GO BETWEEN 2001: no. 85
March-April
UN UPDATE
FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT DECISIONS
The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for Financing for Development (FFD) has decided on a venue and title for the high-level event. The International Conference on Financing for Development will be held in Mexico in March 2002 at the highest political level including a summit, says the concluding resolution of the second FFD PrepCom, which ended on 23 February 2001 in New York after two weeks of meetings.
It was also decided that the third session of the PrepCom, to be held in New York, will be split into two one-week meetings. The first was scheduled for 2-8 May 2001, following the Economic and Social Council/Bretton Woods Institutions High Level Dialogue on 1 May. The second will take place in October/November 2001 during a recess of the Second Committee of the General Assembly.
To prepare for the next session, governments were asked to send the United Nations FFD secretariat by 15 April 2001 a “concise identification of possible initiatives and themes.” The secretariat will report on this inventory to the third session and provide a copy to the facilitator, Mauricio Escanero (Mexico). He will then prepare a “working paper...which will serve as the means to further focus the discussions of the substantive preparatory process.”
Building on discussions in the first session and other relevant inputs, the facilitator will then prepare for the October/November session a “concise first draft” to move the process toward the final preparatory phase.
The resolution also requests the FFD bureau to continue to explore ways and means to deepen the efforts of all relevant stakeholders at the regional level, as well as within civil society and the business community, in support of the FFD process. To strengthen participation of the business community, delegations suggested the May session devote one day to the issue of enhancing engagement with the business sector.
Contact: FFD Secretariat, Room 2018, 2 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 4690, fax +1-212/963 1061, e-mail <ffd@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/ffd).
IPCC REPORT
Leading climate change experts and officials from some 100 governments meeting in Accra (Ghana) in February 2001 have finalized a major report assessing effective policies and technologies for tackling greenhouse gas emissions and the threat of human-induced climate change.
Volume III of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, see Go Between 84) confirms that many cost-effective solutions to rising greenhouse gas emissions are available today. However, in many cases governments will need to address various institutional, behavioural and other barriers before these solutions can realize their potential.
G.O.P Obasi, Secretary-General of WMO which together with UNEP launched IPCC in 1988, said that “the Third Assessment Report....represents a remarkable consensus and a sound basis for international decision making.” He called upon the world's governments to consider rapidly a legislative framework for effective implementation of the many available cost-effective solutions to the greenhouse emissions problem.
The choice of energy mix and associated investment will determine whether atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases can be stabilized, and if so at what level and cost, says the report. Currently most such investment is directed toward discovering and developing more fossil resources, both conventional and unconventional.
The report concludes that the progress since 1995 on developing technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions has been faster than anticipated. Important advances have included the market introduction of efficient hybrid engine cars and wind turbines, the demonstration of underground carbon dioxide storage, the advance of fuel cell technology and the rapid elimination of certain industrial gases.
While a change in energy supply will play a central role, hundreds of technologies and practices for end-use energy efficiency in buildings, transport and manufacturing industry account for more than half of the potential for global emissions reductions from 2010 to 2020. The report cites some studies that show half of this potential can be realized through options that actually save money–known as “no regrets” options. However, governments will need to adopt more supportive policies if this potential is to be realized.
Contact: IPCC Secretariat, Care of WMO, 7 bis Avenue de la Paix, CP 2300, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/730 8208, fax +41-22/730 8025, e-mail <ipcc_sec@gateway.wmo.ch>, website (www.ipcc.ch).
60 MILLION FACE FOOD EMERGENCIES
Some 60 million people in 33 countries are facing food emergencies of varying intensity, according to a report released in March by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Foodcrops and Shortages says that 16 countries in sub-Saharan Africa are suffering from exceptional food emergencies, caused mostly by natural disasters and civil strife. And despite improved weather conditions, effects of the drought in Eastern Africa are still being felt in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania, where emergency food assistance continues to be provided to some 18 million people by international relief agencies. The number of refugees and internally displaced people due to civil strife continues to increase, particularly in Central and Western Africa. In southern Africa serious flooding in some areas, particularly in Mozambique, has caused loss of life and damage to property, infrastructure and crops.
Asia has seen a grave food crisis emerge in Afghanistan, caused by incessant civil strife and successive droughts and harsh winters. In Mongolia, another extremely cold winter has killed large numbers of livestock, aggravating the food insecurity of nomadic herders who lost millions of their livestock last year. A total of 11 countries in Asia are reported to be facing food emergencies.
In Central America, El Salvador's food production and marketing in 2001 will be constrained by the damaged infrastructure caused by earthquakes that hit the country in early January and mid-February. In South America, the wheat harvest is completed and prospects for coarse grain crops in the field are favorable, says the report.
One of the coldest winters on record in the United States contributed to reducing yields. Official estimates indicate that the winter wheat area has declined by 5% since last year–the lowest level since 1971. Dry conditions at sowing time in the main growing areas are reportedly the major reason.
Food Crops and Shortages forecasts that the winter grain area planted in the European Community is likely to decline from last year due to unfavourable weather. It also says that persistent drought and high temperatures in central and eastern Europe will negatively affect the 2001 cereal harvests. In Russia, displaced people in Chechnya and surrounding republics continue to need food assistance.
Contact: John Riddle, Information Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3259, fax +39-06/5705 3699, e-mail <john.riddle@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org/WAICENT/faoinfo/economic/giews/ english/giewse.htm).
SECURITY COUNCIL SUMMIT REVIEW
The UN Security Council met in a day-long session on 7 March 2001 in New York to review commitments made at its Summit meeting last September (see NGLS Roundup 62), which aimed at strengthening the UN's ability to address challenges to peace and security.
During the Summit, which was addressed by 14 heads of state or government and one foreign minister, Resolution 1318 was adopted which committed the Council to:
-- act preventively in the future;
-- improve the UN's capacity to act effectively; and
-- act quickly and decisively.
The Summit also produced a declaration committing the Council to such principles as: treating all regions of the world equally; strengthening peacekeeping and other instruments at its disposal; contributing to addressing the root causes of conflict; giving special attention to Africa; and strengthening cooperation and communication between the United Nations and regional and subregional organizations.
At the March review, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Council the task it faced was to establish progress it had made in overcoming the “crisis of credibility” of the UN. Noting that Council resolutions were not “self-implementing” and “their impact on reality” depended on subsequent effort, he said it was vital that delegates attending the Council's meetings maintained a constant dialogue with their capitals.
“This dialogue needs to start before a resolution is passed,” he said, “and it needs to continue long afterwards….Only through a much deeper and broader involvement of Member States, reaching up to the highest political level, can the will and resources needed to implement your resolutions be mustered.”
The Council was told by several delegations, including Egypt and Algeria, that it was still not treating conflicts equally in all regions of the world, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. Its efforts to involve states that contributed troops to peacekeeping missions in its work were described as not yet adequate. Egypt and Pakistan both emphasized the need for the formal and institutionalized participation of troop contributors in decision making at all stages.
Canada said it was pleased with the Security Council's response to the Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations, known as the Brahimi Report (see Go Between 82). Canada noted there had been changes in decision-making processes for operations, including progress on transparent three-way relationships among the Council, UN Secretariat and troop-contributing countries.
The representative of Sweden, on behalf of the European Union (EU) and associated countries, emphasized that the UN's role could not go beyond the will of the parties involved in a conflict. Unless there was a real desire for peace, the EU said, there were limits as to what the international community could do. Conflicts could not be dealt with effectively without tackling their root causes.
Russia and China were wary of the Council expanding its role into what they described as areas outside its purview. Russia said the UN Charter clearly speaks to the respective duties and obligations of all the various branches of the Organization, therefore the Council should concentrate on its main task–maintenance of international peace and security.
Many delegations praised the Council's progress on issues such as “conflict diamonds” (see Go Between 84), small arms trafficking, HIV/AIDS and violations of international humanitarian law. However, Israel's continued occupation of the Palestinian territories and the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were cited repeatedly when discussing lack of progress in improving the Council's work and restoring its credibility.
UNEP REPORT ON DEPLETED URANIUM
A report released in March 2001 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) describes the environmental impact of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition used during the 1999 Kosovo conflict.
Seven and a half DU penetrators were found during a UNEP field mission in November 2000 to 11 sites out of 112 identified as targets of ordnance containing DU. Low levels of radiation were detected in the immediate vicinity of the points of impact, and mild contamination from DU dust was measured near the targets. There was also some evidence of airborne DU contamination near targeted sites.
In addition to U-238, which makes up the bulk of depleted uranium, the penetrators contained uranium isotope U-236 and plutonium isotope Pu-239/240. The presence of these transuranic elements in the DU indicates that at least some of the material has been in nuclear reactors. However, the amount of transuranic isotopes found in the DU penetrators is very low, according to UNEP, and does not have any significant impact on their overall radioactivity.
It is highly likely that penetrators are still lying on the ground surface. Although the radiological and chemical risks of touching a penetrator are insignificant, if put into a pocket or somewhere else close to the human body there would be external beta radiation of the skin. This would lead to “quite high local radiation doses after some weeks of continuous exposure,” according to UNEP.
Regarding contamination points, if a child were to ingest small amounts of soil the corresponding radiological risk would be “insignificant.” However, “from a biochemical point of view the possible intake might be somewhat higher than the applicable health standard,” according to UNEP.
There are still “considerable scientific uncertainties, especially related to the safety of groundwater,” said Pekka Haavisto, Chairman of UNEP's Depleted Uranium Assessment Team. “Additional work has to be done to reduce these uncertainties and to monitor the quality of water.”
Although the mission findings “show no cause for alarm,” the report describes specific situations where risks could be significant. There are also scientific uncertainties relating to the longer-term behavior of DU in the environment. For these reasons, UNEP is calling for certain precautionary actions. These should include visiting all DU sites in Kosovo, removing slightly radioactive penetrators and jackets on the surface, decontaminating areas where feasible, and providing information to local populations on precautions to be taken if DU is found.
Contact: Tore J. Brevik, Spokesman and Director, Information, Communications and Public Information, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623292, fax +254-2/623692, e-mail <cpiinfo@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org).
UNEP MEETING ON ENVIRONMENT AND TRADE
Ministers and high-level officials from over 70 countries said at a meeting in Berlin (Germany) in March 2001 that environmental considerations need to be taken into account in negotiation of new trade agreements. They also noted the importance of assessment as a tool that can promote policy coherence between trade and environment ministries. A new round of trade liberalization talks will likely be launched at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Qatar in November.
The Berlin meeting, held under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Germany, examined the linkages between environment, sustainable development and trade policies which are often in conflict with one another.
Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director, said that over the last 50 years there has been a rapid expansion of world trade, with the total value of global exports growing from US$350 billion in 1950 to almost US$5.5 trillion in 1999.
“Trade liberalization contributes to economic growth,” he said, “yet the benefits have not been fairly shared between countries and, in some cases, have led to greater environmental degradation and increased poverty. One part of the solution is for trade and environment policymakers to work together to develop mutually supportive trade and environment policies. Such collaboration will maximize the economic and ecological benefits that can be gained from trade liberalization.”
Discussions at the meeting, which included representatives from trade as well as environment ministries, focused on the methods for conducting environmental assessments of trade policies at the national level, the relationship between Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs) and the WTO, and the role of economic instruments in promoting coherent, consistent trade and environment policies.
Participants examined UNEP-led country studies that show how environmental assessments can help maximize the net development gains of trade liberalization by minimizing negative environmental effects. They then focused on concrete solutions to the complex trade and environment relationship.
Contact: Robert Bisset, Office of the Spokesman/Director, Communications and Public Information, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623084, fax +254-2/623692, e-mail <robert.bisset@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org).
GROUPS OF EXPERTS ON ENERGY
Meeting for its second session from 26 February to 16 March 2001 in New York, the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Energy and Sustainable Development (see Go Between 80) focused on issues including accessibility of energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy, advanced fossil fuel technologies, nuclear energy technologies, rural energy, and energy and transport. The Expert Group also examined the overarching issues of research and development, information sharing and dissemination, making markets work better, technology transfer, capacity building, mobilization of financial resources, and public participation.
In delivering their general statements, delegations offered views on policy options and where the energy discussions should take place within the myriad of fora devoted to sustainable development. Developing countries highlighted the growing demand for energy in the developing world and the current inequities in energy consumption. They also stressed the need to improve access to energy services, develop cleaner energy technologies and the transfer of technology, and the importance of new and additional resources from their developed country partners.
Some industrialized country delegations underscored the importance of renewable energy technologies, cleaner fossil fuel technology, and considering energy within an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable framework. One group of industrialized countries said future energy policies should emphasize open and competitive energy markets within regulatory frameworks that promote sustainable development.
In its deliberations the Expert Group used a text put forward by the two Co-Chairs, Irene Freudenschuss-Reichl (Austria) and Mohammed Reza Salamat (Iran). In what proved to be contentious negotiations, governments were unable to reach consensus on the entire document. They forwarded a text that will require further negotiations to the ninth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-9) meeting from 16-27 April 2001 in New York.
One of the most divisive issues proved to be nuclear energy; some delegations, arguing for the right to have this technology as part of a country's energy mix, chose to focus on increasing safety standards. Others suggested that concerns about safety, spent fuel and waste management made nuclear energy incompatible with sustainable development. This was also stressed by small island developing states, a number of which called for the phase-out of transboundary movements of nuclear waste.
One significant industrialized negotiating group, lacking consensus, took an accommodating position on nuclear energy. It focused on improving the safety standards associated with this technology and supported national regulatory agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). NGOs expressed concern with what they described as a lack of leadership from this large group.
A large number of developing countries also expressed diverging positions on nuclear energy; some wanted to continue their use and development of the technology while others said it was an inappropriate energy option for all developing countries. In this connection, one leading oil-producing nation on several occasions called for the phase-out of nuclear energy. The text on nuclear energy, in its entirety, was forwarded to CSD-9 for further negotiation.
The issue of international cooperation also proved difficult, as delegations disagreed over the role of the Expert Group in relation to other fora dealing with sustainable development and its related issues. Several developing countries preferred to see energy issues integrated into the process leading to the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development (Rio+10). While many delegations supported the idea of improving international coordination, as well as within the UN system, there was no agreement on strengthening the UN's role in the area of energy for sustainable development. The entire section on international cooperation would require further negotiation at CSD-9.
Other areas of disagreement requiring further negotiation by CSD-9 include:
-- advanced fuel technologies and carbon sequestration;
-- the goals of poverty eradication and economic development taking priority over the goal of promoting renewable energies;
-- making markets work better; and
-- the elimination of subsidies on energy production and consumption.
The outcome of the second session and will also be discussed by the Commission under the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Energy and Transport.
The formation of the Ad Hoc Group of Experts was mandated by the UN General Assembly in 1997 in order to examine the complexities and interdependencies inherent in addressing energy issues within the context of sustainable development. The Group first met in March 2000 to prepare a report that was adopted by CSD-8.
Contact: Zehra Aydin-Sipos, Major Groups Programme Coordinator, Division for Sustainable Development, UN/DESA, 2 United Nations Plaza, 22nd Floor, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8811, fax +1-212/963 4260, e-mail <aydin@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/sustdev).
UN FORUM ON FORESTS MEETING
The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), which met at UN headquarters from 13-16 February 2001, has decided to base its secretariat in New York. The decision was taken as the Forum finished up its organizational session and informal consultations to set a new approach toward international forest policy.
The coordinator and secretariat Head of the UNFF, Jagmohan Maini, said that the “Group of 77 developing countries and China emphasized that the secretariat should be located in New York because this is where their missions can deal with this issue more effectively.”
These countries, he noted, “wanted to see a close synergy between the UN Forum on Forests and the Commission on Sustainable Development, as well as other functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council [ECOSOC].”
