Go Between 82, Aug.-Sept. 2000

UN NEWS

MILLENNIUM SUMMIT HELD AT UN HEADQUARTERS
The largest number of world leaders in history gathered at the United Nations in New York
from 6-8 September 2000 to discuss critical issues facing the world including poverty
eradication, globalization and peace. The Millennium Summit resulted in the Millennium
Declaration, in which Heads of State and Government "reaffirmed their faith in the United
Nations and its Charter as indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just
world." The Declaration spells out values and principles, as well as goals, in the priority areas
of peace, development, the environment, human rights, protecting the vulnerable, the special
needs of Africa, and strengthening the UN. The Declaration states that the central challenge
facing the world today is ensuring that globalization becomes a positive force for all the
world's people by making it fully inclusive and equitable. The world leaders committed
themselves to halving, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world's population living on
less than one dollar a day and to deal comprehensively with the debt problems of low- and
middle-income developing countries.

Peace and security issues were high on the agenda throughout the three days and were
discussed in a Security Council Summit, with the Council meeting at the level of Heads of
State and Government for only the second time in history. The Council adopted a resolution
(S/2000/845) in which it pledged to enhance the effectiveness of the United Nations in
addressing conflict at all stages--from prevention to settlement to post-conflict
peace-building. The Council welcomed the much-discussed "Brahimi Report" on UN Peace
Operations (S/2000/809, see page 4) and decided to consider what some observers have
called "far-reaching" recommendations. The Security Council also called for action on the
illegal flow of small arms and the illegal exploitation and trafficking of high-value
commodities. 

In his closing remarks to the ground-breaking Summit, Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted
what he called a "remarkable convergence of views on the challenge that faces us." He said
that Member States wanted action and above all wanted results from the Summit. However,
Mr. Annan reminded Member States that they held the power to reach the goals they had set.
"Only you can determine whether the United Nations rises to the challenge," he said. (See
forthcoming NGLS Roundup, no. 62.)


100 MILLION SUFFER DROUGHT 
The number of people being fed by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) due to
drought has more than quadrupled in the last four years, according to the agency. It reported
in August that more than 100 million people in over 20 countries are suffering the effects of
drought; the number of affected people WFP now feeds has soared to 16 million this year,
from three million in 1996. 

"We've seen an incredible increase in drought-induced hardship over the last decade," said
Francesco Strippoli, WFP Senior Humanitarian Advisor. "Today, we're literally working in
every part of the world to provide emergency food aid to people who have lost their crops or
livelihoods due to drought."   

The Horn of Africa remains in the grip of a severe drought, with more than 16 million people
facing severe food shortages. Kenya alone is suffering from one of its worst droughts in
recorded history. With a national maize requirement estimated at 3.21 million tons, the
country will need to import some 1.4 million tons over the next year, according to WFP.

In other parts of the world, the devastating drought in Central Asian countries--including
Afghanistan and Tajikistan--has spread to the Caucasus, where between 55% to 60% of crops
in Armenia's mountain regions are at risk of damage.

Drought is also plaguing countries in Central America and the Caribbean. For example, WFP
reports that crop losses of maize and beans in Honduras are estimated to be between 80% and
90%, and in Haiti drought has destroyed at least 33% of the current harvest. 

Other countries seriously affected by drought include the Middle Eastern nations of Jordan,
Syria, Iran and Iraq. 

In comparative terms, over the 1990s WFP's drought-related emergency operations
represented 53% of the programme's total responses to natural disasters. The number of
drought-related emergencies over this period amounted to 102--more than 50% higher than
food emergencies caused by floods, the next highest percentage. 

Kenya is suffering severely from drought and the food situation "gives cause for serious
concern," according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a special report
published in July 2000. It says that starvation-related deaths, particularly among children, are
being reported. Nearly 20 million people in the region are facing food shortages.

"The food situation is especially dire for pastoralists," according to FAO, "because this is the
fourth consecutive rain failure in their areas."

The long rainy season from March to May, which normally accounts for 80% of total annual
food production, has failed with widespread crop failures as well as large livestock losses.
Maize prices are very high and continue to rise, which "is seriously hurting the poor whose
access to food" is being curtailed, says the report.

"Livestock losses, plummeting livestock prices due to the poor state of the animals, and the
high and rising grain prices have combined to precipitate a grave food crisis for the pastoral
households," according to FAO. "Household economies have collapsed, leading to destitution
and starvation-related deaths, especially among children." It said there were also reports of
increasing inter-ethnic armed conflicts over scare water and pasture resources. 

Contact: Erwin Northoff, Media Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100
Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3105, fax +39-06/5705 4975, e-mail
<erwin.northoff@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org). 

Contact: Jeff Rowland, Public Affairs Officer, WFP, Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, I-00148
Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/6513 2971, fax +39-06/6513 2840, e-mail
<jeffrey.rowland@wfp.org>, website (www.wfp.org). 


BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS TALKS
At the conclusion of a four-week round of negotiations in August on a binding verification
regime to the Convention on Biological Weapons, the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Group in
charge of negotiating the regime reported "good progress" in a number of areas. 

Ambassador Tiber Toth (Hungary) said the talks, held in Geneva, had moved delegations
closer to agreement on issues involving definitions and equipment in relation to the
verification scheme. The scheme will be embodied in a Protocol to the Treaty, which is
formally known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and
Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction.

Less progress was achieved on issues relating to compliance measures, which Mr. Toth
described as core elements of the future protocol. For example, questions persisted
concerning which portion of industrial facilities and which portion of bio-defence facilities
would have to be declared, he said. The issue of investigations was complicated by the
question of how to provide access to sensitive facilities. 

According to the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, it is difficult to determine how to
monitor compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention because equipment and
facilities capable of producing biological agents are essentially similar to those used for
peaceful purposes.

Contact: Convention on Biological Weapons, Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch,
Department for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States,
fax +1-212/963 1121, website (www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/WMD.htm).


DISARMAMENT COMMISSION SESSION
The United Nations Disarmament Commission met at the UN in New York from 26 June-7
July 2000. The key issue dominating the session, chaired by Javad Zarif (Iran), was the need
for progress toward total nuclear disarmament. 

Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, said that nuclear
doctrine, traditionally the domain of certain declared nuclear powers, had evolved into a
multiplicity of "minimum nuclear deterrence" strategies, whereby other countries were now
characterizing nuclear arms as "essential" and "vital" to maintaining their security. For this
reason, he said, the challenge of global nuclear disarmament demanded immediate attention.

Mr. Zarif felt that the Commission could inspire change in the existing international security
paradigm, which he said was still haunted by the balance of terror and security arrangements.
He noted that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) had charted a new course for nuclear
disarmament in the aftermath of the Cold War, underlining the legal obligation to proceed
toward a world free of nuclear weapons. He cited the recent and successful conclusion of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 2000 Review Conference, which produced
consensus on key issues. Mr. Zarif also emphasized the announcements by some
nuclear-weapons States that they would cease production of fissile material and place their
material from military stockpiles under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
supervision. He said these measures should now be followed by the "de-alerting" of nuclear
weapons. (In many cases nuclear weapons in the "declared" countries are aimed at specific
targets and "on alert." )

Russia noted that it had ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) this
year and was ready to begin negotiations on the prohibition and destruction of fissile
materials. It said it had already stopped producing weapons-grade uranium and had embarked
on a programme to close down facilities producing weapons-grade plutonium. It indicated
that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) should prohibit the extension of the arms race to
outer space and prevent the manufacture of outer space-based anti-missile weapons. Russia
proposed a global system to monitor the prevalence of missile systems, whose
implementation would be a step forward in disarmament efforts.

China expressed concern about the refusal of the United States to sign the CTBT and what it
described as US efforts to develop "national and theatre missile-defence systems to the
detriment of global strategic equilibrium and regional stability." China said it supported the
negotiation and conclusion of a treaty that would end the production of fissile material.

The US strongly disagreed with China's characterization of limited national missile defence
as "a unilateral nuclear arms expansion in another form." It said that the non-nuclear missile
defence programme was designed to counter certain limited and possibly nuclear threats,
which could be the result of proliferation in a world quite different from that in 1972 when
the ABM was concluded.

India noted that it was the only nuclear-weapons State calling for a convention prohibiting the
development, production, testing, deployment, stockpiling, threat or use of nuclear weapons.
India said it was willing to participate in agreed, multilateral, non-discriminatory and
irreversible measures including a global no-first-use agreement and revitalization of the
bilateral process. India noted that it had consistently opposed the "weaponization" of outer
space.

Regarding conventional arms, Mr. Dhanapala said there had been ominous reports that global
arms expenditures had started to rise, although the total volume of international conventional
arms trade was still reportedly stable. Some countries exported arms to achieve expedient
political goals, he asserted, while others continued to produce arms "to reap bountiful
commercial opportunities." He noted that the forces of globalization had been shaping both
the production and distribution of arms, and several major producers and consumers were
getting rid of their surpluses. Regarding confidence-building, he suggested measures
including advisory assistance to Member States. He also urged the Commission to give
consideration to the potential contributions of technology, noting that the growing availability
of high-resolution satellite imagery at reduced cost could help as a supplementary means to
reassure countries against imminent invasion threats.

Portugal, on behalf of the European Union (EU), said it considered transparency in
armaments activities a "fundamental instrument in building confidence and security among
States." It noted that transparency would provide "data on international transfers of categories
of conventional arms that are potentially destabilizing when accumulated excessively."
Brazil said that States should strive to transform the UN Register on Conventional Arms into
an even more relevant confidence-building tool. It emphasized the need for timely provision
of data relevant to exports and imports of arms covered by the Register, and of information on
acquisitions from domestic manufacturers and military holdings.

South Africa highlighted its decision to destroy, in a transparent manner, all surplus arms
rather than sell them. It said such measures would not only promote confidence among States
in support of regional stability, but would provide the means to limit illicit trafficking in those
weapons.

The Commission adopted three draft reports that will be submitted to the General Assembly
at its 55th session. The main report describes efforts to address ways and means to achieve
nuclear disarmament, and practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional
arms.


CHILDREN AND ARMED CONFLICT
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted on 11 August 2000 Resolution 1314 (2000)
on Children and Armed Conflict. In the Resolution, the Council underlined the importance of
"giving consideration to the special needs and particular vulnerabilities of girls affected by
armed conflict, including those heading households, orphaned, sexually exploited and used as
combatants." The Resolution says that policies and programmes including those for
prevention, disarmament and demobilization should incorporate the human rights and welfare
of these girls. The Resolution also expressed the Council's "grave concern at the linkages
between the illicit trade in natural resources and armed conflict, as well as linkages between
the illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons and armed conflict, which could
prolong armed conflict and intensify its impact on children." The Council reaffirmed the need
to continue to include child protection advisers in peacekeeping operations. It urged all
Member States to respect fully international law applicable to the rights and protection of
children in armed conflict, and to sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention of
the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. 

The Resolution draws upon a report of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the issue, which
was requested by the Council in its Resolution 1261 (1999). This Resolution placed the issue
of children and armed conflict on the international peace and security agenda. Mr Annan's
report was discussed during the Security Council's special session on children and armed
conflict, held in July 2000. Also addressing the special session were Carol Bellamy,
Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Olara Otunnu,
special representative of the Secretary-General on children and armed conflict.  

In his report, Mr. Annan emphasizes that "the question of children and armed conflict is an
integral part of the United Nations' core responsibilities for the maintenance of international
peace and security, for the advancement of human rights and for sustainable human
development." The report provides a set of 55 recommendations to Member States, regional
and intergovernmental organizations, and the UN. These include that the Security Council
and Member States "urge the international corporate sector to set up voluntary codes of
conduct concerning economic activities, including trade in arms and natural resources, with
parties to conflict which are responsible for gross violations of rights of children" along with
monitoring mechanisms for the codes. Mr Annan also recommended that Security
Council-imposed sanctions minimize unintended consequences for civilian
populations--particularly children--through the establishment of exemptions on humanitarian
grounds.

Contact: Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and
Armed Conflict, United Nations, UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone
+1-212/963 3178, fax +1-212/963 0807, website (www.un.org). 


