GO
BETWEEN - NO 102 -
February - March
2004 - Calendar
of selected events
| New High Commissioner for Human Rights | |||
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On 25 February, the General Assembly approved UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s appointment of Justice Louise Arbour of Canada as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, for a four-year term of office. Justice Arbour is expected to retire from the Supreme Court of Canada in late June 2004 to take up her new assignment in Geneva. The GA established the post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in December 1993. Since 1999 Louise Arbour has served on the Supreme Court of Canada. In 1996 she was appointed by the Security Council as Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, based in The Hague. Ms. Arbour has published extensively, in both English and French, in the fields of human rights, civil liberties, gender issues and criminal procedure. In a statement released on 20 February, Human Rights Watch said that Secretary-General Kofi Annan has chosen a skilled jurist and principled advocate. “Justice Arbour is the embodiment of what is needed for this job,” said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch. “She combines the human rights experience, international standing and moral stature needed to confront the worst and most powerful abusers.” Human Rights Watch stressed that around the world, human rights are being assailed in the name of the international campaign against terrorism, and called on Justice Arbour to make these challenges to human rights a first priority during her tenure. In particular, she should press for the creation of an independent mechanism—such as a UN special rapporteur—to monitor how governments are using the fight against terrorism as an excuse to undermine human rights worldwide.
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| On 12 February, the Conference on Disarmament approved a decision regarding the enhancement of the engagement of civil society in its work. The decision states that NGOs will continue to be allowed to attend formal plenary meetings and to be seated in the public gallery. Upon request, they can receive official documents of the plenary. NGOs are able—at their own expense and twice per annual session—to make written material available to the members of the Conference outside the hall. After the Conference adopts a programme of work, it will allocate one informal plenary meeting per annual session to NGOs to address the Conference. Only NGOs whose activities relate to the work of the Conference will be able to address the Conference. A formal selection process will be put in place to consider requests from NGOs to participate. | |||
| On 30 January
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, President Jacques Chirac of France,
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, and President Ricardo
Lagos of Chile met in Geneva to discuss a global fund to fight hunger
and to consider proposals put forth by President Lula at last year’s
G-8 Summit held in France, which included alternative financing mechanisms,
such as a tax on international arms deals as a way to finance a fund
against hunger.
During their meeting in Geneva, the leaders agreed to establish a working group responsible for finding ways to raise US$50 billion per year to fight world hunger. According to President Chirac, who termed the proposed fund “the Lula Fund,” raising US$50 billion is only part of what must to be done to end hunger. The working group, formed by French and Brazilian experts, will study alternative financing mechanisms and is expected to present a report later this year. President Lula, speaking at the joint press conference held after their meeting, said he had not come to Geneva “just to recall that hunger is a weapon of mass destruction which kills 24,000 persons each day and 11 children per minute.” He said he came to Geneva “in search for solutions and concrete actions in order to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty.” The challenge at hand is to combine economic stability and social inclusion, which would require “great transformation in the structure of societies and profound changes in the organization of the productive system,” he said, while also pointing out that political will is an “indispensable element” of the equation. President Chirac commended President Lula for the Zero Hunger Programme that he has undertaken in Brazil (see Go Between 97). Citing World Bank figures on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), President Chirac said it would be necessary for official development assistance (ODA) to “increase by US$50 billion a year, that is to say to rise from US$60-US$110 billion a year.” He also made the observation that overall world trade and exports each year are worth some US$8,000 billion and the world gross domestic product (GDP) is US$33,000 billion. “The reason I mention those two figures is basically to indicate that US$50 billion in fact is just a mere drop in the ocean, provided of course that we have the desire and the ability to get it.” President Lagos pointed out that “globalization has a social deficit for which no answers, no credible answers, have been found.” He said that ODA “at its current level has reached a ceiling and it’s very difficult to imagine that countries are going to increase it further.” Speaking of the proposed working group, and noting that “the process of globalization is a fact and it’s here to stay,” he said the issue is “how, within this process, we can obtain resources now that we can put to use immediately to deal with hunger.” Mr. Annan called attention to the fact that in 2003 world leaders had been distracted by matters of war and peace, and the tragic events that occurred diverted their attention from other pressing issues. “These issues do not grab headlines, but hundreds of thousands suffer every day from extreme poverty and hunger, unsafe drinking water, and environmental degradation. Endemic or infectious diseases claim millions of lives. We must refocus our energies on these threats. We must translate the Millennium Development Goals into reality—and we have only 11 years left in which to do so.” Speaking of the eight MDGs, the Secretary-General stressed, “We also know that, in many countries, there is no hope for reaching the first seven Goals unless we start by achieving the eighth Goal—the global partnership for development.” On 1 March, President Chirac met with the three heads of the Rome-based UN food agencies to discuss concrete ideas to bolster efforts to rid developing countries of hunger and rural poverty. “We shall work together to strengthen our ongoing initiatives to support national efforts to eradicate constraints to rural development and food security,” the UN agency heads said in a statement. “We believe that a ‘twin-track’ approach is needed: emergency assistance in food aid to prevent lasting damage from malnutrition and investments in the rural sector, and agricultural production to enable the poorest and most vulnerable people to feed themselves and build sustainable livelihoods.” These agencies already cooperate closely with members of civil society as part of an International Alliance Against Hunger (see Go Between 92). |
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| Globalization Can and Must Change | |||
| The World Commission
on the Social Dimension of Globalization, co-chaired by President
Tarja Halonen of Finland and President Benjamin William Mkapa of Tanzania,
released its 168-page report on globalization on 24 February 2004.
A Fair Globalization: Creating Opportunities for All calls for an
“urgent rethink” of current policies and institutions of
global governance.
The Commission, an International Labour Organization (ILO) initiative launched in 2002 by ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, says globalization can and must change. Its report expresses concern about the direction globalization is currently taking: “Its advantages are too distant for too many, while its risks are all too real. Corruption is widespread. Open societies are threatened by global terrorism, and the future of open markets is increasingly in question.” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the report and said he
hoped the international community would pay close attention to its
findings and recommendations “on one of the most important
issues of our time—the need to ensure that people throughout
the world, and especially the poor, can benefit from globalization
and have a voice whenever decisions about it are taken.” Contact: Secretariat of the World Commission, ILO, 4 route de Morillons,
CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7781, fax +41-22/799
8909, e-mail <worldcommission@ilo.org>, website (www.ilo.org/public/english/wcsdg/index.htm). |
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| 10th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide | |||
| The 10th anniversary
of the Rwandan genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were
killed in a three-month period, was observed on 7 April 2004. The
Government of Rwanda asked that the world’s observance of the
Day include a minute of silence at noon local time in each time zone.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted that “Such a minute of
silence has the potential to unite the world, however fleetingly,
around the idea of global solidarity. Let us be united in a way we
were not ten years ago. And let us, by what we do in one single minute,
send a message—a message of remorse for the past, resolve to
prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again—and let’s
make it resound for years to come.”
