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#RejectFear #StopC51
********TTC Closure Notice*************************************
The Yonge Line is closed Saturday from Bloor to Osgoode station. We recommend using the University Line and getting off at OSGOODE station. www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Subway_closures/Line_1_Bloo...
See you tomorrow! Be colourful, be courteous, be courageous! ♥
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There has been a call out to protest Bill C-51 on March 14, 2015 in cities across the country.
The proposed legislation Bill C-51 would clearly allow for the violation of Charter Rights, facilitate spying on innocent Canadians, and create a secret police force with little oversight or accountability.
This bill disproportionately targets indigenous communities, environmental activists, dissidents, and Muslims, many of whom are already subjected to questionable and overreaching powers by security officials. This bill will make it easier and ostensibly lawful for government to continue infringing upon the rights of peaceful people.
C-51 is reckless, irresponsible and ineffective.
We are calling on the government to withdraw the legislation.
We are calling on everyone to do what they can to bring attention to this governments attempt to compromise privacy for false security, while promoting a culture of fear and racism.
Please send a message to your MP, share this event, and join us on March 14!
Find YOUR MP using your postal code here: bit.ly/1GlPdaa
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TORONTO EVENT
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We will gather in Nathan Phillips Square at 12PM NOON for an OPENING CEREMONY led by an indigenous elder followed by a drum song.
Elder Pauline Shirt to do Opening Ceremony at Nathan Philips Square at 12:00 pm.
Speakers will begin at approx. 12:15PM:
Special Performance
by Juno Award winning artist Maryem Tollar
Vanessa Gray, Young indigenous activist of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation
Nasim Asgari, Young spoken word artist
Riaz Sayani-Mulji, and Suraia Sahar
Paul Copeland, Human Rights Lawyer
Peggy Nash, NDP MP
Andrew Cash, NDP MP
Elizabeth May, Green Party Leader
Hassan Yussuff, Canadian Labour Congress
Syd Ryan, Ontario Federation of Labour
Chris Hedges, American journalist, activist, author, Presbyterian minister and humanitarian.
Judy Rebick, Canadian journalist, political activist and feminist
Josephine Grey, Human Rights Activist and founder of LIFT (Low Income Families Together)
Mohammad Ali, Hip-hop & spoken word artist
..............and then join us for a MARCH to 277 Front Street; the CSIS Toronto office building. (Front & John)
More details to come.
Donations Gratefully Accepted
www.gofundme.com/StopC51?fb_action_ids=10152873899049064&...
To be involved in organizing the event message one of the admins or post saying so on the page.
We encourage every one to do what they can on this national day of action, rally, march, take direct action, spread information, write MP's, whatever it is you think will make a difference, do it.
This rally is endorsed by;
Leadnow.ca - À l'Action
OpenMedia.ca
Youth Vote Canada
Action for Civil Liberties - A4CL
Idle No More Toronto
COMER - Committee on Monetary and Economic Reform
Toronto 350.org
Millions Against Monsanto Toronto
Greater Toronto Workers' Assembly
PipeLeaks
Toronto Coalition to Stop the War
Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL)
International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAMAW)
Occupy Canada
Canadian Unitarians for Social Justice
Greater Toronto Area Council (PSAC)
LIFT (Low Income Families Together) www.lift.to
Centre for Social Justice
Network for the Elimination of Police Violence
Greenpeace Canada
Elementary Teachers of Toronto
Common Frontiers
Amnesty International Canada
The Zeitgeist Movement Toronto Chapter
The Council of Canadians
If you would like to endorse the action in Toronto let us know!
Go here for information on communicating securely: ssd.eff.org/en
FOLLOW UP EVENT:
Opposing this bill doesn't end with this event, come to our follow up townhall meeting to discuss this Bill and it's implications.
www.facebook.com/events/855612024506128/
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National Event Page:
www.facebook.com/events/1576309639319839
OpenMedia.ca campaign:
Leadnow.ca - À l'Action campaign:
Read The Bill:
www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Languag...
News releases on impact of Bill C-51 by the BCCLA:
Supporting Social Accountability For Better Results Event at the 2012 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. on April 19, 2012.