The Forum, established last October as a subsidiary body under ECOSOC (see Go Between 83), works as a permanent negotiating venue for sustainable forest management. Some of the issues it will address include the continuing high rates of deforestation–some 13 million hectares of forests are lost each year, mainly in the tropics–and other longstanding and politically-sensitive issues.
These include lack of capacity in developing countries concerning sustainable forest management, and poverty alleviation through forest development and trade issues such as illegal logging. The UNFF has also been charged with assessing, within five years, the parameters of a mandate for developing a legal framework for all types of forests.
The Forum will include ministerial segments and is open to all governments. Participation by groups including NGOs, the private sector and other interested stakeholders is planned to promote dialogue and coordinated action. As part of the new arrangement on forests, ECOSOC has also invited heads of relevant international organizations to form a Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF). It would aim to support UNFF's work and enhance international cooperation on forest-related issues.
In response to ECOSOC's invitation, members of the high-level Interagency Task Force (ITFF) have initiated a process to form the Partnership by the first substantive session of the UNFF from 11-22 June 2001 in New York.
The first substantive session will be followed by–over the next five years–two meetings in Geneva, one in Costa Rica, and a fifth in New York. It was also decided to elect a new bureau every year. The agenda for the first session will include a multi-year programme of work and Plan of Action.
The UNFF secretariat plans to launch a Calendar of Major International Forest-Related Events, which will be updated regularly. The first calendar is available on website (www.un.org/esa/sustdev/unffdocs/unff2001).
Contact: Secretariat, United Nations Forum on Forests, Division for Sustainable Development, Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA), 2 UN Plaza, 12th Floor, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 6208, fax +1-212/963 3463, e-mail <vahanen@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/sustdev/forests.htm).
UNECE EMISSIONS REPORTING
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) launched negotiations in Geneva in February on a legally binding instrument requiring companies to report to the public about their polluting emissions into the environment.
Under the new law, countries will have to set up pollution inventories known as pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs). These systems require corporate polluters to report periodically on their emissions of certain polluting substances to air, water and land, as well as their off-site transfers of such substances for treatment or disposal. All this information “is reported electronically and made accessible to the public, including through the Internet, subject to limited exemptions,” according to the UNECE.
PRTRs have already proved extremely effective in reducing pollution, said Kaj Bärlund, Director of the UNECE Environment and Human Settlements Division, even though they regulate information about pollution and not pollution itself. But by systematically bringing information on emissions into the public domain, PRTRs create public pressure to reduce pollution. The US system, known as the Toxics Release Inventory, is one of the most well-established PRTR systems. Few countries in Europe have so far developed PRTR systems, though some have plans to do so.
The new UNECE law will be established under the auspices of the Aarhus Convention–the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. The Convention is expected to enter into force this year. The new PRTR instrument was planned to be ready for adoption at the Fifth Ministerial Conference in the Environment for Europe series, scheduled in Kiev (Russia) in May 2003.
Contact: Jeremy Wates, Secretary to the Aarhus Convention, UNECE Environment and Human Settlements Division, Palais des Nations, Office 332, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 23 84, fax +41-22/907 0107, e-mail <jeremy.wates@unece.org>, website (www.unece.org/env/pp).
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY MEETINGS
Representatives of the 180-member governments of the Convention on Biological Diversity met in Montreal (Canada) from 12-16 March 2001 to examine how best to detect, eradicate and control species that cross the oceans and other barriers to colonize new regions. Once in the new regions they can threaten the native plants, animals and ecosystems.
“Over the past few centuries,” said Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), “invasive alien species have caused untold damage to natural ecosystems and human economies alike. In today's highly integrated world, where tourism and trade offer more and more opportunities for unwanted species to hitchhike to new homes, we urgently need a more effective international system for turning back the tide of harmful non-native species.”
The meeting considered draft principles for guiding action against invasive alien species. The principles relate to issues such as the precautionary approach, the ecosystem approach, border controls and quarantine measures, intentional and unintentional introductions, eradication, control and containment. The meeting also considered national reports detailing governments' current efforts as well as case studies.
The sixth meeting of the Convention's Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA), which met from 12-16 March in Montreal, addressed a range of other biodiversity matters. These included marine and coastal biodiversity, in-land water systems, scientific assessments, the Global Taxonomy Initiative, biodiversity and climate change, and migratory species.
The meetings' results and recommendations will be forwarded to the Conference of the Parties when it holds its sixth meeting in April 2002 in the Hague (Netherlands).
Contact: Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, World Trade Centre, 393 St Jacques Street, Office 300, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1N9, telephone +1-514/288 2220, fax +1-514/288 6588, e-mail <secretariat@biodiv.org>, website (www.biodiv.org).
INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMITTEE ON FISHERIES
More than 110 countries have adopted a Plan of Action against illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing at a March 2001 meeting in Rome at the Intergovernmental Committee on Fisheries.
The voluntary agreement, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), aims to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. Such practices are found within and outside exclusive economic zones (200 miles from coasts) and account for up to 30% of total catches. They are also blamed for over-fishing of several high value fish stocks, and in extreme cases can lead to the collapse of a fishery or seriously affect efforts to rebuild fish stocks that have been depleted.
“The Plan of Action will make it more difficult for fishing vessels to threaten the sustainability of the world's fisheries resources,” said Ichiro Nomura, FAO's Assistant Director-General of the Fisheries Department. “With this new plan, the international community has a powerful tool to fight illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.”
The Plan of Action calls upon states to ensure that their nationals do not support or engage in IUU fishing. Among other things, it says that no vessel should be allowed to fish unless so authorized. States should cooperate to identify those who are the operators or owners of vessels involved in IUU fishing, and should avoid giving economic support or subsidies to those companies, vessels or individuals.
The Plan of Action also stresses and promotes “flag state” responsibility. It says countries should ensure, before they register a fishing vessel, that vessels entitled to fly their flag do not engage in or support IUU fishing.
It also calls for better cooperation, information and data sharing between countries. For this purpose, a vessel monitoring system should be established, it says.
The Committee also decided to set up a Sub-Committee on Aquaculture to deal with important emerging issues connected with this food-producing activity. FAO said the Sub-Committee “would serve as an intergovernmental mechanism for information exchange, discussion and consensus-building on emerging issues in aquaculture,” including guidance for governments and international bodies on technical and policy matters.
Reasons to establish the Sub-Committee include the growing contribution of aquaculture to global food security and economic development; the diversity of international trends affecting the sector, which require greater international cooperation; and the increasing need to address aquaculture issues in a global forum.
FAO said China, Norway, Italy and the United States have made offers of funding to help set up the Sub-Committee. China offered to host its first meeting in conjunction with a gathering of the World Aquaculture Society, and an International Aquaculture Exhibition in Beijing in April 2002. Norway has offered to host the second session, also in conjunction with an international exhibition on aquaculture in August 2003.
Contact: Lucia D'Aleo, Media Relations Office, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 2520, e-mail <lucia.daleo@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org/fi/default.asp).
PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES IU
Participants met in Rome (Italy) from 5-10 February 2001 for the fifth Inter-Sessional Contact Group meeting on the Revision of the International Undertaking (IU) on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity (see Go Between 84).
Over 100 people from 38 countries, along with representatives of intergovernmental and non-government organizations, took part in the meeting. It aimed to continue discussions on coverage of the multilateral system, governing body and secretariat, amendments of the undertaking and annexes, and a proposed article on supporting components of the multilateral system. There was also discussion on the legal basis of the IU in relation to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
In April 1993 the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, currently comprised of 166 countries, considered implications for the IU of the 1992 Earth Summit and the Convention on Biological Diversity. As a result, the commission agreed that the IU should be revised in order to be in harmony with the Convention. In November 1994 a first negotiating draft, grouped into 14 articles, was reviewed by the commission.
Contact: José Esquinas-Alcázar, Secretary, Committee on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 4986, fax +39-06/5705 6347, e-mail <jose.esquinas@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org).
ECOSOC AFRICA POVERTY PANEL
The first in a series of panel discussions held in connection with the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was held at UN headquarters in New York on 6 February 2001.
The panel, complementing ECOSOC's theme on the role of the UN in supporting the efforts of African countries to achieve sustainable development, focused on The Challenge of Ending Rural Poverty: Opportunities and Options for Africa. It coincided with the release of the International Fund for Agricultural Development's (IFAD) Rural Poverty Report 2001 (see Go Between 84).
The panel was chaired by ECOSOC President, Ambassador Martin Belinga-Eboutou (Cameroon). It opened with an overview of rural poverty in Africa by Mr. Fawzi Al-Sultan, IFAD President. Mr. Al-Sultan noted that 75% of the world's poorest people live in rural areas–with the highest proportion in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). He said this figure will only drop to about 60% by 2020. A focus on rural poverty and agricultural development was crucial to the reduction of overall poverty, he said, adding that “the neglect of agriculture, in terms of both international development cooperation and domestic resource allocation, must be redressed if we hope to achieve the challenging poverty targets of the Millennium Summit.”
Gary Howe, Director of the Eastern and Southern African Division of IFAD, pointed out that poverty reduction “never actually took off in Africa” despite the fact that most rural poor are not unemployed, nor for the most part marginalized in areas affected by land degradation and desertification. Among the problems he highlighted were poor access to health care and education; “very unequal access” to land and water; poor access to technology; poor communications and transportation infrastructure; and an urban bias in development expenditure.
He also noted that official development assistance (ODA), including from international financial institutions (IFIs), to the agricultural sector had significantly declined. Describing poverty as “a social and political fact,” he called for improved governance, direct integration of the rural poor into decision-making processes that affect their livelihoods, and expanded national development support for small-scale agriculture in association with the private sector. At the international level, he supported the abolition of trade barriers, which Mr. Howe said had cost Africa more than that for which debt reduction could ever compensate.
Professor Michael Lipton of UK-based Sussex University also argued for a realignment of aid toward agriculture. Concurring with other panellists that SSA was marked by extreme land distribution inequity, he highlighted the necessity for improved water and irrigation management. Irrigation, he said, had been key to reducing rural poverty in South and East Asia, while in SSA only 3% of arable land was being properly irrigated. He noted that on average 50% of household income in SSA was spent on food staples, whose production yields were “crawling.”
Mr. Lipton called for land reform, which he said could be achieved in a “market-friendly and non-confiscatory” manner. This would prove labour intensive and therefore increase demand for the poor's labour which in turn could improve their bargaining power. Farmers would be able to increase staple yields and grow enough to feed themselves. It would also be possible for them to accumulate capital for reinvestment by saving money previously spent on purchasing staple foods. Owning land would enable farmers to secure credit previously denied them.
Pelucy Ntambirweki, Executive Director of Ugandan Women's Effort to Save Orphans (WESO), highlighted the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on rural poor. She described the disease not only as a health problem that had caused enormous suffering and destabilization of national health systems, but as a critical development issue.
Responding to a description of rural to urban migration patterns as “the migration of despair,” Ms. Ntambirweki noted that once individuals became sick and weak with AIDS they migrate back to the countryside. This places enormous strain on rural areas. Her organization had found that charitable “handouts” did not have much impact on rural poverty, and she called for long-term economic empowerment of households, in particular for women, including education, access to credit, and training in modern methods of farming.
Contact: Hanifa Mezoui, Chief, Non-Governmental Organizations Section, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), Room DC1-1480, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8652, fax +1-212/963 9248, e-mail <mezoui@un.org>, website (www.un.org).
AID AND REFORM IN AFRICA
Foreign aid can help key economic reforms take root in developing countries, but only if recipient governments and their people broadly support the need for change, according to a World Bank report on the ways development aid influences economic policy in Africa. Without such “country ownership,” external cajoling or donor-imposed “conditionality” is unlikely to make poor countries adopt reforms they oppose, says Aid and Reform in Africa: Lessons from Ten Case Studies.
Where political leaders are committed to reform, and capable civil servants and community groups can implement change, aid increases public confidence in the reform process and attracts greater private investment in national economies. In this way, foreign aid can help deepen reform commitments and support high growth rates, says the report.
When releasing the report, the World Bank said rich countries should honor their UN commitment to devote 0.7% of their annual gross domestic product (GDP) to development aid and open their markets to developing country exports. Development assistance to Africa has fallen drastically from US$32 per head in 1990 to just US$19 in 1998, despite clear evidence of aid's effectiveness in countries with effective economic and social policies, noted the Bank.
“It is painfully ironic that just at the time when many African governments are putting in place effective social and economic policies and committing to reform, development aid is being cut,” said World Bank President James Wolfensohn. “This is exactly the wrong message for donors to send. African leaders are determined as never before to lead their own renaissance, but what they also need is increased development assistance to support those reforms and access to developed country markets. Rich countries need reminding that their current levels of foreign aid, at some 0.24% of yearly GDP, fall far short of the 0.7% target they promised to meet. The difference between these figures is worth a hundred billion dollars a year–for millions, this is the difference between life and death.”
The report examines ten national case studies during the 1980s and 1990s comprising Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
It says the studies reconfirm development assistance has little or no positive influence in poor countries that avoid economic reforms that could spur economic growth and reduce their incidence of poverty. While aid donors increasingly favor developing countries that can use their foreign aid effectively, the report warns that donors must continue to be selective. Where bilateral donors in particular give aid to national recipients regardless of their poor economic track record, “they may be insulating developing countries from the need to adopt reforms which would greatly benefit the social and economic well-being of their people.”
The report concludes that using “conditionality” to coerce developing countries into reforms, such as stabilizing their exchange rates or fostering an independent judicial system, are largely ineffective. Countries that have successfully reformed have had clear political movements leading to these changes. Countries that have made less progress typically have had powerful vested interests blocking change. Either way, economic policies are primarily domestically grown, it says.
“This report shows that aid cannot 'buy' reform in poor countries that are flatly opposed to it,” said Shanta Devarajan, co-author of the report and Chief Economist of the World Bank's Human Development Network. “Without 'country-ownership' of a national development strategy, even the most generous and well-intentioned aid packages will have little or no impact in improving the quality of people's lives.”
Contact: David Dollar, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, e-mail <Ddollar@worldbank.org>. The report is available at website (www.worldbank.org/research/aid/africa/intro.htm).
INCB ANNUAL DRUG REPORT
Growing consumption of pyschotropic substances is the main topic in this year's annual report of the International Narcotic Control Board (INCB). The report of the Vienna-based UN body warns that widespread overuse of such drugs is becoming a socially-acceptable habit, especially in developed countries, as controlled substances are readily used and prescribed for psychological or social problems. Some reasons for the oversupply of controlled substances–such as benzodiazepines and other amphetamine-type stimulants–include loose regulation, unreliable estimates and information concerning medical needs, aggressive marketing techniques, and improper or even unethical prescription practices.
“Easy availability leads to over-consumption of such substances,” according to the INCB, “either in the form of drug abuse or by fueling a culture of drug taking to deal with a variety of non-medical problems.”
The under-consumption of narcotic drugs for the relief of pain and suffering in a number of nations–especially developing countries–was highlighted in last year's report. By focusing this year on the excessive consumption of drugs in developed countries, the INCB observed that “the world situation is characterized by under-supply of narcotic drugs for medical purposes in one part of the world, and excessive consumption of controlled substances in the other part.”
Insomnia, anxiety, obesity and child hyperactivity, as well as various kinds of pain are listed among the most common problems treated by prescribing pyschotropic substances. The INCB says is it especially concerned that preference is given to “quick solutions” without looking at long-term effects, as prolonged and excessive consumption of such drugs could result in dependency and other physical and mental suffering.
The INCB is urging government authorities, health care professionals, pharmaceutical companies and consumers themselves to adopt “more responsible and ethical behaviour and adhere to a more rational prescription culture.”
Contact: INCB, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060 4163, fax +43-1/26060 5867, e-mail <secretariat@incb.org>, website (www.incb.org).
