Resource Watch . . . another Soros initiative . . .

[OneBlueSky]

from George Soros' Open Society Institute, a project to monitor oil and other resources in areas of the Middle East and Asia . . . interesting . . .

Revenue Watch
http://www.revenuewatch.org/

Resource-rich states throughout the world face an unusual paradox. Natural resources, once touted as a blessing for poor countries, have more often contributed to poverty violent conflict, corruption, and repression. The Open Society Institute (Soros Foundations), sees the transparent use of revenues generated by the sale and transport of natural resources as an issue of great importance for regional development and the promotion of civil society. The Revenue Watch policy program aims to generate and publicize research, information, and advocacy on how revenues are being invested and disbursed and how governments and extraction companies respond to civic demands for accountability. It also seeks to build the capacity of local groups to monitor government management of oil revenues through training in budget monitoring, training in reporting on the extractive sector, and seed grants to budget watchdogs. Revenue Watch hopes to ensure that existing and future natural resource revenues be invested and expended for the benefit of the public, such as poverty reduction, education, and public health - through the promotion of transparency, civic involvement, and government accountability.