| | |  Americas & Beyond | March 2009 
Americas: Backsliding on Summit Promises
 Daniela Estrada - Inter Press Service
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 |  | The main conclusion of the study is that the majority of the governments have been backsliding; that is, they have taken concrete actions that actually run counter to the commitments signed at previous summits.
- Andrea Sanhueza |  | | |
Santiago - With less than a month to go to the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, social organisations complain that governments have not fulfilled commitments assumed at earlier editions of the summit, on questions like access to information, freedom of expression, decentralisation and participation by civil society.
"The main conclusion of the study is that the majority of the governments have been backsliding; that is, they have taken concrete actions that actually run counter to the commitments signed at previous summits," Andrea Sanhueza, executive director of Corporación Participa, told IPS.
The non-governmental Chilean organisation she heads helped coordinate the first "index of government commitment to the mandates of the summits" (Índice de Compromiso Gubernamental de los Mandatos de las Cumbres).
"The second finding is also very important, and serious; it has to do with the mandate of freedom of expression. There has been a major setback in that area. Threats, censorship, pressure that leads to self-censorship and even murders of journalists are still a reality in this region," said Sanhueza, after presenting the new index at a recent seminar in Santiago.
The Summits of the Americas bring together the heads of state and government of the 34 members of the Organisation of American States (OAS), which includes all of the countries in the hemisphere with the exception of Cuba.
The previous summits were hosted by the United States (1994); Chile (1998); Canada (2001); and Argentina (2005). Two special summits were also held, in Bolivia in 1996 and Mexico in 2004. The fifth summit will take place Apr. 17-19 in the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, Port of Spain.
The first "index of government commitment to the mandates of the summits" was the work of Active Democracy: Citizen Network for Government Compliance with the Summits ("Democracia Activa: Red Ciudadana por el Cumplimiento Gubernamental de las Cumbres"), which was created by civil society organisations from 21 countries in the region in 1997.
The index evaluates the actions taken by governments from 2006 to 2008.
The study, which was presented in early March at the OAS assembly in Washington and was discussed last week at a seminar in Santiago, was coordinated by Corporación Participa and the non-governmental Venezuelan Institute of Social and Political Studies (INVESP).
"Why did we want to do this? Because it is very important for people to know that the Summits of the Americas are important events, that they are more than just the photo-op that appears in the newspaper, and that they reach political decisions regarding our region that must not just remain dead letter," said Sanhueza.
To draw up the index, the groups asked governments and other official sources to submit reports, and invited experts, opinion leaders and representatives of NGOs to share their views.
The highest possible grade, +3, went to governments that took concrete, useful actions to achieve commitments assumed at the summits. The lowest grade, -3, was reserved for governments that adopted policies that ran counter to the commitments. Zero represented a failure to act, one way or the other.
Of the 21 countries studied, 12 were given grades below zero.
The countries that made advances were Uruguay (0.86), Guatemala (0.72), Chile (0.59), Barbados (0.59), Jamaica (0.53), Colombia (0.26), Bolivia (0.24), the Dominican Republic (0.24) and Grenada (0.14).
The ones that earned negative grades were Venezuela (-0.85), Nicaragua (-0.75), Peru (-0.70), El Salvador (-0.57), Paraguay (-0.36), Honduras (-0.24), Canada (-0.14), Costa Rica (-0.17), Ecuador (-0.14), Mexico (-0.09), Argentina (-0.05) and Trinidad and Tobago (-0.01).
Sanhueza clarified that the index is not a ranking, given that each country has a different starting-point. It merely measures how much each country advanced or slid back in the period in question, she said.
For example, of the 21 countries studied, Canada is the most advanced in terms of decentralisation, but between 2006 and 2008 it did not make further progress on that front, according to the civil society organisations consulted in that country.
Assessing the state of access to public information, the study found that several countries have not even discussed the need for a transparency law that would guarantee that right.
But Chile stood out on that point. A law that will require the executive branch to make available public information requested by citizens will go into effect on Apr. 20.
In other countries, however, the study found that web portals containing public information are either non-existent or out-of-date, or have actually been shut down, said Sanhueza.
She also mentioned a lack of transparency on government funds and election spending.
With respect to the question of decentralisation, the civil society groups pointed to cuts in the budgets for local governments and the transfer of responsibilities and powers from local to central administrations.
In the area of freedom of expression, reporters still face numerous hurdles, and there is a generalised trend towards the concentration of property ownership in the media, says the study.
In terms of strengthening civil society participation, Sanhueza said specific laws are needed, and noted that non-violent protests are still frequently repressed in many countries.
The four areas were also analysed from a gender perspective.
According to the activist, the overall perception is that compliance with agreements on the rights of women is lower than compliance with the rest of the commitments: -0.06 compared to 0.01.
Although the speakers and participants at last week’s seminar in Santiago commended the Democracia Activa initiative, they lamented its limitations, since the index only focuses on whether or not concrete actions have been carried out by governments, without measuring their impact or effectiveness.
For example, they pointed out that while the use of web portals to inform the public is a necessary measure, it is not sufficient, given the digital divide between the rich and poor in the region.
It is also unlikely that laws on access to public information can live up to their objective if the use of freedom of information requests is not encouraged among citizens, they added.
Participants and speakers also questioned the reach of the commitments assumed by the heads of state and government in previous summits, saying some were overly general and not ambitious enough.
Given these and other limitations, there was a feeling among some at the seminar that the conclusions of the study were even overly generous to the governments.
Democracia Activa will present the index at the summit itself, in Trinidad and Tobago. But there is not much hope that it will help bring about better results in the future.
"This summit has been a setback from every point of view. For example, participation by civil society organisations, which was more or less guaranteed at the earlier summits, has now been limited to a great extent. Furthermore, the draft declaration is much weaker," said Sanhueza. |
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