UNFPA: REDUCING MATERNAL MORTALITY
Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability for women aged 15 to 49 in most developing countries. Worldwide, some 500,000 women die each year from causes related to pregnancy, childbirth and unsafe abortion such as haemorrhage, toxaemia and obstructed labour. Many more suffer from infections or long-term injuries, according to a report from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Maternal Mortality Update 1998-1999 says that more than 99% of these deaths and injuries occur in developing countries, and the vast majority could be prevented if women had access to basic and emergency medical care during pregnancy, childbirth and the post-partum period.
“Yet only 53% of pregnant women in developing countries deliver with the help of a skilled attendant,” according to UNFPA, “and millions of women have no means of getting to a hospital in case of major obstetric complications.”
The report describes UNFPA-supported activities to prevent maternal deaths, including:
-- family planning information and services;
-- prenatal, delivery and post-natal care at the primary level and referrals to higher care levels for the management
of obstetric complications; and
-- prevention of abortion, management of the consequences of abortion, and post-abortion counseling.
In 1998 and 1999 the Fund spent an estimated US$105 million for such activities in 89 developing countries, and another US$3.4 million for regional and global efforts. Non-governmental organizations are involved in designing, planning, and implementing UNFPA-supported maternal health programmes in 44 countries.
UNFPA country offices are striving to reduce maternal death by:
-- upgrading primary health-care facilities to make essential and emergency obstetric care more available,
especially in rural and under-served areas;
-- providing equipment and supplies for prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care of mothers and newborns;
-- training health service providers in various aspects of maternal care, including life-saving skills for emergency
cases;
-- providing vehicles to transport women with obstetric complications; and
-- mobilizing communities to fully use available services.
Contact: Suleman Chaudhary, Technical Support Division, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York NY 10017, United States, fax +1-212/370 0201, website (www.unfpa.org/tpd/mmupdate).
WORLD POPULATION PROSPECTS REPORT
The world population, which reached 6.1 billion in mid-2000, is growing at an annual rate of 1.3% or 77 million people per year, according to World Population Prospects: The 2000 Revision.
Published by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the report says six countries account for half of this annual growth. They are India (21%), China (12%), Pakistan (5%), Nigeria (4%), Bangladesh (4%), and Indonesia (3%). By 2050, world population is expected to be between 7.9 billion and 10.9 billion.
The population of more developed regions, currently 1.2 billion, is anticipated to change little during the next 50 years because fertility levels are expected to remain below replacement level. And by mid-century, the populations of 39 countries are projected to be smaller than today. These include Japan and Germany (each 14% smaller), Italy and Hungary (each 25% smaller) and the Russian Federation, Georgia and Ukraine (each between 28% and 40% smaller).
In less-developed regions, the population is projected to rise steadily from 4.9 billion in 2000 to 8.2 billion in 2050. This projection assumes continuing declines in fertility; in the absence of such declines, the population of less-developed regions would reach 11.9 billion.
Particularly rapid growth is expected among the group of 48 countries classified as least developed–their population is expected to nearly triple between 2000 and 2050, passing from 658 million to 1.8 billion, despite the fact that their fertility is projected to decline markedly in the future.
However, the report indicates HIV/AIDS will have an increasing impact on morbidity, mortality and population loss. During the next five years, the number of excess deaths because of AIDS is estimated at 15.5 million. The long-term impact of the epidemic “remains dire,” warned the United Nations. “For the 45 most affected countries, the expectation of life at birth has already been reduced by nearly three years. By 2015, expectation of life is projected to stand at 60 years, five years lower than it would have been in the absence of HIV/AIDS.”
Other trends discussed in the report include the number of older persons (60 years or over) across the world, which will nearly triple from 606 million today to nearly two billion by 2050. And international migration is projected to remain high during the 21st century. The more developed regions are expected to remain net receivers of international migrants, with an average gain of about two million per year over the next 50 years.
Contact: Director, Population Division, United Nations, Room DC2-1950, 2 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 4838, fax +1-212/963 2147. See also Population Information Network website (www.undp.org/popin/popin.htm).
ILO GOVERNING BODY
Forced labour in Myanmar (Burma) and trade union rights in Colombia were key topics of discussion among governments, employers and workers participating in the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which ended its three-week session in Geneva in March.
As part of its ongoing effort to compel Myanmar to observe its legal obligation to abolish forced labour (see Go Between 84), the Governing Body reviewed the efforts of governments, employers' and workers' groups, and international organizations.
The Governing Body also heard from Rafael Alburquerque, the Director-General's Special Representative, on violence against trade unionists in Colombia. The Governing Body decided to continue evaluating the situation with a view to promoting stronger protection for trade union leaders and effective punishment for those who violate their rights.
The meeting also adopted a US$472.4 million budget, which contains new and expanded proposals. These include an increase in the number of regionally-based ILO specialists working in the global campaign against child labour, especially in its worst forms.
The Governing Body, which meets three times a year, takes decisions on ILO policy, decides the agenda of the International Labour Conference, adopts the draft Programme and Budget of the Organization for submission to the Conference, and elects the Director-General.
Contact: Department of Communication, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799 8577, e-mail <presse@ilo.org>, website (www.ilo.org).
UNCC GOVERNING COUNCIL
The Governing Council of the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) held a special session on 15 February 2001 in Geneva. Among other things, the Council elected Ambassador Sverre Bergh Johansen of Norway as President, and Ambassador Jaynarain Meetoo of Mauritius as Vice-President. The UNCC, a subsidiary organ of the United Nations Security Council, was established to process claims and pay compensation for direct losses and damage suffered by individuals, corporations, governments and international organizations as a result of Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1990 and 1991.
The composition of the Governing Council, which is the policy-making organ of the UNCC, is the same as that of the 15-member Security Council at any given time. The Governing Council makes decisions on recommendations made by the panels of Commissioners regarding compensation for claimants. The panels of Commissioners review and evaluate the claims submitted by governments on behalf of their nationals, their companies or on their own behalf. More than 2.6 million claims have been received by the Commission within the filing deadlines. The total asserted value of these claims (the amount sought by the claimants) amounts to over US$300 billion. Ninety-six governments have filed claims, as well as 13 offices of three international organizations, which have filed claims on behalf of individuals not in a position to submit their claims through a government.
The Commission has resolved over 99% of the claims submitted, consisting of:
-- those of individuals for departure from Kuwait or Iraq;
-- for serious personal injury or death;
-- for losses up to US$100,000;
-- for losses over US$100,000;
-- the claims of corporations, other private legal entities and public sector enterprises; and
-- those of governments and international organizations.
Compensation awarded has amounted to over US$32 billion, out of a total amount claimed of approximately US$83 billion. Funds to pay the awards of compensation are drawn from the United Nations Compensation Fund, which receives up to 30% of the revenue generated by export of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products. The Compensation Fund receives 25% of the proceeds under through the “oil-for-food” mechanism in accordance with Security Council resolution 1330, adopted in December 2000.
Contact: UN Compensation Commission, Villa La Pelouse, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 3600, fax +41-22/917 0069, website (www.uncc.ch).
UN NARCOTICS PANEL
Nations should give renewed priority to drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation, and the United Nations should do more to help Member States combat the rising tide of amphetamine-type stimulants while continuing efforts to reduce both the supply and demand for illicit drugs. These were among key directives issued by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which held a two-week meeting in March 2001 in Vienna (Austria).
Participants reviewed how governments and the UN were “living up to the goals and target dates” called for by the 1998 General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem (see NGLS Roundup, July 1998). At the March meeting delegates of the 53-member Commission also heard the first progress report of Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP).
Speakers noted important achievements by governments working with UNDCP toward eliminating coca in Bolivia and Peru, and opium poppy in Afghanistan, Laos and Viet Nam. At the same time they recognized “the vulnerability of many countries in Africa and the linkage between the drug problem and poverty, unemployment, regional conflicts, civil wars and the HIV/AIDS epidemic.”
The Commission voted to place three “party drugs” and one sedative under the control regime of the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and to tighten the watch over two common chemicals that are often diverted into illicit channels for processing heroin and cocaine. It called for strengthened dialogue with donor and recipient countries as a way of enhancing programme delivery.
Among other things, Mr. Arlacchi expressed his commitment to continue strengthening the quality of UNDCP programme performance including changes in its work methods and financial management system, and systematic evaluation of project results. He also confirmed that UNDCP would move to results-based budgeting.
Contact: Jonathan Lucas, Commission on Narcotic Drugs, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060 3400, fax +43-1/26060 5885, website (www.odccp.org/cnd.html).
INTERNATIONAL JUTE STUDY GROUP
Negotiations held in Geneva in March 2001 resulted in the establishment of an International Jute Study Group. This legal instrument replaces the International Agreement on Jute and Jute Products, which expired in April 2000. The Conference on Jute and Jute Products was held under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
When closing the conference, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero welcomed the new agreement and said its main innovation was its involvement of the private sector. The private sector had a potentially key role to play, he said, for example by identifying sources of funding for the modernization of the jute industry and by developing new end-uses for jute, a biodegradable and renewable natural resource. In many respects the future would be increasingly determined by the growing interrelationship between trade and the environment, he added.
The new entity succeeds the International Jute Organization, which was established under the first International Agreement in 1982. The Study Group is intended to promote the expansion of international trade in jute and jute products by maintaining existing markets and developing new ones, including the introduction of new products and the development of new end-uses.
It is also aimed at facilitating the improvement of structural conditions in the jute sector by enhancing productivity and quality, and promoting the application of new processes and technologies.
The Study Group, which may subsequently apply to be designated as an international commodity body, may undertake, sponsor or supervise projects designed to improve the economic well-being of the millions of persons working in the sector, especially in Bangladesh and India, the top two producing countries.
The new instrument will enter into force when states together accounting for 60% of trade (imports and exports combined) in jute and jute products have notified the United Nations Secretary-General of their provisional application or definitive acceptance of its provisions.
Should the requirements for entry into force not be met by 31 December 2001, states that have notified their acceptance or provisional application may decide to put its terms of reference into force among themselves.
The Study Group will remain in force for eight years and may be extended for up to two periods of two years.
Contact: Erica Meltzer, Press Officer, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907 5828, fax +41-22/907 0043, e-mail <press@unctad.org>, website (www.unctad.org).
UNICEF REPORT ON CHILD MARRIAGE
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), which said that half of all girls in some countries are married by the time they reach age 18, in March 2001 called for a global campaign to prevent the phenomenon of child marriage.
A UNICEF report, entitled Early Marriage: Child Spouses, discusses the reasons early marriage continues, and may even be on the rise among extremely poor populations.
“Forcing children, especially girls, into early marriages can be physically and emotionally harmful,” said Carol Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director. “It violates their rights to personal freedom and growth. Yet until now there has been virtually no attempt to examine child marriage as a human rights violation in and of itself.”
By analyzing child marriage as a violation of a child's basic rights, the report seeks to build momentum for change. It is “another step in a growing movement to end the silent despair of millions of children, especially girls, who are being shuttered away in lives often full of misery and pain,” said Ms. Bellamy.
The report examines many of the implications of child marriage, from its restriction of personal freedom to its impact on health and education. For both boys and girls, early marriage has profound physical, intellectual, psychological and emotional consequences, cutting off educational opportunities and chances for personal growth. For girls, in addition, it will almost certainly mean premature pregnancy–which causes higher rates of maternal mortality–and is likely to lead to a lifetime of domestic and sexual subservience.
Teenage girls are also more susceptible than mature women to sexually-transmitted infections, says the report, including HIV/AIDS. Their vulnerability is dangerously increased because of the false belief in many places that if a man sleeps with a virgin, he'll be cured of HIV/AIDS.
Child marriages can be found across the globe, but are pervasive in parts of Africa and South Asia. The percentage of girls aged 15-19 in selected countries who are already married include Democratic Republic of Congo (74%), Niger (70%), Afghanistan (54%), Bangladesh (51%), Honduras (30%) and Iraq (28%). Poverty is one of the major factors underpinning child marriage.
To prevent child marriage a wide range of individuals and organizations–from community leaders to international bodies–must take action, says the report. A first step is to inform parents and young people about the negative implications of child marriage so they can choose to prevent it. Education is key in this process, according to UNICEF. Persuading parents to keep their daughters in school is critical for the overall development of girls–and in the postponement of marriage.
For girls who are already married, services must be developed to counsel them on issues ranging from abuse to reproduction.
Contact: Shima Islam or Mitchie Topper, UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/824 6949 or 303 7910, e-mail <sislam@unicef.org> or <mtopper@unicef.org>, website (www.unicef.org/hpphotocaption/7mar01-earlymarriage.htm).
UNDP GENDER MAINSTREAMING STUDY
The first attempt to systematically analyze success of the United Nations Development Fund's (UNDP) efforts to promote gender mainstreaming in sub-Saharan Africa focuses on gender-related activities of its Africa Bureau in two areas: poverty eradication and governance, and women-specific initiatives.
Assessment of Gender Mainstreaming in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of UNDP Supported Activities was based on a sample of 18 of 45 countries in the region and includes 74 UNDP-funded programmes and 115 projects. The study grades and ranks the initiatives according to a Gender Mainstreaming Index, ranging from zero to eight.
The index was developed to facilitate a quantitative evaluation and comparison. The assessment was initiated by UNDP in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Division for the Advancement of Women.
Of the 97 poverty eradication initiatives examined, the study reports that 43% included some gender analysis while only 33% employed a gender specialist. Overall, the study finds that “relatively little has been done to mainstream gender in poverty eradication initiatives in Africa.”
It recommends a renewed commitment to gender mainstreaming through, among other things:
-- a clearer targeting of the poor and women;
-- budgeting a larger proportion of funds directly for gender mainstreaming; and
-- supporting projects that directly transfer assets to women, educate women and improve their health.
In the area of governance, the study notes that women represent the highest proportion of the marginalized and neediest groups in Africa. Women are under-represented in the national decision-making bodies of all African countries, although ten of the 18 countries registered increases in the representation of women in national legislative bodies between 1994 and 2000.
Out of 59 governance initiatives examined, the study found only six based on gender analysis, indicating “a lack of focus on gender in the conceptualization of the programme or project.” Only 18 of the initiatives included gender specialists, and 85% “had little or no gender mainstreaming component.”
Women-specific initiatives can play an important complementary role in gender mainstreaming and represent those where systematic and concrete steps have been taken to include gender in the project design, says the study. Of the 18 countries under review, 15 had women-specific programmes and projects. However, the combined number of such programmes and projects totaled only 33. The study found that “where UNDP was a participant in these initiatives, it was also in the majority of cases the primary funder.”
It said UNDP “made considerable efforts to promote gender mainstreaming at the policy level. [Its] financial commitments include the goal that at least 20% of its global budget be allocated and disbursed to promote the advancement of women.” However, the study notes that to a large degree the process of gender mainstreaming is still in its early stages in many countries.
The results of the study will contribute to the development of policy guidance on how to redirect mainstream programming to incorporate gender equality as a development objective in the substantive areas of UNDP's work. These include policy formulation, planning, implementation, evaluation and decision-making processes at the country level.
The long-term objective of the study is to assist national governments and civil society in implementation of the recommendations contained in the Declaration and Platform for Action of the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, with emphasis on supporting governments in mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes.
Gender mainstreaming, as defined by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. Gender mainstreaming aims to make women's as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social spheres so that women and men benefit equally.
Contact: Tsu-Wei Chang, Division for the Advancement of Women, DESA, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8370, website (www.un.org/womenwatch) or Laufey Love, Development and Human Rights Section, Department of Public Information, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 3507.
WORLD ASSEMBLY ON AGEING
At its 54th session the UN General Assembly decided to convene a Second World Assembly on Ageing next year. The event will be held on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Vienna World Assembly on Ageing and will be devoted to reviewing the outcome of the first World Assembly. It will also aim to “adopt a revised plan of action and long-term strategy on ageing, encompassing its periodic reviews, in the context of a society for all ages.” The Second Assembly on Ageing will be held in Madrid (Spain) in April 2002.
