From the Network of Organizations Against Corruption (ROCC) we published a document that compiles information on what public procurement is like at the national level, in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Salta during the state of emergency. In addition, recommendations are proposed to increase transparency and accountability in processes.
From the Network of Organizations Against Corruption (ROCC) we published a document that compiles information on what public procurement is like at the national level, in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza and Salta during the state of emergency. In addition, recommendations are proposed to increase transparency and accountability in processes.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
The declaration of the health emergency in relation to COVID-19 implies facing both economic and social consequences, which impact on the use of public resources that the State has in order to meet urgent needs. Therefore, it is necessary to place special emphasis on the public procurement system in a state of emergency to publicize the traceability of how goods and services are acquired.
The publication “Public Procurement in Argentina during the state of emergency” compiles the regulatory information and information on the availability of purchasing and contracting, at the national level and in some of the provinces, including Córdoba; It also proposes recommendations for efficient, transparent and corruption prevention recruitment processes.
In general, the purchasing and contracting systems have deficiencies even during periods outside an emergency context, so it is in this type of situation that the manipulation of information and the use of extraordinary budgets can be most discretionary. When these resources are not intended for their original purposes, but diverted or misused, the rights of citizens are violated.
The Network of Organizations Against Corruption, based on the survey carried out, draws up a series of recommendations (available here) for public procurement for all levels of government carried out in the context of an emergency.
During the context of an emergency, an adequate exercise of public spending becomes particularly relevant, since otherwise it hinders and prevents people’s access to the exercise of their essential rights. It is essential to guarantee the functioning of the institutions and control systems of the financial administrations to ensure the correct use of public funds. In this way, public procurement systems must tend to satisfy the greatest number of rights, be efficient in the expenditure made and transparent in all its stages.
What is the situation in Córdoba?
Córdoba declared on March 9 the state of alert, prevention and sanitary action in the detection of cases of dengue, coronavirus, measles and any other edition of disease with high sanitary and social impact that may cause outbreaks and epidemics that affect or may affect the province of Córdoba, and adhered on March 18 to the public emergency in health matters declared by the national state through decree No. 260/2020 for a period of one year from March 12, 2020.
For the purposes of crisis management, the government of the province of Córdoba created the “Fund for the attention of the state of alert, prevention and health action for epidemic diseases” and for the purposes of the operation of this Fund, Córdoba referred to the measures that in 2015 and 2016 were arranged to deal with the massive floods that occurred in various towns in the province, at which time a “Permanent Fund for Disasters” was created.
In terms of purchasing and contracting, Córdoba did not issue specific rules that regulate the procedures that are carried out during the emergency period. As far as law 10,155 is applied, which enables in its article 10 direct contracting in the event of “existence of manifest urgency and / or imperative need in the contracting of a good or service”, which is why most of the contracting carried out during this period they have been under this modality.
To access the specific recommendations of the province of Córdoba click here
Contact
Nina Sibilla, ninasibilla@fundeps.org
Together with 16 civil society organizations in Latin America, we prepare this report that addresses the problem of Climate Change, its effects and impacts on human rights from the regional context. It was presented to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights during the 173rd session.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
The report, prepared collaboratively with 16 Latin American civil society organizations, analyzes the existing problems surrounding the effects of climate change. In particular, the impact that the phenomenon has on the human rights of millions of people worldwide is examined. Its consequences cross and violate the right to life, health, water, and a healthy environment, in turn affecting many others due to the interdependence between all of them.
Likewise, the differentiated impact to which certain groups and communities in vulnerable situations are subject, such as those who belong to Indigenous and tribal peoples, children and adolescents, women and members of rural communities. Those who make up these groups, due to their particular circumstances, suffer more intensely from the harmful effects of climate change, consequently, their situation of vulnerability worsens.
In this document, we also examine the scope of measures necessary to prevent and deal with such consequences. For this, it is essential that the States implement mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as measures that provide for the repair of losses and damages caused. In this context, the report analyzes the obligations and responsibilities that both state and non-state actors have, in order to achieve complete respect for human rights. Finally, the document contains some recommendations based on the international human rights system.
