Development Finance Watch, Issue 112

Eurodad Newsletter February 14, 2013 - Issue# 112 European Network on Debt and Development DEVELOPMENT FINANCE WATCH
	Top Story » Myanmar’s debt: What’s behind the speedy efforts to restructure it? Myanmar (Burma), one of the world’s poorest countries, has been subject of a number of debt restructuring and relief packages during the past few months. In January, debt owed to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank was refinanced, and the bilateral creditors organised in the Paris Club followed Japan’s earlier example and agreed to relieve a substantial share of their claims, thereby clearing arrears of “phantom debt” that have piled up over the past decades.   Read more News » PRESS RELEASE Brussels misses opportunity to crack down on tax evasion and corruption The European Commission’s new draft legislation for how to crack down on financial crime, published today, misses an opportunity to make it much harder for tax evaders, mobsters, arms dealers and corrupt politicians to use Europe’s financial system to launder their dirty money.   Read more   News » PRESS RELEASE: The World Bank’s private sector financing arm doesn’t know the environmental and social impacts of nearly half its portfolio Campaigners are calling for a fundamental overhaul of World Bank lending to financial markets actors, following the publication of an Ombudsman audit.   Read more   News » World Bank “knows very little about potential environmental or social impacts of its financial market lending”   The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries, “knows very little about potential environmental or social impacts of its financial markets lending” and cannot even claim that it meets a “do no harm” requirement.   Read more News » IMF fails to find consensus on quota formula reform The comprehensive review of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) quota formula failed to find consensus on a clear reform proposal. Controversies persist between the old rich and emerging economies on which factors should determine a country’s quota, and consequently its power in the IMF and access to IMF resources.   Read more   News » EU blending platform: must listen to Parliament and CSOs’ concerns The European Commission (EC) is pushing ahead with its plan to increasingly ‘blend’ development aid with private finance, despite the fact that the Commission’s commitment to development seems weak and civil society groups and other important stakeholders are excluded from the process.    Read more   Report » Sweet Nothings: The human cost of a British sugar giant avoiding taxes in southern Africa Eurodad Member ActionAid have released a new report which examines the tax practices of one of the world’s largest food multinationals, the Associated British Foods (ABF) group, in one of the most impoverished places in which it operates.   Read more		What's New   Issue #112   February 14, 2013 ACTION ALERT Tell Associated British Foods to pay a fair share in Zambia FEATURED MEMBER   Diakonia is the joint development aid organisation of six Swedish free churches. Diakonia gives support to, and works together with, around 400 partner organisations in over 30 different countries around the world.       FACTS AND FIGURES From 2008 to 2010, an agricultural labourer employed by the company has paid more income tax in absolute terms than the company whose US$200 million revenues have benefitted from her labour.” ActionAid report on the human cost of a British sugar giant avoiding taxes in Southern Africa. FEATURED RESOURCE ActionAid video demonstrating the human impact of the situation on the Zambian communities close to the sugar plantation.   EURODAD IN ACTION Jeroen Kwakkenbos and Maria José Romero attended the EIB Board of Directors Seminar with Civil Society 2013 in Luxembourg.       EVENTS What: International Citizens’ Debt Audit Network Meeting When: 15-18 February, 2013 Where: Thessaloniki, Greece   What: World Social Forum 2013 When: 26-30 March, 2013 Where: Tunis, Tunisia   What: Eurodad/Glopolis International Conference 2013 When: 3-5 June, 2013 Where: Prague, Czech Republic     FOLLOW US ON TWITTER AND LIKE US ON FACEBOOK!         If you have feedback on articles, suggestions of content for future issues or other thoughts, please write to: assistant@eurodad.org
We encourage our readers to circulate this newsletter to interested colleagues. If you have problems downloading from the web and would like to receive mentioned documents as an e-mail attachment, please contact assistant@eurodad.org.   Eurodad’s articles are also available for re-use in other publications with reference to the original source. EURODAD is a non-profit organisation (ASBL/VZW) based in Belgium. For a list of EURODAD member groups across Europe, or to join, see: www.eurodad.org/members

 

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