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- CSOs urge ADB to deny Philippine loan for E-trikes
- Head of Greek Church questions austerity, troika
- IMF official admits austerity is harming Greece
- Why is the State Department [and the World Bank] pushing coal on a tiny Eastern European country?
- World Bank's Program-for-Results loan instrument: good intentions?
- CSOs urge ADB to deny Philippine loan for E-trikes
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Julian Paisey
OECD, Export Credit Division, Trade Directorate
2, rue André-Pascal
Paris Cedex 16 - France
Brussels, 12 January 2010.
Dear Julian,
Further to your letter of December 2009, you will find below the elements that ECA-Watch and Amnesty International would like to see addressed and revised in the review of the 2007 Revised Council Recommendation on Common Approaches on the Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits (Common Approaches). We believe that the 2010 Common Approaches Review must consider these issues in order to improve ECA standards and practices and to meet the objectives set out in the Recommendation.
November 11, 2009
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Managing Director
International Monetary Fund,
700 19th Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20431
Dear Mr. Strauss-Kahn:
Re: Request for civil society participation in IMF study on how the financial sector can help pay for the bailouts
In September, the Group of 20 (G20), at their summit in Pittsburgh, mandated the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with preparing a report ahead of the next G20 summit in June 2010 to consider “how the financial sector could make a fair and substantial contribution toward paying for any burdens associated with government interventions to repair the banking system.”
May 12, 2009
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper,
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Re: High-level participation at upcoming UN Conference
Dear Prime Minister Harper:
From June 1-3 the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development will take place in New York. We the undersigned urge you to give this conference the political weight it deserves and to participate as our country’s Head of Government.
Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2
Re: Forthcoming G-20 meeting on the global financial crisis
Dear Prime Minister:
As you head to London next week for the second Group of Twenty (G-20) meeting, we are writing to urge Canadian leadership on four key issues related to the impact of the financial crisis on poor countries that we feel have been neglected up until now.
To date, your government has focused primarily on addressing the immediate fallout of the financial crisis, and has taken steps to restore the flow of credit and consumer confidence, boost spending, and create jobs. Canada has also encouraged G-20 countries to avoid protectionist measures that will only exacerbate the current climate.
For pdf, click here.
The Hon. David Emerson
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON K1A OG2
October 10, 2008
Re.: Canadian priorities leading up to the Doha Financing for Development Review.
Dear Minister Emerson:
August 21, 2008
Ms. Nicole Bollen
Chairwoman,
Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees and of the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits
OECD
2, rue André Pascal
F-75775 Paris Cedex 16
Fax : c/o 01 44 30 61 58
Email : c/o Xcred.Secretariat@oecd.org
Dear Ms. Bollen,
Thank you for your letter of July 29, inviting ECA-Watch members to participate in an ECG consultation on November 18.
March 28, 2008
The Honourable James Flaherty
Minister of Finance
House of Commons
Wellington St.
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Dear Minister Flaherty:
I am writing with respect to the 2007 OECD Revised Council Recommendation on Common Approaches on the Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits. The Recommendation currently lacks a credible mechanism to monitor Member implementation and I write to urge Canada to support the adoption of a peer review system. I understand that the Secretariat of the OECD Export Credit Group (ECG) intends to include the issue of peer review for the Common Approaches in the agenda of the upcoming ECG meeting in April 2008. A peer review system is essential to generate credible information for use in the 2010 report to the OECD Council on the implementation of the Recommendation.
February 29, 2008
The Honorable Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary General
United Nations
New York, NY
Dear Secretary General:
At the end of this year, governments of the world will meet in Doha, Qatar to evaluate progress in implementing the Monterrey Consensus. One of the critical elements of this consensus is the issue of external debt and its role in financing for development.
2b rue Jules Ferry,
93100 Montreuil, France
Tel. +33 1 48 51 18 90,
Fax +33 1 48 51 95 12
Email: facilitator@eca-watch.org
Members of the Export Credit Group
OECD
2, rue André Pascal
F-75775 Paris Cedex 16
Fax: c/o 01 44 30 61 58
Email: c/o Xcred.Secretariat@oecd.org
Paris, 5 November 2007
Dear Sir/Madam,
November 5, 2007
Ms. Karyn Keenan
Program Officer
Halifax Initiative
104-153 Chapel Street
Ottawa ON KIN 1H5
Dear Ms. Keenan:
This is in response to your letter of September 17. Your letter contains many questions and comments which I will answer by focusing on the key issues that you raise.