The role that each actor occupies around the problem calls for a differentiated action. The States, Companies, Financial Institutions, and International Organizations must implement actions and measures that respect human rights in a context of climate emergency.
Download Report (Spanish version Only)
Contact
Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org
Five years ago, on June 3, 2015, after the news of the femicide of Chiara Páez and in the face of extreme sexist violence, we took to the streets and banded ourselves under the “Not a Less”. For this year, one of the slogans is “We are supported by feminist networks”. In the context of social isolation, various virtual activities will take place.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
On the occasion of the completion of the Trunk Pipeline Work in the province of Córdoba, last year we made 5 requests for information to provincial agencies. When we did not get any response, we presented a prompt dispatch to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. The difficulties we have encountered in accessing information about this project have been constant since its inception.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
Since 2014, we have made various requests for information on this emblematic project to both the Provincial Government and the National Government. On the occasion of the project’s completion, last year between August and October we made a series of requests for information to three departments of the Province of Córdoba directly or indirectly involved in the project, namely: the Córdoba Investment and Financing Agency -ACIF -, the current Ministry of Public Works, former Ministry of Public Works and Financing and the current Ministry of Environment, ex. Ministry of Water, Environment and Public Services.
At the end of 2019, as we had not received a response from any of the provincial agencies for the requests for information made and the response period had ended, we decided to make an early dispatch to the Ministry of the Environment.
It is important to clarify that once the provincial agencies receive a request for information they have 10 days to respond and it can only be extended for an additional 10 days as long as it is reported within the deadline. In the event of an incomplete response or lack of response, as was the case here, a prompt dispatch may be submitted. This resource is the same request for information, but it details the date and details of the request that had been made, together with a warning to initiate legal actions, that is, an injunction for default. Any provincial agency has a term of 10 to respond to the prompt dispatch, with the possibility of extending it for another 10 days, as well as with requests for information. In our case, the prompt dispatch was carried out in mid-December 2019, however the Ministry of the Environment responded to us only in February 2020, that is, the deadline was more than expired.
Thanks to the prompt dispatch made, we received the response to the request for information made in August 2019. The request requested information on the final layout of the project, location and number of inhabitants, businesses and industries benefited by the works and the state of situation. of the project. According to the information provided, all the Regional Systems are completed with provisional and / or definitive reception of the work.
In addition, we inquired about the companies and / or Transitory Business Units (UTEs) that participated in the project as well as what were the details and characteristics of the plan for connecting the home units to the Trunk Systems Regarding this last query, the provincial agency He replied that by means of a protocolized Agreement No. 024/2017 signed by the province of Córdoba, the Banco de Córdoba and the Distribuidora de Gas del Centro SA The “Fund for the Financing of Natural Gas Home Networks” was approved. It established the guidelines and requirements that the adhering municipalities must meet to allow the neighbors the possibility of obtaining financing to face the costs of connecting to natural gas in the home networks. In line with the above, the origin of the financing of the Provincial Plan Connect Gas Industry that enables the connection to the natural gas service to Shops, SMEs, Industries, Industrial Parks, among others, was consulted. This Program has a Banco de Córdoba financing line of $ 200,000,000, an amount that is loanable up to 100% of the value of the work according to the client’s classification. Also, the Program has financing of $ 100,000,000 from the Federal Investment Council.
Most of the information requested had previously been requested in requests for information that we made in previous years but in which we did not receive any response. Information that would have been optimal to have long before.
The lack of response to requests for information, such as non-compliance with the deadlines stipulated by Provincial Law 8803 on Access to Public Information (called the Law on Access to Knowledge of State Acts), hints, again, not only the great difficulty currently existing to access public information in the hands of the government of the Province, but also how outdated this law is, which dates back to 1999. Consequently, last year together with social organizations we requested through a document the update of this Provincial Law in accordance with the guidelines of the Inter-American Model Law and the National Law of Access to Public Information.
