EITI Announcements

Reuters reports that Gabon has lifted the suspension on 22 NGOs after the Government was confronted with the fact that the ban was incompatible with Gabon's membership of the EITI. The participation of independent civil society is a fundamental component of the multi-stakeholder nature of the EITI, which champions dialogue between governments, industry, and civil society.

Key stakeholders in the Democratic Republic of Congo gathered at an international EITI Forum held in Kinshasa 8-9 January, to mark the progress their country has made in implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). It looks likely that the EITI Board will find that the DRC now has shown sufficient progress in meeting the necessary requierments to receive status as a EITI Candidate, when the Board holds its meeting in Ghana 22 February."

On 18 December, 2007, the Committee on Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative announced the release of the Government’s seventh EITI report (Jan-June 2007) audited by Moore Stephens. The report is available here.

On December 5 and 6, 2007 the Propuesta Ciudadana Group, Revenue Watch Institute and Oxfam International organized in the city of Lima an international seminar on Natural Resources, Development and Democracy in Latin America, sponsored by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Peruvian Catholic University (PUCP). Among the speakers were Dr. Francisco Paris from the EITI Secretariat.

A report from this seminar is available in English and Spanish.

EITI conference in DRC: EITI Chairman Peter Eigen on the panel with (from left to right) the Minister of Plan Olivier Kamitatu Etsu and the Minister of Mines Martin Kabwelulu

EITI Chairman Peter Eigen recently visited Central Africa to discuss implementation of the EITI. In a ten day trip to the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon he met with authorities as well as representatives from civil society and industry.

2007 has in many ways been a seminal year for EITI. 2007 saw the EITI transfer its secretariat from being hosted by the British Government to Oslo, transforming EITI to a truly independent multi-stakeholder governance standard. At the Conference in Oslo in October 2006, the EITI International Board was constituted and marked the end of the initial design, pilot and test phase of the EITI. Now, one year on, I believe that we have moved firmly into the operational phase.