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 Elcetronic 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 Global Fund Holds 2nd Meeting, Awards Country Projects Calendar Guest Editorial:Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, Executive Director, (UN Habitat)

TOP	Developing Countries: Trading More, Earning Less, Says UNCTAD
	The 2002 edition of the Trade and Development Report, produced by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) warns that while developing countries trade volumes have increased over the years, they have not been rewarded by a comparative increase in their share of export income. What are the implications for the post-Doha multilateral trade agenda of the World Trade Organization (WTO)? Since the 1980s, according to the report, merchandise exports from developing countries (growing at 11.3% a year) have not only outpaced the world average (8.4%); there has also been a significant shift away from primary commodities to manufactures, which now account for 70% of developing countries’ exports. However, taking these trade statistics at face value, the report says, can be misleading. With the exception of a few East Asian countries, the countries where an increasing share of technology-intensive, high-value added products appear to be exported from are often involved in the low-skill assembly stages of international production chains organized by transnational corporations (TNCs). This accounts in part why increasing trade volumes are not matched by export incomes. “On this score,” the report says, “a comparison between the developed and developing countries over the past two decades raises some initial worries. Although developed countries now have a lower share in world manufacturing exports, they have actually increased their share in world manufacturing value-added over this period. Developing countries, by contrast, have achieved a steeply rising ratio of manufactured exports to gross domestic product (GDP), but without a significant upward trend in the ratio of manufacturing value added to GDP.” The FDI-Trade Nexus The report notes that participation in the labour-intensive segments of international production networks can yield considerable benefits for countries in the early stages of industrialization and with a great deal of “surplus labour.” It can enable them, among other potential benefits, to increase employment and per capita income even when the value-added generated is low. However, the report cautions against assuming that this would constitute a leap into a new pattern of rapid and sustained industrial growth, and would present a number of potential pitfalls. Such global production networks allow TNCs a great deal of more flexibility in and control over their choice of investment locations. Their productive assets, such as know-how, design and technology, “can be locked more tightly inside the firm” thanks to barriers of entry that result from the high costs of managing and coordinating such complex units. The packaged nature of foreign direct investment (FDI) can, in these circumstances, “be the cause of a highly skewed distribution of the gains from trade and investment unless local bargaining power can bring a more balanced outcome, as it did for the first-tier East Asian economies.” However, the report warns, “replicating the success of those countries is all the more difficult where such investment is highly mobile: locational advantages are easily won and lost through small cost changes or the emergence of alternative sites, giving rise to the danger of enclave economies where there is a persistently high dependence on imported inputs such as capital and intermediate goods.” Exacerbated Competition and Oversupply Related problems analysed in the report include exacerbated competition among developing countries and what economists refer to as the “fallacy of composition” problem (when an oversupply of a commodity on the global market resulting from a simultaneous boost of exports by several countries leads to declining prices per unit of exports). The report emphasizes that “a simultaneous export drive by developing countries in labour-intensive manufactures, or increased competition among them to attract FDI as locations for labour-intensive processes of otherwise high-tech activities organized in international production networks, could rekindle the fallacy of composition problem, upsetting the development aspirations of outward-oriented economies and creating serious systemic tensions in the trading system.” The dangers of overproducing standardized mass products with a high import dependence, the report says, are already exemplified by the electronics sector, where developing country export prices appear to be more volatile and to have fallen more steeply after 1995 than the same products traded among developed countries. The report notes that competitive pressures are further compounded by the way labour markets in developing countries accommodate the additional supply of labour-intensive goods through flexible wages, allowing firms to compete on the basis of price without undermining profitability. “Competition among firms, including international firms, in developing countries becomes competition among labour located in different countries.” Lessons for the Post-Doha Agenda The analyses in the report indicate quite clearly that “getting the most out of the international trading system is no longer just a matter of shifting away from commodity exports.” Nor is it enough to simply bargain for more market access in the protected markets of industrialized countries. In reviewing the post-Doha programme of work agreed to at the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the WTO (see Go Between 89), the report notes that the outcome of the new round of trade negotiations “will be judged by the extent to which developing countries achieve greater market access without their policy options being restricted.” The report stresses this point particularly in relation to possible new negotiations at the WTO on investment, competition policy, and transparency in government procurement. “These issues,” the report says, “move the WTO negotiations further into domestic policy, and it is reasonable to believe that a successful outcome will be conditional on establishing the development content of these issues from the outset, and ensuring appropriate policy space for national development strategies.” On investment specifically, the report stresses that a key question will be the extent to which developing countries will be allowed to continue to impose conditions on foreign investors and to provide support to domestic firms. Contact: Yilmaz Akyuz, Director, Division on Globalization and Development Strategies, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 5841, fax +41-22/917 0045, e-mail <yilmaz.akyuz@unctad.org>, website (www.unctad.org).
TOP	WTO Symposium on the “Doha Development Agenda”
	From 29 April-1 May 2002, some 700 participants from governments, national parliaments, NGOs, the media and academia participated in a symposium organized by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva on the “Doha Development Agenda.” The meeting was an opportunity for participants to discuss the prospects of the new multilateral trade negotiations agenda agreed to at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference held last November in Doha (Qatar). Issues covered at the various plenary and parallel work sessions ranged from prospective development objectives of the Doha agenda, food dumping, the so-called “new issues,” negotiations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), links between trade and environment, and matters pertaining to WTO governance. A new feature–as compared with previous symposia held at the WTO–was the opportunity given to NGOs to organize some of their own sessions as part of the official meeting. WTO Director-General Mike Moore said the Doha work programme has been discussed in many intergovernmental meetings since November, “but has not yet been given the public hearing it deserves. That is your job.” A Genuine Development Round? A major concern expressed by numerous participants at the opening session and throughout the symposium was whether progress on the “development objectives” of the Doha agenda (including the dismantling of agricultural export subsidies by major industrialized countries, and strengthening the legal and operational status of special and differential treatment for developing countries), would be conditioned by the outcome of possible negotiations on “new issues” such as investment and competition policy. Negotiations on new issues could begin after the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference, scheduled to take place in Cancun (Mexico) from 10-14 September 2003, if consensus is reached on modalities of negotiations. During the opening panel, former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, who was also chair of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Panel on Financing for Development, said the central problem with the Doha agenda is that there is still ambiguity as to whether new issues will be treated as part of a “single undertaking”–where resolution of all areas of negotiation are dependent on each other. If this is the case, Mr. Zedillo asked, would it mean that “developed countries have every excuse to walk away from their Doha commitments” if new issues are not dealt with to their satisfaction? He warned that if no formulas were found to clarify this issue before the next ministerial conference, the current process could implode. On the same panel, Executive Director of Oxfam International Jeremy Hobbs noted that the new round of negotiations is being dubbed a “development round” even though “developing countries are being asked to take on new issues that will primarily benefit rich economies and transnational corporations in return for progress on things they were promised ten years ago.” He argued that “industrial countries have been quick to load the WTO agenda with non-trade items at the behest of transnational corporations: TRIPs [Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights], GATS, competition and investment, but the single most important trade issue for least developed countries–the declining and volatile prices of commodities–is mysteriously absent…trade rules in this case means no rules.” He added that despite assurances that public services are not covered by GATS and that no member has entered into explicit commitments on water, the 1,000 page draft negotiation request from the European Union (leaked to the media the preceding week) demands opening essential services to foreign competition, such as water, sewage, telecommunications, post and financial services. “Sure, there is no compulsion yet,” Mr. Hobbs said, “but it is an obvious indication that the price of dismantling European subsidies and tariffs is untrammelled market-access to services in developing countries.” Free-trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati, for his part, said that the proliferation of such “non-trade issues” risks wrecking the world trading system and turning the WTO into “an instrument of assault on developing countries.” Ambassador Sun Zhenyu of China (which formally acceded to the WTO at Doha) warned not to “bring in too many issues in new negotiations” in the face of the short 1 January 2005 deadline for completion of the Doha agenda. Trade and Environment The Doha negotiations include an examination of the relationship between existing WTO rules and the specific trade obligations set out in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). Tony Juniper, Vice Chairman of Friends of the Earth International, acknowledged the importance of undertaking such a review, but suggested it is not a sufficient step in seeking to identify and manage the environmental and sustainable development consequences of free trade. He expressed concern that “clarifying the relationship between MEAs and trade rules in a trade forum might actually lead to a de facto weakening of the MEAs and a more institutionalized notion of what now happens in practice–which is to give precedence to trade rules over environmental ones.” This concern was echoed by a representative of Greenpeace and a number of other participants. Instead, Mr. Juniper called for a broader review of the social and environmental impacts of multilateral trade rules and economic liberalization policies more generally (as a large coalition of civil society groups around the world have been calling for since the build-up to the Third WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle in 1999). In particular, he suggested that no negotiations on competition and investment issues should be launched before the implications of their possible introduction in the WTO negotiating agenda are studied and “fully understood.” Trade and Social Issues During one of the work sessions dedicated to trade and social development, many participants argued against the use of the WTO’s power of sanctions to enforce labour standards. A representative of India suggested trade sanctions against sectors using child labour, for instance, may simply displace children into even worse forms of child labour such as drugs and prostitution. Trade union representatives agreed that positive measures based on incentives and aid was the appropriate approach to promote labour standards around the world. It was noted that in the case of gross violations of core labour standards, such as the widespread use of prison labour in Myanmar, the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) has recommended the imposition of sanctions. While there was general agreement that monitoring compliance with labour standards should remain under the ILO’s jurisdiction, it was suggested that there were still links to the WTO: namely to ensure that WTO rules do not prevent the implementation of ILO rulings. According to James Howard of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), some governments have invoked WTO rules as the reason for not applying sanctions against Myanmar. Trade Governance Issues A number of working sessions were dedicated to questions related to the governance of the international trading regime. One recurring theme was the proliferation of regional and bilateral trade/investment treaties, which some participants suggested tilted bargaining relationships even more in favour of the major trading powers. These may include, for instance, so-called “TRIPs plus” clauses that require more stringent intellectual property protection then under WTO rules. However, it was also suggested that the current application of the principle of “decisions reached by consensus” at the WTO posed its own problems in terms of assymetrical bargaining relationships between developed and developing countries. In the final plenary session, Shalmali Guttal from Focus on the Global South, reporting back on a work session on “internal transparency” and decision-making at the WTO asked: “Why it is that developing countries enter into a negotiation with well-researched common positions and end up backing down and agreeing to what developed countries wanted?” She proposed that one reason might be the bilateral aid and trade pressures exercised in the margins of a WTO meeting, which she described as “gentle reminders” by the major trading powers of what a particular developing country gets out in terms of bilateral support. She said that new ways should be found to “safeguard the integrity of the decision-making process.” In this connection, Caroline Lucas, Member of the European Parliament, said in one of the work sessions that the role of parliamentarians should go further than monitoring and ratifying trade agreements, which are often presented to the legislature by the executive branch as a fait accompli. She made the case for a Parliamentary Assembly of the WTO that would have a more prominent role to play in the form of parliamentary scrutiny and wider efforts to reform WTO processes and rules. During the discussion, the question was raised as to whether one body or a proliferation of parliamentary bodies was preferable in view of efforts to ensure coherence between the WTO rules and agreements adopted in UN bodies. Contact: Bernard Kuiten, External Relations Officer, WTO, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, Case postale, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland, telephone +41-22 /739 5676, fax +41-22/ 739 5777, website (www.wto.org).
TOP	Oxfam Launches New Trade Campaign
	On 11 April 2002, Oxfam International launched a three-year international campaign entitled Make Trade Fair. The stated goals are “to change the rules so that trade can become part of the solution to poverty, not part of the problem.” The campaign, which was simultaneously launched in 21 countries, has already led to a wide range of reactions from international organizations and civil society groups. The Make Trade Fair campaign is backed by a report, Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalization and Fight Against Poverty, which denounces what it calls the rhetoric of rich country governments who constantly stress their commitment to poverty reduction, but use their trade policy “to conduct what amounts to robbery against the world’s poor.” The report says developing countries’ lack of access to rich country markets (which costs them US$100 billion a year–twice as much as they receive in aid) is only one example of unfair trade rules, or of the “double standards” of northern governments. While rich countries keep high trade barriers against developing countries’ exports, Oxfam asserts, the governments of the same countries have been acting through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to pressure developing countries to rapidly open their own markets, “often with damaging consequences for poor communities.” Problems with Rapid Import Liberalization The report gives several examples of the damages caused by rapid import liberalization to poor communities in developing countries. For instance, Haiti was pressurised in 1995 to slash its import tax on rice from 35% to 3% virtually overnight. The sudden import surge of rice (much of which was cheap, heavily subsidized rice from the United States) has, according to Oxfam, been devastating for Haiti’s rice farmers. The livelihood of some 93,000 families who are dependent on rice growing are said to be in peril as a result. The report cites many other such examples, including the impact of European milk dumping on Jamaica’s dairy farmers. Using an indicator of openness based on the speed and scale of import liberalization, the report argues that many of the countries that are said to be integrating most successfully into world markets–such as China, Thailand and Viet Nam–are not rapid import liberalizers. “Conversely,” it says, “many rapid import liberalisers have a weak record on poverty reduction, despite following the spirit and the letter of World Bank-IMF policy advice.” Flaws in the Global Trading Regime The report also highlights the problem of low and unstable commodity prices, “which consigns millions of people to poverty,” and which has not been seriously addressed by the world community. “Meanwhile,” it says, “powerful transnational companies (TNCs) have been left free to engage in investment and employment practices which contribute to poverty and insecurity, unencumbered by anything other than weak voluntary codes.” The World Trade Organization (WTO), it adds, “is another part of the problem.” Many of its rules on intellectual property, investment and services, it says “protect the interests of rich countries and powerful TNCs, while imposing huge costs on developing countries. The WTO’s bias in favour of the self-interest of rich countries and big corporations raises fundamental questions about its legitimacy.” In particular, the report warns that implementation of the WTO’s Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement is expected to cost developing countries US$40 billion a year in the form of license payments to northern-based TNCs. Oxfam describes the TRIPs agreement as “an act of institutionalized fraud, sanctioned by WTO rules.” Main