Preparations for the World Assembly have been entrusted to the Commission for Social Development, which is acting as the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom). It held an organizational session from 26 February-2 March 2001 in New York.
While the PrepCom approved a decision to request the Secretary-General to submit a report on abuse against older persons, as a contribution to the elaboration of a revised action plan, the organizational session was suspended without resolving the matters before it. These included accreditation and participation of NGOs at the World Assembly and preparatory process, as well the rules of procedure and format for the event. It decided to resume the session on 30 April-1 May and again in November.
“We have failed,” said Committee Chairman Felipe Paolillo (Uruguay), who expressed frustration with what were described as meagre results. Mr. Paolillo said he hoped that an atmosphere more conducive to reaching agreement would prevail at the resumed session.
Growing concern over the intensifying speed and scale of global ageing was evident during the session's general discussion, as speakers drew attention to the demographic, social and economic changes that have occurred since adoption of the 1982 Action Plan. They also highlighted ways in which those changes had affected their countries. A combination of increased life expectancy and low fertility rates had added some 20 years to the average life span, bringing global life expectancy to 66 years.
According to documentation presented at the session, today one out of every ten persons is 60 years or older. By 2050, one out of five persons will be 60 years or older. Some 55% of older persons are women, and approximately 51% of older persons live in urban areas.
The rapid increase in the number of older people in the world represents a challenge to the institutional frameworks and capacity of many governments to sustain development and ensure the well-being of their population, noted many participants.
Contact: Alexandre Sidorenko, UN Programme on Ageing, Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Room DC2-1358, 2 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 0500, fax +1-212/963 3062, website (www.un.org/esa/socdev/ageing.htm).
COMMISSION ON MACROECONOMICS AND HEALTH
In January 2000 Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization, launched a Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) aimed at clarifying the relation between health, economic development and poverty reduction.
The CMH, chaired by Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University, comprises 18 representatives of governments, international economic agencies and universities. Among its members are former ministers of finance and representatives of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Economic Commission on Africa (ECA), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The purpose of the CMH is to produce a series of studies on health care intervention to foster economic growth in developing countries. It will also produce and propose a set of health measures to help minimize poverty and maximize development in these countries.
The final CMH report will be released in December 2001 and be disseminated at the 2002 World Health Assembly. The report is expected to have a similar global impact as the 1989 Brundtland Report entitled Our Common Future, which established environmental degradation and sustainable development as some of the key concerns on the global agenda.
During the 1990s issues such as debt relief, international trade, accessibility of essential drugs to those most in need, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and growing health care costs have demonstrated that health plays a central role in the world economy, according to the CMH. And there is growing evidence that in the poorest nations, health care crises can create critical barriers to development, while improvements in the condition of a population's overall health contributes to higher economic growth and poverty alleviation.
The World Health Organization and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs organized a panel discussion about the Commission on 9 February 2001 at UN headquarters in New York. According to Mr. Sachs in his keynote address, it is critically important that the health crisis of the poorest nations be addressed, and that globalization is made to work for all. (The CMH final report will assess the health crisis in the poorest countries and analyze subsequent adverse economic development.)
He said that poor health is one of the fundamental reasons some poor regions are unable to escape poverty since a sick population is less productive than a healthy one. In the least developed countries, high infant/child mortality rates and corresponding high birth rates require great investments in the health and education sectors, said Mr. Sachs.
Disease tends to isolate countries and regions from global investments and trade. Foreign investments are low in the highest disease areas, and diseases such as HIV/AIDS are increasingly cutting off the most affected African countries from global trade. Mr. Sachs also emphasized that in order to achieve a truly globalized world, the disease burden must be brought down. To achieve this investments are required not only in health care, but in related fields such as education and empowerment of the girl-child.
Mr. Sachs identified debt reduction of the highly indebted poor countries as an important measure to address the global health crisis. However, he said, debt reduction alone is not sufficient. In order to achieve global goals the developed countries will also need to invest heavily in this area.
Information concerning the global health crisis will be presented in a CMH preliminary report, to be issued in July 2001.
Contact: Sergio Spinaci, Executive Secretary of the CMH, WHO, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, e-mail <spinacis@who.ch>, website (www.who.int).
Dyna Arhin-Tenkorang, Senior Economist and Assistant to the Chairman of the CMH, Center for International Development at Harvard University, Boston MA, United States, e-mail <dyna_arhin-tenkorang@harvard.edu>, website (www.cid.harvard.edu/cidcmh).
ICC PREPCOM HOLDS SEVENTH SESSION
The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the International Criminal Court (ICC), which held its seventh session at UN headquarters in New York from 26 February-9 March 2001, continued its work on rules and political arrangements for effective operation of the future Court.
PrepCom Chair Philippe Kirsch (Canada) described the session as “exceptionally productive” after making substantial progress toward determining the shape and functioning of the Court. The representative from the Netherlands announced to the PrepCom that a suitable location had been found for the Court in The Hague.
Five working groups met during the session, and two new working groups were created on the Court's first-year budget and on principles of agreement between the Court and the Netherlands.
The groups working on the Relationship Agreement between the Court and the United Nations, the Financial Regulations and Rules, and the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Court indicated their work would be completed at the PrepCom's next session, scheduled for 24 September-5 October 2001. The working groups on Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of States Parties, and on the Crime of Aggression, also met during the session.
The main challenge in the draft Relationship Agreement between the Court and the UN concerned the independence of the Court and mutual recognition of the two institutions. Christian Maquiera (Chile), Coordinator for the Working Group, introduced a discussion paper describing, among other things, cooperation between the Security Council and the Court, rules concerning exchange of information, and the protection of confidentiality.
The discussion on Financial Regulations and Rules of the Court dealt with the budget, the scale of assessment, choice of currency for the Court, creation of a trust fund for victims, as well as issues dealing with other income and voluntary contributions. Georg Witschel (Germany), Coordinator for the Working Group, introduced an outline for setting up the Court's proposed programme budget for each financial period, as well as additional terms of reference governing the audit of the Court.
Issues in the draft Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the Court included the extension of that status to defence counsel and victims appearing before the Court. Phakiso Mochochoko (Lesotho), Coordinator for the Working Group, introduced a paper describing the legal status and judicial personality of the Court; the exercise of its functions outside headquarters; cooperation with authorities of states Parties; and articles on the immunity of the Court, its property, funds and assets.
Seid Mirzaee-Yengejeh (Iran), Coordinator for the Working Group on draft Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of States Parties, said that there had been a “fruitful exchange” of ideas including the scope of application of rules of procedure and the relationship of those rules with the Statute, and the relevance of repeating provisions of the Statute in the text.
The Coordinator of the Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, Sylvia Fernandez de Gurmendi (Argentina), said that during discussions it had been recognized that the UN Charter gave the responsibility of determining the crime of aggression to the Security Council.
There was still the question, however, of what mechanism would apply if the Council failed to recognize that a crime of aggression had been committed. She said that some delegates had proposed that in such a situation, the Court could ask the General Assembly to recommend whether it should continue with the case.
The Working Group also considered the conditions of the exercise of jurisdiction, as well as the definition of the crime of aggression. Ms. de Gurmendi noted that there was continued division between countries preferring a general definition of the crime, and those desiring a highly detailed list of specific and relevant actions.
Some delegations emphasized individual responsibility, while others felt that the PrepCom should consider intent as well as the rights of the accused.
A total of 139 states have signed the Rome Statute of the ICC, and 29 have ratified it. The Court will come into being when 60 states have ratified the treaty.
Contact: Coalition for an International Criminal Court, 777 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/687 2176, e-mail <cicc@iccnow.org>, website (www.iccnow.org).
ICAO ON AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY FOR 2000
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which is based in Montreal, has completed an analysis of preliminary information available on aviation safety and security for 2000.
Regarding safety last year (excluding aircraft accidents caused by acts of unlawful interference), there were 18 aircraft accidents with passenger fatalities in scheduled air services worldwide involving aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of more than 2,250 kg. The number of passenger fatalities was 755. In 1999, there were 499 passenger fatalities from 21 accidents.
“Due to the higher number of fatalities in 2000,” according to ICAO, “the accident rate (measured in passenger fatalities per 100 million passenger-kilometres) also rose, from approximately 0.02 in 1999 to 0.025 in 2000.”
For non-scheduled air services, there were 22 accidents involving passenger fatalities for aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of more than 2,250 kg., both in 2000 and in 1999. (The latter included six involving all-cargo services with passengers onboard). These accidents accounted for 291 passenger fatalities in 2000 compared with 129 in 1999.
Regarding security, 27 acts of unlawful interference took place in 2000 (including aircraft accidents caused by such acts). In these 53 persons were killed and 46 were injured.
Contact: External Relations and Public Information Office, ICAO, 999 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3C 5H7, Canada, telephone + 1-514/954 8219, fax 1-514/954 6077, website (www.icao.int).
AD HOC COMMITTEE ON TERRORISM
The General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism, which held its fifth session from 12-23 February 2001 in New York, focused on efforts to further elaborate a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.
The Committee, chaired by Rohan Perera (Sri Lanka), used as a basis for its discussion a draft text submitted by the Indian delegation at the 51st session of the General Assembly. The text expresses deep concern about the worldwide escalation of acts of terrorism, which endanger or take innocent lives, jeopardize fundamental freedoms and seriously impair the dignity of human beings.
It also stresses that suppression of terrorist acts is an essential element in the maintenance of international peace and security, and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
The text seeks to define terrorism, urge domestic legislation and the establishment of jurisdiction, and ensure that states Parties not grant asylum to any person involved in a terrorist act. It also addresses questions of liability, extradition and custody.
Among other provisions, states Parties would be obliged to offer the greatest measure of assistance in connection with investigations of criminal or extradition proceedings, including assistance in obtaining evidence. The text has annexes on exclusion of political offence, and procedures for mutual legal assistance and extradition. The convention itself would enter into force 30 days after ratification by 22 states.
During discussion Malaysia, on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, proposed that a clear definition of terrorism be established so that it could be “differentiated from the legitimate struggles of people under foreign occupation for national liberation, as recognized by relevant resolutions and declarations of the United Nations.” Pakistan added that the question of terrorist acts by paramilitary or military personnel of states should not be excluded.
Chile, on behalf of the Rio Group, agreed that the Committee should deal with the legal description of terrorism, on which other provisions of the convention would depend. Chile proposed that the approach to, and structure of, the legal description be centred on the usual purpose of terrorism. It described this as producing fear in the population or forcing a government or international organization to take, or refrain from taking, some action.
South Africa said the nature and scope of the convention needed to be established; it should identify relevant criminal acts and their consequences, and elaborate a legal framework with a high degree of specificity and clarity. South Africa felt the convention should have two objectives: to prevent terrorist acts, and where impossible to prosecute such acts. Mutual legal assistance, as well as interstate cooperation, were crucial elements.
Sweden, on behalf of the European Union, said that in the international community's legitimate efforts to suppress terrorism, human rights and freedoms must always be respected. Sweden stressed that there should be no safe havens for terrorists or impunity for their acts, and it agreed that a legal definition of terrorism could help in this regard.
The United States reaffirmed its condemnation of terrorism in all forms, whatever the motive or whomever the author. That included, it said, condemnation of state-sponsored terrorism. However, the US reiterated its position that the term “terrorism” was not appropriate when used to describe the conduct of states.
The Philippines felt that the Committee should go beyond a “prosecute or extradite” regime–and rules that merely prohibited the use of a territory for terrorist purposes–to rules involving the responsibility of the state. It agreed with South Africa that the scope and definition of offences was an important issue. It also supported a proposal to give due consideration to the victims of terrorism.
Contact: Codification Division, Office of Legal Affairs, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, fax +1-212/963 1963. For online access to all reports of the Ad Hoc Committee and reports of the working group of the General Assembly Sixth Committee (Legal), as well as reports of the UN Secretary-General on measures to prevent international terrorism, see website (www.un.org/law/terrorism.index.html).
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE DEPOT
The World Food Programme and the government of Italy opened the UN's first-ever comprehensive humanitarian rapid response base in Brindisi (Italy) in March 2001. The United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) will serve as an emergency logistics base and storage site aimed at allowing the UN to respond to crises at a moment's notice.
“This base is the first of its kind and we're very excited about it,” said Catherine Bertini, WFP Executive Director. “It will serve as a global emergency headquarters [and] a launching pad that will enable us to respond to emergencies even more quickly.”
UNHRD contains stocks of emergency food aid and mobile cooking facilities, medicine, shelter materials, electric generators, water treatment systems and personal safety provisions, which can be immediately dispatched whenever and wherever crisis strikes.
But unlike other existing humanitarian aid facilities, it will also include rapid response equipment such as a dedicated fleet of trucks, shipping containers, emergency telecom equipment and mobile offices–all the logistics equipment necessary to instantly launch a humanitarian operation.
WFP manages the base on behalf of partners that include the Italian government, non-governmental organizations, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the World Health Organization (WHO). Other aid organizations will be invited to participate, according to WFP. It was named by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to oversee the UNHRD because of its more than 35 years of logistics experience. As the UN's primary transport arm for humanitarian aid, WFP ships thousands of tons of food and other aid goods around the world each year.
“The ability of aid agencies to quickly help people trapped in wars and natural disasters is a must,” Ms. Bertini said. “But often when crisis strikes, time is lost because we must often request aid and equipment from donors, and then assemble and ship it.” She said UNHRD provides “stocks of the necessary aid and tools on hand and a specialized team that can coordinate and move it all within the first 24 hours.”
UNHRD has been operative since June 2000 and has already organized several emergency airlifts to Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kosovo, El Salvador, India, Guinea, Afghanistan and Mozambique.
Contact: Jeff Rowland, Public Affairs Officer, WFP, Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, I-00148 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/6513 2971, fax +39-06/6513 2840, e-mail <jeffrey.rowland@wfp.org>, website (www.wfp.org).
INTERNATIONAL COCOA AGREEMENT
A new international cocoa agreement, which grants the private sector a bigger role in international cooperation in the world cocoa economy, was launched in Geneva in March 2001.
Participants in the United Nations Cocoa Conference described the pact as much more flexible and “moral” than previous agreements, which had contained a number of economic clauses aimed at correcting market imbalances. The new agreement, they said, depends more on the good faith and political will of the private sector in cocoa producer and consumer countries, as well as governments.
“This agreement does full justice to the needs of all parties in the cocoa economy,” said Carlos Fortin, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which sponsored the talks in Geneva. “It is realistic, taking on board developments in the world economy and in the commodities markets.”
Among other things, the agreement encourages new and ongoing projects, some of them to be sponsored in part by the International Cocoa Organization. It paves the way for the creation of farmer cooperatives aimed at increasing farmers' income, and for research and development of new farming methods, fertilizers and nutrient additives.
Private sector participation in projects related to the agreement, and in the overall management of cocoa resources at the international level, will take the form of a consultative board within the International Cocoa Organization. The board will facilitate information exchange, identify threats to supply and demand, and propose action. The private sector will also be encouraged to contribute to a newly-established Promotion Fund to finance promotional campaigns and sponsor research.
The agreement's entry into force requires ratification by a minimum of five exporting countries accounting for at least 80% of total exports, and by importing countries representing 60% of total imports. It will be open for signature at UN headquarters in New York, which acts as depositary, on 1 May of this year.
Contact: Abdelaziz Megzari, Head, Commodities Branch and Head, Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907 5763, fax +41-22/907 0509, e-mail <abdelaziz-megzari@unctad.org>, website (www.unctad.org).
ADVISERS ON ICT REPORT
High-level advisers to the UN Secretary-General on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), meeting in Davos (Switzerland) on 29 January 2001, adopted a report to assist formulating the Secretary-General's recommendations to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on establishing an Information and Communication Technologies Task Force.
