Europe

After 30 years of neoliberal globalization, it has been increasingly acknowledged that austerity, privatization, deregulation of finance, markets and corporations, and trade and investment liberalization have had a devastating and discriminatory impact on women and have driven inequality. Recent large multilateral agreements, designed primarily to enable the unhindered flow of global capital, are significant barriers to the realization of the human rights of women.

Several media have identified declining living standards as the root cause of the protests, including the impact of new budget measures that are supposed to go into effect in March. However, few media reports have pointed out that the IMF has urged the country to adopt and implement some of the most unpopular measures.

In early October 2017, the city council of Turin (Italy) voted to change the legal status of its local water provider - the “Turin Metropolitan Water Company (SMAT)” - from a publicly-owned joint stock company governed by private law to an inter-municipal enterprise governed by public law.

Latest issue of #PrivatizationWatch (08/2017) - The Global newsletter on privatization of public services around the world.

18 December 2017 - “We need a Global Compact on Migration that protects human rights and addresses the root causes of forced migration”. This is the message of Public Services International in commemoration of December 18 International Migrants Day.

With decisive role of social movements from around the world, meeting in Buenos Aires failed to reach consensus that would benefit the transnationals and harm the world population, especially the poorest.

According to the signatories of the letter, including PSI, the declaration “fails to address the adverse impact of WTO rules and instead appears to be designed to mask the failures of the WTO and its role in deepening inequality and exploitation”.

PSI was one of the organizations that drove the action. According to Jocelio Drummond, Regional Secretary of PSI Inter-America, "the main struggle is to prevent the WTO from expanding its area of action on new issues, for example, electronic commerce".