NO 91 APRIL-MAY 2002
| UN UPDATE | NGO & OTHER NEWS | FOCUS |
| SG
Names Five Key Areas ICC to Enter into Force....Jul East Timor Declared Independent. SC Approves Smart Sactions...Iraq ILO Reports on Child Labour World Press Freedom Day... Accelerating Action Towards Educ UNEP'S GEO-3: State of the Env.. UNEP Says State of Planet...Worse Developing in Debt Reconstruct... Religious Leaders ask us to Release UNFPA AID Non-Proliferation Preparation Disarmament Conference in China UNDP Brief ECOSOC Afghanistan MoU Signed on Internally Displaced IASC Warns of Food Insecurity.. FAO Regional Conferences. Global Compact & GRI Cooperation Framework CBD COP-6 Adopts Guidelines on Global Resources CITES Lifts Trade Measures Scientists Warn Glacial Lake Flood UNECE Economic Survey of Europe UN Launchs New E-mail News Serv. MIGA Launches Electronic FDI Xchange |
Reality of
AID: Level of OECD AID "Pitiful" Joint Assessment of Structural Adjustment CARE Conducts US Survey Dialogue on Women, Peace and Security Network for Peace and Human Rights Other News Progress made in Kimberly Process Second Roma World Congress |
Developing
Countries Trading More, Earning Less Says UNCTAD WTO Symposium on the "Doha Development Agenda Oxfam Launches New Trade Campaign New Partnership for Africa's Developement G-8 Summit Addresses African Second World Assembly on Ageing Commission on Human Rights, 58th Session UN commission on Population and Development 55th Session of the World Health Assembly Traditiopal Medicine in Primary Health Care Global Fund Holds 2nd Meeting, Awards Country Projects Calendar Guest Editorial:Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Executive Director, (UN Habitat) |
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Water and sanitation, energy, health, agriculture, and biodiversity are key areas where concrete results can and must be achieved during the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg (South Africa) in August, says UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Launching a new campaign to raise awareness of the Summit, Mr. Annan said the five areas could be remembered by a simple acronym–WEHAB: “You might think of it like this: we inhabit the earth. And we must rehabilitate our one and only planet.” Mr.Annan summarized the progress he hoped to see in the five areas as follows: —Water–provide access to at least one billion people who lack clean drinking water and two billion people who lack proper sanitation. —Energy–provide access to more than two billion people who lack modern energy services; promote renewable energy; reduce over-consumption; and ratify the Kyoto Protocol to address climate change. —Health–address the effects of toxic and hazardous materials; reduce air pollution, which kills three million people each year; and lower the incidence of malaria and African guinea worm, which are linked with polluted water and poor sanitation. —Agricultural productivity–work to reverse land degradation, which affects about two-thirds of the world’s agricultural lands. —Biodiversity and ecosystem management–reverse the processes that have destroyed about half of the world’s tropical rainforest and mangroves, and are threatening 70% of the world’s coral reefs and decimating the world’s fisheries. “In Johannesburg, we have a chance to catch up,” he said. “Together, we will need to find our way towards a greater sense of mutual responsibility. Together, we will need to build a new ethic of global stewardship. Together, we can and must write a new and hopeful chapter in natural–and human–history.” |
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On 11 April 2002 at UN headquarters in New York, the representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ireland, Jordan, Mongolia, Niger, Romania and Slovakia simultaneously deposited their instruments of ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), bringing the number of ratifications to 66. The Rome Statute, opened for signature in July 1998, will enter into force on 1 July 2002, and the first Conference of the States Parties will be held in September 2002. The Court, to be based in The Hague (Netherlands), is expected to be established in 2003. “A page in the history of the humankind is being turned,” said UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs Hans Corell, who accepted the instruments on behalf of Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Joining the ceremony via satellite broadcast from Rome, Mr. Annan said “the time is at last coming when humanity no longer has to bear impotent witness to the worst atrocities, because those tempted to commit such crimes will know that justice awaits them.” In his message, President of the General Assembly Han Seung-soo (Republic of Korea) said that since 1948, following the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals after the Second World War, the establishment of a permanent international criminal court had remained one of the most important goals of the General Assembly. Mr. Seung-soo said that it was widely recognized that a permanent international criminal court would be more efficient than ad hoc tribunals in taking action against crimes and also in limiting the extent or duration of violence. In her statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said that there was a clear message emerging from the tribunals established for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Where domestic order had broken down, or national authorities were unable or unwilling to punish gross violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law, the international community had an obligation and a responsibility to respond, she said, adding that with the entry into force of the Rome Statue, the international community had accepted that responsibility on a permanent basis. Saying that the ICC was the result of an extraordinary partnership between diverse stakeholders including governments, international organizations, the ad hoc international criminal tribunals, individual national and international experts and the global NGO community, Mrs. Robinson called for continued efforts to ensure that the mechanisms and structures required for the effective functioning of the Court were firmly put into place. According to Ambassador Philippe Kirsch (Canada), Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the ICC, the Statute contains safeguards to ensure due process, including the principle of “complementarity,” which means that the Court would only step in if a national system were unable or unwilling to do so. “The primary responsibility for the punishment of crimes is with States and not with the international community,” he underlined. The representative of the coalition of NGOs for the ICC hailed the entry into force of the Treaty and said that it was a victory not only for its advocates, but also for the victims of the most heinous crimes against humanity. On 6 May 2002, the Bush Administration, in an unprecedented action, announced that the US would be removing their signature from the Treaty, and that the US no longer considered itself to be bound legally by signature of the Rome Statute. The US has shown concern about the possibility that the tribunal may seek politically motivated prosecutions of US soldiers or officials. UN Special Rapporteur on Judicial Independence Param Cumaraswamy said he was “deeply concerned” by President George W. Bush’s repudiation of the Statute, which former President Bill Clinton signed on 31 December 2000. According to Mr. Cumaraswamy the court is necessary because principles of judicial independence and impartiality are not respected in many countries. “The US Government asserts, inter alia, that the primary responsibility for prosecution lies with States. I agree,” Mr. Cumaraswamy said. “In fact, the Statute of the ICC recognizes this clearly, stating that cases will only be admissible where the State concerned is unwilling or genuinely unable to carry out the investigation or prosecution.” Expressing her dissatisfaction over the “unsigning,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said, “It’s worrying, and I’m concerned that the United States has not just let the matter rest as it was–that they were unlikely to ratify–but has actually taken symbolically a much more serious step of disengaging from this whole process.” US officials have also announced that the US will not be bound by the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which outlines countries’ obligations to international treaties. Article 18 of that convention stipulates that signatories to international treaties cannot make moves to undermine treaties they have signed, even if they have not yet ratified those documents. Although the US signed the Vienna convention, it has never ratified the treaty. William F. Schulz, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA, said of the move, “Out of step with our allies and America’s legacy, this is an historic low point for the United States’ role in protecting human rights.” Mr. Schulz continued, “The US will remain obliged to abide by international humanitarian and human rights law, but until reversed, today’s action will isolate the US from the international community and its instruments of justice at a time when they are most needed. It casts into question the value of any existing or future US signature on any international treaty or agreement. It sends a message to countries that violate human rights standards that it is acceptable to withdraw from international agreements.” Contact: United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, Codification Division, United Nations, Office S-3460A, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 5345, fax +1-212/963 1963, website (www.un.org/law/icc/index.html). |
