Go Between 79, February-March 2000



UN NEWS

FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT MEETING
The General Assembly agreed by consensus on 22 December 1999 to convene a "high-level
intergovernmental event" in 2001 to consider financing for development (see Go Between 74).
The resolution, which outlines the process to prepare for the final event, requests UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan to initiate preliminary consultations as soon as possible with all
relevant stakeholders. Consultations with key stakeholders such as the World Bank,
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) will explore the
potential modalities of their participation in both the substantive preparatory process and the
final event. In order to gather recommendations from NGOs about their participation, the
Financing for Development secretariat has posted a questionnaire on its website
(www.un.org/esa/analysis/ffd) about preferred modalities for participation of stakeholders,
including NGOs.

The General Assembly decided on the following schedule as outlined in the resolution:
--   by March 2000--resumed organizational session of the PrepCom to consider the form,
timing, duration, format and agenda of the final event; modalities for the participation of
institutional stakeholders, notably the World Bank, IMF, WTO, United Nations Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD), regional commissions, and other stakeholders including
NGOs and the private sector; and programme of work of the PrepCom.
--   by May 2000--first substantive session of the PrepCom.

On 10 February the preparatory committee elected by acclamation persons from the following
delegations as members of the bureau: Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Ghana,
Guatemala, Peru, Saint Lucia, Sudan, Sweden, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
and the United States. The Asia Group requested an additional week to present its
nominations. 

The General Assembly decided that the final event should "address national, international and
systemic issues relating to financing for development in a holistic manner in the context of
globalization and interdependence." It also decided the final event should "address the
mobilization of financial resources for the full implementation of the outcome of major
conferences and summits organized by the United Nations during the 1990s in addition to the
implementation of the Agenda for Development." 

The resolution invites member states to consider offering to host the final event, which to date
has no set venue. It also stresses the importance of the participation of developing countries in
both the preparatory process and the high-level intergovernmental process, and encourages
bilateral and multilateral donors to help in this regard.

Before adoption of the resolution, Michael Gallagher of the United States delegation said that
developing countries would be best served if the outcome of the final event was not a political
document. Instead he suggested it produce "practical guidelines on effective mobilization,
prioritization and utilization of resources in support of national efforts" to reduce poverty and
achieve sustainable development. Mr. Gallagher said his delegation advocated organizing the
final event in such a way that it focuses on substance and does not use up developing country
or donor funds that could be put to more directly-beneficial uses. He also warned that
"inclusion of the topic of the full implementation of the 1990s conferences and summits and
the Agenda for Development in the agenda should not be interpreted as conveying any new or
expanded funding obligations." 

Mr. Gallagher said it was noteworthy that member states recognized that the IMF and World
Bank were key stakeholders in development finance issues. "However," he observed,
"governance of the IMF, the World Bank or the regional development banks and issues related
to the international financial architecture should be addressed only by the relevant international
forums."

At a 20 January NGO briefing on financing for development, Mauricio Escanero, Minister of
the Mexican Mission to the UN in New York and facilitator of negotiations on the resolution,
said one of the main goals of the final event should be "building bridges between New York
and Washington DC as well as those connecting ministers of finance, trade and foreign affairs
within capitals."

Contact: Harris Gleckman, Programme Officer, Office of the Director, Development Policy
Analysis Division, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Room
DC2-2162, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 4690, fax +1-212/963
1061, e-mail <gleckman@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/analysis/ffd).


GA ADOPTS PROGRAMME BUDGET
The 54th session of the UN General Assembly, acting without a vote on 23 December 1999,
adopted a programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001 of some US$2.54 billion. The
amount is an increase of about US$2 million over the 1998-1999 budget. 

Among changes made to the Secretary-General's proposals, the assembly decided to reduce
resources for general temporary assistance by around US$3.2 million, reduce resources for
consultants by some US$2.03 million, and reduce those proposed for staff travel by
approximately US$2.48 million. 

Increases were made in certain areas, including for international cooperation for development
and for international justice and law (see NGLS Roundup, no. 50).


INQUIRY ON UN IN RWANDA
An independent inquiry commissioned by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to look into UN
actions during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda has found that failure to stop the genocide was
shared by the UN as a whole including the Secretariat, the Security Council and UN member
states. The three-person inquiry panel, headed by former Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar
Carlsson, issued a report (S/1999/1257) on its findings including 14 recommendations to help
ensure that the international community is better prepared to prevent such catastrophes in the
future. The "overriding failure" of the UN's response, said the panel, was a lack of resources
and political will, as well as errors of judgement by all players as to the nature of events in
Rwanda.

The Rwandan genocide began in April 1994 when Hutu extremists in the government and
army attacked the country's Tutsi population and moderate Hutus. Approximately 800,000
people were slaughtered in 100 days.

In conducting its inquiry the panel, which included former Foreign Minister of the Republic of
Korea, Hun Sung-Joo and retired Nigerian Lieutenant-General Rufus Kupolati, had full access
to UN records and interviewed more than 100 witnesses.

"I fully accept their conclusions, including those which reflect on officials of the UN
Secretariat, of whom I myself am one," said Mr. Annan, who was the UN's
Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping at the time of the genocide. He said he welcomed
the inquiry's emphasis on lessons to be learned from the tragedy as well as its
recommendations. Mr. Annan noted that while the report acknowledges some steps have been
taken over the past few years to improve the UN's capacity to respond to conflicts and
specifically to some of the mistakes made in Rwanda, much remained to be done.  

"All of us must bitterly regret that we did not do more to prevent [the genocide]," he said.
"There was a United Nations force in the country at the time, but it was neither mandated nor
equipped for the kind of forceful action which would have been needed to prevent or halt the
genocide. On behalf of the United Nations, I acknowledge this failure and express my deep
remorse."

According to the report, one of the most glaring failures in Rwanda was the decision to reduce
the peacekeeping force after the slaughter had begun. The UN Assistance Mission to Rwanda
(UNAMIR) was established by the Security Council in October 1993 to monitor a peace
agreement reached that year between the government of Rwanda and the Tutsi-led Rwandese
Patriotic Front. The council's mandate rejected some of the proposals of then
Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and UNAMIR was "deliberately weakened"
according to the report. When the massacres began, including killing of ten Belgian
peacekeepers and Belgium's withdrawal from the mission, the Security Council reduced
UNAMIR to a "minimal force," says the report.
 
"There was a serious gap between the mandate and the political realities of Rwanda and
between the mandate and the resources dedicated to it," said Mr. Carlsson. He observed that
UNAMIR was the victim of a lack of political will in the Security Council and on the part of
member states.

In its recommendations the panel underscored the enormous importance of peacekeeping and
said that the Security Council and troop-contributing countries must "be prepared to act to
prevent acts of genocide or gross violations of human rights wherever they may take place."
Other recommendations include improving the early warning capacity of the UN, better
coordination on the ground, and improved communications within the Secretariat, between the
Secretariat and the Security Council, and with "outside actors" such as non-governmental
organizations. 

Mr. Carlsson added that the upcoming Millennium Summit should be used to try to convince
member states of the importance of peacekeeping and that the UN must carry out
peacekeeping duties. 

Contact: The report can be found on the UN website (www.un.org/peace).


SG REPORT ON SREBRENICA
In response to a request from the General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued
a report (A/54/549) in November 1999 setting out in detail the events and policies surrounding
the fall of the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995.

The 108-page report describes the Serbian attack on Bosnian Muslims in the UN-designated
"safe-area" of Srebrenica and the massacres of thousands of civilians that followed as the
"worst in Europe since World War II."

"It was with the deepest regret and remorse that we have reviewed our own actions and
decisions in the face of the assault on Srebrenica," said Mr. Annan, who was in charge of
peacekeeping operations at the time. "Through error, misjudgment, and an inability to
recognize the scope of the evil confronting us, we failed to do our part to save the people of
Srebrenica from the Serb campaign of mass murder."

Mr. Annan said he hoped that the report would be a reminder of the lessons that must be
learned to prevent such a calamity from recurring under the eyes of the UN. "The tragedy of
Srebrenica," he said, "will haunt our history forever" and is "replete with lessons for the UN
and its Members States."

The report documents the events before and after the slaughter of as many as 7,000 Muslim
men and boys at the "safe area" of Srebrenica, and concludes that air strikes and a fighting
force should have been used much sooner in Bosnia.

In April 1993 the Security Council established six "safe areas" in Bosnia, declaring that they
should be disarmed and not attacked while being guarded by the UN Protection Force
(UNPROFOR). The UN force collected weapons of the Bosnian Muslims of the city, but Serb
forces ignored demands to withdraw from positions around Srebrenica. From 6-11 July 1995,
Serbs mounted an assault on the enclave, which ended with Serbian occupation of the city.
Mass executions began on 14 July.

The report says that while the entire international community shares responsibility for failing to
prevent the "barbarism" perpetrated in Srebrenica, the primary and most direct responsibility
lies with the architects and implementors of the genocide in Bosnia. The report examines,
however, the decisions made by UN officials and others including the failure to call in NATO
air strikes to defend the city; the small number of troops deployed to defend Srebrenica; the
refusal of the Dutch battalion stationed in the city to return Serb fire without air support; and
the refusal to allow Bosnian Muslims in the city to retrieve their weapons to defend Srebrenica
once the Serbs marched on the city.

"The cardinal lesson of Srebrenica," says the report, "is that a deliberate and systematic
attempt to terrorize, expel or murder an entire people must be met with all necessary means,
and with the political will to carry the policy through to its logical conclusion." It concludes
that peacekeepers must never again be deployed into an environment where there is no
ceasefire or peace agreement, and that protected zones or safe areas must be either
demilitarized and established by agreement of the belligerents, or they must be truly safe areas
fully defended by a credible military deterrent.

The report urges UN member states to reflect on critical issues such as the gap between
mandates and means, and the inadequacy of symbolic deterrence in the face of a campaign of
systematic violence. The report also points to "an institutional ideology of impartiality" even
when confronted with attempted genocide, and the pervasive ambivalence within the UN
regarding the use of force in the pursuit of peace.

Contact: The report can be found on the UN website (www.un.org/peace). For those without
access to Internet, a copy can be obtained from NGLS in New York. 


***************************************************************************
     IN DEDICATION TO MICHAEL MCCOY
     This Go Between is dedicated to the memory of Michael McCoy
     (1953-2000), a kind and generous American, a friend and supporter of the
     global NGO movement and the United Nations, and a tireless fighter for a
     more just and humane world for all. During his time with NGLS
     (1978-1990) Michael made a valuable and enduring contribution and was a
     pioneer of the kind of UN-NGO collaboration that we more or less take for
     granted today. During the 1990s, back in the NGO world, he contributed
     enormously to the NGO follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit, at the UN
     and in the US. Michael played a key role in the setting up and development
     of the NGO Steering Committee for the Commission on Sustainable
     Development, a new and innovative arrangement for NGO organizing at
     the United Nations.
     ***************************************************************************



CEDAW OPTIONAL PROTOCOL OPENS FOR SIGNATURE
On 10 December 1999, Human Rights Day, state Parties to the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women participated in a signing ceremony of the
optional protocol to the convention in New York.

Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 6 October, the optional protocol is a legal
instrument that will enable women who are victims of sex discrimination to submit complaints
to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, see Go
Between 77). There are 165 state Parties to the convention; the optional protocol will enter
into force three months after ten state Parties have ratified or acceded to it. On 10 December
23 states signed the protocol.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a panel discussion held after the signing ceremony that
the protocol was important because by putting pressure on state Parties to fulfil their legal
obligations under the convention, "it will promote wider implementation, helping the world
move closer to its stated ideal: equality of all human beings." He urged other state Parties to
sign the protocol. Mr. Annan said he hoped that the ten ratifications needed for it to enter into
force would be achieved prior to the UN General Assembly special session on Women 2000:
Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century, to be held from 5-9
June in New York.

