On January 7, 2020, the national government announced the updated list of products included in the “Care Price” program, which includes 310 articles of various consumer categories. We analyze the program especially considering the lack of concordance between the choice of food and beverages and the current degree of malnutrition in our country, led by overweight and obesity.
“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 new care price list includes more sweet cookies than whole grains. It contains only one class of legumes, numerous options of sugary and alcoholic drinks, table sugar. Only four vegetables and one type of fruit, cuts of meat with high fat content and products derived from it highly processed as medallions of industrial meats and sausages. It also offers yogurts and dairy desserts with high sugar content and highly processed industrial broths, mainly exceeded in sodium.
This program includes various products included in the basic food basket, whose structure dates from information provided by the National Survey of Household Expenditures (ENGHo) 1996/97, re-validated with the consumption pattern thrown by the same 2004/05 survey . This basket, although it reflects eating patterns of the Argentine population, reinforces the consumption of less healthy and strongly entrenched foods at family tables today.
These types of economic public policies, due to the nature of their impact, also form part of the food policies. In this regard, they should be planned and designed while integrating the standards proposed for healthy eating by human rights organizations and recognized international institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
In line with these recommendations, it is necessary to encourage the consumption of whole grains and legumes, as well as fruits and vegetables, since they are the foods with the lowest consumption in our country despite their high nutritional quality. Also contribute to increase the consumption of lean fish and meats before highly processed meat products and also stimulate the consumption of drinking water instead of soda and excessively sugary juices.
The “care prices” program, as well as its previous versions, does not respect in any way the guidelines that organizations such as PAHO, WHO and FAO are recommending in order to reduce the current epidemic of overweight and obesity that leaps and bounds grows. Currently in our country, according to the Second National Survey of Nutrition and Health (2019), 67.9% of the adult population is overweight as well as 41.4% of the child population.
Likewise, these price agreements grant a preponderant role to the ultraprocessed products industry in the definition of food policies. The State, understanding the alarming panorama of excess weight in our population, must regulate based on scientific evidence and boost the consumption of quality food, while discouraging the consumption of unhealthy products.
In this way, policies must be thought of in an integral manner, even when the “Care Price” program is intended to contain the inflationary process and reduce its impact. As the doctor Luis María Delupi maintains, it is about:
“… A purely economic measure that arises from the Ministry of Economy, not that of health and that seeks to put an anchor price on most of the“ foods ”chosen by most Argentines and that are reflected in the basic family basket, seeking Resolve the emergency from the economic. But it is far from being a stimulus to the consumption of healthy and nutritious foods. ”
Concluding on the basis of all the above, it is stated that this policy promotes the consumption of foods rich in fats, sugars, sodium and refined flours; poor in vitamins, minerals and fiber and of very poor nutritional quality. It thus becomes less convenient and less accessible to consume real, quality food, without packaging, with few ingredients and nutrients. So, what can we demand from healthy habits and customs to a population whose consumption is strongly violated by an unfavorable environment when it comes to accessing and choosing healthier options?
Author
Agustina Enei
Contact
Agustina Mozzoni, agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org
“Care Prices” that neglect
“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 new care price list includes more sweet cookies than whole grains. It contains only one class of legumes, numerous options of sugary and alcoholic drinks, table sugar. Only four vegetables and one type of fruit, cuts of meat with high fat content and products derived from it highly processed as medallions of industrial meats and sausages. It also offers yogurts and dairy desserts with high sugar content and highly processed industrial broths, mainly exceeded in sodium.
This program includes various products included in the basic food basket, whose structure dates from information provided by the National Survey of Household Expenditures (ENGHo) 1996/97, re-validated with the consumption pattern thrown by the same 2004/05 survey . This basket, although it reflects eating patterns of the Argentine population, reinforces the consumption of less healthy and strongly entrenched foods at family tables today.
These types of economic public policies, due to the nature of their impact, also form part of the food policies. In this regard, they should be planned and designed while integrating the standards proposed for healthy eating by human rights organizations and recognized international institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
In line with these recommendations, it is necessary to encourage the consumption of whole grains and legumes, as well as fruits and vegetables, since they are the foods with the lowest consumption in our country despite their high nutritional quality. Also contribute to increase the consumption of lean fish and meats before highly processed meat products and also stimulate the consumption of drinking water instead of soda and excessively sugary juices.