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Donor representatives from 30 countries met in Dili (East Timor) from 14-15 May 2002 and pledged funds of US$442 million to help reconstruct the country, which was formally declared independent of Indonesia on 20 May 2002. East Timor, originally requesting US$90 million to rebuild its economy, says US$360 million will be used for development projects including capacity building and poverty relief, and US$82 million to fund a budget deficit for a three-year period starting in July 2003. “I encourage you to remain in East Timor for the long haul, because you and I know this is worthwhile cause,” said Sergio Vieira de Mello, head of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor at the opening of the meeting. “There have been some concerns on our
side in previous weeks that Afghanistan, now maybe Congo, and Palestine
could divert attention from East Timor, and some governments actually
expressed these concerns that they would be overstretched,”
interim Foreign Minister Ramos Horta said. “But in our many
weeks of discussions with the European Union countries, with Japan,
with the US and other donor countries like Portugal and Australia,
the fact of the matter is that there is no wavering of support for
East Timor.” “A lack of funds could stand in the way of East Timor’s commitment to use future revenues to secure healthcare and education for its people rather than to service a debt to wealthy States and financial institutions,” said the East Timor Action Network (ETAN), a US-based rights group. “What we are trying to do is avoid East Timor falling into debt and suffering conditions imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,” said Karen Orenstein, ETAN’s Washington Coordinator. The former Portuguese colony fought a 24-year war of independence against Indonesia that ended in 1999. Since then, donors have pledged over US$500 million in grants to East Timor, but the territory remains one of the world’s poorest countries. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has released a report saying that East Timor’s annual per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is only US$478, and that almost half the population lives on little more than US$1 a day, with a life expectancy of 57 years. Natural gas and coffee provide a large part of East Timor’s resources. Contact: John Miller, ETAN Media/Outreach Coordinator, East Timor Action Network, 48 Duffield Street, Brooklyn NY 11201, USA, telephone +1-718/596 7668, e-mail <john@etan.org>, website (www.etan.org). |
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The Security Council, by unanimous
vote, approved a new sanctions regime for Iraq aimed at making it
easier for civilian goods to enter the country while maintaining
bans on military supplies. Effective as of 30 May 2002, the resolution
renews the so-called oil-for-food plan for a six-month period, or
until 25 November. Sanctions were originally imposed on Iraq in
August 1990 after it invaded Kuwait. The vote ended weeks of negotiations as the United States wanted to maintain the sanctions on Iraq, while Russia wanted them suspended and Syria wanted them completely eliminated. Reacting to the resolution at the end of the meeting, Iraqi Ambassador Mohammed Aldouri said, “This is a new harassment against Iraq. We are unhappy with the resolution. We want sanctions lifted.” Called “smart sanctions,” the resolution is based on a 300-page “goods review list” that determines “dual-use” items that could have military applications. Items found on this list must be evaluated separately within 30 days and receive Council approval. Goods not on the list can go to Iraq after a review by UN officials. Under the current restrictions, virtually all goods except food and medicine have to be approved by the committee, and any one country could block the import. The six-month extension of the oil-for-food programme is the first significant change in the programme since 1996. US Ambassador John Negroponte said the new regime “strengthens the ability of humanitarian and purely civilian items to reach the Iraq economy with the minimum of impediment, while at the same time enabling the export control regime to focus on dual-use items… which might contribute to Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction programme.” |
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The International Labour Office (ILO) has released a study showing that in spite of “significant progress” in efforts to abolish child labour, an alarming number of children are trapped in its worst forms, including prostitution, drug trafficking, pornography and other illicit activities. A Future Without Child Labour says that natural disasters, sharp economic downturns, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, migration, discrimination, a lack of schools, inadequate social protection and armed conflict are some of the factors drawing children into child labour, which it describes as “endlessly varied and infinitely volatile.” “Despite the increasing commitment by governments and their partners to tackle child labour worldwide, it remains a problem on a massive scale,” said Juan Somavía, Director-General of the ILO. “While there has been significant progress towards the effective abolition of child labour, the international community still faces a major uphill struggle against this stubbornly pervasive form of work that takes a tragic toll on millions of children around the world.” The report found that 246 million children–one in every six children aged 5 to 17–are involved in child labour. It also says that one in every eight children in the world–some 179 million children aged 5 to 17–is still exposed to the worst forms of child labour which endanger the child’s physical, mental or moral wellbeing. In terms of geographical distribution, the Asia-Pacific region harbours the largest absolute number of working children between the ages of 5 to 14, with some 127 million or 60% of the world total. Sub-Saharan Africa is second with 48 million, or 23% of the total, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean with 17.4 million or 8%, and the Middle East and North Africa with 13.4 million or 6%.The report says about 2.5 million, or 1% of the world’s child labourers, are in the industrialized countries, while another 2.4 million are found in transition economies. Surveys in developing countries indicate that the vast majority (70%) of children who work are engaged in such primary sectors as agriculture, fishing, hunting and forestry. Some 8% are involved in manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade, restaurants and hotels; 7% in domestic work and services; 4% in transport, storage and communication; and 3% in construction, mining and quarrying. The study reports that child labour often assumes serious proportions in commercial agriculture associated with global markets for cocoa, coffee, cotton, rubber, sisal, tea and other commodities, with studies in Brazil, Kenya and Mexico showing that children under 15 make up between 25-30% of the total labour force in the production of various commodities. The report also notes that “in many developed countries, agriculture is also the sector in which most children work” and that “family farms are a common exemption from minimum age legislation.” The informal economy, in which workers are not recognized or protected under the legal and regulatory frameworks of the labour market, is where the most child labourers are found. According to the ILO analysis: “The preponderance of child labour in the informal economy, beyond the reach of most formal institutions in countries at all levels of income, represents one of the principal challenges to its effective abolition.” On the demand side factors include a lack of law enforcement, the desire on the part of some employers for a cheap and flexible workforce and the low profitability and productivity of small-scale, family enterprises that cannot afford adult paid labour. In spite of the difficulty of addressing all these causes, the ILO report insists that “the campaign for universal ratification of Convention No. 182 has given the general fight against child labour a new urgency and scope, by focusing world attention on its worst forms.” The report will be discussed at the ILO’s 90th International Labour Conference in Geneva on 12 June 2002, when ILO plans to launch an International Day Against Child Labour. Contact: Department of Communication (DCOMM), ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7912, fax +41-22/799 8577, e-mail <communication@ilo.org>, website (www.ilo.org). |
