China’s growing role in funding the development of Latin America

In recent years, China has substantially increased its investments and funding for the development of the majority of the countries in Latin America. Civil society organizations are worried about environmental standards and human rights.

The recent tour of Latin America by the president of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping in Brazil, Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela, and the corresponding agreements both bilateral and multilateral signed by the president, did nothing but reinforce a tendency that has been growing little by little over the course of recent years: the growing presence of China in the region, resulting in a substantial increase in the amount of investments and funding for the development of the majority of the countries in Latin America.  Specific examples of this are the official visits, which, during 2013, were made by the president to Mexico, other Central American countries and the Caribbean, and the visits by the former Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile in 2012, which resulted in the creation of the China-Latin America Cooperation Fund.

If the main agreements signed during this presidential tour are analyzed, it is easy to see that the infrastructure sector is the leading destination of the Chinese investments, especially transportation and energy. For example, the agreements signed in Argentina involve the investment of more than $4,800,000 for the restoration of railroads (e.g. Belgrano Cargas), the funding of hydroelectric dams, and various agreements on the subject of nuclear energy, infrastructure, agriculture and the naval industry, among others (listed under signed agreements). In the case of Venezuela, the agreements involve funding social and infrastructure projects and an agreement with PDVSA for mineral research. In Brazil, the Chinese president attended the sixth BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit at which the Reserve Fund and Development Bank of the BRICS (named New Development Bank) was established. The bank aims to mobilize resources for infrastructure projects and sustainable development in emerging and developing economies, and is considered an “alternative” to the World Bank and the IMF.

If the total numbers are observed, since 2005 onwards China has given loans to the region topping 100 billion dollars, in a relationship that many have defined as “mutually beneficial,” considering that China obtains the resources and raw materials that its growing economy demands (basically food and energy resources), while the Latin American countries access an important and needed source of external funding.

However, what has not been taken into account in this analysis and is being largely overlooked by the different Latin American stakeholders both public and private are the socio-envrionmental and human rights risks that can come with projects and initiatives funded in this way, which generally come with requirements and socio-environmental standards more flexible than traditional funding sources, like the World Bank or the IDB, for example. Projects funded this way continue to be strongly questioned by civil society for their inability to effectively address the protection of the environment and the human rights of the populations involved.

In turn, it is very difficult to access accurate and reliable information about the Chinese investments (amounts, conditions, characteristics of the funding, stakeholders, etc.) both in the region in general and in Argentina in particular, since there is not currently a large number of stakeholders (whether they be from the civil society, like academia, the private sector or even the public sphere) who are dedicated to detailed tracking and monitoring of this type of financing, and, more importantly, of its impacts and implications on each one of the countries.

In this type of scenario, where on one hand the amount of the investments and loans increase exponentially and on the other hand, the information is limited and ambiguous, some of the stakeholders in the civil society have begun to try to conduct research and monitoring, and have even built tools that allow a greater understanding of the characteristics and particularities of the Chinese investments in the region.

Recently, for example, the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CDES) in Ecuador presented the “Legal manual for Chinese environmental and social regulations for foreign loans and investments,” a theoretical and practical tool destined to serve as a guide for local communities and share the parameters in relation to rights and sustainability against Chinese investments and loans. The document, written by Paulina Garzón, represents a huge advance for the communities and the rest of the sectors of civil society involved and contributes substantially to a better comprehension of a topic of increasing relevance for our region.

Keeping in mind this increasing need, FUNDEPS has recently begun a project monitoring and tracking this topic in the framework of research and advocacy being carried out by the different regional stakeholders of the funding for development.

More information:

– CDES – Legal manual for Chinese environmental and social regulations for foreign loans and investments

Contact: 

info@fundeps.org

Translated by Lindsay Graham  

FUNDEPS participates of HackatONG organized by the National University of Córdoba

During Cordoba’s TIC(Communication and Information Technology) Week and the Second Regional Forum for Program.AR, FUNDEPS proposed that programmers work on an application for reporting non-compliance with Tobacco Control laws in order to encourage better protection of the right to good health.

