Go Between 73, February-March 1999 UN NEWS GA APPROVES MILLENNIUM ASSEMBLY The General Assembly has decided to designate its 55th session in the year 2000 as the "Millennium Assembly of the United Nations" (resolution 53/202), recognizing the opportunity provided to, among other things, "strengthen the role of the UN in meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century." In addition, the General Assembly will convene a Millennium Summit for a limited number of days as an integral part of the Millennium Assembly. The GA will continue its consideration of an intergovernmental preparatory process; in this connection the Secretary-General is requested to consult with member states, members of the specialized agencies and observers to propose "forward-looking and widely relevant topics" in the development of a focus for the Millennium Assembly. The Secretary-General is also requested to consult with NGOs in developing his proposals. The theme, dates, organization and a decision on the intergovernmental preparatory process will be taken up by the 53rd GA at its resumed session under the agenda item on UN reform. The Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) hosted a meeting in December 1998 to consult with NGOs on establishing an NGO Millennium Forum. The NGO organizers have established an organizational structure through which NGOs with consultative status, NGOs associated with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI), national and local NGOs, community-based organizations, research institutes, local authorities, parliamentarians, and others can participate in a democratic, transparent and representational process. The forum will seek to establish an efficient system for gathering and distributing information on all meetings and forums associated with the Millennium Forum. The primary decision-making body for the forum is a Planning Consultative Council. It includes thematic convenors; cross-cutting issue convenors; regional and major group network and coalition representatives from all regions; selected large confederations; institutional representatives such as CONGO and the NGO-DPI Executive Committee; convenors of logistics, working groups and committees; and convenors of other major millennium civil society forums. Each convenor of thematic groups will encourage the formation of networks and consultations to identify priorities for the world's peoples for the 21st century. They will facilitate an examination of world conference plans of action in order to make recommendations on which commitments made by governments still need implementation. The first official meeting of the Planning Consultative Council, scheduled to take place on 22-23 February at the UN in New York, will be followed by a meeting in May or June 2000 to prepare a draft report based on recommendations received from all local, national, regional and international meetings. This report will be submitted to the Secretary-General as input to his report to the Millennium General Assembly. The actual Millennium Forum event will be held one week prior to the opening of the Millennium Summit of Heads of State and Government. Contact for NGO planning: Techeste Adherom, Interim Convenor, or Kay Greene, Interim Executive Director, Millennium Forum, 866 UN Plaza, Suite 120, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/803 2522, fax +1-212/803-2561, e-mail , website (www.netreaction.com/mpan). SECURITY COUNCIL ON REFUGEES, ARMS In response to recommendations made by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his 13 April 1998 report on the "Causes of conflict and the promotion of a durable peace and sustainable development in Africa" (see Go Between 72), the Security Council adopted two resolutions on 19 November 1998 respectively addressing the status and treatment of refugees, and the illicit arms flow, particularly of small arms. Under the terms of resolution 1208 (1998), the council supported the inclusion of military and police units and personnel trained for humanitarian operations in UN stand-by arrangements, which the UN could draw on to help maintain the security and civilian and humanitarian character of refugee camps and settlements. In this context, the council requested the Secretary-General to consider a new category within the UN Trust Fund for Improving Preparedness for Conflict Prevention and Peacekeeping in Africa. The resolution calls on African states to further develop institutions and procedures to implement international law on the status and treatment of refugees and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa. The council highlighted provisions on the location of refugees at a reasonable distance from the frontier of their country of origin, and the separation of refugees from persons who do not qualify for international protection. It also urged the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, other relevant UN bodies, member states, the OAU and subregional organizations to assist African states that are hosting refugees. Resolution 1209 (1998) encourages African states to enact legislation on the domestic possession and use of arms and establish national legal and judicial mechanisms to implement such laws, as well as to implement effective import, export and re-export controls. The resolution requests the Secretary-General to consider practical ways to work with African states to implement national, regional and subregional programmes for voluntary weapons collection, disposal and destruction including the possibility of establishing a fund to support them. The council said it intends to consider ways to facilitate such programmes in the mandates of future African peacekeeping operations, pending the Secretary-General's recommendations. The resolution encourages the Secretary-General to: -- explore means of identifying international arms dealers acting in contravention of national legislation and embargoes established by the UN or international law; -- explore how to collect, share and disseminate information on illicit small arms flows and their destabilizing effects; and -- promote cooperation in sharing information among member states, the UN and regional and subregional organizations. The council encouraged African states to participate in the UN Register of Conventional Arms as well as the establishment of regional or subregional registers of conventional arms. It also called on member states to explore other ways to enhance the transparency of arms transfers to and in Africa. A contributing factor to adoption of the resolutions was a briefing on 10 November 1998 by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata. Although a formal meeting of the council on protection for humanitarian assistance to refugees and others in conflict situations, the session was conducted with an innovative format in which Ms. Ogata responded to questions from council members. She reported that the number and intensity of conflicts in the world is on the rise and forcing more and more civilians to flee. The increasingly blurred line between war and peace, she said, and the need to reach out to victims of forced displacement across these lines makes the protection of refugees and returnees more complex than ever. G-77 HOLDS CONFERENCE ON ECONOMIC COOPERATION The Group of 77 developing countries (G-77) high-level conference on Subregional and Regional Economic Cooperation, held in Bali (Indonesia) from 2-5 December 1998, was attended by more than 500 participants including G-77 member states, heads of secretariats of Southern economic groupings, UN officials, and representatives of intergovernmental organizations of the South and the private sector. A high-level segment of the conference, held from 2-3 December and attended by ministers and senior officials from G-77 member states, focused on strengthening linkages among subregional and regional economic groupings of the South. The first conference of its kind to deal with the subject of Southern economic groupings, the event provided a forum to exchange views of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Common Market of the South (MERCOSUR), and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), among others. According to the G-77 chair, Ambassador Makarim Wibisono (Indonesia), discussion focused on expanding direct cooperation among regional and subregional groupings through project proposals in trade and investment to accelerate economic development through collective self-reliance among countries of the South. Three panel discussions were held following the high-level segment. They included an exchange of experiences, lessons learned and best practices of cooperation among subregional and regional economic arrangements; the role of the UN system and other international institutions in promoting subregional and regional economic cooperation among developing countries; and the role of the private sector and business community in promoting South-South cooperation. Conference participants concentrated on issues related to "integration movements" in the South, and undertook an analytical review and assessment of the main achievements of these regional/subregional groupings and their evolution over time. Other topics of discussion included the role of governing bodies; regional policy setting and programme formulation; programme implementation; financial management; and interaction among member states. An address by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Executive Secretary Adrianus Mooy, delivered on behalf of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, highlighted "the growing integration of global capital markets, the changes in the volume and composition of international financial flows [and] the increased diversity and number of international actors." Mr. Annan said these issues underscore the need for sound global governance. "But global institutions," he said, "cannot be effective without the support of regional, subregional and national mechanisms. At those levels, you can follow events on the ground, manage crises promptly when they occur, and share the best practices achieved in banking regulation and supervision, as well as arrangements for gathering and disseminating information." The Bali conference, held on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the creation of the G-77 and the first G-77 South Summit, adopted a plan of action and a declaration providing a framework for exploring ways and means to strengthen and expand subregional and regional economic cooperation among developing countries. Contact: Office of the Chair of the Group of 77, United Nations, Room S-3959, New York NY 10017, United States, fax +1-212/963 3515, e-mail , website (www.g77.org). G-77 WELCOMES GUYANA AS NEW CHAIR Ambassador Samuel R. Insanally (Guyana) has become chair of the Group of 77 developing countries for 1999. In accepting Guyana's new role Clement Rohee, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana, said that "the dialogue between the North and the South has fallen silent for some time now, and international development issues have been all but eliminated from multilateral negotiating agendas....We believe that the UN should be empowered to reclaim its negotiating role on all aspects of development, particularly on global economic policy and management." In a G-77 ceremony on 12 January in New York, Cuba identified several key G-77 issues for the coming year, including preparations for the Millennium Assembly, the First South Summit (to be held in Cuba in 2000), and negotiations of the Working Group on Financing for Development. China, which is not a formal G-77 member, highlighted reform in the fields of environment and human settlements, GA special sessions on population and development, and the sustainable development of small island developing states. Costa Rica emphasized the Millennium Assembly and the review of the World Summit on Social Development as critical areas for cooperation. Iran cited "an important shift in the deliberations of the Second Committee [in the 53rd General Assembly] toward economic issues such as globalization, implications of financial crisis, debt crisis in the developing countries, trade and related matters and governance of international monetary and financial and trade systems." Iran noted that "emphasis on the centrality of the role of the UN General Assembly [Second Committee] in multilateral negotiations on economic and development issues is an imperative for the G-77 and China." ICPD+5: HAGUE FORUM The Hague Forum on ICPD+5 closed Friday 12 February with the adoption, in plenary, of a report that takes stock of progress made in implementation of the Programme of Action of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Delegates from 177 states participated in the five-day meeting, which was preceded by an NGO Forum, a Youth Forum and a Forum of Parliamentarians. The report's findings and proposals cover five themes: -- creating an enabling environment for population programmes; -- gender equality and the empowerment of women; -- reproductive rights and health, including family planning and sexual health; -- strengthening partnerships; and -- financing. Organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Hague Forum was part of a review and assessment (ICPD+5) that will lead up to a Special Session of the UN General Assembly in New York from 30 June to 2 July (see NGLS Roundup, December 1998-January 1999). The meeting examined progress in the five years since the ICPD, identifying successes, constraints and priorities for future action. While based on the governmental discussions in the forum's Main Committee and Bureau, and with considerable input from NGOs and Youth groups, the report was not a negotiated text. UNFPA will make it available as a background document for the Commission on Population and Development when it meets in New York 24-31 March as the Preparatory Committee for the GA special session. For information on the Hague Forum, contact: Stirling Scruggs, Director, Information and External Relations Division, UNFPA, 220 East 42nd Street, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/297 5020, fax +1-212/557 6416, e-mail , website (www.unfpa.org). For information on NGO and Youth Forums, contact: World Population Foundation, AmpŠrestraat 10, 1221 GJ Hilversum, Netherlands, telephone +31-35/642 2304, fax +31-35/642 1462, e-mail or , website (www.ngoforum.org). HABITAT PARTNERS MEET IN TURIN Two and a half years after Habitat II (see NGLS Roundup, September 1996), representatives of cities and local authorities, parliamentarians, business, trade unions, NGOs and others met in Turin (Italy) to take stock of their progress and renew their commitment to supporting the Habitat Agenda. The Habitat agenda is the global plan of action adopted by all member states of the United Nations. Participants were joined in their efforts by 150 civic and community leaders and urban experts. The conference, which took place from 1-5 December 1998, was organized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements, UNCHS (Habitat), the ENVision Habitat Group, and the United Nations Staff College Project. Through thematic workshops participants provided inputs for the production of a handbook on Habitat action plans, which will form the basis for implementation of the Habitat Agenda at the local level. The conference also provided a venue for the first meeting of UN Resident Coordinators on national implementation of the Habitat Agenda. The conference adopted a final statement, the Turin Declaration, which identifies the basic principles of partnership and re-affirms support to Habitat on the part of its civil society