COMMITTEE ON THE PEACEFUL USES OF OUTER SPACE
The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space held its 43rd session from 7-16 June
2000 in Vienna (Austria). It discussed, among other things, the UN Programme on Space
Applications, whose mandate is to create awareness among policy makers and government
agencies of the benefits of space technology. 

One of these activities will be to support the United Nations International Drug Control
Programme (UNDCP) through the use of satellite images to monitor the cultivation of illicit
crops. 

The Committee endorsed the Office for Outer Space Affairs' plan of action to implement
recommendations made by the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), held in 1999. The programme of action
included organizing a symposium to strengthen partnership of the Scientific and Technical
Subcommittee with industry; promoting youth participation in space activities; and
strengthening activities of the United Nations Programme on Space Applications. 

The Committee also agreed to endorse the Legal Subcommittee's recommendations on
measures for full adherence to the five international treaties governing outer space, and it
endorsed a recommendation of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee to organize a
colloquium entitled The Human Dimension in Space Science and Technology Applications,
to be held during the 44th session of the committee in 2001. 

Contact: Director, Office for Outer Space Affairs, United Nations Office at Vienna, PO Box
500, Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060 4950, fax +43-1/26060 5830, e-mail
<OOSA@unov.un.or.at>, website (www.un.or.at/OOSA).

 PEACE OPERATIONS REFORM REPORT
A report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations issued on 23 August 2000 makes
far-reaching proposals for reforming and improving the work of the UN in this area. The
central message of the report is make sure before sending the UN that the situation on the
ground is understood as well as the implications and that the UN "goes in with its eyes open,"
said Panel Chair and former Algerian Foreign Minister Lakhdar Brahimi. 

The report assesses shortcomings of the existing system of peace operations and makes
recommendations to remedy what the panel called serious problems in strategic direction,
decision making, rapid deployment, operational planning and support, and the use of modern
information technology. Taking into account experiences of the past decade--in which
peacekeepers were often deployed in dangerous situations requiring peace-making rather than
simply peacekeeping--the panel stressed the need to establish more effective strategies for
conflict prevention, such as fact-finding missions to areas vulnerable to conflict (see focus
page in this Go Between).

The Panel said that consent of local parties, impartiality and the use of force only in
self-defence should remain bedrock principles of peacekeeping. However, the report suggests
that the UN has been too unwilling in the past to distinguish victim from aggressor and to
create sufficiently robust rules of engagement. In order for UN peacekeepers to become a
more credible deterrent, it says mandates should specify an operation's authority to use force. 

The Panel, which highlighted what it described as the reactive nature of UN operations,
recommended that an information-gathering and analysis entity be created to allow the UN to
"get ahead" of daily events, such as a proposed information and strategic analysis secretariat.
It would create and maintain integrated databases on peace and security issues, distribute that
knowledge throughout the UN system, generate policy analyses, formulate long-term
strategies, and draw attention to emerging crises. The Panel also made recommendations
aimed at improving deployment standards, which would allow missions to take advantage of
the critical weeks following a ceasefire or peace accord. With the new standards, it said the
UN should be able to fully deploy traditional peacekeeping operations within 30 days of
adoption of the related Security Council resolution, and within 90 days in the case of complex
peacekeeping operations. In order to support rapid and effective deployment, the panel
encouraged Member States to enter into partnerships with one another to form several
brigade-size forces. 

Mr. Brahimi said Member States--large and small, from South and North alike--have stressed
the necessity for urgent improvement in ways the UN addresses conflict situations. In light of
this, he urged them "to act decisively to translate into reality those of our recommendations
that require formal action by them." 

In a letter forwarding the report, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan urges Member States to
consider, approve and support implementation of the report's recommendations. "The Panel's
analysis," he said, "is frank yet fair; its recommendations are far-reaching yet sensible and
practical." Mr. Annan added that he hoped the report would be brought to the attention of all
leaders attending the Millennium Summit, and he asked for support of the General Assembly
and Security Council to convert into reality the far-reaching agenda of the report. Deputy
Secretary-General Louise Frechette has been designated to follow up on the report's
recommendations and will oversee the preparation of a detailed implementation plan, which
Mr. Annan will submit to the General Assembly and Security Council.


FAO, UNDP REFORM PROCESSES
The reform process carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) since 1994
has "provided a solid foundation to face the challenges of the new millennium," said Jacques
Diouf, FAO Director-General. He said the reform programme had produced clear priorities,
decentralized operations, modernized management and streamlined procedures while
fostering recognition that FAO can achieve its mission only if it makes reform an ongoing
process. 

FAO has sharpened its focus, with food security as the guiding theme of its programmes. As
part of the organization's efforts to enhance its relations with civil society, exchange of
information with non-governmental and civil society organizations has increased, noted Mr.
Diouf. FAO is also implementing a policy of expanded cooperation with the private sector.
Another key aspect of the reform process has been the widespread deployment of modern
office and information technologies throughout the organization. This has required a
"considerable investment in human and financial resources, but it has resulted in efficient
decentralization and has improved the speed and quality or work," according to the
organization. The challenges facing FAO and strategies are contained in a major review
undertaken by the organization, entitled The Strategic Framework for FAO: 2000-2015. 

Major steps were also taken by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) during
1999 to reorient its focus and concentration, Administrator Mark Malloch Brown told the
UNDP Executive Board in June. He said that "67% of our outcomes are now related to
capacity building--and of those 42% are in the policy, regulatory and legal framework areas,
and another 33% in institutional capacity building." 

UNDP is also "moving to put our people back in the field where development happens," said
Mr. Malloch Brown. "We are well underway now on our 25% cut in Headquarters,
combining both the reduction and redeployment of staff." He added that UNDP planned cuts
of 10% in core administrative costs over the next year. Among other things, the functions of
UNDP Country Offices will be reviewed, as well as its institution-building work at the
country level. UNDP plans to "continually refine and reinforce the role of the Resident
Coordinator and our relations with the broader UN agency community and--where
necessary--continue to strengthen our role in post-conflict coordination and support, to our
new
partnerships with the private sectors and civil society organizations."

Ministers from developing and donor countries voiced support for UNDP's work and widely
endorsed the organization's reform process at a Ministerial Meeting in New York on 11
September 2000. Representatives from 67 countries including more than 40 ministers
examined UNDP's role as the development arm of the UN, its effectiveness, and ways to
build political support for its work. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the UN, said that
"through UNDP the UN is present all over the world and is seen to be dealing with the actual
problems faced by the great majority of the world's people." 

Mr. Annan also endorsed the "strong management" that he said Mr. Malloch Brown is putting
in place throughout the organization. Mr. Malloch Brown, who chaired the meeting, outlined
the agency's programme initiatives and reform process. "We will have a culture of
performance where success is recorded but also where problems are addressed," he said.

The ministers offered insights and advice as to how UNDP could meet development
challenges throughout the world. One delegate said that in order to be most effective, UNDP
must not forget that "the road map of development should be left to recipient countries to
determine." Many speakers drew attention to the need to increase support for UNDP's core
resources, which are essential for the agency's efforts to assist the poorest countries. In
response, a number of donor countries committed to increasing their level of core and
non-core funding.


INTERNATIONAL SEABED AUTHORITY MEETS
Exploring for minerals on the deep ocean bed has been made subject to a detailed set of
international regulations as a result of work by the sixth session of the International Seabed
Authority, which met for its second part from 3-13 July 2000 in Kingston (Jamaica). The new
rules, which cover all of the world's ocean bottoms outside national jurisdiction, are entitled
"Regulations on Prospecting and Exploration for Polymetallic Nodules in the Area" in the
international seabed area. The rules, which take effect immediately, are a product of four
years of work. They are the first piece of legislation to emerge from the authority, which was
established by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (see E&D File Treaty Series,
no. 5).

Built on the framework of the convention, the rules fill in new details in two areas:
environmental protection, and safeguards for confidential data developed by seabed operators.
Adoption of the rules by the council of the International Seabed Authority was made possible
by a last-day compromise among the 66 Authority members attending the session (out of a
total of 133) on environmental issues, specifically the role of seabed contractors and their
sponsoring States in guaranteeing that the authority will be able to cope with any unexpected
environmental incident related to exploration.

Contact: International Seabed Authority, 14-20 Port Royal Street, Kingston, Jamaica, West
Indies, telephone +1-876/922 9105, fax +1-876/922 0195, website (www.isa.org.jm).


UNESCO MEETING ON UNDERWATER HERITAGE
Over 200 governmental experts representing 84 countries ended their third meeting on 7 July
2000 concerning the Draft Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage.
The meeting, held in Paris at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), reported progress toward a consensus and notably fine-tuning the
definition of cultural heritage to be covered by the convention.

While there is unanimous agreement on the need to protect underwater cultural heritage from
destruction and pillaging, according to UNESCO, more negotiations are required in several
areas. These include how to deal with cultural heritage vestiges located on the continental
shelf beyond the 12-mile territorial waters; regional agreements; and whether rivers and lakes
should be covered by the convention.

UNESCO was asked by its executive board in 1993 to consider the feasibility of an
international convention to protect underwater cultural heritage. UNESCO's General
Conference, the organization's main decision-making body, decided to proceed with the
project and governmental experts began meeting in June 1998. They will hold a fourth
meeting during the first half of next year.

Contact: Cultural Heritage Division, UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732 Paris Cedex 15,
France, telephone +33-1/45 68 37 56, website (www.unesco.org).


IOC ADOPTS MEASURES
The Executive Council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization's (UNESCO) Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) ended its
annual meeting in Paris on 30 June 2000. The council, made up of 36 UN member states,
reinforced its commitment to monitor and protect the world's oceans.

Among other things, the 33rd session of the council obtained commitment of IOC member
states to accelerate implementation of a programme to measure the temperature and salinity
of the upper 2000 metres of oceans; approved the start of negotiations to raise funds for a
major warning system to forecast storms in the Northern Indian Ocean; and warned of an
urgent need to study the impact of disposal of carbon dioxide in the deep ocean. 

The IOC was established in 1960 to provide UN member states with a mechanism for global
cooperation in the study of the ocean and to serve as a common body for coordination among
UN agencies and programmes with a responsibility for marine affairs.

Contact: Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732
Paris Cedex 15, France, fax +33-1/45 68 58 12, website (ioc.unesco.org/iocweb).


UNFCCC SUBSIDIARY BODIES MEET
Almost 1,700 people attended the 12th sessions of the subsidiary bodies of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, see E&D File Treaty Series, no. 7),
held 12-16 June 2000 in Bonn (Germany). The sessions, preceded by one week of informal
meetings, included representatives of 145 Parties, three observer states, and 148 observer
organizations and the media. 

The meetings were organized to enable delegates to make progress on reaching the goals of
the November 1998 Buenos Aires Plan of Action (see E&D File, vol. III, no. 18) adopted at
the fourth Conference of the Parties (COP-4). They discussed technical and political issues
related to laying the foundation for negotiations on a comprehensive agreement at COP-6
from 13-24 November 2000 in the Hague (Netherlands).

Delegates adopted 21 draft conclusions on issues including land-use change and forestry;
policies and measures; land use; guidelines under articles on methodological issues,
information communication, review of information of the Kyoto Protocol (see E&D File, vol.
III, no. 16) and technology transfer; and mechanisms. They also adopted the Report of the
Joint Working Group on Compliance.

Contact: Barbara Black, Meetings Services Officer, Conference and Information Support,
UNFCCC Secretariat, PO Box 260 124, Haus Carstanjen, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8,
D-53175 Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/815 1000,  fax +49-228/815 1999, e-mail
<secretariat@unfccc.de>, website (www.unfccc.de).


UNEP ROUNDTABLE AND WORKSHOP
At the first Cleaner Production Roundtable for Africa, held 9-10 August 2000 in Nairobi
(Kenya), over 70 participants endorsed the holding of an annual roundtable, which they said
would provide a mechanism for facilitating progress on promotion and implementation of
cleaner production in Africa. The roundtable also provided inputs for the Sixth International
High-Level Seminar on Cleaner Production, to be held in Montreal (Canada) in October. The
roundtable participants also agreed to establish a Regional Coordinating Committee of
members from five regions of the continent: Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa.

At a subsequent Workshop on Sustainable Consumption, held on 11 August 2000 in Nairobi,
participants discussed a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on
Sustainable Consumption and Cleaner Production, and they highlighted food security issues
and the need for a forum to exchange experiences and facilitate action. They stressed that
sustainable consumption, especially in relation to improving the poor's access to basic needs,
is extremely relevant to Africa. 