The “care prices” program, as well as its previous versions, does not respect in any way the guidelines that organizations such as PAHO, WHO and FAO are recommending in order to reduce the current epidemic of overweight and obesity that leaps and bounds grows. Currently in our country, according to the Second National Survey of Nutrition and Health (2019), 67.9% of the adult population is overweight as well as 41.4% of the child population.
Likewise, these price agreements grant a preponderant role to the ultraprocessed products industry in the definition of food policies. The State, understanding the alarming panorama of excess weight in our population, must regulate based on scientific evidence and boost the consumption of quality food, while discouraging the consumption of unhealthy products.
In this way, policies must be thought of in an integral manner, even when the “Care Price” program is intended to contain the inflationary process and reduce its impact. As the doctor Luis María Delupi maintains, it is about:
“… A purely economic measure that arises from the Ministry of Economy, not that of health and that seeks to put an anchor price on most of the“ foods ”chosen by most Argentines and that are reflected in the basic family basket, seeking Resolve the emergency from the economic. But it is far from being a stimulus to the consumption of healthy and nutritious foods. ”
Concluding on the basis of all the above, it is stated that this policy promotes the consumption of foods rich in fats, sugars, sodium and refined flours; poor in vitamins, minerals and fiber and of very poor nutritional quality. It thus becomes less convenient and less accessible to consume real, quality food, without packaging, with few ingredients and nutrients. So, what can we demand from healthy habits and customs to a population whose consumption is strongly violated by an unfavorable environment when it comes to accessing and choosing healthier options?
Author
Agustina Enei
Contact
Agustina Mozzoni, agustinamozzoni@fundeps.org
LETTER TO THE INTENDENT MARTÍN LLARYORA: We need policies that address the problems of our city
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Within the framework of the assumption of the new municipal management, there are unattended situations for years that need an urgent response. Through an open letter, we announce in ten points what these problems are and we make ourselves available to the new cabinet to work in an articulated way.
The ten points are summarized in:
These are 10 points, which are not exhaustive or exclusive of other problems, but require an urgent response because of the critical situations they represent. We hope that in the next 4 years we can articulate a joint work to continue advancing in the fulfillment of the human rights of the Cordoba community.
Access the full letter
Contact
Carolina Tamagnini, carotamagnini@fundeps.org
The responsibility of accountability mechanisms to protect human rights: ICIM Case
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The IDB and the IDB Invest have an accountability mechanism (IAMs), the Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism, better known as ICIM.
The accountability mechanisms have been created by the IFIs so that communities can file claims against possible damages that have been caused by the investments that banks make and, therefore, that are not complying with environmental, social standards and transparency according to which the institutions carry out their work. The characteristics of this type of mechanisms are adapted to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, specifically its pillar 3 of access to reparation mechanisms by victims.
However, it has been frequently observed that applicants who file complaints in the ICIM suffer from reprisals, manifested in various ways. This does not cease to endanger the life of the applicants, who in most cases are environmental and / or human rights defenders. In 2018, the mechanism observed an increase in cases where confidentiality is requested for fear of reprisals or acts of intimidation towards the communities in which the Bank-financed project is being developed.
For this reason, the ICIM developed the toolkit ‘Guide for IAMs on measures to address the risk of retaliation in claims management’. This guide aims to assess the level of risk that would involve the intervention of a mechanism and what are the ways to prevent, mitigate, reduce or address it. In both sections, the document provides tools to guide the mechanisms and their respective institutions on what steps should be taken to address these situations.
In Latin America, environmental and human rights defenders suffer constant violations of their rights. For this reason, and in order for financial institutions to become more aware of this problem, the mechanism met with the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The central conclusion of this meeting was to ratify the centrality that human rights should occupy in financing for sustainable development. As a result, the ICIM, starting in 2020, will have the ‘Guidelines to address the risk of retaliation in the management of applications’.
The Guidelines have been created so that applicants, given the risk of reprisals before or after making a complaint before the mechanism, can effectively apply the MICI-IDB and MICI-IIC Policies. They constitute a tool to implement in regions or areas where there is simply the risk of retaliation.
The Guidelines will be used according to factors that create, increase or aggravate the risk of retaliation by applicants before the Mechanism; It is also intended to work with applicants to reduce and address the risk factors that are identified.
The guidelines document addresses the principles for case management where retaliation risk is detected. Some of these principles are:
Honesty and transparency about the ICIM mandate on reprisals.
The guidelines should serve as a guide to train the entire work team in Retaliation Risk Management, disseminate the guidelines and provide training to other IDB Group units. In addition, it makes the document available for any institution to use, provided they do not alter its content.
