Two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), Centre for the Development
The Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) and Alliance for reproductive Health Right (ARHIR), two groups engaged in health advocacy and Accountability in four Dormaa communities have held a forum for their target communities at Dormaa-Ahenkro.
The target communities are; Duasidan, Yaakrom, Supong and Aboabo No. 3 from where the two NGOs have already selected and trained volunteers on pertinent health issues and the role expected of communities in maintaining good health within a healthy environment.
The forum in Dormaa-Ahenkro targeted school children, assembly members, parents, women groups, security agencies and the media and was particularly designed to drum home what the various communities should do to reduce the current level of maternal mortality which rose from 6 in 2010 to nine in 2011.
Highlights of the forum included the screening of a film dubbed; “The lights have gone out again”, which portrayed the realities being encountered by expectant mothers in selected health facilities across the country.
It also exposed vividly some basic difficulties plaguing the health facilities and staff and what some key personalities including physicians and hospital administrators wished could be done to rescue the situation.
Participants were expected to take the subject matter of the film to their communities to assist them fashion out programmes and collaborations aimed at securing zero maternal death in 2012.
This they were to do by harnessing all available human and material resource including people’s expertise, vehicles and community spirit to ensure that no woman dies while giving” birth to life”
CEDEP’s Health Coordinator, Aba Oppong, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Dormaa-Ahenkro, noted that it remained a baffle as to why pregnant women should die while giving birth.
She bemoaned the persisting traditional notion in parts of the country that a pregnant woman should be kept at home until such a time that her conditions have worsened.
The Health Coordinator stressed that such eleventh-hour decisions do not only endanger the pregnant mother’s life but also places the competence and reputation of health institutions and their staff in jeopardy as the deaths were usually pronounced by the health facilities and were therefore deemed to have occurred there.
She therefore called on all stakeholders including families, husbands, pregnant women, community members, health staff and drivers to close their ranks and treat all pregnant women with utmost care from time of pregnancy to childbirth.
This way, Ms. Oppong said, the pregnant woman would become the object of care to everybody in the community whose smooth delivery would constitute the joy of the entire community.
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U.S. Embassy haven for Cairo NGO staffers
Americans employed by non-governmental organizations in Egypt were sheltered by the U.S. Embassy Monday amid fears they could be arrested, U.S. officials said.
A "handful of U.S. citizens have opted to stay in the embassy compound in Cairo while awaiting permission to depart Egypt," a senior State Department official told The Washington Post as U.S.-Egyptian relations hit a new low.
The official would not say if the sheltered citizens included Sam LaHood, director of the Cairo office of the International Republican Institute, a U.S.-funded pro-democracy organization.
LaHood, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is one of at least six American pro-democracy workers barred from leaving the country.
The official would not explain what threat, if any, prompted the embassy to take the highly unusual step of opening its doors to secure the Americans.
"They weren't in immediate physical danger, that we are aware of," the official told the Post.
A former IRI official told the newspaper his former colleagues had said they would take embassy shelter only as a last resort, if they had reason to believe their arrest was imminent.
IRI Middle East Director Scott Mastic told Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera he feared Egypt was about to issue arrest warrants "for the purpose of bringing people to trial."
"We don't have any way to confirm that that is about to happen, but the existence of a no-exit list to me demonstrates some intent to move persons to trial, and obviously we are very worried about the prospect of our staff being arrested," he said.
The provision of sanctuary began Sunday as senior Egyptian generals landed in Washington to try to mend relations with the United States. Congress is considering slashing $1.33 billion in annual military aid to Egypt.
The delegation, accompanied by defense officials from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, planned to discuss the crackdown on non-governmental organizations and the now-at-risk military aid with State Department and Pentagon officials, and with Capitol Hill lawmakers, Egypt's state-run Middle East News Agency reported.
Egyptian authorities last month raided the offices of several U.S.-funded organizations, including IRI, the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House.
The groups work with Egyptian politicians and political parties to promote accountability and transparency in government.
Egypt's military authorities say dozens of Egyptian and foreign civil-society organizations that receive foreign funding operate without government permission. They have operated for years without endorsement because Cairo did not let them register as NGOs.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Foreign Ministry responded Sunday to the resignations of three top Washington lobbyists who quit Friday over the NGO crackdown. The ministry said the lobbyists did not quit but rather were terminated as a cost-cutting measure.
Separately, Egypt's state media reported Sunday the country's military rulers asked a panel of advisers for suggestions about handing over power to civilians earlier than the scheduled June deadline.
The military, which did not indicate if the request meant it was considering the move, has vowed to give up power only after a new constitution's ratification and a new president's election, both expected in June. The military said it wanted to oversee the constitution's drafting.
The developments came as Egyptians began voting for Parliament's upper house. In contrast to the November start of lower house voting, when people lined up for blocks and voted in record numbers, polling stations Sunday were largely empty, al-Jazeera reported.
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D.C. lobbyists cut ties with Egyptian government as raid controversy deepens
Several Washington lobbyists announced Saturday that they are ending their contract with the Egyptian government, as the controversy deepens over raids conducted on the offices of American advocacy groups.
Since the late December raids on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) based in the U.S. and other countries, the Egyptian government has intensified its crackdown. Most recently, the government has prevented several Americans, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, from leaving the country.
As the State Department intervened, the D.C. lobbying firm that represented the Egyptian government for years -- even before Hosni Mubarak was overthrown -- came under fire. Though one of the principals has argued that the lobbyists told Cairo the raids were a bad idea, the firm did send out a memo after the crackdown that appeared to justify the government's actions.
In a written statement Saturday, the PLM Group announced it was "immediately ending their relationship after a four-year engagement."
"We hope that Egyptians continue to enjoy the deepening of democracy in their country, and that Egypt remains a strong, stable and vital ally of the United States," the lobbyists said.
The principals in the group are former U.S. Reps. Toby Moffett and Bob Livingston, as well as Tony Podesta. All three have their own separate lobbying firms in D.C.
The statement did not offer any explanation, but it comes after U.S. lawmakers put pressure on the lobbyists.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., earlier in the week claimed "their influence-peddling undermines American values."
"Is there no shame in this town?" Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said in an interview with FoxNews.com on Wednesday when asked about the lobbying work.
Livingston told FoxNews.com, though, that his group was not defending the raids, and in fact told the government that they were a "mistake."
Meanwhile, the U.S. government and the NGOs are struggling to get the Egyptian government to ease off.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday that the Obama administration had not made progress with the Egyptians on the NGO issue.
Sam LaHood, one of at least six Americans currently barred from leaving Egypt, told Fox News the workers are "kind of expecting the worst."
"There hasn't been a lot of movement -- nothing has really changed," he said.
Though the workers have not been arrested, they are concerned about the possibility. LaHood said if the case did go to trial, the penalty could be up to five years in jail.
LaHood runs the Egypt program for the International Republican Institute. The offices of the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House, other U.S.-based groups, were also raided last month, in addition to the offices of other non-American groups.
"It's a little bit scary for us to be facing these very serious allegations but, you know, also for the Egyptian employees who work for these organizations," LaHood told Fox News.
The Egyptian government closed the NGOs' offices and confiscated equipment during the raids -- the groups claim the government so far has not returned the material. They were accused of operating without the proper registration and using foreign money.
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NGOs talk of collapse as their funding dries up
Government rejects allegations of biased grants.
CAPE TOWN - Welfare organisations who haven’t received lottery funding this year have spoken about their plight, saying they may be forced to close down or drastically cut their services to the poor.
“We’re in a desperate situation. The people we support with food parcels twice a month were crying when we told them we would probably not be able to help them anymore. They have nowhere else to go for help,” the chairperson of the Port Alfred Benevolent Society, Joy Altson, told Moneyweb.
After years of support from the National Lotteries Board, Alston was informed that her application had been turned down because of “insufficient funds” and a decision “to fund only first-time applicants”.
She says this came as a shock.
“I put in a huge appeal. I said: ‘If you have to give me less, then you have to do it. But don’t cut me out completely. I can’t turn around to 1 500 people and say: ‘I can’t give you anything.’”
But the NLB hasn’t responded. “If we don’t get money from the lottery, we’re going to have to close down.”
The society’s community gardens and skills programmes are also at stake.
Alston’s story is one of many that have emerged this week, a week in which there’s been a flurry of criticism about the way in which the lottery money is distributed.
On Friday morning, about 400 protestors, mostly from NGOs, marched on the offices of the National Lottery Fund in Pretoria.
“It’s time we made our voices heard,” said NGO trainer, Sandra Miller, who convened the protest. She said non-profits have been wary of protesting in the past as they don’t want to jeopardise their applications to the NLB.
Civic leaders, NGOs and the Democratic Alliance have all spoken out about the lottery funds this week, with the DA’s spokesperson on Trade and Industry Jacques Smalle alleging that it had seen “a growing trend of NGOs being overlooked in favour of ANC-affiliated organizations.
“As a result, poor people suffer while party elites benefit”, the DA has charged.
But the Department of Trade and Industry’s spokesperson, Sidwell Medupe, says the process of adjudication is performed by independent distributing agencies “with no room for any political organisation to influence.
“These committees act without fear or prejudice in the interest of all South Africans”, he told Moneyweb.
Alarm bells were sounded just over a year ago when R40m in lottery funds was given to the ANC-affiliated National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).
More recently, Shelagh Gastrow, the founder of Inyathelo, the South African Institute of Advancement, which assists NGOs, raised what she alleges was “an extremely dubious payment” to Makhaya, an organisation based in Serbia that says on its website that it promotes the arts and tourism to South Africa.
“It’s a for-profit company masquerading as a non-profit. When we looked it up, we discovered they supply services to the South African diplomatic corps and run events for them. Many staff members live in Serbia, yet they walk off with R50m from lottery funds,” she told Moneyweb.
The DA claims that the NGO employs the daughter of the National Lotteries Board chairperson, Alfred Nevhutanda.
Administrative glitches can also lead to funding cuts.
CEO of Sparrow Ministries, Rose Letwaba, says it appears an administrative error put an end to its funding for this year.
“The NLB’s excuse was that we sent our application with the number on the envelope instead of on the document. We had applied for R29m. But we got nothing. We’re just waiting for the end of the financial year. But we’ve already called in the staff to say we’ll have to retrench people.”
For the past few years, the NLB was the key funder for the Sparrow Ministries hospice and children’s home looking after 225 children and 80 adults.
NGOs applying for funding have to fax their documents to the NLB. If small administrative mistakes are made or papers lost, claims are often rejected – and there’s no appeals process. They say it’s devastating when they rely so much on lotto funding.
“We’re just hoping that someone at Lotto will see things from a grassroots level. We don’t do our work for the money. We do it for humanity,” says Letwaba.
