GO BETWEEN 2001: no. 86
May-June
UN UPDATE
POPS CONVENTION SIGNED
After years of negotiation, 91 countries and the European Commission signed the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants at a Conference of Plenipotentiaries held from 22-23 May 2001 in Sweden. They also adopted seven resolutions that had been tabled but not agreed during the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5) in South Africa last year (see Go Between 84).
The Stockholm Convention sets out control measures covering the production, import, export, disposal, and use of POPs. Governments are to promote the best available technologies and practices for replacing existing POPs while preventing the development of new ones. They will draw up national legislation and develop action plans for carrying out their commitments.
The control measures will apply to an initial list of 12 chemicals including eight pesticides (aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, and toxaphene), two industrial chemicals (PCBs and hexachlorobenzene, which is also a pesticide), and two unwanted by-products of combustion and industrial processes (dioxins and furans). A health-related exemption has been granted for DDT, which is still needed in many countries to control malarial mosquitoes. A POPs Review Committee will consider additional candidates for the POPs list on a regular basis. This is to help ensure that the treaty remains dynamic and responsive to new scientific findings.
Of all the pollutants released into the environment by human activity, POPs are among the most dangerous, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). They are highly toxic and cause an array of adverse effects including death, disease and birth defects among humans and animals. Specific effects can include:
--cancer;
--allergies and hypersensitivity;
--damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems;
--reproductive disorders; and
--disruption of the immune system.
In order to strengthen collaboration on the Convention, the World Bank and UNEP signed an agreement in May for activities to assist countries in developing national implementation plans. The two agencies will also work together to help governments build national capacity for implementing the Convention’s provisions. They will provide assistance for developing national POPs inventories and monitoring programmes, and will support activities for eliminating or restricting the production and accidental release of POPs.
UNEP and the World Bank will also be collaborating on POPs through the Global Environment Facility, the Convention’s interim financial mechanism. The Facility is administered by UNEP, the Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Contact: Jim Willis, Director, UNEP Chemicals, Geneva Executive Centre, 11-13 chemin des Anémones, 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).
COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), which held its ninth session from 16-28 April 2001 in New York, focused on the difficult issues of energy and atmosphere, the economic theme of transport, and the cross-sectoral themes of information for decision making and participation, and international cooperation for an enabling environment. This year's multi-stakeholder dialogue focused on energy and transport for sustainable development. The Commission, also acting as the Preparatory Committee for the September 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held its first organizational session for WSSD. A summary of the highlights of CSD-9 is provided in NGLS Roundup 74.
FINAL PREPCOM FOR SPECIAL SESSION ON CHILDREN
Preparations for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children, to take place in September 2001 in New York, continued at the third meeting of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom). During the PrepCom, held from 11-15 June 2001 in New York, Member States met in two parallel sessions to continue negotiating a draft outcome document of the Special Session and discuss a report on children from UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan. Highlights of the PrepCom are provided in the focus article below.
FINAL PREPCOM FOR SMALL ARMS CONFERENCE
The third and final Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the July 2001 UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects met in New York from 19-30 March 2001. A summary of discussions at the PrepCom, which worked to strengthen a revised draft Programme of Action (POA), is provided in the focus article below.
RESUMED PREPCOM FOR AGEING ASSEMBLY
The Commission for Social Development, acting as the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the April 2002 Second World Assembly on Ageing, met in New York from 30 April-1 May 2001 to approve draft rules of procedure for the Assembly. Before suspending its resumed first session until late November or early December of this year, the PrepCom also approved three draft decisions, including one on participation and accreditation of NGOs to the Assembly.
The Assembly will be held in Madrid (Spain) from 8-12 April 2002. It will mark the 20th anniversary of the First World Assembly by conducting a comprehensive review of its outcome. The Second World Assembly will seek to adopt a revised plan of action and long-term strategy on ageing that reflects, among other things, the impact of population ageing on development and institutions, particularly in the developing world. An NGO forum will be held concurrently with the Assembly, and both events will focus on the theme of the 1999 International Year of Older Persons, which is A Society for All Ages.
The PrepCom, chaired by Felipe Paolillo (Uruguay), approved a revised draft text by which the General Assembly would urge all Member States and other actors to contribute generously to the UN Trust Fund for Ageing in support of preparatory activities, including the participation of the least developed countries. Similarly, the decision on arrangements for accreditation for NGOs to the Assembly urges relevant UN bodies to assist organizations in need of resources, particularly those from developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
By the terms of a third text on the participation of NGOs in the World Assembly, NGO representatives accredited to the Assembly would be permitted to address the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole, and if time allowed the plenary. NGOs that fit the following descriptions do not need to apply for accreditation to attend the Assembly;
--those in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC);
--those accredited to previous major UN conferences and their follow-up conferences; and
--those that attended the First World Assembly on Ageing, held in Vienna.
The only requirement for these NGOs is to send a letter of intent to the secretariat. All other NGOs must submit an application to the UN secretariat no later than 31 December 2001. The NGO Forum will follow its own procedures for registration. NGOs wishing to attend the Forum must contact the International Executive Committee for the NGO Forum.
The PrepCom elected Aicha Afifi (Morocco) from the African Group of States as Vice-Chairperson; one vacant position remains, to be filled by a candidate from the Eastern European Group.
Contact: UN Programme on Ageing, UN Secretariat for the World Assembly on Ageing, DESA/DSPD, Room DC2-1358, 2 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 3175, fax +1-212/963 3062, e-mail <ngoran@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing).
For the NGO Forum: International Executive Committee for the NGO Forum, e-mail <information@agequakeforum.org>, website (www.agequake.org).
CAUSES OF CONFLICT IN AFRICA
The Open-Ended Ad Hoc Working Group of the General Assembly on the Causes of Conflict and the Promotion of Durable Peace and Sustainable Development in Africa held its first substantive session in New York from 29 May-1 June 2001. The session was organized around panel discussions followed by interactive dialogues on the themes of education, and conflict prevention and post-conflict peacekeeping. Two informal civil society panel discussions on the same themes were also held during the session, as well as a symposium devoted to the issue of child soldiers.
A panel on education in Africa was chaired by General Assembly President Harri Holkeri (Finland) and featured Professor George Eshiwani, Vice-Chancellor of Kenyatta University and President of the Association of African Universities.
Mr. Eshiwani, lamenting “brain drain” as well as government allocation of much needed resources for education to the military sector, underscored the importance of education for Africa. He said the continent’s biggest resource was its people and reminded participants that “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
Panellists and delegates acknowledged the importance of education as a means to meet the challenges of globalization and poverty eradication. They underscored the need for education for HIV/AIDS prevention, peace-building, and in emergency situations.
They stressed the need for additional financial resources and increased cooperation and synergy within the UN system to accomplish the international development goal of ensuring that all children are enrolled in primary education by 2015. Also highlighted was the increasing importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a leveraging factor in education to complement programmes for poverty reduction and sustainable development.