A one-day memorial conference that included two panel sessions was organized by the Governments of Canada and Rwanda in New York on 26 March. Opening the memorial conference, Mr. Annan said, “The international community failed Rwanda, and that must leave us always with a sense of bitter regret and abiding sorrow.” The Rwandan genocide raised questions that affected all humankind, including fundamental questions about the authority of the Security Council and the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping, Mr. Annan said, asking the question if confronted by a new Rwanda today, would the international community respond effectively? During the two panel discussions that were held, participants considered means to ensure a more effective international response to genocide in the future. According to Canada’s Foreign Minister Bill Graham, the international community, while it had learned what needed to be done, still lacked political agreement to prevent a Rwanda from happening again. He stressed that it was more urgent then ever to confront gross violations of international humanitarian law. Rwanda’s Foreign Minister, Charles Murigande, pointed out that the international community failed to intervene even though it had plenty of advance warning from many sources that large-scale killing was likely. “Calling it genocide would have made it an obligation for the international community to intervene, which it was unwilling to do. And so people spoke of ‘mass killing,’ ‘tribal violence’ or ‘acts of genocide’ to escape having to take responsibility, while Rwandans died at a rate of well over 10,000 a day,” he said, noting that he supported the findings of a report entitled Responsibility to Protect, which recommends that when a population is suffering serious harm and the State in question is unwilling or unable to act, then the international community has a duty to protect. Speaking before the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on 7 April, Mr. Annan unveiled a five-point plan for the United Nations to prevent future genocides while calling particular attention to the crisis unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan. The Secretary-General voiced his “grave concern” over reported human rights abuses in Darfur, citing a recent warning by the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator of “ethnic cleansing” in the area. In outlining his Action Plan to Prevent Genocide, Mr. Annan said the first step must be to prevent armed conflict by addressing the issues that cause it. “We must attack the roots of violence and genocide: hatred, intolerance, racism, tyranny, and the dehumanizing public discourse that denies whole groups of people their dignity and their rights,” he said. Protecting civilians during war should be the second step in thwarting potential genocides. The third step is to end impunity for those who have committed such crimes, he said, recalling the work of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the landmark verdicts it has handed down—the first conviction for genocide of a former head of government, the first to determine that rape was used as an act of genocide, and the first to find that journalists who incite the population to genocide are themselves guilty of that crime. His plan also calls for greater efforts to achieve wide ratification of the Rome Statute, so that the new International Criminal Court “can deal effectively with crimes against humanity, whenever national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.” The fourth step includes the Secretary-General’s decision to appoint a Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, who will report through him to the Security Council and the General Assembly, as well as the Commission on Human Rights. As for the fifth pillar of his plan, the Secretary-General called for “swift and decisive action” in response to warnings of genocide. “Anyone who embarks on genocide commits a crime against humanity. Humanity must respond by taking action in its own defence. Humanity’s instrument for that purpose must be the United Nations, and specifically the Security Council,” he said, adding that military action should be used as an extreme measure. “Let us not wait until the worst has happened, or is already
happening,” the Secretary-General concluded. “Let us not
wait until the only alternatives to military action are futile hand-wringing
or callous indifference. Let us be serious about preventing genocide.
Only so can we honour the victims whom we remember today. Only so
can we save those who might be victims tomorrow.” |
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| US Refuses to Sign Land Mine Treaty | |||
| On 27 February,
the United States announced that it would not sign the Mine Ban Treaty,
which outlaws the stockpile of mines and requires each country to
destroy its remaining mines within four years. The announcement reversed
a decision the Clinton administration made in 1998 to give up the
use of all antipersonnel mines and join the treaty by 2006, if the
Pentagon could find a suitable alternative.
The Bush administration has announced that after 2010 it will only use “smart” mines that deactivate themselves after a set period of time. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Lincoln Bloomfield said that the US army would phase out the older types of mines as soon as possible. Until then, the president must authorize any use of conventional or “persistent” mines. Furthermore, within a year, the US plans to stop using mines undetectable by conventional metal detectors. The US also said it will give a 50% increase to the State Department’s humanitarian mine action budget, bringing the budget to US$70 million. Stephen Goose, Executive Director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch, said that the policy change means that now US forces are free to use smart mines anywhere in the world, indefinitely. “So-called smart mines are not safe mines—they still pose real dangers for civilians,” Mr. Goose said, adding that the US was taking progressive steps but was “missing a great opportunity” to make the world safer by outlawing land mines. “While the rest of the world is rushing to embrace an immediate and comprehensive ban on anti-personnel mines, the Bush administration has decided to cling to the weapon in perpetuity,” he said. Stan Brabants of Handicap International Belgium said that smart mines can still pose unacceptable risks for civilians, cause new mine victims, and the clearance task will still be time-consuming, costly and dangerous for deminers. The US is one of fifteen countries left in the world that produces
or reserves the right to produce anti-personnel mines. The US stockpiles
10.4 million anti-personnel mines and 7.5 million anti-vehicle mines
making it the world’s third largest “mine power.”
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| Statistical Commission Discusses MDG Indicators | |||
| Meeting at UN
headquarters from 2-5 March 2004, the Statistical Commission reviewed
the progress of the United Nations Statistics Division in compiling
and analyzing data for monitoring progress towards the achievement
of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs, see NGLS Roundups 98, 105
& 106). As part of its review, the Commission cited a number of
initiatives aimed at improving the compilation of appropriate data
and indicators in the areas of environment, poverty, gender equality,
and slum populations. These included the potential development of
a number of system-wide subgroups spearheaded by key UN and multilateral
agencies and programmes aimed at developing joint work on poverty,
gender, population and environment indicators.