Angela King, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the
Advancement of Women, noted that the optional protocol had been adopted by consensus
after four negotiation sessions. She said the firm position of NGOs from around the world,
which are insisting that commitments at the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights and
1995 Fourth World Conference on Women be honoured, had been "invaluable for the
successful conclusion of the process."

Other speakers included Aloisia Worgetter, chair of the Optional Protocol Working Group;
she praised diplomats who had negotiated the protocol for pushing their governments on
interpretations that were more flexible in order to make agreement possible. 

Bacre Waly Ndiaye, Director of the New York Office for the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, drew attention to the discrimination women face in every society and observed that
while the convention was second only to the Convention on the Rights of the Child for the
number of signatories, it also had the largest number of reservations.

A¡da Gonz lez Mart¡nez, chair of CEDAW, spoke of the need for compliance. She said that
human rights abuses could not be resolved solely with conventions and legal mechanisms, and
stressed the need for women to be educated about their rights.

Sujata Manohar, former judge of the Supreme Court of India, spoke of the need for
implementation at national level and the importance of getting domestic courts to rely on the
convention. "If a country has a justiciable constitution or charter on human rights," she said,
"then they should agree to the convention norms as guides for developing national laws." 

Contact: Division for the Advancement of Women, United Nations, New York NY 10017,
United States, fax +1-212/963 3463, e-mail <daw@un.org>, website
(www.un.org/womenwatch).


CHILD COMBATTANTS BANNED
Consensus was reached on 21 January by the United Nations Working Group on the Draft
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to raise from 15 to 18-years
the minimum age for recruitment and participation in armed hostilities. The agreement, made
in Geneva, is the fruit of six years of deliberation by the working group. It was described as "a
victory for children exposed to cynical exploitation in situations of armed conflict" by Olara
Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

Article One of the agreement says that state Parties "shall take all feasible measures to ensure
that members of their armed forces who have not attained the age of 18 years do not take a
direct part in hostilities." Article Two states governments shall ensure that persons under the
age of 18 are not compulsorily recruited into their armed forces. The fourth article says
non-state armed groups should not, under any circumstances, recruit or use under
18-year-olds in hostilities.

Mr. Ottuno said the one area in which the agreement falls short of the "straight 18" position
called for by many concerns voluntary enlistment into national armed forces. The protocol
only requires states to establish a minimum age--not necessarily 18--for voluntary recruitment
into their armed forces. "Nevertheless," he said, "I am encouraged by the raising of the
minimum age to at least 16 and by the inclusion of specific safeguards, including the provision
of reliable proof of age and the informed consent of both volunteer and parents."

In this connection Article 3 says: "State Parties shall raise the minimum age in years for the
voluntary recruitment of persons into their national armed forces from that set out in Article
38(3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, taking account of the principles contained
in that article and recognize that under the Convention persons under 18 are entitled to special
protection."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said she welcomed the "spirit of
cooperation" demonstrated by the group. She added that she looked forward to the speedy
conclusion of the process leading to the entry into force of the protocol, which she called "an
effective instrument for the protection of children in armed conflicts." However she said she
was disappointed that the agreement failed to apply the same standards of voluntary
recruitment to state forces as it did to non-governmental armies. 

Jo Becker, steering committee chair for the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, said
the agreement was a "great advance for children around the world. When backed by political
and public pressure, this treaty will help stop the appalling use of children as soldiers." The
coalition also expressed disappointment that the agreement fails to establish an 18-year age
minimum for voluntary recruitment. 

The treaty is an optional protocol to the near-universally ratified Convention on the Rights of
the Child. The convention generally defines a child as any person under the age of 18, but was
adopted in 1989 with the lower age of 15 as a minimum for recruitment and use in hostilities.
The protocol was drafted to address this anomaly in children's rights standards. 

Contact: Jennifer Philpot, Human Rights Officer, Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917
9148, fax +41-22/917 9006, e-mail <jphilpot.hchr@unog.ch>, website (www.unhchr.ch).


DONORS PLEDGE US$3.7 BILLION
Donor representatives meeting in December 1999 in Paris pledged to provide US$3.7 billion
of quick-disbursing official financial assistance to Africa over the next three years. And in
recognition of a desire to strengthen their relationship with Africa, the donors agreed to
rename their group, formerly the Special Program of Assistance, to the Strategic Partnership
with Africa (SPA). The SPA is a development partnership within which 20 donor
organizations and countries have worked with some 30 African countries since 1987. 

Donors and organizations represented at the meeting included, among others, the African
Development Bank, Canada, European Union, Economic Commission for Africa, France,
Germany, International Monetary Fund, Japan, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development, United States and the United Nations Development Programme.

"Quick-disbursing support," said Jean-Louis Sarbib, World Bank Vice President for Africa
and chair of the SPA meeting, "will continue to be needed to ensure that poverty reduction
strategies nested within sound macro-economic programmes achieve results on the ground." 

Participants in the meeting, which launched the fifth three-year phase (2000-2002) of SPA,
said the highly-concessional quick-disbursing resources pledged will be used to support
economic growth strategies and programmes that focus on reducing poverty in low-income
debt-burdened African countries. These resources are additional to the debt relief agreed in
September 1999 under the Enhanced Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative (see
Go Between 77) project assistance and about a further US$5 billion in quick-disbursing
assistance expected from the World Bank and IMF.

Contact: Alison Rosenburg, Strategic Partnership with Africa, World Bank, 1818 H Street
NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/473 4625, website
(www.spa-psa.org) or (www.worldbank.org).


WFP WARNING ON WARS
A dangerous shift in the way wars are being fought has triggered huge new demands for food
aid, and it is uncertain that donors will be able to meet these demands in the new century,
according to the World Food Programme (WFP).

"More combatants are using starvation and forced, often violent displacement as weapons of
war," said Catherine Bertini, WFP Executive Director, "strategies that aggravate the
large-scale food needs of civilians in conflict." 

She noted that civil strife has been the major factor in pushing food aid requirements in Asia
and Eastern Europe up by more than 300%. Although donors have funded 90% of all WFP
emergency appeals for food aid, Ms. Bertini said the new demands may challenge donors'
ability to provide additional resources. Recent patterns of conflict are creating an
unprecedented number of victims who depend on food aid to survive.
 
Ms. Bertini also expressed concern about what she described as the alarming and outrageous
trend among combatants of killing and kidnapping humanitarian workers. WFP has lost more
staff to violence worldwide than any other agency--in 1999 six WFP staff members died in the
line of duty.


MEETING ON BASEL CONVENTION
On 10 December 1999, the tenth anniversary of the Basel Convention on Hazardous Wastes,
government ministers meeting in Basel (Switzerland) adopted a declaration on
environmentally-sound management of the wastes. 

In the declaration ministers emphasized the universality of the Basel Convention by calling for
broadened access to means of managing hazardous wastes in an environmentally-sound way to
every sector of society. They also emphasized the urgent need to minimize generation of
hazardous wastes, as well as to strengthen the capacity worldwide to handle them properly.

"The adoption of the declaration is an historic event," said Klaus T”pfer, Executive Director
of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), "that represents a major shift toward
cleaner production, capacity building in developing countries and a desire to move away from
the throw-away philosophy that is all too common, especially in the developed world." 

The declaration, which will guide activities of the convention, outlines the main areas of focus
during the next decade. They are:
--   prevention, minimization, recycling, recovery and disposal of hazardous and other
wastes subject to the Basel Convention;
--   active promotion and use of cleaner technologies and production;
--   further reduction of transboundary movements of hazardous and other wastes;
--   prevention and monitoring of illegal traffic; and 
--   improvement of institutional and technical capacity building, as well as the
development and transfer of environmentally sound technologies, especially for developing
countries and countries with economies in transition. 

Other main areas of focus include further development of regional and subregional centres for
training and technology transfer; enhanced information exchange, education and public
awareness in all sectors of society; greater cooperation at all levels between countries, public
authorities, international organizations, industry, NGOs and academia; and development of
mechanisms for assuring implementation of the convention (and amendments) and monitoring
compliance.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
Their Disposal entered into force in 1992. One-hundred and thirty-two countries and the
European Union are Parties to the convention, which is concerned with the annual worldwide
production of hundreds of millions of metric tons of hazardous wastes. The convention
regulates the movement of the wastes and obliges its members to ensure that such wastes are
managed and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner. Governments are expected to
minimize the quantities that are transported, to treat and dispose of wastes as close as possible
to where they were generated, and to minimize the generation of hazardous wastes at the
source. 

Contact: Secretariat of the Basel Convention, Geneva Executive Center, 15 chemin des
Anemones, CH-1219 Chatelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/979 1111, fax
+41-22/797 3454, e-mail <sbc@unep.ch>, website (www.unep.ch/basel).


BIOSAFETY ACCORD ON GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD
The issue of genetically engineered foods, such as herbicide-resistant grain crops and
slow-ripening tomatoes, has been at the heart of recent trade battles as well as mass protest,
particularly in Europe. Environment ministers and trade negotiators reached an agreement on a
Biosafety Protocol for Parties to the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity on 30
January in Montreal (Canada). The purpose of the protocol is to regulate trade in genetically
modified organisms (GMOs), also known as living modified organisms (LMOs), used in food
production. Negotiations were chaired by Juan Mayr, Minister of Environment for Colombia
and current chair of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. 

Governments meeting in Montreal concluded five years of negotiations; discussions in
Cartagena (Colombia) had collapsed last year when the Miami Group, composed of 
Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, United States and Uruguay--all grain exporters--rejected
a deal that had been approved by all other countries (see Go Between 74). The new
agreement, known as the Cartagena Protocol, must be signed and ratified by 50 countries
before it can take effect, a process that will take two to three years. 

Under the Cartagena Protocol, governments will signal whether or not they are willing to
accept imports of agricultural commodities that incorporate GMOs; their decision will be
communicated through an Internet-based Biosafety Clearing House. Advance notice for
genetically modified commodities destined for eating or processing will not be required. The
onus is on the importing country to monitor imports; a country will need to check the
Biosafety Clearing House and  inform the potential exporter of their national requirements.
However the accord requires exporters to obtain permission from the importing country
before the first shipment of a GMO designated for release into the environment such as seeds,
fish or microbes. The protocol calls for talks on liability for environmental damages, which
were left unresolved, to be concluded within four years.

In the final hours of negotiations, the greatest disagreement regarded labeling of export foods
produced from engineered seeds. The accord will require shipments of genetically modified
commodities to have labels saying they "may contain" genetically modified organisms.
Genetically modified commodities will not be separately identified as such in shipping
documents. Thus, in practice, GMO foods may not be separated. These labeling rules will be
re-evaluated after three years. 

The precautionary principle was intensely debated. The principle, affirmed in the 1992 Earth
Summit Declaration, was supported by the European Union (EU) and the "Like-Minded
Group" of Developing Countries (comprising almost all of the Group of 77 and China). It
allows countries to ban imports of genetically modified products they consider unsafe, even in
the absence of scientific evidence that a technology poses a health or environmental risk.
United Kingdom Environment Minister Michael Meacher called inclusion of the principle "a
very important precedent."  

The relationship between the protocol and other international agreements was particularly
contentious. All member states but the Miami Group took the position that any restriction of a
GMO in accordance with the precautionary principle should not be regarded as a measure to
restrict trade, which would put the dispute in jurisdiction of the World Trade Organisation
(WTO). In the end, it remained somewhat unclear how the protocol will be reconciled with
WTO rules in the event of a conflict. Under the agreement reached in Montreal, the protocol
and the WTO are to be mutually supportive. Yet while the precautionary principle in the
protocol allows nations to restrict or prohibit imports even before potential damage is
scientifically proven, signatory countries must also abide by WTO rules that require "sufficient
scientific evidence." At the same time, the preamble states that the protocol is not to affect the
rights and obligations of governments under any existing international agreements. Any "trade
restriction" disputes will go through the WTO dispute settlement process. 

Contact: Monique Chiasson, Press Assistant of the Convention, Secretariat of the Convention
on Biological Diversity, 393 St. Jacques St., Suite 300, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1N9,
telephone +1-514/287 7019, fax +1-514/288 6588, e-mail <monique.chiasson@biodiv.org>.