The workshop and roundtable were organized and sponsored by UNEP, United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft of Germany and
the governments of the Netherlands and Norway.

Contact: Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, UNEP, 39-43 quai Andre Citroen,
F-75739 Paris Cedex 15, France, telephone +33-1/44 37 14 50, fax +33-1/44 37 14 74, e-mail
<unep.tie@unep.fr>, website (www.unep.org).


UNEP PROJECT ON TOXIC SUBSTANCES
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced in August that to reach a
better understanding of environmental and health risks posed by persistent toxic substances
and measures needed to deal with them, UNEP Chemicals will execute a US$5 million
project to assess the pollutants.  

The results of the project, scheduled to start in September for two years, will contribute to
priority-setting by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The study, to take place in all
regions of the world, will complement work being done in conjunction with negotiations now
underway for a global treaty on the list of 12 persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The
project's outcomes should serve to guide international action to protect human health and the
environment from persistent toxic substances, according to UNEP. The Global Environment
Facility is jointly implemented through UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme
and the World Bank. 

"There is clearly a need for a scientifically-based assessment of the nature and scale of the
threats to the environment and public health from persistent toxic substances that goes
beyond the list of 12 persistent organic pollutants," said Klaus Toepfer, UNEP Executive
Director. "Conclusions from the full-scale project will assist GEF in establishing future
priorities, help countries and regions in developing responses to risks from these pollutants,
and in the longer term contribute to identifying additional POPs for international action." 

Persistent toxic substances pose a serious threat to humans and the environment--they can last
in the environment for a long time, be transported long distances far from their origin, and
can accumulate in organisms through the food chain.

Contact: Jim Willis, Director, UNEP Chemicals, Geneva Executive Centre, 11-13 chemin des
Anemones, CH-1219 Chatelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 8183, fax
+41-22/797 3460, e-mail <chemicals@unep.ch>, website (irptc.unep.ch) or
(www.chem.unep.ch/pops).


FAO: DEFORESTATION RATE SLOWING
The destruction of the world's forests is continuing but there are strong indications that the
rate of deforestation is slowing down, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in
August.

Preliminary analysis of more than 300 satellite images show that the rate of deforestation in
tropical countries was at least 10% less in the past ten years compared to the 1980s, according
to FAO. Half of the images in the survey show a reduced rate of deforestation, and 20% show
an increase. The survey was part of FAO's Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000, to be
released by the end of this year.

"These preliminary results do not mean that the battle against deforestation is over," said
Hosny El-Lakany, Assistant Director-General of the FAO Forestry Department, "and a
reduction in deforestation must not be used as an excuse for unsustainable forest practices."

FAO's last global figures on forest cover indicated that in 1995 there were 3.5 billion hectares
of forest, including natural forests and forest plantations. About 55% of the world's forests
were located in developing countries; 3% of the world's forests were plantations. Between
1980 and 1990, forest cover change in natural forests in developing countries--where most
deforestation is taking place--was estimated at a loss of 15.5 million hectares per year. 

Contact: Publications and Information Coordinator, Forestry Department, FAO, Viale delle
Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 4778, fax +39-06/5705
2151, e-mail <Forestry-www@fao.org>, website
(www.fao.org/forestry/fo/country/nav_world.jsp). 


FAO REPORT ON AGRICULTURE
The world's population of around eight billion people by 2030 will be better fed but the
number of hungry and undernourished people will remain stubbornly high, according to a
report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Agriculture: Towards 2015/2030.

"In 2015 there could still be about 580 million people suffering from chronic
undernourishment," according to the FAO. 

The report says population growth will continue to slow down, and food consumption levels
will be higher in an increasing number of countries. This will cause world agriculture to grow
at a slower pace, from an annual 2.1% over the last two decades to 1.6 in the period to 2015
and 1.3% up to 2030. However growth in agriculture will "continue to outstrip world
population growth of 1.2% up to 2015 and 0.8% in the period to 2030."

Cereals will remain the principal source of food supplies, accounting for about half of daily
calorie intakes. Developing countries will become increasingly dependent on imports of
cereals. Their net cereal imports are expected to rise from 107 million tons in 1995/1997 to
270 million in 2030. The report notes that traditional exporters such as North America,
Western Europe and Australia will need to increase their net exports from 142 million tons in
1995/1997 to 280 million tons by 2030.

Contact: Erwin Northoff, Media Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100
Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3105, fax +39-06/5705 4975, e-mail
<erwin.northoff@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org). 


UNHCR: WORLD'S DISPLACED INCREASE
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released in August the latest
in a series of annual statistical reports on several categories of the world population it
describes as "refugees and others of concern" to the agency. At the end of last year, the total
number of persons with whom UNHCR was concerned reached 22.3 million, according to the
1999 Statistical Overview, which provides comprehensive information on asylum seekers,
refugees and others in some 150 countries.

During 1999, the global refugee population increased by some 1.6% to reach 11.7 million by
the end of the year. Of those, Asia hosted the largest share with 41%, followed by Africa
(30.2%), Europe (22.3%), North America (5.4%), Oceania (0.6%) and Latin America and the
Caribbean (0.5%). US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke has been advocating a
redefinition of refugees to include internally displaced persons, "which we feel are simply
refugees who don't cross borders," he said.

UNHCR was also concerned with 1.2 million asylum-seekers, 2.4 million returned refugees,
and four million internally displaced persons (IDPs). The latter figure, however, represented
only a fraction of the world's 20 to 25 million IDPs, according to the agency. 

During last year 1.6 million refugees returned to their home country--a 60% jump over the
previous year. UNHCR said the increase was largely due to the changing circumstances in
Kosovo.

Contact: Arnulv Torbjornsen, NGO Coordinator, Division of Communication and
Information, UNHCR, Case postale 2500, CH-1211 Geneva 2 Dep“t, Switzerland, telephone
+41-22/739 8290, fax +41-22/739 7302, website (www.unhcr.org).


UNHCR MEETING ON MASS DISPLACEMENT IN CIS
Representatives from more than 60 countries and international organizations met in Geneva
from 13-14 July 2000 to discuss progress in efforts to resolve mass displacement in the
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Fifth Steering Group meeting of the CIS
Conference Follow-Up Process was hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration, and the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe.

"In the last four years we have made significant progress putting in place laws on refugees
and migration and government structures that will deal with mass displacements in the CIS,"
said Assistant High Commissioner Soren Jessen-Petersen prior to the meeting. "Indeed, one
successful outcome of the Conference process often overlooked is the absence of dramatic
developments to the contrary. Five years ago, there was considerable concern about massive
population displacement and human suffering. Despite setbacks, this has largely been
avoided."

However he stressed the need to continue activities launched by the CIS Conference process
as it seeks to adapt to shifting priorities within the region. Mr. Jessen-Petersen said the
conference process will concentrate on four main issues in the future. These are: 
--    assuring continued focus on groups of concern including refugees, internally
displaced, illegal migrants, formerly deported peoples and ecological migrants;
--    migration management including combating illegal migration and trafficking;
--    sustaining and promoting activities of NGOs and civil society; and 
--    implementing legislation. 

Since the post-Cold War era, more than half a million forcibly-deported peoples, internally
displaced people and refugees have returned to their homes or former homelands in the CIS
countries, from both the region and outside.

Contact: Arnulv Torbjornsen, NGO Coordinator, Division of Communication and
Information, UNHCR, Case postale 2500, CH-1211 Geneva 2 Depot, Switzerland, telephone
+41-22/739 8290, fax +41-22/739 7302, website (www.unhcr.org).


UNHCR STUDY ON EUROPEAN ASYLUM
Much of existing policy making of European governments concerning increasing problems of
human trafficking and smuggling "is part of the problem and not the solution," according to a
study published online entitled The Trafficking and Smuggling of Refugees: The End Game
in European Asylum Policy?

The study, commissioned by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
observes that refugees are now forced to use illegal means if they want to access Europe at
all. The direction of current policy risks "not so much solving the problem of trafficking but
rather ending the right of asylum in Europe, one of the most fundamental of all human
rights," says the study. "Any comprehensive approach that tackles trafficking and smuggling
successfully requires legal and safe migration opportunities for all refugees, as well as
necessary enforcement measures." It adds that Europe "is in urgent need for political and
moral leadership on this issue."

There are few legal possibilities for refugees to enter the European Union, according to the
study, so the majority are required to attempt ever more clandestine forms of entry. It says
comprehensive approaches toward specific refugee-generating countries do stress the need for
eliminating the root causes of instability and oppression; but they are "much less
comprehensive when discussing the durable solutions available to refugees." There are no
systematic proposals for the resettlement of refugees in the European Union, notes the study. 

"Rather, the effects of blanket enforcement measures, such as common visa policies,
readmission treaties, carrier sanctions and airline liaison officers, act to deny refugees the
possibility of illegal exit from the regions of their persecution," it says. "As international
policy currently stands, if European governments were ever successful in stopping organized
illegal migration at source or in transit countries, they would have ended European asylum
policy as we know it."

Among other things, the study discusses European responses to trafficking and smuggling
from the perspectives of border enforcement, and organized crime and human rights. It also
analyses a series of comprehensive proposals for reforming refugee and other migration to
Europe and includes recommendations for European governments and refugee agencies. 

Contact: Arnulv Torbjornsen, NGO Coordinator, Division of Communication and
Information, UNHCR, Case postale 2500, CH-1211 Geneva 2 Depot, Switzerland,            
telephone +41-22/739 8290, fax +41-22/739 7302. The study is available on the UNHCR
website at (www.unhcr.ch/evaluate/reports/traffick.pdf).


SECURITY SUMMIT ON UN PERSONNEL
The third Security Summit on United Nations Personnel, which took place on 15 June 2000
in New York, met to discuss the safety and security of UN personnel and to review recent
decisions by relevant legislative bodies.

In her opening statement Mehri Madarshahi, President of the Coordinating Committee for
International Staff Unions and Associations of the UN System (CCISUA) and chair of the
summit, noted that the hazards in UN staff assignments are manifold and complex. She said
that "it is incumbent upon all parties involved--governments, the Administration of the
United Nations Secretariat and the elected staff representatives--to congregate and deliberate
about measures, policies and strategies that could be put in place to enhance the well-being
and security of our colleagues everywhere." 

General Assembly President Theo Ben-Gurirab (Namibia), in his keynote address, noted that
the Summit was taking place during a time when more fierce regional conflicts were placing
acute strains and risks on UN personnel. He cited the 1994 Convention on the Safety of
United Nations and Associated Personnel as key to the commitment to staff security. The
Convention has 43 signatories and 33 States Parties; it was ratified during the Summit by an
additional eight countries (Bangladesh, Botswana, Croatia, France, Hungary, Poland, Senegal
and Uruguay). The Convention is among 25 treaties that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
has highlighted for government signature and ratification during the upcoming Millennium
Assembly. 

Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette noted that the UN would be constrained in
exercising its mandate toward eliminating violence and warfare and ensuring universal
adherence to human rights if its staff continued to face current levels of danger.

Ambassador Antonio Monteiro (Portugal) referred to an increase in the number of complex
emergencies and natural disasters, as well as new types of conflicts that tended to strain
traditional approaches to protecting UN staff in the field.

Nicholas Bwankira, Director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees New York Office,
noted that agency staff in conflict and post-conflict resolution face unique dangers. He argued
that "there is a consensus among UN agencies on the frontline that security of staff is a major
issue compounded by lack of resources. It is critical, therefore, that we match mandates with
resources." 

Mark Powe, Staff Security Coordinator of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),
spoke of colleagues whose lives had been abruptly taken while doing their jobs. Cathy Bergen
of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) provided an NGO perspective on safety
of humanitarian staff in the field. Mona Hammam, Director of the World Food Programme
(WFP) New York Office summed up the situation when she noted that the Summit itself was
"a commentary on our times, when the UN flag has become a target rather than a shield."

Contact: Mehri Madarshahi, President, CCISUA, United Nations, Room S-525A, New York
NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 5436.


