Go Between 78, Dec. 1999-Jan. 2000

UN NEWS

 SECURITY COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT
The UN General Assembly met on 20-21 October 1999 to discuss the annual report of the
Security Council (A/54/2), which covers the period from 16 June 1998 to 15 June 1999. The
476-page report deals with questions relating to the council's responsibility in the area of
international peace and security, as well as its working methods and procedures.

The president of the council, Sergei Lavrov (Russian Federation), introduced the report by
saying that the range of issues considered by the council had remained wide over the past year,
covering all major aspects of the maintenance of international peace and security. Mr. Lavrov
noted that regional conflicts and stability in Africa remained high on the council's agenda. 

A number of member states took the opportunity to raise questions about the working
methods and reporting of the council, and to make special mention of operations in Africa,
Kosovo and East Timor.

Ambassador Penny Wensley (Australia) noted that the past year had been a particularly
challenging one for the council due to increases in the number and scale of peacekeeping
operations and the crises in Kosovo and East Timor. Within the space of a few days in late
October, the UN doubled the number of international troops mandated for field duty it sent
9,000 troops to East Timor and 6,000 to Sierra Leone. Ms. Wensley suggested that it is
critical for the Security Council to reform and revitalize itself in order to respond swiftly and
adequately to the pressures upon it. She said the council's working methods continue to be
too "rigid" and "exclusionary," and that the need for greater flexibility and openness is
overdue.

"In an era of massive change, the UN too must change or be seen to fail," said Ambassador
Jeremy Greenstock (United Kingdom), referring to a year of unprecedented demand on the
UN system. "The Security Council has to be part of that change."

Mr. Greenstock suggested that part of the change would involve enlargement in both the
permanent and non-permanent categories of membership. "The allocation of new permanent
seats should reflect the vital role of the non-industrial countries as well as the contribution of
Germany and Japan to the work of the organization," he said. He also called for greater
transparency and communication in the daily work of the council.

Ambassador Richard Ryan (Ireland) said it is time for the council to conduct more of its
business in formal sessions. He noted that when international law is being flouted, the
council's ability to act would be strengthened rather than weakened if details are laid bare in
open sessions.

Ambassador Claude Stanislas Bouah-Kamon (C“te d'Ivoire) said that the council needs to
make an effort to retrieve its credibility by closely examining the present situation in Africa,
where he said the council chooses to concentrate only on certain countries. "Wouldn't a
renewed and enlarged council," he asked, "with wider global representation be able to make
better decisions?"

Ambassador Qin Huasan (China) called the intervention in Kosovo and its fallout the "biggest
humanitarian disaster in post World War II Europe." Mr. Qin stated that a mandate to
intervene should not rest with some individual country or group but only with the Security
Council, which could decide whether certain developments threaten international peace and
security and when, how and who should intervene. He suggested that the council invest the
same energies if not more in Africa as it does in other regions.

In an effort to improve transparency of its actions, the council's report this year includes for
the first time annual reports of the sanctions committees as an appendix. Some member states
acknowledged this improvement over past reports, but they said reporting did not go far
enough. 

Ambassador Ahmed Aboul Gheit (Egypt) criticized the report for not analyzing situations of
the individual sanctions regimes, the results of their imposition, and their effects on states and
populations. He called for holding official meetings to deal with the work of the sanctions
committees. In addition, he called upon the council to record its proceedings during informal
consultations, and said he hoped that next year's report would include them. 

The report notes that in open meetings of the last year, the council devoted most of its time to
conflicts in Africa, Iraq and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The council also met
frequently on, among other topics, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Guinea-Bissau, Tajikistan, Somalia,
Angola, Georgia and East Timor. 

Membership of the council for 1999 included permanent members China, France, Russian
Federation, United Kingdom and the United States; non-permanent members included
Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Gabon, Gambia, Malaysia, Namibia, Netherlands and
Slovenia. New two-year memberships began on 1 January 2000 for Bangladesh, Jamaica,
Mali, Tunisia and Ukraine.

 
FAO WARNING ON SOMALIA
The food supply situation in southern Somalia is cause for serious concern following an
upsurge in inter-clan fighting, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It
says the fighting has disrupted food production and assistance to civil war and drought
victims. Mounting civilian casualties, destruction of property, a large-scale population
displacement and a number of starvation-related deaths have been reported. 

"The food crisis has been exacerbated by the extension of roadblocks and obstruction of
aircraft runways that are hindering the movement of goods and food commodities, including
food aid," according to FAO. "Latest reports indicate that nearly 1.6 million people in
Mogadishu, Lower and Middle Juba, parts of Gedo and Lower Shabelle are not accessible to
humanitarian agencies. The escalation of violence against humanitarian workers has further
reduced the flow and distribution of humanitarian assistance."

Elsewhere in Somalia despite recent rains that improved pasture conditions, the food situation
remains precarious due to the cumulative effects of droughts; with the recent escalation of the
civil conflict, the amount of food assistance required can only increase, according to FAO. 

Where conditions allow, aid agencies are providing emergency assistance, but more funds are
needed to cover food needs until the next main harvest in July 2000. At the beginning of 1999,
the UN launched a Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal (CAP) for Somalia for the year, totaling
US$64 million. As of mid-October, donor contributions amounted to around US$35 million,
or 55%. 

The CAP for the year 2000 totals US$50.6 million. FAO is urging the international donor
community to make generous contributions, "failing which there is an increased likelihood of
starvation in the worst-affected areas."

Contact: Erwin Northoff, Media Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome,
Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3105, fax +39-06/5705 4975, e-mail <erwin.northoff@fao.org>,
website (www.fao.org). 


US RESUMES UNFPA SUPPORT
The United States will resume its support for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
for fiscal year 2000, which began on 1 October 1999. Under foreign assistance legislation
approved by the US, funding will be restored to the fiscal year 1998 level of US$25 million.

"I am very pleased that the United States has rejoined the ranks of major UNFPA donors,"
said Nafis Sadik, UNFPA Executive Director. "The US funds will help provide millions of
women with reproductive health care, including family planning, thereby helping to reduce
unwanted pregnancies, abortions, and deaths and injuries to countless mothers around the
world."

Dr. Sadik noted that the US has always been critical to the success of global efforts in the
population field. It "played a key role in the creation of UNFPA 30 years ago, and was a
central player in shaping the historic consensus at the 1994 International Conference on
Population and Development in Cairo," she said. "Through USAID, it is the largest bilateral
supporter of reproductive health and population programmes. And the example set by the
United States helps convince other governments to contribute to these programmes."

UNFPA expected its general income in 1999 to be US$248 million, US$29 million less than in
1998 and US$42 million less than in 1997 a 14% drop in two years. Factors leading to the
decline included the loss of all funding from the United States in 1999. The funding crisis had
forced UNFPA to, among other things, postpone plans to provide delivery facilities in
inaccessible villages in India; suspend training of health workers and dissemination of
education materials in Viet Nam; and curtail adolescent peer education programmes in Haiti
aimed at reducing teenage pregnancy and HIV infection.

Contact: UNFPA, 220 E. 42nd Street, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone
+1-212/297 5011, fax +1-212/557 6416, website (www.unfpa.org).


JOINT ACTION ON MATERNITY MORTALITY
Four United Nations agencies committed to promoting women's health have joined forces to
fight maternal mortality. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Bank issued a
joint statement on 28 October 1999 on priority actions aimed at reducing the number of
women who die from pregnancy and childbirth.
"The statement reflects the consensus between four key international bodies on the seriousness
and extent of maternal mortality, as well as the best ways to reduce it," said Gro Harlem
Brundtlund, Director-General of WHO. "It will result in greater synergy in our work at the
country level, and in the end save more lives."

Maternal mortality represents one of the starkest and most unacceptable gaps between
developed and developing countries, with 98% of all maternal deaths occurring in developing
countries. In developed countries, there are approximately 27 maternal deaths per 100,000 live
births each year. In developing countries the average is 18 times higher, at 480 deaths per
100,000 live births. 

In some developing countries one woman in ten dies from a pregnancy-related cause over the
course of her child-bearing years. In industrialized countries, the chances average around one
in 4,000. The five main causes of maternal mortality are haemorrhage, infection, high blood
pressure, obstructed labour and unsafe abortion, which accounts for more than one-third of
maternal deaths in some parts of the world.

The statement details three key areas for action.
--   Safe motherhood can be advanced through respecting existing human rights, through
empowering women to make choices in their reproductive lives with the support of their
families and communities.
--   The access to and quality of maternal health services need to be improved. All
deliveries should be overseen by skilled attendants, and essential care should be available when
obstetric complications arise. 
--   Women need to be able to choose if and when to become pregnant through ensured
access to voluntary family planning information and services.

Maternal death issues highlighted by the statement include midwifery and preventing unwanted
pregnancies. It says that a ready supply of health providers with essential midwifery skills,
backed up by referral services for complications, is critical in preventing maternal deaths. 

It also says that prevention of unwanted pregnancies is one of the key strategies for reducing
maternal mortality by providing client-centred family planning services with safe and effective
contraceptive methods and counselling.

Contact: Jitendra Khanna, Technical Officer, Department of Reproductive Health and
Research, World Health Organization, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland,
telephone +41-22/791 3345, fax +41-22/791 4171, e-mail <khannaj@who.ch>, website
(www.who.int).


WORLD BANK SEMINAR ON HIPC INITIATIVE
The World Bank organized a seminar on 26 October 1999, entitled Providing Deeper, Broader
and Faster Debt Relief through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, in
order to share information on decisions taken at the annual meetings of the Bank and
International Monetary Fund (see Go Between 77). The seminar, held in New York,
contributed to the General Assembly Second Committee's (Economic and Financial)
consideration of the external debt crisis and development. 

Axel van Trotsenburg, Manager of the Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
Implementation Unit, said that the enhanced HIPC initiative is unique. Criticism of the original
initiative had been gathered through consultations with NGOs, other financial institutions and
governments as well as through online submissions. These had been translated into policy
during a short period of time. Mr. van Trotsenburg credited this process with helping to
develop a framework to deliver accelerated and deeper debt relief with a greater safety
cushion for the most vulnerable.

Poverty reduction rather than simply debt relief, according to Mr. van Trotsenburg, is the goal
of the new HIPC initiative. "We must ask how debt relief fits within a comprehensive
development programme of a country," he said. In this regard Mr. van Trotsenburg discussed
how national governments along with donors and development agencies would craft in a
participatory manner Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP), in order to have a clear
"road map" to reduce poverty and monitor progress in individual countries. While these
papers should be in place at the "decision point" when a country is assessed for debt relief
eligibility, the lack of a PRSP would not delay such action. 

Member states inquired about the financing situation of the enhanced HIPC initiative. Mr. van
Trotsenburg acknowledged that financing continues to be a challenge for the Bank. He
identified a funding gap of approximately US$500 million to kick start the US$27 billion debt
relief plan once commitments from bilateral donors, the Paris Club, multilateral agencies and
official development assistance cancellation are taken into consideration. He said despite the
funding gap, the Bank hopes to have in place by the end of 2,000 debt relief packages for 25
countries including nine "retroactive" countries, which were initiated under the original HIPC
framework.

A number of member states asked which stakeholder would be the final authority on the
strategy papers, deciding which issues would be included or excluded in the strategy. Mr. van
Trotsenburg said that donors would play a key role in the process, although he stressed that
the strategy papers need a strong ownership at the national level. He said national
governments, with the involvement of civil society, are key actors in this regard. Several
member states expressed concern that the roles for donors and certain agencies need to be
made more explicit. One delegate, who cited the example of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), said it has extensive expertise in the field of poverty reduction, which
could be valuable when a strategy paper is being developed.

Contact: A. van Trotsenburg, Manager, HIPC Implementation Unit, World Bank, 1818 H
Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/473 6794, fax
+1-202/522 3740, e-mail <avantrostsenburg@worldbank.org>, website
(www.worldbank.org).


CALLS TO END UN PLEDGING CONFERENCE 
The annual United Nations Pledging Conference for Development Activities was held in New
York from 2-3 November 1999. Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and
Social Affairs, opened the event by noting that the conference was taking place at a time when
the United Nations was being asked to do more while faced with stagnating and declining core
resources. He drew attention to the seeming rise in levels of official development assistance
(ODA) since 1997, but suggested that this trend had not yet been translated into financing for
UN operational activities. Mr. Desai called on all governments to take the opportunity
provided by the conference to reaffirm their commitment to United Nations development
cooperation. 

