EuroIFInet

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Who we are

The European International Financial Institutions Network (EuroIFInet) is an informal but active network of European NGOs who are committed to watching and holding to account the international financial institutions with regard to their role in international development issues.

The network functions as a loose coalition of equal partners who recognise the added value of working together to drive change and tackle issues which are beyond the scope of one organisation.

The network brings together information and analysis from a diverse group of development finance actors in Europe, allowing for a pooling of knowledge, resources and ideas between groups who share similar objectives.

What we do

EuroIFInet provides a forum firstly for sharing information updates, secondly for facilitating engagement and strategising, and thirdly for enabling the execution of joint actions. The network also identifies opportunities and priorities regarding development finance issues relevant to the network such as governance of the IFIs, conditionality, safeguards, debt, tax, trade, climate finance, and private-sector finance.

EuroIFInet also follows projects, especially infrastructure projects and the extractive industries, in light of reducing harm from projects, ensuring respect for environmental and human rights criteria, and guaranteeing effective participation.

How we communicate

The main tool of the network is the listserv, which enables information-sharing and the preparation of joint initiatives, actions and campaigns. The listserv allows members to send an email to everyone on the network database.

There is no mandatory level of participation. Members can choose their optimal degree of activism and involvement, according to their own needs and capacity, while bearing in mind that the network is only as useful and relevant as its members make it.

Bi-annual network meetings are hosted by EuroIFInet member organisations on a rotating basis in March and September (ahead of the World Bank and IMF Annual and Spring meetings) in order to share plans, discuss and strategise on issues of joint interest and to set the agenda for meetings with the European Executive Directors of the World Bank and the IMF.

Why we are organised

Members benefit from EuroIFInet in terms of:

  • Information sharing to coordinate action, to facilitate more effective lobbying, to identify.
  • upcoming issues and to improve member’s understanding of complex issues.
  • Joint action around relevant issues and to gain access to European Executive Directors at the World Bank and the IMF.
  • Strategising together to identify priority issues and opportunities.

Our main goals are to:

  • Improve European NGO awareness and skills to tackle the IFIs issues effectively.
  • Make the network more representative by increasing the participation within EuroIFInet of groups from across the EU active on IFI related themes, as well as to broaden network coverage by reaching out to groups with an environment and human rights focus.
  • Integrate the views of Southern NSA platforms in European advocacy activities.
  • Increase the effectiveness of lobbying EU and Member State officials at national and regional levels to ensure that IFI decision-making takes account of civil society perspectives

How to become a member

EuroIFInet is an informal network. There is no formal membership structure for the network – everyone who is signed up to the network’s email database (listserv) is considered a member. Leadership on issues can be provided on an ad-hoc basis by any organisation keen to drive forward an issue.

Become a member! To subscribe to the listserv, please send us an email.

Membership criteria

While we are a loose network and welcome the participation of a variety of actors, in order for the network to serve its purpose we hope that you are someone actively undertaking work on the priority issues mentioned above, either in a capacity as a member or staff of an NGO, think tank or a foundation, or as an independent researcher. Please include your name, title and organisation when asking to be signed up (The network reserves the right to refuse membership).

You can also unsubscribe to the listserv at any moment by sending us an email.

List of members as of 2011
11.be Actionaid Actionaid Denmark Alliance Sud Amnesty International – EU Office Anti-Slavery Bank Information Center USA Bankwatch Network Berne Declaration Bluewin Both Ends Bretton Woods Project Cafod Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale CCFD -Terre Solidaire Changemaker Norway Christian Aid CIDSE CNCD – 11.11.11 Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt Cordaid Counter Balance DebtIreland Diakonia Eca Watch EED Ekvilib Etusivu Eurodad Euronatura Fivas Focus on the Global South Forest Peoples Programme Forum for Environment and Development Forum Syd Friends of the Earth Europe Friends of the Earth Slovakia German NGO Forum on Environment and Development Green Wash Bank Greenpeace International Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America Hivos IBIS Iki International Trade Union Confederation Jubilee Debt Campaign UK Jubilee Nederland Jubilee USA Network Jubilee Scotland Kepa Kindernothilfe Koo Latvian Academic Network Les Amis de la Terre Misereor Mokoro Naturskyddsforeningen Norwegian Church Aid Observatorio de la Deuda en la Globalizatión Oxfam Germany Oxfam International Oxfam Novib Oxfam UK SLUG The Church of Sweden The Corner House The New Economics Foundation Urgewald Venro World Resources Institute WF

Besides its member organizations, the network also includes a number of individuals who are actively working in our areas of concern.