OCHA MEETING ON CRISIS MANAGEMENT
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) held a Ministerial
Conference on Regional Cooperation and Coordination in Crisis Management for Europe and
the Newly Independent States (NIS) from 15-16 June 2000 in Fribourg (Switzerland). The
conference, hosted by Switzerland, was attended by ministers and senior officials from
Europe, the NIS, Canada, United States, and others including the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) and the Red Cross Movement. Participants discussed the need for
more coordination in humanitarian activities in response to natural, industrial or human-made
disasters. 

In the Fribourg Communique and Framework for Action, participants reaffirmed their
commitment to humanitarian law and respect for territorial integrity in accordance with the
UN Charter. They also noted the "important contributions made by civil society, notably
non-government organizations...to enhanced humanitarian response capacity." 

The Framework for Action, agreed to by 51 governments and 37 organizations, recognizes the
primary role of the UN in coordinating international humanitarian assistance in crisis
situations. However it says that States have "primary responsibility for providing emergency
humanitarian assistance when crises occur on their territory," and calls for cooperation
between States and regional and international organizations in dealing with humanitarian
crises.  

Lack of coordination among major regional actors has hindered many humanitarian
operations during recent emergencies, according to OCHA. It warned that unless new policies
are put in place the effectiveness of humanitarian mechanisms will deteriorate further, more
resources will be wasted, and lives will be lost. 

Contact: Donato Kiniger-Passigli, Disaster Reduction Division, Information Management and
External Relations Branch, OCHA, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland,
telephone +41-22/917 2653, fax +41-22/917 0023, website (www.reliefweb.int/fribourg).


OCHA REPORT ON AFGHANISTAN SANCTIONS
Afghanistan's economy and the ability of humanitarian agencies to help Afghans are being
hurt by Security Council sanctions imposed in November, according to a report from the
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 

The report, released in August, says that the sanctions have had a "tangible negative effect on
the Afghan economy." The loss of Ariana Airlines flights means that sales of fresh fruit,
previously shipped and sold outside Afghanistan, are now restricted to its low-price domestic
market. This has resulted in a loss of income and employment in harvesting, packing and
distribution. 

The loss of the air link has also brought an end to imports of medicines from India that were
valued for their low cost and good quality, which has restricted options for aid agencies
operating in the country. The health sector, says the report, has been the most directly affected
due to delays and costs in obtaining medical supplies.

Another significant impact of sanctions "is the extent to which ordinary Afghans feel isolated
and victimized," says the report. "There is a widespread perception that the United Nations
has set out to harm rather than help Afghans." The report notes that the coping capacity of the
civilian population has already been "severely weakened as a result of the war and the erosion
of many traditional coping mechanisms including in particular the role of extended family
networks....The situation of females is such that practically all the households without an
able-bodied male are vulnerable; they rely on food aid, children's work and begging to
survive."

Contact: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations, New York NY
10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 1234, fax +1-212/ 963 1312, e-mail
<ochany@un.org> or Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations,
Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 1234, fax
+41-22/917 0023, or e-mail <ochagva@un.org>, website (www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol).


WORLD BANK REPORT ON CONFLICTS
A report from the World Bank says civil wars are more often fuelled by rebel groups
competing with national governments for control of diamonds, coffee and other valuable
primary commodities rather than by political, ethnic or religious differences. 

Economic Causes of Civil Conflict and their Implications for Policy, which looks at 47 civil
wars from 1960 to 1999, notes that countries earning around one-fourth of their yearly gross
domestic product (GDP) from exports of unprocessed commodities "face a far higher
likelihood of civil war than countries with more diversified economies." Without exports of
primary commodities such as gemstones or coffee, "ordinary countries are pretty safe from
internal conflict." 

The report says rebel groups in vulnerable countries "loot" primary commodities to stay
financially viable. This allows them to pay their large numbers of young, poorly-educated
soldiers and to keep their rebellion alive--domestically as well as internationally. 

The looting of such resources explains many current and former civil conflicts, according to
the World Bank. In Sierra Leone, for example, the capture of rich diamond mines by rebels
and the subsequent sale abroad is one of the main reasons for renewed bloodshed in the
war-stricken country. The Angolan rebel group UNITA is reputed to have accumulated more
than US$4 billion in financial assets during its first war with government forces, some of
which was then later used to start a second round of war.

The report also says that if a country has recently had a civil war, the risk of further conflict is
much higher. Immediately after the end of hostilities there is a 40% chance of further conflict;
this risk then falls at around one percentage point for each year of peace. However, this
depends upon the size of the diaspora abroad and its ability to use large financial resources
and publicity to keep combatants active. The diaspora sometimes harbor romanticized
attachments to their group of origin and may nurse grievances. They tend to be much richer
than people in their home country and can afford to "finance conflict" without suffering the
consequences, notes the report. 

While ethnic dominance is a problem, ethnic and religious diversity does not make a society
more dangerous--in fact, it makes it safer, according to the report. A country that is ethnically
and religiously homogenous is surprisingly dangerous--the risk is 23%. 

The report suggests policies that it says could reduce the risk of civil conflict, including: 
--    enlist the international community to make it more difficult for rebel groups to sell
diamonds and other commodities they loot; 
--    generate rapid growth to counter the effects of low income and economic decline; and 
--    provide credible guarantees to protect minorities in societies where a single ethnic
group dominates by entrenching their rights into a national constitution.

Contact: Phil Hay, Media Relations Officer, External Relations Department, World Bank,
1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/473 1796, fax
+1-202/522 2632, e-mail <phay@worldbank.org>.


WOMEN AND BURUNDI PEACE NEGOTIATIONS
All 19 political parties involved in Burundi peace negotiations have agreed that women
should participate in the peace process and that their concerns regarding implementation of
the peace accord should be taken into account. This commitment is the outcome of a meeting
convened by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) on 23 June in
Arusha (Tanzania).

"The voices of Burundi women must be heard in the peace process," said Noeleen Heyzer,
UNIFEM Executive Director. "Their rights must be guaranteed in all of the mechanisms that
will guide Burundi's peaceful development."

A UN team at the meeting was invited to the Arusha peace talks by negotiation facilitators,
headed by former South African President Nelson Mandela. The six-member UN team
included experts--from South Africa, Uganda, Guatemala and Eritrea--who had negotiated
peace accords in their own countries. They provided advice to the 19 political parties on how
to strengthen women's participation in the peace process. 

During the June meeting they addressed concerns such as the protection of women's rights
under the new constitution, their contribution to the economy, and the importance of women's
role in conflict resolution. 

Since 1997, virtually all parties to the negotiations had categorically refused to include
women in the negotiations, according to Ruth Perry, the first female African head of state of
Liberia and vice-chair of one of the negotiating committees. She noted that "this breakthrough
must be given immediate support to develop a wider process of engaging women throughout
Burundi on issues relating to their security, their inclusion and their human rights."

Contact: UNIFEM, 304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor, New York NY 10017, United States,
telephone +1-212/906 6400, fax +1-212/906 6705, website (www.unifem.undp.org).


23RD SESSION OF CEDAW
The 23rd session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) met at UN Headquarters in New York from 12-30 June 2000. The session adopted
recommendations for advancing the status of women in Austria, Cameroon, Cuba, Iraq,
Lithuania, Moldova and Romania. 

Among issues addressed during the session were economic embargoes and sanctions;
economies in transition; trafficking in women; and female genital mutilation (FGM). 

Cuba and Iraq both cited embargoes and sanctions as impediments to advancement and full
implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women. The Committee agreed that the United States' embargo of Cuba exacerbated the
discrimination women continued to experience since they are concentrated in professions
seriously affected by the embargo. Concerning Iraq, the Committee felt that implementation
of the Convention was insufficient even taking into account the effect of the sanctions. In
particular, it said, priority steps had not been taken to ensure that women benefited equally
from the "oil-for-food" programme.

In Lithuania, the Republic of Moldova and Romania, the Committee noted transition
economies are experiencing economic upheaval and hardship, which had resulted in high
unemployment and poverty among women. It noted, however, that countries undergoing
severe economic hardships during such transition periods could take advantage of crisis
situations to galvanize support for women's rights and ensure their full participation in all
spheres of life. The Committee found that trafficking was also a problem in the three
countries. 

Austria, noted by the Committee as one of the destinations to which women who are victims
of trafficking are sent, said it had established a victim protection facility for psychological,
health, legal and family matters. It was also working to facilitate women's return and
employment in their country of origin. Although the Committee praised what it described as
Austria's pioneering legislation to address the issue, it urged all four countries to confront the
problem through bilateral and multilateral cooperation and to develop new laws that
prioritized the human rights of trafficking victims for purposes of sexual exploitation or
labour. 

Regarding FGM, the Committee observed that Cameroon had shown commitment to
improving the status of women through adoption of a national plan against the practice. The
plan seeks to improve health and living conditions for women and to put an end to FGM. The
Committee noted that the impact of structural adjustment programmes, coupled with
privatization, had negatively affected Cameroon's capacity to implement the Convention.

Committee members also expressed concern about equal access of women in the countries
discussed to employment, education and health care; the situation of elderly women; the full
inclusion of women in public and political life; and the rights of migrant women.

According to Yakin Erturk, Director of the UN Division for the Advancement of Women, one
of the most common issues among all the countries was the persistence of stereotypical
attitudes toward women and men. Although stereotypes manifest themselves differently in
each culture, she noted, the persistence of negative attitudes continued to be a source of
inequality such as overemphasizing women's responsibilities in household work to the
detriment of their role in public life. In Austria, for example, 50% of women do not progress
beyond mandatory schooling and are over-represented in part-time work. In Cameroon, Ms.
Erturk pointed to what she described as the persistence of negative traditional and cultural
practices such as polygamy, FGM and high drop-out rates among school-age girls. Other
examples included incidents of forced marriage and so-called honour killings in Iraq;
stereotypical representation of women in the media in Lithuania; the double load of home and
outside work as well as legal restrictions of property rights in Moldova; and the persistence of
stereotypes in textbooks and school curricula in Romania.

CEDAW Chair Aida Gonzalez Martinez (Mexico) noted that the 23rd session had
immediately followed the General Assembly Special Session entitled Women 2000: Gender
Equality, Development and Peace in the Twenty-First Century, which reviewed
implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (PFA) adopted at the 1995
Fourth World Conference on Women. The Special Session made several recommendations
concerning the work of CEDAW; it expressed particular concern about the fact that the goal
of universal ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women by the year 2000, established in the PFA, had not been achieved. A large
number of reservations to the Convention still remain, and many countries have not yet
implemented the provisions contained in the Convention. 

Regarding the status of the Optional Protocol, which allows women who are victims of sexual
discrimination to submit complaints to CEDAW (see Go Between 79), the Committee noted
that 41 States Parties to the Convention had signed thus far and five had ratified it. The
Committee said it was hopeful that the ten ratifications necessary for the Optional Protocol to
enter into force will be achieved during this year.

Contact: UN Division for the Advancement of Women, United Nations, New York NY
10017, United States, fax +1-212/963 3463, e-mail <daw@un.org>, website
(www.un.org/womenwatch).


UN TO TARGET ORGANIZED CRIME
One-hundred and twenty countries have produced a new treaty that aims to "close the major
loopholes that allow organized crime to flourish and that block international efforts to combat
it," the United Nations announced in August 2000. The treaty--known as the United Nations
Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime--will be sent to the UN General
Assembly for formal adoption. 

The final draft of the treaty, which was forged by an ad hoc committee meeting in Vienna
(Austria), is intended to serve as a blueprint for countries to improve their systems to "shut
down international criminal organizations," eliminate safe havens, protect witnesses and
block money laundering.

"In agreeing on this unified draft," said Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the United
Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP), "the world community is
freeing itself of the decades-old losing approach of trying to address international crime with
local solutions. We can now affirm that the tide is turning on cross-border crime."

The ad hoc committee is also preparing three draft protocols by which countries would
undertake in-depth measures to combat trafficking in women and children, migrants and
illicit arms.

Contact: Sandro Tucci, Spokesman, ODCCP, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 500,
A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060 5629, fax +43-1/230 7002, website
(www.odccp.org).


88TH SESSION OF ILO CONFERENCE
Delegates to the 88th session of the International Labour Conference, which concluded on 15
June 2000 in Geneva, voted to adopt a new international Convention on Maternity Protection.
The Convention, which would be legally binding for ratifying governments, will enter into
force after receiving two ratifications by Member States of the International Labour
Organization (ILO).  