Policy Goals of the Campaign The report contains a very wide-ranging set of recommendations. Oxfam’s main policy goals are the following: —“Improving market access for poor countries and ending the cycle of subsidized agricultural over-production and export dumping by rich countries. —Ending the use of conditions attached to IMF-World Bank programmes that force poor countries to open their markets regardless of the impact on poor people. —Creating a new international commodities institution to promote diversification and end over-supply, in order to raise prices to levels consistent with a reasonable standard of living for producers, and changing corporate practices so that companies pay fair prices. —Establishing new intellectual-property rules to ensure that poor countries are able to afford new technologies and basic medicines, and that farmers are able to save, exchange, and sell seeds. —Prohibiting rules that force governments to liberalize or privatize basic services that are vital for poverty reduction. —Enhancing the quality of private-sector investment and employment standards. —Democratizing the WTO to give poor countries a stronger voice. —Changing national policies on health, education, and governance so that poor people can develop their capabilities, realize their potential, and participate in markets on more equitable terms.” Initial Reactions to the Campaign In a message to Oxfam International, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that “several messages and warnings contained in Oxfam’s report represent common goals of the international community, and should be translated into actions by governments and other actors throughout the world.” WTO Director-General Mike Moore also welcomed the report and said he hoped government officials would read it. He expressed the WTO secretariat’s disagreements with Oxfam’s criticisms of some of WTO’s rules and said the report does not adequately reflect the secretariat’s current efforts to increase the technical and negotiating capacity of developing countries. Most of the issues raised in the Oxfam report echo the views of many NGO advocacy groups, such as on problems related to developing countries’ rapid import-liberalization programmes, export dumping by the North, TRIPs and supporting the right of developing countries to protect their own agriculture to promote food security and rural livelihoods (through a “Development Box”-type instrument in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture described below). However, Oxfam’s position on market access has spurred a vigorous debate among some civil society actors on the potential dangers of export-led growth and the impact of trade liberalization on poor communities in the North. This debate is likely to deepen in the course of the three-year campaign. Contact: Kevin Watkins, Oxfam International, Suite 20, 266 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DL, UK, telephone +44-1865/313939, fax +44-1865/313770, e-mail <information@oxfaminternational.org>, website (www.oxfaminternational.org). A special website was created for the campaign (www.maketradefair.com). The idea of introducing a package of enhanced special and differential treatment measures for developing countries in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture has been termed a “Development Box.” Unlike the existing Blue and Green Boxes, whose provisions institutionalize the agricultural support policies of industrialized countries, a Development Box would provide greater flexibility for developing countries to implement policies that strengthen their domestic production, promote food security, and maintain and improve rural livelihoods. The Development Box provisions would aim to protect poor farmers from surges of cheap or unfairly subsidized imports, enhance the efficiency of developing countries’ domestic food production capacity, particularly in key staple crops, and provide and sustain existing employment and livelihood opportunities for the rural poor. Specific instruments would include exempting food security crops from trade liberalization commitments, allowing developing countries the flexibility to raise tariffs against cheap agricultural imports that are damaging domestic food production, and exempting government subsidies for low-income producers from liberalization commitments. Source: Rigged Rules and Double Standards: Trade, Globalization and Fight Against Poverty
TOP	New Partnership for Africa’s Development
	The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), an initiative of the leaders of Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa focuses on issues around democratization, infrastructure development and investment. In a continuing effort to draw up a comprehensive African-led strategy on the continent’s development, Nigeria and Senegal hosted NEPAD meetings in March and April 2002. At the Second Meeting of the Heads of State Implementation Committee (HSIC) for NEPAD, held on 26 March 2002 in Abuja (Nigeria), participants adopted African Peer Review Mechanisms (APRMs) designed to help constitute a system of self-assessment to enhance African ownership of its development agenda, and produce policies for African countries that are based on best current knowledge and practices. The HSIC underlined the centrality of the commitment to peace and called for further action in early warning systems, post-conflict reconstruction and development; and illicit proliferation, circulation and trafficking in small arms and light weapons. At the Conference on the Financing of NEPAD held in Dakar (Senegal) from 15-17 April 2002, Chairperson of the NEPAD Steering Committee, Wiseman Nkulhu (South Africa) reported on how lead African governments were trying to build up support for the initiative by holding consultations with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), other UN agencies, European Union (EU), Government of Japan, World Economic Forum and the Group of Eight (G-8). Mr. Nkulhu said that a credible and concrete plan to “kick-start” the implementation of NEPAD would be ready for the upcoming G-8 meeting to be held in Kananaskis (Canada) in June 2002. The meeting, bringing together almost 1,000 representatives of the private sector with African Heads of State and Government, sought to discuss the economic, financial and business opportunities offered by NEPAD, and explore the financing of NEPAD projects within a “framework of strategic partnership.” It has been estimated that NEPAD will require US$64 billion for full implementation of its projects–a figure that President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal said should not be the starting point for implementation. “The problem is not to take all this and to bring it to the G-8 and say, please, you finance this,” he said. “My view is to ask the G-8 to help Africa to create the conditions that allow us to attract capital. It is not a problem of transferring money.” In his closing address to the meeting, which involved representatives of transnational corporations such as Coca Cola and Microsoft, Nigerian President Obasanjo tried to assuage investors’ fears and reiterated that priorities of the initiative were to root out corruption, ensure respect for human rights and encourage democracy through the APRMs. “We will say to ourselves: ‘Mr. President, what you do in your country is not good. Either you change or you get isolated.’” Background on NEPAD Having grown out of the New African Initiative (NAI), NEPAD became official in October 2001 after its policy framework had been finalized by the HSIC chaired by President Obasanjo. It is a “pledge by African leaders, based on a common vision and a firm and shared conviction, that they have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their countries… on a path of sustainable growth and development, and at the same time to participate actively in the world economy and body politic.” The priority areas identified by NEPAD include: conflict prevention, management and resolution; political governance; economic and corporate governance; Peer Review Mechanisms; revitalizing agricultural development; building up infrastructure networks to support information technologies, energy, transport, water and sanitation; and developing human resources in health and education. According to the NEPAD secretariat, this initiative holds more promise than previous attempts that faced Cold War dynamics, a lack of capacity for implementation and a lack of genuine political will. NEPAD has a three-tier governing structure consisting of the HSIC, chaired by President Obasanjo; the Steering Committee, composed of the personal representatives of the five initiating presidents, which develops terms of reference for identifying programmes and projects; and a secretariat based in South Africa. Civil Society Expresses Concern In the communiqué from the 26 March 2002 meeting, governments emphasized the necessity to popularize NEPAD within African societies as a means of deepening ownership and shared responsibility. However, some segments of civil society are critical of the fact that they were not consulted in the development of NEPAD and find it difficult now to “own it.” Akongo Oyugi of the Network for Social Development wrote in an opinion piece for the East African Standard, “It must be an issue of democratic process. What is done is just as important as how it is done.” NGOs, while supportive of the leadership being taken by African Heads of State, are concerned about the content of the initiative itself and its underlying principles. There is also concern that no parliaments in Africa have discussed NEPAD nor approved its adoption as a continental platform for development policy. The initiative places much emphasis on the role of the private sector and investment in driving development–something NGOs say comes without a strategy to regulate corporations. Contact: Wiseman Nkuhlu, NEPAD Steering Committee Chairman, NEPAD Secretariat, PO Box 1234, Midrand Halfway House, Midrand 1685, South Africa, telephone +27-11/313 3672, fax +27-11/313 3684, e-mail <wisemann@dbsa.org>, website (www.nepad.org).