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World Press Freedom Day, observed on 3 May 2002 under the theme of Terrorism and Media, was established by the General Assembly in 1993. UN General Assembly President Han Seung-soo (Republic of Korea) in his message said it is a day to “celebrate a cornerstone of human interaction and inter-communal understanding.” “Press freedom is a basic human right which, if exercised professionally, independently and without bias, can help build democratic practices, educate the general public and curb abuse, corruption and mismanagement in both the private and public sector,” Mr. Han Seung-soo said. “However, the freedom of expression has sometimes been used as a foil for inciting hatred, prejudice and even genocide, as has been so horrifically demonstrated in the last decade. “[T]he third of May is the day we pay tribute to the far too many journalists who have lost their lives trying to inform us of what is going on in almost every corner of the world, but particularly in zones of conflict or crisis. Every day, these dedicated professionals subject themselves to the dangers represented by accidents, natural disasters, landmines and, increasingly, to the deliberate targeting by the parties to a conflict. The latter hazard is totally unacceptable, and I would like to take this opportunity to urge State and non-State actors alike to take all measures possible to make the media profession a less dangerous one.” According to statistics, 59 journalists were killed worldwide in 2001, compared with 53 the year before. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organized a two-day conference in Manila (Philippines), from 1-2 May 2002, to discuss how the media spotlight terrorism as a political, ideological, religious and military weapon against civilians and how terrorism affects media and their safety. UNESCO Assistant Director General Abdul Waheed Khan, speaking at the conference, said that the media are a key to fighting terrorism and promoting understanding between cultures, adding that journalism is a “prerequisite for democracy.” He said, “Media have an enormous capacity for not only bridging the gap between different cultures by sharing information and cultivating dialogue but also by promoting mutual knowledge and better understanding.” Media professionals, NGOs and civil rights organizations attending the Manila meeting adopted a resolution declaring that journalists have a right and a duty to investigate and report on terrorism, and that their right to work in safety must be respected. They also adopted a Resolution on Terrorism and the Media, which voices concern about “restrictions imposed on the right to freedom of expression and to freedom of information by a growing number of States in the aftermath of the attacks on 11 September.” Concerning journalists’ safety, participants stated: “States at peace as well as all parties to conflict, should take effective measures to ensure that military forces, combatants, as well as secret and intelligence services and other officials engaged in combating terrorism, understand and respect the rights of journalists as civilians under the Geneva Convention and their Additional Protocols, as well as their right to freedom of expression.” 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/press-freedom-day). |
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Organized jointly by the World Bank and the Netherlands Ministry for Development Cooperation, an international education roundtable met from 10-11 April 2002 in Amsterdam to consider ways to speed up action to reach the Dakar commitment of Education For All (EFA) made in September 2000. EFA aims to provide all children with access to primary school education by 2015. Currently more than 120 million children around the world do not attend school. Representatives from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries, the European Union, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), education and development cooperation ministers, education experts, as well as international and regional NGOs met to devise a framework to link education policy issues with financial flows. “Economic prosperity and the reduction of global poverty cannot be accomplished unless all children in all countries can at a minimum complete a primary education of good quality,” said Mamphela Ramphele, World Bank’s Managing Director for Human Development. “Education alone will not solve this problem, but the problem cannot be solved without education. Students who fail to complete five or six years of schooling remain functionally illiterate for the rest of their lives, and their chances of living in poverty are greatly increased,” she added. The Netherlands’ Minister of Development Cooperation, Eveline Herfkens, announced that the Dutch Government was prepared to commit 135 million Euros to help finance the EFA initiative, based on the understanding that other countries would also contribute financial and political support. According to Ms. Herfkens, a number of developing countries had already pledged themselves to accelerate national education plans, but need external donor support to help them implement their plans. “If a country can’t pay its teachers, the ultimate price will be a poorly functioning system. I am prepared to pay recurring costs such as these. I believe such financing is a far more effective investment in reducing poverty than pulling the strings of donor-driven projects,” Ms. Herfkens said. Participants also discussed two World Bank studies, which call on governments to demonstrate their commitment to education by transforming their education systems, while external partners, such as wealthy donor countries and the international financial institutions, would provide financial and technical support in a transparent, predictable and flexible manner. The studies also present recommendations for a new “development compact for education,” and were formally tabled at the Spring Meetings of the World Bank’s Development Committee held in Washington DC on 21 April. The new compact maps out responsibilities for both donor countries and those countries at risk of not making the 2015 goal. It also suggests a fast-track plan for the ten countries least likely to achieve universal primary education in order for them to receive extra funding to help them reach the goal. Findings from the Amsterdam conference will be used for subsequent talks on education including the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children, held in New York from 8-10 May (see NGLS Roundup 92), and the Group of Eight meeting to be held in Canada in June 2002. Contact: Carola Baller, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 20061, 2500 EB The Hague, Netherlands, telephone +31-70/348 7531, e-mail <Scarola.baler@minbuza.nl>, website (www.minbuza.nl/english/homepage.asp). Phillip Hay, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, USA, telephone +1-202/473 1796, e-mail <phay@worldbank.org>, website (www.worldbank.org/education). |
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Global Environment Outlook-3 (GEO-3), the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) report, says the planet is at an important cross-roads with the choices made today critical for the forests, oceans, rivers, mountains, wildlife and other life support systems upon which current and future generations depend. The report provides a unique look at the policies and environmental impacts of the past 30 years, and outlines four possible policy approaches leading to different outcomes over the next 30 years. Two of the most contrasting scenarios include: Markets First and Sustainability First. One envisions a future driven by market forces; the other by far-reaching changes in values and lifestyles, firm policies and cooperation between all sectors of society. The report compares and contrasts the likely impacts on people and the natural world. GEO-3 concludes that a great deal of environmental change has already taken place in the past 30 years since the 1972 Stockholm Conference, which led to the creation of UNEP. The report notes that improvements have occurred in areas such as river and air quality in North America and Europe. International efforts to repair the ozone layer by reducing the production and consumption of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) is another notable success. But, the report says, overall there has been a steady decline in the environment, especially across large parts of the developing world. The declining environmental quality of the planet and the apparent increase in strength and frequency of natural hazards such as cyclones, floods and droughts are intensifying peoples’ vulnerability (GEO-3, Chapter 3) to food insecurity, ill health and unsustainable livelihoods. Speaking of the poor, the sick and the disadvantaged, both within societies and in different countries and regions, the report warns of the widening gap between those able and those unable to cope with rising levels of environmental change. Report highlights: —The level of weather-related disasters has climbed with some experts linking this to climate change due to human-made emissions. In the 1990s, 90% of those killed were victims of events such as floods, windstorms and droughts. —Environmental degradation is also costing countries in other ways. India, for example, is losing more than US$10 billion annually or 4.5% gross domestic product (GDP) with human-induced land degradation alone causing productivity losses of around US$2.4 billion. —Soil erosion is a key factor in land degradation. Around two billion hectares of soil, equal to 15% of the Earth’s land cover, or an area bigger than the US and Mexico combined, is now classed as degraded as a result of human activities. Main types of soil degradation are water erosion, 56%; wind erosion, 28%; chemical degradation, 12% and physical or structural damage, 4%. Overgrazing is causing 35% of soil degradation; deforestation, 30%; agriculture, 27%; overexploitation of vegetation, 7% and industrial activities, 1%. —Declining environmental quality is also a rising health risk. Sewage pollution of the seas “has precipitated a health crisis of massive proportions,” says the report. For example, the eating of contaminated shellfish is causing an estimated 2.5 million cases of infectious hepatitis annually, resulting in 25,000 deaths and a further 25,000 people suffering long-term disability due to liver damage. The global economic impact of marine contamination, in terms of human disease and ill health, may be running at nearly US$13 billion. —Globally, sewage is the largest source of contamination by volume with discharges from developing countries on the rise as a