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 make a difference. We can use young people to reach young people, those
most at risk from HIV/AIDS."

WAGGGS is the largest voluntary organization for girls and young women in the world. Its
non-formal education programmes teach life skills, confidence building and empowerment to
girls and young women. ICASO, which works through national networking processes, has
experience in developing, implementing and evaluating HIV/AIDS programmes at the global
level.

Contact: Charlotte Collett-White, Head of Communications, WAGGGS, 12c Lyndhurst Road,
World Bureau, Olave Centre, London NW3 5PQ, United Kingdom, telephone         
+44-171/794 1181, fax +44-171/431 3764, e-mail <charlotte@wagggsworld.org>, website
(www.wagggsworld.org). 


NGO NEWS

PAC: DIAMONDS FUELING WAR
In Sierra Leone the quest for diamonds by warlords, neighboring states and some international
companies has fuelled war in the country, according to a report by the NGO Partnership
Africa Canada (PAC). The seven-year conflict, which has resulted in the death of 75,000
civlians and displaced over two million people, also helped clear areas rich in diamonds for
illicit mining and smuggling, according to PAC. 

"There will never be lasting peace in Sierra Leone," said Ian Smillie, one of the study's
authors, "until the diamond industry as a whole is properly managed." 

The Heart of the Matter: Sierra Leone, Diamonds and Human Security is based on interviews
with illicit miners, smugglers, government officials, law enforcement agencies, and
representatives of De Beers and other international mining firms.

Among its findings, PAC says that Sierra Leonean diamonds are being smuggled to Liberia for
export to Antwerp (Belgium) and other diamond trading centres. Organized crime, according
to the study, is increasingly infiltrating the diamond industry, actively assisted by the
government of Liberia and mostly ignored by Belgium. The study says some international
companies have gone to almost any length--including the provision of arms and mercenaries--to get at diamonds in Sierra Leone.

The study calls for a full embargo by the UN Security Council on all diamond exports from
Liberia until the country's mineral resource base can be assessed; and creation of an
independent international diamond standards commission to establish and monitor
implementation of codes of conduct and corporate behaviour in the global diamond industry.

Contact: Partnership Africa Canada, 323 Chapel Street, 3rd Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1N 7Z2, telephone +1-613/237 6768 or 728 9725, fax +1-613/237 6530, e-mail
<pac@web.apc.org>.


WORLD RELIGIONS PARLIAMENT
The 1999 Parliament of the World's Religions was held from 1-8 December 1999 in Cape
Town (South Africa). More than 7,000 people from 90 countries, including 350 journalists,
attended this largest, non-legislative religious gathering.

The parliament had a two-fold purpose of engaging a wide range of religious figures in
inter-religious dialogue and encouraging them to collaborate for social change. Some 400
religious and spiritual leaders and scholars worked with participants to design projects
addressing critical issues such as poverty, ecological damage and human rights. 

The parliament generated 240 commitments to implement activities based on the event's key
document entitled A Call to Our Guiding Institutions. The document highlights religion as an
important force for social and moral guidance but also looks to cooperate with governments,
intergovernmental institutions, the sciences, arts, academia, the private sector, and civil
society. 

The parliament also called for "Gifts of Service to the World," projects that illustrate effective
ways to work for a more just, peaceful and sustainable world. More than 300 descriptions of
projects were collected in a book distributed to participants, and many were featured in
presentations and plenary sessions. 

"The idea is to stimulate concrete action both by the assembly and the participants," said Jim
Kenney, International Interreligious Director for the United States-based Council for a
Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR), which organized the event. "Although the
CPWR cannot provide funding, it can identify potential allies, resources and recipients for
whatever action is proposed," he said.
 
Nelson Mandela, South Africa's former President, was greeted with tumultuous applause as he
received the Juliette Hollister Award from the Temple of Understanding, and the Gandhi-King
Award for Non-Violence. Mr. Mandela said the awards honour "ordinary, unsung men and
women who in this century refused to bow to the baser instincts of our nature." While
"arrogant men set out to conquer the world and turn human beings into slaves," he noted that
it is ordinary people who "saved the world from even more genocide." He identified poverty
as "the single most dangerous threat to society today," and said that while technological
advances had created a smaller world, they had also led to a "confusion of values." He
expressed concern that religion faced its own challenges, noting that in some cases religious
leaders had condoned intolerance and violence.

South Africa's Deputy President Jacob Zuma challenged the parliament to raise its shared
ideals of compassion and integrity above the level of "private morality to values of common
good."
The parliament was closed by the Dalai Lama, Buddhist spiritual leader. He said that
individuals who want to serve others must work to develop their own sense of caring.
However, he cautioned, developing a caring attitude also requires awareness of reality. "Be
skeptical," he said, "don't believe easily--investigate!"

Participants at the parliament also began choosing representatives to the summit of world
religious leaders, an unprecedented event to be held at UN headquarters in New York from
28-29 August 2000. According to the executive coordinator of the summit, Bawa Jain,
"besides creating a dramatic point of interfaith harmony, the summit will be designed to
provide a continuing network of religious resources for the UN Secretary-General and
political bodies .We hope this will result in identifying conflicts where religion is a major
factor."

The next Parliament of the World's Religions will be held in 2004.

Contact: Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, PO Box 1630, Chicago IL
60690-1630, United States, telephone +1-312/629 2990, fax +1-312/ 629 2991,        e-mail
<info@cpwr.org>, website (www.cpwr.org).


SIERRA CLUB AND AIUSA CAMPAIGN
The Sierra Club and Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) have called pervasive human rights
violations against environmentalists one of the great human rights and environmental
challenges of the new decade. They recently launched a campaign to defend environmental
activists "who are being beaten, harassed, imprisoned, raped, tortured and even murdered by
governments that are often defending corporate interests." The campaign on Defending Those
Who Give the Earth A Voice includes intensive grassroots organizing, advertising, public
service announcements, lobbying and university campus-based events. 

AIUSA and the Sierra Club, a US-based environmental organization, released a report to
coincide with the campaign entitled Environmentalists Under Fire: 10 Urgent Cases of Human
Rights Abuses. It highlights what are described as current flagrant cases of human rights
violations in Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, China, Ecuador, India, Kenya, Mexico, Myanmar,
Nigeria and Russia. 

"For every case we have documented," said Julianne Cartwright Traylor, chair of the AIUSA
Board of Directors, "there are many, many more in countries throughout the world.
Governments in both developing and developed countries are colluding with multinational
corporations to protect profits at the expense of the environment, at the expense of
democracy, at the expense of human rights."

Michael Dorsey, Director of the Sierra Club National Board, said that "today in too many
countries, it is dangerous work to be an environmentalist. Recent events at the World Trade
Organization meeting in Seattle highlight what many activists have been saying for years: a
healthy environment can only exist if basic human rights are respected."

Contact: Sierra Club, 85 Second Street, 2nd Floor, San Francisco CA 94105, United States,  
telephone +1-415/977 5500, fax +1-415/977 5799, e-mail <information@sierraclub.org>,
website (www.sierraclub.org), or Amnesty International USA, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue SE,
5th Floor, Washington DC 20003, United States, telephone +1-202/544 0200, fax +1-202/546
7142, e-mail <aiusama@aiusa.org>, website (www.amnestyusa.org/justearth) or
(www.defendtheearth.org).


SEMINAR ON GENDER AND TRADE
Grenada hosted the Women's Strategic Planning Seminar on Gender and Trade from 7-11
December 1999, co-sponsored by the Center of Concern Global Women's Project and
Development of Alternatives for Women in a New Era (DAWN). The event gathered 45
women from Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and
North America. It brought together feminist economists, activists and advocates on trade
issues and experts in "economic literacy" training.