Finally, the guidelines will have to be shared with applicants at the registration stage to analyze the existence of retaliation risk. If so, an ICIM team must prepare a Retaliation Risk Analysis (ARR). According to the level of risk identified in the analysis, the Mechanism team will develop a Joint Plan to reduce retaliation risk (PCRR) that may establish prevention or mitigation measures.
If these guidelines are applied correctly, it would mean an advance in the protection of environmental and human rights defenders, as well as communities, who make claims due to the negative social and environmental impacts of projects financed by international financial institutions.
More information
Author
Sofia Brocanelli
Contact
Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org
We reject the modification of the mining law in Mendoza
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Law 7722 in force in the province of Mendoza began to take shape in 2005 when, in the face of the interest of mining companies to settle in the Uco Valley, residents began to inform themselves and mobilize in defense of water. The law was approved by the Mendoza legislature in 2007 and ratified by the Mendoza Supreme Court in 2015 before about ten requests for unconstitutionality filed by mining companies. This law does not prohibit mining, but prohibits in the territory of the province of Mendoza, the use of chemical substances such as cyanide, mercury, sulfuric acid, and other similar toxic substances in mining processes, in pursuit of water protection and of agriculture
The draft modification of the law of Governor Rodolfo Suárez, seeks to introduce changes in the essential articles of the law, proposes to eliminate the prohibition of the use of chemical substances –except for mercury- and toxic substances “in metal mining mining processes, prospecting, exploration, exploitation and / or industrialization of metal ores ”; on the other hand, it seeks to remove the need for the Declaration of Environmental Impact (DIA) for metal mining projects to have to be ratified by the provincial legislative body. It aims to promote large-scale metal mining activity in the province of Mendoza.
This modification not only violates the environment as an integral legal good, but also implies the violation of the principles that order the environmental microsystem, in particular the principles of irretroactivity and progressivity established in the General Environment Law (Law 25.675), meaning a setback in the levels of protection already existing in the province. To this must be added the lack of water suffered by the Mendoza area, attentive to the fact that it has a water emergency declaration for more than ten years. The right to water constitutes a basic human right, a fundamental public good for life and health insofar as it is a necessary condition for the enjoyment of other human rights. Thus, in protection of this human right, it is that law 7722 was enacted that today the Mendoza government intends to modify.
It is a primary duty of legislators to listen to citizens who have been mobilizing for years and expressing their rejection of this project during these days. As the Superior Court of Justice of Mendoza will express, the Mendoza decided by law 7722 the productive model they want to develop, it is the right of each society to decide, define and manage the way it adopts to progress. Given these circumstances, we express our concern and rejection of the attempt of the Government of the province to modify the current law.
Author
Maria Laura Carrizo
Contact
Juan Bautista Lopez, juanbautistalopez@fundeps.org
Joint Submission on IDB Access to Information Policy Profile
On the occasion of the public consultation on the draft of the Profile of the Access to Information Policy of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), civil society organizations, including Fundeps, have made comments and recommendations to the Bank in order to generate one more policy effective and efficient.
Joint Submission on IDB Access to Information Policy Profile
On a public consultation on the draft of the Profile of the Access to Information Policy of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), civil society organizations, including Fundeps, have made comments and recommendations to the Bank in order to generate one more policy effective and efficient.
Now yes: There is updated ILE Protocol
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After the comings and goings of the previous government regarding the publication and after the repeal of the update of said Protocol, the current Minister of Health Ginés González García, a day after taking office, held a press conference at Casa Rosada in which announced that the update of the Protocol would be published in the next few hours. So it was.
Through Resolution No. 1/2019 published on December 13, what González González García had already anticipated was reflected: this protocol is an imperative of the national health policy on sexual and reproductive health.
It is nothing more than a procedural guide to guarantee the rights already stipulated by law. It also provides support to professionals who must comply with it, due to the intimidation suffered in recent times by anti-rights groups.
The update of the Protocol has few variants with respect to the previous one, resolved by Secretary Adolfo Rubinstein. One of the most relevant is the flexibility regarding conscientious objection to ensure that it does not prevent the legal interruption of pregnancy. On this issue, González García said, “we are respectful of conscientious objection, but it cannot be an institutional cut so that the law is not fulfilled.”
It is important to highlight this issue, due to what happened this year in the Province of Tucumán with the Lucia case, in which health officials hindered the realization of the ILE, waiting at 7 months of gestation to perform a caesarean section against The will of the girl. All kinds of pressure was exerted against her and her family, in addition to the violation of her rights.