BUSINESS VIEWS ON MILLENNIUM ASSEMBLY
The international business community is urging governments to support the effectiveness,
authority and resource base of the United Nations while the world body continues its
streamlining and institutional reform, according to a statement presented in January to United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Adnan Kassar, President of the International Chamber of Commerce, gave Mr. Annan a
"world business message" for the Millennium Assembly (see Go Between 73) on the UN's
role in the 21st century. The statement was delivered on behalf of the International Chamber
of Commerce's worldwide membership of over 7,000 business associations and companies in
more than 130 countries and territories.

It urges the Millennium Assembly to ensure that the United Nations takes the lead in
supporting a rules-based, open system of international trade and investment while opposing all
forms of protectionism. The statement says relevant UN agencies and programmes, and not
the multilateral trading system, should be the recognized global institutions for raising
environmental and labour standards and promoting human rights. These are also the core
values cited by Mr. Annan in his initiative for a global compact between the United Nations,
business and civil society (see Go Between 76).

"We welcome the Global Compact that the Secretary-General proposed," said Mr. Kassar,
"almost exactly one year ago for cooperation between business and the United Nations in
raising environmental and labour standards and promoting human rights."

The International Chamber of Commerce statement says history has shown that improvements
in human rights, and in labour and environmental standards, are more readily attainable in
conditions of rising prosperity produced by interaction of the market economy and good
governance.

"Strong commitment to open markets and the effective treatment of these issues," according
to the statement, "are mutually reinforcing and should go hand in hand."

It also says the United Nations should give special attention to capacity building in least
developed countries, particularly in human resources, physical infrastructure and institutional
reform. Among other things, it notes this would assist these countries to raise and attract
investment.

Contact: Tim Wall, Information Officer, Development and Human Rights Section, UN
Department of Public Information, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States,
telephone +1-212/963 5851, fax +1-212/963 1186.


ASIA-PACIFIC EDUCATION CONFERENCE
Greater political will and funding for basic education in the Asia-Pacific region should be the
bedrock for a regional education strategy for the 21st century, according to a conference that
ended in Bangkok (Thailand) on 20 January. The Asia-Pacific Conference on Education for
All (EFA) 2000 Assessment was attended by 41 government ministers from the region and a
total of 500 participants. It closed with the adoption of a draft Framework for Action, which
aims to ensure quality learning for every child, youth and adult without discriminating between
boys and girls, rich and poor, and towns and villages.

Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), told participants he was determined to make basic
education "an absolute priority during my term as the head of UNESCO." He urged
Asia-Pacific nations to learn from a review of educational progress that preceded the Bangkok
conference and show the "political commitment to follow up."

The draft Framework for Action will be debated at the national level before it is finalized as a
regional EFA strategy, which will feed into a global Framework for Action expected to be
adopted at the World Education Forum in Dakar (Senegal) on 26-28 April.

The Asia-Pacific conference, which called on national governments and international donors to
provide greater political support for basic education through increased funding, also
emphasized the need to create a "new space" for civil society.

In addition the lack of resources "is often a matter of political will, both within national
governments and among international funding agencies," says the draft document, which
advises "both partners" to step up national budgets for education, development assistance and
debt relief for poor nations.

National reports discussed in Bangkok show that while most children are now in school, a
high proportion drops out without completing basic schooling. Girls and young people in
remote areas are the worst hit.

Mr. Matsuura said that goals could not be achieved by relying on the traditional school system
alone as this leaves out a large proportion of people. "An education that caters to the most
marginalized," he said, "that is pro-active on gender issues, that successfully balances the
demand for both quantity and quality of provision, is the most reliable signal of a flourishing
society."

The conference was jointly organized by the five convenors of the International Consultative
Forum on Education for All: UNESCO, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA),
World Bank, as well as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

It was one of six regional conferences taking place around the world in the run up to the
World Education Forum. Their aim is to assess progress achieved in providing education for
all ten years after the international community pledged, at the Conference on Education for All
in Jomtien (Thailand), to eliminate illiteracy and provide basic education for all by the year
2000. 

At a parallel conference held by NGOs, participants urged governments to increase education
spending to at least 7% of their gross national product and urged international donors to write
off debts of countries in Asia and the Pacific if governments are willing to put one-fourth of
the debt relief toward education.

Contact: International Consultative Forum on Education for All, United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75352 Paris 07 SP, France,
telephone +33-1/45 68 10 00, fax +33-1/45 68 56 29, e-mail <efa@unesco.org>, website
(www.unesco.org/education/efa).


PRIVATE EDUCATION CONFERENCE
The first in a series of regional conferences to explore the potential and practicalities of private
investment in education in developing countries was held in Abidjan (C“te d'Ivoire) on 30
November to 1 December 1999. The conference on Investment Opportunities in Private
Education in Africa brought together more than 200 private education providers from Africa,
and policy makers and investors. Sponsors of the event included the World Bank, International
Finance Corporation (IFC) and African Development Bank.

Speakers stressed, among other things:
--   the importance of private education within national education systems;
--   the need for more public-private partnerships; and 
--   the importance of the affordability of private schooling including the use of place
assistance schemes. 

They also discussed regulatory frameworks for private education, the role of private
education, criteria for assessing investments in private institutions, financial structuring of
projects, and public/private partnerships. 

The conference, along with future regional events, will build on an international conference on
private investment in education held in Washington DC in June 1999. The regional
conferences are part of a programme known as EdInvest, initiated by the World Bank, IFC
and private sponsors.

Contact: Harry Patrinos, EdInvest Coordinator, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington
DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/473 5510, fax +1-202/522 3233, e-mail
<hpatrinos@worldbank.org>, website (www.worldbank.org).


22ND SESSION OF CEDAW MEETS
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) held the first
of its two annual meetings in New York from 17 January-4 February. It reviewed progress
made by eight state Parties to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women. 

The session considered the reports of Belarus, Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Germany, India, Jordan, Luxembourg and Myanmar. CEDAW experts examined a
wide range of issues affecting equal rights of women. These included violence against women;
the negative influence of traditions, customs and religious beliefs that result in the stereotyping
of women and relegate them to inferior status; inequality in employment and labour; lack of
health and reproductive rights; and imbalances in public and political representation of women.

The committee expressed concern at what it said is a rapid increase in crime committed by
women in Belarus. It noted many of the crimes are a result of long-standing domestic violence
and sexual abuse. Another concern raised was the high rate of unemployment among women.
One expert said that the women of Belarus had become the chief victims of market
liberalization; highly-educated women were being laid-off, which was not only a violation of
their rights but could also deter women from seeking higher education.

In discussions concerning Burkina Faso, the importance of education for women was
underlined as a "gateway" to women's empowerment, to eradicating poverty and to
implementing the convention. The committee proposed recommendations to redress the
illiteracy rate among women in the country, which remains at 92%.

The committee expressed special concern about the situation in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo. It said foreign forces have become involved in the civil war, exacerbating among
other things the already rampant spread of HIV/AIDS.

Issues at the heart of discussions concerning Germany included sexual harassment and
gender-based discrimination, hardships faced by minority and religious communities, the
perpetuation of gender stereotyping, and the fact that women earn on average 73% of the
income of men.

Discussions concerning India included the trafficking in women; the situation of women in
armed conflict particularly among Muslim minorities of Jammu and Kashmir; and equal rights
to education, political representation and equal opportunity in employment. The committee
also found gross gender inequality in women's access to health care in India, and noted that
the country's maternal and child mortality rates were unacceptably high.

Jordan was commended for its actions to promote education for women, and for its efforts in
the media to counter the stereotyping of women. The committee expressed serious concern
about the country's marriage laws, however, which are the most stringent among Islamic
countries. Concern about the effects of violence against women in the home, within marriage
and in society at large was also expressed. The committee recommended that Jordan prepare a
penal code on state protection for women from various forms of violence, enabling women to
seek legal redress.

Among the issues raised during discussion of Luxembourg was the government's failure to
adopt an amendment to the constitution to provide for women's equality with men. The need
to change gender role stereotyping was also underscored. Luxembourg noted it was
developing a gender philosophy through teaching, beginning at the preschool level, to make
teachers aware of different types of socialization children receive from their parents and peers.
The aim of the project is to make children aware of their potential beyond what their perceived
traditional roles would be.

The house arrest of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was raised repeatedly during discussion
of Myanmar's report, as were concerns about the living conditions and human rights of
various ethnic groups in the country. Other issues included compliance in areas including
education, health, trafficking and prostitution of women, violence against women and
marriage.

The session was chaired by A¡da Gonz lez Mart¡nez (Mexico). Vice-chairs were Yung-Chung
Kim (Republic of Korea), Ahoua Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso) and Hanna Beate
Schopp-Schilling (Germany). Ayse Feride Acar (Turkey) served as rapporteur. CEDAW's
23rd session will be held from 12-30 June, and the pre-session working group for the 24th
session will meet from 3-7 July. The 11th meeting of state Parties to the convention will be
held at UN headquarters on 31 August. Twelve new members to CEDAW will be elected to
replace those whose terms are due to expire on 31 December.
 
Contact: Division for the Advancement of Women, United Nations, New York NY 10017,
United States, fax +1-212/963 3463, e-mail <daw@un.org>, website
(www.un.org/womenwatch).


AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON WOMEN
The Sixth African Regional Conference on Women, held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in
November 1999, ended with a Regional Plan of Action that maps out priorities and strategies
for the next five years to accelerate implementation of the 1994 Dakar and 1995 Beijing
platforms of action. 

More than 1,500 participants drawn from senior levels of government, civil society, regional
institutions, bilateral agencies, the United Nations and multilateral partners took part in the
five-day conference. The event also constituted the Africa regional preparatory meeting for
Beijing+5, due to take place in June 2000 in New York (see NGLS Roundup, no. 43).

Among other things, the regional conference plan of action proposes: 
--   coordination mechanisms at national, sub-regional and regional levels; 
--   strategies for monitoring and evaluating the status of implementation of the platforms
of action; 
--   means of mobilizing resources to enable implementation of the platforms; and
--   actions to enhance access to and provision of basic goods and services by African
women. 

The plan is in response to a number of new developments that have constituted what it
describes as serious constraints to addressing critical areas of concern over the last five years.
"The combined impact of past macro-economic policies and globalization," it says, "has
resulted in a number of adverse consequences [including] overall social dislocation and the
increased numbers of people living below the poverty line." Women carry a disproportionate
share of the burden, as they "assume greater responsibility for the care of the poor and the
helpless in addition to other productive and reproductive roles." 

These experiences "require new policy shifts from a single factor approach to a more
comprehensive multi-sectoral approach to people's well-being and security." The plan, which
stresses that governments should prioritize innovative actions to respond to the growing
problem, points out that some countries have made a start in the right direction. Among them
is Algeria, which in 1996 instituted a social protection programme that provides financial
assistance to poor families, the elderly and disabled. It says another is South Africa, which has
formulated a social partnership with business and labour to address poverty and
unemployment. And in S o Tome and Principe allowances are paid to the elderly and disabled
persons. 

The conference draft declaration acknowledges efforts that have been made since 1995 to
implement the platforms of action, such as ratification by 47 African countries of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and greater
participation of women in politics and decision making. However it recognizes "with grave
concern" what it describes as persistent major gaps and shortcomings. 

These include, among other things, the high incidence of wars and conflict; continued violation
by state and non-state actors of the basic human rights of women, children and men; increasing
poverty and its feminization; lack of women's and girls' control over their lives, which exposes
them to HIV/AIDS and other problems and further erodes their social and economic status;
lack of quality health services, especially reproductive health services; and inadequate access
by women and girls to education and information. 

An NGO consultation, in which organizations from 40 African countries participated, was held
on 19-20 November. The consultation, which replaced a traditional parallel forum, aimed to
give NGOs an independent and collective voice in lobbying governments. They also released a
report, entitled NGO Report on the Assessment of the Implementation of Dakar and Beijing
Platforms in Africa. Among other things it says armed conflict, globalization and lack of
political will have slowed progress in improving women's lives in Africa, and it warned that
violence against women is growing more severe. 
 
