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C20 2018 | Newsletter Nº2 Dear all,
Since the Newsletter Nº1 many things have happened and we want to share with
you all this information, as well as share news that you will find of particular
interest. We are also including an entire section about C20 Working Groups!
We are excited and ready for all the challenges and opportunities this year will
bring us. C20 must be a space for true change and cross-country collaboration: let’s
work together towards that goal.
CONTENTS
C20 KICK OFF EVENT ………………………………………………………….2
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE………………………………………3
C20 WORKING GROUPS…………………………………………………….4
TIMELINE……………………………………………………………………………….12
COMMUNICATION AND STAYING IN TOUCH………………13
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C20 KICK OFF EVENT
For the first time in history, the C20 had its kick off event!
The event, which counted the attendance of more than 120 people, the G20 Sherpa,
Deputy of the Finance Track and Sous Sherpa took place on December 12th in
Buenos Aires and was the official hand-over of C20 2017 to C20 2018. In addition,
it had a high level panel in which representatives of civil society, G20, UNDP and
OECD debated around the challenges and opportunities that the G20 presents for
the global agenda.
During the hand-over ceremony, C20 2018 Chair, Pablo Secchi, remarked that
"The voice of civil society around the world must be heard so that public policies
are developed for citizens themselves."
Likewise, Jurgen Maier, Co-Chair of C20 2017, stated that "We are here to discuss
alternatives to the globalization model we have seen so far, we know that the best
ideas do not come from politicians, but from civil society”
Regarding the High Level Panel, for more than an hour, Mauricio Alice (G20 Sous
Sherpa), Laura Jaitman (Deputy Representative Finance Track G20), René
Mauricio Valdez (UN System Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident
Representative), Anthony Gooch (Director of Public Affairs and Communications
OECD) and Stephen Paul Price-Thomas (Director of Advocacy and Campaigns,
Oxfam International) discussed the challenges and opportunities that the G20
presents so that countries can move forward in a sustained and effective way in the
search for solutions to the main global challenges.
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Thank you very much to everyone who participated in the event. Below
you will find some photos!
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
The organizational structure under which the C20 will work in 2018 has been
created based on the experiences and learnt lessons of previous C20 gatherings.
It will consist of a Steering Committee (SC), and International Advisory Committee
(IAC), a Sherpa, a Secretariat and different working groups (WG). The SC will
work in tandem with the IAC and shall be the main governing body of the C20.
With the support of the Sherpa, the SC will be in constant communication with,
and getting input from, the working groups. The WG will be the locus for all the
thematic discussions that will happen. Each WG will be co-chaired by an Argentine
organization and an international one.We will share the name of the members of
the SC and IAC soon!
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C20 WORKING GROUPS
Taking into account the work continuity of the C20, the priorities of the G20 2018
and the survey that we launched some months ago, during 2018 the C20 will have
eight working groups. Agenda 2030 and digitalization will be cross-cutting issues.
It is important to take into account that the themes worked by each of the Working
Groups are built by all the participating organizations. Be part of the conversation!
If you have not registered yet, you can do it now through this link: https://civil-
20.org/registration/
Below, you can find the description and coordinators of each of them.
Working Group Description Local Coordinator International
Coordinator
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Anti -Corruption Corruption is a scourge that can be found
in different forms all around the world. It
is a major barrier to prosperity and
equality, erodes trust in government,
affects economic and financial stability,
threatens investment and curtails the
basic rights of citizens.
In a context in which large-scale, cross-
border corruption cases are becoming
increasingly frequent, national level
efforts to combat corruption often fall
short. International spaces such as the
G20 are essential to allow governments to
coordinate their anti-corruption policies.
The C20’s Anti-corruption Working Group
aims to make anti-corruption one of the
key priorities for the Argentine G20
presidency, including anti-corruption
measures in all G20 workstreams with a
particular focus on:
State-owned enterprises
Infrastructure
Public integrity and ethics
Transparency in beneficial
ownership.
M. Emilia
Berazategui
(PoderCiudadano)
meberazategui@civi
l-20.org
Max Heywood
(Transparency
International)
anticorruptioni@civil-
20.org
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International
FinancialSystem
Architecture
The current international financial and
taxation systems, established in the 1920s
and controlled mostly by developed
countries, are in part responsible
for growing inequality among both people
and countries (many of which lack the
resources to guarantee basic
human rights). Paradoxically,
international financial and taxation
systems, which started benefiting
developed countries over developing ones,
are now being abused mostly by certain
multinational entities and the top
0.1% of individual taxpayers,
to enable these taxpayers not to
contribute their fair share of taxes or to
abuse debt restructuring
processes, thus increasing inequality with
a mutually reinforcing effect. For
example, alarming levels of financial and
tax secrecy are facilitating the growth of
illicit financial flows, including money
laundering and tax evasion.
