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Hello!

Dear Colleague,

Welcome to the March 2011 edition of the Building Global Democracy programme newsletter. This issue focuses on our latest news and the forthcoming Including the Excluded in Global Politics workshop to be held in Rio de Janeiro on 13-15 April 2011.

Latest news
Forthcoming events
Featured initiatives
Publications
Resources
About us

Empowering Lessons: Learning for Global Democracy Case Studies Available Now!

Knowledge is power, thus building global democracy requires that everyone has access to empowering knowledge about global affairs and how they are governed. On this premise BGD asked scholar-activists from ten world regions to explore innovative thinking and practices of learning for global democracy.

The studies were originally discussed in September 2010 at BGD’s Delhi workshop on Learning for Global Democracy. You can read short summaries of these rich insights here .

Currently available in English, the summaries will also soon be published in Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish on our website.

BGD @ WSF: Global Gathering in Dakar

A group of BGD conveners participated in activities of the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal on 6-11 February 2011.

Dakar provided the perfect setting for participants from 30 countries to discuss 'How to Build Global Democracy?' Contributors included parliamentarians, academics, and activists from NGOs and social movements. It was an exciting venture, and once again we saw that global exchanges can greatly advance ideas and practices of global democracy.

We would like to thank all the participants for joining us in such stimulating debates!

BGD @ ISA, Montreal

On 16-19 March 2011 Montreal hosted the annual convention of the International Studies Association. BGD was there! Through our booth in the Exhibition Hall we introduced the programme and distributed our publications. We also hosted a conference panel entitled 'Global Democracy for a Multipolar and Multicultural World'. Papers by Sitiveni Halapua (Tonga), Pat Mohammed (Trinidad & Tobago), Nadia Mostafa (Egypt) and Xu Jiajun (China) were presented. Panel chair was Jan Aart Scholte, BGD convener for Western Europe. Renowned scholar-activist Richard Falk opened an exciting debate with highly stimulating insights.

Check out our website for pictures and more info about this event!

New BGD Programme Officer

BGD is very pleased to welcome Andreina Carrillo as its new Programme Officer from 1 January 2011. Andreina brings a rich experience of previous work in global affairs, including most recently with the United Nations Development Programme in Venezuela. She holds two separate postgraduate degrees in Project Management and Governance and Political Management. You can contact Andreina here.

Including the Excluded in Global Politics Workshop

Rio de Janeiro, 13-15 April 2011

‘La Cidade Maravilhosa’ (the Marvelous City), aka Rio de Janeiro, will host the BGD workshop on ‘Including the Excluded in Global Politics’ (IEGP). Thirty people, including 3 from each world region, will come together with a number of participants from Brazil to explore how marginalised groups can be empowered in global affairs.

You will be able to follow and input to this event through our website and Facebook. Updates will be published live from the workshop each day. We will also post pictures and videos of workshop proceedings on Flickr, Vimeo and Facebook. A summary of workshop findings and suggestions will be published online shortly afterwards. Paper summaries and an action-oriented toolkit will follow subsequently

Learn more about the IEGP workshop on our website !

Spotlight on...

Shack/Slum Dwellers International

SDI Logo

SDI is a network of community-based organisations of the urban poor in 33 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In each country where SDI has a presence, affiliate organisations come together at the community, city, and national levels. All SDI federations share five parts of a common methodology:

Women, savings, and finance. SDI 'federations', refer to agglomerations of savings groups at street and community levels in informal settlements. Apart from encouraging savings, these women's collectives also offer access to cheap credit by issuing crisis, consumption and income generation loans.

Community planning. SDI federations work with whole communities to count households, map settlements, and survey at the household level to develop a detailed socio-economic profile of the settlement.

Partnerships. Since its inception, SDI has operated from a clear platform of engagement and negotiation with governments, multi- and bi- laterals, academic institutions and other actors in the development sector to reorient roles, responsibilities, and relationships for the benefit of the urban poor.

Slum upgrading. SDI improves the physical properties of an informal settlement to enhances the lives of its inhabitants. Upgrading can mean anything from drainage installation to incremental housing improvements (either individually or in any configuration).

Learning. Horizontal exchange is the primary learning strategy of SDI.The community exchange process builds upon the logic of 'doing is knowing' and helps to develop a collective vision.

Get Involved!

Rehabilitation International

RI was founded in 1922 in Elyria, Ohio, USA. RI works for the empowerment of persons with disabilities. It has actively participated in the elaboration of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted in 2006. With the signature and ratification of the CRPD by an unprecedented number of countries and territories, RI continues to rally governments to implement the convention. Venus Ilagen, Executive Director of RI, is a contributor to BGD’s Including the Excluded in Global Politics project.

Working with the UN and various other partners in the international, regional and national levels, RI campaigns for the enactment of laws, policies and practices that respect and empower persons with disabilities and provide them access to education, rehabilitation, employment, health care, justice and their inclusion in all aspects of society.

RI has members in over a hundred countries across the world, with its headquarters located in New York City.

Get Involved!

The Building Global Democracy Programme seeks, amongst other things, to identify new publications on the subject which may interest our readership. If you would like us to feature a publication in future newsletters, please email the office.

Building Global Democracy?

Civil Society and Accountable Global Governance book available now!
Edited by Jan Aart Scholte (Cambridge University Press)

This path-breaking book from BGD’s pilot project examines how far civil society activism makes global governance more democratic. What circumstances have promoted (or blocked) civil society efforts to make global governance institutions more democratically accountable? What could improve these outcomes in the future? The book includes studies of thirteen global institutions. Combining intellectual depth and political relevance, the book will appeal to students, researchers, activists and policymakers.

Learn more here!

The Legal and Political Status of International Parliamentary Institutions

By Claudia Kissling (Published by the Committee for a Democratic U.N

This paper contains a worldwide analysis of International Parliamentary Institutions (IPIs) in existence to date. Their number and competences are steadily increasing, but still there are hardly any substantive comparative investigations. This study fills this gap. It concludes that IPIs increasingly fulfil genuine parliamentary oversight functions. They can contribute to overcoming democracy deficits at both regional and global levels.

Learn more here!

BGD Library: Knowledge in one click!

BGD has developed an online library with information and links to publications that engage with the issues of Global Democracy. The Library has more than 100 entries and is being periodically updated by our IT guru, Carlos Zepeda! You are also welcome to submit additional bibliographic resources to enrich the debate and knowledge on Global Democracy by writing to: library@buildingglobaldemocracy.org

The Building Global Democracy programme brings together academics and practitioners from around the world to advance knowledge and practice for greater public participation and control in global affairs. BGD explores how expanded 'rule by and for the people' can be achieved in respect of global issues such as climate change, financial crises, health concerns, Internet links, migration flows, security problems, and trade. The premise is that more democratic governance can encourage more effective and more legitimate responses to vital global challenges.

The BGD programme is facilitated through a convening group of ten persons based in ten world regions, with diverse backgrounds and political outlooks. Our administrative office is located in the Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation at the University of Warwick in Britain. Core funding is provided through a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, with co-funding from other sources.

More details about BGD can be obtained on our website www.buildingglobaldemocracy.org or email us at info@buildingglobaldemocracy.org

Website: www.buildingglobaldemocracy.org | Email: info@buildingglobaldemocracy.org | Tel: +44 (0)24 7657 2532
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