Contact: Peter da Costa, Senior Communication Adviser, Economic Commission for Africa,
PO Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, telephone +251-1/515826, fax +251-1/510365, e-mail
<dacosta@un.org>, website (www.un.org/depts/eca). The full text of the draft declaration,
regional plan of action and other statements, presentations and documents are available on the
conference's website (www.bellanet.org/partners/aisi/6thregionalconference). The NGO
report is available from Women in Law in Development in Africa (WILDAF), PO Box            
UA 171, Union Avenue, 204 Stemar House, Zimbabwe, telephone +263-4/729151, fax
+263-4/729152, e-mail <wildaf@mango.zw>. 


ILO AFRICAN REGIONAL MEETING
Almost 200 participants representing government and employers' and workers' organizations
from 39 countries attended the Ninth African Regional Meeting of the International Labour
Office (ILO), held in Abidjan (C“te d'Ivoire) in December 1999. The meeting, which adopted
conclusions geared to encouraging the development of policies to promote social progress on
the continent, recognized that political stability is one of the indispensable factors of economic
growth that generates decent work and social protection.

"Many conflicts are undermining the continent," participants said in a Conclusions document
adopted by the meeting, "inflicting unnecessary suffering on the populations, jeopardizing
economic development and social cohesion; in this context, the tripartite partners have a major
role to play in promoting social dialogue, the foundation for a durable peace."

Among other things, participants approved the ILO's activities in Africa for 1994-1999 and
voiced support for the four strategic objectives of the ILO for the biennium 2000-2001. They
are promotion and realization of fundamental principles and rights at work and international
labour standards; creation of greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent
employment and income; social protection for all; and strengthening tripartism and social
dialogue.

Among other things, the Conclusions document:
--   stresses commitment to eliminating child labour, beginning with its worst forms; 
--   encourages governments and social partners to develop policies or programmes
enabling social insertion or reinsertion for the victims of conflicts; and 
--   requests the ILO to develop sustainable and viable social protection systems covering
the entire population.

Problems linked to the spread of HIV/AIDS were of particular concern to participants; they
urged the ILO to give the issue highest priority and to develop appropriate programmes to
deal with it. An ILO report released at the meeting, entitled Action against HIV/AIDS in
Africa: An initiative in the context of the world of work, warns that AIDS "is affecting, and
ultimate killing, the most productive labour force" on the continent and could become "the
single most important impediment to social and economic progress" there.

It says the AIDS epidemic in Africa is resulting in increased absenteeism, a rise in the number
of households headed by women, increased labour costs for employers, curtailed remittances
from migrant workers and the bankrupting of social security services. In addition, the report
warns, AIDS will force more children into the active labour force and increase the number of
orphans.

The report calls for attention to prevention and assistance and coherent labour management
policies to ensure that all aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic are addressed in a "mutually
supportive manner." To this end, employer and workers must take joint action in
"multi-sectoral national policies to combat" the epidemic. 

Among other things, it says ILO member states should develop programmes that encompass:
--   statistics to document the problem and make it more visible and amendable to action;
--   a multi-media information and education campaign and direct assistance to industry
and communities to stimulate and support action at all levels;
--   promotion of a culture of fairness and ethics that can embrace the weak, vulnerable and
diseased; and
--   legal and social security systems that provide real protection to victims and society at
large.

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).


WORLD'S RIVERS IN CRISIS
More than half of the world's major rivers are being seriously depleted and polluted, which is
degrading and poisoning surrounding ecosystems. In turn this threatens the health and
livelihood of people who depend upon the rivers for irrigation, drinking and industrial water,
according to the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century. 

"Overuse and misuse of land and water resources in river basins in both advanced industrial
countries and developing countries constitute the primary cause for their decline," said Ismail
Serageldin, chairman of the commission and World Bank Vice President for Special Programs.
"The land and water crisis in river basins contributed to the total of 25 million environmental
refugees last year, which for the first time exceeded the number of war-related refugees. By
2025, the number of environmental refugees could quadruple." 

Many rivers are being depleted because global demand for water is rising sharply. The problem
will be further aggravated by having to meet the needs for food, drinking water and water for
economic development of the additional two billion people on Earth by 2025.

The commission, which is compiling its findings into a report, said some of the most stressed
rivers include the following.
--   The Yellow River in China's most important agricultural region ran dry in its lower
reaches 226 days out of the year in 1997.
--   The Colorado River in the western United States, irrigating more than 1.5 million
hectares of farmland, is so exploited and polluted by agriculture that little is left to protect the
ecosystem downstream, which has turned from lush green to salty and desolate marshes.
--   The Ganges River in South Asia, which serves 500 million people, is so depleted
during the dry season that one of the most unique and precious ecosystems in the world--the
Sunderband wetlands in Bangladesh--is seriously threatened. 

Only two of the world's major rivers can be classified as healthy: the Amazon River--a
powerful stream with few settlements or industry on its bank--and the Congo River in
Sub-Saharan Africa, also because it is a strong river with few industrial centres near its banks.

It is possible for governments, businesses, farmers and consumer groups to work together in
establishing proper policies and institutions that can restore rivers sufficiently so that people
can use them safely and most aquatic life can return, according to the commission. It is calling
attention to integrated land and water resources policy reforms for entire river systems even as
they cut across local government boundaries as the best method to save the rivers, conserve
their invaluable ecosystems, and prevent conflicts in use. 
 
"We must adopt a comprehensive framework to address political, economic, social and
environmental dimensions of resource management issues," said Mr. Serageldin. "We must
address energy, public health, water sanitation and environment quality within a single
framework. Land and water degradation issues would no longer be seen as an environmental
issue, but rather as very central to the sustainable development agenda of a country." 

Upstream and downstream issues, which often conflict, as well as surface and sub-surface
water management issues must be addressed involving all actors, according to the commission.
This can help to minimize conflicts over water and other resource allocations and use, because
of the opportunities it provides for the participation of multiple interested parties--stakeholders--in decision making. These include governments (national and local), the private
sector, professional groups, user associations, civil society, NGOs and community-based
organizations, especially women's groups. 

The commission is co-sponsored by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO),
Organization of American States (OAS), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Educational, Cultural and
Scientific Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United
Nations University (UNU), World Health Organization (WHO), World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) and the World Bank.

Contact: Boxena Blix, Project Officer, World Water Vision Unit, c/o UNESCO, Division of
Water Sciences, 1 rue Miollis,           F-75015 Paris, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 40 47, fax
+33-1/45 68 58 11, e-mail <b.blix@unesco.org>, website (www.watervision.org).


CONSULTATIVE PROCESS ON OCEANS
The General Assembly decided on 24 November 1999 to establish an open-ended consultative
process to facilitate its annual review of developments in ocean affairs. The decision is part of
resolution 54/33, entitled "Results of the review by the Commission on Sustainable
Development of the sectoral theme of oceans and seas: international coordination and
cooperation." (For a report on the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development see E&D File, vol. III, no.19).

The process will undertake three tasks: 
--   consider the Secretary-General's report on oceans and the law of the sea; 
--   suggest particular issues to be considered by the assembly; and 
--   identify areas where coordination and cooperation at the intergovernmental and
inter-agency levels should be enhanced.

Meetings of the consultative process will take place for one week each year; this year the
meeting will be held from 30 May to 2 June. It will deliberate on the Secretary-General's
report on oceans and the law of the sea, any relevant special reports of the Secretary-General,
and any relevant recommendations of the Commission on Sustainable Development.

Meetings of the open-ended consultative process will be open to all member states of the UN
and of the specialized agencies, all parties to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, bodies
with observer status to the General Assembly, as well as intergovernmental organizations with
competence in ocean affairs. It was also decided that the format of this process should ensure
the opportunity to receive inputs from representatives of the Major Groups, identified in
Agenda 21 including NGOs, particularly through the organization of discussion panels.

The process will be coordinated by two co-chairs to be appointed by the president of the
General Assembly in February in consultation with member states. One co-chair will be an
expert in legal matters and the other in environmental issues. Similarly, one co-chair will be
selected from a developing country and the other from a developed country. The resolution
highlighted the importance of participation in the consultative process by developing countries,
including least developed countries and small island developing states.

Contact: Annick de Marffy, Deputy Director, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the
Sea, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, 2 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United
States, telephone +1-212/963 3962, fax +1-212/963 5847, website (www.un.org/depts/los). 


UNEP YOUTH SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION CAMPAIGN
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a Global Youth Sustainable
Consumption Campaign in December 1999. The campaign is part of a sustainable
consumption strategy for youth, which member states asked UNEP to develop at its
Governing Council meeting in February.

The campaign aims to investigate the role of youth in promoting sustainable consumption;
engage young people in a global process of consultations; identify best practices on
consumption; and set up actions to promote the concept of sustainable production and
consumption among young people. UNEP will implement the campaign through national,
regional and global youth networks and organizations, in partnership with its Youth Advisory
Council and the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD).

"UNEP is promoting the concept of life-cycle economy," said Klaus T”pfer, UNEP Executive
Director, "which implies that everyone involved in a product's  life-span' from its production
to its disposal, takes some responsibility for its impact on the environment." Sustainable
consumption focuses on using goods and services in a way so that fewer resources are needed
and fewer emissions generated, while still fulfilling the needs of the world's population,
according to UNEP. It combines the right to economic and social development with
responsibility toward the environment and future generations.

It said youth play an important role in achieving sustainable consumption because they make
up a distinct consumer category, directly or indirectly influence family consumption, and are
more open to change.

As part of the campaign, UNEP will publish a youth handbook on sustainable consumption
and conduct research on attitudes among youth about sustainable consumption.

Contact: Theodore Oben, Children and Youth Programme Officer, UNEP, PO Box 30552,
Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623262, fax +254-2/623697, e-mail
<theodore.oben@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org).


UNFCCC 2000 SCHEDULE
According to the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), "substantive headway" was made at the fifth Conference of the Parties (COP-5,
see Go Between 78). In the 1992 framework convention, industrialized Parties (Annex I
countries) agreed, among other things, to non-binding commitments aimed at returning their
greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2000. At COP-5, held in Bonn (Germany) from 25
October to 5 November 1999, new reporting guidelines were adopted for Annex I Parties
(industrialized countries) and a new process was initiated for consideration and improvement
of communications for non-Annex I Parties. COP-5 also acknowledged the needs of
non-Annex I Parties and Annex I Parties with economies in transition in accessing existing
sources of financial and technical support, by launching a "country-driven" assessment of
capacity building needs.

However, many important substantive issues remain, which will require technical work and
intense negotiating in the months leading up to COP-6 on 13-24 November 2000 in the Hague
(Netherlands). These include issues such as: baselines for project-based mechanisms (the clean
development mechanism and joint implementation), limits on emissions trading, options for
carbon "sinks" and determining non-compliance and its consequences.

This year will be one of intense activity for the Parties and the secretariat in view of work to
be completed for the COP-6 deadline. For this reason the Parties decided to maximize
negotiating time by increasing the sessional periods from two to three and extending the time
for informal work. In addition there will be many workshops in the first half of 2000, focusing
on technical areas concerning the Kyoto Protocol, Buenos Aires Plan of Action and other
convention issues.

Meetings scheduled during 2000 are:
--   First sessional period from 12-16 June, preceded by one week of informal meetings
including workshops;
--   Second sessional period from 11-15 September, preceded by one week of informal
meetings including workshops; and
--   Third sessional period from 13-24 November. 

Contact: Barbara Black, Meetings Services Officer, Conference and Information Support,
UNFCCC Secretariat, PO Box 260 124, Haus Carstanjen, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8,
D-53175 Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/815-1000, fax +49-228/815-1999, e-mail
<secretariat@unfccc.de>, website (www.unfccc.de).