Despite his appeal, all of the major industrialized countries criticized the conference for having
"outlived its usefulness" and chose not to make pledges. Speaking on behalf of the European
Union (EU), Aira P„iv”ke, a representative of Finland said, "This year, for the first time, no
European Union member state will announce pledges at this event. We would like to see
ECOSOC and the General Assembly pursue its formal abolition next year." She went on to say
that member states of the EU would make their annual contributions through governing bodies
of the specific operational agencies and their new multi-year funding frameworks.

Allan Marsh, a representative of Australia, speaking on behalf of Canada, Iceland,
Switzerland, Turkey and the United States, stressed that their reason for not participating was
not a lack of commitment or interest. "The conference," he said, "is not well attended, it does
not secure widespread pledges, and it duplicates United Nations funds' and programs' own
evolving funding processes." He added that considerable time, effort and financial resources
were being consumed with negligible results.

In spite of such criticisms, 36 member states announced pledges for next year including
Bangladesh, Benin, Cameroon, Colombia, Cuba, Ghana, India, Laos, Lesotho, Mexico,
Myanmar, Poland, Romania, Thailand and Uganda.    

Kamalesh Sharma, a representative of India, responded to criticisms of the pledging
conference by saying that "it is clear that the device of multi-year funding frameworks has not
produced any positive results. If the funding frameworks cannot meet their intended objective,
that is, an increase in core resources of the funds and programmes concerned, their utility
becomes seriously compromised." 

George Talbot, a representative of Guyana, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77, said that
after two decades of the conference it was reasonable to review its effectiveness. "However
the future of the pledging conference should be considered with care and broad consultation,"
he said. "It is premature to call for its abolition, since the diagnostic process has not yet been
exhausted. A careful review of funding modalities is needed." 

Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), the largest UN development agency, said he feared the difficulties expressed about
the pledging conference were symptoms of a deeper malaise: a drift away from financial
support for UN development cooperation itself. "There is a long way to go," he said, "before a
truly adequate funding base for the operational arms of the UN is secured." He suggested that
UNDP itself was threatened by political and financial neglect.

UN funds and programmes that received pledges at the conference included UNDP, the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), and the World Food Programme
(WFP).


UNHCR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, warned against risks
that arise from attempts by governments and military organizations to bypass humanitarian
agencies in high-visibility crises during the 50th session of UNHCR's Executive Committee.
The governing body of 54 nations, which met in Geneva in October 1999, is held annually to
discuss UNHCR's policy.

The committee's session came in a year that saw some of the worst humanitarian and refugee
crises of the decade. The mass expulsion of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, followed by an
equally massive return, put huge strains on the resources of UNHCR and other humanitarian
agencies. At the same time aid operations in other regions, especially in Africa, have remained
"woefully underfunded," according to UNHCR. Resources were further stretched as an
independence referendum in Indonesian-controlled East Timor triggered mass violence by
anti-independence militias and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

While recognizing the contribution of NATO in the Kosovo crisis, Ms. Ogata said there were
also incidents where direct military involvement "undermined coordination and deprived
civilian humanitarian agencies of effectiveness and clout." She noted that direct military
involvement in relief work could jeopardize the security of refugees, possibly even making
them parties to the conflict.

Ms. Ogata said national governments and the military should support international relief
agencies in acute crises, but should not try to replace agencies with humanitarian mandates.
She stressed that in operations where military technical logistical expertise is provided, it must
be limited and well defined.

The Executive Committee's theme was improvement of the partnership between states and
relief agencies in protecting refugees, as well as ensuring the security of refugees and
humanitarian workers, who are taking ever greater risks in their daily work. The session,
which focused on protection of refugee families, addressed themes including threats to the
independence and effectiveness of humanitarian work, the erosion of refugee protection,
linkages between insecurity and refugee flows, and the importance of bringing together
divided communities.

Prior to the session, UNHCR held its traditional meeting with NGOs on 29 September to 1
October. In addition to a discussion on global priorities, regional briefings were made on
Africa; Central and South West Asia, North Africa and the Middle East; Asia and the Pacific;
the Americas; Europe, and South Eastern Europe.

Contact: Arnulv Torbjornsen, NGO Coordinator, Division of Communication and
Information, UNHCR, Case postale 2500, CH-1211 Geneva 2 Dep“t, Switzerland, telephone
+41-22/739 8290, fax +41-22/739 7302, website (www.unhcr.org).


UNESCO GENERAL CONFERENCE
Koichiro Matsuura of Japan was elected Director-General of the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) during its General Conference, which
concluded its 30th session on 17 November 1999 in Paris. At his investiture ceremony on 15
November Mr. Matsuura, who formerly served as Japan's Ambassador to France, spoke of the
future of UNESCO. "I propose we streamline our activities," he said, "within the limits of our
budgets and closely focus upon those programmes which are our true mandate." He stressed
the importance of education in the fight against poverty, and insisted on the need for the
organization to become fully universal and to draw in the membership of all states. He
emphasized the importance of sound management for UNESCO to fulfil its duty as a "world
service."

During the General Conference member states adopted decisions that will guide the policies of
the organization for the biennium. Representatives from 186 of UNESCO's 188 member states
attended the session. The organization's budget for the years 2000-2001, established at zero
nominal growth, was set at US$544,367,250. Over US$100 million will be spent on
education, followed by over US$85 million for science. Among other things, the General
Conference reaffirmed the need to continue giving priority to programmes targeting women
and youth. It said this should especially include youth living in difficult conditions, least
developed countries and Africa.

In a roundtable of 55 culture ministers on Culture and Creativity in a Globalised World, there
was agreement that culture should not take second place to the economy. Participants called
for the defence and promotion of cultural diversity, and agreed that all cultural and audiovisual
goods and services deserve special treatment in the context of international commercial
negotiations. They also recognized the right of states and governments to establish their
cultural and audiovisual policies freely, and to adopt the means and instruments required for
their implementation.

The roundtable was one of several discussions that provided input into the session of the
General Conference in areas central to UNESCO's fields of competence. 

Other activities included a Youth Forum and a debate on the Social, Ethical and Legal Issues
of Cyberspace in the 21st Century, in which speakers had diverging opinions on access to
cyberspace and on the need for Internet regulation.

Contact: Michael Millward, Chief, Section of Non-Governmental Organizations and
Foundations, UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75700 Paris, France, telephone +33-1/45 68
18 77, fax +33-1/47 34 20 98, e-mail <m.millward@unesco.org>, website (www.unesco.org).


FAO GOVERNING CONFERENCE
The Governing Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which ended its
30th session in Rome in November 1999, elected Jacques Diouf (Senegal) to a second six-year
term on 13 November as FAO Director General.

Dr. Diouf expressed satisfaction to the 179 member countries represented at the conference
that the total number of malnourished people in developing countries declined by 40 million
between 1990-1992 and 1995-1997, based on a recent FAO report (see focus page 28).

"This reduction of about eight million people per year on average is encouraging," he said,
"but still far below the figure of 20 million required to achieve the objective of the World Food
Summit."

Among other things, Dr. Diouf told the conference that FAO's Special Relief Operations
Service had to intervene in 64 countries over the last two years. He cited as examples the
Kosovo crisis and Hurricane Mitch, which devastated several Central American countries in
1998. 

He also commented on recent developments linked to certain agricultural production
techniques such as the "mad cow" crisis, the presence of dioxin in the food chain, and rapid
advances in biotechnology. Dr. Diouf said that the responsible FAO bodies, such as the
Commission on Genetic Resources, are actively working on developing codes of conduct. As
for questions of ethics, these are being examined by an internal committee supported by a
panel of experts. 

"The Codex Alimentarius remains the leading instrument for determining international
standards," he said, "a crucial activity in a context of globalization and growing trade." Codex
Alimentarius is a collection of norms, usage codes, directives and recommendations by the
Codex Alimentarius Commission, which sets international food and food trade standards. The
commission is a subsidiary body of FAO and the World Health Organization.
Dr. Diouf also told the conference that over 60 countries were directly involved in TeleFood
in 1997-1998, enabling the operation to reach out to some 500 million people and to collect
US$4 million in donations. TeleFood is FAO's series of televised world food hunger
awareness-building events. 

The governing conference voted FAO a US$650 million budget for 2000-2001, the same level
as 1998-1999 and 1996-1997, which effectively forces the organization to absorb about 4% in
increased costs. The budget supports FAO's efforts to carry out its mandate from the 1996
World Food Summit to help reduce the number of people in the world who are hungry and
malnourished, particularly in developing countries. It also supports FAO's programmes in
sustainable development of the world's agricultural, fisheries and forested sectors.

Contact: Erwin Northoff, Media Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome,
Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3105, fax +39-06/5705 4975, e-mail <erwin.northoff@fao.org>,
website (www.fao.org). 


ILO CONSULTATION ON NEW JOBS
Recognizing that serious obstacles have blocked improvement in the global employment
situation, the International Labour Office (ILO) has proposed measures aimed at generating
new, quality jobs that will help people work their way out of poverty. While there have been
job gains in several countries, the ILO estimates that there are still 150 million unemployed
people in the world and over 750 million underemployed people, more than 40% of whom are
young workers.

The strategies were endorsed at an international consultation, held in Geneva from 2-4
November 1999, on follow-up to the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. The
recommendations follow a series of regional meetings held in Bangkok (Thailand), Abidjan
(C“te d'Ivoire), Beirut (Lebanon) and Geneva. 

Representatives to the ILO discussed job creation in small and medium enterprises, labour
market flexibility, employment protection and security, employment-intensive public works,
youth employment, targeted programmes for vulnerable groups, and the reconciliation of
family and work life.

The ILO, which found that strong economic growth remains necessary for job creation, is
calling for sound economic policies that promote greater investment and that foster greater
competitiveness and enterprise development. It is also calling for an increased flow of
international resources in the form of debt reduction, foreign direct investment and increased
levels of official development assistance.

But new, specific measures are needed as well, and the ILO recommends that operational
activities should be developed within a framework of an employment strategy that takes into
account global and national dimensions. 
In particular, this employment strategy should:
--   help promote the ILO's core conventions that cover the prohibition of forced labour
and child labour, freedom of association, the right to organize, the right to bargain collectively,
and the principle of non-discrimination;
--   promote an education and training culture that allows people to obtain quality jobs in a
knowledge-based economy;
--   design and extend social safety nets;
--   support people in the informal sector to assert legal rights, obtain social protection and
have access to credit; and
--   assist vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as disabled workers, youth and
migrant workers with access to improved training and jobs.

Contact: Bureau of Public Information, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22,
Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799 8577, website (www.ilo.org).


ILO ENTERPRISE FORUM
Juan Somav¡a, Director-General of the International Labour Office (ILO), urged business to
become "part of the solution" to the problems of globalization by addressing the issues of
social equity, human dignity and labour rights through corporate responsibility.

In an address to some 600 government, corporate and labour leaders attending the second
Enterprise Forum held by the ILO in Geneva on 5-6 November 1999, Mr. Somav¡a outlined a
series of actions he said were essential to avoiding the negative impacts of globalization.

"Globalization has brought both prosperity and inequalities, which are testing the limits of
collective social responsibility," he said. "If we are to avoid a serious backlash against the
process of globalization, concerted action is needed."

Such actions, he said, included:
--   providing disadvantaged countries an opportunity to develop the business environment
and infrastructure without which they will see themselves left further behind in the global
market;
--   giving a "human face to the market" amid the growing realization that markets do not
function in isolation from their social and political contexts; and
--   involving "those with the most direct stake in globalization business" as "part of the
solution by addressing issues of equity, human dignity and labour rights, and by lifting those
who are in danger of being left behind."

The three themes of the forum were human resource based competitive advantage; corporate
citizenship and social initiatives; and tapping the employment potential of small business.
Participants reviewed different dimensions of the relationship between enterprise
competitiveness and social progress, and they discussed key challenges facing enterprises in
the 21st century. They also explored ways in which enterprises can, and in some cases already
are, contributing to solving key social development issues.

Contact: Bureau of Public Information, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22,
Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799 8577, website (www.ilo.org).