ICT, according to the advisers, “can be a potent instrument for accelerating broad-based growth and sustainable development and for reducing poverty.” They said the huge potential of the IT revolution had not been adequately reflected in development policies. Though there are many initiatives and activities at all levels and regions of the world, the development impact of these could be significantly enhanced through strengthening synergies, ensuring complementarity, promoting awareness, and through supporting, replicating and scaling-up successful practices.
As envisioned by the experts, the Task Force aims to:
-- forge strategic partnerships between the UN system, private industry, trusts and foundations, donor governments, programme countries, and other relevant international actors;
-- develop innovative modalities for strengthening the ICT capacity of developing countries;
-- pool the experience of both developed and developing countries in introducing and promoting ICT for
development; and
-- administer a trust fund supported by voluntary contributions.
Developing nations–particularly in Africa and the least developed countries–should be the major focus of the effort, according to the advisers. Key roles identified for the Task Force included the following.
-- Help develop balanced approaches that can address issues of promoting access, development of skills and local
content, and the desire and capacity to use the ICT for development.
-- Mobilize commitment by political leaders at the highest level.
-- Create conducive and independent regulatory frameworks and institutions.
-- Develop norms and guidelines based on available experience and knowledge.
-- Create the broad conditions for affordable access.
-- Develop local applications content and entrepreneurship.
-- Develop instruments to integrate ICT into development cooperation policies and practices so that official
development assistance can be leveraged in new and innovative ways.
-- Carry out stakeholder campaigns to mobilize governments, the private sector, NGOs, academia, local
communities and businesses to achieve these goals.
-- Serve a catalytic role to set global priorities and add value to existing and new initiatives at the local, national,
regional and global levels.
The advisers also recommended the Task Force formulate a Programme of Action with clear priorities, target dates and indicators to measure achievement. They said it should establish effective, transparent and participatory procedures, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, in the pursuit of its objectives.
To support the Task Force, the advisers suggested a decentralized network of regional, sub-regional and national mechanisms built on existing programmes and activities. These sub-Task Forces, which would serve as a source of “global inventory” and would work to mobilize all actors at these levels to highlight and address locally- and globally-identified gaps and constraints in policy and strategy.
Regarding composition of the Task Force, the advisers said it should be: comprised of high-level policy representatives of stakeholders; balanced in terms of partner and geographical representation; and inclusive and participatory but as small as possible without compromising its representative character. They said the President of ECOSOC should be an ex officio member.
Concerning funding, it was recommended that initially a core budget from voluntary contributions be established under the UN Secretary-General's authority to support the Task Force's functioning and small secretariat. The Task Force would seek to mobilize funding in order to support programmes and projects. It could also consider mobilizing additional resources for a trust fund, as well as raising resources through other appropriate mechanisms.
The advisers proposed that the initial duration of the Task Force's mandate be three years, commencing with its first substantive meeting in September 2001.
Contact: Sarbuland Khan, Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, 1 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 4628, fax +1-212/963 1712, e-mail <khan2@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc/itforum).
UN-NGO COOPERATION
WORLD BANK CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM
A joint resolution between the World Bank and the NGO Working Group says that an Annual World Bank-Civil Society Forum will be established. The Forum is expected to provide a key opportunity for dialogue between the Bank and civil society on specific topics. It will convene, among others, representatives of NGOs, trade unions, community organizations, religious groups and women's organizations. During the December 2000 NGO World Bank Committee meeting it was decided that the Forum, which will replace the annual Committee meeting in Washington DC, will have its first meeting in late 2001.
In order to assist organization of the Annual Forum, a Joint Facilitation Committee will be created. During the first half of 2001, the NGO Working Group will advise the Bank on the role of the Committee, its functions, size, structure, and criteria for selection of its civil society members. The Committee is expected to be established no later than 30 June 2001, and its membership will include the Chair of the NGO Working Group as well as two other representatives of the Group.
The Annual Forum initiative came in response to the ever-expanding and evolving relationship of the Bank and civil society. Over the years, the dialogue has decentralized significantly and grown to include a myriad of discussions on an ad-hoc basis. It has also resulted in an expansion of policy dialogue and consultation with NGOs beyond the realm of the Committee. Consequently, numerous NGOs and members of civil society have questioned the centralized system of World Bank-NGO relations for global policy dialogue. They have also been eager to ensure the strengthening of local and national interaction, and to increase opportunities for civil society organizations from the South to participate in the policy issues dialogue.
Taking into account the changing relationship between the Bank and civil society, in late 2000 the Working Group submitted a detailed proposal to the Bank outlining recommendations on its future role. They included bringing more actors into the World Bank-civil society dialogue; focusing the dialogue on specific issues; and updating both the mandate and structure of the Working Group.
The NGO World Bank Committee was created in the early 1980s. It is composed of representatives of the World Bank and NGOs, which form the NGO Working Group on the World Bank. The NGO Working Group is expected to continue its work on participation and capacity building with the World Bank, and facilitation of regional and country consultations.
Contact: William Reuben, Coordinator of NGOs and Civil Society, World Bank, 1818 H St. NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/458 5012, fax +1-202/522 1669, e-mail <wreuben@worldbank.org>, website (www.worldbank.org).
UNESCO AND IFJ CAMPAIGN
Women Make the News 2001 was jointly launched in March by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The aim of the web-based operation was to encourage print, broadcast and electronic media worldwide to place news under the editorial responsibility of women journalists from 5-11 March to mark International Women's Day (8 March).
“[This] is designed to draw attention to the fact that, although the number of women in the media is increasing, they are all too few to rise to top positions,” according to organizers. “By stressing this point, UNESCO is reaffirming the commitment made at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (China) in 1995 to promote equal professional opportunity for women.”
Women Make the News was first launched on International Women's Day in 2000 by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura. Many international organizations supported the initiative, and more than 1,000 media from 56 countries took part. This year, UNESCO invited IFJ to become a partner in the week-long operation. IFJ is the world's largest organization of journalists, with some 450,000 members in more than 100 countries. It promotes international action to defend press freedom and promote issues such as equal opportunities for men and women.
UNESCO and IFJ said it is up to each media organization to determine how it participates in Women Make the News initiatives. For example, this year some appointed women editors-in-chief or named them head of newspaper sections, while others published special features on issues related to women and the media.
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/march8).
IFJ, rue Royale 266, B-1210 Brussels, Belgium, telephone +32-2/223 2265, fax +32-2/219 2976, e-mail <ifj@ifj.org>, website <www.ifj.org>.
NGO UPDATE
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES CONFERENCE
Around 120 participants including indigenous activists attended the International Conference on Conflict Resolution, Peace Building, Sustainable Development and Indigenous Peoples, held in Manila (Philippines) from 6-8 December 2000. The conference brought together former and current combatants, peace-builders, representatives of donor agencies, academia, and multilateral bodies including the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The event was organized by the Tebtebba Foundation with support from Third World Network, International Development Research Centre (Canada), Evangelische Zentralstelle für Entwicklungshilfe (Germany), Inter-Church Organization for Development Cooperation (Netherlands), Danida (Denmark) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Comprised of eight panel discussions, workshops, papers and plenary discussions, the conference resulted in a declaration and country resolutions and recommendations for Africa, West Papua, Peru, Colombia, Aceh (Indonesia) and Midanao (Philippines).
Speakers on a panel about peace accords with states observed that many accords forged by indigenous peoples with governments had failed, resulting in disillusionment and disappointment. Some speakers blamed the failure on what they described as the insincerity of most governments to fully implement the accords.
Speakers on a panel concerning land rights and rights to resources said the root cause of conflicts in indigenous territories was the rights to, and utilization of, these resources. They noted that such conflicts could be traced back to colonization, whose impact is still felt today. Speakers said that conflict over land and resources was due to a basic contradiction between the Western perception of property rights regimes, and indigenous beliefs and practices concerning resource management. They said the principle of self-determination should be the guiding light in any effort to resolve conflict over indigenous peoples' land and resources.
During a panel on self-determination, it was argued that this is both an end and means to peace- building in indigenous peoples' territories. Speakers proposed varied means through which this fundamental right might be expressed including secession in the case of the Mindanao in the Philippines, home-rule for the Inuit in Greenland, autonomy for the Archaucos in Colombia, and independence for the Aceh in Indonesia.
A panel on liberation movements and post-conflict reconstruction addressed the links between movements for national liberation and those for indigenous peoples. Examples cited included the national democratic movement in the Philippines and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. Speakers advised indigenous peoples to invoke their right to self-determination even within the framework of national liberation movements.
During a panel on negotiating gender in conflict resolution and peace-building, indigenous women gave their views on conflict resolution and depicted women as active agents of peace processes.
A panel on indigenous definitions of identities, conflicts, conflict resolution and sustainable development underscored traditional mechanisms for resolving conflict, and the ways in which meaning is given to those mechanisms in the context of culture and as expressed in language, ritual, folk beliefs and place.
In a panel on the role of civil society, donor agencies and multilateral organizations in conflict resolution and peace-building, speakers said in situations where the state becomes a party to conflict the role of civil society, the UN and other international bodies becomes crucial. They can help create conditions for the parties to sit down and negotiate. The function of such agencies, speakers said, was facilitation, moderation, conciliation, mediation and arbitration.
A declaration entitled “We Will Keep the Past Not Behind Us But in Front of Us!” includes the following commitments.
-- Create an Independent International Commission of Indigenous Peoples for Mediation and Conflict Resolution
no later than 2002. Its mission would be to promote and defend the rights of indigenous peoples, and expose
and denounce aggression and abuses of the rights of indigenous peoples in different parts of the world.
-- Create an Indigenous Peoples Global Network for Research, aimed at supporting and strengthening the
capacities of indigenous peoples to undertake research and documentation and disseminate information as widely
as possible.
-- Strengthen indigenous global, regional and local networks and collaboration in education, campaign, and policy
advocacy.
-- Build partnerships with the media, academia, civil society organizations, NGOs and others to promote public
understanding of the issues facing indigenous peoples, as well as peace building and solidarity.
Contact: Tebtebba Foundation, No. 1 Roman Ayson Road, 2600 Baguio City, Philippines, telephone +64-73/444 7703, fax +63-2/932 7625, e-mail <tebtebba@skyinet.net>, website (www.tebtebba.org).
CAMPAIGN AGAINST “CONFLICT DIAMONDS”
Frustrated by delays in international action to ban “conflict diamonds,” over 70 United States-based human rights, humanitarian and development NGOs launched a campaign on 14 February 2001 calling on the US Congress to enact legislation that will subject imported diamonds to tight controls.
The campaign, led by Physicians for Human Rights, World Vision, Oxfam America and Amnesty International USA, is promoting the “Clean Diamonds Act” to give exporting countries a year to comply with the Kimberly Standards (or “rough standards”), a certification system endorsed by the UN General Assembly in December 2000 (see Go Between 84). This aims to make it difficult for diamonds mined for the benefit of rebel insurgencies in Africa–most notably in Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo–to enter the US. According to the campaign such an initiative by the US, which imports 65% of the world's diamond jewelry, could help push the international process forward and encourage prompt adoption of the Kimberly Standards by all countries.
The campaign was launched on St. Valentine's Day, when people in the US give gifts to loved ones. Since some purchase expensive gifts such as diamonds, the NGOs called on the jewelry and diamond industry in the country to support the Clean Diamonds Act. The legislation is sponsored by Congressional representatives Tony Hall and Cynthia McKinney, both Democrats, and Republican Frank Wolf.
A letter from the campaign to the group Jewelers of America and the World Diamond Congress (WDC) said that “until a major importer of diamonds such as the US prohibits the direct or indirect importation of any and all diamonds and diamond jewelry from any country that does not have controls in place, progress in establishing the international system will proceed at a leisurely pace.” The letter urges the WDC to “protect your own product and safeguard unwitting American consumers by supporting tight restrictions against all diamonds that emerge from countries that have not adopted the Kimberly rough controls.”
The worldwide diamond industry, concerned about the the role of diamonds in helping to fuel prolonged conflict in Africa, is also worried about the growing association of diamonds with brutality and bloodshed.
“The industry is committed to stamping out conflict diamonds,” said WDC Executive Director Matthew Runci, “and we will work with all interested parties to accomplish this goal.”
However, according to Physicians for Human Rights representative Holly Burkhalter, NGO efforts to work with the WDC have broken down over NGO insistence that all diamond imports, including finished jewelry, be subject to the certification process. She said the industry wanted only loose diamonds covered. NGOs says the WDC's proposed “Conflict Diamonds Act” to the US Congress contains loopholes and has a more flexible definition of “cooperation” by exporting countries. This includes allowing the US Treasury Department to determine that a government is cooperating with the certification procedure as long as it is “making progress” in complying with it.
The Clean Diamonds Act would set up an independent commission to monitor compliance and would provide tough penalties for violators, including sentences of up to ten years in prison. Organizers of the NGO campaign said they do not support a total embargo of diamonds or a boycott because they are essential to the economies of “some governments of goodwill” including South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
Contact: Holly Burkhalter, Physicians for Human Rights, 1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 1001, Washington DC 20005, United States, telephone +1-202/728 5335, fax +1-202/728 3053, e-mail <hollyb@phrusa.org>, website (www.phrusa.org).
CUT THE COST CAMPAIGN
Oxfam International launched a Cut the Cost campaign in February 2001 to raise awareness about high prices charged by drug companies in the world's poorest countries.
Oxfam estimates that 11 million people in developing countries die each year from preventable illnesses, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa has made the issue even more urgent. Seventy percent of the world's 36.1 million people infected with HIV live in Africa. Less than 1% of them have access to AIDS drugs that cost from US$10,000 to US$15,000 a year. These have revolutionized AIDS treatment in the West by cutting mortality by half.
Pharmaceutical companies argue that bringing new medicines to the market can cost up to US$1 billion. However, organizers of the Cut the Cost campaign said 90% of new medicines are designed for only 10% of the world's population, mainly in rich countries. Much of the cost for AIDS research comes from taxpayer-funded studies, they noted, with the drug industry spending twice as much on marketing, advertising and promotion as it does on research and development.
NGOs, led by Oxfam and Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), mobilized to stop a major lawsuit that went to trial in Pretoria (South Africa) on 5 March 2001. The case, which was brought by 42 pharmaceutical companies against the South African government, is challenging a 1997 law in the country aimed at making medicine more affordable to patients.
“This court case symbolizes the hypocrisy of the pharmaceutical industry,” said Oxfam policy director Justin Forsyth. “They talk about wanting to improve people's access to medicines–but only on their terms. When the South African government tried to implement legislation to make this happen, the industry immediately stepped in to block it. This is a chilling message from the drug companies to other developing country governments: Play by our rules, or face the consequences.”
The companies claim that the South African Medicines and Related Substances Control Act is unconstitutional. They are challenging section 15(c) in particular, which gives the South African health minister power to override pharmaceutical patents when public health is at stake. The companies argue this violates their intellectual property rights, which they claim are protected by the World Trade Organization's Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPs) Agreement, signed by South Africa.
The companies also object to the requirement within the Act that South African pharmacists must dispense cheaper generic medicines rather than patent versions when possible; they say this unfairly discriminates against their products.
The government's defense is that it must meet the challenge of providing affordable medicines in South Africa. In a 1999 survey in the country, 66% of respondents cited cost as the main reason for not seeking health care when they are sick. The government says this public health need justifies the enactment of policies and laws that enable it to provide access to cheaper medicines. Public health safeguards are built into the TRIPs agreement, it says, so the court should uphold what it believes to be legitimate implementation of these safeguards.
Oxfam and MSF denounced the “callousness and bullying” of the pharmaceutical giants and accused the companies of defending their patents without considering the value of human life.
“We are not against patents, but it is absurd to apply the same rules and duration of patent protection in poor countries as in rich ones,” said Kevin Watkins, Oxfam senior policy adviser. “Governments have a clear obligation to put the health of their citizens before the profit margins of patent holders.”