Miller says haphazard and ‘biased’ dispensing tactics have come at a particularly bad time for welfare agencies and NGOs.
“It couldn’t come at a worse time when corporate South Africa is broke. The recession has taken its toll.”
Gastrow believes the distribution system is “fatally flawed and unworkable”.
“There’s no process by which people can object to a decision. There’s no clarity about what the lottery is for. Even municipalities can apply for funding.
Gastrow believes the system needs to be urgently overhauled.
Amendments to the Lotteries Act are already on the Parliamentary programme of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry.
But Gastrow says tinkering alone will fall far short of what’s needed.
Both Gastrow and the DA have called for board members on the NLB’s distribution agencies to serve full-time. Currently, they only serve 1.5 days a month. “This means grants don’t get processed and money goes unallocated,” says Smalle.
Medupe says he’s aware of the backlog. “The minister has impressed on the NLB that it must implement measures to improve turnaround times. These are being monitored closely.”
During a press conference in Pretoria on Friday, Nevhutanda, conceded that they needed to find new ways to deal with the backlogs.
“We take allegations made in the media seriously – claims of requests for bribes, losing information and irregular grants. Remedial action will be taken where needed,” he told journalists.
But, for now, his words hold cold comfort for people like Letwaba and Altson.
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How to Leverage Collaboration to Make Your Business Thrive
Following up on last week’s blog post about how, in the midst of the economic downturn, the best corporate citizens built more successful ways of working with governments and NGOs, we now look at how to help organizations establish these relationship by shining a light on real-world examples and providing a platform for connecting with potential partners.
At the 2011 COMMIT!Forum we highlighted several new models of collaboration. Two of my personal favorites were the work done by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Compass Group to alleviate slave-like working conditions for migrant workers in Florida and the work of Western Union and USAID to establish an African Diaspora Marketplace to harness the wealth and entrepreneurialism of this community to jump-start new businesses in Africa itself. These initiatives exemplify the successful practices discussed in the previous blog post. “Challenge campaigns” and “prizes,” like the COMMIT!Campaign and Clinton Global Initiative, have become increasingly popular ways of calling companies to make new “commitments” to changing the world. In reflecting on these best practices, we can also see some ways to restructure “challenge campaigns” to be more effective.
* Relish self-interest. When Bono said he hoped companies participating in his Product (RED) campaign would make huge profits, he faced a firestorm of criticism especially from the non-profit sector. While no one benefits from unconstrained avarice, we see more, not less benefit for target communities when the business has an enduring self-interest in solving the problem at hand. The solution is not to strip away self-interest, but to frame the problem in a way that a corporate partner can engage for the long-term. In the case of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Compass Group, the Coalition could have asked Compass to just write a check. Instead, it showed Compass that it had a human and a brand interest in improving working conditions and in driving commitment through its supply chain.
* Insist on mutual accountability. We’ve made it a requirement that participants in the COMMIT!Campaign a) publicly state a goal, and b) commit to on-going coverage of the commitment in CR Magazine. Other challenge campaigns should use similar models to reinforce a culture of measurement and accountability between commitment partners.
To help further the development of these new models of collaboration, we’ve restructured the COMMIT!Campaign for 2012. Through the campaign, governments, and NGOs can publicly articulate “commitments” — specific programs with measurable results for which they need corporate support — and we’ll work with them to find the right corporate sponsors. We’ll also track and report progress from the 2011 and 2012 Campaigns in CR Magazine. If you have a worthy cause that you’d like to see become part of the Campaign, sign on here.
We also want your input on how to create even stronger forms of collaboration:
* What do you think makes for the best kind of NGO-government-company collaboration?
* Do you have examples where things have gone dramatically right or dramatically wrong?
* What kinds of people need to be in leadership positions on all sides?
* How can we increase involvement on all sides?
The bad news is that the world continues to struggle through a tough economic climate. The good news is that because of that tough climate, creative and inspired people are not just making do, but finding ways to excel. Budget deficits have driven governments and NGOs to find corporate partners. Trust deficits mean businesses are looking to good works to build their brands. Together, like-minded people combine their financial, trust, and acumen assets to make partnerships that are all the stronger because of the “forced” collaboration.
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Should NGOs take the corporate bait?
This is the third of a four-part series on innovative ways to deliver aid in our conflicted world.
Every economic slump ushers in predictable, if not propagandistic, debates about Official Development Assistance, otherwise known as foreign aid. While Stephen Harper’s government has frozen aid spending through to 2015, the real anti-aid evangelicals can be found to the south, at the Republican primaries. Ron Paul, whose greatest accomplishment is that the press is still willing to hand him a microphone, has pledged to cancel American foreign aid altogether. There are, therefore, compelling reasons to consider where aid is now and where it might be headed.
The recession has been brutal to those who are reliant on humanitarian assistance for their very survival. European governments have, not surprisingly, made drastic cuts to their aid spending. So has the U.S. Congress, and many foundations are operating on reduced budgets. The effect has been that non-governmental organizations around the world are swimming in a rapidly evaporating pool of funding, raising the competitive stakes alongside a host of ethical questions.
On this point, several of the world’s leading international charities are now keeping some rather curious company, which could either represent the future of aid – a progressive merger of economic interests and social development – or its fire sale. In September, the Canadian International Development Agency announced a controversial multimillion-dollar grant to three leading international charities who will partner with major Canadian mining firms on development initiatives in African and Latin American countries in which these companies operate.
Under the deal, World University Services Canada, Plan Canada and World Vision Canada will receive CIDA funding totalling $6.7-million for projects with Rio Tinto Alcan, Iamgold and Barrick Gold, respectively. The largest share was for the Plan Canada-Iamgold project, which will take all but $1-million of the CIDA funding over the next five years. For their part, the three mining companies will contribute additional support just shy of $2-million. The combined annual net profit for these firms is more than $4-billion.
Now, on any given day that CIDA makes a funding announcement, the sanctimony served up by those who were overlooked is best cut with the knives sticking out of the backs of those who emerged as big winners. But this one struck at the very heart of the NGO community, leading many to shudder and ask of their colleagues, “How could you?”
Two of the participating mining firms have recently been involved in labour and human-rights disputes related to their operations abroad.
The central tension is whether these NGOs are serving as bagmen, advancing Canadian mining interests with taxpayer funding by appeasing local communities with gifts of health care and education, or whether they are simply piloting a new model of co-operation that might positively influence corporate behaviour overseas while simultaneously addressing development gaps.
Certainly the latter is what the executive director of WUSC, Chris Eaton, is hoping for. He was quoted in The Dominion newspaper expressing his sincere desire that such partnerships will “nudge along good practice.” Perhaps, but they can also buy silence in the case of bad practice, which is inherently more dangerous. And why would CIDA pick up any of the tab to improve the reputation of Canada’s mining sector abroad, if not to cement Mr. Harper’s vision for an aid policy that serves Canada’s trade and economic interests first, officially clearing the belfry of all Pearsonian bats?
Welcome to the new humanitarianism, where government funding is scarce, traditional donors are aging and more organizations are turning to corporate alliances that would once have been viewed as heresy. Yet as the aid sector goes in search of new funding models, we might do well to remember a line from the 17th-century English poet John Dryden: “Better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.”
Samantha Nutt is a founder of the NGO War Child and the author of Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid. To see a video conversation with Dr. Nutt, visit the Canadian International Council’s website at www.opencanada.org/newhumanitarians.
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NGOs upbeat over China's environmental transparency progress
Survey reveals greater pressure on major players such as Apple and the Beijing government to clean up
Green activists applauded steady progress on environmental transparency in China after public campaigns forced major players, including Apple and the Beijing government, to release sensitive information on pollution and its origins.
A survey on openness and accountability released Monday showed that, while the overall situation remains poor, an increasingly informed public is putting greater pressure on companies and local authorities to clean up.
The upbeat assessment was made in the third annual report on Pollution Information Transparency by Chinese NGOs and the US-based Natural Resources Defence Council, just days after two major steps in the campaign to improve environmental transparency in China.
This month, the Beijing government started releasing real-time data on the most toxic form of air pollution. On Friday, Apple published a previously secret list of its suppliers and outlined the steps it has taken to deal with illegal discharges of hazardous waste.
The latest transparency report shows patchy progress in releasing data and responding to requests for information, although these are legally mandated.
In a survey of 113 cities, the authors note gradual improvement among municipal governments in economically advanced regions, such as the Pearl River delta and the Yangtze basin. However, in other areas, such as Shandong and Inner Mongolia, the authorities were less responsive than a year earlier.
But the overall trend was positive, marking the third year of gains. Recent scandals and growing public pressure have forced a rethink. Last year, the company's senior executives opened communications with Chinese environmental organisations represented by Ma Jun of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs.
"We can draw the conclusion that a system for environmental information transparency has been established at an initial stage in China," said Ma.
There were also advances in the corporate sector. The report noted that more than 500 enterprises are now communicating with environmental NGOs about their monitoring and disclosure systems. This is up from almost none five years ago, but there are many thousands that have yet to engage with civil society in such a constructive manner.
Until recently Apple was one of them. The US firm had been accused of being as secretive and unresponsive as the Chinese authorities when its suppliers were implicated in labour disputes and pollution scandals.
Last week, however, the company responded to critics of its environmental, labour and transparency standards by detailing how it has dealt with problems ranging from illegal pollution discharges to falsified account books.
The US firm said it expanded the number of audits by 80 percent last year and, in addition, launched a specialised program in China to address environmental concerns.
The measures were detailed in the latest Progress Report on Apple Supplier Responsibility, which was released on Friday. For the first time, the annual report included the names of 156 companies that together account for 97 percent of Apple's outsourced manufacturing business.
The company found facilities that had been breaking air emission and wastewater discharge limits, using factories that were releasing industrial effluent via unapproved outflow pipes and failing to register pollution. In the most egregious cases, Apple said it had suspended business with the violators until improvements were in place.
Management of hazardous waste and air pollution appeared to be a particular worry. The compliance rate with Apple's standards in these category was just 68%, suggesting a widespread failure to implements the necessary safety and monitoring procedures. The company said 69 facilities were not recycling or disposing of hazardous waste as required by law.
However, it remains unclear how far down the supply chain the company's audits have reached. Many foreign businesses acknowledge difficulty in monitoring their supplier's suppliers, although it is often at the lower levels – where the profit margins are tightest – that the worst transgressions take place. Other firms are also considering more positive steps, including European telecoms operators who last week held a workshop on improving transparency in their supply chains.
To improve the system, environmentalists are calling for a national registry where companies can publicly report their pollution data, which would accelerate, simplify and improve public supervision. This has been effective in other nations.
