Malta to be the highest donor among the and the Diplo Foundation. Another 26 donation was to0 6expertise. Like other NGOs worldwide, many of those 10 new member states with 0 an ODA contribution of a private company for the 0 construction of the MFAin Malta have years of experience and fieldwork andrun more development projects 34 and programs than0.18% of GNI. However, the 2006 Aid <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong> byCONCORD, 3 states that Malta’s ODA has been 85 decepstandfor the European Development Days held inLisbon. 6 Maltese NGOs working on development 79 aid93100 100 49 100100 47100100 641003 The report on Malta is authored by SKOP, a nationalplatform of Maltese NGOs. See: CONCORD, Aid <strong>Watch</strong>2006. Available from: .0099010009750100 100IEG of Malta = 58Education4 C. Calleja, “Blessed are the poor,” Times of Malta, 16 April 2006.5 Ibid.IEG of Zambia = 566 M. Vella, “Malta aid figures show little cash reaches world’spoorest,” Malta Today, 16 November 2008. Available from:.2910093100100100National reports 130 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100100
have therefore accused the Government of inflatingits aid figures. 7The figures for 2006 and 2007 were also highlycriticized by Concord 8 since the ODA seems to havebeen primarily spent on migrants, either on servicesduring their first year in Malta or on their repatriation.This money is not helping any country to develop andthus should not be counted as ODA. In addition, anumber of scholarships are given each year to peoplefrom developing countries with no mechanism toindicate whether these are contributing to povertyalleviation.Transparency is neededDuring discussion with European institutions and ininternational meetings, Malta’s Minister of ForeignAffairs started pushing conditionality of developmentaid to include the repatriation of migrants. 9 SKOP,the National Platform of Maltese NGOs, has seriousreservations about the proposal and considers that itundermines the rightful focus of ODA, namely tacklingglobal poverty. Concord’s Aid <strong>Watch</strong> 2007 reportfurther states that NGOs currently have no access toofficial information from the Maltese authorities anddescribes the possibility of an independent evaluationof figures given by the Government as “non-existent.”SKOP has also been asking the Governmentfor a transparent breakdown of Malta’s ODA, but thishas not been released. The lack of transparency andof the timely and independent evaluation of Malteseaid compromises NGO engagement on developmentcooperation issues.Dr Tonio Borg, the Minister of Foreign Affairs,stated during a seminar on the MDGs that “there isnothing essentially wrong in using ODA money towardsrefugees because we are offering assistance– whether it is search and rescue, accommodation orfood – which covers the livelihood of people who are inneed and who arrived in Malta and who will, ultimately,be released.” 10 This confirmed the concerns thatNGOs have long been expressing. Moreover, referringto Malta’s official policy, the CONCORD report statesthat the Government has also indicated that moreaid funds will be allocated for technical assistance.NGOs are concerned that, in general, technical assistancedoes not respond to the real needs of developingcountries and suffers from low accountability.7 I. Camilleri, “Malta accused of inflating its developmentaid,” Times of Malta, 23 May 2008. Available from: .8 See: .9 Ibid.10 C. Calleja, “Refugees get lion’s share of funds meant foroverseas aid,” Times of Malta, 18 October 2008. Availablefrom: .CHART 1: Malta Official Development AidYearTotalODA (EUR million)Replying to a parliamentary question tabled byLabour MP Leo Brincat in June 2008, 11 the Ministersaid that Malta’s only obligation was to inform the ECof the global ODA figure and what it amounted to inrelation to the GNI, to ensure the country was abidingby its commitments enshrined in the MDGs.In 2009, Malta pledged EUR 11 million in ODA,an increase of 65% over the previous year. The Governmentaccounted for EUR 237,000 to finance80% of projects by Maltese development NGOs. 12The Ministry requires civil society organizations tofinance 20% of their respective projects from alternativesources. The funds were provided to nine localNGOs to carry out projects in Africa and one in SouthAmerica to help in fighting poverty. Two donationsof EUR 12,750 and EUR 12,224, respectively, weremade to the Bethlehem University and to a hospitalin Jerusalem, both of which offer their services tolocal residents regardless of their race, religion ornationality.RecommendationsMalta must keep its promises towards the poorcountries in the Global South. ODA has to focus oncontributing to the eradication of poverty in the leastdeveloped countries. The Government should workto increase the delivery of genuine aid resourcesto meet the respective <strong>2010</strong> and 2015 targets. Thecountry should devise a development strategy havingpoverty reduction goals as the main criteria forthe allocation of aid and a specific focus on genderrelatedissues such as commitments towards genderequality and women’s empowerment.ODA should not be inflated by adding the costsof housing refugees. Instead, the Government shouldmake full use of the aid offered by the EU for refugeesand asylum seekers. During his visit to Malta in 2009,Jacques Barrot – then EU Justice Commissioner –reiterated that the island had been allocated over EUR11 L. Brincat, Malta Parliament, 2008. Available from: .12 “Overseas Development Aid 2009,” 3 November2009. Available from: .%ODA/GNI*ODA per capita(EUR)**2004 7.8 0.18 19.92005 7.0 0.18 19.82006 6.8 0.15 17.2Accounted /transparentODA (EUR)2007 7.5 0.15 19.6 175,6182008 5.4 0.11 13.5 233,0002009 11.0 0.19 27.5 237,000*ODA as share of GNI.**ODA per capita in donor and recipient countries.Source: Eurostat.126 million in funds to spend from 2007 to 2013 inthe field of asylum, immigration and borders. Barrotobserved critically that the country had only spentEUR 18 million. According to estimates published inthe local press, Malta was allocated EUR 24.4 millionin 2007, EUR 32.5 million in 2008 and EUR 18 millionfor each year until 2013, plus other entitlements andgrants for situations that may arise. This aid shouldbe fully utilized. 13The MFA should develop clear criteria and processeswith regard to project selection, expenditureand evaluation. Consultation with receiving countries’governments and civil society is important forquality development aid. It is necessary to establisha binding timetable in order to achieve the agreed targetswith real aid resources, and to ensure that steadyincreases in their aid budgets allow the recipients toreach the targets by the agreed deadlines. Transparencyis a major factor in a democratic country.Citizens have the right to be informed what tax moneyis being spent on, which includes a clear analysis ofthe ODA figures. This will also serve as an example ofgood governance for the receiving countries.Global citizenship and development educationshould be integrated into the teaching of Maltesestudents. Education should help to increase youngpeople’s sense of responsibility for eradicating worldpoverty by teaching them democratic principles, nurturingrespect for the rule of law and human rights,showing solidarity and joining others in efforts tostrengthen global partnership. This should help toraise their sense of connectedness with sisters andbrothers in developing countries and improve theeffectiveness of development cooperation. n13 “Only EUR 18 million spent from EUR 126 million in EUmigration funds,” Malta Today, 18 March 2009. Availablefrom: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 131 Malta
100mexico100Unequal progress073The official line is that Mexico is solidly on tract to reach92the Millennium Development 83 Goals (MDGs) by 2015.947968 However, while there has 100been progress 57 in health and education 100 and a reduction in extreme poverty, manyproblems still remain, including serious inequalities across different regions of the country. Mexico City, forexample, has development rates comparable with some countries in Europe, but there are states in the southIEG of Germany = 78 BCI of Ghana = 77IEG of Ghana = 58with indicators more like those of the poorest parts of the world. A study of how resources are applied showsthat Mexico needs competent public management in public expenditure that is geared to the real priorities.100 100 100100 100100081100011Equipo Pueblo 1Areli Sandoval Terán, and Espacio DESC100Until the first half of <strong>2010</strong>, there was little officialinformation about Mexico’s progress towards theBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 96 96Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 61EmpowermentMDGs; the last available progress 29 report was for382006. 2 Using the 2005 Population and Housing0Survey and income, spending, employment, nutrition00and health surveys from that year, the Federal9997939899Government at that time 50 emphasized the progress44100 100 100100 100100 100that had been made since 1990 in extreme poverty Births attended byreduction; reducing illiteracy; reducing the rates of skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationHIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; reducing maternalmortality; improving gender equity in schools poverty in ruralIEG of Malta = 58BCIandofurbanMexicoareas,= 96which is still a big PovertyIEG of Mexico = 61and extending access to potable water and sewageservices.However, the report also lists some problemsthat have not been tackled after years on the agenda.For example, it noted that 100 not enough attention wasbeing paid to environmental aspects of developmentpolicies, and that social policies were inadequate,since programs were not coordinated anddevelopment challenge. 3InequalityAnother big problem is inequality. UNDP reportson Mexico’s human development 100 since 2002 showenormous differences among the 32 Federal States,particularly on the indicators 72for health, educationand income. This despite the fact that Mexico is nearThe executive report on the 2007-2012 National DevelopmentPlan, which was drawn up by the NationalCouncil for Evaluating <strong>Social</strong> Development Policies(CONEVAL), 5 highlights the contrast between Chiapasand Nuevo León in 100 terms of their food povertyrates, capabilities poverty rates and patrimony povertyrates. 6From 2006 to 2009, in an attempt to bring its povertyestimates in line with the provisions of the General43the problem of deficient social protection, especially the threshold of the more highly developed countries27against unemployment and collective risks, had in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI). <strong>Social</strong> Development Law, the CONEVAL developed a0not been dealt with. It also pointed out that most0The region with the highest HDI rating is the0new multi-dimensional methodology, in which povertyof the budget and most of the programs targeted northeast, where one state, Nuevo León, is second is estimated not only in terms of income but also in1008289people employed in the formal sector, and that socialexclusion posed a threat to the consolidation ly equal to some European countries. By contrast, the setting new thresholds for well-being and 76 100only to the Federal District in terms of HDI and is near-terms of territory and human rights. This has involved100 100 71100100 52100100 61minimumof democracy.south has the lowest HDI ratings, particularly the well-being, and adopting specific criteria, such as socialdeficiency indicators that define the minimum orThe 2006 progress report also contains some states of Chiapas and Oaxaca, with indicators nearlyIEG of Slovenia = 65additional goals and indicators that are considered as low than the BCI occupied of Senegal territories = 71IEG of Senegal = 55of Palestine. Accordingessential elements for some social rights. In this newmore suitable and relevant for Mexico as a middleincomecountry. For example, as regards Goal 1,the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, andthe first target, “to cut by half the percentage of theto the UNDP these serious inequalities resultfrom the fact that investment is precarious and thatthe local administration is fraught with cronyism andineptitude, which hampers people from exercisingapproach, “a person is in a multidimensional povertysituation when the exercise of at least one of his socialdevelopment rights is not guaranteed and if he hasinsufficient income to acquire the goods and servicespopulation whose income is less than one dollar a their rights and enjoying full individual freedom. One that are essential to meet his needs.” 7100100100day in the 1990 to 2015 period”, the Government consequence of the regional inequality 93 is that there isview is that the country is doing well in terms of theindicator of the proportion of the population with aper capita income of less than one dollar a day. Ithas therefore added a goal “beyond 26 the Developmenta high level of internal and external migration; in fact,regional differences are such that “there are areasthat offer better conditions of life than those prevailingin some people’s places of origin.” 45 CONEVAL, Informe Ejecutivo de Pobreza en México, June2007. Available from: .516 Capabilities poverty was defined by the CTMP as havinginsufficient disposable income to pay for a foodstuffs basketGoals,” which is to cut 0 by half, in the 1990 to0and afford the necessary expenditure 0 for health and educationeven when all the disposable income of the household is2015 period, the proportion of people suffering foodspent on these things. Patrimony poverty was defined as8579908481having insufficient disposable income to pay for the food100 1 Equipo 100 Pueblo is the6443focal point of <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> in Mexico 100100 100basket 100and to be able to afford the minimum expenditure 100and is part of Espacio DESC, the reference group for <strong>Social</strong><strong>Watch</strong>.2 <strong>Social</strong> and Human IEG Development of Zambia Cabinet, = Los 56 Objetivos3 Food poverty was defined by the Technical Committee forPoverty Measurement (CTMP) as the inability to obtaina basket of basic foodstuffs with the total disposableneeded for health, clothing, housing, transport and education,even when all the disposable income of the household isspent exclusively on acquiring these goods and services.IEG of Tanzania = 72de Desarrollo del Milenio en México: Informe de Avance2006, Mexico City, 2006. Available from: .household income. BCI of Tanzania = 754 UNDP, Informes sobre Desarrollo Humano en México, 2006-2007. Available from: .1007 Methodology of Multidimensional Measurement of Povertyin Mexico. Available from:.100National reports 132 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010098
The table below shows the CONEVAL figures formultidimensional poverty in the country as a whole,and between Nuevo León and Chiapas.Financing for development strategyIn the light of the social panorama outlined aboveand the economic crisis the country and the worldare undergoing, we should also look at the ways inwhich the State applies the resources. Accordingto an analysis of the fourth quarterly Treasury andPublic Credit Secretariat report on the 2009 budgetby the FUNDAR Analysis and Research Centre, bothin planning and execution the Federal Governmentfailed when it came to channelling resources in aneffective and efficient way to reactivate the economyand protect the population. This report makes it clearthat the resources essentials for social protectiondecreased while spending that benefited the bureaucraticapparatus increased. The tendency to underexpendingresources in key secretariats continueduntil December (with big shortfalls for programs tofight poverty and for infrastructure projects). 8 Someof the most important points in this analysis include:• Expenditure on infrastructure for social developmentfell by 14.5% in real terms compared to2008; especially serious were reductions in urbanization,housing and regional development(21.4%) and in social assistance (56.7%).• In the last quarter of 2009, contract remunerationunder federal jurisdiction had an annualincrease of 4.1% in nominal terms, the mostnoteworthy examples being in the areas ofsovereignty, order, security and justice. Bycontrast, in October and November 2009, realpay for people employed in the manufacturingsector decreased by 0.6% per year: wages forworkers fell by 2.1% and those of administrativeemployees by 0.8%.• An annual budget execution progress report for75 programs shows that only 24 executed 100%of their allocated budget and 23 more than 100%of the original allocation. It appears that only32% of priority programs expend their budgetallocations in time. The other 26 executed lessthan 90% of their original budgets. Among theprograms that had low budget execution by thelast quarter of 2009 were: a) a program to extendirrigation infrastructure, with only 33.2%; b) economicinfrastructure projects for potable water,sewage and sanitation systems, with 39.5%; c) afood support program administered by Diconsa,with 69.6%; d) rural roads, with 73.5%; e) the ed-CHART 1. Percentage of the population in poverty (2005)Federal Body Food poverty Capabilities poverty Patrimony povertyWhole country 18.2 24.7 47.0Chiapas 47.0 55.9 75.7Nuevo León 3.6 7.2 27.5ucation component of the opportunities programwith 79.5%; f) the provision of health services atvarious levels with 85.2%; d) the potable water,sewage and sanitation program for urban areas,with 86.4%.This means that of the MXN 188,395 million (USD14,848 million) allocated to the main programs tocombat poverty some USD 1,322 million has notbeen expend. The worst examples of this resourceunder expenditure are in the food support programrun by Diconsa S.A. of C.V.– a company devoted tosocial development, whose major stakeholder is theState – the employment support program, the youngrural entrepreneurs program and the land fund, inwhich the payment shortfalls amount to 30%, 38%and 56%, respectively. There have also been underFuente: elaboración propia con base en estimaciones del CONEVAL según el II Conteo de Población yVivienda 2005 y la Encuesta Nacional de Ingreso Gasto de los Hogares (ENIGH) 2005.CHART 2. Multidimensional poverty in Mexico (2008) 9Whole country Nuevo León ChiapasRate indicators % # in millions % %Multidimensional povertyPopulation in multidimensional poverty 44.2 47.19 21.5 76.7Population in moderate multidimensional poverty 33.7 35.99 18.9 41.3Population in extreme multidimensional poverty 10.5 11.20 2.6 35.4Population vulnerable due to social deficiencies 33.0 35.18 37.4 16.2Population vulnerable due to income 4.5 4.78 7.0 1.5Non-poor and non-vulnerable multidimensional population 18.3 19.53 34.1 5.5<strong>Social</strong> privationPopulation with at least one social deficiency 77.2 82.37 58.9 92.9Population with at least three social deficiencies 30.7 32.77 12.4 57.0<strong>Social</strong> deficiency indicatorsEducation regression 21.7 23.16 14.9 37.8Access to health services 40.7 43.38 28.3 52.1Access to social security 64.7 68.99 43.9 85.3Housing quality and space 17.5 18.62 8.2 38.2Access to basic household services 18.9 20.13 8.3 36.3Access to food 21.6 23.06 10.6 26.3Well-beingPopulation with income below the well-being line 48.7 51.97 28.5 78.2Population with income below the minimum well-being line 16.5 17.64 6.2 47.9Source: CONEVAL estimates based on the Socioeconomic Conditions Module (MCS) and ENIGH 2008.expenditures in key secretariats, the most seriousones being health, which expend USD 784 millionless than the modified budget up to December 2009,and the <strong>Social</strong> Development Secretariat with an underexpenditure of USD 306 million.These examples do not just illustrate how defectivethe management of public resources is in Mexico,they also highlight the fact that the State’s obligation toallocate the maximum available resources to progressivelyachieve implementation of the rights stipulatedin the International Covenant on Economic, <strong>Social</strong>and Cultural Rights goes much further than merelyallocating budget resources for social developmentand poverty reduction. There also has to be competentpublic management of State funds so that genuinenational priorities receive resources in ways that arecongruent and transparent. n8 FUNDAR, “Informe Sobre la Situación Económica, lasFinanzas Públicas y la Deuda Pública,” No. 99, February<strong>2010</strong>. Further information in: .9 .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 133 Mexico
MoldovaCritical daysThe political and economic situation in Moldova – one of the weakest European countries in attractingForeign Direct Investment – is critical and sets the scene for long-term development trends. Progresstowards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is currently at risk owing to the impact of theeconomic crisis. Out of 28 national targets set by the Republic of Moldova, six are likely to be missed by2015. Efforts to strengthen civil society involvement in development policies have been quite effective,increasing the potential for independent analyses and diagnoses of important national trends.Partnership for Development CenterAlthough on the surface Moldova’s economic performanceover the last few years looks quite successful– with an average GDP growth rate of 5% between2006 and 2008 and monetary and fiscal indicatorskept in check – this growth was based largely on consumption,mostly of imported goods, and fuelled byremittances from abroad, which accounted for 30%of GDP in 2008 (among the highest in the world) andregistered double-digit growth rates for most of thedecade. 1 However, the global economic crisis hada major and abrupt impact on the economy of thecountry. In 2009 remittances fell 27%, reflectingplunging economic activity in countries with largenumbers of temporary Moldovan workers. 2Moldova has been one of the weakest countriesin Central and Eastern Europe in attracting ForeignDirect Investment (FDI); weak private-sector companiescurrently generate only 65% of GDP. This is verylow when compared to private sector contributionsin European transition countries: 70% of GDP inLatvia, Romania, Slovenia; 75% in Bulgaria, Croatia,Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Poland; and 80% in CzechRepublic, Estonia, Hungary, and Slovakia. 3Foreign Direct InvestmentOver the long term, FDI has played a major role inthe country’s economic growth. The share of foreigncompanies and enterprises in GDP increased from1% in 1995 to about 19% in 2008 and many sectors,such as mobile telecommunications were started or –like energy production and distribution – were savedfrom collapse by companies with foreign capital. Also,in the period 2004-2008, foreign companies achieveda higher sales volume than did domestic companies.In addition, sectors with the strongest growth in salesrevenue during 2004-2008 were those with relativelyhigh or very high share of FDI. Nevertheless, foreignownedfirms still have a modest role in creating jobsfor Moldovans (although this role is increasing, from9.3% in 2004 to 14.3% in 2008).1 Government of Moldova, Rethink Moldova, <strong>Report</strong> for theConsultive Group in Brussels, March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.2 Ibid.3 See: .Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9689 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 74010098100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5BCI of Moldavia = 95,7During the period 2005-2008, FDI increasedand diversified. While at the end of 2005 it waslargely concentrated in manufacturing, electricity,gas and water, and also in wholesale and retail trade,repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles, householdand personal goods, then at the end of 2008 hasincreased the share of financial activities and securitiestransactions, renting and business activities ofenterprises. However, it should be pointed out thatthese investments were not allocated to sectors thatproduce export goods and services. Indeed, as only16.8% of the total stock goes to manufacturing, it isclear that FDI plays a modest role in developing thecountry’s international competitiveness.According to Expert-Group (an independentMoldovan think-tank), in order to increase the volumeof FDI in the national economy, the Governmentmust continue to privatize state-owned enterprisesand implement reforms to develop the country’smost precious resource: human capital. It shouldalso lift the ban on foreign purchase of agriculturalland and make it simpler to take land out of fallow,remove bureaucratic barriers in construction andthe creation of industrial parks, particularly in thebeverage and food industries.Debt and international assistanceOfficial Development Assistance (ODA) per capita toMoldova has risen constantly – from 18.2% in 1995to 33.7% in 2000 and 269.2% in 2007. An analysisof debt sustainability made at the beginning of 2008concluded that Moldova’s external debt outlook isfavourable, with a low risk of debt distress, and qualifyingMoldova as a “low indebted” country. However,with the willingness of country development partnersto provide around USD 2.6 billion (for financingdevelopment, half of which in grant, the rest beingEmpowerment100 7210098Economic activityEducationIEG of Moldova = 74in concessional loans) to support Moldova during2011–2013, expressed during the ConsultativeGroup Meeting on March <strong>2010</strong>, Moldovan foreigndebt will increase dramatically.Also, it should be noted that international assistancehas not always been translated into efficiencygains. 4 Moreover, the provision of loans undernon-preferential conditions at the outset of transitionbrought external debt to increase dramatically:by 2000, gross external debt had climbed to 133%of GDP, while external government debt stood at60.4%. 5In the 2000s Moldova incurred a high level ofexternal debt, exceeding 100% of GDP. This was duelargely to economic decline in the previous decade,and to significant exchange rate depreciation. Whilethe nominal value of the external debt stayed broadlyconstant over the period, strong economic growthcombined with a real exchange rate appreciationhelped to bring the ratio of external debt stock to GDPto 56% as of 2005. 6 After a peak in 2006, externaldebt service declined significantly in 2007. Servicingof foreign public and publicly guaranteed debt declinedfrom close to 10% of public sector revenuesto well below 5% in 2007. 74 See: .5 Ibid.10006 See: .7 See: .52National reports 134 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
According to a recent IMF study, Moldova’sGross External Debt in <strong>2010</strong> constitutes 78.6% ofGDP, and is expected to rise to 85.9% of GDP by2012. Its structure is as follows: 8• The share of public debt decreased over the lastfive years, reaching 25.4% in 2009. Since theexternal debt is contracted from IFIs on concessionalterms, at below market interest rates,there are no budgetary pressures to service thisdebt.• Long-term debt is increasing, representing ahigher level of trust in the country.• The external bank debt is to parent companiesand IFIs. It might go even higher, as foreigncapital is cheaper and may help reduce the costof lending to the economy.All these factors are relatively stable and have longtermor no maturity. However, the risky part of externaldebt is short-term debt, as it can flow out of thecountry very rapidly. In recent years, the Governmenthas made sustained efforts towards settling bothgross external debt and external government debt,reducing these to 67.5% and 12.9% respectively in2008. Furthermore, as a result of the world financialcrisis, the rise in gross external debt level has beenmuch higher in some developed countries than inMoldova (Luxemburg 3,733% of GDP, Ireland, 881%and UK 338%). 9Over the first nine months of 2009, budget revenuedropped over 10% relative to 2008 due mainlyto a decline in VAT receipts, non-tax revenue andimport duties. A number of wage and pension increaseswere enacted by the former Government,draining limited budget resources even further. Thefiscal deficit increased from 1% of GDP in 2008 toabout 6% of GDP between January and September2009, financed mainly by a drawdown of previouslyaccumulated balances in budget accounts and heavydomestic borrowing. 10MDGs at riskFor Moldova, a transition country, the creation ofdevelopment partnerships is crucial both to attainhigher population living standards and for thecountry’s integration into the EU. 11 But this impliescons tant cooperation among the countries aimingto achieve the first seven MDGs as well as to achieveprogress in important domains that are not coveredby the MDGs, such as foreign trade, transport andcommunications infrastructure.The MDG agenda, which seemed to be withinarm’s reach in 2007, is currently at risk due to theeconomic downturn. Out of 28 national targets set bythe Government six – pertaining to education, HIV/AIDS, access to water and sanitation – are unlikely tobe reached by 2015. 12The MDGs translate the most urgent nationalproblems into concrete, measureable developmenttargets, with gender equality central and crosscuttingall of these goals. 13 While education, publichealth and social protection are the sectors thatconsume most public expenditure in Moldova, expenditureacross these sectors is far from optimal.According to the Government, “Efficiency gains ineducation spending would arise from school optimization.Similarly, there are savings to be producedthrough healthcare reform but the initial costs for themodernization of the hospital system are high. Withregard to social protection, the challenge is to directsocial assistance to the neediest and away from theoutdated system of 13 different social assistanceprograms. Moldova allocated 1.8% of GDP in 2007to spending on social assistance programs and 8%of GDP to education on average for the 26 transitioncountries).” 14Gender equalitySince 2006, gender equality is of particular concernfor the Government and has been addressed throughthe signing of a number of international documents,the ratification of treaties and a formal commitmentto achieving the MDGs. The Government reportedin <strong>2010</strong> that a series of actions have been realized:“the Gender Equality Law and the Law on preventingand combating domestic violence were adopted; theGovernmental Commission for Equality betweenWomen and Men and the Department of Policiesfor Ensuring Gender Equality and Prevention of Violencehave been established; the National Programfor Ensuring Gender Equality (NPEGE) <strong>2010</strong>-2015and the Plan of Actions for implementing the NPEGEfor the period <strong>2010</strong>-2012 have been adopted; genderstatistics were developed and disseminated(more than 250 sex-disaggregated indicators).” 15However, there are still many obstacles to achievingthe desired results:• Although the share of women’s seats in Parliamenthas reached 30%, there are limited possibilitiesfor women’s equal participation in thelabour market;• Work-life balance is a challenge, as 97% ofchildcare leave is taken by women;• Women are mostly employed in the low-paidsectors (education, healthcare, social assistance)and occupy lower positions in any of theconsidered domains;• The share of women employed in own-accountwork is increasing;• The number of women who have dropped out ofthe labour force is increasing. 16Development and civil societyPASOS, the Policy Association for an Open Society,has stressed that the current political and economicsituation in Moldova is critical and is settingthe scene for long-term development trendsin the country. The process of strengthening civilsociety involvement in development policies hasprogressed well, increasing its ability to produceindependent analyses and diagnoses of variousnational trends. 17 Despite the need to further improvethe quality of the contribution provided byNGOs, and to make their inputs more consistentand recommendations more realistic, there are alreadymany examples of civil society participation inpublic life, including changes in major problematicareas in society.Outstanding concerns are first of all in the areasof human rights, justice and economic developmentas well as corruption and media freedom. In 2009many civil society organizations have been very activeand often pro-active in all these spheres. In early<strong>2010</strong> a National Participation Council composed of30 national NGOs was set up in order to facilitategovernment dialogue with civil society on variouspolicy issues. However, as NGOs often look at suchissues through the lens of their own missions, thereis a tendency to cover a rather narrow spectrum anda resulting lack of a holistic vision. 18 It is to be hopedthat such a vision will soon emerge. n8 See: .9 Ibid.10 Rethink Moldova, op. cit.11 Ibid.12 Ibid.13 National report of the Republic of Moldova on theimplementation of the Millennium Development Goals.14 Rethink Moldova, op. cit.15 See: .16 National Voluntary Presentation on MDGs achievement,Government of the Republic of Moldova, ECOSOC, New York, <strong>2010</strong>.17 Valeriu Prohnitchi, Alex Oprunenco, Moldova 2009: State ofthe Country <strong>Report</strong>, PASOS, 8 April <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.18 Ibid.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 135 Moldova
97MOROCCONot enough aid and very slow progressEspace AssociatifSaid TbelAccording to official follow-up83reports on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Morocco37 949794has made progress towards 100 several of the goals and 100 is on the way to achieving others. However, thisconclusion is based on a purely quantitative focus and does not reflect the real human developmentsituation in the country. There are problems in the implementation of the scant official developmentIEG of Guatemala = 51 INGLES BCI of Guatemala = 87 IEG of Guatemala = 51assistance (ODA) that Morocco receives. In education, these impede any concerted efforts by theGovernment and civil society organizations to eliminate illiteracy and provide universal access.100 100 100100 100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 88 GEI = 4586 Children reaching5th gradeNational reports 136 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>EmpowermentVarious development plans have been abandonedand the public administration does not act in accordancewith the Government’s policy commitments,21but the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)210are still the main frame of reference for civil society00organizations and the country’s people – who are9629 8483962984demanding better performance and more progress.100 100 100100 100100 100One aspect of the Millennium Declaration is that it Births attended byincludes a follow-up mechanism to monitor policy skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationimplementation. This involves periodic reports fromgovernments, which are drawn up with the help ofthe UN, about progress towards the MDGs. In Morocco,the reports from the High Commissioner forthe Plan insist on a quantitative approach that usuallyresults in the same old clichés, such as “We havereached some Goals and 100 we are well on the way toattaining the others.”1 High Commissioner for the Plan, National MDG <strong>Report</strong>,Morocco, 2009.2 Ibid.100010023IEG of Morocco = 45and the peopleINGLESthemselvesBCI ofwhoMoroccohave to=carry88theIEG of Morocco = 45biggest part of this financial burden.World Bank “assistance”There is no explanation as to why the World Bankfigures so prominently 100 among the organizations providingciety organizations have 100 criticized the distributionassistance for development 94 in Morocco. This of large amounts of resources for projects whoseis a bank, after all, and most of the funds it provides ultimate quality is in doubt and for which future generationsof Moroccans will have to pay.Development assistance: a smallare loans rather than grants so they have to be repaidshare of the budget 4242with interest. In addition, part of the meagre grantsThe 2009 country report on progress towards the from this institution, and from many other internationalQuestioning where ODA is spent0MDGs emphasizes that Morocco, which endorsedthe Paris Declaration on aid effectiveness, participatedfinancial institutions, go to finance technical0studies to prepare for the allocation of loans for development.0In 2007 the US signed a compact with Morocco in theframework of the Millennium Challenge Corporationin the second follow-up survey in 2008 that 979999(MCC) for USD 697.5 million, which was 97 the larg-99was100 100 67100100 100100 67100carried out under the aegis of the Organization for Some projects of a social nature that have World est amount that the MCC had committed up to thatEconomic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Bank support are:point. 4 These funds were intended to raise productivityand improve employment opportunities in sectorsworking group on aid effectiveness and, more specifically,the Development Assistance CommitteeINGLES BCI of Slovak Republic• improving basic training for adults, Alpha Mopublic= 98 IEG of Slovakia = 69rocco (USD 4.1 million);with = 98 IEG of Slovakia = 69the best potential, and thereby to generate an(DAC).annual GDP increase to the tune of USD 118 million.• supporting the reorganization of basic educa-This study shows that the official developmentAccording to the General Director of the MCC, Johntion (USD 80 million);assistance (ODA) that Morocco receives – a total ofJ. Danilovich, this would directly benefit 600,000USD 2.3 billion in 2007 – amounts to only 12.6% ofthe country’s budget (some USD 18 billion). 1 TheWorld Bank is presented as the country’s main financialpartner with 18.8% of total ODA (USD 426 million).••improving the quality of the education system(USD 130.3 million);reforming teaching in higher education (USD76 million); andMoroccan families. 5More than two years after this initiative wentinto operation, Salua Karkri Belkeziz, a Deputy(member of parliament) from the <strong>Social</strong>ist UnionNext are the European Union with 13.6% (USDof Popular Forces• the National Initiative for Human Developmentclaimed that only USD 50 million308 million) and then the European Investment Bankhad so far been received. The rate at which theseSupport Project (INDH). This loan is aimed atwith 9.7% (USD 221 million). The UN contributesprojects developed would therefore be far slowerreducing poverty, vulnerability and social exclusionand strengthening institutional capacityonly 1% of total ODA (USD 22.5 million) and the USthan the objectives that had been set. Deputies haveprovides 0.9% (USD 20 million). 2Civil society organizations have stressed how(USD 100 million). 34 The contribution from the US Government to this program issmall the share of ODA is in financing development in There has also been yet another in an apparentlyestimated at around USD 250 million.Morocco, and point out that ultimately it is the State endless series of initiatives to reform the country’s5 Maghreb Arabe Presse, Press Conference in Washington oneducation system: the Urgency Plan (PU), which is10003 World Bank Rabat Office, Nawafid Maghreb, no. 6, December2007.83budgeted at USD 5.3 billion. The persistent inabilityto tackle the far-reaching problems in this area castsserious doubt on the effectiveness of the World Bankand discredits its constant propaganda about goodgovernance in development projects. Many civil so-330 44100010015 September 2007.6 The <strong>Social</strong>ist Union of Popular Forces is a political party thathas been represented in the Government of Morocco since1998.2337 8010010097100
also questioned the selection, organization and landdistribution criteria employed in key projects.During discussions about the structure of ODAexpenditure distribution, civil society organizationshave also pointed out several key issues to bear inmind when considering the aid policies: 7• What should be the level of ODA?• What should be its priorities?• Which procedures should be put in place for itsimplementation?• What should be done to make the aid processmore participative while ensuring better governance?Lack of coordinationODA in Morocco is not coordinated or harmonized.There are numerous agencies, foundations and otherstructures for social development with similar mandates(including the Ministry of <strong>Social</strong> Development,the <strong>Social</strong> Development Agency, the Agencies forNorthern, Southern and Eastern Development andthe Rural Development Agency). Moreover, internationalcooperation programs and projects veryoften overlap. All of this rebounds to the detrimentof the effective implementation of aid for developmentin general. In response to this situation the ideaemerged to set up a “thematic group to harmonizefund providers,” which is an aid coordination groupwith a dozen members.The main objectives of this control structureare to propose paths and avenues to improve aid;to publish a good practices guide for the technicaland financial partners that operate in Morocco; andto make concrete proposals to the Government tooptimize aid coordination mechanisms. However,the place and the role of the Moroccan counterpartin all this are not clear: it seems not to figure in thestructure when one would suppose it should be directingthe thematic group.At the same time, the Ministry of Economics andFinance, in association with UNDP and with financialsupport from France and Spain, has since 2008been drawing up a Map of Development Projectsthrough a system of geographical information.This is intended to provide “a database to ensurethe integrated management of information aboutdevelopment [and] enable the group of membersto access in the middle term complete, reliable dataabout interventions implemented as part of publicaid for development and of structural developmentprojects in Morocco, thus enhancing the visibility ofthe aid the country receives.” 8 The project is definedas a tool for communication, for publishing information,for teamwork and for coordination.The impact on educationThe education sector is notorious for taking a largepart of the budget and it is also the sector that benefitsmost from international cooperation and ODA. 9But while the quantitative results seem to be oncourse and acceptable, they are seriously deficientfrom the quality point of view. International studiesabout the evaluation of knowledge acquired atschool make it clear that the performance of Moroccanchildren in sciences, mathematics and readingis dismal. 10For example, the average score in mathematicsof 4th year primary school pupils in Morocco was347, which is far below the international average of495. Some 61% of schoolchildren cannot meet theminimum mathematics requirements laid down bythe Trends in International Mathematics and ScienceStudy (TIMSS). In sciences the average score ofMoroccan pupils was 304, which is also very lowcompared to the international average of 489. Some66% of schoolchildren do not meet the basic requirementsfor sciences set by the TIMSS.The Government has shown evident concernabout the critical situation in education, which ithas given high priority on its agenda. As mentionedabove, the Urgency Plan has a large budget allocation.Some positive effects have included the constructionor renovation of many schools, under theINDH, and the participation of civil society organizationsin the management of pre-school education inremote parts of the country. In addition, informationand communications technologies (ICTs) are beingprogressively introduced into education practices.Even at the level of non-formal education it is noteworthythat ICT departments and literacy programsare in operation.However, the reform introduced through thenational education and training plan failed and therecontinue to be a number of weaknesses in this area.In terms of the PU, the French language (which noteveryone in the country speaks) is frequently usedin technical documents on PU projects and theprojects are often prone to improvisation. There isalso a lack of rationalization in the management ofhuman resources, and many places have no teachers.This means that the possibility of schooling inremote parts of the country is limited. In spite ofthe many literacy programs, illiteracy is still widespreadin Morocco compared to other countries ata similar level of development and there is a lackof suitable premises for literacy courses. There aremany economic hindrances and also socio-culturalresistance to training for adults, and the content ofliteracy programs is not adapted to the specific needsof the different regions.ConclusionThe MDGs in Morocco are mainly used as a sloganwhen the time comes periodically to draw up andissue international reports. Apart from that, nobodytalks about them, neither the public authorities normost civil society organizations. In any event, civilsociety organizations have very little power to actdirectly and intervene in the fund provision process.In spite of the fact that international aid is so scarce,however, it still provides a kind of vigilance mechanismthat pushes the public authorities to exercisecontrol and respond to demands, which is essentialto the main principle of the Paris Declaration—nationallyowned development. n7 Among participants in the discussions were civil societyorganizations (AMSED, OMDH, AMDH, UAF, CARREFOUR,FLDDF, Transparency, UMT) and college professors:Moussaoui Mohamed, Nadia Cebti, Maati Mounjib, MustphaBouhadou, Fatima Chahid, Meriem Benkhouya, Aziz Chaker,Abdellah Saaf, Saad Belghazi, Fillali Meknassi Saad, KhadijaGhamiri, Aicha Dariti, Youssef Chiheb, Najia Zirari, Samira ElGhazi, Fatma Outaleb, Aziz Chaker, Ahmed Bencheich.8 High Commissioner for the Plan, op. cit.9 See above for examples with the figures of loans from theWorld Bank to finance education reforms that range fromliteracy classes to higher education.10 TIMSS and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study(PIRLS) International Study Center. See: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 137 Morocco