Last Saturday, September 6th, the executive director of FUNDEPS, Juan Martín Carballo, and Juan Miguel Litvachkes, a member of the human rights area of FUNDEPS, attended the Hackathon organized during TIC Week and the 2nd Regional Forum for Program.AR.

The objective of the Hackathon was to bring together programmers and computer science students with NGOs to develop smartphone apps or websites to help solve a problem suggested by the participating organizations. In that context, the FUNDEPS Human Rights Team presented the project “Health Without Smoke”, an app that will help facilitate the reporting of violations of laws regarding smoke free areas.

FUNDEPS would especially like to thank the programming and computer science students who took part in the project and worked long hours very seriously and responsibly. They are: Giuliana Vierzaga, Emmanuel Santos, Juan Lorenzati, José Romami, Nicolás Angüino, Martín Reyes, Francisco Carranza y Lucía Pappaterra. For more information follow project updates on our twitter feed.

More information:

Website Semana Tic

Website Progam.ar

Facebook Semana Tic

Contacts:

Juan Martín Carballo
juanmcarballo@fundeps.org

Juan Miguel Litvachkes
juanlitvachkes@fundeps.org

Translated by: James Cochran

Evaluation of the Law and Violence Seminar

The Law and Violence Seminar: Perspective on Gender and Legal Practice was carried out with great summons. This event, organized by FUNDEPS in collaboration with the University Siglo 21, indicated a space for discussion on this issue and for highlighting the need to address it from a human rights’ perspective.

From the practice of the law, it is essential to think and rethink our practices, attempting to achieve a critical position in order to construct and, on the other hand, deconstruct from a human rights’ perspective. The issue of gender violence is one of the most serious violations of human rights of our time, and our legal practitioners receive very little formation and training in relation with this. The panorama is obscured even further if we talk about sensitivity from a gender perspective and the reality of women and of lesbian, gay, trans-, bi- and intersexual communities (LGTBI).

For this reason, FUNDEPS, along with the Business University Siglo 21, have organized the  “Law and Violence: Perspective on Gender and Legal Practice” Training and Sensitivity Seminar, aimed at future and young legal practitioners, not only within the legal profession, but also attempting to contemplate a necessary interdisciplinary nature, which the issue requires. The event formed part of the agreement between our organization and the UN Secretary’s UNiTE campaign, which promotes the fight against violence towards women, joining forces with the Area of University Social Responsibility and the Career in Law at the Business University Siglo 21.

Action for Women, Member of the Latin American Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights, amongst other achievements in her career in feminist activism. She gave a run through of the main concepts of gender perspective, emphasizing the importance of the application of human rights treaties, particularly those which specifically relate to women’s rights, and directing specific remarks, such as the need to incorporate gender perspective in the education and formation of professionals and members of the Judiciary, the indispensable application of norms from this perspective, and the treatment and discussion of normative figures, which protect major rights.

Next, a presentation was given by Dr Natalia Milisenda, Doctorate in Law and Social Sciences, who forms part of the NUC’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights Program and the NUC’s Ethics and Political Philosophy Program, Investigator at the NUC’s Center for Legal and Social Research, lawyer for the Catholics for a Free Choice organization, and member of the Argentine Alliance of Lawyers for Human Rights of Women. Her presentation invited us to reflect on the concepts of heteronormativity and its direct relation to gender perspective. From her legal experience in the case of the murder of Natalia “Pepa” Gaitán, she was able to show us how violence towards women and LGTBI people is related to the complex socio-cultural constructions, which generate relations of hierarchical power, establishing a norm of behavior, allowing exclusion and subjugation, thus legitimizing the practice of violence.