constituency. "We are of the conviction that successful partnerships are based on shared values and relationships," says the statement. "We all work for the inclusion, empowerment, and participation of all, especially the weakest and most vulnerable. We strive for equality of access to human rights, basic services, information and education. We respect and celebrate the richness of diversity. We acknowledge the importance of decentralization to reinforce action at the local level." Contact: Christina Engfeldt, Chief, Information and External Relations, UNCHS, PO Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623067, fax +254-2/624060, e-mail . SECOND ROUND OF TALKS ON POPs Negotiators made "solid progress" in drafting a global treaty to reduce and eliminate environmental emissions and discharges of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) during talks in Nairobi (Kenya) from 25-29 January, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The talks were the second in a series of five anticipated negotiating sessions to reach a global agreement on POPs by the year 2000, the deadline embodied in the UNEP Governing Council mandate issued in 1997. "The threat to human health and the environment from POPs is a global problem requiring global action," said UNEP Executive Director Klaus T”pfer. "I am confident that the constructive progress made this week in Nairobi during the second round of talks on a global treaty will produce a legally binding agreement by the year 2000 that will help safeguard people worldwide from these dangerous pollutants and protect generations to come." More than 350 delegates from 103 countries who gathered for the meeting agreed to a draft text as the working basis for discussions of all substantive articles. They explored technical and policy perspectives, issues involved in restricting and/or eliminating 12 POPs listed in the UNEP mandate, as well as scientific criteria for identifying other POPs for inclusion in the agreement. They also examined issues associated with implementation including capacity building, technology transfer and financing, which are key to the ability of nations to fulfil their responsibilities under the future treaty. The draft text and meeting report will serve as a basis for the third round of talks, tentatively set for September or October. The Nairobi meeting was formally known as the Second Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-2) for an International Legally Binding Instrument for Implementing International Action on Certain Persistent Organic Pollutants. It built on the foundation for a treaty laid at the First Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, held in Montreal (Canada) from 29 June to 2 July 1998. Contact: Linda Durkee, Policy and Communications Advisor, UNEP Chemicals, Geneva Executive Centre, 15 chemin des An‚mones, CH-1219 Chƒtelaine (GE), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 8511, fax +41-22/797 3460 or Tore J. Brevik, Director, Information and Public Affairs, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623292, fax +254-2/623927, website (www.chem.unep.ch/pops/). 10TH MEETING OF PARTIES TO MONTREAL PROTOCOL Ministers and government experts from over 100 countries gathered in Cairo (Egypt) from 23-24 November 1998 to strengthen international efforts to reverse destruction of the Earth's protective ozone layer. The Tenth Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer took place just weeks after scientists reported the largest Antarctic ozone "hole" ever recorded equal to an area of 26 million square kilometres, or more than 25 times the size of Egypt. For the first time the Parties tackled the challenge of how to make policies to protect the ozone layer consistent with ongoing efforts to reduce emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. Several gases that are being used as ozone-safe replacements for CFCs notably hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) contribute to global warming and so are targeted for reduction under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (see E&D File, Vol. III, No. 16). Another link is that global warming may slow the ozone layer's healing process; scientists believe that warming of the atmosphere near the ground will cause the stratosphere to become even colder. Based on a recommendation by its working group last July, the Meeting of the Parties agreed on a process for coordinating work of the scientific and technology and economic assessment panels on ozone with similar panels and committees linked to the Climate Change Convention. "For the first time we are seeing the emergence of an integrated approach to the global atmosphere," said Klaus T”pfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). "We need to ensure that the scientific and policy responses underlying the two most important agreements on the global atmosphere the Montreal Protocol and the Kyoto Protocol are mutually supportive and fully coordinated." A key outcome of the Cairo meeting was strengthened measures to close down CFC production facilities. In a related meeting one week before, the Executive Committee of the Multilateral Fund noted the completion of a technical audit of production facilities for ozone-depleting substances in China and India. The fund was established in 1990 to pay the agreed incremental costs incurred by developing countries in phasing out ozone-depleting substances. It has so far approved some US$850 million in support of projects to phase out 117,000 tonnes of CFC consumption, equal to 60% of developing country consumption. The committee will soon promote new projects to start phasing out such production facilities. In addition, just before the meeting, ten donors pledged a special contribution of US$19 million to shut down Russian CFC and halon production factories by the year 2000. The Meeting of the Parties also reviewed the problem of non-compliance with the Montreal Protocol on the part of eight countries. Members of the former Soviet Union, these countries have been unable to meet their phase-out schedules due to their recent transition to market economies. The Parties recommended that the Global Environment Facility continue to assist these countries, while cautioning them that stricter measures will be imposed if they do not adhere to their new benchmarks for phase-out. Contact: Michael Williams, Information Officer, UNEP, Geneva Executive Centre, 15 chemin des An‚mones, CH-1219 Chƒtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/979 9242, fax +41-22/797 3464, e-mail , web site (www.unep.ch/ozone/). IFCS INTERSESSIONAL GROUP MEETS The Intersessional Group of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) held its third meeting from 1-4 December 1998 in Yokohama (Japan). The meeting brought together 165 participants, representing 47 countries as well as intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, NGOs and industry. Thematic areas addressed included risk assessment, obsolete chemicals and pesticides, and capacity building, as well as issues such as endocrine disrupters, persistent organic pollutants, and non-governmental organization participation in the IFCS. The meeting resulted in about 25 agreed action items and recommendations on, among other things, harmonization of classification and labelling, support for NGO participation in forum activities, and preparations for the third meeting of the IFCS (Forum III), tentatively scheduled in September or October 2000. The concept of an Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety originated during preparations for the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) after a recommendation from the United Nations Environment Programme, International Labour Organization and World Heath Organization. Contact: IFCS Secretariat, World Health Organization, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3650 or 791 4333, fax +41-22/791 4875, e-mail , website (www.ifcs.ch). IPU DISCUSSES WORLD FOOD SUMMIT FOLLOW-UP A three-day conference in Rome (Italy) on Attaining the World Food Summit's Objectives through a Sustainable Development Strategy concluded on 2 December 1998 with calls for facilitation of credit for the rural poor, fairer trade arrangements, and an equitable distribution of genetic resources. Some 300 delegates from 77 parliaments attended the event, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) with the support of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Participants discussed parliamentary action to achieve food security, dual demands resulting from the need to produce sufficient food while maintaining the resource base, and poverty eradication as a condition for access to food. The conference's conclusions will become the blueprint for further legislative action by national parliaments in support of the 1996 World Food Summit's recommendations. Contact: IPU, Place du Petit-Saconnex, BP 438, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/919 4150, fax +41-22/919 4160, website (www.ipu.org). PROGRESS LACKING ON FOOD SUMMIT GOALS Over two years after the World Food Summit (see NGLS Roundup, January 1997), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that the pace of progress remains insufficient to meet the summit's main target of halving the number of hungry by the year 2015 from over 800 million. "The world food security situation seems, by and large, to be developing along the lines of slow and uneven progress," according to FAO in a document prepared for the Inter-Parliamentary Conference from 29 November-2 December in Rome (see above). "In practice, as far as can be determined so soon after the World Food Summit (WFS), progress is not being made at anywhere near the rates required for meeting the WFS target. Unless major efforts are made to improve food supplies as well as to overcome inequities, some countries may still have an incidence of undernutrition ranging from 15 to 30 percent of their populations." Present trends point to a further reduction, but not a halving, of the number of chronically undernourished by 2015. "Globally, the additional amounts of food to be produced and traded would be minor," according to FAO. "The objective is also feasible at the national level in many countries provided that those countries experiencing widespread undernutrition accord high priority to their agricultural development and engage in a much more rigorous policy effort to enhance the access of the poor to income earning opportunities. It is also estimated that investment in agriculture should be 20 to 30 percent above what it would otherwise be." The world has the capacity to produce the additional food required to eliminate undernutrition. The "persistence of hunger is due to development failures," said FAO, which indicated the need to promote local food production and rural development as well as efficient use of existing technologies for sustainable intensification of production. The World Food Summit, convened by FAO from 13-17 November 1996 in Rome, was the first global gathering at the head of state and government level to address hunger and malnutrition in order to achieve sustainable food security for all. A total of 186 delegations, 112 led by heads or deputy heads of state or government, unanimously adopted the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action. Participants pledged their "political will and [their] common and national commitment to achieving food security for all and to an ongoing effort to eradicate hunger in all countries, with the immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015." Contact: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/57051. AGENDA FOR UNCTAD X On 5 February the Trade and Development Board of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) adopted the substantive agenda for the organization's tenth quadrennial conference (UNCTAD X), to be held in Bangkok (Thailand) from 12-20 February 2000. The theme of the conference will be "Developmental strategies in an increasingly interdependent world: applying the lessons of the past to make globalization an effective instrument for the development of all countries and all people." The text of the agenda (TD/B/EX(20)/L.1) stresses the mixed impact of globalization on development, including the persistence of economic disparities among nations and the risk of further marginalization for a number of developing countries, particularly those that are least developed. The agenda refers to the rise of "tensions and imbalances of a systemic nature" and the increased risk of financial upheavals spreading across countries and regions. It calls for a "rigorous and balanced review of the policy and institutional framework for global trade and finance." It emphasizes that UNCTAD X will provide member states with an opportunity to take stock of and review major international economic initiatives and developments, with a view to considering strategies and policies most likely to ensure the successful integration of all countries into the world economy on an equitable basis. In addition to the inter-governmental track, the UNCTAD secretariat is developing plans for integrating civil society views and concerns from around the world into the conference process. It is also organizing a parallel "rethinking development" exercise with the participation of leading economic and development thinkers (see the Guest Editorial on back page). Contact: Jo Elizabeth Butler, Chief, Public Affairs Unit, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907 5048, fax +41-22/907 0043, e-mail , website (www.unctad.org). UNESCO/WMO HYDROLOGY CONFERENCE More than 119 delegates from 57 countries and 20 representatives of international organizations participated in the Fifth International Conference on Hydrology, which ended in Geneva on 12 February. The aim of the conference, organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), was to identify how the two UN agencies can contribute jointly to a solution of the world's looming crises over the lack of freshwater. "In 25 years, per capita annual water availability has dropped by about one-third," said Federico Mayor, UNESCO Director General, "and in arid zones, water resources are scarcer than ever." Describing water as an emerging priority worldwide, he said that "instead of investing billions of dollars in armaments, we should allocate budgetary resources to fresh water, the environment, people's living conditions." Participants called upon WMO and UNESCO to: -- help countries to collect the basic information that they need in order to confront the situation; -- encourage the scientific community to put its weight behind these efforts; and -- help develop the facilities for training specialists and water managers who are needed to interpret the technical information in terms that policy-makers can use in making the difficult decisions that lie ahead. The outcome of the conference will be submitted to the 13th WMO Congress, which will meet in Geneva from 4-26 May, and to the 30th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, which will meet in Paris from 16 October to 8 November. Contact: Taysir Mustafa Al-Ghanem, Chief, Information & Public Affairs, World Meteorological Organization, 41 avenue Giuseppe-Motta, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/730 8315, fax +41-22/733 2829, e-mail . WHO RESOLUTION ADDRESSES TRADE AGREEMENTS On 26 January, the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a resolution on its revised drug strategy (EB103.R1) that, among other things, proposes a clear mandate to WHO to address the public health implications of trade agreements and to advise member states about them. In