nepal10010087s/dThe need for a new development program100n/ds/ds/dn/d n/d6996100 100 100100 10010095Rural Reconstruction Nepal (RRN)Abhas GhimireSarba Raj Khadka100After years of political turmoil 80 and armed conflict, Nepal urgently requires good governance. The96recent progress in health, 100education and other sectors 100 does not diminish the need for a social agreementthat would place primary responsibility for overall development in the hands of the citizenry. Donorsand the Government must agree that donors commit to a specified level of aid for at least a decade.INGLES BCI of Iraq = 88Microfinancing should be strengthened to channel the growing flow of remittances into productiveinvestments.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 58 GEI = 51Children reaching5th gradeNational reports 138 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>EmpowermentNepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, is in62the throes of a tumultuous socio-political transition.22One of the most inclusive Constituent Assemblies the220country has ever seen is writing a new Constitution00that will dismantle a historical legacy of exclusionary1995and centralized development policies. The country’s100 10057100100 100100577474 100political instability is readily apparent: in the last 20 Births attended byyears, 19 governments have held office.skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationDespite the turmoil, Nepal has made remarkableIEG of Nepal = 512015. At its currentINGLESrate ofBCIprogress,of NepalNepal= 58is likely tocut extreme poverty in half by 2015. Between 1995-1996 and 2003-2004, the percentage of the populationliving on less than USD 1 per day plunged from34% to 24% and the poverty rate dropped from 42%to 31%. 1 However, during 100 this same period the Ginicoefficient of inequality increased 93 from 34 to 41; theHuman Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009 put it at 47.3. 2This means, paradoxically, that Nepal halved its povertyrate while doubling its income inequality.Cutting the incidence of extreme poverty in half0is only one of the targets under MDG 1. Target 1B,full and productive employment for all, including97women and young people, is unlikely to be achieved, 99100 100and domestic discourse will probably ignore thisfailure. Rather than create an environment in whichbusinesses and industries can take root, flourish andemploy the country’s INGLES wasted BCI of human Thailand= resources, 96 theGovernment is devoting its energies to persuadingforeign countries to open more doors for Nepaleseworkers. In the short term, this has an economiclogic: remittances from workers abroad already pourin at a level three times ODA receipts, and are perceivedto be the glue that holds the country (barely)together. In the long run, however, this strategy willleave the country devoid of a skilled, technical humanresource base. The consequences would be disastrousshould a day come when Nepalese workers areno longer needed in foreign countries.Increased social spending in the health andeducation sectors over the last 15 years has spurredremarkable progress in both. The ratio of girls toboys in primary schools is almost one to one, and aIEG of Nepal = 5110041072IEG of Thailand = 70ODA and developmentstrides in areas such as health, education and genderequality, primarily due to the foreign aid that providesfinancing for all of the country’s developmentprograms. Overall, progress has been uneven. Besetby political instability and economic depression, thecountry is unlikely to achieve 100 the goals envisioned inthe Millennium Declaration. Achieving the minimalMillennium Development Goals (MDGs) and ensuringdignity and justice for all will require adequateand predictable financing from 41 development partners,as well as good governance and respect for0human rights.The Monterrey Consensus that came out ofthe 2002 UN International Conference on Financingfor Development gives precedence to mobilizing98100 72100domestic financial resources for development andincreasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and otherIEG of Thailand = 70private flows, rather than emphasizing internationalfinancial and technical cooperation for development.However in Nepal, as in other least developed countries,domestic resources and private capital flowsare extremely limited, and the Government invariablyregards human rights and dignity for all as less importantthan economic growth. Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) is typically channeled into a limitedrange of projects and programs, often those in whichprogress can be judged by measurable results. Humanrights are never on top of the agenda in discussionsof development financing.Diminishing poverty, growing inequalityDespite the unstable political situation and a decadeof armed conflict, Nepal has made significantprogress towards the MDGs. With the necessary focusand determination, along with matching supportfrom development partners, the country could be aglobal leader in the effort to achieve these goals by01 Central Bureau of Statistics, Government of Nepal, 2004.2 Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009. Available from: .0record high 92% of all children attend. 3 However, Nepal’srugged terrain and resource constraints makereaching the last 10% a significant challenge. Similarbarriers have hobbled efforts to achieve universalaccess to reproductive health. A woman in Nepal isstill 100 times more likely to die from her pregnancyand related complications than a woman in the UK.The “Aama” (Mother) Program, co-funded by the UKDepartment for International Development (DfID)99and the Nepalese Government, offers financial incentivesof up to 1,500 Nepalese rupees (USD 20) towomen who give birth in a medical facility. 4 Althoughmany women and families have taken advantage ofthis welcome incentive, the programe has not 98signifi-87100 cantly lowered the number of women dying in child-100 100birth. A high rate of structural poverty, the low levelof education, the small number of health centers, the100poor state of the roads, and, most importantly, the inferiorstatus of women in rural societies all combineto deter women from obtaining maternal care fromskilled health professionals.The lack of predictability in development aid hasmade it difficult for the Government to develop effectivelong run plans. Eliminating poverty, malnutritionand other social problems takes a longtime. Donors and the Government must agree on along term aid memorandum that commits donorsto a specified level of aid for at least 10 years. Thatwould make it possible for the Government to developprograms and strategies based on precisely550 663 Ministry of Education, Statistics of Nepal, Kathmandu 2008.4 Alison Buckler, “Dying for children,” The Guardian, 21November 2009. Available from: .0100100B
what the aid component will be and where it is to bespent. The effectiveness of this approach is evidentin the significant improvements in primary educationand maternal health, both sectors in whichlong term commitments on the part of developingpartners have been complemented by positiveinitiatives by state actors. The share of the NationalBudget devoted to social sectors has jumped from21% in 1991 to about 40% today. 5Although the decade-long armed conflicthas ended, the political environment remainsvolatile. Better security is essential to promotingforeign investment and reducing the widespreadviolations of human rights that occur daily at thegrassroots level. Although Nepal boasts one of themost liberalized economies in South Asia, securityconcerns and rampant corruption at almost alllevels of Government have prevented a flow ofFDI sufficient to generate a level of growth in jobsand technical knowhow that would improve livelihoods,stimulate construction of critical infrastructure,and provide employment for thousandsof young people who currently go abroad in searchof work. Most of the people who emigrate comefrom poor socio-economic backgrounds and havelow education levels and skills. They typically endup in what are sometimes called 3D jobs – dirty,dangerous and demeaning–in places with weakor no laws protecting work. Serious violations ofhuman rights have occurred in places where workershave been trafficked across borders, abused oreven enslaved. The bodies of a staggering numberof Nepali migrant workers are stranded at variousmorgues in the Middle East. In 2009 alone, atleast 600 Nepalese died in the Gulf States andMalaysia. 6The National Human Rights Action PlanThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights has notonly enshrined the right to life, but the right to food,education, information, employment, and socialsecurity. Sectors of society have been deprived ofthese basic rights; the State has not taken seriousaction to address violations. Historically marginalizedand oppressed groups, including women aswell as low-caste dalits and indigenous nationalities,or janajatis, still yearn for the basic rights necessaryfor a dignified life.Following a participatory process that includedconsultations at the district, regional and nationallevels with representatives from governmental organizations,NGOs, human rights and civil societyorganizations, legal practitioners, media people, expertsand professionals, 7 the Government presenteda National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) inApril 2004. Like most such declarations and documentsin Nepal, the plan has not been effectivelyimplemented due to sheer negligence on the part ofsuccessive governments.Prospects for microfinanceMicrofinance is a promising strategy that has notbeen fully utilized. Remittance income has been aninclusive development: Many migrant workers comefrom the so-called lower castes and lesser educatedpopulation, which received little help or attentionfrom the Government. Their remittances are reachingeven the most marginalized groups in the remotestareas. However, the country has no channels for funnelingthat income towards productive investment. 8Banks are usually located in big cities. Cooperativeshave sprung up in districts around them and in somerural areas, but microfinance programs are laggingfar behind. To date, rights to inclusive financial servicessuch as savings and investment and easy accessto loans seem to have been neglected.Energy security and climate changeEnergy security is another area essential to developmentand human rights that has not garneredthe attention it deserves. Although Nepal has hugehydroelectric potential, estimated at about 83,000megawatts annually, 9 a majority of the populationlacks energy security. This is a major barrier to developmentin these communities. Affordable energy isessential to each of the MDGs, so investing in energyis a way of promoting all of them at the same time.Insufficient energy production touches everyaspect of rural lives. Access to electricity couldencourage children to read, make it possible forpeople to communicate easily and provide accessto all of the resources available through moderntechnology, including hospitals with safe reliableequipment. It could even reduce deforestation.Investment in alternative energy sources wouldprovide abundant energy in eco-friendly ways,create thousands of “green jobs” and develop thehuman resources required to construct a GreenEconomy. By realizing its hydroelectric potential,Nepal would supply the energy needs of its populationand provide the region with a dependablesource of clean energy.Nepal is highly vulnerable to devastation fromclimate change. Despite its narrow width from northto south, the country spans a remarkably wide altituderange, from slightly above sea level to thepeaks of the Himalayan range. Despite its negligiblecontribution to greenhouse gases (GHG0), Nepal’seconomy and the livelihood of its people could suffergreatly from climate change. The agricultural systemis heavily dependent on rainfall; any variationsin the hydrological cycle could deal a severe blowto the nation’s economy and individual livelihoods.Should one of the country’s 2,000 glacial lakes burstits banks, the resulting floods could cause havocdownstream. 10 To avoid cutbacks in other developmentprograms, donors must provide additionalsupport for new programs that help the countrymitigate and adapt to climate change. Environmentalsustainability is linked to all of the other MDGs. Aclimate fund would ensure progress toward all of thegoals while reducing near-term risks stemming fromclimate change.Lack of good governanceAs long as rampant corruption permeates all aspectsof society the country has little hope of achievinglong-term sustainable development, no matter whatmodel of development it pursues. At present, Nepaldoes not have any elected local government bodiesthat can act as intermediaries between the grassroots,the National Government and international developmentpartners. Frustration with the State’s ineffectivenessand the weak security apparatus has ledto the emergence of several violent criminal groupsthat commit murder and armed robbery, extortmoney and generate a climate of fear in many areas.The State has so far been unable to suppress them,or to calm the fears of ethnic violence that seem to bebrewing in some parts of the country. Whether politicalparties are in the Government or the opposition,they seem preoccupied with benefiting themselvesrather than delivering the kind of governance that thepeople of Nepal expect and need. n5 National Planning Commission, Government of Nepal,National Development Strategy Paper 2009.6 Deepak Adhikari, “A Casket of Dreams,” The KathmanduPost, 20 February <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .7 Government of Nepal, National Human Rights Action Plan2004. Available from: .8 “Remittance has not been channelised into productivesectors,” The Kathmandu Post, 18 June <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.9 Dilli Prasad Bhattarai, Nepal at the First and Second Crossroads:Opportunities for a Win/Win in the New DevelopmentContext. Available from: .10 Madan Koirala, Ranjana Bhatta, Communities ChallengingClimate Change, CRSC / NEFEJ, <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 139 Nepal
100NicaraguaThe (limited) time of the so-called “demographic bonus”024The Government is not taking advantage of the so-called “demographic bonus,” which offers a historic878346978142development opportunity 100 in the next 20 years. Since 100 the share of the population that is under 18 yearsis falling each year, now is the time to invest in educating the new generation so that it can increase percapita income levels. Development planning should prioritize public education and allocate at leastIEG of Suriname = 56BCI of Uganda = 69IEG of Uganda = 677% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to this sector over the next 10 years in order to achieve basiceducation goals. If Nicaragua does not invest in education now it will be too late.97100 100 100100 100100078100037100100Coordinadora Civil 1Adolfo Acevedo10052The education system in Nicaragua is very backwardnot only in terms of coverage but also in terms of quality.Only 86% of school age children actually enrol inBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 81 GEI = 52Children reaching72 5th gradeEmpowermentprimary school and only 40% of those who enter first36of secondary school age enrol at this level and only997244% who do so manage to complete their studies.977439799100 100 100100 100100 100When we consider that completing secondary educationBirths attended bygrade reach sixth grade. 2 0A mere 45% of young people00is the minimum necessary threshold to begin to skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationrise above the poverty line, there is only one possibleconclusion: Nicaragua IEG is of not USA preparing 74 its people forthe life that they should have.This has very negative consequences for theshrinking fast asBCIa percentageof nicaracguaof the=total,81the numberof people coming of age and joining the labour pool isincreasing at a tremendous rate.ket. 5 This means IEG that of 63% nicaragua of working age womenlack any source of income earnings, which limitstheir autonomy along with their ability to influencecountry’s development, especially in view of the currentdemographic situation. According to the 2005 The “demographic bonus” and povertyBut if the country is to take advantage of thishow household resources are used.population census, 4 the working age population (aged reduction100100“demographic bonus” in 100order to reduce poverty, as15 to 59) is increasing rapidly. From 1995 to 2005 this It is estimated that an average 99 of 118,000 young Southeast Asian countries have done relatively quickly,group grew by an unprecedented 29.2%, with anannual rate of increase of around 52 2.6%, far above thepeople in Nicaragua reach working age every year,the greatest increase in the working age population in working age people must receive suitable educa-tion and training to be able to do high productivity jobsaverage of 1.78% growth for the total population. In the country’s history. This process is known as “the that are well paid. In addition, the formal sector must291990, some 46% of Nicaraguans were under 15 years demographic bonus” (or “demographic dividend”), be able to effectively provide this kind of work.000old, 49.3% were of working age and only 4.8% had and it is taking place not only in urban areas but inreached retirement 51age. That is, for every child under rural areas as well, although in the latter it is not quite Bonus or social catastrophe?98 15 there were 1.1 adults of working age. 99100so marked.In Nicaragua, most people who are or soon98will be100 100 100100 100100 68100However, today the under-15 population is much In macroeconomic terms, if this burgeoning of working age have had a low level of education andlower as a percentage of the total, and this is a fall in workforce can find high productivity jobs, the country’sone which is also of poor quality. This is evident whenor = 91rate of economic growth may increase. If this we consider that the average years of schooling inabsolute terms. In 2005 only 34.6% of the populationwere children under 15, and at the same time the happens, while BCI the population of Cyprus growth = 96 IEG of Cyprus = 65IEG of El Salvador = 68rate is falling the this age group, in the lowest income distributionworking age population had increased to 56.5% of thetotal and people over 60 years of age made up the remaining5.6%. This means that in 2005 for every childunder 15 there were 1.53 people of working age.people’s average or per capita income will go up, andbecause there are fewer and fewer children this raisesthe possibility of increasing investment in educationper child. Thus more rapid economic growth could bestrata, is between 3.2 and 5.1 years. 6According to the latest World Bank “<strong>Report</strong> onPoverty” in Nicaragua, people who have not completedsecondary education, that is, those with less than 11The most important aspect of this demographic combined with a significant reduction in poverty. years of schooling, are almost certainly condemned100100100shift is that while the dependent child population is An example where this policy 99 has been implementedto a life below the poverty threshold. 7 It is only whenis South Korea. In the 1950s this country individuals have 11 years of schooling, that is, havewas poorer than most countries in Latin America,1 Coordinadora Civil is made up of some 600n/dcompleted secondary school, that their job earningsNGOs, networksand individuals throughout Nicaragua.but in just a few decades it has almost completely begin to (just about) rise above 42the poverty threshold.eliminated poverty.2 IPS, “A la caza del último analfabeto,”20 July 2007. Available0from: .However, a necessary 0 condition for taking advantage05 “Nicaragua desperdicia sus mejores años,” La Prensa,of this “demographic bonus” is not just that 16 July <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .9755100 education), 100 14 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .demográfica’,” 3 November 2009. Available from: .restrictions on this in Nicaragua, is the low level ofPoblación y IV de Vivienda, May 2006. Available from:7 See “7% del PIB a Educación nos sacará de la pobreza,”r = 77 women’s participation BCI of Italy in the = labour 96 market due toIEG of Italy = 64.90 9099 991002099100100100100National reports 140 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Some 76% of the under-18 population, that is,most of the country’s young people, live in the 60%poorest households. This means that the vast majorityof young people have very low levels of schooling.Taking to account the strong correlation betweenaverage education levels and work earnings, thismeans that most of these people will work in precariousjobs in the informal economy for the next 50years, never rising above the poverty line.An analysis of the structure of the labour marketin Nicaragua shows that nearly 70% of the jobs in theinformal sector are precarious. Today some 65% ofemployment is accounted for by the self-employedor people who work in small economic units that maybe individual or family, urban or rural, that have noaccess whatsoever to resources, and that employ only1 to 5 people. This reflects a national profile in whichmost households have to undertake some kind of economicactivity on their own account just to survive.This situation is the result of the developmentmodel based on “comparative advantage” that hasprevailed in the country for over two decades, inwhich there is a comparatively abundant supply oflabour but which is also very low-skilled, making forrock bottom wages. One consequence is that povertyand inequality are inevitably passed on from onegeneration to the next.The greatest working age population increase inthe country’s history could potentially provide an opportunityto reduce poverty levels within a relativelyshort time. But this opportunity is not being seized,primarily for the two reasons mentioned above. First,because most young people who reach working agehave very low levels of schooling, which condemnsthem to poor quality jobs. And second, because only53% of the working age population are actually in thelabour market, owing to the very low level of femalelabour force participation.The effects of this failure to take advantage ofthe demographic bonus go far beyond the immediateor even middle term consequences. Nicaragua is notonly wasting this opportunity, it is also sowing theseeds of future socio-demographic catastrophe.The bonus and the demographic disadvantageIn Nicaragua, only 20% of the labour force participatesin the social security system, so when 80%of the working population reach retirement age theyhave no savings or support and have to depend onfamily members or on public assistance in order tosurvive. This dependence could be exacerbated bythe pension system in which current payouts aremainly covered by contributions from working people.In the years ahead the number of retired people,and the amounts paid out in benefits, are going toincrease until the point at which the contributionsfrom working people will not be enough to coverpayout obligations.According the limited information available,starting in approximately 2016 the Institute of <strong>Social</strong>Security (INSS) will no longer be able to cover payoutswith current contributions causing a paymentsdeficit which will steadily increase. To meet its payoutobligations, the INSS will have to use the technicalreserves it has accumulated, but it is estimated thatthese reserves will only last until about 2020. Therehave been proposals to “reform the parameters,” butthe best this might do is enable the system to last for20 more years.If this situation does not change, within 25 or30 years, when the ageing population trend reallybegins to bite, people who reach retirement age aregoing to have to depend more and more for theirsurvival and basic needs on people of working age.But by then the percentage of the population in thisage bracket will have started to decrease.When the majority of working age people reachretirement age they will probably be in informal andprecarious employment and thus condemned to poverty.The “demographic bonus” will have passed itspeak as the percentage of working age people stopsincreasing compared to the dependent populationand in fact starts to decrease. As the proportion ofdependent people (mainly older people) increases,there will be progressive reduction in their labour incomeearnings, causing per capita household incometoo fall. Thus the democratic bonus will give way toone of accentuated “demographic disadvantage.”The future must change nowAccording to Jorge Campos, with the UNFPA inNicaragua, “The demographic opportunity that isopening up will only happen once and it will last for alimited period of time. In order to take advantage ofit, the State will have to invest sufficient funds in theright way starting now. In addition, there will have tobe suitable public policies to ensure that young peoplecan enter the labour market and that they can doso with good levels of education, training and health.If the country does not do this in time, in other wordsstarting today, the opportunity will mutate into a socialcatastrophe with high levels of unemploymentand citizen insecurity, and mass emigration that willno doubt aggravate the situation.” 8An investment of at least 7% of GDP in the publiceducation system is needed to reach basic educationgoals 9 , including:• 100% net enrolment in primary education.• An 80% completion rate for primary education.• A 75% completion rate for secondary education.• An average of nine years of schooling amongthe population as a whole.In order to reach an investment level of 7% of GDPthe current budget allocation to the Ministry of Educationneeds to be doubled, or least brought up tothe equivalent of 6% of GDP. But according to officialbudget projections, the budget for this Ministry,which in 2009 amounted to 4% of GDP, 10 will not onlystop increasing but will actually decrease in the yearsahead; in 2013 it will come to only 3.55% of GDP.This dismal situation will arrive only two years beforethe deadline for reaching the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs).The MDGs target is that by 2015 all childrenshould be able to complete the primary educationcycle. At present this deadline is totally unrealistic;a massive investment effort in education is neededto bring about a radical change in this scenario forthe future. Sadly, this bleak outlook seems inevitableas the country is not making even the least effort torectify the situation.The proportion of young people in Nicaragua’spopulation is decreasing; there are fewer childrenand adolescents to invest in, and these are the peoplewho could pull the country out of poverty. The time toinvest in the young population and change the country’sprospects is now. If this is put off till tomorrowit will be too late. n8 Adital, op. cit.9 El Observador Económico, “Sociedad civil demanda 7% delPIB para educación”, 4 September 2009. Available from:.10 Ibid.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 141 Nicaragua
Nigeria100The quest for foreign direct investment08Although there have been 79some improvements in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria, their3778969753impact is not yet being 100felt by the poor. Legislation 100 favouring FDI should be accompanied bymechanisms that guarantee transparency. Despite the Government’s allocation of financial and otherresources to combat poverty, the sad fact is that poverty has continued to grow at a fast pace over the lastIEG of India = 41 BCI of Indonesia = 90IEG of Indonesia = 5515 years. Civil society organizations have pointed out that practically all projects focused on achievingthe Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are lagging behind.93100 100 100100 100100094100016Socio Economic Rights InitiativeRay OnyeguCentre for Peace and DevelopmentLuke ChukwuLegal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP)Women and Youths in AfricaJudith OgunniranNigerian Trade NetworkChris KakaCivil Society Coalition for Poverty EradicationDr. Dom OkoroThe 1999 Constitution ushered Nigerians into a newdemocratic era and promised that “the security andwelfare of the people shall be the primary purposeof government.” 1 The Government is also obliged tocontrol the national economy in such a manner asto secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happinessof every citizen on the basis of social justiceand equality of status and opportunity. Furthermore,suitable and adequate shelter, suitable and adequatefood, a reasonable minimum wage, pensions andelder care, unemployment benefits, sick benefits andwelfare of the disabled are to be provided.Adequate financing for development is mandatoryin order to respect, protect and fulfil these humanrights obligations. The Government of Nigeria,through its Central Bank, reinforces this point bystating that the supply of finance to diverse sectors ofthe economy will promote the growth of the economyas a whole, which in turn will improve developmentand welfare at a faster rate. 2 The Government hasalso declared that sustaining democratic principles,enhancing security for life and property and rebuildingand maintaining infrastructure are necessary forthe country to attract FDI.Poverty100The Government has taken a number of measures totry to reduce poverty. The 199774budget expressed aclear intention to enter into investment productionagreements – that is, bilateral, regional and multilateraltreaties – with foreign governments and privateorganizations. Nigeria was also 0 one of the countriesthat committed in 2000 to the achievement of theMDGs by 2015.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 61 GEI = 44Children reaching5th grade8139100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5However,BCIongoingof Nigeriapolicy=measures61and programmesdo not seem to be enough to rescue thisoil-exporting country from an unbroken story ofwant and penury. According to UN HABITAT, the povertyrate has spiralled from 46% in 1996 to 76% in2009. 3 Poverty has exacerbated 100 crime, prostitution,HIV and AIDS, general frustration 93 and loss of confidencein the economy. For the majority of Nigerianslife is palpably the same: one of fear, depression,despondence, bitterness and self-deprecation.Foreign direct investment 0Until recently the Nigerian economy was driven100largely by domestic investment. 4 An investigation 99 on100 100the impact of FDI between 1970 and 2001 found thatboth private capital and foreign capital had only hada small effect on economic growth. 5 Yet the countrypossesses multiple BCI of positive Switzerland attributes = 98 for investmentin the energy and other sectors and there is growingconsensus that FDI is essential to realizing its vastpotential. 6 Although laws were introduced in 1965to internationalize the capital market and removerestrictions on FDI and promote the free inflow and100 99outflow of capital – including in the petroleum sector,hitherto jealously guarded – the absence up to nowof adequate mechanisms for making the proceduresEconomic activityEmpowerment47100 77 100Weak economic cooperationAt the regional level the African Economic CommunityTreaty, signed at Abuja in 1991, has not movedbeyond rhetoric. The Treaty was expected to boost100Africa’s share of world trade with the establishmentof an Assembly of Heads of State and Government,a Council of Ministers, a Court 48of Justice, a GeneralSecretariat and seven Specialized Technical Com-3 Onyebuchi Ezigbo, “MDGs – Poverty rate rises to 76 per mittees to deal with integrative economic activitiescent,” All Africa.com, 27 February 0 2009. Available from:0.7 Bolaji Owasanoye, “Sub-Saharan Africa and Development10098 4 Risikat 100Oladoyin S. Dauda, “Trends, Behavioral Patterns 100Finance,” in Selected Essays on Development Finance 97 and100 100 58100 and 100 Growth Implications of Foreign Private Capital Flows 100the Role 100 of the 72 Lawyer in International Debt Operations 100in Nigeria,” IUP Journal of Financial Economics IV, no. 3(Geneva: UNITAR, July 1999), 193. Available from: .IEG of Spain = 77 in Nigeria: An empirical BCI of investigation,” france= 99Journal of PolicyIEG of france 728 Dele Ogbodo, “FDI: Nigeria’s Aggregate Now $20bn”, This2 See the Central Bank of Nigeria website at: .0611000EducationIEG of Nigeria = 44transparent has delayed the inflows of much-neededinvestment. 7FDI is largely tied to trade expansion and exportorientation. Nigeria suffers a major disadvantage inthis regard due to a consistent record of negativetrade and export flows 100 over the years compared tomore developed trading partners. Its primary products,including oil, are subject to the volatility of internationalprices. While a recent report in one of thenational dailies claims that there was a significantincrease in FDI in 2008 – an aggregate23inflow of USD020 billion according to the Executive Secretary of theNigerian Investment Promotion Commission 8 – theeffects of this have yet to be felt on the economy. 92100 71100Moreover, the economic meltdown of 2008 led tocapital flight. It appears that the country’s strongestoption for private capital for development will remainIEG of Switzerland = 62loans rather than bonds, portfolio investment or FDI.98210090100100100National reports 142 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010087
such as the rural economy and agriculture; monetaryand financial affairs; trade, custom and immigration;industry; science and technology; energy, natural resourcesand the environment; transport, communicationand tourism; health; labour and social affairs;and education, culture and human resources.Unfortunately, the laudable ideas conveyed bythe Treaty have yet to effectively materialize. Regionaleconomic cooperation also remains weak and dividedalong ex-colonial lines. For example, the EconomicCommission of West Africa has not achieved as muchas it should have done in this regard due in part toAnglophone and Francophone colonial influence.Towards the MDGsThe Government has taken a number of steps towardsachieving the MDGs. One is the creation of theOffice of the Senior Special Assistant to the Presidenton the Goals (OSSAP-MDGs). Another is the executionof projects specifically targeted to meeting theGoals through Debt Relief Gains (DRGs) funding.The DRG funds derive from the debt relief Nigeria obtainedfrom the Paris Club group of donor nations inSeptember 2005. This released about USD 1 billionper year in debt savings, which allowed the Governmentto channel the funds to pro-poor MDGs-relatedexpenditures and projects.The DRG projects are spread across severalsectors including education, youth, health, defence,agriculture, water resources, social safety nets, housing,environment, women’s affairs, conditional grantsscheme (CGS) and “Quick Wins” (quick and positiveimpact initiatives). They are executed jointly by the FederalGovernment and the other federating units suchas the state and local governments. The CGS takes abottom-up approach to development, which requiresprior consultation with local communities where theprojects will be located in order to identify their needs.In 2007 the OSSAP-MDG began to commissionindependent technical consultants and civil societyorganizations to monitor the implementation of MDGrelatedprojects. According to the Office over 14,500projects/programmes were sponsored in the 2008federal budget through relevant ministries of theFederal Government. The CGS and Stepping StoneNigeria (SSN, a UK-based registered charity workingto protect, save and transform the lives of vulnerableand disadvantaged children in the Niger Delta) ensurethat projects are implemented not only at the federalbut also at the states and local government levels.The OPEN initiative: monitoring andevaluationThe Overview of Public Expenditure (OPEN) in theNational Economic Empowerment and DevelopmentStrategy (NEEDS), Nigeria’s official poverty reductionpaper, involves:• Nigeria’s Virtual Poverty Fund (VPF), a mechanismfor tagging and tracking the performanceof specific poverty-reducing expenditure in thebudget.• A mechanism for monitoring budget line itemsin key sectors aimed at meeting the MDGs andreducing poverty.• A wider process of strengthening public expendituremanagement to leverage additionalexternal resources.• Improving the effectiveness and efficiency ofexisting allocations to ministries, departmentsand agencies.Monitoring and evaluation exercises are part of theOPEN initiative. These are undertaken to periodicallyassess the level of execution of projects and toensure their compliance with project plans as well asguarantee their sustainability. Specifically related tothe MDG-DRG 2008 projects, their purpose is to:• Ensure proper channelling of resources votedfor MDG projects and programmes.• Ensure strict adherence to the implementationplans of approved ministries, departments andagencies for MDG projects in terms of coverage,quality, outputs and outcomes at local levels.• Demonstrate transparent use of Governmentresources, especially the DRG funds, to Nigeriansand the international community.Data are collected at project sites during visitsfrom construction workers as well as beneficiariesand potential beneficiaries of the projects such asteachers, community members and students. Datacollected are both quantitative and qualitative andinvolve taking notes at project sites, interviews withworkers and project beneficiaries. The quantitativedata involve information on construction of toilets,borehole taps, hospital beds and other equipmentsupplied. The qualitative data involve information onthe functionality of a project – for instance, whethera water borehole is working well or a toilet is beingused. In the case of hospital equipment, it is alwaysnecessary to find out if this is in good order and canbe used by hospital workers.Feedback from civil societyCivil society organizations in Nigeria have beendeeply involved in governance matters. Several ofthem are engaged in the monitoring and evaluationof allocation and management of pubic expenditure.For example, the Socio Economic Rights Initiativehas been monitoring and evaluating MDG projectsin the six geopolitical zones in the country. Other organizationsare doing similar things in different partsof the country in various sectors. Feedback showsthat almost all the projects expected to contribute tomeeting the MDGs suffer from delays in executionand huge obstacles remain in all sectors.In the health sector the chances of meeting theMDGs are remote considering the non-implementationof the intervention projects, especially capacitybuildingfor health workers and provision of equipmentto strengthen the Primary Health Centres. Thisproject has the potential of lifting the health status ofNigerians, especially in the rural areas where PHCsare very poorly equipped.In the education sector the state of infrastructuraldecay in the schools visited is alarming. Classroomsand teachers’ furniture are in most cases ina decrepit state. So too are school buildings. Thesanitation situation in those schools without a watersupply, even when they have toilets, is deplorable.So the concern should move beyond merely meetingthe MDGs for this sector in terms of numbersto include ensuring also that pupils receive a qualityeducation. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 143 Nigeria
PALESTINEThe mirage of economic growthThe socio-economic situation in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) has shown some apparentimprovement due to an injection of donor assistance in the West Bank, but the overall picture remainsfragile. This is particularly true in the Gaza Strip, where the continued Israeli siege and blockadeundermines prospects for development, perpetuating a deepening humanitarian crisis.Palestinian NGO NetworkAllam JarrarDespite renewed donor assistance to the WestBank, resulting in an apparent increase in economicgrowth, real GDP growth the occupied Palestinianterritories remains unchanged, and the overall socioeconomicsituation in remains fragile. This is particularlytrue in the Gaza Strip, where the con tinuedIsraeli siege and blockade undermines prospects foremployment and growth. Since the blockade wasimposed in June 2007, the number of refugees livingin abject poverty has tripled. 1 According to the UN,60.5% of households in the Gaza Strip are currently“food insecure.” 2Unemployment in oPt dropped marginally inthe third quarter of 2009 compared to the sameperiod in 2008, to 31.4%. However, unemploymentamong young people stood at 67%. 3 Just onewoman in seven was working. Fully 70% of familieswere living on less than USD 1 a day in May 2008,according to the World Health Organization (WHO).In the third quarter of 2008, 51% of Palestinianslived below the poverty line (56% of Gazans and48% of the West Bank population), with 19% livingin extreme poverty.The International Labour Organization (ILO) attributesthe improvement to an accelerated growthrate and a slightly higher rate of employment, althoughthe rate is still exceptionally low by internationalstandards – roughly 15% in both Gaza and theWest Bank. 4 The unemployment rate in the West Bankis 23% and more than 50% in the Gaza Strip, accord-1 Amnesty International, “Suffocating Gaza–the Israeliblockade’s effects on Palestinians”, 1 June <strong>2010</strong>.Available from: .2 FAO/WFP, Socio-Economic and Food Security Survey <strong>Report</strong>2 – Gaza Strip, November 2009. Available from: .3 IRIN News, “OPT: West Bank health and economy up a bit,Gaza down,” 18 May <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .4 ILO, Annual report on the situation of workers of theoccupied Arab territories, 10 June <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.CHART 1. Labour market – Percentage distribution of population 15 years and abovein the Palestinian territory by labour force status and region (ILO Standards), 2009.Labour Force Statusing to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. 5The Gaza rate is among the highest in the world.The strip is also considered the most aid-dependentarea in the world; according to the WorldFood Program, more than 80% of the populationrelies on food aid. 6 In the second half of 2008,33% of households in the West Bank and 71% ofthose in Gaza received food assistance, with foodaccounting for roughly half of total household expenditures.In May 2008, the UN estimated that56% of Gazans and 25% of West Bank residentswere “food insecure.” 7 At the same time, chronicmalnutrition has risen in Gaza over the past fewyears to reach 10.2%. 8Gaza and the West Bank: a twofold realityIsrael’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has 1.5million inhabitants, has caused the shutdown of 98%of industrial operations since 2007, as well as acuteshortages of fuel, cash, cooking gas and other basicsupplies.5 See: .6 “International aid agency: 80 percent of Gazans now rely onfood aid”, Haaretz, 3 April 2007.7 WFP, FAO and UNRWA, Joint rapid food security survey in theOccupied Palestinian Territory, May 2008. Available from: .8 FAO and WFP, Occupied Palestinian Territory–Foodsecurity and vulnerability analysis report, December 2009.Available from: .PalestinianTerritoryThe ban on imports of building materials has preventedthe rebuilding of some 6,400 homes destroyedor severely damaged by Israel’s military operation inGaza in 2008-09 9 and prevented the construction ofsome 7,500 homes needed for an expanding population.Some 3,500 families are still displaced. 10The blockade and Israel’s military operationdestroyed the water and sanitation infrastructure,including reservoirs, wells, and thousands of kilometersof piping. Water-related health problemsare widespread. Gaza is also suffering an electricitycrisis. The network is only able to meet 70% ofdemand due to insufficient funds to buy fuel for thepower plant and a lack of spare parts, which is causingtechnical failures. 11On the other hand, the West Bank economy hasappeared to be growing since the beginning of 2009,partly due to an influx of donor funds but also becausemovement restrictions have been eased thereand an improved security environment has increasedinvestor confidence and boosted economic activity.The International Monetary Fund pegged growth at7% in 2009. 129 See “Poor and imprisoned,” <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong> 2009: PeopleFirst. Available from: 10 IRIN News, op. cit.11 Ibid.West BankGaza StripFull Employment (working full time: 35 hoursand above per week)28.9 33.3 21.0Working less than usual (lack of employment) 1.7 2.0 1.0Working under poor conditions or forinsufficient income0.8 0.7 1.0Did not work and seeking job 10.2 7.8 14.5Did not work and did not seek job due todiscouragement3.3 3.2 3.4Did not work – Old or illness 6.1 6.2 5.9Did not work – Home duties 27.7 27.0 28.8Did not work – Students 21.3 19.8 24.4Total 100 100 100Source: Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, May <strong>2010</strong>.12 “Signs of Hope Emerge in the West Bank,” New YorkTimes, 16 July 2009. Available from: .National reports 144 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Gaza: a blockade on people’s healthA failing economy, rising unemployment and deteriorating power, sanitationand health facilities are steadily worsening the living conditions and health ofGaza’s population, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).In a press statement released on 1 June <strong>2010</strong>, WHO renewed its call forIsrael to allow unimpeded access into the Gaza Strip for life-saving medicalsupplies, including equipment and medicines, as well as freer movement forhealthcare devices needing repair and people entering and leaving the territoryfor medical training. 1Hundreds of items of equipment procured by WHO and other humanitarianorganizations have been held outside Gaza for up to a year, according toTony Laurance, head of the WHO office for Gaza and the West Bank. Amongthem are CT scanners, x-rays, fluoroscopes, infusion pumps, medical sterilizationgasses, laboratory equipment, uninterrupted power supply batteriesand spare parts for support systems such as elevators.“It is impossible to maintain a safe and effective healthcare systemunder the conditions of siege that have been in place now since June 2007,”Laurance protested. “It is not enough to simply ensure supplies like drugs andconsumables. Medical equipment and spare parts must be available and beproperly maintained.”The blockade of Gaza is debilitating the healthcare system, limiting medicalsupplies and the training of medical personnel and preventing people withserious medical problems from travelling outside the Strip for specializedtreatment.1 WHO, “Unimpeded access of medical supplies needed for Gaza,” Press statement, 1 June<strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .Israel’s 2008-09 military operation damaged 15 of the Gaza’s 27 hospitalsand damaged or destroyed 43 of its 110 primary health care facilities, none ofwhich have been repaired or rebuilt because the blockade includes a ban onimportation of construction materials. 2 Some 15-20% of essential medicinesare commonly out of stock; essential spare parts for many pieces of medicalequipment are frequently unavailable. 3This strangulation of the medical system has stalled a steady decline inthe infant mortality rate over the past few years. The rate may have even risenin Gaza, where it is about 30% higher than in the West Bank. 4 Among reportableinfectious diseases, watery and acute bloody diarrhea and viral hepatitishave become the major causes of morbidity in Gaza.“Very often journalists ask me whether I define the crisis in Gaza as humanitarianand I give this reply: It’s far beyond humanitarian. It’s much moreserious,” declared Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of the UN Relief andWorks Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). 5 “You can address a humanitariancrisis with medicines and food; this is far more serious. It’s a crisis ofthe economy first of all–people are very poor. It’s a crisis of the institutions andit’s a crisis of the infrastructure. This requires years to fix.” n2 IRIN News, “OPT: West Bank health and economy up a bit, Gaza down,” 18 May <strong>2010</strong>.Available from: .3 Ibid.4 Ibid.5 Ibid. For more information on UNRWA work see: .Healthcare services also have improved in theWest Bank over the past year due to the easing ofmovement restrictions and the efforts of the PalestinianMinistry of Health, with support from donorsand other stakeholders. However, the impactof Israel’s “Separation Wall” and restricted accessto hospitals in East Jerusalem, where nearly 50%of Health Ministry referrals were directed in 2009,remain areas of concern (see box). 13Movement and isolationRestricted access remains the main factor limitingeconomic growth. Sporadic closures and unstablepolitical conditions in the West Bank continue todisrupt work and curtail productivity.Restrictions on access and movement in the WestBank, including East Jerusalem, include the separationwall, checkpoints and other physical obstacles, togetherwith an increasingly sophisticated permit system.The number of checkpoints and physical obstructionsclimbed above 620 during the year 2009, accordingto the UN Office for the Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs (OCHA). These impediments continue to chokeeconomic activity and damage the social fabric, alongwith the well-being of the population.13 IRIN News, op. cit.Israeli efforts to reduce the number of Palestiniansliving and working in East Jerusalem are steadilyisolating it from the rest of the West Bank. The Arabinhabitants of East Jerusalem face multiple forms ofdiscrimination. In Israel as a whole, unemploymentis much higher among Arab citizens, and discontenthas been growing. A recent survey by the Universityof Haifa revealed that 48% of Israel’s Arab citizensare dissatisfied with their lives in the Jewish State,compared to 35% in 2003. 14 One factor has beenthe Israeli Government’s announcement that it willcontinue with the expansion of settlements in EastJerusalem, despite the protests of civil society organizations.15Challenges aheadThe bleak economic, social and humanitarian situationin the OPT violates citizen rights and human14 Sawsan Ramahi, “Israel’s discrimination against its Arabcitizens,” Middle East Monitor, June <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.15 “Netanyahu: Israel will keep building in Jerusalem,”Haaretz, 15 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .dignity on a daily basis, closing off all opportunitiesfor economic advancement.While aid remains essential for economic andsocial development, the major challenge confrontingPalestinian society remains the Israeli occupation.Therefore the purpose of any support provided tothe Palestinians apart from humanitarian assistanceshould be to assist the Palestinian community inachieving national development. The challenge is toopen up this process by ensuring that Palestiniansare included in the process and participate in shapingthe development agenda. This would reorientcooperation between local and international actorsto ensure that their policies more closely reflectedpeople’s aspirations and needs.The development process must include moreinclusive economic and social policies and at thesame time bring about dialogue and understandingbetween the peoples in the region. Economic andsocial development that ensures the well-being ofthe Palestinian people requires a political solutionto the conflict based on the creation of an independent,democratic and viable Palestinian State living inpeace and security with all its neighbours. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 145 Palestine