ILO SYMPOSIUM ON INFORMAL SECTOR
Representatives of national trade unions, trade union centres and international trade
secretariats met to develop strategies for organizing informal sector workers at a symposium
held by the International Labour Office (ILO) from 18-22 October 1999. 

The "informal sector," which refers to a broad swathe of small, usually irregular and often
makeshift jobs, now absorbs as much as 60% of the labour force in cities and towns of the
developing world. In many countries it is the only part of the economy creating any new jobs,
according to the ILO. However low productivity and income combined with the absence of
social protection, training or social services is a harsh burden on many of the most vulnerable
groups in society including women, children and migrants, who are disproportionately
concentrated in the informal sector.

"The informal sector reflects the survival strategy of the poor, those without steady jobs or
incomes and without any form of social insurance," said Manuel Simon, Director of ILO's
Bureau for Workers' Activities. "It is often the only recourse for workers left to fend for
themselves." 

Among other things, participants discussed ways of  organizing this large and potentially
powerful workforce, which unions have traditionally overlooked. The symposium also
explored ways in which governments and policy-makers can put into practice the promises
they have made to upgrade the quality of jobs in the sector. These include areas such as labour
standards and labour legislation, macro-economic and employment policy, training and human
capital development, social protection and small enterprise development. 

Participants said the informal sector includes a vast range of activities in which workers
operate in oppressive and unsafe conditions, often with incomes at or below the poverty line
and with little or no access to state-provided social protection, training and social services.
They agreed that trade union recruitment efforts should focus on "own-account" workers such
as street vendors, and those engaged in full-time or casual employment such as homeworkers
and paid domestic workers. 

Their recommendations to trade unions and international trade union centres for developing
strategies to organize informal sector workers include:
--   introduce measures to accommodate the needs of informal workers in order to
persuade them to join trade unions, such as facilitating their access to cheap credit and literacy
classes; 
--   find ways to encourage women, young people and former union members who have
been pushed into the informal sector to help organize their co-workers;
--   establish alliances with civil society organizations in contacting and helping workers in
the informal sector; and
--   promote the implementation of codes of conduct, framework agreements, and labelling
schemes aimed at extending appropriate labour standards to the informal sector.

Participants said policy-makers, both at the national and international level, must be willing to
create institutional and economic environments conducive to upgrading the quality of jobs and
life in the informal sector. Their recommendations emphasize the need to implement economic
policies leading to transformation of informal sector activities into more highly productive and
socially responsible enterprises that provide protection to workers and respect trade union
rights. Participants also proposed ways in which the ILO and governments could foster the
application of labour standards to all workers.

Contact: Bureau of Public Information, ILO, 4 route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22,
Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7940, fax +41-22/799 8577, website (www.ilo.org).


UNIDO INDUSTRIAL PARTNERSHIPS MEETING
Some 500 people participated in the Conference on Industrial Partnerships and Investment,
held in Dakar (Senegal) on 20-23 October 1999. The event, which aimed to address critical
problems of industrial development in Africa, was organized by the United Nations Industrial
Organization (UNIDO), Organization of African Unity (OAU), Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA), Alliance for Africa's Industrialization (AAI) and the African Development
Bank.

"Today's broad message is that, after decades of investment decline and neglect by foreign
investors, things are looking up for African countries," said Carlos Magari¤os,
Director-General of UNIDO. "The region is now enjoying recovery and a healthy economic
growth. More than a dozen countries grew faster than 5% annually in recent years....Increased
per capita income throughout the region is accompanied by strong growth in export earnings
overall."

He said that as a result of a first generation of reforms devoted to macro-economic
stabilization the African region is already being drawn into the globalization process. "A new
generation of managers and entrepreneurs is making an impact," he added. "They are ready for
partnership arrangements, and their business demands on Africa's governments are exactly the
same as those of foreign investors good governance and effective institutional support."

The conference consisted of three inter-related components: 
--   business meetings between African private sector representatives and foreign
entrepreneurs;
--   a forum on resource mobilization for technical cooperation programmes; and 
--   a series of panel discussions on issues related to developing the industrial sector in
African countries. 

Besides participants from African governments and the private sector, the meeting was
attended by representatives of multilateral agencies and intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations.

Contact: A. Kayalar, Director, External Relations Service, UNIDO, Vienna International
Centre, PO Box 300, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26026 3004, fax +43-1/26026
6838, website (www.unido.org).


UNAIDS AND WHO REPORT ON AIDS
Since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic 50 million people have been infected with HIV, of
whom over 16 million have died, according to a report published by the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The
report, entitled AIDS Epidemic Update December 1999, shows that during the year AIDS
deaths reached a record 2.6 million, and an estimated 5.6 million adults and children were
infected with HIV.

"With an epidemic of this scale," said Peter Piot, UNAIDS Executive Director, "every new
infection adds to the ripple effect, impacting families, communities, households and
increasingly, businesses and economies. AIDS has emerged as the single greatest threat to
development in many countries of the world."

In sub-Saharan Africa still the global epicentre of the epidemic new evidence shows clearly
for the first time that women infected with HIV outnumber men. UNAIDS and WHO estimate
that 12.2 million African women and 10.1 million African men aged 15-49 were living with
HIV at the end of 1999. Declining life expectancy due to AIDS has led to a number of African
countries being ranked lower in the Human Development Index. The index, developed by the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), ranks countries  based on levels of health,
wealth and education.

The report says that the highest rate of HIV infections was recorded in the newly independent
states of the former Soviet Union, where the proportion of the population living with HIV
doubled between 1997 and 1999. In the region comprising these nations and Central and
Eastern Europe, the number of people infected with HIV rose by more than a third in 1999
alone, to an estimated 360,000. 

The report also highlights success stories countries and regions that are managing to keep
down the number of new infections or improve the well-being of those already infected. For
example, prevention programmes in Thailand and the Philippines have had sustained success in
reducing HIV risk and lowering or stabilizing HIV rates. In India, major efforts to improve
tracking of the epidemic have more than tripled the number of HIV surveillance sites.
Estimates now place total HIV infections in the country at around four million more than in
any other country, but fewer than projected on the basis of earlier surveillance estimates.
Consequently, the regional estimate of HIV infections in Asia has been lowered by 800,000.   

Some Latin American countries are providing antiretroviral drugs to people infected with
HIV. Brazil, for example, spent an estimated US$300 million to treat some 75,000 people in
1999. Health officials in the country said the considerable expense was offset in part by
savings in hospitalization and medical care; an estimated US$136 million in such costs were
averted between 1997 and 1998. 

Dr. Piot, however, said the threat of HIV has not diminished in any region. He warned against
complacency and said that the availability of life-prolonging therapies may be contributing to
an erosion of safer sexual behaviour. He said the key to fighting AIDS is to prevent new
infections, and he called for more resources to implement prevention strategies and develop
vaccines.

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, e-mail <jacobsl@unaids.org>, website (www.unaids.org). 


UNAIDS CALLS ON PRIVATE SECTOR
Health policy experts, researchers, physicians, economists and pharmaceutical manufacturers
from around the world participated in the Third International Conference on Healthcare
Resource Allocation for HIV/AIDS and Other Life-Threatening Illnesses, held in Vienna
(Austria) from 11-13 October 1999.  

"It has become increasingly apparent that companies can and should play a much greater role
in addressing the AIDS epidemic in the developing world," said Joseph Saba, conference chair
and Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) clinical research specialist. "In
fact, more companies are recognizing that investments in health and development around the
world are not simply philanthropic endeavours, but make sound economic sense." 

Case studies presented at the meeting focused on pilot programmes aimed at increasing access
to care, decreasing mother-to-child transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus that
causes AIDS, and treating and preventing other sexually transmitted infections as a strategy
for preventing new HIV infections. 

There were also sessions on industry's role in vaccine development, cost-benefit data on
prevention programmes, and clinical guidelines for the full range of HIV care in resource-poor
settings. 
"We now have many tools at our disposal to reduce the severity of the AIDS epidemic such as
condom promotion, voluntary counselling and testing, and community care programmes, and
they can readily be adapted for use by many different partners including corporations," said
Dr. Saba. "We can make a difference through greater collaboration across all levels of society,
especially the private sector." 

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, e-mail <jacobsl@unaids.org>, website (www.unaids.org). 


UNEP WORKSHOP ON FRESHWATER RESOURCES
Natural and social scientists discussed ways to sustainably manage freshwater resources in
Africa at a workshop held in Nairobi (Kenya) from 26-29 October 1999. The workshop,
organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was attended by over 60
scientists and specialists from Africa, Europe and North America.

To ensure that the poor in urban and rural areas get their share of safe water and water-based
services in the next millennium, freshwater resources need to be managed sustainably. For this
reason, the workshop aimed to contribute toward finding appropriate policy and programme
responses to these water-based needs by linking science and policy through an integrated
natural and social science approach.

Themes addressed were: water as a resource; water, human health and welfare; and integrated
land/water management. Participants discussed, among other things, problems of water
availability, the vulnerability of natural and socio-economic systems, and the driving forces
behind changes in land use. They stressed the need for integrated studies of interactions
between land use and climate and emphasized the importance of adequate clean water; the
availability of water for all; and the protection of groundwater sources from undesirable
impacts from floods and drought mitigation.

Participants identified six constraints and deficiencies that they said need to be addressed by
the scientific community: information and knowledge; role of governments; capacity building;
land management options; water management options; and involvement of stakeholders.

The workshop was jointly sponsored by the European Union, International
Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, Pan-Africa Systems Analysis for Research and Training
secretariat and UNEP. 

Contact: Bakary Kante, Acting Director, UNEP Regional Office for Africa, PO Box 30552,
Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/624065, fax +254-2/623928, website (www.unep.org).


SIXTH BILLIONTH WORLD CITIZEN BORN
"Baby Six Billion" was welcomed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a hospital in
Sarajevo (Bosnia-Hercegovina) on 12 October 1999, the day experts determined that the
world's population reached six billion. The symbolic designation was given to a newborn boy
in order to mark this unprecedented population milestone.

Reaching six billion has both positive and negative aspects, according to the United Nations
Population Fund (UNFPA). On the positive side, it is the result of personal choice and
collective action for better health and longer life. At the same time, the Day of Six Billion
challenges the international community to provide food, warmth, shelter, education, health
care and the basis for a dignified life for all people.

Currently 90% of the 356,000 babies born each day will be raised in developing countries,
where they are likely to face inequalities in access to basic resources. Of the 4.8 billion people
in developing countries, nearly three-fifth lack basic sanitation. Almost one-third have no
access to clean water. One-fourth do not have adequate housing, and one-fifth have no access
to modern health services. 

According to UNFPA, the Day of Six Billion "serves as a reminder to governments that they
must make good on the pledges they made at the 1994 Cairo Conference [see NGLS
Roundup, October 1994] in order to sustain the momentum toward reaching the Programme
of Action's goals and creating a better world for all of the planet's inhabitants six billion and
counting."

Contact: UNFPA, 220 E. 42nd Street, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone
+1-212/297 5011, fax +1-212/557 6416, website (www.unfpa.org).


PROTECTION OF CHILDREN DIALOGUE
The Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) of the UN General Assembly
initiated its discussions on promotion and protection of the rights of children on 27 October
1999. 

The dialogue involved Juan Somav¡a, Director-General of the International Labour Office;
Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund; Olara Otunnu, the
UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict; and Ofelia
Calcetos-Santos, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the sale of
children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The committee had before it the second annual report of the Special Representative on
children and armed conflict, which outlines nine key themes of victimization including children
maimed and killed; children uprooted from home and community; children facing survival
issues; children made orphans; and children used as combatants. Mr. Otunnu's report also
highlights initiatives to address children in armed conflict. These include raising the age limit
for recruitment and participation in armed conflict from 15 to 18, and addressing the political,
social and economic factors creating an environment that facilitates such exploitation.

"There are important trails that lead in and out of theatres of conflict," said Mr. Otunnu,
referring to the trade in minerals, timber and the supply of arms and money. "I call on the
international business community to assume its social and corporate responsibility in this
context, and refrain from doing business which fuels war machines in such situations." He
urged the business community to develop voluntary codes of conduct to help address this
issue.