result of rapid urbanization, population growth and a lack of planning and financing for sewerage systems and water treatment plants. —Around half of the world’s rivers are seriously depleted and polluted. About 60% of the world’s largest 227 rivers have been strongly or moderately fragmented by dams and other engineering works. Benefits have included increased food production and hydroelectricity. But irreversible damage has occurred to wetlands and other ecosystems. Since the 1950s, between 40 and 80 million people have been displaced. —Some 80 countries, amounting to 40% of the world’s population, were suffering serious water shortages by the mid-1990s. Water-related disease costs break down like this: two billion people are at risk from malaria alone, with 100 million affected at any one time and up to 2 million deaths annually. There are about 4 billion cases of diarrhoea and 2.2 million deaths a year, equivalent to 20 jumbo jets crashing everyday. —The loss and fragmentation of habitats such as forests, wetlands and mangrove swamps have increased the pressures on the world’s wildlife. Twelve per cent or 1,183 of birds and nearly a quarter or 1,130 mammals are currently regarded as globally threatened. —The introduction of alien species from one part of the world to another has emerged as a significant threat in recent years alongside climate change. Alien species often have no natural predators in their new homes and can out-compete native species for breeding and feeding sites. It is estimated that by 1939, 497 alien freshwater and marine species had been introduced into aquatic environments around the world. In the period 1980 to 1998, this had climbed to an estimated 2,214 alien species. —The total extent of protected areas, such as national parks, has grown from 2.78 million square kilometres in 1970 to 12.18 million hectares in 2000. The number of sites has risen from 3,392 to 11,496 over the same period. A survey of 93 protected areas has found that most are proving successful at stopping land clearing and to a lesser extent at tackling issues such as logging, hunting, fires and grazing pressures. —Other threats to the oceans include climate change, oil spills, discharges of heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and litter. Sedimentation, as a result of coastal developments, agriculture and deforestation, has become a major global threat to coral reefs particularly in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and South and Southeast Asia. —Just under one-third of the world’s fish stocks are now ranked as depleted, overexploited or recovering as a result of over-fishing fueled by subsidies estimated at up to US$20 billion annually. UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer, speaking at the launch of the report, said, “We now have hundreds of declarations, agreements, guidelines and legally binding treaties designed to address environmental problems and the threats they pose to wildlife and human health and wellbeing. Let us now find the political courage and the innovative financing needed to implement these deals and steer a healthier, more prosperous, course for planet Earth. Ten years ago, governments met in Rio for the Earth Summit. In just three months, we have the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in South Africa. This is a summit for sustainable development, but it is also a summit for the environment.” Contact: Nick Nuttall, Head of Media, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623084, e-mail <nick.nuttall@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org/geo/). |
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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a series of 22 industry reports in preparation for the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), to be held in Johannesburg (South Africa) in August 2002. The reports show that there is a growing gap between the efforts of business and industry to reduce their impact on the environment and the worsening state of the planet. According to UNEP, the widening gap is caused not only by the small number of companies actively striving for sustainability, but also because of a “rebound effect” where improvements are being overtaken by economic growth and increasing demand for goods and services. The findings appear in the overview report 10 Years After Rio: the UNEP Assessment, which draws on the 22 global sustainability reports written by different industry sectors ranging from accounting and advertising to waste and water management. Citing worsening trends such as global warming, loss of biodiversity, and land degradation, Klaus Töpfer, UNEP’s Executive Director, said “the new reports clearly show that progress since Rio has been uneven within and amongst industry sectors and countries. Despite many good examples of how industries are reducing waste and emissions, becoming more energy efficient, and helping poor communities to meet their basic needs, we have found that the majority of companies are still doing business as usual.” The collection of reports, known as the Industry as a Partner for Sustainable Development Series, was written by industry representatives in cooperation with the UN, business and industry, academic institutions, labour organizations and NGOs. They analyzed achievements, unfinished business and future challenges with respect to implementing Agenda 21–the action plan agreed to at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. The sector reports highlight the crucial role of governments; the need to combine regulatory, economic and voluntary instruments; the need to spur social and technological innovation; and ensure that negligent companies do not benefit at the expense of those investing in best practices. In response to these reports, UNEP suggests a number of recommendations for business and industry, which include: greater integration of environmental and social criteria into mainstream business decision making and improving the implementation and monitoring of voluntary initiatives and industry self-regulation. Other recommendations from UNEP include the development of “sustainable entrepreneurship” in less developed countries as part of the wider goal to combat poverty, and the need to expand and support environmental and sustainability reporting. Stressing the growing disparity among world regions and the need to make corporate environmental and social responsibility a reality, Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel, UNEP’s Assistant Executive Director, said “there is a growing awareness among business and industry that the social side of global sustainable development needs to be taken into account alongside environmental and economic aspects. The industry reports need to be seen as part of a long-term process of dialogue and what matters is not so much the past, but the direction in which we are heading.” The reports do reveal an increased awareness by industry of environmental and social issues, reflected by more environmental reporting and the development and use of tools like ISO 14000, life-cycle management and voluntary commitments to integrate sustainability into business strategies and activities. For example, the aluminium industry reports that recycled metal now satisfies about one-third of world demand. It says that total recycling of aluminium in the form of beverage cans show rates that range from 79% in Japan and 78% in Brazil to 62% in the US and 41% in Europe. Contact: Robert Bisset, Press Officer and Europe Spokesperson, UNEP, 39-43 quai André Citroën, F-75739 Paris Cedex 15, France, telephone +33-1/44 37 76 13, e-mail <robert.bisset@unep.fr>, website (www.uneptie.org/outreach/wssd/sectors/reports.htm). |
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The Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, held from 20-21 April 2002 in Washington DC, allowed member governments and the institutions to indicate how they are proceeding on developing a new sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (SDRM). Recently, after years of debate amongst civil society representatives, governments, private creditors, and international financial institutions (IFIs), the IFIs have acknowledged the need for a better mechanism to ensure orderly and timely restructuring of unsustainable sovereign debts. In its final communiqué, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) of the IMF welcomed the consideration of innovative proposals to improve the process of sovereign debt restructuring to help “close the gap” in the current framework. The communiqué outlined a two-pronged approach: a statutory approach, which would enable the sovereign debtor and a super-majority of its creditors to reach an agreement binding all creditors; and an approach based on contract, which would incorporate comprehensive restructuring clauses in debt instruments. It encouraged the Fund to continue to examine the legal, institutional, and procedural aspects of these approaches. Civil society organizations have suggested that an international solvency process modelled on Chapter 9 of the US Legal Code in which creditors and debtors could come together on an equal and fair basis is needed. Saying that short-term, volatile finance and unpayable debts have become “the unacceptable face of globalization,” the New Economics Foundation is campaigning for the involvement of civil society organizations in the insolvency process. They argue that a democratic insolvency process for countries is an essential component of the new architecture required for a defensible and positive model of globalization. Shortly before the Spring Meetings, Anne Krueger, First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, presented