100paraguayGrowth should follow social justice16096100Paraguay’s current Government has set three priority focus areas: social and human development, a productive9753economy and institutional policy. Thanks to increased income from taxation and plans for developmentassistance, there are now more resources to meet the needs of the people, invest in infrastructure and stillcomply with debt commitments. The Government should also revise the existing development model inIEG of Indonesia = 55order to bring about a fairer distribution of wealth and provide better protection for vulnerable populationsectors. To do this, the State will have to coordinate its efforts with organizations from all sectors of society.100 10081DECIDAMOS, Campaña por la Expresión CiudadanaMaría Magdalena Molinas Maldonado 1José Guillermo Monroy Peralta 100 2Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 8987 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 67EmpowermentAt the end of 2000, the Government of Paraguay47started to formulate a national strategy to combatpoverty, which by the end of 2003 had become0 9concrete document with plans and programs for00the period 2003-2008, although the time frame for829798some of its goals extends 47 to 2015. The main aim56100 100 77 100100 100100 100is to cut extreme poverty by half by 2015, and the Births attended byplan establishes public policy to bring this about. It skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationconsists of nine programmes to generate economicIEG of Nigeria = 44does not generateBCI ofsufficientParaguayemployment= 89or reduceunder-employment. 5The country’s economic recovery was basedon increased production of its main crops (e.g. soybeans),growth in the construction sector (public and••IEG of Paraguay = 67old is a paltry 7.5 years.private), higher production 100 in the livestock sector, a100•greater volume of trade and an 85 expansion in transport.All these activities were stimulated by a highat 5.4%.level of domestic financial liquidity, competitive internationalprices, the recovery of foreign markets and,Debt and growthabove all, the fact that the main nominal variables240have been predictable, thanks to macroeconomic0stability in recent years, which is vitally important for90enterprises to be able to calculate their costs. 97 646100 100Alongside this economic recovery, the tax yieldhas also been increasing steadily, providing the Statewith greater resources to address the population’ssocial needs, invest BCI of in Suriname economic = infrastructure 91 andIEG of Suriname = 56meet debt service commitments.However, the country has serious problems inthat the economy is rather uncompetitive due to poorroad infrastructure, technological backwardness andlow levels of education among the workforce.100 93100• Only 6,700 of the 60,000 kilometres of roadsopportunity and social protection and improve thesituation as regards clean water, universal education,maternal mortality and under-five child mortality. Italso aims at reducing illiteracy by 50%, providingmore options for primary education, and makingreproductive health services 100 accessible to the wholepopulation. 3Average schooling among people over 25 yearsSome 90% of people aged 19 to 25 in the poorestquintile do not receive any training (567,000people).In 2007, the illiteracy rate was still very highEconomic recoveryThe first 10 years of the 21st century has been a99100period of steady economic recovery23for Paraguay.0After decades of stagnation and negative variationsin gross domestic product (GDP), the country’s realproduct has increased consistently since 2000. 92 The100 71100average growth rate in 2003-2008 was 4.8% peryear, far above the annual rate of 0.85% in the periodAccording to the Central Bank, as a result of the internationalcrisis the country’s GDP at the end of 2009showed a negative growth rate (-3.8%) comparedto the previous year, but the forecast for <strong>2010</strong>97is favourable(up to 6% growth). Per capita GDP also100 100went down, the rate was -5.5%, and in real terms this1995-2002. 4amounted to USD 1,471 in 2009 as against USD 1,557IEG of Switzerland = 62However, according to Minister of Public Financein 2008. This negative change in 2009 was partly theDionisio Borda, this growth has not been enough togenerate decent jobs, and this is clear, for example,from the fact that under-employment increased from24.2% to 26.5% in the period 2004-2008. These inconsistenciesresult of a fall of around 20%, in constant terms, in externaldemand, and the value of the country’s exportsin dollars has deceased considerably because pricesfor its main export products have fallen.reflect the dual nature of the economyIn 2009, the agriculture sector’s share of GDP100– part formal, part informal, part mechanized and partdecreased from 20.2% to 16%, and commerce, withartisan – and in times of prosperity economic growthcan be used all the year round, and each year an 18.1% share, now ranks higher 52 than agriculture48only 100 kilometres are provided with allweatheror industry and is the country’s most important eco-1 Maestra en Ciencias <strong>Social</strong>es por la FLACSO-México,Especialista en políticas sociales, monitoreo y evaluación desurfaces.nomic activity.In September 2009, Paraguay’s external debtprogramas sociales. 00stood at USD 2,270 million. 0 8 For the sixth year in2 Doctor en Ciencias <strong>Social</strong>es por la FLACSO-Argentina.succession, foreign public debt, as a percentage of100 3 UNICEF-Paraguay, Inversión en la Infancia en Paraguay 97y10099 GDP, has decreased: 72 in 2005 the rate was 52.1% 97 and 74100 análisis 100 de su impacto 72 en algunos indicadores relacionados 100con la niñez. Asunción, September 2007. Available from:. BCI of USA 97 7 Dionisio Borda, IEG op. cit. of USA 744 Government of the Republic of Paraguay. Informe de Gestiónde Gobierno 2003-2008. July 2008, 16.6 Central Bank of Paraguay. <strong>2010</strong> GDP Estimations. Asunción,March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .8 Central Bank of Paraguay. 2008 Preliminary Economic<strong>Report</strong>. Available from: .100100100National reports 146 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010087
possible thanks to amortizations, which have beensteadily reducing the balance of the debt. 9<strong>Social</strong> investmentThe current Fernando Lugo administration (2008-2013)has undertaken to work in three broad areas: socialand human development, a more productive economyand institutional policy. This plan is structured in threephases: the period of crisis (which means starting froma low position), national adjustment to cope with thecrisis, and the 2013 legacy, and it is made up of projectsthat will mostly be consolidated in 2011, which is alsothe bicentennial of the country’s independence.Programs already in place include: the maintenanceand expansion of the social protection network,the introduction of primary health care as apriority model to reach the sectors most in need,the Programme of Integrated Attention for Childrenliving on the streets with no family links, the NationalPlan for Food and Nutritional Sovereignty and Security,the Emergency Action Plan for indigenouspopulations, an agriculture reform policy that willgive peasants access to land and the establishmentby the Presidency of a human rights network.Various studies of the budget by UN agencies inParaguay show that in recent years social investmentin areas connected to the MDGs has increased. Forexample, according to data from the Organizationfor Economic Cooperation and Development, socialinvestment in 2008 amounted to 7,089 million Paraguayanguarani (some USD 1,470 million), which wasaround 48% of the budget for general expenditure.This was much higher than the figure for social investmentin 2003, which was just over USD 550 millionand accounted for 36% of the budget that year.Financing for developmentCooperation and aid for development is provided bya range of public and private actors in higher incomecountries, and its purpose is to promote sustainableeconomic and social progress to bring the countriesof the South into a more balanced relation with thoseof the North.In Paraguay, information about the forms developmentaid takes is not systematized or published,but according to European Union documents in theperiod 2000-2006 the EU contributed funds for thefollowing:• To modernize the State and develop its institutions(11.6%).• To develop production, increase competitivenessand promote integration into the SouthernCommon Market (Mercosur) (42%).9 Government of the Republic. Secretariat for <strong>Social</strong> Actionand UNDP, National Strategy to Reduce Poverty andInequality. “Jahapo’o Teko Asy”. Asunción, 2003.• For social development and to reduce poverty(46.4%).Between 2007 and 2013 the EU will provide funds ofjust under USD 149 million, which will go mainly tothe following areas:• Education (primary, secondary and vocational)81.2%.• Regional and international integration 18.8%.For the period 2007-2011 the UNDP in Paraguay isconcentrating on three spheres of services, and itsstrategy is based on consultancy support for theformulation of public policies and the provision ofdevelopment services. 10The German Agency for Technical Cooperation(GTZ) has more than 30 years of experience in developmentcooperation and is one of the oldest agenciesin Paraguay. In the most recent bilateral negotiations,in October 2006, GTZ agreed to provide assistanceuntil <strong>2010</strong> for the modernization and decentralizationof the State, including poverty reduction.The US Agency for International Development(USAID) is also active in Paraguay. Its assistancecomes through a number of channels including privateUS and Paraguayan institutions and local andinternational NGOs. Its strategic plan for 2001-2006focused on the following:• Democracy – to institute key democratic practicesfor improved governance.• The environment – to improve the sustainablemanagement of globally important ecoregions.• Health – to increase the voluntary use of reproductivehealth services.• Economic growth – to raise poor people’s incomesin selected areas.In cooperation with the Millennium Challenge Corporation,USAID is promoting the Threshold Programme,an attempt to tackle corruption by attackingimpunity along with informality in the economy. Theprogram was approved by the Corporation’s directingcouncil in February 2006 and has approximatelyUSD 35 million in funding.In November 2009 Spain and the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank (IDB) allocated USD 52million to help expand access to potable water andsanitation services in small rural and indigenouscommunities. The funds include a donation of USD40 million from the Spanish Cooperation Fund forWater and Sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbeanand a loan of USD 12 million from the ordinarycapital of the IDB. The IDB has programmed global10 UNDP-Paraguay, Document of Programme for Paraguay2007-2011.cooperation amounting to some USD 1,000 millionduring the Lugo administration. These loans will beused to build roads and infrastructure and to providesocial assistance.MDGs: analysis and challengesAccording to the Statistics, Surveys and Census Office,in 2008 some 37.9% of the total populationof the country were living in poverty – some 19%in extreme poverty. 11 To make matters worse, the2009 world economic crisis resulted in an additional300,000 people living below the poverty line. Thismakes it unlikely that Goal 1, to reduce the proportionof people in extreme poverty by half will be attained.With regard to Goals 2 and 3 (achieving universalprimary education and promoting gender equalityand empower women), gender parity in primaryand secondary education, girls are nearly on an equalfooting with boys, but there are still problems of alack of schools in some areas, poor infrastructureand children dropping out of school.In addition, Paraguay needs policies and programmesto empower women by enabling them tofully exercise citizenship and be equally representedin public decision-making arenas. It is urgent tobring a gender perspective into the mainstream andmake it effective in the policies the State designs andimplements, and there should be a budget to financeaction to institutionalize gender equality.With regard to Goals 4 and 5, to reduce maternaland infant mortality, policies are needed in order toimprove access to health services, widen coverage,and provide better attention during pregnancy, atbirth and in the post-natal care period. It is importantto strengthen the design, collection, processing andopportune publication of data in this area.As regards Goal 6, although a big effort has beenmade to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS, there isstill discrimination against people living with HIV andnot all those affected have access to antiretroviralmedicines. Other MDGs that seem nearly as far awayas ever are Goal 7, environmental sustainability andGoal 8, the global alliance for development.To sum up, it is clear from the way the presentGovernment has put concrete plans and programsonto practice that their intentions are to make everyeffort to improve the social situation of the peopleand work towards achieving the MDGs. However,this is itself is not enough, and there will have to begreater and more effective coordination not only betweengovernment and donors, but also and particularlybetween government and civil society actors. n11 Dirección General de Estadística, Encuestas y Censos.Estadísticas Recientes sobre Pobreza. Encuesta Permanentede Hogares 2007, Asunción, August 2008 and Mejorade la metodología de medición de pobreza en Paraguay.Resultados 1997-2008. Asunción, 2009.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 147 Paraguay
peruMore money but the same social injusticeIn spite of marked growth in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and an increased public sectorbudget, which has doubled in the last 20 years, social investment in Peru has actually fallen. Since 1990 theinfluence of the international financial institutions on social policies has not only failed to significantly reduceextreme poverty and hunger; it has served as an excuse for the Government to do nothing in this area. TheState has not undertaken a much-needed reform of the tax system, organized a universal social security systemfinanced from taxes nor made budget allocations to tackle issues related to gender or the environment.100Comité de <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> en PerúCentro de Estudios para el Desarrollo y la Participación(CEDEP)100Héctor BéjarBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 88 95Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 70EmpowermentWhile State expenditure has doubled 47 in the last 2047years, public investment in this period has beenso small as to be insignificant. The State has not0given priority to the needs of the most vulnerable00sectors of the population, claiming to be following97989899guidelines laid down 56by the international financial100 100 100100 71100100 63100institutions. These guidelines have also led to favourableBirths attended byconditions (such as tax breaks and a lack of skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationlabour regulation) for private investment, which hasIEG of Paraguay = 67over the debts ofBCItheofsocialPerusecurity= 88system. By rightsthese should have been passed on to the new pensionfunds, the Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones(AFP), but these private organizations have only takenon the assets (and not the liabilities) of the previoussystem. What is more, 100 the current Government hastaken advantage of the situation 78 to report a figure forsocial expenditure that is higher than what was in factinvested (in hospitals and schools, for example).Some 12.5% of the budget – over USD 3 billion– was allocated to foreign debt payments, 1 and0according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance(MEF) a similar amount was spent on pensions. Butthe Government itself acknowledges that 878142in recent100 100years real debt service payments exceeded the figurespecified in the budget and the difference was madeIEG of Peru = 70100370increased over the period. But the conditions thatthe multilateral aid organizations have imposed onPeru in exchange for resources – that is to say, thecountry’s commitments to external bodies – shouldnot be used as an excuse for the State’s failure todischarge its responsibility 100 to pursue the greatestpossible well-being of the country’s people.It is absolutely essential for the country to adopta change in policies, a far-reaching tax reform sothat wealth is redistributed in a much more equitableway, a universal social security system, greater240independence in terms of setting priorities for publicinvestment and for how aid resources are used, andawareness-raising among 46 all stakeholders about97the100 100importance of incorporating measures to protectthe environment and promote gender equality in thenational budget. If the country does not start to doIEG of Suriname = 56this it will not be able to reduce real poverty and willnot make progress towards the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs).rest was obtained through various credit operations.In other words, while from the accounting point ofview it was a balanced budget, in practice there is apermanent deficit that is covered by loans contractedin the domestic market and abroad.Tax pressure in Peru is 14%, which is fourpoints lower than the average in Latin America. Themain taxes are on income, imports, production, consumptionand fuel. Physical persons pay more ontheir income than legal entities, and production andconsumption are taxed at a higher rate than income.There are no taxes on wealth and property. The tax on97income covers 20% of the public sector budget.83Thanks to Legislative Decrees No. 662 for the100 100 100Promotion of Foreign Investment and No. 757, theFramework Law for Private Investment – both fromup by re-financing operations carried out by the MEF 1991 – enterprises are guaranteed the following:without any kind BCI of of consultation Uganda = or 69IEG of Uganda = 67debate. 2• A special regime in company income tax.The resources• Free availability of foreign currency.The Peruvian State has two sources of finance: income• Freedom to remit profits, dividends and otherWhat the State costsfrom taxation and loans placed on the inter-income.It is almost impossible to make an efficient evaluation national and domestic markets in the form of “sovereignbonds.” Out of the total budget in 2009 – USD100100• The use of the most 100favourable exchange rates.of the budget because of the lack of transparency. In• The right to contract workers under any modalpractice,it is managed through 52 supplementary creditsgranted by Congress, which gives the Executive various kinds of taxes, including municipal taxes24.6 billion – just under USD 721 billion came fromity without being subject to any law, includingunder conditions that contravene legal regulations.the freedom to act outside what has been passed in and levies or “canons,” which are payments madethe budget law. The official figures that are issued are by foreign enterprises operating in the country. 3 20The99thus no more than general indications.0For example, according to official figures, thecountry’s GDP 72in 2009 was PEN 411 billion (a 97little01 Public sector law for the 2009 fiscal year.742 Armando Mendoza, Campaña por un Presupuesto 97 conUnder this regime, 278 large 0 enterprises have beenable to reduce the 36 amount they pay in income taxby up to 80%, costing the State at least USD 99 375100 100 100over USD 140 billion) and the budget in that year was derechos 100 2009 (Lima: Red Jubileo Perú, 2009). 100100million a year. 4100USD 24.6 billion, which was a big increase over the1990 figure of USD 10 billion. This growth in expenditure3 According to a report by the National Society of Mining,Petroleum and Energy, Mundo Minero in May 2007, in thewas presented IEG to of the USA public 74 as social invest-BCI of nicaracgua = 812006 fiscal year the mining canon yielded some USD 1,225(50% of the tax on income). The income from both the mining 4 National Tax Administration IEG of nicaragua Superintendent, Estimaciónment, but that was just a smokescreen to conceal canon and fees was subsequently distributed by the Statede los efectos de los convenios de estabilidad tributaria,what really happened, which was that the State took among 22 departments and regions and 1,753 municipalities. September 2002.10010010010010099100National reports 148 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010099
Lost capitalPeru is a forced exporter of capital. It sends abroadan average of USD 2.5 billion per year in foreign debtservice payments and USD 3.2 billion in the form ofprofit remittances.On 30 September 2009, Peru’s public debtamounted to USD 31.3 billion (USD 20.3 billion inforeign debt and about USD 11 million in domesticdebt). In addition, the country has immobilized reservesof USD 35.4 billion. Since 2000 Peru has paidsome USD 50 billion to the Paris Club, the UnitedStates Treasury and the head offices of the transnationalenterprises that operate in the country. 5Investment and espionageAccording to the Central Reserve Bank, privateinvestment amounts to 16% of GDP while publicinvestment comes to only 2.8% of GDP. On top ofthat the actual payment of public expenditure is extremelyslow; according to Red Jubileo Perú, an NGOnetwork specializing in public debt, for example, byOctober 2009, only 30% of the budget allocations forthat year had been paid. 6Private investmentAt the present time Peru has 45 contracts for gasand petroleum exploration in force and a further 19for exploitation of these resources, which togethergenerate investments of around USD 4 billion. Inaddition, 19 more lots have been put out to tender, ofwhich 12 are in the Amazon region.Deforestation and the poisoning of water and theatmosphere are everyday occurrences in Peru, andpeople in the Andes and Amazon regions are rising upin protest. Private investment in oil, gas and mininghas led to widespread corruption in the governmentsector, and this has spawned a range of illegal activitiesincluding the tapping of rival enterprise and Statetelephone and Internet communications, bribingjudges and public officials, buying journalists, privatearmies of spies, shock troops and threats against opponentsand critical members of the press.<strong>Social</strong> investmentAccording to UNICEF the proportion of GDP allocatedto social public expenditure increased from7.9% of the public sector budget in 2000 to 9.2% in2005, while according to the MEF social expenditurewent up to 6% of GDP in 2009. 7 One way or anotherapproximately half of public spending goes to socialsectors. But the figures issued by internationalorganizations include expenditure on pensions forstate employees and this masks the real situation. Netsocial expenditure (non-provisional social spending)is much less and in fact amounts to only 27% of thebudget today in contrast to 37% in the 1990s, so inrelative terms it has actually decreased.Budget conditioningFor many years the international financial organizationshave directed and placed conditions on socialpolicy in Peru. For example, continuation of the “Juntos”(Together) Program was one of the IMF/WorldBank conditions for renewing financial assistance tothe country in 2008. 8 This year the World Bank approveda loan of USD 330 million for Peru to financesocial expenditure and anti-cyclical measures tocope with the impact of the world financial crisis. TheBank stated that this was the second programmedloan for social sector reform geared at supportingeducation, health services and social programs including“Juntos.”These organizations are also promoting ascheme called Budget by Results. In article 13 of the<strong>2010</strong> Budget Law, Budget by Results is establishedfor the following:• Non-transmissible diseases, tuberculosis, HIVand metaxenic diseases and zoonosis (which willbe the responsibility of the Ministry of Health).• Learning achievements in primary educationand alternative basic education (Ministry ofEducation).• Child labour (Ministry of Labour).• Domestic violence, sexual violence and foodsecurity (Ministry of Women and <strong>Social</strong> Development).• Environment sustainability (Ministry of the Environment).• A widening of the taxbase (National Tax AdministrationSuperintendent).InequalityIncome levels in the poorest sectors of societyhave risen but the income gap has widened. Whileopening up trade has served to reduce inequality,opening up the financial sector (through foreigndirect investment) and technological progress haveincreased the rewards for the more highly skilledwhile limiting opportunities for economic progress.In Peru, 35% of income goes to the top decile ofthe population and a meagre 1.6% to the lowestdecile. 9Implementation of the Law of Equal Opportunitiesfor Men and Women, 10 which is an attempt toestablish a suitable regulatory framework for genderequality based on budget allocations, has been impeded,paradoxically, by the lack of specific budgetallocations in this area.The environment problemThe main consequences of global warming in Peruwill be that the glaciers will retreat, the El Niño phenomenonwill become more frequent and more intenseand the sea level will rise.According to the National Environment Council,in the last 22 to 35 years some 22% of glaciersurface area has been lost, which is equivalent to 7billion cubic metres of ice or 10 years of water consumptionin the city of Lima, and this effect is moremarked in small glaciers and those lower down.Projections indicate that by 2025 all glaciers in thecountry under 5,500 metres above sea level willhave disappeared.Specialists have calculated that the economiccost of damage to the environment amounts to3.9% of GDP, and the effects are felt mainly by thevery poor. A study sponsored by the World Bankestimated that the economic cost of damage to theenvironment, the reduction in natural resources,natural disasters and inadequate environmentalservices was in the region of USD 2.8 billionin 2006. 11 However, in the period 1999 to 2005,public expenditure on the environment came to amere 0.01% of GDP, a figure that shows only tooclearly that there is no political will to halt or eventry to slow down the current rate of environmentaldeterioration. n5 MEF, Economics Transparency Portal. Available from: (accessed 15 April<strong>2010</strong>).6 Armando Mendoza, op. cit.7 Dirección de Presupuesto del MEF (MEF Taxation Office).8 Juntos was set up in 2005 as a national program to providedirect support for the very poor. It is aimed in particularat rural families to combat chronic child malnutrition andextreme poverty by the payment of a monthly conditionalcash transfer of USD 34.9 IMF, World Economic Outlook, 17 October 2007.10 Congress of the Republic. Available from: .11 World Bank, Análisis ambiental del Perú: Retos para undesarrollo sostenible (Washington, DC: World Bank, May2007).<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 149 Peru
poland10082Aid for development without clear guidelines0100110A former recipient of development assistance and now a donor country, 81Poland is a player in reducing878544the world development 100gap. However, despite this 100 new role on the 100 international political scene, 100 thecountry is still facing side effects of the transition into a market economy. In addition, the impact ofthe world financial crisis is becoming noticeable in the national economy and, in consequence, byBCI of Kenya = 71IEG of Kenya = 59households.Network of East-West Women / NEWW-PolskaAgnieszka NowakMonika Popow100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9997 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 70EmpowermentAt the start of the economic transition 47 in 1989, Poland’s45Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell sharplyand the rate of poverty increased significantly. The0National Statistical Office estimates the rate of extreme00poverty at 5.6% in 2008 compared to 6.6% in98100999969962007. The relative poverty rate was 17.3% in 2007100 100 63100100 100100 100and 17.6% in 2008. The percentage of people living Births attended byin households with expenditure levels lower than the skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationpoverty threshold was 10.6% in 2008 and to 14.6%IEG of Peru = 70in 2007. 1Education BCI of Poland = 99IEG of Poland = 70can afford expensive medical care and the vast majorityHowever, differences among social groups are Poland has high levels of enrolment throughout theof the population is excluded from high qualitywidening. It is highly probable that the current decreaseeducation system. Universal access to education services.in family income will cause further pauperiza-is guaranteed, with literacy rates nearing 100%. There is large deficit regarding sexual and re-tion of the middle and lower class. The increasing Among the population over 16 years old, women productive rights in Poland. The limited access tosocial exclusion influences 100the democratic process: are better educated than 100 men: 19.5% of females contraceptives, the lack 100 of family planning counselingonly 25% of Poles feels they can have an effect on the received secondary education, 96and 9% higher educationand high-quality maternal care for all womenState; 72% claims it is beyond their capabilities. 2(compared to 16.4% and 14.8% of males all violate human rights. The country has receivedThe groups most endangered by social exclusioninclude poor families, single 37parents, orphans, In spite of this, the Polish educational system in this regard. The Committee on the Elimination ofrespectively). 5several admonishments from international agencies45disabled, chronically ill and elderly people. Since continues to be discriminatory in terms of gender, Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) instructed0women are predominantly responsible for taking0especially at the tertiary level. Women constitute0Poland to implement measures aimed at expandingwomen’s access to health care, and urged thatcare of children as well as elderly or disabled membersof their families, it may be assumed that poverty do not participle in decision-making processes. Ad-research be carried out on the extent, causes andhalf of the students, sometimes even more, but they8781831009997100 100affects women more than men. 3100100 100100 64100ditionally, the gender gap in salaries, promotions, consequences of illegal abortion and its impact onAccording to the National Statistics Office, the work conditions and degrees is widening. Also, the women’s health. 7registered unemployment rate amounted to 8.5% at problem of balancing professional career and family At the same time, services such as birth deliveryIEG of Uganda = 67the end of 2009 – 8.2% for men and 8.8% for women.life is neglected BCI in higher of Uruguay education. = 98 IEG of Uruguay = 69Female scientist or epidural anesthetics on demand without medi-4 What should be added is that Poland is lacks discrimination is clearly illustrated by the fact that, in cal prescriptions are paid extra cash. Women haveeffective recruitment of women, especially those spite that 65% of all graduates are female, women’s to bear the high cost of childbirth if they want theirover 50 years old, into the economy as well as regulationsparticipation in the academy decreases after the first partner to be present during the birth, or get anythingthat counteract discrimination against women degree: 49% of PhD-graduates are women and the other than the standard anesthetic. This deepens dein the labour market, such as the reluctance to employthem because of their maternal role.16% get a full professorship. 6Immigrationhabilitated female professors reach 35%, while only divide between the rich and the poor.100100 94100HealthCompared to other EU countries 48 Poland has a relativelyshort immigration history. For years Polish1 National Statistics Office. Household situation in 2008 in thelight of household budget research. Available from: .0with the State in health care 0 provision, the system inflows. During the period 0 1989-2004 immigration2 Public Opinion Research36Center. Available from: .99 be additionally 99 paid for. Only a small group of 99people100 3 Feminoteka 100 Foundation. Women in Poland during transition 100100 100100 100discussed mostly in terms of human rights and1989-2009. Available from: [in Polish].the population report from EU-SILC survey of 2007 and4 National Statistics Office. Monitoring the Labour Market.2008. Available from: .BCI of costa rica = 97 IEG of costa rica 67Quarterly information on the labour market. Available from:.6 Andrea Rothe, et al., “Gender Budgeting as a ManagementStrategy for Gender Equality at Universities,” Munich, 2008, 22.100crisis,” in Beijing and beyond: Putting gender economics atthe forefront, <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>, <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .National reports 150 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010099
efugee protection, border protection and the repatriationof ethnic Poles from countries belongingto the former Soviet Union, rather than in terms ofsocial or economic policy. 8Since Poland is a relatively poor country, immigrationproblems are underestimated by the authorities.In theory Poland pursues a policy of integrationbased on European standards; in fact, foreignerswho manage to integrate do so mainly due to theirown determination and actions. 9Accession to the EU in May 2004 required theincorporation of EU norms and rules into domesticlegislation, and the development of institutional capacityin this policy area. In June 2004, the Act onthe Promotion of Employment and Institutions ofthe Labour Market came into force. It specifies whocan be granted a work permit, a temporary residencepermit, a ‘tolerated stay’ or ‘temporary protection’status. Despite institutional and legislative adaptationto EU standards, Poland has not yet developedan immigration policy that includes the integrationof foreigners. Policies have instead concentrated onrefugees, the repatriation of ethnic Poles and foreignspouses of Polish nationals. 10There are no structures enabling immigrantsto influence political decisions at any level. Thereare no consultative bodies, nor immigrants’ parties.Also, the question of voting rights at the locallevel for non-citizens is not being discussed – eitherby the Government or political parties, NGOs or theimmigrants themselves. 11 So far, active civic participationof immigrants is limited to activities aimed atimproving the immigrant communities’ social andeconomic situation, and at maintaining ethnic, religiousand cultural identity.Development aidIn 2008, Polish Official Development Assistance(ODA) amounted to PLN 900 million (USD 272.6million), equivalent to 0.08% of GNI. In 2006 ODAamounted to PLN 922.2 million (USD 279.3 million).This means that, for the first time since Poland accessedthe EU, the level of Polish ODA has decreased.In 2008 the country made no progress in ensuring asteady increase of ODA funding. This despite the factthat in <strong>2010</strong> Polish ODA is targeted to reach 0.17% ofthe GNI, increasing to 0.33% by 2015. 12Polish ODA consists of multilateral assistance(provided through international organizations)and bilateral assistance (provided directly throughPolish institutions, organizations and other bodies).Multilateral assistance consists of payments madeinto the EU budget and that of other international or-ganizations, and of funds such as the United Nationsagencies, the European Development Fund (EDF),the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund(IMF), the European Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment (EBRD) and the European InvestmentBank (EIB). Bilateral assistance is coordinated by theMinistry of Foreign Affairs, but includes expendituresby other Polish ministries, such as the Ministry ofLabour, the Ministry of Education and others. Thesefunds are allocated in co-financing projects conductedby public administration bodies and NGOs. 13The channels for providing Polish foreign assistanceare: food aid, scholarships, financial assistance,technical assistance and humanitarian aid.In 2006, Poland ratified the Food Aid Convention,although so far the country has not provided anyforeign food aid within the framework of developmentcooperation.A large amount of Polish ODA is allocated inscholarships for students from developing and transitioncountries. The K. Kalinowski Scholarship Program,established in March 2006 by Prime MinisterKazimierz Marcinkiewicz, is addressed to Belarusianstudents, who have been expelled from Belarusianuniversities due to their defense of democratic values.The program is implemented in co-operationwith the Ministry of Education and Science and coordinatedby the Centre for East European Studiesof the Warsaw University. 14 Although such expendituresare being reported as ODA, they do not fulfill theOECD DAC criteria. 15Technical assistance is intended to support thedevelopment of human resources, increasing thequalifications and technical and productive capacitiesof developing countries. This kind of assistancetakes various forms including training, delegationof experts, study tours, scholarships and other activitiesundertaken within the framework of projectsimplemented by government administration bodies,local governments and NGOs.Humanitarian aid comes from the State budgettarget reserve administered by the DevelopmentCooperation Department of the Ministry of ForeignAffairs. Humanitarian aid is carried out in line withthe principles of the Good Humanitarian Donorshipand the European Consensus on Humanitarian Aid.Poland’s priority countries for humanitarian aid areSudan, Chad and Iraq. At the same time Warsawoften cooperates directly with humanitarian organizationsoperating locally in time of disasters as wellas with local NGOs.Since 2008 the Polish army has been involvedin the distribution of development aid, particularlyin Afghanistan. According to some NGO critics,“choosing the military as an implementing agentfor aid activities undermines the effectiveness ofdevelopment cooperation, which is heavily dependenton the approach, motivations and goals of thoseresponsible for aid implementation.” 16The objectives of Polish ODAPoland’s main foreign assistance goals are the reductionof poverty and the fulfillment of other MDGs incountries receiving Polish assistance; and ensuringdemocracy, the rule of law, civil society developmentand respect for human rights in Eastern Europe.Priority countries for Polish foreign assis tanceare Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Afghanistan, Iraq,Georgia, Angola, Vietnam and the Palestinian Authority.Bilateral assistance addressed to prioritycountries goes primarily to the Newly IndependentStates (NIS): Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.The premises of Polish ODA are consistentwith the MDGs and the development policy of theEuropean Union. Its main objectives include “supportfor sustainable economic growth, respect forhuman rights, democracy, rule of law and goodgovernance, promotion of global security and stability,transfer of experiences from the field of Polishpolitical trans-formation, development of humanresources, support for development of the publicadministration and local structures, environmentalprotection and prevention of environmental problemsand providing emergency humanitarian andfood aid.” 17Polish development cooperation, and the implementationof its foreign assistance program, arenew areas of foreign policy which have not beencovered by comprehensive legislation. In addition,the data is not disaggregated by sex. The usual procedureof the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to sumup the amounts of Polish foreign assistance andannounce them in relation to the countries and notto particular actions.Polish foreign assistance lacks some basicdefinitions. There is a strong need to assure properlycoordinated development assistance (in compliancewith the requirements of the EU) as well as the needto create effective and efficient financial mechanismsand of creating a clear institutional and legalframework. Solutions successfully tested in otherdeveloped countries should also be implementedand applied in order to guarantee the continuity of thePolish development policy and the effective achievementof the set goals. n8 K. Iglicka, “Poland: Waiting for immigrants. But do wereally want them?” Centro Studi Di Politica Internazionale.Available from: .9 Ibid.10 See: .11 Iglicka, op. cit.12 Zagranica Group, Polish Development Assistance 2008.Independent <strong>Report</strong> of Non-governmental Organizations.Available from: .13 See: .14 Polish Aid. See: .15 Zagranica Group, Polish Development Assistance 2008, op.cit.16 Ibid.17 Justification of the Act on Polish Development Assistance.See: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 151 Poland
portugalAssistance for development must be increased and improvedPortugal has pledged to fulfil its international commitments regarding Official Development Assistance(ODA). However, the effects of the worldwide economic crisis make this questionable. As well asincreasing the volume of assistance, the transparency of the process must improve, the target sectorsmust be selected with more human rights criteria and greater medium as well as long-term predictabilitymust be achieved. To this end, civil society should take on a more active and, above all, more constantrole in monitoring ODA decisions.100100<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Portugal; OikosJoão José Fernandes 1Catarina Cordas 2Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100 99BCI = 99 GEI = 73Children reaching5th grade100EmpowermentThe Millennium Declaration, signed in 2000, wasfollowed by a series of international conferencesdevoted to financing for development and aid effectiveness,which resulted in a variety of pledgesto improve the amount and quality of developmentassistance in order to promote more equitable globaldevelopment. The outcome of the Financing forDevelopment (FfD) conferences in Monterrey (2002)and Doha (2008), as well as the Paris Declaration(2005) and the Accra Action Agenda (2008) containsignificant commitments to this effect.In the Major Planning Options for 2005-2009 thePortuguese Government declared that one of the objectivesof its development cooperation would be to “fulfilinternational commitments regarding the quantity andquality of ODA, since the current international context(…) requires strongly dynamic and efficient measureson the part of Portugal in particular, in an attempt to giveshape to the achievement of the Millennium DevelopmentGoals” (MDGs). 3 Similarly, the new Major PlanningOptions for <strong>2010</strong>-2013 state that one of the Government’sobjectives is to “gradually increase PortugueseODA, in accordance with the objectives and the scheduleestablished within the European ODA framework and tostrengthen Portugal’s negotiating position in multilateraldiscussions, particularly regarding the MDGs, whichshould be addressed during the whole of <strong>2010</strong>.” 4However, the effects of the worldwide economiccrisis in Portugal have made it increasingly unlikely thatthe country will be able to fulfil its aid commitments.The quality as well as the amount of its aid should bereviewed since according to civil society allegations,for example, the percentage devoted to the promotionof human rights is very small. Another complaint is thatthe transparency and medium and long-term predictabilityof ODA are not sufficient.1 Director, Oikos.2 Volunteer, Oikos.3 Ministry of Finance, Major Planning Options for 2005-2009.Available in Portuguese from: .4 Ministry of Finance, Major Planning Options for <strong>2010</strong>-2013.Available in Portuguese from: .099100100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5BCI of Portugal = 99ODA in figuresDespite its commitments, Portugal has made nosubstantial increase in the volume of aid between the1990s and the 2005-2008 period (see Figure 1). Withthe exception of 2008, when ODA represented 0.27%of Gross National Income 100(GNI), this percentage hasfluctuated between 0.21% and 0.23%. Intermediatetargets established for 2006 73 (0.33%) and 2009(0.30%) have not been reached. In 2009 ODA fell15.7% and represented barely 0.23% of GNI.In order to fulfil its promise to increase ODA to00.7% of GNI by 2015, Portugal drew up a new timetablein 2009 which anticipates gradual increases inassistance and sets an 36intermediate target 93 of 0.34%100of GNI by <strong>2010</strong>. 5 100However, keeping in mind the worseningeconomic crisis in Portugal – with cuts andrestrictive budgeting policies intended to control thepublic accounts BCI deficit– of Yemen, it appears Rep. to be = practically 67 impossiblefor the country to reach this objective. For thesame reason, it is unlikely to reach 0.7% by 2015.Allocation and distribution of ODAAlthough the greater part of ODA is supplied bilaterally,significant efforts have been made since 2002100to increase multilateral contributions, which represented43% of the total Portuguese s/d ODA between2005 and 2008, compared to 27.4% in 1990 and34% in 2000.Most multilateral assistance 0 goes to the EuropeanDevelopment s/d Fund (EDF) and to the European74Commission’s foreign aid budget, which provides100 100funds for developing countries not covered by the5 Ministry of Finance, State Budget <strong>Report</strong> for 2009. AvailableBCI of Afghanistan = 0in Portuguese from: .98100 69100Economic activity0EducationIEG of Portugal = 73EDF. In the last four years, these two bodies haveabsorbed close to EUR 405 million in contributions,which represents an annual average of 33% of Portugal’sODA.Bilateral ODA is devoted mainly to former Portuguesecolonies, the PALOP 100 countries 6 and TimorLeste. Although most of these are in Sub-Saharan Africa(except for Timor Leste) and with the exceptionof Cape Verde, are categorized as least developedcountries, island States (Timor Leste, Cape Verde)or post-conflict States 7 , it is their historical, linguistic0 6and cultural bonds with Portugal that constitute thecriteria for selecting them.34The Government sets its foreign policy priorities100 49 100with an eye to defence and to strengthening the Portugueselanguage and culture, which is why it continuessupport to Portuguese-speaking countries. TheIEG of Yemen = 67sectors which Portuguese aid tends to concentrateon are mainly education, support for governance 8and technical cooperation, with scant emphasis onsocial services – which barely exceeded 3.1% of thetotal bilateral ODA between 2007 and 2008. 9100The quality of aidSupport provided to productive sectors is almostresidual compared to that going s/d to technical cooperation,leading some civil society critics to conclude6 African countries in which Portuguese 0 is the OfficialLanguage (PALOP, s/d in Portuguese) include s/d five formerPortuguese colonies (Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau,Mozambique and Santo Tomé and Príncipe).100 1007 Angola, Timor Leste and Guinea-Bissau have suffered violentconflict within the last ten years.8 Institutional training programs various public administrationsectors and other State entities.9 Portuguese Institute for Aid to Development. See: .53100100100100n/National reports 152 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100100100
that Portuguese ODA lacks effective direction withregard to poverty eradication. A particularly negativeaspect is the limited amount of support to agricultureand fishing, both essential to promoting foodsecurity in developing countries. To a large extent,it is non-governmental organizations (NGOs) thatprovide this support, although they do receive asmall amount of bilateral ODA (1.9% in 2008). 10Another criticism of Portuguese developmentcooperation – by Portuguese NGOs and by the confederationof European NGOs (CONCORD) – is theweight of lines of credit in bilateral ODA. In 2008, forexample, close to 25% of bilateral ODA was linked tothe accounting of EUR 66 million in a line of credit toMorocco. A further negative element is the provisionof aid tied to the acquisition of goods and servicesfrom Portuguese companies. In fact, tied aid rosefrom 17% in 2006 to 42% in 2008. This increase isclosely linked to the accounting of the concession oflines of credit. 11One positive element which should be notedsince 2005 is the efforts made to improve aid planningand a growing openness to dialogue with thevarious interested parties, in particular by means ofthe establishment of the Cooperation for DevelopmentForum and the annual celebration of a nationalcooperation day, known as “Development Day.” Infact, in addition to a global strategy for Portuguesecooperation, 12 several sectoral strategies are alsobeing prepared – in areas such as health, education,gender equality, governance and rural development– some of which had already been finalized by late2009 or early <strong>2010</strong>. It should also be noted that theNational Strategy for Education for Development wasapproved in November 2009.Nonetheless there is still a long way to go inthe areas of planning and predictability. Amongstthe principal deficiencies of Portuguese cooperationare the total absence of a guiding strategy regardinghumanitarian aid, and the limited predictability ofaid in the medium and long term. Overcoming thesetwo deficiencies is not only a matter of increasingresources, but also of clearly defining institutionalorganization. Legally, the coordination of Portuguesecooperation is within the purview of the Ministry ofForeign Affairs and Cooperation, through the Secretariatof State for Cooperation and the PortugueseInstitute for Aid to Development. However, in mattersrelated to the predictability of aid, the power of decisionlies mainly with the Ministry of Finance, whilstin matters related to humanitarian aid, the Ministry ofDomestic Administration, as well as Civil Protection,are acquiring an increasingly prominent role.10 Ibid.11 Ibid.12 Resolution Nº 196/2005, available from: .CHART 1. Portugal’s ODA shown as a percentage of GNI0.800.700.600.500.400.300.200.100Official Development Assitance / GNI0.24 0.25 0.260.21 0.21ODA% / GNICHART 2. Bilateral and multilateral ODAGoals ODA % / GNI0.331990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 <strong>2010</strong> 2011 2012 2015Finally, one of the demands civil society is makingwith regard to Portuguese ODA is that transparencyshould be increased. One significant stepshould be to endorse the International Aid TransparencyInitiative. It is essential to shed light on the accountingcriteria used for ODA and set a deadline forthe presentation of a breakdown of data, mainly regardingsuch controversial issues as the accountingof the expenses of the Armed Forces during peacemissions, the cost and criteria of Civil Protectionhumanitarian missions, the outlay of Portugueseuniversities in support of students from Portuguesespeakingcountries, the accounting of the grantingof lines of credit with conditional aid and the additionof financial support measures for the fight againstclimate change.0.220.300.270.23Sources: Development Aid Committee and Portuguese Institute for Aid to Development (IPAD, in Portuguese).2005 2006 2007 2008Multilateral ODA 42% 47% 43% 40%United Nations 3% 3% 3% 2%European Commission 34% 31% 30% 26%Imf, World Bank And Wto 3% 4% 4% 7%Regional Development Banks 1% 8% 4% 4%Other Multilateral Institutions 1% 1% 2% 1%Bilateral ODA 58% 53% 57% 60%PALOP and Timor Leste 74% 75% 61% 49%Others 26% 25% 39% 51%0.340.40The role of civil societyIn the last five years mobilization campaigns havebeen carried out and supported in connection withthe MDGs and the eradication of world poverty –among them the “Zero Poverty” campaign, coordinatedby the NGO Oikos, 13 or the UN’s “Target 2015.”However, according to the Portuguese developmentNGOs platform, 14 a “regular aid culture” is non-existentin Portugal. This means, for example, that when anatural catastrophe occurs Portuguese citizens reactin a strongly emotional and supportive manner, butin the life of development NGOs and other organizedcivil society movements concerned with theeradication of extreme poverty in the world, citizenparticipation is sporadic and unclear. n13 See: .14 See: .0.460.70Source: IPAD.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 153 Portugal