particular, the text urges member states "to explore and review their options under relevant international agreements, including trade agreements, to safeguard access to essential drugs." Of greatest concern to a number of member states were the possible impacts of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs). A representative of South Africa speaking to the board said that in the current "uncertain and unpredictable globalized environment of the 21st century," the resolution reaffirms the primacy of the public health principles on which WHO was founded. He said there is now proof that medicines are more expensive in developing countries in both relative and absolute terms. "As a result," he added, "many essential medicines are simply unaffordable to the citizens of developing countries." A representative of the Netherlands-based NGO Health Action International-Europe said that "in a world driven by trade and profits, it is reassuring to see that an international agency like WHO has the mandate to protect public health." The resolution will be submitted to the 52nd World Health Assembly in May 1999, one year after the assembly failed to reach consensus on a resolution recommended by the board on the same issue. The previous resolution urged member states, among others, "to ensure that public health rather than commercial interests have primacy in pharmaceutical and health policies and to review their options under the [TRIPs agreement] to safeguard access to essential drugs." In addition to addressing trade and pharmaceuticals, the resolution places new emphasis on specific aspects of national drug policies, quality assurance, drug promotion, drug donations, independent drug information, and rational drug use. Contact: HAI-Europe, Jacob van Lennepkade 334T, NL-1053 NJ Amsterdam, Netherlands, telephone +31-20/683 3684, fax +31-20/685 5002, e-mail . WFP LAUNCHES SECURITY INITIATIVE In response to the increase in deliberate violence against its staff members, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has launched an initiative to enhance security for its employees. In 1998 alone, nine WFP staff members were murdered. Over the past decade, WFP has lost 45 colleagues to murder, genocide, work-related accidents and illnesses. Throughout the UN, civilian personnel are increasingly becoming targets of violence. In 1998 for the first time in the UN's history, civilian casualties exceeded the organization's military casualties. Since the beginning of last year, 27 non-peacekeeping UN staff members lost their lives. WFP is implementing a special training programme in 1999 for all of its 4,000 staff members. The training will address issues such as driving security, field communications, stress management, convoy and air field security, and first aid. Contact: Jeff Rowland, Information Officer, WFP, Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, I-00148 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/6513 2971, fax +39-06/6513 2840. UNAIDS: GLOBAL HIV INFECTIONS INCREASED IN 1998 During 1998 a further 5.8 million people were infected with HIV approximately 11 men, women and children every minute with the total number of people living with the virus rising by one-tenth to 33.4 million worldwide. And half of all new infections are occurring among young people aged 15 to 24, according to a report entitled AIDS Epidemic Update December 1998, issued by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The global epicentre of AIDS continues to be sub-Saharan Africa. Since the epidemic began, 34 million Africans have been infected and almost 12 million have already died. In 1998 the region experienced four million new infections and rising AIDS death tolls, seen in an estimated 5,500 funerals per day. In the southern countries of the continent, where HIV's spread took on epidemic proportions only recently, infection rates continued to rise dramatically during 1998. South Africa alone accounts for one out of every seven new infections on the continent. In contrast, a number of countries in West Africa remain relatively less affected, in part as a result of early and sustained prevention efforts. In North America and Western Europe the availability of new, more potent anti-HIV drug combinations has helped people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. In the United States for example, the number of people dying from AIDS dropped by two-thirds between 1995 and 1997, when the antiretroviral combinations came into wide use. However, alongside this therapeutic success there is a disturbing lack of progress in prevention. Every year for the past decade, the numbers of new HIV infections have remained stagnant in North America and Western Europe, with close to 75,000 people acquiring the virus in 1998 alone. In many Asian and Eastern European countries, where the epidemic started later than in other regions, HIV is rapidly gaining new footholds. In India, for example, research shows that HIV is now firmly embedded in the general population and is spreading into rural areas that were previously thought to be relatively spared. In Latin America, where infections are concentrated in men who have sex with men and drug injectors, transmission through sex between men and women is on the rise. In many places people have no access to voluntary HIV testing and counselling. Yet even when these services are offered, many do not want to know or acknowledge their HIV status because of the blame and shame attached to AIDS. Secrecy can persist even in the face of sickness and death, which in immunodeficient people is often caused by tuberculosis or other common illnesses. In one study of home-based care schemes in southern Africa, fewer than one in ten people who were caring for HIV-infected relatives at home acknowledged that they were suffering from AIDS, and the patients themselves were barely more open. "One might think that in a country with a quarter or third of the population infected, people would become more open about the epidemic. Experience teaches us that this doesn't happen automatically," said Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director. "The silence needs to be broken, publicly and courageously, by leaders who encourage their people to face the truth about AIDS." Contact: Lisa Jacobs, Press Officer, Communication and Public Information, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3387, fax +41-22/791 4187, website (www.unaids.org). LOWEST GROWTH SINCE 1980s FORECAST Developing countries will be hardest hit by the economic and social costs of the global slowdown in 1998-2000 with their per capita economic growth expected to slow to 0.4% in 1998, compared with 3.2% in 1997, according to a World Bank report. The 1998-1999 edition of Global Economic Prospects and the Developing Countries predicts that about 37 developing and transition countries including Brazil, Indonesia and Russia are likely to have negative per capita growth. These countries account for 42% of total gross domestic product (GDP) for the developing world and more than one-fourth of its population. By contrast in 1997 per capita income fell in 21 countries, accounting for 10% of the developing world's GDP and 7% of its population. The report attributes much of the slowdown in developing economies to the unprecedented depth and severity of recession in the crisis countries of East Asia, and its contagion effect on the rest of the world. With output projected to decline sharply in the region in 1998 and to stabilize in 1999, the report says that the Asian crisis already ranks with the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s in terms of its impact on countries during its first 12 months. Contact: World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-703/661 1580, fax +1-703/661 1501, e-mail , website (www.worldbank.org/). UNIDO WARNS ABOUT AFRICA SLOWDOWN Africa's economic growth, steady during the last three years, has been almost halved partly due to the financial crisis in East Asia, according to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Early warning assessments made by Torben Roepstorff, UNIDO Senior Economist, show that: -- Africa's gross domestic product fell to 3.2% in 1997 from 5.8% in 1996; -- the continent's export earnings will fall significantly because of a persistent decline in world commodity prices; and -- African textiles, garments, wood, rubber, palm and vegetable oil and other products could fall due to more competitive Asian products after those countries' currency devaluations. Official development assistance to Africa could be reduced, as well as net private capital flows, after "massive doses" of financial aid to East Asia (and possibly Russia and Brazil) amounting to over US$125 billion, said Mr. Roepstorff. He made the observations at a recent UNIDO seminar in Abidjan (C“te d'Ivoire) during the first Steering Committee Meeting of the Alliance for Africa's Industrialization. Contact: UNIDO, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 300, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060. WORLD BANK AND ILO TO ENHANCE COOPERATION The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Bank held a high-level policy dialogue in October 1998 in Washington to strengthen cooperation, particularly on an inclusive approach to social aspects of development. The dialogue focused on labour and other social issues in light of the current global financial crisis, which has pushed millions back into the grip of poverty. Participants explored how they can promote social dialogue and ensure that all groups in society participate in shaping the policies that affect them. The dialogue also addressed the role of core labour standards in development, with the two organizations agreeing on practical ways to promote these standards at the country level. The ILO and the Bank agreed to collaborate on the interaction between economic development and core labour standards, as well as other joint research. An informal working group will explore ways for the institutions to cooperate at country-level on the fundamental principles enshrined in the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The declaration, adopted by the ILO in June 1998, is an agreement of ILO members on the necessity of promoting core labour standards to ensure that the trend towards globalization is accompanied by fair labour conditions. Contact: Craig Mauro, Press Officer, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/473 0177, fax +1-202/522 2632, e-mail , website (www.worldbank.org/sp/labour/child/part1.htm) or ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 6111, website (www.ilo.org). CARTAGENA CONFERENCE ON BIOSAFETY As Go Between goes to press, talks are underway in Cartagena (Colombia) on an international treaty to regulate trade in genetically-engineered plants and animal products. The Biosafety Protocol, being negotiated by representatives from about 170 countries, would be an add-on to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was signed by most countries at the 1992 Earth Summit. Many developing countries say the protocol should allow them to restrict imports, and they want early warning of any biotechnology discoveries that could negatively affect their agricultural production. On the other hand some other governments and the biotechnology industry claim genetic engineering is safe, proven and environmentally sound. Many environmental groups fear that engineered microbes or plants will undermine traditional farming practices and disrupt the local environment. "Genetic pollution is considerably more dangerous than oil spills," said Kristin Dawkins of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minneapolis (United States). "You can't just go out there and put a boom around it and put it back in." Other groups are focusing on possible health threats from eating genetically engineered foods. UNESCO INTERNATIONAL BIOETHICS COMMITTEE At the fifth session of UNESCO's International Bioethics Committee (IBC), held from 2-4 December 1998 near The Hague (Netherlands), some 200 delegates reaffirmed the importance of bioethics, examined the principal questions raised by biomedical progress, and discussed the implications of biotechnology for humanity. Participants in the session, which brought together 36 IBC members with representatives of the UN and non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations, called for "an interdisciplinary and intersectoral approach" to find solutions to specific health problems affecting women. They said bioethics could play a major role in developing this approach. "The committee will work in the continuity of its predecessor, especially in following up on the Universal Declaration of the Human Genome and Human Rights, adopted on November 11, 1997 by the organization's General Conference; and, of course, any innovations," said Ryuichi Ida (Japan), IBC chairperson. "It will also tackle other bioethical issues, present and future, such as new organ transplants, genetic tests within the framework of prenatal diagnoses, genetic engineering, [and] identifying practices that may be contrary to human dignity." A discussion on ethics and preventive medicine examined applications of biomedical research, notably in genetics. Most panellists drew a distinction between preventive and predictive medicine, stressing that the former only applies if an illness is curable while the latter is aimed at evaluating the risks of an illness developing, under the concept of "susceptibility." It was agreed that both raise a number of ethical questions about the patient-doctor relationship, particularly in the area of information and the patient's right to know, as set out in the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights. A follow-up to the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights was also discussed. Committee members agreed the issue is crucial and urgent for the future of humankind. They decided to reinforce cooperation and exchange of information with other United Nations organizations notably the World Health Organization (WHO), inter-governmental organizations such as the Council of Europe, and NGOs. Contact: Bioethics Unit, UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732 Paris Cedex 15, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 38 58 or 45 68 39 39, fax +33-1/45 68 55 15. FAO REPORT ON BIOTECHNOLOGY Biotechnology is a powerful tool to feed an increasing world population, but its "positive and negative potential" should be carefully evaluated, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in a report prepared for its Committee on Agriculture. "All concerns must be clearly balanced, respecting ethical aspects but reflecting the actual and potential possibilities of increasing food supplies and alleviating hunger," says the report. At the committee meeting on 25-29 January in Rome, delegates from some 100 countries discussed issues such as organic farming, urban agriculture and the monitoring of land and freshwater resources. Biotechnology, together with other technologies, could provide new solutions for some problems hindering sustainable rural development and achievement of food security. "Biotechnology-derived solutions built into the genotype of plants could reduce use of agrochemicals, thus promoting sustainable yields," says the report. The application of pesticides and fungicides could be reduced through plants with genetic pest resistance. Plants with high tolerance for conditions of salinity or high iron toxicity could help to improve agricultural production in marginal areas. The report calls for "adequate biosafety regulations, risk assessment of biotechnology products, mechanisms and instruments for monitoring use and compliance to ensure that there will be no harmful effects on the environment or for people." Countries must be helped to develop appropriate legislation and to set up proper regulatory bodies for all aspects of biosafety, FAO says. Some of the potential environmental risks concern plant pests. "Gene escape" from genetically modified organisms may result in increased weediness in wild species. The inclusion of novel genes for herbicide resistance in plants may increase the occurrence of weeds with resistance to certain agrochemicals, the report warns. "The inclusion of pest resistance in plants," the report says, "should be carefully evaluated for potential development of resistance in pests and possible side-effects on beneficial organisms." Contact: Erwin Northoff, Media Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3105, fax +39-06/5705 4975, e-mail , website (www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/COAG/COAG15/default.htm). 