Access to public information is a human right that strengthens citizen participation, transparency in public administration, and democratic governance. For this reason, it is necessary to update the provincial Law in this matter in order to solve the shortcomings it possesses, incorporating the highest standards and guaranteeing control mechanisms that supervise its compliance.
More information
- Trunk gas pipelines: we make requests for information to dependencies in the province of Córdoba – Fundeps
- With the trunk gas pipelines completed: positive or negative balance? – Fundeps
- Trunk gas pipelines in Córdoba: a work progressing in the shadow of corruption – El Entramado
- Córdoba, a proposal to update the Law on Access to Public Information – Fundeps
Author
- Gonzalo Roza
- Sofia Brocanelli
Contact
- Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org
Today, May 31, the World No Tobacco Day is celebrated. On the occasion of this date, we carry out an analysis of the latest law passed in Córdoba on the matter.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
In October 2019, in the province of Córdoba, Law 10,661 was passed, amending Law 9,113 establishing the Permanent Provincial Program for the Prevention and Control of Smoking in the province of Córdoba. This new legislation extends the threshold of protection of the right to health from two thematic nodes. On the one hand, it incorporates a complete prohibition of advertising, promotion, sponsorship and exhibition of tobacco, its derivatives and smoking accessories in dispensers and any other type of shelf located in the premises where such products are sold. On the other hand, it introduces electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, and establishes its prohibition of distribution and commercialization to minors under 18 years of age and the prohibition of consumption in closed places with access to the public. The new provincial legislation extends the threshold of protection of the right to health, in line with the recommendations of the World Health Organization and, mainly, with the standards established in the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Until the enactment of the tobacco law No. 10,661, in the province of Córdoba, the prohibitions on advertising established by the national law 26,687 governed by the adherence of the provincial law No. 10,026. National law prohibits the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products directly or indirectly and through any means of dissemination or communication; leaving the advertisements at points of sale, the publications of companies in the sector and direct communications, with the consent and verification of the age of majority of the recipients.
However, through the new local regulations, progress is made in a higher standard of protection of the right to health than that established in the national standard, completely prohibiting advertising, promotion and sponsorship and including the display of the product as part of that prohibition.
In sum, in this report an analysis of Provincial Law 10,661 is made in relation to the two thematic nodes introduced, based on the delimitation of the scope of the new prohibitions in relation to the provisions of national legislation and international instruments in the matter (especially, the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control). At the same time, some of the possible challenges in the application of local law are recognized and possible advances aimed at deepening the protection of the right to health are seen.
More information
Author
- Gonzalo Hunicken
- Delfina María Scagliotti
Contact
- Agustina Mozzoni, agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org
In October 2019, in the province of Córdoba, Law 10,661 was passed, amending Law 9,113 establishing the Permanent Provincial Program for the Prevention and Control of Smoking in the province of Córdoba. This new legislation extends the threshold of protection of the right to health. We share an analysis of this last sanctioned law.
China’s growing interest in financing infrastructure projects in the region has led Argentina to sign a multiplicity of cooperation agreements with this country. For this reason, we have identified a series of projects with Chinese financing which we believe are relevant for their magnitude and for the economic, social and environmental impacts they can generate. Thus, in this document, the status of the situation, amounts committed and actors involved in the selected projects considered emblematic are detailed (only spanish).
Last Wednesday, the two Houses of the National Congress held their sessions remotely for the first time in history. In halls full of screens, with representatives present on the premises – taking the prudent distance – and also in the distance, the Argentine Legislative Branch resumed its activity after a month and a half of having decreed social, preventive and compulsory isolation.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
Constitutional law in the new virtual context
Without a doubt, the crisis caused by the coronavirus required that public institutions reformulate themselves, not only to face the pandemic, but also to continue guaranteeing the rights of citizens. During the month of April, the President of the Senate presented a declaratory action of certainty before the Supreme Court of Justice, raising the need to meet, especially for those issues that cannot be resolved by decrees of necessity and urgency, such as matters of matter. tax and criminal. The specific question was whether it was constitutionally possible for the Senate to meet through digital means because it was facing a situation of institutional gravity generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which is foreseen as an exception to the face-to-face sessions in article 30 of the regulations of the High camera. Although the Court rejected the action because it considered that it was “inadmissible” to rule on the matter, this did not prevent it from making some additional considerations in this regard.
