Dear readers!
The UN General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution mandating the UN to set course for a global tax leadership role. Will the UN now displace the OECD as the world’s leading rule maker on global tax? Intergovernmental discussions can now begin in New York while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been tasked with delivering a report on the flaws of current tax arrangements and the solutions. The Economist highlights the extent of corporate profit shifting to minimize taxes – one driver for poorer countries seeing a fairer system.
Happy reading!
P.S. Remember, TAI doesn't own the photos. All photos used in this weekly have a link to their source.
WHAT´S NEW?
Transparency as an antidote: three findings, one tool
Comoros depends a lot on fishing but how transparent is the sector? The Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI’s) “Taking stock” assessment finds that some aspects of the country's fisheries sector are characterized by high levels of transparency (e.g. artisanal fishing), but the government does not publish any information online about industrial fishing activities in Comorian waters, there is a lack of financial and human resources dedicated to providing information, and low levels of internet access.
European Union and African Union representatives meet on 28 November 2022 to review progress following the EU-AU Summit in February. Meanwhile, thirty-two African and European civil society organizations have raised concerns about threats to ground-breaking EU beneficial ownership measures. Without them, illicit financial flows out of Africa may increase.
Transparency portals can advance open government goals. But the truth is, often these portals end up becoming “zombies”. The Open Government Partnership’s Independent Reporting Mechanism proposes ideas on how to make transparency portals useful and more impactful.
Explore Making Open, a toolkit made by advocates, artists, storytellers, researchers, designers, civic technologists, data analysts, and developers to explain things like open government, transparency, open process, why and how to involve communities in decision making, and how data and systems can be better connected.
TAI RECOMMENDS
“Rights holders at the centre: strengthening accountability to advance business respect for people and planet in the next decade”: See what happened at the 11th United Nations forum on business and human rights.
FROM OUR MEMBERS
LUMINATE:
Is seeking a strategic communications professional to lead the external communications requirements for Luminate Strategic Initiatives. The Communications Manager will be responsible for building and protecting the profile of the Luminate Strategic Initiatives (LSI) team, their work and where appropriate those of their partners.
MACARTHUR FOUNDATION:
MacArthur Foundation announced that it is providing more funding to independent media organizations in Nigeria to promote accountability, transparency, and civic engagement. Head of the Nigeria office, Dr Kole Shettima, explains that supporting investigative reporting in the region is crucial to tackling corruption.
OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATION:
Mary Fitzgerald, director of expression at OSF, argues that anti-SLAPP legislation is essential to the health of UK democracy.
ESSENTIAL LISTENING!
Watch this new video by the “Count Me In consortium” spotlighting women’s demands for accountability, safety, and justice.
TOOLS FOR FUNDERS
See these recommendations from Andrea Fionda on how the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation is reimagining their grantmaking. Some of the changes include inflation-adjusted grants for multi-year giving, rapid-response and trust-based funding, and small opportunity grants dispatched at staff’s discretion.
Janet Camarena from Candid writes down lessons learned from her 12+ years of working to show that transparency matters and encouraging funder transparency.
FOCUSED TOPIC OF THE WEEK
“CIVIL SOCIETY: HARDSHIP AND HOPE"
The Arab Foundations Forum launched the first report on civic space in the Arab region, conducted by local researchers. It maps the current state of the civil society eco-system in four Arab countries —Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine—with a focus on the changes in policies, laws and infrastructure. Read the key findings.
Switching continents, civil society actors in El Salvador, especially independent journalists and political activists are having a hard time defending human rights. President Nayib Bukele has built a communications juggernaut involving paid internet trolls to harass “political opponents with online attack and surveillance.
This is just one example of widespread unhealty information practices used in Latin America. Colectivo más voces highlight six restrictives practices directly impacting the "health" of the information ecosystem in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua: state surveillance, disinformation campaigns/mass reputation assassinations, lack of access to professional development opportunities, regulation supporting online repression and the barriers for independent communication projects to achieve economic sustainability.
Perhaps no surprise then that Latin American think tanks are calling for a regional research agenda that deals with governance, corruption and institutions.
What happens even when there is popular demand for change? Following massive social protests, Chileans voted to draft a new constitution, rejected the resulting proposal, but urged another drafting attempt. Felipe Perillán Caviedes, a lawyer with People Powered member FIMA, offers three lessons learned, to guide future constitutional conventions and assemblies.
Democratic Society may have some additional answers, after 10 years researching ways to strengthen and reimagine democracy they note that one-off deliberations cannot sustain resilient democracies. See some Insights on their new approach with an intention to build and maintain more and better “Democratic Infrastructures”.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
ESSENTIAL WATCHING!
Watch Thom Townsend of Open Ownership explain 3 priorities for fighting economic crime in UK parliamentary committee testimony.
THE LATEST ON CLIMATE CHANGE, EXTRACTION AND ACCOUNTABLE APPROACHES
Dubious green funds are rampant. The Economist reports on new research that Wall Street firms “appear to run a fully fledged laundromat of exaggerated sales pitches and bogus claims” when it comes to sustainable investing. This follows the recent exposure of European fund managers greenwashing.
Check out the Principles for the Climate Crisis including a focus on fostering belonging, rather than the tendency for “othering” – letting specific communities take the brunt of effects. The authors argue, “the climate crisis is not fundamentally an engineering or environmental problem, it’s a problem with dominant ways of thinking, and of relating to each other and the dominant systems we have created.”
As a funder collaborative, no surprise that we like the sound of “radical collaboration.” So watch the session from COP27 on Radical Collaboration to Accelerate Climate Action. There’s also a guidebook.
SAGE Fund details ways to support women on the front lines against extractivism, drawing on nearly 100 interviews with women leaders and their allies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Finally, have your say on the largest Chinese mining association’s draft Procedures of Complaint and Consultation Mechanism for the Mining Industry and Mineral Value Chain.
JOBS AT TAI MEMBERS
Job postings at Hewlett Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at MacArthur Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at Open Society Foundations - ONGOING
Job postings at Luminate - ONGOING
Job postings at Ford Foundation - ONGOING
Job postings at FCDO - ONGOING
Job postings at Skoll - ONGOING
JOBS LISTINGS!
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager, JASS Just Power
Africa Programme: Advocacy and Partnerships Lead, International Press Institute.
Senior Associate – Funding evidence, On Think Tanks.
Senior Program Officer, International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
Business Development Manager, Partners for Development
Progamme Manager, Combating Trafficking in Persons (CTIP), International Organization for Migration (IOM)
CALLS / OPPORTUNITIES
Invitation to Tender - WFD Maldives Online Course Development- Westminster Foundation for Democracy
CALENDAR
December 6-10, 2022, “International Anti-Corruption Conference.
December 6, 2022, Reclaiming Our Stories.
December 8, 2022, Responsible Sourcing: Theory and Evidence from Costa Rica
December 12-14, 2022, 2022 Effective Development Co-operation Summit, Global Taskforce
December 14, 2022, Racial equity in global development webinar
December 16, 2022, The Protection and Promotion of Civic Space: Strengthening Alignment with International Standards and Guidance
June 5-8, 2023, 12th edition, RightsCon
