Global Eye on Social and Gender Rights

The impact of trade liberalization on the realization of human rights

Geneva, 5 February 2010

Dear Mr Lamy,

We appreciated your speech of 13 January 2010 and willingness to engage in a discussion on the contested and controversial relationship between human rights and trade during the 11-13 January 2010 Colloquium on Human Rights in the Global Economy, co-organized by the International Council on Human Rights and Realizing Rights in Geneva.

We, the undersigned organizations and individuals who participated in the
Colloquium and the discussion with you, acknowledge and welcome your openness to dialogue. We also acknowledge your attempts to challenge the policy firewall that has too long been maintained between the discourses of trade and human rights and the ways in which you sought to draw out the connections between these two discourses. At the same time however, we remain concerned by persistent and obvious contradictions between the rhetoric of complementarity between human rights and trade liberalization (as it has been implemented so far), given the real outcomes of liberalization for people and communities around the world, especially in the developing countries. Read more…

agustin Statements Human Rights, Human Rights in the Global Economy, International Council on Human Rights and Realizing Rights, Pascal Lamy, WTO

January 29, 2010

Noam Chomsky, Anthony Arnove, Naomi Klein, and Alice Walker interviewed by Amy Goodman

Source: DN!

Guests:

Noam Chomsky, author and Institute Professor Emeritus at MIT, where he taught for over half a century. He is author of dozens of books. His most recent is Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy.

Naomi Klein, journalist and author. Her latest book is The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and activist. She was a student of Howard Zinn’s at Spelman College in the early 1960s.

Anthony Arnove, co-author, with Howard Zinn, of Voices of A People’s History of the United States and co-director, with Zinn, of Let the People Speak

AMY GOODMAN: We’re broadcasting from Park City, Utah, from the Sundance Film Festival, the home of the largest independent film festival in the country.

We spend the rest of the hour paying tribute to Howard Zinn, the late historian, writer and activist. He died suddenly Wednesday of a heart attack at the age of eighty-seven. Read more…

agustin News Alice Walker, Amy Goodman, Anthony Arnove, howard zinn, Naomi Klein, Noam Chomsky

Source: IFIs Latin American Monitor / Mon Jan 25 2010

By the end of 2009, it seemed necessary to take stock of the political and economic situation and of the different processes in which civil society has been actively involved, in order to provide input for debate and coordinate efforts for the construction of a new economic and financial model. For this purpose, a seminar-workshop was carried out on December 10 and 11 2009, within the framework of the MERCOSUR Summit of Presidents held in Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 8.

Representatives of over 40 Latin American social organisations gathered in Montevideo in order to discuss and propose alternatives to the current financial system. Following the outburst of the economic and financial crisis in 2008, discussions and proposals started to proliferate in governmental and inter-governmental spaces and social organisations at international level, thus becoming necessary to bring them to this regional space, in order to build and strengthen political advocacy strategies in the face of alternatives, taking into account the current political and economic situation and the different sub-regions. Read more…

agustin Eventos, News Alma Espino, Álvaro Padrón, Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organisations, BNDES, CEDHA, Central Trade Union Coordinator of the Southern Cone, Confederation of Argentine Workers, Fernando Gambera, FESUR, Financial crisis, Graciela Rodríguez, Héctor Moncayo, Héctor Mondragón, Hemispheric Social Alliance, ILSA, International Gender and Trade Network, Jana Silverman, Javier Gómez of CEDLA, Juan González, Karen Lang, Latindadd, Luis Sirumbal, MERCOSUR, Norma Aguilar, OWINFS, Pedro Páez, PIT-CNT, Raúl Zibechi, Rebrip, Redes-Amigos de la Tierra, Ricardo Jacques, Roberto Bissio, Rómulo Torres, Sebastián Valdomir, social watch, Technical Commission of the Bank of the South, Víctor Ricco

Ajamu Baraka is the executive director of the U.S. Human Rights Network, a coalition of more than 250 human rights and social justice organizations working to hold the United States accountable to international human rights standards. YES! Magazine board member Tanya Dawkins talked to him about housing, direct action, and why human rights are relevant during the recession.

by Tanya Dawkins / published by YES! Magazine

Tanya Dawkins: How are you feeling about the domestic human rights movement right now?

Ajamu Baraka: I’m feeling pretty good, even though we have some very real challenges as a movement. The election of Barack Obama provides opportunities as well as some very interesting political challenges. Under the Bush Administration, the targets of our advocacy, organizing, and education work were pretty clear. With Obama’s election and Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, we find ourselves struggling against the tendency some might have to believe that we can relax and just engage in quiet, behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Read more…

agustin News Human Rights, Obama, Tanya Dawkins, YES! Magazine

Roberto Bissio’s speech at the Development Debates Controversy Panel, activity hold by Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN). The panel also counted witht the participation of Rosalind Petchesky, on Gender Identity, Sexuality and Feminism, and Rodelyn Marte, on HIV/AIDS and Women. This activity took place on January 19th 2010 at Mauritius, Africa.

To listen Roberto Bissio’s speech.