Concern for maternity protection at work "goes straight to the core of the ILO's concern for
reconciling family life and working life," said Juan Somavia, ILO Director-General. He noted
that the convention and a related recommendation "will extend coverage to many millions of
women who are presently unprotected during the period of maternity....A key element of
making decent work a reality must involve improving working conditions and opportunities
for women."

The Convention, which applies to all women including those employed in the informal sector,
contains a provision for protection of the health of mother and child. A previous Convention
covered a narrower category of women workers, and it contained no provision about health
protection of the mother and child. 

The new standard says that "each member shall, after consulting the representative
organizations of employers and workers, adopt appropriate measures to ensure that pregnant
or breastfeeding women are not obliged to perform work that has been determined by the
competent authority to be prejudicial to the health of the mother or the child, or when an
assessment has established a significant risk to the mother's health or that of her child."
The length of maternity leave would be extended from 12 to 14 weeks, including "a period of
six weeks compulsory leave after childbirth, unless otherwise agreed at the national level by
the government and the representative organizations of employers and workers."

On employment protection the new Convention says that "it shall be unlawful for an
employer to terminate the employment of a woman during her pregnancy or absence on leave
or during a period following her return to work to be prescribed by national laws or
regulations, except on grounds unrelated to the pregnancy or birth of the child and its
consequences or nursing." And it notes that "a woman shall be provided with the right to one
or more daily breaks or a daily reduction of hours of work to breastfeed her child." The length
and duration of the breaks are to be implemented in accordance with national practice, and
"these breaks or the reduction of daily hours of work shall be counted as working time and
remunerated accordingly."

The session also took action to compel the government of Myanmar (Burma) to comply with
ILO Convention 29 on forced labour. Under the terms of a resolution, a series of measures
will take effect in November of this year unless the ILO Governing Body is satisfied with the
country's intentions to comply with recommendations of a 1998 Commission of Inquiry,
which found "widespread and systematic use of forced labour in Myanmar."

The conference also adopted a resolution on HIV/AIDs, which urges member states--and
where applicable employers' and workers' organizations--to strengthen occupational health
and safety systems to protect groups at risk, among other things. 

An ILO report on HIV/AIDS: A Threat to Decent Work, Productivity and Development,
discussed at a high-level meeting during the conference, warns of catastrophic consequences
of HIV/AIDS for workers and employers worldwide. The report (see Go Between 81) projects
a severe decline in the size and quality of the workforce in a number of countries over the
next 20 years.

Contact: Bureau of Public Information, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22,
Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799 8577, e-mail <presse@ilo.org>,
website (www.ilo.org).


FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT MEETS IN JAKARTA
The first in a series of regional consultations on Financing for Development (see Go Between
81) opened in Jakarta (Indonesia) on 2 August 2000. The four-day meeting, which was jointly
organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), brought together over 150
delegates from 37 countries as well as representatives of financial institutions, UN bodies and
NGOs. The meeting addressed a range of issues including trade, capital flows, development
assistance, debt and financial architecture. 
"It is encouraging to see the beginning of the process with an emphasis on the
multi-dimensional problems facing developing countries," said Makarim Wibisono, President
of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and Permanent Representative of Indonesia
to the UN. 

UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero stressed that promoting complementarity,
stability and appropriate burden sharing in financial arrangements at all levels should be an
important objective of future reform efforts in the area of finance.

This series of meetings is one of the various mechanisms being used by the Financing for
Development (FFD) process as it prepares for its final high-level meeting scheduled for 2001.
The remaining regional consultations are:
--    9-10 November 2000, Colombia, ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America
and the Caribbean); 
--    21-22 November 2000, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), ECA (Economic Commission for
Africa);
--    23-24 November 2000, Beirut (Lebanon), ESCWA (Economic and Social
Commission for Western Asia); and
--    7-8 December 2000, Geneva, ECE (Economic Commission for Europe). 

Go Between will be providing a summary of the consultations once all five have been
completed. 

Contact: Federica Pietracci, FFD Secretariat, Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
United Nations, Room DC2-2256, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone
+1-212/963 8497, fax +1-212/963 1267, e-mail <pietracci@un.org>, website
(www.un.org/esa/analysis/ffd).

UNDP, UNIFEM AND ITU AGREEMENT
A formal agreement aimed at enabling more women to shape information and technology
policies was signed in July 2000 in New York by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and
International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The agreement, which establishes general principles and identifies areas in which the three
agencies will cooperate, guarantees that the impact of information and communications
technologies (ICTs) on women is incorporated in policy dialogue and decision making. 

"Now is the time to shape a future in which women are not just consumers of computers and
information," said Noeleen Heyzer, UNIFEM Executive Director, "but also producers of the
technologies and policies that underpin the world of tomorrow." 

The agencies will encourage governments and the telecommunications industry to recruit,
employ, train and advance women's fair and equitable access to ICTs. As part of their
collaboration the three agencies will jointly monitor and evaluate implementation of women's
empowerment in national development plans around the world. 
Contact: Omar Gharzeddine, UNDP, 1 UN Plaza, New York        NY 10017, United States,
telephone +1-212/906 5171, e-mail <omar.gharzeddine@undp.org>, website
(www.undp.org), Micol Zarb, UNIFEM, 304 E. 45th Street, 6th Floor, New York NY 10017,
United States, telephone +1-212/906 5463, e-mail <micol.zarb@undp.org>, website
(www.unifem.undp.org) or Hanne Laugesen, Head, Conference Department, ITU, Place des
Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/730 5691, fax +41-22/730
6422, e-mail <laugesen@itu.int>, website (www.itu.int).


SECOND WORLD ASSEMBLY ON AGEING
Preparations for the Second World Assembly on Ageing, to be held in 2002, include revising
the 1982 International Plan of Action on Ageing and developing a Long-Term Strategy on
Ageing. Revision of the Plan of Action, adopted 18 years ago at the Vienna World Assembly
on Ageing, has been initiated by the United Nations Secretariat for the World Assembly on
Ageing. 

Technical committee meetings are being held to advise on content of the Plan and Strategy,
which will be drafted by the Assembly Secretariat and subject to intergovernmental
negotiation and approval by the UN General Assembly. At the first technical meeting, held in
June 2000 in Frankfurt (Germany), participants discussed, among other things, how to ensure
that the revised Plan and Strategy will pay particular attention to developing countries. A
second technical committee meeting is scheduled for later this year in the Dominican
Republic.

The 44th session of the UN General Assembly in 1989 decided to convene the second World
Assembly, which it said would review outcomes of the first World Assembly, as well adopt a
revised plan of action and a long-term strategy on ageing "in the context of a society for all
ages." 

Contact: Alexandre Sidorenko, UN Programme on Ageing, Division for Social Policy and
Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Room DC2-1358, 2 UN Plaza,
New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 0500, fax +1-212/963 3062,
website (www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing.htm).


GLOBAL POVERTY REPORT
Poverty in the midst of plenty is one of the central challenges in today's global economy and
society, according to the Global Poverty Report, submitted at the Group of Eight summit in
Okinawa (Japan) in July. The report was co-published by the African Development Bank,
Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development,
Inter-American Development Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Fighting poverty "is both a moral imperative and a necessity for a stable world," according to
the report. It notes that an estimated 1.2 billion people are living on less than US$1 per day,
and almost three billion on less than US$2 per day. It stresses that, among other things, the
"global community needs to make a concerted effort to accelerate progress and more
effectively address the causes of poverty at country and global levels."

Nations "need to get on a path of sustainable, pro-poor growth" that provides "opportunities
for all, a voice in decision making and protection from shocks." At the country level the
report calls for, among other things:
--    policies that promote low inflation, realistic and stable exchange rates, reasonable
fiscal deficits, effective integration into the global economy, and private sector activity;
--    investments in the physical and financial assets of poor people such as adequate
schooling and skill development;
--    transparency and accountability, which "contribute to well-informed public debate;"
and  
--    broad participation, which the report says can help improve the management of public
expenditures.

At the international level, factors such as globalization, volatility of commodity prices, the
availability of knowledge, and flows of private and official capital have a "powerful impact"
on poor countries and their ability to reduce poverty, according to the report. It notes that
"advanced countries have an important role to play in contributing directly to the fight against
poverty, as well as through the role they play in international organizations. Actions are
needed to ensure that opportunities for poor countries are expanded."

It says actions at the global level include, among things, the following.
--    Industrialized countries should strive to sustain global economic expansion to provide
the demand conditions for developing countries and to open their markets more completely to
imports from developing countries.
--    Donor countries should strive to increase aid flows to the poorest countries and to
complete financing for the Enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative,
"with aid increasingly targeted at country-driven, poverty-oriented" programmes.
--    The international community should provide increased support for international public
goods, notably for research and dissemination of vaccines for communicable diseases such as
HIV/AIDS and malaria.
--    The private sector and research institutions have "a crucial role to play in devoting
talent and resources to solving the problems facing poor countries."

The report also says that international financial institutions (IFIs), including multilateral
development banks and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have "a central role to play at
the country level, where they provide policy advice, and financial and technical support for
long-term country-driven" programmes. They "have a key role to play at the global level
where they can help shape international rules and ensure the provision of global public
goods....Poverty reduction strategies now being prepared by countries are providing a
framework for enhanced collaboration between governments, IFIs and other external
agencies, and civil society."
Contact: World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone
+1-202/477 1234. The report is available on the World Bank website
(www.worldbank.org/poverty/library/G8_2000.htm).


WORLD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY
After widespread economic setbacks in 1997-1998, a "healing process" in the global
economy gathered momentum in 1999 and is expected to "broaden and deepen in the near
future," according to the forthcoming World Economic and Social Survey, 2000. 

The first chapter, released by the United Nations in July, says expansion in 2000 "is likely to
be even more dynamic than in the last two quarters of 1999, in which case growth in the
global economy would return to the levels attained in the mid-1990s. As then, the current
outlook is for this rate of growth to be sustained over the next few years." 

However, the report notes, some macro-economic imbalances that have developed as part of
the recovery "pose a potential threat to this favourable outlook" and need to be addressed.
And while widespread, the improved prospects are not universal. Continued efforts need to be
made at all levels, says the report, "to ensure that the benefits of revitalized growth permeate
to all countries and individuals. Information and communications technologies can contribute
to these efforts but spreading their benefits to where they are most needed will require
conducive national policies and international support."

Growth of gross world product (GWP) is expected to increase from 2.7% in 1999 to 3.5% in
2000, the highest since 1996. Global trade began to recover in the second half of 1999, and
growth of world exports is forecast to be about 8% per year in 2000-2001, compared to 4.8%
last year.

For countries and regions with spare production capacity in expanding sectors, "demand for
their exports from countries with buoyant domestic absorption levels has provided a crucial
impetus to their recovery." Other countries--notably those remaining heavily dependent on
non-fuel commodity exports--have been "largely by-passed" by the recovery in world trade.
While all developed countries recorded gains in their per capita gross domestic product
(GDP) in 1999, the number of developing countries that recorded falling per capita output
remained at 37 (out of 95 regularly monitored). However, the report notes, the proportion of
the population living in developing countries that experienced positive per capita growth rose
from about 74% in 1998 to some 78% in 1999.

Sustained growth of per capita output of 3% per annum is postulated as the minimum
necessary to enable developing countries to make a significant reduction in poverty over the
long run, says the report. The number of developing countries that achieved this benchmark
declined from 24 in 1998 to 21 in 1999. The proportion of the developing-country population
in this category dropped in 1999 to 58% from 61% in 1998. Some middle-income countries in
South-East Asia joined the group, while the number from Africa--especially sub-Saharan
Africa--fell.

"The number of developing countries that failed to increase per capita GDP by 3% in 1999
and the share of the population affected remained large," says the report. "Moreover, only a
modest improvement seems to be in the offing over the near-term. The number of such
countries and the proportion of the population of developing countries achieving this
benchmark are expected to rise only to 29% and 63%, respectively, in 2000." 

Meanwhile, the number of countries that are forecast not to increase per capita GDP in 2000
will drop, but only to 20, with the share of the population thus affected remaining at about
7%. Almost half the countries monitored, accounting for about 30% of the population of the
developing world, will increase per capita output by less than 3%. On these expectations,
despite the relatively optimistic outlook for the world economy, it is unlikely that there will
be a major dent in poverty in most developing countries in the near future.

