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What will shape global development in 2012?
2012 will be defined by the battle against the resource curse, which has kept so many in poverty. Natural resource wealth – if properly managed – is one of the most important sources of income for developing countries. In 2008, oil and mining exports in Africa were worth nine times more than aid. With a mining commodity boom in full swing and growing emphasis placed on countries mobilising their own tax base, 2012 is the year for countries to ensure the best for their massive, but finite natural resources.
Already, the upcoming elections in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been dominated by the question of which candidate will best be able to manage their natural resources. In a post-Gaddafi Libya, in a post-independence South Sudan, the question on everybody's lips is how to ensure the fair and transparent management of natural resources. Last year's protests – which will continue to resonate throughout 2012 – share the principles inherent in responsible natural resource management: an end to corruption, an end to disempowerment and an end to wealth entrenched in the hands of a few.
Furthermore, there are two crucial pieces of legislation that could change the game in 2012. Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act in the US, which has been passed but has yet to be put in force, requires extractive companies to be more transparent in their payments to governments. Newly-proposed EU directives on transparency and accounting will oblige companies to publish their payments to the governments where they operate. This information will give citizens the tools necessary to hold their governments to account. They will be able – often for the first time – to know exactly what their government has received and to ensure the money goes towards schools and hospitals rather than Malibu mansions and yachts.
If 2011 was defined by the demand for greater accountability and empowerment, 2012 will be judged by how the world reacted to this call.
This piece originally appeared on the Guardian Development site, Readers' Voices: What will shape global development in 2012.
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Chad residents file complaint against the World Bank
Acting on behalf of 22,500 farmers from 25 villages in the Doba region of Chad, PWYP member GRAMPTC (the Chad/Cameroon Alternative Research and Petrol Project Monitoring Group) has filed a complaint with the World Bank for human and environmental rights abuses caused by the pipeline project.
The project has deprived farmers of their livelihood, as the pipeline has used up vast swathes of land and its pollution adversely affected agriculture and cattle. The freedom of movement for the community members has been hindered, with the protection of the pipeline creating a de facto curfew from 18:00 to 6 a.m. Villagers have also reported instances of torture, arbitrary arrests and destruction of their property.
After the complaint was lodged, the Office of the Compliance Advisory Ombudsman announced it will carry out an official mission to the area at the end of February.
The Chad-Cameroon oil and pipeline project, launched in 2000, entailed the drilling of 300 oil wells in Doba and the construction of a 1070km pipeline to carry the oil to the shores of Cameroon. Although the World Bank left the project in 2006, they were heavily involved in its inception. Not only did they approve the funding but their support – as a non-industry player – was crucial to the oil companies.
Greater openness and information about natural resource projects would empower communities to decide whether the benefits outweight the social and environmental costs of a project.
You can read the full press release here
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PWYP welcomes new affiliate coalition in Iraq
PWYP is excited to announce the affiliation of a new national coalition to the PWYP global network, the Iraqi Transparency Alliance for Extractive Industries (ITAEI).
The ITAEI was formally established on 20 July 2011 and is a broad-based alliance consisting of more than 40 members (and growing!). The mission of the coalition is to advocate for extractive industry transparency, to achieve “optimal benefits from revenues of extractive industries for the Iraqi people.”
Much of the work of ITAEI to date has focused upon strengthening civil society engagement with the Iraqi EITI implementation process, which was launched back in February 2010. Iraq recently published its first EITI reconciliation report, focusing on the revenues from export sales of oil. The country’s validation deadline is in August of this year.
PWYP, together with RWI, has been working with Iraqi civil society since January 2011, and recently co-hosted two training workshops on EITI Report Analysis (December 2011, Beirut) and Preparing for EITI Validation (January 2012, Erbil).
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Iraq's first EITI report raises as many questions as it answers
Iraq issued its first report under the EITI mechanism just before the New Year and it was circulated last week in English, Arabic and Kurdish. It’s the first formal deliverable in Iraq’s participation in the transparency scheme since it signed up two years ago. Price Waterhouse Cooper reconciled financial reporting from Iraq’s monopoly oil marketing organisation SOMO, and the 34 companies that bought its oil in 2009 for sums totalling $41.3 billlion. The result is interesting reading but raises as many questions as it answers, about Iraq’s selling process and the various stages in it, why many company reports were submitted without executive sign-off, as stipulated in the process and, most curiously, why the Federal Reserve Bank of New York failed to send account statements for Iraqi oil receipts despite repeated requests over a period of many months. The report
follows the EITI norm of building transparency step by step, but a critical point remains because of the unique nature of this first report, which was restricted merely to the sale of oil: will Iraq be asked to report on any of the billions of dollars of activity in the upstream inside the country before it is reviewed for – and possibly granted – compliant status?
Here’s an executive summary of our analysis.