Development Debates Controversy Panel

agustin News DAWN, development, Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era, Roberto Bissio

After many years of indiscriminate mortar shelling and endless human rights abuses, the poor people of Somalia are left with little hope or expectations of peace and stability. The destruction that has been inflicted on the Somali people is unprecedented in the recent history of Africa as the perpetrators are rarely called to account for their crimes.

At the beginning of 2009 with Ethiopian troops leaving the country, many residents of Mogadishu had high hopes for a better future and the country as a whole expected at least some changes for the better. Read more…

agustin News 10th December, Human Rights Day, social watch, Somalia

By Robin Hahnel, Source: Z Net

Because misconceptions are commonplace a basic tutorial on the logic and implications of regulation, carbon taxes, and tradable carbon emission permits is useful. Hopefully this will correct some common misunderstandings about what different policies do, and do not do, and help leftists and environmentalists who are not professional economists avoid being brow beaten when debating environmental policy with mainstream economists who often do not share their values and priorities.

Suppose the US government decides to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10% next year. The concept of equivalent pollution policies is very useful. “Equivalent” means that the policies result in the same overall reduction in emissions. What this “tutorial” explores are possible equivalent policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions: A regulation approach mandating a 10% reduction in emissions from every source, a carbon tax set at a level that achieves a 10% overall reduction in emissions, and a cap and trade program where the number of permits printed allows for only 90% of last year’s total emissions are equivalent policies - they all achieve the same 10% overall reduction in emissions. However, while these three policies all achieve the same overall emission reduction, we will discover that  they differ in other important respects.

Read more…

agustin News Carbon Taxes, Climate Change, environmental policy, Robin Hahnel, Tradable Carbon Emission Permits

Atividade com a participação de representantes da sociedade civil latino-americana

Em setembro de 2008, com o colapso do organismo de investimento Lehman Brothers, quebrou a crise económica e financeira em breve a ser espalhadas pelo mundo. Desde então, realizaram vários oficiais e da sociedade civil que procuram responder à crise global, regional e nacional. Estes incluíram as atividades do Grupo dos 20 (G-20), da ONU, instituições financeiras internacionais, Unasul, etc. Para o final do ano foi necessário fazer um balanço da situação política e económica, e os vários processos em que a sociedade civil tem participado activamente para a produção de insumos para o debate, coordenar esforços e planejar ações conjuntas, a curto e médio prazo.

Para esse efeito, foi realizado um seminário nos dias 10 e 11 de dezembro de 2009, no âmbito da Cúpula Presidencial do Mercosul, realizada em 8 de dezembro em Montevidéu, Uruguai. Esta atividade foi acompanhada por um evento público, a fim de encontrar espaços para a interação com funcionários do governo, com a sociedade civil e o público em geral.

agustin News

Actividad pública, con la participación de representantes de la sociedad civil latinoamericana

En setiembre de 2008, con la caída de la agencia de inversiones Lehman Brothers, estalló una crisis económica y financiera que pronto se desparramó por el mundo entero. Desde entonces tienen lugar distintas iniciativas oficiales y de la sociedad civil que buscan dar respuesta a la crisis a nivel global, regional y nacional. Entre ellos, cabe destacar la actividad del Grupo de los 20 (G-20), la ONU, las Instituciones Financieras Internacionales, la UNASUR, etc. Hacia el final del año resultaba necesario hacer un balance de la coyuntura política y económica, y de los distintos procesos en los que la sociedad civil ha estado activamente involucrada a fin de producir insumos para el debate, articular esfuerzos y planificar acciones conjuntas a corto y mediano plazo.

Con este objetivo se realizó un seminario-taller el 10 y 11 de diciembre de 2009, en el marco de la Cumbre de Presidentes del MERCOSUR que tuvo lugar el 8 de diciembre en Montevideo, Uruguay. Esta actividad tuvo como corolario un evento público a fin de buscar espacios de interacción con funcionarios de los gobiernos que estarán en Montevideo, con la sociedad civil, y el público en general. Read more…

agustin Eventos, News

Social Watch, una red de 400 organizaciones de la sociedad civil en más de
60 países, pide a los gobiernos de los países desarrollados que se
comprometan a encontrar una solución justa para el actual impasse en las
negociaciones del clima adhiriendo al  principio de responsabilidades
comunes pero diferenciadas consagrado en la Convención Marco de las
Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático (UNFCC), la Declaración de Río
sobre el Medio Ambiente y el Desarrollo, el Programa 21, y la Declaración
Universal de Derechos Humanos de Naciones Unidas.

Los países desarrollados deben reconocer la responsabilidad que les cabe
en la búsqueda internacional del desarrollo sustentable en vista de las
presiones que sus sociedades ejercen en el medio ambiente global y de las
tecnologías y recursos financieros que disponen. A su vez, los acuerdos
mundiales sobre cambio climático deben tener en cuenta las diferentes
circunstancias, particularmente la capacidad de los países en desarrollo
de prevenir, reducir y controlar las amenazas producidas por el cambio
climático. Read more…

agustin News cambio climático, social watch