Lastly, Dr Gabriel Alejandro Martín, Secretary of National Office for Children, Youth and Family, of the Ministry of Social Development of the Government of the Province of Cordoba, Ex-Manager of the Verification Unit of the Office of Family Violence, and Ex-Manager of Free Legal Aid (Office of the Directorate of Judicial Policy and the Reform, from the Department of Justice of the Province of Cordoba), also enriched us with his daily experience in the legal practice in relation with this issue. Speaking on a personal basis, Dr Martín emphasized the urgency of the treatment of domestic violence, particularly gender violence, and the need to use all the tools for recognizing and accessing the rights, which all legal practitioners have within reach. He put us in direct contact with the practice and invited us to follow with a constant formation, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary work, for sensitivity and commitment.

The experience of the debate and remarks made between the public and the experts was extremely rewarding, and demonstrated the commitment and interest on behalf of the audience. The panel of speakers and the debate was moderated by Gabriela Socias, Certified Master in Gender, Society and Public Politics from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, Co-founder of the Remanyao Civil Association, Member of the National Network on Youth and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health, Member of the Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Youth Sailing to Cairo +20, and Member of Youth Voice.org.

We express our gratitude for the presence of those who supported and accompanied the realization process of this event, in particular the Provincial Council of Women, and for the partner organizations Right Between the Lines and Global Shapers Hub Cordoba. It is important to also thank the friends of the White Ribbon Campaign Argentina-Uruguay, who have accompanied FUNDEPS from the beginning with the building of our agenda on gender and women’s rights. Finally, the Conference was made special thanks to the audience of more than 250 people, who attended, interested themselves, asked questions and generated a debate environment, essential in order to continue building our rights as a society.

Contact:

info@fundeps.org

Translated by: Alexandra Botti

Wednesday, September 3rd: Law and Violence: Gender Perspective and Legal Practice

The Day of Awareness and Training will take place in the auditorium of the central headquarters of the University Siglo 21, in Ituzaingó 484. Our aim is to contribute to the development of theoretical and practical perspective on the serious problem of domestic violence and family for future lawyers.

From FUNDEPS, along with the University Siglo 21 and as part of the Unite Campaign from the United Nations Secretariat, we have organized a Day of Awareness and Training called “Law and Violence: Gender Perspective and Legal Practice”, for future and young legal practitioners. Our aim is to contribute to the development of theoretical and practical perspective on the serious issue of domestic violence and family perspective, promoting dialogue and critical overview of the rules and processes governing the matter.

Internship for UNC Law Students at George Town University’s O’Neill Institute

FUNDEPS, in collaboration with the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University and the Faculty of Law at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, presents this internship program.

Institutions Involved:

– O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law Center
– Faculty of Law and Social Sciences at the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba
– FUNDEPS – Fundación para el Desarrollo de Políticas Sustentables – Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies

Application Requirements:

– To be enrolled as a full-time law student in the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences at Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.
– To have passed constitutional law and to have either passed or be studying public international law.
– To have an overall average grade of 7 or more, including failed subjects.
– To have an excellent level of both written and spoken English.

Selection Process:
– Applicants must submit their application by the 10th September 2014.
– The UNC Selection Committee will choose a list of between 5 and 7 shortlisted people. They will be invited to an interview in English on the 15th September 2014 at the UNC’s Faculty of Law (exact location to determined).
– On the 19th September, the UNC Selection Committee will send a list of between 3 and 5 people to the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, where its team will decide which applicant will be chosen for the internship.
– During October, November and December, the selected applicant must take part in the training programs relating to the human right to health, in the field of FUNDEPS Human Rights.

Application Documents:

– A cover letter in English, justifying the application for the O’Neill Institute internship
– A detailed CV in English, no longer than 3 pages
– A scanned copy of high school transcripts (no electronic versions)
These materials must be sent digitally in one single PDF file (Acrobat Reader) to info@fundeps.org, with the subject heading “Convocatoria O’Neill – [Name of Candidate]”.