Robert Zoellick, President, The World Bank; Maya Harris, Vice President, Democracy, Rights and Justice Program, Ford Foundation; Laila Iskandar Kamel, Managing Director, Community and Institutional Development Group, Egypt; Corazon “Dinky” Juliano Soliman ,Secretary, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippines; Sam Worthington, President and CEO, InterAction.
Photo by Ryan Rayburn/World Bank
Ooops! So much for accountability and responsibility, not to mention competence. Accidents are just waiting to happen. . . .
abcnews.go.com/GMA/2010_Elections/rand-paul-fires-back-cr...
The Kentucky Senate candidate also criticized the Obama administration's treatment of BP in the wake of the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill. . . . "I think it's part of this sort of blame game society in the sense that it's always got to be someone's fault instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen."
jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/400904/ron-littlepage/2010-...
John Mica, the Florida Republican congressman, is a big supporter of the tea partiers. In a speech on the House floor last year, he declared it was his "honor to present their grievances and declaration." Included in those grievances, of course, are loud harangues that the federal government is out of control, sticking its nose in too many places, including private enterprise.
Now flash forward to earlier this week. Mica, taking part in a congressional hearing on the oil spill, had this to say: "In the month of April, the nation lost 29 miners and 11 oil rig workers in two avoidable disasters. Federal agencies failed and federal actions failed to prevent these disasters." He went on to call the Gulf accident the "Obama oil spill."
In other words, it wasn't the private companies - BP, Deepwater Horizon and the mining company - that screwed up. The fault lies with the big, bad federal government for not being big and bad enough.
ecopolitology.org/2010/05/01/limbaugh-enviro-wackos-mark-...
Saying he was 'just noting the timing' of it, conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh suggested that 'environmentalist wackos' may have blown up the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico -- an incident which can already be characterized as one of the largest ecological disasters in U.S. history.
www.grist.org/article/2010-05-20-too-big-to-fail-isnt-wor...
The potential damage from offshore oil accidents is so great that no private industry can assume the full risk. So who assumes the remainder? You, the American taxpayer. Offshore oil companies privatize profit and publicize risk by necessity; it's built into the size of the enterprise and the severity of the possible damage. . .
There's a lesson here about resource gigantism: It is anti-market and anti-democratic. There is no way for costs and risks to be fully internalized (i.e., no way to have a free, competitive market), so government and industry collude to divert them onto the public's back. There's a name for a political system in which government colludes with industry to enrich the owners of capital at the public's expense: corporatism.
This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report:
www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-136
DEMOCRACY ASSISTANCE: State Should Improve Accountability Over Funding; USAID Should Assess Whether New Processes Have Improved Award Documentation
a) NED funding is not included in USAID and State combined allocations. However, NED typically receives additional funds from State to make grants in specific countries or regions, and NED's core institutes may also receive funds from State and USAID that is not overseen by NED. Funding under these two circumstances are included in the USAID and State combined allocations but not in the NED funding.
I didn’t get elected, but we came a very credible second to the incumbent Labour Party and pushed out the more extreme elements of our political system so I’m very pleased with that. Thanks so much to my darling Claire for all her support as always 💚💚
This image is related to a U.S. GAO report:
Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Agencies Are Taking Action to Reduce Demand but Could Improve Collaboration in Southeast Asia
Op 9 juni 2017 vond in de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag de tweede editie van Accountability Hack plaats, een hackathon waar met open data de prestaties van de overheid in kaart worden gebracht. Accountability Hack is een initiatief van de Algemene Rekenkamer en de Tweede Kamer samen met het CBS en de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Financiën en Infrastructuur en Milieu. De hackathon werd georganiseerd in samenwerking met Open State Foundation. Kijk voor meer informatie op accountabilityhack.nl/
The CredibilityLab at Mishal Pakistan launched the Media Credibility Index (MCI), an initiative started in January 2013 in collaboration with Pakistan Coalition for Ethical Journalism, leading research and academic institutions, and media practitioners. The launch ceremony was held in Islamabad where prominent media professionals, representatives of regulatory bodies, media development organizations and members of the civil society participated. The Index focuses on the relative credibility and believability of various media channels through which content is created.