In this regard, the Minister also spoke, trusting the accession of the Provinces to the Protocol so that, in this way, the rights of those who can and wish to access an ILE, and professionals who have the duty to comply with the law.
It is important to highlight that the first Protocol was prepared in 2007 during the first administration of the current Minister, and then it was updated in 2010 and 2015, when the provisions made by the Supreme Court were incorporated in the FAL Judgment of 2012 .
On this occasion and in line with the recently repealed Protocol, the update was carried out in accordance with the new Civil and Commercial Code sanctioned in 2015, and with the latest recommendations made in this regard by the World Health Organization (WHO).
One of the relevant issues in this regard is that according to the Argentine Civil and Commercial Code, a pregnant person from 16 years of age is considered an adult. Therefore, your informed consent is sufficient when requesting the application of an ILE.
Main topics
Due to the short time elapsed between the update of the Protocol by Secretary Rubinstein and the current one, the central points continue to be basically the same, as explained by Fundeps before.
It is important to continue emphasizing that the Protocol aims to “guarantee the dignity and rights of every person capable of gestating and, therefore, potential subject to the right to ILE, when their life or health is in danger, or they are taking a pregnancy product of a violation, regardless of whether it is a person with or without a disability ”.
Therefore, its main points are:
The situation in the provinces
On this issue, the new Minister was also issued by saying that “in a federal country, much depends on the adhesion of the provinces. There are already many that are attached, but unfortunately some large provinces, such as Buenos Aires for example, did not approve the protocol. ”
Recall that in 2012, the FAL ruling urged the national State and the provinces to provide the necessary conditions to carry out legal interruptions of pregnancies quickly, easily and safely.
Until today, still 7 provinces unfortunately did not have their own regulations or adhere to the protocol of the Nation. Santiago del Estero, Tucumán, Corrientes, Mendoza, San Juan, Catamarca and Formosa, were part of this number.
The good news is that after the announcement of the Ministry of Health of the Nation, the Undersecretariat of Human Development of the province of Formosa, declared in a local environment that the province adheres to the Protocol since 2015 “always preserving the victim, point by which the adhesion in the province was not announced ”.
Beyond the reading that can be made of this statement, the important thing is that finally one more province pronounced itself publicly regarding its adherence.
The words of the Minister stating that “we do not believe that it is easy or that the protocol itself changes history, but we are willing to change history far beyond the protocol”, is a halo of hope that brings this new government, in The fact that the advancement of recognition of rights, the decriminalization of abortion and the legalization of voluntary termination of pregnancy no longer seem as distant or difficult to achieve, and we hope that they will soon be a reality.
Author
Valentina Montero
Contact
Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org
We present amicus curiae in defense of reproductive freedom in Córdoba
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The Córdoba Public Interest Law Clinic (CLIP), with the support of the Catholic Civil Association for the Right to Decide and the Latin American Justice and Gender Team (ELA), denounced in early October the breach of Provincial Law No. 9344 of Surgical Contraception at the Maternal and Neonatal Hospital of Córdoba, for the systematic violation of the reproductive freedom of women users of the health system.
The presentation details the historical and systematic obstruction of access to tubal ligation, through institutional violence and different attacks on the dignity of women seeking access to the surgical contraception service.
In our brief, we bring to the Court relevant factual and legal grounds for the defense of the right to health and a life free of violence. Specifically, we prepare a brief updated summary of the recommendations, observations and pronouncements of international organizations that oversee the application of human rights treaties, which have constitutional hierarchy in our country.
The denial or obstruction of access to sexual and reproductive rights that involve life free of violence, non-discrimination of any kind, family planning, as well as access to health services and the information necessary to fully exercise them , constitute acts of violence, especially if they are exercised on women.
It is the duty of the State to guarantee women the full enjoyment of their rights and to prevent and punish those who do not facilitate or guarantee access to essential services to women, in conditions of security and accessibility.
It is essential that Justice be issued in favor of the effective realization of human rights, especially of the groups most historically violated and on issues of essential importance such as the right to health. The denial or obstruction of access to these rights constitutes a serious act of violence against women, which must cease immediately, by virtue of the international commitments assumed by our country, and in respect to human rights and our current legal system.
Contact
Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org
Request an ANMAT to update your National Drug Vademecum
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The World Health Organization has a Model List of Essential Medicines (LMME), which consists of those medications that cover the population’s priority health care needs. Their selection is made according to the prevalence of diseases and their safety, efficacy and comparative cost-effectiveness.