During a panel on conflict prevention and post-conflict peacekeeping, Ambassador Joseph Legwaila (Botswana), the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Ethiopia and Eritrea, said the root causes of conflict in Africa are “historical, institutional, constitutional, political, economic, social and cultural in nature.” He noted that current conflicts in Africa were “attributable in general to some of these factors, but more pointedly to the absence of democratic political systems and good governance.”
Issues discussed during the panel included timely application of preventive diplomacy to ease tensions before they result in conflict; preventive deployment, which involves stationing UN military or observer forces on one or both sides of the border of a country that feels threatened; preventive disarmament and curtailment of the flow of conventional weapons and the illegal trade in small arms; pre-conflict peace-building; and post-conflict peace-building.
Panellists noted that of the 17 ongoing conflicts in Africa, most were characterized by violations of human rights of the civilian population; the collapse and disappearance of state structures; exploitation and looting of natural resources such as timber, diamonds and gold; and the difficulty containing conflict due to massive outflows of refugees and large populations of internally displaced persons. Many delegates called attention to failed UN peacekeeping efforts in Rwanda and Somalia, while others emphasized the importance of enhancing the UN’s intelligence gathering, early-warning resources and quick-response capacities in order to prevent outbreak of internal or international conflicts. The concept of humanitarian intervention and its relation to state sovereignty was repeatedly raised.
Mr. Legwaila pointed out that “internal conflicts do not easily render themselves to external mediation because of the exaggerated sense of national sovereignty and the often licentious principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states.” He emphasized that if Africa’s commitment to conflict prevention was truly genuine, at minimum “sanctioned diplomatic involvement by a bilateral actor or a multilateral body should be accepted as a means of averting violence and ultimate conflict.” Such involvement, he said, cannot be limited by considerations of sovereignty or construed to be a violation of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states.
Strengthening the UN’s capacity for conflict prevention, inter-agency missions to areas of potential conflict, and subregional approaches to prevention were also discussed. Emphasis was placed on the need for financial resources as well as the availability of local, regional or sub-regional mechanisms for resolving disputes before they develop into conflicts.
Contact: Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Office S-3161-L, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, fax +1 212/963 0207. The updated matrix on implementation of the Secretary-General’s recommendations is on website (www.un.org/esa/africa/adhocWG/matrix2001).
UN CHARTER SPECIAL COMMITTEE
The Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on Strengthening of the Role of the Organization, which met in April 2001 in New York, considered the maintenance of international peace and security, peaceful settlements of disputes, ways and means of improving its working methods, and the work of the Trusteeship Council.
The Committee, chaired by Mirza Cristina Gnecco (Colombia), considered as a priority the question of implementation of the Charter provision on assistance to third states affected by the application of sanctions under chapter VII of the Charter. Some delegations bemoaned the fact that little headway had been achieved on the topic during the several years that it had been on the Committee’s agenda. However delegates stressed that every effort should be made to minimize any negative impact on third states from the application of sanctions, as some had endured severe hardships. In this regard, some said they supported the establishment of a trust fund for assistance.
Chile, speaking on behalf of the Rio Group, expressed support for “smart sanctions” and its belief in the need for exemptions and mechanisms for ending them at the appropriate time. If sanctions had a severe impact on third states, Chile said, possible assistance measures should be identified through consultations between the Security Council, sanctions committees and humanitarian organizations.
Many delegations commended the Security Council on its ongoing work on the issue of third states. Sweden, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU) and associated countries, welcomed the Security Council’s efforts to facilitate access to the sanctions committees by affected third states. The EU also underscored the important role of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in monitoring economic assistance to third states affected by economic problems related to sanctions. Some delegations supported the establishment of a working group within the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee that would focus on assistance to third states.
Iraq said that in the past ten years, embargoes and economic sanctions had become objectives in themselves and established rules of international relations and law had been manipulated to serve the purposes of a “unilateral power.” Iraq stressed that the concept of sovereignty had suffered as a result of that dominance, and that in order to re-establish the supremacy of law in international affairs, the Charter Committee should have a salient place on the agenda of the UN in order to “readjust the imbalance of power between the Security Council and the General Assembly.”
The Committee, when adopting its final report, approved a section based on consideration of a working paper submitted by Libya entitled “Strengthening certain principles concerning the impact and application of sanctions.” The paper stresses that sanctions should be imposed only as a last peaceful resort, and “smart” targeted sanctions should be developed.
The Committee also supported revitalization of the General Assembly as the “chief deliberative, policy-making organ and representative organ of the Organization.” This statement on the Assembly’s role was based on a paper written in 1997 and submitted by Cuba. Some delegations expressed doubt about the usefulness or appropriateness of continued consideration of the original proposal. The amendment was accepted without a vote, although the United States expressed reservations.
Regarding peaceful settlement of disputes between states, the Committee continued to consider proposals including establishment of a dispute settlement service, which would offer its services early in disputes, and enhancement of the role of the International Court of Justice.
REPORT ON LOOTING OF THE DRC
A UN Security Council Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) presented its findings (S/2001/357) on 12 April 2001. Chaired by Safiatou Ba-N’Daw (Côte d’Ivoire), the panel collected information over a period of six months, and researched and analyzed links between the exploitation of natural and other resources in the DRC and the continuation of conflict there.
The conflict, says the report, “has become mainly about access, control and trade of five key mineral resources: coltan, diamonds, copper, cobalt and gold.” It finds that illegal exploitation of the mineral and forest resources of the DRC is taking place at “an alarming rate.” It describes a web of military and business partners who it says are razing the rain forest, slaughtering elephants and gorillas, and shipping minerals out of the DRC. The report also describes “mass-scale looting” of stockpiles of minerals, coffee, wood, livestock and money that were available in territories conquered by the armies of Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda.
The report holds President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda politically responsible for the looting undertaken by their armies and citizens.
The consequence of the illegal exploitation, says the report, has been twofold: massive availability of financial resources for the Rwandan Patriotic Army as well as individual enrichment of top Ugandan military commanders and civilians; and the emergence of illegal networks headed either by top military officers or businessmen. These two elements form a link between the exploitation of natural resources and continuation of conflict. Contributing factors include the opportunistic behavior of some private companies and influential individuals, including several decision makers in the DRC and Zimbabwe.
In researching the links between exploitation and continuation of the conflict, the panel compared the involved countries’ budget allocations for their respective armed forces with actual expenditures. It demonstrated that military expenditures far outweigh the money allocated for such expenses. Rwanda’s military appears to be benefiting directly from the conflict, it says; the Ugandan economy has benefited through the “re-exportation economy,” and the treasury has benefited which has allowed an increase in the defense budget.
The DRC government has relied on its minerals and mining industries to finance the war. The report charges the governments of Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe with financing their military involvement in the DRC by exploiting the natural resources in areas that they control. Bilateral and multilateral donors and certain neighboring and distant countries have also passively facilitated exploitation of DRC resources, and thereby the continuation of the conflict.
