Audio – Interview with Sheila Abed, Executive Director, IDEA (Paraguay)

By Jospeh Foti (Posted: February, 2008) 

Access Initiative (TAI) partner Instituto de Derecho y Economía Ambiental (Environmental Law and Economics Institute, IDEA) is working to build government capacity to make sure that Paraguay’s growing soybean trade is good for the environment and for workers.

Ms. Abed stopped by WRI recently to talk about IDEA’s work on environmental governance issues in Paraguay and elsewhere.

Listen to Introduction

Current Work

• How did IDEA come to work on soybeans as an issue? How is it representative of environmental governance issues in Paraguay more generally? Listen
• IDEA’s current work on the Corpus Dam on the Argentina border. Listen
• The persistent problem of corruption. Listen

Access Rights in Paraguay

• Have there been successful examples of public participation in policy setting in Paraguay so far? Listen
• Partnering with other NGOs and civil society. Listen
• The benefits of working on local issues with the government ombudsman. Listen
• A partnership with the Ministry of the Environment to stop illegal logging. Listen

Advocacy Tactics

• How easy do you find it to work together with members of the government to make reform? Listen
• Do you find it most effective to work on environmental issues at the national levels? Listen

The Access Initiative

• How has being a member of the TAI network helped IDEA be more effective? Listen
• Where The Access Initiative network should move in the future. Listen