Eurodad (European Network on Debt and Development) is a network of 53
non-governmental organisations
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
and seven statutory allies from 29 European countries. Eurodad and its members make up a network, this network researches and works on issues that are related to debt, development finance and
poverty reduction
Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty.
Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics clas ...
.
Recently this network has focussed on issues such as tracking the aid spent by European countries, multilateral debt cancellation, debt sustainability, aid quality, conditionality and harmonisation, illegitimate debt, and export credit debts.
Eurodad's main targets are organisations such as the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
, the
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
(IMF), the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; french: Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques, ''OCDE'') is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries ...
, however it also targets European governments themselves.
Eurodad’s stated aims are to:
* push for development policies that support pro-poor and democratically defined sustainable development strategies.
* support the empowerment of Southern people to chart their own path towards development and ending poverty.
* seek a lasting and sustainable solution to the debt crisis, appropriate development financing, and a stable international financial system conducive to development.
Eurodad coordinates the work of non-governmental organisations working on these issues, and collaborates actively with civil society in the North and South to attain these goals. Eurodad has existed since 1990 and is registered as a non-profit organisation in both the Netherlands and Belgium. It is funded by its members (about one-third of its budget) and by the
Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( nl, link=no, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken; BZ) is the Ministries of the Netherlands, Netherlands' ministry responsible for foreign relations of the Netherlands, foreign relations, foreign policy, internation ...
,
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency ( sv, Styrelsen för internationellt utvecklingssamarbete, ) is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Swede ...
and UK
Department for International Development
, type = Department
, logo = DfID.svg
, logo_width = 180px
, logo_caption =
, picture = File:Admiralty Screen (411824276).jpg
, picture_width = 180px
, picture_caption = Department for International Development (London office) (far right ...
.
The members in the UK include
CAFOD
The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is an international development charity and the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It aims to tackle poverty globally. Through local Catholic Church and secular pa ...
,
Oxfam
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
History
Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
,
Christian Aid
Christian Aid is the relief and development agency of 41 Christian (Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox) churches in the UK and Ireland, and works to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster ...
,
Tearfund
Tearfund is an international Christianity, Christian relief and development agency based in Teddington, UK. It currently works in around 50 countries, with a primary focus on supporting those in poverty and providing disaster relief for disadvan ...
and the
World Development Movement
Global Justice Now, formerly known as the World Development Movement (WDM), is a membership organisation based in the United Kingdom which campaigns on issues of global justice and development in the Global South.
The organisation produces r ...
.
Illicit capital flight
Eurodad has focused a lot of attention on the issue of illicit capital flight (or
illicit financial flows Illicit financial flows, in economics, are a form of illegal capital flight that occurs when money is illegally earned, transferred, or spent. This money is intended to disappear from any record in the country of origin, and earnings on the stock of ...
) in their campaign to promote economic development in the developing world. As such, they've become a coordinating committee member of the
Task Force on Financial Integrity & Economic Development
The Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development was a unique global coalition of civil society organizations and governments launched in 2009 to address inequalities in the financial system that penalize billions of people. The Tas ...
, a coalition of NGOs and governments working to promote transparency in the international financial system.
The problem of Illicit capital flight is aggravated by the fact that it is not exactly illegal and it assumes the informal unofficial economic activities of organizations. It aims to "get around rules and processes typically not using money but favors, privileges and perks as a means of exchange."
In 2009, Eurodad published a limited-edition book called ''Global Development Finance: Illicit Flows Report 2009''. The hundreds of pages, which were expected to contain comprehensive estimates of the illicit global financial flows, were all blank. According to the organization, this was to highlight a willful blindness on the part of world's most powerful institution to this transfer of wealth. This is underscored by the fact that more than 50 percent of these illicit flows originate from poor to rich countries, affecting the incidence of poverty in these locations. The G20 has pledged to address "illicit outflows" but there are critics who note that the commitment cited the need to address the problem in the victim countries while it was silent on the corresponding "inflow" or the locations that receive the flow of money.
[Shaxson, p. 30.]
See also
*
Directorate-General for Development (European Commission)
The Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG International Partnerships or DG INTPA) is the European Commission department responsible for international development policy. It operates under the authority of the European Commissione ...
*
European Development Fund
Global Europe, officially the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI), is the financial arm of the Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union, which provides funding for the European Neighbourhoo ...
*
European Parliament Committee on Development The Committee on Development (Commission du développement, DEVE) is a committee of the European Parliament responsible for promoting, implementing and monitoring the development and cooperation policy of the European Union, notably talks with deve ...
*
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...
*
Task Force on Financial Integrity & Economic Development
The Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development was a unique global coalition of civil society organizations and governments launched in 2009 to address inequalities in the financial system that penalize billions of people. The Tas ...
*
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
References
External links
Eurodad websiteEurodad's bi-weekly newsletter: The Development Finance Watch
{{Authority control
International organizations based in Europe
Development charities based in Belgium
Third World debt cancellation activism