Development funding is increasingly being channelled through Development Finance Institutions. These national institutions are particularly solicited when using development aid money to free up further investment, known as leveraging. When used well, these tools have the potential to allow sectors of developing countries’ economies that wouldn’t otherwise attract investment to strengthen and expand. However, this publication highlights a number of alarming shortfalls in how these institutions operate that can seriously undermine international development goals.
This new report produced by TUDCN and CPDE (CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness) examined nine Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and found that their practice is lacking in three vital areas. Ownership has been repeatedly highlighted as a fundamental pillar of development, yet the majority of the DFIs examined had policies that expressed a preference for supporting the interests of the donor country. In order for mutual accountability to be assured, there is a need for stakeholders to have access to essential information and for complaint procedures to be systematically put in place in order for the voices of the beneficiaries to be heard. The assessment of development results of the projects rely too strongly on self-reporting, a broader approach of DFIs to labour standards as distinct from development goals.
Public-Private Partnerships in Malawi - Interview with Alex Nkosi
Alex Nkosi is the author of a recent case study on the use of Official Development Aid (ODA) to promote Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in Malawi. The study highlights issues with how PPPs operate in practice that can seriously undermine the original development aims of the investments. It contributed to the above research paper, The development effectiveness of supporting the private sector with ODA funds. We spoke to Mr Nkosi to find out more.
Trade Union reactions to Zero Draft of the Second High-Level Meeting of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation
The Second High-Level Meeting (HLM2) of the Global Partnership on Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC): Towards Inclusive and Accelerated Implementation of the 2030 Agenda, will be held in Nairobi from the 28th of November to the 1st of December 2016. The Zero Draft (ZD) will frame the negotiation discussions at the event itself. Trade Unions give their input on the current document.
Trade Unions at UNECE meeting on follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda
TUDCN’s Joan Lanfranco and Goda Neverauskaite of the Pan-European Regional Council of ITUC/ETUC (PERC) attended the Executive Committee meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Held in Geneva on the 10th of May 2016, it discussed the region’s plans for SDG implementation and follow-up. This meeting discussed the regional follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda, in view of complementing the global follow-up task of the High-Level Political Forum, to take place in New York in July 2016.
Trade union input to the upcoming EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy
In late June 2016, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy and Commission’s Vice-President Federica Mogherini, will unveil the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy (EU Global Strategy). Trade unions believe that development policy should be an essential part of the EU Global Strategy.
The Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) held its third congress from the 26th to the 29th of April 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. National trade union representatives from across the region came together to discuss the priorities of the labour movement. Among these, a discussion on how to engage trade unions in international cooperation on sustainable development was undertaken which resulted in TUCA’s adoption of a new resolution that stresses the role of the regional development network.
Light from the Darkness: The New Iraq Labor Law - New documentary
By Tula Connell
Iraq unions successfully pushed for a new labor law because of their unified solidarity and with strong support of the U.S. and global union movements, according to a new documentary. Passed by the Iraqi Parliament in August 2015, the labor law allows for collective bargaining, limits child labor, improves rights for migrant workers, provides better protections against discrimination at work and is the country’s first legislation to address sexual harassment at work. The law also enshrines the right to strike, banned since 1987.
“Finally, after 12 years of persistent and consistent work, the Iraq labor movement was able to succeed with their international partners and with Iraq civil society … to get worker rights in Iraq,” says Michael Zweig, speaking in the video. Zweig is director of the Center for Study of Working Class Life at Stony Brook University, which produced the video.
Futuro en Común, a new Spanish platform for civil society engagement on the SDGs
Futuro en Común (Common Future), is a newly set up platform on which civil society organisations working in Spanish can coordinate their actions on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Spain's Sotermun/Unión Sindical Obrera (USO) were involved in producing an assessment document of the Agenda 2030. The assessment brings an important analysis of the central issues agenda, their strengths, limits and challenges. This assessment will be key in pushing for a fair and inclusive approach to development cooperation at national and European level.
Sustainable Development and the Future of Work in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy: Statement of Commitment and Action
Joint statement of Catholic organisations, movements of trade unions and of cooperatives, associations of business leaders, issued at a Global Seminar on “Sustainable Development and the Future of Work in the context of the Jubilee of Mercy” held in Rome from 2 to 5 May 2016. It states:
"We are convinced that people, including workers, their families, and communities, should be placed at the center of sustainable development policies and should be the first concern in the reflection and debate on the future of work. (...) Of critical importance are issues such as lack of respect and legal guarantees to freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining and just wage, the eradication of child labour."
The End to Poverty Initiative is designed specifically as the vehicle to take forward the ILO’s work in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The 2030 Agenda is universal and covers all aspects of sustainable development. It recognizes eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, as the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development.
First Set of Loans Approved by the Board of Directors of the New Development Bank
The aim to create a BRICS bank was announced at a BRICS summit in 2012 and another summit in 2014 gave it the name New Development Bank. Ratification by all five countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) was completed in June 2015 and the NDB’s operations began at its Shanghai headquarters a few weeks later. Although an NDB manager stated during a Global Infrastructure Forum in April 2015 that the bank has adopted a social and environmental policy, it carried out no public consultations for that nor has it made the policy public.
This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of the ITUC and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.