In this sense, in the majority vote (Ricardo Lorenzetti, Juan Carlos Maqueda and Elena Highton de Nolasco and Horacio Rosatti voted in the same direction and Carlos Rosenkrantz rejected in limine) it was that the court stated that:
“To carry out the sessions of the Senate under a remote modality instead of the traditional face-to-face orbit within the proper attributions of the Legislative Power referring to the instrumentation of the conditions to create the law […] the possibility that the Senate may meet remotely it does not interfere with the way in which the Constitution imposes on that Chamber to exercise its powers ”(Cons. N ° 16).
In other words, the Constitution does not indicate anything about “the physical or remote modality of its sessions”.
Later, the sentence adds that “… the continuity of the task of legislating the National Congress is absolutely essential for the normal development of the constitutional life of Argentina”, corresponding to the Senate “to arbitrate the necessary mechanisms to facilitate the realization of their highest reason for being, which is the representation of the people of the Nation in the deliberation of their affairs ”(Cons. Nº 17). Finally, the Court resolves that “the Senate of the Nation has all the constitutional powers to interpret its own regulations regarding the virtual or remote way of sitting, without resorting to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation; therefore, the initiated action is rejected”.
Will it be enough to close the way to future issues of unconstitutionality on the way of meeting? What will happen in the event of conflicting bills that require extensive debate?
The first sessions
The Wednesday session had as a first step to vote the protocol that establishes the new modality, with a validity of 60 days, extendable if social, preventive and compulsory isolation is extended. Then, the validity of twenty Decrees of Necessity and Urgency signed by the President of the Nation was voted to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The debate lasted for five and a half hours (it is recommended that virtual sessions do not last more than 6 hours, to avoid technical problems), with presentations of more than 20 speakers and without major inconveniences, except for two brief technical interruptions.
A few hours later it was the turn of the Chamber of Deputies, which met with 193 representatives remotely and 47 on the premises. First, the protocol establishing the virtual session mechanism was approved with a special majority while social and compulsory isolation lasts. Then, a bill exempting from Income Tax payment was approved unanimously for public and private health professionals, personnel of the armed forces, the security forces, migratory activity, customs activity and firefighters, among other essential activities. Finally, also unanimously, a Protection Program for health personnel in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic was approved.
However, after the premiere of the telematic system in both houses of Congress, doubts arose as to whether this virtual modality would be viable to discuss controversial and more complex bills of consensus. In this sense, representatives of the opposition expressed that in the first session only a tenth of the legislators were allowed to make speeches, with the rest remaining silent. Some fear has also been expressed that the remote modality may curtail some political rights of male and female legislators, and they insist on finding a way to resume the face-to-face dynamics. However, on the part of the ruling party, they point out that there is no doubt that technology should begin to form part of the daily life of Congress.
What is digital democracy?
It is understood that digital democracy or e-democracy is putting the Internet and technology at the service of citizens, so that they contribute to the consolidation of the democratic system. The technological revolution has been present for several years on issues that concern public management and citizenship, and has resulted in great benefits for citizen practices such as participation, freedom of expression, access to public information, transparency and surrender of counts. It is necessary to understand that the Internet plays a fundamental role in all these processes, since it allows citizen empowerment and breaks down barriers that traditional systems present, which generates impressive possibilities and without historical precedent.
In this sense, there is no doubt that the virtual sessions of the Legislative Powers are an expression of these unimaginable possibilities that technology gives us. In many cases, at both the national and provincial levels, legislatures have already been holding workshops, committee meetings, and training through this medium. In addition, there are several provinces whose Legislatures have been meeting in this way (for example, Mendoza, La Rioja and Córdoba). At the regional level, the first countries to meet virtually were Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, and Paraguay.