Senegal100More challenges than progress29100961003899Senegal faces 97 a number 93of problems that are reducing 98 its chances of reaching the Millennium 995044Development Goals (MDGs) 100 by 2015. Poverty is increasing, 100 with over 60% of the population currentlyliving in poverty or extreme poverty. The health and education systems are inadequate and waterand sanitation services cannot meet people’s needs. Despite some progress towards gender equality,IEG of Malta = 58BCI of Mexico = 96IEG of Mexico = 61the country is still a long way from reaching the relevant targets, including: education, employment,reproductive health or political representation, which requires far-reaching structural changes.100 100 100100 100<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> Senegal 1Seydou Ndiaye100Senegal has not escaped the impact of the currentcrisis in the world economy. Poverty is increasing:Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 71 GEI = 55Children reaching5th grade72Empowermentaccording to UNDP some 60.3% of the population43were poor in 2009, 2 up from 52.5% in 2005. 3 Otherpressing problems include the effects of climate270change, the food security situation, the HIV/AIDS00pandemic and governance concerns, all of which are1008289impeding progress towards the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs); unless the country can imple-Births attended by100 100 71100100 52100100 6176 100ment a new development model, based on economic skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationeffectiveness, social equity and environmental sus-IEG of Slovenia = 65tainability, these goals will not be reached.Aid and public financesAccording to the annual review for 2009, implementationof the second Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper(PRSP-2) has yielded only 100 moderate results. 4 This isthe overarching scheme for all of the Government’seconomic and social investments and the basis onwhich it is trying to obtain assistance from donors.The country has also implemented various policies26and programs such as the Accelerated Growth Strategyto create suitable conditions for greater productiv-0ity and provide a solid economic and social base with a79growth rate of between 7 and 8%. Another initiative is100 64100the National Strategy for Equity and Gender Equality.In spite of some reforms however there is still anuncontrolled internal debt that continues to hamperIEG of Zambia = 56economic activity, and economic agents are nervousabout the State’s financial capacity to honour itscommitments.The State has adopted a series of measures aspart of PRSP-2, including setting up an institutional1001 Member organizations: Cultural Association for Educationaland <strong>Social</strong> Self-Promotion (ACAPES), Youth and EnvironmentAction (AJE), Enda Graf Sahel, African n/d Youth Coalition againstHunger (AYCAH) Senegal, National Associations for theDisabled of Senegal (ANHMS), Democratic Union of Teachers(UDEN) and Syndicate of Professors of Senegal (SYPROS).Seydou Ndiaye is the network coordinator. 0n/d2 UNDP, Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009. Overcoming n/dBarriers: Human Mobility and Development, New York, 2009.Available 100 from: . 1003 Mohamed Ould Maouloud, Case Study Senegal: Evaluation ofthe National Human Development <strong>Report</strong> System, New York:UNDP Evaluation Office, 2006. Available from: .4 Available from: .0follow-up mechanismBCI of Senegalwith its technical= 71and financialpartners and with civil society organizations, so asto comply with its international commitments andimprove the ways in which official development assistance(ODA) resources are managed.According to the 100 April <strong>2010</strong> follow-up reporton the MDGs, external financing 93 for developmentprojects (excluding budget support) was over XOF258.000 million (some USD 489 million). In additionUSD 35 million was committed as part of the HeavilyIndebted Poor Countries Initiative with an additional0USD 47 million to follow. The amount of sector budgetsupport was USD 107 million in 2009, a decrease of90nearly 30% from the 43 2008 figure. In 2007 remittances100 100came to around USD 865 million (three times morethan foreign direct investment) and this increasedagain in 2008 by 7.2%. Overall remittances have increasedmore than BCI 20% of Tanzania in the last = 30 75years and madea strong contribution to the fight against poverty. 5Of the 2009 USD 489 million in gross ODA, USD256 million was in the form of loans and USD 233 millionin subsidies. This aid was distributed to the socialsectors: education, health and nutrition, the rural and100urban water supply and sanitation 98 systems. 6Agriculture and dependenceMore than 60% of the population is directly supportedby the agricultural sector, 90% of which consistsof family farms. 7 The sector 0 is afflicted by numerousIEG of Senegal = 55problems including low prices for export products,difficulties in accessing land–specially for women–and agricultural inputs, the increasing indebtednessof the rural population and soil degradation. To makematters worse there are also repeated commercializationcampaigns that 100 place a large part of the cropand also many of the producers in the hands of speculatorsand other intermediaries. This makes the rational,sustainable management 51 of natural resourcesvery difficult. Incomes keep falling and farmers aretrapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, indebtedness0and hunger that is hard to break out of.Poverty is spreading, and is also becoming84feminized and is mostly rural. 8 81The vast majorityof working women are in agriculture, with womencomprising only 11% of workers in other sectors. 9Between 78 and 80% of the rural population areIEG of Tanzania = 72poor. 10 This poverty makes itself felt in many spheresof life as it means privation, reduced internal consumption,greater difficulty in accessing credit andless coverage by basic services. Moreover, despitelow incomes and food insecurity in urban areas, thecapital city of Dakar ranks number 32 on a list of the100most expensive cities in the world. 11The ways in which local development is financedare fraught with structural weaknesses, which affectthe quality of the services provided, in particular publiclighting, sanitation systems and the collection and6085100 100 10007488998 Government of Senegal, op. cit.349888100 5 Government 100 of Senegal, <strong>2010</strong> Follow-up <strong>Report</strong> on 100 theMDGs, Dakar, <strong>2010</strong>.6 NGO Council for Support for Development (CONGAD),“Water,9 Ricardo 100 Hausmann, Laura D Tyson and Saadia Zahidi, 100GlobalGender Gap <strong>Report</strong> 2009, Geneva: World Economic Forum,2009. Available from: .water and sanitation BCI of services,” Bahrain Dakar, = 2009. 95 IEG of Bahrain = 4610 Ibid.7 “Follow-up Call for the fight against Poverty Program,”People Survey 2009.11 See: .0100100National reports 154 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010083
treatment of household waste. Another very negativefactor is climate risk: flooding and erosion on thecoast affect thousands of people and cause deaths,the displacement of local populations, the destructionof houses and other infrastructure, the loss ofcrops and health problems.Education: numerous challengesWhen the second phase (2005-2008) of the 10-yeareducation and training program came to an end andthe third phase began, the sector was seen to haveprogressed in terms of access to education but it wasstill plagued with difficulties regarding the quality ofthe system and how it was managed.There are continual delays in the construction ofnew classrooms and the provision of equipment, andthis means that teachers have to do the best they canin precarious “provisional” shelters. In 2009, morethan 15% of primary education was in this situationand around 49% of schools do not have runningwater. Moreover the drop-out and repetition ratesare very high, 11.5% and 7.7% respectively at theprimary level, and less than 60% of children completetheir primary schooling. 12 Vocational training is limitedbecause of problems of integrating trainees intothe labour force, low levels of internal and externaleffectiveness and overcrowded teaching premises.Another cause for concern is the country’s literacylevel and education in this area for young peopleover 15 years of age. According to the Government,some 3.5 million people are illiterate but in 2009 theliteracy programs reached only 77,000 out of a targetpopulation of 92,000. Even if literacy education couldbe provided for 100,000 people a year it would still take35 years to cover the 3.5 million who need help. 13Spending on education from the four mainsources of finance – the State, households, localcommunities and foreign agents – more than doubledin the 2003-2008 period (from USD 344 millionto USD 793 million), which is an increase from 3.6%to 4.8% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Howeverthe household share increased from 22.7% in2003 to 24.2% in 2009 while the State share fell from73.5% to 69.2%. This shows a trend towards thecommercialization of education, which will inevitablylead to greater inequalities in the population.Access to water and sanitation facilitiesThe main obstacles to access to water have to dowith the costs of connection and of the service (billedevery two months), with the lack of networks in poorneighbourhoods (especially on the outskirts of urbanareas) and with insufficient information about theconnection programs.12 Department of Educational Planning and Reform (DPRE),“National <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Education,” Ministry ofEducation, 2009.13 Ibid.Significant progress has been made in the sanitationnetwork but this is still not satisfactory. Only6 of the 21 urban centres have a collective network,31.3% of people in rural areas do not have access toa sanitation system and access to improved latrinesremains expensive. 14Changes to the institutional framework for waterservices and sanitation in urban areas is under consideration,but it is feared that the cost of water will riseif the opinions of workers’ unions and consumers arenot taken into account in the reform process.HealthAccording to UNICEF, maternal mortality decreasedin the 2005–2008 period (from 980 to 400 per100,000 live births) but it is still very high. 15 Two ofthe most serious problems are the very low rate ofbirths attended by skilled health personnel (52%,according to UNICEF) and the large number of deathscaused by malaria. 16 There are only 125 gynaecologists– mostly in the cities – in a country where 49%of women are of childbearing age. 17The incidence of HIV/AIDS is low among thegeneral population (0.7%) but the illness has becomefeminized; in 1996 four times as many men aswomen were infected but in 2005 there were twice asmany women as men.The situation of womenThere has been some progress towards genderequality insofar as women now have improved accessto education and increased participation in thearmed forces and police. However, their access topower, land and jobs is still limited; they form animportant part of the informal sector (41%) but makeup only 17% of the formal sector. 18Women constitute 52% of the population butare under-represented in politics: they account foronly 23% of the seats in the National Assembly, 10%in central Government, 13% in regional councils,20% in municipal councils and 27% in rural councils.The country has had one woman prime minister.With the announcement of a proposed bill to establishgender parity in elected positions the Stateseems to be starting to implement legal and regulatoryreforms in the spirit of the principles laid downin the new Constitution of 2001.14 CONGAD, 2009, op. cit.15 See: .16 Ibid.17 US Agency for International Development, “Family Planning:Senegal has only 125 gynaecologists”. Available from:.18 Sigrid Colnerud Granström, “The Informal Sector and FormalCompetitiveness in Senegal,” Minor Field Studies No. 194,University of Lund, 2009. Available from: .Slow progress towards the MDGsThere is little chance of Senegal achieving progresson the various dimensions of MDG 3–to promotegender equality and empower women— by 2015 unlessstructural changes are made, strong programsimplemented and resources allocated in line withthe economic and social policy reference frameworkfor 2011–15 (PRSP-3). It is also very unlikely thatthe MDGs in the health area (goals 4, 5 and 6) willbe achieved.According to the World Bank Senegal is on trackto meet two goals: MDG 2 on education for all andMDG 7 on protecting the environment. 19 To improvethe education sector civil society organizations arepromoting the following:• Far-reaching reforms and a change in focus tobetter adapt to the needs of the community andthe economy.• Urgent implementation of good governance andmanagement geared to results that will institutionalizeaccountability in schools, in schooladministration and in the education system ingeneral.• Pacification of the social climate and atmospherein the education system through theGovernment honouring its commitment to theactors involved (pupils, students and teachers),especially those concerning ending violenceagainst girls.• Improving the Government’s contribution topublic education.• Developing a dynamic association that canachieve a consensus and mobilize people toimprove the situation in education.• Working for a nation-wide consensus aboutthe measures and inputs needed to improvethe quality of education and training (includingaspects of human resources management,learners completing their study programs at alllevels and the introduction of teaching in variousnational languages).• Strengthening the synergy between the differentactors (NGOs, unions, students’ associations,parents’ associations, grassroots communityassociations, etc.) to improve their contributionto follow-up on State policies through wellarguedproposals. n19 International Development Association and InternationalMonetary Fund, “Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)Initiative and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) –Status of Implementation,” 15 September 2009, 34. Availablefrom: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 155 Senegal
99serbia100No strategy to counter economic and social insecurity06Serbians are 98 facing increasing economic and social 99 insecurity due to the lack of decent jobs, 98rising3636unemployment, high levels 100 of corruption and deficient 100rule of law. The flow of foreign direct investmenthas slowed as a consequence of the global financial crisis, making the economy more fragile andunstable. Anti-crisis measures are based on taking out new loans from the international financialIEG of Lebanon = 47 INGLES BCI of Lebanon = 92 IEG of Lebanon = 47institutions and cutting public expenditure on education, health care and pensions–all of which riskpushing even more people into poverty.100 100 100100 10010009088 831000610099Association Technology and SocietyMirjana Dokmanovic, PhDDanica Drakulic, PhD 100The global financial and economic s/d crisis struck aheavy blow to Serbia’s already weak and unstableeconomy. Low levels of investments and exports0and increasing unemployment and illiquidity becamethe main problems. s/d Foreign direct investment s/d (FDI)in 2009 was only USD 1.5 billion, while at least USD5-7 billion per year is needed to provide long-termmacro economic stability and economic growth of5%. The share of FDI in the gross domestic product(GDP) was 3.9% and a significant decrease of 25.2%was recorded within the framework of domestic demand.1 High investment risks, corruption and weakinstitutions are the main barriers to capturing FDItogether with a shrinking of financial sources at globallevel.The decrease in economic activity in 2009was 12.1% (industry), 25.1% (civil engineering),12.3% (retail trade) and 8% (tourism). Foreign tradeexchange went down in both exports (19.7%) andimports (28%). The positive aspect of this was asmaller foreign trade deficit, amounting to USD 7billion (39.9% less than in 2008) 2 , and a higher valueof exports over imports of 53.4%. 3 The foreign tradedebt made up 70.4% of GDP, 4 the budget deficitamounted to 3.2% of GDP and the public debt was31.3% of GDP. 5 Turnover value in the Belgrade StockMarket fell 41.9% compared to 2008. The rate of unemploymentwas around 15%, an increase of almosttwo percentage points over 2008.The economic slowdown was somewhatchecked in the second part of 2009 by a numberBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong>Children reaching5th grade100 100 100100 100100 100100Births attended byevidence of this. 9skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5of Government economic and monetary measures.These included:• Reduction of public expenditure by freezingpensions and salaries in the public sector.• An IMF credit stand-by arrangement ofUSD 3.85 billion.1 National Bank of the Republic of Serbia, “<strong>Report</strong> onInflation,” 2009.2 Ministry of Finance, “Bulletin of Public Finances,” 2009.3 Ministry of Finance, “Analysis of Macroeconomic and FiscalTrends in 2009.”4 National Bank, op. cit.5 Ministry of Finance, “Bulletin of Public Finances,” op cit.• Financial supportINGLESfromBCI oftheSerbiaWorld=Bank,98EuropeanBank for Reconstruction and Developmentand the EU, as well as Russia and China supportto infrastructure projects.• A fiscal deficit increase from 3% GDP to 4.5%approved by the IMF in October 2009 andagreed in the <strong>2010</strong> Serbian macroeconomicbudget framework.• A second credit installment from the IMF worthUSD 470 million for strengthening foreignexchange reserves and the stability of foreignexchange rates.• Measures to increase economic liquidity.In 2009 the banks approved a credit of EUR 1 billion(then around USD 1.3 billion), of which USD1.15 billion was for liquidity and the remainderfor subsidizing consumer credit. These stimulusmeasures stopped the drop in industrial productionand the foreign trade exchange. However theSerbian economy is still not attractive to investors.The National Bank of Serbia estimates thedegree of economic openness of the economyat 6.3. 6 Serbia is ranked 93 out of 134 countriesin the World Economic Forum’s Index of GlobalCompetitiveness.Economic activities are burdened by the highindebtedness of companies and the lack of cheapcredits to stimulate the export of goods. The budgetaryrevenue at the beginning of <strong>2010</strong> was 10% lessthan in the same period in 2009. Current revenuesdecreased 7.8% while tax revenues fell 7.8% andnon-tax revenues fell by 8.1%. Significant revenuesbased on taxes, excluding excise taxes, decreased in6 Ibid.BCI = 989910009799relation to 2008, while the nominal revenue growthfrom excise taxes was 22.4% 100 and social contributionwas 1.9%. 7The Government has recently announced a newanti-crisis package, which is seen n/d by many as politicalposturing in view of the upcoming election.Thus Serbians have heard contradictory statements0by Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic, who in October2009 stated that n/d Serbia had emerged from n/d the crisis 8and six months later announced that there was noIncreasing povertyAccording to the Ministry of Labour and <strong>Social</strong> Policy,the number of poor people increased in 2009,with almost 700,000 people below the poverty lineand 160,000 receiving social benefits. 10 However,the real number of people living in poverty is higher,up to 60%, 11 since the official data do not take intoconsideration indicators such as the availability ofand access to health care, childcare, education anddecent jobs.Children are particularly vulnerable. A Conferenceon Children and Poverty – organized in Belgradein October 2009 by the Serbian Ministry of Labourand <strong>Social</strong> Policy, the European Commission’s TechnicalAssistance and Information Exchange (TAIEX),UNICEF and the Serbian Parliament – stressed theneed to monitor the effects of the economic crisison children and families and to continue the reformof social policy. 12 Decreasing livelihoods are accompaniedby increasing violence against women andchildren, reduced attendance at schools and declin-110 227 Ministry of Finance, “Bulletin of Public Finance,” op. cit.8 Economist Media Group, “Cvetkovic: Serbia at the End ofthe Economic Crisis,” EMportal, 16 October 2009. Availablefrom: (accessed 10March <strong>2010</strong>).9 Economist Media Group, “Cvetkovic: There is No ReliableEvidence about Coming out of the Crisis,” EMportal, 9 March<strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 10 March <strong>2010</strong>).10 See: .11 Aleksandar Rodic, “Life on Soup from Thrown OutVegetable,” Blic Online, 28 February <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:(accessed 28 February <strong>2010</strong>).12 Economist Media Groups, “Number of Poor is Increasing,Children Particularly at Risk,” EMportal, 19 October 2009.Available from: (accessed 10 March <strong>2010</strong>).99National reports 156 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
ing quality of childcare. The Millennium DevelopmentGoal (MDG) Monitor for Serbia highlights thecontinuous deepening of the education gap betweenchildren from different socio-economic and ethnicgroups, revealing the inadequacy of the currenteducation system to fully implement an inclusiveeducation.Increasing poverty was one of the top issuesin the debate between governmental officials andrepresentatives of business at the Business Forumin March <strong>2010</strong>. Although all of them agreed thatthe eradication of poverty primarily depends on theGo vernment’s economic policies, no concrete proposalswere put forward on what these should be,besides the announcement of a new Law on <strong>Social</strong>Security to be adopted in <strong>2010</strong> that would increasethe level of social security benefits and the numberof recipients. 13Growing unemployment, strikes andprotestsHuman rights NGOs, such as the Belgrade Centre forHuman Rights, warn that economic and social rightsare deteriorating and that vulnerable groups – includingRoma, children, disabled people and women– are particularly at risk. 14Facing difficulty surviving the impact of the crisis,many companies have gone bankrupt or havetried to minimize costs, by reducing workers’ wagesand benefits, among other measures. Companieshave cut salaries (promising that this would be atemporary measure) or stopped paying pension insurancecontributions. More than 133,000 Serbianslost their jobs in 2009 and early <strong>2010</strong>. The estimatefor <strong>2010</strong> is that over 100,000 workers – some 450a day – will lose their jobs, 15 while the possibility offinding work in the informal economy is also shrinkingdue to the negative effects of the economic crisison construction and farming. 16The minimum hourly wage in March <strong>2010</strong> wasUSD 1.16, an amount that has not increased formore than a year as the Association of Employershas refused to agree to trade union demands. Dueto the lack of social dialogue, tens of thousands ofworkers staged strikes in 2009 and at the beginningof <strong>2010</strong>. In reaction to the seeming indifference of theGovernment and employers, workers often adopt extremeforms of protest including hunger strikes andblockages of roads and railways. As a way to reducelayoffs, a Bill on Amendments to the Labour Law wasadopted in July 2009. It extended the period duringwhich employers may send employees on paid leaveto more than 45 days during a year. However thismeasure has not yet had any effect. Trade unionswarn that they have no means to push for positivechanges other than more strikes.Credit arrangements and public servicesThe reduction of public spending, primarily pensionsand salaries, is a dominant issue in the negotiationsbetween Serbian officials and international financialinstitutions (IFIs). 17 Albert Jaeger, Chief of the IMFMission in Serbia, said that the lending institutionrequires the Government to present clear plans forpublic spending cuts, “reforming the State administration,the pensions system, education andhealth care,” if it wants to successfully re-open thecredit arrangement. 18 The Government dropped theIMF’s proposal to raise value added tax (VAT) andreduce pensions and salaries in the public sector andhas instead proposed to reform the public sector.In August 2009, after a program review by theIMF, the Government adopted the <strong>Social</strong> Care Planbased on “reforms,” which in this case means cutsin the budget for health care and education and reductionof the number of employees. The plan alsoincludes reducing the number of teachers, classesand elementary schools and closing specializedschools for children with disabilities. As a resultof this “reform” 11,000 classes out of 90,000 willbe closed, making it more difficult for children inrural areas and children with disabilities to accesselementary education. Similarly, the “reform” in thehealth system will be based on reducing the numberof health care workers, reviewing subventions andclosing a number of health care institutions, all allegedlyto “save” money in the budget.Legislation is being changed or adapted accordingto the policies guided by the IFIs, abolishingrights that had previously been gained. The newSerbian Law on Employment, passed on May 2009,abolished the right of women who lose a job duringpregnancy to receive paid benefit during the unemploymentperiod for more than one month. The Lawintroduced stricter conditions for receiving the rightto unemployment subsidies if a worker loses a jobduring a period of sick leave. Pregnancy is consideredas ‘sickness’ so it is not excluded. 19The global economic crisis can only partly beblamed for the many layoffs. According to tradeunions and economists, job losses are also due toirresponsible economic policies as well as bad privatizationmodels. 20 The media has reported manycases of dubious privatizations. The Directoratefor Prevention of Money Laundering has estimatedthat more than USD 2 billion a year is laundered,mostly through the privatization of firms; 21 it hasfiled more than 1,700 cases of dubious privatizations,but until now only one privatization case hasbeen overturned. Moreover corruption remainswidespread. A 2009 survey showed that education,health and the judiciary were perceived as the mostcorrupt areas, and that one out of five people hadpaid for a (supposedly free) health service she orhe needed. 22The Government’s macroeconomic strategyis aimed at decreasing the structural fiscal deficitthrough limiting pensions and public salaries whileincreasing investment in infrastructure approvedby the IMF. 23 However there is still no vision and nocomprehensive and multisectoral strategy on howto protect the economic and social rights of citizens,securing them decent jobs and livelihoods. n13 B92, “How to Decrease Poverty in Serbia,” B92 Online, 11March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 11 March <strong>2010</strong>).14 Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, Human Rights inSerbia 2009: Legal Provisions and Practice Compared toInternational Human Rights Standards, Belgrade, <strong>2010</strong>.15 B92, “Fight for Working Places,” B92 Online, 29 March <strong>2010</strong>.Available from: (accessed 29 March <strong>2010</strong>).16 I. Radisavljevic, “Army of Poor is Increasing,” Blic Online,28 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 28March <strong>2010</strong>).17 Economist Media Group, “Jelasic: Reduction of publicexpenditure – main topics of talks with IMF,” EMportal, 12February <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 20 February <strong>2010</strong>).18 I. Jovanovic, “IMF tells Serbia to slash spending,” SETimes.com, 9 September 2009. Available from: (accessed 20 September2009).19 J. Popadic, “Law Induces White Plague,” Politika, 14 August2009. Available from: (accessed 20 August2009).20 Union of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia, Privatization inthe Republic of Serbia 2002–2009, Belgrade; and EconomistMedia Groups, “58 layoffs an hour in Serbia during 2009,”EMportal, 30 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 30 March <strong>2010</strong>).21 T.N. Djakovic, “Mafioso Launders billions of euros throughprivatization,” Blic Online, 4 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:(accessed 4 March <strong>2010</strong>).22 Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, op. cit.23 Economist Media Group, “Serbia will pull 180 billion eurosfrom the IMF on 6 April,” EMportal, 1 April <strong>2010</strong>. Availablefrom: (accessed 1April <strong>2010</strong>).<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 157 Serbia
96100slovakiaThe tiger is limping02129 Slovakia’s 84unemployment rate 83reached 12.9% in January <strong>2010</strong>96due to the negative impacts of 29both the global 84 financialcrisis and the Government’s 100 ineffective policy responses. While 100 the country has performed well in terms of some of theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs), there are still some disparities and pending issues, including gender equalityand development assistance. At the same time, the Slovak social and political climate is mired in corruption, bribery andIEG of Morocco = 45 INGLES BCI of Morocco = 88 IEG of Morocco = 45cronyism, and the ruling coalition continues to govern through the “tyranny of the majority,” oppressing the politicalopposition, controlling the media and exciting xenophobia, intolerance and discrimination against minorities.100 100 100100 100100086100021100Slovak Political InstituteFaculty of Economics, Technical University of KošiceDaniel Klimovský100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9894 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 69Economic activityAs portrayed by an article in the Financial Times in July422009, “Slovakia’s reign as Central Europe’s leadingtiger economy is over, as exports have plunged, unemploymenthas increased and the deficit has grown,00forcing the country back into the role it thought it had99 979999left behind – one of Central Europe’s laggards.” 1100 100 67100100 100The country’s unemployment rate was 9.9% in Births attended byAugust 2008 but jumped to 12.9% in January <strong>2010</strong> skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5due to the negative impacts of both the global finan-public = 98 IEG of Slovakia = 69cial crisis and ineffective policies and measures bythe Government. The number of registered unemployedpersons at the beginning of this year was346,379, an increase of more than 100,000 in comparisonwith January 2009. 2 Moreover, the labourmarket is still battling long-term joblessness, whichhas been a problem since the early 1990s.The State budget deficit was low in previousyears (1.9% of GDP in 2007 and 2.2% of GDP in2008) but the Ministry of Finance has stated that it isexpected to reach 5.5% of GDP in <strong>2010</strong>.The global financial crisis has highlighted theSlovak economy’s dependence on the car industry.Like the governments of some other EU countries,the Government introduced “car-scrapping bonuses”(which reward trading in old cars for new ones) inMarch and April 2009 in order to revive the local carindustry and rejuvenate Slovakia’s fleet of passengercars. More than EUR 55 million was allocated tothis project, subsidizing the purchase of 44,200 newcars. During the first half of 2009 sales increased by18.4% compared to the same period in 2008. Howeveraccording to some experts the project has hadonly a small impact on the local car industry 3 (andnearly 5,000 bonuses were not used).Since the Slovak economy depends on internationaltrade, the country’s economy will revive onlywhen Western Europe, INGLES and particularly BCI of Slovak Germany, Republic = 98starts to grow again. 4MDGs: disparities and pending issuesSlovakia is a member of the EU and the Organisationfor Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD), and in terms of the MDGs it ranks on someindicators among highly developed nations. Thematernal mortality (6 per 100,000 births) and underfivemortality (8 per 1,000) rates are very low, 5 thecountry has a low incidence of HIV/AIDS (110 casesaccording to AIDSGame) 6 and basic education iscompulsory up to 10 years. However three goals stillremain to be achieved: to promote gender equity andempower women (Goal 3); to ensure environmentalsustainability (Goal 7); and to develop a Global Partnershipfor Development (Goal 8).Concerning Goal 3, the Constitution prohibitsall forms of gender discrimination. There are29 women in the 150-seat Parliament 7 , 36 in the70-seat Supreme Court and 2 in the 16-memberCabinet. Approximately 20% of mayors are women,although all the eight chairs of the superior territorialunits are men. Rape victims have access to sheltersand counselling offered by various NGOs andgovernment-funded programs. Prostitution – onwhich reliable data are lacking – is legal, althoughIEG of Slovakia = 69operating a brothel, knowingly spreading sexually1 Jan Cienski, “A victim of its own success,“ Financial Times,28 July 2009. Available from: .2 Zuzana Vilikovská, “Slovak unemployment rate grows to12.89 percent in January,“ The Slovak Spectator, 18 February<strong>2010</strong>.3 Jana Liptáková, “Car-scrapping bonus boosts car sales inSlovakia,” The Slovak Spectator, 13 July 2009. Availablefrom: (accessed on 12 March <strong>2010</strong>).4 Jan Cienski, op. cit.5 UNICEF, “At a glance: Slovakia.” Available from: ; UNICEF,The State of the World’s Children 2009: Maternal andNewborn Health, New York, 2.6 See: .7 This report was completed on 15 March, i.e. a few monthsbefore the <strong>2010</strong> parliamentary elections.Empowerment97100 67100Educationtransmitted diseases and trafficking in women areprohibited. 8However, domestic violence against women isa major problem. It is legally prohibited but recentstudies show that one out of five women in the countryhas suffered some form of domestic violence(although more reliable data are needed on this topic).Another problem is inequality in the workplace:women’ salaries and wages are generally 25% lowerthan those of their male colleagues.As for the Goal 7, at the beginning of <strong>2010</strong> theGovernment approved the closing of the Ministryof Environment as a measure to save financial resources.Several experts criticized this decision becauseof its lack of planning and the potential dangerit poses in terms of lack of environmental protection.Currently there is evidence (e.g., repeated floods inthe countryside, planned as well as incidental reductionof forests, and groundwater loss and pollution)pointing to problems in the near future.Regarding Goal 8, the Government approvedthe Medium-Term Strategy for Official Development330 441000Assistance 2009-2013 on 4 March 2009. 9 The newProgramme countries are Afghanistan, Kenya andSerbia while the Project countries are Albania, Belarus,Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Ethiopia,Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia,Moldova, Mongolia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Ukraine,8 U.S. Department of State: Bureau of Democracy, HumanRights, and Labor, “2009 Human Rights <strong>Report</strong>: Slovakia,” in2009 Country <strong>Report</strong>s on Human Rights Practices. Availablefrom: (accessed on 13 March <strong>2010</strong>).9 Slovak Aid, “Medium-Term Strategy for Official DevelopmentAssistance of the Slovak Republic for the years 2009-2013.”Available from: .4297100National reports 158 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The document provides amore precise definition of this assistance as contributingto reducing poverty and starvation in developingcountries through goal-directed and efficientlyprovided development and humanitarian aid.The Slovak Aid Project Committee approved26 projects during its meeting on 25 August 2009:four each for Kenya and Serbia, three each for Afghanistan,Sudan and Ukraine, two each for Georgia,Mongolia and Vietnam, and one each for Belarus,Kyrgyzstan and Moldova. The entire budget dedicatedto all those projects is EUR 4.33 million, a declinefrom the number in the plan approved by theGovernment in May 2009. 10Corruption, bribery and cronyismThe corruption perception index (CPI) had beenslowly but surely improving since 2000. Howeversuspicions about the connection of the current governmentalstructures with corruption and cronyismbecame more widespread in 2009 and Slovakia fellfrom 52 to 56 among countries ranked in this index. 11Prime Minister Róbert Fico, as well as Minister of theInterior Robert Kaliňák, reacted by saying that thedirector of Transparency International Slovensko,Emília Beblavá, was the wife of an opposition partymember (also a state deputy at the Ministry of Labour,<strong>Social</strong> Affairs and Family during the previousGovernment) and therefore these results are nottrustworthy.For its part, Transparency International Slovakiahas given five reasons for the drop: two out of threeruling coalition parties are led by politicians whoare unable to explain their property and financialstatus; public procurement contracts (both at localand national level) are usually concluded in a nontransparentway; there are insufficient autonomouscontrol mechanisms; there is polarization within thejudicial system; and political attacks (especially fromthe highest representatives of the ruling coalition)have been made against social activists and journalists,followed by hindered access to information. 12Also, since 2009 there has been a wave of corruptionscandals. 13 For instance, there was the “bulletinboard” scandal, a call for applications linked toa contract of more than EUR 100 million that wasannounced only on a bulletin board inside the Ministryfor Construction and Regional Developmentin an area not normally accessible to the public.Later, there was a scandal involving the Ministry of10 Slovak Aid, “National Program for Slovak OfficialDevelopment Assistance for 2009.” Available from: .11 Transparency International, “CPI 2009 Table,” in CorruptionPerceptions Index 2009. Available from: (accessed on 13 March <strong>2010</strong>).12 Transparency International Slovensko, “Index vnímaniakorupcie 2009: Rekordný pád Slovenska v najcitovanejšomsvetovom rebríčku o korupcii.” Available from: (accessed on 13 March<strong>2010</strong>).13 Beata Balogová, “A year of crisis and scandal,“ The SlovakSpectator, 21 December 2009. Available from: .Environment linked to the sale of carbon dioxideemission allocations to an unknown foreign firm,established only months before the public tenderand whose registered address was a lock-up garage.14 And there was also the case of some unexplainedfinancing of the opposition party, the SlovakDemocratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), which ledto the resignation of the opposition leader and formerPrime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda. 15There have also been doubts about the independenceof the judicial system after last year’spublication of an open letter, signed by 15 judges,warning about what they called abuse of disciplinaryproceedings against certain judges who hadcriticized the former Minister of Justice and presentChairman of the Supreme Court, Štefan Harabín. 16 Inaddition, 105 judges had earlier signed the so-called“Five Sentences” petition to initiate a serious debateabout the state of the country’s judiciary.All these events have caused great debateamong Slovak citizens and the media, while the rulingcoalition continues to govern the country underthe same “tyranny of the majority” that it practicedduring 2007and 2008 17 as a way to oppress politicalopposition and dissent with the involvement of thestate-owned media. 18Authoritarism, discrimination andxenophobiaOne of the most respected Slovak thinktanks, Inštitútpre Verejné Otázky (Institut for Public Affairs) hasstated that the quality of Slovak democracy declinedfrom 2.9 points (average rank in 2008) to 3.3 points(average rank in 2009); an optimal rank is 1.0 point,with the worst situation ranking at 5.0 points. Themost deterioration was detected in the sphere ofmedia independence and democratic institutions. 19The Press Act, adopted in 2008 and intendedto curb media freedom, caused a big controversy.Condemned both by <strong>Report</strong>ers Without Borders andthe Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe(OSCE), this law flouts the separation of powers,with Article 6 giving the Government direct controlover the media on a number of sensitive issues. Anautomatic right of reply to anyone believing, rightly14 Ibid.15 Beata Balogová, “Old scandal spells new trouble for SDKÚ,”The Slovak Spectator, 1 February <strong>2010</strong>. Available from:.16 Beata Balogová, “Harabin cries foul,” The Slovak Spectator,12 April <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .17 Daniel Klimovský, “Slovakia: More development aid, thoughdiscrimination remains,” <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong> 2008, 182–3;and “Slovakia: Revising the plans,” <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong>2009, 148–49.18 Miroslav Kollár, “Volebná kampaň: Nástup nových médií,” inG. Mesežnikov, O. Gyárfášová and M. Kollár eds., Slovenskovolí: Európske a prezidentské vol’by 2009 (Bratislava: Inštitútpre verejné otázky, 2009), 195–206.19 Inštitút pre verejné otázky, “IVO Barometer: Kvalitademokracie v štvrtom štvrt’roku 2009: mierny pokles na3,4.” Available at: (accessed on 10 March <strong>2010</strong>).or wrongly, that somebody has defamed or insultedhim/her and heavy fines for failing to publish replieshas already limited the freedom of the press. Sincethis instrument has been used by many high-rankingpoliticians in recent months, it is considered to be aserious obstacle to investigative journalism. 20Discrimination against minorities is anotherworrying trend. According to the last census (2001)there are approximately 90,000 Roma in Slovakia,although experts have estimated the actual numbersat between 350,000 and 500,000. The 2009Human Rights <strong>Report</strong> by the U.S. Department ofState notes that widespread discrimination againstRoma is found in employment, education, healthservices, housing and loan practices. Many of theirsettlements lack a formal infrastructure, access todrinking water and proper sewage systems 21 . Romachildren are disproportionately enrolled in “special”schools for children with mental disabilities, despitediagnostic scores that are often within the averagerange of intellectual capacity. Although child prostitutionis prohibited, it remains a problem in Romasettlements living under the worst conditions.Concurrently xenophobic violence by skinheadand neo-Nazi groups persists against Roma, membersof other minorities and foreigners. These actionsare indirectly supported by some high-levelpoliticians. Ján Slota, co-founder and President ofthe Slovak National Party – a member of the rulingcoalition – repeatedly attacks Roma 22 as well as gaysand lesbians (he calls them “sick and outrageous”);more recently he referred to students protestingagainst an amendment of the School System Actas “shitheads.”Similarly, diverse ultra-nationalist groups and associations(e.g., Slovenská pospolitost’ [SlovakTogetherness]) organized several rallies, gatheringsand marches in 2009 throughout the country(particularly in the East where most of the Romapopulation live) in order to spread their intolerantmessages, attacking various ethnic, religious andsexual minorities. However the nationalistic atmosphereis promoted mainly by the ruling coalition – forexample, by passing in the Parliament a controversialamendment to the State Language Act (which led toan intervention by the OSCE High Commissioner onNational Minorities). The Government also approvedan amendment of the School System Act; amongother modifications, it introduces the compulsoryweekly playing of the national Slovak anthem in allState educational establishments. n20 <strong>Report</strong>ers Without Borders, “World <strong>Report</strong> 2009 – Slovakia,1 May 2009.” Available at: (accessed on 5 July 2009).21 Tomáš Želinský, “Porovnanie alternatívnych prístupov kodhadu individuálneho blahobytu domácností ohrozenýchrizikom chudoby,” Ekonomický časopis, vol. 58, no. 3, 251-270.22 Roma Press Agency, “Slovak MP Ján Slota insulted Romapeople on the International day of the Romas,” PressRelease, 8 April <strong>2010</strong>. Available at: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 159 Slovakia
