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Feedback!
Our newsletter has just had its first birthday and as such we thought it might be time for a little reflection (and possibly a makeover?). Are you happy with the look of the newsletter? What about the content – are we overlooking any regions or crucial topics in our coverage? Are there any regular, recurrent columns you would like to see? We’d love to hear your thoughts – on anything newsletter-related. Please email Alice Powell (apowell@publishwhatyoupay.org)
Commentaires!
Notre bulletin vient de fêter son premier anniversaire ! C’est donc un bon moment pour un peu de réflexion (et peut-être même un new look? ). Nous voulons votre avis ! Êtes-vous satisfait du format de notre newsletter ? Et son contenu, il y a t’ils des régions ou des sujets importants auquel nous ne prêtons pas assez d’attention ? Voulez-vous qu’on introduise certaines rubriques régulières ? Emailez vos opinions – et toutes questions liées à notre bulletin – à Alice Powell (apowell@publishwhatyoupay.org).
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PWYP Nigeria holds annual general meeting
On 19th November our coalition in Nigeria held its AGM. Top of the agenda were elections for the coalition’s governance structure. We are pleased to announce that Faith Nwadishi was unanimously re-elected as national coordinator for the next three years! A new board was also elected at the meeting and a detailed Action Plan devised for 2012.
The coalition in Sierra Leone will be holding its annual general meeting from 9th – 11th of December, we’ll have more information about that in our next newsletter!
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PWYP Indonesia members conduct training for sub-national stakeholders on revenue sharing calculation and EITI
On November 8 2011, PWYP-Indonesia members PATTIRO and LPAW Blora conducted a training event for local stakeholders in Bllora district, central Java, on oil and gas revenue sharing (DBH=dana bagi hasil) calculations and projections. This one day training was attended by the local multi-stakeholder group, the Blora Transparency Team, as well as local government officials, company representatives, local legislators and civil society representatives from Blora district.
Blora is one of the Central Java districts covered by the CEPU Block area, where Mobile Cepu Limited /MCL (subsidiary of Exxon Mobil) has been operating as a contractor as part of a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) scheme.
The training, funded by Revenue Watch Institute (RWI), aimed at deepening understanding of revenue streams, calculation flow and projections of revenue – both from companies to the Indonesia central government, and from central government to local government respectively.
One of the workshop facilitators was Ms Maryati Abdullah, Board Chair for PWYP-Indonesia and one of Indonesia’s national MSG representatives for the EITI implementation process. Maryati provided an overview of the calculation flow and critical variables involved in the calculation of oil and gas revenues, such as lifting, First Trance Petroleum (FTP), Cost Recovery, Entitlement, DMO, oil and gas tax, over/under lifting, signature bonuses, production bonuses and other aspects of oil and gas revenue sharing.
During the training participants also discussed how the EITI report templates/formats for oil and gas in sub-national level would be designed and implemented in the second round of EITI Indonesia reporting.
… read the rest of this article here.
- Maryati Abdullah (PATTIRO)
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Timor Leste: Civil society joins forces to get the word out on EITI
Since Timor-Leste was declared EITI compliant in July 2010, civil society have been actively working to ensure that the wider population is informed about the new numbers that EITI makes available, and why it matters for their every-day lives.
In 2011 alone, PWYP member, Luta Hamutuk has organized community-level Briefings at eight villages in three different districts. To guarantee the sustainability of EITI dissemination efforts in the harder-to-reach rural areas, Luta Hamutuk also conducted training-of-trainer sessions for nominated community focal points. The last training for focal points was held on 14-17 November 2011.
However, these efforts alone are clearly not sufficient, if the message is to get out to all Timorese citizens. Luta Hamutuk undertook an independent assessment of the collective efforts of stakeholders to disseminate information on the second EITI report (published March 2011).
Their conclusions drawn were that despite the national and regional-level outreach to date, the information has clearly not reached all communities, and society in general remains largely unaware of the EITI and its potential implications for public revenues and spending.
... read the rest of the story here...
- Nelson Miranda (Luta Hamutuk)
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Niger becomes oil producing country, but civil society disputes contract
Niger officially became an oil-producing country on 1st December, with the opening of a refinery in Zinder. Niger’s petroleum reserves, in the Agadem region in the east of the country, are estimated at 480 million barrels. Production of the first field is expected to reach 20,000 barrels a day in six months. Chinese company CNPC is in charge of running this exploitation.
Yet civil society organisations in Niger – including PWYP – have expressed their misgivings over this operation. They have called for the full renegotiation of the government’s contract with CNPC. According to PWYP coordinator in Niger Ali Idrissa, this contract was originally condemned at its signature in 2008 when the former president was seeking to maintain his power at all costs. Civil society organisations have also called for the new contract to include a provision compensating local communities who were relocated due to the new operations.
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Coalition members urge UK Government to back strong EU rules
On 5 December 2011 members of PWYP UK wrote to UK Chancellor George Osborne and UK Business Minister Edward Davey
with comments and suggestions aimed at strengthening the EU’s legislative proposals and facilitating implementation. PWYP’s letter stated that we believe the proposals represent a solid foundation on which to build but that any watering down would have a huge detrimental impact on the final legislation’s effectiveness. PWYP UK is seeking ongoing dialogue with the UK Government as the legislation is developed in the European Council and European Parliament.