The International Financial Architecture
(IFA) working group will focus on the
international financial and taxation
systems and their relationship to five
elements: 1) global inequality, 2)
sustainable development, 3) resource
mobilization, 4) harmful competition
among countries and 5) the fight against
illicit financial flows.
The IFA working group will address the
new transparency developments,
including automatic exchange of bank
account information and beneficial
ownership registration, as well as the
identification and countermeasures
against tax havens. In relation to
taxation, we will discuss the new
measures to tackle tax avoidance by
multinational entities (e.g., the G20
OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting
(BEPS) Action Points) and the challenges
posed by the digital economy as well as
the consequences of imposing arbitration
on developing countries as a way to solve
tax conflicts. Technological innovation
will be considered to identify new tools to
Eduardo
Baistrocchi
Andrés Knobel
(Tax Justice Network)
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help towards achieving our goals of
enhancing financial and tax transparency
(e.g., big data and artificial intelligence)
as well as new risks created by crypto-
currencies. The challenges of debt
restructuring processes for vulnerable
countries will also be addressed. In
addition, we will consider whether the
current international framework and
institutions that govern and set
international rules regarding these issues
are fit for purpose, and how to ensure that
all voices, including those of developing
countries and civil society, are heard in a
meaningful way.
Gender The C20 Gender Working Group is
dedicated to promoting an intersectional
and multidisciplinary approach to gender
in the G20 agenda that fully guarantees
the promotion and protection of human
rights, especially of women, girls and
LGBTI people.
The group will work with diverse actors
and will seek to bring them together on a
common platform, focusing on identifying
the main obstacles, and carrying out
proposals to eliminate inequalities and
combat discrimination based on gender
and sexual orientation; and guarantee
access to rights and full economic, social,
and political participation of all people in
an equitable manner. It will hold G20
accountable to its gender commitments.
Mabel Bianco
(FEIM/
Observatorio de
Defensoras de los
Derechos Humanos
de las Mujeres)
genderl@civil-
20.org
Yamini Mishra
(Amnisty
International
Secretariat)
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Education,
Employment
and Inclusion
The recognition of education as a human
right -universal, indivisible and
enforceable- has different sides, which
belong to the field of economic, social and
cultural rights, and to civil and political
rights. In all cases, the State is the main
guarantor, which allocates the necessary
resources and adapts its legal framework,
and its political planning for that purpose.
Thus, education is "the right of rights", a
fundamental way to get access to other
rights such as work and social security.
In such a way, in this work group, we will
approach education from the perspective
of the individual, taking into account their
paths, with comprehensive,
complementary, and quality proposals
that reinforce each other, that promote
citizen participation and a safe transitions
towards the world of work, and with
possibilities of choice from inclusive public
policies and guarantors of an equitable
income distribution. From this
perspective, the recognition, social
legitimization and strengthening of the
teaching career as a major and relevant
social agent is essential. It is also
important the financial resources which
guarantee educational justice and social
inclusion in an increasingly complex
world.
Marcela Browne
(Fundación SES)
Valdinei Valerio
(Red Pro Aprendiz)
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Local2Global One of the most relevant elements for the
full development of Social Organizations
is to be able to act within an enabling
environment that facilitates their daily
work and that allows generating the
necessary conditions to make substantial
contributions to the problems of the
communities in which they work and face
the current times and scenarios.
Having this premise as a guide, this group
aims to generate a space for debate
around the enabling environment of
Social Organizations in the world, seeking
to strengthen the environment of action
and influence of them within the context
in which they operate.
Furthermore, this group seeks to generate
greater knowledge and involvement of
Social Organizations around the world in
the participation and advocacy
mechanisms of the G20; to be able to
democratize the access to this type of key
spaces of incidence in public policies and
strengthen the CSOs from all over the
world to achieve a continuous
participation in all the next G20.
As part of the exchange process that will
take part in this group, the following lines
of debate are proposed:
• Status of the enabling
environment for CSOs in the
world.
• Elements to build a proper
environment that leads to the full
functioning of CSOs.
• Networking and the creation of
regional / global coalitions.
• Tools and mechanisms for
advocacy in Public Policies.
• Regional CSOs involvement in
global issues.
• G20 impact in Latin America.
Guillermo Correa
(RACI)
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Investment and
Infraestructure
Currently, many people do not have
access to basic goods and services, which
results in the exercises of their rights
being limited. In this context,
infrastructure work acquires a
transcendental relevance. In order to
guarantee a response to the needs and
interests of people and global challenges,
it is important to prioritize participation,
transparency in decision-making and
anti-corruption measures throughout the
life cycle of the infrastructure work.
As part of the exchange process that will
take part in this group, the following lines
of debate are suggested:
Infrastructure and PPPs: role of
infrastructure financing in the
global economy. It will focus on
infrastructure’s implications as a
class asset and the promotion of
PPPs as a central tool for
financing. It will debate on the
several problems associated with
the widespread promotion of PPPs
including its fiscal risks, hidden
costs, environmental and human
rights impacts.