WORLD BANK EMISSIONS PROGRAMME
The Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF)--the world's first market-based mechanism to seek to
address climate change and promote the transfer of finance and climate-friendly technology to
developing countries--was launched by the World Bank on 18 January 2000. 

James Wolfensohn, World Bank President, said that "the PCF offers a tremendous opportunity
to boost financial and technology flows to developing countries at a time when
government-to-government transfers have fallen to historically low levels." 

The Kyoto Protocol, which guides implementation of the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change (see E&D File,  vol. III, no. 16), includes specific emissions reduction targets
for industrialized countries. It also contains provisions allowing some flexibility so they can
meet the commitments to reduce emissions in the most cost-effective manner. The PCF would
aim to help poor countries gain access to climate-friendly technologies as well as earning
revenue from selling emissions reductions, according to the World Bank.
    
The PCF has been established with contributions from governments and private companies. So
far, four governments and nine companies have approved participation in it, bringing the total
of committed contributions to US$85 million. Governments that have approved participation
in the PCF are Finland, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Private sector participants
include the electric power companies of Tokyo, Chubu, Chugoku, Kyushu, Shikoku and
Tohoku, trading houses Mitsubishi and Mitsui, as well as the electric utility company
Electrabel of Belgium. 

The emission reductions from PCF projects may eventually be used against industrialized
countries' commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World
Bank. Under the Kyoto Protocol, they must bring these down to at least 5.2% below their
1990 levels by the end of 2012. Whether emission reductions earned by the PCF will count
toward these commitments depends on rules being developed by the Parties to the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change, which the Bank said should be defined when the
Parties meet in The Hague in November 2000.

Contact: Prototype Carbon Fund, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433,
United States, fax +1-202/522 7432, e-mail <info@prototypecarbonfund.org>, website
(www.prototypecarbonfund.org). 


CITIES WITHOUT SLUMS INITIATIVE
Former South African President Nelson Mandela will serve as a patron to the Cities Without
Slums Initiative, which aims to improve the living conditions of millions of people in the
world's slums from Soweto and S o Paolo to Manila and Accra. 

The initiative, co-sponsored by the World Bank and the United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (Habitat), is a "creative and daring response to urban poverty," according to Mr.
Mandela. "Poverty reduction and upgrading of informal settlements," he said, "will not be
possible unless cities are productive and efficient, and capable of providing the poor with
economic opportunities to build their assets and incomes."

The initiative's action plan is a product of the Cities Alliance, a coalition of cities and their
development partners committed to making "unprecedented improvements in the living
conditions of the urban poor." It aims to improve the lives of 100 million slum dwellers by
2020 by building on successful community-based upgrading programmes and addressing the
broader policy and institutional issues that often make such efforts unsustainable.

Among other things the plan calls for increasing investments aimed at provision of basic
services to the urban poor; a worldwide effort to move from pilot projects to upgrading cities
nationwide and to generate the required resources to do so; and investing in global knowledge,
learning and capacity in slum upgrading and for reducing the growth of new slums.

Contact: Sharad Shankardass, Press and Media Unit, UNCHS, PO Box 30030, Nairobi,
Kenya, telephone +254-2/623151, fax +254-2/624060, e-mail <habitat.press@unchs.org>,
website (www.unchs.org) or Andrew Kircher, Chief, News Bureau, Media Relations, World
Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/473 6313,
fax +1-202/522 2632, e-mail <akircher@worldbank.org>, website
(www.worldbank.org/urban/citiesalliance).


HABITAT ENVIRONMENT WORKSHOP
The United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) organized a Regional Workshop
on Housing and Environment on 22-23 November 1999 in Vienna (Austria). The objectives of
the workshop, which brought together 140 participants from 35 countries, were to promote
the private sector's contribution in improved housing delivery and encourage use of
environmentally sound technologies in the construction sector. The focus of discussions was
Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries and the newly independent states (NIS) of the
former Soviet Union.

"A decade after the economic transition, the private sector has assumed a new role in the
region," said Klaus T”pfer, Acting Executive Director of UNCHS (Habitat), "and we need to
review the limitations and challenges that this sector is facing. Nowhere in the world can
governments alone take the responsibility for providing housing and social services for their
people. It is the private sector that must bear most of the burden of providing adequate
housing." He noted that construction practices must also be modified so that impacts on the
environment are alleviated. 

Among other things, participants requested UNCHS (Habitat) and the donor community to
intensify their cooperation with countries of the region. To that end, UNCHS (Habitat) was
requested to launch a regional technical assistance programme on the topics of the workshop.
Implementation of such a programme, it said, would not only help improve the region's
housing situation but would facilitate regional cooperation and transfer of technology, and
would contribute toward achieving goals of Agenda 21 adopted at the 1992 Earth Summit,
and the Habitat Agenda adopted at Habitat II in 1996.

Contact: Baris der-Petrossian, Workshop Coordinator, UNCHS (Habitat), c/o United Nations
Office, PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone 43-1/26060 3867, fax 43-1/26060
5935, e-mail <bder-petrossian@unvienna.org>.


UNDP: THE WAY FORWARD
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Mark Malloch Brown told
the Executive Board meeting from 24-28 January in New York that "we think we can offer
you a UNDP which is certainly small, compared to many other global players, but which is
global and influential and trusted at national, regional and global levels." 

Mr. Malloch Brown presented his vision for a "new UNDP" in a business plan entitled The
Way Forward. The plan highlights UNDP's comparative advantages, which it says include
trust of governments, closeness to civil society, the Human Development Report and its
presence in 136 developing countries. It says UNDP's leverage and influence would not come
from money but rather from the power of its ideas.

"An intervention at the moment of policy genesis," said Mr. Malloch Brown, "with the right
advice supported by the right pilot projects to test new thinking; that is the way we can have
the maximum impact." Mr. Malloch Brown said that the decision to move UNDP "upstream"
in the development process was largely in response to the needs of and requests from
programme countries themselves. 

Specific measures identified in UNDP's new business plan include:
--   commit "one hundred cents of every additional core dollar received to programmes;"
--   simplify and decentralize administrative, programmatic and policy functions to the
field; 
--   cut staff at New York headquarters by 25% over the next 18-24 months;
--   strengthen the Office of the Human Development Report by consolidating advocacy
and policy work into a high profile report;
--   develop a dynamic and expanded model of South-South cooperation; 
--   create a new Bureau of Strategic Partnerships and Resources to reverse the decline in
contributions and raise core funding to US$1.1 billion, as well as to "make and nurture
relationships with the private sector, civil society and Bretton Woods institutions;" and
--   form a new cabinet-style executive team to bring together regional and functional
issues.

Officially responding to the business strategy for 2000-2003, the Executive Board "welcomed
the efforts of Mr. Malloch Brown to secure the future of UNDP as a leading development
programme of the United Nations" and "affirmed its support to him to continue those efforts."

The board expressed serious concern about the decline in the level of UNDP's core resources.
It called on Mr. Malloch Brown to increase efforts to secure predictable funding and reach the
agreed annual target of US$1.1 billion in core resources. UNDP's core resources in 1999 fell
to US$700 million, which was lower than the US$750 million forecast and down sharply from
US$1.2 billion in 1992. Programme resources in 2001 for Sub-Saharan Africa--the top priority
of UN development activities--will be less than 50% of what they were five years ago; next
year UNDP will provide just 3% of total official development assistance (ODA). 

Olusegun Apata, Deputy Permanent Representative (Nigeria), speaking on behalf of the Group
of 77, stressed that the emphasis of reform within UNDP needed to be on securing more
financial resources and improving the delivery of services, which he said the current strategy
does not adequately address. 

Contact: UNDP, 1 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1 212/906
5000, fax +1 212/906 5001, e-mail <hq@undp.org>, website (www.undp.org).


UNDP EVENT ON AFRICA'S IMAGE
Some 60 senior editors, journalists and writers from Africa, Europe and the United States
participated in an International Conference on the Media and the Image of Africa, held in
Bamako (Mali) on 29 November to 3 December 1999. The event, organized by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP), focused on promoting a more balanced image of
Africa in the media by seeking to create a deeper awareness of the continent, its cultures and
realities. 

Among other things, participants discussed the impact of international reporting on
development efforts on the continent and how such reporting influences the fight against
poverty. The conference also served as a training session for UNDP public affairs officers
from selected country offices in Africa.

"There is no question that this century is defined and connected by images, and by our
capacity to capture them," said UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown in a message to
the conference. "The impact of CNN reports on international decision making has become a
social science in itself. What we need to be asking ourselves is how do we maximize this kind
of exposure for development in Africa and elsewhere." 

During panel sessions some participants said the image of the continent, particularly as
portrayed by non-African media, tends to be coloured by the views and stereotypes of the
writer, editor or organization preparing the story. Others highlighted what they described as
the contradictory role played by the United Nations concerning Africa's image. They said UN
agencies, trying to secure more funding from the donor community, often feed the media with
information on hardships, crises and deprivations on the continent. 

Contact: Obi Emekekwue, Communications Officer, Communications Office, UNDP, 1 UN
Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/906 5322, fax +1-212/906
5364, e-mail <obi.emekekwue@undp.org>, website (www.undp.org).


WORLD TELEVISION FORUM
Global television has been the driving force in creation of the "global family" and unification of
the world, speakers told the Fourth World Television Forum, held at the United Nations in
November 1999. The theme of the two-day event, which brought together more than 750
participants including TV professionals, policy makers and UN officials, was Mirror or Map:
The Impact of Television on Peace and Development. 

Workshops focused on, among other themes, reporting of armed conflicts, balancing
education and entertainment in children's programming, and globalization versus cultural
imperialism. The forum was organized by the United Nations Department of Public
Information (DPI).

Many participants said those "rich in information" were becoming richer, while those with
poor access have no voice. And although audiences in different parts of the world are not
homogenous, television programmes, especially in Africa, are often pre-packaged and run
counter to local cultural values. Many raised concerns about what they described as the
distorted view of the world that television presents; the "television mirror" blames many ills on
Africa, they noted. 

Among other things, participants called for more positive images of Africa, encouragement of
local programmes for children, and more international cooperation for educational and
children's television.

Contact: Jon Herbertsson, Associate Information Officer, DPI, United Nations, New York NY
10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 7949, fax +1-212/963 1893, e-mail
<herbertsson@un.org>.


DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS
The United Nations held its second panel discussion on Dialogue Among Civilizations on 22
November 1999 at UN headquarters. The discussion, which focused on the theme Call for
Common Ground, is the second such event to be organized by the Permanent Mission of Iran
in preparation for the United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations (2001) declared
in 1998 by General Assembly resolution A/53/22. The first discussion on A New Paradigm
was held in May 1999 in New York.

The most recent discussion brought together: Richard Falk, Professor of International Law
and Practice, Princeton University; Javad Faridzadeh, President of the International Center for
Dialogue Among Civilizations; Kishore Mahubani (Singapore); and Ismail Serageldin,
Vice-President of the World Bank. The Secretary General's Personal Representative for the
Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations, Giandomenico Picco, served as moderator.

Hadi Nejad Hosseinian, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said that rapid changes in
international relations as a result of globalization will "only find their true meaning" when they
are absorbed in a process of dialogue among people of different cultures and civilizations. 

"The delicate balance in a globalized world," he said, "is how to celebrate each and every
culture and civilization and allow each to make its contribution to the fullest of its potential to
the ultimate shape of our world." 

Kishore Mahubani noted the world was entering a new and unprecedented era in which
multiple civilizations are able to thrive simultaneously--this only increases the importance of
dialogue. This dialogue, he said, could acknowledge the changed global reality: the world has
not only shrunk but is marked by a dense "web of interdependence."

"Promoting of a dialogue among civilizations is an extraordinarily timely initiative," said
Professor Falk, "because it enables people to affirm their spiritual and cultural identities at a
time when the prevalence of market forces is endangering the full breadth of human identity."
So-called globalization has provided the world with an overarching image of the post-Cold
War era that risks reducing the meaning of life to the sort of materialist terms that Marxism
embodied, he observed. 