Within the LMME of 2019 are certain medications, which are used for treatments in sexual and reproductive health, which are not in the National Vademecum of Medicines of Argentina. However, its incorporation is essential to guarantee the right to enjoy the highest possible level of physical and mental health, and the right to enjoy and benefit from scientific and technological advances.
Based on all the norms that protect these rights, locally and internationally, fundamentally the National Program of Sexual Health and Responsible Procreation, created by National Law No. 25.673, Law No. 26529 on Patient Rights, Law No. 26.743 of Gender Identity and the National Law No. 23.798 of AIDS, among others, we ask the Administration to incorporate, and guarantee the availability and access, of medicines for the treatment of the Legal Interruption of Pregnancy, treatments for HIV, medication for treatments of hormonal replacement, contraceptive methods and medications for the treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).
We also request that a national list of essential medicines for primary care be created, to follow, as far as possible, the guidelines established by the World Health Organization. The Special Rapporteur on the right of every person to enjoy the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, in his 2006 report, indicated that “every State has to prepare a national list of essential medicines using a participatory process. […] A State has the basic obligation of immediate effect to make essential medicines available and accessible throughout its jurisdiction”
We believe that it is necessary to have medications that, in their necessary and appropriate doses, are in accordance with our national and international regulatory framework, while being essential to guarantee the health of people who require these practices and services, in a safe and accessible to the entire population, without discrimination.
Mayca Balaguer, maycabalaguer@fundeps.org
Regression in the field of agrochemicals in Entre Ríos
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The judicial dispute began when the Ecological Forum of Paraná (FEP) and the Entrepreneurship Association of Entre Ríos (AGMER) promoted an environmental protection action against the Superior Government of the Province of Entre Ríos and the General Council of Education ( in the cause called the Ecologist Forum “1”). Faced with this action, Chamber II, room II of Paraná, issued a ruling admitting amparo and forbidding ground spraying with pesticides within a radius of one thousand meters (1,000 meters) around all rural schools in the Province of Entre Ríos, and the aerial spraying with the same pesticides within a radius of three thousand meters (3,000 meters) around these educational establishments; all this, until it is determined by the specific state areas that identical preventive effects will be obtained for the health of students and staff who attend them with different distances ”. That ruling was then confirmed by the Superior Court of Justice.
Following this judicial record in the month of January of this year, the Entre Rican governor through a decree (No. 4407/2018), established an “exclusion zone” of pesticide application of one hundred (100) meters radius for the case of land applications and five hundred (500) meters for aerial applications, measured from the center of the hull of the rural school. This new decree, which markedly diminished the protective distances around rural schools, was again challenged by the Ecological Forum of Paraná and Agmer through judicial proceedings, requesting the annulment of the decree.
Such request is based on the fact that the State of Entre Ríos was obliged (by the previous sentence) to carry out necessary studies prior to establishing smaller distances, to guarantee the health of the students and the staff of the rural schools. From this action, the Third Chamber of the Second Chamber in Civil and Commercial, on March 28, 2019, resolved to annul the aforementioned decree, because the Province had not carried out the necessary studies, a resolution that it adopted in a similar sense the Superior Court of Justice of Entre Ríos on May 14 of this year.
Even with all these pronouncements against it, the Government of Entre Ríos, by decree No. 2239/19 (dated 08/01/2019), insisted on reducing the distances of application of agrochemicals around rural schools. On this occasion, it established exclusion distances in relation to the hulls of rural schools, 100 meters for land spraying and 500 meters for aerial spraying. Before this new decree, the NGOs Forum Ecologista de Paraná and Agmer again resorted to justice by filing a new environmental protection, but this time against this new decree, arguing that the first of the sentences already analyzed was affected again. Such action obtained a positive pronouncement from the Third Chamber of the Second Chamber of Civil and Commercial Appeals, which ruled in favor of the amparistas, which decided to dictate the decree in question, under similar arguments as those that were held before the first attempt of the entrerriano Government to limit the distances of protection.
Before this last resolution, again contrary to the interests of the Government of Entre Ríos, and of its intention to reduce the distances of application, he appealed the sentence, finally obtaining a sentence favorable to his interests, at the expense of the protection of the health of students, teachers and staff of rural schools. Thus, the Superior Court of Justice of Entre Ríos, on October 28, ended the judicial course, ruling the validity of the last of the decrees (No. 2239/19).
Its main rationale was that the provisions resolved in the first ruling were transitory and therefore did not have the effect of “res judicata” and that said transience ended with the issuance of this decree. However, and almost absurdly, it raises a ridiculous modification: the 100 meters of shelter for ground spraying and the 500 meters for aerial spraying should be measured, not from the center of the school helmet, but from a plant barrier to be implanted. 150 meters away.
