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We repudiate the criminalization of Environmental and Territorial Defenders of Punilla

Within the framework of the protests that have been taking place against the Punilla highway project, some of the environmental defenders who resist the progress of the project were summoned for indictment and in some cases there were arrests by the judicial authorities.

“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 defenders of the territory and the environment of Punilla have been resisting the advancement of the Punilla highway project for a long time. In the course of this resistance they are victims of different acts of institutional violence. We celebrate the ruling issued by the Court of Control and Misdemeanors No. 9 that resolves to make room for collective habeas corpus of a preventive nature presented in favor of the human rights defenders of Punilla, Paravachasca and Sierras Chicas.

In recent weeks, some land and environmental defenders have been suffering police persecution, submission to criminal proceedings, accusations by prosecutors, and there have even been arrests. Crimes such as threats and resistance to authority are attributed to them, within the framework of the various social protests that have been taking place around the advance of the Punilla Highway.

It should be noted that in a context of struggle and resistance for the defense of the environment, the demonstrations or actions given in the exercise of the right to protest cannot be distorted and manipulated for the illegitimate application of the penal system (which usually happens). Criminalization as a strategy to intimidate, disqualify the environmental claim and justify the use of public force and repressive mechanisms -deprivation of liberty-, constitute a grave and serious violation of fundamental rights and compromise the international responsibility of the State ( Escazú Agreement between them).

The persecutions, accusations, investigations and arrests ordered against Punilla’s defenders raise alarms and demand attention. Well, there are nuances that place the actions of the State under suspicion of criminalization as a method to silence social protest. The alleged threats or acts of resistance to authority, on which the accusations were based -according to what the defenders stated- were in the framework of a legitimate collective claim -social protest sustained over time- in an act in defense of the environment against of a project undertaken by the State. This should alert the authorities so that measures are taken to guarantee the protection of their human rights, and take extreme care in the event of any deprivation of liberty or violation of any other right.

The criminalization of environmental defenders stigmatizes while constituting an intimidation tending to frighten and as a consequence weaken the activities of defense of the territory and the environment until their disappearance. It is a duty of the State to protect the right to defend the environment and implement action measures that promote a safe environment free of violence, and that any human rights violation against it be investigated.

In this context, on August 24, the Judge of Control and Misdemeanors No. 9, in the case “Rocío Loza, habeas corpus” (File No. 11120830), in a novel and exemplary ruling, gave rise to a preventive collective habeas corpus directed to protect the fundamental rights of human rights defenders in environmental matters, residents of the valleys of Punilla, Paravachasca and Sierras Chicas. She points out that the institutional violence that the police of the province have been exercising against environmental defenders is serious and cannot be ignored by the State, which has the obligation and responsibility to give adequate custody to the environmental group in compliance with Escazú.

It also states that the members of the police forces are in charge of caring for society, “(…) those who must, with the power conferred by law, guarantee that all the inhabitants of this province live a life within the framework of the full enjoyment of individual rights, with the limit of respect for the rights of others, but without this being used as an “excuse” or argument to curtail other rights, in this case, those claimed by the environmental collective”.

It also states that the members of the police forces are in charge of caring for society, “(…) those who must, with the power conferred by law, guarantee that all the inhabitants of this province live a life within the framework of the full enjoyment of individual rights, with the limit of respect for the rights of others, but without this being used as an “excuse” or argument to curtail other rights, in this case, those claimed by the environmental collective” .

In that same sense, in an innovative sentence, the Judge resolves: to exhort the police of the Province of Córdoba to refrain from carrying out measures that imply limitations or threats to the freedom of movement of environmental defenders of the indicated localities; urge the Police Chief of Córdoba to inform police personnel that, according to protocols and current legislation, “deprivation of liberty only proceeds exceptionally and when it is absolutely necessary”; to recommend to the Government of Córdoba the elaboration of a protocol aimed at specifically regulating the practices and criteria of the security forces in social demonstrations that demand the protection of constitutional rights; entrust the Chief of Police to inform the provincial police of this sentence.

From Fundeps we repudiate the criminalization of environmental defenders, we urge the authorities to safeguard and protect the fundamental rights of those who resist and fight to defend the Cordovan environment, and we celebrate the recent ruling which constitutes an important advance in the recognition and defense of rights of the environmental group.

 

Author

  • Laura Carrizo

Contact

  • Laura Carrizo, lauracarrizo@fundeps.org
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Labeling Law: When and how does it start to be applied?

According to the regulations of the Law for the Promotion of Healthy Food, this August 20, large companies must begin to implement the Frontal Warning Labeling on their products. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have a deadline to do so until February 2023. The appearance of the stamps will be gradual and progressive.

“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”.

When did we start to see the seals?