sloveniaThe MDGs: a very distant target10091100299Društvo HumanitasRene Suša100The election of former UN Assistant Secretary-GeneralThe global crisis has demonstrated 100 that if Slovenia 99 is to survive in the new international environment 9750it has to experience social, 100 political and economic paradigm 100 shifts. Regarding 100 development assistance, 100the country has neither a strategy for development cooperation nor a system to evaluate aid efficiency.Its commitments will be difficult to uphold in the current context where there are national budget cuts inBCI of Malta = 97IEG of Malta = 58almost every sector. At the same time, and despite the documented success of their grassroots projects,civil society organizations are still considered minor players in the development arena.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9896 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 65Empowermentfor Political Affairs, Dr. Danilo Türk 53as president, in the2007 elections seemed to signal that Slovenia was beginning43to realize the importance of the international0dimension, particularly international cooperation, in00reaching some of today’s most challenging goals.1009810010082Three years later, however, that hope is all but spent.100 100 69100100 100100 71100Global issues rank extremely low on the political Births attended byagenda, internationally accepted obligations are not skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationbeing met and the public’s lack of awareness on theseIEG of Portugal = 73sistance (ODA)BCI 2 –ofa positiveSloveniatrend= 98in the past fewyears is clearly discernible (Chart 1).Compared to 2003, the amount of ODA morethan doubled in 2008. It should be noted that a sizeableamount of ODA is comprised of payments to theEU budget – EUR 18.57 100million (USD 22.2 million)IEG of Slovenia = 65100in 2007. 393Slovenia is supposed to reach the target goal of0.17% of GDP in <strong>2010</strong> and 0.33% in 2015, accordingto the accepted commitments under the MonterreyAgreement and European Consensus on Development.These goals are also included in the Resolu-026historic and political affiliations.0tion on International Development Cooperation until2015 (adopted by the National Assembly 85 on 11 July100 471002008) and the Law on International Development64Cooperation. 4 However, that commitment will be difficultto uphold in the current situation, with nationalbudget cuts in almost BCI of every Zambia sector. = 75IEG of Zambia = 56Equally as important as the quantity of aid is itsquality. Experts from Aid<strong>Watch</strong> and the Ekvilib Inštitutestimate that about 13%-20% of ODA is artificiallyinflated. 5 Some of the main criticisms regarding theissues, including the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs), is alarming – especially among the young.The “crisis” period has demonstrated that thecountry has to experience some radical social, politicaland economic paradigm shifts if it is to survive inthe changed global environment. 100 A team of expertsfrom various disciplines (the economy, philosophy,environment protection, etc.) together with theformer ombudsman and a member of the Cabinetprepared a document with a challenging title – Whereafter the crisis? 1 – that called for just such a change.0 6While the paper gained widespread media interestand won the approval of both the Prime Minister and34a considerable proportion of the general public, it100 49 100was almost completely ignored when a new developmentstrategy for <strong>2010</strong>-2013 was prepared.Words and actions from the same source rarelyIEG of Yemen = 67operate in tandem in Slovenia’s political sphere,which is precisely what makes the realization of theMDGs such a distant possibility. It seems that thecountry simply does not understand that it is in factpart of a larger and more interconnected world.Lacking strategies for developmentcooperationIn 2004 Slovenia assumed the obligations s/d of providinginternational aid. Being promoted to donor statusby the World Bank and joining the EU has had a lastingimpact on the Slovene foreign 0 assistance policy.s/dWhile the numbers are still not overly encouragings/d– the country spent 0.15% of the gross domestic100 100product (GDP) in 2009 for official development as-1 Matjaž Hanžek et al., Kam po krizi (Ljubljana, 7 December2009). Available from: (accessed 3 May<strong>2010</strong>).1002 Aleš Verdir, “Challenges of international developmentpolicies,” presented at public debate, Ministry of ForeignAffairs (MFA), Ljubljana, 16 April <strong>2010</strong>.n/d3 MFA, Proračun EU za programme razvojne pomoči. Availablefrom: (accessed 26 April<strong>2010</strong>). n/d4 Uradni list št.73, Resolucija o mednarodnem razvojnemsodelovanju 100 do 2015 (18 July 2008). Available from: 100 (accessed 26April <strong>2010</strong>).5 Ekvilib Inštitut, Slovenija – Aid<strong>Watch</strong> poročilo in priporočilaINGLES BCI of Afghanistan = 02009: Uradna razvojna pomoč Slovenije, Ljubljana, 2009.Available from: (accessed 26 April <strong>2010</strong>).quality of ODA concern lack of transparency in thedecision-making processes, low levels of inclusion ofcivil society actors in the recipient countries and theabsence of long-term projects, especially for NGOs(running two-year projects became possible only in<strong>2010</strong>). The mechanisms for monitoring the impact ofODA are also poorly developed and Slovenia still lacksa proper strategic plan for development cooperation.The criteria for selecting target countries and targetgroups are virtually non-existent, except for some10074 74Eva Marn, chair of SLOGA (the Slovene NGOplatform) speaks of several key deficiencies in Slovenia‘sdevelopment cooperation. She points out that9379100 100 100this is a relatively new field of action in Slovenianpolicy and was tackled from an unprofessional angleright from the start. There is no development cooperationagency and the issue is covered by diplomats inthe Foreign Ministry and not by development specialists.6 Meanwhile diplomats keep changing and no aidefficiency evaluation system has been put in place.While multilateral assistance is run mainlythrough the EU and the UN institutions, bilateral aid is100mostly focused on countries of the Balkan region andSoutheast Europe. Slovenia has negotiated agreementswith Albania, Bosnia and n/dHerzegovina, Macedonia,Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine. Anagreement with the Republic of Kosovo is currentlyin the drafting stages. 7 0n/dn/dDevelopment projects and civil society100 100 100In 2008 Slovenia saw the first public call for proposalsfor development projects run by NGOs. Eight01006 Eva Marn, personal communication, 2 May <strong>2010</strong>.7 MFA, Mednarodno razvojno sodelovanje in humanitarnapomoč ,2009, op. cit.09310010010088100National reports 160 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100100100
projects were selected with a total value of EUR100,000. A similar call was issued in 2009 with 14projects approved for a total of EUR 265,000. 8 Forthe <strong>2010</strong>-2011 period EUR 789,868 was disbursedfor 33 NGO projects. Most activities (12 of them) willtake place in sub-Saharan Africa, nine projects willrun in the West Balkans region, three in Ukraine andMoldova and two in other regions of the world. TheMFA also supported six global education projectsin Slovenia. 9 This was the first time that a call wasissued for regions outside Europe.As noted above, a Law on Development Cooperationwas adopted in 2006 and an ensuing resolutionas well but they have not yet been implemented.Although civil society, as represented by SLOGA, waspartly involved in the process in the beginning, this isno longer the case. One of the consequences is thatthe status of NGOs is not consistently defined; neitheris the eligibility for financing, which is often still notdone in a transparent way – an issue that was alsoraised by the experts from the Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development (OECD). 10 Also,financing for development is not under one roof andsums are not available to provide the promised figures.Slovene NGOs working on development issueshave also complained that the Ministry of ForeignAffairs (MFA) does not keep its commitments whenit comes to issuing calls for proposals, signing theagreements and disbursing the funds on time. Thisunresponsiveness hampers many of their projects.NGO projects supported by the MFA representless than 2% of all Slovene ODA, which shows thatNGOs are still considered minor players in developmentissues despite the documented success of theirgrassroots projects.Extremely low awareness about the MDGsSlovenia lacks a clear strategy in the area of developmenteducation and international issues are poorlyintegrated into the school curricula and timetable.While NGOs and other key players – individualteachers, principals and experts – are active in thisarea, their efforts remain uncoordinated. It is difficultto get these topics included when the focusis on academic subjects and the support of relevantinstitutions, especially the Ministry of Education andSports, is lacking. 11In 1994 the United Nations Conference on Tradeand Development recommended that at least 3% ofODA should be spent on education about global issues.Slovenia falls way behind with approximately8 MFA, Izjava za javnost o rezultatih javnega razpisa zasofinanciranje mednarodnih razvojnih in humanitarnihprojektov nevladnih organizacij v <strong>2010</strong> in 2011 (<strong>2010</strong>).Available from: (accessed 27 April <strong>2010</strong>).9 MFA, “Rezultati javnega razpisa za sofinanciranjemednarodnih razvojnih in humanitarnih projektov nevladnihorganizacij v <strong>2010</strong> in 2011”, <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: (accessed 27 April <strong>2010</strong>).10 Ekvilib Inštitut, op. cit.11 Johannes Krause, “DE <strong>Watch</strong>, Annex I – Country profiles,”unpublished paper, <strong>2010</strong>.CHART 1. ODA from SloveniaSpending on ODA in million €504030<strong>2010</strong>00.002002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20092002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 20090.13% (EUR 60,000) being available for this, whichis especially worrying in view of the recent findingsfrom a survey on the Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) among young people (age 15-24), conductedby the NGOs Društvo Humanitas and ZavodVoluntariat. 12 The results showed that 83% of youngpeople have never heard of the MDGs, which placesSlovenia quite close to the EU average of 82%. Sincethese results are for the population that is still inthe educational process, they are very discouraging.More than two thirds of participants in the pollalso responded negatively when asked whether theMDGs would be achieved by 2015. 13The researchers emphasized a significant lack ofcommunication between youth, NGOs and the Government.Young people’s potential interest in cooperationwith NGOs on common development issuesremains untapped. Low levels of inclusion of youngpeople in the projects or/and work of NGOs representsone of the key challenges for more widespread popularinterest and participation in reaching the MDGs.According to development education expertFranci Iskra – from Društvo Humanitas – better communicationamong all levels (governmental, NGO andyouth) could provide for a significant breakthroughin at least basic knowledge about the MDGs. 14 SloveneNGOs are under-funded and lack sufficient staffto tackle this issue effectively. Another problem is thefragmentation of NGOs, which usually specialize inone or two fields of action. Their activities are very diverseand in many cases contribute only indirectly tothe fulfilment of the MDGs. The Government is alsoplagued with problems similar to those in the NGOsector in that each section only works on its narrowfield, preventing a more integrated approach. 151612 Maja Dolinar in Franci Iskra, “A.W.A.R.E. Grid Local reportSlovenia,” unpublished paper, <strong>2010</strong>.13 Ibid.14 Franci Iskra, personal communication, 2 May <strong>2010</strong>.15 MFA, Mednarodno razvojno sodelovanje RepublikeSlovenije 2002–2004, Ljubljana, 2005. Available from: (accessed26 April <strong>2010</strong>); MFA, Mednarodno razvojno sodelovanje inhumanitarna pomoč, 2009. Available from: (accessed 26 April <strong>2010</strong>).16 Robin Dewa, Priročnik o uradni razvojni pomoči (Ljubljana:SLOGA, 2009. Available from: (accessed 26 April <strong>2010</strong>).0.150.100.05Spending on ODA as a % of GDPSource: Ministry of Foreign Affairs 15 , SLOGA 16 .Yet another key issue to be tackled is policy coherence,which leaves much to be desired – not onlyon the EU level, where the term is something of abuzz word, but also on the national level. This is especiallyevident when considering the achievementof Goal 7: to ensure environmental sustainability.According to Dr. Dušan Plut, an expert in environmentalprotection, Slovenia currently exceeds theglobally acceptable levels of greenhouse emissionsand depletion of natural resources by 2-4 times. 17 Ingeneral, the country continues to increase its environmentalpressure, with economic developmentbeing founded partially on the exhaustion of environmentalcapital. Yet in spite of repeated warnings fromleading environmental scientists, external evaluatorsand NGOs it continues on the path of out-dated,energy-inefficient and costly technologies.For example, a new lignite-fired thermal powerplant is now high on the political agenda as one ofthe pillars of Slovenia’s new energy sources; thishighly controversial project is even being presentedas an “environmentally friendly” solution. This isvery alarming considering that the country is alreadyfacing serious warnings and financial consequencesdue to its increasing C0 2emissions and failure tomeet the Kyoto-agreed levels. The total cost of penaltiesis estimated at EUR 80 million – about double theamount of Slovene ODA. 18 n17 Dušan Plut, Trajnostni razvoj med mavrico teorij in skromnoprakso (<strong>2010</strong>). Available from: (accessed 2 May<strong>2010</strong>).18 Keith Miles, “Osemdeset milijonov je evrov težka obdavčitevSlovenije ni pravična,” Finance 150 , 2009. Available from:.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 161 Slovenia
somalia100s/dAt the mercy of pirates10073100n/d0000s/ds/d6990As one of the world’s least developed countries, Somalia depends on international assistance. However,aid is scarce and insufficient 100 due to the global economic 100 crisis and the reluctance of donors to deal witheither regional armed groups or the national authorities. Resources from piracy are almost as significantas those coming from the European Commission. In Somalia’s gender-biased society, war and povertyINGLES BCI of Myanmar = 77hit women the hardest.100 100 100100 100n/dn/d99100Somali Organisation for CommunityDevelopment Activities (SOCDA)Housing the Secretariat of SW 100 Somalia CoalitionAli Mahamoud OsobleBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong>Children reaching5th grades/dAfter 20 years of civil conflict it is war logic that rulesSomalia. Several opposing armed groups have hadthe country in their grip since early 1991. Multiple00efforts by the international community to bring peaces/ds/dbetween the groups have ended without tangible re-80 80sults, and violence and poverty have proliferated. Dueto this chaotic situation, there has been no internationalmeasurement of poverty for many years butit is estimated that over 43% of people are living inextreme poverty – earning less than USD 1.00 a day. 1Insecurity, instability and lack of central rulehave prevented Somalis from utilizing their rich naturalresources and have kept many sectors completelyparalyzed. The economy is largely driven by individuallybased entrepreneurship 100 and most people sur-BCI = 57100 100 100100 100100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5INGLES BCI of Somalia = 57Infrastructure, aid and piracyThe country’s civil war has resulted in the completedevastation of the physical infrastructure. While theUN announced USD 253 million for rehabilitation ofSomalia in 2007, more than 55% of that amount wasallocated for feeding programs 100 and resettlement to mainly funded by pirates. 100vive through coping mechanisms (such as collecting remedy one of the worst famines 87 and displacementswood and selling it or begging, and many people simplyskip meals). Somalia has therefore progressively depleted the fund.Agriculture is the most prominent sector in the econ-of people in Africa. These two processes severely The productive sector4444become a net recipient of assistance, particularly humanitarian.At the same time, however, international consequences of the war. Public utilities – electricuct(GDP). The main agricultural crops are sorghum,Mogadishu, the capital, experienced the worst omy and accounts for 60% of Gross Domestic Prod-00donors are reluctant to deal with the groups that ity, water, sewage, telephone services and road sugar and maize. 2 0Yet, there is almost no investmentrule over the various regions and also constrained in networks – as well as banking systems were totally in this sector and the country experiences constant8798 terms of releasing funds to Somali authorities 98 due to destroyed during the fighting. After two decades 98 of fears of famine and food shortfalls, especially 98 when100 100 61100100 100100 61100the lack of transparency and accountability. chaos, only telephone, water and electricity systems it is plagued by drought. In <strong>2010</strong>, however, much improvedcrop production is expected in the southernAlso, the multiple crises affecting the globe seem to be recovering, due to strong private sectorhave a direct effect on the Somali people. Since investments. However, more has been invested in parts of the country due to the heaviest rains in more1IEG of Venezuela = 68major donors allocated their resources to bailing telecommunications INGLES BCI than of in Venezuela, water and electricity RB = 91IEG of Venezuela = 68than seven years.out ailing companies in their own countries, OfficialDevelopment Assistance (ODA) has decreased. vestment and financing remain scarce and are based raise livestock, which comprises two thirds of the eco-combined. In the northern regions of the country in-About 50% of the population are nomads whoA lack of policies on food security and sovereignty on profit and cost-effectiveness.nomic value of agricultural production as well as twohas left Somalia highly vulnerable to the effects of Most of the funds from donors – excluding thirds of revenues from exports. Somalis also catchinadequate farming techniques, to the scarcity of those from the European Commission (EC) – are fish for consumption but not on a very large scale. 3investment into the productive sector and to climate concentrated in the south-central region and go to To date, no significant investment has gone intochange. This inadequate environment does not allowSomalis to benefit from the positive aspects of zones. The EU and UNDP launched a three-year USD grimage season Saudi Arabia lifted a nine-year banwater supply projects in drought- and war-affected the productive sector. However, during the 2009 pil-world trade, transfer of technologies, capital flow or 8 million project of urban development in April 2005 on livestock imports from Somalia. According touniversally agreed programs such as the Millennium that was designed to target all Somali towns and citiesand focus on areas included infrastructure, basic region, in the north of the country has had a 10-foldlocal traders, the market in Burao in the TogdheerDevelopment Goals (MDGs). The lack of investmentand attention has particularly affected infrastructure, services and urban planning and design.increase in sales. This investment came as a reliefthe productive sector, health, education and gender With the deterioration of the humanitarian situationand the marked increase in the need for aid, and is a good omen for the future of business in thefor shepherds in particular and Somalis in generalinequalities.the World Food Program (WFP) started a Special northern parts of the country.Operation Project in February 2005 targeting the1 UNDP Somalia, “Progress in achievement of MDGs inrehabilitation of the Mogadishu Port, the KismayoSomalia.” [data from 2006 and 2007] Available from: .Juba, Middle Juba, Bay and Bakol regions in order to 3Port and bottlenecks in the road networks of Lower .Ibid.1003359National reports 162 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>streamline the delivery of emergency food aid withinsouthern Somalia. In March 100 2008 the WFP extendedthe period for another year with approximately USD13 million.n/dIn December 2004, the tsunami that affectedSouth-East Asian countries reached Somali shores.UNICEF and the UN Office for the Coordination of HumanitarianAffairs (OCHA) announced that more than0n/dn/dUSD 1.5 million would be provided for a resettlementand reconstruction project for the worst-affectedstretch of coastland in north-eastern Somalia, wherethere was heavy damage to water sources and lossof livelihood assets.Pirate incomes from ransom seem to be playinga key role in development. Cities have beenexpanded and the prevalent perception is that therapid increase in the construction of new buildingsacross the country – including in Mogadishu – is770 88
In addition, the Islamic Development Bank andthe International Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD) signed a joint fund agreement in March <strong>2010</strong>amounting to USD 1.5 billion for implementing agriculturaldevelopment projects in Africa and Asia. Itremains to be seen what effects this will have on theSomali agricultural sector.Health careDuring the military regime of Siad Barre (1969-1991)health conditions improved and the number of medicalpersonnel and health facilities increased, althoughthey still did not meet Somali needs. The collapse ofthe regime, in January 1991, led to a worsening ofthe health situation. While smallpox had been nearlywiped out, occasional epidemics of measles had adevastating effect. The high prevalence of diseasesreflected the unstable environment, inadequate nutritionand insufficient medical care.In the 1990s public health declined and the Governmentno longer provided free medical services;private health care became widespread in the big cities.Fortunately, assistance from some internationalmedical organizations reached the southern regionsincluding Mogadishu. Médecins Sans Frontières(MSF) and the International Committee of the RedCross (ICRC), for example, brought in physiciansfrom various countries and provided free drugs toneedy people. In the big hospitals the also recruitedSomali doctors and nurses to work alongside the foreigndoctors. Although MSF and ICRC subsequentlyleft the country due to the widespread insecurity,these Somali physicians continue to provide freemedical assistance.EducationIn the chaos that followed the fall of President Barre,the education sector collapsed. Education and formalclassroom learning opportunities in Somaliaare limited. Although there have been substantialincreases in the number of schools and the enrolmentrate, huge disparities in the quality of and accessto primary education continue to exist in severalregions due the anarchic situation.Most schools are concentrated in and aroundthe main cities and are financed by parents andcommunities. According to the Survey of PrimarySchools in Somalia for 2003-2004, “there are 1,172operating schools with a total enrolment of over285,574 children representing a 19.9% gross enrolmentratio. This places Somalia among countrieswith the lowest enrolment rates in the world.” 4 Datawere not collected from some regions as they wereinaccessible due to floods and insecurity.4 UNICEF, “Somalia: Education.” Available from: .In a population of just over 8 million about 1million children are out of school, the vast majorityof whom are girls according to the EU. 5 This realityhas prevailed over many years and left a legacy interms of gender disparities in adult literacy. Only aquarter of women (25.8%) are literate while for menthe rate is 49.7%. 6The Formal Private Education Network in Somalia(FPENS), a network of educational institutionslaunched in 1999 in Mogadishu, is currently workinghard to restore educational facilities and providemuch needed educational services. By 2007, it hada membership of 150 schools with over 90,000 students.7 The FPENS target is to facilitate the transferof skills, knowledge and information among memberorganizations.Women suffer the mostIn Somalia it is women who are the most affected bydisasters, both natural and human-made. Genderdiscrimination is deeply rooted in society, and theinsecurity resulting from over 20 years of civil warhas further exacerbated the plight of women in amale-dominated environment. In a war-torn society,men use the power of guns to dominate the politicalscene. The same power is employed to excludewomen from decision-making positions. In this scenario,violence against women and girls has becomean important weapon of political power.Furthermore, competition for resources andpower tilts the balance against women. They areprogressively being deprived of capital ownership,including property such as land and livestock that arehighly valuable to farming and pastoralist communities.As more resources are dedicated towards armamentsand militias, women and other vulnerablegroups suffer the direct consequences. They hardlyparticipate in warfare but as unarmed civilians theysuffer its impacts as the victims of killings, injuries,rape, displacement and other abuses that affect themboth physically and psychologically.ConclusionMillions of Somalis remain mired in poverty andthere is very little chance for the country to benefitfrom ambitious international and regional programs– such as the MDGs, the Brussels Program of Ac-5 European Union, “The EU marks International Women’sDay on 8 March <strong>2010</strong>, recognizing the essential role ofSomali women in peace and development,” press release.Available from: .6 Index Mundi, “Somalia Literacy.” Available from: .7 Lee Cassanelli and Farah Sheikh Abdikadir, “Somalia:Education in Transition,” Bildhaan: An InternationalJournal of Somali Studies, Vol. 7, 2007. Available from:.tion, the New Partnership for African Developmentand the Economic Partnership Agreements – thatcould help alleviate this situation. Most of the meagrefunds that are provided for construction and basicservices are observably motivated by disasters, EuropeanCommission initiatives, profit generated bybusinesses and income from piracy. n<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 163 Somalia
spainChanging (for worse)The Government’s intentions to deal with the financial crisis without making cuts and adjustments in its socialpolicy programs did not materialize, and in <strong>2010</strong>, President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero changed course andannounced a package of forceful measures to reduce the public deficit and a labour reform scheme that washeavily criticized by the unions. Another serious consequence of these adjustments is that Official DevelopmentAid (ODA), which Spain had strongly supported, is to be reduced. The Government has missed a gloriousopportunity to regulate the role that Spanish enterprises play abroad as actors in international development.100100Plataforma 2015 y másPablo José Martínez OsésThe 2009 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> <strong>Report</strong> noted that the SpanishGovernment planned to ride out the internationalfinancial crisis without giving way pressure to cutits increasing public deficit or make it cheaper forenterprises to lay off workers. The question was howlong it would be able to maintain its social protectionpolicies and systems for the people most affected bythe crisis. But now, a year later, and as it is taking itsturn in the Presidency of the European Union, thissame Government has rushed to implement severefiscal adjustments and cuts in public expenditure,and has tabled a labour reform scheme which raisesthe retirement age to 62 and eases restrictions onterminating full time workers while also reducingincentives to hire temporary workers. These reformsare bitterly criticized by the 100workers’ unions that donot see how they can help solve the employmentcrisis.In the first quarter of <strong>2010</strong> the unemploymentrate in Spain reached 20.05% of the economically activepopulation 1 25, an increase of 1.22 points over the0previous quarter. Since then it has dropped slightlybut it is uncertain whether this is due to the seasonalnature of the unemployment 54 structure (there are100 62 100more jobs in the summer months) or if it can be takenas a sign of overall recovery. The Government hasbeen hurt politically by the persistently high unemploymentlevel and by stagnation in credit access forsmall and medium enterprises, and the oppositionhave taken advantage of this. However, the Government’ssevere public spending cuts and labourreform initiative seem to have been a response toexternal pressures, ranging from European Union100(EU) member states to global stock markets.Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100 100BCI = 99 GEI = 77Children reaching5th grade099100100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5market climate caused by the Greek debt crisis andrescue plan, served to restrict the Government’sfreedom of movement, and eventually it had to agreeto implement the orthodox response dictated by theEuropean system —in line with the same austerityprescriptions the international 100 financial institutionshave been imposing on developing countries for30 years.After the meeting of the 56 Economic and FinancialAffairs Council (ECOFIN) 2 in May <strong>2010</strong>, Spain’sPresident, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced0savings measures to reduce the public deficit. Healso issued 78 a decree to decrease public investmentby 6,000 million euros, along with a 5% pay 94 cut for all100 100public employees, a freeze on pensions, the abolitionof the birth incentive scheme, a delay in implementingaid for dependent people, and a cutback in OfficialDevelopment Aid (ODA) 3 . This package representsvirtually a 180 degree turn from his resolve to addressthe crisis through a combination of strongpublic investment by local government, anti-cyclicalpolicies and maintaining social protection systemsat same levels.100When Spain held the EU presidency during the87first semester of <strong>2010</strong>, the policies that it initiallypursued in that context have been pushed aside andnegated by the need to combat the crisis, and as inprevious crises, such as Asia and Latin America this0Economic activityEmpowerment98100 58100BCI of spain = 99 IEG of Spain = 77meant the country has lost more n/d jobs, and morequickly, than anywhere else in the EU.The question is whether to handle this dual systemby extending social security 0 coverage to include2 ECOFIN is part of the Council of Europe. It is made up of the seasonal and n/d precarious workers or n/d to reduce that699680Economics Ministers from the 27 EU member countries. 96 protection for workers on fixed contracts. The new100 It has 100 budgetary powers, and in this case the ministers 100 in100 100bill would reduce the cost of making people on fixed 100charge of the budget also attend.contracts redundant and make it more expensive to3 “Las nuevas medidas con las que el Gobierno quiere lay off seasonal and temporary workers. This moveahorrar 15.000 millones,” El país.com , 12 May <strong>2010</strong>.INGLES BCI of Iraq = 88to make it cheaper to dismiss workers is a responseAvailable from: .who justify the high rates of temporary employmentEducationhas meant implementing successive fiscal adjustments.The EU agreements, which do not includea common fiscal policy, prevent member countriesfrom taking the traditional approach to such situations,namely devaluing their currencies.However, this orthodox 100 structural adjustmentprogram aimed at stabilizing the markets yet againcalls into question the sovereignty of democraticgovernments when it comes to designing and executingeconomic policy. Spain’s own plans to25cope with the crisis have been given a low priority,0suspended or postponed, and now depend on thespeculators.9454100 100 62 100Labour reformIn the early months of <strong>2010</strong>, after negotiations withIEG of Eritrea = 47 INGLES BCI of Eritrea = 76its social partners had broken down, the GovernmentIEG of Eritrea = 47brought a labour reform bill before Parliament. Thislegislation, which is still in negotiation with the politicalparties, involves measures to reduce the dualityin the labour market stemming from the prevalenceof temporary employment. In the previous periodof economic expansion this feature of the economy100enabled Spain to generate more jobs than any othercountry in Europe, but in the current crisis it hasLiberal orthodoxy in the markets/dSince the beginning of <strong>2010</strong>, Spain’s economy hasbeen buffeted by a series of heavy blows. In Februarythe ups and downs of 0 the euro had seriousnegative effects s/don the country’s growing s/d publicdebt positions. Then, the rating agencies – the same100 100ones that did not foresee the 2008 crisis – reducedthe rating of Spain’s ability to meet its short-termdebt obligations. All this, added to the jittery credit10007410010010087National reports 164 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100100
y pointing to the high costs involved in the fixedcontract alternative.The unions have been very critical of the proposedreform because extending the grounds forlegitimate dismissal and making it less expensivein terms of compensation would erode and damagelabour rights, and it would also give employers moreroom to manoeuvre and unilaterally modify somelabour contract conditions. All in all, the reform is inline with the liberalization of labour market managementand would most likely result in making all formsof employment more precarious.ODA stagnationThe Zapatero Government’s first legislative sessionsaw a spectacular increase in funding for ODA, whichjumped from 0.23% of Gross National Income (GNI)in 2004 to 0.45% in 2009, 4 and for the first timeSpain’s contribution was above the average for theEU member countries. In addition, the subject ofcooperation was linked to basic agreements on theinternational development agenda including the pursuitof the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),the promotion of a new active, democratic multilateralism,and the emphasis on sustainable development,gender equality and human rights. 5It was the first time that a Spanish Presidenthad made a public commitment to combat povertyon the international level, which gave cooperationpolicies a visibility and importance that was unheardof in Spanish democracy. There was an effort to linkthis commitment to the persistent demands of CivilSociety Organizations (CSO), with the announcementthat by the end of the Government’s secondterm the country would be allocating 0.7% of its GNIto ODA. In December 2007, Non-Governmental Organizations(NGOs) saw a large part of their demandssatisfied when all the political parties in Parliamentsigned the State Pact against Poverty. 6However, in 2008 the trajectory of budget increasesbegan to encounter roadblocks, very probablydue to a reluctance to improve the professionalcapabilities and structural problems of the State insections responsible for managing policy for internationaldevelopment cooperation.4 Declarations by the Secretary of State for InternationalCooperation, Soraya Rodríguez, at the inauguration of the5th International Forum on Democracy and Cooperation inCáceres, Extremadura, in June <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .5 There was a notable profusion of program and policydocuments in that period. The overarching plans, sectorstrategies and specific programs had to be reformulated.At the start of that legislative period the old Planning andEvaluation Office was replaced by the General Direction ofPlanning, which has far greater scope and resources.6 See: .Inertia in cooperation for developmentThe initial surge to undertake reforms seemed torun out of steam very quickly. One of the initiativesthat failed was a limited reform to the statutes of theSpanish Agency for International Cooperation forDevelopment, 7 which should have established a newmanagement model adapted to the requirements ofan ambitious and coherent policy for cooperation fordevelopment. But important political forces and widesectors in the administration itself still do not seecooperation policy from the perspective of an effortto construct global public goods, that is to say as aneffort that is independent of the country’s interests asrepresented by the foreign diplomatic service and bythe State’s commercial technicians.Cooperation policy and the international humandevelopment agenda require a new directionin the State administration and new arguments forinternational development that leave behind the traditionalthinking based on competition or strategic ordiplomatic rivalry.Spain’s role in international developmentIn <strong>2010</strong>, after several years of delay, the Governmenttabled a bill to reform the most controversial aspectof its international cooperation system, the DevelopmentAid Fund (FAD), which uselessly tried to linksubsidies to promote Spanish exports with the developmentobjectives of the aid recipient countries.The FAD had been planning a series of projects thatcould hardly be considered part of local developmentstrategies and that have been shown to be ineffectivebecause they serve only the interests of a smallgroup of Spanish exporting companies that lobbiedfor public subsidies to underpin their operations orsales abroad. And this is ultimately paid for by thereceiving countries in the form of increased externaldebt, because the instrument was constituted as acredit fund that required a sovereign guarantee.The Government was unable to impose its coherentvision of an international development agendaand, like the biblical King Solomon, decided to splitthe problem in half. It set up one repayable instrumentfor development cooperation activity (calledFONPRODE) and another credit instrument exclusivelyto subsidize exports from Spanish enterprises(FIEM). This kind of aid for exports is prohibited underEU regulations because it is considered unfaircompetition for companies in other countries in theUnion, but the Helsinki Agreement does allow excep-7 This was passed almost without dialogue with the socialpartners at the end of the legislative period. There wasa minimal change to the organization’s name, a “D”for Development was added, and in some way the newbody consolidated the predominant role of foreignservice management positions. The only changes in theorganigram were the appearance of departments to dealwith mainstreaming, political priorities and operationalprogramming linked to the new quality agenda.tions so long as the receiving country has lower levelsof development and that the loans granted includesome kind of concessionary package. 8 But, in fact,this is a fallacy and an excuse to justify each donorusing tools that help its exporting enterprises.Spanish social organizations have joined forcesand advanced proposals to impose development criteriato limit the new measures. Some of these measuresare designed to stop these loans from swellingthe foreign debt of highly indebted poor countries,which would contravene international agreements.Others are aimed at halting operations with thesefunds that do not comply with international conventionsto foster labour rights and environmental protection,or that serve to subsidize exports of weaponsor military or police equipment. The main resistanceto the introduction of these controls has come fromsectors of the administration apparatus and fromwithin the Government itself.In these times of economic crisis the Governmenthas missed a wonderful opportunity to regulatethe operations of Spanish enterprises abroad ascontributors to international development. This routehas been rejected in favour of a vision of improvedcompetitiveness based on reducing counterbalancesand regulations to a minimum.The old vision has returnedThe ODA panorama is bleak. In the country’s two lastbudgets, allocations for international cooperationstagnated, 9 the Government has announced a reductionof 800 million euros in the next two years andhas acknowledged that the 0.7% of GNI target willhave to wait until 2015 at least, and even then willonly be attained if economic conditions improve.Quite apart from the direct effects of budgetcuts, social organizations are claiming that this announcementamounts to a reversal of policy and areturn to considering international cooperation as ameans of subsidizing Spanish enterprises, which isto say as a luxury in times of economic bonanza andgrowth. Thus instead of considering anti-cyclicalpolicies as ways to create alternatives in times ofslowdown and seeing the possibilities that internationalcooperation offers in terms of brining changeto productive systems and models, the Governmenthas revived the old orthodox neo-liberal visionwhereby the deficit and public spending must becut to cater to the systems and needs of those whoreally rule. n8 The degree of concessionality of a loan is directlyproportional to the advantages it offers to those who receiveit with respect to those that advance credits in the market.9 See “La Reforma del Sistema de Cooperación español entiempos de crisis” in the 2008 annual report of Plataforma2015 y más. Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 165 Spain
7381100SurinameBig challenges ahead09The country is heavily dependent82on foreign development assistance through either bilateral aid relations97984756or multilateral 77 financing 100 institutions. Although there 100 has been economic growth in the past decade, thishas had adverse development effects by widening inequalities in an already vulnerable society. With over60% of the population living below the poverty line, the country faces many social problems includingIEG of Nigeria = 44 BCI of Paraguay = 89IEG of Paraguay = 67in housing, access to health, education and gender equality. Finding a balance between ethnic groupinterests and those of the nation at large is a pre-requisite for sustainable growth and development.100 100 100100 100100087100047100Institute for Public FinanceDrs. Satja Jabar100Suriname, a small economy with a population of517,052 inhabitants and a land area of 164,000 km 2 , 1Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 91 GEI = 5685 Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermenthas had a dual production structure since colonial23times: low-value agricultural products and raw materials24produced by local businesses on the one hand;000and high-value products from the mining industry,90999297such as bauxite, gold and recently oil, generated by4697100 100 71100100 100100 100foreign multinationals on the other. The Government Births attended bythus has little influence over about 85% of exports skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationearnings. Oil has been and still is the only nationalIEG of Switzerland = 62success story, although telecommunications andtourism have recently been contributing an increasingshare to the national income.Since independence in 1975, millions US dollarshave been received or borrowed through eitherbilateral aid relations or multilateral 100 financing institutionssuch as the Inter-American DevelopmentBank (IDB). For instance, Dutch assistance to Surinamehas amounted to about USD 100 million per48year since independence, except during periods ofmilitary rule; and total European Commission (EC)0assistance since 1975 is estimated at EUR 165 million(USD 203 million). This money, combined withnational budget expenditures, resulted in intensive 97100 72100economic growth in the past five years.This growth has had adverse development effects,however, in terms of widening income inequalitieswithin an already vulnerable society. Surinameis ranked 97 out of 182 countries in the 2009 UNDPHuman Development Index (HDI), with an HDI valueof 0.769. It is ranked 46 out of 135 countries in theHuman Poverty Index, with a value of 10.1%. Its MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) baseline report100for 2005 indicates that in 1999-2000 over 60% of thepopulation lived below the poverty line. 2The Government employs 52 around 40% of theworkforce, making it the largest employer in thecountry. This puts an enormous pressure on its financesas an average of 80% 0 of recurrent costs aremade up of wages and salaries, leaving little roomfor other expenditures 51such as telecommunications, 99100 100training and transportation.BCI of Suriname 3 There=is91a historical heritageof the State appointing civil servants in order toestablish legitimacy and power and restructuring theGovernment has been a policy priority for decades.The private sector in general is weak and small; 90%consists of small family 100 businesses 93 employing 1-10persons. 4IEG of Suriname = 56does not have health insurance or coverage. 7 Thisled the Ministry of Health to design a general healthinsurance scheme, which is still under discussion.There is also inequitable access to water and sanitationservices. Mercury pollution from small-scalegold mining activities in 100the interior, excessive pesticideuse on agricultural lands in rural coastal areasand the widespread practice of 52dumping sewage into100100<strong>Social</strong> challenges everywhereSuriname faces many social problems. One of theseis unequal access to education, especially in the0poorer areas. The poor quality of teachers, schoolsand learning aids do not help counter the inefficiency100of the primary education system, where more 99 than100 10040% of the students take seven years or more tofinish the six-year course and only 50% pass thefinal exam. This occurs in spite of about 6.5% ofstreet ditches and canals, all pose a serious threat tothe quality of drinking water.Housing is another big challenge. Some housingsituations are comparable to bidonvilles (settle-0ments) in Latin America with people living in illegal72dwellings on land they do not own. There are 97no runningwater, sanitary or electricity services in these100 100areas and the lack of employment opportunities resultsin high crime rates. Estimates for 2008 indicate74100IEG of france 72 Gross Domestic BCI Product of USA 97 (GDP) and 15% of theGovernment’s recurrent expenditure being spent oneducation. 5 The causes of this inefficiency includeshortages in quality learning aids, obsolete curricula,insufficient training and re-training of teachers, insufficientlya housing deficit IEG of of 30,000 USA houses 74 in an estimatedtotal number of 120,000 households nationally. 8 Thismeans that 25% of households lack proper housingfacilities.competent teachers and poor testing and Dependence on external development aid100100selection systems. 6 87The IDB runs two loan programs in the country (20%The health sector in Suriname is currently facingserious obstacles. About 35% of the populationloans, 80% grants) for increasing the housing supply.Within the first program, the 52 Low Income ShelterProgram (LISP), about 1,155 new houses and 2,512renovations were financed, including a subsidy for0the borrowers. This program 0 favoured women since3 Ministry of Finance, Financiele Notas, various years. about 60% of households 51 in Paramaribo, the capital87984 Iwan Poerschke, “Quick Scan of Small Entrepreneurs 98 in city, are female-headed. 9 A constraining factor, 99 how-90100 Suriname,” 100 December 2009.100100 1001005 Ministry of Finance, Central Bookkeeping Office, variousbudget reports.7 Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Health in the1 General Bureau of Statistics, Statistical Yearbook 2008.Americas 2007, Volume II–countries, Washington, DC, 2007.IEG of El Salvador = 68 6 VVOB Education for Development, “Suriname: Building theINGLES BCI of El Salvador = 91 IEG of El Salvador = 682 Government of Suriname and UN Country Team, Suriname Ship of Educational Reform.” Available from: .9 General Bureau of Statistics, Household Budget Surveys.100100National reports 166 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100100
CHART 1. Suriname selected indicators 2002-20082004 2005 2006 2007 2008*Real GDP (USD million, market prices) 1,929 2,014 2,091 2,200 2,313National income per capita in USD 2,815 3,429 4,033 4,675 5,790Source: General Bureau of Statistics, various publications.CHART 2. Actual Government revenues 2006-2008 (USD millions)2006 % 2007 % 2008 % 2009 %**1. Taxes 458 71.6% 571 67.1% 630 72.5% 631 61%2. Non-tax revenues 123 19.2% 144 16.9% 146 16.8% 210 20%3. Donor grants 59 9.2% 136 16.0% 93 10.7% 198 19%Source: Ministry of Finance <strong>2010</strong>.ever, was that many people lacked title to the landon which new houses were to be built. The IDB alsohas a long-term program with the Government forimproving education.The most important donor country, the Netherlands,financed a program for micro-credit lending.This aims to stimulate micro-entrepreneurshipand encourages women to apply. More than EUR100 million (USD 123 million) are also invested inphysical infrastructure such as road improvement,education, strengthening of entrepreneurship, landinformation and registration.As shown below, donor grants were expectedto play an important role (19%) in total governmentrevenue in 2009. Suriname’s 2006-2011 Multi-YearDevelopment Plan assumes that 50% of its financingwill come from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). 10However, domestic revenues must improve for independentdevelopment and growth to take place. Thetax base has to be broadened – by introducing propertytaxes, for instance, which has not been done forpolitical reasons.Gender equalityGender equality needs more attention from the Governmentand there is no national gender action policy.In a statement before the UN Commission on the Statusof Women, the Minister of Home Affairs, MauritsHassankhan, acknowledged that many challengesremain in the promotion of gender equality and theempowerment of women: “Besides insufficient financialresources, we also face challenges in lackof capacity with government officials and civil society,including NGOs. The lack of sex-disaggregateddata and analysis constrains the formulation and10 US Department of State, “2009 Investment ClimateStatement – Suriname.” Available from: .implementation of policies geared towards improvingthe situation and rights of women and moreoverconstrains our capacity to measure progress in allocatingdomestic resources.” 11Challenges aheadSuriname faces four important challenges. The firstis its dependence on donor finances for developmentprojects, since official development assistance is notgoing to be there for ever. The second is that around80% of export earnings are derived from miningproducts (oil, gold and bauxite and alumina), whichare non-renewable resources. Planning for the futurewill have to incorporate developing products that aresustainable.The third challenge is Institutional strengthening.Many institutions within the Government are historicallyweak or non-existent. Pressured by internationalrelations, multilateral institutions like the IMFand the IDB and its largest donor, the Netherlands,Suriname was forced into the adoption of the “freemarket”approach to growth and development. Thisrequires the establishment of many mechanismsand institutions for market creation and supervision,regulation, information dissemination, dispute settlement,regulation of competition and the like thatare currently either not in place or very weak.Finally, the fourth challenge is finding a balancebetween ethnic group interests and those ofthe nation at large. With few exceptions, politicalparties have been based on ethnicity for a long timeand politics has been used to provide members ofthe particular ethnic group with jobs, income, land,government health care cards and access to otherproduction factors. This ethnic competition gets inthe way of efficient and effective Government managementand governance. n11 New York, 27 February 2008.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 167 Suriname