Mr. Otunnu warned that an international community that is exposed to so much could come to
regard as "normal" the phenomenon of children in armed conflict. For this reason he said it is
vital for governments, UN agencies and NGOs to contribute to a self-sustaining critical mass
of activities and awareness at all levels and by all actors.

The committee also had before it a report of the Special Rapporteur on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography. In it Ms. Calcetos-Santos outlines the international
developments related to her mandate including an NGO consultation in June 1999 on the need
for a human rights framework regarding trafficking and the global sex industry. The
consultation recognized that although the crime of trafficking in persons involves trafficking in
women, men and children, a distinction must be made between adults and children because
their legal status and needs differ significantly from those of adults. 

Ms. Calcetos-Santos said that reports from around the world show children are being traded
for adoption, labour, criminal activities and marriages, as well as for the sale of organs (see Go
Between 75).

Mr. Somav¡a stressed that action rather than more policies, standards and understanding of
problems is needed. He reiterated the words of Mr. Otunnu when stressing that "the era of
application has arrived." Mr. Somav¡a said the ILO Convention on the Worst Forms of Child
Labour had universal support but unanimity had to be translated into implementation. To this
end, the ILO is conducting a global campaign and participating in national campaigns for
universal ratification of the convention.

Ms. Bellamy, who noted that it had been almost ten years since adoption of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child, said that during the past decade a momentum to mainstream concern
for child rights throughout the UN had grown. She observed, however, that in the same time
assistance to the world's poorest countries declined sharply, with countries where under five
year-old mortality is highest suffering the greatest impact. 

"During the same period," she said, "the process of globalization has led to increasing
disparities between and within nations." She observed that it was "wholly obscene"  how
hundreds of millions of children and women were not enjoying the fruits of the global
economy. 

Ms. Bellamy called on governments to take strong and assertive leadership and for civil
society to renew its commitment in the cause of children everywhere. 


SECOND COMMITTEE ON DESERTIFICATION
The UN General Assembly's Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met in New York
on 25-26 October 1999 to discuss desertification and progress in implementation of the UN
Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) in Those Countries Experiencing Serious
Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa. 

The CCD was adopted in 1994 and entered into force in December 1996. As of April 1999
instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the convention have been
deposited by 149 states and one regional economic organization. The CCD secretariat is
located in Bonn (Germany) and became operational on 1 January 1999.

The committee had before it a report of the Secretary-General (A/54/96) on the outcome of
the second session of the Conference of Parties (COP-2) to the convention, which took place
in Dakar (Senegal) from 30 November-11 December 1998. Committee members discussed
progress in implementation of the CCD since COP-2, and functioning of its Global Mechanism
(GM) to promote actions leading to the mobilization and channelling of substantial financial
resources. These include the transfer of technology to affected developing country Parties in
order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of existing financial mechanisms.

On behalf of the Group of 77 (G-77) and China, the representative of Guyana noted that not
enough effort is being made by the international community to combat desertification. He said
that limited progress in implementation of the convention had been accomplished largely with
the "already extremely inadequate resources of the affected countries themselves." The G-77
called for higher priority to be given to the convention by the international community,
including increased financial, scientific and technical support for the convention's
implementation and greater collaboration between the convention secretariat and the global
mechanism. The mechanism was established to promote actions leading to mobilization and
channelling of financial resources, including the transfer of technology, to affected developing
country Parties.

Finland, on behalf of the European Union (EU), said that since the focus in implementation of
the CCD was at the country level, the establishment and maintenance of a network of national
focal points is essential. The EU stressed the need for governments to respond by appointing
their own national focal points, and to integrate the goals and objectives of the CCD into
national planning processes. The EU noted that desertification and drought are cross-sectoral
issues that need an integrated approach.

Many governments emphasized that desertification cannot be considered a local or regional
problem, rather it requires coordinated efforts and international cooperation. Brazil cited the
loss of biodiversity, the compromised availability of water resources, and the resultant
migratory flows which it said have aggravated social problems. 

Norway, which noted that land degradation and food insecurity are closely linked to the
problem of poverty, called on the world community to meet the target of providing 0.7% of
gross domestic product as official development assistance (ODA). 

South Africa observed that recurrent droughts have become a fact of life in Africa's drylands,
which cover some 65% of the continent's total land area; the droughts are seriously affecting
agriculture and causing poverty and malnutrition. 

Senegal stressed that global and integrated protection of the environment is incompatible with
a selective approach; it noted that climate change and desertification necessitate action on all
levels. Senegal described "direct community involvement in the management of resources" as
crucial to its own national plan. 

Israel said it had successfully been experimenting with dryland development and is committed
to sharing the experience with other countries. Israel noted that its national Blaustein Institute
for Desert Research had been upgraded to an international centre for combatting
desertification.

The Executive Secretary of the CCD, Hama Arba Diallo (Senegal), emphasized that there was
more to the CCD than environmental degradation because desertification had worldwide
economic and social consequences. "Desertification contributes to massive migration
movement, conflicts and worsening poverty," Mr. Diallo said. "In recent years, millions of
desertification-induced migrants have been forced to abandon their land and search for a
means of survival in nearby urban centres or in other countries....Fortunately, desertification is
a problem for which there are solutions." He said implementing such solutions now would be
advisable and more economical than if countries waited any longer. 

Contact: Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification, Haus Carstanjen,
Martin-Luther-King Strasse 8, D-53175 Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/815 2802, fax
+49-228/ 815 2898, e-mail <webmaster@unccd.de>, website (www.unccd.ch).


MIGRATORY SPECIES CONVENTION COP-6
Governmental and non-governmental participants from 100 countries discussed the alarming
decline of migratory species at the Sixth Conference of the Parties to the Bonn Convention on
the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), held in Cape Town (South
Africa) from 6-16 November 1999. The main purpose of the CMS is to foster protection of
migratory species across national frontiers.
Among other things, participants decided by consensus that seven migratory species (six rare
birds and manatees in the marine areas of Panama and Honduras) be listed as endangered.
Another important decision relates to the more than 30 species currently listed as warranting
international transboundary coordination and concerted action. That decision will be subject to
the development of agreements and action plans among the respective Range States, which
exercise jurisdiction over any part of the range of a migratory species. 

The agreements and action plans will include transboundary research, monitoring,
conservation actions, harmonization of legislation, capacity building and public
awareness-raising activities. The next Conference of the Parties will be held in Bonn
(Germany) in 2002. 

To date, more than 80 wild animal species enjoy the strict protection offered by the Bonn
convention through being listed under Appendix I. Examples include many whale species,
dolphins, Monk Seals, bats, the Snow Leopard, turtles and many species of birds such as the
Osprey and the Siberian Crane.

For less endangered species (Appendix II) the convention requires specially tailored measures
and transboundary regional agreements. They aim to improve or maintain the species'
conservation status through agreed research, protected areas, public education, legislation and
mutual assistance.

Contact: A. Muller-Helmbrecht, Executive Secretary,         CMS Secretariat, United Nations
Environment Programme, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8, D-53175 Bonn, Germany, telephone
+49-228/815 2402, fax +49-228/815 2449, e-mail <cms@unep.de>, website
(www.wcmc.org.uk/cms). 


 GLOBAL SULLIVAN PRINCIPLES LAUNCHED
"Enlightened business leaders" recognize that their reputations, and even their bottom lines,
are intimately tied to good corporate citizenship, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told diplomats
and business leaders when launching the Global Sullivan Principles on 2 November 1999. The
launch, held in New York, was hosted by Reverend Leon Sullivan. The Global Sullivan
Principles stress the social responsibilities of corporations in areas such as environmental
practice, labour standards and job creation. 

"[The United Nations'] doors are open as never before to the business community, to NGOs,
to all the dynamic and impassioned forces of civil society," said Mr. Annan. "The question
today is not whether corporations have social responsibilities; clearly they do. Rather, the
crucial question now is how to create an environment in which business does what it does
best create jobs and wealth while ensuring that people's basic needs are met."

Mr. Annan referred to the Global Compact agreed earlier this year between the United Nations
and business, which calls for business to do more to protect human rights, the environment
and labour standards (see Go Between 76). He said that the Global Sullivan Principles can
help to implement the compact and give global markets more of a human face. 

"As we enter a new millennium," he concluded, "the United Nations needs the world's
business people to help it achieve its aims, and equally world business needs a strong United
Nations."

During the 1970s and 1980s, Rev. Sullivan employed the strategy of financial pressure to bring
about change in South Africa. During the time that he was the first black board member of
General Motors, Rev. Sullivan encouraged the company and other corporations to use their
economic influence to end apartheid. He called for a multinational boycott when black South
Africans were not given the right to vote, which eventually lead to companies around the
world pulling out of the country and devastating the economy. Many credit this pressure with
helping to bring about free elections in the country. Rev. Sullivan and Nelson Mandela are
now working to encourage companies to return to South Africa.



SOUTH ASIA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Democracy in South Asia is not about people but about access to state power, according to
the South Asia Human Development Report 1999, launched by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) in November. 

South Asia is the world's most corrupt region, according to Nadija Haq, Director of the
Mahbub Ul Haq Human Development Center in Islamabad (Pakistan), founded by the late
Mahbub Ul Haq who created the Global Human Development Report series. The report,
whose theme is Crisis of Governance in South Asia, focuses on problems faced by the
countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). They are:
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The report's concept of
human governance stresses that the key to promoting human development is government for
people and owned by people.

Ms. Haq said income disparities in the region are among the largest in the world the richest
20% earn almost 40% of income, and the poorest 20% earn less than 10% of income. Only
1% of South Asians pay income tax, while nearly 70% of the region's tax revenue is collected
through regressive, indirect tax. Ms. Haq observed that there is a growing perception that
corruption is floating upward, from petty-level corruption in the 1950s to mid-level corruption
in the 1960s and 1970s. It reached the highest levels of the state in the 1980s and 1990s, she
said. 

The report provides a plan to combat corruption including recommendations such as requiring
public officials to declare their assets; providing immunity to informers; implementing
transparent procurement laws; passing a right to information bill; and using independent
private sector auditors. 
Contact: Sid Kane, Department of Public Information, UNDP, 1 UN Plaza, New York NY
10017, United States, telephone +1-212/906 5324, fax +1-212/906 5364, e-mail
<sid.kane@undp.org> website (www.undp.org).


WHO CAMPAIGN AGAINST TOBACCO INDUSTRY
The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an unprecedented global campaign to
counter what it describes as the tobacco industry's deception around the world. 

The campaign entitled Tobacco Kills Don't Be Duped brings together senior health and media
activists from 20 countries to join forces with tobacco industry whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand
and the US state of California's successful anti-smoking programme. The campaign aims to
strengthen the ability of broadcast and newspaper journalists and other health communicators
worldwide to sift facts from fiction about tobacco use, its spread and promotion.

The initiative, which is based on California's successful counter-advertising campaigns and
community-based actions, will work to enhance population health literacy, promote healthy
choices, and influence public policy so that robust tobacco control measures and strict
regulation of the tobacco industry become a global reality.

"The tobacco industry has always had a wanton disregard for the truth," said Dr. Wigand, a
former researcher. "They've gotten away with it for decades in the United States and are still
getting away with it in other countries. The impact of their lies is more death, disease and
suffering."

Tobacco kills 11,000 people a day worldwide. By 2030, it will kill ten million people a year,
70% of them in the developing world, according to WHO. 

"Unfortunately, US tobacco companies are picking on developing countries to aggressively
market their products  products they know will cause death and disease," said Helen Brown
of the American Cancer Society, which supported the campaign launch.

WHO's multi-pronged global campaign will build on hard evidence of what works in tobacco
control. It will identify and disseminate success stories such as the one in California. In the
state lung cancer rates have been reduced by more than 14%, and for every dollar spent on
tobacco control there is a saving of US$3 in the cost of direct medical services for illness
caused by smoking. 

The tobacco industry is also undermining tobacco control policy, research and development
within the UN system including its member states, and within the academic and NGO
communities, according to WHO. In October 1999 WHO Director-General Gro Harlem
Brundtland called for a preliminary enquiry into the nature and extent of "undue influence"
that WHO says the tobacco industry has exercised over UN organizations.
"While the full extent of the tobacco industry's negative impact within the UN is not known,"
according to the organization, "an initial analysis shows clear efforts to prevent
implementation of healthy public policy and efforts to reduce funding of tobacco control
within UN organizations, with a view to safeguarding the tobacco industry's interests."