This piece was written by Johnny West and originally appeared in the Open Oil Blog |
La suspension des pays à l'ITIE : éléments de décision
Maître Jean-Claude Katende, coordinateur national de la coalition PCQVP-RDC, a écrit cet article à propos de la suspension des pays à l'ITIE. Cet article se pose sur les genres de suspensions ; les éléments de décisions qui mènent vers une suspension ; le rôle joué par les parties prenantes et les conséquences de suspension. Ci-dessous vous trouverez les premiers paragraphes de cet article, vous pouvez lire la suite ici.
L’Initiative pour la Transparence des Industries Extractives (ITIE) est une initiative à laquelle les pays adhèrent de manière volontaire. Dès qu’un pays y a adhéré, il est appelé à respecter les principes et critères de l’ITIE et à remplir 20 exigences tels que fixées par les nouvelles règles, éditées en 2011.
Ces exigences touchent aussi bien à l’adhésion, qu’à l’obligation de continuer à satisfaire aux exigences de la conformité. Ces exigences concernées aussi la divulgation, la diffusion, l’évaluation et la validation.
Le Conseil d’Administration de l’ITIE, en sa qualité de gardien de la norme internationale de transparence, peut suspendre de manière temporaire ou radier tout pays membre qui ne se conforme pas à ses principes.
Lorsque le Conseil d’Administration se décide de suspendre un pays, comment procède-t-il ? Quels sont les éléments sur lesquels il fonde sa décision ? Telles sont les questions aux quelles cet article va répondre.
Avant d’arriver à la décision, parlons d’abord de la suspension elle-même. La suspension volontaire temporaire...
... Lisez la suite de cet article
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Les populations Tchadiennes portent plaintes contre la Banque Mondiale
Membre de PCQVP, GRAMP/TC (Le Groupe de recherches alternatives et de monitoring du projet pétrole/Tchad-Cameroun), a porté plainte contre la Banque Mondiale, au nom de 22,500 paysans de 25 villages à Doba, Tchad. La plainte se base sur les violations humaines et environnementales causées par le projet de l'oléoduc Tchad-Cameroun.
Entre l'impact de la pollution sur le bétail et l'agriculture et la domination foncière de l'oléoduc, les fermiers sont privés de leur moyen de subsistance. La circulation libre aussi est touchée, car la protection de l'oléoduc par des membres de la sécurité a produit une sorte de couvre-feu entre 18:00 et 6:00. Les populations auraient aussi subi d'autre abus: la torture, la spoliation des biens et des arrestations arbitraires.
Lancé en 2000, le Projet de l'oléoduc Tchad-Cameroun comprend le forage de 300 puits de pétrole en Doba et la construction d'un oléoduc de 1070km pour transporter le pétrole vers les côtes du Cameroun. La Banque Mondiale a quitté le projet en 2006, mais fut fortement impliqué dans son origine. La banque a donné son aval au financement du projet et son soutien - en tant qu'acteur n'appartenant pas à l'industrie extractive - fut vital pour les compagnies pétrolières.
Une plus grande transparence, avec plus d'information, autour des projets liés aux ressources naturelles permettrait aux communautés de décider si les bénéfices sont plus gros que les coûts sociaux et économiques du projet.
Vous pouvez lire le communiqué de presse dans son entièreté ici.
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La marque de PCQVP : une étude
La marque joue quel rôle dans le monde des ONGs ? Comment les ONGS ont-elles développé et utilisé leurs ‘marques’ ?
Afin d’étudier et de répondre à ces questions, le centre Hauser de l’Université de Harvard a mené une étude de quatre organisations non-gouvernementales se posant sur l’évolution de leurs marques, et leur relation avec celles-ci. PCQVP fut une de ces quatre organisations (avec Amnesty International, the Girl Effect et WWF), et son cas fut présenté le 8 décembre à une conférence à la Fondation Rockefeller à New York.
Mme Johanna Kreilick a écrit le chapitre sur Publiez Ce Que Vous Payez, et en préparation a interviewé plusieurs membres de PCQVP partout dans le monde. Ce rapport joue un rôle dans le processus de développement stratégique actuel de PCQVP (dans la phase Apprendre Ce Que Disent Les Autres). Les conclusions de l’étude, et en effet l’expérience même d’y avoir participé, guidera la création cette année d’une politique de la marque de PCQVP.
Vous pouvez lire le chapitre sur la marque de PCQVP en français.
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Job Opps
Open Goverment Partnership - Civil Society Coordinator
The active and effective participation of civil society organizations in the Open Government Partnership is crucial to its success. Civil society organizations around the world in OGP member and eligible countries need to be informed about the process, opportunities and responsibilities associated with OGP. The civil society members of the Steering Committee need coordination support to engage and exercise their roles more effectively.
The Civil Society Coordinator’s role is to help respond to these two gaps. The primary role of the position is to facilitate engagement and communication among civil society groups in the 50 (and growing) member and other eligible countries of the OGP, between those groups and the OGP Steering Committee as well as supporting good practice in civil society engagement. The secondary role of the position is to facilitate the coordination of the civil society members of the Steering Committee.
Location : The Hague
Application Deadline : 30th January
For more information and how to apply click here
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