Emphasizing the importance of country level monitoring in both developed and developing countries, the Commission called attention to the handbook Indicators for Monitoring the Millennium Development Goals: Definitions, Rationale, Concepts and Sources (http://millenniumindicators.un.org/unsd/mi/Metadatajn30.pdf), which aims to provide guidance on the definitions, concepts and sources of data for each of the indicators being used to monitor goals and targets. The Commission also highlighted the work being undertaken at the national level by key donor countries to measure their progress in meeting the requirements for the development of a global partnership for achieving the MDGs. Denmark’s recently released report, entitled Goal 8: Establishing a Global Partnership (www.um.dk/publikationer/um/english/ danida/Goal8reportMinistryofFor.pdf) was cited as an important precedent for other developed countries. The study represents the Danish Government’s first national progress report on Denmark’s effort to fulfill its international commitments as part of a broader global partnership between donor and recipient countries. The report explores the level and quality of Denmark’s official development assistance (ODA), its support for international trade cooperation and developing country access to essential medicines, as well as its efforts in supporting debt relief for highly indebted poor countries (HIPC). Looking forward, the report expresses Denmark’s intention to advocate that other industrial countries compile similar national reports on the fulfillment of their commitments to MDG Goal 8 as part of the UN’s overall five-year review of progress achieved in relation to the MDGs, to be held in 2005. Contact: Director, Statistics Division, United Nations, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 4583, fax +1-212/963 4116, e-mail <unstats@un.org>, website (http://unstats.un.org /unsd/default.htm).
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| ECOSOC Reviews Efforts to Stem Poverty in LDCs | |||
| Top UN officials,
donors and heads of international institutions convened at the UN
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on 17 February 2004 to examine
worldwide efforts to lift the 50 poorest nations—home to 600
million people—out of poverty and instability.
During a day-long meeting in preparation for its high-level segment taking place from 28-30 June 2004, ECOSOC reviewed progress in mobilizing resources and creating an enabling environment for poverty eradication for the least developed countries (LDCs) since an action plan was drawn up at an international conference held in Brussels in 2001 (see NGLS Roundup 75). The Brussels Programme of Action (POA) includes seven specific commitments made by the LDCs and their development partners relating to the mobilization of financial resources as well as governance, trade and sustainable development. Setting the stage for three roundtable discussions, ECOSOC Chair Marjatta Rasi (Finland) challenged participants to consider how existing tools and frameworks could be better used to mobilize more resources for development and improving institutions and the policy environment, and how official development assistance (ODA) could be better utilized and harmonized to enhance pro-poor policies and accelerate progress towards poverty eradication and sustainable development. In his opening remarks, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs José Antonio Ocampo said that most LDCs were in serious danger of falling short of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Brussels POA. He warned that in extreme cases, the lack of access to resources could undermine the basic mechanisms of governance and lead to political disintegration and open social conflicts. “Such instability,” he observed, “is a major obstacle to making the business climate attractive to both domestic and foreign investors. The efforts to mobilize resources should therefore be closely integrated with the efforts to achieve peace and security.” He added that proposals to link debt service payments to commodity pricing might be considered, and said that there was also a need to promote trade, as well as ensure duty- and quota-free access for exports, which are currently subject to protection and subsidized competition. During the discussions that followed, a range of participants offered recommendations to remedy the economic woes of poor countries. These included widening the tax base, focusing on the middle class, investing in infrastructure, giving priority to education, and providing LDCs with fair access to international markets. In the panel on national resource mobilization, speakers stressed the need for more transparency in policy making and for combating corruption. Promoting policies that expand the tax base was also emphasized, as was the critical importance of reducing both the risk and cost of doing business in developing countries. The panel on international resources stressed the lack of financial resources currently available for developing countries to reach the MDGs. The panel focused on the quality of international assistance, emphasizing that ODA should lead to capacity building and the promotion of sustainable development. Speakers stressed that resource mobilization should be flexible and should focus on foreign direct investment. Debt reduction was also an essential element of the discussion, as was the need to open up market access for developing countries. A third roundtable emphasized the need for policy coherence at the national and regional levels and noted that migration and trade policies must also be mutually coherent in order to ensure that neighbouring countries are better able to reach their regional and individual development goals. Contact: Office of the High Representative for Least Developed
Countries, Landlocked Developed Countries and Small Island Developing
States, United Nations Room UH-900, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone
+1-212/963 7778, fax +1-917/367 3415, e-mail <OHRLLS-UNHQ@un.org>,
website (www.un.org/special-rep/ohrlls/ohrlls/default.htm). |
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| UNHCR: Asylum Seekers Down in 2003 | |||
| A report released
by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says
the number of people seeking asylum in industrialized countries fell
20% in 2003, a drop the United Nations attributes to political and
security improvements in key countries. Some 463,000 asylum claims
were made—the lowest since 1997, and the third lowest since 1988.
“I welcome this news,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers. “Most of the major groups of asylum seekers—especially the Afghans, Iraqis and people from Serbia and Montenegro—have decreased in number, which reflects the significant changes in their home countries and regions.” However, Mr. Lubbers warned, “The improvements remain fragile in many countries, and there needs to be continued investment of aid and resources in the regions of origin to ensure that the trend is not reversed.” The European Union also recorded record lows in 2003 asylum applications—down 22% from the previous year, to 288,000, well under half the record high of 669,000 in 1992, during the Balkan wars. The United Kingdom received the greatest number of asylum seekers in 2003, with 61,050, followed by the United States with 60,700, France with 51,400, and Germany with 50,450. In terms of asylum-seeking nationalities, Russians—mostly Chechens—topped the list in 2003 with 33,400 applications, up 68% from the previous year. They were concentrated in Austria (6,700), Poland (5,600), the Czech Republic (4,900), Germany (3,400) and Slovakia (2,700). Iraqis, the top asylum-seeking group in 2002, dropped by 50% to 24,700 in 2003. Afghans, the top group in 2001, declined by 46% between 2002 (25,500) and 2003 (13,800). Important decreases have also been reported in Africa, where a number of countries have seen a significant improvement in circumstances in recent years. Angolan asylum seekers in 2003 fell by 46% compared to 2002, Sierra Leoneans fell by 58%, while asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo fell by 22%. Somalis, who increased by 7%, were the only major African asylum-seeking nationality to go up in 2003. Contact: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Case Postale 2500, CH-1211 Geneva 2 Dépôt, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/739 8111, website (www.unhcr.ch).
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| Reconstruction of Liberia | |||
| “Let us all
seize this opportunity to end a long-running nightmare that has disgraced
humankind. Let us consolidate the peace, and make the peace process
irreversible,” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said as he opened
a two-day conference aimed at addressing Liberia’s reconstruction
needs. Co-sponsored by the United States, the World Bank and the United
Nations, the conference, held from 5-6 February in New York, was organized
by the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) and brought together
representatives from 110 countries and 45 organizations.
