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 New
Horizons
> December 2002
Books
and publications
Ecumenical
Advocacy Alliance
 Two
new resources are available from the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
(EAA), which is a broad ecumenical network for coordinated
international advocacy on HIV/AIDS and global trade.
An
introductory brochure, which is available in English
and Spanish contains basic details of the Alliance and outlines
the EAA’s mission “to strengthen the prophetic voice
and impact of ecumenical witness on the crucial social, political
and economic issues of the day.”
Several
inserts are provided to accompany the brochure if they are
appropriate for a particular audience. The inserts include
details of the Alliance’s plan for its three-year global
campaign on HIV/AIDS: I care…Do you? The churches say
YES! There is also a list of EAA participating churches and
organizations, and details of those in leadership roles. For
example, the ECLOF Geneva Chairperson, Rev. Dr Christoph Stückelberger,
is a member of the EAA Global Trade Strategy Group.
The
other new publication from the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance
is a CD-ROM of multi-lingual faith-based resources
on HIV/AIDS.
The
CD-ROM brings together materials collected from EAA’s
membership in preparation for last June’s World AIDS
Conference in Barcelona, Spain. Among other things, the CD-ROM
contains biblical, theological and ethical resources, as well
as educational materials, plus policies and statements from
churches and related organizations.
Contact:
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance, 150 route de Ferney, PO Box
2100, 1211 Geneva, 2, Switzerland.
The
brochure and CD-ROM are also available on the EAA website:
www-e-alliance.ch
 
Rigged rules and double standards
Published by Oxfam International
Rigged
Rules and Double Standards contains Oxfam’s analysis
of the rules that govern world trade.
Published
to launch the organization’s Make Trade Fair campaign,
Rigged Rules and Double Standards says that there is a paradox
at the heart of international trade. In the globalised world
of the early twenty-first century, trade is one of the most
powerful forces linking our lives. It is also a source of
unprecedented wealth.
Yet
millions of the world’s poorest people are being left
behind. Increased prosperity has gone hand in hand with mass
poverty and the widening of already obscene inequalities between
rich and poor. World trade has the potential to act as a powerful
motor for the reduction of poverty, as well as for economic
growth, but that potential is being lost.
The
rules that govern international trade are rigged in favour
of the rich. The human costs of unfair trade are immense.
If Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Latin America were each
to increase their share of world exports by one per cent,
the resulting gains in income could lift 128 million people
out of poverty. Reduced poverty would contribute to improvements
in other areas, such as child health and education.
In
their rhetoric, the Oxfam report continues, governments of
rich countries constantly stress their commitment to poverty
reduction. Yet the same governments use their trade policy
to conduct what amounts to robbery against the world’s
poor. When developing countries export to rich country markets,
they face tariff barriers that are four times higher than
those encountered by rich countries. Those barriers cost them
US$100bn a year – twice as much as they receive in aid.
The
harsh reality is that the policies of rich countries are inflicting
enormous suffering on the world’s poor. When rich countries
lock poor people out of their markets, they close the door
to an escape route from poverty.
While
rich countries keep their markets closed, poor countries have
been pressurised by the International Monetary Fund and World
Bank to open their markets at breakneck speed, often with
damaging consequences for poor communities.
The
international community has not seriously addressed the problem
of low and unstable commodity prices, which consign millions
of people to poverty. Reform of world trade is only one of
the requirements for ending the deep social injustices that
pervade globalisation. Action is also needed to extend opportunity,
and reduce inequalities in health, education, and income distribution.
Make
Trade Fair
Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign aims to change world
trade rules in order to:
- improve
market access for poor countries and end the cycle of
subsidised agricultural over-production and export dumping
by rich countries;
- end
the use of conditions attached to IMF–World Bank
programmes which force poor countries to open their markets
regardless of the impact on poor people;
- create
a new international commodities institution to promote
diversification and end over-supply, in order to raise
prices to levels consistent with a reasonable standard
of living for producers, and change corporate practices
so that companies pay fair prices;
- establish
new intellectual-property rules to ensure that poor countries
are able to afford new technologies and basic medicines,
and that farmers are able to save, exchange, and sell
seeds;
- prohibit
rules that force governments to liberalise or privatise
basic services that are vital for poverty reduction;
- enhance
the quality of private-sector investment and employment
standards;
- democratise
the World Trade Organization to give poor countries a
stronger voice;
- change
national policies on health, education, and governance
so that poor people can develop their capabilities, realise
their potential, and participate in markets on more equitable
terms.
More
information on the Make Trade Fair campaign is available at:http://www.maketradefair.com
Transformational Boards – A Practical Guide to Engaging
Your Board and Embracing Change
by Byron L. Tweeten
Pub. Jossey Bass
 Nonprofit
boards must rethink their roles if they are to thrive in today’s
uncertain environment. That is the starting point of Byron
Tweeten’s new book, which he has organized as “a
quick and user-friendly road map for executive leaders –
both board members and top managers.”
The
author is the founder and chief executive office of Growth
Design Corporation, an international resource and consulting
firm working with nonprofits.
In
Transformational Boards, Byron Tweeten goes beyond what it
takes to be a good board member. His passion is for boards
to be “fully engaged” in order to deal with the
intense forces of change that are affecting most nonprofit
organizations.
In
almost 200 pages, Byron Tweeten explores the key issues that
fully engaged boards must address in order to provide the
best leadership for their organizations. He examines effective
ways to recruit both board members and senior management.
Tweeten says that having the right CEO who has the complete
support of the board of directors, is a “cornerstone”
of the engagement model. He is critical of appointments made
on the basis of a person’s experience and expertise,
rather than someone’s abilities, motives that drive working
and indicators of job satisfaction.
The
author deals with techniques for building on relationships
to position and market an organization, and a range of resource
solutions, including fundraising, process design, enterprise
development, collaboration and stewardship, to develop revenues
for organizations that can no longer depend on one resource
to support their mission.
Tweeten
also emphasises the need for performance evaluation in order
to keep board members and management on track. And, in a consideration
of “contrarians”, i.e. people who don’t always
think as others do, he is wary of boards that take unanimous
decisions: “It frequently takes a ‘contrarian’
thinker to generate the kind of debate that leads to solid
decision making.”
Using
the action steps outlined in the book, the author claims a
board can develop the flexibility to adapt to change while
maintaining its organization’s primary mission.
The
book concludes with a checklist for boards to use to see how
“fully engaged” they are in dealing with the forces
of change they must face.
Byron
L. Tweeten recently attended the ECLOF managers international
workshop in the Dominican Republic as a resource person.
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