Contact: UN Publications, 2 UN Plaza, Room DC2-853, New York NY 10017, United States,
telephone +1-212/963 8302, fax +1-212/963 3489, e-mail <publications@un.org> or UN
Publications, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907
2606 or 907 4872, fax +41-22/917 0027, e-mail <unpubli@unog.ch>.


INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR LDCS INEFFECTUAL
An independent report (WT/LDC/SWG/IF/1) commissioned by six international economic
institutions says that an inter-agency initiative established to support the integration of least
developed countries (LDCs) has been largely ineffectual in meeting its objectives. 

The report reviews implementation of the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical
Assistance to Least-Developed Countries, which is a joint project of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), World Bank, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the International Trade Center (ITC). 

It says implementation of the framework has suffered from confusion about its activities and
goals, including different perceptions between LDCs and donors about the objectives of the
framework. Representatives of LDC governments said they expected additional funding,
while donors expected the framework to produce greater efficiency by coordinating
trade-related technical assistance. Representatives of LDC governments also complained that
the framework was not sufficiently demand-driven. In addition, governance and
administration of the framework were found to be weak since they depended on management
by committee without clear responsibility assigned to any single entity. The report describes
the framework as a generally "unfunded mandate."

On 6 July heads of the six organizations met in New York to consider the results of the
review. In a joint statement they said the issues raised in the report and its conclusions "made
clear the need for strengthening the [framework] and improving its functioning." They agreed
to support the integration of trade-related technical assistance and capacity building into the
national development strategies and plans of LDCs, principally through such instruments as
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the United Nations Development Assistance
Framework (UNDAF). This mainstreaming effort will be led and coordinated by the World
Bank, according to the principles of its Comprehensive Development Framework. The WTO
is to remain chair of the Inter-Agency Working Group, which "will ensure transparency and
adequate coordination" of the six agencies under the framework. The administrative unit for
the framework, currently located at ITC, will be moved to the WTO. 

The agency heads also agreed to seek "donor support for and voluntary contributions to an
Integrated Framework Trust Fund (IFTF) for the purpose of mainstreaming trade and
trade-related assistance into development architecture." The fund will be administered by
UNDP.

Contact: World Trade Organization, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, Case
postale, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland, telephone +41-22 /739 5111, website
(www.wto.org). 


WORLD BANK/WHO TOBACCO REPORT
Higher taxes are the key to cutting cigarette consumption, especially among the poor, the
young and the relatively uneducated, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and
World Bank in a report published in August on Tobacco Control in Developing Countries. 

The report says a tobacco tax increase has been found to be a very effective tool for lowering
tobacco use, particularly in developing countries. It also challenges the perception that
tobacco products smuggling negates the benefits of higher taxes--"corruption sets the stage
for this illegal activity," says the report.

Higher taxes leading to a 10% rise in cigarette prices would motivate about 42 million people
to quit smoking, according to WHO and World Bank researchers. In the report they say
raising cigarette taxes could prevent about ten million tobacco-related deaths (nine million of
these in low- and middle-income countries). Not only would tobacco consumption and
tobacco deaths drop, but government revenues would actually rise by 7% on average for a
10% increase in cigarette taxes. 

The report is the outcome of a three-year research project involving a team of about 40
economists, epidemiologists, social scientists, and public policy and legal experts from 13
countries. 

Unless smoking patterns change, one billion people are expected to die from smoking in the
21st century---ten times more than those killed by tobacco throughout the 20th century,
according to WHO.

Contact: Derek Yach, Executive Director and Project Manager, Tobacco Free Initiative,
World Health Organization, avenue Appia 20, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone
+41-22/791 2108, fax +41-22/791 4832, e-mail <tfi@who.int>, website (www.who.int/toh)
or World Bank Publications, PO Box 960, Herndon, VA 20172-0960, United States,
telephone +1-703/661 1580, fax +1-703/661 1501, website (www1.worldbank.org/tobacco).


UNCTAD MEETING ON TNCS AND SMES
Transnational corporation and small and medium-sized enterprise (TNC/SME) linkages under
certain conditions can have a positive impact on national growth and development, said
participants in a workshop on the issue held 8-9 August 2000 in Penang (Malaysia). About
250 representatives of TNCs, SMEs and international experts attended the workshop, held by
the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Intel Malaysia.

Among other things participants identified best practices that they said under certain
conditions could contribute to the success of such linkage programmes in Asia, including the
following. 
--    Governments must act as catalysts by providing a continuously-improving logistics
and educational infrastructure, particularly for development of engineering and management
skills.
--    TNCs must act as agents of change or "anchor companies," working with SMEs for
technological and managerial upgrading, by "adopting" and coaching them in continuous
improvement. 
--    SMEs, which must have the commitment to compete, survive and succeed, also need
a vision of their own evolution and should be prepared to change their mindset in line with
new opportunities and requirements.
--    Public and private sectors, as well as academia, must work together to create "meso"
institutions such as skill training centres to facilitate transfer of technology and encourage
continuous innovation.

Participants also stressed that linkages between TNCs and SMEs must be based on trust,
confidence and long-term vision.

Contact: Lorraine Ruffing, Chief, Technology and Enterprise Branch, Division on
Investment, Technology and Enterprise Development, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations,
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907 5802, e-mail
<lorraine.ruffing@unctad.org>, website (www.unctad.org).

 
WIPO TAKES ON "CYBERSQUATTERS"
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has initiated a second round of
consultations to address outstanding issues related to intellectual property and domain names.
The issues include abusive registrations of trade names, geographical indication and other
rights not based on trademarks. 

A group of countries spearheaded by Australia made the request, which also calls upon WIPO
to draw up a list of best practices to help administrators of country code top-level domain
name registries (ccTLDs) prevent and resolve domain name disputes.

"This request marks a new phase in our attempts to establish greater compatibility between
identifiers in the real and virtual worlds," said WIPO Assistant Director General Francis
Gurry, who oversaw the first WIPO Internet Domain Name Process. "In examining
personality rights, geographical indications and the other areas mentioned in the request, we
will be embarking on more complex, but no less important, legal and policy terrain."

The results of the second series of consultations are expected to be submitted to WIPO's
member states and the Internet community in the first half of 2001. For more information
about the second WIPO process see website (ecommerce.wipo.int).

Cybersquatters take advantage of the global, "first-come first-serve" nature of the domain
names system by, among other things, registering domain names that have come to constitute
a form of "business identifier" since they are easy to use and remember. 

Contact: Media Relations and Public Affairs Section, WIPO, PO Box 18, CH-1211 Geneva
20, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/338 8161 or 338 9547, fax +41-22/338 8810, e-mail
<publicinf@wipo.int>, website (www.wipo.org).


GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT GATEWAY
The World Bank is planning to establish the Global Development Gateway, a development
portal on the web, which would aim to serve as a common platform for material, dialogue and
problem solving on development issues. The gateway team currently includes the World
Bank Group, members of the public and private sectors, and some civil society groups. The
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) joined in July as a partner. 

The gateway, according to the World Bank, is intended to serve the needs of users including
developing countries, donors, civil society and the private sector. It will aim to assist them by
providing links to ideas and good practice, information about development activities and
trends, funding, and commercial opportunities. The Bank said local government in
developing countries, community representatives and NGOs are expected to play a "vital
enabling and intermediary role" in this process. The Bank is planning or has already held
consultations about the gateway in regions around the world and with NGOs.

However the NGO Bretton Woods Project said it is "concerned that this US$60 million plan
would further strengthen the World Bank's influence" over development research, and that
"the Bank's existing 150 websites and other initiatives set a poor precedent: often amounting
to little more than promotion of the Bank and its favoured" policies.

"We are very concerned about this...initiative," said Brian Ashley of the South Africa-based
Alternative Information for Development Centre. "We feel that NGOs and the communities
they serve will again be marginalized from access or input to knowledge."

Contact: Global Development Gateway, World Bank,    Room G2-015, 1818 H Street NW,
Washington DC 20433, United States, fax +1-202/522 7479, e-mail
<globalgateway@worldbank.org>, website (www.worldbank.org/gateway).

Bretton Woods Project, PO Box 100, London SE1 7RT, United Kingdom, telephone +44-20/
7523 2170, fax +44-20/7620 0719, e-mail <bwref@gn.apc.org>, website
(www.brettonwoodsproject.org).


WFP HUNGER SITE RAISES US$3 MILLION
The Hunger Site (www.thehungersite.com), the first "click-to-donate" website established by
the World Food Programme (WFP), observed its first anniversary in June 2000. Designed to
make it easy to help fight world hunger, the site allows individuals to donate food with a click
of their mouse.

"The Hunger Site's contribution has been extraordinary, thanks to the many people who click
daily and the corporations who pay for their donations," said Catherine Bertini, WFP
Executive Director. "Not only has this site generated much-needed funds for our work, it has
also created a great deal of awareness of hunger and its consequences....a vital step on the
road towards a world without hunger."

In its first 12 months more than 70 million people in over 180 countries have clicked on the
site. Together they have generated more than US$3 million in pledges--enough to provide 150
million cups of food for the world's hungry, according to WFP. The donations to WFP are
used to deliver food aid in Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Haiti, India,
Mozambique, Nepal, Pakistan and Venezuela. Among other things, the site's donations
support WFP projects that encourage hungry children across the world to go to school by
offering school lunches and snacks.

Contact: Jeff Rowland, Public Affairs Officer, World Food Programme, Via Cesare Giulio
Viola 68, I-00148 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/6513 2971, fax +39-06/6513 2840, e-mail
<jeffrey.rowland@wfp.org>, website (www.thehungersite.com).


UN AND NGO NEWS

COMMITTEE ON NGOS MEETS
The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations met in a resumed session at the United
Nations in New York from 12-23 June 2000 to consider applications by NGOs for
consultative status and requests for reclassification; review quadrennial reports submitted by
NGOs; hear special reports requested of specific NGOs; and review the Committee's methods
of work. The Committee recommended that the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
authorize it to meet again from 8-19 January 2001 to complete the work of the 2000 session. 

The Committee had before it 80 new applications for consultative status and 37 applications
deferred from 1998 and 1999. Of these, it recommended 37 organizations for consultative
status. One, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, was recommended for
reclassification from special to general status.

In examining the NGO applications before them, Member States on the Committee
consistently asked questions regarding funding sources including financial resources from
governments; the role of elected officials in the work of an NGO; any electoral political
activity; position statements of an NGO that might contradict the UN Charter, particularly
regarding violence or terrorist activity; and positions an NGO might take that directly
challenge the authority of a government. 

Member States are increasingly referring to NGO websites to assess an organization's
mission, alliances, activities and position statements and compare these to written
applications. In several cases, both for the review of new applications and review of
complaints, NGO website pages including links to other organizations were circulated to
delegates and cited in the discussion. In the case of the North American Taiwanese Women's
Association, which was denied status, China's representative said the position of the
organization in support of an independent Taiwan, as reflected on its website, was contrary to
what was stated in its application. 

In another example, the application of the Women's Zionist Organization of America,
Hadassah, was deferred. A number of representatives of Member States including Lebanon,
Syria and the Palestinian Observer noted that the organization's website calls for a unified
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; this is contrary to the UN position and to the NGO's own
purported agenda of humanitarian assistance. The United States said it did not begrudge any
NGO an opinion on different issues and supported the organization's application. 

A considerable amount of time was given to special reports of four NGOs based on
complaints raised by China, Cuba, the Russian Federation and Sudan. The Committee heard
responses from two of the NGOs and held extensive question-and-answer sessions. After
considering complaints, the Committee recommended to ECOSOC that the consultative
status of two NGOs--the International Council of the Association for Peace in the Continent
(ASOPAZCO) and the Transnational Radical Party (TRP)--be suspended. 

One concern of the Committee was the activities of some NGOs at the Commission on
Human Rights. With regard to the TRP for example, the Russian Federation claimed that a
representative of "Chechen separatists and terrorists" had addressed the April 2000
Commission on Human Rights under the name of the TRP. The NGO Committee decided to
send a letter to the Chair of the Commission reminding it of Resolution 1996/31 on the
relationship between NGOs with consultative status and the UN.  