An international day of action on the first day of the trial was called by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), a South African NGO working on access to medicines for people with HIV/AIDS. More than 2,000 protestors marched to the High Court in Pretoria and to the United States embassy to present a memorandum explaining their opposition to the court case. Similar demonstrations were held in most major cities of the country. In 12 other countries and many more capital cities activists held protests and organized petitions to oppose the case.
The trial was postponed to enable the pharmaceutical companies to respond to unexpected testimony offered by TAC. It planned to provide evidence that drug companies abuse their patents through tiered pricing tactics, and to graphically exhibit the misery caused by HIV/AIDS in the developing world.
“For the first time,” said TAC Chairman Zackie Achmat, “the pharmaceutical industry will have to justify to South Africa and the world why their drug prices are so high, and why their patents should be so aggressively protected when millions of people are dying and cheaper drugs exist.”
According to TAC around 400,000 people have died from HIV/AIDS since the pharmaceutical industry launched its fight against the legislation in 1997. “This is a case for poor people across the globe,” said Mr. Achmat. “It's about whether governments have the right to legislate against profit and for health care.”
US-based groups supporting the NGO campaign and the South African government include the Africa Fund, American Committee on Africa, and the Africa Policy Information Center. They issued a statement on 5 March that said the AIDS crisis “is solvable if there is enough political will. The question is how much inequality we are prepared to accept in the world and whether we believe that Africa is part of our common humanity.”
Contact: Oxfam International Secretariat, 266 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DL, United Kingdom, telephone +44-1865/31 39 39, fax +44-1865/31 39 35, e-mail <information@oxfaminternational.org>, website (www.oxfam.org).
AMNESTY REPORT ON TORTURE TRADE
Torturers are arming themselves with increasingly sophisticated equipment, according a report by Amnesty International, and trade in these devices is growing. The equipment includes high-voltage electric shock stun weapons and chemical crowd control devices, while torturers continue to abuse old-style equipment such as restraint devices.
Stopping the Torture Trade reveals that the international trade in high-voltage electroshock batons, shields, stun guns and stun belts has been expanding throughout the 1990s. This includes “tasers,” which can shoot fishhook-like darts on wires into victims up to 30 feet away, and stun belts that are strapped to prisoners and operated by remote control devices. The belts have been known to set off accidentally, thrusting about 50,000 volts through prisoners' kidneys for up to eight seconds. This technology began in the United States and has spread to Asia, Europe and South America, according to the report.
“In the 1970s there were only two companies known to market high voltage electroshock stun weapons, and now there are over 150 worldwide,” said Brian Wood, a researcher with Amnesty International. “In the absence of stringent controls to prevent this equipment ending up in the hands of torturers, responsible governments must ban its export immediately.”
In the last two years, over 150 companies operating in 22 countries have been making or marketing electroshock weapons. Now “Taiwanese, South Korean and Chinese companies probably manufacture more electroshock weapons than companies in the United States,” according to Amnesty. “German, French and Israeli companies are also among the key manufacturers and recently Polish, Russian, Czech, Mexican, Brazilian and South African firms have joined in.”
The report, one of a series to be released in a year-long campaign to stop torture, also highlights the trade by over 40 companies in more conventional security devices that can be used for serious abuse of human rights, such as mechanical restraints and chemical sprays. It notes that military, security and police expertise taught internationally has also been used for torture. Hundreds of graduates of the US School of the Americas “have been implicated in human rights violations in South America,” according to Amnesty.
The report calls on governments to:
-- ban the use of police and security equipment whose use is inherently cruel, inhumane or degrading, and ban the
manufacture and promotion of this equipment and its trade to other countries;
-- suspend the international transfer of, among other things, leg cuffs, thumbcuffs, shackle boards, restraint chairs
and pepper gas weapons pending the outcome of a rigorous and independent review into the effects of these
devices;
-- suspend the use of high voltage electroshock weapons pending the outcome of the review; and
-- ensure that the training of military, security and police personnel of another country does not include the transfer
of skills, knowledge and techniques likely to lend themselves to torture.
Contact: Amnesty International, 99-119 Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4RE, United Kingdom, telephone +44-20/7814 6200, fax +44-20/7833 1510, e-mail <info@amnesty.org.uk>, website (www.amnesty.org).
CALL ON US TO END HUNGER
For a penny a day per American, the United States could lead an international campaign to cut world hunger in half by the year 2015. This is the conclusion of a report on Foreign Aid to End Hunger, published by US-based Bread for the World Institute.
The report recommends the nation's Congress and President Bush start with US$1 billion a year in additional aid and debt relief for sub-Saharan Africa, where hunger is most widespread and intractable. This commitment would prompt other industrial nations to provide more aid.
“Hunger has dropped dramatically in developing countries during the last 30 years, but tragically it has doubled in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Bread for the World President David Beckmann. “If we want to cut world hunger in half by 2015, we have to start where hunger hits hardest.”
In sub-Saharan Africa, 291 million people live on less than US$1 a day, and one person in three is chronically undernourished. The region's problems have been exacerbated by civil wars, HIV/AIDS, declining agriculture, huge foreign debts, inadequate education and health care, and a lack of roads and other infrastructure. To overcome hunger and poverty, the report says, African countries need to improve agriculture and food distribution, build infrastructure, enroll more children in school, empower and educate women, prevent and treat HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and start new businesses and micro-enterprises. Bread for the World Institute is calling for “a long-term US aid partnership to help African countries make these investments.”
Reducing African nations' foreign debt payments is essential, the report notes, to free additional money for education, health care and other investments. The industrial nations “have agreed to write off US$90 billion of poor country debt,” it said. But Congress must approve the US contribution each year. Foreign Aid to End Hunger includes a new poll showing that 83% of Americans favour a US commitment to help cut world hunger in half by 2015. The nationwide poll by the University of Maryland's Program on International Policy Attitudes found that Americans overwhelmingly favour, and are willing to pay for, US aid to help the world's poorest countries–especially in Africa. Moreover, Americans support this aid despite their misgivings (and misconceptions) about foreign aid in general, it said.
Well-planned, poverty-focused US foreign aid can make a big difference for hungry and poor people, the report argues. The Marshall Plan and other US programmes helped Europe and Japan rebuild after World War II. The Green Revolution doubled crop yields and cut hunger by more than half in Asia. And the United Nation's Children Fund (UNICEF) Child Survival Initiative, partly supported by US aid, saves the lives of four million children each year through low-cost immunizations and oral rehydration therapy.
“Hunger is one problem we can actually solve,” Mr. Beckmann said. “For the first time in history, we have the resources and technology to do it. The cost is surprisingly low. But our government must make it a priority. Other industrial countries have made it clear that if we take the lead, they will join us. They are waiting to see if we will accept that challenge.”
Contact: Bread for the World, 50 F Street NW, Suite 500, Washington DC 20001, United States, telephone +1-202/639 9400, fax +1-202/639 9401, e-mail <bread@bread.org>, website (www.bread.org).
WORLD CONSUMER RIGHTS DAY
On the 19th annual commemoration of World Consumer Rights Day on 15 March 2001, Consumers International (CI) said it is focusing on ways of “enhancing positive contributions that can be made by transnational corporations while eliminating the negative ones.”
CI's global federation of 260 organizations in over 110 countries are planning activities this year around the theme including new and constructive approaches to advancing consumer rights and social justice through greater corporate accountability.
Key targets for action by consumer groups include:
-- control of tobacco promotion;
-- action on global price-fixing;
-- implementing a ban on the “dirty dozen” of dangerous pesticides; and
-- labeling of genetically-modified foods.
Consumers International said that groups “around the world are campaigning to ensure that governments do not give in to pressure from corporations in these different areas. Instead they should strengthen global rules that protect consumer rights in a global marketplace.”
Contact: CI, 24 Highbury Crescent, London N5 1RX, United Kingdom, telephone +44-171/226 6663, fax +44-171/354 0607, e-mail <consint@consint.org>, website (www.consumersinternational.org).
OTHER NEWS
THIRD GLOBAL FORUM
The Third Global Forum, held in Naples (Italy) from 15-17 March 2001, brought together representatives of 122 countries including ministers, as well as representatives of multilateral agencies, the business community and NGOs. The Forum, hosted by the government of Italy, debated and explored the potential of information and communication technology (ICT) in both developed and developing countries.
More than 900 international experts and practitioners contributed to wide-ranging debates about key challenges facing governments in the design and implementation of “e-government strategies” to meet the expectations and demands of their citizens for more accessible, transparent and accountable government.
Themes discussed included:
-- governance issues in the online era;
-- the impact of ICT on the organization of government;
-- implementing “e-government” services to citizens and businesses; and
-- the digital divide and international cooperation.
Participants recognized the power of ICT to transform the way in which governments work, especially in the delivery of services and access to information. They said this can consistently improve the quality of life for citizens and create a sharp reduction in costs.
In other areas, such as strengthening decision making and policy formation, participants said information and communication technology had the potential to integrate data and facts in a more structured and comprehensive form through better knowledge management.
Moreover, it was recognized that the quality of data itself will improve through better collection and analysis. ICT could facilitate information-sharing and the involvement of experts, as well as broadening the basis on which governments seek to identify and reconcile conflicting interests and goals.
A major benefit of ICT also lies in its capacity to involve citizens and civil society in the policy debate through direct interaction.
But for these benefits to be realized, participants said, the developing world needs access to technology, lower costs of access and the training to use it effectively. Otherwise the digital divide would lead to an ever-widening gap. The need to reorient policies for international cooperation and development was also recognized by many. Actions to ensure that the primary needs of survival are met remain paramount, but basic education and ICT development “appear to have become the second and third top priority.” The latter is reasonably inexpensive to implement, does not consume large quantities of energy and respects the environment.
Although there was generally consensus that ICT in government could have widespread and beneficial results, many insisted that risks to privacy and security must be addressed. The new technology should be used for the benefit of citizens and not against them, they warned. Public servants should not only be trained to use ICT effectively, but they must do so in a culture that respects the rights of citizens within a framework of good governance.
Contact: Website (www.globalforum.it).
SWC PREPARATORY MEETINGS
From 17-20 December 2001 in Yokohama (Japan) governments, NGOs, private sector representatives and young people will gather at the Second World Congress (SWC) Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. The SWC will review governments' progress in implementing the Agenda for Action adopted at the 1996 First World Congress held in Stockholm (Sweden), and it will discuss national progress reports in plenary sessions.
The SWC is organized by the government of Japan, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the international NGO ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes), and the Geneva-based NGO Group for the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which together form the International Planning Committee.
The Planning Committee, which met in Tokyo (Japan) in February 2001, decided on, among other things, a tentative framework for the work programme of the SWC including three panel discussions that will focus on lessons learned, obstacles and challenges, and ways forward.
The Planning Committee meeting was preceded by a symposium, organized by the government of Japan, to take stock of progress of governments in implementing the Stockholm Agenda for Action. Some participants noted that progress has been slow. For example, of the 22 Latin American nations that signed the Agenda for Action, only four–Chile, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Brazil–have developed a national plan to fight sexual exploitation of children.
“On a scale of one to ten,” said Bruce Harris, Executive Director of the NGO Casa Alianza, “with ten being the most aggressive response to the problem, we are about two or two-and-a-half. But those are better numbers than zero.”
At the regional level, SWC preparatory meetings are planned or are being integrated into the regional preparatory process for the United Nations Special Session on Children, to be held from 19-21 September 2001 in New York. SWC regional preparatory meetings have been held in Senegal, Costa Rica and India. In June 2001 a regional preparatory meeting for Southern Africa will be held in Zimbabwe, and a preparatory meeting for Eastern Africa is tentatively scheduled for the third quarter of 2001.
Contact: Hélène Sackstein, Coordinator of the Focal Point on Sexual Exploitation of Children, NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights of the Child, care of Defence for Children International, PO Box 88, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/740 4711, fax +41-22/740 1145, e-mail <info@focalpointngo.org>, website (www.focalpointngo.org). The Focal Point produces a newsletter on the SWC and regional preparatory meetings.
OECD DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION REPORT
Although much of the world has enjoyed an economic boom for almost a decade, one person in five still lives on less than US$1 a day. Cutting world poverty in half by 2015 is the theme of this year's Development Co-operation 2000 Report, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The report reviews recent progress toward the goal of a world free of poverty and the misery it brings. It stresses the importance of partnerships to achieve this goal-between countries; among governments, civil society and the private sector; and among international organizations. The report says the challenge for the international community is to formulate concerted and coherent policies to ensure that globalization benefits poor people.
Concerning trends in development finance, the report notes that while bank and bond financing to developing countries remains depressed following the Asian financial crisis, foreign direct investment (FDI) has proved resilient and is now the largest source of finance to developing countries. However, FDI remains concentrated on more dynamic economies. While some poor countries are attracting FDI, especially in oil and mining industries, “most continue to see little of it.”
Aid flows continued their modest recovery in 1999 with extra help for Asian countries, especially from Japan, and the international efforts to aid Kosovo and East Timor.
The report highlights two strategic policy areas where it says there is a strong potential to reduce poverty: investment in health, and attention to gender equality and mainstreaming. It calls for:
-- “stronger voices and choices for the poor;”
-- ensuring economic stability and growth that favours them;
-- providing basic social services for all, including basic education and health care;
-- opening markets to trade and technology; and
-- maintaining adequate and well-directed development resources.
Contact: Media Relations, OECD, 2 rue André-Pascal, F-75775 Paris Cédex 16, France, telephone +33-1/45 24 80 91, fax +33-1/45 24 80 03, e-mail <news.contact@oecd.org>, website (www.oecd.org).
FOCUS
PREPARATIONS FOR GA SPECIAL SESSION ON HIV/AIDS
UN Member States, observers and civil society participants gathered in New York from 26 February to 2 March 2001 for informal consultations in preparation for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, to be held in New York from 25-27 June 2001.
Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), said he anticipated that the Special Session would be a turning point in the global response to the disease. Addressing the critical areas presented in the Secretary-General's report (see facing focus page), he underlined the importance of personal leadership and commitment from the top, and from leaders at every level, as critical in turning back the epidemic.
During the two-day general debate on the Secretary-General's report, HIV/AIDS was recognized as a development crisis that needed a multi-sectoral response. Several delegates expressed their willingness for open and constructive negotiations, and said they expected the Special Session to adopt a focused final outcome document containing concrete actions.
The group of developing countries and China (G-77/China) said they saw the Special Session as a channel to fulfil the commitments agreed upon at the September 2000 Millennium Summit (see NGLS Roundup no. 62) of halting and reversing the epidemic's spread. The G-77/China stressed that underdevelopment is the main factor contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS, and resources including financial and trade policy provisions are critically important.
The European Union (EU) emphasized that HIV/AIDS is a collective experience and should include the contribution and participation of civil society actors, both in the preparatory process and the Special Session. The United States said its strong commitment to tackling HIV/AIDS would continue under the Bush administration. In the US statement Secretary of State Colin Powell is cited as saying that “AIDS is a national security problem. It is an economic problem. It is a devastating problem, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.” The statement reaffirmed US policy that health issues will be taken into consideration when addressing trade concerns.
Brazil stressed the central role of human rights in addressing the issue and outlined ongoing South-South cooperation and the country's comprehensive national AIDS programmes, which include free access to antiretroviral treatment. Brazil also underlined the need to examine the trade-related aspects of the intellectual property rights (TRIPs) agreement to enable countries to protect the health of their populations, as well as the importance of developing a vaccine.
South Africa emphasized the importance of prevention, which remains the mainstay of the country's national AIDS strategy. It also referred to the issue of antiretroviral drugs and the legislative course that the country has pursued to secure access to a range of essential medicines. South Africa recognized that there is more to the provision of HIV/AIDS care than just antiretroviral treatment, but that at a certain point access to antiretroviral medication “becomes an issue of life and death.”