"There is plenty of room to improve but we are seeing progress every year," said Bernadette Brennan of the National Resources Defence Council. "On the whole the trend is towards open information. More people realise this is good for society and good for business."
State planners are aware that transparency was a key element in the clear-up of other polluted countries, but it has struggled to enforce compliance and lacks the tools of an independent judiciary and free media that were also key elements in spreading and using data to put pressure on polluters.
The ministry of environment previously warned that polluters were operating in a "black box" but the latest report suggests progress is possible.
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NGOs seek tit-for-tat rules on visas
More than 20 civil society groups called on the government Wednesday to treat foreign nationals who wish to visit Lebanon the same way their countries treat Lebanese when they apply for visas, expressing frustration that Lebanese are treated as “inferior” by many countries.
The groups also called on the government to pressure states to treat Lebanese decently.
“We call on the Lebanese state to force states with which it maintains diplomatic ties to treat the Lebanese the same way Lebanon treats the nationals from these states,” activist Hayat Arslan told a news conference at her residence in Aley which was attended by representatives of nearly two dozen associations.
“We are treated as inferior when we seek a visa to most countries, whether for work, tourism or medical treatment, as if we are second class people,” she added.
Arslan called on the government to enforce certain rules governing how embassies treat Lebanese.
According to Arslan, Lebanon should force foreign embassies to set dates for appointments for Lebanese seeking visas within a “specified and plausible period of hours or days, rather than weeks or months.”
The civil society groups also requested that Lebanese applying for a visa be treated decently, be given explanations if their request for an appointment is rejected, be notified if any necessary documents for a visa application are missing and have fees returned to them by consulates or embassies if they are denied a visa.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on January 26, 2012, on page 3.
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Questions raised about foreign aid link with resource development
The Conservative government is fundamentally realigning the way Canada delivers foreign aid, using private-sector partners in the mining and agricultural sectors. In some instances the government's aid agency is even helping write legislation regulating the mining industry in developing countries.
But if the policy direction at the Canadian International Aid Agency seems to blur the line between Canada's economic interests and international development goals, it is not something that worries International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda. When asked, during an interview with the Citizen, how she separates Canada's trade and foreign policy interests from Canadian development goals, she replied: "I really don't separate them."
"I think if we can increase the capacity of any country to become a global trading partner, if they've got products Canadians need, we can import them, and if Canada has products they would like, Canada can export them."
And Oda says she wants to see more partnerships between aid agencies and companies to help deliver Canadian aid around the world.
"Our government is very much looking to increase its relationships with the private sector," she said, adding that she would like to see such relationships between NGOs and corporations in manufacturing, agriculture and tourism, in addition to the extractive industry.
Oda said Canada's expertise in the mining and extraction industries — Canada is a global leader in mining — provides "added value" when it comes to international development. "It's another way of improving the effectiveness of CIDA's work," she said.
It is a direction that has divided the foreign aid community and has critics asking whether Canada's international aid strategy has been overtaken by the country's economic interests.
Liberal MP John McKay, who has pushed for more accountability for Canadian mining companies working overseas, calls the policy direction regrettable. "I don't think that poor peoples' money should be, first and foremost, used to benefit our economic interests."
Many of the countries CIDA works in have burgeoning resource development industries and, in many cases, Canadian companies are already there and would like to expand. Oda said helping these countries develop their resources and establish stable economic foundations is the best way to reduce poverty over the long term. CIDA will even help developing countries draft mining legislation to better attract foreign investment, she said. Such investment, she said, builds the economy and reduces poverty.
She pointed to a recently announced CIDA-funded project in which Canadian NGO Plan International Canada is working with the mining company Iamgold Corp. to train young people "in occupations directly related to the mining sector or other sectors surrounding this industry."
"These are all skills that can be left behind, that these people can take to other areas," Oda said. When mining companies from other countries, such as China, go into developing nations, she noted, they bring their own workforce.
The policy direction takes place against the backdrop of the federal government's corporate social responsibility strategy which, according to CIDA documents, is aimed at "improving the competitive advantage of Canadian international extractive sector companies by enhancing their ability to manage social and environmental risk." CIDA's role in the strategy is to help developing countries manage their minerals, oil and gas "and to benefit from these resources to reduce poverty."
The very title of the federal government's CSR strategy, Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector, "suggests that it is corporations that are intended as the real beneficiaries of CSR initiatives," said Catherine Coumans of the group MiningWatch, "with collaborating NGOs following in second place."
The foreign aid link with resource development is likely to be controversial because of the obvious self-interest for Canada. As home to about 75 per cent of global mining companies, any policy that helps open up mining markets around the world or smooths the way for companies already there, will benefit Canada. And it raises legitimate questions about what happens when the government's foreign aid direction clashes with Canada's economic interests.
In recent years some Canadian mining companies have worked to overcome growing concern about the environmental and social impacts of mining around the world — concerns heightened by specific cases in which mining companies were accused of human rights abuses and environmental damage. Many companies have recognized they need a social licence to operate and have adopted corporate social responsibility policies. Partnerships with NGOs, supported by the federal government, are part of this direction.
But linking development assistance to resource development results in mixed motives for CIDA, according to McKay. "Is this for alleviation of poverty, to further our economic and corporate interests, or for gaining influence in particular industries? That has been the problem with CIDA all along: We have mixed motives."
"Why not just wind up CIDA and put it into the international trade portfolio if that is what it is being used for?"
The Canadian aid agencies that are working with mining companies on the pilot projects announced by Oda last fall defend the initiatives as worthwhile and beneficial.
"When NGOS are working in these countries, should we do nothing, or should we roll up our sleeves and push these companies to do better. It is easy to stand on the sidelines and be sanctimonious," said Plan Canada CEO Rosemary McCarney, a founding member of the Devonshire Initiative, which is based on the belief that the Canadian mining and NGO presence in emerging markets can be a force for positive change.
McCarney dismisses critics who say working with mining companies compromises NGOs.
"This is not going to compromise our perspective or our ability to speak out on development practices," she added. Plan Canada is working with Iamgold on a $5.7-million CIDA-funded skills-training project in Burkina Faso. The company contributed $1 million to the project.
McCarney said Plan thought long and hard before getting involved in the project and made sure it was comfortable working with the company and with the project.
"It took a lot of courage, it also took a lot of homework for us. Our reputation is everything for an NGO. You have to partner carefully and purposefully and have your eyes wide open."
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Honduras Security Support Forum Set Up Online
The decision in December by the Peace Corps to pullout its 158 volunteers from Honduras and temporarily suspend its work there has prompted a wave of online discussions by members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that send short-term mission teams or maintain a more long-term in-country presence. These organizations -- ranging from medical brigades, Rotary Clubs and church groups to hospitals, university students and foundations -- send more than 2,000 teams (view a sampling at www.hondurasweekly.com/news/missions-calendar) to Honduras each year, work with thousands of Honduran counterparts, and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the country. Many of them are now concerned about the security situation in Honduras and are starting to have second thoughts about continuing their missions and projects there -- not because they've had a bad experience or suddenly feel threatened, but out of a sense of uncertainty and a simple desire to keep their members safe. These feelings have been fueled by the Peace Corp's move and articles in the international press highlighting the high homicide rate in Honduras.
Most humanitarian groups that have developed a connection to Honduras do not wish to abandon the country and its people, but they are searching for balanced information that is not influenced by the government, the business community, or political interest groups either on the left or the right. They are looking for insights, tips, recommendations... anything they can use to help them make well-informed decisions to either stay, leave, or re-adjust... anything that can help them sift through all the scary stuff that they read about in the newspapers and determine what is the reality in the specific areas where they travel and work.
In response to this need, the projecthonduras.com volunteer network last month established the Honduras Security Support Forum. The online listserv currently has 139 subscribers, and it is adding new members every day. These are mostly people who live in Honduras and can offer real-time, on-the-ground personal accounts and suggestions. To subscribe, go to www.groups.yahoo.com/group/honduras-security and click on "Join This Group!". Once your membership has been approved, post a message introducing yourself and briefly state your interest in Honduras. This will help stimulate the conversation.
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“For Sale” Costa Rican Morals!
On the surface we are a well meaning country which readily promotes eco-tourism, surfing, unspoiled beaches, quaint towns and the “Pura Vida” culture. However, the underbelly is uniquely different than what is advertised. Mostly promoted over the Internet or in bars and casinos, what is not marketed by the ICT and CANATUR is sex tourism with access to underage boys and girls.
Costa Rica has only eight law enforcement specialists. They are joined by a few rehabilitation centers who struggle to keep their doors open, some NGOs who volunteer to help the kids and limited, if any, tangible resources dedicated to eliminating these deplorable crimes.
As one might expect, Costa Rica does have a law that is almost never enforced. Article 172 of the penal code, which was amended in April 2009, prescribes penalties of six to ten years imprisonment for the movement of persons both across borders and within the country for the purposes of prostitution, sexual or labor servitude, slavery, forced work or services, servile marriage, forced begging, or other forms of compelled service.
Despite the law and passionate rhetoric, Costa Rican authorities have yet to convict a single case of human trafficking. It is much easier to live in denial and turn a blind eye towards this appalling practice than stand up to organized crime.
Our hypocrisy is derived from the “holier than thou” persona of Costa Rica, when in truth we very much welcome sex tourism, the money it brings and the businesses that it supports. Prostitution has been legal since 1894.
Embedded within legal prostitution lays the well organized, lucrative enterprise of human trafficking, under age prostitution and child pornography. According to UNESCO, human trafficking for sex and slavery is a $42 billion per year business which is only exceeded by the sale of drugs and military weapons.
It is possible our very own Mayor of Quepos, Lutgardo Bolaños, might become the first to be put behind bars. He is accused of embezzlement of public funds and human trafficking for sex exploitation. Mayor Bolaños was arrested in December and released only to be arrested again in January for the very same crime that includes the making of and distribution of child pornography supported by tax payer money. And, once again the Mayor is home, walking free and was not required to post bail. However, the heavy hand of our impotent justice system does make him sign in every fifteen days and he is not allowed to leave the country.
The last time Bolaños was arrested, the report says he had 600 child porn CDs and authorities found master videos of child sex on his computer hard drive; all in his office and all for sale. While I made some phone calls and surfed the Internet, I cannot find anyone to confirm Bolaños was relieved from his post. Apparently he is still the Mayor of Quepos.
Instead of moving up the ladder of decency, Costa Rica moved down a rung in 2011 and was classified as a Tier 2 Watch List country by the U.S. Department of State. This ladder is not very tall. There are only three rungs on it and on the third are those countries that have made little or no effort to curb human trafficking. The Tier 2 Watch List is sort of like being 2 ½ on a 3 point scale of evil.