Inquiries:

Please contact Juan Carballo at juanmcarballo@fundeps.org

Informative Talk:

Monday 1st September 2014 at 6pm in Room 3 at the UNC’s Faculty of Law.
For more information about the O’Neill Institute, please visit http://www.law.georgetown.edu/oneillinstitute

Translated by: Clare Sharman

FUNDEPS takes part in global Young Human Rights Advocates meeting in Columbia

The Second Global Action-Research Workshop for Young Human Rights Advocates, which is taking place in Colombia, has been coordinated by the organization Dejusticia and includes amongst its participants FUNDEPS staff member Yamile Najle.

The Second Global Action-Research Workshop for Young Human Rights Advocates, organized by Dejusticia, is a meeting which brings together fifteen young professionals from the Global South, drawn from research, activism and the legal profession. Yamile E. Najle, Human Rights Coordinator at FUNDEPS, has been chosen to participate in the workshop, which is taking place this week in Colombia.

Dejusticia’s Second Global Action-Research Workshop will focus on the problems currently faced by Environmental Justice and the challenges that this presents for human rights advocates. It aims to train these professionals to design, implement and present action-oriented research, and to communicate their results in an effective manner.

The Workshop will be structured around academic presentations, group discussions and reflective learning, including visits to local places where work is being done to defend environmental justice and human rights. It will cover research methods as well as communicating and writing up action-research in this field. The international experts attending include Boaventura de Sousa Santos and Caesar Rodriguez Garavito, amongst others. Participants represent organizations including Argentina’s Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS), the Indian Centre for Social Justice, Brazil’s YOU CONNECT and the Kenya Human Rights Commission.

FUNDEPS believe that active participation in this meeting will be an enriching experience which will strengthen our capacity to research and take action on our goal to promote the respectful and sustainable development of human rights.

More information:

– Presentation on the 2nd Global Workshop on the Dejusticia website

– Video about the first Global Action-Research Workshop for Young Human Rights Advocates

– Second Global Action-Research Workshop for Young Human Rights Advocates: programme and attendees

Contact:

Yamile Najle

yamilenajle@fundeps.org

Translated by: Hayley Wood

World Bank seeks to weaken socio-environmental standards for its projects. Responses from organizations in civil society

Latin American civil society must act urgently faced with the risk of the weakening of environmental and social safeguards by the World Bank. Greater clarifications regarding the weakening of these standards and the responses from organizations in civil society.

A leaked draft of the new framework of policy safeguards for the World Bank makes  evident what civil society has feared since the start of this revision process in the year 2012: a clear risk of the weakening of the environmental and social standards meant to protect people and the environment from negative impacts caused by projects financed by the World Bank.

Although the draft presents some secondary advances, it is clear that the new regime of proposed institutional safeguards represents a step backwards regarding socio-environmental standards. It will practically destroy a whole generation of achievements and advances for civil society and the communities affected by these advances. At the same time it represents a dangerous precedent for other Financial Institutions acting in the region, such as the  IDB(Inter-American Development Bank) and the ADC(Andean Development Corporation/Latin American Development Bank), which often see the World Bank as a “role model”.

Nonetheless, it is not too late to act, since the Executive Directors of the Bank will meet next July 30th to decide if the framework advances to the next phase (second round of review) or should be returned to the Bank Management for modifications. Therefore it is of incredible urgency that Latin-American civil society contact the regional Executive Directors who will be meeting next July 30th to express their worries related to the framework of new safeguards and to demand that it be sent back to the Management for revisions.

Following are the contact details for the Executive Directors representing countries in the region:

  • Director for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay: César Guido Forcieri (Argentine) – E-mail: cforcieri@worldbank.org
  • Director for Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela and  Spain: Juan José Bravo Moisés (Mexican) – E-Mail: jbravomoises@worldbank.org
  • Director for Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Dominican Republic and others: Roberto Tan (Filipino) – E-Mail: rtan1@worldbank.org.  Deputy: Rogerio Studart (Brazilian) – E-Mail:  rstudart@worldbank.org

Some organizations from civil society have already communicated with the Executive Directors and functionaries of the World Bank to express their concern about these possible changes. In a  comunication sent last July 24th,  such opposition to the framework was expressed. For example, they made points about “the flexibility of basic requirements for the World Bank regarding management and evaluation of environmental risks and impacts prior to project approval. The new proposal puts off the evaluation of risks and impacts until implementation unless it is a condition of project approval”.