Read the UK briefing in full
View PWYP UK's letter to UK Chancellor George Osborne
View PWYP UK's letter to UK Business Minister Edward Davey
- Miles Litvinoff (PWYP UK)
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EITI reports - an overview
The EITI Secretariat has released an overview, Extracting Data, of the 74 EITI reports published by the end of September 2011. Extracting Data gathers the total government revenues and company payments from the EITI reports in 29 countries.
PWYP members such as Revenue Watch have noted that many EITI reports contain instances of good practice and have the potential to illuminate issues of governance and comparison. However, many fall short in several areas, including failing to distinguish revenues from multiple companies or different resources, neglecting international auditing standards, and omitting vital ingredients for comprehensibility, such as definitions or summaries. PWYP has therefore been pushing for data to be more comprehensive and credible – new laws such as Dodd-Frank 1504 and the European Commission’s proposals will give much-needed regularity of reporting by company and project in both EITI and non-EITI countries.
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PWYP responds to International Accounting Standards Board Agenda Consultation
PWYP and RWI have made a joint submission to the IASB’s 3-year agenda consultation. The submission highlights PWYP’s strong sense of frustration in engaging with the IASB and centres on the following 2 recommendations:
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Strategic priorities - The IASB must better reflect its own mission of serving the interests of a variety of users of financial information, not just capital providers. This should be reflected in future developments of the conceptual framework and its application.
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Standard setting priorities - We call on the IASB to make the development of progressive new reporting standards for extractive activities a priority area for action, including the requirement that key information be disclosed on a country and project specific basis. We see the same issues occurring in other sectors, and so also call on the IASB to prioritise the development of country-by-country reporting requirements for all sectors.
PWYP argues that the IASB has been effectively by-passed as a standard setter because it has been so slow to respond and so weak in its recommendations. This, in turn, is partly related to its dismissal of the needs of users of financial information other than investors and the broader public good that such reporting by oil, gas and mining companies would generate. To other decision makers, the benefits to the public interest are so clear that the issue has been made a priority and new requirements have been developed in the United States, European Union and elsewhere, overtaking the IASB as the standard-setter. The credibility of the IASB and IFRS Foundation has been severely undermined and the very raison d'être of the International Accounting Standards Board and IFRS Foundation is at risk unless it
engages more positively and in the near future.
PWYP has been engaging for seven years with the IASB on the issue of greater disclosure in the oil, gas and mining industries. Despite the overwhelming case for the IASB to act in order to put in place a globally applicable disclosure standard, the IASB is yet to take any meaningful action
The PWYP-RWI submission can be viewed here
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Job Opportunities
PWYP – MENA consultant
Publish What You Pay seeks a Coordinator to provide dedicated support for coalition-building, communications and outreach in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Iraq in particular, with potentially expanding country responsibilities.
The primary remit of this position is to support nascent coalition-building efforts in Iraq by facilitating regular communications and information exchanges with/between affiliated national members and the wider PWYP international network. The position will also strive to connect the Iraqi EITI Transparency Coalition to sister coalitions in the region, extending support and solidarity as a result to, for example, the affiliated national coalition in Yemen and other potentially burgeoning coalitions in the MENA region.
Terms:
One-year consultancy contract (renewable, subject to funding)
This position is a local hire, and will be based at the RWI MENA Regional Office in Beirut, Lebanon.
To apply:
Please email a CV and cover letter as soon as possible to: sharding@publishwhatyoupay.org.
Include in subject line: PWYP MENA/Iraq Coordinator.
Interviews for this post will commence mid-December 2011.
Visit the job posting on PWYP's site for more information
Global Witness – Communications Officer
Job Purpose
To work as a professional member of the small communications team by working with the communications manager to maximise communications opportunities. The role is varied and involves: carrying out day to day press work including dealing with press enquiries, drafting media products and selling in stories, assisting and advising campaigners on how to use the media to disseminate their messages, promote their objectives and influence their key targets, building our capacity to use digital media to deliver on campaign objectives and working with the Communications Manager to devise effective communications strategies across the organisation.
The post-holder will be required to carry out their tasks in consultation with the Communications Manager but under minimal supervision.
For more information and how to apply please click here. Applicants applying for this position must have the right to work in the UK.
Deadline – Friday 9th December 5 p.m
Transparency and Accountability Initiative – Director
The Transparency and Accountability Initiative is a donor collaborative of the largest private and public funders of civil society efforts to promote transparent and accountable government globally. The collaborative is action orientated and operational. It aims to seize the current momentum for open government and expand the impact and scale of efforts worldwide by identifying and building on opportunities for collective action by T/AI members.
We are seeking to recruit an exceptional candidate with a proven ability to lead teams, interact with high-level stakeholders, and deliver results. You will possess exceptional interpersonal skills, especially communications and relationship management. An ability to work independently and perform as a self-starter who can take initiative with minimal supervision is essential, as is an ability to work under pressure and on a range of tasks and meeting deadlines
Start date: March 2012
Application deadline : 1 January 2012
Location: New York, London or Washington
For more information, and how to apply please click here.
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