a paper on the thinking that was evolving in this area at the IMF. She described how the reality of an increasingly diverse and diffuse creditor community across legal jurisdictions that involves various instruments necessitates greater coordination when restructuring becomes necessary. “The bottom line,” she said, “is that far-reaching developments in capital markets over the last two to three decades have not been matched by the development of an orderly, predictable framework for creditor coordination, in which the roles of the debtor, the creditors and the international community are clearly spelt out.” Ms. Krueger raised specific concerns about “free-riding” or “hold out” creditors and new legal strategies making litigation against debtor nations more possible. The essential elements of her proposal are: enabling a super-majority of creditors to make restructuring binding on the rest; providing the debtor with protection from legal action while negotiations are taking place; requiring the sovereign not to make payments to non-priority creditors; requiring the debtor to conduct its economic policies in a way that would help put the country back on the road to growth and viability; and guaranteeing that any new financing would not be involved in the restructuring. Regarding decision making under such a mechanism, Ms. Krueger said that the debtor and super-majority of creditors would make joint decisions that would be binding on the entire body of creditors. She said that while the IMF would not be empowered to make decisions that would “undermine the enforcement of creditor rights,” it would rely on its existing financial powers to “create the right incentives for debtors and creditors to use the mechanism appropriately.” The communiqué of the Group of Seven (G-7) Finance Ministers from the Spring Meetings reflected much of Ms. Krueger’s thinking and laid out what it called a “market-oriented approach” to the sovereign debt restructuring process in which new contingency clauses would be incorporated into debt contracts. Such clauses would provide clear guidelines as to what would happen in the event of a restructuring. The communiqué reads: “The clauses should include super-majority decision making by creditors; a process by which a sovereign would initiate a restructuring or rescheduling; including a cooling-off, or standstill period; and a description of how creditors would engage with borrowers.” The G-7 also indicated that it would be working with the IMF on incentives for countries with IMF programmes to adopt such clauses and to improve its preemptive analysis of debt sustainability. Most importantly perhaps, the G-7 indicated that it would support work by the IMF on an SDRM that may require “new international treaties, changes in national legislation, or amendments of the Articles of Agreement of the IMF.” Contact: International Monetary Fund, 700 19th Street NW, Washington DC 20431, USA, telephone +1-202/623 7000, fax +1-202/623 4661, e-mail <publicaffairs@imf.org>, website (www.imf.org). Economics Foundation, Cinnamon House, 6-8 Cole Street, London SE1 4YK, UK, telephone +44-20/7089 2800, fax +44-20/7407 6473, e-mail <info@neweconomics.org>, website (www.neweconomics.org) |
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| RELIGIOUS LEADERS ASK US TO RELEASE UNFPA AID | ||
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In a letter to the United States’ President, religious leaders, including Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims have urged George W. Bush to release funds appropriated by Congress to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). “Religious leaders actively supported the founding of the UN and continue to believe that the UN and its agencies are critical vehicles for world peace and justice,” the letter said. “UNFPA is vital to the reproductive health needs of women, men and their families by providing life-saving services such as family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling and services to people living in developing countries around the world.” The leaders have called for the full appropriation to be released in the fiscal year 2002 budget. Referring to a 26 April 2002 commentary in the New York Times on the withholding of US funds to UNFPA, Nita Lowey, US Congresswoman, also responded, “Nicholas D. Kristof portrays the terrible human cost of the President’s decision to withhold US$34 million for the United Nations Population Fund. This decision is puzzling considering previous strong support of the organization. “Our lack of support is crippling many of the fund’s programmes, which save the lives of millions of poor women and children around the world by providing the most basic health and prenatal care.” The US State Department has announced that it will send a team to China to investigate allegations that UNFPA is supporting coercive Chinese population control policies, which violates US law. The amendment prohibits the US from funding organizations that promote or perform forced abortions or involuntary sterilization. UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Obaid has criticized coercive family planning practices in China, which she says do not take into account the human rights of its citizens and have limited women’s choices. Addressing the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in late April, she emphasized that UNFPA neither supports such policies nor promotes abortion. In a 10 May vote, the US House Representatives’ Appropriations Committee voted 32 to 31 to release the US$34 million by 10 July unless the US finds the agency in violation of US laws. Contact: Susan Pasquariella, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone + 1-212/297-4968, e-mail <pasquariella@unfpa.org>, website (www.unfpa.org). In related news, UNFPA and the Development Gateway Foundation have announced the launch of the POP/RH Portal on population and reproductive health, an Internet initiative focusing on population and reproductive health. The Portal will provide a community-built database of shared population information, including data, research, projects, ideas and dialogue. The United Nations said the launch makes UNFPA the first UN agency to set up a topical website within the Development Gateway system. Twelve population institutions are collaborating on the project, which will feature a news service, a bulletin board, an events calendar, search features, project information and a discussion forum, and covers issues targeted for action by the 1994 Cairo Conference. The Development Gateway portal aims to support sustainable development and poverty reduction through an Internet portal for sharing knowledge, tools, and resources for development practitioners. To encourage broad local and regional participation and content, the portal is networked with country-level portals called Country Gateways, which are locally owned and managed. Connie Eysenck, Development Gateway, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, USA, telephone +1-202/473-1884, e-mail <Ceysenck@worldbank.org>, website (www.developmentgateway.org). |
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| NON-PROLIFERATION PREPARATIONS | ||
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The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) held its first session at UN headquarters in New York from 8-19 April 2002. Working under the backdrop of the 11 September events and increasing tensions in the Middle East, the meeting sought to consider principles, objectives and ways to promote full implementation of the Treaty and its universality. In his opening statement, Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary for Disarmament Affairs said that since the 2000 NPT Review Conference and as a result of various events, the Chicago-based Doomsday Clock–a barometer of nuclear danger– had advanced by two minutes and now stands at seven minutes to twelve. In a factual summary presented at the meeting’s end, PrepCom Chairman Ambassador Henrik Salander (Sweden) said that States Parties had reaffirmed that preserving and strengthening the NPT is vital to peace and security, particularly as security and stability continue to be challenged throughout the world. He said that States Parties had emphasized the core principle of multilateralism in the area of disarmament and universality of the Treaty and called on the four States remaining outside the Treaty–Cuba, India, Israel and Pakistan–to accede to the NPT as non-nuclear weapon States. Support for internationally recognized nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZs) was expressed with particular attention paid to the situation in the Middle East, which has been unable to establish a NWFZ due to Israel’s standing outside the NPT, he said. Ambassador Salander said that concern was expressed around the decision by the United States to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, which could lead to a new arms race, including in outer space. Other main issues highlighted by the PrepCom Chair include: pursuing “good faith” negotiations on nuclear disarmament; establishing export control regimes; combating nuclear terrorism; strengthening nuclear safety, including maritime transportation; and clarifying reporting measures. Fourteen NGO representatives from ten countries addressed the PrepCom and made specific recommendations, most of which were preventive in nature. NGOs argued that negative security assurances–pledges by nuclear weapons States not to use weapons against non-nuclear weapons States–should be made legally binding. Recently, the US and the UK have said they would not rule out the possibility of using nuclear weapons against States that use or threaten to use biological or chemical weapons. NGOs also recommended that the Security Council should address nuclear disarmament and implement Article 26 of the UN Charter which outlines the Council’s responsibility to establish a system for the regulation of armaments. NGOs called for the establishment of a permanent secretariat for the NPT suggesting that such a secretariat would not only act as a repository of information and focal point, but could also develop informed recommendations for the full NPT body and Security Council. The NPT is the cornerstone of global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, while guaranteeing the benefits of the peaceful application of nuclear energy. Since its entry into force in 1970, membership to the Treaty has grown to 187 States Parties, while four States have yet to sign. The two remaining sessions of the PrepCom are scheduled to take place in Geneva from 28 April to 9 May 2003 and in New York from 26 April to 7 May 2004.Contact: Department of Disarmament Affairs, United Nations, Room S-3170, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 1570, fax +1-212/963 1121, website (www.un.org/depts/dda/WMD/NPT/index.html). Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), 777 UN Plaza, 6th Floor, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/682 1265, fax +1-212/286 8211, e-mail <info@reachingcriticalwill.org>, website (www.reachingcriticalwill.org/npt/nptindex.html). |