Technical discussions, statements, reports and presentations were held over the two days, and organizations and governments at the conference pledged more than US$500 million towards reconstruction and humanitarian assistance, against a US$660 two-year assessment need. Other assistance, such as training and technical assistance and alleviation of the debt burden, was also pledged. C. Gyude Bryant, Chairman of the National Transitional Government of Liberia, said the situation in Liberia was characterized by a total breakdown of law and order, massive displacement of population, lack of essential services, unreliable public utilities and environmental degradation, as well as a rising incidence of HIV/AIDS, a huge debt burden and pervasive food insecurity. The real challenges of the transition still lay ahead, he warned, with comprehensive disarmament the most crucial among them. After a four-month delay, the disarmament process was scheduled to restart on 15 April 2004. The UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) peacekeeping force has 14,000 troops in Liberia and is slated to number 15,000. Nearly 15 years of war and conflict have severely compromised the environment of Liberia, with drinking water and sewage systems in such a damaged state they represent a serious threat to public health, according to the Desk Study on the Environment in Liberia, compiled by the Post Conflict Assessment Unit of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Urgent action is also needed to restore electricity supplies, including Liberia’s main hydroelectric plant. Serious electricity shortages are forcing many Liberians to chop down trees and destroy habitats like mangrove swamps for fuel wood and charcoal. The report also finds that the poaching of wild animals for food has sharply intensified over recent years, partly as a result of a rapid penetration of roads and labourers into forest areas to support illegal logging. “In modern Africa, environment security and effective and fair resource governance are at the very heart of peacemaking and peacekeeping. The misuse of natural resources has not only been a source of conflict in Liberia and the wider region, but has also sustained it,” said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer. Contact: Eric Falt, Spokesperson and Director of UNEP’s Division
of Communications and Public Information, PO Box 30552, Nairobi,
Kenya, |
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| S-G’s Report: Composition of the Secretariat | |||
| A report by UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan (A/58/666), entitled Composition of the
Secretariat, shows that women staff members are catching up with men
in terms of the number of those recruited, but females still hold
lower-level jobs.
The percentage of women in UN posts subject to geographical considerations under the Organization’s quota system has jumped to 41.8% from 38.1% in 1999. Aside from those posts set aside to fill geographic quotas, the global gender distribution of Secretariat staff shows a nearly balanced female-male ratio of 51.2% to 48.8%. The numbers, however, do “not reveal important differences in gender representation by grade, category and by department or office,” the report says. Women account for just 17.3% of the 52 Under-Secretaries-General and Assistant Secretaries-General. Among the 383 Directors below them (decision making and senior staff), women comprise just 30.6%. With regard to posts subject to the quota system, the Office of Human Resources and Management (OHRM) has more female professionals, with a ratio of 37 women to 27 men, but in the Department of Political Affairs (DPA), there are 41 women compared to 60 men in those jobs. Women account for 40% of the middle-level professional staff and 62% of the 6,745 general service mainly secretarial staff, according to the report, which covered the period from 1 July 2002-30 June 2003. The report is available online (www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/58/66). |
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| Women are entering
the global labour force in record numbers, but they still face higher
unemployment rates and lower wages and represent 60% of the world’s
550 million working poor, according to a report by the International
Labour Organization (ILO) entitled Global Employment Trends for Women
2004. The report was prepared for International Women’s Day,
celebrated on 8 March.
At the same time, Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management, a separate updated analysis of trends in the efforts of women to break through the “glass ceiling,” says the rate of success in crashing through the invisible, symbolic barrier to top managerial jobs remains “slow, uneven and sometimes discouraging.” “These two reports provide a stark picture of the status of women in the world of work today,” ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said. “Women must have an equal chance of reaching the top of the job ladder. And, unless progress is made in taking women out of poverty by creating productive and decent employment, the Millennium Development Goals of halving poverty by 2015 will remain out of reach in most regions of the world.” Global Employment Trends for Women 2004 finds that more women work today than ever before. In 2003, 1.1 billion of the world’s 2.8 billion workers, or 40%, were women, representing a worldwide increase of nearly 200 million women in employment in the past ten years. Still, the explosive growth in the female workforce hasn’t been accompanied by true socio-economic empowerment for women, the report indicates. Nor has it led to equal pay for work of equal value or balanced benefits that would make women equal to men across nearly all occupations. “In short, true equality in the world of work is still out of reach,” the report adds. Female unemployment in 2003 was slightly higher than male unemployment for the world as a whole (6.4% for female, 6.1% for male), the ILO said, leaving 77.8 million women who were willing to work and looking for work without employment. The report also found that women typically earn less than men. In the six occupations studied, women still earn less of what their male co-workers earn, even in “typically female” occupations such as nursing and teaching. “Creating enough decent jobs for women is only possible if policy makers place employment at the centre of social and economic polices and recognize that women face more substantial challenges in the workplace than men,” Mr. Somavia said. “Raising incomes and opportunities for women lifts whole families out of poverty and it drives economic and social progress.” Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling finds that the overall employment situation for women hasn’t evolved significantly since 2001. Women’s shares of professional jobs increased by just 0.7% between 1996-1999, and 2000-2002, and data shows that women are markedly under-represented in management compared to their overall share of employment. However, the study says some employers are beginning to shift attitudes and businesses now understand that family-friendly policies, improved access to training, and stronger mentoring systems encourage female staff retention and can improve productivity. Contact: Department of Communication, ILO, 4 route des Morillons,
CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799
8577, e-mail <press@ilo.org>, website (www.ilo.org).
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| International Women’s Day Celebrated | |||
| International
Women’s Day (IWD) was celebrated worldwide on 8 March, with a
focus this year on women and HIV/AIDS. Speaking at UN headquarters
in New York during the annual observance, UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan said it was among women that the real heroes of the war against
HIV/AIDS were to be found.