1998 PLEDGING CONFERENCE FOR UN ACTIVITIES At the 1998 pledging conference, held from 2-5 November 1998 at UN headquarters in New York, many countries expressed concern over the decline in core resources for development and the continuing shortfall in official development assistance (ODA). Denmark raised doubts about the current voluntary annual funding system and expressed disappointment with the continued decline in multilateral development assistance at a time when the country is consistently allocating more than 1% of GDP to development assistance. The Netherlands, which expressed serious doubts as to whether the present system should be continued, stated that support for UN development programmes should not come from just a few donor countries. It urged affluent nations as well as newly industrialized countries to contribute. Spain called upon countries to do their utmost to increase ODA. India and other countries, which reiterated calls for member states to pay their UN arrears, said the UN financial crisis had its origin in non-payment of assessed contributions by richer industrialized members. The United States said that while it supports UN development work, the timing of the pledging conference does not coincide with the budgetary cycles of most donor governments. The US expressed approval of efforts by UN funds and programmes to address serious funding shortfalls in core resources through their respective executive boards in a manner that "should prove far more efficient than the current pledging system." In concluding remarks James Gustave Speth, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, said that despite all the reforms made by UNDP, the organization's core funding situation is still in question. He proposed that states extend pledges from covering a single year to covering two to three years when possible, in order to acquire a stable funding situation for UNDP to allow for effective planning. Mr. Speth, who stressed that core resources are essential to maintaining the multilateral character of UNDP's work, noted the programme has sought to supplement core resources with partnerships with bilateral donors such as the European Commission. Hirofumi Ando, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), noted that over the past decade the role of international population assistance has been recognized as an essential part of overall development strategies. He said UNFPA increased its capacity to deliver an expanded programme of assistance as envisaged in the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development's Programme of Action, but stressed that the resources required for the expanded programme are needed more than ever. Anthony Kennedy, Director of the Programme Funding Office of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said that the fund is working to ensure that children are at the centre of development strategies. He cited malnutrition, child labour, army recruitment of child soldiers and the continuing AIDS pandemic as the most pressing challenges facing UNICEF. At the conclusion of the pledging conference, UNICEF reported total pledges of US$52.2 million from 48 states. UNFPA reported US$55 million from 40 states. UNDP reported US$44.35 million from 44 states, and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) reported just over US$5 million from 19 states. UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF EXECUTIVE BOARDS The first regular sessions of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Executive Board and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Board met in New York from 19-22 January and 25-29 January, respectively. A joint meeting of UNDP/UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Boards was held on 25 January to examine areas for concerted action in 1999 including funding, the Resident Coordinator system and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy told the agency's board that US$136 million is needed in emergency assistance to aid some 48 million women and children facing wars, natural disasters or other crises in 20 countries. She cited dislocation caused by conflicts in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan and Afghanistan; the economic crises in Russia, Indonesia and East Asia; UN sanctions against Iraq; and natural disasters such as flooding in China and Bangladesh and Hurricane Mitch in Central America. Ms. Bellamy called on governments to urgently assist UNICEF in carrying out its mandate. "Only four years ago, UNICEF was working with its partners in some 15 countries gripped by such crises," Ms. Bellamy said. "Today that number has risen to more than 55 countries, most gripped by civil conflict and all involving situations that profoundly threaten the lives and welfare of children and women." The Executive Board approved the UNFPA country programmes for Burundi and Madagascar and took note of the report on the fund's follow-up to the report of the Board of Auditors for 1996-1999. The board also authorized its bureau to approve the representative and alternate selected by the donor group to serve on the WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Coordinating Committee on Health. UNDP's Executive Board endorsed a decision to target US$1.1 billion dollars in core funding annually for the programme. The board decided to hold its first multi-year funding framework session in April to discuss donors' contributions and payment schedules. Contact: UNDP, 1 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/906 5000 or UNFPA, 220 E. 42nd Street, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/297 5011, fax +1-212/557 6416 or UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/326 7000. 20TH UNEP GOVERNING COUNCIL Governments agreed to increase the budget for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and endorsed organizational reform at the 20th UNEP Governing Council, which ended in Nairobi (Kenya) on 5 February. Ministers and senior officials from over 100 countries attended the week-long meeting. Discussions were dominated by two issues: reform and finance. The council gave broad support to the proposed restructuring of UNEP in line with a new integrated work programme, which focuses on the organization's five areas of concentration. They are environmental monitoring, assessment, information and research including early warning; enhanced coordination of environmental conventions and development of policy instruments; freshwater; technology transfer and industry; and support to Africa. Governments recognized the need for UNEP to have adequate, stable and predictable financial resources if it is to effectively meet the environmental challenges of the next century. A decision was taken to broaden the funding base, and the council authorized the Executive Director's proposal to prepare an increased budget of US$120 million for the next biennium. As a complement to the formal agenda, delegates participated in 15 parallel events on a wide variety of topics, including: sustainable tourism; impact of deforestation on the environment; and telecommunications and the environment. Contact: Robert Bisset, Press Officer, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623084, fax +254-2/623692, e-mail , website (www.unep.org). UN REPORT ON GLOBAL FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE In a report issued in January, the Task Force of the UN's Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs emphasizes that the United Nations, "as a universal and the most democratic international forum," should play an important role in current discussions and the design of a new international financial and monetary system in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. The report, Towards A New International Financial Architecture, says the recent crisis has demonstrated the "enormous discrepancy" between rapid globalization of finance and the lack of proper regulatory frameworks at national and international levels. Among others things, it calls for enhanced coherence of macro-economic policies in industrialized countries to avoid both inflationary and deflationary biases at the global level. The report says debates on proposals concerning the most appropriate institution or set of institutions to ensure such consistency, including the Interim Committee of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a broadening of the G-7 to include representatives of developing and transition countries, should address the nature of the relative power relations that underlie these organs. It "should be seen as consistent with the need to strengthen the [UN] Economic and Social Council," according to the report. It adds that macro-economic policies, including decisions by central banks, should be subject to public scrutiny aimed at ensuring a proper balance between their multiple objectives, particularly between employment/growth objectives and inflation/balance-of-payments objectives. "For the same reasons," the report continues, "the IMF should be also subject to public scrutiny on similar grounds, with effective independent evaluations leading to accountable and pragmatic improvements in policy approaches." Concerning current discussions related to the need for international codes of conduct in the fiscal, monetary and financial areas, for principles of sound corporate governance, and transparency of information on financial data and policies, the report stresses that such initiatives "should be consistent with the provisions contained in the main international human rights instruments adopted by the United Nations, particularly in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights." The report condemns across-the-board capital account liberalization, which it says has been a policy thrust that some developed countries have pursued insistently in recent years in a number of forums, including the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the IMF. "What [these countries] urge," the report argues, "is contrary to their own historical experience, which featured long periods of capital controls and very gradual liberalization of their capital accounts in recent decades." Particularly under conditions of highly volatile international capital flows and boom-bust cycles associated with portfolio and short-term capital flows, developing and transition economic should retain the right to impose disincentives or controls on capital inflows and outflows. The report makes a number of other recommendations including a standstill on debt servicing under conditions of severe international illiquidity, strengthening regional and subregional financial arrangements, and strong protection of the poor during crises through the design of effective safety nets, which it says have so far been "more a matter of rhetoric than of practice." It insists that "reliance on any one or even a few of these proposals would hardly bring about the changes needed to both prevent and manage crises or lead to greater equity in power relations. There is an evident need for a comprehensive and well-timed approach, in order to generate more balanced and hence sustainable globalization." Contact: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 1234. The report is available on the UN website (www.un.org/esa). UN AND NGO NEWS NGOs IN ALL AREAS A decision (A/53/L.68) adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 1998 has requested the Secretary-General to seek the views of member states, members of the specialized agencies, observers and intergovernmental organizations, as well as the views of NGOs from all regions, on his report on "Arrangements and practices for the interaction of non-governmental organizations in all activities of the United Nations" (A/53/170), presented at the 53rd GA. The Secretary-General will submit a further report at the GA's 54th session, which is to reflect input from the submissions received (see NGLS Roundup, March 1999). ECOSOC COMMITTEE ON NGOs MEETS On 11 December 1998 the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Committee on NGOs, chaired by Wahid Ben Amor (Tunisia), convened an informal session with the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) and other NGO representatives. Participants discussed proposed guidelines for accreditation of NGOs to all relevant meetings of the council and its subsidiary bodies, and a proposal to formulate a code of conduct for NGOs working in connection with ECOSOC. A number of governments, particularly Cuba, had expressed support for greater structure concerning NGO attendance at UN meetings. A core recommendation was to limit the number of representatives of each NGO participating in meetings, while not limiting the absolute number of NGOs themselves. Other governments noted that the secretariat will likely be consulting with NGOs and member states in connection with the Secretary-General's report on "Arrangements and practices for the interaction of non-governmental organizations in all activities of the United Nations" (A/53/170), and that a decision on this issue would be too early. Regarding codes of conduct, several governments suggested that these be established to allay member state concerns about NGO behaviour and a possible excess number of them. In this context, special review procedures could be put in place to deal with complaints about individual NGO representatives, rather than censuring the full body of NGOs. Other governments felt that isolated cases of abuses could better be addressed through more regular NGO-ECOSOC Committee meetings. NGOs welcomed the opportunity for dialogue and encouraged such meetings on a consistent basis, as called for under ECOSOC resolution 1996/31. It was suggested that the committee plan the consultations in a way that also involves NGOs based in developing countries. NGOs, which stressed the principle of self-regulation among themselves, pointed to the overwhelmingly positive experience of NGO interaction with the UN. They rejected a blanket response to isolated abuses by individual NGO representatives. They also noted that existing ECOSOC resolutions such as 1996/31 clearly codify NGO rights of access to meetings, member state delegates, and documents without the need for new mechanisms. Regarding the number of NGO participants at meetings, they noted that NGOs tend to rotate participation by their members due to time and money constraints. Thus, the number of accredited representatives of an NGO by no means represents the actual number in a meeting at any given time. NGOs said that such issues could be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The consultation concluded with an agreement that a clearer notion of NGO self-regulation