FUNDEPS has been tracking the revision process for the Bank’s safeguards, and has held a series of meetings on the issue in recent months (see here). Despite having unsuccessfully tried to contact Executive Director César Guido Forcieri (Argentine) on numerous occasions, we will try again to contact him to express our concern over the new safeguard policies and the need to revise them.

More information:

– Letter from OSC to the Executive Director and World Bank functionaries- 24/07/2014

– Statement from Bank Information Center (BIC) – “El Paquetazo: The World bank threatens to weaken its safeguards and create an opening for greater flexibility of worldwide social and environmental standards.”

– Statement from  Bank Information Center (BIC) – “The World Bank Moves to Weaken its Protection for the Poor”

Contact:

Gonzalo Roza-Global Governability Program Coordinator

gon.roza@fundeps.org

Translated by James Cochran

FUNDEPS takes part in Cartagena + 30

Thirty years after the original Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, the “Cartagena +30”consultation is taking place across Latin America. FUNDEPS is contributing to the writing of the Cartagena +30 Academic Declaration, which will outline the position of the academic sector with regard to the situation of refugees in the region.

The commemorative process aims to strengthen the legal framework of protection for refugees at an international level. Amongst the additions proposed by the FUNDEPS Human Rights team are the need to consider emerging reasons for people to seeking refuge, such as environmental issues; the inclusion of gender perspective in regional documents; and the importance of creating links between the academic sector and civil society, in order to put knowledge to practical use.

The concept of “refugee” came into use after World War II, with a view to granting international protection for people who, fearing persecution on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, adherence to a social group or political opinions, have to leave their own country or who cannot take refuge in their country’s protection.  The 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and subsequent 1967 protocol, adopted by the United Nations, legislates refugee status at an international level.

The Cartagena Declaration was signed by a group of Latin American countries in 1984, following a series of Central American conflicts which had created large numbers of forced migrants. This declaration was not only important in Latin America, but also marked a change at international level in extending the critera by which a person could be considered a refugee, including internal conflicts, foreign intervention, violence, major human rights violations and other circumstances which severely disrupt civil society. These were added to the reasons for which a person can receive international protection and humanitarian aid.

30 years after this landmark declaration, the goal of the Cartagena + 30 process is to draft discussion documents outlining the region’s progress, challenges and opportunities; to facilitate discussions at a subregional, governmental, civil society and academic level; to establish the political support of Latin American governments and to identify possible partners from regional institutions and from civil society. It also aims to establish a committee of experts who will act as consultants for the commemorative process and to secure support from donors and other sources of revenue. All this will culminate in a comprehensive report which will be presented to ministers at a commemorative event.  This event will conclude with the adoption of a new declaration and a plan of action.

The forerunners of Cartagena +30 are two documents, one adopted in 1994 and the other in 2004: the   San José Declaration on Refugees and Displaced Persons and the Mexico Declaration and Plan of Action to Strengthen the International Protection of Refugees in Latin America.

FUNDEPS is actively contributing to the Cartagena +30 Academic Declaration, together with local universities, professors and academics. This declaration will be presented at the end of October at the Universidad Católica de Santos in Brazil. The Academic Declaration is one of the documents bringing together information and outlining regional challenges and opportunities, which will be presented at the ministerial summit.

Further information:

– ACNUR Cartagena+30

Contact:

-Carolina Tamagnini

carotamagnini@fundeps.org

Translated by Hayley Wood

Civil society organisations demand an effective and participatory public consultation process from the IDB for the second phase of the ICIM review

More than 20 organisations from countries all over the world demand that the second phase of the ICIM review allows a sufficient amount of time (no less than 60 days) to submit comments and suggestions to the preliminary version of the revised policy, as well as face-to-face meetings and/or videoconferences in the region that ensure an informed public participation, and a widespread and decentralised announcement that ensures effective involvement of all communities and individuals with an interest in the mechanism.