As of this August 20, the products of large companies that have an excess of critical nutrients -such as sugars, sodium, saturated fats, total fats and calories-, must display on the main face of the container one or more warning stamps with the “EXCESS IN” badge. Also, those foods that contain sweeteners and/or caffeine, must present the precautionary legends: “CONTAINS SWEETENERS, NOT RECOMMENDED FOR CHILDREN” and/or “CONTAINS CAFFEINE, AVOID IN CHILDREN”.

In this way, the central axis of the regulation that seeks to protect and guarantee the right to information in consumer relations begins to be implemented. This is the first stage of a gradual process, in which the cut-off points are made more flexible, until reaching (in a second stage) the maximum values set by the Nutrient Profile of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Tool adopted by law to classify and determine products that contain an excessive amount of critical nutrients.

In this way, the central axis of the regulation that seeks to protect and guarantee the right to information in consumer relations begins to be implemented. This is the first stage of a gradual process, in which the cut-off points are made more flexible, until reaching (in a second stage) the maximum values set by the Nutrient Profile of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Tool adopted by law to classify and determine products that contain an excessive amount of critical nutrients.

According to the PAHO profile, the products that should be classified using its criteria are processed (such as fruit in syrup, cheese, or foods preserved in brine) and ultra-processed (such as sweet or salty snacks, cookies, ice cream, candies), either which are the ones that normally contain high amounts of sugars, sodium and fats. For their part, those minimally processed or unprocessed products will not bear stamps. Examples of this are fresh fruits and vegetables, dried noodles, rice, legumes or the exceptions provided by the regulations: common sugar, vegetable oils, dried fruits and common table salt.

Now, what happens to the products that we know have an excess of critical nutrients and that on August 20 are going to continue on the shelves without their corresponding seals?

These cases, which unfortunately will not be few, must be explained in one of the following ways:

1- It can be a product made by an SME, for which the first stage begins in February 2023.

2- It may be a product from a large company that has a production date prior to August 20, which according to the law may be kept on the market until stock is exhausted.

3- Or, it may be a product of a large company, with a production date after August 20, which has obtained an extension.

This last case is the one that generates the greatest concern and uncertainty in civil society. As indicated by the Provision of the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT), the possibility of requesting an extension only exists for the first stage and only once. This deadline expired on July 20 for large companies.

For the purposes of said request, companies must declare and specify the products for which they make the order, as well as the specific reasons why they found limitations in meeting the established deadlines. In this framework, the ANMAT can resolve by approving or rejecting. If the extension request is approved, large companies have a maximum period to put the seals on their products, until February 2023.

Something important to note is that the regulations do not provide for the opening of this information, so in the face of secrecy, we decided to present a request for access to public information. Despite the efforts, the ANMAT replied that it could not provide us with these data as they are confidential. This decision, unfortunately, limits the possibility that civil society can be an active agent in monitoring the implementation of the law.

However, after our request, the ANMAT published a statement informing that as of July 27, 2,658 applications had already been received (encompassing a total of 236 companies), of which around 35% had been approved. However, the statement says nothing about: which companies requested an extension and why, on which products the extension was granted and the criteria for accepting or rejecting them.

This means that we will not know if those products that do not have seals, is because they obtained the extension or because they are in fact not complying with the norm. We need better transparency standards to be ensured throughout the implementation process.

What about the rest of the components of the law?

Meanwhile, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that the law not only introduces the system of “warning stamps” that will allow us to know what we eat. The seal is part of this standard that seeks to address the problem of healthy eating in a comprehensive and cross-cutting manner. Thus, the Law also contains provisions on: “Promotion, Advertising and Sponsorship”, “Education and Healthy Environments” and “Public Purchases”.

Let’s review each one and see why we say that the correct implementation of the seals is essential for full compliance with the standard:

  • School environments

According to the regulatory decree, the Ministry of Health must coordinate with the Ministry of Education and the Federal Council of Education to include in the school curriculum minimum contents of nutritional food education and guarantee that schools are healthy spaces or free of stamps. In other words, no product with at least one warning seal or precautionary legend may be offered, marketed, promoted, advertised or sponsored in educational establishments in the country.

The corresponding regulations have not been issued on this aspect. Until now, the Ministry has only advanced in the incorporation of courses on Healthy Eating in the teacher training courses.

  • Advertising, promotion and sponsorship

The labeling law prohibits the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of all those products that contain at least one (1) warning seal and that is directed especially at children and adolescents.

Likewise, it establishes that those products that contain a warning seal cannot include complementary nutritional information on their packaging, endorsement seals from scientific societies or civil associations, children’s characters, animations, celebrities, athletes, interactive elements, gifts, games, digital downloads. , etc.

