Dear Friends,
This is to share with you our Social Watch Report 2014. The report, launched on July 9th in New York during the ministerial meeting of the High Level Political Forum of the UN, is a summary review of fifty country reports and an analysis of global trends by civil society organizations. The report, titled "Ends and Means," monitors how government and international institutions are doing in implementing their solemn commitments to eradicate poverty, achieve gender justice and promote sustainable development.
The old debate around ends and means usually deals with unacceptable procedures claiming legitimacy because of the intended results. Not anymore. In the current international debate around development goals for the United Nations, the "ends" are set so low that no major effort is really required from anybody.
In country after country, civil society organizations find that the Millennium Development Goals that guided development efforts during more than a decade were set too low for many countries and diverted attention from growing inequalities all over the world.
In the Philippines, for example, more than three fourths of the economic growth of the whole country is concentrated in forty persons. Such "oligarchic economies" are more and more common in rich and poor countries alike, and yet alternatives are easily available: many South American countries are managing to reduce inequalities and grow at the same time.
The full contents of Social Watch Report 2014: Ends and Means can be accessed at
http://www.socialwatch.org/report2014
Best regards,
Roberto Bissio
Social Watch Coordinator
Mobile: +33 6 1279 4750
E-mail: rbissio@item.org.uy
This is to share with you our Social Watch Report 2014. The report, launched on July 9th in New York during the ministerial meeting of the High Level Political Forum of the UN, is a summary review of fifty country reports and an analysis of global trends by civil society organizations. The report, titled "Ends and Means," monitors how government and international institutions are doing in implementing their solemn commitments to eradicate poverty, achieve gender justice and promote sustainable development.
The old debate around ends and means usually deals with unacceptable procedures claiming legitimacy because of the intended results. Not anymore. In the current international debate around development goals for the United Nations, the "ends" are set so low that no major effort is really required from anybody.
In country after country, civil society organizations find that the Millennium Development Goals that guided development efforts during more than a decade were set too low for many countries and diverted attention from growing inequalities all over the world.
In the Philippines, for example, more than three fourths of the economic growth of the whole country is concentrated in forty persons. Such "oligarchic economies" are more and more common in rich and poor countries alike, and yet alternatives are easily available: many South American countries are managing to reduce inequalities and grow at the same time.
The full contents of Social Watch Report 2014: Ends and Means can be accessed at
http://www.socialwatch.org/report2014
Best regards,
Roberto Bissio
Social Watch Coordinator
Mobile: +33 6 1279 4750
E-mail: rbissio@item.org.uy
