Some 50 civil society representatives from around Asia gathered in Bangkok on August 17, 2011 to exchange knowledge, experience, views and strategies on the issues around sustainable development and the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012, also known as the Rio+20 Summit.
We, 52 women and men from 18 countries (Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China and Hongkong SAR,India, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Spain,Thailand, Timor Leste, USA, and Vietnam) and representing peasants, agricultural workers, fisherfolk,indigenous peoples, workers, women, youth and students, refugees and stateless persons, academia,environmental and support NGOs and networks met for the ‘Promoting a Transformative Agenda for Sustainable Development: A Strategy Workshop on Rio+20’ on August 15-17, 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Since the 1980s, multilateral development banks (MDBs), donor agencies, development finance institutions and governments have increasingly promoted private sector growth as the cornerstone of national development strategies. While there is little in depth and up to date analysis on the relationship between ODA and the private sector due to a lack or differences in reporting, the vast majority of bilateral and multilateral donors have considerably increased their focus and engagement with the private sector.
Outreach Officer Myrna Maglahus of IBON and Reality of Aid (RoA) participated in a series of meetings and dialogues on aid and development effectiveness with civil society organisations (CSOs), governments and other stakeholders during two visits to Sub-Saharan Africa last July-August.
EDM (Vol. 10 No. 4) COVER STORY On aid for private sector development PPP: Balancing act favors private profit over public welfare World Bank:
Some 3,000 participants from 40 countries across Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, North America and Europe concluded the first-ever International Festival for Peoples’ Rights and Struggles (IFPRS) on the first week of July in the Philippines with an overflowing of energy and commitment to defend people’s rights and carry on the struggle for freedom, democracy and social justice. The IFPRS was a rare opportunity for people’s movements, progressive institutions, groups and individuals across the globe to share and learn from each other about new and longstanding threats to people’s individual and collective rights, while exploring solutions that address the systemic roots of these problems.
IBON together with its co-organisers are pleased to announce the release of A Celebration of People’s Struggles, A Festival of Hope—the printed conference proceedings of the International Festival of People’s Rights and Struggles (IFPRS) held in Manila last year.
IBON International is pleased to announce the launching of the International Festival for People’s Rights and Struggles (IFPRS) Website. Papers, presentations, photos, videos and proceedings of the various events can now be viewed and downloaded from the site.
Real commitments on human rights, financing and macroeconomic reforms that would help developing countries, and regulation of the private sector remain absent from the draft document of the Rio+20 outcome document, warns international civil society organization, IBON International.
EDM (Vol. 10 No. 3) COVER STORY Green Economy: Gain or pain for the Earth’s poor? Geoengineering: Risky techno-fix for climate change FEATURES
EDM (Vol. 10 No. 2) COVER STORY Time for a New Paradigm What does wage-led growth mean in developing countries with large informal employment?
EDM (Vol. 10 No. 1) COVER STORY The Year of Living Dangerously Rising Commodity Prices and Extreme Weather Events Threaten Global Stability FEATURES
Despite the optimism placed on them, the Cancun Agreements of the 2010 UN Climate Summit do not represent a success for multilateralism; neither do they put the world on a safe climate pathway that science demands, and far less to a just and equitable transition towards a sustainable model of development. They represent a victory for big polluters and Northern elites that wish to continue with business-as-usual.
As the world’s leaders gather at the Moon Palace Hotel in Cancun, Mexico for the 16th COP of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, thousands of peasants, indigenous peoples, youth, women, workers, advocates and many other sectors and communities from all over the world marched the streets of downtown Cancun this morning to call for ‘system change, not climate change.
People of Bangladesh along with other nations of the world protested in Cancun, Mexico last Thursday against the role of the developed countries and demanded to keep the World Bank (WB) out of climate financing.
EDM (Vol. 9 No. 6) COVER STORY Rio+20: Addressing the crisis of Sustainable Development Talking about an energy and jobs revolution Havana harvest: Organic