According to the regulatory decree, the ANMAT has the duty to establish and dictate the complementary regulations that facilitate the implementation and control of these provisions. However, this body has not disclosed the implementation and control mechanisms that will be used to guarantee compliance with these provisions.

  • Public purchases

On this aspect, the Ministry of Health must coordinate with the National Procurement Office to guarantee that the National State, given the same convenience, prioritizes contracting those products that do not have warning stamps. This provision has significant relevance. But we still do not know how this articulation will take place, nor what will be understood by “equal convenience” or “prioritizing”.

It is important to highlight that to guarantee the full application of all aspects of the law throughout the country, the work and political will of the provinces is necessary. Either for the dictation of complementary norms that are necessary, as for the control and surveillance in their territories.

 

More Information

Authors

María Laura Fons

Maga Merlo Vijarra

Contact

Maga Merlo Vijarra, magamerlov@fundeps.org 

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Provincial meeting of Feminist Economy: strengthening the networks that support us

We invite self-managed spaces and organizations from the Other economies to participate in the Provincial Meeting of Feminist Economy. It will be held on September 16 and 17 at the City of Arts (Provincial University of Córdoba).

“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”.

From our Feminist Economy agenda, we are committed to strengthening alternative economies that put life at the center, starting from a feminist approach and valuing forms of collective and democratic construction.

For this reason we invite organizations, self-managed spaces, enterprises and cooperatives from Córdoba to the Provincial Meeting of Feminist Economy.

We hope to generate a space that enables dialogues that allow us to recover, share and build knowledge and practices related to the Feminist Economy, in exchange with the Ecological, Popular and Social and Solidarity Economy from the paradigm of the sustainability of life.

Tentative timeline

The Meeting will be held on September 16 and 17 at the City of Arts.

Friday 09/16 – starts at 5:00 p.m.: we will share an instance of dialogue and exchange with referents of the Feminist Economy.

Saturday 09/17 – starts at 9am:
*Morning and siesta: workshops and exchange spaces (subject to change)
Topics: Management of social networks | Public policies (obstacles and opportunities) | Administrative tools for self-management | Transfeminisms | Digital gap*We close with a fair open to all public. Those who attend the meeting will be able to participate in a holiday.

 

Organize: Fundeps, Espacio de Economía Feminista y Fundación Heinrich Böll.

Support: Universidad Provincial de Córdoba

Adhere: El Resaltador, La Tinta, Ciscsa, Enfant Terrible, Mundo Sur, Unidad Central de Políticas de Género de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNICEPG), Incubadora Feminista Latinoamericana. 

More information: 

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Córdoba will implement Comprehensive Environmental Education

The Legislature of the Province approved the bill through which it adhered to the National Law of Comprehensive Environmental Education.

“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”.

During the session of the legislature on June 29 of this year, Law No. 10,823 was approved. This incorporates comprehensive Environmental Education with a perspective of sustainable development as a public policy.

In turn, it establishes the Ministry of Education and the Secretary of the Environment as enforcement authorities. Its role will be to design and implement actions aimed at incorporating this perspective in the field of formal, non-formal and informal education.

During the sessions in the Committee on Environmental Affairs, several civil society organizations made contributions and highlighted the value of membership. From Fundeps we recommend the incorporation in the institutional architecture of the Committee for the Executive Coordination of the Jurisdictional Strategy. Let us remember that this authority is in charge of designing the content of the strategy to implement Comprehensive Environmental Education.

Likewise, we consider it opportune to incorporate the local Consultative Council into the project as a device for citizen participation of groups and organizations of civil society (among others), in the development and management of educational public policies. This body is incorporated in the National Law.

This process turned out to be valuable, since the text that was finally approved emerged from it. The first of the recommendations was incorporated into articles 4 and 5 of the law. As for the Council, it was not incorporated as such. However, the Committee was empowered to request collaboration from trade union organizations, teachers, representatives of the student, scientific, academic and civil society sectors (among others) that express an interest in comprehensive environmental education. Although its incorporation as a stable body with effective participation would have been opportune, given that as stated this possibility is subject to the decision of the Committee, the truth is that this consultative power can become a duty in the terms required by the Agreement from Escazu.

 

More Information

Contact

Juan Bautista López, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

*Photograph taken from the press of the Government of Córdoba

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Representatives of the public will be elected under the Escazú Agreement

The Secretariat of the Escazú Agreement called interested persons to present their candidacies until August 31, 2022.

“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 Rules of Procedure of the Conference of the Parties (COP) approved in the first COP of Escazú during April of this year, establish the need to integrate the institutional devices of Escazú with people representing the public.

Within this framework, the Secretariat of the Agreement summoned interested persons to present their candidacies until August 31 of this year. For such purpose, it elaborated a regulation that establishes the procedure of the election in its totality. Six will be the people representing the public who will divide their roles in the Board of Directors of the Agreement (1 representative), in the Conference of the Parties (two seats) and in the Committee for Support of the Application and Compliance composed of (CAAC).