However, these mechanisms present a series of difficulties that do not occur in person, for example, when it comes to guaranteeing the stability of communication channels (and that there are no disconnections or technical problems that could invalidate the debate and voting), to prove the identity of those who participate and to guarantee minimum conditions of computer security and protection of personal data and sensitive information. Without forgetting, in addition, that in many cases the use of these technologies required prior training and technological literacy.
Despite these challenges, we know that these processes are here to stay, and that they will continue to be implemented beyond the pandemic. Like teleworking, telemedicine and virtual education, the use of new technologies in the public administration is increasingly frequent, which requires an agile, modern, efficient and innovative State, which also does not lose sight of the protection of the human rights of citizens.
What happens to state activity beyond the legislative?
We understand that it is essential that the State promote the full functioning of all public institutions, and not only to attend to the specific solutions that this context demands. Suspending administrative activity for long periods can hinder access to basic rights, so it is key that the activity be resumed as soon as possible, and by digital means if necessary.
In the same sense, the Judiciary, although in many jurisdictions where there is greater flexibility in isolation measures, has already resumed work in person, in those with higher housing density it is still with suspended deadlines and carrying out a kind of extraordinary judicial fair. However, essential and emergency services are being guaranteed. Teleworking, receipt of electronic writings, incorporation of digital signature, hearings by videoconference and transmitted by social networks, receipt of complaints by instant messaging systems, authorization of permanent hotlines and online mediations are some of the initiatives implemented. There are even some courts that ordered to notify the claims by WhatsApp.
More technology, but for more rights
The virtual sessions of Congress during the next few days will surely be the stage for discussion of issues that have to do, precisely, with the use of technology. Either to regulate and limit its negative consequences, with the recognition of what is known as the “right to digital disconnection” in the face of increasingly expanded forms of teleworking, or to facilitate access to certain rights, such as case of digital medical prescriptions, whose project already has a favorable opinion from the Health and Social Action commissions of the Chamber of Deputies and will be discussed soon.
If technology is here to stay and its use in public institutions, especially Congress, is going to intensify, policies to reduce the digital divide must also be intensified. In this way, it will enable all citizens to enjoy its benefits, by being able to witness, for example, the legislative sessions. Technology should not become just another mechanism of social exclusion and privilege for some.
There is surely much to reflect on when thinking about the challenges in relation to citizenship and democracy in technological environments. With their enormous complexity, new technologies are always means at the service of the ends that each person and each society decides to pursue. For this reason, we believe that it is necessary to learn to use the digital world for the promotion of values such as openness, tolerance, democracy, debate and human rights.
Sources
- Legislative and ParlAmericas Directory (2020). COVID-19: The challenge of adapting and strengthening the role of the Congresses
- Ford, E. (2019). The challenge of digital democracy. Towards an interconnected citizenship
Contact
- Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org
In recent weeks, the World Bank approved a project for 35 million dollars and the IDB and CAF have committed amounts of 1,800 and 4,000 million dollars respectively for projects that allow Argentina to face the effects of COVID-19 . These are fast-disbursing loans that, while important to alleviate the economic, social and health consequences of the pandemic, raise a series of doubts regarding the effective fulfillment of the requirements and conditions necessary for their approval.
“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic”.
The effect of the pandemic on the world economy can be reflected in the paralysis of international trade and economic activities. Furthermore, the situation of uncertainty has led to the tightening of external financing for the States, which at this moment are essential to face the health emergency, which requires heavy investments in materials and specific medical equipment.
Faced with this scenario, various International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank -IDB-, the European Investment Bank -BEI- or the Development Bank of Latin America -CAF-, among others, have put Quick disbursement financing available to countries for projects to cope with the effects of the pandemic. On April 2, the World Bank -BM- approved an emergency loan of $ 35 million for Argentina, with the aim of strengthening the health system by purchasing equipment and medical supplies to minimize the impact of the coronavirus on the country. This financing is part of the $ 14 billion fund that the World Bank created to provide assistance to countries that must face the consequences on their health and economic systems due to the outbreak.