“The government of Costa Rica does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking…” (U.S. State Department report) Notice the word “minimum”.
This is the second time for Costa Rica, a repeat offender so to speak. We got off the Watch List and moved up to Tier 2, but then fell backwards to an awkward, let´s not talk about it too much because… well because we are Costa Rica and the other countries are not. Besides, such civilized things as approving the tax plan and reform the all new traffic law are priorities.
Costa Rica is identified as a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking and forced labor. The market demand is large enough that many under age boys and girls are imported into this country with some inside assistance to sexually serve well healed customers. Besides home grown victims, the imports mostly come from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Colombia and to a lesser extent even from Russia and Brazil, etc. The common denominator is poverty.
And what about the tourists?
They mostly come from the United States, Germany, Sweden and Italy although we are becoming more and more attractive to men with means living in Costa Rica and coming from other Latin American countries to buy their little piece of “paradise”. They are here with money to spend, ready to “party” and can order up on the menu just about anything, provided they can pay in cash.
The mayor of Quepos pretty much fits the modus operandi of the trafficker. He and his driver allegedly scouted the poorer sections of the Central Valley looking for young girls and boys to sell out or act out illicit sex acts. Some children, reportedly, as young as 12 years old took the bait.
Kids are readily enticed, sold or kidnapped to organized crime and the land of “Pura Vida” is not an exception.
“Young men from Nicaragua, Vietnam, China and other Asian countries, are subject to conditions of forced labor in Costa Rica.” (UNESCO & State Department Report) Most of the forced labor revolves around these children caught into the web of domestic work, fishing, construction and agriculture. They are often held captive and sexually abused.
In April, 2010 thirty-six Asians escaped and were freed by Costa Rican police from “inhumane” conditions aboard two fishing vessels. Given our penchant for dodging accountability, most news outlets reported the ownership of the vessels as well as the owners were not Costa Rican even when the ship (s) were actually registered here and also registered with the ministry of exports, PROCOMER.
According to La Nación, it was determined that the Asians had been beaten and forced to work for no pay and guarded so as not to ever leave the vessels. Our judicial powers never brought to trial any one of the four owners of which one was Costa Rican and all resided in this country at the time despite laws on the books to support prosecution.
There are many good things about Costa Rica, but human trafficking is not one of them. Moreover, it is a crime that includes among its perpetrators expats, nationals and tourists. Along with rape, the effort to eliminate human trafficking is woefully low on our priority list which clearly demonstrates that Costa Rica is for sale, including our morals.
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NGO crackdown: Frontline of the ongoing revolution
As civil society groups prepare for more raids and fight charges of illegal funding, Advisory Council calls for further restrictions on work of NGOs
Operating as a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) in Egypt is no mean feat. Aside from the fear of further crackdowns following last week’s raids and what civil society groups are calling a government-led “smear campaign,” advisory council spokesperson Mohamed El-Khouly on Wednesday urged Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to issue a law further regulating the already carefully monitored activities of NGOs. Most groups are on guard.
“This is just the beginning,” says Khalid Ali, a prominent lawyer whose organisation, the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights, was not visited in the recent raids. “There are rumours that 100 NGOs will be subject to investigation, with some saying as many as 400 will be targeted.”
The fear of investigation is so keenly felt that Ahram Online has received several reports of civil society groups sending staff members home for the week, encouraging workers to remove all personal belongings from offices, and duplicating and securing key files and documents.
Many groups who initially spoke out against the police raids on NGO offices are now declining to comment. On Tuesday, the German government announced it would send a special envoy to Egypt because the German Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Foundation had been raided.
In the latest development, prominent civil society workers and activists (including some whose offices were raided) are set to take legal action against Egypt’s Al-Wafd newspaper following unfounded allegations published in its online edition that the groups had received American funding. The offending article referenced a US diplomatic cable, recently published by online whistleblower Wikileaks, which documented several meetings between Egyptian NGO activists and American diplomats.
“There’s no mention of funding whatsoever in the cable,” says Ghada Shahbender of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), whose name appears in the Wikileaks document. “I never denied meeting with Americans. I will continue to meet with them every chance I get to push our pro-democracy demands.”
“On more than one occasion at these meetings I have personally criticised American foreign policy double standards in dealing with the region,” she said. “This comes in the context of a harassment campaign by the state aimed at discrediting human rights advocates and organisations that report on state crimes.”
Daily News Egypt reported on Tuesday that the editor of Al-Wafd’s online news portal, Adel Sabry, had admitted to inaccuracies in the article on a television talk show. Nevertheless, the piece, entitled ‘‘Wikileaks announces the names of those who got American funding”, remains online.
Interestingly, the Egyptian police website (www.egypolice.com), an informal webpage run by the media office of the Ministry of Interior, picked up the Al-Wafd story and – despite both parties having access to a translation of the Wikileaks document – simultaneously published a post entitled, “Urgent and surprising… Wikileaks announces on its website the activists and politicians that had American funding.” The fact that a website claiming to represent one arm of the Egyptian security apparatus is taking the (factually incorrect) state party-line of a supposed “opposition” party newspaper is concerning.
Ali believes the action taken against NGOs is likely to escalate. “They may even take some groups to court and imprison NGO workers,” he told Ahram Online. Ali also fears his organisation will be targeted as it is mentioned in a recent government fact-finding report.
The report was first mentioned in July 2011 by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Abul-Naga and commissioned by Minister of Justice Mohamed Abdel Aziz El-Guindi. The document, which was leaked to El-Fager newspaper in late September, purportedly identifies 39 Egyptian and American civil society groups that are operating “without a license from the Ministry of Social Solidarity (for the Egyptian organisations) or from the foreign ministry (for the American organisations).”
The list includes the three American NGOs – the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI) and Freedom House – that were raided last Thursday.
However, as NDI director Julie Hughes told Ahram Online, obtaining these licenses can be difficult. The NDI has been attempting to register for six years, she explained. They were finally told in June 2011 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they would not be granted a licence for “political reasons.”
“The authorities want most of these organisations to be registered because, when you register, the agreement comes from State Security, so you’re under their jurisdiction,” said Ali. “The authority’s objective is to force all NGOs and organisations to work under their authority.”
Ghada, whose organisation is licensed, agrees: “We are monitored and controlled by the Ministry of Social Solidarity under legislation passed in 2003 that gives the government complete control over NGOs. We object to this, but the EOHR nevertheless operates within their guidelines.”
Foreign funding has also been another reason to target NGOs, which, again, must be approved by the Ministry of Social Solidarity. In August, the Supreme State Security Prosecution launched investigations into foreign funding allegations, warning that groups could be charged with high treason, conspiracy against the state and compromising national security through the implementation of foreign agendas.
This is despite the fact that the Egyptian Armed Forces receive $1.3 billion in annual military aid from the US in an agreement that links Egypt to Israel’s US aid package.
“Most NGOs have foreign funding because there is very little money in Egypt,” one civil society worker who wished to remain anonymous for fear a backlash, told Ahram Online. “The Ministry of Social Solidarity will only fund projects that are in line with government politics, ruling out certain topics. We tried to run a project on prostitution, but they don’t want to be seen backing immoral people, so we didn’t get the funding.”
Bypassing legal means of funding can sometimes be the only way to work effectively on the ground, civil society workers say, forcing NGOs to violate the law and encouraging corruption. The legal situation for these NGOs leaves them in a precarious position, as outlined in a complaint letter written by civil society groups to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) following the recent crackdown on NGOs.
The 2003 legislation, which the letter says is systematically vague and has not been updated since the fall of the Mubarak regime, states that NGOs can only be created with approval from the Ministry of Solidarity (see Article 6). Article 17 of the law confirms that all receipt of funds must go through the ministry, while articles 34 and 42 give the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the security apparatus the right to object to board elections and disqualify candidates from the board. It also gives them extensive rights to dissolve civic associations.
The document cites the treatment of the New Woman Foundation as a recent example of ministry interference in the work of NGOs. The ministry was able to reject a prestigious international award the foundation had received on the grounds that the foundation was advocating for a new law conforming to international standards, which the ministry claimed was outside the remit of NGOs.
The letter sees this action as symptomatic of the “authoritarian” behaviour of the ministry and is in “clear violation of Article 22, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” The letter also condemned the minister’s request to Egypt’s central bank to allow him to monitor NGO bank accounts, saying this represented a breach of account confidentially “upheld in Law 88/2033.”
The purpose and details of last week’s raids on NGO offices remain unclear.
Abu El-Naga, who appears to be the spokeswoman for the crackdown, gave no clear explanation as to why this particular group of civil society organisations had been chosen. The initial number of offices targeted was set at 17, but was then reduced to ten in the national and international media. Until now, Ahram Online has only been able to confirm seven. No official list has been issued.
Ahram Online can confirm that the targeted organisations are the NDI, the IRI, Freedom House, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Foundation, the Arab Centre for Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession (ACIJLP), the Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory and the Future Centre of Judiciary Studies.
There are some obvious political motives behind the choice. The three American organisations are on the NGO hit-list drawn up by the Ministry of Justice. The Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory has been campaigning against the secrecy of the military budget – a controversial topic and one of the main features of the SCAF’s supra-constitutional proposal. Nasser Amin, ACIJLP director and Helwan parliamentary candidate, recently filed a court case because of potential vote rigging.
The Egyptian authorities may also have used the raids to send a message to Washington. At the very least, including American NGOs and a German foundation would help support the domestic party line that the government was cracking down on organisations with “foreign agendas.”
Civil society groups also question the use of paramilitary troops rather than normal police officers and the bizarre behaviour of the security forces, which included confiscating a water boiler, inspecting bathrooms and looking at a roof. Several of these groups have been operating since 2005 – so why raid them now? Then, in a televised interview with Abul-Naga, the government claimed the SCAF had no knowledge of the raids.
The actions last Thursday are not new. "This crackdown on Egyptian civil society has been happening for years,” said the anonymous NGO worker. “People who have been working for land rights in Egypt have been consistently tortured and imprisoned, from as far back as the 90s. It’s only new in the sense that we’re now supposed to be ‘post-revolution’.”
She emphasised that, since Mubarak stepped down, NGOs had become bolder in their work, which, she says, the SCAF rightly identifies as having contributed to the revolutionary process. Ghada agrees, seeing the raids as an extension of the security forces’ behaviour in November’s and December’s clashes in Cairo: “We have yet to see reform,” she said. “Events of the last quarter of 2011 show the SCAF is trying to abort the Egyptian revolution.”
The Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) and Alliance for reproductive Health Right (ARHIR), two groups engaged in health advocacy and Accountability in four Dormaa communities have held a forum for their target communities at Dormaa-Ahenkro.
The target communities are; Duasidan, Yaakrom, Supong and Aboabo No. 3 from where the two NGOs have already selected and trained volunteers on pertinent health issues and the role expected of communities in maintaining good health within a healthy environment.
The forum in Dormaa-Ahenkro targeted school children, assembly members, parents, women groups, security agencies and the media and was particularly designed to drum home what the various communities should do to reduce the current level of maternal mortality which rose from 6 in 2010 to nine in 2011.
Highlights of the forum included the screening of a film dubbed; “The lights have gone out again”, which portrayed the realities being encountered by expectant mothers in selected health facilities across the country.
It also exposed vividly some basic difficulties plaguing the health facilities and staff and what some key personalities including physicians and hospital administrators wished could be done to rescue the situation.
Participants were expected to take the subject matter of the film to their communities to assist them fashion out programmes and collaborations aimed at securing zero maternal death in 2012.
This they were to do by harnessing all available human and material resource including people’s expertise, vehicles and community spirit to ensure that no woman dies while giving” birth to life”
CEDEP’s Health Coordinator, Aba Oppong, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Dormaa-Ahenkro, noted that it remained a baffle as to why pregnant women should die while giving birth.
She bemoaned the persisting traditional notion in parts of the country that a pregnant woman should be kept at home until such a time that her conditions have worsened.
The Health Coordinator stressed that such eleventh-hour decisions do not only endanger the pregnant mother’s life but also places the competence and reputation of health institutions and their staff in jeopardy as the deaths were usually pronounced by the health facilities and were therefore deemed to have occurred there.
She therefore called on all stakeholders including families, husbands, pregnant women, community members, health staff and drivers to close their ranks and treat all pregnant women with utmost care from time of pregnancy to childbirth.
This way, Ms. Oppong said, the pregnant woman would become the object of care to everybody in the community whose smooth delivery would constitute the joy of the entire community.
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U.S. Embassy haven for Cairo NGO staffers
Americans employed by non-governmental organizations in Egypt were sheltered by the U.S. Embassy Monday amid fears they could be arrested, U.S. officials said.
A "handful of U.S. citizens have opted to stay in the embassy compound in Cairo while awaiting permission to depart Egypt," a senior State Department official told The Washington Post as U.S.-Egyptian relations hit a new low.
The official would not say if the sheltered citizens included Sam LaHood, director of the Cairo office of the International Republican Institute, a U.S.-funded pro-democracy organization.
LaHood, the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is one of at least six American pro-democracy workers barred from leaving the country.
The official would not explain what threat, if any, prompted the embassy to take the highly unusual step of opening its doors to secure the Americans.
"They weren't in immediate physical danger, that we are aware of," the official told the Post.
A former IRI official told the newspaper his former colleagues had said they would take embassy shelter only as a last resort, if they had reason to believe their arrest was imminent.
IRI Middle East Director Scott Mastic told Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera he feared Egypt was about to issue arrest warrants "for the purpose of bringing people to trial."
"We don't have any way to confirm that that is about to happen, but the existence of a no-exit list to me demonstrates some intent to move persons to trial, and obviously we are very worried about the prospect of our staff being arrested," he said.
The provision of sanctuary began Sunday as senior Egyptian generals landed in Washington to try to mend relations with the United States. Congress is considering slashing $1.33 billion in annual military aid to Egypt.
The delegation, accompanied by defense officials from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, planned to discuss the crackdown on non-governmental organizations and the now-at-risk military aid with State Department and Pentagon officials, and with Capitol Hill lawmakers, Egypt's state-run Middle East News Agency reported.
Egyptian authorities last month raided the offices of several U.S.-funded organizations, including IRI, the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House.
The groups work with Egyptian politicians and political parties to promote accountability and transparency in government.
Egypt's military authorities say dozens of Egyptian and foreign civil-society organizations that receive foreign funding operate without government permission. They have operated for years without endorsement because Cairo did not let them register as NGOs.
Meanwhile, Egypt's Foreign Ministry responded Sunday to the resignations of three top Washington lobbyists who quit Friday over the NGO crackdown. The ministry said the lobbyists did not quit but rather were terminated as a cost-cutting measure.
Separately, Egypt's state media reported Sunday the country's military rulers asked a panel of advisers for suggestions about handing over power to civilians earlier than the scheduled June deadline.
The military, which did not indicate if the request meant it was considering the move, has vowed to give up power only after a new constitution's ratification and a new president's election, both expected in June. The military said it wanted to oversee the constitution's drafting.
The developments came as Egyptians began voting for Parliament's upper house. In contrast to the November start of lower house voting, when people lined up for blocks and voted in record numbers, polling stations Sunday were largely empty, al-Jazeera reported.
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D.C. lobbyists cut ties with Egyptian government as raid controversy deepens
Several Washington lobbyists announced Saturday that they are ending their contract with the Egyptian government, as the controversy deepens over raids conducted on the offices of American advocacy groups.
Since the late December raids on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) based in the U.S. and other countries, the Egyptian government has intensified its crackdown. Most recently, the government has prevented several Americans, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, from leaving the country.
As the State Department intervened, the D.C. lobbying firm that represented the Egyptian government for years -- even before Hosni Mubarak was overthrown -- came under fire. Though one of the principals has argued that the lobbyists told Cairo the raids were a bad idea, the firm did send out a memo after the crackdown that appeared to justify the government's actions.
In a written statement Saturday, the PLM Group announced it was "immediately ending their relationship after a four-year engagement."
"We hope that Egyptians continue to enjoy the deepening of democracy in their country, and that Egypt remains a strong, stable and vital ally of the United States," the lobbyists said.
The principals in the group are former U.S. Reps. Toby Moffett and Bob Livingston, as well as Tony Podesta. All three have their own separate lobbying firms in D.C.
The statement did not offer any explanation, but it comes after U.S. lawmakers put pressure on the lobbyists.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., earlier in the week claimed "their influence-peddling undermines American values."
"Is there no shame in this town?" Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., said in an interview with FoxNews.com on Wednesday when asked about the lobbying work.
Livingston told FoxNews.com, though, that his group was not defending the raids, and in fact told the government that they were a "mistake."
Meanwhile, the U.S. government and the NGOs are struggling to get the Egyptian government to ease off.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Friday that the Obama administration had not made progress with the Egyptians on the NGO issue.
Sam LaHood, one of at least six Americans currently barred from leaving Egypt, told Fox News the workers are "kind of expecting the worst."
"There hasn't been a lot of movement -- nothing has really changed," he said.
Though the workers have not been arrested, they are concerned about the possibility. LaHood said if the case did go to trial, the penalty could be up to five years in jail.
LaHood runs the Egypt program for the International Republican Institute. The offices of the National Democratic Institute and Freedom House, other U.S.-based groups, were also raided last month, in addition to the offices of other non-American groups.
"It's a little bit scary for us to be facing these very serious allegations but, you know, also for the Egyptian employees who work for these organizations," LaHood told Fox News.
The Egyptian government closed the NGOs' offices and confiscated equipment during the raids -- the groups claim the government so far has not returned the material. They were accused of operating without the proper registration and using foreign money.
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NGOs talk of collapse as their funding dries up
Government rejects allegations of biased grants.
CAPE TOWN - Welfare organisations who haven’t received lottery funding this year have spoken about their plight, saying they may be forced to close down or drastically cut their services to the poor.
“We’re in a desperate situation. The people we support with food parcels twice a month were crying when we told them we would probably not be able to help them anymore. They have nowhere else to go for help,” the chairperson of the Port Alfred Benevolent Society, Joy Altson, told Moneyweb.
After years of support from the National Lotteries Board, Alston was informed that her application had been turned down because of “insufficient funds” and a decision “to fund only first-time applicants”.
She says this came as a shock.
“I put in a huge appeal. I said: ‘If you have to give me less, then you have to do it. But don’t cut me out completely. I can’t turn around to 1 500 people and say: ‘I can’t give you anything.’”
But the NLB hasn’t responded. “If we don’t get money from the lottery, we’re going to have to close down.”
The society’s community gardens and skills programmes are also at stake.
Alston’s story is one of many that have emerged this week, a week in which there’s been a flurry of criticism about the way in which the lottery money is distributed.
On Friday morning, about 400 protestors, mostly from NGOs, marched on the offices of the National Lottery Fund in Pretoria.
“It’s time we made our voices heard,” said NGO trainer, Sandra Miller, who convened the protest. She said non-profits have been wary of protesting in the past as they don’t want to jeopardise their applications to the NLB.
Civic leaders, NGOs and the Democratic Alliance have all spoken out about the lottery funds this week, with the DA’s spokesperson on Trade and Industry Jacques Smalle alleging that it had seen “a growing trend of NGOs being overlooked in favour of ANC-affiliated organizations.
“As a result, poor people suffer while party elites benefit”, the DA has charged.
But the Department of Trade and Industry’s spokesperson, Sidwell Medupe, says the process of adjudication is performed by independent distributing agencies “with no room for any political organisation to influence.
“These committees act without fear or prejudice in the interest of all South Africans”, he told Moneyweb.
Alarm bells were sounded just over a year ago when R40m in lottery funds was given to the ANC-affiliated National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).
More recently, Shelagh Gastrow, the founder of Inyathelo, the South African Institute of Advancement, which assists NGOs, raised what she alleges was “an extremely dubious payment” to Makhaya, an organisation based in Serbia that says on its website that it promotes the arts and tourism to South Africa.
“It’s a for-profit company masquerading as a non-profit. When we looked it up, we discovered they supply services to the South African diplomatic corps and run events for them. Many staff members live in Serbia, yet they walk off with R50m from lottery funds,” she told Moneyweb.
The DA claims that the NGO employs the daughter of the National Lotteries Board chairperson, Alfred Nevhutanda.
Administrative glitches can also lead to funding cuts.
CEO of Sparrow Ministries, Rose Letwaba, says it appears an administrative error put an end to its funding for this year.
“The NLB’s excuse was that we sent our application with the number on the envelope instead of on the document. We had applied for R29m. But we got nothing. We’re just waiting for the end of the financial year. But we’ve already called in the staff to say we’ll have to retrench people.”
For the past few years, the NLB was the key funder for the Sparrow Ministries hospice and children’s home looking after 225 children and 80 adults.
NGOs applying for funding have to fax their documents to the NLB. If small administrative mistakes are made or papers lost, claims are often rejected – and there’s no appeals process. They say it’s devastating when they rely so much on lotto funding.
“We’re just hoping that someone at Lotto will see things from a grassroots level. We don’t do our work for the money. We do it for humanity,” says Letwaba.