Switzerland61Stagnating ODA and fading attention to poverty1000After two years of obstacles, in June <strong>2010</strong> the Swiss Government 81 finally presented a proposal to increase3947Swiss ODA. International 100 pressure has forced this 100 tax haven to make 100 some concessions 77 – its 100 banksecrecy has begun to dissolve. Yet Swiss willingness to provide information relevant to tax illegalitieshas hardly changed. While the State champions open borders for trade, it continues to raise barriersBCI of Nigeria = 61IEG of Nigeria = 44against immigration from non-European countries. On the positive side, the Federal Cabinet hasdrafted a law that provides for freezing and repatriating stolen assets.1000910082Alliance Sud – Swiss Alliance of Development OrganisationsSo far, Switzerland has weathered the current economiccrisis relatively well. True, the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) contracted by 1.5% in 2009 and by theend of <strong>2010</strong> the official unemployment rate could riseto 4.5%- 5%, which is high by Swiss standards. Butcompared with the EU, where unemployment is 10%,and with far poorer countries in the global South, thissmall country in the heart of Europe is doing quitewell. This resiliency has been maintained despite themodesty of Switzerland’s economic stimulus programmes(a total of CHF 2.5 billion/EUR 1.7 billion)in comparison with those of other industrialized nations.In effect, the country’s highly export-orientedeconomy has enabled it to freeload off the stimuluspackages introduced by its major trading partners.The outlook for the coming 100 year is not bad either.The economy has been expanding since Septemberand is expected to show 74 1.4% growth in<strong>2010</strong>. Despite the financial crisis, the budget had asurplus of CHF 2.7 billion (EUR 1.8 billion) in 2009.The right wing-dominated Government is still pursuinga tough austerity policy. At the start of the year,0it decided to slash public spending by CHF1.5 billionannually (EUR 1 billion) from 2011 to 2013. However, 98100 58100its attempt to reduce social benefits suffered a crushingdefeat in early March when almost three-quartersof the voters rejected cuts in the pension system in areferendum initiated by the trade unions. This defeatindicates the strong opposition that awaits the othercuts in social services planned by the Governmentand the centre-right parliamentary majority – forexample, those affecting unemployment insuranceand the retirement age for women.100Stagnating ODAFrom the very beginning the Swiss Government hasoffered strong verbal support for the MillenniumDeclaration and the Millennium Development 25 Goals.That never translated into concrete 0 actions, however.Seeking to generate a stronger commitment to theODM, in May 2008 a broad alliance of over 70 NGOs,54100 62 100including trade unions and environmental organizations,submitted a petition with more than 200,000signatures calling on the Government to increaseODA to 0.7 per cent of GNI.The exceptionally large number of signatureshad an impact: in late 2008 Parliament endorsedBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9893 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 6210099100 100Births attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5increasing ODABCItoofatSwitzerlandleast 0.5% of=GNI98by 2015. Todate, however, the Government has refused to makethe necessary credits available, citing the unsettledeconomic situation. Parliament will make a definitivedecision in spring 2011. To reach the 0.5% figure, thecountry would have to 100 invest 99roughly CHF 2 billion(EUR 1.5 billion) more in ODA by 2015.Officially, Swiss ODA reached 0.47 per cent ofGNI in 2009. However, much of that is phantom aid –allocations that are overpriced, mislabelled as aid or donothing to help poor people. Expenditures on asylum0seekers already in Switzerland and nominal allocationsfor bilateral debt written off long before accounted for10022% of the total. Excluding these items alone, 100 ODA100 100would have been about 0.36 percent of GNI.At the same time, a trend towards exploitingdevelopment aid for foreign policy purposes is becomingmore pronounced. The State Secretariat forEconomic Affairs, the second most important playerin official development cooperation after the SwissAgency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) iswithdrawing from the least developed countries andfocusing instead on middle income countries like100Colombia, Indonesia and South 87 Africa where Switzerlandis keen to expand its trade relations.Lastly, funding for climate policy measures inthe South may be carved out of ODA, rather thanprovided through additional allocations. At the climateconference in Copenhagen 0 in December 2009,Switzerland agreed to allocate a total of CHF 150 million(EUR 100 million) for adaptation and protection 98100 100in the South from <strong>2010</strong> to 2012. Where these fundswill come from remains unclear. The SDC and developmentNGOs are insisting that funding for climatepolicy should not interfere with poverty reduction; inother words, should not come out of ODA. Whetherthey can prevail remains to be seen.Economic activityEmpowerment92100 71100EducationIEG of Switzerland = 62In addition to insufficient ODA, a lack of consistencyin Swiss policy toward the Global Southhas been a major problem. As is detailed below, inpolicies relating to the financial sector, trade andmigration, Switzerland is undermining the explicitobjectives of its development 100 cooperation work –combating poverty and promoting human rights.Switzerland has mechanisms for developing consistentpolicies. However, as the failure to increase48ODA indicates, the Government does not have thepolitical will to implement them. The only solution0is to institute a development impact analysis of allgovernment decisions, laws and sectoral policiesto determine their development impact. This 97 is still72a long way off.100100 100 100IEG of Spain = 77 BCI of france= 99Aggressive trade policyAt the 2005 WTO IEG Ministerial of france 72 Conference in HongKong Switzerland strongly supported free marketaccess for the poorest countries and in April 2007it introduced free market access for goods from theLeast Developed Countries (LDC). All tariffs and quotashave been officially eliminated, a Swiss endorsementof the EU “Everything but arms” initiative.100Nevertheless, as Alliance Sud has shown, hiddentariffs remain. 1 They are assessed 52 on all importsof sugar, rice, coffee and edible oils, including thosefrom LDCs through a levy known as the “guaranteefund contribution” that finances 0 compulsory foodstockpiles meant to guarantee the country will have94adequate supplies 51 in times of war, natural 99 disaster100 100 100and other crises. Alliance Sud has denounced thisviolation of the principle of free market access anddemanded that the levy be abolished immediately.76 IEG of Eritrea = 47 BCI of El Salvador = 91 IEG of El Salvador = 68087 871001 See: .02310010010010090National reports 168 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010073
It is incomprehensible that LDCs such as Ethiopia,Bangladesh and the Cape Verde Islands should beindirectly subsidizing emergency stockpiles in one ofthe world’s richest countries. This hidden tax bringsin about CHF 12 million each year; its abolition wouldpose no financial problem.The country’s bilateral trade policy towardscountries in the South has greater consequences.Switzerland is part of the European Free Trade Area(EFTA), which also includes Norway, Iceland andLiechtenstein, and is the driving force behind freetrade agreements with third countries. It also insistson including provisions that go beyond WTO rulesfor the protection of intellectual property rights, aswell as for market access for industrial goods andfinancial services, government procurement andinvestment.These provisions can have very negative effectson partner countries, including on the right to health,industrial policy and human rights. For example,to benefit its pharmaceutical and seed companies(Novartis, Roche, Syngenta, etc.) Switzerland isdemanding an extension of patent protection andexclusive property rights over research findings.These restrictions make it difficult for poor countriesto produce generic drugs and provide their populationswith affordable medicines. They can also affectfood security if farmers no longer have free access toseeds. In ongoing negotiations on a free trade agreementwith India, Switzerland is pushing for drasticreductions in industrial tariffs, which would give itscompanies greater market access. This stance totallydisregards the importance of duties for countries ofthe South as both a source of development financingand an industrial policy instrument.In 2009 Switzerland became the first developedcountry to ratify a free trade agreement with Colombia.So far at least, Norway and the USA have refusedto ratify similar agreements owing to Colombia’spoor human rights record. The Swiss Governmentovercame similar opposition in its own Parliament,arguing that trade agreements should not be linkedto human rights or environmental standards: tradecomes before morality.Foreign direct investment provides littlebenefit to poor countriesOpponents of an ODA increase often argue thatSwiss direct investments in the South create jobsand thereby contribute more to sustainable developmentthan does development assistance. Intruth, poor countries benefit only marginally. SwissForeign Direct Investments (FDI) are exceptionallyhigh – new investments totalled EUR 45.2 billion in2007and EUR 37 billion in 2008 2 – but only EUR 9.7billion of that went to non-industrialized countries in2007 and EUR 8.3 billion in 2008, and only 3 percentof the 2008 total went to least developed or low incomecountries. 3Apartheid in migration policyWhile Switzerland champions maximum opennessof borders for trade in goods and services, whenit comes to the movement of persons, it insulatesitself against immigration from non-European countries.Only highly skilled migrants can hope to obtaina work permit in this wealthy alpine country. Lessskilled migrants from developing and other non-EUcountries have little chance of being able to worklegally in the country. Thus Switzerland provides noopportunities for migrants who could contribute totheir home country’s development (through remittancesor skill acquisition). This highly restrictive immigrationpolicy has created a situation in which tensof thousands of people are living and working illegally.These migrants, commonly called Sans Papiers(undocumented people), are estimated to numberbetween 90,000 and 180,000. In the spring of <strong>2010</strong>the Parliament finally decided that the children ofSans Papiers could not only attend school, whichthey had been able to do, but also receive vocationaltraining. This does not entitle them to any kind oflegal status, however, and their parents continue tobe at risk of repatriation to their homeland.In this context a Minister of Foreign Affairs mandateto SDC to draft a new migration programmedesigned among other things to help stem “undesirable”migration from non-EU countries is particularlydistressing. This directive has aroused considerablediscontent, even at the OECD Development AssistanceCommittee (DAC). The latest Switzerland PeerReview (2009), comments that the country “needsto ensure that its development co-operation is notserving a migration policy that undervalues developmentconcerns.” 4Damaged tax havenOn the plus side, the well-known refusal of Swissbanks to divulge information to foreign tax authoritieswas relaxed considerably in 2009. This newwillingness to allow greater transparency in informationexchange and cooperate with efforts to fighttax evasion represents a concession to internationalpressure. Despite these reforms, Switzerland has notyet altered its information policy on tax matters thatconcern developing countries.Conservative estimates suggest that banks inSwitzerland manage at least at least USD 360 billionin untaxed private assets that came from developingcountries. For countries in the South, the tax incomethat could be derived from interest accruing on thoseassets – as well as from taxes on income that hasbeen illegally spirited out of the country and intoSwiss banks – would be a significant source of fundingfor development and poverty reduction. Switzerland’swillingness to shield tax evaders from developingcountries stands in stark contradiction to the UNMDG and the country’s declared commitment to helppoorer countries mobilize domestic resources.When the OECD placed it on a black list of uncooperativetax havens in early March 2009, the countryrisked being hit with G-20 economic sanctions.To avert this, the Government quickly revoked itsreservation to Article 26 of the OECD Model DoubleTaxation Convention (DTC) and declared its readinessto provide administrative assistance in casesof tax fraud and even in simple cases of tax evasion.Switzerland also hastily launched negotiations withseveral OECD countries to review and adapt the existingconventions. The new protocols still fail toprovide for the automatic exchange of information.To obtain bank information from Switzerland on suspectedtax evaders, foreign authorities must makea strong case, provide the name of the suspect andhave detailed information on the accounts.So far, Switzerland has only negotiated revisedconventions and agreed to provide internationalassistance in simple tax evasion cases with OECDcountries and Kazakhstan. <strong>Report</strong>edly, after the KazakhGovernment declared its intention to add Switzerlandto its own blacklist of tax havens and followup with a ban on Swiss investments its request fornegotiations was processed very quickly. This is anotable exception. Federal cabinet strategy reportson the new financial policy repeatedly emphasize thatin renegotiations of DTCs, priority should be give tothe OECD countries. For the time being, Swiss bankswill continue business as usual with assets that haveevaded taxes in developing countries.Even so, at the UN Conference on Financing forDevelopment in Doha in late 2008, Switzerland signalledits willingness to offer developing countries asavings tax agreement similar to the one it presentedto the EU. Under this agreement, Switzerland wouldlevy a tax on foreign investment income and transfera portion of the revenue back to the countries of origin.In spring 2009, the Federal cabinet reiterated thisoffer but made it clear that governments of developingcountries would have to take the next step.Progress on stolen assetsIt is gratifying that in late 2009 the Federal cabinetbegan drafting a law on freezing and repatriatingstolen assets. The bill establishes procedures forbarring foreign rulers and their allies from access totheir illegally acquired assets and returning them tothe population of the country concerned. However,civil society organizations, including Alliance Sudhave declared that the conditions it lays out for recoveryand restitution of stolen foreign assets aretoo restrictive. For restitution, the authorities of thecountry concerned must make the request; it cannotbe initiated by Switzerland or by a civil societyorganization. The bill is currently in the consultationphase; hopefully it will be strengthened before it ispassed. n2 Swiss National Bank: Direktinvestitionen 2008, Bern,December 2008, A3.3 Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation,Entwicklungshilfe der Schweiz, Statistiken 2008, Bern,November 2008, 7.4 OECD DAC, Switzerland Peer Review, Paris 2009, 43.Available at: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 169 Switzerland
8574100tanzania43MDGs: an under-funded crusadeSAHRiNGON Tanzania ChapterArmando SwenyaMartina M. Kabisama 100The efforts 82 of the Government to improve the lives of Tanzanians have been in vain, primarily8971 due to the lack of commitment 100 52 on strategies both 100 at the national and international 61 levels: 76 OfficialDevelopment Assistance (ODA) disbursement is often late and does not go with the Tanzanian nationalbudget process. Tanzania’s increasing external debt will delay much-needed steady economic growth.IEG of Slovenia = 65BCI of Senegal = 71IEG of Senegal = 55Although the economic indicators are heartening, the social ones – especially gender equality – revealmore efforts are needed to reach the MDGs.100100 100 100100 100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 75 93Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 72EmpowermentTanzania has adopted several poverty reduction51policies, including the Tanzania Development Vision262025 (for Mainland), Vision 2020 (for Zanzibar), as0well as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).00To implement these, the Government announced79908481the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of100 100 6443100100 100100 100Poverty, which seeks not only to promote growth Births attended byand reduce poverty but also to enhance social well skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationbeing, the quality of life, governance and account-IEG of Zambia = 56ability. However, the efforts of the Government toimprove the lives of Tanzanians have been in vain, asthe majority of the population survives on less thanone dollar a day.Limits of economic growth100Tanzania’s economy growth rate increased from4.1% in 1998 to 7.4% in 2008; a fall to 5% was expectedin 2009 due to the global economic crisis,n/dbefore gradually increasing to 7.5% by 2012. 1 Duringthe past five years, economic growth increased on0average 7% a year, which since 2000 has outpacedn/dn/dthe growth of labour and capital inputs (both below2%), 2 reflecting a more efficient use of these100 100resources owing to reforms and technology.Tanzania is ranked 151 out of 182 countries onthe 2009 Human Development Index (HDI), with percapital Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about USD1,150, but only USD 430 in nominal terms. Althoughagriculture represents only about 24% of GDP, some75% of the population is employed in this sector. 3Tanzania has implemented a revolutionary agriculturalpolicy, called “Kilimo Kwanza” (Agriculture100first), which encourages modern methods of production.However, despite efforts to extend irrigationsince 1967, so far only 1% of the 29 million hectares01000of arable landBCIis irrigated.of TanzaniaA second= 75IEG of Tanzania = 72constraint concernsresources, which despite the Kilimo Kwanza although this is higher than the target of 7% in linefor 2009 was expected to remain well below 10%,policy has remained at 6.5% of the total budget of with the decrease in food prices.9.5 trillion Tanzanian shillings (USD 6.4 billion) for According to the IMF, the Central Bank is moderatelyindependent and has contained inflation as2009/<strong>2010</strong>. 4100its prime target. However, 100 the effects of interest rateInflation and debts hamper 98 economic hikes on the volume of credit to the private sector ingrowthparticular are seriously taken into account. PrivateTanzania’s fiscal balance is within the acceptable sector credit started from a very low base – at 9% oflimits although its performance is very dependent GDP in 2003 – but increased to almost 20% in 2008.on donor aid. The public debt stands at around 25% Given the size of the debt, SAHRiNGON recommends600of GDP and is considered sustainable after the debt the Government minimize recurrent expenditure inwrite-offs in 2000, under the program of Highly IndebtedPoor 88 Countries Initiative. 5nomic growth.order to have a reliable economic base for the eco-99349888100 100100The budget allocation for recurrent and developmentexpenditure has also been a problem. For fiscal Challenges for ODA and MDGsyear 2009, the Government allocated USD 6.4 billion, The Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, endorsedincluding USD BCI 4.5 of billion Bahrain for recurrent = 95 IEG of Bahrain = 46expenditure by developing countries and donor partners in 2005,and USD 1.9 billion for development expenditure, recognizes that aid effectiveness requires a globalof which USD 1.3 billion – 78% – is dependent on commitment to increase development assistanceexternal assistance. 6and urges a common search for more efficient waysAt the same time, the inflation rate quickly rose of channeling aid in order to achieve desired developmentgoals, including the MDGs.to 12.2% 7 as the prices of imported goods increased100100due to the fall of the external 83value of the shillingrate in 2008 and December 2009. The inflation rate100 100 100an = 0Despite its commitment to the Paris Declaration,Tanzania’s external debt is still USD 5.5 billion,54and this is increasing by about USD 500 million per4 Statement by Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs year after the external debt cancellation in 2000. 81 United Republic of Tanzania, Poverty and Human0Development <strong>Report</strong>, Dar es Salaam, 2009. AvailableMustafa Haidi Mkulo introducing estimated revenue andexpenditure for financial year 0 2009/10. Dodoma, 11 JuneDebt repayment amounts to 23 only 1% to 2% of alllong term debt, although 0 there are substantial butfrom: .to over USD 1.2 billion 37with non-OECD countries 94 like100 2 Leenderl 100 Coljin, “Country 74 <strong>Report</strong> – Tanzania,” Economic 100100 100100 100100China and Arab States.Research Department, Rabobank Nederland, February 2009.5 Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Economic SurveyAvailable from: .6 Ibid. 73, 74.IEG of Canada = 74 BCI of Guatemala = 873 HDI rose by only 1.15 a year between 1990 (0.436) and 7 National Bureau of Statistics and Bank of Tanzania. See:IEG of Guatemala = 512007/9 (0.530). UNDP, Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009,63, 64, 73 and 116.(accessed on 16 March <strong>2010</strong>).8 Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Quarterly PublicDebt <strong>Report</strong>, September 2009.72100010027100National reports 170 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010086
Tanzania has often been commended for itsprogress in improving aid management but neverthelessretains many features of a typically aiddependentcountry. The budget for the fiscal year2008-2009 reveals that foreign aid represents approximately35% of its budget. In the fiscal year2007-2008, Official Development Assistance (ODA)to Tanzania was USD 2 billion. 9 This money includesgrants, debt relief and loans.Aid management in Tanzania is guided by theJoint Assistance Strategy (JAST) developed by theGovernment and its donor partners. It receives developmentaid under three typical modalities: GeneralBudget Support (GBS), Basket Funds (BFs) anddirect project funds, with GBS being the preferredmodality. However, a large proportion of aid continuesto be delivered through the project modality,which in many instances are off-budget. Donorsare being urged to shift away from projects towardsprogramme based approaches, through the JASTframework.A 2008 report by the Ministry of Finance andEconomic Affairs indicated that the GBS and basketfunding continue to perform well whilst project fundsstill pose challenges, including failure of sectoralministries to account for project fund expenditures,funding delays and irregularities, since project funddisbursements depend on implementation progress,various prior actions, procedural requirements andin-year performance assessments.Also there are no sanctions to donors when theyfail to honor their promises of supporting developingcountries. This situation seriously undermines theprinciple of mutual accountability, one of the fiveprinciples of the Paris Declaration.SAHRiNGON Tanzania recommends donorsprovide aid to GBS because it is easier to hold updisbursements in the face of changing politicalcircumstances. For example, the UK withheld £10million (USD 14.3 million) from its fiscal year 2002disbursement when it was disclosed that Tanzaniaintended to purchase a USD 40 million air traffic controlsystem for military use. 10Declining external aid is another problem.Tanzania needs to receive USD 4 billion in <strong>2010</strong>in order to achieve the MDGs. 11 However, to meetthis target the Government must agree to stringentaid conditionalities imposed by the IMF andCHART 1. Trend of Tanzania MDGs implementationMillenniumDevelopment GoalProportion of population belowBasic Needs Poverty LiveWorld Bank. Bilateral donors provide aid resourcesfor implementation of MDGs through sector wideprograms.Gender equality: lights and shadowsA review of laws, strategies and policies to promotethe MDGs and align them with principles of genderequality resulted in land laws that recognize equalrights between men and women, 12 labour laws thatprohibit discrimination against women in work places,laws making female genital mutilation a crimeand positive action policies to increase the number ofwomen in politics and decision-making. 13However, several factors continue to impedewomen’s ability to realize their human rights. Anumber of discriminatory laws still remain, includingCustomary Law Declaration Order of 1963which, among other things, prohibits widows frominheriting land from the deceased husband; andmarriage laws that permit marriage for girls under15 years old. 14Gender-based violence is another problem. Article1 of the UN Declaration on the Elimination ofViolence Against Women (1993) defines violenceagainst women as “any act of gender-based violencethat results in, or is likely to result in, physical,sexual, or psychological harm or suffering towomen, including threats of such acts, coercion, or1990 2000 2008 2015 AchievableActual Expected[by 2015]39 36 33.64 25.0 19.5 Unlikely to achievePrimary School Net EnrolmentRate54.2 58.7 97.2 87.2 100 AchievableUnder-five Mortality Rate(per 1,000 live births)191 153 112 99.6 64 Likely to achieveInfant Mortality Rate(per 100,000 live births)115 99 68 59.6 38 Likely to achievableBirth attended by skilled healthpersonally43.9 35.8 63 77.1 90 Unlikely to achieveMaternal Mortality Rate(per 100,000 live births)529 - 578 244 133 Unlikely to achieveHIV prevalence,15-24 years 6 - 2.5
95100thailand62Time to rethink industrial development022Thailand’s Supreme Administrative Court 19 decision upholding a lower court injunction, which suspended9557work on 65 of the 76 industrial 100 projects in the Map 100 Ta Phut Industrial Estate5774due to environmental74concerns, supports the constitutional rights of individuals to safety and good health. The injunctionexposes the failure of State agencies to issue proper operating licenses for industrial projects. ThailandIEG of Nepal = 51 INGLES BCI of Nepal = 58 IEG of Nepal = 51must embark on a complete rethinking of its industrial development policy, addressing its economicproblems and generating employment while not damaging people’s health and the environment.100 100 100100 1001000100022100<strong>Social</strong> Agenda Working GroupChulalongkorn <strong>Social</strong> Research InstituteRanee Hassarungsee 100Suntaree KiatiprajukBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 9693Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 70EmpowermentAfter the discovery of natural gas in the Gulf of Thailand41in 1973, the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate (MTP IE)41was included in the Eastern Seaboard Development0Programme (ESB). The ESB – which covers Chachoengsao,00Chon Buri and Rayong provinces, located near9997Bangkok – was introduced as one of the priority issues989998100 100 72100100 100100 72100100of the Fifth National Economic and <strong>Social</strong> Development Births attended byPlan (1982-1986) when Thailand started to shift its skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationeconomic development strategy from import-substi-IEG of Thailand = 70tution to export-led industrialization, a comprehensiveplan to alleviate the high unemployment situation inthe country. 1The State-owned MTP IE, introduced in 1981,comprises two main parts: industrial estate and industrialseaport. Construction was started in 1987 andfinished in 1990. Originally, the total investment wassaid to be THB 370 billion (USD 11.4 billion), with thegeneration of approximately 11,500 jobs. It began witha total area of about 672 hectares; owing to the boom inthe petrochemical industry however it has expanded toabout 1,200 hectares.In recent years, the rapid agglomeration of industrieshas contributed to increased employment andincome in the ESB. According to the National Economicand <strong>Social</strong> Development Board (NESDB), from 1995 to2000, direct investment created about 460,000 jobsin the area. Even in the midst of the Asian economiccrisis (1997-99), it was reported that while Bangkoklost 120,000 jobs, areas in the vicinity of the ESB added57,000 new jobs.To the wider Thai and international public, the MTPIE has been hailed as the world’s leading industrial developmentmodel equipped with standardized and hightechenvironmental management of water, air and toxicwastes. But the affected communities show that Mab TaPhut is the most severely polluted area with the country’shighest number of patients with industrial developmentrelateddiseases. 2 It currently houses over 90 industrialfacilities, including oil refineries, petrochemical andchemical facilities and hazardous waste landfills and1 Penchom Saetang, “Industrial Pollution in Thailand: A Caseof Eastern Seaboard Development and Japanese Aid andInvestment,” Campaign for Alternative Industry Network,May 2006.2 “Failed pollution reduction plan, no time to delay Mab Ta Phutcontrol,” ASTV Manager Daily, 16 March 2009.treatment facilitiesINGLESwith overBCI200of Thailand=stacks emitting96toxicpollution over 25 surrounding communities.Today, the province is a center for industrial developmentand shows the country’s highest per capitaGPP, eight times above the national average. But sucheconomic development concentration has led to unequalincome distribution among different populationgroups, preventing the provincial public from enjoyingexpected higher levels of development.Threats to human and environmental healthOver two decades of industrial development have turnedthe area, once characterized by small rural farmingand fishing communities, into the country’s numberonetoxic hot spot. Rapid industrialization has led todeteriorating natural resources and changes in socialand economic structure following by numerous social,socio-economic, environmental, and health problems.Accumulated pollution and environmental problems aswell as mysterious diseases have emerged, intimatelylinked to each other. They drastically affect locals wholack the capacity to negotiate with the powerful industriesor bureaucratic agencies. 3The main effects on the environment and peoples’health are:1. Air pollution: For more than 10 years, Map TaPhut residents have suffered from various forms of pollution,especially air pollution caused by volatile organiccompounds. Over 200 smoke and flare stacks in MTPIE have been emitting voluminous amount of pollutantsinto the air and spreading them to neighbouringcommunities. A number of studies have indicated links3 “Thailand’s Air: Poison Cocktail, Exposing UnsustainableIndustries and the Case for Community Right to Know andPrevention”, Campaign for Alternative Industry Network,greenpeace Southeast Asia, and Global Community Monitor,October 2005.IEG of Thailand = 70between exposure of residents to pollutants such asbenzene, styrene and xylene and the increase in diseasesrelated to the respiratory system, nervous system, reproductivesystem, muscle system, and mental disorder. 4The pollution hazards for Map Ta Phut PanphittayakarnSchool were brought to public attention in1997. Around 1,000 pupils and teachers suffered fromillnesses after inhaling toxic emissions and had to behospitalized for breathing difficulties, headaches, nasalirritation and nausea. In 2005, the Ministry of Educationapproved the school’s relocation to a site five kilometersaway from the original compound. 5 Since then, the areahas been recognized nationwide as the most obviousand serious case of undesirable impacts from unsustainableindustrialization. 6 A test carried out in 2005 byUS-based Global Community Monitor (GCM) demonstratedthat airborne cancerous toxic chemicals such asbenzene, vinyl chloride and chloroform released by MapTa Phut Industrial Estate exceeded safety standards ofdeveloped nations by 60 to 3,000 times.2. Water pollution: Now every household in Mab TaPhut and the Rayong’s Muang district has to buy waterfor consumption because of no longer being able to usewater from their ponds. The ponds and lakes are contaminatedwith toxic chemicals due to the dumping oftoxic waste, which the rainwater flushed into the riversand then the sea. 7 Water resources in the area aroundthe estate were found to be contaminated with metallic550 664 Ibid.1005 UNESCO–Bangkok programme on Ethics and ClimateChange Asia and the Pacific, “Representation and whodecides,” 28 November 2009.6 “Thailand’s Air: Poison Cocktail,” op. cit.7 “Lessons learnt by local people are important for decidingthe future development direction of society,” WatershedCommunity Voices Vol. 7, November 2001-February 2002.87BNational reports 172 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
elements. Water samples tested from 25 public pondsin the Map Ta Phut municipality indicated the presenceof hazardous levels of toxic substances. Cadmium wassix times the safety level, zinc 10 times, manganese 34times, lead 47 times and iron 151 times. 8The report from the Rayong public health officeconfirmed the contamination with iron, lead, manganese,and chloride over drinking water standard, inmany groundwater sources. since only two communitieshave access to public pipe-water, therefore over 22communities have to pay much higher costs for buyingdrinking, potable water. Fruit farmers also complain thatthe acid rainwater damages their fruit trees. 93. Illegal hazardous waste dumping and seashoreerosion: Ms Penchom Saetang of Ecological Alert andRecovery – Thailand (Earth), pointed out that everyyear since 1998 there has been illegal dumping and acontinuing erosion of the coastal area: “The local peoplehave demanded several times to stop the expansions ofthe industrial estate areas but their voice was ignored bythe Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT).” 10She added that since 1999, the Natural Resourcesand Environmental Policy and Planning Office haswarned that air pollution in Mab Ta Phut had exceededthe area’s carrying capacity and no further investmentshould be made. The warnings were based on a detailedstudy on the area’s pollution carrying capacity; however,the IEAT did not accept this study, calling it questionableand proposed that a joint model be developed while theindustrial sector insisted on expanding their activitiesignoring the affected people’s opposition. 114. Health impact: According to the informationobtained between 2003 and 2005, the number of MabTa Phut people suffering from pollution-related respiratorysystem, skin and occupation-related diseases washigher than those in other areas of Rayong province.Moreover, the incidence rates of all types of cancer andleukemia of Rayong’s Muang district were higher thanthose of other districts of the province. 12According to the National Cancer Institute, the incidenceof cancer in Rayong, where the Map Ta Phut industrialestate is located, is 182.45 per 100,000 people,compared to the national average of 122.6. The leukemiaratio is also higher; 6 per 100,000 people, whereasthe national average is about 3.55. The Rayong publichealth office reports that the ratio of birth deformities,disabilities and chromosome abnormalities drasticallyincreased from 1997 to 2001, from 48.2 per 100,000people to 163.8 people, an increase of 300%. 13Government’s action: complete failureSince 2007, the environmental and health conditions inMab Ta Phut have been drastically deteriorating. Non-8 UNESCO Bangkok programme, op cit.9 “Thailand’s Air,” op cit.10 Malini Hariharan. “Thailand’s Map Ta Phut crisis–the NGOside of the story,”ICIS, <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .(Accessed 18 March <strong>2010</strong>).11 “Uprooting Mab Ta Phut,” Thai Post, 14 March 2009.12 Rayong Administrative Court’s ruling (2009), quoted inKanuengnij Sribua-iam, “Judicial procedure, environmentand health: lessons learned from the Mab Ta Phut case.13 “Rayong awaiting its day in court,” Bangkok Post, 29November 2009.governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communitygroups have called on the Government to declareMab Ta Phut a pollution control area, but to no avail.On 1 October 2008, 27 people representing thoseliving in 11 communities around Rayong’s MTP IE fileda lawsuit in Rayong Administrative Court against theNational Environment Board (NEB), chaired by thePrime Minister, accusing it of failing to comply withlegal procedure by not designating Mab Ta Phut andnearby areas as pollution control areas. 14The Rayong Administrative Court issued its rulingon 3 March 2009 stating that different documents allpointed out that Mab Ta Phut pollution is adversely affectingthe people’s health and their environment. Thecourt also admitted that the pollution in Mab Ta PhutMunicipality has continued to be so severe that it couldharm people’s health and environmental quality. Althoughtwo ad hoc working committees were set up after2007 to address the problems in Rayong, the pollutionintensified. Even so, the NEB failed to designate the MabTa Phut Municipality as a pollution control area, arguingthat almost all factories in the area already cooperatedin the committees’ pollution reduction and eliminationaction plans. The court ordered that the NEB cleanedup the polluted industries within Map Ta Phut IndustrialEstates, and to declare the areas around the estates a“pollution control area” within a timeframe of 60 days.The NEB announced on 11 May 2009 that MapTa Phut projects could proceed even though it had declaredMap Ta Phut a “pollution control area” in theRoyal Gazette on 30 April 2009 in accordance with courtrulings. Despite prior court rulings stipulating that theGovernment must work towards environmental conservation,the NEB has now permitted all investment plansin the area, including those in the process of seekingenvironmental impact assessments, to continue withdevelopment as per normal in order to avert the disturbanceof investments.Legal actions on peoples’ rightsThai Government’s actions permitting and encouragingthe activities of the Mab Ta Phut factories in order tofurther economic growth to the detriment of the localresidents and the environment demonstrate an inconsistencywith the implementation of precautionary principleand the principle of sustainable development.In September 2009, a Central Administrative Courtinjunction suspended 76 industrial projects at Mab TaPhut due to environmental concerns. The injunctionfollowed complaints from residents and environmentalgroups that state agencies – including the NEB,ministries of industry, energy, natural resources andenvironment, and the IEAT – had failed to issue properoperating licenses. On 2 December 2009, the SupremeAdministrative Court allowed 11 of the 76 projects tocontinue operating, with 65 to remain shuttered until14 Section 59 of the Enhancement and Conservation of NationalEnvironmental Quality Act, B.E. 2535 (1992) states: “In case itappears that any locality is affected by pollution problems andthere is a tendency that such problems may be aggravated tocause health hazards to the public or adverse impact on theenvironmental quality, the National Environment Board shallhave power to publish notification in the Government Gazettedesignating such locality as a pollution control area in orderto control, reduce and eliminate pollution.”they comply with the environmental and health requirementsof Section 67 of the 2007 Constitution.The failure of the Ministry of Natural Resourcesand Environment was clearly stated in the Court ruling:“the rights of individuals under Article 67 of the charterare protected. The fact that there are no laws yet to setthe regulations, conditions and methods of exercisingsuch rights is not a basis for a state agency to use as anexcuse to deny them the protection. Thus, before theimplementation of any project or activities which maycause serious threats to the quality of the environment,natural resources and health, the provision in Article 67must be fulfilled – that is there must be a study or assessmentof health impacts on people in the communitywhere the project is to be located”. 15Conclusions and recommendationsThe predicament of Mab Ta Phut residents is furthersupported by the results of an environmental governanceassessment carried out by the Thailand EnvironmentInstitute (TEI) and the Thailand EnvironmentalGovernance Coalition (TAI Thailand), which revealedthat the Government had persistently encouraged theoperations of industrial plants at Mab Ta Phut to thedetriment of the health of the communities and the environment.The environmental governance assessment wasinitiated in 2007 to evaluate the Petrochemical IndustrialDevelopment Master Plan (Phase III), the PollutionReduction and Mitigation Action Plan for RayongProvince, and the Mab Ta Phut Town Plan. TAI indicatorbasedmethodology was used to examine people’s accessto information, participation in decision-making,and access to justice. The assessment found that thethree plans abovementioned failed in successfully implementingthe right of public participation. 16Ms Penchom Saetang, who spent more than10 years studying and documenting the Mab Ta Phutpollution troubles, pointed out that so far Thailand’sindustrial development has been carried out in anunsustainable, harmful and polluting manner. It hasnot taken into account human resource development,equal distribution of development benefits and adverseeffects of the industrial development activities. 17 Sheadded that Thailand is now captivated by the industries,whose operations are strictly controlled in their owncountries while trying to relocate their polluting activitiesto other nations.Heavy industries in the countries that are requiredto lower their greenhouse gas emissions will move theiroperations to the countries where their greenhouse gasemission quotas are not fully used. It is time for Thailandto completely rethink an industrial developmentstrategy that can address economic challenges andgenerate employment without harming the country’snatural resources and the environment. n15 “Despite industrial fallout, the court’s Mab Ta Phut verdict iswelcome”, Bangkok Post, 3 December 2009.16 UNESCO Bangkok programme, op. cit.17 Interview, 6 March <strong>2010</strong>.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 173 Thailand
uganda100100100954747Information and communication technologies: route to development?0The Ugandan Government has been implementing a series of policies to integrate Information and Communication98989956Technologies (ICT) into 100 their development 71 management 100 as well as into a variety 63 of areas of social life. TheGovernment hopes that, by improving services, foreign investors will feel more confident about the managementof their investments and, at the same time, Ugandan citizens will increase their participation and control overIEG of Paraguay = 67 BCI of Peru = 88IEG of Peru = 70public affairs. However, if the Government wants to bring about a real improvement of living conditions, its effortshould be consistent with poverty reduction strategies and investments in human development.97100 100 100100 10000100100Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations(DENIVA)complete the interconnectivity of the entire country Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009David Obot100by laying 1,500 kilometers 100 of optic fiber to link all10078GEI = 67major towns in Uganda as well as to the East AfricanEmpowermentSub-marine cable.Uganda has shown a strong interest in ICTs into its Other ICT benefits include enhancing the capacityof the Central Bank to advise Government on37development priorities from the mid-1990s. At the24same time, the country has maintained strong economiceconomic performance and financial sector supervision;growth for over a decade. The Budget Speech0increased use of mobile phones for monetary002009-<strong>2010</strong> indicated that real economic growth transactions; and monitoring money laundering and978783was 9.4% in financial 469781year 2008-2009 compared forgery of cheques. 42100 100 100100 100100 100to 10.2% in 2007-2008. 1 According to official data,GDP grew at 6.7% in the financial year 2008-2009 – a ICTs and <strong>Social</strong> Service DeliveryEconomic activityEducationdecline from financialIEG ofyearSuriname2007-2008,= 56in which the The integration of ICTs into the delivery of socialgrowth rate was 8.3% (see Chart 1). In view of the services, especiallyBCI ofinUgandathe education= 69IEG of Uganda = 67and health sectors,means that people will continue receiving poor qual-global economic crisis, this was a remarkable increase,is still negligible. Implementation of the Uganda ity services.which may be attributed to the diversification Universal Primary Education and Universal SecondaryEducation programs, for example, resulted in of the exports and services sectors. 2ICTs, Poverty and GovernanceAlthough the demand for increased use of increased enrolment in schools and substantial demandThe opportunities made available to ICTs to acquire,ICTs in facilitating Uganda’s 100 sustaining economicon the resources 100 for scholastic materials, in-process, store and retrieve 100 information and alsoperformance is strong, it is imperative to complementfrastructures teachers and sector supervision. Enrol-broadcast or publish, would be advantageous to allthese technologies with plans, 52 strategies and ment of children in primary education 72 increased from who work in poverty reduction and accountable govfrastructuresprograms to reduce poverty and promote social 2.7 million in 1997 to 7.6 million pupils by 2003. 4 ernance. In spite of the Government’s avowed will todevelopment.At the same time, the districts charged with the ensure that ICTs are spread to as many Ugandans as20responsibility of planning and budgeting for the most possible, there are probably two broad reasons thatICT Context000disadvantaged sectors have also prioritized ICTs in undermine the potential of ICT to catalyze the creative36Globally, countries have made significant progress their local development plans. However, investments energies in poverty reduction and governance.9972in integrating ICTs into their development priorities. 9774to furnish schools with computers and internet 97 connectionsThe first reason is that ICTs are scarcely 99 integrated100 100 100In Uganda, significant advances have been made ashave either received little or no budget allo-100 100into poverty reduction strategies. Poverty100 100a result of the country’s ICTs strategies. The achievementscations. There are similar trends in the health sector. in Uganda is more critical among rural than urbaninclude establishing the Uganda Communi-One of the remedies would be the integration of ICTs populations. The Government’s limited interventioncations Commission IEG in of 1997, USA 74 formulating the ICT in service delivery BCI of and nicaracgua allocation of = 81 substantial re-in price regulation IEG related of nicaragua to the use of ICTs – forPolicy in 2003 and a fully-fledged Ministry of Informationand Communication Technology in 2006.The services sector, which includes ICTs, grew from31.2% in financial year 2005-06 to 33.3% in 2006-07– a reversal of the trend in the previous three fiscal100years, when the sector had started to slow down. 3Cellular and mobile telephone networks, radiocommunications, computer services, 52 e-mail andinternet, media services and access to educationmaterials have increased in areas with good telecommunicationinfrastructures. 0 Work is underway tosources for equipment and ICTs skills development.While the liberalization policy has encouragedinvestments in ICTs in Uganda, investors are moreinclined to maximize their own profits than to improvethe quality of services. Such businesses have100been mainly associated with 99 mobile phones, televi-example, for mobile phones –entrenches povertyand creates a digital gap among the population. Evenradio airtime, which could be used by the poor peopleto ensure their demands reach authorities anddecision- makers directly, is beyond the ability of100most people in rural areas to afford. The Monitornewspaper in Uganda noted that while the use ofmobile cellular phones is increasing among mostsion and radio operations. The education and healthsectors have not yet obtained any benefit from theproliferation of ICTs. Indirectly, the population contributespopulation groups, the 12% tax is the highest in theto sustaining such investments through the29region; the tax is currently 10% in Kenya and Tanzaniacountry’s provision of tax 0holidays for the investors,and 3% in Rwanda. 5 051while the Government has yet to tackle the integrationof ICTs into service delivery. The absence 100 of a would increase the information flow between 98 theIntegrating ICTs to poverty reduction strategies9098 1 Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 9990100 Background 100 to the Budget, 2009/<strong>2010</strong>, Kampala, 2009, 100 6.100 100100Government strategy to address such imbalance population, the Government 68100100and other stakeholders,Available from: .and would reduce impediments to peoples’ participationin poverty reduction activities.2 Ibid.3 Uganda Communications Commission, A Review of The 4 Antonie de Kemp, Analysing the Effectiveness of Sectoror = 91 IEG of El Salvador = 68 BCI of Cyprus = 96 IEG of Cyprus = 65Postal and Telecommunications Sector; June 2006- June Support: Primary Education in Uganda and Zambia, NONIE2007. Available from: .WORKING PAPER NO. 5, January 2008 See: .5 The Daily Monitor, 4 March 2009.10010099100National reports 174 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010099