Many had participated in the Women's Caucus at the World Trade Organization (WTO)
ministerial meeting, held in Seattle (United States) one week prior to the seminar. They
reported about working to share their views with trade ministers in Seattle and the internal
dynamics of the meeting. 

The seminar's purpose was to plan how to engage the global women's movement more
effectively in discourse and negotiations on trade and investment. Three questions were
addressed: 
--   What research do women need in order to understand the impact of new trade and
investment regimes on women, families and communities?;
--   What advocacy structures and strategies are needed to engage women and ensure that
trade and investment agreements are equitable and foster social development?; and
--   What processes and programmes are needed to enable people to be knowledgeable and
engaged in trade and investment discussions?

Participants explored the relationship between research, advocacy and economic literacy from
local, regional and global perspectives. They were concerned not only about the impact of
trade on women, but also with defining a women's agenda relative to trade and investment
that fosters economic justice and security for women, families and communities. The seminar
focused on planning because the gender dimension of trade is a new issue not only for women
but for trade economists, most of whom consider trade a "gender neutral" economic issue,
according to seminar co-convener Maria Riley of the Center of Concern. 
"The work of feminist economists, advocates and economic literacy experts on structural
adjustment for the past 20 years," she said, "has clearly established that all macro-economic
issues have a gender impact. The challenge today is to develop that foundational work and
direct it toward trade and investment."

Participants decided to, among other things, establish a steering committee with
representatives from all the regions, as well as a research representative and an economic
literacy expert. They also discussed plans for developing regional gender and trade networks
that would be linked globally and a possible research agenda. They recognized that research,
advocacy and economic literacy need to be more closely connected. Participants also talked
about beginning a network of economic literacy trainers across regions to develop materials
and strategies for economic/trade literacy from a gender perspective. Future plans discussed
include establishing a secretariat for the Gender and Trade Network, based in the South.

Contact: Maria Riley, Director, Women's Project, Center of Concern, 1225 Otis St. NE,
Washington DC 20017, United States, telephone +1-202/635 2757 extension 134, fax
+1-202/832 9494, e-mail <mriley@coc.org>.


PROTECTING INTERNET CONSUMERS
Consumers International (CI), the global federation of consumer organizations, called the
adoption of electronic commerce guidelines by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) in December 1999 an important step forward in protecting
consumers who shop on the Internet. Although the Guidelines for Consumer Protection in the
Context of Electronic Commerce are not legally binding, they set a strong moral obligation for
the 29 OECD member countries to utilize and implement the policy recommendations they
contain, according to Consumers International. 

The guidelines provide a framework for regulating cross-border electronic commerce. They
cover such areas as seller's information disclosure, payment policies, collection of personal
information and secure payment mechanisms.

Nonetheless, CI said it "sees the approval by the OECD Council as only a beginning in the
campaign to guarantee that consumers can be as confident of their rights when buying in the
electronic marketplace as they are shopping in the mall or on the high street." CI noted that
the guidelines will accomplish little if there is no practical implementation at the national level. 

"The key question," said Louise Sylvan, CI Vice-President, "will be how these guidelines are
used and implemented by national governments. Consumers and consumer organizations still
have their work cut out for them in making sure that their own governments pass strong and
effective measures that protect consumers' interest when buying over the Internet."

Contact: Media Relations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2 rue
Andre-Pascal, F-75775 Paris Cedex 16, France, telephone +33-1/45 24 80 91, fax +33-1/45
24 80 03, e-mail <news.contact@oecd.org>, website (www.oecd.org) or Consumers
International, 24 Highbury Crescent, London N5 1RX, United Kingdom, telephone
+44-171/226 6663, fax +44-171/354 0607, e-mail <consint@consint.org>, website
(www.consumersinternational.org).


ICSW INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
The International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), a global alliance of non-governmental
organizations, will hold its 29th International Conference in Cape Town (South Africa) from
23-27 October. The conference, entitled Poverty, Social Welfare and Social Development--Challenges for the 21st Century, will be co-hosted by the National Welfare Social Services and
Development Forum and the South African National Council for Child and Family Welfare.

Discussion will focus on issues of overarching importance and international significance in
relation to social welfare and social development. There will be a special emphasis on ways of
reducing poverty and social exclusion. Topics will include governance, economics, human
rights and culture. There will also be analysis of likely future trends and appropriate strategies
for change, especially in the context of globalization.

The conference will include more than ten plenary sessions or special symposiums and over 50
workshops. Speakers will include representatives of government, NGOs and academia, as well
as from the UN and other intergovernmental organizations.

Contact: Global Conferences, PO Box 44503, Claremont, South Africa, telephone +27-21/762
8600, fax +27-21/762 8606, e-mail <icsw@globalconf.co.za>, website (www.icsw.org).


OTHER NEWS

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
The World Economic Forum held its 30th annual meeting in Davos (Switzerland) from 27
January to 1 February. The forum, whose theme was New Beginnings: Making a Difference,
brought together 1,200 business leaders, 300 political representatives, and 300 academics and
members of civil society. 

The range of discussions included Changing the World as We Have Known It; new business
models and new economic rules; redefining the role of business, government and civil society;
and constructing a healthy polity in a unipolar world.

"The world is so complex that we cannot create some kind of all-encompassing
business-government organization; it would lack democratic legitimacy," said Klaus Schwab,
President and founder of the forum. "But what you can do is create networks, flexible
networks, where you put together governments, international organizations and business to
look at the new issues on the global agenda."

Speakers in a session about visions for the future included Molly Harriss Olson, Director of
Eco Futures (Australia), who spoke of the dangers of climate change; Paul Krugman,
Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (United States), who
warned of the potential political backlash to globalization; and Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor
of Islamic Studies at George Washington University (United States), who discussed the
importance of civilizations and the decline of nation states. Umberto Eco, Italian author and
historian, warned of the end of the notion of "fraternity;" George Yong-Boon Yeo, Minister
for Trade and Industry (Singapore), suggested that the notions of democracy and socialism
will be questioned as populations reject the tyranny of the majority over the minority and
re-examine traditional societal concepts of sharing. In an electronic vote the audience at the
session chose climate change as the greatest challenge of the century, followed by financial
instability and ineffective international systems.

In a session devoted to the pressures of globalization on society, business and government
leaders acknowledged that globalization is leading to greater inequality between the "haves"
and the "have-nots." 

"I can accept that companies can disappear in this process [the free market], but this should
not extend to human beings," said Louis Schweitzer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Renault. He compared a purely free-market economy to allowing a fox to run free in a
henhouse. "The hens don't enjoy it and this may not be good for the fox either," he said,
"because after eating all the hens the fox may eventually die of starvation."

In Davos some civil society organizations challenged business leaders and UN representatives
to endorse a Citizens Compact on the relationship between the private sector and the United
Nations.

"The World Economic Forum in Davos," said Olivier Hoedman, Director of the Corporate
Europe Observatory based in Amsterdam (Netherlands), "represents the same kind of
unaccountable corporate power against which citizens protested in Seattle. We are asking [UN
Secretary-General] Kofi Annan and the UN system to join us in taking the first step toward
correcting that imbalance."

The Citizens Compact, which has been endorsed by over 70 organization on six continents, is
based on nine key principles including the following.
--   A legal framework to govern the behaviour of multinational corporations must be
developed and monitored.
--   The UN must find ways to ensure that intergovernmental bodies such as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and World Trade Organization do not depart
from the principles and goals of the UN Charter. 
--   The United Nations should act with full transparency in all its dealings with the private
sector.

