Set out below is a short summary of the more recent and important OECD consultations with CSOs (and other relevant work) organised under the Organisation's main priority areas of work:
The OECD Economics Department acts as a facilitator for a group of National Economic Research Organisations (NEROs) which form a network to exchange information, discuss their evolving research agendas and identify new issues. more... .
A large number of CSOs are consulted in connection with the OECD's work on employment and social cohesion, such as the International Council on Social Welfare and ATD Quart Monde. In the education area, consultations take place with student, university and other higher education and professional associations, chambers of commerce, etc. And for migration, consultations take place with a number of foundations such as the Fondation Agnelli, the German Marshall Fund, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Conseil oecuménique des églises, CIMADE and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. more...
The OECD recognises that there must be a broader engagement with our societies to establish a constructive dialogue on the benefits and challenges of trade liberalisation. Public interest in globalisation has focussed on the multilateral system. Enhanced openness and transparency of that system is central to the task of demonstrating the benefits that flow from open markets. Public understanding of the linkages and complementarities between trade liberalisation and the range of issues arising in other policy areas must be deepened if the multilateral trading system is to be strengthened and gain broad public support.
The OECD Trade Committee and representatives from 24 CSOs representing business, labour, environmental, development and consumer points of view met in an informal consultation on 23 October 2000 around the theme of "Future Challenges for the Multilateral Trading System". The consultation took place the day before the 129th session of the Trade Committee, which examined a number of matters related to issues discussed with CSOs. This meeting followed up a similar informal consultation with CSOs held by the Trade Committee in October 1999. more...
The Joint Working Party on Trade and Environment has also published two reports of national case studies on transparency and consultation on trade and environment, and one report on transparency and consultation in relation with trade and environment activities in five international organisations. more...
The Working Party on Export Credits and Credit Guarantees consults stakeholders, including CSOs, at least once a year in respect of its work on developing common approaches to the environment when providing officially supported export credits. Three such consultations have taken place, the latest in April 2000. more ...
In 2000, OECD governments and Argentina, Brazil and Chile adopted an updated version of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. These were developed in constructive dialogue with the business community, labour representatives and other CSOs and represent an important step in addressing some of the public concerns over globalisation. The following CSOs played a particularly active role - ANPED, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam and World Wide Fund for Nature. Implementation procedures for the Guidelines provide explicitly a role for CSOs, along with business and labour. In this context, CSOs participated in the December 2000 meeting with non-adhering countries where the possibilities for adherence were discussed. (More information on Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises)
In May 2001, OECD will be submitting to OECD Ministers a Policy Report on Sustainable Development, the outcome of major three year project. An important aspect of this report is inputs from CSOs, which have been consulted at various points in the process. more ...
CSOs co-operate very closely in the OECD's work on environmental policy, with regular consultations held with BIAC, TUAC and representatives of environmental NGOs from OECD countries. The participation of environmental NGOs is co-ordinated by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), and include representatives of such organisations as WWF, World Resources Institute, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, etc. The Environment Policy Committee (EPOC) holds consultations with the three stakeholder groups at all of its meetings, and invited stakeholder representatives to participate throughout its High Level meeting in April 2000. more ...
Prior to the last Ministerial meeting of the Environment Policy Committee in 1998, a multi-stakeholder dialogue was held with BIAC, TUAC and a number of environmental NGOs. For the 2001 EPOC Ministerial meeting, the OECD Forum 2001 sustainable development round-table on the OECD Environmental Strategy for the First Decade of the 21st Century will involve OECD Environment Ministers and representatives from all three stakeholder groups.
The Chemicals Committee, and its working groups, maintains close co-operation with CSOs in the course of its work. The Groups welcome the full participation of representatives from BIAC, TUAC and environmental citizens organisations in all of their meetings. more ...
International Federation of Agricultural Producers, and the European Confederation of Agriculture have consultations with the OECD Agriculture Committee, while a large number of other CSOs participate in the OECD's work on food, agriculture and fisheries. more ...
Involving the public in government decision-making on major technological activities and projects has become a necessity for effective governance. For this reason, this OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) has been examining closely the role of civil society in public decision-making processes. more...
In November 2000, the NEA Workshop on "Investing in Trust : the regulator and the public" brought together top regulators and CSO representatives. The NEA's Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) met on 17-18 January 2001, and facilitated the sharing of experience in addressing the societal dimension of radioactive waste management, to explore means of ensuring an effective dialogue with the public, and to consider ways to strengthen confidence in decision-making processes . more ...
The NEA convened a workshop on Better Integration of Radiation Protection in Modern Society, in Villigen, Switzerland, on 23-25 January 2001. More than 70 participants discussed the theory and context of modern radiological risk governance, including the emerging expectations of various stakeholder groups. more...
Governments are looking to new or improved models and approaches for better informing and involving citizens in the policy-making process. In the context of its activity on "Strengthening Government-Citizen Connections", begun in 1999, the Public Management Service studies how Member countries are developing not only information, but also consultation mechanisms that encourage the active participation of citizens in considering and setting public policies. more ...