One day was reserved for dialogue sessions between civil society and Member States in the form of two interactive panels comprised of representatives of civil society. Member States, UN agencies and civil society actors also participated actively in the discussions. Panelists in the first discussion on The Role of Civil Society as Partners in the HIV/AIDS Response cited successful examples of partnership between civil society and governments. These included in Latin America where partnerships between governments and NGOs, as well as groups of people living with HIV/AIDS, have moved from confrontation to collaboration. In these civil society was now able to participate in the development of national strategic plans, they said.
Discussants in the second panel on The General Assembly Special Session as an Opportunity for an Expanded Response also cited successful examples of innovative cooperation with governments, and they emphasized the need for follow-up to the Special Session. Participants in the audience stressed the crucial role of additional resources in combating the disease, as well as the need to specify funding priorities. A representative of India proposed a global Drug Facility to fund the provision of drugs to the most affected countries. Many participants also commended the panels for providing the opportunity for positive dialogue between civil society and Member States.
Member States held informal consultations concerning a discussion paper prepared by UNAIDS on Reversing the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Critical Issues. It was designed to stimulate discussions on critical issues to be included in the anticipated outcome of the Special Session. The paper, which attempts to operationalize the challenges that HIV/AIDS poses to the global community, discusses leadership and coordination; alleviating the social and economical impact; reducing vulnerability; prevention; care and support; research and development; and resources. Issues stressed during the informal consultations included leadership, prevention and the important role of resources.
The second round of informal consultations between Member States will be held from 21-25 May 2001 in New York. UNAIDS supports several mechanisms through which civil society actors can contribute their perspectives on HIV/AIDS issues as inputs to the Special Session. Organizations can exchange views and network through a Break-the-Silence electronic forum, which can be joined by sending an e-mail to <join-break-the-silence@hdnet.org>.
Contact: Dominique De Santis, Press Officer, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4509, fax +41-22/791 4898, e-mail <desantisd@unaids.org>, website (www.unaids.org). For further information see also websites (www.hdnet.org) and (www.netaid.org).
SECRETARY-GENERAL’S REPORT ON AIDS SEEKS GLOBAL COMMITMENT
Declaring the HIV/AIDS epidemic “the most formidable development challenge of our time,” a report from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan calls on governments to secure a global commitment for intensified and coordinated action. Go Between summarizes its conclusions and recommendations.
The report was issued in preparation for the General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, which will take place in New York from 25-27 June 2001. Alarmed by the accelerating epidemic and its global impact, the General Assembly decided in November 2000 to hold the Special Session at the highest political level (see Go Between 83).
The report urges intensified and broadened political and financial commitments by nations in their response to the AIDS crisis. It calls on governments worldwide to meet a set of seven critical challenges that will help reverse the AIDS epidemic. These are:
-- effective leadership and coordination;
-- alleviating the social and economic impact of the epidemic;
-- reducing the vulnerability of particular social groups to HIV infection;
-- achieving agreed targets for the prevention of HIV infection;
-- ensuring that care and support is available to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS;
-- developing relevant and effective international public goods; and
-- mobilizing the necessary level of financial resources.
“Leadership is fundamental to an effective response,” said Mr. Annan. “One of the key issues facing the global community is developing and sustaining such dedicated leadership, vital if the nature of the epidemic is to be clearly understood throughout society and a national response mobilized.”
Another core challenge is to alleviate the epidemic's social and economic impacts. In many countries, AIDS has significantly undermined key sectors. Its negative impact is evident in economic development, education, health and agriculture. In addition conflict, war, economic uncertainty, gender inequality and social exclusion have all made people more vulnerable to HIV infection, according to the report.
It also says that an expanded prevention effort is vital to containing the spread of the epidemic, and spending on prevention will help avert the future cost and impact of infection. A particularly effective intervention is the prevention of mother-to-child transmission. A short course of antiretroviral treatment can cut the rate of transmission to children by 20%-50%.
As well as the need to strengthen health care systems, the affordability of medicines for opportunistic infections and antiretroviral therapy–one of the greatest barriers to improving access to care–must be dealt with. Some progress in reducing the price of medicines has resulted from the dialogue between the UN system and several research and development-based pharmaceutical companies, initiated in May 2000, as well as through the increasing availability of generic versions of antiretroviral drugs. Despite these efforts, much more needs to be done if access to care and treatment is to come within reach of the majority of people living with HIV and AIDS. Continuing inequalities in access to effective care and treatment must be specifically addressed through all possible means including tiered pricing, competition between suppliers, regional procurement, licensing agreements and the effective use of health safeguards in trade agreements. Mr. Annan also calls for focused international research and development to produce microbicides and vaccines for HIV/AIDS, and for greatly increased resources to meet the challenges of the disease.
Despite the dramatic and ongoing spread of HIV/AIDS, the report says much has been learned in the last two decades, and the potential to reverse it has never been higher. Mr. Annan said that “collective experience with HIV/AIDS has evolved to the point where it is now possible to state with confidence that it is technically, politically and financially feasible to contain HIV/AIDS and dramatically reduce its spread and impact.”
By the end of 2000, 36.1 million men, women and children around the world were living with HIV or AIDS, and 21.8 million had died from the disease. The same year saw an estimated 5.3 million new infections globally and three million deaths, the highest annual total of AIDS deaths ever. An even greater epidemic can be prevented, according to the report. Large-scale prevention programmes “in virtually all settings have clearly demonstrated that the spread of HIV can be reduced, especially among young people and hard-to-reach populations.”
The report notes that successful responses have their roots in communities; empowering young people and women is essential; and people living with HIV or AIDS are central to the response. An approach based on human rights is fundamental–combating stigma is a human rights imperative on its own, as well as of instrumental value in fighting denial and shame, both of which are major obstacles in opening dialogue about HIV/AIDS.
A key lesson learned from the epidemic is that it is complex and must be tackled on several fronts–by dealing with its risks, the factors that affect vulnerability to it, and the epidemic's impact. And single, isolated activities do not yield sustained results. Interventions to reduce HIV risk and change behaviour are effective only when a range of government ministries and partners in the social, economic and health fields are involved.
Contact: Dominique De Santis, Press Officer, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4509, fax +41-22/791 4898, e-mail <desantisd@unaids.org>, website (www.unaids.org).
COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 39TH SESSION
The United Nations Commission for Social Development held its 39th session in New York from 13-23 February 2001, during which it discussed the themes Enhancing Social Protection and Reducing Vulnerability in a Globalizing World, and The Role of Volunteerism in the Promotion of Social Development.
The Commission elected Faith Innerarity (Jamaica) as its Chairperson and Vice-Chairpersons Henrik Hahn (Denmark), Nicole Elisha (Benin) and Muhammed Enayet Mowla (Bangladesh). In her opening speech Ms. Innerarity stressed that even though social protection was as old as society, it was becoming increasingly urgent. She said that in a world where economies are more and more market-driven, it was necessary to ensure that protections are in place to safeguard the vulnerable. She also highlighted the importance of the role of volunteerism in promoting social development, and the need to recognize the role of volunteers and civil society in social protection–especially in light of the current International Year of Volunteers.
Enhancing Social Protection and Reducing Vulnerability in a Globalizing World
To aid discussions of the selected themes, the Commission had before it a report by the Secretary-General on Enhancing Social Protection and Reducing Vulnerability in a Globalizing World (E/CN.5/2001/2) and a note (E/CN.5/2001/5) on the role of volunteerism in the promotion of social development. The Commission also organized two expert panel discussions on the themes.
The first expert panel on Enhancing Social Protection and Reducing Vulnerability in a Globalizing World discussed the social protection needs and priorities of societies. The panel included Dalmer Hoskins, Secretary-General of the International Social Security Association; Ernesto Murro Oberlin, Board Member of the National Social Security Bank of Uruguay; Vivienne Taylor, Chair of the Committee of Enquiry into a Comprehensive Security System, and Special Adviser to the Minister for Social Development of South Africa; and Frank Vandenbroucke, Minister for Social Affairs and Pensions of Belgium.
Panellists said the main obstacles to social security includes demographic ageing, the issue of the proper roles of private and public sectors, the question of appropriateness of social security in developing countries, and the vulnerability of social security systems to political influence and potential bankruptcy.
However, regions face different challenges that require different responses, they said. In Latin America the priority issue is not demographic ageing since most countries there have very young populations. One of the key concerns in the region is insufficient economic growth, with increasing unemployment and poverty and an expanding informal economy.
According to panellists, the main challenges faced by welfare states in the developed countries include increases in the percentage of elderly, gender balance, and the growing participation of women in the workforce. In addition, the persistence of high and long-term unemployment and low participation in the work force, especially among women and older workers, and the falling provision of care and support from within the family pose growing challenges to social protection.
Regarding social security systems, panellists emphasized the importance of long-term reform options and their sustainability. The provision of social security reflects an ideological stance, they said, which defines whose needs should be served. Therefore it is important that social security reforms reflect socio-economic circumstances and recognize relevant forces and factors. The case of South Africa was used as an illustration by one speaker, who said the exclusion of blacks and their unemployment were historic facts that needed to be considered in any reforms of the country's social security system. Also, the HIV/AIDS pandemic needed to be taken into account in South Africa when considering policy options since 10% of the country's population is estimated to be infected with the virus.
Governments Have Primary Responsibility for Social Protection
Member States stressed that national governments have primary responsibility for social protection. They also emphasized the role of international cooperation in enabling developing countries to overcome their social welfare challenges, such as in enhancing financial and technical assistance and sharing best practices. The group of developing countries and China (G-77/China) pointed out that globalization can still generate growth and development and has potential to improve the overall performance of developing countries in the social sphere, open up export market opportunities, and increase financial resources for investment. However, the G-77/China said maximizing benefits and minimizing risks of globalization required the international community to address imbalances and asymmetries in the international global economy.
The European Union (EU) said no region is spared from problems associated with poverty and unemployment, social exclusion and indebtedness, which were realities within the EU as well. It argued that in many parts of the world, large numbers of the population remain outside formal social protection systems. Even though the responsibility for social protection rests with governments, it said the role of non-governmental organizations, the private sector, employers, trade unions and family members must be recognized in providing social support.
According to the Rio Group of Latin American countries, a global approach to social protection would help define the functions of governments, the private sector, civil society and the family, and could encourage more effective use of resources.
Member States were unable to reach consensus during subsequent negotiations for a resolution on Enhancing Social Protection and Reducing Vulnerability in a Globalizing World. Views were divided on, among other things, the definition of social protection, partnerships, mobilization of resources, and international cooperation for social protection.
The Role of Volunteerism in the Promotion of Social Development
Sharon Capeling-Alakija, Executive Director of the United Nations Volunteer Programme, said the sub-theme of the Role of Volunteerism in the Promotion of Social Development was the first time that volunteerism was discussed at such a high-level forum. She said the observance of the International Year of Volunteers was intended not only to celebrate volunteering but mark changes in this field.
During the panel discussion on volunteerism, speakers recognized that it can be found in some form in all countries in the public sector and increasingly in the private sector. The panel included Justin Davies Smith, Founding Director of the Institute for Volunteering Research; Miguel Darcy Oliveira, Coordinator of the Institute for Cultural Action; Dasho Meghraj Gurung, Managing Director of the Bhutan Post, and Vice-Chairperson of the National International Year of Volunteers Committee of Bhutan; Michael Bursch, Member of the German Federal Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on the Future and Social Civic Participation; and Joan Denise Daries, Director of the Volunteer Centre of Cape Town, and Chairperson of both the National International Year of Volunteers Committee of South Africa and the South African National Aid Council Task Force.
Panellists emphasized that volunteerism should not be used as a justification for reducing state responsibilities in the area of social protection. Instead, it should be seen as complementing state action in an appropriate and sensible way. Voluntary actions are often considered by many people as providing a basic safety net. Government action can either stimulate and encourage voluntary action, or discourage it. An important question, according to the panellists, is how governments can support volunteerism by creating a space for it without stifling the autonomy of volunteers.
New Multi-Year Programme of Work and the Situation of Families
During its session the Commission also reviewed relevant United Nations plans and programmes of action pertaining to the situation of social groups. It focused on those related to ageing, the family and disabled persons. Discussions were dominated by the issue of the situation of the family. Several speakers highlighted the essential role of families in providing social safety nets, as well as care of children and the elderly. Governments were urged to protect and assist families, so they could fully assume their social responsibilities within their communities.
The Commission also discussed its multi-year programme of work for 2002-2006. Themes suggested for the next five-year period were among the principle themes discussed during the June 2000 Five-Year Review of the World Summit for Social Development in Geneva, as well as the 1995 World Summit for Social Development.
The Commission agreed on the following priority themes.
-- 2002–Integration of Social and Economic Policy. Under the theme, topics to be considered are: social aspects of
macro-economic policies, social assessment as a policy tool, and expenditures in the social sector as a
productive factor.
-- 2003–National and International Cooperation for Social Development. Under the theme, topics to be considered
are: sharing of experiences and best practices in social development, forging partnerships for social development,
social responsibility of the private sector, impact of employment strategies on social development, and the role of
international financial institutions' policies and their effect on social development strategies.
-- 2004–Improving Public Sector Effectiveness.
-- 2005–Review of Further Implementation of the Social Summit and the Outcome of the 24th Special Session of
the General Assembly.
-- 2006–Review of the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006).
Need for Further Sharing of Views
The Commission adopted a decision that recognized the need for further analyses, research and sharing of views on social protection. It also decided to consider ways of examining the theme further at a future session.
The Commission adopted a resolution on Volunteering and Social Development, in which it encourages states to increase public awareness of the vital contribution of volunteerism to communities and support voluntary action. This includes taking measures concerning mobilization, training and recognition of volunteers. The resolution stresses that support for voluntary action does not imply support for government downsizing, nor for replacing paid employment.
The Commission also adopted a resolution on Preparation For and Observance of the Tenth Anniversary of the Year of the Family. In it the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) urges the General Assembly to view year 2004 as a target year by which concrete achievements should be made to identify and elaborate issues that are of direct concern to families.
Finally, the Commission approved its multi-year programme of work and recommended the programme to the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
Contact: NGO Liaison Officer, Division of Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, fax +1-212/963 3062, e-mail <ngoran@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/socdev).
CSD HOLDS INTERSESSIONAL MEETINGS
The Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) held intersessional meetings in New York from 6-16 March 2001 to discuss the topics of Transport and Atmosphere, and Information for Decision Making and Participation and International Cooperation for an Enabling Environment. Each of the two themes was discussed by an Ad Hoc Working Group, which produced a summary and outline of elements for a draft decision on each theme, to be considered by the ninth session of the CSD in April.
For the most part, cooperation and a lack of significant disagreement among governments characterized discussions in the working groups on Transport and Atmosphere. This was due in part to the fact that the more contentious aspects of these issues are being taken up in other fora, such as energy by the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Energy and Sustainable Development, and atmosphere by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Instead, delegations highlighted other aspects of the transport and atmosphere debate: the human-related aspects of transportation (such as those affecting women and the elderly), health and urban planning, and the affordability and accessibility of transport.
In discussing the document containing elements for a draft decision on transport, a block of developing countries emphasized the importance of, among other things, new and additional resources from developed country partners, technology transfer, support for capacity building, and affordable and accessible transport systems.
A block of developed countries suggested that some priorities for CSD-9 in this area could include introducing the concepts of internalization of external costs and the polluter pays principle, as well as calling on international financial institutions and donors to make sustainable transport a priority.
A section on international cooperation recommended supporting public-private partnerships based on national priorities; developing endogenous capacity for both development and production of appropriate technologies; progressive phasing out of the use of lead in gasoline; and undertaking measures to promote the use of cleaner fuels.
