From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

2 POWER AND POLITICS WE ORGANISE, THEREFORE WE AREIn Guatemala, the Social Spending Observatory was establishedin 2004 to challenge the secrecy surrounding the budget process,publishing quarterly analyses of government spending.The Observatory’swork has highlighted the lack of spending among the country’simpoverished indigenous majority. In South Africa and elsewhere,‘gender budget monitoring’ projects specifically highlight the impactof budget decisions on women, while monitoring programmessuch as those in Uganda have identified and publicised episodes ofcorruption.The rapid spread of cheap communications technology hasenabled CSOs to ‘go global’. A good example is the Via Campesina,which links together peasant and landless movements around theworld. 78 Another is Social Watch, an international NGO watchdog,made up of national citizens’ groups from 50 countries. Based inUruguay, Social Watch monitors progress on governments’ internationalcommitments on poverty eradication and equality. 79 Othergroups link up through the World Social Forum, a regular event,which at its fourth such meeting in Mumbai in 2004 brought togetherover 130,000 civil society activists from around the world.In recent years, North–South alliances of CSOs have successfullypushed issues to the top of the political agenda at meetings of the G8,the World Bank, and the WTO. Landmark initiatives, such as theInternational Criminal Court and International Landmines Treaty,were spearheaded by joint efforts of concerned citizens and NGOs,while sustained campaigns have sought to improve the respect oftransnational corporations for labour rights and reduce the damagethey cause to local communities and environments. Over the next fewyears, international campaigning of this nature will be crucial inpressuring governments to make and keep the commitments neededto reduce carbon emissions, as well as cover the rising costs of adaptationto climate change in poor countries.As Amnesty International’s‘prisoners of conscience’ work has also shown, Northern campaignerscan be invaluable allies for activists in the South who face repressionand torture at the hands of the authorities.The great attention attracted by CSOs is viewed by some withconcern, as a ‘reification’ that downplays the historically much moresignificant contribution of trade unions and political parties. Western65