would be preferable to establishing new rules. It suggested that the committee do this in May. CONGO will convene meetings on these issues for NGOs in the coming months. Contact: CONGO, 777 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/986 8557, fax +1-212/986 0821, website (www.conferenceofngos.org). To facilitate open discussion on UN access issues by NGOs, CONGO has set up a listserv. To join, send a blank e-mail to . WEAPONS COLLECTIONS, COMBATANTS WORKSHOP Participants from 20 countries and ten UN agencies, regional organizations and citizen groups met in Guatemala City (Guatemala) for a workshop to exchange experiences in weapons collection and integration of former combatants into civil society. The workshop, held from 18-20 November 1998, was organized in cooperation with the Guatemalan government by the UN Department for Disarmament Affairs, which Secretary-General Kofi Annan has designated as the focal point for all activities on small arms within the UN system. The event was funded in part by the governments of Germany, Italy and Norway, members of an open-ended group of countries interested in providing financial and political support for practical disarmament measures. Among workshop leaders was Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu, who underscored the importance of disarming former military personnel as well as the civilian population. Ram¢n Custodio L¢pez of Honduras described his country as the "eye of the hurricane" during the 1980s when suffering from spillover of the numerous armed conflicts in Central America. He said that some 50,000 weapons are circulating among the Honduran population and described the importance of retrieving weapons in the context of an "investment in citizen security and community development" rather than buy-back programmes. Retired Colonel Jos‚ Antonio Almendariz of El Salvador, who cited the need to create employment opportunities for former military personnel as an incentive for weapons surrender, noted that more deaths are reported to have occurred in El Salvador after the end of armed conflict than during it. Violeta Granera, Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Nicaragua, described as problematic the exclusive concentration on demilitarizing former combatants in that country while ignoring the concerns of a large number of campesinos, many of whom were forced to arm themselves in self-defence. Other speakers included Silvio Diaz, Director of the Commission on Implementation of Peace Accords in Nicaragua, who described differences in the outcome of demobilization and weapons collection programmes in various countries in the region. Navarro Wolff, a former chief of the M-19 guerrilla group in Colombia, proposed establishing rural guards to encourage voluntary weapons surrender by people living in remote areas of that country. Contact: Swadesh Rana, Director, Conventional Arms Branch, Department of Disarmament Affairs, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 2685, fax +1-212/963 1121. WORKSHOP ON DEFORESTATION CAUSES Over 100 people from 40 countries attended a Global Workshop on Addressing the Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation, held from 18-22 January in San Jos‚ (Costa Rica). Participants included representatives of governments; international, non-governmental and indigenous peoples' organizations; local communities; academia; trade unions; and the private sector. The workshop aimed to support and build on implementation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) proposals for action on the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, as well as ongoing work of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF). In addition to plenary sessions, participants met in four working groups to discuss: trade and consumption; stakeholder participation and land tenure; investment policies, aid and financial flows; and forest valuation. A workshop report was submitted to the Intergovernmental Task Force on Forests (ITFF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which is the ITFF task manager for underlying causes. The report will be submitted to IFF-3 in May as well as introduced to other fora, including the World Bank Forest Policy Review. The workshop, hosted by the government of Costa Rica, was organized by a committee that included UNEP, governments and NGOs. Contact: Jaime Hurtubia, Principal Environment Officer, IFF Secretariat, Division for Sustainable Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2 UN Plaza, Room DC2-1254, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 4219, fax +1-212/963 3463. NGOs AND WHO MEET An NGO Pharmaceutical Roundtable took place on 9 October 1998 between international health NGOs and Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and senior staff members. At the Geneva meeting NGO representatives, coordinated by Health Action International (HAI), gave their views on key drug issues. In addressing rational drug use, NGOs stressed the need for improved standards of drug promotion, independent drug information and implementation research. With respect to access, issues focused on equity, the impact of globalization and the need for relevant research and development. Discussions focused on strengthening WHO's support for and collaboration with NGOs at the national level, and WHO's efforts to define and further develop processes for collaborating with NGOs and others. Contact: Daphne Fresle, Technical Officer, Essential Drugs and Other Medicines, WHO, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3513, fax +41-22/791 4167, e-mail or Bas van der Heide, Coordinator, HAI-Europe, Jacob van Lennepkade 334T, NL-1053 NJ Amsterdam, Netherlands, telephone +31-20/683 3684, fax +31-20/685 5002, e-mail . CUTS-UNCTAD WORKSHOPS HELD The Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) held two workshops on 13-15 January in Jaipur (India) on strengthening capacities for integrating trade and environmental policies in the country, and on the linkages between trade, investment and environment. The events were organized in association with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the government of India, which are undertaking a project to, among other things, assess the impact of environmental factors on market access and competitiveness for India, and to enhance understanding of the contribution that foreign direct investment can make to sustainable development in the country. At the first workshop there was general agreement that environmental requirements impact negatively India's export performance, and that ways need to be found to overcome these impacts. Suggestions ranged from upgrading the environmental quality of Indian products to finding bilateral and multilateral solutions for possible disguised protectionism faced in the developed markets. At the second workshop participants discussed initiatives taken by German and Danish agencies with UNCTAD on the environmental implications of foreign direct investment. Difficulties in determining overall environmental performance of transnational corporations were cited by many. Nevertheless it was felt that special environmental safeguards in domestic and international investment policies could help sustainable development. Contact: CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment, D-218 Bhaskar Marg, Bani Park, Jaipur 302 016, India, telephone +91-141/202940, fax +91-141/202968, e-mail , website (www.cuts-india.org). UNAIDS AND CARITAS JOIN FORCES One of the world's largest church-based networks, Caritas Internationalis (CI), has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). "Caritas members and other Catholic church-based organizations have been involved in the treatment and care of those affected by HIV since the beginning of the pandemic," said Luc Trouillard, CI Secretary General. "UNAIDS and Caritas share a strong commitment to responding to the needs of those living with HIV/AIDS. This memorandum of understanding will open the way for our national members to cooperate with efforts of UNAIDS at the country level on access to care, policy development and the furnishing of accurate information about HIV and AIDS." Caritas Internationalis is an international Catholic confederation of 154 members involved in relief, development and social work operating in 194 countries and territories. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS is the leading advocate for global action on HIV/AIDS. It brings together six UN agencies in a common effort to fight the epidemic: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Contact: Lisa Jacobs, Press Officer, Communication and Public Information, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3387, fax +41-22/791 4187, website (www.unaids.org) or Johan Ketelers, Caritas Internationalis, 16 Palazza San Calisto, 00153 Vatican City, Holy See, telephone +39-06/6988 7197, fax +39-06/698 7237. MICROCREDIT SUMMIT MEETING OF COUNCILS The second annual Microcredit Summit Meeting of Councils will be held 24-26 June in Abidjan (C“te d'Ivoire). The meeting is intended to promote the microcredit campaign through development of institutional action plans and the dissemination of best practices. Plenary panels will focus on the following themes: -- overcoming the obstacles to identifying the poorest families, especially women; -- impact on the lives of clients as a measure of programme success; -- how donor funds could better reach and support microcredit programmes working toward the summit's goal; and -- working toward institutional financial sustainability while maintaining a commitment to serving the poorest families. The Meeting of Councils, which is open to all council members of the Microcredit Summit Campaign who have completed a 1999 institutional action plan form, will be limited to 600 participants. Contact: Microcredit Summit, c/o RESULTS Educational Fund, 440 First St. NW, Suite 460, Washington DC 20001, United States, telephone +1-202/637 9600, fax +1-202/637 3566, e-mail . CONGO CELEBRATES 50TH ANNIVERSARY The Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) celebrated its 50th anniversary on 3 December 1998 at UN headquarters in New York. The event, whose theme was A Reaffirmation of Commitment, was sponsored in cooperation with the UN Department of Public Information (DPI). It included presentations from senior UN officials and NGO representatives as well as the release of the publication CONGO at Fifty, which presents perspectives on evolution of the NGO relationship with the United Nations. The celebration concluded with a discussion on the theme Critical Issues for Now and the Future. Panellists included Shashi Tharoor, Director of Communications and Special Projects of the Office of the UN Secretary-General, who spoke on the relevance of the UN for the future; Miles Stoby, Executive Director of the UN Fund for International Partnerships, who addressed people's movements and the UN; and Techeste Ahderom, chair of the CONGO-NGO Committee on Human Rights, who addressed human rights issues in the context of UN work. In a keynote address UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fr‚chette underscored recent achievements that were to some extent spearheaded by NGOs, including the international movement to ban landmines, establishment of the International Criminal Court, and "coalitions-in-the-making" around the issues of small arms and children in armed conflict. Ms. Fr‚chette, who noted the importance of NGO partnerships with governments, observed that "today's economy is global, markets are global, and the problems we face from the environment to organized crime to the spread of disease and the proliferation of arms tend more and more to be global. But politics for the most part remain local. Thus there is a widening gap between what citizens demand and what governments can deliver." She said NGOs "have stepped into the breach. Where governments have shrunk or do not function effectively, they have provided much-needed services. Where governments have been unresponsive, NGOs have advocated paying greater attention to various issues and constituencies. And where governments are repressive, NGOs have formed protest and democratic opposition movements." Ms. Fr‚chette also cited the dramatic increase in NGO participation since the birth of the United Nations. "In 1948," she said, "41 NGOs were granted consultative status by the ECOSOC [United Nations Economic and Social Council] while today more than 1,350 enjoy the right to participate in that body's proceedings....The number of NGOs associated with the Department of Public Information has also skyrocketed, from 200 in 1968 to more than 1,550 today." However, she cautioned against "the disturbing paucity of developing-country NGOs" among those with status, noting that of the organizations associated with DPI, only 251 are based in developing countries. Contact: CONGO, 777 UN Plaza, 8th Floor, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/986 8557, fax +1-212/986 0821, e-mail or CONGO, CP 50, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/788 7300, fax +41-22/788 7330, website (www.conferenceofngos.org). NGO NEWS COALITION OF AFRICAN ORGANIZATIONS A Coalition of African Organizations on Food Security and Sustainable Development (COASAD) was launched in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) on 25 November 1998. The objectives of COASAD are to help achieve food security and sustainable development in African countries through mutual cooperation between its member organizations and other actors in African society, including governmental and non-governmental entities. At the 1996 World Food Summit and the parallel Global NGO Forum on Food Security, 112 grassroots African NGOs and civil society organizations active in the field of food production, nutrition and sustainable development decided to establish the pan-African platform to help unite their efforts and consolidate their partnership and cooperation. As an umbrella group for the organizations, COASAD will provide a unified forum for its members to exchange experiences and address their concerns at the national, regional and international levels. Beside building on success stories of its member organizations and similar groups from around the world, COASAD intends to work out inventive programmes to break new ground and develop new approaches. In its work COASAD will encourage its members to adopt "bottom-up" approaches to decision making. Contact: COASAD, c/o ERB, University of Dar es Salaam, PO Box 35096, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, telephone +255-51/410134 or 410500, fax +255-51/410212 or 410395, e-mail or COASAD, c/o Ousmane Dianor, IUED, Case postale 136, 24 rue Rothschild, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/906 5966, fax +41-22/906 5947, e-mail . GLOBAL MEETING OF GENERATIONS The energies and insights of the two most rapidly growing generations young people and the elderly are often overlooked, according to organizers of the Global Meeting of Generations, held 13-15 January in Washington DC. The conference, a culmination of national and regional inter-generational dialogues on development, was convened with the goal of shaping an agenda for equitable development in the 21st century. Youth played a major part in the conference, which brought together global, national and grassroots development organizations, academics, foundations, business, labour and environmental groups. A team of 100 young leaders from around the world, the Common Futures Forum, added their perspectives to the conference. The conference represented a partnership between UN and multilateral agencies and NGOs; its sponsors included