The report recommends that:
--the Security Council declare a temporary embargo on the import/export of coltan, pyrochlore, cassiterite, timber, gold and diamonds from and to Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi until their involvement in the exploitation of natural resources of the DRC is made clear;
--an immediate embargo on weapons and military material to the rebel groups, which would be extended to states that supported the groups;
--the Security Council request the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consider suspending their support to the budgets of Rwanda and Uganda until the end of the conflict; and
--the Security Council strongly urge all Member States to freeze the financial assets of companies or individuals who continue to participate in the illegal exploitation of the DRC.
The report further recommends that the Security Council consider establishing an international mechanism that will investigate and prosecute individuals involved in economic criminal activities, and companies and government officials whose economic and financial activities directly or indirectly harm powerless people and weak economies.
It also requests the Council to consider establishing a permanent mechanism that would investigate the illicit trafficking of natural resources in armed conflicts in order to monitor cases that are already subject to investigation by other panels.
IFAD BOARD APPROVES PROJECTS
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), whose Executive Board met in Rome (Italy) in April 2001, will provide loans for six development projects for a total cost of US$74.2 million.
The board approved loans for Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Grenada, Honduras, Pakistan and São Tomé and Principe. It also approved grants worth US$8.2 million for the Caribbean Regional Unit for Technical Assistance (CARUTA); the Rural Financial Services Support Programme; and agricultural research programmes.
The four-year Agricultural Services Project in Armenia, initiated by IFAD, targets small farm households with 230,000 families. The project will cover eight of the most disadvantaged provinces in the country. It aims to increase incomes and improve the well-being of small farm households by intensifying crop production, promoting irrigation development, and providing rural finance services.
A six-year project in Bosnia and Herzegovina will focus on developing the traditional livestock production sector, important for the rural economy. The income and quality of life of some 21,000 small farm households are expected to improve with investment in rural infrastructure. The project aims to develop a replicable model of sustainable small-scale commercial livestock production.
An IFAD-initiated project in Grenada will address the needs of at least 3,000 rural households to help foster market linkages, strengthen communities for self-development, and encourage a range of long-term sustainable income sources.
In Honduras an IFAD project will aim to promote equitable access of poor rural communities including small landholders, landless farmers, the indigenous and rural women.
A seven-year IFAD project in Pakistan aims to reduce poverty in remote areas, especially among smallholders and the landless, and to improve the status of rural women.
Other projects include one in São Tomé and Principe, which will aim to improve living conditions and incomes of fishing households in isolated areas, and the Poverty Alleviation Project in Western Terai of Nepal.
Contact: IFAD, Via del Serafico 107, I-00142 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/54591, fax +39-06/5459 2141, e-mail <ifad@ifad.org>, website (www.ifad.org).
MEDICINES FOR POOR COUNTRIES
Making life-saving medicines more affordable for poor countries is vital for improving public health and it is realistic, experts said in a three-day workshop held in April 2001 in Hosbjor (Norway). Participants said “differential pricing”--companies charging different prices in different markets according to purchasing power--is a feasible means of achieving this, provided certain conditions are met.
The workshop, which brought together 80 experts from 21 countries and a wide range of professional backgrounds, examined ways to reduce pharmaceutical prices in low-income countries. It was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO), World Trade Organization (WTO), the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, and the Global Health Council, a broad-based healthcare organization in the United States.
Discussions focused on how to increase financing so that the world’s poorest people can obtain necessary medicines and healthcare. HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis featured prominently, but a wide range of other diseases that affect poor people were also discussed.
Differential pricing has already been achieved for commodities such as vaccines, contraceptives and condoms through a combination of high-volume purchasing, reliable and adequate financing, advocacy, corporate responsibility and market forces. The challenge, according to workshop organizers, is to find ways to expand this to life-saving medicines.
Participants accepted that there is no single formula to achieve this. A wide mix of options is needed, they said. Several also felt that generic drug manufacturers play an important role in bringing competition to pharmaceutical markets and improving production efficiency, which would reduce prices further.
Participants acknowledged that intellectual property protection is an important incentive for research and development into new drugs. Some said there are also other ways to encourage research and development. At the same time, countries need to be able to make use of the public health safeguards built into the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement. This includes compulsory licensing (governments allowing others to produce a patented invention without the patent owner’s permission) and “parallel" imports (i.e. imports of products supplied by the patent owner or a licensee at a lower price in another country).
When drug prices fall--and many low priced essential drugs are already available--there is still no guarantee that poor communities can afford them. This is particularly true for HIV/AIDS drugs. Even with costs coming down to US$500 per patient per year, this is well beyond the reach of the many countries whose total health expenditure is less than US$10 to US$20 per year. In these cases, significant amounts of external financing are needed.
Many of the participants also said financing for drugs should not be considered in isolation. They called for massive increases in finance to develop effective healthcare systems in general including training, education and delivery, as well as for buying the drugs.
Contact: Essential Drugs and Medicine Policy Department, WHO, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 2111, fax +41-22/791 4167, e-mail <medmail@who.int>, website (www.who.int/medicines).
Information and Media Relations Division, WTO, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/739 5007, fax +41-22/739 5458, e-mail <enquiries@wto.org>, website (www.wto.org).
Background papers for the conference are available online on both websites. On the WTO website, go to trade topics > intellectual property > TRIPS news, and look for “workshop on affordable drugs.”
TOBACCO AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
Tobacco poses a major obstacle to children’s rights by infringing upon their basic health and welfare and exposing them to child labour in many parts of the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A WHO report released in May 2001 on Tobacco and the Rights of the Child encourages countries to abide by terms of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by taking all necessary legislative and regulatory measures to protect children from tobacco. It also says they should ensure that the interests of children take precedence over those of the tobacco industry.
Around four million people die prematurely from tobacco-related illnesses each year, with deaths expected to rise to ten million yearly by 2030, according to WHO. Many of tobacco’s future victims are today’s children. Around 250 million children alive today will be killed by tobacco in the future if current consumption trends continue. Most people start using tobacco during adolescence and, sustained by an addiction to nicotine, continue into adulthood.
Tobacco use among young people continues to rise as the tobacco industry aggressively promotes its products to a new generation of potential smokers, warns the report.
“Tobacco companies spend billions of dollars a year promoting a product,” it says, “that encourages children to take up a behaviour harmful to their physical, mental and social development. Much of this promotion takes the form of powerful advertising that influences children and adolescents in their views on tobacco.”
In addition to the impact caused by direct use of tobacco, children are also exposed to the harmful effects of second-hand tobacco smoke. With adverse health effects associated with even low levels of exposure, children everywhere suffer the consequences of exposure to second-hand smoke. Nearly 700 million, or almost half of the world’s children, breathe air polluted by second-hand smoke, according to the report. In almost all cases they have no choice in the matter as they are unable to protest or protect themselves.
The issue of child labour is also addressed by the report. Tobacco companies have been implicated in child labour in major tobacco producing countries such as Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malawi, the United States and Zimbabwe.
Overwhelming scientific evidence attests to the harmful impact of tobacco use and second-hand smoke on child health, as well as the widely documented targeting of children by tobacco companies. For these reasons, says the report, implementing comprehensive tobacco control is not only a valid concern falling within the legislative competence of governments but a binding obligation under the Convention.
