TNI is committed to exposing injustice in different arenas of policy, even when few others are speaking out. This was the case with our long-standing work on the issue of the unjust protection given to foreign investors, known as Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms. These allow corporations to sue governments for regulations that protect the public and the environment. Our work paid off as awareness of these injustices grew and anger spread.

By 2015, ISDS had become such a hotly debated issue in 2015 that the EU Trade Commissioner, Cecilia Malmstrőm admitted that ISDS (investor-state dispute mechanism) had become the “most toxic acronym in Europe”.  As a result, the EU was forced to introduce its first reforms to ISDS.

The big question for those in favour of drug policy reform is how to break the deadlock at the international level, that legally constrains national laws within the frame of outdated and ideological UN conventions signed in 1961.

TNI knew that the meeting of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs, to be held in April 2016, was unlikely to deliver needed change as a few countries can easily block reform so came up with a strategy that will continue to build on the momentum for change.

TNI works closely with movements in many countries worldwide, but has a unique 20-year close relationship with Myanmar. This longstanding work has proved invaluable as the resource-rich southeast Asian nation enters a critical moment of political transition. Ensuring that the benefits of opening up the economy are justly distributed is a major challenge. TNI’s expertise on drug policy, foreign investment and agrarian issues – as well as our historic research on Myanmar’s ethnic diversity – have made TNI a deeply respected partner for Myanmar’s nascent civil society.

In April, TNI co-published the book Our Public Water Future that unveiled the sheer scale of public rejection of water privatisation. The book drew attention to the 235 cities that have reversed privatisation of water services in the last 15 years – many of them as a result of work by partners in the Reclaiming Public Water network that TNI has facilitated since the early 2000s.