This questionable pronouncement, put an end to the judicial question in the Entre Rican justice. The organizations that were part of the fight for health and environmental rights, chose to continue their way before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. Thus, it will be up to the highest judicial body in Argentina to resolve the conflict in rural Entrerrian schools, ending an issue that will undoubtedly affect all rural classrooms in the country.
Links to each judicial pronouncement:
Author
María Laura Carrizo
The IDB updates its access to information policy in 2020
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In 2018, the private sector investment arm of the Inter-American Development Bank, the IDB Invest, carried out an update of its access to information policy; in 2020, it will be the IDB’s turn, in charge of financing the public sector. According to the Bank, this update will be carried out in two phases of public consultations: the first one, started last November 13, will last 45 days and at the end a document called “Profile of Access to Information Policy” will be prepared. The second phase will have 120 days for review where comments on the consultations will be incorporated and a “Policy Draft” will be prepared. After the deadline, said document will be submitted for the consideration and approval of the Board of Directors scheduled for July 2020.
The consultations are open and free for anyone who wants to participate virtually by answering the questions presented by the IDB here or for an open participation by sending an email to consultapai@iadb.org
On the other hand, face-to-face participations will only be by invitation at the Bank Headquarters in Washington DC and for the second phase it is expected to hold meetings in borrowing member countries during the months of February and March 2020, but they have not yet been confirmed.
With respect to the Bank’s performance in terms of its policy of access to information and transparency, according to the index published annually by the Publish What You Fund called “Aid Transparency Index”, the IDB is in the highest category. However, it is evident that he has been in the same position since 2015, so there have been no improvements since that year. This is disturbing considering that in the period 2011-2015 the IDB climbed from the 14th position in the ranking to the 9th position, stalling in the 7th position from 2015 to the present.
It is considered that the last revision of the policy carried out by the Bank in 2011 resulted in the approval of a policy with high standards of access to information and transparency, although subsequently the implementation of said policy has not been effective. This new update in 2020 opens a door for the IDB not only to strengthen and improve the 2011 policy, but also to make progress in its better implementation. However, there is also a risk that the update will result in a weakening and / or dilution of current policy standards, something that the IDB should seek to avoid.
Taking into account the role played by International Financial Institutions such as the IDB in society and the impact generated by the projects they finance, it is essential that they have an updated, effective and accessible access to information policy according to the highest standards international in the matter; in a way that strengthens its transparency and institutional governance.
Thus, it is expected that this process of updating the IDB’s access to information policy will culminate successfully by actually incorporating the requests expressed in the public consultations so that such revision can increase the problems and good practices of the right to access information. , which not only constitutes a human right in itself; It is also essential to implement other rights.
From Fundeps, we invite you to participate in the process and we look forward to more information regarding face-to-face public consultations in Washington and the rest of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean; and we will actively participate in this update process seeking not only to avoid a dilution of the policy but, on the contrary, to promote its strengthening and improve its implementation.
More information
2011 Access to Information Policy – IDB
Information Access Policy – Implementation Guidelines – IDB
Information Access Policy Update – Policy Profile – IDB
The IDB updates its Access to Information policy – IDB
Author
Florence Harmitton
Contact
Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org
The United Nations Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights was held
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The United Nations Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights is the global platform for evaluating and exchanging lessons learned about efforts to ensure that the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights are not only theoretical, but applied in practice. More than 2000 people participate, including government, companies, community groups and civil society, law firms, UN agencies, academia, investors, media, among others.
The objective of the annual meetings of the Forum is to serve as an international platform where the actors involved evaluate and analyze the application of the UN Guiding Principles. In addition, it will seek to promote cooperation and dialogue regarding the issue of business and human rights. The meeting chairs the Working Group on Business and Human Rights.
This year, the forum focused on governments demonstrating progress, commitments and plans for the implementation of the State’s duty to protect and strengthen accountability. The agenda focused on what governments have to do in order to promote respect for human rights by companies and encourage them to develop responsible business behavior.
From Fundeps, the business and Human Rights agenda is transversal to all areas. Therefore, we monitor the results of the sessions and the annual Forums in the framework we work on the Guiding Principles and the binding treaty.
More information
United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights – Office of the UN High Commissioner (2019)
Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights: Comments from Fundeps and the new revised Draft – Fundeps
Gonzalo Roza, gon.roza@fundeps.org