The first issue raised refers to Export Development Canada’s practices related to public consultations and whether this is a requirement of our environmental review process.
Paris, 20 April 2007
Ms. Janet West
Director, Export Credit Secretariat
OECD
2, rue André Pascal
75775 Paris Cedex 16
Fax 01 44 30 61 58
Email: Xcred.Secretariat@oecd.org
Dear Janet,
Thank you for your letter of 6 April 2007 with the attached copy of the nearly final discussion draft of the revised Recommendation on Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits.
Over the past 17 months we have engaged in good faith with the Secretariat and members of the Export Credit Working Group on this matter.
September 24, 2006
Professor John Ruggie
UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Business and Human Rights
Harvard University
John F. Kennedy School of Government
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Dear Professor Ruggie
RE: General Principles on Human Rights Impact Assessments
We are sharing with you our collective views on general principles for a human rights impact assessment. These have arisen from a meeting on community-driven human rights impact assessments, convened by Rights & Democracy[1] in Johannesburg, South Africa, 21-24 September, 2006.
January 3, 2006
Mr. John Mihevc
Chair
Halifax Initiative Coalition
Suite 104, 153 Chapel Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 1H5
Dear Mr. Mihevc:
Thank you for your letter of September 12, 2005 regarding Canada's contributions to the global fight against poverty. I regret the delay of my reply.
The United Nations Millennium +5 Summit and the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) were extremely important opportunities to secure commitments to advance international efforts toward poverty alleviation. Canada was very active in the lead-up to these events and Canadian officials worked hard to ensure that there was no erosion of existing international commitments in the United Nations Summit Outcome document. In this, I believe, we were largely successful.
Joint Letter to the PM Re: Eradicating debt at UN summit/WB-IMF Annual meetings - September 12, 2005
For pdf click here.
September 12, 2005
The Right Honourable Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
RE: Canadian NGOs Call on Canada to Demonstrate Leadership at Upcoming Meetings to Push International Community to take Action to Eradicate Poverty
Dear Prime Minister,
As you know this September is a critical month for the World's poor. Two major events, the UN World Summit and the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF, offer the opportunity for the world community and Canada to demonstrate its commitment to eradicate poverty.
March 29, 2005
The Honourable James Peterson
Minister of International Trade
125 Sussex Drive
Tower B, 5th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
R.e.: Disclosure of information at Export Development Canada
Dear Mr. Peterson
I am writing you on behalf of the Halifax Initiative Coalition, a Coalition of development, environment, faith-based, human rights and labour groups, regarding Export Development Canada’s (EDC) disclosure policy.
Recieved July 8, 2005
Mr. John Mihevc
Chair
Halifax Initiative Coalition
104 - 153 Chapel Street
Ottawa, Ontario KIN 1H5
Dear Mr. Mihevc:
As Minister of International Cooperation, I am pleased to respond to your letter to the Prime Minister, concerning Canada's international assistance efforts.
Financial taxes are complex matters, especially when they are meant to generate additional revenues for development and not, like past proposals such as the Tobin tax, to reduce market volatility. This is why my colleague, the Honourable Ralph E. Goodale, Minister of Finance, and I requested, at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings last October, that their staff conduct technical studies on the potential impact of various innovative financing proposals.
Click here for PDF
March 7, 2005
The Right Honourable Paul Martin
Prime Minister of Canada
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2
Dear Mr. Prime Minister,
On behalf of the Halifax Initiative Coalition, I write to seek clarification on Canada's position on the use of innovative financial measures to generate new and additional revenue for development assistance.
The permanent resolution of the debt crisis requires not only the unconditional cancellation of 100% of the multilateral debts owed by impoverished countries, but the provision of additional Official Development Assistance (ODA) to enable them to meet and exceed the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is widely recognized that a significant increase in official transfers is a precondition for meeting the target of halving extreme world poverty by 2015.
January 20, 2004
Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Suite 104
Ottawa, Ontario
KIN 1H5
Dear Mr. Reilly-King:
I would like to thank you for your letter of November 20 regarding the OECD Common Approaches on Environment and Officially-Supported Export Credits and to take this opportunity to thank you for the comments you provided before the negotiation of the final text of the Common Approaches.