Addressing the participants, Founder and Director, Ethical Journalism Network, Aidan White said that launch of the Media Credibility Index is a landmark moment for media accountability in Pakistan. In a country where people are overwhelmed by a torrent of information on all sides, and where corruption lurks in all areas of public life, the greatest challenge facing journalists and media professionals is to produce information that is reliable, useful and above all truthful.
The MCI provides fundamentals for analyzing media discourse in the country. By using benchmarks provided by professionals at national and international level, the MCI provides an opportunity to examine how the news analysis and commentary of high profile news anchors contribute to better understanding of complex issues in Pakistan’s robust landscape of journalism and politics, he further added.
Speaking at on the occasion, Dr. Nazir Saeed, Federal Secretary for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage said, “Television has an overwhelming impact on peoples’ decision-making power. The significance of the Media Credibility Index is in its use and ability to highlight content that can empower both the newsmakers and the information seekers; enabling them to create an effective knowledge ecosystem in the country. MCI has the potential of becoming the source for an informed decision making tool in public policy debate. MCI will promote ethical content practices in the country, information that tells stories not just about the powerful, but also about the powerless, and not just about the life of the decision makers, but also about issues concerning the masses”.
“I feel proud of the fact that the Media Credibility Index has been launched in Pakistan and can be a benchmark for other countries in the world for promoting, balanced, ethical and fair journalism practices”, said Dr. Nazir Saeed.
Center for International Media Ethics (CIME) Ambassador for Pakistan, Puruesh Chaudhary said that the index has been developed after an extensive examination of media laws, ethical principals drafted by different media groups, compliance regulations formulated by regulatory bodies and journalistic organizations. The MCI will explore the state of media in Pakistan against six indicators and 20 sub-indices. The results are currently being published on a weekly basis on the Media Credibility Index website as well.
Senior journalist and founder, Pakistan Coalition for Ethical Journalism, Muhammad Ziauddin said that Mishal has incorporated more than thirty code of conducts, principles of ethical journalism, which include currently prevalent seven national code of conducts and twenty four international code of ethics from international regulatory bodies, which have been agreed upon across the globe. He further said, that the codes of ethics framed by the Pakistani media groups have also being included within the index, these entail Jang group’s Geo Asool, Dunya’s code of ethics, Express group’s journalism code of conduct and Dawn Group’s principles and code of conduct.
After reviewing the principles of journalism and codes of ethics for journalists; six media credibility indicators with 20 sub-indices have been developed in order to assess the media discourse and credibility of current affairs anchors in Pakistan. This extensive study entails thirty-five current affairs programming of the mainstream Pakistani news channels. The Credibility of the anchors and content discourse is being assessed on; Professional Competence, Ethics, Accuracy, Balance, Timeliness and Fairness.
Chief Executive Officer, Mishal Pakistan, Amir Jahangir said the CredibilityLab, through its activities will further strengthen the Triple Helix concept, which relies on three main ideas: (1) a more prominent role for the University in creating new though and research processes, bringing them on par with the Industry and Government that form the basis of a Knowledge Society; (2) a movement toward collaborative relationships among the three major institutional spheres, in which information and knowledge policy is increasingly an outcome of interaction rather than a prescription from the Government; (3) in addition to fulfilling their traditional functions, each institutional sphere also “takes the role of the ‘other’ performing new roles as well as their traditional function.
The CredibilityLab at Mishal will be publishing its research on the state of media and competitiveness in Pakistan in collaboration with its partners. The MCI research has been one of the few initiatives in Pakistan, where research work has been collaborated with eleven academic partners in the country, including University of the Punjab, International Islamic University, Fatima Jinnah Women University, Lahore College for Women University, University of Gujrat, Government College University Faisalabad, Islamia University Bhawalpur, University of Balouchistan, Greenwich University and Bharia University.
Mishal Pakistan is the partner institute of the Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks, World Economic Forum. Mishal assists the forum in creating the soft-data on Pakistan, identifying Pakistan’s competitiveness challenges. Mishal has also launched Pakistan’s first journalism awards “AGAHI Awards” on the framework designed jointly with the Center for International Media Ethics and UNESCO’s Media Development Indicators.
As a partner institute Mishal has been working closely with the World Economic Forum on measuring Pakistan’s performance on multiple international indices and reports i.e. Global Competitiveness Index, Global Gender Gap Index, Global Enabling Trade Index, Global Information Technology Report – Network Readiness Index, Financial Development Index and the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.