the International Association of Students in Economics and Management (AIESEC), the Inter-American Development Bank, International Federation on Aging, International Development Conference, International Fund for Agricultural Development, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Conference tracks focused on family and community; work, employment and income; demographics, health and life-long planning; governance and participation; environment; knowledge and technology; values and ethics; international development cooperation and finance; human security and peace; poverty, social justice and human rights; private sector and development; and development education and communication. The tracks featured plenary speakers, panels, networking and special youth activities. The Global Meeting of Generations will continue its work over the next three years in an effort to broaden participation and action on the development agenda. National and regional inter-generational follow-up dialogues are planned in 1999 and 2000, and the Common Futures Forum will continue to meet. The second international conference will be held in 2001. Contact: Global Meeting of Generations, c/o International Development Conference, 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 720, Washington DC 20009, United States, telephone +1-202/884 8580, fax +1-202/884 8499, e-mail , website (www.idc.org/gmg). IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF WTO AGREEMENTS On 6-7 February, some 50 European NGOs and civil society groups met in Brussels (Belgium) for a conference on social, gender and environmental impact assessments of existing and future agreements at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Many participants at the meeting, which was co-hosted by the International Coalition of Development Action (ICDA), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-International), Oxfam-GB and Greenpeace, agreed that there should be no further trade liberalization without adequate assessment of the impact of the Uruguay Round and any future trade liberalization. Most organizations also emphasized the need for the WTO to be accountable to existing international legal norms and standards, including those in the fields of human rights, labour and environment. Follow-up work is planned in the form of a "WTO Impact" listserv, which can be joined by sending an e-mail to . Contact: Janice Foerde, International Coalition for Development Action (ICDA), 115 rue Stevin, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium, telephone +32-2/230 0430, fax +32-2/230 5237, e-mail . WORKSHOP HELD ON EU-ACP PARTNERSHIP A workshop on Civil Society Participation in a New European Union-African, Caribbean and Pacific Partnership, held 11-12 January, drew a wide spectrum of civil society including trade unions, farmer organizations, NGO networks and foundations. The event, organized in Amsterdam (Netherlands) by INZET-Association for North-South Campaigns, focused on the role of civil society in development; relations and interaction between the state, civil society and the private sector; defining participation; how to increase the influence of civil society in the Lom‚ process; and fora for participation at the EU-ACP level. In a statement participants called for, among other things: -- space for civil society within the Lom‚ context to be identified and given formal expression in the next Lom‚ Convention; -- the right of civil society to participate in the Lom‚ process through access to information, consultation and input into policymaking; -- cooperation under the new Lom‚ agreement to make provision for an enabling environment that is respectful of universally-accepted civil and political rights; and -- provision in the new agreement for civil society to access resources provided in it. Contact: INZET, Keizersgracht 132, 1015 CW Amsterdam, Netherlands, telephone +31-20/627 3339, fax +31-20/627 3839, e-mail , website (www.inzet.nl). WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES ASSEMBLY The World Council of Churches (WCC) held its eighth assembly at the University of Zimbabwe in Harare from 3-14 December 1998. The assembly examined its role in the worldwide ecumenical movement since its founding 50 years ago and sought to clarify its role for the next century. Attended by 1,960 delegates and some 2,000 visitors, the assembly was comprised of plenary sessions, hearings on the WCC's achievements in its five main areas of work, and other topics. Issues discussed included violence against women, globalization, external debt, and conflicts in the world. Many groups including Pentecostals, Evangelicals and the Roman Catholic Church were in attendance in order to participate in an "ecumenical forum" proposed to include Christian groups that are not WCC members. Five hearings were held during the assembly. The hearing on Unity and Renewal sought to define unifying ideals at the heart of the ecumenical world as well as to explore issues that cause division. The hearing on Churches in Mission focused on the devastation wrought by HIV/AIDS and the crucial role churches have played in running AIDS hospices and orphanages. The hearing on Justice, Peace and Creation addressed the burgeoning number of ethnic conflicts in recent years and the need for the WCC to better coordinate its work in this area. The hearing on Sharing and Service examined efforts to end the exploitation of child workers and other marginalized children, as well as the progress achieved by 34 regional groups established by WCC members to enable resource sharing. The assembly, which issued a proposal to cancel the debt of the world's poorest nations, also highlighted the need for dialogue between borrowers and lenders. On 10 December participants joined in celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) with their own declaration and recommitment to the UDHR principles. Contact: US Conference of the World Council of Churches, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 915, New York NY 10115, United States, telephone +1-212/870 3193, fax +1-212/870 2528, e-mail , website (www.wcc-coe.org). SOLIDARITY FOR FUTURE PETITION The Swiss Coalition of Development Organizations presented over 83,000 signatures to the Swiss parliament and government in November 1998, demanding rapid establishment of the Swiss Solidarity Foundation and an increase in the budget for development assistance to at least 0.4% of gross national product. The petition also asked for assurance that sustainable development will be incorporated as a national goal in the country's constitution. The idea for the Swiss Solidarity Foundation originated in a proposal by the President of Switzerland in 1997 to sell the gold of the Swiss National Bank, no longer needed as currency reserve. Selling the gold would allow a capital fund of the equivalent of about US$5 billion to be set aside for the foundation. The annual interest on the capital about US$250 million will be used to finance the foundation's projects. The foundation will focus on human rights and mitigating neediness and poverty. Its establishment must be approved by Swiss voters. The handing over of the petition concludes the public events of the coalition's North/South Campaign for Sustainable Development (see Go Between 70). Contact: Swiss Coalition of Development Organizations, Monbijoustrasse 31, PO Box 6735, CH-3001 Bern, Switzerland, telephone +41-31/381 1711, fax +41-31/381 1718. IATP HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE The US-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) held a conference entitled From Aspiration to Activist Agenda: Achieving Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the US, in New York from 4-6 December 1998 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The event was co-sponsored by Food First, the International Women's Human Rights Law Clinic, Kensington Welfare Rights Union and others. It provided an opportunity for social and economic justice activists, religious groups, organized labour, environmentalists, lawyers and rights activists to share experiences aimed at broadening and strengthening the social justice movement in the country. Mark Ritchie, IATP President, opened the conference by noting that "fifty years after the UN Declaration, few Americans are even aware they have economic, social and cultural rights." Other speakers included Charles Kernaghan, Executive Director of the National Labor Committee, who spoke on labour rights and a national campaign to make "good human rights good business;" Dr. Howard Schomer, a United Church of Christ minister and an assistant to drafters of the Universal Declaration; United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassador and actor Danny Glover; and Reverend Jesse Jackson, President and founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund. Reverend Jackson, who placed the African-American civil rights struggle in the context of major human rights struggles of the 20th century, said the challenge for the United States now is the "challenge of consistency." The country's foreign policy "must not be foreign to our values," he said. Afternoon panels addressed workers' rights and welfare rights; human rights education; and needs versus rights and the right to food. Contact: IATP, 2105 First Avenue South, Minneapolis MN 55404, United States, telephone +1-612/870 0453, fax +1-612/870 4846, e-mail , website (www.iatp.org). GLOBAL "NO PESTICIDES DAY" LAUNCHED On 3 December 1998, the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) launched a No Pesticides Use Day in commemoration of victims of the 1984 Bhopal (India) disaster. In the disaster thousands died and hundreds of thousands suffered as a result of a gas leakage from a Union Carbide pesticide manufacturing plant. The No Pesticides Use day is designed to draw attention to the life threatening impacts of chemical pesticides on people and the environment. Bhopal is only one example of chemical pesticide contamination; the manufacture, distribution and use of chemical pesticides have had devastating impacts on people and the environment for years, according to PAN. It said every year about three million people are poisoned around the world and 200,000 die from pesticide use. Beyond these reported acute cases of pesticide poisoning are the worrying long-term effects, such as cancer. While most pesticide-related deaths occur in the South, pesticides also pose serious problems in industrialized countries. In both rich and poor countries, the effects of pesticide poisoning are suffered disproportionately by poor and disadvantaged people, with children particularly vulnerable to pesticides exposure. Around the world, pesticide use has permeated even the remotest village. In the South, according to PAN, the availability of highly toxic pesticides, lack of information and knowledge of their hazards, aggressive marketing by industry as well as poverty, illiteracy and lack of health facilities in rural areas ensure that pesticides are a major cause of poisoning in farming communities. PAN is a global coalition of citizen's groups and individuals who oppose the misuse and overuse of pesticides, and support reliance on safe and sustainable alternatives. PAN links over 300 groups in 50 countries and operates through five regional centres. Contact: The Pesticides Trust in London, Eurolink Business Centre, 49 Effra Road, London SW2 1BZ, United Kingdom, telephone +44-171/274 8895, fax +44-171/274 9084, e-mail , website (www.gn.apc.org/pesticidestrust/). OTHER NEWS DISARMAMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT The International Conference on Sustainable Disarmament for Sustainable Development, held in Brussels (Belgium) from 12-13 October 1998, addressed two critical developments in post-Cold War violent conflicts: the growing number of intra-state conflicts, and the proliferation and misuse of small arms and light weapons. The conference was convened as a joint initiative by R‚ginald Moreels, Belgian Secretary of State for Development Cooperation, and Nobel Laureate Oscar Arias, former President of Costa Rica. It aimed to provide an opportunity for participants to share insights and experiences and to promote a better understanding of the interaction between disarmament and sustainable development. Participants issued a call for action (A/53/681) to strengthen momentum on questions relating to small arms. Small arms and light weapons have become more prominent as major instruments in violent conflicts and are used to commit the bulk of killings and woundings, serious human rights abuses, banditry, crime and destruction of infrastructures. The widespread availability of such weapons has eroded negotiated peace settlements, prolonged conflicts and hampered conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. Recent initiatives by both governmental and non-governmental actors combine efforts to control and reduce the flow and availability of small arms and light weapons with initiatives to promote security and build peace, particularly in regions of conflict, as prerequisites for sustainable development. The Brussels Call for Action proposes an integration of appropriate security assistance with development and other cooperation programmes in the context of promoting good governance and respect for human rights. It urges members of the donor community to review their policies for cooperation and to ensure that increased technical and financial resources are available for such programmes. It recommends that demobilization and disarmament measures be combined with programmes to reintegrate former combatants and their dependents into the community to guarantee security and ensure that basic economic, social, health and cultural needs of affected communities are met. The special needs and rights of vulnerable groups, such as women and children, are highlighted as is the need to promote women's full participation in post-conflict society. To promote a culture of peace, the conference recommended initiatives to counter the trivialization of armed violence, challenge the glorification of weapons, and help resolve conflicts and disputes peacefully. It proposed public education and awareness programmes, as well as initiatives aimed at restoring the social fabric, to create trust between communities and legitimate police and security services. The conference also called upon states to regulate the activities of non-governmental security actors such as private militias or mercenaries, and drew attention to the needs of victims of conflict and widespread violence, particularly women, disabled people and children. G-15 SUMMIT COMMUNIQUE The heads of state and government of the Group of 15, who met in Montego Bay (Jamaica) on 10-12 February, discussed global economic and social issues and produced a joint communiqu‚ to inform debates on reforming the international financial architecture and preparations for future talks at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The communiqu‚ notes that "the systemic impact of the financial crisis, high levels of structural unemployment, widening income gaps within and among countries, and the threat of resurgent protectionism have led to slower growth. In the most affected countries, the crisis is increasing poverty and generally, social instability." At the global level, "despite increases in productivity, innovation and enterprise, the absolute numbers of those living in poverty have increased, and in some countries, this scourge remains deeply entrenched," the communiqu‚ said. "We underscore the urgency in dealing with their immediate needs and indeed call on the international community to give this the