According to this regulation, those who are interested in presenting a candidacy must:

  • Be nationals or residents of any of the countries that make up Annex I of the Escazú Agreement (signatory countries).
  • Be registered in the so-called Regional Public Mechanism.
  • Not having had a labor relationship with the State (national, provincial or municipal) 12 months prior to the election.
  • Submit the forms attached to the regulation.

On the other hand, the elections will be held on November 2 and 3, 2022. To take part in the vote, interested persons must register with the Regional Public Mechanism. The closing of the register will take place 15 business days after August 1, 2022 (date of the call). It is not clear whether these working days will be according to the calendar of the country in which ECLAC has its headquarters, although assuming that there are no holidays in the referred period, the closing of the register would be on August 19, 2022.

The election of the representatives constitutes a valuable and innovative process for the region. We encourage active participation in the voting process and election of candidates, trusting that it constitutes a fundamental opportunity for visibility and demand in the enjoyment of access rights, and in a framework plagued by conflicts and environmental problems.

Documents of interest

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

We renew ourselves: changes of authorities in Fundeps

“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 the beginning of this year, we have been in the process of renewing the Board of Directors of Fundeps, the legal authority that supervises the work of the Foundation team.

Juan Carballo, Paula Morales and Alejandra Galván have been members of the Council for the last two years. Now, that space will be made up of Alejandra Galván in her new role as President, accompanied by Emilia Pioletti, Juan Camusso and Mariana Paterlini.

We especially thank Juan Carballo for his years of collaboration. He was one of the people who promoted Fundeps from its beginnings, he was Executive Director from 2012 to 2019 and then served as President. Being a great colleague and an excellent professional, he laid the foundations for what was born as an initiative today to become a consolidated organization made up of a team of approximately 100 people.

With great joy, we welcome the nine directors, we thank them for their commitment and for accepting the challenge of promoting public policies from a human rights perspective.

Meet the nine members of the Council!

Alejandra Galvan is president of Fundeps, and a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors since 2020. Alejandra is a feminist activist, she has developed in civil society organizations dedicated especially to childbirth, birth, breastfeeding, with a rights perspective. She is currently finishing her Master’s Degree in Consulting and Management of Organizations at UMSA (University of the Argentine Social Museum). She is a member of the Area Council of Liga de La Leche Argentina and the Board of Directors of Awaike Salud y Medio Ambiente. From her Liga de La Leche Argentina, in addition to volunteering since 2001, she currently coordinates the Committee of the International Code of Breast Milk Substitutes; and she is a Communication Skills Facilitator. She was twice President and Area Coordinator. She is a Certified Professional Coach, ACSTH, Doula, in 2017 she finished the course in Introduction to Midwifery in the Tradition. She trained as a Technician in Business Administration at the Brigadier López Institute in Rosario. In her private practice, she is the owner of the 384 Group Litoral franchise.

Juan Martín Camusso is one of the founders of Fundeps in 2009 and has now rejoined the Foundation in his role as Director. Juan is a lawyer from the National University of Córdoba (UNC) and a specialist in International Cooperation for Development (University of San Buenaventura, Colombia) and has always focused his work on the defense of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights. He works in the Office of the General Defender of the Nation.

Emilia Pioletti has been part of Fundeps since 2017, working on issues related to media violence in the Gender and Diversity Area, and now she joins the Board of Directors. She is a Social Communicator from the National University of Córdoba (UNC) and has focused her work on the intersection between feminist militancy and communication. He has completed his postgraduate degree in Political Communication and Public Opinion at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO), the Diploma in People-Centered Experience Design at the National University of San Martín (UNSAM) and is currently studying the Diploma in Governance and Public Innovation dictated by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) together with the Catholic University of Córdoba (UCC). She works in parliamentary communication in the Honorable Senate of the Nation (HSN) and has been an advisor to several Senators. She also works as a journalist writing in community and self-managed media and is a radio columnist.

Mariana Paterlini is a feminist activist and her work has focused on human rights, international cooperation and development, framed in feminist economics. She is currently completing her Masters in International Development at the University of Warwick under the Chevening Scholarship 2021/22l programme. She completed a Master’s Degree in International Cooperation (UNSAM), has a Bachelor of Arts (UNT) and a Diploma in Civil Society Organizations and Public Policies (UNGS). She trained in Political Science and Sociology of Culture at the National University of Tucumán, and in Anthropology and Ethnography at the University of Gothenburg. She is a researcher and institutional coordinator at LatFem – Feminist Journalism. She was institutional director at Lawyers of the Argentine Northwest in Human Rights and Social Studies (2018-2021), where she was also previously institutional coordinator and coordinator of the Gender and Human Rights area (2011-2018). She joined Cruzadas, a lesbian activism organization (2009-2012 and 2017).