Dr. Brundtland said the US government has filed a case against the tobacco industry alleging
more than 100 acts of racketeering by it. The United Kingdom House of Commons has
launched an enquiry into the tobacco industry, and a growing number of WHO member states
are weighing their options to deal with the tobacco industry, including litigation.


In addition to the campaign, representatives from WHO's member states and NGOs met in
Geneva in October 1999 to begin work on a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
(FCTC). The convention would be the world's first multilaterally negotiated public health
treaty that aims to reduce global use of tobacco and thereby reduce tobacco-related deaths in
the next century. The working group meeting in October established the technical and
scientific foundation for ministerial negotiations, scheduled to begin in 2000. The convention
is expected to be opened for signature in 2003.

The process of developing and adopting the FCTC and related protocols will help mobilize
national and international technical and financial support for tobacco control, raise global
awareness about the unnecessary burden of disease brought about by tobacco use, and help
reveal the tobacco industry's practices, according to WHO. 

Also in October a coalition of NGOs formed the Network for Accountability of Tobacco
Transnationals. Among other things, the network aims to help ensure that the proposed WHO
convention "holds tobacco corporations to the highest common enforceable standards of
behaviour in their global operations." It said it would also organize a grassroots response to
attempts by the tobacco industry to water down the proposed treaty.

Contact: Derek Yach, Programme Manager, Tobacco Free Initiative, WHO, 20 avenue Appia,
CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-79/217 3404, e-mail <yachd@who.int>,
website (www.who.int). For information on the NGO network, contact INFACT, 46
Plympton Street, Boston MA 02118, United States, telephone +1-617/695 2525, fax
+1-617/695 2626, website (www.infact.org).


PROPOSALS TO CHANGE LDC CRITERIA
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) members were briefed on 28 October 1999 in New
York on proposals for revision of the criteria for identification of least developed countries
(LDCs) by Patrick Guillaumont (France), member of the ECOSOC Committee for
Development Policy (CDP).

In July 1998 ECOSOC requested the Committee for Development Policy to report on the
usefulness of a vulnerability index as a criterion for designation of the least developed
countries. The committee was also asked to give consideration to the work being done by
international organizations on the development of a vulnerability index for small states.

According to the committee vulnerability has not been, until now, an explicit criterion for the
designation of least developed countries. Nevertheless, since initial establishment of the list of
LDCs when low gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, a small share of manufacturing in
GDP and a low adult literacy rate were used as the criteria vulnerability has been considered
implicitly or additionally in determining LDC status.

Currently in order to be included on the list of LDCs, developing countries have to:
--   have a population of 75 million or less; 
--   fall below the threshold for the Augmented Physical Quality of Life Index (APQLI),
which combines education, nutrition and health measures; and 
--   fall below the threshold for the Economic Diversification Index (EDI), which combines
energy consumption, export, manufacturing and employment measures.

Mr. Guillaumont described the new Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI), which would replace
the old EDI (see CDP report E/1999/33). The EVI averages five components: export
concentration, instability of goods and services, instability of agricultural production, share of
manufacturing and modern services in GDP, and population size. He also described how the
LDC category would then cover low-income countries suffering from a low level of human
resource development and from a high degree of economic vulnerability. He noted that it was
difficult to capture all components of vulnerability in just one index; as a result, the EVI is
primarily focused on economic vulnerability. Mr. Guillaumont drew attention to innovations of
the new index and cited the consideration of "smallness" of population size, which would have
implications for small island developing states (SIDS). He said the quantitative EVI would be
supplemented with a qualitative "vulnerability profile" when countries lie near the threshold.
Such profiles are intended to assess the impact of external economic and natural shocks on the
economic performance and economic structure of a country.

A number of member states at the briefing called for rigorous testing and case studies to be
applied to the index in order to understand what implications the new criteria could have. 
Some suggested that ECOSOC move cautiously on adopting new criteria because of the
significant impact the changes could have on official development assistance and World Trade
Organization (WTO) status. Member states expressed concern about whether or not the new
index captured ecological vulnerabilities owing to desertification, forest depletion and climate
change, and they asked for reassurance that the new index could capture the particular
vulnerabilities of SIDS.  

In 2000 the Committee for Development Policy is expected to undertake the triennial review
of the list of LDCs, which will include consideration of possible new additions to and
graduations from the list. The committee has requested its secretary, Anatoly Smyshlyaev, in
cooperation with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, to submit all necessary
related calculations well in advance of the committee's next session, scheduled for April 2000. 


RESTORING PROPERTY RIGHTS IN KOSOVO
Laws discriminating against the housing rights of ethnic Albanians have been repealed in
Kosovo. The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), which said its efforts
helped lead to the repealed laws, noted that the work is part of a longer process to restore
housing rights and establish a Housing Property Body to deal with disputes in the province.

"Peace-building in Kosovo involves more than rebuilding damaged houses and re-housing
returning families," said Klaus T”pfer, Acting Executive Director of UNCHS (Habitat). "For
economic recovery, municipal administrations must be re-established and property rights
restored so that people can be given security of tenure."

Over the past months and as part of the first phase of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and UNCHS (Habitat) Balkans Task Force, Habitat collaborated with the
United Nations Mission in Kosovo to work on establishing a functioning civil administration
there. However rehabilitation has been made difficult because of a history of discriminatory
laws governing ownership of property, and wanton destruction or loss of the original cadastral
records.

Habitat and the UN Mission in Kosovo have agreed to continue collaborating until the end of
2000. During this phase Habitat hopes to establish mechanisms for mapping and recreating
land registration and titling systems to facilitate investment, reconstruction and rehabilitation.
It will also aim to provide direct technical assistance to re-establish municipal administrations
and to set up the necessary legal and institutional structures to ensure the property rights of all
citizens in Kosovo.

Contact: Sharad Shankardass, Press and Media Unit, UNCHS (Habitat), PO Box 30030,
Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623151, fax +254-2/624060, e-mail
<habitat.press@unchs.org>, website (www.unchs.org).


UN AND NGO NEWS

DISARMAMENT WEEK 1999
Disarmament Week was held at UN headquarters in New York during the week of 25 October
1999, against the backdrop of the US Senate's rejection of ratification of the Comprehensive
Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The NGO Committee on Disarmament sponsored a week-long
series of panel discussions on Critical Disarmament Issues, in cooperation with the UN
Department for Disarmament Affairs and UN Department of Public Information. 

A session on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the
Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention addressed the latest developments in these
instruments. The test ban treaty, which would ban all nuclear test explosions worldwide, can
only go into effect when 44 nuclear nations ratify it. To date only 26 nations have done so, and
the US, Russia and China have yet to ratify. 

Wolfgang Hoffman, executive secretary of the Vienna-based CTBT office, spoke about the
Entry Into Force conference held from 6-8 October in Vienna. It brought together signatories
and ratifiers of the treaty. He gave a detailed report about preparations for monitoring
implementation, including an international monitoring system of 321 seismic, hydroelectric and
infrasound stations including 16 radionucleide laboratories.  

Daryl Kimball of the US-based Coalition to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, said that while the
Clinton administration backed ratification, the US Senate's vote was primarily along partisan
lines with little debate about the treaty itself. Several US allies had made unprecedented
attempts to lobby in favour of ratification. According to polls, the US public remains heavily in
favour of the treaty. Participants in the session expressed concern that the action may
inadvertently encourage some countries to reinitiate nuclear testing. 

In a forum on A Code of Conduct for Outer Space?, Richard Garwin, Senior Fellow for
Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States, enumerated
the many important peaceful uses of outer space in contrast to what he described as the
negligible military benefits to be gained from its militarization. 

Marc Vidricaire of the Canadian delegation said that Canada has proposed that the Conference
on Disarmament create an ad hoc committee to negotiate a legally binding instrument to ban
the use of weapons positioned in outer space against targets on the ground or in the
atmosphere. He noted that in terms of policy as well as research and development, several
states, led by the US, are moving closer to decisions to develop and deploy space-based
weapons. "If one state actively pursues [the militarization] of space," he said, "we can be sure
others will follow. " 

A forum on Disarmament and Development: Transparency, Accountability and Good
Governance, co-sponsored by the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development, included
panellists from the Overseas Development Council, United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Discussion focused on
how civil society can monitor and engage the security sector of governments. Some
participants said the sector, including planning and budgeting, should be accessible to the
public. 

A discussion on small arms underscored the need to identify primary suppliers and recipients
of small arms; to explore a code of conduct on arms movements; and to consider the state of
human rights in the receiving country.

A panel on Technical and Political Aspects of Depleted Uranium Weaponry (DU) presented
contrasting viewpoints on the potential danger of these weapons. Colonel Eric Daxon of the
US Army Medical Command said depleted uranium weaponry used in the Gulf War is unlikely
to have caused the illnesses that many veterans now have, or to be the cause of public health
problems in Iraq. 

Dan Fahey of the Military Toxics Project, who questioned the validity of research cited by
Col. Daxon, said that the US had left in Iraq contaminated equipment and tanks on which
children now play. He called for objective research on the link between DU and the increase in
health problems and birth deformities in Iraq. 

Contact:  NGO Committee on Disarmament, 777 UN Plaza, Suite 3B, New York NY 10017,
United States, telephone +1-212/687 5340, fax +1-212/687 1643, website
(www.igc.apc.org/disarm).


NGO LOSES CONSULTATIVE STATUS
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted on 26 October 1999 to withdraw the
consultative status of Christian Solidarity International (CSI), based on a complaint filed by
the government of Sudan (see Go Between 77). CSI had accredited as its representative at a
meeting of the Commission on Human Rights in March 1999 John Garang, who identified
himself as Commander of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and of the
National Democratic Alliance. 

ECOSOC had before it a recommendation by its NGO Committee to withdraw the
consultative status of CSI; the decision was reached following a meeting between CSI and the
committee. In that meeting, the NGO Committee voted in favour of withdrawing CSI's
status fourteen members voted for withdrawal, one member was opposed, and there were
four abstentions. 

Francesco Paolo Fulci, President of ECOSOC, said he had tried hard to ensure that the culture
of compromise within the council prevailed over dissension. He said his preference would have
been to reach a consensus decision within the council rather than by a vote. Mr. Fulci
described how 29 delegations would have supported a compromise involving suspension
rather than withdrawal of consultative status of CSI, but that all such efforts had failed.

A representative of Sudan, speaking before the vote, said that "the practices such as those
which CSI undertook pose danger to the security of member states of the UN and trample on
their sovereignty and integrity. CSI has refused to admit its error and poisoned the atmosphere
of compromise by issuing press communiques and casting doubt on the abilities of the NGO
Committee."

Finland, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), acknowledged the efforts of Sudan
and others, including the ECOSOC president, in trying to reach a consensus solution. The
Finnish representative said, however, that the EU was unable to support the recommendation
because CSI had not engaged in a "pattern of acts" warranting withdrawal.

Lesotho raised the question of whether or not the NGO Committee had done its work
properly, referring to the committee's obligations under ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, Part
VIII on suspension and withdrawal of consultative status, which governs the relationship
between ECOSOC and NGOs. Lesotho suggested that ECOSOC issue clear instructions to
NGOs making it clearer how the resolution translates into obligations for them.

The representative of Cuba, who defended the work of the NGO Committee, said it had given
great attention to the CSI case and that it had complied with all necessary procedures.

The United States, which also spoke before the vote, said that "the withdrawal of CSI's
accreditation by ECOSOC would silence a beneficial voice that has made a mistake. We urge
the members of the council to give this matter serious consideration, and join us in opposing
withdrawal." 

The roll call vote was as follows: 26 in favour of withdrawing consultative status (Algeria,
Belarus, Bolivia, Cape Verde, China, Colombia, Comoros, Cuba, Djibouti, Gambia,
Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Russian
Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Turkey, Venezuela, Viet Nam); 14
against (Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Latvia,
Lesotho, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, United Kingdom, United States); and 12 abstentions
(Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, France, Honduras, Italy, Mauritius, Mozambique, Republic of
Korea, Sierra Leone, Spain and Zambia).