TOP	G-8 Addresses African Second World Assembly on Ageing
	“In Africa, it is said that when an old man dies, a library vanishes. That proverb may vary among continents, but its meaning is equally true in any culture. Older persons are intermediaries between the past, the present and the future. Their wisdom and experience form a veritable lifeline in society.” —UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the Second World Assembly on Ageing. “As more people are better educated, live longer and stay healthy longer, older persons can and do make greater contributions to society than ever before,” UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said at the opening of the Second World Assembly on Ageing, held in Madrid (Spain) from 8-12 April 2002, adding that it was no longer just a “first world issue.” By 2050 the world will contain more people over 60 than under 15, for the first time in history, Mr. Annan highlighted. The aim of the conference was to advance the global ageing agenda beyond the 1982 Plan of Action (POA) adopted in Vienna (Austria) during the First World Assembly, and to address the global force of population ageing and its impact on development. Declaring that healthy ageing is vital for countries’ economic development, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland said that the challenge was to “turn the seismic demographic shift into a full benefit for society.” In order to achieve this, certain questions must be addressed, she said, including changes in lifestyles, prevention, and promotion of research and knowledge. “Poverty and social exclusion are the greatest obstacles to a secure and decent old age,” International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Juan Somavía said. “As repositories of knowledge, values and wisdom, they [older persons] play a decisive role in passing on cultural heritage from one generation to another. Sadly, we have begun to divorce ourselves from the way the elderly look at the world. Senior citizens are now seen as a ‘burden’ to be shed at the earliest of opportunity. This has to change,” he said. “The vitality of our societies increasingly depends on ensuring that people of all ages, including older people, have a decent income from work or retirement and are able to continue participating in the life of their communities through employment, volunteer work or other activities,” he added. The rights of older people and promotion of their rightful role in society, sustaining systems for social protection, and inter-generational solidarity were among the issues discussed during the Assembly. Poverty, illiteracy and the impact of poor health and HIV/AIDS were also debated. The Assembly ended after several hours of negotiations with the approval of two outcome documents, the Political Declaration and the Madrid International Plan of Action, which commit governments to meet the challenge of population ageing. They provide world policy makers with a set of 117 recommendations covering three main priority areas: older persons and development, advancing health and wellbeing into old age, and ensuring enabling and supportive environments. The POA states that the primary responsibility for implementation lies with governments, but stresses the necessity of partnerships with older persons, civil society, and the private sector. National and international follow-up measures should start with mainstreaming ageing and the concerns of older persons into national development frameworks. Research and technology should take into consideration the individual as well as the social and health implications of ageing, particularly in developing countries. At the global level the POA says that better coherence, governance and consistency are urgently needed in the international monetary, financial and trading systems, and calls for quick and concerted action to address the debt problems of developing countries. It also states that a substantial increase is required in official development assistance (ODA), if those nations are to reach agreed development goals. The First NGO World Forum on Ageing was also held in Madrid from 5-9 April, where over 3,500 representatives of NGOs from 116 countries gathered to consider future courses of action for the elderly, from humanitarian and social perspectives. A key recommendation of the NGO Declaration–Development and Rights of Older Persons–was the establishment of a special agency for older persons within the UN. However, the Forum concluded that the proposed agency would be impossible due to financial constraints, and instead recommended the establishment of a Special Rapporteur on Ageing, who would report on the progress in implementation of the POA. Another key recommendation of the NGO Forum that influenced the POA was the recognition of the caregiving role played by the grandparents of AIDS orphans. UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Nitin Desai commended NGOs for their work, and called for them to continue to advocate their concerns and hold their governments “accountable.” For the NGO HelpAge International, a key achievement of the Assembly and the new POA was the international acknowledgement, for the first time, that older people are a resource, not a burden. “The plan of action commits governments to recognize and reward the contributions of older people and to support their economic potential,” said HelpAge International’s Policy Manager Sylvia Beales. “Another breakthrough was the clear concern throughout the conference at the poverty of older people in the South, and the rising numbers predicted,” she added. HelpAge International says its policy watch programme will work with its partners, NGOs, civil society and governments to monitor how the Plan is implemented. Contact: Yao Ngoran, NGO Focal Point, Division of Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs  (DESA), United Nations, New York NY 10017, USA, fax +1-212/963 3062, e-mail <ngoran@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/socdev). Sarah Graham-Brown, Media Officer, HelpAge International, 1st Floor, York House, 207-221 Pentonville Road, London N1 9ZN, UK, telephone +44-20/7278 7778, e-mail <hai@helpage.org>, website (www.helpage.org).