Professor Falk suggested that by engaging in the present dialogue participants were searching
for a "normative architecture" to help resolve the differences that bring peoples into conflict.
However, he noted the danger inherent in such dialogues, which he termed "ethical
impatience" or an unwillingness to acknowledge that there are some boundaries that are real
and difficult to cross. He warned that the dialogue should not fall into the trap of a false
universalism, which conceals the reality of a particular culture trying to project its influence on
the whole world.

Mr. Serageldin situated his comments within the reality of globalization, saying that the
superstructures of the global economy create vast inequities both within and among countries.
He said the prospect of civilizations talking to each other is all the more difficult if they are
coming apart from within. In this light, he suggested that poverty was a more crucial issue
than the fear of the "homogenizing influences of globalization." 

On 10 December 1999 the General Assembly adopted resolution 54/113, entitled United
Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations (to be observed in 2001). It calls on
governments, the UN system, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) and other relevant international and non-governmental organizations
to continue and intensify planning for appropriate forums and vehicles to promote the Year of
Dialogue Among Civilizations.

Contact: D. Diene, Director, Division for Intercultural Projects and Pluralism for a Culture of
Peace, UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75700 Paris, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 48 12,
fax +33-1/45 68 55 88, e-mail <d.diene@unesco.org>, website (www.unesco.org).


AIDS PREVENTION PROJECTS
The United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), in conjunction with
UNAIDS and its other co-sponsors, will establish four new AIDS prevention projects in
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. UNDCP became the seventh
co-sponsor of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 1999.

It is estimated that more than 10% of HIV infections worldwide, or nearly three and a half
million people, are due to injecting drug use. Last year the Central Asian/Eastern European
region had the greatest percentage increase in HIV infections in the world. Injecting drug use
was identified as a leading cause of the increase by UNAIDS and the World Health
Organization.

The prevention of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS go hand in hand, according to Pino Arlacchi,
Executive Director of the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP), which is
comprised of UNDCP and the Center for International Crime Prevention (CICP). "If people
have access to services, if they are informed and provided with the appropriate skills, they will
resist drugs and resist engaging in risky behaviour," he said.

The UNDCP projects in Central Asia will assist the four governments in planning,
management and policy development of their activities targeted on HIV/AIDS, drug abuse
prevention and sexually transmitted diseases.

Contact: UNDCP, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria,
telephone +43-1/26060, fax +43-1/26060 5931, website (www.undcp.org).


UNICEF/UNAIDS ORPHAN REPORT
Throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and around the world, the damage being wrought by
HIV/AIDS has a new face--the millions of children who have been orphaned by the pandemic.
They have been left behind to struggle not only with their personal losses but with the stigma
and discrimination that often accompany AIDS, according to a report from the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS). 

"The figures are staggering," said Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "By the end of
[1999] the world will have seen 11.2 million children orphaned by AIDS, 95% of them in
Sub-Saharan Africa. By the end of the year 2000, we estimate that the cumulative number of
AIDS orphans will rise to 13 million."

The report, Children Orphaned by AIDS: Front-line Responses from Eastern and Southern
Africa, warns that the traditional African extended family is breaking down under the
unprecedented burden of the pandemic. AIDS orphans are defined as children who, before the
age of 15, have lost either their mother or both parents to AIDS. 

"Before AIDS, about 2% of all children in developing countries were orphans," said Carol
Bellamy, UNICEF Executive Director. "By 1997, the figure had jumped to 7% in many
African countries--in some countries the figures run as high as 11%."

In developing countries AIDS orphans face extreme economic uncertainty and are at higher
risk of malnutrition, illness, abuse and sexual exploitation than children orphaned by other
causes, says the report. In addition, AIDS orphans must face the stigma and discrimination
that so often shadow the disease. This leaves them socially isolated and often deprived of basic
social services such as education.

In response to the crisis, some African communities have developed innovative care and
support programmes. The report notes that while communities clearly are still in the forefront
of the response, the sheer number of orphans threatens to overwhelm their efforts.

UNICEF, UNAIDS and the US-based National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS
issued a Call to Action about the situation in December 1999. The Call to Action includes a
series of recommendations for governments and communities including: 
--   greater access to credit, income and property for women;
--   widespread and confidential AIDS counseling and voluntary testing;
--   social assistance for those who need it most;
--   support for the psycho-social needs of orphans; and
--   increased community protection of women's and children's rights.

At the global level, the Call to Action urges keeping AIDS orphans high on the global agenda,
especially in countries that are the hardest hit. This means making AIDS central to
development assistance and giving priority to the epidemic when it comes to debt relief.

Contact: Dominique De Santis, Press Officer, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva
27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3387, fax +41-22/791 4898, e-mail
<desantisd@unaids.org>, website (www.unaids.org) or Marie Heuze, Chief, Communications
Section, UNICEF, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone
+41-22/909 5523, fax +41-22/909 5907, e-mail <mheuze@unicef.ch>, website
(www.unicef.org).


WORKSHOP ON VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN ZAMBIA
A National Planning Workshop on Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children, held in Lusaka
(Zambia) from 8-10 December 1999, urged the Zambian president to declare the crisis facing
orphans and vulnerable children in the country a national disaster. Participants in the workshop
included some 200 representatives of government donors, non-governmental and
community-based organizations. The meeting, convened by the Zambian Ministry of Sports,
Youth and Child Development, was sponsored by the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF). 

There are over 75,000 street children in Zambian cities, and 13% of the child population have
been orphaned as a result of AIDS, according to the Zambian government. The workshop
aimed to reach a consensus on a national policy on orphans and other vulnerable children, and
to set up a mechanism for information sharing, collaboration and access to resources by
relevant organizations.

Among other things, participants discussed ways to:
--   improve livelihood security in vulnerable households;
--   improve vulnerable children's access to education;
--   respond to psycho-social distress among children;
--   protect them from abuse such as sexual exploitation; and
--   reduce children's vulnerability to HIV infection.
Participants called for basic free education for children in the country; allocation of some
monies freed by debt cancellation to the education of orphans and vulnerable children; support
for families looking after orphans; and codification and reinforcement of laws affecting
children.

Contact: UNICEF, PO Box 33610, Lusaka, Zambia, telephone +260-1/252055 or 252364, fax
+260-1/253389, website (www.unicef.org).


MACROECONOMICS AND HEALTH COMMISSION
An expert commission was launched on 18 January to clarify the link between health and
poverty reduction. The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH), unveiled in
Geneva by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland, will
produce over a two-year period studies on how concrete health interventions can lead to
economic growth and reduce inequity in developing countries. It will also recommend a set of
measures designed to maximize the poverty reduction and economic development benefits of
health sector investment.

The commission, which is chaired by Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard University in the
United States, brings together 15 of the world's leading economists and economic policy
makers. Among them are representatives from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund,
United Nations Development Programme, Economic Commission on Africa and the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, as well as economic development
experts such as former Indian Finance Minister Manmohan Singh and Thai Deputy Prime
Minister Supachai Panitchpakdi.

"The World Bank's 1993 World Development Report showed us how important health is to
development," said Ms. Brundtland. "Since then, issues such as debt relief, trade negotiations,
the AIDS crisis, essential drug availability and the spiraling of health care costs have left no
doubt that health plays a central role in the world economy. Yet, few finance officials and
development economists have so far explored the potential importance of health investment as
an instrument for reducing poverty." 

She added that the goal of the commission "is to show once and for all that health must be at
the heart of development."

The commission will critically assess and generate further evidence on:
--   the nature and magnitude of economic outcomes (income and productivity growth,
poverty reduction and social protection) of investing in health;
--   the economics of incentives for research and development of drugs and vaccines that
address diseases primarily affecting the poor;
--   effective and equitable mobilization of resources required to deal with major disease
problems of the poor and to develop and sustain health systems generally;
--   health and international economic relations (such as trade-related issues);
--   development assistance and health (including consideration of efficiency in use of
assistance oriented to improving health, consequences of adjustment and stabilization policies
for health and the health sector, and debt relief); and 
--   costs and efficiency in addressing major diseases of the poor. 

The commission will produce a final report by the end of 2001.

Contact: Gregory Hartl, Health Communications and Public Relations, WHO, 20 avenue
Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4458, fax +41-22/791 4858,
e-mail <hartlg@who.ch>, website (www.who.int).


UN CONVENTION AGAINST CORRUPTION
United Nations member states, meeting in Vienna in January, unanimously advocated a new
convention against corruption. The decision was reached at a meeting of the Ad Hoc
Committee on the Elaboration of an International Convention Against Organized
Transnational Crime. That treaty, together with supplementary protocols on illicit firearms,
trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, is expected to be completed at a special
meeting in Palermo (Italy) later this year. Immediately following its work on those
instruments, the Vienna-based Centre for International Crime Prevention will start
preparations for the anti-corruption treaty.

"It is widely acknowledged that corruption scares away foreign investment and development
aid," said Pino Arlacchi, Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Drug Control
and Crime Prevention (ODCCP). "What is needed is a comprehensive legal instrument that
will attack this scourge that is impeding economic development and undermining democracy
across the world." 

It is expected that the new convention will be a comprehensive legal instrument covering
active and passive corruption in the public sector, both within countries and transnationally. It
will also seek to give universal application to legal provisions, currently in force on a limited
national or regional basis only. 

The issues of global action to combat organized crime and corruption will also be discussed by
member states at the Tenth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the
Treatment of Offenders, which will take place in Vienna from 10 to 17 April.  

Contact: Jean-Paul Laborde, Officer in Charge, Legal and Convention Affairs, Centre for
International Crime Prevention, United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime
Prevention, PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26060 3483, fax
+43-1/26060 5898, website (www.uncjin.org).
KOBE DECLARATION ON TOBACCO AND HEALTH
Health experts and anti-tobacco activists have urged the World Health Organization (WHO)
to fully integrate the "special needs" of women and girls into a proposed international treaty
on tobacco control (see Go Between 78). The Kobe Declaration was adopted by consensus by
some 500 participants who attended the International Conference on Tobacco and Health,
hosted by WHO in Kobe (Japan) on 14-18 November 1999. Its theme was Making a
Difference to Tobacco and Health: Avoiding the Tobacco Epidemic in Women and Youth.

The declaration demands that the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)
"include gender-specific concerns and perspectives in each and every aspect." It states that
"gender equality in society must be an integral part of tobacco control strategies," with
women's leadership essential for success.

"We have to work together to ensure the success of the framework convention which will be a
powerful public health tool," said Gro Harlem Brundtland, WHO Director-General. "It could
encourage states Parties to take appropriate measures to protect children and adolescents from
exposure to tobacco by including obligations related to advertising, sponsorships and
labeling." 

Filomina Steady, chair of the declaration drafting group and professor at Wellesley College in
the United States, stressed the importance of drawing attention to the potential epidemic of
tobacco use in women and girls. 

"This is the new target population in the developing world," she said, "that is particularly
being recruited in this phenomenon of nicotine addiction. This declaration will feed into the
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to ensure there is a strong gender-sensitive
component and that it serves as a mobilizing tool to bring women, NGOs, leaders, politicians,
activists and academics into this movement."

The convention, targeted for adoption by May 2003, will be the first legally-binding
international instrument aimed at curbing the global spread of tobacco and tobacco products.
Some of the measures being considered include a ban on advertising, promotion and
packaging of tobacco products; raising tobacco taxes; tightening rules to stop smuggling; and
special anti-smoking education programs targeted at young people.

The Kobe conference, which examined ways to counter the tobacco epidemic among women
and youth, focused on what WHO describes as the alarming rise in smoking among young
women and girls in Asia. For example, a recent survey by the Japanese Ministry of Health and
Welfare shows that smoking among women aged 20-29 more than doubled between 1986 and
1999, from 10.5% to 23.2%. Of the 1.1 billion smokers in the world, 200 million are women,
which WHO says may triple in the next 25 years. It estimates that women account for 500,000
of the four million tobacco-related deaths that occur every year. If present smoking trends
continue, WHO warns that by the year 2025 ten million people per year will die unnecessarily--70% of them in developing countries.