The Citizens Compact comes exactly one year after Mr. Annan proposed a Global Compact in
Davos between the UN and business to tackle issues of environmental protection, human
rights and workers' rights. At that time Mr. Annan warned the business community that
concerns about the impact of globalization and economic liberalization on living standards in
rich and poor countries alike needed to be addressed to avoid a civil society backlash.

The Global Compact got a boost in Davos this year with the launching of a website by the
United Nations (www.unglobalcompact.org), which it described as the "most ambitious effort
to date to establish a working relationship between international agencies, the private sector
and citizens groups on the front-burner issues of environmental protection, job security and
human rights." The website aims to connect business and civil society users with organizations
around the world that are involved in related issues. It also seeks to keep them up-to-date on
new initiatives in the area of corporate citizenship, and it links UN databases on labour, human
rights and the environment.

On 28 January an international NGO coalition launched a project to monitor the forum,
entitled The Public Eye on Davos. The coalition, which includes Friends of the Earth/US, the
Bern Declaration and the Globalization Challenge Initiative, called for more transparency and
changing rules at the World Economic Forum. The project was endorsed by 1,500
organizations from 39 countries.

"Albeit a private institution, the World Economic Forum has a large impact on global trade,
investment and environmental policies," said Peter Bosshard of the Bern Declaration. "Yet the
people who suffer the costs of these policies are excluded from the discussions in Davos." The
failure of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and the WTO's Millennium Round
in Seattle demonstrated that the public good could no longer be negotiated behind closed
doors, he added.

Andrea Durbin of Friends of the Earth/US appealed to the forum "to open the doors for
monitoring and inputs from NGOs and from other civil society institutions." While any
meeting had the right to discuss global issues, representatives of governments and international
organizations should not negotiate the public good at a private event in Davos, she argued. 

Contact: Corporate Europe Observatory, Paulus Potterstraat, 20, 1071 DA Amsterdam,
Netherlands, fax +31-20/612 7023, e-mail <ceo@xs4all.nl>, website (www.xs4all/~ceo) and
The Public Eye on Davos, c/o Bern Declaration, PO Box 1327, CH-8031 Zurich, Switzerland,
telephone +41-1/277 7006, fax +41-1/277 7001, e-mail <davos@evb.ch>, website
(www.evb.ch).


G-20 MEETS IN BERLIN
Members of the Group of 20 (G-20), an international forum of finance ministers and central
bank governors that was created in September 1999, met at the end of the year in Berlin
(Germany) to plan a course for closer international financial cooperation. 

The G-20, which was formed in the wake of the East Asian financial crisis, represents 18
industrialized and developing countries, the European Union and Bretton Woods Institutions.
Its aim is to encourage discussion and review policy issues among developed countries and
emerging markets in order to promote international financial stability. Member countries
include: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan,
Mexico, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom and
the United States.

At the Berlin meeting, chaired by Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin, participants
welcomed what they described as improved global economic conditions. Among other things,
they said that continued progress by the World Trade Organization (WTO) toward multilateral
liberalization of trade in goods and services is important and would bring the global economy
broad-based benefits.

Participants, who recognized that sound national economic and financial policies are central to
building an international financial system less prone to crises, also highlighted the importance
of strengthening national balance sheets. They encouraged strengthening sovereign debt
management and greater attention to the impacts of government policies on private firms'
borrowing decisions. The G-20 said that unsustainable exchange rate regimes are a critical
source of vulnerability, and that a consistent exchange rate and monetary policy are essential.

The G-20 welcomed what it described as the important work done by the Bretton Woods
Institutions and other bodies toward establishing international codes and standards in areas
such as transparency, data dissemination, and financial sector policy. G-20 member countries
decided to complete reports on observance of standards and codes ("transparency reports")
and financial sector assessments within the context of IMF and World Bank efforts to improve
these mechanisms.

The next meeting of the G-20 will be held in Canada in late 2000.


AFRICAN COMMISSION ON RIGHTS MEETS
The 26th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which
met in Kigali (Rwanda) from 1-15 November 1999, was addressed by representatives of
government, NGOs and institutions concerned with human rights in various African countries.
Jean de Dieu Mucyo, Rwandese Minister for Justice, said the session was held in Kigali to
enable the international community to appreciate advances made by Rwanda to restore rule of
law and democratic principles.

NGOs expressed their concern about the human rights situations in, among other countries,
Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan. They said the
violations include extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions; inhumane conditions of
imprisonment and detention; massive displacement of populations; obstacles to the freedom of
expression; and forced disappearances.

The commission, which held a working meeting with a representative of the Office of the High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the situation of refugees and displaced persons in
Africa, decided to initiate cooperation with UNHCR and the Organization for African Unity
(OAU) refugee division. Reports were also presented by the special rapporteur on the rights of
women in Africa; special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions; and
special rapporteur on prisons and conditions of detention in Africa. 

The commission noted that since its 25th session only Gambia had ratified, in addition to
Senegal and Burkina Faso, an additional protocol to the African Charter on Human and
People's Rights on the establishment of an African Court for Human and Peoples' Rights.
Among other things, the commission also examined and adopted a draft protocol to the
African Charter on the rights of women on the continent. 

Contact: Germain Baricako, Secretary, African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights,
Kairaba Avenue, PO Box 673, Banjul, Gambia, telephone +220/392962, fax +220/390764,
e-mail <admin.officer@achpr.gm>.


OSLO MEETING ON SMALL ARMS
Representatives of 18 countries, recognizing problems caused by the uncontrolled proliferation
of small arms and light weapons, met in Oslo (Norway) from 6-7 December 1999 as follow-up
to the first Oslo meeting on the issue in July 1998 (see Go Between 70). 

At the December meeting the countries, including Brazil, Canada, Germany, Japan, Mali,
Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the
United States, discussed humanitarian, developmental and security concerns raised by the
small arms issue.
Among other things, representatives recognized and welcomed the different initiatives that
they said have moved the international agenda on small arms and light weapons forward (see
NGLS Roundup, no. 45). An urgent need for practical action was reiterated, and expansion of
these and further initiatives was encouraged. This includes increased cooperation and
information-sharing among law enforcement authorities, criminal intelligence agencies,
customs officials and development assistance agencies, as well as authorities responsible for
peacekeeping operations both within and between governments.

The leading role played by the United Nations in raising awareness and understanding of the
excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of small arms and light weapons was
recognized. Among other things, representatives said the UN Conference on the Illicit Trade
in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in 2001 will be an important contribution
to addressing the issue. They noted the success of the UN conference requires an open and
thorough preparatory process, with the broadest possible participation. On the issue of arms
brokering participants called for, among other things, consideration of inserting clauses on
brokering activities in legally binding Security Council embargo resolutions.

Contact: Conventional Arms Branch, Department for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations,
New York NY 10017, United States, fax +1-212/963 1121, website
(www.un.org/Depts/dda/CAB). 


CORPORATE GOVERNANCE QUESTIONNAIRE
The Global Corporate Governance Forum, launched by the World Bank and the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in September 1999 (see Go Between
76), designed a questionnaire for organizations working on corporate governance globally.
Five hundred questionnaires have been sent to individuals in 333 organizations in 59 countries
including companies, universities, governments, associations, banks and financial services
firms, and individuals working in the field. The inventory's aim is to "find out who is doing
what and where, so that groups within and across regions can exchange a variety of
experiences, information and expertise."

