Archives for News - Page 11
Press Release: “Shadowing SDG-implementation”. A Civil Society spotlight on to make governments accountable for their promises
Are governments genuinely committed to implement the ambitious Agenda 2030 they adopted last September at the highest level? Will the global financial system and the trade and investment regime allow for the policy space needed to change course, eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities, protect nature and promote human rights? As the United Nations started this Monday, July 11 2016 its first review of the new Agenda and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), civil society coalitions…
Side-events during the HLPF in New York – Spotlight on Sustainable Development
Social Watch, with different partners will be co-hosting several side-events during the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) to be held in New York, July 11th to 20th, 2016. See below the information of the side events. Shadowing SDG-implementation” Civil Society Action for meaningful participation and accountability Shadow reporting is a well-established tool of civil society when it comes to holding governments accountable. A number of CSOs have already started to prepare shadow or…
“Privatized justice” system for transnationals should be abolished
The investor-state dispute settlement mechanisms are incompatible with the Charter of the United Nations and Human Rights, concluded the prominent Cuban-American lawyer Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, in his report to the General Assembly of the UN as Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order, appointed by the Human Rights Council. This system, argues the expert, “should be abolished” because it is a “fundamentally flawed system having adverse human rights impacts and because its…
SDG indicators: Counting the trees, hiding the forest
After a two days meeting in Bangkok, at the end of October, the statistical experts of the UN agencies have come with a controversial list of 159 “generally agreed” indicators to measure the Sustainable Development Goals approved last September by the UN. Traditionally, development agencies have tried to summarize in a single indicator or index complex development goals. Thus, UNICEF emphasized infant mortality as a proxy indicator of its mandate to protect children, the World…