The second limitation is the inadequate use ofICTs to improve governance. ICTs are an efficientway to share information without restriction. Variouscountries are making strides in applying theire-governance systems to facilitate transparency, accountabilityand efficiency in governance. Accordingto the Government, Uganda’s vision for the use ofICTs is to make the country a leader in e-governmentin Africa. ICTs and e-governance have the potentialto ensure efficiency in the use of resources and toenhance governance. Immense savings would berealized if ICTs were effectively used, for example, toconsult the public on matters of national importanceso as to fulfill their democratic rights and to monitorgovernment and other stakeholders’ performancein all sectors. Integration of ICTs developmentpolicies would lay a solid foundation for effectivee-governance.ConclusionThe Government instituted a policy to adopt and applyICTs as part of its obligation to ensure improvedservice delivery and greater cost-effectiveness andefficiency in the economy, as well as to showcase thecountry as a destination for investors, and to enablethe population to participate in their own governance.Thus, a policy framework liberalizing the sector wasput in place which has led to the expansion of the sectorwith an evident multiplier effect on the economyand higher levels of scientific, educational, political,social and cultural interaction.However, the knowledge and associational advantagesinherent in ICTs remain at a very low level.Uganda can only garner the vast benefits of adoptingand applying ICTs if it comes to terms with thefact that their full realization must take into accountpoverty reduction strategies, investments in humandevelopment, empowerment and promotion of accountable,transparent and efficient governance. nCHART 1. GDP Growth Rates, 2004/2005 - 2008/200910.81010.398.488.37646.6 6.36.9GDP Growth at Market PricesGDP Growth at Basic Prices6.7202004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009Source: Uganda Communications Commission, 2009.CHART 2. Transport & Communications Contribution to GDP76.26.85.86.765.2543.2 3.4332.522Transport and Communicaction contribution to GDP1Communicaction Sector contribution to GDP02004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007 2007/2008 2008/2009Source: Uganda Communications Commission, 2009.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 175 Uganda
100united states of americaBold action needed to put people first023The US continues to play a unique and leading role in setting global priorities, but the economic meltdown929097469771 together with the emerging 100 threats presented by climate 100 change have dramatically increased domestic needsand placed new budget constraints on spending for foreign assistance. The worst economic crisis since 1929has accelerated the decades-long erosion of hard-won gains in human rights, economic opportunity andIEG of Switzerland = 62BCI of Suriname = 91IEG of Suriname = 56social justice. At the same time, citizens groups, community organizers and social entrepreneurs across thecountry have been developing bold and innovative solutions to the country’s most challenging problems.99100 100 100100 100100085100024100Global-Local Links ProjectTanya DawkinsCenter of Concern100Aldo CaliariInstitute for Agriculture and Trade PolicyKaren Hansen-Kun and Alexandra Spieldoch 48Hunger NotesLane VandersliceBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100 93BCI = 97 GEI = 74Children reaching5th grade10052Empowerment000The US was one of the 189 countries that committed100to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)971009972at the9774100 100 72100100 100100 100100historic UN Millennium Summit in 2000. The <strong>2010</strong> MDG Births attended bySummit will no doubt showcase the concerns of millionsskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationof people in the US and across the globe, whoseinterests continue IEG to be of undermined france 72 by an economic EmploymentBCIlevelsof USAin the97most economically advancedof addressing the IEG long-term of USA implications 74 of this newand financial architecture incapable of prioritizing theirnations, including the US, are not expected to economic environment.interests. It will also provide a timely opportunity to regain pre-crisis levels until the middle of 2013 with The 2009 report of the UN Special Rapporteur oninspire government and civil society commitments to other employment indicators lagging until 2014. 3 As Housing praised the administration’s commitment tothe spirit of the Millennium Declaration – a world withoutof January 2009, unemployment was 18.9% for work-increase funds for housing, mortgage modification,poverty.100ers aged 16-24, 8.6% for 100 those aged 25-54, and 6.8% neighborhood enhancement 100 and emergency recov-In 2009, president Barack Obama affirmed that the for those aged 55 or more, representing 87 increases ery initiatives through the American Recovery andMDGs are “America’s goals.” The action and investment of 7.1%, 4.5% and 3.6%, respectively since 2007. Reinvestment Act. The report also noted an alarmingneeded to address MDG goal areas 52 like poverty and By race, official unemployment was 16.5% among trend: millions of poor and working 52 class Americanshunger, education, gender equality, maternal and child black workers, 12.6% among hispanic workers and confront growing barriers to affordable and adequatehealth, HIV/AIDS and environmental sustainability are 8.7% among white workers, representing a rise of housing, as evidenced by the increasing numbers of0needed in the US as well as globally.07.5%, 6.3% and 4.3%, respectively. 4 Joblessness0families and individuals who are either homeless, livingin shelters or 51The worst economic crisis in decades has acceleratedthe decades-long 51erosion of hard-won gains 99 in the 1930s; the rate for black teenagers has climbed 98 to situations. 7 Some 30% of the nation’s 5099million100 100 100100among black men today is almost as high as during87forced to reside in other inadequate 9098human rights, economic opportunity and social justicea shocking 38%. 5100100 100100homeowners own a house with a current value belowin the US. Years of official public policy that gave While the rise in unemployment and underem-the mortgage balance; this number could rise to 50%precedence to the wisdom of markets over investing in ployment has been well documented in the US and by year-end 2011. 8IEG of El Salvador = 68people and communities has deepened and intensified globally, less attention INGLES BCI has been of El given Salvador to a perhaps = 91 IEG of El Salvador = 68In <strong>2010</strong>, the president signed the landmark Affordablethe impact of the crisis.more dangerous trend that predates the crisis – joblessHealth Care Act, after a bruising legislative battle.The need for local, state and national benchmarkseconomic growth. Between 1999 and 2009, Some were disappointed at the absence of an option toand accountability for human and community well-beingdespite positive macroeconomic indicators, US purchase a federal government-run plan, also known ashas never been more evident. In September 2009, employment did not grow at all. 6 This highlights the a public option. The sweeping new law includes meas-the US Census Bureau announced a significant jump in need for more aggressive and innovative efforts to ures that increase insurance company accountability,100100100the poverty rate, from 12.5% in 2007 to 13.2% in 2008. 1 create jobs, revamping unemployment compensation reduce healthcare costs and expand health care optionsFigures for 2009 and <strong>2010</strong> are expected to continue and rethinking the social contract. 73 To date, even the for all Americans. 9this trend. The top 1% of households s/d absorbed twothirdsof the total income gains between 2002 and 2007,most progressive stimulus efforts have fallen shortn/dPriorities matter: follow the moneyresulting in the highest level of income concentration 3 ILO, “Global Jobs Pact: North America.”Government efforts to address domestic issues rangingsince 1928. 2004 Economic Policy Institute,”Unemployment Drops to 9.7%from education to energy 0 independence to small0s/ds/ddespite More 69Job Losses.” Available from: .n/d99100 1 Gregory 100 Acs, “Poverty in the United States, 2008,” The 100 Urban 5 Orlando 100Patterson, “For African-Americans, A Virtual 100 7 See: 100 . 8 Leo Hindery, Jr., “Our Dirty Little Secret: Who’s Really Poor2 Office of the Vice President, “Annual <strong>Report</strong> of the White 6 Barry Lynn and Phillip Longman, “Who Broke America’sin America?” AlterNet, 9 March <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .Available from: ..National reports 176 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 100100
usiness development to poverty and hunger arelimited by overall federal budget priorities. To date,USD 1.05 trillion has gone to finance the wars in Iraqand Afghanistan, including a USD 136.8 billion appropriationfor the <strong>2010</strong> fiscal year. 10 The 2011 proposedmilitary budget is thirteen times the total of allnon-military expenditures for international relations,including the State Department, which came to aboutUSD 54 billion in 2009. If approved, this translatesto investing USD 16 on military force for every dollarspent on homeland security, and USD 7 for each dollarspent on international affairs and homeland securitycombined.While the financial crisis has exacerbated thesignificant budget deficit inherited from the previousadministration, the increasing militarization of federalexpenditures is central to addressing the deficit. PresidentObama and Defense secretary Robert Gates haveeach signaled their intent to curb military spending. 11Obama’s campaign promise of a “sweeping shift”would require cutting – rather than simply slowing –the rise of Bush-era military allocations, which nowdevour a higher proportion of GDP than at any othertime since World War II. 12Citizen led efforts, including some by wealthyAmericans are advocating a range of responsiblebudget proposals, from estate tax reform to endingBush era tax cuts for households with annual incomesabove USD 250,000. President Obama establishedthe National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility andReform, with a mandate of finding ways to balance thebudget by 2015 and improve the country’s long-termfiscal health. The Commission will consider numerousproposals in the coming months, including a reductionin military spending and a tax on financial speculation,among others. 13Re-building US credibility on the globalstage: mixed progressPresident Obama has hit a number of roadblocks tofulfilling his campaign pledge to double foreign assistance.The economic meltdown, dramatic increasesin world hunger and emerging threats presented byclimate change have dramatically increased globalneeds while placing new domestic budget constraintson foreign assistance spending. The president’sbudget request for fiscal year 2011 includes USD 56billion for foreign assistance, a significant increaseover the <strong>2010</strong> request, but still less than one-tenthof the military budget. It includes USD 18 billion forpoverty and development assistance, USD 1.9 billion10 National Priorities Project, “Cost of War.” Available from:.11 Ewan MacAskill, “US Defence Secretary Announces LargeCuts to Help Curb Spending,” The Guardian. 6 April 2009.Available from: .12 Miriam Pemberton and Suzanne Smith, “Budget MakesNo ‘Sweeping Shift’ in Security Spending Yet.” Institute forPolicy Studies: Ideas into Action for Peace, Justice, and theEnvironment. 26 February 2009. Available from: .13 Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, “ObamaEstablishes Deficit Commission,” 18 February <strong>2010</strong>.Available from: .for food aid and USD 16 billion for security assistance(including foreign military assistance and antinarcoticsprograms). 14Progress is still needed on addressing structuralproblems in US foreign assistance. At present, it isadministered by 24 government agencies, with someduplicating or contradicting each other. The PresidentialStudy Directive on Global Development Policy has beenset up to review the current system and recommendchanges. Congress is also working on legislation tooverhaul foreign assistance programs, but like so manyothers, these have been delayed by the protracted struggleover health care and financial reforms.Promising proposals include a major new initiativeto develop a comprehensive approach to the global foodcrisis that encourages new investments in sustainableagriculture and giving priority to programs for smallholderfarmers and women. On the other hand, the Governmentcontinues to advocate trade liberalization as asolution to global hunger, despite strong evidence thatfree trade has undermined food producers around theworld. Similarly, the Government favors biotechnologyinitiatives over support for other technologies – despiteconsiderable evidence that such programs do little toincrease the availability of food.The US continues to play a unique and leading rolein setting global priorities, particularly in the continuingefforts to redesign the global financial architecture. Atthe same time, the G20, BRICS 15 and other emerginggeopolitical configurations are also shaping and shiftingglobal economic and political power relations. It is oftenargued that the US Government bears particular responsibilityfor the 2008 global economic and financial crisisdue to its lax regulation of the domestic financial systemand its long advocacy of global deregulation and trade/financial liberalization. These policies, pursued systematicallythrough the World Bank and the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) since the 1980s, have increasedthe vulnerability of developing country economies toexternal factors, a trend intensified by the crisis.The administration was criticized in Congress andabroad for its support of an unprecedented infusion ofUSD 750 billion for the IMF at the London G20 summitin 2009. The Fund had been on the verge of irrelevancedue to the widespread distrust generated by its handlingof previous crises and other concerns. The infusionof funds allowed the IMF to carve out a central role inthe crisis response without having made badly neededinternal reforms and external changes to fundamentallyrevise the policy prescriptions it has long imposedon developing country borrowers, including the fiscalpolicy constraints that operate to contract growth andintensify economic recessions. The negative impactof these prescriptions are highlighted by the policiesadopted by some of the Fund’s major shareholders,including the US, which are totally at variance with thoseimposed on developing countries.Failure to introduce fundamental reforms at theIMF undermines even the most innovative proposals.14 Ken Forsberg and Viraf Soroushian, “FY<strong>2010</strong> FederalFunding for Key Foreign Assistance Accounts,” InterAction,10 January <strong>2010</strong>. Available from: .15 Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.This is the case, for example, with the infusion of USD283 billion into Special Drawing Rights (SDR), whichare assets recipients can use as either interest-free reservesor to facilitate borrowing of hard currency at apreferential interest rate. Because the SDRs are distributedbased on member country shares in the IMF,important innovations that would have enhanced theirbeneficial impact in developing countries could not beintroduced. The rapidly worsening debt situation ofmany countries suffering from increasing fiscal deficitsand lower export revenue could have been mitigated bya combination of increased policy flexibility and furtherrounds of debt forgiveness or debt moratoria, ratherthan additional debt.Toward the future: bold action neededThe results of the <strong>2010</strong> census will provide importantinformation about new opportunities that call for citizenleadership and policy entrepreneurship, particularlyas it relates to reweaving the nation’s tattered safety,community development and physical infrastructure.These efforts must go beyond the important short termintervention that stimulus initiatives have provided.The president and the public have learned somehard lessons about what it means to make “change”real in an increasingly toxic political environment. Civilsociety must continue to demand real leadership inaddressing the issues that most concern people in theirdaily lives. Citizen groups, community organizers andsocial entrepreneurs in communities across the countryare developing bold solutions to many of the mostchallenging problems. At the national level, proposalsinclude creating a new national human rights entity toensure that economic, social and cultural rights arere cognized together with civil and political rights, alongwith calls for action to ratify the long-stalled Conventionon the Elimination of All Forms of DiscriminationAgainst Women (CEDAW). All these efforts require strategicpartnerships with effective government allies.The US has an unprecedented opportunity to provideprincipled leadership for a long overdue redesignof the economic and financial architecture, domesticallyand globally. In 1944, during another defining momentin US and world history, president Franklin D. Rooseveltcalled for a sweeping “economic bill of rights.” His visionincluded a right to health care, education and ajob with a living wage sufficient to pay for adequatefood, clothing, recreation and a decent home alongwith a safety net that would provide protection fromimpoverishment caused by old age, sickness, accidentor unemployment. “We cannot be content, no matterhow high the general standard of living may be, if somefraction of our people – whether it be one-third or onefifthor one-tenth – is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed andinsecure.” 16A country and a world free of poverty, grounded inprinciples of democracy, human rights, opportunity andeconomic justice surely is within reach. Achieving thesegoals requires bold vision and action that places peopleat the center of the economic recovery. n16 “Text of FDR’s 1944 State of the Union Speech,” Franklin D.Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Available from:.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 177 United States of America
Uruguay10010047<strong>Social</strong> policies need fine tuning971004500098Like other countries in Latin 10099America, Uruguay was in a relatively 99 good situation 69 when the financial crisis96of 200863struck. The country’s economy100continued to grow and its poverty100and indigence rates improved considerably thanksto social policies, which in the more prosperous years had been given priority over macroeconomic objectives.IEG of Peru = Nevertheless, 70 there are still problems to be tackled, such as high poverty and indigence rates among people of AfricanBCI of Poland = 99IEG of Poland = 70descent and the fact that more and more heads of households at the very poorest level are women. To remedy thesesituations, combating inequities of gender and/or race should be an integral part of economic policy.100 100 100100 100Centro Interdisciplinarios de Estudios sobreel Desarrollo – Uruguay (CIEDUR)100Alma EspinoThe region and the crisisThere is a general feeling that Latin America was in bettercondition to cope with the 2008 crisis than in otherperiods of the recent past. 100 And overall this is true, butwhile these countries are quite similar in many waysthey all have their own individual characteristics, soBasic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 98 96GEI = 69Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermentIf might seem obvious but perhaps the main questionsfor economic policies ought to be: What is4537the aim of economic activity? 0 Where do social and00gender inequalities fit into the current growth modeland pattern of consumption? If the purpose of the8781831009997100 economy 100 is to provide and maintain a decent 100 level100 100100 64100of life we are talking about the economy being at theservice of the people, that development should beBirths attended byskilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationcentred on people. IEG It is of very Uganda clear that = 67the market isBCI of Uruguay = 98 IEG of Uruguay = 69not capable of recognising or valuing the community’sthere are big differences in the ways the crisis has af-measured in dollars shrank by 8% even though ingreat diversity of needs and interests or bridgfectedthem and what the impacts have been. In fact, terms of physical volume they increased. In any case,ing the gaps that are appearing in various aspects of like other economies in the region, Uruguay has been the export situation was the factor that had the biggestsociety and life. 1growing and its social indicators have improved.impact on growth, but private investment wasMacroeconomic policies should be suitably Prior to 2008 the Uruguayan economy was on a pulling in the opposite direction and the public sectorintegrated into social and 100 economic politicies, they growth path and this was 100reflected 94 in the fact that the remained stable. Income 100 from tourism had beenshould be part of a wider development strategy and country’s GDP increased by 8.9% in that year. This falling for several years but in 2008 it increased; andthus make a direct contribution to long term growth. growth was based on expanding domestic demand in 2009 foreign currency from this source came toMacroeconomics has social content, so this is a (consumption and investment) and foreign demand48USD 1,300 million, 19% more than the previous yearquestion of laying foundations 20that are solid from for exports. But when the international economic when the sector yielded USD 1,053 million. 4the point of view of human development, justice and and financial crisis struck at the end of 2008 signs of Foreign indebtedness continued to come down;equity. 2 000Therefore the36decision-makers in economic a slowdown began to appear. In spite of this, growth in 2008 it amounted to 37.3% gross and 14.1% netpolicy should consider the social and gender implicationsof their macro policies. This means not leaving cording to the Institute of Economics, from 2005 tinued accumulation of reserves, which increased by100 100 100100 100100 100continued and in 2009 GDP increased by 2.9%. Ac-of GDP. This was 54a consequence of the country’s con-9799999998subjects like gender and/or race inequality exclusivelyto 2009 the country enjoyed an average annual ac-USD 2,208 million in that year. 5in the field of social policies where the assistance cumulated growth rate of 6.1%.In 2009, the overall behaviour of the laboureffort amounts to just alleviating or compensating for The way the crisis exerted its effect on the economiesin the regionmarket was basically positive. Jobs were generatedthe negative effects IEG of economic of nicaragua policies.BCI ofwascostathroughricafalling= 97external demand,and the unemployment IEG of costa rate rica went 67 down while thewhich was expressed as a decrease in imports number of people who were economically activefrom the developed countries and tourism, a fall in remained about the same as the previous year. Theseprices for commodities, reduced remittances from results show that in 2008 and 2009 the internationalUruguayans living abroad and a reversion in foreign crisis did not have a direct impact on the Uruguayaninvestment flows. The fall 100 in international prices for labour market as a whole. 100 However, a somewhat99Uruguay’s main export products had a severe impact,more detailed analysis shows that some sectors ofand although the country managed to diversify economic activity – like those most dependent onand find new clients for its exports the reduction in foreign markets – did find it difficult to keep their1 Alma Espino, <strong>Report</strong> of the Doha conference about finance demand had a negative effect on that sector. workers employed around the end of 2008 and the2929for development and conclusions of the meeting aboutbeginning of 2009. This can be seen in the fact that,the world crisis convoked by the 0President of the General Weaknesses and strengths 00towards the end of 2008, the number of workers inAssembly (26-29 May 2009). Presentation at the seminar toAnalysis of the economic and financial crisis from the gender In the last two months of 2008, the export growth industry fell and the number of people signing on for100909810098perspective: impact on women’s poverty and work. UNIFEM- trend was reversed and imports were rising more unemployment benefit at the social security organization(the Banco de Previsión <strong>Social</strong>) increased. 6100 100 68100100 100100 68100CEPAL-INSTRAW-SER-Instituto de las mujeres. Mexico, July than exports, although these too slowed down towards2009.the end of that year. This made for a current2 José Antonio Ocampo and Rob Vos, “Policy space and the account deficit of 3.5% of GDP in 2008, which waschanging paradigm IEG in conducting of Cyprus macroeconomic = 65 policiesmainly due to the INGLES big trade BCI deficit. of Cyprus 3 In 2009, = 96 IEG of Cyprus = 65exports 4 Instituto de Economía, <strong>2010</strong>.in developing countries” in New financing trends in LatinAmerica: a bumpy road towards stability. BIS Papers, 36.5 Instituto de Economía, 2009.February 2008.3 Instituto de Economía (Institute of Economics), 2009. 6 Instituto de Seguridad <strong>Social</strong> (Institute of <strong>Social</strong> Security).100National reports 178 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010099
Government measuresIn the last 4 months of 2008, in an initiative to respondto the changes taking place in the world, theGovernment made adjustments to its economicpolicy. In particular it temporarily stopped interveningto manage interest rates as an operational toolin monetary policy, and it put more emphasis oncontrolling currency exchange rates in line with theidea that this would become the “automatic stabilizingmechanism” of the system and would help toalleviate the effects of the external shock. 7In December 2008, as was happening all overthe region, the Government took action to respond tothe crisis. They implemented a package of measuresto designed to provide liquidity for enterprises, improvetheir export capabilities and make new investmentmore viable. This meant increased public expenditurewhich, in combination with slower growthin income, caused the fiscal deficit to increase to1.7% of GDP in 2009. In <strong>2010</strong>, however, results beganto improve. 8 As happened in most economies,the public sector has played a dominant role in raisinginvestment and consumption. Even though theUruguayan Government’s income was increasing ata slower rate, it maintained the same rate of increasein its public spending.The commitment to eradicate povertyIn this period some other indicators improved, suchas those measuring the evolution of poverty in termsof income. In 2008, the rate of indigence or extremepoverty decreased from 1.2% of all households inthe country to 0.8%, 9 and this rate held steady in2009. 10 Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that in2009 indigent households in which a woman wasthe head came to 1% while the figure for male headsof households in this situation was an estimated0.7%. Although these average figures do reflect animprovement, we should bear in mind that they alsoconfirm a trend that has been evident since 2005,which is that there are more indigent householdsheaded by women. We ought to remember thatindigent households are usually associated with asingle-parent family structure, they usually havelarge numbers of children (the initial stages of thefamily life cycle) and a low number of breadwinners.As a consequence, these households form a vulnerablesocio-demographic sector in which there aremany dependents, few earners, and in most cases awoman at the head. 11Poverty has been decreasing in all parts of thecountry, not only in terms of people but in terms ofhouseholds. According to the Institute of Economicsand taking the country as a whole, in 2009 thenumber of poor households amounted to 14.3%,which was 3.6 points below the 2006 figure. 12 Asregards numbers of people, in 2009 the poverty ratefor the country as a whole was 20.9%. 13The situation of living in poverty or indigenceaffects people in different ways depending on theirage, sex and ethnic origin. The poverty rate by agebrackets shows that the greatest concentration isstill among minors, mainly children under six yearsold. 14 The trend is for poverty to decrease in all households,those headed by men as well as those with awoman in charge. From 2003 to 2008 the povertyrate in households with a man at the head fell from23.3% to 13.2%, and in households with a womanhead from 17.2% to 14.5%. Note that the rate forwomen is higher, but what is important here is thatyet again we have a reversal of the trend: in the 2003to 2006 period the rate was higher for householdswith men at the head, and in 2007 the figures werealmost the same (16.9% and 16.6% respectively),but in 2008 the situation was reversed (13.2% and14.5% respectively) and the rate for women heads ofhouseholds was higher. 15 In 2009, according to theInstitute of Economics, the figures were 13.9% formen and 14.8% for women.It is also noteworthy that the biggest gaps areamong the population of African descent: everywherein the country the poverty rate for this groupis almost double that of whites. In 2008, some 19.4%of whites were living in poverty but among peopleof African descent the rate was 43.1%. This meansthat nearly half the people who define themselves asbeing of African descent are living below the povertyline. It is clear that ethnic origin is one of the factorsbehind social inequality.The trend to poverty reduction is due to morejobs being generated and thus more income in households,and in addition, in 2008, income in the countrywas better distributed. The falling indigence ratewould seem to be linked to social policies, in particularthose that involve family allowances, which have beenfocalized specifically on this population group.Macroeconomics and inequalitiesIt is clear from this brief overview of some aspectsof the country’s social and economic situation that aclose watch should be kept on problematic areas whenthe time comes for the Government to deliver on itscommitments. It is true there has been a great effort todevelop social policies to promote equality and fightpoverty, and to a degree these have been successful,but the results raise certain important questions.Various indicators show that progress hasbeen made in the field of gender equity but thereare still big problems and perhaps the most seriousis that women are under-represented in politicaland economic decision-making positions. 16 In fact,the country has regressed in this respect when weconsider that today there are fewer women at theministerial level of Government – which took officein March <strong>2010</strong> – than there were during the previousadministration. In addition to this we have the beginningsof the unfortunate trend towards more andmore women being the heads of poor and indigenthouseholds. n7 Instituto de Economía, 2009.8 Instituto de Economía, <strong>2010</strong>.9 The poverty line in 2002 was set by the National StatisticsInstitute (INE–Instituto Nacional de Estadística) based onthe Encuesta Nacional de Gastos e Ingresos de los Hogares(National Household Expenditure and Income Survey) 2005-2006.10 The data for 2009 are from estimations by the Instituteof Economics, FCEyA, UDELAR, based on processingmicro-data from the 2009 Encuesta Continua de Hogares(Continuous Household Survey).11 INE, 2009.12 Ibid.13 Instituto de Economía, <strong>2010</strong>.14 INE, 2009.15 Ibid.16 United Nations Development Program, 2008.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 179 Uruguay
100VENEZUELAs/dA new way to make the same mistakes10059100n/d1Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en DerechosHumanos (Provea)Rafael Uzcátegui100After an economic bonanza that lasted from 2004 to 2008 – based on high oil prices on the international33market – Government 100 social policies led to improved 100 indicators, and the Millennium DevelopmentGoals were on the official agenda and were widely discussed. Today, the global financial crisis andincreased social unrest caused by weakening social programmes have put this progress at risk. This wasINGLES BCI of Somalia = 57only to be expected from a development model that repeated the same old mistakes and did not includeanti-cyclical policies, and today the country is having to pay dearly for the world crisis.100 100 100100 100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 91 GEI = 6887 Children reaching5th gradeEmpowermentWhen Hugo Chávez was elected44President of Venezuelain 1999 he implemented a process of constitutional44reform that enjoyed considerable popular0support. The new constitution provided for a wide00range of social rights and thus generated great expectationsand popularized the issue of human rights8798989898100 100 61100100 100100 61100in various strata of the society.Births attended byAt the same time high international prices for skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationoil – the driving force of the Venezuelan economy –IEG of Venezuela = 68in the period 2004-2008 enabled the Government toachieve good results on a range of indicators. Twoyears later, however, the situation began to unravel.There were two main reasons for this.First, after Chávez was re-elected, the Governmentattempted to make further changes to the constitutionin 2007 through a plebiscite, but this failedthrough lack of public support. Since that time the administrationhas promulgated a series of laws, regulationsand administrative acts that, as various humanrights organizations have been loudly proclaiming,contradict the dispositions of the 1999 constitution.Second, a big fall in oil prices and the internationalfinancial crisis have had a severe negative impacton the country’s social policies to reduce poverty.The Government has not been able to adequatelyrespond to the demands of the population, and thishas made for increasing social unrest.Reduced povertyUntil 2008 the Chávez Government was proclaiminggreat progress towards achieving the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs). Its outstandingachievement was its record in the fight against extremepoverty. 1According to official estimates, in the 2004to 2006 period the number of poor families in thecountry fell by 20%. In the first half of 2007, NationalInstitute of Statistics figures indicated that the percentageof the population living in extreme povertyhad fallen to 9.4%, 2 and official figures show that1 For a complete review of the country’s results as regards theMDGs, see: .2 Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación eInformación, Venezuela sobresale en el cumplimiento de lasMetas del Milenio, 2008.0s/ds/d80 800in the 1999 toINGLES2009 decadeBCI ofsomeVenezuela,4,324,075RBpeople= 91emerged from poverty.This good level of progress was recognizedby international bodies including the EconomicCommission for Latin America and the Caribbean(ECLAC), which estimated that Venezuela’s povertyrate fell from 49.4% in 1999 to 28.5% in 2007. 3Provea, in its annual report for 2009, said that thisfall was partly due to the development of social programsto distribute the food at low cost, such as theMisión Mercal, whose estimated average monthlycoverage in 2008 was 13 million people, around 45%of the population. 4Progress was also made in the areas of genderequity and education. The proportion of girls in theeducational system increased from 31.3% in the1990-1998 period to 47.6% in 1999-2006. The netrate of children in basic education increased from84.7% in 1999-2000 to 93.6% in 2006-2007, whichmeans that 684,782 more children joined the schoolsystem. Coverage at higher educational levels expandedto a similar extent. In 2005 some 4 millionpeople were enrolled in educational ‘missions.’Progress in the field of health was also encouraging.Thanks to Government health policies, knownas Barrio Adentro, Venezuela was well on the wayto reaching its target of cutting the under-five infantmortality rate by two thirds: infant mortality wasbrought down from 25 in 1990 to 14.2 per 1,000 livebirths in 2007. In these initiatives, direct medicalattention was expanded in a very short time with3 ECLAC, Panorama <strong>Social</strong> de América Latina–2008. Availablefrom: .4 Provea, 2009 Annual <strong>Report</strong>. Available from: .IEG of Venezuela = 6814,345 health care professionals and the constructionof treatment centres throughout the country. Thesituation as regards HIV/AIDS care also improved, ascan be seen from the fact that 21,779 people receivedmedicines free of charge in 2007 compared to only335 in 1999.Benefits paid for with petroleumIn 2004, the Venezuelan economy enjoyed an abundanceof resources compared to the situation in theprevious 30 years. In that year the price of oil beganto rise sharply on international markets, it soaredto historic levels and reached a peak in 2008. As aresult of this bonanza, the country’s gross domesticproduct (GDP) enjoyed four consecutive years ofgrowth, its international reserves were strengthenedand it had a positive balance of payments. This increasingincome from oil enabled the Government tofinance extensive public investment programs andsocial policies called ‘missions.’ The State was ableto expand in different areas including the generationof jobs, and in 2008 an estimated 18.2% of theeconomically active population were employed in thepublic sector. 5In July of that year the price of a barrel of Venezuelanoil peaked at USD 122.40, after which it beganto slide and four months later it stood at half thatvalue: USD 63.49. 6770 88n/d0100n/dAdjustments to social policiesNational and local elections in November 2008 andan amendment to the constitution in February 2009resulted in postponing any discussion about what5 National Institute of Statistics. Available from: .6 Ibid.National reports 180 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
the consequences of the world economic crisismight be for Venezuela. On 21 March 2009, after theelections, President Chávez announced a package ofeconomic measures:• A reduction in public expenditure.• An increase in value added tax.• A reduction in extravagant and unnecessaryspending.• Legislation to limit the salaries of high-level officialsin the public administration.The sharp fall in the country’s oil income caused aslowdown, stagnation and in some cases regressionin the implementation of policies to reduce povertyand inequality. It was officially announced that socialpolicies would continue to operate at the same levelsin spite of the crisis, but this did not happen. Forexample, the minimum wage was raised by 20%,but this was way below the rate of inflation, which in2008 in the food sector alone reached 43%. 7In 2007-2009, only 1.1% of householdsemerged from poverty, which contrasts dramaticallywith the big reductions in this indicator in the 2004 to2006 period. According to the latest official figures,some 26.4% of households in Venezuela still havetheir basic needs unsatisfied.In fact, public spending as a percentage ofGDP has decreased since 2008 in all social sectorsexcept for education. In the <strong>2010</strong> budget,less than 4% of total expenditure was allocated tothe 13 social ‘missions’, even though resourcesincreased because of exceptional items and transactions,and this works against transparency andmonitoring of the budget by non-governmentorganizations. This situation is exacerbated byhigh inflation, which makes it even harder for thevery poor to improve their conditions of life. Accordingto the Central Bank of Venezuela, inflationdecreased from 30.9% in 2008 to 25.1% in 2009,but even so, the country still has one of the highestrates in the region. 8The worst consequencesThe crisis in social policy implementation is especiallyserious in two sectors – health and housing.For several years Provea has been sounding thealarm about the fragmentation of the country’s healthsystem and the deterioration of the Barrio Adentromission. These warnings were dismissed by variousGovernment sources at the time, but in September2009 President Chávez publicly acknowledged theirregularities: “We are declaring a state of emergencyin the health system. We have found that 2,000 modulesof the Barrio Adentro mission have been abandonedand have no doctors. (…). The situation wasworsening and measures were taken, but we werenever able to cope with the problem.” 9To make matters worse, the country’s hospitalnetwork is still fraught with structural faults and deficiencies,there is a shortage of health care professionals,and this has had highly lamentable consequencessuch as the so-called “pregnant women’sroulette,” a situation in which expectant mothershave to go around various health centres until theyfind one that can provide care when they are givingbirth.One of the most serious failings of the Chávezadministration has been in the area of decent housing;it has never reached its own housing targets. Thecountry has a shortfall of 3 million decent housingunits (this includes houses that have to be re-locatedbecause they are in high-risk areas). Official figuresshow that 300,939 housing units were built in thelast 10 years, which means that Hugo Chávez hasthe second-worst record in the country’s democratichistory (which began in 1958) for the averagenumber of units constructed during a presidentialadministration.The role of civil society organizationsVarious organizations that monitor the human rightssituation in Venezuela have criticized the Governmentfor its lack of medium or long-term planning,which would have made social policies sustainableindependently of the country’s high incomes fromthe oil exports. Other research has shown the way inwhich the Venezuelan economy has continued to bevulnerable to international oil price fluctuations. Thismeans that the development model President Chávezhas implemented, which is built around strengtheningthe primary product export sector, has the sameessential characteristics as the economic policiesthat pertained in the past. 10<strong>Social</strong> conflict has been on the increase and2008 was the peak year in the decade for publicprotests with 2,893 demonstrations, an increase of64.09% over the 2007 figure. Of these, some 67.3%were by people and groups demanding economic,social and cultural rights, and the three main areasof complaint were working conditions (33.97%),housing (20.3%) and people’s security (12.3%).The protesters’ main tactics, in descending order offrequency, have been to close off streets and to holdpublic meetings, marches and labour stoppages.In that period about one in 15 demonstrations wasrepressed by force, impeded or blocked by Statesecurity forces.Seven people have died in the violence, and fiveof these deaths were caused by police or army personnel.The authorities have been losing patiencewith the protest movement and they are tending increasinglyto treat demonstrators as criminals. Since2005 at least 2,240 people have been hauled beforethe courts on charges arising from efforts to claimtheir rights. One famous case is that of the unionleader Rubén González, who has been in prison sinceSeptember 2009 for taking part in work stoppageinitiatives at the State enterprise Ferrominera, in thestate of Bolívar, to demand that management honoura collective bargaining contract. 11ConclusionThe Government’s development model has not succeededin freeing the country from its traditionaldependence on international oil prices. <strong>Social</strong> programshave suffered as a result of price fluctuations,and in spite of its intentions and policies, the Statehas failed completely to cope with the situation. Thenet result, as various civil society organizations andspecialists have been warning for some time, is thatsocial indicators will rise when trade is good but willstagnate or even fall when conditions in the internationalmarket become unfavourable.Hence, in Venezuela, the fight against poverty,the provision of health care, access to education, andthe provision of decent housing in particular are atthe mercy of the interplay of supply and demand forcrude oil on international markets, and are the victimsof the State’s failure to make provision for this situationand take adequate anti-cyclical measures. n7 Ibid.8 Central Bank of Venezuela. See: .9 “Chávez admite cierre de módulos de Barrio Adentro ydeclara en emergencia la salud.” Lacl@se.info. Availablefrom: .10 Margarita López Maya and Luis Lander. “El socialismorentista de Venezuela ante la caída de los precios petrolerosinternacionales,” Cuadernos del Cendes, 67, May-August 2009.11 See: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 181 Venezuela
yemenOil is not enough10099100530Yemen is one of the poorest99countries in the world and it has no chance of reaching the Millennium10098Development Goals (MDGs) 100 by 2015 if it does not change 100 its policies. 100It is over-dependent 69on exporting 100petroleum, the rest of its productive system is very weak. The country will have to diversify its agriculturalproduction, overcome its environmental problems – above all the exhaustion of its fresh water reserves –BCI of Portugal = 99IEG of Portugal = 73protect its products in the home market and become more competitive. At the political level it will haveto implement stronger gender policies to enable women to really integrate into society.0100100Human Rights Information and Empowerment CentreArafat Abdallatif ArrafidsYemen is ranked 140 out of the 182 countries on the2009 UNDP Human Development Index. Nearly 45%of the population lives on less than USD 2.00 a day. 1Unemployment has increased in the last two years,causing income levels to stagnate; the economy isbased mainly on petroleum and has experienced onlymodest development in other sectors.The country is in serious difficulties because ofa big decrease in oil production, which accounts foran exceptionally high proportion of the budget. If theauthorities do not take the necessary measures toquickly remedy the failing economy, the State will beunable to meet its obligations in the years ahead.The current situation: an overviewThe fuel of dependenceAccording to official statistics, oil accounts for35% of total domestic production, 70% of the Statebudget and 90% of Yemen’s exports. 2 The country’sother productive activities such as fishing, tourismand manufacturing add up to no more than 10% ofexports. These figures also show that from 2007 to2008 petroleum exports fell from 17.42 million barrelsto 9.46 million, which in economic terms worksout at USD 522 million less income from this sector.A report by the Yemen Central Bank shows thatincome from gross petroleum exports fell by a recordUSD 803 million in 2009. According to the Bank, thiscoincided with a reduction in the Government’s quotaof total gross oil production in the period Januaryto July – 15 million barrels in 2009 as against 27.3million in the same period in 2008. The report alsonoted that the decrease was partly a consequence ofthe big fall in international prices resulting from theworld financial crisis – from USD 114.6 per barrel in2008 to USD 53.7 in 2009.Other sectorsThe share of the other economic sectors such as agricultureand industry in the country’s Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) fell from 43% in 1990 to less than1 UNDP, Human Development <strong>Report</strong> 2009. Available from:.2 Government and Parliament reports for 2007–2008.18% in 2005. 3 Meanwhile unemployment rose from16.7% in 2007 to 35% 100 in 2008.Official data show that an estimated 54% of theworkforce is in the agricultural 73 sector, but soil degradationand spreading desertification pose a seriousthreat to these workers’ livelihoods. 4 Qat, a herbused as a stimulant and energizer, which provides0employment for a quarter of the entire workforce,requires more than 20 million work hours per day,covers more than half 3693the cultivated land and absorbs100 100enormous quantities of fresh water in a country withone of the most serious water shortages in the world(see below).BCI of Yemen, Rep. = 67The situation of womenWomen have made progress in various governmentand political party organizations, but they remainvery much in a secondary role and the power to makedecisions is still reserved 100 for men, as shown by thefollowing data: 5• In 1990, for the first time ever, women weregiven the right to vote, to s/d be candidates and toenter public office.• There were no women 0 on the Higher ElectionCommittee s/d in 2001, 2003 or 2006.74• The percentage of women registered to vote100 100went up from 15% in 1993 to 37% in 1997 and46% in 2006.• The number of women candidates in parliamentaryelections BCI of decreased Afghanistan from 42 = 0in 1993 to 21in 1997 and just 11 in 2003.5 National Women’s Commission, <strong>Report</strong> on the situation ofwomen in Yemen 2008.Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009GEI = 30Economic activityEmpowerment34100 49 100EducationIEG of Yemen = 67Armed conflictThe country is fraught with armed conflict that hascaused great loss of life and damage to Yemen’s infrastructureand, according to official sources, hasalso caused the displacement of around 200,000people. On 11 February 100 <strong>2010</strong> the Government madean agreement with the Al Huti group that put an end tosix months of warfare in Sa’dah, but fighting continuessporadically. There are upsets in local governor-s/dships in the South caused by the secessionist “SouthMovement,” conflicts over natural resources, tribal0conflicts and a growing al Qaeda organization, all ofs/ds/dwhich amounts to a constant threat to peace.Yemen and the MDGsEducationThe illiteracy rate in Yemen is 58.9% and the rate ofenrolment in primary and secondary education isvery low at 56.6%. This means that 2.9 million children• In the 2001 plebiscites on constitutional reform,and young people are outside the educationalsome 30% of voters were women.system, of whom 1.9 million are girls. 6 According to• In the 2001 governing council elections there official statistics there are 14,632 schools, but 20%100100100were 120 women candidates as against 23,892 of these have closed and many others operate in themen, and in the directors’ council elections 108women and 21,924 men.open air under the trees or are just tin huts. There aremore than 100 pupils per class. 54Workers in education make up 54% of the• Only two women were elected to the nationaladministrative apparatus of the State, but statisticslegislature in 1993 and 1997 (0.7%), and in0show that 78.8% of school 0 directors do not have2003 there was only one (0.3%).university training and 4.4% have no schooling• The 100111 members of the Consultation 99Councilqualification at all. According to the 2003 education 96are 100designated and include only two women. 100100 census, 17.5% 74100of teachers are women. Teacherswith university education make less than USD 1503 Ibid.a month, so they are forced to take other jobs to improvetheir quality IEG of of life. Canada The Government = 74 has 4 Central Census BCI Office, of Census Canada report = 2008. 100 stated1006 Central Census Office, op. cit.0100 1006100n/100100100National reports 182 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>10090100