PARTNERSHIP FUND FOR TRANSPARENCY
The Partnership Fund for Transparency, launched by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) in October 1999, will support anti-corruption initiatives in developing
countries. The fund is a joint initiative of UNDP and Transparency International, an NGO
dedicated to increasing government accountability and curbing international and national
corruption. The partnership fund will provide resources to help civil society organizations
design, implement and monitor anti-corruption programmes.

The fund will be established as a non-governmental non-profit organization, based initially in
Washington DC. Activities that it will support include the design of anti-corruption measures,
surveys, public information and advocacy campaigns, and training programmes. It will also
promote South-South exchange. 

The two main objectives of the fund are to assist civil society organizations with expertise
related to combating corruption; and provide training to build their capacity, management and
advocacy skills. 

Corruption has become a crucial global concern, forcing international institutions and national
governments to face up to the question of whether public resources and aid money are stolen
or squandered. Governments, civil society, the private sector and international organizations
have a role to play to combat and prevent corruption, according to UNDP.

The announcement of the fund's creation was made by Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP
Administrator, during the Ninth International Anti-Corruption Conference held in Durban
(South Africa) from 10-15 October. Almost 1,500 representatives of governments, NGOs, the
private sector and international organizations participated in the event, whose theme was
Global Integrity: 2000 and Beyond Developing Anti-Corruption Strategies in a Changing
World. Participants discussed, among other things, best practices and ways to strengthen
networks dealing with accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance. 

The conference was organized by Transparency International and hosted by the Ministry of
Justice of South Africa; sponsors included UNDP, the World Bank and the government of
Switzerland.

Contact: Obi Emekekwue, Public Affairs Officer, Media Relations, UNDP, 1 UN Plaza, New
York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/906 5322, e-mail
<obi.emekekwue@undp.org>, website (www.undp.org).


AGEQUAKE DEBATES CONTINUE AT UN
The third in a series of four Agequake Debates, entitled Generations of Peacemakers, was held
at the United Nations in New York on 12 October 1999. Six experts participated, including
Kevin Kennedy of the Peace and Security Section, UN Department of Public Information;
Karalenne Gayle, Office of the General Counsel, New York Stock Exchange; Gouri
Sadhawani, Hague Appeal for Peace Foundation; and Marcella Bakur Weiner, Marymount
Manhattan College in New York. The debate centred around questions concerning: 
--   how older persons can participate more fully as protagonists in the name of peace
while working with the young and creating shared perspectives; 
--   whether older persons committed to the cause of peace can make a viable difference;
and 
--   whether society and influential organizations can give older persons a more substantive
role and stronger voice in peacemaking efforts.

The debates are part of an effort to spotlight ageing issues during the 1999 International Year
of Older Persons (IYOP). The New York NGO Committee on Aging, in cooperation with the
UN secretariat and the UN Consultative Group for the IYOP, has organized the debates and
dedicated them to Ambassador Julia T. Alvarez (Dominican Republic). She initiated the 1991
General Assembly resolution that resulted in the IYOP's observance. She also coined the term
"agequake," which alludes to the need for an international response to the enormous
demographic changes the world is undergoing.

According to the UN, every month one million people turn 60 years of age. Behind these
numbers is a stark reality: there are people in society who can both produce and consume
goods and services, while others can only be consumers mostly the very young and the very
old. When the number of producers declines and the number of those who can only consume
increases, a scramble for scarce resources ensues. 

Participants in the second agequake debate focusing on Interdependence of Generations:
Ability Not Chronology, held at UN headquarters on 10 June 1999, predicted an "age war"
over the allocation of limited resources. They warned that politicians might try to set the old
against the young at election time and drive "a wedge between generations."

The first debate in the series, held on 4 March 1999, dealt with the theme Ageing and Gender:
Are There Different Scripts for Men and Women? Experts from the fields of health,
demographics and the media participated. The fourth and final debate will take place at UN
headquarters in February 2000.

Contact: Development and Human Rights Section, UN Department of Public Information,
United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8104, fax
+1-212/963 1186, website (www.un.org/esa/socdev/iyop) or NGO Committee on Aging, 49
West 45th Street, 7th Floor, New York NY 10036, United States, telephone +1-212/398
3175, fax +1-212/869 8042.


AWID MEETING ADDRESSES WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
The Association for Women in Development (AWID) brought together more than 1,000
participants at its eighth International Forum, held in Washington DC from 11-14 November
1999. They included many women from Southern NGOs and young women. Also present
were leaders of the global women's movement including activists, scholars, students and
policy-makers. Discussions focused on analyzing realities, assessing gains, networking and
strategizing on future action. The conference theme, Leading Solutions for Equality and
Justice, was addressed through plenaries, workshops, skill-building sessions, caucuses and
visits to the US Congress and the World Bank. 

Incoming AWID President Joanna Kerr of Canada said the conference goals included fostering
feminist leadership and developing strategic solutions. "We have to move from analysis into
action," she said. "We're going to have to be more courageous to create radical change."  

In the opening plenary Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), noted that major challenges in the next century
have to do with the trend of increasing globalization, or "problems without borders." Many
experience globalization, she said, "not as an agent of progress, but as a disruptive force
destroying lives and jobs, increasing inequalities and creating new poverties." Ms. Heyzer
highlighted the power of organized community groups as a force for change. 

New Zealand feminist Marilyn Waring called on women to challenge official development aid
that she said supports programmes exploiting women workers, from the garment industry to
agriculture. "There can be no  development' while women are everywhere exploited," she
said. 

Sessions focused on: 
--   how women are transforming development and economics; 
--   linkages between economics and human rights in an era of free trade; 
--   leadership and the next generation; 
--   women's organizing and organizational transformation; 
--   technological changes and choices; and 
--   the politics of the global women's movement. 

One plenary session, entitled Is Gender Equality Ultimately Achievable within Capitalism?,
drew divergent conclusions. Barbara Herz of the United States Treasury Department argued
that "capitalism is here to stay. Market driven economies are growing better. Making this
process work for women is a political, not economic issue." Yassine Fall of the Association
for African Women for Research and Development in Senegal said the free market ignores the
unequal distribution of wealth. She said the situation, which is due in part to colonialism,
excludes women and poor people. Other plenaries focused on young women and feminism,
leadership and strategies for change. 

An evening caucus on the UN General Assembly Special Session on Women 2000: Gender
Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century (Beijing+5) drew 200
participants. They reported on official and NGO preparations for the review, including reports
from regions (see Go Between 76). Convenors from the NGO planning committee emphasized
the importance of utilizing the review process to focus on government accountability at the
national level. 

Contact: Association for Women in Development, 666 11th Street NW, Suite 450,
Washington DC 20001, United States, telephone +1-212/628 0440, fax +1-212/628 0442,        
e-mail <awid@awid.org>, website (www.awid.org).


GA RESOLUTION ON UN AND IPU 
The United Nations General Assembly has said that cooperation with the Inter-Parliamentary
Union (IPU) should be furthered strengthened in a resolution adopted in October 1999, and
said it welcomed support provided by national parliaments through the IPU. 

The assembly requested the UN Secretary-General to examine possibilities of inviting the IPU
to report to it at its 55th session on outcomes of the Conference of Presiding Officers of
National Parliaments. The conference is scheduled to be held from 30 August to 1 September
2000, prior to the Millennium Assembly (see Go Between 73).

A report of the UN Secretary-General (A/54/379) highlights increasing collaboration between
the UN and IPU, and outlines various cooperative activities. In promoting peace and security,
it says IPU has supported issues such as: 
--   the call for nuclear non-proliferation measures; 
--   the worldwide ban on anti-personnel mines; 
--   ensuring respect of the norms of international humanitarian law; and 
--   the call for signing and ratifying the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court.

The IPU works closely with the UN system to promote representative democracy, the report
says. The IPU has supported the UN on projects involving advisory services and technical
assistance to parliaments. IPU has contributed to the preparation of a UN survey on The
World's Women 2000: Trends and Statistics, which will be presented to the General Assembly
in June 2000. Another area of cooperation is the field of human rights through ratification of
the main human rights instruments, adoption of national plans of action, and technical
cooperation.

The report highlights follow-up to major UN conferences as another area that receives support
from the IPU, such as its activities on sustainable and social development, food security, child
labour, desertification, urban development and HIV/AIDS.

Contact: Inter-Parliamentary Union, CP 438, CH-1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland, telephone
+41-22/919 4150, fax +41-22/919 4160, e-mail <postbox@mail.ipu.org>, website
(www.ipu.org).


UNDP NETAID WEBSITE FEATURES 
The NetAid website (www.netaid.org), which was launched in October 1999 by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will be evolving rapidly over the coming months.
It will soon offer a host of new features including on-line chats with people concerned about
ending extreme poverty, and a swap-shop where registered charities from developed and
developing countries can advertise for assistance. 

NGOs can join the website by filling out an electronic sign-up form under the "join" button
and indicating the organization's type or focus: women, health, indigenous concerns, social
services, research, community based activities, environment, labour, religion, advocacy, or
politics. They can also select an area for information on NetAid themes, subscribe to
newsletters about them, or send comments. The themes include ending hunger, helping
refugees, saving the environment, securing human rights and relieving debt. 

Contact: Djibril Diallo, Director, Division of Public Affairs, UNDP, 1 UN Plaza, New York
NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/906 5300, fax +1-212/906 5307,       e-mail
<djibril.diallo@undp.org>, website (www.netaid.org).


WHOSE WORLD IS IT ANYWAY?
An international team, with strong NGO experience, has evaluated outcomes and follow-up of
the UN world conferences held during the 1990s in order to suggest ways forward for civil
society as it faces the challenges of global governance.

The study, entitled Whose World Is It Anyway?: Civil Society, the UN and the Multilateral
Future, was sponsored by the United Nations Association in Canada with backing from the
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and several development agencies and UN programmes. It
was conducted by an international team headed by John W. Foster, a human rights specialist
and former head of OXFAM-Canada. Contributors included Anita Anand of the Women's
Feature Service, reproductive health specialist Jing de la Rosa, Third World Institute head
Roberto Bissio, British academic Peter Willetts, Indian development advocate Jai Sen, and
Canadian academic Michael Oliver.

The study examines the results and significance of the world conferences in the context of
wider multilateral developments in the 1990s, including NGO relations with the Group of
Seven (G-7) and the World Bank. It says that both the emergence of new trade and investment
regimes including the World Trade Organization and the ill-fated Multilateral Agreement on
Investment, as well as needed reform of the world's multilateral economic institutions,
represent a serious challenge to achieving the visions of the conferences.

The study, also available in French, summarizes lessons learned from NGO experiences in
dealing with the multilateral "theatres." It makes a number of recommendations for the reform
of international governance and NGO approaches toward it. The possibilities for improved
global organizing and advocacy are also explored. 

The results of the study were released at the World Civil Society Conference in Montreal
(Canada), held on 7-11 December 1999. 
Contact: United Nations Association in Canada, 900-130 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada K1P 6E2, telephone +1-613/232 5751, fax +1-613/563-2455, e-mail
<unac@magi.com>, website (www.unac.org).


NGO RESOURCE ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT
The Quaker United Nations Office in New York has produced a book on the United Nations'
financing for development process entitled Building a Common Future: United Nations Work
on Financing for Development. The Conference on Financing for Development (see Go
Between 74), to be held in 2001, will provide a high-level meeting for member states and the
UN system to address debt, trade, official and private financial flows, and issues related to
global financial architecture.

"Given the importance of this topic within the UN and its relation to other multilateral
institutions," said Lori Heninger of the Quaker UN Office, "it seemed critical for mission staff,
NGOs, and other interested persons to have a reference for the proceedings."  

The book, geared toward NGOs, contains a brief history of the financing for development
process within the UN, an overview of development frameworks in relation to the debate, a
glossary of terms, and a chapter on getting involved in the financing for development process.
The book notes that the UN world conferences during the 1990s and the Agenda for
Development, adopted by the General Assembly in 1994, have created the framework of a
development agenda. It proposes that NGOs regard the financing for development process as
a key step in implementation of conferences on environment, population, social development,
women, children, housing and food.

During the 52nd and 53rd General Assemblies, the Second Committee (Economic and
Financial) took up preparations for the 2001 conference. This was followed in the first half of
1999 by the work of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Financing for Development.