highest priority, not only on moral and ethical grounds, but as a means for ensuring international peace and stability." The communiqu‚ notes the "slow pace" of reforming the international financial system and urges that concrete steps be taken to develop, among others: -- mechanisms and adequate rules to monitor and supervise the operations of large financial market players, including hedge funds and currency speculators; -- greater coherence between the WTO and relevant international monetary and financial institutions; and -- the inclusion of social safety nets as integral parts of development policies and programmes at both micro- and macro-levels. In the build-up to the third WTO ministerial conference, to be held from 30 November-3 December 1999 in the United States, the G-15 said they will consult with their trading partners with the following principles in mind: -- the legitimacy of the development objectives of developing countries, and consequently the need to preserve "economic spaces" within the multilateral trading system and the need for full implementation of special and differential provisions provided in the Uruguay Round agreements; -- the importance of redressing the difficulties faced by developing countries in the implementation of the WTO agreements; and -- developed countries cannot use lack of implementation or non-fulfillment of their obligations under the Uruguay Round agreements as bargaining instruments for obtaining further concessions from developing countries. Contact: Lim Aik Hoe, Economic Affairs Officer, Technical Support Facility of the Group of 15, 54-56 rue de Montbrillant, Case postale 2403, CH-1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/730 0319, fax +41-22/730 0806, e-mail . DAC: AID LOWER THAN EVER The financial crisis of the past 18 months reinforces the need for sticking with a long-term strategy to improve development cooperation, says the 1998 Development Co-operation Report of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). A development partnerships strategy, adopted by DAC members in 1996, is now the accepted international standard for development cooperation, says the report. The report assesses progress made and obstacles met, against a background of turmoil in global financial markets and a persistent decline in development assistance funding. Aggregate public and private resource flows from OECD countries to aid recipients fell for the first time this decade in 1997, the latest year for which figures are available. The total fell to US$324 billion from US$365 in 1996 due largely to the Asian financial crisis. All projections suggest that this decline continued and widened in 1998. Private direct investment was up from US$64 billion to US$108 billion but little of that went to the countries most in need. These countries still depend on official development assistance aid (ODA) from DAC members, which fell to its lowest level of this decade US$49.6 billion against US$57.9 billion in 1996. ODA from G-7 countries has fallen about US$15 billion since 1992 a reduction of almost 30% in real terms and total ODA fell to a record low of 0.22% of DAC members' collective gross national product (GNP). The report cites a positive trend to better targeting of aid resources to priority development goals. Focusing on quality as well as quantity, the report also tracks the work underway with governments and civil societies in developing countries to improve the effectiveness of joint efforts. Contact: Media Relations, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2 rue Andr‚-Pascal, F-75775 Paris C‚dex 16, France, telephone +33-1/45 24 80 91, fax +33-1/45 24 80 03, e-mail , web site (www.oecd.org/dac). FOCUS UNICEF STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN 1999 REPORT Nearly one billion people will enter the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their name, according to the 1999 edition of the State of the World's Children, published by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Go Between summarizes the report's main findings and recommendations. An estimated 855 million people nearly one-sixth of humanity will be functionally illiterate on the eve of the millennium, according to the report. At the same time, over 130 million children of school age in the developing world are growing up without access to basic education, while millions of others languish in sub-standard learning situations where little education takes place. "Girls crowd these ranks disproportionately," says the report, "representing nearly two of every three children who do not receive a primary education (approximately 73 million of the 130 million out-of-school children)." Education For All Over the last decade a consensus has grown concerning why the objectives of Education For All have been so hard to achieve, along with the kinds of changes that will be necessary to improve education quality. "Education planning, whether for an entire society or a single school," says the report, "must start with child rights and be based on the best interests of the child. It must strive to ensure an environment that is free from violence, that fosters democracy and acceptance and that teaches skills which equip students for lives as responsible citizens." According to a chapter on Education For All, education is an essential human right, a force for social change, and the single most vital element in combating poverty. It also helps empower women, safeguard children from exploitative and hazardous labour and sexual exploitation, promote human rights and democracy, protect the environment, and control population growth. "Education," stresses the report, "is a path towards international peace and security." The chapter includes examples of initiatives that meet the child's right to education at the international, regional, national and local levels. The Right to Education A section in the report on the right to education explores the historical context in which children's right to education has been repeatedly affirmed, including in documents such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1989 Convention on the Rights for the Child, and the 1990 World Summit for Children. A mid-decade review in June 1996 revealed that the generalized decline and disrepair of education in the 1980s, labeled by many as the "lost decade" for the developing world, has been largely reversed. "Regionally, the rates of progress varied," according to the report. "Both the East Asia and Pacific and Latin America and Caribbean regions neared the goal of universal primary enrolment, and remarkable gains were recorded in the Middle East and North Africa in recent years." However in South Asia 50 million children are not in school, and sub-Saharan Africa still cannot provide sufficient classroom space for its rapidly growing population. In Central and Eastern Europe and many of the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union, once relatively solid and universal access to education is shrinking in the new era of market economies. The Education Revolution A section on the "education revolution," whose elements are access to quality learning and child rights, focuses on elements that have emerged as necessary for the success of the principle of education for all. It says schooling: -- should provide the foundation for learning for life; -- needs to be accessible, of high quality and flexible; -- must be gender sensitive and emphasize girls' education; -- needs to involve the state as a key partner; and -- should begin with care for the young child. "The education revolution is reshaping the edifice of education," says the report. "Under its aegis, schools must become zones of creativity, safety and stimulation for children, with safe water and decent sanitation, with motivated teachers and relevant curricula, where children are respected and learn to respect others." Schools also need to offer young children in the early primary grades a nurturing experience that eases their transition into systems all too often not designed to do this. Investing in Human Rights In a section on investing in human rights, the report warns that despite progress of the last decade, the education revolution is in danger of being cut short by a dearth of resources and growing indebtedness in the developing world. This section argues that, despite these obstacles, education is one of the best investments a country can make in order to prosper. "The commitment to education," says the report, "which foundered on the rocks of debt and structural adjustment during the 1980s, has been renewed in the 1990s by the awareness that human rights are key to human development. As never before, humanity recognizes that human rights are indivisible and that the fulfilment of one right reinforces and promotes another." The concept of a human right to education, like the rights to freedom of speech and thought and freedom from torture, may still strike many as a novel concept, notes the report. "It is an especially far-reaching and transforming concept in the developing world, where 130 million children who should be in school are not. Even more revolutionary is the insistence of the Convention on the Rights of the Child that this education must consist of a high-quality learning experience in a child-centred, gender-sensitive environment." Contact: H‚lŠne Martin, Communications Assistant, Division of Communication, UNICEF, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/909 5519, fax +41-22/909 5907 or Madeline Eisner, Communications Officer, Division of Communication, UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/326 7261, fax +1-212/326 7768. FAO STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE REPORT The number of undernourished people in the world has increased since the early 1990s, mainly because there has been little progress in reducing poverty, according to new estimates in the annual UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) report on The State of Food and Agriculture 1998. The report provides an extensive and in-depth analysis of issues that will have a major impact on global food and agriculture policies in the coming years and decades. It notes a rise in the number of hungry people despite significant reductions in hunger and malnutrition in several developing regions. The total number of chronically undernourished people in developing countries is now estimated to be 828 million for the 1994-1996 period, up from 822 million for 1990-1992. Compounded Problem In addition to weather-related crop damage leading to less domestic food availability in many countries, the problem was compounded by foreign exchange constraints that prevented the import of food to make up the domestic shortfall. Other factors involved in the growing numbers of hungry people include the growth in the total population and changing demographics that result in a larger proportion of that population being young, which leads to changes in minimum dietary requirements. The largest absolute numbers of undernourished people are in Asia, while the largest proportion of the population that is undernourished is in sub-Saharan Africa. More striking, says the report, is the fact that contrary to the overall tendency in the developing countries as a whole, the poorest group of countries has not been able to reduce the number or percentage of undernourished since 1969-1971. In East Asia and Southeast Asia, there are 258 million malnourished people. In South Asia in 1994-1996 there were 254 million undernourished people, up from 237 million in 1990-1992. The number of hungry is also increasing in sub-Saharan Africa. "Our most recent data on Africa south of the Sahara," said Jacques Vercueil, Director of FAO's Agriculture and Economic Development Analysis Division, "show an increase in malnourished people from 196 million in 1990-1992 to 210 million in 1994-1996. [The report] also shows that the widening gap in income distribution in many parts of the world is also an important factor in undernourishment." The overall percentage of malnourished as a part of the world population has declined over the same period, from 20% to 19%. However, the report says, this has not been sufficient to compensate for population growth. Economic Gains Threatened Global financial turmoil now threatens earlier economic gains made by many Asian and Latin American countries, including improved food security. Its negative effects on household incomes, employment and prospects for agricultural production and trade could lead to greater food insecurity for millions of people. "Efforts to meet the World Food Summit goal of reducing, by at least half, the 1996 number of hungry people in the world by the year 2015 are all the more urgent," said Mr. Vercueil. Globally, the number of countries facing food emergencies rose from 29 in mid-1997 to 36 in mid-1998, mainly due to the effects of the El Ni¤o weather phenomenon. Since the FAO report went to press, that number has risen to 40, according to the organization's Global Information and Early Warning System. Feeding the World's Cities In a special feature on Feeding the World's Cities the report said, "Over the next 20 years, 93 percent of urban growth will occur in the cities of the developing world. Some of these cities are already huge: the world now has more than 20 megacities with a population of more than 10 million each, while 50 years ago only New York City could claim that distinction." For example, Dhaka in Bangladesh has a population of nine million and is growing at an annual rate of 5%, adding 1,300 city residents every day. It is a huge task to feed a city of several million people, said the report. A city of ten million people for example Manila, Cairo or Rio de Janeiro may need to import at least 6,000 tonnes of food per day. This requires much coordination among producers, transporters, market managers and retailers in stores, on the street and in open-air markets. By 2005 more than 50% of the world's population will be urban, and food insecurity will become an increasingly urban problem. Consumer needs and the responsibilities of both government and private operators as well as marketing facilities are just some of the issues examined in the report. Rural Non-Farm Income The State of Food and Agriculture 1998 also contains a special chapter on rural non-farm income, which is income derived from wage activities and self-employment in commerce, manufacturing and other services in rural areas. This kind of income "is an important resource for farm and other rural households, including the landless poor as well as rural town residents," says the report. The chapter looks at what can be done within rural areas themselves to increase overall economic activity and employment, and to strengthen the links between agriculture and the rural non-farm sector. It says that rural non-farm income activity too often falls into an institutional vacuum with ministries of industry focusing on urban industry and ministries of agriculture on farming. The chapter stresses the importance of greater ministerial coordination. Contact: FAO Sales and Marketing Group, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, fax +39-06/57 05 33 60, e-mail , website (www.fao.org). GA COMMEMORATES UNIVERSAL HUMAN RIGHTS DECLARATION On 10 December 1998, the UN General Assembly commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Member states stressed their concern that human rights and fundamental freedoms continue to be violated in all parts of the world. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said this was a moment for the international community to honour the highest of human aspirations and renew the promise to conquer the worst of human cruelty. Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the most significant achievement in the human rights field during the past 50 years has been securing legitimacy for the principle that human rights are universal and indivisible. The task now must be to implement those rights, she said, "to close the gap between rhetoric and reality." She argued that the international community's record in responding to gross human rights abuses, let alone preventing them, is not encouraging. She deplored the fact that genocide and mass killings, which were so vivid in the minds of those who framed the declaration in the aftermath of World War II, have happened again before the eyes of the world in Rwanda, Cambodia, former Yugoslavia and other parts of the world. Ms. Robinson insisted that not only civil and political rights are being violated. She said that it is shameful that people in industrialized countries enjoy high levels of prosperity while over one billion people are denied their most basic economic and social rights: adequate food and shelter, clean water, education and health care. It is not sufficient, she argued, for the international community to provide assistance when disasters strike poorer countries. Recognition of the "systemic disadvantages" that so many people are burdened with is needed above all, as well as how far removed they are from the ideal proclaimed in the first article of the declaration that all people should be "free and equal in dignity and rights." As part of efforts to give practical meaning to the ideas and vision of the declaration, Ms. Robinson said all states should commit to a number of objectives. These include to sign and ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the four main conventions within the next five years; and to make the declaration known to every one of their citizens, beginning with introduction of the document in all primary education curricula. Emphasis on Economic and Social Rights During the GA discussions the representative of India said the ideals of the declaration "seem to mock our ability to implement them." He was referring in particular to Article 22 which stresses everyone's right to social security and entitlement to the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. "Yet," he said, "freedom from want has never been addressed as a global crusade." He added that developing countries need the engaged, committed and enlightened appreciation of their more fortunate colleagues in the developed world. It is no surprise, he argued, that the aggressive promotion of human rights in international forums comes from countries that are the most "self-satisfied." He called for "a larger dose of introspection and policies of meaningful assistance," which would be "far more useful than lofty judgementalism." The representative of the United Kingdom said the declaration makes it clear that human rights are not just civil and political rights but also economic, social and cultural rights. She said the framers of the declaration, who wanted to defend both sets of rights, were seeking to lay the foundations for a more peaceful and just world order. However, one of the tragedies of the last 50 years, she observed, is that this argument has been lost and has fallen victim both to Cold War polarization and North-South division. She added that on the eve of the new millennium, the world has an opportunity to recapture the spirit of 50 years ago and renew the collective commitment to all principles of the declaration. She said the UK pledges to work to secure attainment of the international poverty eradication targets, especially to reduce by one- half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by the year 2015. She said these targets have been endorsed by all governments and economic experts as affordable and achievable. What is lacking, she stressed, is the political will to translate these aspirations into action. "The best way to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the declaration," she said, "would be for all to commit themselves to meeting the poverty eradication targets." Human Rights, Trade and Investment The representative of Uganda, echoing the views expressed by a number of NGOs in recent months (see NGLS Roundups November 1998 and December 1998-January 1999), said some international trade and investment agreements, including those under the purview of the World Trade Organization, may contradict certain multilateral human rights and environmental treaties. He argued that measures to eliminate discrimination and promote equality among vulnerable groups are being challenged by the trade/investment concept of non-discrimination. Moreover, he said, the economic priorities required by certain trade policies may jeopardize fundamental human rights related to sustainable livelihoods and collective survival. Sanctions and Human Rights The president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in dealing with food aid, health care and shelter, and by defending human rights, the federation and other members of the humanitarian community are faced with problems that relate not only to scarce resources, logistics and security, but also to policies such as sanctions imposed by the United Nations. She said sanctions are a legitimate tool of diplomacy, but "they can kill." They are a "blunt instrument," she warned, that hurts those who are powerless to effect the political change that the international community demands. She said that UN Security Council-imposed sanctions expose potentially fundamental contradictions in implementing two of its core principles: promoting peace and human rights. A formal mechanism is needed, she added, to assess the possible negative impact of sanctions and monitor their effects. Anti-Semitism As a Form of Racism For the first time in more than half a century, the General Assembly decided to list anti-semitism as a form of racism in a resolution adopted by consensus on 9 December, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The resolution, introduced by Indonesia on behalf of more than 100 developing nations, warns against new avenues of disseminating the "repugnant views" of racist organizations and asks governments to monitor communications for misuse. Contact: Dzidek Kedzia, Senior Adviser, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 9137, fax +41-22/917 9025, e-mail , website (www.unhchr.ch). WORLD BANK: ASSESSING AID AND WHAT WORKS, WHAT DOESN'T While there has been more progress with poverty reduction in the past 50 years than in any comparable period of human history, poverty remains a severe global problem. Assessing Aid: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why, published by the World Bank, contends that aid effectiveness depends on the institutional and policy environment into which the aid flows. Go Between summarizes the report's findings and recommendations. "In different times and places, foreign aid has been highly effective, totally ineffective and everything in between," according to the World Bank. Foreign aid assisted growth in the Republic of Korea and Botswana in the 1960s, Bolivia and Ghana in the late 1980s, and Uganda and Vietnam in the 1990s. It still plays a critical role in supporting institutional and policy reform in developing countries, which is crucial for alleviating poverty. However foreign aid has also failed spectacularly, says the report. Incompetence, corruption and misguided policies persisted for many years in the former Zaire, for example, where there was a steady flow of aid. And in Tanzania, despite US$2 billion in aid over 20 years, lack of provision for maintaining roads meant the roads often deteriorated faster than they could be built. Assessing Aid finds that due to a wave of economic reform in developing countries in the 1990s, three out of four people afflicted by absolute poverty nearly two billion people live in countries where more foreign aid would speed up poverty reduction. But while the list of countries that can use aid effectively has risen, foreign aid fell to 0.22% of donor countries' gross domestic product (GDP) in 1997 its smallest volume since it was first institutionalized with the Marshall Plan in 1947. Taking into account inflation, financial aid from rich countries to poor countries is one-third lower today than in 1990. "It is ironic and tragic that the volume of aid is declining just as the environment for effective aid is improving," said David Dollar, senior World Bank research economist. "By increasing financial assistance to poor countries with good policies and decent institutions, we could help hundreds of millions of the poorest people in the world to improve their lives, and those of their children." Raising 25 Million People Out of Poverty The report says that should yearly aid flows be increased by US$10 billion less than the amount necessary to restore annual aid flows to the level of 1990 this would raise an extra 25 million people out of poverty if the new funds were targeted to poor countries with sound economic management. However, the same US$10 billion in aid allocated across-the-board in the way that aid is currently distributed would lift only seven million people out of poverty. "Donor countries could do a better job of allocating aid, focusing a larger amount on poor countries with sound policies," said Mr. Dollar. The report uses a broad definition of sound policies and institutions that closely correlates with economic growth and poverty reduction. These include: open trade, secure private property rights, the absence of corruption, respect for the rule of law, social safety nets, and sound macro-economic and financial policies. In poor countries that score well on these indicators, 1% of GDP in aid money translates into a 1% decline in poverty, a similar drop in infant mortality and roughly half a percent growth in national income. In 1996, 32 countries with poverty rates above 50% had policies and institutions that were better than average for all developing countries. These include countries as diverse as Bolivia, China, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, the Kyrgyz Republic and Uganda. The report finds that in these countries every dollar of foreign aid attracts two dollars of investment, because aid increases confidence of the private sector and helps to provide public services that investors need, such as education and infrastructure. But in countries with unfavourable business conditions, aid fails to attract investors. This is one reason that aid money has little impact in countries that lack sound policies and institutions. More Than Just Money Aid, however, is more than just money. The report argues that aid is actually a combination of money and ideas, or knowledge. In countries that lack the policies and institutions to make good use of large financial flows, aid agencies can sometimes help foster a climate for successful reform without offering large-scale financial assistance by, for example, providing advice and sponsoring forums in which government officials can learn from other countries. "Providing significant amounts of money has not made much of a dent in poverty in countries with weak management," the report concludes in its final chapter. "It is possible to assist development in countries with weak institutions and policies, but the focus needs to be on supporting reformers rather than disbursing money." Recommendations To make aid more effective, the report recommends five main strategies. They are: -- focus financial aid on poor countries with good policies and strong economic management; -- provide policy-based aid to demonstrated reformers; -- use simpler instruments to transfer resources to countries with sound management; -- focus projects on creating and transmitting knowledge and capacity; and -- rethink the internal incentives of aid agencies. Joseph Stiglitz, Senior Vice President for Development Economics and Chief Economist of the Bank, urged citizens of wealthy countries to continue to support and boost their share of foreign aid. "The good news is that both bilateral and multilateral aid agencies are transforming themselves and cooperating together to become more effective," he said. "The bad news is that just as aid is poised to become its most effective, the volume of aid is declining and is at its lowest level ever." In order to obtain copies of the report, contact: World Bank, PO Box 960, Herndon VA 20172-0960, United States, telephone +1-703/661 1580, fax +1-703/661 1501, e-mail , website (www.worldbank.org). GOVERNMENTS AGREE FUTURE STEPS FOR COMBATTING DESERTIFICATION A two-week intergovernmental meeting on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) concluded on 11 December 1998 in Dakar (Senegal) by adopting decisions to speed efforts to reverse dryland degradation over the next two years. The conference was attended by over 500 officials from 132 countries, of whom some 30 were of ministerial or deputy-ministerial rank. About 1,200 people participated in the event, including observers from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and the press. A roundtable of 35 parliamentarians from 21 countries that met during the conference issued a strong appeal for the convention to be implemented without delay, and that sufficient resources be made available. They also called for the declaration of a Decade to Combat Desertification to start in the year 2000. "By working together we can build a momentum for this convention that demonstrates a convincing and binding political commitment to address the most pressing concerns of the people of the African continent and of all arid and semi-arid regions of the world," said Souty Toure, president of the second session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-2) to the Convention and Minister of Environment of Senegal. Bottom-Up Approaches in Developing Countries The meeting also heard a series of reports from ministers and senior officials on their national action plans. Under the convention, developing countries affected by land degradation are to elaborate plans based on a participatory, bottom-up approach that engages the energies of all segments of society. Chad, for example, described the launching of information campaigns and workshops for rural men and women, non-governmental organizations, and traditional and administrative authorities. Mali outlined national reforms for decentralizing administration and allowing local communities to take charge of anti-desertification actions. Eritrea reported that consultations on its national action plan are continuing among administrators, village assemblies, village elders and the community at large. Iran reported that its National Committee for Combatting Desertification has produced a draft national action plan that is under final review. The plan, which aims to address the issue of dryland degradation in a comprehensive manner, emphasizes population controls, institutional coordination, promotion of new technologies and techniques, better use of indigenous knowledge, and public participation in decision-making. Developed Countries and UN Agencies Support Developed countries and United Nations agencies reported on their support to the affected countries. Learning from the lessons of the past, the Convention to Combat Desertification calls on donors to strengthen their consultation and coordination with affected countries and communities when they support their efforts with financial and technical aid. "During this conference," said Hama Arba Diallo, the convention's Executive Secretary, "we have seen evidence that the convention is beginning to have a