that 17% of the general budget goes to the educationsector; in contrast defence and security account formore than 26%.HealthAccording to an official Ministry of Health report, thecountry is very far from reaching the MDG healthtargets. The health sector budget is decreasing andhence so is the rate of health service coverage inthe most vulnerable sectors. There are no specificcriteria as regards infrastructure, employees, services,medicines, equipment or running costs. Thereare only 14,000 beds in the country’s hospitals andhealth centres, which works out at one bed per 1,600persons. There are 7,300 doctors, one for every3,000 people. Users of health services are dissatisfiedand service providers are also very unhappy withthe Ministry of Health because the pay is so low, thereis no stimulus and working conditions are bad.Another very worrying factor is that Yemen hasonly 125 cubic metres of water per person per yearand its underground reserves are rapidly being usedup. <strong>Report</strong>s from Parliament indicate that water pollutionis the main cause of the diseases and epidemicsthat affect 75% of the population. A World Bankstudy shows that water shortage problems are worsein rural areas, where 81% of the population lives. 7Some 34% of Yemenis drinks untreated water fromwells or other unprotected sources, from small cisterns,mobile tanks or just surface water. Some 60%of Yemenis lives in areas where malaria is prevalent.Labour and social protectionThe country’s Constitution and labour and civil servicelaws are in line with international conventionsconcerning each person’s natural right to work, toreceive a fair wage and thus to enjoy a decent qualityof life. However, in recent years public policieshave strayed away from these principles. The socialsecurity system covers all government employeesbut only 70,000 private sector workers, which meansthat more than 4 million of the economically activepopulation have no coverage. There is no health insurancesystem.Poverty has increased and consequently thereare now more than 500,000 children of basic educationage (6–14 years) who have dropped out ofschool. Most of them help their parents in agriculturalwork or looking after livestock, but others liveby begging or are taken to neighbouring countriesillegally and made to beg or go into domestic work.The effect of trade agreementsIn 1985 following IMF and World Bank guidelinesYemen completely liberalized its trade. Since thenit has lowered its customs tariffs to a minimum of5% and a maximum of 25%, and this makes itsown products less competitive against imports.The country’s trade in agricultural products is inpermanent deficit so it has to make up the shortfallin its population’s food requirements with imports.Food accounts for 33% of total imports and this is aheavy burden on the trade balance and the balanceof payments.The industrial sector is markedly weak and lackssolidity as regards vertical and horizontal integration.It is still of only marginal importance in the country’stotal production and as an employer. Industrialproduction is based on importing the prime and intermediatematerials that are needed. The country ismaking efforts to join the World Trade Organization(WTO) at the end of <strong>2010</strong> although the WTO stillconsiders that Yemen does not qualify.The role of civil society organizationsAccording to the Ministry of <strong>Social</strong> Affairs and Labour,there are around 7,000 civil society organizations,more than 75% of which are involved in charityand aid work and provide various services for poorfamilies. There are not many organizations in thehuman rights field and those that there are tend to beconcerned with human rights in general (i.e., they donot focus on specific areas such as women’s rightsor civil rights).In spite of this, many training sessions, workshops,conferences and other events have been organizedand there is debate about various problemsin the sphere of human rights. Civil society organizationshave also formed alliances and networks whoseaim is to advocate for a range of improvements in thecountry’s political, civil, social, economic and intellectuallife.These activities have not had any great effecton the general public as they tend to be limited tointellectual circles, but they have had some influencein the corridors of power such as Parliament and thecentral Government, which have begun to discussseveral of the problems to which these organizationshave called attention. There have not been any majorchanges, but some progress has been made in termsof the rights of women, children and the disabledand the promulgation of laws on transparency andanti-corruption.ConclusionsIn order to achieve sustainable development and geton track to achieve the MDGs, Yemen must makeradical changes to the way wealth is produced anddistributed. In this effort, the State will have to playa crucially important role. Some economics expertshave advised the authorities to progressively reducethe country’s dependence on income from oil (by10%-12%) and diversify sources of income to othersectors with a share of not less than 10%.This makes it essential to diversify agriculturalproduction and to exercise suitable oversight andcontrol over the environmental impact of productiveactivities, particularly regarding depletion of reservesof fresh water. This move to promote agriculture cannoteven get under way until the tax laws are changedto enable domestic products to compete on equalterms with imported goods.In addition, much stronger gender equality policiesand programs are needed so that women canbecome genuinely integrated into the educational,political and economic sectors of the country. n7 “Water war in Yemen”, Yemen Times, 12 August 2009.Available from: .<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 183 Yemen
zambia100100100965343Foreign direct investment and the fulfillment of basic rights9Women for ChangeLucy MuyoyetaSince the 1990s, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has played an increasingly important role in the981001008269 country’s economy, rehabilitating 100 the copper industry 100 and boosting production 71 and exports of nontraditionalproducts and services. However, this investment has not been used effectively to promotedevelopment and reduce poverty. Instead, it is contributing to an erosion of people’s rights, includingIEG of Portugal = 73 BCI of Slovenia = 98IEG of Slovenia = 65development rights, the right to food, education, a clean environment and women’s participation inpolitical decision-making.100100 100 100100 100100Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) <strong>2010</strong> Gender Equity Index (GEI) 2009100BCI = 7593 Children reaching5th gradeGEI = 56EmpowermentCurrently, 63% of the population lives in rural areas;the majority earning its livelihood through agriculture.Poverty is much greater in rural areas; 83% of26inhabitants (5.9 million people) 0 6 are poor, and 71%extremely poor. 1 00Many of the poorest people live inhouseholds headed by women. In 2000, 19.5% of9334rural households (1,241,500) were female headed. 28579100 100 49 100100 47100100 64100Despite the urgent need to address these issues,Births attended bythe agricultural sector has been neglected. In skilled health personnelSurvival up to 5 Economic activityEducationfact, the introduction of liberal economic policiesIEG of Yemen = 67country’s livestock.BCI ofThisZambiaaffected=small-scale75farmersas much as herders, since many farmers dependedon draught animals to prepare soil for cultivation,and on their manure to fertilize the land. As a result,they have often become chronically food insecure.In this environment, 100the rising cost of maize andother staples in 2007 and 2008 was a heavy blow toalready food insecure Zambians, both in urban andremote food deficit rural areas. n/d Zambia’s annual foodinflation rate in June 2008 rose to 15.6%. This was instark contrast to the situation one year earlier, whenIEG of Zambia = 56100n/d00the rate was running at 4.8%. In <strong>2010</strong>, the inflationn/drate for April n/ddecelerated to 9.2% from 10.2% inMarch, according to the Central Statistical Office. 3100 100A number of factors contribute to householdfood insecurity – such as household income levels,age, education, gender, size and structure ofhousehold, labour INGLES constraints BCI of due Afghanistan to poor health = 0andeffects of HIV and AIDS, food production levels, foodprices and distance to markets.Food insecurity is a significant precursor tomalnutrition. A key indicator of access to inadequatenutrition is the prevalence of underweight children100(under five years of age). In 1991, 100 the prevalence rate100has pushed small-scale farmers back into subsistencefarming; many must struggle to meet their foodneeds. The production and marketing problems theyface are immense. In addition, the introduction ofmarket policies in land acquisition threatens theirability to keep their holdings. 100 Large corporations areacquiring vast pieces of land for cultivation of biofuels,as well as mining and agriculture. To secures/dtheir food supply at a time of volatile global markets,rich countries with poor agriculture resources or agrowing need for imports – such as Saudi Arabia and0China – are accumulating vast tracts of land in others/ds/dcountries. The UN Special Rapporteur for the Rightto Food has identified large-scale transnational land100 100investments as one of the new trends that emergedfrom the 2008 global food crisis that has not beenproperly addressed by the international community,and identified Zambia as one of the target countries.As a result, land tenure security for the majority ofpoor Zambians is in jeopardy.Food insecuritySince the 1990s, neglect of agriculture also led to the100spread of cattle diseases. Previously, the Governmentensured that preventive measures, such ascattle dipping, were taken to protect 54 the country’slivestock from disease. When the economy was liberalizedin the 1990s, these services were withdrawnand diseases originating in 0neighboring countriescrossed the borders and spread throughout largeparts of the country, destroying about half 96 of the0dropout ratio in primary level has been stable at closeto 1.0%. However, the ratio at the secondary leveldeclined between 2003 and 2006. 4 Affirmative actionat some universities and teacher training collegeshas helped push up the number of girls enrolled attertiary level. Nevertheless, the dropout rate for femalesremains higher than for males at all levels ofthe school system. At grades 1-9, it is 3%, versus2.1% for males. At grades 10-12, it is 1.98%, and1.25% for males. 5What these figures don’t show is the number7410074of children who are out of the system, expected ton/dreach 1.2 million by the end of <strong>2010</strong>. Many childrenwho have not been orphaned but are in families100 100struck by HIV and AIDS cannot attend school. Besides,figures do not indicate the quality of the educationthose who are in school receive. In Zambia,HIV and AIDS have taken a heavy toll on the education.The number of orphans has soared over thelast decade. In 1996, the number of school-agedorphans who were not in school was estimated at400,000 – by 1998 the number had doubled. Thesechildren could not afford to attend school due topoverty, or the need to care for sick parents andguardians, engage in income generating activitieswas 22%; by 2007, it had dropped to 14.6%. However,between 2003 and 2008, 45% of children under or early marriage (especially 54 for girls).five years of age suffered from moderate or severe The quality of education has been compromisedstunting. The effects of childhood malnutrition are by a dearth of teachers, especially in rural areas, aslong term, often affecting 0the child’s ability to learn. well as inadequate infrastructure, 0 equipment and99100learning materials and sexual harassment and violenceagainst girls in schools.96Unequal opportunities for girls and women 99100 100 74100100 100Good progress is being made in enrolling both100 74100girls and boys at primary school level, owing to the1 IFAD, Rural Poverty in Zambia. Available from: .5 Ibid.001001001008810083100National reports 184 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>100 10010090
In the political sphere, the patriarchal attitudesthat continue to undermine women’s rights in allspheres have kept Zambia a long way from the targetof 50% women representation in decision-makingstipulated by the Southern African DevelopmentCouncil and African Union protocols. The proportionof women holding elected office in national parliamentand at local government level has increased, butat an extremely slow pace. In 1991, there were only6% of parliamentary representatives were women.The proportion climbed to 12% in1996. It remainedat that level in 2001, and rose marginally after the lastelections in 2006, to 14%. The proportion of womenelected as councilors remains a paltry 7%.Foreign Direct InvestmentThe Government raises revenues to finance developmentfrom three broad sources: domestic revenues,Official Development Assistance (ODA) and domesticand foreign borrowing. Domestic revenues sourcesinclude various taxes, such as the company incometax, the mineral royalty tax, custom, and excise andtrade taxes derived from Foreign Direct Investment(FDI). Since 2004, with the exception of 2006, over70% of Government revenue has come from domesticrevenues. This coincides with the period wheninvestment flows to Zambia grew significantly.FDI is seen as an important contributor to development,bringing capital, technology, managementexpertise, jobs and access to new markets. Manygovernments, including Zambia’s, have developedpolicies in order to encourage FDI.In the year 2000, new investment into Zambiatotaled USD 121.7 million. After that, the flow increasedconsiderably, reaching USD 334 million in2004. 6 Most of this money goes into tourism, manufacturing,construction, telecommunications andmining. China is the fastest-growing investor 7 but theinflux from Canada and the UK remains greater.Zambia offers a very liberal investment environment.Currently, FDI is governed by the ZambiaDevelopment Agency Act of 2006, which doesnot stipulate any requirements for local content,technology transfer, equity, employment or use ofsubcontractors, although foreign investors are encouragedto commit to local participation. The actallows investors to repatriate any capital investmentsfreely, repatriate profit, dividends, interest, fees. Italso allows foreign nationals to transfer out wagesearned in the country.6 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development(UNCTAD), Investment Policy Review – Zambia, New Yorkand Geneva, 2006. Available from: .7 Peter Kragelund, “Opening the black box of China-Africarelations: the magnitude and composition of Chineseinvestments in Zambia,” Danish Institute of InternationalStudies, 2008.Since the 1990s, FDI has played an increasingrole in the country’s economy, contributing to increasedcapital inflows and investment, rehabilitatingthe copper industry and enhancing the productionand exports of non-traditional products and services.However, Zambia has not used FDI effectivelyto promote development and reduce poverty. 8 Inpromoting FDI, one of the Government’s objectiveshas been diversification to reduce the economy’sheavy dependency on copper exports. Despite thisgoal, copper remains very dominant, in part due tothe significant increase in the mineral’s global marketprice since 2004. FDI has not yet made a significantdent in poverty either. The incidence of those livingin extreme poverty has inched down from 58% in1991 to 51% in 2006, with marked fluctuations duringthese years.Economic progress has been limited by theGovernment’s failure to pay sufficient attention tothe capacity of the domestic private sector and thefactors hindering its development. This has led todeindustrialization in some sectors of the economy,reducing the possibility of domestic companies tolink up with foreign investors. In addition, the liberalinvestment policies do not require foreign companiesto link up with local producers or suppliers, oreven give them incentives to do so.FDI has not had the desired multiplier effect ondomestic players. Further, policies such as the taxincentives given to foreign investors make it difficultfor domestic players to compete. A weak domesticprivate sector significantly reduces potential benefitsfrom FDI through linkages and spillover effects. Astrong domestic private sector would attract additionalFDI by exhibiting an economic climate receptiveto investment.The Citizens Economic ActIn 2006, the Government passed the Citizens EconomicAct and subsequently established a CitizensEconomic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) witha mandate to encourage broad based, effective ownershipand meaningful participation of citizens inthe economy that would contribute to a sustainableeconomy. The performance and impact of this effortto empower the domestic private sector remains tobe seen.Studies of copper mining (the largest beneficiaryof FDI) reveal reasons why the increase in FDI hasnot been a more significant tool for development andor poverty reduction, including: 98 UNCTAD, Investment Policy Review – Zambia, 2006, op cit.9 Alistair Fraser and John Lungu, “For whom the windfalls?Winners and losers in the privatization of Zambia’s CopperMines.” Available at: .• The signing of one-sided deals known as DevelopmentAgreements. Largely kept secret,these arrangements exempt investing companiesfrom various obligations, including payingmost taxes and many national laws – forexample, those related to environmental pollution.They also guarantee protection fromfuture legislation until the end of the 15-20year “Stability Periods.”• Casualization of the work force. Although newjobs have been created, their quality has drasticallydeclined. An estimated 45% of the workforce in the mines has been unable to obtainpermanent pensionable jobs. Most workers areon fixed-term contracts with significantly lessbeneficial terms and conditions than regularemployment.• Environmental pollution. Some investors havenot adhered to those national laws that still applyto them. Incidents of environmental mismanagementhave damaged the health of thelocal population. The three most common andserious problems are sulphur dioxide emissionsfrom smelters, heavy metal effluents beingdischarged into drinking water and siltingof local rivers.ConclusionsOne of the major reasons why FDI is not contributingas much as it should to sustainable developmentis the low revenue the Government derives fromtaxes. A breakdown of the <strong>2010</strong> budget shows thatthe largest contributors to revenue are Pay as youEarn (individual employees’ tax) at 19% and ValueAdded Tax at 18%. 10 Company Income Tax contributes8% and mineral royalty tax contributes 2%. Asmetal prices soared after 2004 a windfall tax wasintroduced in 2007; however, after a lot of pressurefrom the mining companies, this tax – which couldhave contributed a lot more to the treasury – wasrepealed in 2009.The focus on incentives to attract FDI is disproportionatelyweighted towards economic incentives.The Government does not invest in workforceskills through support for sectors such as educationand health, which would reduce poverty much moresubstantially. Furthermore, under current policies,FDI actually diminishes people’s rights, such as theright to food and a clean environment; and, withoutthe concerted efforts of duty bearers, it will actuallydo little or nothing for women’s rights. n10 Deloitte and Touche, 2009. Zambia Budget <strong>2010</strong>–Keeping theright balance.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 185 Zambia
APPENDIX
United Nations Millennium DeclarationResolution adopted by the General Assembly[without reference to a Main Committee (A/55/L.2)]The General AssemblyAdopts the following Declaration:55/2. United Nations Millennium DeclarationI. Values and principles1. We, heads of State and Government, have gathered atUnited Nations Headquarters in New York from 6 to 8September 2000, at the dawn of a new millennium, toreaffirm our faith in the Organization and its Charter asindispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperousand just world.2. We recognize that, in addition to our separate responsibilitiesto our individual societies, we have a collectiveresponsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity,equality and equity at the global level. As leaders we have aduty therefore to all the world’s people, especially the mostvulnerable and, in particular, the children of the world, towhom the future belongs.3. We reaffirm our commitment to the purposes and principlesof the Charter of the United Nations, which haveproved timeless and universal. Indeed, their relevanceand capacity to inspire have increased, as nations andpeoples have become increasingly interconnected andinterdependent.4. 4. We are determined to establish a just and lasting peaceall over the world in accordance with the purposes andprinciples of the Charter. We rededicate ourselves to supportall efforts to uphold the sovereign equality of all States,respect for their territorial integrity and political independence,resolution of disputes by peaceful means and inconformity with the principles of justice and internationallaw, the right to self-determination of peoples which remainunder colonial domination and foreign occupation,non-interference in the internal affairs of States, respectfor human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect forthe equal rights of all without distinction as to race, sex,language or religion and international cooperation in solvinginternational problems of an economic, social, culturalor humanitarian character.5. We believe that the central challenge we face today is to ensurethat globalization becomes a positive force for all theworld’s people. For while globalization offers great opportunities,at present its benefits are very unevenly shared,while its costs are unevenly distributed. We recognize thatdeveloping countries and countries with economies intransition face special difficulties in responding to thiscentral challenge. Thus, only through broad and sustainedefforts to create a shared future, based upon our commonhumanity in all its diversity, can globalization be made fullyinclusive and equitable. These efforts must include policiesand measures, at the global level, which correspond to theneeds of developing countries and economies in transitionand are formulated and implemented with their effectiveparticipation.6. We consider certain fundamental values to be essential tointernational relations in the twenty-first century. Theseinclude:• Freedom. Men and women have the right to live their livesand raise their children in dignity, free from hunger andfrom the fear of violence, oppression or injustice. Democraticand participatory governance based on the will of thepeople best assures these rights.• Equality. No individual and no nation must be denied theopportunity to benefit from development. The equal rightsand opportunities of women and men must be assured.• Solidarity. Global challenges must be managed in a waythat distributes the costs and burdens fairly in accordancewith basic principles of equity and social justice. Thosewho suffer or who benefit least deserve help from thosewho benefit most.• Tolerance. Human beings must respect one other, in alltheir diversity of belief, culture and language. Differenceswithin and between societies should be neither feared norrepressed, but cherished as a precious asset of humanity.A culture of peace and dialogue among all civilizationsshould be actively promoted.• Respect for nature. Prudence must be shown in the managementof all living species and natural resources, in accordancewith the precepts of sustainable development.Only in this way can the immeasurable riches provided tous by nature be preserved and passed on to our descendants.The current unsustainable patterns of production andconsumption must be changed in the interest of our futurewelfare and that of our descendants.• Shared responsibility. Responsibility for managing worldwideeconomic and social development, as well as threatsto international peace and security, must be shared amongthe nations of the world and should be exercised multilaterally.As the most universal and most representativeorganization in the world, the United Nations must playthe central role.7. In order to translate these shared values into actions, wehave identified key objectives to which we assign specialsignificance.II. Peace, security and disarmament8. We will spare no effort to free our peoples from the scourgeof war, whether within or between States, which hasclaimed more than 5 million lives in the past decade. Wewill also seek to eliminate the dangers posed by weaponsof mass destruction.9. We resolve therefore:• To strengthen respect for the rule of law in international asin national affairs and, in particular, to ensure complianceby Member States with the decisions of the InternationalCourt of Justice, in compliance with the Charter of theUnited Nations, in cases to which they are parties.• To make the United Nations more effective in maintainingpeace and security by giving it the resources and tools itneeds for conflict prevention, peaceful resolution of disputes,peacekeeping, post-conflict peace-building andreconstruction. In this context, we take note of the report ofthe Panel on United Nations Peace Operations and requestthe General Assembly to consider its recommendationsexpeditiously.• To strengthen cooperation between the United Nations andregional organizations, in accordance with the provisionsof Chapter VIII of the Charter.• To ensure the implementation, by States Parties, of treatiesin areas such as arms control and disarmament and ofinternational humanitarian law and human rights law, andcall upon all States to consider signing and ratifying theRome Statute of the International Criminal Court.• To take concerted action against international terrorism,and to accede as soon as possible to all the relevant internationalconventions.• To redouble our efforts to implement our commitment tocounter the world drug problem.• To intensify our efforts to fight transnational crime in all itsdimensions, including trafficking as well as smuggling inhuman beings and money laundering.• To minimize the adverse effects of United Nations economicsanctions on innocent populations, to subject suchsanctions regimes to regular reviews and to eliminate theadverse effects of sanctions on third parties.• To strive for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction,particularly nuclear weapons, and to keep all optionsopen for achieving this aim, including the possibility ofconvening an international conference to identify ways ofeliminating nuclear dangers.• To take concerted action to end illicit traffic in small armsand light weapons, especially by making arms transfersmore transparent and supporting regional disarmamentmeasures, taking account of all the recommendations ofthe forthcoming United Nations Conference on Illicit Tradein Small Arms and Light Weapons.• To call on all States to consider acceding to the Conventionon the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production andTransfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction,as well as the amended mines protocol to the Conventionon conventional weapons.10. We urge Member States to observe the Olympic Truce,individually and collectively, now and in the future, and tosupport the International Olympic Committee in its effortsto promote peace and human understanding through sportand the Olympic Ideal.III. Development and poverty eradication11. We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women andchildren from the abject and dehumanizing conditions ofextreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them arecurrently subjected. We are committed to making the rightto development a reality for everyone and to freeing theentire human race from want.12. We resolve therefore to create an environment – at thenational and global levels alike – which is conducive todevelopment and to the elimination of poverty.13. Success in meeting these objectives depends, inter alia,on good governance within each country. It also dependson good governance at the international level and on transparencyin the financial, monetary and trading systems.We are committed to an open, equitable, rule-based, predictableand non-discriminatory multilateral trading andfinancial system.14. We are concerned about the obstacles developing countriesface in mobilizing the resources needed to financetheir sustained development. We will therefore make everyeffort to ensure the success of the High-level Internationaland Intergovernmental Event on Financing for Development,to be held in 2001.15. We also undertake to address the special needs of the leastdeveloped countries. In this context, we welcome the ThirdUnited Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countriesto be held in May 2001 and will endeavour to ensureits success. We call on the industrialized countries:• To adopt, preferably by the time of that Conference, a policyof duty- and quota-free access for essentially all exportsfrom the least developed countries;• To implement the enhanced programme of debt relief forthe heavily indebted poor countries without further delayand to agree to cancel all official bilateral debts of thosecountries in return for their making demonstrable commitmentsto poverty reduction; and• To grant more generous development assistance, especiallyto countries that are genuinely making an effort toapply their resources to poverty reduction.16. We are also determined to deal comprehensively and effectivelywith the debt problems of low- and middle-incomedeveloping countries, through various national and internationalmeasures designed to make their debt sustainablein the long term.17. We also resolve to address the special needs of small islanddeveloping States, by implementing the BarbadosProgramme of Action and the outcome of the twenty-secondspecial session of the General Assembly rapidly and infull. We urge the international community to ensure that, inthe development of a vulnerability index, the special needsof small island developing States are taken into account.18. We recognize the special needs and problems of thelandlocked developing countries, and urge both bilateraland multilateral donors to increase financial and technicalassistance to this group of countries to meet theirspecial development needs and to help them overcomethe impediments of geography by improving their transittransport systems.188 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
19. We resolve further:• To halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world’speople whose income is less than one dollar a day andthe proportion of people who suffer from hunger and, bythe same date, to halve the proportion of people who areunable to reach or to afford safe drinking water.• To ensure that, by the same date, children everywhere,boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course ofprimary schooling and that girls and boys will have equalaccess to all levels of education.• By the same date, to have reduced maternal mortality bythree quarters, and under-five child mortality by two thirds,of their current rates.• To have, by then, halted, and begun to reverse, the spreadof HIV/AIDS, the scourge of malaria and other major diseasesthat afflict humanity.• To provide special assistance to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.• By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in thelives of at least 100 million slum dwellers as proposed inthe “Cities Without Slums” initiative.20. We also resolve:• To promote gender equality and the empowerment ofwomen as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger anddisease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable.• To develop and implement strategies that give young peopleeverywhere a real chance to find decent and productivework.• To encourage the pharmaceutical industry to make essentialdrugs more widely available and affordable by all whoneed them in developing countries.• To develop strong partnerships with the private sector andwith civil society organizations in pursuit of developmentand poverty eradication.• To ensure that the benefits of new technologies, especiallyinformation and communication technologies, in conformitywith recommendations contained in the ECOSOC2000 Ministerial Declaration, are available to all.IV. Protecting our common environment21. We must spare no effort to free all of humanity, and aboveall our children and grandchildren, from the threat of livingon a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities,and whose resources would no longer be sufficient fortheir needs.22. We reaffirm our support for the principles of sustainabledevelopment, including those set out in Agenda 21, agreedupon at the United Nations Conference on Environmentand Development.23. We resolve therefore to adopt in all our environmental actionsa new ethic of conservation and stewardship and, asfirst steps, we resolve:• To make every effort to ensure the entry into force of theKyoto Protocol, preferably by the tenth anniversary of theUnited Nations Conference on Environment and Developmentin 2002, and to embark on the required reduction inemissions of greenhouse gases.• To intensify our collective efforts for the management,conservation and sustainable development of all typesof forests.• To press for the full implementation of the Convention onBiological Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertificationin those Countries Experiencing Serious Droughtand/or Desertification, particularly in Africa.• To stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resourcesby developing water management strategies at the regional,national and local levels, which promote both equitableaccess and adequate supplies.• To intensify cooperation to reduce the number and effectsof natural and man-made disasters.• To ensure free access to information on the human genomesequence.V. Human rights, democracy and good governance24. We will spare no effort to promote democracy andstrengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all internationallyrecognized human rights and fundamentalfreedoms, including the right to development.25. We resolve therefore:• To respect fully and uphold the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights.• To strive for the full protection and promotion in all ourcountries of civil, political, economic, social and culturalrights for all.• To strengthen the capacity of all our countries to implementthe principles and practices of democracy and respect forhuman rights, including minority rights.• To combat all forms of violence against women and toimplement the Convention on the Elimination of All Formsof Discrimination against Women.• To take measures to ensure respect for and protectionof the human rights of migrants, migrant workers andtheir families, to eliminate the increasing acts of racismand xenophobia in many societies and to promote greaterharmony and tolerance in all societies.• To work collectively for more inclusive political processes,allowing genuine participation by all citizens in all ourcountries.• To ensure the freedom of the media to perform their essentialrole and the right of the public to have access toinformation.VI. Protecting the vulnerable26. We will spare no effort to ensure that children and all civilianpopulations that suffer disproportionately the consequencesof natural disasters, genocide, armed conflictsand other humanitarian emergencies are given every assistanceand protection so that they can resume normallife as soon as possible.We resolve therefore:• To expand and strengthen the protection of civilians incomplex emergencies, in conformity with internationalhumanitarian law.• To strengthen international cooperation, including burdensharing in, and the coordination of humanitarian assistanceto, countries hosting refugees and to help all refugeesand displaced persons to return voluntarily to their homes,in safety and dignity and to be smoothly reintegrated intotheir societies.• To encourage the ratification and full implementation ofthe Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optionalprotocols on the involvement of children in armed conflictand on the sale of children, child prostitution and childpornography.VII. Meeting the special needs of Africa27. We will support the consolidation of democracy in Africaand assist Africans in their struggle for lasting peace, povertyeradication and sustainable development, therebybringing Africa into the mainstream of the world economy.28. We resolve therefore:• To give full support to the political and institutional structuresof emerging democracies in Africa.• To encourage and sustain regional and subregionalmechanisms for preventing conflict and promoting politicalstability, and to ensure a reliable flow of resources forpeacekeeping operations on the continent.• To take special measures to address the challenges ofpoverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa,including debt cancellation, improved market access,enhanced Official Development Assistance and increasedflows of Foreign Direct Investment, as well as transfersof technology.• To help Africa build up its capacity to tackle the spread ofthe HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases.VIII. Strengthening the United Nations29. We will spare no effort to make the United Nations a moreeffective instrument for pursuing all of these priorities:the fight for development for all the peoples of the world,the fight against poverty, ignorance and disease; the fightagainst injustice; the fight against violence, terror andcrime; and the fight against the degradation and destructionof our common home.30. We resolve therefore:• To reaffirm the central position of the General Assemblyas the chief deliberative, policy-making and representativeorgan of the United Nations, and to enable it to play thatrole effectively.• To intensify our efforts to achieve a comprehensive reformof the Security Council in all its aspects.• To strengthen further the Economic and <strong>Social</strong> Council,building on its recent achievements, to help it fulfil the roleascribed to it in the Charter.• To strengthen the International Court of Justice, in order toensure justice and the rule of law in international affairs.• To encourage regular consultations and coordinationamong the principal organs of the United Nations in pursuitof their functions.• To ensure that the Organization is provided on a timelyand predictable basis with the resources it needs to carryout its mandates.• To urge the Secretariat to make the best use of those resources,in accordance with clear rules and proceduresagreed by the General Assembly, in the interests of allMember States, by adopting the best management practicesand technologies available and by concentrating onthose tasks that reflect the agreed priorities of MemberStates.• To promote adherence to the Convention on the Safety ofUnited Nations and Associated Personnel.• To ensure greater policy coherence and better cooperationbetween the United Nations, its agencies, the BrettonWoods Institutions and the World Trade Organization, aswell as other multilateral bodies, with a view to achievinga fully coordinated approach to the problems of peace anddevelopment.• To strengthen further cooperation between the UnitedNations and national parliaments through their worldorganization, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in variousfields, including peace and security, economic and socialdevelopment, international law and human rights and democracyand gender issues.• To give greater opportunities to the private sector, nongovernmentalorganizations and civil society, in general,to contribute to the realization of the Organization’s goalsand programmes.31. We request the General Assembly to review on a regularbasis the progress made in implementing the provisionsof this Declaration, and ask the Secretary-General to issueperiodic reports for consideration by the General Assemblyand as a basis for further action.32. We solemnly reaffirm, on this historic occasion, that theUnited Nations is the indispensable common house ofthe entire human family, through which we will seek torealize our universal aspirations for peace, cooperationand development. We therefore pledge our unstinting supportfor these common objectives and our determinationto achieve them.8th plenary meeting8 September 2000<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> 189United Nations Millennium Declaration
Millennium Development GoalsThe eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the targetdate of 2015 – form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of theworld’s poorest.GOAL 1:Target 1.ATarget 1.BTarget 1.CERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY & HUNGERHalve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a dayAchieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young peopleHalve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hungerGOAL 2:Target 2.AACHIEVE UNIVERSAL PRIMARY EDUCATIONEnsure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to completea full course of primary schoolingGOAL 3:PROMOTE GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWER WOMENTarget 3.A Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005,and in all levels of education no later than 2015GOAL 4:Target 4.AREDUCE CHILD MORTALITYReduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rateGOAL 5:Target 5.ATarget 5.BIMPROVE MATERNAL HEALTHReduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratioAchieve universal access to reproductive healthGOAL 6:Target 6.ATarget 6.BTarget 6.CCOMBAT HIV/AIDS, MALARIA AND OTHER DISEASESHave halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDSAchieve, by <strong>2010</strong>, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need itHave halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseasesGOAL 7:Target 7.ATarget 7.BTarget 7.CTarget 7.DENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITYIntegrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmesand reverse the loss of environmental resourcesReduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by <strong>2010</strong>, a significant reduction in the rate of lossHalve, by 2015, the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking waterand basic sanitationBy 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellersGOAL 8:Target 8.ATarget 8.BTarget 8.CTarget 8.DTarget 8.EDEVELOP A GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR DEVELOPMENTAddress the special needs of least developed countries, landlocked countries and smallisland developing statesDevelop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial systemDeal comprehensively with developing countries’ debtIn cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugsin developing countriesIn cooperation with the private sector, make available benefits of new technologies,especially information and communicationsSource: 190 <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong>
Made possible thanks to the funding and supportof the European Union and Oxfam Novib.ISSN: 0797-92310797-9231S O C I A L W A T C H R E P O R T 2 0 1 0IRAQ: Arising opportunities must be seized not onlyto promote the social rehabilitation of the countrybut also to encourage and support new institutionalstructures, legislation and its enforcement for theprotection of women’s rights.UNITED STATES: … the worst economic crisis since1929 has accelerated the decades-long erosionof hard-won gains in human rights, economicopportunity and social justice.BOLIVIA: The extractive model (…) takes moremoney out of the country than it generates indomestic economy.SOMALIA: Resources from piracy are almost assignificant as those coming from the EuropeanCommission.ITALY: Financing for development has also suffereda drastic reduction, and Italy is not meeting itsinternational commitments.SLOVENIA: … if the country is to survive in the newinternational environment it has to experience social,political and economic paradigm shifts.AFGHANISTAN: … resources should be used notfor political and military gain but to establish ahumanitarian space for development (…).MEXICO: … there are states in the south withindicators more like those of the poorest parts ofthe world.NEW SOCIAL DEAL: Only a complete transformation ofsociety organized around a new logic can lead to aworld in which meeting human needs, not corporateprofits, is the priority.TANZANIA: Official Development Assistance (ODA)disbursement is often late and does not go with thenational budget process.BANGLADESH: While the country is a minusculepolluter, it is an enormous victim of global warming.GLOBAL CLIMATE: … combating climate crisis (…)requires the effective, transparent and responsibleparticipation of all stakeholders – governments, civilsociety organizations and financial institutions – inan integrated manner.NEPAL: … workers have been trafficked acrossborders, abused or even enslaved. In 2009 alone,at least 600 Nepalese died in the Gulf States andMalaysia.CROATIA: … to reduce poverty and inequality whileat the same time embracing the neoliberal agendahas proven not only unrealistic but also imprudent.CRITICAL SHAREHOLDING: If the financial actorsand managers still want to invest in unsustainablecompanies (…) let’s make clear that we don’t wantto be their accomplices (…).GENDER: The time has come for a new developmentparadigm with equal rights and opportunities forall.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> is an international network of citizens’ organizations in the struggle to eradicate poverty andthe causes of poverty, to end all forms of discrimination and racism, to ensure an equitable distribution ofwealth and the realization of human rights. We are committed to peace, social, economic, environmentand gender justice, and we emphasize the right of all people not to be poor.<strong>Social</strong> <strong>Watch</strong> holds governments, the UN system and international organizations accountable for thefulfilment of national, regional and international commitments to eradicate poverty.
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