Note: This site looks much better on an standard compliant browser, however, the site content is accessible with any device connected to the Internet.
Go directly to the page content.
This web site was designed in accordance with international norms on accesibility for persons with disabilities.
Last Update: December 26, 2007
Cambiar a Versión en Español
CEDHA at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank in Miami
The Centre for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA) is participating in the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) as part of the activities in its Global Governance program, in which it is looking to strengthen and guarantee human rights and the protection of the environment in the projects, investments and political operations of the International Financial Institutions.
The annual meeting of the IDB is taking place in Miami between the 4 th and 8 th of April, and CEDHA forms part of the group of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), permitted to take part in the event, to present their criticisms, suggestions and contributions in general, with the aim of ensuring that the Bank's policies effectively contribute to a sustainable development, respecting the environment and the appreciation of human rights.
With this opportunity, the NGOs have raised significant issues with the Bank's procedures, which can be summarised as the following:
- Realignment of the IDB's diminished commitment to the sustainability of Latin America ; with the direct target of decreasing the time it takes to deliver credits, opportunities of participation and consultation have been eliminated at the time that in practice the social and environmental safeguards have been weakened.
- Technical and financial support to the IIRSA ; the IDB forms part of the Technical Coordination Committee of the Initiative for the Integration of South American Regional Infrastructure (IIRSA, by its Spanish/Portuguese acronym), the base from which numerous projects with worrying social and environmental impacts are promoted. Also, both the initiative and its activities lack real spaces of participation and access to the information is certainly limited.
- The impact of the IDB on Climate Change ; in spite of the strategies and official documents regarding Climate Change, the truth is that the clear impact of the IDB's projects would not contribute to the solution of this problem. Many of these projects promote polluting transport, biocombustibles with a totally negative impact, extraction of natural resources and, indirectly, the advance of deforestation in South America, with the consistent worsening of Climate Change.
These and other proposals were raised by representatives of NGOs during a direct dialogue with the President of the IDB, Luis Alberto Moreno, which took place in the afternoon on Friday 4 th April.
During these opening days of the IBD annual meeting, the NGOs presented two publications of “IDB Watch” containing articles raising criticisms and concrete suggestions for the work of the Bank (see link below). Also, a protest was staged outside the Miami Convention Centre, with the same target – emphasising the negative consequences of the boom in biocombustibles in Latin America.
The work of lobbying and incidence of the NGOs, of which CEDHA is one of the few representatives of Argentina, looks to promote policies and actions which are completely befitting a sustainable development of the region, respectful of the environment and human rights.
More Information
For more information please contact:
Links of interest:- IDB Watch – an NGO journal
- Issue 1 - http://www.amazonwatch.org/documents/IDBWatch_Issue1_finallorez.pdf
- Issue 2 - http://www.amazonwatch.org/documents/IDBWatch_Issue2.pdf
- Official site of the IDB annual meeting - http://www.iadb.org/am/2008/