Miller says haphazard and ‘biased’ dispensing tactics have come at a particularly bad time for welfare agencies and NGOs.
“It couldn’t come at a worse time when corporate South Africa is broke. The recession has taken its toll.”
Gastrow believes the distribution system is “fatally flawed and unworkable”.
“There’s no process by which people can object to a decision. There’s no clarity about what the lottery is for. Even municipalities can apply for funding.
Gastrow believes the system needs to be urgently overhauled.
Amendments to the Lotteries Act are already on the Parliamentary programme of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry.
But Gastrow says tinkering alone will fall far short of what’s needed.
Both Gastrow and the DA have called for board members on the NLB’s distribution agencies to serve full-time. Currently, they only serve 1.5 days a month. “This means grants don’t get processed and money goes unallocated,” says Smalle.
Medupe says he’s aware of the backlog. “The minister has impressed on the NLB that it must implement measures to improve turnaround times. These are being monitored closely.”
During a press conference in Pretoria on Friday, Nevhutanda, conceded that they needed to find new ways to deal with the backlogs.
“We take allegations made in the media seriously – claims of requests for bribes, losing information and irregular grants. Remedial action will be taken where needed,” he told journalists.
But, for now, his words hold cold comfort for people like Letwaba and Altson.
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How to Leverage Collaboration to Make Your Business Thrive
Following up on last week’s blog post about how, in the midst of the economic downturn, the best corporate citizens built more successful ways of working with governments and NGOs, we now look at how to help organizations establish these relationship by shining a light on real-world examples and providing a platform for connecting with potential partners.
At the 2011 COMMIT!Forum we highlighted several new models of collaboration. Two of my personal favorites were the work done by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Compass Group to alleviate slave-like working conditions for migrant workers in Florida and the work of Western Union and USAID to establish an African Diaspora Marketplace to harness the wealth and entrepreneurialism of this community to jump-start new businesses in Africa itself. These initiatives exemplify the successful practices discussed in the previous blog post. “Challenge campaigns” and “prizes,” like the COMMIT!Campaign and Clinton Global Initiative, have become increasingly popular ways of calling companies to make new “commitments” to changing the world. In reflecting on these best practices, we can also see some ways to restructure “challenge campaigns” to be more effective.
* Relish self-interest. When Bono said he hoped companies participating in his Product (RED) campaign would make huge profits, he faced a firestorm of criticism especially from the non-profit sector. While no one benefits from unconstrained avarice, we see more, not less benefit for target communities when the business has an enduring self-interest in solving the problem at hand. The solution is not to strip away self-interest, but to frame the problem in a way that a corporate partner can engage for the long-term. In the case of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Compass Group, the Coalition could have asked Compass to just write a check. Instead, it showed Compass that it had a human and a brand interest in improving working conditions and in driving commitment through its supply chain.
* Insist on mutual accountability. We’ve made it a requirement that participants in the COMMIT!Campaign a) publicly state a goal, and b) commit to on-going coverage of the commitment in CR Magazine. Other challenge campaigns should use similar models to reinforce a culture of measurement and accountability between commitment partners.
To help further the development of these new models of collaboration, we’ve restructured the COMMIT!Campaign for 2012. Through the campaign, governments, and NGOs can publicly articulate “commitments” — specific programs with measurable results for which they need corporate support — and we’ll work with them to find the right corporate sponsors. We’ll also track and report progress from the 2011 and 2012 Campaigns in CR Magazine. If you have a worthy cause that you’d like to see become part of the Campaign, sign on here.
We also want your input on how to create even stronger forms of collaboration:
* What do you think makes for the best kind of NGO-government-company collaboration?
* Do you have examples where things have gone dramatically right or dramatically wrong?
* What kinds of people need to be in leadership positions on all sides?
* How can we increase involvement on all sides?
The bad news is that the world continues to struggle through a tough economic climate. The good news is that because of that tough climate, creative and inspired people are not just making do, but finding ways to excel. Budget deficits have driven governments and NGOs to find corporate partners. Trust deficits mean businesses are looking to good works to build their brands. Together, like-minded people combine their financial, trust, and acumen assets to make partnerships that are all the stronger because of the “forced” collaboration.
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Should NGOs take the corporate bait?
This is the third of a four-part series on innovative ways to deliver aid in our conflicted world.
Every economic slump ushers in predictable, if not propagandistic, debates about Official Development Assistance, otherwise known as foreign aid. While Stephen Harper’s government has frozen aid spending through to 2015, the real anti-aid evangelicals can be found to the south, at the Republican primaries. Ron Paul, whose greatest accomplishment is that the press is still willing to hand him a microphone, has pledged to cancel American foreign aid altogether. There are, therefore, compelling reasons to consider where aid is now and where it might be headed.
The recession has been brutal to those who are reliant on humanitarian assistance for their very survival. European governments have, not surprisingly, made drastic cuts to their aid spending. So has the U.S. Congress, and many foundations are operating on reduced budgets. The effect has been that non-governmental organizations around the world are swimming in a rapidly evaporating pool of funding, raising the competitive stakes alongside a host of ethical questions.
On this point, several of the world’s leading international charities are now keeping some rather curious company, which could either represent the future of aid – a progressive merger of economic interests and social development – or its fire sale. In September, the Canadian International Development Agency announced a controversial multimillion-dollar grant to three leading international charities who will partner with major Canadian mining firms on development initiatives in African and Latin American countries in which these companies operate.
Under the deal, World University Services Canada, Plan Canada and World Vision Canada will receive CIDA funding totalling $6.7-million for projects with Rio Tinto Alcan, Iamgold and Barrick Gold, respectively. The largest share was for the Plan Canada-Iamgold project, which will take all but $1-million of the CIDA funding over the next five years. For their part, the three mining companies will contribute additional support just shy of $2-million. The combined annual net profit for these firms is more than $4-billion.
Now, on any given day that CIDA makes a funding announcement, the sanctimony served up by those who were overlooked is best cut with the knives sticking out of the backs of those who emerged as big winners. But this one struck at the very heart of the NGO community, leading many to shudder and ask of their colleagues, “How could you?”
Two of the participating mining firms have recently been involved in labour and human-rights disputes related to their operations abroad.
The central tension is whether these NGOs are serving as bagmen, advancing Canadian mining interests with taxpayer funding by appeasing local communities with gifts of health care and education, or whether they are simply piloting a new model of co-operation that might positively influence corporate behaviour overseas while simultaneously addressing development gaps.
Certainly the latter is what the executive director of WUSC, Chris Eaton, is hoping for. He was quoted in The Dominion newspaper expressing his sincere desire that such partnerships will “nudge along good practice.” Perhaps, but they can also buy silence in the case of bad practice, which is inherently more dangerous. And why would CIDA pick up any of the tab to improve the reputation of Canada’s mining sector abroad, if not to cement Mr. Harper’s vision for an aid policy that serves Canada’s trade and economic interests first, officially clearing the belfry of all Pearsonian bats?
Welcome to the new humanitarianism, where government funding is scarce, traditional donors are aging and more organizations are turning to corporate alliances that would once have been viewed as heresy. Yet as the aid sector goes in search of new funding models, we might do well to remember a line from the 17th-century English poet John Dryden: “Better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.”
Samantha Nutt is a founder of the NGO War Child and the author of Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid. To see a video conversation with Dr. Nutt, visit the Canadian International Council’s website at www.opencanada.org/newhumanitarians.
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NGOs upbeat over China's environmental transparency progress
Survey reveals greater pressure on major players such as Apple and the Beijing government to clean up
Green activists applauded steady progress on environmental transparency in China after public campaigns forced major players, including Apple and the Beijing government, to release sensitive information on pollution and its origins.
A survey on openness and accountability released Monday showed that, while the overall situation remains poor, an increasingly informed public is putting greater pressure on companies and local authorities to clean up.
The upbeat assessment was made in the third annual report on Pollution Information Transparency by Chinese NGOs and the US-based Natural Resources Defence Council, just days after two major steps in the campaign to improve environmental transparency in China.
This month, the Beijing government started releasing real-time data on the most toxic form of air pollution. On Friday, Apple published a previously secret list of its suppliers and outlined the steps it has taken to deal with illegal discharges of hazardous waste.
The latest transparency report shows patchy progress in releasing data and responding to requests for information, although these are legally mandated.
In a survey of 113 cities, the authors note gradual improvement among municipal governments in economically advanced regions, such as the Pearl River delta and the Yangtze basin. However, in other areas, such as Shandong and Inner Mongolia, the authorities were less responsive than a year earlier.
But the overall trend was positive, marking the third year of gains. Recent scandals and growing public pressure have forced a rethink. Last year, the company's senior executives opened communications with Chinese environmental organisations represented by Ma Jun of the Institute for Public and Environmental Affairs.
"We can draw the conclusion that a system for environmental information transparency has been established at an initial stage in China," said Ma.
There were also advances in the corporate sector. The report noted that more than 500 enterprises are now communicating with environmental NGOs about their monitoring and disclosure systems. This is up from almost none five years ago, but there are many thousands that have yet to engage with civil society in such a constructive manner.
Until recently Apple was one of them. The US firm had been accused of being as secretive and unresponsive as the Chinese authorities when its suppliers were implicated in labour disputes and pollution scandals.
Last week, however, the company responded to critics of its environmental, labour and transparency standards by detailing how it has dealt with problems ranging from illegal pollution discharges to falsified account books.
The US firm said it expanded the number of audits by 80 percent last year and, in addition, launched a specialised program in China to address environmental concerns.
The measures were detailed in the latest Progress Report on Apple Supplier Responsibility, which was released on Friday. For the first time, the annual report included the names of 156 companies that together account for 97 percent of Apple's outsourced manufacturing business.
The company found facilities that had been breaking air emission and wastewater discharge limits, using factories that were releasing industrial effluent via unapproved outflow pipes and failing to register pollution. In the most egregious cases, Apple said it had suspended business with the violators until improvements were in place.
Management of hazardous waste and air pollution appeared to be a particular worry. The compliance rate with Apple's standards in these category was just 68%, suggesting a widespread failure to implements the necessary safety and monitoring procedures. The company said 69 facilities were not recycling or disposing of hazardous waste as required by law.
However, it remains unclear how far down the supply chain the company's audits have reached. Many foreign businesses acknowledge difficulty in monitoring their supplier's suppliers, although it is often at the lower levels – where the profit margins are tightest – that the worst transgressions take place. Other firms are also considering more positive steps, including European telecoms operators who last week held a workshop on improving transparency in their supply chains.
To improve the system, environmentalists are calling for a national registry where companies can publicly report their pollution data, which would accelerate, simplify and improve public supervision. This has been effective in other nations.