In his closing remarks, Chair Levant Bilman (Turkey) said the Committee would have to find
a solution for handling the increasing number of applications from NGOs. Presently 2,012
NGOs have applied for consultative status and over 400 are submitting quadrennial reports. 

Member States currently serving on the NGO Committee include: Algeria, Bolivia, Chile,
China, Colombia, Cuba, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Lebanon, Pakistan, Romania,
Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, and the United States.


BIOLOGICAL HOTSPOTS FUND LAUNCHED
A US$150 million fund designed to better safeguard the world's threatened biological
"hotspots" in developing countries was launched in August by the World Bank, Conservation
International (CI) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The Critical Ecosystem
Partnership Fund focuses on highly threatened regions, where some 60% of all terrestrial
species diversity are found on only 1.4% of the planet's total surface area.

The threat to species diversity is reflected in the mounting loss of forests and other plant and
animal habitat worldwide, said backers of the new Fund. Eighty-eight percent of the original
hotspots are already destroyed, and some 12% of all mammal species and 11% of all bird and
plant species are threatened with extinction. 

"This is a new source of money exclusively for local groups whose work is central to
protecting the biodiversity hotspots," said Peter Seligmann of Conservation International.
"The aim is to help agencies and communities to pull together more effectively and have a
greater impact. Too often the many ongoing efforts in the hotspots fail to deliver because
people don't know what others are doing or because crucial activities--often at the grassroots
level--are not funded."

The Fund's administrative flexibility is designed to help ensure that conservation investments
achieve maximum impact; its streamlined process of decision making aims to allow quick
responses to new threats and for smaller-scale projects that are often very time-sensitive. The
Fund will help to provide quick and easy access to grant guidelines and application forms
through the Internet. Applications can be submitted online (www.cepf.net). 

Conservation International will oversee day-to-day management of the Fund, and the World
Bank and GEF will provide an oversight role with other sponsors. The Fund's areas of focus
during its first year of operations will be the hotspot regions of Madagascar, West Africa, and
the Tropical Andes. Each subsequent year, the Fund will invest in a minimum of five
additional critical ecosystems.

A global nonprofit organization, Conservation International applies innovations in science,
economics, policy making and community participation to protect the Earth's richest regions
of plant and animal diversity in biodiversity hotspots, major tropical wilderness areas and key
marine ecosystems. 

The Global Environment Facility, whose implementing agencies are the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the
World Bank, provides grants and concessional funding to developing countries and
economies in transition for projects to protect the global environment. As the financial
mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity, it is the principal international funder
of biodiversity conservation.

Contact: Conservation International, 2501 M Street NW, Suite 200, Washington DC 20037,
United States, telephone +1-202/429 5660, fax +1-202/887 0193, website 
(www.conservation.org) or (www.worldbank.org/biodiversity).


UNEP SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING GUIDELINES
Revised guidelines on sustainability reporting were released in July 2000 by the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The guidelines, which make recommendations for
companies when reporting economic, environmental and social performance, were developed
by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). 

The revised guidelines reflect the contributions of hundreds of individuals and organizations
worldwide that "generously donated their time and wisdom in the months since the release of
the March 1999 GRI Exposure Draft Guidelines," according to the GRI. During that time
representatives from business, NGOs and government provided comments and suggestions
for improving the draft version. 

The revised guidelines represent a major step toward a generally-accepted, global framework
for sustainability reporting, according to the GRI. They were developed, among other things,
to help bring more consistency to environmental performance reports released by businesses.
The GRI, convened by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES)
based in the United States, involves participation by, among others, international
organizations and the United Nations, business, NGOs, accountancy organizations and
universities.

Contact: Global Reporting Initiative, 11 Arlington Street, Boston MA 02116, United States,
telephone +1-617/266 9384, fax +1-617/267 5400, e-mail <guidelines@globalreporting.org>,
website (www.globalreporting.org).


UNCHS SECURE TENURE CAMPAIGN
Over 3,000 members of the Indian National Slum Dwellers Federation (NSDF) were joined
by officials from Mumbai municipality and the government of India, among others, to launch
the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) Global Campaign for Secure
Tenure. The launch involved slum dwellers from 23 Indian cities and from cities in Kenya,
South Africa, Namibia, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal and Vietnam. 

The launch is the first in a series of international events to promote the campaign, which aims
to improve implementation of the goal of adequate shelter for all. The campaign is focused on
promoting housing rights and highlighting the importance of the urban poor as partners in
seeking solutions and what it describes as the central role of women in urban development
strategies.

During the launch, UNCHS (Habitat) and NSDF signed a memorandum of understanding that
aims to facilitate extending the campaign to cities throughout India. 

Contact: Sharad Shankardass, Acting Head, Press and Media Unit, UNCHS (Habitat), PO
Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623151, fax +254-2/624060, e-mail
<habitat.press@unchs.org>, website (www.unchs.org).


EARTHACTION KIT LAUNCHED
EarthAction, a network launched at the 1992 Earth Summit, has produced an action kit on the
future of the United Nations. The kit includes the Call for a Safer World, which has been
signed by hundreds of citizen groups and members of parliament in the network and was
designed to influence leaders meeting at the Millennium Summit.

The document outlines steps that, if implemented, the network says "would do much to
democratize and strengthen the UN system." They are:
--    Strengthen the UN's capacity for preventive diplomacy to ensure it "acts in good time
to help resolve dangerous conflicts before blood is shed."
--    Create a "UN Rapid Deployment Brigade" able to respond immediately to genocide,
aggression or natural disasters.
--    Establish an independent International Criminal Court that is able to prosecute any
individual for genocide, war crimes, international aggression or other crimes against
humanity. 
--    Launch a process of balanced, worldwide demilitarization including elimination of
nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, with an international agency to verify
compliance with disarmament agreements. 
--    Establish a representative environmental council able to make binding decisions to
protect the planet without waiting for unanimous agreement among the world's governments. 
--    Establish a directly-elected People's Assembly within the UN "to ensure democratic
accountability in international decision making and in the expenditure of UN funds." 
--    Raise money through fees on global pollution or international currency transactions
"to fund these initiatives for UN reform, to protect the global environment, and to meet the
basic needs of the world's citizens for food, clean water, shelter, education, family planning
and health care."

Contact: Nicholas Dunlop, Executive Director, EarthAction, 17 The Green, Wye, Kent TN25
5AJ, United Kingdom, telephone +44-1233/813796, fax +44-1233/813795, e-mail
<wye@earthaction.org.uk> or Lois Barber, Executive Director, EarthAction, 30 Cottage
Street, Amherst MA 01002, United States, telephone +1-413/549 8118, fax +1- 413/549 0544
e-mail <amherst@earthaction.org>, website (www.earthaction.org). 


NGO NEWS

WORLD DISASTERS REPORT
While public health "has improved dramatically over the last century in much of the
developing world," it is increasingly under threat as "governments retreat from national
health provision and look to the private sector and non-governmental organizations to fill the
gap," according to the World Disasters Report 2000. 

This year's report, published annually by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies, focuses on public health disasters. It is concerned with, among other
things, the underlying causes of public health crises, where resources can make the most
difference, and how partnerships can multiply the effects of aid intervention.

The report includes chapters on AIDS in Africa, public health concerns in Kosovo and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the legacy of Chernobyl. 

"It is the silent, ongoing disasters--with less obvious root causes--that are more deadly [than
sudden disasters]," said Didier Cherpitel, Secretary General of the federation. He added that
the days when disaster response meant "quick in, quick out" are long gone--"we cannot just
pack up and go home after the disaster. But pumping inadequate resources into dysfunctional
systems is equally flawed."

Organizations must "engage in much more focused advocacy and action--through
partnerships with local communities, governments, private sector companies, health research
bodies and journalists," according to Mr. Cherpitel. "Public health education and provision
within local communities will render them stronger and better able to cope. We need to invest
in people, not just in commodities."

Support for disaster-affected states in providing appropriate public health systems will help
prevent future disasters, says the report. It stresses that advocacy at the international level
must address some of the systemic threats to public health such as lack of investment in
solutions to developing world diseases; shifts from aid toward capital flows that may not
serve the needs of the most vulnerable; poverty; poor education; and changes in climate and
land use.

Contact: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, PO Box 372,
CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/730 4222, fax +41-22/733 0395, e-mail
<secretariat@ifrc.org>, website (www.ifrc.org).


PEOPLES' TRIBUNAL CALL TO CORPORATIONS
The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, an independent forum established in 1979, said in July it
was asking four major corporations to show cause that they had not committed serious
violations of internationally-recognized human rights and environmental standards. The
corporations are Freeport McMoRan, Rio Tinto Zinc, Monsanto and Union Carbide.

The tribunal reached this decision "on the basis of extensive documentation in the form of
technical reports, testimony of expert witnesses, and stories of individual victims." It "found
sufficient evidence to call upon the alleged violators to show cause that these violations had
not occurred," said Gianni Tognoni, Secretary General of the tribunal. The four corporations
will be invited to give evidence in rebuttal of the allegations contained in the tribunal's
indictment.

The tribunal was formed in 1979 as successor to the Bertrand Russell War Crimes Tribunal
on Latin America. It examines violations of the rights of peoples and suggests remedies for
such violations. The tribunal is composed of over 60 members who are jurists, writers,
statespeople, artists and scientists from around the world. It attempts to fill gaps in
international law, which it seeks to influence by elaborating on documents such as the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Nuremberg principles and United Nations
General Assembly resolutions.

Contact: Permanent Peoples' Tribunal, c/o Lelio Basso International Foundation, Via della
Dogana Vecchia 5, 00186 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/68801468, fax +39-06/6877774,
website (www.grisnet.it/filb).


ASIAN NGOS OPPOSE DAMS
A regional network of Asian NGOs has adopted a declaration opposing the construction of
dams and urging governments to help villagers affected by them. The Pak Mun Declaration
was adopted at the First East and South-East Asia Regional Meeting on Dams, Rivers and
People, held in Kong Jiam (Thailand) from 28 June-2 July 2000. 

The declaration was signed by NGO representatives from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Philippines, Republic of Korea, Taiwan,
Thailand and Viet Nam. It calls for:
--    a moratorium on large dam construction in East and South-East Asia until problems
created by existing dams have been rectified and reparations have been made to affected
communities;
--    decommissioning dams that have created irreversible social, environmental and
cultural destruction;
--    an immediate stop to the financing of dam projects by bilateral and multilateral
organizations;
--    independent enquiries on the justification of proposed dam projects;
--    cheaper, cleaner alternatives to dams to meet energy and water needs;
--    prior and informed consent of affected people be taken into account when planning
dams; and
--    full recognition of cultural, social, economic and land rights of indigenous peoples.

Contact: Southeast Asia Rivers Network (SEARIN), 25/5 Moo 2, Soi Sukhapiban 27,
Changkhien-Jed yod Road, Chang Phuek, Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand, telephone      
+66-53/221157, fax +66-53/221157, e-mail <searin@chmai.loxinfo.co.th> or Aviva Imhof,
South-East Asia Campaigner, International Rivers Network, 1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley
CA 94703, United States, telephone +1-510/848 1155, fax +1-510/848 1008, e-mail
<aviva@irn.org>, website (www.irn.org).


CLIMATE VOICE INITIATIVE LAUNCHED
A coalition of environmental organizations launched an international web-based initiative in
August designed to "give citizens around the world a voice in demanding a halt to global
warming."

The website (www.climatevoice.org), put together by 16 organizations including Greenpeace,
World Wildlife Fund and Friends of the Earth, aims to send ten million messages to political
leaders demanding they use the upcoming Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change to reduce pollution that causes global warming.
At COP-6, to be held in November 2000 in The Hague (Netherlands), governments must
meet the deadline for finalizing rules for implementing the Kyoto Protocol (see E&D File,
vol. III, no. 16).

"It is now ten years since the international scientific community issued its first warning about
the threats the world faces from climate change," said Andrew Kerr of WWF's Climate
Change Campaign. "That's why we're aiming for ten million messages: one million for each
year that governments have to failed to take action. It is scandalous that available solutions to
this problem have been so thoroughly neglected."

The coalition's website also contains a petition that can be downloaded, and a "cyber
postcard" that can be sent to friends, encouraging them to join the campaign. 