Your comments are always appreciated. We found them constructive and relevant, and they helped us prepare for the negotiations in Paris.
Washington DC,
December 1st 2003
Dear UN delegations active in the Second Committee;
We, the undersigned NGOs, are encouraged that the UN General Assembly Second Committee is taking the UN Financing for Development (FFD) process seriously by giving careful consideration to proposals made at the High Level Dialogue of the General Assembly (past October 29-30th, New York).
The Financing for Development conference meant an unprecedented effort to build a consensus among a broad set of stakeholders, including international organizations, civil society and the private sector, on means for financing the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals. However, as some delegations noted during the High Level Dialogue, the Monterrey Consensus was never a finished product, but rather a point of departure. In fact, the credibility of the Financing for Development follow up process hinges upon its ability to build on the broad language of the Monterrey consensus to provide concrete proposals that effectively address the key issues that hinder the availability of resources for development in our time.
November 20, 2003
Mr. A. Ian Gillespie
President and CEO
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor Street,
Ottawa, ON K1A 1K3
The Hon. Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive, Tower B, 5th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Dear Minister Pettigrew and Mr. Gillespie,
Thank you for forwarding me Rev. 2 of the OECD “Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Support Export Credits 2003.”
November 20, 2003
Mr. A. Ian Gillespie
President and CEO
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor Street,
Ottawa, ON K1A 1K3
The Hon. Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive, Tower B, 5th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Dear Minister Pettigrew and Mr. Gillespie,
Thank you for forwarding me Rev. 2 of the OECD “Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Support Export Credits 2003.”
October 27, 2003
Mr. A. Ian Gillespie
President and CEO
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor street,
Ottawa, ON K1A 1K3
The Hon. Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, Tower B, 5th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Re.: Draft OECD recommendation on Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits: 2003 Review – Revised version 1
Dear Mr. Gillespie and Minister Pettigrew:
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to comment on the ‘Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits: 2003 Review – Revised version 1’ (Rev. 1).
October 27, 2003
Mr. A. Ian Gillespie
President and CEO
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor street,
Ottawa, ON K1A 1K3
The Hon. Pierre Pettigrew
Minister of International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
125 Sussex Drive, Tower B, 5th Floor
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Re.: Draft OECD recommendation on Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits: 2003 Review – Revised version 1
Dear Mr. Gillespie and Minister Pettigrew:
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to comment on the ‘Common Approaches on Environment and Officially Supported Export Credits: 2003 Review – Revised version 1’ (Rev. 1).
Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
Coordinator
NGO Working Group on the EDC
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Suite 104
Ottawa ON K1N 1H5
Dear Mr. Reilly-King:
Thank you for your letter of April 22, concerning export credit agency reform and the G8 Environment Ministers' Meeting held April 25-27 in Paris, France.
April 22nd, 2003
The Hon. David Anderson
Minister of the Environment
10 Wellington Street
Hull, QC K1A 0H3
Fax: (819) 953-3457
Re: ECA Reform at the G8 Environment Summit in Angers, France
Dear Minister Anderson
This year, as in past years, the NGO Working Group on the Export Development Canada (EDC), a Canadian coalition of development, environment, faith, labour, and rights groups, is writing to urge you to reaffirm your strong commitment to the reform of export credit agencies (ECAs) in the final communiqué of the G8 Environment Summit in Angers, France, on April 25th-27th.
The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
The following letter was sent to the Prime Minister with copies to the Finance Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister on March 14, 2002. It was signed by leaders representing over 100 Canadian development, social justice, labour and faith organizations.
The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Centre Block, 309-S
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
March 14, 2002
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to you, as representatives of Canadian non-governmental organizations, to express our dismay at the proposed outcomes of the UN Financing for Development process and Canada’s role in the negotiations leading to it. We call urgently for renewed leadership on the road to Kananaskis.
The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
The following letter was sent to the Prime Minister with copies to the Finance Minister and the Foreign Affairs Minister on March 14, 2002. It was signed by leaders representing over 100 Canadian development, social justice, labour and faith organizations.
The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Centre Block, 309-S
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
March 14, 2002
Dear Prime Minister,
We are writing to you, as representatives of Canadian non-governmental organizations, to express our dismay at the proposed outcomes of the UN Financing for Development process and Canada’s role in the negotiations leading to it. We call urgently for renewed leadership on the road to Kananaskis.