"There is plenty of room to improve but we are seeing progress every year," said Bernadette Brennan of the National Resources Defence Council. "On the whole the trend is towards open information. More people realise this is good for society and good for business."
State planners are aware that transparency was a key element in the clear-up of other polluted countries, but it has struggled to enforce compliance and lacks the tools of an independent judiciary and free media that were also key elements in spreading and using data to put pressure on polluters.
The ministry of environment previously warned that polluters were operating in a "black box" but the latest report suggests progress is possible.
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NGOs seek tit-for-tat rules on visas
More than 20 civil society groups called on the government Wednesday to treat foreign nationals who wish to visit Lebanon the same way their countries treat Lebanese when they apply for visas, expressing frustration that Lebanese are treated as “inferior” by many countries.
The groups also called on the government to pressure states to treat Lebanese decently.
“We call on the Lebanese state to force states with which it maintains diplomatic ties to treat the Lebanese the same way Lebanon treats the nationals from these states,” activist Hayat Arslan told a news conference at her residence in Aley which was attended by representatives of nearly two dozen associations.
“We are treated as inferior when we seek a visa to most countries, whether for work, tourism or medical treatment, as if we are second class people,” she added.
Arslan called on the government to enforce certain rules governing how embassies treat Lebanese.
According to Arslan, Lebanon should force foreign embassies to set dates for appointments for Lebanese seeking visas within a “specified and plausible period of hours or days, rather than weeks or months.”
The civil society groups also requested that Lebanese applying for a visa be treated decently, be given explanations if their request for an appointment is rejected, be notified if any necessary documents for a visa application are missing and have fees returned to them by consulates or embassies if they are denied a visa.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on January 26, 2012, on page 3.
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Questions raised about foreign aid link with resource development
The Conservative government is fundamentally realigning the way Canada delivers foreign aid, using private-sector partners in the mining and agricultural sectors. In some instances the government's aid agency is even helping write legislation regulating the mining industry in developing countries.
But if the policy direction at the Canadian International Aid Agency seems to blur the line between Canada's economic interests and international development goals, it is not something that worries International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda. When asked, during an interview with the Citizen, how she separates Canada's trade and foreign policy interests from Canadian development goals, she replied: "I really don't separate them."
"I think if we can increase the capacity of any country to become a global trading partner, if they've got products Canadians need, we can import them, and if Canada has products they would like, Canada can export them."
And Oda says she wants to see more partnerships between aid agencies and companies to help deliver Canadian aid around the world.
"Our government is very much looking to increase its relationships with the private sector," she said, adding that she would like to see such relationships between NGOs and corporations in manufacturing, agriculture and tourism, in addition to the extractive industry.
Oda said Canada's expertise in the mining and extraction industries — Canada is a global leader in mining — provides "added value" when it comes to international development. "It's another way of improving the effectiveness of CIDA's work," she said.
It is a direction that has divided the foreign aid community and has critics asking whether Canada's international aid strategy has been overtaken by the country's economic interests.
Liberal MP John McKay, who has pushed for more accountability for Canadian mining companies working overseas, calls the policy direction regrettable. "I don't think that poor peoples' money should be, first and foremost, used to benefit our economic interests."
Many of the countries CIDA works in have burgeoning resource development industries and, in many cases, Canadian companies are already there and would like to expand. Oda said helping these countries develop their resources and establish stable economic foundations is the best way to reduce poverty over the long term. CIDA will even help developing countries draft mining legislation to better attract foreign investment, she said. Such investment, she said, builds the economy and reduces poverty.
She pointed to a recently announced CIDA-funded project in which Canadian NGO Plan International Canada is working with the mining company Iamgold Corp. to train young people "in occupations directly related to the mining sector or other sectors surrounding this industry."
"These are all skills that can be left behind, that these people can take to other areas," Oda said. When mining companies from other countries, such as China, go into developing nations, she noted, they bring their own workforce.
The policy direction takes place against the backdrop of the federal government's corporate social responsibility strategy which, according to CIDA documents, is aimed at "improving the competitive advantage of Canadian international extractive sector companies by enhancing their ability to manage social and environmental risk." CIDA's role in the strategy is to help developing countries manage their minerals, oil and gas "and to benefit from these resources to reduce poverty."
The very title of the federal government's CSR strategy, Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector, "suggests that it is corporations that are intended as the real beneficiaries of CSR initiatives," said Catherine Coumans of the group MiningWatch, "with collaborating NGOs following in second place."
The foreign aid link with resource development is likely to be controversial because of the obvious self-interest for Canada. As home to about 75 per cent of global mining companies, any policy that helps open up mining markets around the world or smooths the way for companies already there, will benefit Canada. And it raises legitimate questions about what happens when the government's foreign aid direction clashes with Canada's economic interests.
In recent years some Canadian mining companies have worked to overcome growing concern about the environmental and social impacts of mining around the world — concerns heightened by specific cases in which mining companies were accused of human rights abuses and environmental damage. Many companies have recognized they need a social licence to operate and have adopted corporate social responsibility policies. Partnerships with NGOs, supported by the federal government, are part of this direction.
But linking development assistance to resource development results in mixed motives for CIDA, according to McKay. "Is this for alleviation of poverty, to further our economic and corporate interests, or for gaining influence in particular industries? That has been the problem with CIDA all along: We have mixed motives."
"Why not just wind up CIDA and put it into the international trade portfolio if that is what it is being used for?"
The Canadian aid agencies that are working with mining companies on the pilot projects announced by Oda last fall defend the initiatives as worthwhile and beneficial.
"When NGOS are working in these countries, should we do nothing, or should we roll up our sleeves and push these companies to do better. It is easy to stand on the sidelines and be sanctimonious," said Plan Canada CEO Rosemary McCarney, a founding member of the Devonshire Initiative, which is based on the belief that the Canadian mining and NGO presence in emerging markets can be a force for positive change.
McCarney dismisses critics who say working with mining companies compromises NGOs.
"This is not going to compromise our perspective or our ability to speak out on development practices," she added. Plan Canada is working with Iamgold on a $5.7-million CIDA-funded skills-training project in Burkina Faso. The company contributed $1 million to the project.
McCarney said Plan thought long and hard before getting involved in the project and made sure it was comfortable working with the company and with the project.
"It took a lot of courage, it also took a lot of homework for us. Our reputation is everything for an NGO. You have to partner carefully and purposefully and have your eyes wide open."
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Honduras Security Support Forum Set Up Online
The decision in December by the Peace Corps to pullout its 158 volunteers from Honduras and temporarily suspend its work there has prompted a wave of online discussions by members of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that send short-term mission teams or maintain a more long-term in-country presence. These organizations -- ranging from medical brigades, Rotary Clubs and church groups to hospitals, university students and foundations -- send more than 2,000 teams (view a sampling at www.hondurasweekly.com/news/missions-calendar) to Honduras each year, work with thousands of Honduran counterparts, and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the country. Many of them are now concerned about the security situation in Honduras and are starting to have second thoughts about continuing their missions and projects there -- not because they've had a bad experience or suddenly feel threatened, but out of a sense of uncertainty and a simple desire to keep their members safe. These feelings have been fueled by the Peace Corp's move and articles in the international press highlighting the high homicide rate in Honduras.
Most humanitarian groups that have developed a connection to Honduras do not wish to abandon the country and its people, but they are searching for balanced information that is not influenced by the government, the business community, or political interest groups either on the left or the right. They are looking for insights, tips, recommendations... anything they can use to help them make well-informed decisions to either stay, leave, or re-adjust... anything that can help them sift through all the scary stuff that they read about in the newspapers and determine what is the reality in the specific areas where they travel and work.
In response to this need, the projecthonduras.com volunteer network last month established the Honduras Security Support Forum. The online listserv currently has 139 subscribers, and it is adding new members every day. These are mostly people who live in Honduras and can offer real-time, on-the-ground personal accounts and suggestions. To subscribe, go to www.groups.yahoo.com/group/honduras-security and click on "Join This Group!". Once your membership has been approved, post a message introducing yourself and briefly state your interest in Honduras. This will help stimulate the conversation.
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“For Sale” Costa Rican Morals!
On the surface we are a well meaning country which readily promotes eco-tourism, surfing, unspoiled beaches, quaint towns and the “Pura Vida” culture. However, the underbelly is uniquely different than what is advertised. Mostly promoted over the Internet or in bars and casinos, what is not marketed by the ICT and CANATUR is sex tourism with access to underage boys and girls.
Costa Rica has only eight law enforcement specialists. They are joined by a few rehabilitation centers who struggle to keep their doors open, some NGOs who volunteer to help the kids and limited, if any, tangible resources dedicated to eliminating these deplorable crimes.
As one might expect, Costa Rica does have a law that is almost never enforced. Article 172 of the penal code, which was amended in April 2009, prescribes penalties of six to ten years imprisonment for the movement of persons both across borders and within the country for the purposes of prostitution, sexual or labor servitude, slavery, forced work or services, servile marriage, forced begging, or other forms of compelled service.
Despite the law and passionate rhetoric, Costa Rican authorities have yet to convict a single case of human trafficking. It is much easier to live in denial and turn a blind eye towards this appalling practice than stand up to organized crime.
Our hypocrisy is derived from the “holier than thou” persona of Costa Rica, when in truth we very much welcome sex tourism, the money it brings and the businesses that it supports. Prostitution has been legal since 1894.
Embedded within legal prostitution lays the well organized, lucrative enterprise of human trafficking, under age prostitution and child pornography. According to UNESCO, human trafficking for sex and slavery is a $42 billion per year business which is only exceeded by the sale of drugs and military weapons.
It is possible our very own Mayor of Quepos, Lutgardo Bolaños, might become the first to be put behind bars. He is accused of embezzlement of public funds and human trafficking for sex exploitation. Mayor Bolaños was arrested in December and released only to be arrested again in January for the very same crime that includes the making of and distribution of child pornography supported by tax payer money. And, once again the Mayor is home, walking free and was not required to post bail. However, the heavy hand of our impotent justice system does make him sign in every fifteen days and he is not allowed to leave the country.
The last time Bolaños was arrested, the report says he had 600 child porn CDs and authorities found master videos of child sex on his computer hard drive; all in his office and all for sale. While I made some phone calls and surfed the Internet, I cannot find anyone to confirm Bolaños was relieved from his post. Apparently he is still the Mayor of Quepos.
Instead of moving up the ladder of decency, Costa Rica moved down a rung in 2011 and was classified as a Tier 2 Watch List country by the U.S. Department of State. This ladder is not very tall. There are only three rungs on it and on the third are those countries that have made little or no effort to curb human trafficking. The Tier 2 Watch List is sort of like being 2 ½ on a 3 point scale of evil.