Business and Human Rights: role
of corporate and its human rights
impact focusing on how to hold
companies and private actors
accountable for their violations of
rights in their operations across
the supply chain considering both
legal and non-legal avenues.
Gonzalo Roza
(FUNDEPS)
María José Romero
(EURODAD)
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Global Health As part of the commitment reached by the
UN with the 2030 agenda for Sustainable
Development, universal health coverage is
a global priority. Global development is
linked in all its parts and universal access
to health crosses the SDGs in their
entirety. From a human rights
perspective, comprehensive health
includes access to reasonable services,
sexual and reproductive health, family
planning, free and systematic vaccination,
plus prevention and treatment of
communicable and non-communicable
diseases. In this sense, access to universal
health and individual welfare will only be
achieved through governments and
communities involvement in the
strengthening of health systems and
substantial financial support.
Through the C20 2018 GLobal Health
Working Group we have a good
opportunity to continue the previous work
done by other actors, in regard to Global
Health and Antimicrobial Resistance
(focused on TBC), while adding other
global topics as HIV/AIDS, a pandemia
with a global commitment by health
systems that could be controlled by 2030
through proved evidence based strategies.
As well as Vaccines, a fundamental tool
for public health established by the World
Health Organization in the 2011-2020
global immunization vision and vaccine
action plan
Within the framework of the C20 civil
society there is an opportunity to make
these issues visible, the freedom to escape
the restrictions of the public health sector
and discuss, for example, regulation of
advertising, promotion of healthy
environments, tax regulations for
products harmful, interventions on the
environment, etc.
Kurt Frieder
(Fundación
Huésped)
globalhealthl@civil-
20.org
TBC
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Environment,
Climate and
Energy
The goal of the Environment, Climate and
Energy Working Group is to coordinate
global civil society around promoting
policies for implementing sustainable
development within the G20. The group
aims to ensure policy coherence across the
G20 agenda, guided by the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), in particular
SDG 7 on ensuring affordable, reliable,
sustainable and modern energy for all,
and the Paris Agreement's goal of
avoiding the most harmful impacts of
climate change by limiting the global
temperature increase to 1.5ºC above pre-
industrial levels. The Working Group
aims to ensure that G20 countries take
concrete steps to implement the Paris
Agreement and step up the ambition
contained in their national climate plans
by 2020.
Towards this end, the Working Group will
consider issues such as long term
decarbonization strategies, energy
efficiency and renewable energy
investments, fossil fuel subsidies phase-
out, low-carbon and climate-resilient
infrastructure, resilience for vulnerable
communities and ecosystems, and climate
finance for an environmentally-sound
transition to low carbon economies in the
context of poverty eradication."
Enrique Maurtua
Konstantinidis
(FARN)
Gillian Nelson
(Climate Action
Network)
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TIMELINE
December 2017: During the first month, we set up and defined the working
structure of the C-20, defining the members of both the Steering Committee and
the International Advisory Committee, as well as the chairs and co-chairs of the
different working groups.
February 2018: In the week of February 12, the work of the eight Working Groups
of the C20 will begin! Remember that to participate in the Working Groups you
have to register. If you have not already register you can do it through this link:
https://civil-20.org/registration/
April 2018: In person meeting of the Working Groups in Buenos Aires will take
place on the 4th and 5th of April. This will be an open space, but with limited
capacity so you will need to register. Invitations and agenda will be sent soon!
August 2018:The C20 Summit will be held in Buenos Aires on the 6th and 7th of
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August, this is the main event: the moment when the C 20 will present its
position (Communiqué) to the Argentine Presidency.
COMMUNICATION AND STAYING IN TOUCH
The C20 website has been launched. Through the website we will be uploading the
most important news of the C20 and will be the channel through which the C20
Working Groups will perform their work.
To help ensure the continuity of C20 2017 to C20 2018, the domain of the website
remains the same as last year. If you have not visited the website yet, you can do it
through the following link: https://civil-20.org
The C20 also has an official Twitter and Facebook account through which we
disseminate all the relevant information. If you still do not follow us, you can do it
through the following links:
We encourage you to share this information through your networks, asking
interested colleagues and organizations to formally register so they can stay
informed of events and news.
We conceive the C20 as an open space that integrates different views and
understandings of the principal problems affecting our global economic system. The
space aims to bring together experts and advocates in order to bring the concerns
and voices of the Global Civil Society to the G20. In this line, we are working to
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improve the number of spaces available for civil society in the G20
meetings, to secure funding so that organizations from Argentina, the region and
especially the Global South can take part in these discussions and express their
views, and to last but not least, ensure that there are no unilateral government
decisions limiting civil society´s participation in this space.
C20 Chair and Co-Chair