Strong tobacco control policies will help prevent violations of the rights of children, particularly those relating to guarantees of basic health and welfare, and protection from child labour. Through tobacco control, countries--both individually and collectively--can live up to their obligations under the Convention, concludes the report.
Contact: Chitra Subramaniam, Tobacco Free Initiative, WHO, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3271, fax +41-22/791 4832, e-mail <tfi@who.int>, website (tobacco.who.int/en/youth/index.html).
UNICEF/WHO MEASLES INITIATIVE
In a concerted move against one of the world’s deadliest childhood diseases, the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced in March a new initiative designed to halve global measles deaths by 2005.
“Measles is still a major childhood killer,” said Bjorn Melgaard, WHO Director of Vaccines and Biologicals, “with over 30 million cases and nearly 900,000 annual deaths in recent years. These figures are even more shocking given the fact that effective immunization, which includes vaccine and safe injection equipment, costs just US$0.26 and has been available for more than 30 years.”
Measles accounts for the majority of the estimated 1.6 million annual deaths due to childhood vaccine-preventable diseases. Failure to deliver at least one dose of measles vaccine to all infants remains the primary reason for the high incidence and mortality rates of measles.
The Global Measles Strategic Plan calls on countries to assess progress on measles control, identify reasons for low routine coverage, develop a three- to five-year plan for measles mortality reduction, and fully implement the recommended strategies.
The plan has been developed by UNICEF and WHO in cooperation with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), numerous experts worldwide and several other partners. According to organizers, it has the advantage of being a flexible framework that can be adapted to the specific needs and immediate goals of individual countries.
Under the new initiative, WHO and UNICEF will assist affected countries to:
--provide a first dose of measles vaccine to all infants;
--guarantee a “second opportunity” for vaccination to increase the probability that as many children as possible are immunized and assure that those immunized are responding to the vaccination;
--establish an effective system to monitor coverage and conduct measles surveillance; and
--improve management of complicated measles cases, including vitamin A supplementation.
Measles, a viral disease, is spread by infected droplets during sneezing and coughing, through direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of infected persons, or by touching contaminated objects. It is predominantly a disease of childhood, causing fever and rash and sometimes complicated by ear infections, pneumonia or encephalitis (inflammation of the brain). This can result in convulsions, deafness, mental retardation or death.
In addition to the compelling humanitarian and health reasons, the economic arguments for investing in measles control are convincing, according to UNICEF and WHO. Of all health interventions, measles immunization carries the highest health return for the money spent, saving more lives per unit than most other health interventions.
Contact: Alfred Ironside, Media, UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/326 7261, e-mail <aironside@unicef.org>, website (www.unicef.org).
Melinda Henry, Spokesperson’s Office, WHO, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 2535, fax +41-22/791 4858, e-mail <henrym@who.int>, website (www.who.int).
CODEX ALIMENTARIUS COMMISSION
The joint Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) Codex Alimentarius Commission’s Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology has “made significant progress in setting standards for foods derived from biotechnology,” according to the two UN agencies. Codex Alimentarius is the body charged with the development of international standards for food safety and consumer protection.
The Task Force, which brings together officials from 35 countries and representatives of 24 non-governmental organizations including Consumers International, industry groups and Greenpeace, met in April 2001 in Rome (Italy). It reached near consensus on a draft text of “general principles for risk analysis of foods derived from biotechnology.”
Risk analysis is the system by which governments consider the safety of foods and the measures that need to be taken to protect the public from any health risks. The guidelines do not cover environmental issues because these are included in other United Nations agreements, such as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (see Go Between 81).
The one point on which consensus at the April meeting could not be achieved was the question of traceability. This is a system of tracing all foods and food components from their origin to the point of final consumption, and is not related exclusively to foods derived from biotechnology. Traceability is strongly favoured by European countries, but some countries worry that the system might be too complex and too costly to operate globally, according to FAO and WHO.
The Task Force also announced agreement on a Draft Guideline for the Conduct of Safety Assessment of Foods Derived from Recombinant-DNA Plants. The guidelines pay special attention to the question of allergenicity that might be transferred to new genetically modified (GM) plant varieties. The guidelines also prohibit the transfer of genes that would cause gluten-sensitive reactions in people with celiac disease.
The Task Force will further refine guidelines at its next meeting and will initiate work on similar guidelines for the safety assessment of genetically modified micro-organisms used in food production and processing.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established in 1962 to implement the joint FAO/WHO Foods Standards Programme. Codex is an intergovernmental statutory body with a 165-country membership.
Contact: Secretariat of the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/57051, fax +39-06/5705 4593, e-mail <codex@fao.org>, website (www.codexalimentarius.net).
FAO WARNING ON TOXIC PESTICIDES
Huge stocks of toxic pesticide waste are a serious problem in almost all developing countries and in many countries in transition, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In a recent report it says more than 500,000 tons of old and unused pesticides that have been banned or have expired threaten the environment and the health of millions of people in these countries.
“The lethal legacy of obsolete pesticides is alarming, and urgent action is needed to clean up waste dumps,” said Alemayehu Wodageneh, FAO Expert on obsolete pesticides. “These ‘forgotten’ stocks are not only a hazard to people’s health; they also contaminate water and soil. Leaking pesticides can poison a very large area, making it unfit for crop production.”
The waste sites contain some of the most dangerous insecticides in existence. They include aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin and heptachlor, which have been banned in most countries, along with organophosphates. As pesticides deteriorate, they form by-products, which may be more toxic than the original substance. In addition to pesticides, waste sites contain contaminated sprayers, empty containers and huge quantities of heavily polluted soil.
“Many stocks are situated near farmers’ fields and wells in poor rural areas, as well as near houses, food stores and markets in urban areas,” said Mr. Wodageneh. “The dumps are often abandoned, unmanaged and in very poor condition.” In many cases, pesticides are left in the open or stored in unsubstantial mud and straw structures with earth floors, and numerous containers are corroding. Toxic substances “are leaking into the ground,” he added. “Local people complain about headaches, nausea and coughs.”
Support from industry is crucial for the disposal of pesticides because aid agencies of donor countries cannot cover all the costs, according to the FAO. It has called upon chemical companies represented by the Global Crop Protection Federation to aid the disposal effort. Incineration is currently the only safe and environmentally acceptable method of disposal, and the industry has made a commitment to pay for the incineration of obsolete pesticides, noted FAO. But so far, companies have contributed little, it said.
Among other things, FAO called upon its member nations to employ environmentally-friendly integrated pest management methods and to drastically reduce the use of pesticides where possible.
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).
FAO REPORTS ON GMOS
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), like all new technologies, are instruments that can be used for good and bad: they can either be managed to benefit the most needy or skewed to the advantage of specific groups, said Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). He made the comments as two FAO publications were released: the first is part of a new series dedicated to ethics in food and agriculture, and the second is a report by an independent panel of experts on challenges facing humanity including the need for an equitable, ethical food and agriculture system.
The first publication, Ethical Issues in Food and Agriculture, introduces ethical questions as they relate to FAO’s mandate. It also describes a vision for building an ethical and equitable food and agriculture framework.