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| DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE IN CHINA | ||
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The United Nations Disarmament Information Programme, the Department for Disarmament Affairs (DDA) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China co-hosted an international conference in Beijing from 2-4 April 2002, on the theme of “A Disarmament Agenda for the 21st Century.” The conference was attended by over 40 invited participants from 29 nations in North and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, including ambassadors, senior government officials, scholars, experts from research institutes, parliamentarians, and representatives of several NGOs. The conference took place in the context of new international concerns over the prospects for past and ongoing efforts to eliminate weapons of mass destruction–in particular nuclear weapons–and to strengthen controls over conventional weapons. Hopes for progress in these fields have been overshadowed by growing fears of new arms races, global military competition, and other signs of deteriorating conditions of international peace and security. Addressing the conference, Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, said, “In these times, the world faces no greater need than the imperative for progress in this troubled field. The calamitous events of September 11 last year should only serve to redouble our efforts, not to divert them. Yet our journey is hindered by weapon-based security concepts, conflicts, mounting civilian casualties, and lost opportunities for social and economic progress as growing shares of the world’s treasuries are diverted each year to military uses.” “Treaty obligations–particularly those relating to the disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, along with their associated multilateral regimes and institutions–together offer us the signposts we must all follow on our long common journey ahead. Yet our collective efforts are hindered by the rise of unilateral actions in both these areas that jeopardize the common effort…. The existing machinery to negotiate and implement disarmament norms is being neglected. There is an urgent need in the new millennium and new century to revitalize the quest for multilateral disarmament as the most certain route to international peace and security.” Saying that the United Nations Charter and the Millennium Declaration offer “alternative roadmaps” towards the peaceful resolution of disputes, as well as viewing social and economic development as a path to peace, Mr. Dhanapala said, “Our journey, in short, has come to a crossroads, and the world must chose which guide it wishes to follow–I hope that the deliberations…will result in new insights that will enable the world community to choose its future path wisely.” The meeting sought to clarify existing threats and to explore new ways to overcome obstacles in achieving global disarmament goals. Participants addressed issues on the international disarmament agenda including: defence doctrines; nuclear disarmament; preventing an arms race in outer space; conventional weapons; and missile proliferation and missile defence. Contact: UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations, New York NY 10017, USA, e-mail <ddaweb@un.org>, website (www.un.org/Depts/dda). |
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| UNDP BRIEFS ECOSOC ON AFGHANISTAN UNDP BRIEFS ECOSOC ON AFGHANISTAN | ||
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Acting in his function as head of UN efforts for recovery and reconstruction in Afghanistan, Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Chairman of the United Nations Development Group, briefed the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on UN activities in Afghanistan on 18 April 2002. Accompanying Mr. Malloch Brown was Assistant Administrator and Director of UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention Julia Taft. Mr. Malloch Brown highlighted four key dimensions of the UN’s work to date in Afghanistan. Singling out the principle of Afghan ownership of the development process as the most important, he underlined the fact that the reconstruction and recovery process was driven by the Afghans themselves, which provided a critical political foundation for the social and economic challenge of rebuilding Afghanistan. The Afghan people’s determination to re-establish a government that responded to people’s aspirations, respected human rights, and was committed to the education of all children regardless of age and gender, had already resulted in significant achievements such as the “Back to School Campaign” which enabled 1.7 million Afghan boys and girls to return to school in March 2002, he told ECOSOC. The second key dimension was the strong and coordinated support of the UN to the Afghan Interim Authority, under the direction and leadership of Special Representative of the Secretary-General Lakhdar Brahimi and his deputy for development and humanitarian affairs Nigel Fisher. According to Mr. Malloch Brown, a critical breakthrough for the management of UN operations in Afghanistan was the integration of political and security leadership with that of reconstruction and relief operations. Thirdly, he said, the UN’s partnership with the Bretton Woods institutions (BWIs) had been broadly constructive. Coordination and cooperation had improved markedly as a result of lessons learned from East Timor and other previous cases of reconstruction efforts. The fourth key dimension of UN efforts in Afghanistan was the strong and generous support of the international community. Despite the fact that the UN operation in Afghanistan had gone well, Mr. Malloch Brown reminded the participants that significant challenges still remained. Among the most pressing was the security situation, which continued to worsen, partly due to limited international commitment. Contact: Sarbuland Khan, Director, Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Room DC1-1428, United Nations, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 3068, fax +1-212/963 1712, website (www.un.org). |
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| MOU SIGNED ON INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS | ||
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The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Kenzo Oshima, and the Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, Francis Deng, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve UN efforts to respond to the crisis of internal displacement around the world. The MoU identifies specific ways in which Mr. Deng’s office and the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Unit of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) can cooperate to best meet the needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs). An estimated 20-25 million people have been displaced within their own countries as a result of armed conflict, while natural disasters have displaced another 25 million. As they are not covered by the same legal regime and assistance programmes that benefit refugees, these populations require the ad hoc support of the international community to meet their urgent humanitarian needs. By the terms of the agreement, the two units will jointly design and develop strategies for the promotion, dissemination and application of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the Handbook for Applying the Principles. They will coordinate their field visits to maximize their impact, build upon each other’s findings, and ensure follow-up action. The two units will also collaborate in the development of policy and research on IDP issues and in the planning of joint activities. OCHA’s IDP Unit and the Representative of the Secretary-General will also undertake joint advocacy activities to further raise the international community’s awareness of the plight of millions of IDPs and their need for protection and assistance. |
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| IASC WARNS OF FOOD INSECURITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA | ||