Contact: Quaker United Nations Office, 777 UN Plaza, 5th Floor, New York NY 10017,
United States, telephone +1-212/ 682 2745, e-mail <qunony@pipeline.com>, website
(www.afsc.org/quno.htm).


NGO NEWS


CONFERENCE ON THE USE OF CHILD SOLDIERS
The European Conference on Child Soldiers, held in Berlin (Germany) from 18-20 October
1999, called on European states to end the use of children as child soldiers. 

The conference, organized by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and sponsored
by the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) of the European Commission,
brought together 180 governmental and non-governmental participants from 35 countries.  

Participants adopted the Berlin Declaration, which calls for the adoption and implementation
of new international law prohibiting all participation in armed conflicts of children under 18.
Some countries Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands and the United
Kingdom refused to support a call for an international prohibition on all recruitment of
children under 18. Over half of all European states accept under-18s in their armed forces. 

The United Kingdom, for example, recruits more than 1,000 16 year-olds each year and sends
17 year-olds into combat even though legally at that age they are not allowed to buy alcohol,
vote or join the police force. 

Jo Becker, chair of the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, called on Europe "to lead
by good example, not by double standards." 

The Berlin Declaration calls for European governments and relevant organizations to, among
other things:
--   set up an early warning system to monitor recruitment of children as soldiers;
--   create an international monitoring mechanism to provide yearly updates and national
analysis on legal standards on recruitment and deployment of children and the actual use of
children in armed conflict;
--   support information and awareness campaigns on the Convention on the Rights of the
Child aimed at civil society, the armed forces, armed groups and peacekeeping forces;
--   recognize the link between the availability of small arms and child soldiers, and use
economic and political influence on the trade in small arms;
--   use development aid as a means of protecting child soldiers;
--   secure financial assistance for programmes aimed at child soldiers; and
--   ensure that peace agreements recognize and provide for the demobilization,
rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers.

The declaration also recommends holding an international conference in the year 2000 to
address issues related to war-affected children. 

Currently there are over 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. The coalition is promoting the
adoption of an Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which would
set a minimum age of 18 for all recruitment and participation in hostilities.

Contact: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, 11-13 chemin des Anemones, CH-1219
Chatelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, e-mail <child.soldiers@wanadoo.fr>, website
(www.child-soldiers.org).


JUBILEE SOUTH-SOUTH SUMMIT
Jubilee South, a movement of Jubilee debt cancellation campaigns and social movements (see
Go Between 63), held a South-South Summit in Johannesburg (South Africa) from 18-21
November 1999 in order to, among other things, discuss campaign strategies. 

Jubilee South emerged out of a series of consultations among debt campaigns in Latin
America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia-Pacific. Over recent months, Jubilee South has
suggested that the international Jubilee movement needed a specific South perspective and
strategy for debt cancellation. During the summit Jubilee South acknowledged its debt
cancellation colleagues in the North, saying that they are playing a very important role in the
global campaign. However it added that "we believe it is necessary for activists from the South
to be given the space to come together and develop their visions, perspectives and strategies."
Organizers are hoping for a process in the near future of broad engagement and consultation
with campaigns in the North to strengthen the global campaign. 
. 
At the summit 130 delegates from 33 countries participated in numerous sessions on debt
cancellation, focusing on: History, Politics, Structural Roots and Impact of Debt; Reflection
and Critique on "Debt Relief" Initiatives; Reflection and Critique on Debt Campaigns and
Challenges for the South; Action on Major Points of Unity from Cologne to Johannesburg;
and Plans for Global Work.

Delegates came to an agreement on principles, perspectives and a strategic framework for
addressing the debt problem. Jubilee South reiterated its call for total debt cancellation for all
developing countries; it said that it is the North that is in debt historically, ecologically,
socially and morally to the peoples of the South. In a statement to the media, Jubilee South
noted that the slogans "Don't Owe, Won't Pay" and "Who owes Whom?" summed up the
principles of the movement.

Delegates demanded an end to structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) and all new versions
of SAPs, including those in the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative and
the new IMF Poverty Reduction Facility. They identified Jubilee South's strategy as placing
primary attention on the need to change policies and approaches toward debt and
neo-liberalism in their own countries. They called on movements and Jubilee campaigns in the
North to press for total debt cancellation for all developing countries "not as a matter of
charity or provision of credit relief, but as an elementary act of justice." Njongonkulu
Ndungane, Archbishop of Cape Town, called on leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) countries
to hold their meeting next year in Arusha (Tanzania) and declare their total commitment to
cancellation of all unpayable debts of developing countries. 

Contact: Lidy Nacpil, Philippine Jubilee 2000 Campaign, 34 Matiyaga Street, Central District,
Quezon City 1101, Philippines, telephone +63-2/921 1985, fax +63-2/924 6399, e-mail
<fdc@skyinet.net>, or Neville Gabriel, Jubilee 2000 South Africa, 43 Fraser Street, Howick
3290, South Africa, telephone +27-33/330 8162, e-mail <j2000sec@sn.apc.org>, website
(www.aidc.org.za/j2000).


 MARCH OF THE AMERICAS
Poor people's organizations from across the United States and the Americas presented
grievances to the UN's Special Rapporteur on Poverty in New York on 1 November 1999.
NGOs from the United States, Latin America and Canada, led by the Poor People's Economic
Human Rights Campaign, participated in a month-long march from Washington DC to United
Nations headquarters to highlight what they described as the US government's failure to
adhere to economic human rights standards regarding the provision of basic human needs. 

Campaign organizers cited Articles 23, 25 and 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights when affirming the right to jobs at a living wage and just conditions of work; the right
to the well-being of a person and their family including food, clothing, housing, medical care
and necessary social services; and the right to education.

The march, initiated by the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU) of Philadelphia
(United States), was part of a countrywide campaign in which poor families and homeless
people are documenting economic human rights violations and highlighting poverty as a
human rights violation. These include public housing residents facing demolition of their
homes, welfare recipients about to be cut off from public assistance due to recent US
legislation, and the plight of farmworkers. 

Campaign organizers said that despite a protracted economic boom in the US, poverty is
growing. About 36.5 million people live below the official poverty line, and both social
services and public assistance are declining dramatically. 

Latin American groups participating in the march came from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,
Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Puerto Rico. They included the Landless
Peasant's Movement of Brazil (MST), Communities of the Population in Resistance (CPR) of
Guatemala, and the Continental Front of Community Organisations of Mexico.

The march had broad support from several labour unions, religious leaders, students,
universities, women's organisations and NGOs in the US, as well as European representation
through the Dutch Unemployed Union and the European Anti-Poverty Network. 

According to the Poor People's Campaign, "By organizing and uniting with doctors, lawyers,
social workers, musicians and artists, students, religious leaders and union members, the poor
and their growing organisations can break their isolation and can come together to build a
massive movement to end poverty." They also underscored the importance of poor people's
leadership in building this movement. 

The campaign hopes to bring international attention to "the role of the US government in
impoverishment of people of the US, as well as its role in impoverishment of peoples of
Canada, Latin America and the world." 

In a closing rally on 1 November, the campaign announced that it had recently filed a petition
against the United States regarding the violation of economic human rights to the Inter
American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States. Next year
the campaign will expand beyond the Americas, with plans for a Poor People's Summit in
India. 

Contact: Kensington Welfare Rights Union, PO Box 50678, Philadelphia PA 19132, United
States, telephone +1-215/203 1945, fax +1-215/203 1950, website
(www.libertynet.org/kwru).



FATAL TRANSACTIONS CAMPAIGN
The Fatal Transactions campaign was launched by a coalition of human rights and
development groups in October 1999 to alert the public to the US$42 billion diamond trade
the coalition says has been funding rebel armies across Africa throughout the past decade. 

"Most people would be horrified to learn that their diamond jewelry had financed the purchase
of landmines or guns of one of Africa's brutal conflicts," said Alex Yearsley of Global
Witness, based in the United Kingdom. Other members of the coalition are German-based
Medico International, the Netherlands Institute for Southern Africa, and Netherlands
Organization for International Development Cooperation (NOVIB).

Diamonds originating from the war-torn countries of Angola, Sierra Leone, the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and Liberia are being sold in jewelry shops worldwide, according to
the coalition. They note that in Angola between 1992-1997, more than 500,000 people died
while the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) earned US$3.67
billion in illegal diamond sales. In Sierra Leone during 1991-1999, more than 50,000 people
died while US$200 million in diamonds was illegally exported. And in Liberia between
1989-1997, about 150,000 people died and millions were lost in illegal diamond revenues. 

"The conflicts in those countries," according to the coalition, "have resulted in the deaths of
hundreds of thousands of civilians, the maiming of thousands of women and children by
landmines and the displacement of millions of refugees. Despite this, the companies that
engage in the trade have failed to put any controls in place to ensure that their diamonds have
not funded the purchase of weapons for rebel armies."

Fatal Transactions is calling on the public and other interested organizations to ask diamond
trade leaders to implement effective controls. They say diamond revenues can bring enormous
benefit to a country's economy if controlled in a transparent manner, as it is now in Botswana,
Namibia and South Africa. "Consumers have the right to expect that their diamonds do not
fund conflict," coalition members said. "This campaign is not anti-diamond, but it is anti-war." 

On 5 October 1999 the De Beers company, whose Central Selling Organisation (CSO) has
about 80% of the world diamond market, announced it will no longer buy Angolan diamonds.
The company is also reviewing its buying operations in West and Central Africa (see Go
Between 77). While the announcement was welcomed by the coalition, a spokesperson for
Global Witness remained skeptical and called on the company to "publicly clarify exactly what
measures this review will include if they are to restore public and private sector confidence in
their purchasing operations in order to safeguard the legitimate sections of the diamond
industry."

The campaign not only singles out diamond trade leaders for failing to properly implement an
embargo, but also UN member states. It says countries with important trading in diamonds
have failed to take measures to prevent the sale of unofficial diamond exports from Angola.
This, according to the campaign, has enabled rebel groups to re-arm and maintain supplies,
despite UN-sponsored peace processes.

Contact: Global Witness, PO Box 6042, London N19 5WP, United Kingdom, telephone
+44-171/272 6731, fax +44-171/272 9425, e-mail <gwitness@gn.apc.org>, website
(www.oneworld.org/globalwitness).


LISTENING TO PEOPLE ON WAR 
More than 20,000 people in 17 countries civilians and combatants alike were interviewed
between October 1998 and September 1999 to find out what basic rules they think should be
implemented in war and why those rules are so often violated. The People on War Project, a
worldwide consultation on the rules to limit violence in warfare, was launched by the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1998.

The results of this most extensive exercise in social research ever undertaken on war have
been compiled in country reports. Those published in October cover four countries that have
experienced war in recent years Bosnia-Hercegovina, Colombia, Lebanon and Somalia and
four others that play an important role regarding international and regional peace and security
policy in their capacity as permanent members of the UN Security Council. They are France,
the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States. 

"An overwhelming majority of the populations surveyed, between 87% and 98%, are of the
opinion that in war civilians should be spared from attack," said Christophe Girod, head of the
People on War Project. "Even at this early stage in our evaluation, we can see that the
problem is not anything as simple as a breakdown in people's sense of morality. Rather, as
conflict situations unfold, both civilians and combatants find their perceptions of their original
beliefs changing. As a result of both this change and the particular nature of most of today's
armed conflicts, it has grown less and less clear what the word  civilian' actually means to
people."

The reports explain the reasons for this shift in perceptions and how civilians easily pass a
threshold beyond which they are viewed as taking part in the conflict. Being forced to provide
food, shelter or information to combatants or doing so voluntarily leads to a blurring of the
line between civilian and combatant. 

Unfortunately, this is much more likely to occur in modern-day conflicts, in which the
population as a whole can easily be viewed by one side or the other as taking part. As one war
victim explained, "Civil war is harder than international war, in which you can tell who your
enemy is." 

Moreover, in the growing number of identity-driven conflicts, warfare is perceived by
combatants as an act of self-defence on the part of the particular group to which they belong.
This frequently erases the distinction between civilians and combatants as laid down in
international humanitarian law. As one ex-soldier claimed, "It is not a crime when you are
defending your home and family."

Most of the interviews were carried out through extensive standardized questionnaires, in
addition to over 250 individual and 100 focus-group discussions that were recorded and
transcribed. 

