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Two world events on fiscal federalism: how federal countries share the power to tax, spend and share Two world events - the Global Dialogue on Federalism International Roundtable: The Practice of Fiscal Federalism: Comparative Perspectives and the World Forum on Fiscal Federalism - will be held in conjunction with an international conference on fiscal federalism from December 12 to 15, 2005, in Costa de Sauàpe, Bahia, Brazil. The Forum of Federations and the Secretariat of Finance of Bahia are organizing two events on the theme of fiscal federalism. The World Bank Institute is a special contributor to both events. Supporting these events are Brazilian institutions, including Caixa Economica, the Bank of Brazil, the Institute for Applied Economic Research and the National Confederation of Industry. Representatives of 13 countries from five continents will speak at both the roundtable and the conference. Among the countries participating are Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. The international roundtable is the culmination of individual roundtables on fiscal federalism in 12 federal countries (see below). The Global Dialogue on Federalism is a joint program of the Forum of Federations and the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies. Roundtables on fiscal federalism held in 12 federal countries From July to November 2005, roundtables on fiscal federalism were held in 12 federal countries plus China by the Forum of Federations and the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies.
The event in China was a special International Workshop on Intergovernmental Financial Systems in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, on July 18. Can federalism help create a more united Philippines? With movement toward a federal government in the Philippines, the Forum held three workshops on federalism in the Philippines in August - in Manila, Cebu and Davao. The workshops were held at a time when talk of change to a federal and to a parliamentary system was in the air. Building peace and federalism in Sudan In the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and the southern city of Juba, the Forum held meetings and workshops reaching governments and civil society between September 29 and November 3, 2005, as part of a contract between the Forum and Foreign Affairs Canada. This initial workshop series was held to inform and engage in discussions on federalism with civil society groups as the first part of a continuing program in Sudan. From Canada, Forum President George Anderson and J. Peter Meekison, consultant, and Tag Elkhazin of the Subsaharan Centre participated in the events. Reuniting the country under a federal government is a huge challenge after the civil war between the north and the south, as Paul Morton and Tag Elkhazin report in Federations, Volume 5, No. 1. From October 23 to 29, 2005, George Anderson and Tag Elkhazin went to Ethiopia on a Forum of Federations evaluation mission to explore the possibility of future programs. They divided their time between Addis Abbaba in the north and Asawa in the south and met with people in government and members of civil society. In the summer of 2005, with the help of funding and other resources from a program of the National Democratic Institute, the Forum experts on federal government visited Iraq to provide information and expertise on federal constitutions and federal governance. In July 2005, the six Forum experts on federalism were invited to Baghdad to provide information on federalism and federal constitutions to the Iraqi parliamentarians and judges. For the first mission in early July, the Forum sent Rajeev Davan, an academic and lawyer practising at the Supreme Court of India, Spanish constitutional expert Violeta Almendral and Professor David Cameron of the University of Toronto to provide information on federal constitutions to the constitutional committee of the Transitional Iraqi National Assembly. In the second mission later that month, Forum President George Anderson and former Ontario premier Bob Rae joined Swiss ambassador Tim Guldimann to provide information on many aspects of federal systems and federal governance to members of the Iraqi National Assembly. Valerie Raymond seconded to Forum as Vice President, Governance Programs In October 2005, Valerie Raymond became the Forum's Vice President for Governance Programs, on secondment for a year from Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs, until Céline Auclair returns. Ms. Raymond has held a number of senior positions in Ottawa and abroad since 1986. Ms. Raymond served as Canada's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and to the Maldives (2002 - 2005). From 1997 to 2001, she was Canadian High Commissioner to New Zealand. She was also High Commissioner to Fiji and five other South Pacific island nations. During six years of work on United Nations and global issues, she oversaw development of Government of Canada positions for three UN World Conferences (1993 World Conference on Human Rights; 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women; 1996 Habitat II Summit). Rod Macdonell appointed Senior Director of Public Information and Education Rod Macdonell, former executive director of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression, has been named Senior Director of Public Information and Education by the Forum of Federations. He will arrive in December. Macdonell graduated in law at l'Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec. He was an investigative journalist at the Montreal Gazette where he worked from 1983 to 1999. At the Gazette he wrote about politics, corruption, the environment and the justice system, among other issues. For five years, he taught investigative journalism to journalists in Africa through a World Bank program. He also