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The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) has expressed concern that a number of countries within southern Africa will require a significant increase in humanitarian assistance in 2002, saying that the present food security situation in the region is the worst since 1992–when effective collaboration among governments, Southern African Development Community (SADC), humanitarian partners and donors averted famine in the face of a devastating drought. Ten years later, the factors contributing to the crisis are numerous and vary from country to country, and include drought, floods, disruptions to commercial farming, depletion of strategic grain reserves, poor economic performance, foreign exchange shortages and delays in the timely importation of maize, according to IASC. Significant increases in the price of maize have undermined access to food for large segments of the population within the region. The crisis is compounded by the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS. Inadequate food availability and consumption places an even greater strain on those affected by HIV/AIDS and the family members struggling to care for them. HIV/AIDS increases household vulnerability to food insecurity, IASC say, by disproportionately affecting working-age people. It reduces the amount and quality of land cultivated as well as incomes and purchasing power for those employed in other sectors. It also adds to the disease burden (tuberculosis, cholera and others) that the population faces along with food insecurity. IASC states that although the approaching harvest season (April-June) should provide short-term relief for some of the 2.7 million persons currently affected, many vulnerable households will continue to require emergency assistance. The Committee projects that the food security situation in the second half of 2002 and into early 2003 is expected to significantly worsen in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Households in pockets of Lesotho, Mozambique and Swaziland are also experiencing serious food shortages. Among those affected are 125,000 refugees in Malawi and Zambia who depend upon food aid for their survival. The 117,000 refugees in Zambia have only received half rations during the first quarter of this year due to gaps in resources. IASC says joint assessment missions focusing on crop production, access to food and other essential needs, such as nutrition and health, will be undertaken in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe in order to qualify the dimensions of the humanitarian crisis within individual countries and regionally. The IASC, comprised of several UN agencies and formed in 1992 by GA Resolution 46/182, serves as the primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination relating to humanitarian assistance. Objectives of the IASC in complex and major emergencies are as follows: develop and agree on system-wide humanitarian policies; allocate responsibilities among agencies in humanitarian programmes; develop and agree on a common ethical framework for all humanitarian activities; advocate common humanitarian principles to parties outside the IASC; identify areas where gaps in mandates or lack of operational capacity exist; and resolve disputes or disagreement about and between humanitarian agencies on system-wide humanitarian issues. More information can be found on the IASC website (www.reliefweb.int/iasc). |
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| FAO REGIONAL CONFERENCES | ||
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In preparation for the World Food Summit: five years later (WFS:fyl), to be held in Rome from 10-13 June 2002, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held two regional conferences (see NGLS Roundup 86). The 26th FAO Regional Conference for the Near East met in Tehran (Iran) from 9-13 March 2002, where agriculture ministers and delegates from 24 Near East countries endorsed the creation of an International Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty. “Such an alliance could be the tangible expression of reinforced political will and an important step towards removing the despair and anger that are so favourable to extremism,” FAO Director General Jacques Diouf said. To mitigate the negative repercussions of recurring drought on agricultural production in the region, Member States requested FAO’s support in establishing and operating a recently launched regional network on drought management for the Near East and North Africa. The conference called on Member States to adopt policies conducive to the strengthening of regional cooperation to increase interregional agricultural trade, to combat transboundary pest and animal health diseases, and to implement joint research and biotechnology programmes. Thirty-six national and regional non-governmental and civil society organizations from 15 countries held a regional consultation in Tehran and presented their recommendations to the FAO ministerial conference. Official and non-governmental leaders of agriculture called for the highest possible political participation at the WFS:fyl to reach the level of commitment necessary to effectively combat food insecurity in the region and the world. The 27th Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Havana (Cuba), from 22-26 April 2002, and ended with a call for intensified efforts against hunger, which afflicts 54 million people in the region. Dr. Diouf said that without substantial improvements in reducing malnutrition and hunger, progress would be impossible in other areas of combating poverty, such as health and education. He also warned representatives of the region’s weak and erratic agricultural growth during the last ten years, even though agriculture is strategically important to the social and economic wellbeing of people in the region. Recognizing the need to mobilize resources for the struggle against hunger, the conference reiterated the need for the developed countries to honour their commitments to dedicate 0.7% of their gross national product (GNP) to official development assistance (ODA). A decision was also made on a proposal to be tabled during the WFS:fyl to establish an intergovernmental working group in FAO to draw up a Voluntary Code of Conduct on the Right to Food over a two-year period. The conference requested FAO to support the training of experts to improve the negotiating capacity of countries in the region with regards to World Trade Organization (WTO) trade negotiations, in order to reduce their disadvantage in relation to the developed countries. The conference also requested FAO to support the development of programmes focused on women and young rural people, and to continue to promote South-South cooperation, particularly through the FAO Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS). The conference heard the final Declaration and the Plan of Action approved by the Second Regional Consultation of Non-Governmental and Civil Society Organizations, which preceded the conference and was attended by representatives of more than 42 organizations in the region. The final document supports WFS:fyl and states, among other things, that the reasons for hunger are not so much a lack of food production, but rather the unequal distribution of productive resources and income in the countries of the region. Contact: Information Division, FAO, Via delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3625, fax +39-06/5705 3699, e-mail <media-office@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org). |
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The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), established in 1997 by the US-based Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was formally inaugurated on 4 April 2002 at UN headquarters in New York. An international sustainability reporting institution, its mandate is to develop globally applicable guidelines for reporting on economic, environmental, and social performance. GRI says a generally accepted framework for sustainability reporting will enable corporations, governments, NGOs, investors, labour, and other stakeholders to gauge the progress of organizations in their implementation of voluntary initiatives and toward other practices supportive of sustainable development. “Corporate disclosure, transparency and reporting will be important stories in 2002,” said CERES Executive Director and GRI Board member Robert Kinloch Massie. “But it’s not only because of Enron. The GRI marks the dawn of a new era of corporate transparency. By providing standardized disclosure guidelines for reporting on economic, environmental and social performance, GRI greatly improves the prospects for aligning business interests with societal interests.” Recently, the GRI and the UN’s Global Compact have joined forces to form a cooperative framework. Companies endorsing the Global Compact’s nine principles–which cover human, labour and environmental rights in order to promote cooperative solutions to the challenge of globalization–may now use GRI reporting to fulfil Global Compact participation expectations. As a result of this collaboration, GRI will begin communicating directly with all companies participating in the Global Compact. GRI says it expects that this will result in a significant increase in the number of companies that both engage in the GRI and adopt the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. Mr. Massie said, “We believe this cooperation strengthens the Global Compact by creating an accountability mechanism for Compact endorsers. We look forward to Global Compact companies accepting this invitation to adopt the GRI Guidelines and join the growing list of GRI reporters worldwide. This is a triple win for GRI, the Global Compact, and corporate