CSOs around the world are also participating in the efforts of national governments and international organizations like the OECD in fighting bribery and corruption. Among the international NGOs, Transparency International (TI), aims to fight corruption and bribery in international business transactions through international and national coalitions encouraging governments to establish and implement effective laws, policies and anti-corruption programs; build public support for anti-corruption programs; and develop "islands of integrity". TI co-operates very closely with the OECD. more...
The OECD has developed a set of Corporate Governance Principles that were finalised and adopted by its member country ministers following a broad consultative process amongst the public and private sectors in its member and non-member economies. OECD and the World Bank have successfully initiated joint activities to promote corporate governance reform worldwide, using the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance as a framework for dialogue. This is done in consultation with representatives of non-governmental organisations and stakeholder groups with a specific interest in corporate governance. more...
CSOs have made a very important contribution to the OECD's work on information and communications technologies. Indivdual CSOs from the domains of privacy protection and civil liberties have been invited on a consultative basis by the Information, Computer and Communications Policy (ICCP) Committee to provide input to several activities, notably the development of Guidelines on Cryptography Policy.
Work led by the ICCP Committee on information society and the digital economy including activities on protection of privacy and personal data and information security frequently include the involvement of civil society organisations in a consultative capacity. The ICCP Committee plays a central role in the OECD-wide work on electronic commerce and interacts with CSOs through the "Public Voice" -- a grouping of CSOs and TUAC in the domains of privacy protection, consumer protection, civil liberties and free speech. Public Voice Conferences have become a regular complement to major OECD events on this topic and have taken place back to back with the OECD electronic commerce conferences in Turku, Finland, in 1998, the Ottawa Ministerial Conference on Electronic Commerce in 1998 and most recently, the OECD Emerging Market Economy Forum on Electronic Commerce in Dubai., U.A.E., in January 2001. more ...
Consumers International participates regularly in the work of the Consumer Policy Committee on electronic commerce, and played an important role in the development of the Guildelines for Consumer Protection in the Context of Electronic Commerce. more ...
Public concern over biotechnology and other aspects of food safety has exploded in the last few years. To address these concerns, OECD Member governments and the G8 summit asked the Organisation to "undertake a study of the implications of biotechnology and other aspects of food safety". Civil society played a very important role in work leading to the 2000 G8 report, notably through the Edinburgh Conference on GM Food Safety in February 2000, and before that, in November 1999, in the OECD's consultation with CSOs on Biotechnology and Other Aspects of Food Safety. Some 50 CSOs took part in the OECD dialogue with CSOs, and in Edinburgh, where over 40 countries were represented, CSOs were involved in the planning of the conference, gave presentations (Gene Campaign and Consumers International), participated in Panel debates (Greenpeace International, Institute for Consumer Defense, Friends of the Earth and US Consumers Union) and provided audience participation. To complete the process, there will be a second virtual consultation on the Internet with the NGOs who have participated in the process so that they may also comment on the results of the work. more...
Biotechnology and the Public -- the OECD has also made available a review of consultations that have taken place in the past ten years in selected OECD countries on Xenotransplantation, Genetically Modified Organisms (food and animals) and Genetic Screening for Disease. more...
Encouraging the development of an active civil society is a key element of the OECD Development Partnerships Strategy. Further, CSOs are very active players in the field of development co-operation, often acting on behalf of donors. Thus, CSOs participate very actively in the OECD's work on development issues.
For example, the Development Assistance Committee's (DAC) Working Party on Development Co-operation and Environment has three CSO regular observers, viz, International Institute for Environment and Development, World Conservation Union and the World Resource Institute. In the context of the DAC's peer reviews of development co-operation policies and effort of its members, and the associated field missions, there is always a dialogue with CSO's (both in the donor and in the partner country visited) and there is a separate section in the peer review reports on the involvement of NGOs/CSOs in the aid programme under review. more...
The OECD Development Centre provides a platform for both informal and structured dialogue between OECD- and developing-country civil society organisations (CSOs), and aid donors. The Development Partnership Forum 2000 on "Ownership and Partnership: The Role of Southern and Northern Civil Society in Poverty Reduction Strategies", a joint Development Centre/DAC initiative, brought together more than 150 participants from governments and civil society. Participants included representatives of business associations, NGOs, churches, trade unions, media, and parliamentarians, from both sides of the development equation. The Forum proposed several concrete measures to strengthen an enabling environment for improved North-South civil society co-operation.
The Development Centre aims to foster greater transparency and a better understanding of the role of CSOs in development and the promotion of human rights, through its analytical work and the publication of several directories of CSOs active in these field. more ...
On 5/6 March 2001, there will be a joint OECD/UN/UNDP/World Bank Global Forum on "Exploiting the Digital Opportunities for Poverty Reduction". The forum will bring together representatives of governments, civil society and the private sector-from both OECD and developing countries-and of international and regional organisations to discuss ways to bridge the international digital divide. The forum is a major part of OECD's response to the G8 Okinawa Charter on the Global Information Society. more...
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