Fuente: Página 12
In addition, the World Bank promised to cooperate with the Argentine Republic in the implementation of the Emergency Project for the Prevention and Management of the Disease by COVID-19. The purpose of the same is to strengthen the preparation and response against the pandemic and the adaptation of the country’s national public health systems. The execution of the emergency project will be in two stages: the first consists of the emergency response efforts of COVID-19, which consists of two sub-stages: on the one hand, detection, confirmation, follow-up of contacts, registration and reporting of cases and on the other, the strengthening of health systems. The second stage is the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project.
Likewise, on May 7, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced a loan of 1.8 billion dollars for the country to alleviate the economic, social and health consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. It is the largest amount disbursed by the IDB to Argentina in the last 10 years. The support provided by the IDB is linked to care for the health system, transfer to the social protection network for the most vulnerable, and economic and employment recovery, mainly from micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Fuente: Infobae
The programs of the public area of the IDB Group linked to Argentina with the objective of responding to the emergency of COVID-19 and that will be approved this 2020 is 1,000 million dollars, while the other 600 million dollars correspond to current projects.
In an official statement, the Presidency explained that the first of the projects will allocate $ 470 million for a public health program to support the response to the coronavirus, of which 300 million were disbursed this year. The objective is to ensure access to the health system for 17 million people. Similarly, with the intention of supporting the productive sector and promoting job creation, 500 million dollars will be allocated, for which 300 million were disbursed this year. It is estimated that the amount will go to the aid of 30 thousand micros, small and medium-sized companies.
In addition, 600 million will be allocated with the goal of serving the most vulnerable population through a social protection program created in conjunction with the IDB. Of this total, 400 million will be disbursed this year with the purpose of transferring resources and subsidies to vulnerable sectors. It will support around 3 million companies.
For its part, the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) has stated that in the current context, each State must adopt economic measures that respond to the situation of each country, without neglecting the productive sector and the most vulnerable social sectors. To contribute to these spaces, CAF has deployed an emergency loan package for each country of up to $ 50 billion to serve public health systems; We also allocate emergency disbursements of 2.5 billion dollars per country to SMEs that involve different aspects of the financial portfolio. In addition, non-reimbursable cooperation resources have been made available to donate essential supplies to the health sector.
The Argentine president held talks with the CAF executive (Luis Carranza Ugarte) exchanging concerns and initiatives to respond to the crisis. The institution committed to the Argentine Government to carry out the execution of technical cooperation projects for more than 4,000 million dollars within the next four years aimed at economic reactivation and social aid at different government levels. For the current year, specific financing will be allocated to strengthen the emergency in the provinces ($ 40 million), promote social policies ($ 30 million), develop investments in infrastructure, including educational establishments, repair and construction of routes. , and sanitation (USD 900 million dollars).
In this way, it can be seen that the Financial Institutions have made fast-disbursing funds available to the national government to be able to deal with the effects of the pandemic in an executive manner. And Argentina is not the only case, since more than 130 projects have been approved in countries in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa for a total amount greater than 25 billion dollars, according to a mapping of projects carried out by the Early Warning System.
While recognizing the need for countries to quickly have resources to face the economic and social effects of the pandemic, it should be noted that most of these projects are being prepared, discussed and approved in an accelerated manner, in a few weeks, when they are generally processes that take several months since they must go through a series of instances and meet a series of requirements for their approval and start-up. Requirements that not only contemplate economic-financial issues, but also in terms of transparency, public participation, accountability, due diligence and social and environmental sustainability of projects. Therefore, it is questionable whether such requirements are effectively being contemplated and applied in these fast disbursement projects by the Financial Institutions and governments involved.
More information
- CAF reinforces its commitment to Argentina to boost its development with more than USD 4 billion – Development Bank of Latin America
- COVID-19: CAF analyzes public policies to face the crisis in Latin America – Development Bank of Latin America:
Authors
- Ailín Toso
- Mariano Camoletto
Contact
- Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org