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). 


GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON HEALTH PROMOTION
The World Health Organization (WHO), Pan American Health Organization, and the Mexican
Ministry of Health are organizing the Fifth Global Conference on Health Promotion, to be held
5-9 June in Mexico City. The conference will examine how health promotion strategies help
the effectiveness of health and development policies, programmes and projects, particularly
those that benefit people living in difficult circumstances. Organizers says it will aim to place
health high on the development agenda of international, national and local agencies, and to
stimulate partnerships for health between different sectors.

Participants at the conference will include ministers of health, health professionals,
representatives of NGOs, development banks, private sector organizations, academic
institutions, and experts in communications for public health advocacy and health literacy. 

The conference will focus on five priorities for health promotion for the 21st century, agreed
at the 1997 Fourth Global Conference on Health Promotion. These are to:
--   promote social responsibility for health;
--   increase community capacity and empower the individual;
--   expand and consolidate partnerships for health;
--   increase investments for health development; and
--   secure an infrastructure for health promotion.

Background reports outlining advances and challenges under each of the five priorities are
being prepared in collaboration with organizations engaged in health promotion activities
worldwide.

Ministers of health will meet at the conference to discuss the contribution of health promotion
to the sustainability of local, national and international actions in health. A draft Ministerial
Declaration, being drawn up by WHO, pledges to develop a national plan of action that can
monitor and measure progress in incorporating health promotion strategies in national and
local policy and planning.

The conference will also serve as a platform to discuss the Global Alliance for Health
Promotion, called for by the 1998 WHO World Health Assembly. The alliance is to be a
proactive and sustainable international network that, among other things, supports strategies
to disseminate information and share best practices, according to WHO. 

Contact: Paola Piazza, Conference Secretary, Health Promotion Department, WHO, Avenue
Appia 20, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3920, fax +41-22/791
4186, e-mail <5gchp@who.int>, website (www.who.int/hpr/conference).


OHCHR LAUNCHES FIRST ANNUAL APPEAL
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) launched its first annual
appeal for funding in January. In a foreword to the appeal, High Commissioner Mary
Robinson noted the initiative represents a further step in consolidation of the office and its
work. She said there are now:
--   some 50 OHCHR technical cooperation projects;
--   OHCHR human rights officers in 23 countries; and
--   35 special rapporteurs with thematic or country mandates with support from OHCHR.

The office is also responding to requests from an increasing number of countries wishing to
establish independent national institutions to promote and protect human rights, or to develop
national human rights plans of action.

The appeal document says just over US$53 million will be required from voluntary
contributions in the year 2000 for the office's activities around the world. Last year it received
US$24 million in voluntary contributions.

Contact: Mari Sandstrom, Senior Fundraising Officer, Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights, Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Paquis, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland, telephone
+41-22/917 9225, fax +41-22/917 9012, e-mail <msandstrom.hchr@unog.ch>. The appeal is
available online at (www.unhchr.ch/pdf/annual.pdf).


IFAD BOARD APPROVES PROJECTS
The Executive Board of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) agreed
on loans for development projects in 15 countries when meeting from 8-9 December 1999 in
Rome. The projects, worth US$424 million, aim to assist people in rural areas to achieve a
secure livelihood.

In Albania, the Mountain Areas Development Programme is designed to help to raise the
standard of living of poor people through increased agricultural production. 

The Qinling Mountain Area Poverty Alleviation Project in China will target households in 128
townships to provide more food, access to safe water and increase income levels.

In Guatemala, the Rural Development Programme for Las Verapaces aims to benefit poor
indigenous families by creating employment opportunities, increasing the productive capacity
of small landholdings, and fostering a development strategy that respects and supports
people's cultural identity.

IFAD's programme in Guinea for Participatory Rural Development will encourage a
participatory approach in programme management and resource allocation.
The aim of the Rural Finance and Small Enterprise Development Project in Moldova will be to
generate sustainable increases in poor, rural household incomes by participation in
commercializing agricultural products.

Smallholder producers in Mozambique will be assisted by improving their access to markets
and marketing organizations through the Agricultural Markets Support Programme.

In Nicaragua the Technical Assistance Fund for Sustainable Rural Development Project will
target inhabitants of 12 municipalities to help develop capacities and formulate their technical
assistance requirements.

Other projects that were approved by the IFAD board are in Cameroon, Honduras, Nigeria,
Senegal, Uganda, Yemen and two in Zambia.

Contact: IFAD, Via del Serafico 107, I-00142 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/54591, fax
+39-06/5459 2141, e-mail <ifad@ifad.org>, website (www.ifad.org).


UNIDO GENERAL CONFERENCE
The crucial role of industrialization in promoting economic development and alleviating
poverty was reaffirmed by the 168-nation General Conference of the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO), which concluded its eighth session on 3 December
1999. High on the agenda of the conference, held in Vienna (Austria), was the organization's
new approach to delivering packages of integrated industrial services tailored to the needs of
individual client countries. 

To fund these packages, member states called for increased voluntary contributions from
donors as well as cost-sharing by recipient countries. They approved the commitment of
US$5.6 million in unutilized balances from 1992-1993 and 1996-1997 to help pay for the
integrated programmes, subject to individual member state concurrence. The conference
approved net appropriations of US$132.9 million for UNIDO's regular budget for 2000-2001. 

In the framework of UNIDO's programme for Europe and the Newly Independent States, the
organization was requested to assist in rehabilitation and development of industrial
infrastructure in coordination with international organizations involved in reconstruction. 

With UNIDO as a focal point in the United Nations system for promoting cleaner industrial
production, the conference underlined the importance of UNIDO's role in assisting developing
countries and transition economies to achieve sustainable development. It emphasized the
organization's contribution in strengthening the capacity of national Global Environment
Facility focal points in recipient countries to identify and formulate relevant projects. 

Among other things, participants also stressed the role of industrialization in the economic
transformation of Africa. They said the private sector must be a driving force for development
and appealed to all multilateral development institutions to cooperate in this regard.

Contact: Robert Cox, Industrial Promotion Officer, Investment Promotion and Institution
Capacity-Building Division, UNIDO, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 300, A-1400
Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26026 3340, fax +43-1/26026 6881, e-mail
<rcox@unido.org>, website (www.unido.org).


REPORT ON RURAL ENERGY CHALLENGE
The massive energy problems of rural areas need to be given much higher priority, according
to a joint report of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Energy
Council. Hopes that improvement in energy supply would "trickle down" from the more
advanced sectors of the economy to the rural poor have not been realized, according to the
report. "Rural energy development must be decentralized," it says, "to place rural people at
the heart of planning and implementation." 

The Challenge of Rural Energy Poverty in Developing Countries notes that more than three
billion people live in rural areas around the world, nearly 90% of them in developing countries.
The vast majority are overwhelmingly dependent on burning wood, dung and crop residue to
provide energy for cooking, heating and light, often using inefficient technologies. In the
poorest rural households, the amount of energy consumed is less than what is needed for a
minimum standard of living. 

Cooking--often essential to make staple foods edible--dominates rural energy consumption.
The dependence on biomass fuels often means long hours spent on collecting wood or other
material, as well as pressure on the environment and levels of indoor pollution that rival that of
most polluted cities. These burdens fall largely on women and children. 

Dependence on traditional fuels and biomass will continue for the foreseeable future in many
rural areas, says the report. But improvements can be made, and the place to begin is with
existing indigenous technical knowledge and well-tested methods. Rural women will be key
because "they are the  experts' most familiar with the household fuel supply problem and the
needs of their families," says the report. "They know their own cooking needs, habits, utensils,
environmental conditions and their families' taste preferences."

Technologies such as wind, solar, hydro and biomass offer the possibility to improve energy
supplies in rural areas. Many developing countries potentially have the opportunity to
"leapfrog" from unsustainable biomass combustion to the use of renewable energy without
relying on fossil fuel technology. The report calls on governments to better promote renewable
and sustainable energy technologies in rural areas. Affordable rural credits could help farmers
to increase income by switching from inefficient and costly energy to more efficient, less
expensive energy and healthier systems. 

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). 


WORLD BANK ON GREENING INDUSTRY
A growing number of developing countries are significantly cutting industrial pollution by
using the combined power of local communities, stock markets and news media to police air
and water discharges from private companies, according to a report by the World Bank. It
says this community-based approach is proving more effective in curbing pollution than relying
on traditional approaches to environmental regulation, which "can often be under-funded,
inefficient and stymied by cronyism and corruption."

The report, entitled Greening Industry: New Roles for Communities, Markets and
Governments, says the approach is good news for some of the world's poorest people and
shows how local industrial pollution can be held within acceptable bounds without hindering
growth.

The report describes how environmental regulators in developing countries pioneered new
approaches after the "command and control" model of pollution control, imported from
industrial countries, failed to cut poisonous discharges. Under that model--still widely used--government regulators set maximum pollution levels and then fine companies that exceed
them.

Where enforcement agencies are weak--as they are in many developing countries--companies
run little risk of being caught and punished. Therefore, polluting firms that violate regulatory
standards have little incentive to clean up their activities or to cut pollution, observes the
report.

To address these limitations, the new approach combines market-based incentives and public
information disclosure to encourage factory managers to improve their environmental
performance while they are pursuing profits. With the new approach governments,
communities and markets "all have important roles to play in reducing pollution," according to
the World Bank.

For example in some countries, local community representatives join government regulators
and factory managers at the negotiating table to, among other things, set pollution charges.
Unlike fines, often subject to dispute in the courts, regularly-assessed pollution charges can be
imposed on companies as a simple cost of doing business--which can be reduced by cutting
pollution. Experience with pollution charges in Colombia, China and Philippines has shown
that managers embrace serious pollution controls when they face recurring and expensive
charges for damaging emissions.

In other developing countries, public information enables consumers, bankers and
stockholders to evaluate a company's environmental record before deciding whether to buy a
product, lend money or trade the company's shares.

Contact: David Shaman, Environmental Consultant, Development Research Group, World
Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/473 3779,
fax +1-202/522 3230, e-mail <dshaman@worldbank.org>. An Internet version of Greening
Industry will be available on the New Ideas in Pollution Regulation website
(www.worldbank.org/nipr).


UNCTAD DISPUTE SETTLEMENT WORKSHOP
Dispute settlement has become a central issue affecting trade negotiations in the new
multilateral trading system. It is now a matter of particular importance to developing
countries, whose access to sources of information for guidance in dispute settlement law and
procedure is limited. Developing countries are further constrained by a lack of requisite skills
and knowledge in this field, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD).

The lack of knowledge in this area, according to UNCTAD, "explains to a large extent the
difficulties encountered by parties to settle disputes and entails additional costs for business
people and the authorities." 

It is in this context that UNCTAD organized a training workshop to familiarize professionals
in developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs) with the subtleties of dispute
settlement mechanisms in international trade, investment and intellectual property. The
workshop, which brought together participants from 40 countries, took place from 20-22
January near Geneva.

Among other things, it focused on the dispute settlement mechanisms of the World Trade
Organization (WTO), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the World Bank.
Experts from international organizations and dispute settlement bodies addressed the
workshop in addition to panel discussions.

Contact: Erik Chrispeels, Senior Legal Adviser, Office                 of the Deputy
Secretary-General, UNCTAD, Palais des   Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland,
telephone +41-22/917 5829, fax +41-22/917 0042, e-mail <erik.chrispeels@unctad.org>,
website (www.unctad.org).


MULTILINGUAL ENVIRONMENTAL THESAURUS
In an effort to break down linguistic barriers to environmental information exchange among
nations, an international initiative was launched at the beginning of this year by four
organizations to develop a global multilingual environmental thesaurus. 