In order to provide NGOs access to the results of the survey and participate if they wish, the
inventory is available from the forum and is on the web (see below) as well as the
questionnaire, which can be filled out by anyone wishing to be included in this work. On
receipt of a completed questionnaire, organizations will be invited to become members of a
separate electronic forum for discussions, sharing of documents and information.

Contact: Secretariat, Global Corporate Governance Forum, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW,
Washington DC 20433, United States, website (www.gcgf.org). The inventory can be found
at (www.gcgf.org/inventoryContent.hgm) and the survey at
(www.gcgf.org/question.asp#question).


FOCUS

SECURITY COUNCIL FOCUSES ON AFRICA

The Security Council wrapped up a month of meetings on 31 January which focused attention
on critical issues of Africa, including an historic session about the impact of HIV/AIDS on
peace and security on the continent. Go Between summarizes the discussions.


In its capacity as Security Council president, the United States designated January 2000 as the
"Month of Africa" by convening meetings on HIV/AIDS; refugees in Africa; and the situation
in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the conflict in Burundi. The
designation aimed to highlight international attention on Africa, broaden the definition of
security, and to help Africa's leaders solve worsening conflicts.

"We aimed to put to rest the [belief] that Africa doesn't matter," said US Ambassador Richard
Holbrooke, "to refute the belief that the international community has one set of rules for
Europe or Asia and another for Africa." 

He added that there were many attempts to innovate during the month. "I hope the next few
presidents of the Security Council will continue to test the limits of what is possible here." 

The Month of Africa saw a number of "firsts" in the Security Council, including a meeting to
discuss a health issue as a security threat; chairing of a session by a US Vice President; an
address by a World Bank President; and an address by a US Senator. The Month of Africa
also afforded an opportunity for African heads of state to hold a summit on the DRC as they
convened several days to discuss the conflict.

HIV/AIDS Crisis
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the United States was justified in dedicating a month
on African issues and leading it with a discussion on the HIV/AIDS crisis. "Nowhere else has
AIDS yet become a threat," he said, "to economic, social and political stability on the scale
that it now is in southern and eastern Africa." 

Mr. Annan noted that AIDS is overwhelming the continent's health services by creating
millions of orphans and decimating health workers and teachers. This social and economic
crisis in turn threatens political stability and good governance through high death rates among
elites and high infection rates in the police and armed forces. Mr. Annan reminded the council
that HIV/AIDS is not only an African problem but a global one, which needed to be
recognized as such. He urged the council not to give way to "Afro-pessimism" despite the
continent's array of problems.

US Vice President Al Gore told the council on 10 January that "today marks the first time,
after more than 4,000 meetings stretching back more than half a century, that the Security
Council will discuss a health issue as a security threat." He said the meeting "demands of us
that we see security through a new and wider prism, and forever after think about it according
to a new, more expansive definition." 

He announced that the US Administration was earmarking an additional US$100 million for a
total of US$325 million in the budget sent to Congress in February to finance worldwide
efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, reduce mother-to-child transmission, and provide
care for children orphaned by AIDS.

AIDS is now the leading killer in Sub-Saharan Africa, where 23.3 million people are
HIV-positive or have AIDS. Ninety percent of the world's 11 million AIDS orphans are in
Africa and although 200,000 Africans died from war in 1998, 2.2 million died from
HIV/AIDS.  Even though it has just one-tenth of the world's population, Sub-Saharan Africa
is home to two-thirds of the world's HIV population.  And in Africa's most affected regions,
as many as one person in four is estimated to carry HIV.

Refugees
In the last few years the pattern of refugee crises, especially in Africa, has undergone
significant changes with more people seeking refuge as internally displaced people in their own
countries. 

"Dealing with the internally displaced is often more arduous than with refugees who cross
borders," said Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees in her briefing to the
council on 13 January. "The difficulty of having access to large numbers of people in insecure
and isolated areas is compounded by the complexity of assisting civilians in their own country--where their own state authorities, or rebel forces in control, are frequently the very cause of
their predicament." 

Ms. Ogata stressed that the refugee crisis could not be solved in a vacuum. In this regard, she
said that the Month of Africa should be an opportunity for the council to seek more decisive
measures to address such problems as indiscriminate struggles for resources, uncontrolled
flows of arms, lack of conflict-resolution mechanisms, and weak support to post-conflict
situations. 

Mr. Holbrooke read out an official statement on behalf of the Security Council in which the
council expressed grave concern that alarmingly high numbers of refugees and internally
displaced persons in Africa do not receive sufficient protection and assistance. The council
also noted that there is no comprehensive protection regime for internally displaced persons
and that existing norms are not being fully implemented.

Angola
The council, which held a briefing on the situation in Angola on 18 January, received an
update from its Angola Sanctions Committee chairman, Ambassador Robert Fowler of
Canada. Mr. Fowler showed a video of his 8-16 January visit to Angola where he consulted
with the government regarding sanctions against the rebel movement UNITA, visited areas
and military equipment recently captured from UNITA, and met with defectors from UNITA
and individuals captured in recent fighting. Mr. Fowler said he concluded from the meetings
that sanctions are beginning to have a real impact on UNITA's capacity to pursue its military
objectives. 

"Sanctions are having an effect," he said, "by impairing UNITA's ability to transport the
weapons systems and the fuel it needs in Angola, and by reducing the number of people
prepared to offer support to UNITA in violation of the sanctions."

A number of member states blamed UNITA for the protracted conflict. Speaking on behalf of
the three observer states to the Angolan peace process--Portugal, the Russian Federation and
the United States--Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said the primary cause of the conflict
was UNITA's failure to comply with its obligations under the Lusaka Protocol and relevant
resolutions of the Security Council. 

Namibian Ambassador Martin Andjaba said that the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) had declared the leader of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi, a war criminal--a
declaration supported by the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Burundi
Mr. Annan told the council on 19 January that "of all the many crises and conflicts confronting
Africa today, perhaps none is more urgent than the conflict in Burundi." He warned that in no
other country was it so easy to imagine a repetition of ethnic killing on a genocidal scale. 

The Secretary-General elaborated by saying hundreds of thousands of Burundians have died
over the past decade in the war-torn country. It is estimated that the number of Burundian
refugees has now reached 500,000 and is growing daily. Around 12% of the country's
population is internally displaced, many the result of a deliberate government policy of forcibly
relocating civilians known as "forced regroupment."

The council also heard from former South African President Nelson Mandela, who is now a
facilitator of the peace process in Burundi. Mr. Mandela said that violence is one of the most
important issues affecting the situation and negotiation process. 

"The population of Burundi," he noted, "has become hostage to violence from all sides in the
conflict." As a result, new waves of refugees were fleeing the country, and people were
becoming increasingly displaced in their own country. Mr. Mandela urged the international
community to sustain the negotiations and ongoing efforts to achieve peace. He said, however,
that the primary responsibility for ending the humanitarian crisis lay with Burundi's leaders.

After Mr. Mandela's briefing, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1286 in
which the council, among other things, "reiterates its strong support for the renewed Arusha
peace process" and "endorses efforts by the Secretary-General to enhance the role of the
United Nations in Burundi, and in particular the continued work of the Special Representative
for the Great Lakes Region."

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Seven African heads of state addressed a day-long meeting of the Security Council on 24
January to discuss the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Speakers expressed
their frustration with violations of the July 1999 Lusaka Cease-Fire Agreement and stressed
the need for resolute international support for the peace process, as well as for speedy
establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country.