TOP	Commission on Human Rights, 58th Session
	The 58th session of the Commission on Human Rights, held in Geneva from 18 March-26 April 2002, concluded its six-week session for 2002, having debated a wide range of issues, including the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and the effects on human rights of the post-11 September efforts to combat international terrorism. Post-Durban Follow-up Problems posed by racism figured prominently in the Commission’s deliberations. The Commission decided to establish a voluntary fund to provide, among other things, additional resources for the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the September 2001 World Conference Against Racism (WCAR). It requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit an analytical report at its next session on the extent of implementation of the Programme of Action of the Third Decade to Combat Racism. The Commission also decided to establish two new Working Groups related to the outcome of the WCAR. The first will be an intergovernmental Working Group to make recommendations on the effective implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, and the second a Working Group of five independent experts to study problems of racial discrimination faced by people of African descent living outside Africa following the slavery period. Human Rights and Fight Against Terrorism In presenting her annual report to the fifty-eighth session, High Commissioner Mary Robinson said she was concerned that counter-terrorism strategies pursued after the 11 September terrorist attacks against the United States had sometimes undermined international standards and had suppressed or restricted such individual rights as those to privacy, freedom of thought, presumption of innocence, a fair trial, and free expression and peaceful assembly. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in an address to the Commission on 12 April, said security against terrorism could not be achieved by sacrificing human rights–that “to try and do so would hand the terrorists a victory beyond their dreams.” Palestinian Occupied Territories In Resolution 2002/1, the Commission condemned the “frightening increase” in the loss of life during the invasion of Palestinian cities and villages by Israeli forces under way as the Commission met, and following an afternoon’s “special sitting” on the topic requested the High Commissioner to head a mission to travel immediately to the area and return expeditiously to submit its findings and recommendations.  When the High Commissioner later reported that she was unable to carry out the mission, the Commission expressed deep dismay that the trip had not been possible due to the “absence of a positive response from the occupying power” and even though “the human rights situation in the Palestinian occupied territory had continued to deteriorate.” A later resolution (2002/90) on the topic deplored again the refusal of Israel to allow the visit and endorsed a proposal by the High Commissioner for Human Rights for a comprehensive investigation into breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law during the Israeli military campaign in occupied Palestine. Draft Optional Protocols on Torture and ESC Rights The text of a draft optional protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, in negotiation for ten years, was adopted by the Commission as submitted by the Chairperson of the Working Group on the subject. The Commission recommended that the text, following its adoption by the General Assembly, be opened as early as possible for signature, ratification and accession. The optional protocol would allow experts to visit places of detention in countries that ratified it. The Commission renewed the mandate of its Independent Expert on the question of a draft optional protocol to the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and decided to establish, at its 59th session, an open-ended Working Group of the Commission to consider options regarding elaboration of a draft optional protocol. New Rapporteur on the Right to Health At the initiative of Brazil, the Commission decided in Resolution 2002/31 to appoint a Special Rapporteur for a three-year period whose mandate will focus on “the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.” The Special Rapporteur will report on the status of realization of the right to health throughout the world and “on developments relating to this right, including on laws, policies and good practices most beneficial to its enjoyment and obstacles encountered domestically and internationally to its implementation.” This new mechanism is the latest in a series, started in 1998, designed to strengthen economic, social and cultural rights on a par with civil and political rights (see NGLS Roundup, November 1998). Special Rapporteurs or Independent Experts already exist for the rights to housing, education, food, and on extreme poverty, the right to development and debt/structural adjustment. Procedural Problems For five of its six weeks of meetings, the Commission struggled to complete its agenda in the face of cuts to conference services decided by the General Assembly late last year that led to a prohibition of evening and night sessions. Debate had to be curtailed on several agenda items, with the result that numerous NGOs traveling from afar were unable to deliver statements although they were inscribed on the list of speakers. Special Rapporteurs, Representatives and Independent Experts of the Commission, as well as representatives of national human rights institutions, also criticized the curtailment of their speaking time and hoped that this would not set a precedent. Contact: G. Lebakine, Secretary, Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Pâquis, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 9328, fax +41-22/917 9011, e-mail <glebakine.hchr@unog.ch>, website (www.unhchr.ch).
TOP	UN Commission on Population and Development
	Despite continued population decline, the need for reproductive health services remains high, according to the UN Commission on Population and Development, which held its 35th session in New York from 1-5 April 2002, where it considered follow-up action to goals agreed upon in the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo (Egypt) in 1994, to empower women, promote gender equality, stabilize population growth, and foster sustainable economic growth in the world’s poor countries. Opening the 35th session, under the theme of reproductive rights and reproductive health, with special reference to HIV/AIDS, Joseph Chamie, Director of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Population Division, reviewed the Commission’s past, calling attention to the first world conference held in Bucharest (Hungary) which adopted the World Population Plan of Action that stressed the urgency of accelerating social and economic development, and the need for a new economic order. The 1974 Plan of Action also established the basic right to decide freely the number and spacing of children. Moving past the 1984 Mexico City Conference, and the 1994 Conference that adopted the Cairo Programme of Action, Mr. Chamie outlined future population development trends. Currently, the size of the world population is 6.2 billion, and by 2050 the UN estimates that the world population will have reached nine billion. Although the current global population growth rate has declined steadily, there are considerable regional and national differences, Mr. Chamie said. Nearly all population growth during the next five decades is estimated to occur in the southern hemisphere, where six countries alone–India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia–will account for half of the world’s population growth. The UN estimates that while fertility remains high in most of Africa and parts of western and southern Asia, the levels will begin to fall, and that by 2050 global fertility will have reached replacement level. Mr. Chamie flagged demographic accumulation in urban areas in the South, declining fertility trends, widespread population ageing, international migration, and various mortality setbacks, particularly in relation to HIV/AIDS, as the biggest challenges. “Hindsight provides a perspective on past efforts and achievements; foresight offers a vision of what is likely to develop in the future. Both are vital ingredients for making appropriate and policy-relevant decisions,” Mr. Chamie said. Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in her statement to the 35th session, called for developed countries to act on their commitments and raise development assistance in line with the Cairo agreement, stating that developing countries have reached 80% of their target of US$11.3 billion, while developed countries have not yet met 50% of their US$5.7 billion target. “Failure to meet agreed financial targets is derailing the achievement of international development goals, especially in the poorest countries. And the consequences are tragic. This is the message that came loud and clear from the Financing for Development Conference,” she said. The growth of the global population has been slower than expected, she noted, adding that birth rates have dropped faster than predicted in many large developing countries–such as Brazil, Egypt, India and Mexico– which she said is an affirmation of the vision and success of the Cairo agenda. According to Ms. Obaid, the decline in fertility stems from improved levels of schooling, higher survival rates of children and better access to contraceptives. “The slowdown in population growth does not mean we can slow down efforts for population and reproductive health–quite the contrary,” she stressed. Saying that there are currently more than 120 million women who want to space the births of their children or stop having children altogether, but do not have access to family planning services, she noted that demand for contraception in the next 15 years is expected to increase by a further 40%. At the same time, she pointed out that funding required for contraceptives for family planning and condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS will double in the coming 15 years. “Despite this growing