“Today ethical concerns are central to debates about the kind of future people want,” says the publication. “Perhaps the most egregious problem is the widespread bias against the hungry and the poor.” A more equitable, ethically-based food and agriculture system “must incorporate concern for three widely accepted global goals, each of which incorporate numerous normative propositions: improved well-being, protection of the environment and improved public health.”
The second report on Genetically Modified Organisms, Consumers, Food Safety and the Environment is designed to share the current knowledge of genetically engineered products in relation to consumers, including the safety of their food and protection of their health, and environmental conservation. It advocates interaction and involvement of all stakeholders in the decision-making process regarding GMOs. The report stresses that modern biotechnology, if appropriately developed, could offer new and broad potential for contributing to food security.
Among other things, FAO has established an independent Panel of Eminent Experts on Ethics in Food and Agriculture to advise the Organization and raise public awareness of ethical considerations associated with issues such as food security for present and future generations, and sustainable management of the earth’s limited resources.
Contact: José Esquinas-Alcázar, Secretary, Committee on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 4986, fax +39-06/5705 6347, e-mail <jose.esquinas@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org/ethics/index_en.htm).
TENTH SESSION OF THE CRIME COMMISSION
The tenth session of the United Nations Crime Commission, held in May 2001 in Vienna (Austria), called for the first time on the United Nations to support countries in their efforts to trace and recover the proceeds of corruption. The resolution followed a panel discussion on aspects of combating corruption, which is the focus of a global programme administered by the United Nations Centre for International Crime Prevention.
In debating the question, the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice set the stage for preparations to negotiate a legally-binding international treaty on corruption. That process would require a go-ahead from the General Assembly at its session in late 2001.
The Commission addressed the problem of international trafficking in protected plant and animal species in a criminal justice context. It also said there was a need to promote early entry into force of the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its protocols on trafficking in human beings, smuggling of migrants, and illicit manufacturing and trafficking in firearms. The Convention has been signed by 125 countries and the European Commission.
Other issues addressed during the session include cyber-crime, trafficking in explosives, follow-up to last year’s Crime Congress, and hands-on UN assistance to countries requesting help in upgrading their capacities to fight crime.
Contact: Centre for International Crime Prevention, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060 4269, fax +43-1/26060 5898, website (www.uncjin.org/CICP/cicp.html).
UNDCP SUBREGIONAL MEETING
Drugs can no longer be conceived as a national problem with solutions to be found by individual countries. Instead, in the face of regionalization of the drug problem governments must cooperate to deal with the complex and changing problems of illicit drug production, trafficking and abuse. These are some of the conclusions of ministers and senior officials of six governments and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), which met in Yangon (Myanmar/Burma) in May 2001.
Government representatives of Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar/Burma, Thailand and Viet Nam took stock of progress in subregional drug control operations, and discussed ways to strengthen their efforts in the fight against illicit drugs and drug-related crimes.
Discussions focused on progress made under a 1995 Subregional Action Plan for Drug Control signed by the represented countries. Issues addressed included reduction of illegal drug production and trafficking, law enforcement cooperation, drug control advocacy, and law enforcement cooperation.
Among other things, participants recognized the importance of integrating drug abuse prevention strategies into programmes for poverty alleviation, especially among ethnic groups in the highlands of Southeast Asia.
Contact: Sumru Noyan, Chief, External Relations Unit, ODCCP, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060 4266, fax +43-1/26060 5850, e-mail <sumru.noyan@undcp.org>, website (www.undcp.org).
ILO ANNUAL REPORT
The shortage of adequate employment opportunities is “the fault line in the world today,” according to the annual report of the International Labour Office (ILO). Reducing the Decent Work Deficit: A Global Challenge was presented by ILO Director-General Juan Somavia to the 89th Session of the International Labour Conference, meeting in June 2001 in Geneva. In the report, which is addressed to ministers of labour, employers and workers in the ILO’s 175 Member States, Mr. Somavia expresses “profound concern about a global decent work deficit of immense proportions, reflecting the diverse inequalities of our societies.”
He said the decent work deficit “is expressed in the absence of sufficient employment opportunities, inadequate social protection, the denial of rights at work and shortcomings in social dialogue.” These failings provide “a measure of the gap between the world that we work in and the hopes people have for a better life.”
The extent of the employment gap is revealed by ILO estimates, which find that “there are 160 million people openly unemployed in the world.” However if underemployed people are taken into account, “the number skyrockets to at least one billion.” The report says that “of every 100 workers worldwide, six are fully unemployed according to the ILO definition. Another 16 are unable to earn enough to get their families over the most minimal poverty line of US$1 per day.”
The rights gap involves such abuses as “the denial of freedom of association and the incidence of forced and child labour and discrimination.” According to the report, an estimated 250 million children worldwide are working. An ILO report on forced labour (see focus article below) says trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is increasing. And “close to two countries out of every five have serious or severe problems of freedom of association.”
The social protection gap is described as “truly alarming,” with an estimated 80% of the world’s workers lacking adequate social protection. In many low-income countries “formal protection for old age and invalidity, or for sickness and health care reaches only a tiny proportion of the population: meanwhile 3,000 people a day die as a consequence of work-related accidents or disease.” In higher income countries, income insecurity is a growing problem and “workplace anxiety, depression and exhaustion are often reported.”
The social dialogue gap reflects shortfalls in organizations, institutions and often in attitudes that have resulted in a major “representational gap in the world of work resulting from the fact that workers and employers have frequently and for diverse reasons not organized to make their voices heard.” Examples cited by the report include the roughly 27 million workers worldwide in Export Processing Zones and millions more in the informal economy who are either excluded from or under-represented in tripartite dialogue.
While acknowledging that average incomes are rising worldwide and that the global economy shows great potential for innovation and productivity, the report notes that “gains are accompanied by persistent inequality, growing exclusion, insecurities caused by economic fluctuations and a feeling that the ground rules are unfair.”
It highlights “a growing polarization of opinion regarding the pattern and direction of globalization,” but identifies “a growing awareness that something needs to be done to bridge this divide.” Mr. Somavia said he welcomed “a widespread receptiveness to the idea that achieving greater opportunities of decent work for all is an appropriate goal for the global economy.” He urged that its potential for bridging the divide on globalization be explored.
“The goal of decent work is best expressed through the eyes of people,” noted Mr. Somavia. For workers faced with extreme poverty, decent work “is about moving from subsistence to existence” and is “the primary route out of poverty.” For many others, “it is about realizing personal aspirations in their daily existence and about solidarity with others.” He added that “everywhere, and for everybody, decent work is about securing human dignity.”
Reducing the decent work deficit is “the quality road to poverty reduction and to greater legitimacy of the global economy,” noted Mr. Somavia. But there is also an economic dividend: “economic and social efficiency can go together.” And an integrated approach is essential--each element of decent work reinforces the others, and all play a part in achieving broad goals such as poverty eradication.
Contact: Department of Communication, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799 8577, e-mail <presse@ilo.org>, website (www.ilo.org).
