Reports
Who's Minding the Store? - October 19, 2004
Executive Summary available here in pdf
Full Report available here in pdf
Halifax Initiative's new paper, "Who's Minding the Store? Legislator Oversight of the Bretton Woods Institutions" examines to what extent national legislatures maintain democratic oversight of the World Bank and IMF. The survey reveals that legislators are inadequately aware, unevenly informed and largely not consulted on issues related to the institutions. The democratic link to bind citizens and institutional decision-makers is therefore fragile, at best.
At the Table or in the Kitchen? - September 18, 2004
Executive Summary available here in pdf
Impoverishing a Continent: The World Bank and the IMF in Africa - August 24, 2004
Click here for pdf of the full report
By Asad Ismi
Risk, Responsibility and Human Rights (May 2004)
For pdf click here
A Multistakeholder meeting on "Risk, Responsibility and Human Rights: Assessing the Human Rights Impacts of Trade and Project Finance" was organized by the NGO Working Group on EDC in May 2004. A Discussion paper was prepared for the meeting looking at how ECAs and other International Finance Institutions take (or don't take) human rights into account. It made a number of suggestions as to how to mainstream human rights into the project cycle, including a proposal for a human rights impact assessment, and commensurate mechanisms within IFIs.
The Final Report provides the minutes from the meeting, including the presentations made by various speakers, discussion sessions, and a summary of the two day event.
Un aperçu général des présentations faites par divers conférenciers et du contenu des séances de discussion est disponible en français, de même qu’un résumé des conclusions du colloque.
Official Comments Re: OECD 2003 Common Approaches Rev. 1 - October 27, 2003
October 27, 2003
Mr. A. Ian Gillespie
President and CEO
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor street,
Ottawa, ON K1A 1K3
The Hon. Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, Tower B, 5th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Re.: Draft OECD recommendation on Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits: 2003 Review – Revised version 1
Dear Mr. Gillespie and Minister Pettigrew:
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to comment on the ‘Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits: 2003 Review – Revised version 1’ (Rev. 1).
Where the HIPC Initiative is Failing - October 2, 2003
Where the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative
Event: Cross Canada tour on privatization, October 2003
The “Private Interests vs. Public Goods” tour aims to bring Southern activists working on privatization issues at the local or national level to share their stories and strategies with Canadians facing the privatization of health care, education, energy, water and other public services.
Get a copy of "Empty Promises - The IMF, the World Bank, and the Planned Failures of Global Capitalism", which includes over 30 brief articles detailing everything you wanted to know about these two institutions. For press articles resulting from the tour go to the Media button on the navigation bar, to Press Responses to Structural Adjustment. |
Race to the Bottom, Take II (September 2003)
Click here for pdf
Significantly destructive projects that violate host country law, international environmental standards and international human rights and labor laws continue to be considered and supported by ECAs. "Race to the Bottom, Take II: An Assessment of Sustainable Development Achievements of ECA-Supported Projects Two Years After OECD Common Approaches Rev 6" presents a civil society proposal for reforming the OECD Common Approaches on Environment and supports the proposal with nine case studies of ECA-backed projects from all over the world.
The projects include the Aracruz Pulp and Paper Factory in Brazil, the BTC pipeline in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the Bujagili dam in Uganda, the Camisea oil and gas project in Peru, the Cernavoda 2 Nuclear Reactor in Romania, the Sakhalin II oil and gas project in the Russian Far East, the Sepon Gold and Copper mine in Lao, the Tehri dam in India.