In most countries and communities, he said, it was women who had been the most active and effective advocates and activists in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Supporting those women, and encouraging others to follow their example, must be the strategy for the future. “It is our job to furnish them with strength, resources and hope,” he stressed, calling for “real, positive change that would give more power and confidence to women and girls, and transform relations between women and men at all levels of society.” Commenting on the effect of HIV/AIDS on women in the Middle East, Queen Noor of Jordan said that experts had questioned the accuracy of the low rates of infection in the region, due to the widespread stigma attached to the disease. Many of those who carried the HIV virus would simply rather die than risk encountering rejection, or worse, from family, friends and community. “Our strong sense of family and religious traditions may inhibit behaviour that spreads the virus, but, at the same time, those traditions may inhibit testing and reporting of those who may be infected.” Ndioro Ndiaye, Deputy Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that women made up nearly half of the migrant population around the world, estimated today at approximately 175 million persons. Ms. Ndiaye stressed that HIV/AIDS, trafficking and migration had one thing in common—they knew no borders and could be found all over the world. While the first two fed on female powerlessness due to gender discrimination and the abuse of what was considered women’s inferior status and her vulnerability, the third could quickly become an unwilling partner of the first two, she said. Speaking from Geneva, World Health Organization Director-General Lee Jong-Wook said that in many places women had far less access to health information, care and services than men did. “This inequality frequently prevents women and girls from obtaining treatment for HIV/AIDS when sick, and from protecting themselves against infection.” The World Food Programme (WFP) chose “Putting Women at the Centre of Food Security” as its theme for this year’s IWD, noting that 70% of the 110 million people who received WFP rations in 2003 were women and children. WFP says experience shows that when women are in control of food distribution, families are more likely to be well-nourished, and that children have a better chance of going to school. Getting food to women around the world is often an enormous challenge, WFP said “Women often have to wait for hours. They then carry home heavy sacks of food,” said WFP Executive Director James Morris. “We must find ways of making their task easier, while ensuring that they remain at the centre of the process; in short, to empower them without overburdening them.” The International Labour Organization (ILO) hosted a panel discussion entitled “Women of Justice: Balancing the Scales” with Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi at ILO headquarters in Geneva. Ms. Del Ponte described the difficulties of being a woman judge and spoke of the inequality between men and women in the law of justice, saying that compliance and monitoring measures are needed. Ms. Ebadi spoke of her strong desire for justice, even as a child
in Iran, and said her struggle for rights and justice has not been
easy. She stressed that if justice, democracy and freedom are undermined
in a society, women are usually the first to be affected. She said
that better educated women can better defend their rights, noting
that a number of NGOs in her country are providing classes where
women can be educated. When asked by the audience how her life has
changed since winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Ms. Ebadi said the
Prize has given her a “bigger loud speaker” as her voice
now gets through to more people.
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UNAIDS: Global Coalition on Women and AIDS | ||
| According to the
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), women are particularly
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and existing prevention programmes are failing
to reduce the risk of infection by not addressing gender relations
and sexual behaviour. To address the problem, UNAIDS has launched
the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, a new initiative made up of
activists, government representatives, community workers and celebrities
that seek to stimulate concrete action on the ground to improve the
daily lives of women and girls.
Launched in London on 2 February 2004, its efforts will focus on preventing new HIV infections among women and girls, promoting equal access to HIV care and treatment, accelerating microbicides research, protecting women’s property and inheritance rights and reducing violence against women. Women comprise about half of all people living with HIV/AIDS. In sub-Saharan Africa, 58% of those living with HIV were women as of end 2003 and young women aged 15-24 were 2.5 times more likely to be infected than young men. “All too often, HIV prevention is failing women and girls,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot, speaking at the launch of the Global Coalition. “Because of their lack of social and economic power, many women and girls are unable to negotiate relationships based on abstinence, faithfulness and use of condoms. It is precisely to address these inequalities and reduce women’s vulnerability to HIV that the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS has been created.” “It is crucial that HIV prevention programmes involve both women and men to effectively address gender inequality and reduce women’s vulnerability to HIV,” said Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and Executive Director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative. “Women’s rights must be fully respected and protected if we want a realistic chance at reversing the spread of AIDS.” On 8 March, commemorating International Women’s Day, the premiere of the film “Women Are” was held in Geneva, showing that despite the challenges they face, women are on the frontlines of the AIDS response in their communities, empowering themselves and leading change. The women featured in the 52-minute film, produced by Mondofragilis, describe the hardships they face in light of the growing AIDS threat, but also provide concrete examples of how they have managed to overcome these obstacles and empower women in their communities to fight the epidemic. “The call to empower women is not new, but AIDS makes it more urgent,” said Musimbi Kanyoro, General-Secretary of the World Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), who co-produced the film with UNAIDS. “The film premiered today brings to life not only the deeply-rooted injustices and discrimination faced by women, but provides hope for the millions of women out there who feel disempowered and vulnerable. It is a wake-up call for women to take action to stem the tide of AIDS.” More information on the film “Women Are” is available online (www.mondofragilis.com/womenare). Contact: Dominique de Santis, Press Officer, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4509, fax +41-22/791 4898, e-mail <desantisd@unaids.org>, website (http://womenandaids.unaids.org/default.html). World YWCA, 16 Ancienne Route, CH-1218 Grand Saconnex, Geneva, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/929 6040, fax +41-22/929 6044, e-mail <worldoffice@worldywca.org>, website (www.worldywca.org).
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| In a report released
in February 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
shows that the 28 countries of East and South Eastern Europe, the
Baltics and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have some
of the fastest growing rates of HIV/AIDS infection in the world. The
impact is compounded by insufficient public awareness, frequent stigmatization
and lack of adequate policy instruments.
The report, entitled Reversing the Epidemic: Facts and Policy Options, says that in spite of a comparatively low prevalence in the region, growth rates in new HIV infections reported over the last several years in Estonia, Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s highest. The report reveals that the infection is threatening economic growth because many of those who are HIV positive are between the ages of 15-40 years old—the bulk of the labour force. Estimations of 1.8 million people living with HIV/AIDS represent about 0.9% of the adult population. Experience from other regions of the world indicates a 1% infection rate as a threshold; beyond this percentage, efforts to turn back the epidemic have failed in many other countries. Data from the region unambiguously points to the socio-economic and governance dimensions of the epidemic. Members of at-risk groups are often subject to social exclusion, poverty, stigmatization, or incarceration. Also, the above-average prevalence of HIV in the region’s over-crowded penal institutions—which the report calls “real HIV incubators”—is a serious cause for concern. The report supports a better policy balance between criminalization and exclusion on the one hand, and tolerance, inclusion, and treatment on the other. Good governance in addressing HIV/AIDS includes expanding access to information, protecting the human rights of vulnerable groups, increasing the participation of civil society in decision-making processes and establishing partnerships between public authorities and civil society groups, the report says. A number of countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have recorded successes in halting or reversing the spread of the epidemic. At the same time, a relatively successful transition outcome does not in itself guarantee an effective response, as is apparent in the case of Estonia, which combines one of the region’s most successful transitions with some of its highest HIV prevalence rates, the report warns. “All experts concur that delays are disastrous when dealing with HIV/AIDS. Just as in some CIS countries today, only twelve years ago South Africa too saw less than 1% of its adult population infected—now that rate is twenty times higher. It is already too late to speak of avoiding a crisis in Eastern Europe and the CIS. Nevertheless, there is still much that governments and civil societies can do to reduce the social, demographic and economic consequences of HIV/AIDS and even reverse the epidemic,” said Kalman Mizsei, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director for Europe and the CIS. The report is available online in English and Russian. Contact: Sandra Pralong, Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth
of Independent States, e-mail <sandra.pralong@undp.org>, telephone
+421-908/729846, website (www.undp.sk/hiv). |
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| The Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) met at
UN headquarters in New York from 12-30 January 2004 to assess the
implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women in eight States Parties: Belarus, Bhutan,
Ethiopia, Germany, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Nigeria.