"If the United Nations was to make the right kind of difference in the DRC," said Mr. Annan,
"and avoid the wrong turns that have lead to tragedies elsewhere it must be ready to not only
act, but to act in a way that is commensurate with the gravity of the situation." He said that
whether that meant intense political engagement, a sustained commitment of resources, or
decisive action in the face of unforeseen circumstances, "we must see this involvement
through." 

In Mr. Annan's latest report on the situation in the DRC (S/2000/30), he recommends an
expansion of the UN's Mission in the Congo (MONUC) and further deployment of
peacekeepers if momentum of the peace process was maintained and strict conditions met.

"At the same time," he cautioned, "we must guard against creating inflated expectations of
what could be realistically expected from the United Nations."

Laurent Kabila, President of the DRC, said his government hoped the Security Council
meetings would lead to deployment of UN peacekeepers and the immediate and unconditional
withdrawal of aggressor forces. 

"The courageous Congolese people," he observed, "did not put an end to 32 years of the
worst dictatorship on the African continent to prolong their own suffering." He said that the
Lusaka Agreement was not working, but that he was prepared to offer "a hand of
reconciliation to all the parties without prejudice."

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, whose government supports Mr. Kabila, said that
countries of the region were disappointed and frustrated by what they perceived as the
lethargic manner in which the Security Council had responded to their call for assistance and
urgent action. Comparing their response to Kosovo and Bosnia, he said Africa felt
marginalized, neglected and segregated.

Frederick Chiluba, President of Zambia, told the council that "the international community is
reluctant to send peacekeepers to the DRC unless the Lusaka Agreement registers a perfect
score on some performance chart." No other cease-fire agreement in the world was subjected
to this test, he added, and there was no peacekeeping operation that did not involve "some
degree of risk."

Pasteur Bizimungu, President of Rwanda, said his country would have had no business in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo if the problem of its security and survival as a nation had
been addressed. 

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of Uganda, expressed a similar sentiment when saying
that other neighbouring countries had legitimate security concerns, which had now been
recognized by the region and the international community. 

Mr. Bizimungu and Mr. Museveni, who both oppose Mr. Kabila's government, noted that it is
important for the UN to include opposition groups in the peace process and to keep all
signatories to the agreement apprised of what is happening "behind the lines."

Contact: Reports of the UN Secretary-General to the council, as well as Security Council
documents, resolutions and press releases can be found on the UN website
(www.un.org/documents). General information on the Security Council can be found at
(www.un.org/Overview/Organs/sc.html).


UNICEF: STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN 2000

As the 21st century begins, says The State of the World's Children 2000, the overwhelming
majority of people in the world living in poverty are children and women. The report,
published by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), calls on leaders around the world
to reaffirm their promises to free humankind from poverty, discrimination, violence and
disease.


Humanity has seen "stunning advances and has made enormous strides for children," begins
the report. Children's lives have been saved and their suffering prevented. Millions have grown
healthier, been better nourished and had greater access to a quality education than ever before. 

Polio is on the verge of eradication, and deaths from measles and neo-natal tetanus have been
reduced over the past ten years by 85% and more than 25%, respectively. Some 12 million
children are now free from the risk of mental retardation due to iodine deficiency, and
blindness from vitamin A deficiency has been significantly reduced. And more children are in
school today than at any previous time. 

Undeclared War
However despite progress made on many of the goals set at the 1990 World Summit for
Children, the last part of the century was "a decade of undeclared war on women, adolescents
and children," says the report. Their human rights are threatened and development is
sabotaged by poverty, conflict, chronic social instability and preventable diseases such as
HIV/AIDS. Each of these obstacles is compounded for women and girls by the discrimination
against them that infiltrates all sectors of society in every country. 

"Gender discrimination," notes the report, "so entrenched in social norms as to escape notice,
keeps young girls from school and women from active and equal involvement in their
communities." The discrimination is at the base of many violations of women's rights,
including the physical duress of domestic violence or the strategic use of rape and forced
pregnancies as weapons of war. "And where women's rights are at risk," it warns, "children's
rights are too."

Poverty's Deep Pockets
"Slave-like" describes the lives of millions of children throughout the world, according to the
report. There is no way to calculate the exact number of young boys and girls whose lives are
endangered by their sale and trafficking, debt bondage, serfdom, forced or compulsory labour,
forced or compulsory recruitment into armed conflict, prostitution, pornography or by the
production and trafficking of drugs. 

"The challenges of preventing and eradicating these extreme violations of children's rights,"
says the report, "illustrate the layers of want, discrimination and exploitation that drive
humanity's poorest children into obscure and dangerous worlds." 

It notes that children and women are among the first to suffer when crises "rip the covers off
seemingly prosperous countries to reveal the poverty that exists." Economic turmoil in the
former Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe has caused 120 million people to sink into poverty
since 1990--children figured prominently among the victims. 

For example in the Russian Federation 50% of families with three or more children and 72%
of those with four or more children are impoverished. Even in countries that have robust
economic growth, poverty is paralyzing ever greater numbers, as in parts of Latin America
where the poorest 20% of people share less than 3% of national income.

In still other countries, deepening pockets of poverty are masked in average national statistics.
"Only by disaggregating the national averages can the poor who are huddled in the margins be
located," says the report. For example in New York City the percentage of children born into
poverty rose from 44% to 52% from 1990 to 1996--a 20% increase. And the number of
homeless children rose 21% during the same period.

In contrast countries such as Costa Rica, Cuba, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam have shown that even
against international political odds, consistent policies aimed at providing a solid foundation of
social services pay off in better health conditions and higher literacy rates than those found in
many countries with greater economic resources, according to the report. 

Call to Leadership
A shift in the way the international community assumes its responsibility toward children
requires political will and an unwavering commitment on all levels to social action. "It requires
the rededication of those who have been working for children over long years and the building
of new alliances," says the report. 

It also calls for leadership that extends beyond traditional sectors and governmental structures
to engage all who share a concern for human progress: people's movements,
community-based organizations, youth movements, women's groups, professional networks,
artists and intellectuals, and the mass media. 

The pall that the abuses of poverty, conflict, HIV/AIDS and gender discrimination have cast
on lives around the globe can be lifted, the report observes. Government bodies and civil
groups, the United Nations system and NGOs, philanthropies and responsible corporate
citizens--as well as children and adolescents themselves--have formed alliances to address
these wrongs. 

"The world must now direct its efforts," says the report, "towards those points where the
potential for change and impact will be greatest: the best possible start for children in their
early years, a quality basic education for every child and support and guidance for adolescents
in navigating the sensitive transition to adulthood." 

Contact: Helene Martin, Communications Assistant, Division of Communication, UNICEF,
Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/909 5519, fax
+41-22/909 5907 or Madeline Eisner, Communications Officer, Division of Communication,
UNICEF, 3 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/326 7261, fax
+1-212/326 7768, website (www.unicef.org).  


REALITY OF AID 2000: CHALLENGE TO BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH

In the new millennium more than one billion people are living and dying in poverty, reports
Reality of Aid 2000, a review produced by NGOs of poverty reduction and development
assistance. The book warns that the gap is growing between those who will prosper and those
who will not be able to meet their most basic needs for survival.


This year's report, published by Eurostep, Norwegian People's Aid, Latin American
Association of Development Organisations (ALOP) and a coalition of NGOs from the
non-European Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donor countries, focuses on basic
education. 

Reneging on Promises
The 1990s saw a major decline in aid volume, according to the report. "With a few honourable
exceptions," it says, "especially Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, donor
countries have failed to live up to their commitments. And the world's richest and most
powerful countries--the G-7--have been at the forefront only as far as reneging on their
promises is concerned."

