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

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.

Sheila Abed of IDEA

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

Introduction (MP3, 1.2 Mb)

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 (MP3, 2.0 Mb)

IDEA’s current work on the Corpus Dam on the Argentina border. Listen (MP3, 1.4 Mb)

The persistent problem of corruption. Listen (MP3, 645 Kb)

Access Rights in Paraguay

Have there been successful examples of public participation in policy setting in Paraguay so far? Listen (MP3, 1.8 Mb)

Partnering with other NGOs and civil society. Listen (MP3, 843 Kb)

The benefits of working on local issues with the government ombudsman. Listen (MP3, 2.5 Mb)

A partnership with the Ministry of the Environment to stop illegal logging. Listen (MP3, 1.0 Mb)

Advocacy Tactics

How easy do you find it to work together with members of the government to make reform? Listen (MP3, 1.4 Mb)

Do you find it most effective to work on environmental issues at the national levels? Listen (MP3, 888 Kb)

The Access Initiative

How has being a member of the TAI network helped IDEA be more effective? Listen (MP3, 845 Kb)

Where The Access Initiative network should move in the future. Listen (MP3, 673 Kb)