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Trunk gas pipelines: What will happen to the most vulnerable population?

The Comprehensive Gas Infrastructure Program – or the Trunk Gas Pipeline Program – promoted by the government of the Province of Córdoba, came to an end in 2019 with the completion of the works. By 2022, works continue at the municipal level, and the program has already begun its phase of connection to the natural gas network. However, there are still doubts about how citizens will be able to access the service, especially those who are located in vulnerable sectors.

“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”.

Access to public information and transparency are constituted as a fundamental human right. People have the right to know what will be planned for their communities and based on this, make informed and pertinent decisions about the development processes that will affect their lives.

In the field of public policies, providing and guaranteeing access to public information is the cornerstone of good governance. Transparency is vital to enable individuals and communities to hold their institutions accountable and to foster trust in government and reduce corruption. Ensuring this right results in the generation of opportunities for citizens to learn, grow and make better decisions for themselves and those around them.

Reference to this is relevant when analyzing public policies and programs that aim to contribute to large-scale development. Such is the case of the Comprehensive Gas Infrastructure Program promoted by the Government of the Province of Córdoba. This series of infrastructure works began in 2015 and ended in 2019, with the purpose of “strengthening the natural gas supply to homes, businesses and industries.” According to the Government, 890 million dollars were invested to deploy 2,801 kilometers of pipes that will give the possibility of connecting to the natural gas network to 972,430 Cordovans without service. However, the planning began long before the year of implementation and under sustained skepticism due to the lack of information and transparency regarding its financing, its potential environmental and social impacts, the number of total beneficiaries, among others.

After the end of the project in 2019, there were still doubts about what the connection process would be like for the localities and how citizens would have effective access to the service. Similarly, there were also infrastructure works to be completed at the municipal level. By July 2021, the Government declared that 75 localities already had access to natural gas after the trunk gas pipeline program. Mention was made of the number of inhabitants who will benefit, without regard to information regarding their location and other data that show whether the gaps in inequality in access have begun to close or may be closed as a result of this work. This is of vital importance since the government also spoke about the Bancor credit network for homes and businesses, which would facilitate the connection and obtaining the service. It remained to be seen how those marginalized and vulnerable groups who will find it difficult to access this benefit will be supported, and who therefore will not have access to natural gas -or will be able to do so in the distant future.

Towards 2022 the doubts regarding the scope of this project for the population of Cordoba have not yet dissipated. According to Cordoba news portals, the connection of companies and businesses to the natural gas network is progressing at a much faster pace than the connection of homes. This discrepancy arises more than anything else because connecting to the network is expensive and involves decision-making at the family level. Even when the conditions have been provided to facilitate access – through credits, and the now confirmed support from the provincial government for vulnerable families – not all people are in equal conditions to quickly decide to join the network. In many cases, the connection also requires the structural adaptation of houses and the purchase of household appliances.
Regarding the latter, access to information and transparency play a fundamental role. In the first place, because if the project had been published and socialized correctly with the populations of the affected localities, the families could have decided to plan in advance the connection to the network. Secondly, the role played by government officials when informing and publishing the documentation regarding a project of this caliber is evidenced. This was left in the hands of the municipal level and its mayors, and in many cases their actions to inform the population were deficient -especially considering that works have also been needed at the municipal level to guarantee the connection-.
The practice of publishing information such as the publication of documents does not mean or result in an informed citizenry. Added to the open data and active transparency initiatives are actions aimed at informing the population, such as public consultations. These spaces work -or should work- as opportunities to socialize information about projects and public policies, obtain feedback from citizens and work on a co-creation process. During the beginning of the work of trunk gas pipelines, a good part of the challenges identified had to do with the lack of public consultations -required by law- and the general misinformation of the people about the possible impacts and benefits of the project.

Towards 2022 there is no accurate information on the works carried out in the localities and the public consultations that have been carried out with neighbors. The existence of these instances play a crucial role in citizen decision-making. Especially in these cases when it is a duty to report on the project, warn of the impacts, clarify the benefits and clarify the alternatives that families would have to access the network gas service.

In this sense, even though the work of the Trunk Gas Pipelines represents a great advance for the Province of Córdoba, and the possibility of closing the inequality gaps in access to natural gas, the serious problems regarding access to public information still stand out, transparency and accountability. A project of this magnitude should have had clear and concise information for the population from the beginning, communication channels with citizens, much more transparent work award processes, etc. The process has not yet finished, and there is an opportunity for the provincial government to make an effort to make transparent what remains to be done.