Contact: Andrew Kerr, Public Affairs Manager, WWF Climate Change Campaign, WNF,
Postbus no. 7, 3700 AA Zeist, Netherlands, telephone +31 6/5161 9462, fax +31-30/691
2064, e-mail <climatevoice@wwfnet.org>, website (www.climatevoice.org).


OTHER NEWS

G-7 MEETS IN OKINAWA
Meeting in Okinawa (Japan) from 21-23 July 2000 for their annual meetings, leaders of the
Group of Seven (G-7) industrial countries held discussions on international financial
architecture, the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative, abuse of the global
financial system, and nuclear safety. The G-7 is made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, United Kingdom and the United States.
In its final communique the G-7 noted that over the past year prospects for world economic
growth had improved, and it pointed to stronger underlying fundamentals of the global
economy and the industrial countries in particular. It said that "emerging market economies,
including the crisis-affected economies in Asia and elsewhere, continue to strengthen."

The G-7 noted that in order for this trend to continue the international community would have
to strengthen the international financial architecture. Proposals in this regard involved reform
of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and reform of the Multilateral Development Banks
(MDBs). Strengthened IMF surveillance was necessary in light of globalization and
large-scale private capital flows, as was strengthening governance and accountability of the
IMF's decision-making structure.

On the issue of debt the G-7 acknowledged that further efforts were required but noted that
nine countries had benefited from the HIPC Initiative in the amount of US$15 billion. At last
year's meeting in Cologne (Germany), G-7 leaders agreed to a package of measures that
totaled close to US$100 billion in debt relief. The G-7 suggested that one of the reasons for
the delay in relief was due to the fact that many of the HIPC countries were involved in
military conflicts.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed his disappointment at the failure of G-7
countries to provide debt relief to poor countries in a timely manner. 

"For four years," he said, "we have had too many promises and too little action." He noted
that one year after the G-7 made much-touted promises of debt relief, only nine out of the 41
highly indebted poor countries had qualified for relief. "Where there is agreement in principle
that debt relief is essential, and where delays have a profoundly negative impact on the lives
of poor people," he said, "clearly more must be done."

As at previous Summits, NGO networks and campaigns paid close attention to decisions
being taken on debt relief for poor countries. According to Yoko Kitizawa of Jubilee 2000
Japan, this year's Summit marked a missed opportunity to make progress on debt initiatives. 

"This will be known as the Squandered Summit," she said. "While the G-7 leaders have
enjoyed Japan's US$750 million hospitality, they have squandered an historic opportunity to
cancel the unpayable debts of the poorest countries."

Reacting to G-7 leaders' suggestion that they would rather delay debt relief to ensure that
proceeds did not finance military conflicts, Jennifer Henry of the Canadian Jubilee Initiative
said that "if the G-7 really valued human security, then it would have cancelled these
outrageous debts. Secure societies cannot be built on a bedrock of poverty and deprivation."
Ms. Henry, who cited UN figures that show 13 children die every minute as debt servicing
sucks money out of health care and education spending, called the debt crisis "a death crisis."
In spite of this, she added, "the G-7 are treating it like a case of the sniffles."

Jubilee 2000 vowed to step up its campaigning pressure. "We will be going over the heads of
the G-7 to the UN Millennium Summit of 130 Heads of State," Ann Pettifor of the UK
campaign said. "From there, we will march to Prague [where the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund Board of Governors will meet in September] to intensify
pressure on the IMF to release countries from the slavery of debt." David Ugolor of the
Nigerian campaign noted that the fight would continue and suggested that as a result of lack
of progress in Okinawa there would be "growing demands for repudiation of the debt instead
of dialogue."


G-15 MEETING CONCLUDES IN CAIRO
The Group of 15 (G-15) developing countries, which met in Cairo (Egypt) on 19-20 June
2000, highlighted concerns about the globalization process, called for a stronger role for
developing countries in decision making in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and said
the international community should address the "asymmetries and imbalances in the global
economy" before poverty can be reduced and living standards raised. 

Trade between the 17 countries that make up the G-15 accounts for about 10% of
import-export flows around the world. The members of the G-15 are: Argentina, Algeria,
Brazil, Chile, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru,
Senegal, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. During the meeting in Cairo ministers agreed
to admit Colombia and Iran.

A final communique said that "the multilateral trading system should operate in a manner that
is open, equitable, rule-based and non-discriminatory. It must take into account the
development dimension in multilateral trade negotiations." The G-15 said instruments such as
Special and Differential Treatment provisions need to be strengthened, and "special attention
should be given to addressing the problems faced by developing countries in the
implementation of their WTO obligations." 

The group reiterated its opposition to linking "non-trade" concerns such as environmental and
human and labour rights to trade; it said it rejected all attempts to use such issues as
"disguised forms of protectionism and as conditions for restricting market access, aid and/or
technology flows to developing countries."


OAU HOLDS SUMMIT
Participants in the 36th summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), held in Lome
(Togo) in July 2000, ended their meeting by signing a draft treaty establishing an African
Union. 

The union, to be loosely modeled after the European Union, would in time replace the OAU.
It would, among other things, oversee Africa's defense, economy and foreign affairs.
Twenty-five of the OAU's 53 members have signed the act to create the union; the act must
be ratified by two-thirds of OAU members. 

The 33 presidents and four prime ministers attending the summit also discussed HIV/AIDS in
Africa, the continent's external debt, and armed conflicts. They told UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan that the OAU supports the efforts of UN peacekeeping in Sierra Leone, but called
for immediate cessation of UN sanctions on Libya.   

The 2001 OAU summit will be held in Zambia, and an extraordinary summit on the African
Union Treaty will be held in Libya the same year. 

Contact: Organization of African Unity, PO Box 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, telephone
+251-1/517700, fax +251-1/517844, website (www.oau-oua.org). 


OAU ISSUES RWANDA REPORT
The 1994 genocide in Rwanda is the subject of an investigative report commissioned by the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) and prepared by a seven-member International Panel of
Eminent Personalities. 

Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide explores the circumstances that led Hutu extremists in
the government and army to attack both the country's Tutsi population and moderate Hutus.
Between half a million and 800,000 people were killed in 100 days, which represented well
over three-fourths of the Tutsi population. Millions of Rwandan Hutus became displaced
within the country or fled to become refugees in neighbouring countries. 

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the 296-page report as "another important
contribution" toward efforts to shed more light on the tragedy. In November 1999, a Panel
commissioned by the UN and chaired by Ingvar Carlsson, former Prime Minister of Sweden,
issued a report on the genocide. While it was critical of the United States, France and
Belgium, the report focused more on failures of the UN Secretariat and Security Council (see
Go Between 79).

Panel Chair Sir Ketumile Masire, former President of Botswana, presented the OAU report to
the organization's recent Summit in Lome (Togo). Panel member Stephen Lewis, former
Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations and subsequently Deputy
Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), introduced it at a press
conference at the United Nations in New York on 7 July 2000. 

"We repudiate the position of the Government of France, the position that asserts that they
had no responsibility," Mr. Lewis said. "They could have stopped the genocide before it
began. They knew exactly what was happening. Worse...they facilitated the exodus of a huge
number of genocidaires [people that carried out genocide], thereby ushering in the larger
Great Lakes catastrophe."

In what it describes as the US Government's role in blocking a more effective UN
intervention force throughout the genocide, the report says this is "an almost
incomprehensible scar of shame on American foreign policy." Mr. Lewis noted that "the
United States has in large measure already admitted its responsibility" but said that "the
difference between our report and the United States' admission is that the President of the
United States says the American behaviour during the genocide flowed from ignorance. We
say absolutely not, you knew everything that was going on...it flowed from public policy."

The Panel also singled out the role of the Catholic and Anglican Churches and said their
"involvement with [Rwandan President Juvenal] Habyrimana before the genocide, and the
involvement of some of its leaders during the genocide, was entirely unforgivable." With
some heroic exceptions, it notes, church leaders played a conspicuously scandalous role in
these months, at best remaining silent or explicitly neutral. 

"This stance," says the report, "was easily interpreted by ordinary Christians as an implicit
endorsement of the killings, as was the close association of church leaders with the leaders of
the genocide."

Belgium and the OAU are also criticized in the report. Belgium's "panic in the face of the
death of their ten peacekeepers turned into an inglorious effort to throttle United Nations
involvement," according to Mr. Lewis. "The OAU tried very hard to strike an agreement
which would halt the catastrophe. But everyone made the same mistake: they were trying to
stop a civil war and not a genocide....the OAU, like the UN, failed to call genocide by its
rightful name and refused to take sides."

The Panel presented a list of 32 recommendations in its report, including the conclusion that
reparations are owed to Rwanda by actors in the international community for their roles
before, during and since the genocide. The Panel is calling for the establishment of a
commission to determine a formula for reparations and to identify which countries should be
obligated to pay. The Panel said funds paid as reparations should be devoted to urgently
needed infrastructure developments and social service improvements on behalf of all
Rwandans.

"It is remarkable how well Rwanda is doing despite a genocide just six years ago," said Mr.
Lewis. "It deserves massive assistance from the rest of the world, particularly from those
countries that betrayed Rwanda when it needed the world most."

Contact: Organization of African Unity, PO Box 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, telephone
+251-1/517700, fax +251-1/517844, website (www.oau-oua.org). 


OECD REVISED BUSINESS CODE OF CONDUCT
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) 29 country
members held their annual ministerial council meeting on 26-27 June 2000 in Paris. The
meeting adopted revised Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, developed in consultation
with labour unions and other civil society groups. Companies that adhere to the voluntary
code of conduct will, among other things, "refrain from seeking or accepting exemptions not
contemplated in the statutory or regulatory framework related to environmental, health,
safety, labour, taxation, financial incentives, or other issues." Non-OECD countries
Argentina, Brazil, Chile and the Slovak Republic have also agreed to the guidelines.

European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said the agreement demonstrates that
governments are responding to public concerns about globalization. Alan Larson, United
States Under-Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, said it
would produce a "race to the top" on corporate behaviour. John Evans, Secretary-General of
the OECD's trade union advisory council, said the code is an important step toward "socially
acceptable" economic regulation. 

However NGOs cautioned that the code still needs further strengthening, and vowed to
continue their campaign for international rules that are binding on multinational corporations.
They also said they would campaign against the voluntary code if they find that it is not being
properly implemented.

In advance of the ministerial meeting, members did not succeed for the second consecutive
year to agree on a plan designed to end so-called tied aid, or official development assistance
that requires recipient countries to purchase goods and services for specific development
projects from the donor country. Objections from Japan, Denmark and France led to the failed
talks. 

Proponents of untying aid--including the United States, United Kingdom and a number of
NGOs--argue that tied aid distorts trade and is anti-competitive since it serves to provide
subsidies to domestic firms and producers in donor countries. Jeff Chinnock of ActionAid
said that "it is an utter disgrace that rich countries, who claim they are trying to tackle
extreme poverty, cannot even take the smallest step towards reducing the commercial abuse
of their aid programmes. This is breathtaking hypocrisy of the worst order."

On 26 June the OECD also released a list of 35 countries that it deemed unfair tax havens.
Listed countries will be given a year to act, after which they could be hit with sanctions. The
OECD also listed 47 tax practices among its members that it called "potentially harmful."
This included the United States' foreign sales corporation law, which was recently found in
violation of World Trade Organization rules.

Contact: Media Relations, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2 rue
Andre-Pascal, F-75775 Paris Cedex 16, France, telephone +33-1/45 24 80 91, fax +33-1/45
24 80 03, e-mail <news.contact@oecd.org>, website (www.oecd.org/dac).


WTO ON TRIPS AND AGRICULTURE
The Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) met in Geneva on 26-30 June 2000 to discuss the review and
implementation of the TRIPs agreement. Due to serious disagreement over substantive and
procedural matters, participants departed without reaching consensus on most issues on the
agenda.

Among the controversial issues discussed was the built-in review of Article 27.3(b), which
addresses patentability exclusions for biological organisms. Some observers noted that
developing countries remain much more interested in reviewing Article 27.3(b)'s substance
than in discussing its implementation or procedures for review. Many developing countries
seek greater flexibility in creating their own systems of intellectual property protection, and
may push for the exclusion of all life forms from intellectual propert