SSE News

SENS – Newsletter N°1 / Présentation de SENS (Solidarités Entreprises Nord-Sud) Language Undefined Tags:  INAISE NEWS member SENS Solidarites Entreprises Nord-Sud entreprises solidaires France Bénin

UNRISD is briefing delegates from UN Member States on social inclusion and the post-2015 development agenda at an Orientation Briefing organized in New York by UNITAR on 16-17 April 2014. UNRISD Director Sarah Cook prepared a short video for the Briefing, using lessons learned from UNRISD research to set the stage for the two days… Read more »

UNRISD last week successfully launched its newest research project New Directions in Social Policy with two well-attended events: an inception workshop and a public panel discussion.

Dalhousie University, through its Local Government Program, has created a new certificate program in Community Economic Development (CED). Theme:  Practitioner Strengthening

China and the Crisis of Crisis Theory By Heiko Khoo SolidarityEconomy.net via  China.org.cn April 14, 2014 – The recent BBC documentary called "How China Fooled the World" presented by Robert Preston claims that China’s economy is about to collapse. The program starts well: correctly showing that China’s state-owned enterprises dominate the economy and shape its… Read more »

In last month’s budget, the United Kingdom announced a 30% tax relief-rate for social investment. Theme:  National Policy Work

Whalley Community Hydro – a community renewable energy scheme in Lancashire’s Ribble Valley – is the first organisation to be awarded a loan by Charity Bank following Big Society Capital’s investment in the Bank last month.  Big Society Capital agreed to make its largest ever single investment – up to £14.5m of ordinary shares in… Read more »

In what’s commonly known as the "favelas" of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro, groups of women come together to design and make handicrafts for a living. Rio de Janeiro’s favelas are built around the edge of the main city and are associated with extreme poverty. The women’s groups are part of Asta, a cooperative which aims… Read more »

Access to information laws are not being effectively utilized by the poor—the most technologically marginalized population—to exercise their rights to social protection. Pro-poor access to information legislation is needed and must achieve two goals: (1) macroaccountability and transparency in public spending; and (2) provide information to the poor in a physically, intellectually and socially adequate… Read more »

The easiest means of ensuring the right to social security is through universal coverage (and adequate transfer values). If countries are unable to provide universal coverage because of limited resources, there is implicitly a trade-off: Reducing coverage means increasing administrative costs. In addition, when priority is given to cost-saving in both coverage and administration, a… Read more »

Pro-poor transparency laws and policies must have ending poverty as an underlying objective. This can become possible if social protection and access to information are fully recognized as rights that poor people can invoke to exit poverty. Yet uptake of social protection policy in developing countries has been slow, largely because it has not been… Read more »

How solar cells are taking over sea, sky and space The TURANOR PlanetSolar cruises past Tahiti By Eric Mack SolidarityEconomy.net via Gizmag Solar technology has evolved beyond just your grandpa’s big, bulky photovoltaic panels on the roof. Advances in flexible, hyper-efficient and nano-scale materials of late has made it possible for solar cells to begin… Read more »

The session took place at the Youth Hostel in Leuven with 18 participants from different countries and organisations. 5 different presentations were held.

The experience of the last 20 years suggests there are four obstacles to ensuring accountability in social protection programmes. The first obstacle has to do with social protection’s contested status: is it a right or only a service or a favour? Others concern the the opacity and discretionality of actors implementing social protection programmes and… Read more »