The Working Group on Information for Decision Making and Participation and International Cooperation for an Enabling Environment took up three main issues under information, one of which focused on bridging the data gap. There was significant disagreement regarding the use of a core set of indicators for use in national reporting for sustainable development, as many developing countries regarded this as a possible tool of conditionality from donor countries. A block of developing countries stressed the need to make the use of indicators voluntary, take into account national particularities, and be sure they are suited to country-specific conditions and do not lead to conditionalities in the provision of aid and support to developing countries.
The Working Group also discussed the issue of improving the availability of and access to information, and many delegations emphasized the continuing need for development and deployment of information standards. A number of delegations mentioned the need to find ways to balance the positive effects of a market-driven system of information with the continuing need to ensure free and open public access to such information.
A third area of discussion focused on new information technologies. It was generally agreed that the emergence of a new knowledge economy offers a great potential for more effective, wider and faster collection and dissemination of information and public participation. In this regard, delegations noted the importance of trying to reach out to excluded groups such as the poor, women, rural communities and indigenous peoples.
The document on elements for a draft decision on the theme of information technologies highlights the need for technology transfer, capacity building, and new and additional resources to modernize and establish information systems in developing countries, particularly among poor populations. Recommendations to the CSD included: encouraging international organizations to rationalize their requests for information with respect to voluntary national reports; and ensuring that the commercialization of information does not become a barrier to developing countries.
Both developed and developing delegations raised the importance of initiatives at the national level to create a domestic environment conducive to private investment. Some delegations noted the role of the private sector in promoting the development of cleaner technologies and in contributing to sustainable development, including through the Global Compact initiative.
The Working Group put forward to CSD-9 a number of possible Elements for a Draft Decision. These included: support developing countries in their efforts toward sustainable development; explore ways in which official development assistance (ODA) and private resource flows can play complimentary roles; improve the functioning of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to make it more responsive to the needs of developing countries; eliminate trade obstacles including discriminatory trade practices, protectionist policies, non-tariff barriers and trade-distorting subsidies; formulate and implement national sustainable development programmes; and improve opportunities for the private sector, NGOs and Major Groups to contribute to sustainable development, economic planning and poverty eradication.
Contact: Zehra Aydin-Sipos, Major Groups Programme Coordinator, Division for Sustainable Development, DESA, 2 United Nations Plaza, 22nd Floor, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8811, fax +1-212/963 4260, e-mail <aydin@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/sustdev).
AFRICA AND ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONS PREPARE FOR RACISM CONFERENCE
The final two intergovernmental regional meetings and parallel NGO forums for the upcoming World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) were held in Dakar (Senegal) from 20-24 January 2001, and in Teheran (Iran) from 17-21 February 2001. Go Between summarizes the discussions and recommendations of the two meetings.
Governments and NGOs gathered in Dakar and Teheran to define their common positions for the WCAR, which will be held in Durban (South Africa) from 31 August-7 September 2001. An NGO Forum to be held from 28 August to 1 September, and a Youth Forum starting 27 August, will also be held in the same city. The outcome documents adopted by the regional meetings will be fed into the WCAR preparatory process.
Dakar Meeting
The intergovernmental meeting in Dakar brought together government delegates from all African countries. Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Secretary-General of WCAR, called attention to issues ranging from traditional and contemporary forms of slavery, trafficking in children and women, the gender dimension of racism, and exclusion of the disabled and of persons living with HIV/AIDS, to environmental degradation and pollution.
Participants discussed, among other things, the recommendations from a meeting of African NGOs in Botswana in early January 2001, and they reviewed a report of a seminar of experts on the prevention of ethnic and racial conflicts in Africa, held in October 2000 in Ethiopia.
At the Dakar meeting governments adopted a Declaration and Recommendations for a Programme of Action. These focus on the impact of the slave trade and colonialism, and compensation for individuals as well as countries that suffered their consequences. The Declaration identifies the slave trade, particularly of Africans, as “a unique tragedy in the history of humanity [and] a crime against humanity which is unparalleled. The consequences of this tragedy [have resulted in] lasting economic, political and cultural damage to African peoples and are still present [in] the perpetration of prejudice against Africans in the continent and people of African descent in the Diaspora.”
The Declaration calls for recognition of past injustices but warns that this would be meaningless without explicit apologies for those violations by ex-colonial powers or their successors. The Recommendations for a Programme of Action suggest establishing an International Compensation Scheme for victims of the slave trade and victims of any other transnational racist policies and acts; setting up a Development Reparation Fund to provide resources for a development process in countries affected by colonialism; and establishing international mechanisms for follow-up and monitoring of racism-related issues.
The NGO Forum recommended that states assure full participation in the WCAR of indigenous people, and stressed the particular vulnerability of refugees and migrants to racial discrimination.
Teheran Meeting
The intergovernmental meeting in Teheran brought together government representatives from the Asian and Pacific regions.
The Teheran Declaration adopted by governments stresses, among other things, the need for understanding and dialogue among cultures and civilizations, which it says “facilitates the promotion of a culture of tolerance and respect for diversity.”
Slavery and colonialism, according to the Declaration, “have been the prime sources and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.” It affirms that “foreign occupation founded on settlements [constitutes] a new kind of apartheid, a crime against humanity [and] a form of genocide.” It expresses “deep regret” over the “racial discrimination to which the Palestinians and other inhabitants of the Arab territories occupied by Israel are subjected.”
The Declaration also stipulates the “adverse trends of globalization, including growing economic disparity and cultural homogenization, which…contribute to sustaining and strengthening racist attitudes.” It draws attention to the growing plight of migrants and trafficking in persons and calls upon states to address the root causes of racism such as inter-ethnic strife, poverty and armed conflict.
Among issues the Teheran meeting NGO Forum stressed should be included on the WCAR agenda were caste-based discrimination. Although some 160 million people in India face caste-based discrimination, Human Rights Watch representative Smita Narula noted, there was still “a lot of resistance from the Indian government to have it included on the [WCAR] agenda.”
Mary Robinson expressed her dismay at what she described as “procedural and technical” difficulties that did not allow two accredited NGOs in Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council to attend the regional meeting in Teheran.
Contact: Laurie Wiseberg, NGO Liaison Officer for the World Conference Against Racism, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Palais Wilson, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 9393, fax +41-22/917 9050, e-mail <lwiseberg.hchr@unog.ch>, website (www.unhchr.ch/html/racism/index.htm). NGOs can subscribe to the WCAR newsletter via the above e-mail address.
NGO documents on the World Conference are also posted online at (www.hri.ca/racism).
PUBLICATIONS AND ONLINE
World Bank Publications
African Development Indicators 2001
This publication provides detailed data from 53 African countries for over 500 development indicators grouped under categories including background data, national accounts, prices and exchange rates, money and banking, the external sector, external debt and related flows, government finance, social indicators and environmental indicators. African Development Indicators 2001 is also available on CD-ROM.
SPectrum: The Global Fight Against Child Labor
The latest issue of SPectrum, a magazine published four times a year by the World Bank, provides an overview of the Bank’s programme focusing on the issue of child labour and ways the private sector is addressing it. The magazine also describes an inter-agency programme between the Bank, International Labour Organization (ILO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) aimed at looking for better tools to measure child labour as well as practices to reduce it.
New Paths to Social Development: Community and Global Networks in Action
This book was published by the World Bank for the five-year review last year of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. It looks at experiences and initiatives at global and community levels to fight poverty.
Available from: World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, e-mail <books@worldbank.org>, website (www.worldbank.org).
Global Humanitarian Assistance 2000
This book reports on funding from the international community in response to natural disasters and humanitarian crises. It looks at the major changes in humanitarian aid flows over the last decade using data from the UN, governments, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and NGOs. The book examines increased expectations placed on the humanitarian community and the ways it is managing resources in order to meet new challenges.
Available from: Inter-Agency Standing Committee, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.
Trade, Environment and the Millennium
This book aims to provide an overview of key issues on trade and environment for negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) after the 1999 ministerial meeting in Seattle. The book addresses the special interests of developing countries in WTO negotiations.
Available from: United Nations University Press, 53-70 Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan, fax +81-3/3406 7345, e-mail <sales@hq.unu.edu>, website (www.unu.edu).
Global Issues Series
This new series from Zed Books, which deals with global issues affecting ordinary people worldwide, aims to stimulate new thinking and social action.
Rethinking Globalization: Critical Issues and Policy Choices
This book, which says globalization is failing to reduce poverty, criticizes the West’s domination of international policy. It argues that the South must be given room for manoeuvre and proposes what are described as innovative and realistic policies for this.
The Development Myth: The Non-Viable Countries of the 21st Century
This book says that several countries in the South are becoming “non-viable national economies” rather than newly industrialized countries. It notes that these countries will need to adopt a policy of national survival based on the search for water, food and energy security, as well as stabilization of their populations.
The Water Manifesto: Arguments for a World Water Contract
According to this book, three billion of the eight billion people on earth in 2020 will lack access to sufficient and safe drinking water if present trends continue. It gives examples of how corporate interests view water as a commodity, rather than as a resource and human right. The book calls for a world water contract, with international rules for equitable management and distribution.
Available from: Zed Books, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, United Kingdom, fax +44-20/7833 3960, e-mail <sales@zedbooks.demon.co.uk>, website (www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk).
Tides Shift on Agrarian Reform: New Movements Show the Way
This report, from Food First/The Institute for Food and Development Policy, analyzes World Bank policy on land reform and the success of movements for the landless. The report contrasts Bank market-based reforms which it says burden the poor with debts for poor-quality land, with landless movements such as in Brazil where 250,000 families have been settled on over 15 million acres of land. The report recommends, among other things, relieving families of debt when they acquire land, ensuring the right of women to hold titles to land, ensuring the quality of land distributed, and establishing a supportive policy environment for small farm agriculture.
Available from: Food First, 398 60th Street, Oakland CA 94608, United States, fax +1-510/654 4551, e-mail <foodfirst@foodfirst.org>, website (www.foodfirst.org/pubs/backgrdrs/2001/w01v7n1.html).
How the UN Works
This online magazine is part of a strategy that focuses on showing how the UN system and its partners in the public and private sectors work together to help people. The magazine features articles about the UN’s work, and links to UN projects and treaties, government agencies, NGOs, foundations and businesses.
Website (www.un.org/works).
UN World Television Forum Report Online
The final report and webcast of the fifth UN World Television Forum, held 16-17 November 2000 in New York, are available online. The forum brought together around 1,000 media industry leaders and experts worldwide to discuss challenges facing television and the “digital divide.”
Website (www.un.org/tvforum).
CALENDAR
CHILDREN
Special Session on Children
-- Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the General Assembly Special Session on Children, 3rd session,
11-15 June, New York
-- General Assembly Special Session on Children, 19-21 September, New York
DISARMAMENT
-- Conference on Disarmament, 2nd part, 14 May-29 June, Geneva
-- UN Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects, 9-20 July, New York
ECOSOC/GENERAL ASSEMBLY
-- Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, 7-25 May, New York
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
-- FAO Committee on World Food Security, 28 May-1 June, Rome
HEALTH
-- World Health Assembly, 54th meeting, 14-22 May, Geneva
HIV/AIDS
-- General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, 25-27 June, New York
HUMAN RIGHTS
-- Committee Against Torture, 26th session, 30 April-18 May, Geneva
-- Working Group on Minorities, 14-18 May, Geneva
-- Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, 11-15 June, Geneva
Rights of the Child
-- Committee on the Rights of the Child, 27th session, 21 May-8 June, Geneva
Racism
-- Preparatory Committee for the World Conference Against Racism, 2nd session, 21 May-1 June, Geneva
HUMAN SETTLEMENTS
Istanbul+5 Process
-- General Assembly Special Session for an Overall Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Habitat
Agenda, 6-8 June, New York
INTERNATIONAL LAW
-- Meeting of the States Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 14-18 May, New York
LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
-- Third Conference on Least Developed Countries, 14-20 May, Brussels
NARCOTIC DRUGS
-- International Narcotics Control Board, 71st session, 21 May-1 June, Vienna
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
International Labour Organization (ILO)
-- ILO General Conference, 89th session, 5-21 June, Geneva
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Framework Convention on Climate Change
-- 1st sessional period, 21 May-1 June (venue to be determined)
United Nations Forum on Forests
-- First substantive meeting, June, New York
TRADE, FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT
Financing for Development (FFD)
-- Preparatory Committee for the FFD event, 3rd session (1st part), 2-8 May, New York
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
-- Commission on Science and Technology for Development, 5th session, 21-25 May, Geneva
Women
-- Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), 25th session, 4-22 June,
New York
GUEST EDITORIAL
Giandomenico Picco Secretary-General’s Personal Representative for the United Nations Year of Dialogue among Civilizations
Many years ago a good friend of mine John Hume, who was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, taught me the simple truth that war begins in the minds of those individuals who perceive diversity as a threat. At that time he was neither a Nobel Prize winner nor very well known except among those familiar with the Northern Ireland problem. Ethnic conflicts were just becoming “popular” in those days, so to speak.
Within a few years we began reading about tribal conflicts, religious wars and even cultural clashes. It was quite surprising to me how quickly we all seemed to believe that these were the “causes” of conflict. On second thought, perhaps what was going on was simply an attempt by the warmongers to cover up the real reasons of war with the mantle of religion, ethnicity or history. Indeed those who used diversity as a threat wanted to cover up their hatred for the “diverse.” The Balkans is not the story of ethnic or religious or cultural wars but rather of individuals who perceived diversity as a threat and decided to kill.
During the same years in more “civilized” environments such as academic institutions, others, feeling like orphans, decided to search for a new enemy. And so the theory of “clash of civilizations” was invented. I will not indulge in the fallacy of this theory, for it has now been unmasked. Instead I would like to ask why we feel the need for “the enemy?”
The concept of an enemy, we have all learned, is first and foremost a tool to manage societies. No wonder that we have rarely if ever seen leaders who could lead without an enemy. Only a few months ago in a Western European country, a member of the clergy was quoted as saying that Europe should favour Christian immigrants over those of other religions!
Why is it that so many people often equate “diversity” with “enmity?” Why do we need an enemy?
On 20 July 2000 along the shore of Lake Tiberias two families were enjoying a summer afternoon. A young boy jumped into the water for a refreshing swim. Overcome by an unexpected wave, he panicked and began drowning. The father of the other family saw the situation and jumped into the lake without hesitation, saving the youngster from sure death. Unfortunately, while the boy was saved his savior drowned. The young boy was Israeli, his saviour a Palestinian.
In that situation nobody stopped to ask about nationality or religion; that which prevailed was the fact that any father would do his best to save the life of a young boy.
At the end of the day, I believe the vast majority of human beings want the same thing: a better future for their children. This is a common aspiration around the world.
Could it be that those who build the highest walls around themselves are the very ones who are less secure in their own beliefs and less certain of their own identity? In other words, are those who need an enemy most the people who have less to offer in terms of positive contributions and values?
Nevertheless, “crossing the divide” and extending a helping hand is considered by our societies as a positive, and at times heroic, attitude. Nobel Peace Prizes are given to people who have gone beyond the “walls” in front of them and crossed the divide. Most recognize that crossing the divide, rather than creating enemies, is a good thing.
Speaking of one global civilization, as the UN Secretary-General does, may be described by many as too idealistic; trying to change the mind-set that perceives diversity as a threat may be considered idealistic, and working for a global society where the word “foreigner” will not have a meaning may be considered by many as beyond reach. We are told that these ideals can never be reached. Then I will ask if the scientist is allowed to discover what he or she still does not know exists, why is the search for a society where diversity is recognized as an element of betterment and growth ruled out as an impossibility? Just because it never happened before seems a poor excuse.
History does not kill, religion does not rape and institutions do not destroy buildings—only the human being can do all these things. Personal responsibility has taken a leave of absence from international society for too long. It is time to bring it back.