 

More information

Author

Agustina Palencia

Contact

Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org

 

*Photo taken from losprimeros.tv

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Projects financed by the IDB during the pandemic in Latin America: risks and benefits for whom?

On June 16, we participated in the WEBINAR in which the document was presented: “Investments of the Inter-American Development Bank for the response and recovery to COVID-19 in Latin America. Risks and benefits for whom?”, created in collaboration with more than 10 civil society organizations, including Fundeps.

“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”.

It is widely known that the Multilateral Development Banks have a fundamental role in the response and recovery to COVID – 19, this is due to their ability to rapidly mobilize financing to support and help countries respond to the impacts it has generated. this unforeseen situation. Within Latin America, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) plays a key role in this regard, since, in 2020, it approved 7.9 billion dollars and, as of June 2021, it had approved 597.6 billion dollars.

There is a tendency on the part of the Multilateral Development Banks to consider projects related to health issues, as having a lower risk of environmental and social damage, so the application of safeguards to these projects tends to be less rigorous. Added to this is the fact that many of the projects were approved with a rapid disbursement or fast track modality, that is, with shorter preparation times and environmental and social due diligence.

However, the findings of the presented report show that the implementation of this type of health projects and others in the context of the pandemic, have a significant risk of harm, especially when the groups most susceptible to contracting COVID-19 are excluded. of access to the benefits of the project. The context of crisis is worrying due to the tendency of the Multilateral Development Banks to make environmental and social parameters more flexible in pursuit of rapid responses.

The document presents six recommendations resulting from the analysis of the post-pandemic Latin American situation. They emphasize the importance of taking into account marginalized groups, such as those most likely to be affected and relegated in a crisis situation, and highlight the need for transparency and risk assessment to prevent extraordinary measures that restrict space from being perpetuated. public.

Within this framework, the webinar aimed to generate a space for discussion on the main findings in relation to the social and environmental due diligence processes of IDB investments, approved during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Fundeps we promote the application of socio-environmental regulatory frameworks, accountability mechanisms and access to information in projects linked to financing for development, even (and even more so) when they occur in an extraordinary context of pandemic.

 

View Report

More Information

Authors

  • Lourdes Alvarez Romagnoli
  • Valentina Rasso

Contact

Gonzalo Roza – gon.roza@fundeps.org

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Civil society organizations call for public policies free from interference from the tobacco industry

The tobacco industry continues to meddle in public policy. Argentina still has not ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Civil Society Organizations issued a Public Declaration warning about the importance of guaranteeing non-interference by the tobacco industry in health decisions.

“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”.

From civil society organizations, through the signing of a declaration, we request the non-intervention of the tobacco industry in the design and execution of public health policies -among them the advance with the complete prohibition of promotion, advertising and sponsorship of tobacco products-and the ratification of the FCTC, understanding that said treaty grants the States key tools in the fight against smoking.

There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the tobacco industry and the interests of public health; because it produces and promotes products whose harmful consequences have been amply demonstrated by scientific evidence.

For more than 80 years, the industry has been deploying its strategies to interfere in the establishment and application of tobacco control policies. These tactics, which seek to promote tobacco use, are targeting increasingly younger populations, and existing regulations are often ineffective in dealing with them.

All of this occurs within a framework that seeks to incorporate new tobacco and nicotine products into the market, in order to position them as part of the solution to an epidemic that the industry itself generates and that claims the lives of almost 8 millions of people around the world. Thus, these products come to position themselves as one more strategy that seeks to undermine the policies achieved in terms of tobacco control.

Likewise, Argentina is one of the few countries in the world that has not yet ratified the first public health treaty on tobacco control, a key tool in guaranteeing transparency and the non-intervention of the tobacco industry in health policies. But why is the ratification of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) important to guarantee non-interference by the industry?

The FCTC is the first global public health treaty, which came to give a global response to the tobacco epidemic. The treaty provides for various strategies aimed at reducing the supply, demand, and harm caused by tobacco products, including a complete ban on tobacco marketing, increased tobacco taxes, and other measures. But it also expressly establishes the protection of public policies and tobacco control against commercial interests and others created by the tobacco industry.

 

Contact

Agustina Mozzoni, agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org

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Digital strategies of the tobacco industry: how it is convincing us to buy its new products

The tobacco industry does not sleep and constantly reinvents itself: from new supposedly healthy products, to the ways of advertising them and reaching more and different audiences. We tell you in this note what are the main strategies and scapegoats used to convince you that these products are not only healthy, but even ensure a life full of success and luxury.

“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”.

NEW PRODUCTS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS

When it comes to tobacco companies, renovation and reinvention are never lacking to maximize their profits, sell new products and attract more and more consumers, mainly children and young people. Faced with this, it is essential to be able to identify the main platforms for disseminating these products and the misleading and false advertising messages.