“The government of Costa Rica does not comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking…” (U.S. State Department report) Notice the word “minimum”.
This is the second time for Costa Rica, a repeat offender so to speak. We got off the Watch List and moved up to Tier 2, but then fell backwards to an awkward, let´s not talk about it too much because… well because we are Costa Rica and the other countries are not. Besides, such civilized things as approving the tax plan and reform the all new traffic law are priorities.
Costa Rica is identified as a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking and forced labor. The market demand is large enough that many under age boys and girls are imported into this country with some inside assistance to sexually serve well healed customers. Besides home grown victims, the imports mostly come from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Colombia and to a lesser extent even from Russia and Brazil, etc. The common denominator is poverty.
And what about the tourists?
They mostly come from the United States, Germany, Sweden and Italy although we are becoming more and more attractive to men with means living in Costa Rica and coming from other Latin American countries to buy their little piece of “paradise”. They are here with money to spend, ready to “party” and can order up on the menu just about anything, provided they can pay in cash.
The mayor of Quepos pretty much fits the modus operandi of the trafficker. He and his driver allegedly scouted the poorer sections of the Central Valley looking for young girls and boys to sell out or act out illicit sex acts. Some children, reportedly, as young as 12 years old took the bait.
Kids are readily enticed, sold or kidnapped to organized crime and the land of “Pura Vida” is not an exception.
“Young men from Nicaragua, Vietnam, China and other Asian countries, are subject to conditions of forced labor in Costa Rica.” (UNESCO & State Department Report) Most of the forced labor revolves around these children caught into the web of domestic work, fishing, construction and agriculture. They are often held captive and sexually abused.
In April, 2010 thirty-six Asians escaped and were freed by Costa Rican police from “inhumane” conditions aboard two fishing vessels. Given our penchant for dodging accountability, most news outlets reported the ownership of the vessels as well as the owners were not Costa Rican even when the ship (s) were actually registered here and also registered with the ministry of exports, PROCOMER.
According to La Nación, it was determined that the Asians had been beaten and forced to work for no pay and guarded so as not to ever leave the vessels. Our judicial powers never brought to trial any one of the four owners of which one was Costa Rican and all resided in this country at the time despite laws on the books to support prosecution.
There are many good things about Costa Rica, but human trafficking is not one of them. Moreover, it is a crime that includes among its perpetrators expats, nationals and tourists. Along with rape, the effort to eliminate human trafficking is woefully low on our priority list which clearly demonstrates that Costa Rica is for sale, including our morals.
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NGO crackdown: Frontline of the ongoing revolution
As civil society groups prepare for more raids and fight charges of illegal funding, Advisory Council calls for further restrictions on work of NGOs
Operating as a nongovernmental organisation (NGO) in Egypt is no mean feat. Aside from the fear of further crackdowns following last week’s raids and what civil society groups are calling a government-led “smear campaign,” advisory council spokesperson Mohamed El-Khouly on Wednesday urged Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to issue a law further regulating the already carefully monitored activities of NGOs. Most groups are on guard.
“This is just the beginning,” says Khalid Ali, a prominent lawyer whose organisation, the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights, was not visited in the recent raids. “There are rumours that 100 NGOs will be subject to investigation, with some saying as many as 400 will be targeted.”
The fear of investigation is so keenly felt that Ahram Online has received several reports of civil society groups sending staff members home for the week, encouraging workers to remove all personal belongings from offices, and duplicating and securing key files and documents.
Many groups who initially spoke out against the police raids on NGO offices are now declining to comment. On Tuesday, the German government announced it would send a special envoy to Egypt because the German Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Foundation had been raided.
In the latest development, prominent civil society workers and activists (including some whose offices were raided) are set to take legal action against Egypt’s Al-Wafd newspaper following unfounded allegations published in its online edition that the groups had received American funding. The offending article referenced a US diplomatic cable, recently published by online whistleblower Wikileaks, which documented several meetings between Egyptian NGO activists and American diplomats.
“There’s no mention of funding whatsoever in the cable,” says Ghada Shahbender of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), whose name appears in the Wikileaks document. “I never denied meeting with Americans. I will continue to meet with them every chance I get to push our pro-democracy demands.”
“On more than one occasion at these meetings I have personally criticised American foreign policy double standards in dealing with the region,” she said. “This comes in the context of a harassment campaign by the state aimed at discrediting human rights advocates and organisations that report on state crimes.”
Daily News Egypt reported on Tuesday that the editor of Al-Wafd’s online news portal, Adel Sabry, had admitted to inaccuracies in the article on a television talk show. Nevertheless, the piece, entitled ‘‘Wikileaks announces the names of those who got American funding”, remains online.
Interestingly, the Egyptian police website (www.egypolice.com), an informal webpage run by the media office of the Ministry of Interior, picked up the Al-Wafd story and – despite both parties having access to a translation of the Wikileaks document – simultaneously published a post entitled, “Urgent and surprising… Wikileaks announces on its website the activists and politicians that had American funding.” The fact that a website claiming to represent one arm of the Egyptian security apparatus is taking the (factually incorrect) state party-line of a supposed “opposition” party newspaper is concerning.
Ali believes the action taken against NGOs is likely to escalate. “They may even take some groups to court and imprison NGO workers,” he told Ahram Online. Ali also fears his organisation will be targeted as it is mentioned in a recent government fact-finding report.
The report was first mentioned in July 2011 by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Abul-Naga and commissioned by Minister of Justice Mohamed Abdel Aziz El-Guindi. The document, which was leaked to El-Fager newspaper in late September, purportedly identifies 39 Egyptian and American civil society groups that are operating “without a license from the Ministry of Social Solidarity (for the Egyptian organisations) or from the foreign ministry (for the American organisations).”
The list includes the three American NGOs – the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI) and Freedom House – that were raided last Thursday.
However, as NDI director Julie Hughes told Ahram Online, obtaining these licenses can be difficult. The NDI has been attempting to register for six years, she explained. They were finally told in June 2011 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they would not be granted a licence for “political reasons.”
“The authorities want most of these organisations to be registered because, when you register, the agreement comes from State Security, so you’re under their jurisdiction,” said Ali. “The authority’s objective is to force all NGOs and organisations to work under their authority.”
Ghada, whose organisation is licensed, agrees: “We are monitored and controlled by the Ministry of Social Solidarity under legislation passed in 2003 that gives the government complete control over NGOs. We object to this, but the EOHR nevertheless operates within their guidelines.”
Foreign funding has also been another reason to target NGOs, which, again, must be approved by the Ministry of Social Solidarity. In August, the Supreme State Security Prosecution launched investigations into foreign funding allegations, warning that groups could be charged with high treason, conspiracy against the state and compromising national security through the implementation of foreign agendas.
This is despite the fact that the Egyptian Armed Forces receive $1.3 billion in annual military aid from the US in an agreement that links Egypt to Israel’s US aid package.
“Most NGOs have foreign funding because there is very little money in Egypt,” one civil society worker who wished to remain anonymous for fear a backlash, told Ahram Online. “The Ministry of Social Solidarity will only fund projects that are in line with government politics, ruling out certain topics. We tried to run a project on prostitution, but they don’t want to be seen backing immoral people, so we didn’t get the funding.”
Bypassing legal means of funding can sometimes be the only way to work effectively on the ground, civil society workers say, forcing NGOs to violate the law and encouraging corruption. The legal situation for these NGOs leaves them in a precarious position, as outlined in a complaint letter written by civil society groups to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) following the recent crackdown on NGOs.
The 2003 legislation, which the letter says is systematically vague and has not been updated since the fall of the Mubarak regime, states that NGOs can only be created with approval from the Ministry of Solidarity (see Article 6). Article 17 of the law confirms that all receipt of funds must go through the ministry, while articles 34 and 42 give the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the security apparatus the right to object to board elections and disqualify candidates from the board. It also gives them extensive rights to dissolve civic associations.
The document cites the treatment of the New Woman Foundation as a recent example of ministry interference in the work of NGOs. The ministry was able to reject a prestigious international award the foundation had received on the grounds that the foundation was advocating for a new law conforming to international standards, which the ministry claimed was outside the remit of NGOs.
The letter sees this action as symptomatic of the “authoritarian” behaviour of the ministry and is in “clear violation of Article 22, paragraph 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.” The letter also condemned the minister’s request to Egypt’s central bank to allow him to monitor NGO bank accounts, saying this represented a breach of account confidentially “upheld in Law 88/2033.”
The purpose and details of last week’s raids on NGO offices remain unclear.
Abu El-Naga, who appears to be the spokeswoman for the crackdown, gave no clear explanation as to why this particular group of civil society organisations had been chosen. The initial number of offices targeted was set at 17, but was then reduced to ten in the national and international media. Until now, Ahram Online has only been able to confirm seven. No official list has been issued.
Ahram Online can confirm that the targeted organisations are the NDI, the IRI, Freedom House, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Foundation, the Arab Centre for Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession (ACIJLP), the Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory and the Future Centre of Judiciary Studies.
There are some obvious political motives behind the choice. The three American organisations are on the NGO hit-list drawn up by the Ministry of Justice. The Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory has been campaigning against the secrecy of the military budget – a controversial topic and one of the main features of the SCAF’s supra-constitutional proposal. Nasser Amin, ACIJLP director and Helwan parliamentary candidate, recently filed a court case because of potential vote rigging.
The Egyptian authorities may also have used the raids to send a message to Washington. At the very least, including American NGOs and a German foundation would help support the domestic party line that the government was cracking down on organisations with “foreign agendas.”
Civil society groups also question the use of paramilitary troops rather than normal police officers and the bizarre behaviour of the security forces, which included confiscating a water boiler, inspecting bathrooms and looking at a roof. Several of these groups have been operating since 2005 – so why raid them now? Then, in a televised interview with Abul-Naga, the government claimed the SCAF had no knowledge of the raids.
The actions last Thursday are not new. "This crackdown on Egyptian civil society has been happening for years,” said the anonymous NGO worker. “People who have been working for land rights in Egypt have been consistently tortured and imprisoned, from as far back as the 90s. It’s only new in the sense that we’re now supposed to be ‘post-revolution’.”
She emphasised that, since Mubarak stepped down, NGOs had become bolder in their work, which, she says, the SCAF rightly identifies as having contributed to the revolutionary process. Ghada agrees, seeing the raids as an extension of the security forces’ behaviour in November’s and December’s clashes in Cairo: “We have yet to see reform,” she said. “Events of the last quarter of 2011 show the SCAF is trying to abort the Egyptian revolution.”