For more information on the Media Credibility Index (MCI) please visit: www.mediacredibilityindex.com
State Department joins African Land Forces Summit, stresses importance of preventing conflict
By Sgt. Landis Andrews, U.S. Army
WASHINGTON -- The first plenary session of the African Land Force Summit began with Department of State's Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, ambassador Donald Y. Yamamoto, who spoke on the Obama administration's policy on relations with Africa.
Yamamoto touched on many issues facing future relations between the U.S. and African nations. The one thing that remained constant throughout the whole presentation was the idea of working together for capacity building within Africa's borders.
The first priority is to create and sustain democratic governance.
"We will work with African governments, the international community, and civil society to strengthen democratic institutions and protect the democratic gains made in recent years in many African countries," Yamamoto said.
We must cultivate governments that are accountable for their own people.
"African countries need civilian governments that deliver services to their people, independent judiciaries that enforce the rule of the law, professional security forces that respect human rights, effective legislative institutions, a free responsible press, and a dynamic civil society," Yamamoto said.
The economics of countries in Africa are a major issue, he said, and the key to boosting them is within their food growing capabilities.
"The United States is the world's number one provider of food aid throughout the world," the ambassador said. "But food aid does not make sense because food aid is not sustainable."
Yamamoto, who formerly served as the ambassador to Ethiopia, said that long-term projects within Ethiopia's borders are the key to success.
"We need to work on how we can promote food growth and make it sustainable," he said. "Not only will this create food for the country, it will create jobs for its people."
America will not be the big brother of the relationship.
"No issue will be downplayed," Yamamoto said directly to the delegates. "If it's a concern to you, than it is a concern to us."
It's that kind of teamwork that will drive this summit and this relationship into the future to combat any issues that may arise.
"Working together in partnership with you all, I know we will find these solutions."
CAPTION:
(Form left) Principle Deputy Assistant Secretary Ambassador Donald Y. Yamamoto, Gen. George W. Casey, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, and Maj. Gen. William B. Garrett III, commander, U.S. Army Africa, make their way to the main plenary hall during the inaugural African Land Forces Summit, May 11. US Army photo by Barbara Romano
This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report:
www.gao.gov/products/GAO-22-104364
Cybersecurity: OMB Should Update Inspector General Reporting Guidance to Increase Rating Consistency and Precision
Protests in the streets of New York City on November 25, 2014, a day after a grand jury in Ferguson, MI declined to return an indictment in the police shooting of unarmed African-American teenager Michael Brown.
"Deutsche Bank Shake-Up Should Improve Accountability" by DOMINIC ELLIOTT via NYT t.co/dnBHY6pDat (via Twitter twitter.com/felipemassone/status/656182648600178688)
New York City Mayor Eric Adams holds a rally with union leaders for mayoral accountability on the steps of City Hall on Monday, May 9, 2022. Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
This comic is based on the PSLC's wiki page on 'accountable talk' and high school biology curriculum. It is an introduction for students to use Accountable Talk *moderation* moves when having group discussions.
Moderation moves are typically done by teachers in a classroom, but we're trying to introduce students to the idea of moderating their own group discussions.
The Netherlands, The Hague, 20220714
The Government of the Netherlands is hosting, together with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the European Commission, an Ukraine Accountability Conference at ministerial level at the World Forum in The Hague on 14 July.
Photo: Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2022
Blair Glencorse, Founder and Executive Director.The Accountability Lab, Demetrios Marantis, Senior Vice-President, Global Government Relations.Visa, Lindiwe Mazibuko, Leader of the Opposition, Parliament of South Africa (2011-2014).Democratic Alliance (DA), Oscar Onyema, Chief Executive Officer.Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Vasilis Koulolias, Director, eGovlab.Stockholm University at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2017 in Durban, South Africa. Copyright by World Economic Forum / Greg Beadle
This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report: www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-518
COMBATING TERRORISM: U.S. Efforts in Northwest Africa Would Be Strengthened by Enhanced Program Management
Note: This figure is current as of June 2014. Countries shaded in gray are Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership countries.
