Newsletter of the Trade Union Development Cooperation Network, Issue no. 25, May 2012
Focus Trade unions need to put development cooperation high on their agenda At the TUDCN General Meeting, concluded last week in Helsingor, Denmark, many voices called for putting development cooperation in the focus of not only governments and international institutions, but of the trade unions as well. In the face of the multiple global crises and development budget cuts by some of the key donors, international solidarity and development cooperation have never been more important. Read more >>>  Policies Civil Society side-lined after Busan? Brian Atwood, the chair of the DAC/OECD publically expressed his deep appreciation for the role CSO played in the process leading to the Busan High Level Forum , shaping parts of the Busan Partnership and delivering on their commitments since the Accra Forum (2008). Still, the Building Block approach taken in Busan has failed so far to include the civil society in a meaningful way. Read more >>>  Policies OECD-DAC steps up dialogue with trade unions After a few years of joint efforts by the TUAC and TUDCN, the trade union movement was invited by Brian Atwood, the chair of OECD-DAC, for the first time, to participate at the DAC Senior Level Meeting (SLM). The SLM brings together the senior level policy makers, many of them heads of the different development cooperation agencies of the member states (USAID, SIDA, GTZ, CIDA, DANIDA, NORAD, AECID etc.), to exchange views on current development issues. Read more >>>  Policies EU Policy Forum on Development: a timid attempt to provide a policy dialogue space for CSOs and development stakeholders The ITUC/TUDCN participated in the first interim meeting of the Policy Forum on Development (PFD), which took place in Brussels on 10-11 May. This meeting, organised by DEVCO, saw the participation of the European External Action Service (EEAS), EU Member States representatives, the European Parliament (EP), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), and the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and Local Authorities platforms. Read more >>> Policies Trade unions respond to the EU consultations on the role of CSOs in development The current consultation process run by the European Commission in preparation of a Communication on the Role of Civil Society Organisations in Development was one of the main topics of the TUDCN Working Group on EU Policy and Instruments meeting that took place in Brussels on April 16th and 17th. The Working Group analysed also the EESC Explanatory Opinion on the Civil society involvement in the EU’s development policies and in development cooperation and prepared for the first meeting of the new EU Policy Forum on Development, which took place last week in Brussels. The Policy Forum is a follow up of the EU Structured Dialogue For an efficient partnership in development. Read more >>>  Policies UNCTAD Mandate on Finance and Development Reconfirmed After heated debates about the future role of UNCTAD, delegates gathered in Doha last week agreed to let it continue its excellent work on the issues of trade and development in the view of the current crisis, also in relation to the areas of finance, investment, social protection, green economy and other. Read more >>>  News from the Network Social protests against cuts in development aid in Spain The Spanish Alliance Against Poverty, a coalition of social and development-oriented NGOs and churches, and joined by Spanish trade unions CCOO, UGT and USO, “rejects the general government budget as being unfair, disproportionate and lacking in solidarity. Approving the general budget would mean violating the social and political consensus set out in the National Pact Against Poverty, as signed by all of the political parties in 2007 and which set a goal for 2012 of having 0.7% of GNP allocated to development aid, and the goal – as set out in the National Reform Programme – of having Spain reduce the risk of poverty and exclusion”. Read more >>>  News from the Network SOTERMUN and the 2nd TUCA-CSI Congress SOTERMUN - USO’s cooperation NGO - supported the 2nd TUCA-CSI Congress, held from 17 to 20 April. SOTERMUN was present at the pre-Congress seminar where the attendees discussed how to face the future. The seminar theme was “Sustainable Development and Decent Work: Trade Union Alternatives in the Americas facing the Capitalism Crisis”. It had its own stand and, together with other organisations, provided economic support for the Congress, which was the result of the TUCA-SOTERMUN-USO Solidarity Cooperation Agreement (published in Ser Seres Solidarios nº 70). The USO’s political representation at this CSA Congress was handled by Javier de Vicente, Confederal Secretary of Acción Internacional, and Manuel Zaguirre, Director of SOTERMUN. Read more >>>  News from the Network Rwanda: Successful collaboration between CESTRAR and FGTB The FGTB (General Labour Federation of Belgium) proves that trade unions are an effective development actor in Rwanda, Peru and elsewhere. Thanks to the support given by the FGTB in Brussels to the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP) and by the Centrale Générale FGTB to the Federation of Construction Workers of Peru (FTCCP), Peru passed a law on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) in 2011. Read more >>>  News from the Platforms BetterAid Responds to the Proposals on Busan Partnership Monitoring BetterAid released its official comments and recommendations to the proposed indicators for Global Monitoring of the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Effectiveness Cooperation (BPd) supported by UK and Rwanda. The comments and recommendations aim to improve the current draft monitoring paper and points out missing Busan commitments from the 13 indicators.  Copies of the said BetterAid comments were sent to representatives of UK and Rwanda governments and OECD WP-Eff last April 24. Read more >>>  News from the Platforms Multi-Stakeholder Task Team to focus on Enabling Environment for civil society - overview of meeting post Busan On April 18 - 19 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, the group formerly part of the Multi-Stakeholder Task Team on CSO Development Effectiveness and the Enabling Environment met to explore the opportunities of introducing a new thematic structure for its work based on the outcomes of the Busan 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF4). Read more >>>	Not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.
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	In this Issue Focus TUDCN General Meeting Policies CSO in Post-Busan process OECD-DAC and the TUs EU Policy Forum on Dev EU consultations on CSOs UNCTAD’s mandate saved News from the Network Protests in Spain SOTERMUN at the 2nd TUCA Congress Rwanda: CESTRAR and FGTB News from the platforms BA on BPd Monitoring Task Team on CSOs meeting
	Upcoming events 25 May 2012 EU Seminar on Social Dialogue in Development Brussels, Belgium 11-13 June 2012 TUDCN Seminar on Outcome and impact measurement in Trade Union Development Cooperation Brussels, Belgium 20-22 June 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development “Rio+20” Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2-3 July 2012 TUDCN WG on TU Development Effectiveness Brussels, Belgium 5-6 July 2012 UN Development Cooperation Forum New York, USA
	Publications Growing Green and Decent Jobs ITUC Read more >>>
	Other newsletters Union View (ITUC) International Development Matters (TUC) Cooperation Sindical al Desarrollo (CCOO) BetterAid Update OpenForum newsletter Solidar Round Up
	Contact us! International Trade Union Confederation Development Cooperation & Education Bvd du Roi Albert II 5, B1 1210 Brussels, Belgium [email protected] www.ituc-csi.org Visit TUDCN website!
	About us The Trade Union Development Cooperation Network (TUDCN) is an initiative of the International Trade Union Confederation that brings together affiliated trade union organisations, solidarity support organisations, regional ITUC organisations and the Global Union Federations. The objective of TUDCN is to bring the trade union perspective into the international development policy debates and to improve the coordination and effectiveness of trade union development cooperation activities.
	Supported by 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.
Copyrights by ITUC, 2012