Progress was noted in each of the countries assessed by the Committee, including legislative revision to penal, family and civil codes and, in some cases, sweeping legal reforms, as well as efforts to strengthen national mechanisms to promote women’s rights. However, experts repeatedly drew attention to the pervasiveness of discriminatory stereotypes and entrenched patriarchal attitudes, which they said had led to grave and systematic violations of women’s human rights across the spectrum of nations. States were encouraged to set timetables for implementing particular actions, to prioritize their activities and to monitor the impact of their policies and programmes. The Committee also stressed the role of civil society, and in particular, women’s NGOs, urging States Parties to cooperate with NGOs in the implementation of the Convention and the Committee’s comments. CEDAW Chair Ayse Feride Acar (Turkey) said that factors concerning social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women and the persistence of prejudices and customary and other practices took different forms in different countries, but, that in each case, the Committee took the firm view that States Parties had a clear obligation to eliminate such discriminatory practices without delay. “While tradition and culture are sources of richness for a country, they cannot be allowed to function as impediments to women’s enjoyment of their human rights,” she said. The Committee also issued a general recommendation—the 25th since 1991, and the first since 1999—promoting the use of temporary special measures, such as quotas, to accelerate the equal treatment of women and men. Article 21 of the Convention empowers CEDAW to make general recommendations based on the examination of reports received from States Parties. Also during the session, the Committee focused attention on the situation of women in Iraq, noting a decision by Iraq’s Governing Council to repeal existing civil statutes governing issues related to marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. Iraq is a State Party to the Convention, and the Committee called on all responsible authorities in that country to ensure full compliance with the treaty. Announcing the completion of her 38-year career at the UN, Angela King, the Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, said that among the most satisfying developments during her tenure had been the steady improvement of awareness of women’s human rights, which she said had been significantly boosted by CEDAW’s work. The 31st session of CEDAW will meet from 6-23 July 2004, and the 32nd session from 10-28 January 2005. Contact: CEDAW, UN Division for the Advancement of Women, 2 UN
Plaza, 12th Floor, New York NY 10017, USA, fax +1-212/963 3463,
e-mail <daw@un.org>, website
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| The theme of World
Water Day, observed on 22 March, was “Water and disasters,”
and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his message, highlighted that
water is central to eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable
development. He appealed for a renewal of efforts to “give water
issues the attention they deserve, now and over the long term,”
and pointed out that water-related disasters—including floods,
droughts, hurricanes, typhoons and tropical cyclones—inflict
a terrible toll on human life and property, affecting millions of
people and provoking crippling economic losses.
“Modern society has distinct advantages over those civilizations of the past that suffered or even collapsed for reasons linked to water. We have great knowledge, and the capacity to disperse that knowledge to the remotest places on earth.” He noted that new technologies will continue to provide the backbone of efforts, but “only a rational and informed political, social and cultural response—and public participation in all stages of the disaster management cycle—can reduce disaster vulnerability, and ensure that hazards do not turn into unmanageable disasters.” Speaking of the international community’s role in facing global water problems, the Secretary-General said, “If we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people who are unable to reach or to afford safe drinking water, we will need to make 270,000 new water connections per day. The requirements for meeting the sanitation goal are even more formidable. This is not to demean the dedicated efforts being made by a number of governments and thousands of civil society groups, but rather to demonstrate the urgent need to go beyond business as usual.” Mr. Annan announced that he has established an Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, to be chaired by former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan, that will raise awareness of the issues, help mobilize funds and encourage new partnerships. The Board will include a wide range of eminent persons, technical experts, and other individuals. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations
Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
(UN/ISDR) were the lead agencies for World Water Day 2004. World
Meteorological Day was observed on 23 March, with the theme “Weather,
climate and water in the information age.” Information on both
days is available online (www.waterday2004.org and www.wmo.int). |
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| On 24 February
the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure
for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade
entered into force. Jointly supported by the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), the Rotterdam Convention enables countries to decide
which potentially hazardous chemicals they want to import and to exclude
those they cannot manage safely. Where trade is permitted, requirements
for labelling and providing information on potential health and environmental
effects will promote the safer use of chemicals.
“In many developing countries conditions do not allow small farmers to use highly toxic pesticides safely. The result is continued damage to the health of farmers and poisoning of the environment,” said FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf. “We recognize that, in meeting the increased demand for food production, pesticides will continue to be used. The Rotterdam Convention provides countries with a major tool to reduce the risks associated with pesticide use.” He pointed out that the treaty promotes sustainable agriculture in a safer environment, “thereby contributing to an increase in agricultural production and supporting the battle against hunger, disease and poverty.” The Convention has been implemented on a voluntary basis since September 1998 in the form of the interim PIC procedure. The first meeting of the Conference of the Parties will take place from 20-24 September 2004 in Geneva, and will establish a chemical review committee that will evaluate future chemicals for the Convention’s list and consider such issues as its relationship to the World Trade Organization and a strategy for regional delivery of technical assistance. As of 19 February 2004, there are 60 States Parties to the treaty. Contact: Erwin Northoff, Information Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-6/5705 3105, fax +39-6/5705 4974, e-mail <erwin.northoff@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org). Eric Falt, Spokesman and Director of Information, UNEP, PO Box
30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623292, fax +254-2/624489,
e-mail <eric.falt@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org) or (www.pic.int). |
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| The 2001 Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) will become legally
binding on 17 May 2004 as France became the 50th State to ratify the
agreement on 17 February.