From 1992 to 1997, members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) allowed their aid to suffer a
disproportionate share of government spending cuts. "Aid fell every year over this period,"
notes the report, "declining from 0.33% of gross national product (GNP) to 0.22%, from
roughly a half to roughly a third of the UN 0.7% target. The real terms decline was more than
20%." In 1998 the decline halted--aid rose by US$3.2 billion or 8.9% in real terms, but
remained at 0.23% GNP as the report went to press. This positive movement, according to the
report, represents only a modest step to reverse big cuts that characterized the decade and is
due to some degree to recovery packages for Indonesia and Thailand. 

"The overwhelming focus of OECD governments on the perceived need to reduce budget
deficits was at the expense of people living in poverty," says the report. "If aid had not been
cut, more than 25 million fewer people could be living in absolute poverty." It adds that the
failure to translate sustained humanitarian concern into political support for aid "betrays a
major lack of moral leadership within the OECD." 

Meeting Education and Other Basic Needs
The Reality of Aid has always argued for a much greater proportion of aid to be spent on basic
social services: basic health (including reproductive health), basic education, low-cost water
supply, food and nutrition. One outcome of the 1995 Social Summit was the 20:20 Initiative,
which envisages bilateral agreements between donor and recipient governments with 20% of
donor ODA and 20% of developing country government budgets allocated to basic social
services. In late 1998 a number of donors and recipient countries reaffirmed their commitment
to the universal provision of basic social services when they met in Hanoi. And in the same
year the DAC agreed to update its measurement of aid to basic social services to enable a
more realistic comparison of effort and to make the links with international development
targets as strong as possible. To what extent, asks Reality of Aid, are donors meeting these
commitments? 

In 1993 when the book was first published, this question was difficult to answer due to
different estimates used to measure aid and a lack of credible data. Since 1995, the DAC has
been reporting on donor allocations to basic education and basic health. In the first year, only
eight donors reported on basic education and seven on basic health. By 1999, 17 donors were
reporting on basic education and basic health. Commitments as a percentage of bilateral ODA
are now around 1.4% and 1.7% respectively. 

"These are derisory sums in the face of both the stated commitment of donors to the goals and
the enormous need," says the report. "For example, Oxfam argues than an additional US$7 or
US$8 billion a year--of which US$4 billion would be aid from OECD countries--is needed to
achieve universal primary education within a decade." Only three countries--Sweden,
Denmark and Luxembourg--met their fair shore of the target for aid for basic social services in
1997; overall the DAC members fell short by more than US$5 billion in 1997.

Primary schools in many developing countries have suffered decades of political, financial and
administrative neglect, says the report, and the weak institutions that result are not only a main
cause of failure in education systems but also a formidable barrier to reform. Despite
significant increases in the share of education aid allocated to basic education, "most donors
are still doing a worse job of shifting towards poverty-focused spending in this sector than
they are in the health sector," observes the report. "Only 12% of the bilateral aid committed to
education goes to basic levels," it says, "and only a third of all education aid is allocated to
countries where less than half of children are in primary school."

Linking Development Strategies
Development strategies, according to Elin Enge of the Reality of Aid Management
Committee, need to be linked foremost to ensure basic human rights. These include
dignity-creating employment and livelihood opportunities. "They also need to be linked," said
Ms. Enge, "to genuine efforts to shift decision-making and responsibility--and the resources to
make these meaningful--to the countries and the people experiencing the worst effects of
poverty."

The reality of aid "is that it is not helping to eliminate poverty," said Ms. Enge. "The fact that
more than a billion people are living and dying in poverty is not a tragic twist of fate but a
deliberate turning of heads. The goal of absolute poverty elimination remains affordable and
within reach. Most governments have committed themselves to this goal. If it is to become
reality, there is an urgent need for a concerted and creative approach to replacing the old
donor-driven model of aid. This must involve governments, civil society and donors. It must
include channelling adequate resources to practical poverty eradication efforts. Above all,
however, it must focus on ensuring that people living in poverty have the power to challenge
the forces that create poverty."

Contact: Earthscan Publications, 120 Pentonville Road, London N19JN, United Kingdom,
telephone +44-171/278 0433, fax +44-171/278 1142, e-mail <earthinfo@earthscan.co.uk>,
website (www.earthscan.co.uk).


PANEL ON COMBATTING POVERTY AND THE ROLE OF ECOSOC 

The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) held a panel discussion in
New York on 26 January 2000, marking the end of the term of ECOSOC president Francesco
Paolo Fulci. Go Between summarizes the issues of the panel, which was entitled Contribution
of the UN System and of the Global Conferences of the 1990s to Combatting Poverty and the
Role of ECOSOC. 


The panel addressed four issues: relief of external debt of the heavily indebted poor countries
(HIPCs); enlargement of microcredit to women in developing countries; social investments in
health; and investments in education. The six panellists were: Jean-Claude Faure, Chairman of
the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD); Mats Karlsson, Vice President of the World Bank;
Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP); Bishop Diarmuid Martin, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace,
based in Rome; George Odlum, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, St. Lucia;
and Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Mr. Fulci opened the discussion by quoting Amintore Fanfani, former president of the General
Assembly, who once said, "It is clear that every time our society does not manage to cope
adequately with poverty, those affected by an unfair distribution of jobs and wealth are forced
to take their own measures." Mr. Fulci continued by asking "if reason and heart, love of
justice and thy neighbour are not enough to take the problem of poverty seriously, then should
we not at the very least act out of the fear that abject poverty will promote subversion?"

Mr. Fulci called for greater debt relief for the poorest countries. "You cannot get water from a
stone," he observed and said it would be better to allow poor countries to invest their scarce
resources in health and education. Mr. Fulci also argued that if the only way to fight poverty is
through empowerment of the poor, a good strategy would be to take a bold step in extending
more microcredit programmes--especially to poor women whose untapped potential is
"enormous."

Mr. Odlum suggested that statistics on global poverty are well known but have had little
"shock effect." He said indicators show that 840 million adults remain illiterate, 800 million
lack access to health services, and 600 million lack adequate shelter. He observed that these
"horrifying" numbers only have a "blurred, distant, almost other worldly impact on the psyche
of the developed world." 

Mr. Odlum said the continuing lack of progress on poverty eradication can only be reversed if
there are adequate resources and built-in mechanisms for resource mobilization. He said signs
of a dangerous erosion of international development cooperation include declining financial
support for UNDP, constant pressure to keep the UN budget at zero nominal growth despite
increasing poverty, as well as the current official development assistance (ODA) level of
0.22% of gross national product (GNP).

He also addressed what he called "fundamental systemic issues" such as market access for
developing countries, particularly for small island developing states (SIDS). "I will again
repeat the call," he said, "for inclusion of transnationals in the rules of engagement that the
World Trade Organization (WTO) sets for trade, and for the WTO to differentiate between
trading partners and promote fair trade through meaningful special and differential treatment
and technical assistance as a contractual obligation for development." He questioned whether
or not what he described as the "WTO mind-set" is relevant to the struggles and aspirations of
developing countries. "Should we explore," he said, "new institutions and strategies that
would avoid the narrow-minded biases of United States Trade Representative Charlene
Barchefsky, which seem too blindly committed to preserving all decision making in favour of
the developed countries like the United States, Europe, Japan and Canada?"