ILO PANELS ON GENDER, POVERTY AND JOBS
From the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women to the 2000 Millennium Summit, nations have affirmed that action on inequalities between women and men is necessary for poverty reduction. Although employment promotion is central to fighting poverty and social exclusion, many inequalities still exist in the world of work.
In order to explore the links between these issues, a panel discussion on Gender Equality, Poverty Reduction and Employment was held on 12 June in Geneva. Participants in the panel, organized by the ILO Bureau for Gender Equality, and InFocus Programme on Investing in Skills, Knowledge and Employability, addressed:
--barriers to integrating a gender equality perspective into employment promotion;
--poverty reduction strategies;
--the capacity of governments and social partners to deal with this triple challenge; and
--critical and feasible measures for breaking barriers and strengthening relevant national capacities.
A second panel on Jobs, Gender and Small Enterprises, held 14 June by the Bureau for Gender Equality and InFocus Programme on Boosting Employment through Small Enterprise Development, focused on issues related to the increasing attention by governments, international organizations and social partners to promote entrepreneurship by women. Women’s entrepreneurship has been recognized as contributing to employment creation, poverty alleviation and national economic development, as well as enhancing the economic empowerment of women themselves. Panellists addressed, among other things:
--the scope and scale of women-owned enterprises;
--the number of jobs created by women-owned enterprises;
--activities of national employers’ organizations to promote and support women entrepreneurs;
--how to help women-owned micro-enterprises grow; and
--ILO initiatives to improve the quality and quantity of jobs in women-owned enterprises.
Contact: Department of Communication, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799 8577, e-mail <presse@ilo.org>, website (www.ilo.org).
COMMISSION ON STATUS OF WOMEN
The Commission on the Status of Women, meeting in New York from 9-11 May 2001, concluded its resumed 45th session which was suspended in March to allow for further negotiations on a number of texts.
The resumed session of the Commission, chaired by Dubravka Simonovic (Croatia), adopted a resolution on the Proposed System-Wide Medium-Term Plan for the Advancement of Women for 2002-2005, and an annex containing comments by some Member States on the plan.
The commission also adopted a decision submitted by the chair, on the basis of informal consultations conducted among Member States, on the Programme of Work for the UN Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women for the Biennium 2002-2003.
During the session, much discussion among Member States focused on the draft agreed conclusions on Women, the Girl Child and HIV/AIDS, which the Commission adopted on the final day after lengthy negotiations. The agreed conclusions note that gender inequality renders women and girls more vulnerable to the disease, and that full enjoyment of all their human rights is crucial for preventing further spread of HIV/AIDS.
The Commission called for the UN General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, held from 25-27 June in New York, to integrate a gender perspective in the preparatory process and outcome document. This includes fully integrating such a perspective in any new targets and actions needed to achieve internationally-agreed targets that relate to women, the girl child and HIV/AIDS.
The Commission also listed a number of actions--to be taken by governments, the UN system and civil society--related to:
--the empowerment of women;
--prevention of HIV/AIDS;
--treatment, care and support to those living with the disease; and
--an enabling environment for regional and international cooperation.
Contacts: Denise Scotto, NGO Focal Point, Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), Room DC2-1204, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8034, fax +1-212/963 3463, e-mail <scotto@un.org>, website (www.un.org/womenwatch).
CONVENTION ON LAW OF THE SEA
States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which held their 11th meeting in New York from 14-18 May 2001, debated the ten-year time limit for submissions to the Commission on Limits of the Continental Shelf.
The submissions, as set out in article 4 of Annex II to the UNCLOS, concern delineation of the outer limit of a continental shelf beyond 200 miles. Determination of the outer limit is necessary to separate areas that fall under national jurisdiction from areas of the seabed to be utilized for the benefit of all nations.
The continental shelf is defined as the seabed and subsoil of the submarine area that, because of its geological characteristics, is considered as the natural prolongation of continental or land mass beneath the oceans or seas to outer edge of the continental margin, or to a distance of 200 nautical miles from the baselines from which breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
UNCLOS gives coastal states sovereign rights to explore and exploit such resources. Under specific circumstances and depending on scientific criteria contained in article 76 of the Convention, states may extend their sovereign rights over the resources of the shelf in areas beyond 200 nautical miles.
Determination that these criteria have been met involves the consideration of complex technical and scientific material and data produced by the coastal state. The data must be submitted to the Commission on Limits of the Continental Shelf within ten years of entry into force of the UNCLOS for that state.
During the debate it was noted that adoption of the Commission’s Scientific and Technical Guidelines--which were to assist coastal states in making their submission--had been delayed. The 11-member Pacific Island Forum States introduced a position paper strongly urging an extension of the ten-year time frame for submissions. It noted that the scientific and technical work required to support a submission was beyond the capacity of many small island states. The problem, according to the Forum, is exacerbated by the fact that in many cases the zones of national jurisdiction-- including territorial seas, archipelagic seas and exclusive economic zones--have not been accurately defined.
At the conclusion of the meeting delegates adopted a decision based on a proposal by Papua New Guinea to keep under review the more general issues of the ability of states, particularly developing countries, to fulfill the requirements of article 4. States Parties agreed that 13 May 1999 will serve as the starting date of the ten-year period from entry into force of the Convention for each state to make a submission on the outer limits of the extended continental shelf. The date will also apply to states for which the Convention entered into force before 13 May 1999, which is when the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf adopted its Scientific and Technical Guidelines.
Cristian Maquiera (Chile), President of the session, said the issue of the ten year time period was one of the most important items on the meeting agenda. He expressed gratitude to Norway for its contribution of more than US$1 million and to the United Kingdom for an additional contribution, to help developing countries meet their obligations under article 76 of the Convention.
Delegates also approved the draft 2002 budget of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, totaling US$7.8 million. They approved US$894,300 as contingency funds to provide the Tribunal with the necessary financial means to consider cases in 2002, in particular those requiring expeditious proceedings. States Parties also held a special election to fill a vacancy left on the International Tribunal by the death last year of Judge Kihai Zhao (China). Guangjian Xu, a legal adviser with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, was elected.
The 12th meeting of states Parties will be held from 13-24 May 2002 in New York, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention.
Contact: Annick de Marffy, Deputy Director, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, 2 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 3962, fax +1-212/963 5847, website (www.un.org/depts/los).
UNEP STUDY OF WORLD’S ECOSYSTEMS
What has been described as an “unrivalled scientific undertaking aimed at assessing the condition of the world’s wildlife habitats and ecosystems” was launched in June 2001. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) will bring together an unprecedented network of scientists, experts, government bodies and environmental groups. Its aim will be to “plug important gaps in knowledge on the true health of habitats and whether they are continuing to function for the benefit of humans and the plants and animals which make them their homes.”
The study will focus on improving the understanding of humans’ impact on the planet, and it will propose remedies and chart ways in which the Earth’s ecosystems can be saved and restored.
“If we are to rescue the Earth’s life support systems, we need hard facts,” said Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which is involved in the study. “We already know a great deal. We have sufficient knowledge to turn fine words into actions. But important questions remain, which is why I welcome this scientific undertaking.”