“Of all the pollutants released into the environment every year by human activity, POPs are the most dangerous. For decades these highly toxic chemicals have killed and injured people and wildlife by inducing cancer and damaging the nervous, reproductive and immune systems. They have also caused uncounted birth defects,” said Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). He also noted that the treaty would strengthen the overall scope and effectiveness of international environmental law. POPs can travel great distances, are often toxic at very low levels, and last for many years in the environment. They can also concentrate in living organisms through a process called bioaccumulation. Though not soluble in water, POPs are readily absorbed in fatty tissue, where concentrations can become magnified by up to 70,000 times the background levels. Fish, predatory birds, mammals, and humans are high up the food chain and so absorb the greatest concentrations. Governments will meet for the first session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention (COP-1) in Uruguay in early 2005. One of the meeting’s priorities will be to assist countries to combat malaria by replacing DDT with increasingly safe and effective alternatives. COP-1 will also establish a committee for evaluating other chemicals and pesticides that could be added to the initial target list of 12 POPs (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, polychlorinated biphenols, hexachlorobenzene, dioxins and furans). In addition to banning uses, the treaty focuses on cleaning up the growing accumulation of unwanted and obsolete stockpiles of pesticides and toxic chemicals. Dump sites and toxic drums from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are now decaying and leaching chemicals into the soil and poisoning water resources, wildlife, and people. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the principal entity of the interim financial mechanism of the treaty, and has mobilized resources to support POPs projects in more than 100 countries. “The ratification of this treaty is a true landmark for environmental health,” says Monica Moore of Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA). “By targeting an entire class of chemicals for global phase out, it moves us a giant step forward in protecting people and the planet.” A strong force behind the swift ratification of the POPs Treaty has been a global network of NGOs, the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN). “IPEN played a key role in building the international resolve to get rid of these dangerous chemicals,” PANNA’s Kristin Schafer said. “This unprecedented mobilization of NGOs from affected communities around the world made this a better treaty and led directly to its rapid ratification.” Contact: Eric Falt, Spokesman and Director of Information, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623292, fax +254-2/624489, e-mail <eric.falt@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org) or (www.pic.int). International POPs Elimination Network (www.ipen.org). |
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| A United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) project has been launched to help make
growing middle class consumerism in Asia more in tune with the environment.
The European Union funded project, called Sustainable Consumption
Asia or “SC.Asia,” aims to transfer knowledge and experience
of consumption issues from European to Asian countries.
With recent figures showing Thailand’s stock market more than doubling its value in the past year, and China officially projecting its economy to quadruple by 2020, UNEP says there are now more “middle to high income” consumers—those earning more than US$7,000 per annum—in Asia and the Pacific than in Western Europe and North America combined. According to UNEP’s Bangkok-based Industry Officer Niclas Svenningsen, Asia would face an ecological disaster if consumption levels reached those currently seen in Europe or North America. The negative effects of affluent consumption—such as destruction of natural resources, waste generation, traffic congestion, power supply shortages—are starting to prompt some Asian governments to look at sustainable consumption, Mr. Svenningsen said. However, most governments are focused solely on economic growth and increasing private and public consumption without addressing its consequences. UNEP says governments face complex policy issues due to the wide disparities of wealth between and within countries of the region. For much of Asia a sustainable model would mean an increase in consumption to address poverty and ensure basic needs are met, but more affluent sectors would need to modify patterns and levels of consumption. Mr. Svenningsen pointed to opportunities for countries to “leap-frog” some of the phases and mistakes of western countries, including adopting practices such as recycling programmes, product testing, product labelling and information, public awareness campaigns based on social research, leading by example and accountability by government and the private sector, and environmentally-friendly laws and economic incentives. The project is scheduled for completion by October 2005 and will help governments meet their requirements related to sustainable consumption under the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection. Contact: Jim Sniffen, Information Officer, UNEP, 2 UN Plaza, Room
DC2-803, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 8094, fax
+1-212/963 7341, e-mail <info@nyo.unep.org>, website (www.nyo.unep.org). |
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| The United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released new guidelines
on eco-efficiency indicators that link the environmental performance
of corporations to their financial performance. The Manual for the
Preparers and Users of Eco-efficiency Indicators describes a method
for providing systematic and consistent information on environmental
performance over time. Such information cannot be assessed by the
conventional accounting model but is increasingly demanded by stakeholders,
especially in the post-Enron era, UNCTAD says. Intended both for preparers
and users of financial statements, the guidelines cover accounting
treatment of such areas as water use, energy use, contributions to
global warming, ozone-depleting substances and waste.
“To achieve sustainable development, sustainable value or
sustainable business, enterprise management must take into account
the impact of their performance on their employees, their customers,
their suppliers and the community, including its environment,”
UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero said. “The precise
correlation between improved environmental performance of an enterprise
and its bottom line is extremely difficult to prove because of the
many factors that can affect profits.... However, the concept of
eco-efficiency, where increased profits are achieved under conditions
of declining environmental impact, demonstrates such a link.” UNCTAD, through the Intergovernmental Working Group of Experts on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting (ISAR), has been working on corporate environmental accounting since 1989. Industry experts, financial analysts, standard-setters, accounting practitioners, academics and environmental experts provided inputs and comments to the manual. Contact: Constantine Bartel, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211
Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +410-22/917 5875, e-mail <constantine.bartel@unctad.org>,
website (www.unctad.org/en/docs//iteipc20037_en.pdf). |
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| As part of the
International Year of Rice (IYR) awareness and action campaign, the
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) convened a
conference in Rome from 12-13 February, bringing together some 600
policy makers, rice specialists and industry representatives from
90 countries to present their perspectives on latest trends and industry
developments. The conference, entitled “Rice in Global Markets
and Sustainable Production Systems,” aimed to mobilize the international
community to confront the most pressing issues facing the global rice
sector, from local farming practices to international trade.
