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Choike rss
STATEMENT ON THE PROPOSED GLOBAL SUMMIT TO REFORM THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEM
In recent weeks, leaders worldwide have recognized the deficiencies of the existing financial system and the need to meet to address a broader set of proposals to reform the global financial system and its institutions. The developed countries plus the G20 are now set to meet in Washington DC on 15 November 2008 to begin the discussions. However, civil society organizations have issued a declaration stating their concerns that the proposed meetings will be carried out in a rushed and non-inclusive manner, and as a result, not address the comprehensive range of changes needed, nor fairly allocate their burden.
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PUBLIC MONEY, PRIVATE GAIN: GOLDCORP IN THE AMERICAS
The nexus of mining companies, the mainstream media, the Canadian government, International Finance Institutions and bought off NGOs work hard to keep the reality of large-scale, open pit mines out of picture, keep community resistance marginalized, and no matter what, to keep talking about 'development'. A new report by Rights Action brings together hard facts and community perspectives.
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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH'S POSITION PAPER ON THE DURBAN PREPARATORY COMMITTEE
Human Rights Watch urges governments involved in the Durban review process to press for progress on key issues highlighted at the Durban Conference of 2001 and to address recent or new manifestations of racism and related intolerance. In particular, it is urged action on four issues, all of which provide the Review Conference with an opportunity to make a measurable contribution to the fight against racism and related intolerance. Some of these issues were discussed in 2001, while others reflect new and emerging trends.
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CONTROLLING WOMENS BODIES
Womens bodies are disputed territory, marked by a system present in all societies and responsible for the fact that today, in the first decade of the 21st century, women still are not autonomous enough to make free, responsible and informed decisions over the territory of their own bodies. This situation hinders their recognition as rights bearers and affects their lives and health.
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IPRS AND BIODIVERSITY: STOP THE THEFT OF INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE
Recent years have seen an increasing appreciation of the role and importance of indigenous knowledge (IK). The knowledge of farmers and indigenous people in using and conserving biological resources is now recognised as a treasure that is currently contributing enormous value to traditional and modern medicine and to agricultural productivity, and is critical for future development or even survival of humanity.
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PAVING THE WAY FOR AGROFUELS: THE EU CLIMATE CHANGE CALCULATIONS
In the face of the climate change threat and the increasing scarcity of fossil fuels, agrofuels are being heavily promoted as a means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The EU is proposing a 10 per cent mandatory target for agrofuel use in transport by 2020. Yet there is strong and growing evidence that, far from reducing emissions, the rush to agrofuels will significantly accelerate climate change, as well as contributing to a range of other social and environmental problems.
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HOW DONORS ARE FAILING CHILDREN IN CONFLICT-AFFECTED FRAGILE STATES
Today 77 million children are out of school; over half of them, 39 million, live in conflict affected fragile states (CAFS). Although universal primary education is a Millennium Development Goal to be reached by 2015, at the current rate of progress the goal will not be met. One of the key reasons this goal will not be met is that the financing of education in conflict affected fragile states is extremely low: only 18 per cent of all education aid is given to CAFS despite them being home to over 50 per cent of children out of school.
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UN: REPORT OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL ON CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has in a new report called on the Security Council to impose sanctions on armies and groups that make use of child soldiers in at least a dozen countries. Recruitment of children in armed conflicts was happening mainly in African and Asian countries, ranging from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to Myanmar and Sri Lanka, he said in the report. Those responsible were rebel groups but included government forces in countries like Chad, Somalia and Sudan, Ban said. Some were guilty of killing and sexually abusing children. The Security Council should consider penalising those responsible by banning arms and military aid and slapping travel and financial restrictions on leaders, Ban said.
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ASSESSING CHINAS ROLE IN AFRICA: A SEARCH FOR A NEW PERSPECTIVE
Open any newspaper and you would get the impression that the African continent, and much of the rest of the world, is in the process of being devoured by China. Phrases such as the new scramble for Africa, voracious, ravenous or insatiable appetite for natural resources are typical descriptors used to characterise Chinas engagement with Africa. In contrast, the operations of western capital for the same activities are described with anodyne phrases such as development, investment, employment generation (Mawdsely, 2008). Is China indeed the voracious tiger it is so often portrayed as?
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WHO CONTROLS ECUADOR'S WATER?
It is a well kept secret that Bechtel won a contract to privatize the water in Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, just months after the massive citizen protests that threw Bechtel out of Bolivia. In October 2000, a local Bechtel subsidiary, Interagua, signed a 30-year concession contract to run the water and sanitation services in Guayaquil. The privatization process was promoted by loans from the Inter-American Development Bank and a guarantee from the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a World Bank agency. Now, more than six years later, the residents of Guayaquil are demanding damages from the company for water contamination, an end to water cut-offs, and a return to local, public control.
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