Bogota, D.C., February 24, 2016 – Within the framework of the 7th Global Conference of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) taking place in Peru, the appointment of Ana Carolina González Espinosa as civil society representative on the Global Board of Directors of this organization was ratified.
Ana Carolina González Espinosa holds a PhD in Political Science and is a professor and researcher at the School of Finance, Government and International Relations of the Universidad Externado de Colombia. Since December 2013, he has been the representative of the Mesa de Sociedad Civil para la Transparencia en las Industrias Extractivas before the EITI Colombia process, together with Fundación Foro Nacional por Colombia and Transparencia por Colombia. He has extensive experience in academia and civil society promoting higher levels of transparency, accountability and citizen participation in the extractive sector in Colombia.
In the framework of the EITI Colombia process, Ana Carolina has played a key role in ensuring that it complies with this international standard and that it incorporates the main concerns of academia and civil society with respect to the oil, mining and gas industry in Colombia. “The first EITI Colombia Report is a good first step, it demonstrates the interest of the government and the main companies in the sector to advance in their accountability, but there is still a long way to go to make the extractive sector more transparent,” said González upon learning of his ratification as a member of the EITI Global Board of Directors. “From Colombia we can make much more progress by incorporating information on socio-environmental issues, social investments by companies and contributions from the sector to mayors’ and governors’ offices”.
During the EITI Global Conference in Peru, the Vice Minister of Mines and Energy, María Isabel Ulloa, was also ratified as a member of the EITI Global Board of Directors representing the participating governments.
About the Civil Society Bureau
The Civil Society Roundtable for Extractive Industries Transparency was created to ensure effective civil society participation in the EITI process. The main objective of the Roundtable is to inform and sensitize organizations, the media, businessmen and citizens on the progress of the initiative in the country. It is currently made up of 24 civil society organizations from different regions of the country.
About EITI
EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) is a global initiative that seeks to monitor and reconcile payments made by companies and received by the government for the exploitation of renewable and non-renewable resources. It is applied voluntarily by countries whose governments seek to improve governance by involving business and civil society. Colombia has been part of this initiative since 2014 and in the framework of the 7th EITI Global Conference presented its first EITI Report.
