PWYP International Conference 2009

16 – 18 November 2009

The PWYP International Conference will take place November 16 – 18, 2009 in Montreal, Canada. The conference is being organised by Partnership Africa Canada (PAC), PWYP Canada, and PWYP International.

Conference Objectives

The conference has three key objectives:

To provide a forum for dialogue and engagement between civil society and Canadian actors, including government agencies, the private sector and regulatory authorities. Through this dialogue, coalition membership will gain a better understanding of the role of Canadian actors in promoting and supporting revenue transparency efforts at home and abroad, as well as get an overview of various Northern country approaches to promoting transparency. Organizing the conference in Canada at this time recognizes the significant place Canada and Canadian companies hold in the extractive sector.

To offer space for the coalition to reflect and review progress made towards achieving transparency objectives, as well as to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the future. Here, we will assess the relationship to and role of EITI in a broader transparency lens, and get an update on country progress toward EITI implementation. With the EITI validation deadline looming, we will also discuss the implications for countries of passing or failing validation and aim to reach consensus as civil society on our position vis-a-vis different validation deadline scenarios and the future ofEITI. We will also flesh out new areas of interest and build knowledge of such issues. For instance, there is growing interest in contract transparency, on which we will seek to foster information exchange in this forum, including by offering a training module on how to use publicly available information to better understand extractive industry contracts. We will also share experiences on mandatory disclosure initiatives that PWYP is pushing at national, regional and international levels. The discussions are designed to exchange lessons-learned, as well as facilitate dialogue across coalitions in order to improve campaigning across countries and regions.

To evaluate how to continue strengthening, reinforcing and broadening civil society participation in the global movement for transparency in the extractive industries and how to protect civil society actors when faced with threats and intimidation. We will also think about future decisions and modes of operation for the global coalition. In the coming months, PWYP International will undertake consultations with the coalition on internal governance and membership questions, which will form the basis of our discussions and decision-making at the conference.

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