Representatives of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices
From left to right:
Steven Green, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group
Nick Wolter, MD, CEO, Billings Clinic
Ira Nash, MD, Senior Vice President, North Shore-LIJ Health System
Norman Chenven, MD, CEO, Austin Regional Clinic; Vice-chair, Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP)
William Conway, MD, CEO, Henry Ford Medical Group
Laura Fegraus, Executive Director, Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP)
Robert Pearl, MD, CEO, The Permanente Medical Group and Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group; Chair of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP)
Brian Rank, MD, Executive Medical Director, Park Nicollet HealthPartners Care Group
Karen Cabell, DO, Chief Quality & Safety Officer, Billings Clinic
"“Having ready access to a doctor is vital to high quality healthcare. Yet the busy schedules of consumers and physicians alike often prevent timely attention to routine and urgent healthcare problems in the traditional 9 to 5 physician office visit options. Digital technologies can help overcome the barriers to accessing medical care, yet our survey shows that these tools are not available to most Americans,” said Robert Pearl, M.D., Chairman of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. “Healthcare providers must step up our adoption of these common-sense and available solutions if we are truly going to reform healthcare delivery.” - See www.bettertogetherhealth.org for event webcast - Hosted at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health on November 4, 2015
"“Having ready access to a doctor is vital to high quality healthcare. Yet the busy schedules of consumers and physicians alike often prevent timely attention to routine and urgent healthcare problems in the traditional 9 to 5 physician office visit options. Digital technologies can help overcome the barriers to accessing medical care, yet our survey shows that these tools are not available to most Americans,” said Robert Pearl, M.D., Chairman of the Council of Accountable Physician Practices and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. “Healthcare providers must step up our adoption of these common-sense and available solutions if we are truly going to reform healthcare delivery.” - See www.bettertogetherhealth.org for event webcast - Hosted at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health on November 4, 2015
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Trade, Executive Assistant Commissioner Brenda Smith testifies before the Senate at the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance regarding "Protecting E-commerce Consumers from Counterfeits" on March 6, 2018. Seen here is Ms. Kimberly Gianopoulos, Director, International Affairs and Trade, United States Government Accountability Office, Washington , DC.
Photographer: Donna Burton
Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) principles were integrated into the design, implementation and evaluation of all FAO projects.
FAO distributed guidelines on key information regarding livestock, including transportation requirements, ideal weight and feed allocation. These guidelines were provided to beneficiaries during the distribution of livestock.
Read more about FAO and the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Photo credit must be given: ©FAO/Rommel Cabrera. Editorial use only. Copyright FAO
Ousmane Ly, ANTIM, Mali
This session features some of the innovative ICT applications for RMNCH, and highlight efforts of international organizations to foster the use of ICT to better implement the recommendations of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health.
Day 2
14 May 2013
ITU/ J.M. Planche
Governor Phil Murphy alongside Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer signs A-3707/S-2395 as a key part of the effort to implement the necessary accountability measures to exit from federal oversight of child protective services administered under the New Jersey Department of Children and Families on Tuesday, December 20, 2022 (Edwin J. Torres/NJ Governorâs Office).
20230217, MSC, Munich Security Conference, Bayerischer Hof: Main Stage I: Panel Discussion.Against Lawlessness: Ensuring Accountability.Conference Hall: Kaja Kallas Prime Minister, Republic of Estonia
Roland, one of Santa's accountants, finds it discouraging that Rudolph and the Flight Crew get all the attention. No one ever pays attention to the other support staff. Let the Rednose Reindeer try to balance the budget in this economy and see how much time he has for reindeer games.
Omar Alshogre, Syrian student and detention survivor, addresses the Security Council Arria-formula meeting on Accountability in the Syrian Arab Republic.
Security Council members Estonia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States, with additional co-sponsors Belgium, Canada, Germany, Georgia, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Qatar, Sweden and Turkey holds an informal briefing on the need for increased efforts by the Council to establish full accountability for the most serious international crimes committed in the Syrian Arab Republic.