FAO, as the organizing agency for IYR implementation, says it views the year as a vehicle for achieving the first of the eight Millennium Development Goals, which calls for a 50% reduction of hunger and poverty by 2015. Rice is the staple food for over half of the world’s population, and FAO projections show that by 2030 total demand for rice will be 38% higher than the annual amounts produced between 1997-1999. In order to meet future demand, new methodologies and production technologies are necessary as land and water resources become increasingly scarce. According to FAO, of the 840 million people still suffering from chronic hunger, more than 50% live in areas dependent on rice production for food, income and employment. Because rice does not contain all the elements necessary for a balanced diet, FAO says a key aspect of the IYR is to encourage rice producers to intensify the rice production system and fully exploit their capacity to raise fish and livestock. Intensified rice systems will benefit the nutrition and livelihoods of the rice-dependent community, while supporting biodiversity and encouraging the sustainable management of natural resources. Poor rural farmers account for 80% of all rice producers. More than two billion people in developing nations depend on the rice-based system for their economic livelihood. According to the IYR Secretariat, this population is generally trapped in poverty because of the inability to tap the potential for agro-intensification, economic policies that favour rice consumers and decreasing support for public rice research. In the past few years, countries have also been confronted with falling prices, an increased competition for markets and a changing policy environment. The conference examined the challenges posed by new economic and policy settings and highlighted efforts that are being made at the national and international levels to overcome major production constraints. Conference documents addressed subjects including rice in global markets; the challenges and opportunities of sustainable rice-based production systems; agricultural diversification; land and water conservation; biotechnology and its implications for production and trade; new varieties and sustainable cropping systems to face food security; and traditional rice-based livelihood systems and global indigenous agricultural heritage, among others. The documents are available online (www.fao.org/rice2004/en/e-001.htm). Contact: Rita Ashton, Commodities and Trade Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 2057, fax +39-06/5705 4495, e-mail <Rita.Ashton@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org/ rice2004/index_en.htm).
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| The Liaison Office
of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Geneva
(LOGE) has launched a new website (www.faologe.ch) which aims to complement
the main FAO website. It offers a more focused platform for reporting
trade policy developments in Geneva and elsewhere and provides guided
access to the specialized information and resources available on the
main FAO website from the perspective of the interests of the Geneva
trade community. The website also contains a calendar of events related
to agricultural trade.
As part of its activities, LOGE liaises with intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other institutions based in Geneva, as well as the Government of Switzerland. It also identifies potential new partners for cooperation with FAO and establishes working contacts with development partners based in Switzerland. LOGE also participates in the emergency and relief activities coordinated by the UN Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA). FAO’s role is to respond, together with the other partners in the UN system, to the specific needs for emergency assistance in the agricultural, livestock and fisheries sectors in developing countries affected by exceptional natural or human-induced calamities. Contact: Food and Agriculture Organizational Liaison Office in Geneva, Palais des Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 3683, fax +41-22/917 0065, e-mail <pkonandreas @unog.ch>, website (www.faologe.ch). |
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| The United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced that it will
work with the Nicaraguan Government to assist small-scale coffee growers
hit by the global crisis in coffee prices. Falling international coffee
prices have damaged Nicaragua’s economy, largely dependent on
coffee, by reducing income, employment and food security for thousands
of families in the rural sector. FAO says it will help the country’s
authorities prevent food shortages among the worst-affected coffee
producers and, at a later stage, will help them diversify their crops
and produce more competitive varieties in the international coffee
market.
With production expenses currently higher than commercial value and a credit system overburdened with debt, many farmers have been forced to abandon their coffee plantations. Until recently, coffee cultivation represented some 30% of the agricultural sector’s gross domestic product, half of agricultural export earnings and a quarter of the country’s total exports. “Bearing in mind that coffee cultivation in Nicaragua accounts for almost a third of agricultural employment, the consequences of this crisis are devastating for a country where external debt is ten times larger than the total value of export earnings,” said Loy Van Crowder, FAO representative in Nicaragua. FAO will provide assistance to the country’s authorities in drawing up an income-generating programme to change and diversify coffee production towards more competitive varieties. Pilot projects will benefit some 2,000 small- and medium-scale coffee producers, who mainly belong to cooperatives who grow their coffee in the lowlands. Contact: Nuria Felipe Soria, Information Officer, FAO, Viale delle
Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 5899,
e-mail <nuria.felipesoria@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org). |
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| Internationally
recognized experts, leading scientists and high-level delegations
from more than 80 countries, as well as representatives from intergovernmental
organizations and NGOs, industry and the media attended the Global
Biotechnology Forum (GBF), held in Concepción (Chile) from
2-5 March 2004.
Some 1,400 participants in the forum, which was sponsored by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, sought to initiate and develop strategies meant to narrow the biotechnological gap between developed and developing countries—enabling the latter to benefit more from the utilization of their natural resources and to achieve economic and social progress. The GBF also provided an occasion for debate on the impacts of biotechnology on the environment and on human health, as well as an opportunity to reach a consensus on issues such as harmonization of regulatory standards and equitable access to technology. A number of key issues affecting the development of biotechnology in the developing world were identified, including: inadequate scientific, technical and research capabilities; the absence of entrepreneurial skills and of public investment in this field; the presence of intellectual property barriers; varying biosafety regulations; and difficult market access. The meeting succeeded in opening a dialogue for developing proposals, initiatives and solutions for action, such as the establishment of a multi-stakeholder forum for informed dialogue on biotechnology and its benefits for the developing world; and the creation of a network and database on biotechnology activities in developing countries and those with economies in transition, including global market and technology information for partnership facilitation, enhancement of capacity-building activities, and the assessment of intellectual property legislation on biotechnology. In his closing address, UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magariños stressed the need to utilize the expertise, skills and activities that the UN and other international organizations have in the field of biotechnology, through greater interagency collaboration. He added that the GBF’s conclusions would enable UNIDO to refocus its biotechnology activities, target objectives consistent with its corporate strategy and assist member countries in meeting some of the Millennium Development Goals. Contact: UNIDO, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 300, A-1400
Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/260 260, fax +43-1/ 269 26 69,
e-mail <unido@unido.org>, website (www.unido.org) or (http://binas.unido.org/global_forum). |
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| The International
Maritime Organization (IMO), the UN agency responsible for the safety
and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution from
ships, has adopted an international convention to prevent the potentially
devastating effects of the spread of harmful aquatic organisms carried
by ships’ ballast water. The instrument was adopted at an international
conference held in London from 9-13 February, which brought together
representatives from over 70 States, two intergovernmental organizations
and 18 NGOs.
The convention has a two-tiered format: it will impose requirements on all ships to manage ballast water in a standardized way, and it will also give signatories the option to impose stricter measures before allowing ships into their ports. The new convention will require all ships to implement a Ballast Water and Sediments Management Plan. All ships will have to carry a Ballast Water Record Book and will be required to carry out ballast water management procedures to a given standard. Existing ships will be required to do the same, but after a phase-in period. Parties to the convention are given the option to take additional measures, subject to criteria set out in the convention and to IMO guidelines yet to be developed. It will enter into force 12 months after ratification by 30 States representing 35% of world merchant shipping tonnage. “This is an extremely serious environmental issue which IMO has been working on for more than a decade,” IMO Secretary-Gene | |||