Bishop Martin opened his remarks by asserting that "rarely has there been such consensus
about the urgency of the poverty agenda; rarely has there been such consensus on the
fundamental approaches that are required to fight poverty; rarely has there been such a
consensus that we have the means available to achieve our goal." He questioned, however,
why progress in the fight against poverty is still "precarious and hesitating." Bishop Martin
suggested that the world needed a new culture of international solidarity, characterized by
mobilizations such as the campaign to ban landmines. Political will to eradicate poverty, he
suggested, does not rest with politicians but with citizens, the "true protagonists of change."

Mr. Malloch Brown observed that "the current development model is a paradox." On one
hand development issues have to be broken down into their constituent parts in order to
garner donor support for specific projects; yet on the other they have to be integrated both in
terms of analysis and implementation in order to reduce poverty. Mr. Malloch Brown pointed
to three "realities" that he said can have an impact on development efforts: imaginative
partnerships between government, private, religious, multilateral and civil society actors;
increasing the role of developing countries in development policy making; and the increasing
impact of trade and investment on developing countries.

Dr. Sadik said that "if we are to create an enabling environment for social and economic
development, we must take global governance seriously and ensure that there is transparency,
openness and inclusiveness in decision making on funding matters." She noted that
"ECOSOC, which must become the forum for such decision making," should discuss social
policy as well as economic, financial and trade policies. Dr. Sadik noted the Security Council
recently addressed HIV/AIDS in Africa, which is considered an economic and social issue. She
suggested ECOSOC be proactive in looking at "conflict issues" through a socio-economic
lens, and send its findings to the Security Council when security issues and conflict resolution
are being discussed.

Dr. Sadik listed a number of critical actions that she said need attention and commitment
including keeping up the momentum to implement programmes of action of UN global
conferences; securing gender equality and empowerment of women; empowering the poor;
and stemming the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Contact: Sarbuland Khan, Director, Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination,
Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 1 UN Plaza, Room DC1-1428, New York NY
10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 4628, fax +1-212/963 1712, e-mail
<esa@un.org>, website (www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc).


OZONE PROTECTION MEETING CONCLUDES IN BEIJING

About 700 participants from governments and observer organizations attended the 11th
Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
and the Fifth Conference of the Parties to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the
Ozone Layer, held in Beijing (China) from 29 November to 3 December 1999. Go Between
summarizes the results of the meeting.


Among other things, delegates agreed on a multi-million dollar funding package that will
enable developing countries to maintain the momentum of their efforts to phase out
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting chemicals, as required under the
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (see E&D File Treaty Series,
no. 9). 

The agreed funding includes US$440 million in new contributions plus US$35,700,000 carried
over from the previous period, for a total budget of US$475,700,000 for the three-year period
2000-2002. This constitutes the fourth replenishment of the protocol's Multilateral Fund. It is
in addition to some US$1 billion already spent by the fund since 1991 on reducing the
production and use of CFCs and other harmful substances in over 110 developing countries.
The funds are used to support the adoption of more ozone-friendly technologies for
refrigerators, air conditioners and other consumer products and industrial processes.     

"Phasing out CFCs in developing countries is by far the most important next step in protecting
the ozone layer," said K. Madhava Sarma, Executive Secretary of the ozone treaties. "We
need to maintain this momentum and build on it if we are to ensure the eventual recovery of
the stratospheric ozone layer."

Under the protocol, developing countries are to freeze their CFC and halon emissions at
average 1995-1997 levels during the 12-month period that began on 1 July 1999. They must
then cut back rapidly to 50% by the year 2005 and fully phase out by 2010. Developed
countries phased out the use of these chemicals almost completely in 1996, although the
Russian Federation and several others have experienced delays in meeting their deadlines. 

This leaves China as the world's largest producer and consumer of CFCs and halons. In March
1999 the Multilateral Fund's Executive Committee agreed to spend US$150 million to fund
the complete closure of China's CFC production facilities over the next ten years. The
committee adopted a similar arrangement worth US$82 million for India, the world's second
largest developing-country producer and consumer of CFCs.

The meeting also adopted new controls on the production of hydrochlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs). HCFCs were developed as the first major replacement for CFCs. However while
much less destructive than CFCs, they also contribute to ozone depletion. Under the protocol,
they are to be phased out in developed countries by 2020 and in developing countries by 2040. 

The new amendment will ban trade in HCFCs with countries that have not yet ratified the
protocol's 1992 Copenhagen amendment, which introduced the HCFC phase-out; this will
provide an incentive to these countries to ratify as soon as possible. It will also require
developed countries to freeze the production of HCFCs in 2004 at 1989 levels (measured as
the average of consumption and production levels) and developing countries to do so in 2016
with a similar baseline of 2015. Production of 15% above baseline will be permitted to meet
the "basic domestic needs" of developing countries. The Beijing amendment will enter into
force after it has been ratified by 20 governments.

Because the chemicals industry is constantly creating new products, many governments are
concerned that new ozone-depleting chemicals could be created and marketed in the future,
according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The meeting therefore
asked the Scientific Assessment Panel and the Economic Assessment Panel to develop criteria
for assessing the ozone-depleting potential of any new chemicals and to explore mechanisms
for facilitating cooperation with the private sector on such assessments.

Several minor adjustments to the production controls for CFCs, halons and methyl bromide
were adopted, as were a number of technical decisions dealing with, among other things, the
use of international customs codes, data reporting, and restrictions on the use of
ozone-depleting substances for laboratory use.

The meeting concluded by adopting the Beijing Declaration, which reaffirms political
commitment of the world's governments to accelerating the phase-out of substances that
destroy the stratosphere's protective ozone layer. The declaration states that governments
"cannot afford to rest on our laurels, since scientists have informed us that the ozone hole has
reached record proportions and that ozone layer recovery is a long way from being achieved."
The declaration also appeals for continued efforts to "address illegal trade in ozone-depleting
substances." 

The 12th Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol will be held in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)
in October. It will be preceded by a preparatory meeting of the Working Group from 10-14
July in Geneva.

Under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, governments agreed to phase out chemicals that destroy
the stratospheric ozone, which is essential for shielding humans, plants and animals from the
damaging effects of ultraviolet light. Recent years have seen record thinning of the ozone
layer, including an ever-widening "hole" over Antarctica. Scientists predict that the ozone
layer will fully recover some time in the 21st century--but only if the protocol continues to be
vigorously enforced.  

Contact: Madhava Sharma, Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat, PO Box 30552, Nairobi,
Kenya, telephone +254-2/623885, fax +254-2/623913, e-mail <madhava.sarma@unep.org> or
Robert Bisset, Press Officer, Office of the Spokesman/Director, Communications and Public
Relations, UN Environment Programme, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone
+254-2/623084, fax +254-2/623692, e-mail <robert.bisset@unep.org>, website
(www.unep.org/ozone) or (www.unep.ch/ozone).


DESERTIFICATION CONVENTION COP-3 ADOPTS RECIFE INITIATIVE

A two-week conference on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD) ended in Recife (Brazil) on 27 November 1999 after setting a course for the global
campaign against desertification during the next few years. Go Between summarizes, among
other things, the Recife Initiative adopted by the conference.


The third conference of the Parties (COP-3) to the convention was attended by 900
government delegates and over 200 representatives from the UN, and intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations. More than 50 ministers and deputy ministers addressed a
high-level segment, and 37 parliamentarians from 23 countries issued a declaration calling for
strong and effective actions against dryland degradation. On 19 November and 24 November
NGOs presented case studies to the plenary on institutional-level partnerships and empowering
women's role in the national action programme process, respectively.