The four-year undertaking will seek to find a common approach among various scientific and other organizations on how to assess the health of ecosystems. One of the most difficult challenges, according to UNEP, will be the assessment of inaccessible coastal and deep ocean areas including coral reefs, mangrove swamps and the continental shelves. It is hoped that satellite data will play an important role in mapping the location and extent of these areas, which should then allow identification of areas where direct scientific assessments by people on the ground are urgently needed.
The study will build on the Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems published in 2000 and produced by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and UNEP.
Contact: Robert Bisset, Office of the Spokesman/Director, Communications and Public Information, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623084, fax +254-2/623692, e-mail <robert.bisset@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org).
Adlai Amor, Media Director, WRI, 10 G Street NE, Suite 800, Washington DC 20002, United States, telephone +1-202/729 7736, fax +1-202/729 7610, e-mail <aamor@wri.org>, website (www.wri.org).
UNESCO BIODIVERSITY MEETING
The International Conference on Biodiversity and Society, held by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and US-based Columbia University in May 2001, closed by calling on governments, civil society and local communities to work together in developing an integrated approach to environment conservation. Participants in the conference, held in New York, said this approach should combine the protection of biodiversity with sustainable economic development and preservation of cultural values.
“The protection of biodiversity,” said Mohammed Valli Moosa, Minister for Environment and Tourism in South Africa, “must be seen within the context of the benefit of high biodiversity to humanity and within the context of the advancement of global human values. Particularly in the African context, talk about protecting biodiversity for its own sake will make little progress because of poverty and economic development imperatives that we have.”
Participants including scientists, biosphere reserve managers, policy makers and community stakeholders discussed nine case studies conducted at sites chosen for their biological diversity as well as their economic, cultural and social importance. These were, among others, the Mata Atlantica forest in Brazil and the Sonoran Desert along the US-Mexico border.
In a declaration participants said that “attempts to conserve and sustainably manage biodiversity must include economic, social, cultural and political perspectives.”
Solutions must “acknowledge the interests and values of stakeholders, including local traditions of property and access rights.”
And local communities must “be meaningfully involved and engaged in the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.”
Contact: Press Service, UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75700 Paris, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 17 44, fax +33-1/45 68 56 52, website (www.unesco.org).
Case studies and conference proceedings will be available online (www.earthscape.org); more information on the conference is available at (www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/events/biodiversity.html).
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
The world’s rich and irreplaceable biological heritage is under attack on many fronts from land clearance, over-hunting and over-harvesting, pollution--and the spread of invasive alien species.
“Invasive alien species are thought to be the biggest threat to biological diversity after habitat destruction,” said Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
“The dramatic growth in tourism and trade is offering these unwanted visitors more and more opportunities to travel hundreds or thousands of kilometres beyond their natural habitat via boat or aircraft. Some thrive in their new homes--but at great cost to native species and ecosystems, and at a cost of billions of dollars to local economies,” he said.
Invaders can compete with native plants and animals, displace them, consume them, act as parasites or transmit diseases, reduce growth and survival rates, cause the decline or extinction of local populations or even entire species, and uproot or damage plants.
Under the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was adopted in 1992 under UNEP auspices, governments are working together to take more aggressive measures to prevent alien species from invading in the first place. If this fails, complete removal may still be feasible early in an invasion. Where eradication is not feasible or cost-effective, containment and long-term control measures will need to be considered.
But governments cannot do it alone, according to UNEP. Businesses and individuals have a vital role to play. Tourists must take the responsibility for obeying all customs rules--even a piece of fruit in hand luggage can carry invading insects or micro-organisms--and owners of exotic pets or plants must take care to keep them contained. Businesses involved in timber, agriculture, shipping, and similar trades need to rigorously respect safety measures for minimizing the transport of invasive alien species.
Contact: Michael Williams, Information Officer, UNEP, Geneva Executive Centre, 15 chemin des Anémones, CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/979 9242, fax +41-22/797 3464, e-mail <mwilliams@unep.ch>, website (www.unep.org).
Information on alien invasive species is available from the Convention on Biological Diversity, (www.biodiv.org), the Global Invasive Species Programme (jasper.Stanford.edu/GISP) and the World Conservation Union (www.iucn.org).
UNESCO UNDERWATER HERITAGE MEETING
Government experts representing some 100 states met in Paris (France) in March 2001 to examine the Draft Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage. The Convention is destined to protect such valuable heritage, including archaeological sites that are increasingly vulnerable to pillaging by treasure hunters.
In many cases, pillaging has already led to the loss of material of inestimable value to study of the origins and history of civilizations. However, the protection of underwater cultural heritage lacks an adequate universal legislation, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It said existing maritime legislation, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), does not adequately cover heritage protection.
The March meeting, held at UNESCO headquarters, yielded consensus on issues including:
--the priority to be given to preservation in situ of underwater cultural heritage;
--principles of cooperation between states and information sharing;
--salvage and finds legislation;
--the need to raise public awareness concerning the value and interest of cultural underwater heritage; and
--rules concerning activities directed at underwater cultural heritage.
Further discussion was planned during the second part of the meeting, scheduled in late June and early July, on issues including the responsibility of coastal states for cultural heritage situated on the continental shelf.
Contact: Press Service, UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75700 Paris, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 17 44, fax +33-1/45 68 56 52, website (www.unesco.org).
SUBCOMMITTEE ON OUTER SPACE
Activities of international organizations relating to space law, a review of the concept of “launching State,” and a draft convention concerning international interests in mobile equipment were among topics discussed at the 40th session of the Legal Subcommittee of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The Subcommittee, which met in April 2001 in Vienna (Austria), also discussed a draft protocol on matters specific to space property.
The Subcommittee noted that various international organizations had been invited by the secretariat to report on their activities relating to space law, and it agreed that a similar invitation should be extended for the next session.
In view of the obligations and responsibilities imposed on a launching state under the Liability and Registration Conventions, the Subcommittee reviewed the concept of launching state as defined in those conventions.
The Subcommittee continued consideration of legal issues relating to the review and possible revision of the United Nations Principles Relevant to the Use of Nuclear Power Sources in Outer Space. It further considered the definition and delimitation of outer space as well as utilization of the geostationary orbit, taking into account the concerns of developing countries.
It also agreed to the establishment of an ad hoc consultative mechanism to review issues relating to the draft convention of the International Institute for Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) on international interests in mobile equipment, and the preliminary draft protocol thereto on matters specific to space property.
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.oosa.unvienna.org).
UN-NGO COOPERATION
COMMITTEE ON NGOS MEETS
The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations suspended its 2001 session on 25 May in New York after recommending 44 organizations for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The three-week session reviewed a total of 52 deferred applications, 47 new applications, four reclassification requests and 230 quadrennial reports. Due to a lack of time, 47 applications were not examined. However, the Committee did hear from 19 NGO representatives and approved the request of three organizations to be heard at the ECOSOC high-level segment on 16-18 July 2001 in Geneva. Once ECOSOC confirms recommendations by the Committee, there will be a total of 2,093 NGOs in consultative status with the Council.
The Committee asked ECOSOC to approve a recommendation to resume from 14-25 January 2002 in order to complete the work of its 2001 session.