Last Monday, 7th June 2014, an assortment of more than 20 organisations from all over the world, including FUNDEPS, sent a letter to the President of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno, and the executive directors of the institution. The aim was to express the worry felt by civil society about the future of the complaints mechanism of the bank, known as the ICIM (Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism), which is currently being reviewed.

The ICIM, which replaced the failed and inefficient Independent Investigation Mechanism (IIM) in 2010, is the mechanism of evaluation for the financial operations of the IDB. Therefore, it intends to respond to the concerns of individuals or communities affected by projects financed by the bank.  This shows the importance of this mechanism inside the institutional framework of the IDB.

While the creation of the ICIM was well received by civil society and showed a clear step forward vis-à-vis the transparency and accountability of the bank, there still exist real challenges to overcome before it can be considered a truly effective resource working for the affected communities. With that in mind, the review process of the ICIM that the bank decided to carry out in mid-2013 will, after a number of delays, start its second phase of public consultations in the next few weeks.  This will be an ideal opportunity to strengthen the mechanism and deliver a much more effective system.

However, it has been reported that the bank is considering a consultation period of only 30 days for this second phase.  Thereby limiting the reception of comments to online-only and without considering the arrangements of face-to-face meetings or videoconferences.  Worryingly, this approach will discourage any informed and effective public participation. This prospect is even more worrying when one considers how important participation is for the recipients of this very mechanism: those affected or potentially affected by the bank’s projects, many of whom lack access to the internet or electronic media.

Consequently, the organisations signing the letter highlight the necessity of the administration and the Executive Director of the bank to promote an effective and participatory public consultation process for the second phase of review that allows:

· An adequate amount of time, no less than 60 days, to provide comments and suggestions to the preliminary version of the revised policy.

· Face-to-face meetings and/or videoconferences in the region to ensure an informed participation.

· A widespread and decentralised announcement that ensures a large turnout of all the communities and individuals that have a stake in the working of the mechanism, including those that have used the system in the past.

FUNDEPS will participate in this second phase of the consultation, with the aim to strengthen the ICIM and bring about a positive change in its operation.

More information:

– Letter from CSOs – Considerations about the second phase of the ICIM review. Official website of the IDB’s ongoing ICIM review process 

Contact:

Gonzalo Roza – Coordinator of the Global Governance Programme

gon.roza@fundeps.org

Discussions in Argentina regarding a treaty between businesses and human rights.

The Director of Human Rights of the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ office welcomed Civil Society representatives to discuss Argentina’s position in the next session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

Last Monday, the General Director of Human Rights of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ office, the minister Federico Villegas Beltrán, welcomed a Group of representatives from different organizations of the civil society to discuss actions Argentina will be taking in the next session of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

Throughout June, the United Nations Human Rights Committee will receive reports carried out by the Advisory Committee on Human Rights and Businesses and will debate the possibility of moving towards an international document that will regulate the responsibility of businesses in terms of human rights. Together with a coalition of organizations, FUNDEPS sent the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hector Timerman a letter requesting that in the next committee sessions the production of an international treaty on the matter be endorsed.

At the moment, numerous commercial businesses are directly or indirectly connected to a series of abuses and violations of human rights in different parts of the world. In addition, there is a strong preoccupation for the way in which the rights of the most vulnerable are seen to be affected: women, young people, underprivileged, farmers and indigenous towns, girls and boys amongst others. There has also been an increased amount of registered attacks, persecutions, intimidations and restrictions of the defenders of these rights, as well as members the organizations in the civil society, such as syndicates and representatives from indigenous towns.

In the UN’s framework, the link between businesses and human rights finds itself regulated by three fundamental pillars: the right to protection from the state when faced with abuse committed by third parties, the right for the business to respect them and their corresponding responsibility, and the victims’ access to justice, in order to achieve an effective reparation. On top of these pillars, they have developed the Guiding Principles and other guidelines such as the OECD guidelines and the framework of sustainability and IFC’s performance standards.