UN Photo/Manuel Elías
29 November 2021
New York, United States of America
Photo # UN7918177
Op 9 juni 2017 vond in de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag de tweede editie van Accountability Hack plaats, een hackathon waar met open data de prestaties van de overheid in kaart worden gebracht. Accountability Hack is een initiatief van de Algemene Rekenkamer en de Tweede Kamer samen met het CBS en de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Financiën en Infrastructuur en Milieu. De hackathon werd georganiseerd in samenwerking met Open State Foundation. Kijk voor meer informatie op accountabilityhack.nl/
Sgt. Maj. Joel Collins and 1st Sgt. Daniel Mangrum give a leadership and accountability brief to Marines with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU), Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Headquarters and Services Company, aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7). Iwo Jima is part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with the embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) and will support maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Scott Youngblood/Released)
120329-N-QM601-315
ATLANTIC OCEAN (March 29, 2012)
European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim A.A. Khan QC and Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra.
The Government of the Netherlands, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the European Commission are hosting an Ukraine Accountability Conference at ministerial level at the World Forum in The Hague, The Netherlands, on 14 July 2022.
© Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2022
Jordi Serrano Pons, Universal Doctors
This session features some of the innovative ICT applications for RMNCH, and highlight efforts of international organizations to foster the use of ICT to better implement the recommendations of the Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health.
Day 2
14 May 2013
ITU/ J.M. Planche
The Inspection Panel is completing 25 years in its role, as an accountability mechanism of the World Bank. As you are aware, the Bank’s failure to comply with its operating policies was seen by the entire world in the Bank’s financing with the Sardar Sarovar Dam project on River Narmada. The tenacity of massive grass-roots uprisings from our communities in the 80’s and the sustained hard work of our social movements along with our resoluteness to link it with international coalitions to question the hegemony of the Bank, subsequently led the Bank, for the first time, to commission an independent review of its project. The Independent Review Committee (Morse Committee) constituted by the Bank in 1991 to review the social and environmental costs and benefits of the dam, after years of consistent struggle by Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement) and its allies led to a demand from the civil society around the globe for the creation of a grievance redressal system for project-affected communities, which ultimately pressurized the Bank to constitute the Inspection Panel in 1993. We expected this might be a crucial backstop and an opportunity for us to raise our issues of livelihoods, economic loss, displacement from our lands, alienation from natural resources, destruction of environment and threat to our biodiversity and cultural hotspots, where Bank invested in large, supposedly ‘development’ projects like mega dams, energy and other infrastructure projects. Yet, the outcome we expected rarely delivered sufficient remedy for the harm and losses people have experienced over the years.
A number of accountability mechanisms over the next couple of decades in several development finance institutions were formed following the model of World Bank, commonly known as ‘Independent Accountability Mechanisms’[IAMs]. Each year the number of complaints rise which is an indication of the increasing number of grievous projects happening around the world. While IAMs of most MDBs are advertised to provide strong and just processes, many of our experiences imply that the banks are accommodating practices which suit their own needs and their clients, which are borrowing countries and agencies, and not the people for whom the IAMs were built to serve.
Many a time, we have been disappointed by these mechanisms, since these are designed by the banks who are lending for disastrous projects in our lands. And as a result, the already existing narrow mandate of IAMs is further restricted.
In our efforts to hold the lending bank accountable, the communities are always presented with the arduous process of learning the complex formalities and detailed procedures to initially approach the IAMs and get our grievances registered. Our many years’ time and energy then is channelised into seeing through the various cycles of these complaint handling mechanisms, that our entire efforts go into this process, and often our complaint gets dropped off in midst of the procedural rules of the IAMs. People are made to wait many months to clear procedural levels and our cases with the IAMs get highly unpredictable. Further, we face intimidation and reprisals from the state and project agencies for having contacted the IAMs who themselves do not possess any authority to address the violations hurled out to us when we seek dignity, fair treatment and justice from them. There are many of us who feel a loss of morale after long years of struggling with lenders when we fail to see concrete benefits or changes in our circumstances, by which time considerable irreplaceable harm is already done to our lives, environment and livelihoods.
In this manner, our immediate and larger goal of holding banks for their failure to consult with and obtain consent from communities before devising action plans for our lands, water and forests is deflected in the pretext of problem-solving and grievance hearing offered to us in the name of IAMs.