need, donor support for contraceptives is at its lowest level in five years and far below what is currently required.” She said that support to commodities for HIV/AIDS prevention is also at one of the lowest levels in five years. “Today one woman dies every minute during childbirth and most of these deaths could be prevented with prompt care and adequate treatment. Yet today 52 million women in Asia, Africa and Latin America deliver their babies alone, without a nurse, midwife or doctor present,” she said. She also warned of the HIV/AIDS situation: “Today despite increased awareness and commitment, HIV/AIDS continues to spread and 14,000 people become newly infected each and every day. In Africa, where HIV/AIDS has hit the hardest, millions of young women, who are highly vulnerable to infection, are dangerously ignorant about HIV/AIDS….Today teenage girls in some African countries have rates of HIV infection that are five times higher than boys their same age. They simply do not have the information, the power and the means to protect themselves from unsafe and unwanted sexual relations. They are not empowered to say NO, if they so wish.” Ms. Obaid also said that UNFPA’s follow-up efforts to ICPD are also fundamental in that universal access to reproductive health services is a necessary condition for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (see Go Between 90) of reducing infant and maternal mortality, promoting HIV/AIDS prevention and achieving gender equality. Prevention Crucial in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS During the ensuing debate, many Member States underlined the importance of education in the fight against HIV/AIDS and in reducing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancies. Speakers emphasized the importance of counseling and testing services and the provision of condoms to the general population. Many speakers, including Belgium, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria and Italy, also expressed their support to UNFPA, and condemned allegations that the Fund has been involved in genocide and forced abortion. According to Spain, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU) and associated States, reproductive health and reproductive rights are crucial cornerstones for the eradication of poverty and for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, adopted by world leaders at the end of the UN Millennium Summit held in New York in September 2000. Spain underlined the importance of prevention in the fight against HIV/AIDS and called for strengthening capacities–especially of adolescents–to protect against HIV infection. According to Botswana, the current HIV prevalence rate in the country was 38.6%, where the majority of HIV-infections occurred among people aged between 15-29. HIV/AIDS has diverted resources away from other national development challenges, such as poverty alleviation, and has placed the country’s education and health care systems under increasing stress. The Russian Federation told the Commission that there were approximately 180,000 HIV-infected people registered in the country, the majority of which are drug addicts. The Russian Federation also pointed out that the number of those infected by heterosexual intercourse increased dramatically in 2000, with the number of infected women also growing fast. China informed the Commission that its HIV/AIDS situation was deteriorating, with more than 300,000 registered cases of HIV infection at the end of 2001. Injecting drug use was the most important source of infection, but there was a growing trend of more infections among the general population. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa continued to be the worst affected area with 2.3 million AIDS deaths in 2001. The Caribbean was the second most-affected region. Eastern Europe–especially the Russian Federation–was currently experiencing the fastest growing epidemic in the world (see Go Between 89). In countries in Asia and the Pacific, WHO says the relatively low national prevalence rates have masked localized epidemics that have an enormous potential to escalate. Commission Adopts Resolution on HIV/AIDS The Commission adopted a resolution (E/CN.9/2002/L.4) which requests UNFPA to continue its programmes on reproductive health and rights in collaboration with the Population Division. The resolution also requests the Population Division to continue its research on reproductive health and to strengthen the work on the demographic impact of HIV/AIDS in collaboration with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and other relevant organizations. The resolution calls on the Division to incorporate its findings on reproductive health and rights, including the interrelationship with HIV/AIDS, in the next review and appraisal of the implementation of the ten-year review of the ICPD Programme of Action, scheduled to take place in 2004. During its deliberations, the Commission also discussed the form of the upcoming review, and the appraisal of progress made in achieving the goals and objectives of the ICPD Programme of Action, but was unable to adopt a resolution. Addressing the Commission, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) called for a programmatic and technical ten-year review process of the 20-year ICPD Programme of Action to examine where progress has been made, and where it has not been made. The purpose would be, the IFFP said, to help parties improve performance over the remaining decade of the ICPD Programme of Action. World Population Monitoring, 2002. Reproductive Rights and Reproductive Health: Selected Aspects To facilitate its exchange of views on reproductive health, reproductive rights and HIV/AIDS, the Commission reviewed a number of documents, including the draft report World Population Monitoring 2002. Reproductive rights and reproductive health: selected aspects (ESA/P/WP.171), and the report Monitoring of population programmes focusing on reproductive rights and reproductive health, with special reference to HIV/AIDS as contained in the Plan of Action of ICPD (E/CN.9/2002/3). Contact: Joseph Chamie, Director, Population Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Room DC2-1950, United Nations, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 3179, fax +1-212/963 2147, website (www.un.org/esa/population). Mitra Vasisht, Chief, External Relations and Liaison Branch, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), 220 East 42nd Street, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/297 5016, fax +1-212/557 4915, e-mail <vasisht@unfpa.org>, website (www.unfpa.org). World Population Monitoring 2002 According to the World Population Monitoring 2002 report, life expectancy rose steadily in southern Africa, between the 1950s and late 1980s. However, HIV/AIDS, in combination with other socio-economic reversals, has up-ended this progress. The report notes that on a global scale, a common pattern is reflected in the spread of the virus among young people between the ages of 10 and 24. At the end of 2001, the number of young people (15-24 years of age) estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS was 11.8 million, of which 7.3 (62%) were women and 4.5 million (38%) men. The report identifies factors that restrict individual and community capacities to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS infection including: limited recognition of personal risk to HIV infection; inadequate sexual health information and education; early sexual activity; inadequate youth health services; unequal gender norms and relations; economic and social marginalization; and the impact of HIV/AIDS on family and community systems. The report also highlights the central role reproductive health care can play in AIDS prevention and care. Monitoring population programmes focusing on reproductive rights and reproductive health, with special reference to HIV/AIDS assesses operational experiences and progress made towards the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action at the national level, and stresses that prevention should be the mainstay of the HIV/AIDS response regardless of the magnitude of the epidemic. It underlines the importance of education to raise awareness, promote healthy lifestyles and diffuse stigma and discrimination associated with the disease. Broad-based approaches to reversing the epidemic involve the integration of care, support and treatment strategies with prevention, and should encompass psychological and social support to those infected by HIV.
TOP	55th Session of the World Health Assembly
	The World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO), held its 55th annual meeting in Geneva from 13-18 May 2002 to debate and make policy decisions on investing in health for economic development, the final strategy for the eradication of polio and WHO’s contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The WHA comprises the 191 WHO Member States. Opening the 55th session, WHO Executive Director Gro Harlem Brundtland told the Assembly that while poverty, contaminated water, unsafe sex and poor nutrition continue to plague developing countries, richer countries suffer from obesity and related health conditions. “On the one side are the millions who are dangerously short of the food, water and security they need to live,” she said. “On the other side are the millions who suffer because they use too much. All of them face high risks of ill health.” She also noted that in the coming years WHO will give added emphasis to taking exceptional action for health in emergency and crisis situations throughout the world, which would involve assembling information on health situations and responses, working with relevant partners and improving access to essential health commodities, equipment and personnel. She highlighted recent achievements including: the 99% reduction in poliomyelitis cases; agreed targets and strategies to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria which are responsible for over five million deaths annually; more widespread immunization against childhood illnesses with 8% increases in some countries; the unity of nations as they negotiate a forthcoming framework convention on tobacco control, and a greater emphasis on mental illness as a major cause of suffering and disability. The session agenda also included discussion of bioterrorism, access to drugs for developing countries, HIV/AIDS, mental health and the eradication of smallpox, tuberculosis, malaria and polio. Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria The Assembly encouraged the WHO to take a strong leadership role in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, particularly on technical matters. Delegates stressed the need for the funding mechanism to complement existing infrastructures and procedures in order to avoid duplication. The WHO was also asked to provide support to the countries in greatest need to prepare high-quality proposals for country projects (see focus page 34), and to strengthen their own capacity to manufacture good quality, affordable drugs, including antiretrovirals. WHO was also requested to provide support to countries in reducing mother-to-child transmission of HIV infection. Millennium Development Goals The Assembly adopted two resolutions on WHO’s contribution to achieving the goals of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The first concerned The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a new public-private partnership that aims to contribute to the reduction of infections, illness and death, and to help reduce poverty as part of the Millennium Development Goals. The second involved scaling up and intensifying action that tackles health conditions which contribute to poverty, including the development of necessary drugs and vaccines, actions to reduce the price of drugs to improve access of poorer communities to medication, and schemes for effective purchase and equitable distribution of commodities. World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) As part of WHO’s response to the challenge of sustainable development, one resolution was adopted concerning its two-track approach. Track one focuses on the overall long-term benefits for social, economic and environmental development that result from investment in people’s health. Track two reflects the health aspects of specific issues on the Summit Agenda. Key emphases include: the positive impact of health both as a good in its own right and as a means of advancing economic development and poverty reduction; the direct impact of environmental degradation and unsustainable use of natural resources on people’s health, and their indirect impact on the livelihoods of the poor; the need to assess the impact on people’s health of all national and international development policies and practices; and the importance of partnerships as a means of addressing threats to health and promoting sustainable development. Much of this work was based on the work of the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (see Go Between 89). Mental Health Two resolutions were adopted on mental health, with the first recognizing the universality of mental illness, which affects all ages and socio-economic groups in all countries, and the second on quality of care and patient safety. Smallpox Virus Stocks The Assembly adopted a resolution affirming the need to conduct further research aimed at protecting the possible deliberate use of the virus, and stressed the need for this research to be outcome-focused, time-limited, and periodically reviewed. The Assembly also postponed the destruction of the virus pending satisfactory completion of the research. A resolution was also adopted on the natural occurrence, accidental release or deliberate use of biological or chemical agents or radio-nuclear materials that affect health and the importance of a quick response to outbreaks and for securing the trust of affected countries. The Assembly also discussed progress in collaboration with the United Nations system and with other intergovernmental organizations. Contact: Melinda Henry, Press Officer, WHO, avenue Appia 20, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 6886, e-mail <henrym@who.int>, website (www.who.int). NGO Forum for Health The NGO Forum for Health held its Annual General Meeting and Symposium in Geneva on 14 May 2002, under the theme “Partnership in Action for Health,” coinciding with the World Health Assembly (WHA). Bringing together a wide audience of health-based NGOs, the Forum focused on the different aspects of public-private partnerships (PPP) in health. Opening the Forum, Eric Ram, President of NGO Forum for Health, said the role of NGOs in primary health care has been strong from the beginning, and called attention to the NGOs’ relationship with the UN and more particularly with WHO when it was formed over 50 years ago. Dr. Ram outlined several considerations for the term “partnership” between NGOs and WHO, stressing that transparency and accountability as well as investment on both sides are required. Dr. Ram also challenged the WHO to treat NGOs as equal partners in the provision of health care. Dr. Ram said the NGO Forum for Health and the People’s Health Movement (PHM) are calling for WHO to put Health for All back on its agenda and to promote health as a human right. To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care (PHC) next year, Dr. Ram called for a thorough review of the aims, achievements and implementation of PHC by Member States, for presentation to the WHA next year. WHO officials outlined the Civil Society Initiative (CSI), created in 2001, as part of its institutional response to improving health outcomes through partnerships with civil society. The CSI aims to provide a policy framework for effective collaboration and information exchange and dialogue. WHO officials also said the partners must have a common objective, that they must be able to measure the impact of their collaboration, be accountable for it, and also develop innovative approaches to raise funds for the “neglected” diseases. Bernard Pécoul of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), spoke of its Access to Essential Medicines Campaign launched in 1999, which aims to: overcome access barriers (lending support to health ministries unable to receive drugs), challenge trade restrictions, and stimulate new research into neglected diseases. He pointed out that between 1975-1999, of the 1,393 drugs that were developed, only 13–or 1%–were for diseases that predominantly affect the poor (see Go Between 88). MSF says it is leading the debate on how to translate the November 2001 Doha Declaration into a practical plan for drug availability. Case studies were also presented by the Peoples’ Health Movement from India and Brazil. Ravi Narayan (India) said that health programmes are not reaching the people, and that there is increasing nutrition insecurity. He said the PHM’s objectives are to hear the unheard, to encourage people to develop their own solutions and to oppose powerful interests and globalization, with its main goal being people’s health as a human right. He also mentioned the fact that he has never had proof of “globalization being good for anybody’s health.” Judith Richter, author of Holding Corporations Accountable–Corporate Conduct, International Codes and Citizen Action, spoke of partnerships between UN agencies and the commercial sector. Ms. Richter said she was against closer interaction between the public and private sector under the name of “partnership,” and said that an independent, honest and open assessment of these partnerships is needed. She also asked whether no other alternatives exist in raising funds, and called attention to whether these partnerships are strengthening or undermining democratic decision-making processes. She mentioned that such partnerships could create a climate of censorship and self-censorship within UN agencies and partnering NGOs, and took the stance that partnerships “cloud” rather than “clarify” the situation. Presentations were also made by the Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network for Essential Drugs, the International Coalition for Public Health Approach to Health, and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Contact: Eric Ram, NGO Forum for Health, c/o World Vision International, 6 chemin de la Tourelle, CH-1209 Geneva, Switzerland, telephone  +41-22/755 5146, e-mail <eric_ram@wvi.org>, website (www.wvi.org). Traditional medicine in primary health care During the WHA, WHO announced the release of a global plan to address the use of traditional medicine as part of primary health care, saying the situation has given rise to concerns among health practitioners and consumers on the issue of safety, but also on questions of policy, regulation, evidence, biodiversity and preservation and protection of traditional knowledge. The WHO strategy provides a framework for policies to assist countries to regulate traditional or complementary/alternative medicine (TM/CAM) to make its use safer, more accessible to their populations and sustainable. “About 80% of the people in Africa use traditional medicine. It is for this reason that we must act quickly to evaluate its safety, efficacy, quality and standardization–to protect our heritage and to preserve our traditional knowledge. We must also institutionalize and integrate it into our national health systems,” says Ebrahim Samba, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa. In developing countries, where more than one-third of the population lacks access to essential medicines, the provision of safe and effective TM/CAM therapies could become a critical tool to increase access to health care. But while traditional medicine has been fully integrated into the health systems of China, North and South Korea and Viet Nam, many countries have not collected and standardized evidence on this type of health care, a global market that stands at US$60 billion a year and is steadily growing, according to the WHO. The organization says that in addition to the patient safety issue and the threat to knowledge and biodiversity, there is also the risk that further commercialization through unregulated use will make these therapies unaffordable to many who rely on them as their primary source of health care. For this reason policies on the protection of indigenous or traditional knowledge are necessary.