These types of guidelines do not only appear in autonomous regulations but in surrounding laws as well, defending consumers, labour policies and fighting against corruption. Nevertheless, Studies show that although there are a wide range of guidelines that directly or indirectly regulate the right to company due diligence, in practice they do not implement it or do not fully apply themselves.

The Treaty Alliance

Facing this panorama is a movement that demands the rise of the level of commitment, developing the guiding principles of 2011 into a binding treaty regarding company responsibility in Human Rights. A treaty that can guarantee that the obligations surrounding Human Rights are applied to company procedures, much like admonitory obligations and regulation of corporations, provide effective solutions for those who are affected by violations by the businesses and to create international mechanisms of control and implementation. The Treaty Alliance has elaborated a declaration in this sense, which has already been signed by more than 400 organizations in the civil society, amongst them some who have gotten drawn up formal communication with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs’ view

During the meeting, Minister Federico Villegas Beltrán protested in favour of the benefits that an instrument such as that that is being demanded could yield. Argentina is a pioneer in this matter and is producing advanced jurisprudence in that regard with the last trials on company responsibility in crimes against humanity; such is the case of the sugar factory Ledesma or the motor companies Ford and Mercedes Benz. Nevertheless, the minister showed caution and mentioned the importance of establishing progressive objectives, which allow the achievement of a consensus between the countries where the headquarters of the majority of the big companies are gathered.

All in all, Argentina’s participation in the council meeting will work to achieve the necessary consensus in order to raise the level of commitment of the states with the Guiding Principles. From FUNDEPS, we will continue working to promote the establishment of legal frameworks that make human rights a requirement not only facing the States but also facing institutions like companies whose power and impact has recently grown.

Translated by: Nailah Carr

Statement for World No Tobacco Day

As part of World No Tobacco Day, which is celebrated every year on the 31st of May, FUNDEPS is sharing a statement signed by various health organizations in order to promote the improvement of tobacco control policies and health protection, particularly in relation to taxation policies.

World No Tobacco Day is promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to highlight the health hazards generated by smoking tobacco. According to the WHO, the worldwide tobacco smoking epidemic kills almost 6 million people each year and of those 600,000 people are nonsmokers who die from second hand smoking. Without a change in the regulation framework we will see 8 million tobacco related deaths a year by the year 2030.  More than 80% of these preventable deaths will occur among the population of second and third world countries.

According to the Argentinian Minister for Health, the tobacco epidemic affects almost 9,000,000 people in Argentina. The consumption of tobacco is the number one cause of preventable premature deaths, causing more than 40,000 deaths annually. According to the health institute, Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria, the country wastes more than 20,000 million pesos treating diseases caused by tobacco addiction and 6,000 non-smokers die as a result of second hand smoking.

Faced with this situation FUNDEPS emphasises that the protection of health against the tobacco epidemic is a human rights obligation, just as they demonstrate the recommendations made by the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Committee. Here, in the latest review into the progress made by Argentina in relation to their obligations, the Committee made specific recommendations linked to the control of tobacco and health protection.

This year, 2014, the objective of World No Tobacco Day is to encourage governments to raise taxes. In Argentina, cigarettes are cheaper and more accessible than in the rest of the continent and the world, which is one of the main reasons for the high number of tobacco users in the country.

According to investigations by the Inter-American Heart Foundation in Argentina (Fundación Interamericana del Corazón Argentina) “While by the middle of 2005, buying 100 packets of cigarettes cost 42% of the average Argentine salary but midway through 2013 to buy the same amount of packets only account for 22% of the same average salary”.

Hence, numerous civic society organisations have made a statement which requests “the Argentine State authorities promptly implement of a taxation policy that increases the actual price and steadily reduces the affordability of tobacco products, with the aim of reduce tobacco consumption and improving public health”.