With over 50 registered complaints sent to different IAMS from India in the past 25 years, many more left unregistered due to technical reasons and only a few got investigated, assessed and monitored at different levels, we have a baggage of mixed experiences with the IAMs. A few of the prominent cases from India apart from Narmada project are Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Project [WB’s IP], Tata Mega Ultra-01/Mundra and Anjar [IFC’s CAO & ADB’s CRP], India Infrastructure Fund-01/Dhenkanal District [IFC’s CAO], Allain Duhangan Hydro Power Limited-01/Himachal Pradesh [IFC’s CAO] and Mumbai Urban Transport Project (2009) [WB’s IP].
As we now know, what is being witnessed recently is an influx of approved and proposed investments majorly in energy, transport, steel, roads, urban projects, bullet trains, industrial zones/corridors, smart cities, water privatization and other mega projects in India. This has been financed from different multilateral and bilateral sources, foreign corporations, private banks as well as Export-Import Banks (ExIm Banks). It has become a brutal challenge for communities, social movements and CSOs, with lenders and governments constantly shutting their eyes and ears to us who demand accountability for their actions. A compelling and timely need has arisen among diverse groups amongst us to gather together and critically analyze the various trajectories of our engagements with accountability mechanisms of MDBs in order to bring together past 25 years’ learning, insights and reflections of various actors of this accountability process. This urging demand is also an attempt to define the collective experiences in India among our social movements, projected-affected communities and CSOs with IAMs and lending banks, especially appropriating the global political opportunity of Inspection Panel celebrating its 25 years this year.
Speakers:
Thomas Franco, Former General Secretary, AlI India Bank Officers’ Confederation
Arun Kumar, Eminent scholar, Former Professor Jawaharlal Nehru University
C.P. Chandrashekar, Economist, Professor Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Sucheta Dalal, Managing Editor, Moneylife
Soumya Dutta, National Convener, Bharat Jan Vigyan Jatha
Dunu Roy, Hazards Center, New Delhi
Medha Patkar, Senior Activist, Narmada Bachao Andolan
Tani Alex, Centre for Financial Accountability
M J Vijayan, Activist and Political commentator
Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability
Anirudha Nagar, Accountability Counsel
Madhuresh Kumar, National Alliance of People’s Movements
A J Vijayan, Chairperson, Western Ghats and Coastal area Protection Forum
Meera Sanghamitra, National Aliance of People’s Movements
Vimal bhai, Matu Jan Sangathan, Uttarakhand
Daniel Adler, Senior Specialist, Compliance Advisor Ombudsman
Joe Athialy, Centre for Financial Accountability
Birgit Kuba, Operations Officer, Inspection Panel
Anuradha Munshi, Centre for Financial Accountability
Bharat Patel, General Secretary, Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan,Gujarat
Awadhesh Kumar, Srijan Lokhit Samiti
Amulya Kumar Nayak, Odisha Chas Parivesh Surekhsa Parishad, Odisha
Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Legal Scholar
Manshi Asher, Himdhara Environment Research and Action Collective, Himachal Pradesh
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, shakes hands with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador before a meeting Thursday, November 18, 2021 in Washington, D.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report:
www.gao.gov/products/GAO-15-307
RECOVERY ACT: GSA's Courthouse Projects Illustrate Opportunities to Improve Management Practices and Analyze Environmental Outcomes
Op 9 juni 2017 vond in de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag de tweede editie van Accountability Hack plaats, een hackathon waar met open data de prestaties van de overheid in kaart worden gebracht. Accountability Hack is een initiatief van de Algemene Rekenkamer en de Tweede Kamer samen met het CBS en de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Financiën en Infrastructuur en Milieu. De hackathon werd georganiseerd in samenwerking met Open State Foundation. Kijk voor meer informatie op accountabilityhack.nl/
This image is excerpted from a U.S. GAO report:
www.gao.gov/products/GAO-19-392T
HIGH-RISK SERIES: Substantial Efforts Needed to Achieve Greater Progress on High-Risk Areas
Op 9 juni 2017 vond in de Tweede Kamer in Den Haag de tweede editie van Accountability Hack plaats, een hackathon waar met open data de prestaties van de overheid in kaart worden gebracht. Accountability Hack is een initiatief van de Algemene Rekenkamer en de Tweede Kamer samen met het CBS en de ministeries van Binnenlandse Zaken, Buitenlandse Zaken, Financiën en Infrastructuur en Milieu. De hackathon werd georganiseerd in samenwerking met Open State Foundation. Kijk voor meer informatie op accountabilityhack.nl/