accountability in general.” Reacting to a report on corporate social responsibility based on GRIs, Paul Hawken, founder of the Sausalito-based Natural Capital Institute, writes, “At this juncture in our history, as companies and governments turn their attention to sustainability, it is critical that the meaning of sustainability not get lost in the trappings of corporate speak. There is a growing worldwide movement towards corporate responsibility and sustainability, led in many cases by companies whose history and products have brought damage and suffering to the world. I am concerned that good housekeeping practices such as recycled hamburger shells will be confused with creating a just and sustainable world. Transnational corporations such as McDonalds and their associated lobbyists and trade associations have led efforts to Americanize trade through representatives at the World Trade Organization (WTO). They have prevented the strengthening of environmental and labour laws and they have led the effort to eliminate the ability of smaller, more vulnerable nations to determine their economic destiny. In other words, they embrace ‘sustainability’ as long as they can make money and it doesn’t change their overall purpose, which is to grow faster than the overall world economy and population and increase their share of the world’s economic output to the benefit of small number of shareholders.” Contact: Global Reporting Initiative, Interim Secretariat, 11 Arlington Street, Boston MA 02116, USA, telephone +1-617/266 9384, fax +1-617/267 5400, e-mail <info@globalreporting.org>, website (www.globalreporting.org). Global Compact, e-mail <globalcompact@un.org>, website (www.globalcompact.org). Nick Parker, Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, 398 60th Street, Oakland CA 94618, USA, telephone +1-510/654 4400, fax +1-510/654 4551, e-mail <nparker@foodfirst.org>, website (www.foodfirst.org). |
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| CBD COP-6 ADOPTS GUIDELINES ON GLOBAL RESOURCES | ||
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The sixth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) took place at The Hague (Netherlands) from 7-19 April 2002, bringing together over 2,000 participants including representatives from 166 governments, as well as United Nations agencies, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and indigenous and local community organizations. COP-6 adopted detailed guidelines on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing, an international work programme on forests, and guiding principles on combating alien invasive species. “This conference marks a major turning point for the Convention and has helped move us from policy development to implementation, from dialogue to action,” said Geke Faber, President of the meeting and Vice Minister of Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries (Netherlands). The Ministerial Declaration underlines actions based on ethics, urges synergies with biodiversity-related conventions, reconfirms commitment to implement an expanded forest work programme, and sets a target of 2010 for the adoption of measures to halt biodiversity loss, among others. It also calls upon the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), to be held in Johannesburg (South Africa) in August 2002, to reaffirm the need for capacity building, transfer of technology and financial resources, and protection of traditional knowledge and communities’ rights. The Guidelines on genetic resources promise to improve the way foreign companies, collectors, researchers and other users gain access to genetic resources in return for sharing the benefits with the countries of origin and with local and indigenous communities. They advise governments on how to set fair and practical conditions for users seeking genetic resources (such as plants that can be used to produce new pharmaceuticals or fragrances). In return, these users must offer benefits such as profits, royalties, scientific collaboration, or training. The Guidelines were developed in response to growing concerns in many developing countries that the commercial and scientific gains realized from their genetic resources were being reaped only by bio-prospectors based in foreign countries. “Although voluntary, these new Guidelines establish generally accepted norms that promise a fairer, more collaborative approach to access and benefit-sharing as regards genetic resources,” said Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose auspices the Convention was adopted. “Contracts based on the Guidelines will give biodiversity-rich countries additional incentives to conserve and sustainably use their resources. They will offer local and indigenous communities with traditional knowledge fair compensation. And they will ensure a good deal for seed companies, plant breeders, and industries seeking genetic resources,” said Hamdallah Zedan, CBD Executive Secretary. The NGO Caucus, expressing a number of concerns, said that COP-6 had failed to achieve any substantive agreements to protect biodiversity. While the Caucus admitted that COP-6 had achieved a work programme on forests, it said the programme was weakened by a lack of clear international priorities and timelines. The Caucus stressed the need for legally binding commitments on access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing (ABS) and alien invasive species. The Caucus also endorsed full application of the Precautionary Principle. The seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties will take place in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) in the first quarter of 2004. Contact: Michael Williams, Information Officer, UNEP, International Environment House, 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.biodiv.org). |
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| CITES LIFTS TRADE MEASURES | ||
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Standing Committee on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), closing its four-day meeting
held in Geneva from 12-15 March, agreed to lift or modify imposed
trade measures in response to pledges by governments to reform their
wildlife management and trade practices. CITES was adopted in 1973
to ensure that international trade, estimated to be worth billions
of dollars and to include hundreds of millions of plant and animal
specimens, does not threaten their survival.
Based on reform pledges made by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the CITES Standing Committee has agreed to withdraw in three phases its earlier recommendation to suspend trade with the country. Kenneth Stansell, Chairman of the Standing Committee, said the meeting had demonstrated that “the CITES regime is effective because we can create powerful incentives for motivating governments to follow the rules and cooperate with one another.” The CITES Secretariat also approved new quotas for caviar and sturgeon meat exports from the Caspian Sea, recognizing that the five Caspian States (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and Turkmenistan) had met the requirements by establishing a unified system for surveying and managing sturgeon stocks. However, the Secretariat also pointed out that illegal harvesting and unregulated domestic consumption continue to threaten the long-term survival of Caspian Sea sturgeon species. The Russian Federation, responding to this concern as well as to a Secretariat report on enforcement needs, pledged to: —regulate all stages of caviar
production, from harvesting to packing; “These steps are vital to Russia’s battle against dealers in illegal caviar. I welcome the Government’s very positive response to our report’s recommendations,” said CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers. The Committee also considered the case of four other States that had been given a 31 December 2001 deadline for adopting national legislation on endangered wildlife trade at the risk of complete suspension of all CITES-related trade. Fiji, a major exporter of coral, Vietnam, a country rich in wildlife resources, and Turkey, battling with the transhipment of illegal caviar, were able to adopt legislation and avoid suspension measures. Yemen, however, has had all trade suspended and CITES plans to work closely with its government to help develop legislation and train enforcement officers. Although legally binding on the Parties, the Convention does not take the place of national laws but provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt its own domestic legislation to make sure that CITES is implemented at the national level. The 12th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES will be held in Santiago (Chile) from 3-15 November 2002. Contact: CITES Secretariat, 15 chemin des Anèmones, CH-1219 Chatelâine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 8139 or 917 8140, fax +41-22/797 3417, e-mail <cites@unep.ch>, website (www.cites.org). |
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Scientists with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), have found that over 40 glacial lakes, high in the Himalayas, could burst their banks and send floodwater down valleys, putting many lives at risk. The lakes are rapidly filling with icy water as rising temperatures in the region accelerate the melting of glaciers and snowfields that feed them, UNEP says. In Nepal, for example, data from 49 monitoring stations reveals a clear increase in temperature since the mid-1970s, with the highest temperatures found at higher altitudes. Surendra Shrestha, Regional Coordinator in Asia for UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment, said: “Our findings indicate that 2 | ||