At the same time maintaining the demand for the ratification of the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (Convenio Marco para el Control del Tabaco), since Argentina is one of the few countries in the region which has not yet ratified this international instrument.

Translated by: Sinead Barnett

Considerations on the Environmental Policy bill continue in the provincial legislature of Córdoba

Representatives of FUNDEPS took part in the latest meeting of the Environmental Issues Commission of the provincial legislature of Córdoba, during which the topic of mechanisms for civic participation in the Environmental Policy bill for the province, was discussed at great length.

Within the framework of the parliamentary process of the Environmental Policy Bill, launched by the Executive Committee, and in which FUNDEPS has participated since the start, a further meeting of the Environmental Issues Committee was called for the 20th May. The purpose of the meeting was for the different political parties to exhibit their work to date on the bill, and to present their proposals for instruments in environmental policy, which would be regulated by the legislation currently being debated.

The main focus of the meeting was regarding the establishment of civil participation in the provisions of the legislation, the scope of participation with regards to environmental issues and the ongoing importance of civil participation since the constitutional reforms of 1994. Specifically, the discussion focussed on which mechanisms for civil participation should be established by the bill, which body would have the legal authority and obligation to require participation, who can request participation, which segment of the population should participate, under which circumstances, for which type of projects participation should be used, how civil participation would work on a practical level, what would be the legal consequences of decisions taken under public consultation, under what context would they be considered, how negotiations would be held, and how would civil participation interact with other political mechanisms and environmental governance. In summary, matters which are extremely relevant when devising public policy, taking into account the growing social conflict in the province.

The mechanisms for civic participation discussed during the meeting, many of which are provided for in national as well as provincial laws, were as follows: unrestricted access to information, the obligation for public bodies as well as private entities to make public complete and accurate information about the project to be carried out, public surveys, public consultation by way of workshops in the neighbourhoods or localities which could be affected by the execution of activities of relevant environmental impact, public meetings as a part of the proceedings between the authorities and the citizens, and consultation with the public as an innovative mechanism at a provincial level.

The main focus of the political dispute was regarding the definition of “public consultation”; of what this consists and its’ implications, despite what is already provided in Law No. 7811 of 1989. The representative of the Civic Front, Santiago Clavijo, expressed that further legislation was needed regarding public consultations concerning the authorisation of projects of high environmental impact as provided for in Annexe 1 of the Regulatory Decree 2131/00 of Law No. 7343, as per the administrative proceedings of Evaluation of Environmental Impact. The legislator Cintia Frencia, of the Left and Worker’s Front (FIT), explained that the call to public consultation does not imply the prohibition of certain activities, rather that these activities are subject to approval of the public, as well as the legal requirements that the activities must meet. Alfredo Leytes, also from the FIT, agreed that in most cases the public welcomes the arrival of productive activities, given that they provide jobs and community development, as long as they do not bring any major disadvantages. Dante Heredia, president of the commission and representative of the officialist Union for Cordoba Party, was of the opinion that the criteria for legislating a public consultation were excessive and inflexible.

Since the beginning of the legislative discussions there have been two examples of projects which have been considered with most practical importance for the processing of the bill. The first is the bio fuel factory, whose location within the city limits has had a negative impact on bordering residential districts. Also, the conflict created by the location of Monsanto SAIC’s seed processing plant has caused several controversies on a scientific level, numerous judicial resolutions and uncertainty with regards to the permissions for its location.

It is expected that in June the bill will be voted in the unicameral legislature, provided that all political groups can agree upon a single bill. In this context, from FUNDEPS we are advocating for the establishment of the highest possible standards in order to ensure that the right to civil participation can be carried out effectively, especially for those who are directly affected by public decisions such as those mentioned during the debate. For this reason, we want to highlight our concern with regards to the risk of the restriction of civil participation at the beginning of this process, by conditions which can be waived at the discretion of the Environmental Authority, as stated in our document “Contributions to the debate for the bill for environmental policy for the province of Cordoba”.

Translated by: Richard Marsden