"In the current age of globalization," said UNEP Executive Director Klaus T”pfer, "a standard
multilingual environmental vocabulary will facilitate and promote information exchange among
countries on key environmental issues." The three other supporters of the initiative are
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) of Italy, the European Environment Agency (EEA),
and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A common vocabulary on the environment will assist in the development of environmental
information systems and the retrieval of environmental information from electronic resources.
It will also help environmental decision makers and the public have greater access to global
information systems.

The four cooperating organizations expect other partners to join the consortium arrangement
and contribute to the collaboration. As a result, other language groups should benefit from
having access to a standard environmental vocabulary in multiple languages. The global
thesaurus can be customized by partners to meet national or sub-regional needs.

Contact: Gerard Cunningham, Programme Officer, INFOTERRA, The Global Environmental
Information Exchange Network, Division of Environmental Information, Assessment and
Early Warning, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623275, fax
+254-2/624269, e-mail <cunningg@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org).


UN AND NGO NEWS

MILLENNIUM FORUM PREPARATIONS CONTINUE
Some 1,400 representatives of NGOs and civil society will gather in the UN General Assembly
Hall on 22 May to discuss their vision for the UN for the 21st century. The gathering, known
as the Millennium Forum, will run through 26 May and is being held at the invitation of UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan with approval of the General Assembly. The outcome of the
forum will serve as input into the General Assembly's Millennium Assembly and Summit,
which will begin 6 September (see Go Between 77).

The format for the forum will be more interactive than a usual plenary. Speakers and panelists
will be asked to submit their written statements at least two months ahead of time so that they
can be placed on relevant websites. In this way, NGOs and other sectors of civil society will
have advance access to documents that are going to be presented. In addition, the UN
Department for Public Information (UN/DPI) will help to organize videoconferencing of the
forum so that civil society representatives around the world can follow the events.

In preparation for the forum, the steering committee has established the following six areas of
focus.
--   Peace, Security and Disarmament, with parallel working group sessions at the forum
on: the Hague Agenda for Peace; controlling the proliferation of weapons; global action by
civil society to prevent war; peace, development and security--inter-relationships; reform of
the UN Security Council; breaking the stalemate on disarmament; prerequisites for world
peace; and children in armed conflict.
--   Eradication of Poverty, with parallel working group sessions at the forum on:
strategies for the eradication of poverty; narrowing the gap between rich and poor within
countries and between countries; role of the international financial institutions in the fight
against poverty; eradication of poverty--the building block of human security; focus on
children and women--the victims of poverty; grassroots mobilization to eradicate poverty; the
role of religion in the eradication of poverty; and combating racism and racial discrimination as
contributing factors to poverty.
--   Human Rights, with parallel working group sessions at the forum on: regional and
national arrangements for the promotion and protection of human rights; treaty bodies--the
future role of civil society; ratification, implementation and monitoring of the core
international human rights conventions; human rights defenders--the first line of defense; the
future direction of human rights; review of thematic and country specific special mechanisms;
combating racism and racial discrimination; and women's rights as human rights.
--   Sustainable Development and the Environment, with parallel working group sessions
at the forum on: shelter for all; water; health for all; sustainable production and consumption;
education for all; gender equality; spirituality, ethics and values--the role of religion; climate
change--an update; financing for development; and food security.
--   Facing the Challenges of Globalization: Achieving Equity, Justice and Diversity, with
parallel working group sessions at the forum on: a new international economic and financial
architecture; the Bretton Woods Institutions--objectives revisited; terms of trade between the
developed and developing world; creating people-centred economics for the 21st century;
forum of cultures in a globalizing world; the free market--potentials and pitfalls in a global
economy; global civil society forum--strategic alliance; and the role of the media--challenges
of globalization.
--   Strengthening and Democratizing the UN and International Institutions, with parallel
working group sessions at the forum on: funding of the UN and other international
institutions; strengthening of the UN General Assembly; establishment of a permanent
international rapid deployment force; strengthening the International Court of Justice's
development of UN/civil society partnership; strengthening of the UN/NGO relationship;
global communication, the Internet and an auxiliary international language; and funding for the
UN and international agencies.

Recommendations from these thematic working groups will form the basis of a draft
Millennium Forum report to be prepared by the group of thematic co-convenors for
submission to the UN Secretary-General. All thematic discussion papers can be accessed
through the Millennium Forum website (see below).  

Contact: Millennium Forum Secretariat, c/o Franciscans International, 211 East 43rd Street,
Room 1100, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/803 2522, fax
+1-212/803 2566, e-mail <mngof@bic.org>, website (www.millenniumforum.org).


***************************************************************************
      An online registration form for the Millennium Forum (see Go Between
      77) has been posted on a website (www.millenniumforum.org).
      Registration is for the main meeting of the forum, which is scheduled to be
      held 22-26 May at United Nations headquarters in New York. In order to
      give the regionally-based selection committees enough time to process
      applications, a tentative deadline of March 2000 has been established for
      submissions.
      
      The Forum Executive Committee is also working to put online a form that
      can be printed and distributed to organizations without access to the
      Internet. 
      
      "Our hope," said Techeste Ahderom, co-chair of the Forum Executive
      Committee, "is that brother and sister organizations around the world with
      computers and access will assist other NGOs and local organizations in
      applying, either by printing and distributing paper forms or helping them
      register online and also communicate news of the forum."
      ***************************************************************************

PEACE NEGOTIATIONS CAMPAIGN
A global campaign entitled From the Village Council to the Negotiation Table: Women and
Peace-Building, was launched in October 1999 by International Alert (IA) with support from
the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). 

The campaign involves some 180 NGOs including regional and national NGO networks,
which will use public education, media outreach and policy advocacy to draw attention to the
importance of bringing women into the process of rebuilding war-torn societies and
negotiating sustainable peace. It also aims to remind governments of the commitments they
made to take such action at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women.

Central to the campaign "is a constructive approach to the prevention of violent conflict,"
according to IA, "where women, with their diverse experiences from different conflict
situations can play an integral role in peace-building and decision making for the sustainable
development of their societies .Too often the perception of women as victims during violent
conflict and war obscures their role as peace makers in reconstruction and peace-building
processes."
The campaign will focus on five themes: 
--   women's participation in peace processes; 
--   gender considerations in post-conflict rehabilitation; 
--   the special needs of refugee and displaced women and girls; 
--   justice for women in reconciliation and peace-building processes; and 
--   women's increased leadership and governance. 

The campaign, which will run through September 2000, will collaborate and cooperate with
UNIFEM's global campaign to eliminate violence against women, and the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO) Women and a Culture of
Peace Programme.

International Alert's mission is to identify and address the root causes of violence and
contribute to the just and peaceful transformation of violent internal conflict. Among other
things, it has programmes in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, West Africa, Caucasus region
of the former Soviet Union, and in Sri Lanka. 

Contact: International Alert, One Glyn Street, London SE11 5HT, United Kingdom, fax
+44-171/793 7975, e-mail <general@international-alert.org> and website
(www.international-alert.org).


COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, a standing body of the Economic and
Social Council, concluded its two-week resumed 1999 session on 28 January, during which it
considered the applications for consultative status and reports of more than 100 civil society
groups. 

The NGO Committee reviews applications for consultative status and considers the
four-yearly reports of NGOs in consultative status. Committee chair Wahid Ben Amor
(Tunisia) said during the session the committee had recommended that 60 new
non-governmental organizations be granted consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council. It recommended 11 reclassifications of status and considered 47 quadrennial reports.
The committee also recommended that roster status with the council be given to 15
organizations already accredited to the Commission on Sustainable Development. 

In recommending 400 NGOs for consultative status, the committee recognized what was
described as the dynamic role NGOs played and was in accord with the Secretary-General's
encouragement for broad NGO participation in the work of the United Nations.

The 19-member committee recommends to ECOSOC which organizations should be granted
consultative status in one of three categories: general, special and roster. ECOSOC makes the
final decision. The committee's work is guided by resolution 1996/31, which details the types
of NGOs that can apply for consultative status, requirements for obtaining status, as well as
duties and responsibilities of the groups in consultative status. When reviewing applications,
committee members consider matters including the relevance of the organization's work to the
council, as well as its decision-making mechanisms and financial regimes. 

Groups with consultative status contribute to the work programmes and goals of the United
Nations by serving as technical experts, advisers and consultants to governments and the
secretariat. The consultative relationship allows for participation in the council and its
subsidiary bodies through attending meetings, and through oral interventions and written
statements on agenda items of those bodies. Organizations with general status may propose
new items for consideration by the council. 


FOREST PROTECTED AREAS STUDY
A study conducted by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) for the World Bank and World
Wildlife Fund (WWF) Alliance for Forest Conservation and Sustainable use says that less than
one-fourth of declared national parks, wildlife refuges and other protected areas in ten key
forested countries are well managed. Many, in fact, have no management at all, it noted. And
only 1% of the areas are secure from serious threats such as logging, mining, agriculture,
over-grazing, human settlement, hunting, the collection of exotic species for sale, fire, war,
tourism and the introduction and invasion of non-indigenous species.

The study on Threats to Forest Protected Areas examines areas in Brazil, China, Gabon,
Indonesia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Tanzania and Viet Nam. It paints a dire
picture of what it says are areas that are parks in name only, and notes that some 11% of
protected areas are either thoroughly or considerably degraded. An additional 60%, currently
safe because of their remoteness, are certain to face threats in the future.

Both temperate and tropical forests are being cleared at the rate of 23 hectares a minute--a
total of 12 million hectares a year, according to the study. Underlying causes for illegal
logging in protected areas include high consumption levels in the world's wealthy countries
and persistent poverty in developing nations. 

"Alleviating poverty and protecting the environment go hand in hand," said World Bank
President James Wolfensohn. Some 350 million of the world's rural poor and forest-dwelling
indigenous peoples depend on forests for their livelihoods. 

In response to the study's findings, Mr. Wolfensohn and WWF-US President Kathryn Fuller
adopted in December 1999 a new target for converting these "paper parks" into effectively
managed areas. It calls for 50 million hectares of existing but highly threatened forest
protected areas to be secured under effective management by 2005. It also calls for 200
million hectares of the world's production forests to be secured under independently certified
sustainable management by 2005.

To achieve these goals, the alliance will continue to work with governments, conservation
organizations, indigenous people groups and other stakeholders to identify the world's most
threatened parks and to develop a system for implementation, improving and monitoring
management of the areas. The alliance has nearly succeeded in meeting another of its goals:
the creation of 50 million hectares of new protected forest. The governments of Brazil, Peru
and six nations in the Congo basin, site of Africa's largest remaining tropical rainforests, have
agreed to designate 34 million hectares of land as protected.

The alliance was formed to promote conservation and sustainable use of forests in the
developing world. Among the other NGOs comprising it are Conservation International,
International Institute for Environment and Development, Resources for the Future, the
Nature Conservancy, and World Resources Institute. The Global Environment Facility (GEF)
and Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland currently provide funding for the alliance,
which has projects in 22 countries worldwide.

Contact: Monika Thiele, World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th Street NW, Washington DC
20037-1175, United States, telephone +1-202/778 9690, e-mail <monika.thiele@wwfus.org>
or Kristen Spanhower, The World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20430, United
States, telephone +1-202/458 2736, website (www-esd.worldbank.org/wwf).


SCOUTS INITIATIVE TO COMBAT HIV/AIDS
Ten million girl guides and girl scouts from over 150 countries will be part of a project to
combat HIV/AIDS. The project was launched in November 1999 by the World Association of
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
(UNAIDS) and the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO). Girl
guides and girl scouts in WAGGGS member organizations can earn a badge bearing a red
ribbon for work they do to prevent HIV/AIDS and to care for people living with HIV/AIDS in
their community. 

"The spread of HIV/AIDS in the world is a major concern to us all," said Ginny Radford,
chair of WAGGGS. "The particularly high prevalence of HIV/AIDS among young women
makes it an issue of even greater concern to those of us working with this target group.
WAGGGS believes that every one of its ten million members should be made aware of
HIV/AIDS and given the tools and the power to combat the epidemic." 

She added that youth organizations, such as WAGGGS, have access to a large group of young
people "who can m