Based on a survey we carried out on social networks – a great platform for disseminating new tobacco and nicotine products – we identified different techniques and strategies to convince consumers that the new products are attractive and even healthy.

First of all, the tobacco companies try to sell their new products, such as the electronic cigarette, as something innovative, different and even better than the traditional cigarette. Through the use of hashtags such as #Vapearsalvavidas and #Vapearnoesfumar, the tobacco industry seeks to “wash” its traditional image of an unhealthy industry. In this way, the vape is presented as non-toxic or harmful to health, and the World Health Organization and various studies have shown that this is far from being the case.

PUBLICATION POSITIONING THE VAPE AS DAMAGE REDUCED

 

PUBLICATION RELATED TO FOODS TO IDENTIFY THE FLAVORS

On the other hand, tobacco companies take advantage of the image of famous people and influencers to promote their products and increase the level of their sales. What is the goal of this strategy? Associate the use of electronic cigarettes with success and with hegemonic lifestyles, to convince us that if we buy these products, we can also access a life full of leisure and luxury.

PUBLICATION WITH IMAGES OF CELEBRITIES

Other strategies to strengthen your advertising presence on social networks consist of the use of memes and the launch of promos and raffles. Through these tools, tobacco companies carry out fun and attractive marketing campaigns for social network users, using a familiar, visual and eye-catching language to sell their products.

PUBLICATIONS OF PROMOS AND SWEEPSTAKES

It is urgent that this type of strategies, campaigns and misleading advertising be unmasked, so as not to create or spread the consumption of products made with tobacco and nicotine, which are harmful to health, and which put youth and children at particular risk.

THE NEW PRODUCTS IN GRAPHIC MEDIA AND TV

Although without a doubt the main means of dissemination of these new products are social networks, TV and graphic media escape our clutches. The following graphs, obtained from our survey, show their presence on these platforms.

Percentage of news connotations found in television media coverage.

Percentage of news connotations found in graphic media coverage.

Distribution of news in graphic media according to the provinces where they were published.

Media coverage between 2019 – 2022 found with the selected keywords, by province. The national average is represented by the orange horizontal line (national average= 11).

Evolution over time of the graphic media coverage found with the selected keywords, depending on whether it is national or provincial media.

Evolution over time of television media coverage found with the selected keywords.

 

More Information

Author

Sofía Armando

Contact

Agustina Mozzoni, agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org

 

This content is financially supported by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) on behalf of STOP, a global tobacco industry monitoring initiative. The content is completely independent from an editorial point of view.

 

 

 

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Industry interference in the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products

It is not new that, based on different marketing strategies, the tobacco industry has been making us believe for more than 80 years that consuming its products will make us more cool, have more success in our lives or see ourselves much more attractive. for the sole fact of smoking. However, these are not the only tactics they use to stay in the market.

“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”.

Although there is evidence about how harmful tobacco is, there is still a lot of work to be done regarding its regulation. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), it is known that tobacco kills up to half of the people who consume it, and each year more than 8 million people die from it. More than 7 million of these deaths are due to direct consumption and about 1.2 million are due to the exposure of non-smokers to second-hand smoke.

One of the causes of these statistics is that tobacco companies use various interference actions. What does this mean? Who use a wide range of tactics and strategies (direct or indirect) that interfere with the establishment and application of tobacco control policies. Many times they are clear and easy to identify, but in most cases, they are not. That is why in this note, we tell you what are some of the interference strategies that can be observed in our country so that you do not believe it…

How does the industry interfere in our country?

Following the criteria of the Regional Interference Index, (a global survey that was supported by STOP and in which more than 20 Latin American NGOs participated), and reviewing national public databases, the following interference strategies were listed by part of the tobacco industry:

