NGO publishes report on the poor, the market

Group aims at strengthening civil society activism at the regional and international levels

BEIRUT - Mirna Shidrawi

November 2003

Social watch (SW) is a watchdog umbrella organization of a number of NGOs in more than 60 countries working on poverty, tender equity and human rights, according to Graciela Dede, an official from the group.

“Social Watch is an international network comprised of NGOs and civil society organizations that aim at following up the fulfillment of internationally recognized guidelines on poverty eradication and equality,” Dede told Alternative in an interview.

These guidelines include those adopted in the Fourth World Conference on Women of Beijing and in the World Summit for Social Development.  They can be summarized as follows:  Spread education among all age groups, reduce mortality rate, reach food security levels, and maintain basic health.

Dede said that these commitments were not binding.  SW aims at strengthening civil society activism at the local, regional and international levels.  “By disseminating information on our guidelines in each country, we are calling for initiating more dedication and devotion in social work.”

SW aims at promoting lobbying tactics and social activities at the three mentioned levels whether through coordination within certain governments, or strengthening networking between NGOs throughout the world through participation in different follow-up events.

On the national level, SW groups have a central headquarters in each country.  These headquarters are responsible for promoting the group’s projects and its principles to their fellow citizens.

They also undertake lobbying initiatives to pressure the national authorities holding them accountable for policies that are not in line with the group’s principles. 

“That’s how you can hold your government accountable,” Dede argued.  “In the Copenhagen Conference, 60 countries signed on the social charter which incorporates our principles.”

Dede added: “Our job as an NGO who belongs to Social Watch, for example, is to monitor our governments and see whether they are implementing what the Copenhagen Charter that they ratified.  Governments, for their part, should report to the UN on their progress in this respect.”

Another task for these NGOs is to promote debate regarding national social development issues and to draft strategies that integrate other local groups into the SW network.

NGOs linked to SW in different countries include notes on their performance and consequent social results in the Social Watch Report.  “We can learn from each other.  You have wide approaches in the report.  This opens up new horizons for NGOs all around the world to learn from each other techniques and methodologies that they can adopt or follow.”

SW has created a global network in which social development can be monitored at any time and from any place.  “Any changes or updates can be provided in an interactive process at any moment in time,” said Dede. 

“[SW] does not exist in any particular place,” she added.  “It is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  Most importantly, it has established a process in which the local actuality and the international reality are connected serving as a network for social development for any one who is interested.”

The foundation of S W, according to Dede, “could be seen as a reflection of a new way in which NGOs relate to multilateral organization in general and to the United Nations in particular.  It is using the electronic communications revolution as a new tool for advocacy and mobilization by NGOs.”

Before the creation of SW, Dede said, “there were hardly any mechanisms to commit governments to implement social development policies.”

In SW’s mission statement, it is stated that their creation originated from the need to monitor national obligations to economic and social rights within the context of an international enabling environment for social development.

SW held its annual conference in Lebanon in October.  “In our general assembly this year, we established global goals based on the commitments.  Now the work of each country is to customize these goals according to their country's priority or even that of their region.” 

The 2003 report entitled The Poor and the Market tackled the issues of whether the market can provide essential services needed by the poor.  A strong attack on privatization can be noticed through out each country report.  “SW could not report that privatization is the way to reach the goals of access to safe water, basic education, and health for all.  Not a single country could echo such faith.”

"We don’t only publish narrative reports about the situation in each country,” said Dede.  “We actually measure progress and come up with a statistical methodology to be followed and used.”

Previous reports tackled themes such as the social impact of globalization on the world, wealth distribution and the eradication of poverty in addition to the issue of equity.  The 2004 report’s theme will be on the obstacles to human security.  “There are other obstacles [to human security] than terrorism.”

As for the success of the work of Social Watch, Dede said that its success has to be measured in terms of its ability to allow local organizations, national NGOs, and national coalitions to engage in a debate with their government on social policy, without exclusion and in an open and transparent manner.