TOP	Global Fund Holds 2nd Meeting, Awards Country Projects
	Addressing the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at its second meeting, held from 22-24 April in New York, the UN Secretary-General said that the Fund is “a signal that the world is willing to make a decisive move to reduce the burden of these major communicable diseases–the long-standing threats of TB and malaria, and the newer and most devastating threat, AIDS.” Saying that the Fund offers hope that the international community can work together to combat the three deadly diseases, which are jointly responsible for over five million deaths a year, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed that “We must all get across the message that the Fund is part of concerted international action for health and development. As agreed in Monterrey, we need to work towards greater coherence in the international development effort.” The Secretary-General pointed out three challenges facing the Fund: moving quickly, ensuring that its resources have a maximum impact where they are most needed, and helping to mobilize further commitment and resources. “The world needs to see that all the Fund’s stakeholders are capable of acting together swiftly and efficiently. You will need to show that effective strategies are available, can be funded and will make a difference,” he told the Governing Board, which comprises representatives from government, the private sector, and NGOs (see Go Between 90). The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Bank hold non-voting seats on the Board. During the meeting, Richard G.A. Feachem, the Director of the University of California’s Institute for Global Health, was appointed to head the Fund. The US indicated at the meeting that it plans to join European countries in partnerships with hospitals and research institutions in developing countries to improve the care and services of HIV/AIDS patients, especially in Africa, according to US Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson. So far the US has made the largest pledge of US$500 million, out of combined pledges of US$1.9 billion.The Fund announced that it was awarding a total of US$378 million over two years to 40 programmes in 31 countries, and also agreed a fast-track process to approve an additional US$238 million for 18 proposals in 12 countries, plus three multi-country proposals, provided certain conditions are met. Over 300 applications were submitted by governments and agencies. In related news, a joint report by UNAIDS, WHO, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), released on 22 April, says that with the right intervention at the right time AIDS, TB and malaria can be prevented and treated. Coordinates 2002 provides the first consolidated view of the extent of the three diseases, how they interact to worsen their impact and the effectiveness of current response efforts. UNAIDS, WHO and UNICEF report that many of the interventions are not expensive and the prices of others are rapidly falling. The main challenge is to take these interventions to a global scale. “The scale of devastation caused by HIV/AIDS is unmatched,” says Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “But I believe even the world’s poorest countries are on the brink of making substantial progress with quality treatment and effective prevention programmes–and it is up to the international community to redouble our support for their efforts.” “Any effective effort to reduce the burden of disease faced by the world’s poorest people must concentrate on AIDS, TB and malaria,” said WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland. “We know this will not only save millions of lives–it will contribute to economic development and poverty reduction.” “These three diseases hit children the hardest,” said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. “We know what to do to overcome them. What we need now is the leadership and resources to reach out to all children.” Findings from Coordinates 2002 include: —Half of all new HIV infections are occurring among young people; —HIV and tuberculosis form a lethal combination, with 15% of all deaths of HIV-infected people due to TB and with HIV causing a steep rise in TB cases in Africa over the past decade; —40% of the world’s population is at risk from malaria. In some areas of Africa, more than 80% of children are infected with malaria parasites; —Young people in developing countries still have far too little knowledge about HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted. At least 30% of young people in 22 surveyed countries had never heard of AIDS and how it is transmitted. Up to 87% of 15-19 year olds do not believe they are at risk; —Fewer than 5% of the people who need treatment for AIDS in the developing world have access to the medicines they need; —Only one-fifth of all TB cases globally receive high-quality treatment, yet pioneering countries like Viet Nam and Peru have reached targets for detection and cure, showing it is possible to achieve the targets set; —In 28 African countries, half of the current antimalarial medicines on the market are ineffective due to bad quality or drug resistance; —A majority of the countries highly affected by AIDS, TB and malaria are ready with plans and programmes which need immediate funding; —Current resources of the Global Fund Against AIDS, TB and Malaria make up 11% of total needs. Contact: Dominique De Santis, Press Officer, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4509, e-mail <desantisd@unaids.org>. Website for funded proposals (www.globalfundatm.org/files/Proposalslist_40.doc). Iain Simpson, Communications Officer, Communicable Diseases Programme, WHO, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3215, fax +41-22/791 4821, e-mail <simpsoni@who.int>, website (www.who.int).
TOP	CALENDAR
	Disarmament —Conference on Disarmament –2nd part, 13 May-28 June, Geneva –3rd part, 29 July-13 September, Geneva —Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization, 18th session, 20-23 August, Vienna —Fourth meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Landmines and on Their Destruction, September, Geneva ECOSOC/General Assembly —Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Substantive session, 1-26 July, New York —General Assembly, 57th session, September-December, New York Food and Agriculture —World Food Summit: five years later, 10-13 June, Rome —Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, acting as the interim committee for the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, October, Rome HIV/AIDS —XIV International Conference on AIDS, 6-13 July, Barcelona Human Rights —Human Rights Committee, 75th session, 8-26 July, New York —Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Working Group on Indigenous Populations, 22-26 July, Geneva —Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, 54th session, 29 July-16 August, Geneva —Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Working Group on Communications, 19-30 August, Geneva —Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,61st session, August (3 weeks) —Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, 34th session, 9-13 September, Geneva Rights of the Child —Committee on the Rights of the Child, 31st session,16 September-4 October, Geneva Intergovernmental meetings —G-8 Meeting, 26-28 June, Kamanaskis (Canada) —Organization of African Unity (OAU), 38th Assembly of Heads of State and Government, 8-10 July, South Africa Refugees —Pre-Executive Committee Consultations with NGOs, 25-27 September, Geneva —Executive Committee, 53rd session, 30 September-4 October, Geneva Social Development —ILO General Conference, 90th session, 4-20 June, Geneva Sustainable Development —World Summit on Sustainable Development,26 August-4 September, Johannesburg Convention on Migratory Species —Conference of Parties, Conference of Parties, 7th session,15-28 September, Bonn Framework Convention on Climate Change —Conference of Parties, 8th session, Second sessional period, 28 October-8 November, Bonn (Germany) Global Environment Facility (GEF) —NGO Consultation, 13 October, Beijing —GEF Council Meeting, 14-15 October, Beijing —GEF Assembly, 16-18 October, Beijing Trade, Finance and Development International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank —Annual meetings of the World Bank Group and IMF, 1-3 October, Washington DC UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) —Trade and Development Board, 49th session, 7-18 October, Geneva Women —Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 27th session, 3-21 June, New York —CEDAW Optional Protocol, 24-28 June, New York —12th Meeting of States Parties to the CEDAW, 29 August, New York
TOP	Guest editorial
	Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka Executive Director, UN-Habitat The World Urban Forum, an open-ended think tank designed to encourage debate and discussion about the challenges of urbanization in this century, met for the first time at UN-HABITAT headquarters in Nairobi (Kenya) from 29 April to 3 May 2002. It set out to strengthen the collective understanding of the key challenges of sustainable urbanization, and to feed this knowledge into the preparatory process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg in August 2002. We at UN-HABITAT feel that the first ever World Urban Forum was a success. The poignant testimony, lively debate and pertinent lessons that were heard—from government representatives and slum dwellers—substantiated over and over that to successfully plan, implement and manage sustainable urbanization, the concerted efforts of a wide range of partners are needed. It was indeed humbling to have witnessed the earnest and effective enthusiasm on behalf of our cities and the poor people that live within them. Of the almost 3 billion people already living in urban areas, it is estimated that at least three-quarters of a billion slum dwellers, the majority of them women and children, live in absolute poverty. Concerned about the urbanization of poverty and the rapid pace of urban development, the UN General Assembly recently ele