The 19-member Committee, a standing body of ECOSOC established in 1946, considers applications submitted by NGOs for consultative status and their requests for reclassification and quadrennial reports submitted by those organizations; implements the provisions of Council resolution 1996/31 and monitoring of consultative relationships; and considers other issues as requested.
Non-governmental, non-profit voluntary organizations can be admitted into consultative status with the Council if they meet the requirements detailed in Council resolution 1996/31 regarding, among other things, the organization’s activities, decision-making processes and resources.
Contact: Hanifa Mezoui, Chief, NGO Section, DESA, 1 UN Plaza, Room DC1-1480, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8652, fax +1-212/963 9248, e-mail <desangosection@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo).
DPI/NGO DISARMAMENT FORUM
The NGO Committee on Disarmament, together with the United Nations Department for Public Information (DPI), held a Spring 2001 Disarmament Forum in New York from 11-12 April. The forum featured panel discussions on a range of topics including Small Arms as a Development and Humanitarian Issue, and Implementation of the Brahimi Report. The Brahimi report is an assessment of UN peacekeeping activities that was issued in 2000 (see Go Between 82). It calls for substantial changes in the UN system, including the need for more resources for peacekeeping missions, and improved processes and relationships both within the UN system and between it and Member States. Among panellists were experts from the UN secretariat and agencies, permanent missions of Member States, and civil society.
In the panel on small arms, speakers examined the connection between development and small arms. They focused on linkages between the demand in small arms and poverty, discrimination, and breakdown in security that is fuelled by political, ethnic, religious or nationalistic animosities.
In war-torn societies, they said, illicit trade in small arms often undermined reconstruction and development efforts. Panellists also emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach to illicit trade in small arms and the importance of collaboration between governments, international and regional organizations and civil society actors to curb the trade.
During the panel discussion on implementation of the Brahimi Report, speakers said that in the post-Cold War era peacekeeping missions had become complex and difficult to accomplish.
Panellists said the need for change had been embraced by the UN General Assembly and Security Council. However, while NGOs recognized the importance of the Brahimi report, they said it offered only a superficial and partial analysis of situations that lead to conflict.
Contact: NGO Committee on Disarmament, 777 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/687 5340, e-mail <disarmtimes@igc.org>, website (www.igc.org/disarm).
GLOBAL FINANCE AND CIVIL SOCIETY
Civil society is becoming increasingly important in redressing the deficit in the governance of global finance, according to a joint study by the United Nations University (UNU) and Centre for the Study of Globalization and Regionalization (CSGR) at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. The study coordinator, Jan Aart Scholte, said that civil society engagement has both positive and negative aspects and is “not inherently bad or good.”
Concerning recent social movement activity in Seattle (United States), Davos (Switzerland), Prague (Czech Republic) and other cities, the study cites positive contributions such as building civic awareness, allowing for the participation of more stakeholders, generating debate, increasing transparency in the system, holding individuals and institutions accountable, and promoting global standards.
On the other hand, it acknowledges that civil society organizations (CSOs) need to be scrutinized on their claims of representation, accountability and technical expertise, which could help maximize their involvement in the global financial arena and minimize their shortcomings.
The study, which brought together 20 authors from all continents, puts forward a number of initiatives that it says civil society should consider in its work on global finance.
Inge Kaul of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said these include:
--promoting the notion of an international financial architecture as a global public good;
--advocating more participatory decision making on financial issues and developing concrete ideas for such decision making;
--supporting an extension of the financial architecture to the local level to enhance access of the poor to appropriate financial services; and
--civil society representatives making themselves available to participate in various financial bodies and meetings.
Alison van Rooy, of the North-South Institute (Canada) and a contributor to the study, recognized what she described as the significant contributions made by civil society on global finance. However, she noted a number of difficulties faced by CSOs.
These include the gradual movement away from the “Washington Consensus” and the resulting space to articulate alternatives, which poses a serious challenge to civil society movements.
There are also internal challenges to the movements, including North-South partnerships, competing demands for legitimacy, and strategic investment of limited civic energy and interest.
Contact: Jan Aart Scholte, Centre for the Study of Globalization and Regionalization, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom, telephone +44-24/7657 2533, fax +44-24/7657 2548, e-mail <csgr@warwick.ac.uk>, website (www.warwick.ac.uk/csgr).
SLEEPING SICKNESS PREVENTION INITIATIVE
A project to combat sleeping sickness in Africa has been launched by the World Health Organization in cooperation with Médecins sans Frontières and the Aventis pharmaceutical company. Activities of the project include drug donations, disease management and control, and research and development.
“We can now look forward to halting the spread of sleeping sickness,” said Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of WHO. “As we increase surveillance, treatment and research, there is now reason to hope that we can better control this disease.”
Sleeping sickness on the continent, known as African Trypanosomiasis, affects as many as half a million people in the sub-Saharan region. It is becoming increasingly prevalent after having been close to elimination in the early 1960s. Infection, transmitted by the tsetse fly, eventually affects the central nervous system causing severe neurological disorders and, if left untreated, death.
WHO expects to be able to re-start control programmes in countries such as Ghana, Liberia, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the United Republic of Tanzania, where the risk of African Trypanosomiasis is high but where control activities have been scant in recent years.
Contact: Gregory Hartl, Spokesperson, WHO, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4458, fax +41-22/791 4858, e-mail <hartlg@who.ch>, website (www.who.int).
UNEP/CIVIL SOCIETY CONSULTATIONS
A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) consultation with civil society on International Environmental Governance, held on 22-23 May 2001 in Nairobi (Kenya), brought together representatives of 56 civil society organizations from around the world.
Participants in the consultation, held at UNEP headquarters, included members of the business community, faith-based organizations and research institutes. They discussed multilateral environmental agreements, financing, compliance and visions for UNEP and its mandate.
Multilateral agreements were seen as necessary to help remedy weaknesses in the area of environmental governance. Recommendations included:
--strengthen UNEP and ensure that all multilateral environmental agreements be located there;
--all multilateral environmental agreements should have compliance mechanisms, which should be streamlined, centralized and involve civil society actors; and
--environmental functions of the Commission on Sustainable Development should be transferred to UNEP.
On the issue of financing, participants agreed that UNEP needed predictable and sustainable funding to carry out its mission and should seek more stable sources of financing. They discussed the effectiveness of a sectoral or cross-cutting organization; the possible advantages of a world environmental organization as a more stable source of funding; and other possible sources of funding including taxes, investment sector funding, and investment guarantee systems. Also mentioned were direct private investment, and private investment in green enterprises and sustainable development.
Compliance mechanisms were characterized as inadequate and even absent from some multilateral environmental agreements. The large number of agreements was one of the obstacles to compliance, participants said. When a multilateral environment agreement was agreed, compliance mechanisms that incorporate incentives and sanctions should be put into place.
Both developed and developing countries should be subject to the same formal and transparent compliance mechanisms. In addition, a joint dialogue on international environmental governance should be convened to bring together groups already consulted separately, and a set of criteria should be developed for Major Groups (identified in Agenda 21)