Contact: Public Information Division, ICRC, 19 avenue de la Paix, CH-1202 Geneva,
Switzerland, telephone +41-22/734 6001, fax +41-22/733 2057, e-mail <press.gva@icrc.org>,
website (www.icrc.ch).


INTERNATIONAL BUY NOTHING DAY
In a critique of over-consumption in the world's developed countries, NGOs and activists in
Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States promote a Buy Nothing Day
each year in November. 

The 1992 Earth Summit pointed to global consumption and production patterns as central
elements of environmental degradation, including toxic pollution and climate change.
According to organizers of the Buy Nothing Day, 20% of the earth's population, primarily in
developed countries, consumes 86% of its resources this overconsumption is killing the
planet. They cite the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report,
which says that one child in a developed country will consume, waste and pollute as much as
50 children in a developing country. 

Buy Nothing Day, founded in Canada in 1992, was celebrated in 1999 on 26-27 November.
Organizers called on consumers to refrain from shopping in order to contemplate the
"shop-'til-you drop" consumer culture and its effects on the rest of the world. 

Organizers used "uncommercials" on radio and TV, billboards, posters, street theatre and
demonstrations to challenge Christmas shoppers to consider the implications of their
consumption on the environment, employment, advertising and people's working conditions
both locally and globally. Organizers say they are neither anti-retailer nor anti-trade, but want
to encourage consumers to reduce what they find useless in their lives, and to re-use and
recycle where possible. Reassessing values asking whether more is always better, and
questioning the often manipulative role of advertising is also a central element.

The group Enough!, based in the United Kingdom, and Adbusters, based in Canada, organized
national Buy Nothing Days. In the Netherlands activities took place in over 20 cities. Activists
in New Zealand designed a school kit and "shopaholics quiz" for teenagers. Women students
in Boulder (United States) presented a mock beauty pageant, "Ms. Assembly Line," to focus
on the gender implications of sweatshop labour and to call for ethical consumption and
corporate accountability in labour practices.

Contact: The Media Foundation, 1243 West 7th Avenue, Vancouver BC, Canada V6H 1B7,
telephone +1-604/736 9401, fax +1-604/737 6021, website (www.adbusters.org) or Omslag,
Workshop for Sustainable Development, PO Box 163, NL 5270 AD Sint-Michielsgestel,
Netherlands, website (www.ddh.nl/bnd).


CHILD SPONSORSHIP MONITORING PROGRAMME
InterAction's Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) Standards Committee has recommended
hiring a nonprofit group as an independent monitoring agency in charge of making sure that
InterAction's child sponsorship members are voluntarily meeting expanded child sponsorship
standards. The standards were developed to foster confidence in child sponsorship
programmes and ensure that they meet their advertised goals (see Go Between  71).

"This is the first step towards designing an accreditation programme for child sponsorship
agencies," said Paul Thompson, chair of the PVO Standards Committee. "The agencies have a
truly sincere desire to do something profound to protect this unique way of helping poor
communities and connecting with Americans." 

Under the standards, child sponsorship programmes agree to, among other things, regularly
update a sponsor about the status of the child they are sponsoring and use money generated by
sponsors in a manner consistent with the agency's advertising.

The new child sponsorship standards, initiated in 1997, were approved in November 1998 and
took effect in January 1999. Once the selection of the independent monitoring agency is
finalized, it will work to develop an accreditation programme. 

InterAction is a broadly-based coalition of over 150 private and voluntary organizations
working on international development, refugee assistance and protection, disaster relief and
preparedness, public policy, and education of the American public about the developing world.

Contact: Lori Rosso, Executive Officer, InterAction, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite
701, Washington DC 20036, United States, telephone +1-202/667 8227, fax +1-202/667
8236, website (www.interaction.org).


OTHER NEWS

WTO RELEASES REPORT ON THE ENVIRONMENT
On 14 October 1999 the World Trade Organization (WTO) secretariat released a Special
Study on Trade and Environment, which says that international economic integration and
growth reinforces the need for sound environmental policies, nationally and internationally. 

The report, which does not necessarily represent the WTO's views, argues that there is no
basis for sweeping generalizations along the lines that trade is either good or bad for the
environment. The "real world" linkages are a little bit of both and depend considerably on
environmental policies accompanying trade liberalization. 

The report concedes that international trade can have negative environmental impacts, such as
increased pollution associated with the transportation of goods, or expansion of trade in
resource-intensive sectors such as unsustainable logging. It stresses that environmental
measures are sometimes defeated because certain industrial lobbies successfully argue that
tighter regulations will prevent them from competing internationally. The report also notes
that when trade and investment barriers are removed, industries then become more mobile and
more difficult to regulate.

However, the main message of the report is that freer trade raises incomes that can potentially
be used to protect the environment. 

"Every WTO member government supports open trade, " said WTO Director General Mike
Moore, "because it leads to higher living standards for working families which in turn leads to
a cleaner environment. This report underscores that trade and environment need not be
contradictory but can indeed be complementary."

Among "win-win" areas between trade liberalization and environmental protection, the report
cites the removal of subsidies to polluting and resource-degrading activities such as certain
subsidies to agriculture, fishing and energy. For instance a reduction in fishing subsidies, today
amounting to some US$54 billion annually, would reduce overcapitalization in the industry
and lessen overfishing.

The report warns that targeting indirect linkages between trade and environment, such as
exports or imports of goods, can only partially correct market and policy failures and is
fraught with risks for the multilateral trading system, unless accompanied with rules agreed by
all parties. The report says the way forward "is to strengthen the mechanisms and institutions
for multilateral environmental cooperation." It suggests that the WTO system, based on legal
rights and obligations, could potentially serve as a model for a new "global architecture" of
environmental cooperation.

The report was welcomed as a "positive first step" by the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF), although it had important reservations. Charlie Arden-Clarke, then head of WWF's
Trade and Investment Unit, said that "the WTO has taken a positive step forward in
diagnosing the clash between trade and the environment, but it has failed to acknowledge that
some of its rules are part of the problem." 

He added that "the WTO argues that to resolve the conflict between trade and the
environment, international regulations protecting the environment must be strengthened: it
highlights the importance of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in this respect, but fails to
acknowledge that the WTO's own rules are currently undermining these agreements."

Contact: Trade and Environment Division, WTO, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de
Lausanne, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/739 5482, fax +41-22/739
5620, website (www.wto.org/wto/environ/environm.htm).


AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK PAPER ON CSOS
A plan for working more closely with civil society organizations (CSOs) based in countries
served by the African Development Bank was initiated in September 1999. The plan was
unveiled in the bank's Policy Paper and Guidelines on Cooperation with Civil Society
Organizations, which recognizes that CSOs can help it with remote communities and
marginalized people and by providing information and technical expertise. The paper was
presented at a Regional Consultative Workshop on Cooperation Between the African
Development Bank and Civil Society Organizations in Africa, held in Abidjan (C“te d'Ivoire).

"This document provides a sound framework for enhanced collaboration between our two
sectors," said Gabriel Negatu, Principal CSO/Participation Coordinator of the African
Development Bank. "We view this as a living document that will be updated and fine-tuned as
the need arises. In the meantime, the African Development Bank remains fully committed to
purposefully engage with NGOs and CSOs, and likewise encourages members of the sector to
become pro-active in their relation with the Bank."

Among other things, the paper encourages CSOs to help involve the bank in the community
and increase trust and ownership of projects within them. It also outlines what it describes as
limitations of working with CSOs: some based in urban areas may not be strongly anchored in
their communities, and some community-based CSOs may be difficult to locate and have weak
leadership and few financial resources.

According to Evariste Karangwa, Program Manager of InterAction's Africa Liaison Project
and participant in the Abidjan workshop, it is important for CSOs to be aware of these
limitations, "because then they can improve themselves. United States CSOs and USAID must
also help strengthen the capacity of Africa-based CSOs to, among other things, engage the
African Development Bank in a substantive way."   

Contact: Gabriel Negatu, Principal NGO/Participation Coordinator, African Development
Bank, 01 BP 1387, Abidjan, C“te d'Ivoire, telephone +225/205229, fax +225/205033, e-mail
<g.negatu@afdb.org>, website (www.afdb.org).



 OIF SYMPOSIUM ON REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
The Second Symposium on Cooperation for Peace: The Role of Regional Organizations was
held in Geneva from 27-28 October 1999. The symposium, organized by the Organisation
Internationale de La Francophonie (OIF), aimed to examine the evolution of regional
organizations and their role in promoting peace. 

In a panel on Regional Approaches: Assessments and Perspectives, participants discussed the
United Nations and regional organizations in Europe, Africa and Asia. Case studies, which
focused on the theme From the Prevention of Conflicts to the Consolidation of Peace, were
presented on Kosovo, Albania, Lebanon, Cambodia, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau and Central
African Republic.

A roundtable on the French-Speaking Community and Maintaining Peace included
presentations on actions, dialogue and mediation of the Francophone community; OIF and
other international organizations including the United Nations; Francophone member states of
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization); interference in regional security; and possibilities
for action by the French-speaking community. 

Speakers including Boutros Boutros-Ghali, OIF Secretary-General, highlighted the need for
more support to regional organizations, the sometimes informal role that the international
Francophone community plays in resolving conflicts, the importance of focusing on controlling
arms including landmines and light weapons, and the benefit of drawing lessons from cases
where mediation has kept conflicts from degenerating. 

Among other things the OIF aims to assist in establishing and developing democracy, and
works to help prevent conflicts, strengthen the rule of law and protection of human rights, and
build solidarity through multilateral cooperation activities. 

Contact: OIF, 46 avenue Blanc, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/738 9666,
fax +41-22/738 9682, e-mail <michelx@francophonie.org>.

FOCUS

UPDATE ON UNITED NATIONS FINANCIAL CRISIS 

On 26 October 1999 the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) told the UN
General Assembly that failure of UN member states to pay their dues "not only has the gravest
effects on the life of the organization" but "transgresses the principles of free consent and
good faith...which are at the heart of international law and relations." As Go Between goes to
press, it also reports on a US arrangement to pay some of its arrears to the UN.

ICJ President Judge Stephen Schwebel said the "financial fabric of the United Nations must be
repaired, most fundamentally by renewed performance of the treaty obligations of the
members of the United Nations to pay their assessments upon them, as determined by the
General Assembly in the exercise of the authority deliberately and expressly entrusted to it by
the terms of the Charter." 

He recalled that the binding character of the assessments had been affirmed by the court in
1962 when it held that "the exercise of the power of apportionment creates the obligation....of
each Member to bear that part of the expenses which is apportioned to it by the General
Assembly."

Accumulated Arrears of the US
Judge Schwebel's statement was widely seen as a rebuke to the United States, which is both
the largest single contributor to the UN's regular budget and the largest single defaulter. The
US has accumulated arrears of approximately US$1.6 billion in unpaid dues; it accounts for
65% of all unpaid assessments by members and 81% of unpaid dues for the organization's
regular budget. 

The UN Charter states that a member whose arrears total more than its assessed dues for the
previous two years forfeits its right to vote in the GA.

On 6 October, the US was told that to avoid being stripped of its vote in the General
Assembly, it must pay the United Nations US$350 million more than the US$200 million
already appropriated by the US Congress for back dues. Joseph Connor,
Under-Secretary-General of the UN Department of Management, offered the estimate after
having briefed the assembly's Administrative and Budgetary Committee on the organization's
precarious financial situation. 

US May Forfeit Right to Vote in GA
Without cash reserves due by 30 December 1999 the UN would lose its financial flexibility
which will jeopardize its existence, according to Mr. Connor. "The magnitude of the unpaid
assessments," he said, "eliminates any financial base of the organization." 

Although the Clinton Administration has expressed its desire to pay the dues, the
Republican-dominated US Congress has held up payments for a number of reasons, in
particular by linking it to restricting support for family planning programmes overseas. It also
insists that the UN cut its staff, eliminate waste and reduce its annual budget by maintaining it
at zero nominal growth. 

The UN adopted a tough, zero growth two-year budget for 1998-1999, which has US$100
million less in appropriations than for 1994-1995. Nearly 1,000 posts have been cut, with the
number of staff reduced to 8,700 from a high of 12,000 in the mid-1980s. 

However newly-appointed US Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke, in a
statement to the Administr