  1. Lobby: It is called in this way when members of the tobacco industry carry out permanent and sustained lobbying on national officials, by requesting meetings. This can be corroborated by checking the open database of the Single Audience Registry. Although the greatest lobbying activity is generally linked to tax pressure, the commercialization of “new products” in Argentina is also an issue that is brought up in conversations between senior staff of tobacco companies and national officials.
    Through the analysis of the databases of audience records, it can be seen that the representation of the two main tobacco companies operating in Argentina (British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International) doubled in recent years (2004 to date ); and from 2017 to date alone, 34 formal meetings were held between industry representatives and national government officials. In addition, these meetings were held more and more frequently: as of 2016, the time between meetings was shortened: from meeting every 7 and a half months; lobbyists and officials began to meet every 4 months.
    At the provincial level there are no open records on the officials’ agendas.
  2. Economic pressure. The industry asks to lower taxes under threat of putting at risk the future of the companies and the jobs that depend on them: executive positions of the tobacco companies and spokespersons of the industry claim for the “tax pressure”. In turn, provincial officials and national and provincial legislators put pressure on alleged delays in the transfer of resources through the Tobacco Fund, which in practice is a subsidy for tobacco production.
    56% of the hearings held between September 2016 and March 2022 in official offices to deal with issues related to tobacco, were motivated by the claim for marketing taxes or production subsidies.
  3. Conflict of interests. It is configured when representatives of the tobacco industry and/or public officials have personal interests that interfere when making decisions. In this sense, according to the Regional Interference Index, a very common practice is the “revolving door”. This term refers to when officials (current or retired) become part of the tobacco industry; or when former industry employees accept government positions (positions, of course, from which they have the power to regulate the sector in which they once worked).
  4. Unnecessary forms of interaction. Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which constitutes a standard on the matter, defines the “necessary” interactions between the government and the tobacco industry: the interaction between the parties should take place only when and in to the extent strictly necessary to enable effective regulation of the tobacco industry and tobacco products. In this case, these interactions should be fully transparent and, as far as possible, carried out in public (such as public hearings). In addition, everything must be recorded in public records. All interactions between the tobacco industry and public bodies that do not respect these conditions, we call, by contrast, as unnecessary interactions.
    In this sense, in Argentina “alliances have been created to combat the illicit trade of tobacco products” and in this framework a public entity has emerged that has explicit links with the tobacco industries: the Civil Association of Anti-Piracy. This association assumed the spokesperson for the tobacco companies by raising before national authorities the “scourge of piracy” and “evasion in the cigarette sector and the taxability of new products”; allowing them to maintain interactions that we can classify as “unnecessary”.
  5. Promotion of the tobacco industry through “socially responsible” activities. It consists of influencing the public agenda through corporate social responsibility programs. Currently, the tobacco industry deploys eight programs in the country under this umbrella, a scheme that allows it to link economically with civil society entities and politically with provincial government leaders.
  6. Sabotaging legislative processes. Argentina still has not ratified the WHO Framework Convention for tobacco control through an act of Congress. A survey of the databases of the Chamber of Deputies and the Chamber of Senators of the Nation reveals that, from 2003 to the current legislative period, 33 bills were entered –15 in the Senate and 18 in the Deputies– postulating adhesion to the Framework Agreement, without any of them managing to reach the plenary.

What conclusions can we draw?

The data collected exposes the power that the tobacco industry has in our country, and how they can exert pressure so that tobacco control policies are slow in coming or ineffective. In addition, it must be added that all this is taking place in a context of pressure to be able to incorporate new tobacco and nicotine products into the market.

Although advertising plays a crucial role in the generation and maintenance of the smoking habit, and progress has been made in its regulation, only three Argentine provinces have a total ban. We need to be able to clearly identify how the tobacco industry interferes, preventing advances in regulations on the subject.

It is essential, for example, that Argentina ratify the Framework Agreement for Tobacco Control; since it proposes comprehensive strategies that allow working on health policies that make it possible to reduce the consumption of tobacco and nicotine. Implementing the measures of the Framework Convention and giving them time to produce results is the most effective approach to address this epidemic.

 

More Information

Author

Lourdes Aparicio

Contact

Agustina Mozzoni, agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org

This content is financially supported by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) on behalf of STOP, a global tobacco industry monitoring initiative. The content is completely independent from an editorial point of view.

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We adhere to the statement against the aggression against environmental defenders at the UNC

Within the framework of the “Educational Forum: skills for global citizenship”, the current and outgoing rector of the University, offended environmental defenders who were demonstrating before representatives of the Andean Development Corporation on the Punilla highway.

“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 June 15 at the UNC, an event was held in which representatives of the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), a multilateral financial institution that finances the Punilla highway project, were present. In this context, the environmental defenders demanded that the CAF authorities violate the environmental safeguard systems, and the impact on the environment that the project implies.

Faced with this intervention, the current rector of the National University of Córdoba, Hugo Juri, who represented the institution at the conference, publicly offended environmental defenders by associating their actions with the financing of institutions linked to the Nazi genocide, among other sayings.

This undoubtedly constitutes an act of violence and intimidation that seriously affects the guarantees incorporated in the Escazú Agreement. It is that the art. 9th of the treaty protects environmental defenders, guaranteeing them a safe and conducive environment for the exercise of their rights to protest, opinion and freedom of expression. In addition, it obliges the authorities to adopt measures to prevent and punish attacks, threats or intimidation.

In repudiation of the actions of the rector Juri, we adhere to the statement made by the teachers and researchers of the UNC, requesting the retraction and request for an apology towards environmental defenders, and we demand the adoption of measures that protect their fundamental rights.

 

More Information

Contact

Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org

 

*Photo taken from the Museum of Anthropology website