delivered training workshops for journalists in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. He was a three-time winner of Quebec's highest journalist award from the Fédération Professionnelle des Journalistes du Québec (FPJQ). Shawn Houlihan named Africa Program Director Shawn Houlihan has been appointed Director of the Africa Program at the Forum. He holds a Master in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a BA and Master of Development Economics from Dalhousie University. He will arrive in January, 2006. Houlihan spent five years in Ethiopia (1993-1998), first as CIDA's Democracy and Governance Advisor and later in the Ethiopian PMO as head of a comprehensive civil service reform program. He also has extensive experience in Sudan, as an advisor to CIDA and Senator Lois Wilson (1999-2002) and later as a member of one of the post-conflict Joint Assessment Mission teams and as an advisor to the United Nations Development Programme on governance and capacity development (mid-2004 to present). He has completed a wide range of consultant assignments for CIDA on matters of governance, capacity development and conflict management, including on the Middle East, Horn of Africa, Pan Africa and Southern Africa as well as for the Policy, Asia and Multilateral branches. He also has a strong background in negotiation training, including work with the federal government, First Nations and the World Health Organization. New book and booklet on different themes in federalism The book Distribution of Powers and Responsibilities in Federal Countries and the booklet Dialogues on Legislative and Executive Governance in Federal Democracies will be released at a book launch on Dec. 14, 2005, at the occasion of the Global Dialogue on Federalism's International Roundtable: The Practice of Fiscal Federalism: Comparative Perspectives and the World Forum on Fiscal Federalism in Costa de Sauàpe, Bahia, Brazil. The Global Dialogue is a multi-year project of the Forum and the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies. Both publications can be ordered through McGill-Queen's University Press at http://www.mqup.mcgill.ca/ordering.php . Forum sends interns to Sri Lanka, South Africa, Nigeria The Forum sent three Canadian interns to federal countries this year, with funding from the Forum and the Canadian International Development Agency. Coel Kirkby, a graduate in law from Queen's University, Canada, and former research assistant at the University of Cape Town, is in South Africa participating in an internship with the Community Law Centre until March 2006. Esther Oh, a graduate in law from the University of Toronto and a member of the Ontario bar, is in Sri Lanka participating in an internship with the Centre for Policy Alternatives until March 2006. Rifah Khan, who has an MA in diplomatic studies from the University of Westminster (UK), was in Nigeria participating in an internship with the Institute of Governance and Social Research until November 2005. Forum holds 24 events from July 1 to November 24, 2005 The Forum, with its local partners, international organizations, governments and others, held 24 events since the last issue of @Forumfed was published. The events took place in Canada, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Sudan, the United States, Russia, Nigeria, Australia, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Malaysia, the Philippines and China. International youth meeting in St. Gallen, Switzerland From September 3 to 5, 2005, eight representatives of the Forum's International Youth Network met in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Youth representatives from Canada, Switzerland, Australia, France, Russia and India were present. The committee is directly involved in the planning and implementation of the youth section of the Forum's website and is working to ensure youth participation in Forum activities and in fostering other opportunities specifically designed for young practitioners. First edition of Federations published in Arabic A special edition of Federations on 'federalism and the politics of change' has been published in Arabic for elected officials, civil servants and civil society members in Iraq and Sudan. The same edition has been published in English for use in both countries. The issue has articles on a plan for a federal Philippines and on federalism in India, Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and Ethiopia as well as a special article, 'Federalism: its principles, flexibility and limitations'. The English version of this issue is available on the Forum website. The individual articles in the Arabic issue are also available for download from the Forum website. New on the Forum website: www.forumfed.org There are new pages on the Forum website, including 'The Grapevine', an account of the activities of the Board and staff and organizational events within the Forum. Also 'What Was New' provides an archive of new items featured on the website. Both of these pages are found under the 'News and Events' menu. A new page, 'Publications in Arabic', has been added under the 'Publications' menu. Under the 'Partners' menu, there are new pages on partner governments, partner institutions (formerly 'Liaison Partners'), and a page on the Forum's new Strategic Council, a body composed of members from the Forum's partner governments. ERRATUM: Forum's Strategic Council In the last issue of @Forumfed, Vol. 1 No. 3, in the article, 'Strategic Council encourages Forum to strengthen its role', it was stated that the Strategic Council nominated new members to the Board. This is not correct. The sentence should have read 'The Council also took note of the recommendations for candidates for the Forum Board made by countries represented on the Strategic Council and recommended their approval to the Board.' |
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