"There is no doubt that this conference has been a defining moment in the CCD process--the
architecture of its implementation is shaping up," said Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary
of the convention secretariat, "although reconciling the views of its large membership may
have seemed at times difficult."

Recife Initiative
To help build greater momentum for effective action, the 165 governments at COP-3 adopted
the Recife Initiative, which calls for drafting a declaration on how to strengthen programmes
for combating desertification. The initiative will allow adoption during the next conference of
a Declaration of Commitments designed to strengthen implementation of obligations accepted
by the country Parties, according to Jose Sarney Filho, Minister of Environment of Brazil and
chair of COP-3. 

"In this vein," he said, "we seek to obtain from the international community one firm political
sign that, without any doubt, clarifies its commitments regarding the future of the UNCCD."

The declaration would set a timeframe for making progress on a number of priority thematic
and sectoral areas. It would focus on integrating anti-desertification activities more fully into
the mainstream national development strategies of affected countries, as well as of all
developed country Parties and multilateral and other development institutions. It also would
encourage rapid work on developing benchmarks and indicators for evaluating progress
against desertification.

Enhancing NGO Participation
The objective of the Recife Initiative, according to David Johansson, Ambassador of Finland
and current chair of the European Union, "is to get more momentum behind the convention
and to bring it more into the focus of the global agenda." The EU introduced a draft decision,
about which it had consulted with NGOs, on enhancing their participation in the COP work
programme. COP-3, which adopted the decision by consensus, recognized what it described as
the important role of NGOs, community-based organizations and other civil society groups in
implementing the convention. It said opportunities shall be given to NGOs to express their
coordinated views at CCD sessions and in subsidiary meetings. The international community
was also invited by the decision to give support aimed at ensuring greater participation by
NGOs through contributions to the secretariat-administered supplementary fund and through
bilateral cooperation.

Budget Adopted
The conference adopted a two-year budget of US$13,660,400 to enable the convention
secretariat to carry out a medium-term strategy. A programme of work was adopted and
research priorities set in order to promote practical and effective activities in the drylands of
Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In the budget, the conference also included a two-year allocation of US$2,650,000 for the
Rome-based Global Mechanism, whose role is to help channel funding to programmes and
projects in affected developing countries and to draw up an inventory of available funding
sources.

African Country Reports 
Much of the conference was dedicated to examining reports from 41 African countries
describing their efforts to implement the convention through National Action Programmes and
highlighting their specific needs for international support.

A decision was taken to establish an ad hoc structure to follow up on the national reports
process and its evaluation. Mr. Diallo noted that implementation of decisions adopted at
COP-3 will require "the sustained commitments by all actors concerned and a more decisive
mobilization by the international community. We will not be able to guarantee a minimum of
success in the future if there is no continuity in the support provided to the affected countries."

Committee on Science and Technology
The Committee on Science and Technology took decisions on the development of a roster of
independent experts for use by governments. In addition, it appointed two panels of ten
experts each: one to work on the use of traditional and local knowledge, the other to explore
future work on various aspects of early warning systems. The committee also launched the
second phase of a survey of existing networks and institutions. It adopted its programme of
work for the next year, which will focus on the applications of traditional knowledge,
benchmarks and indicators, and early warning systems. It further asked country Parties to start
testing impact indicators and to start using numerical indicators in order to provide an
objective measure of progress under the convention.

COP-4
The Fourth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention is tentatively scheduled
to be held in Bonn (Germany) from 16-27 October 2000. COP-4 will review the national
reports of Asian and Latin American governments, as well as the reports of donor nations and
intergovernmental organizations.

Contact: UNCCD Secretariat, Haus Carstanjen, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8, D-53175
Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/815 2802, fax +49-228/815 2898, e-mail
<secretariat@unccd.de>. The national reports, COP documents and other information are
available on the UNCCD website (www.unccd.de).


WORLD CIVIL SOCIETY CONFERENCE (WOCSOC)

About 300 representatives from NGOs from 60 nations convened from 7-11 December 1999
at the World Civil Society Conference (WOCSOC) in Montreal (Canada). The conference
addressed the theme Building Global Governance Partnerships. Go Between summarizes the
discussions.


WOCSOC was organized as part of NGO preparations for the Millennium Forum, to be held
in the General Assembly Hall at UN headquarters from 22-26 May (see Go Between 77).
While not a UN-organized event, the forum is recognized as a contribution to the Millennium
Summit and Assembly, which will begin on 6 September. The purpose of the forum is to draft
an agenda for the United Nations in the new century.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who gave the keynote address at WOCSOC, welcomed a
partnership with civil society. "The non-governmental organizations revolution," he said, "the
new global people-power, is the best thing that has happened to our organization in a long
time....You have made your power felt." He listed among NGOs' successes the 1997 Ottawa
agreement to end the use of landmines and the 1998 Rome agreement to establish an
International Criminal Court. "You have been the driving force in raising governments'
political awareness," he added, "and willingness to provide substantial debt relief to the
poorest countries, and to redirect the savings to poverty reduction programmes....The new
diplomacy is working. That is why I am so glad to have you as allies of the United Nations."

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien opened the conference by emphasizing the importance
of its theme. Civil society, he said, "must be encouraged, supported and strengthened, because
democracy can only exist in the context of a dynamic civil society."

The conference was addressed by speakers from the UN and civil society; the thread of the
global governance theme wove through presentations on trends, issues and challenges of
global governance; building strategies, mechanisms and partnerships for improved global
governance; making and reaffirming commitments; and civil society.  

Workshop topics included the erosion of state sovereignty and the emergence of civil society;
building a relevant, more effective and stronger UN in the new millennium; building on
successful partnerships with governments; innovative proposals to democratize WTO and
trade negotiations; the poverty agenda and putting social development centre stage; new
information technologies; and the global "democratic deficit." Challenges to civil society and
possibilities for partnership were addressed in each of the workshops.

A major contribution to the conference was a study on Whose World is it Anyway? Civil
Society, the United Nations and the Multilateral Future (see Go Between 78), which was
presented by its editor John Foster. He placed the major issues of the conference in the context
of global decision making and suggested that there is an imbalance of power in favour of the
international financial institutions, World Trade Organization, Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Group of Seven. Mr. Foster called for a
strengthened United Nations as an essential component of democratic global governance.

Another study presented was on Codes of Conduct for Partnership in Governance, edited by
Tatsuro Kunugi and Martha Schweitz and published by the United Nations University (UNU).
They suggested that the weight of activities on NGOs in world politics is significantly
changing as they supplement traditional politics of the state. The development of a code of
conduct is described as an unparalleled exercise in self-identification for the NGOs as they
collectively try to define their purposes, methods, standards and values. Achievements in
self-regulation are seen as a significant stage in NGO development, as organizations "give up
jealous attachment to their own claims of uniqueness, recognize shared values and the benefits
of collaborative action, and learn to preserve whatever level of autonomy they choose while
pursuing joint action for common good."

The Montreal International Forum presented to WOCSOC the proceedings from its first
forum on Civil Society Engaging Multilateral Institutions: At the Crossroads. The publication
contains six case studies of civil society engagement with the WTO, World Bank, International
Criminal Court, UN Commission on Sustainable Development, Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Economic and Social Council of the United
Nations (ECOSOC) review of NGOs. 

A highlight of the meeting was presentation of the John Humphrey Freedom Award to human
rights activists Cynthia Maung and Min Ko Naing. Dr. Maung runs a clinic for refugees and
migrant workers at the Thai-Myanmar border. Min Ko Naing, leader of the student
pro-democracy movement, has been imprisoned by the military junta for more than ten years.
The prize is awarded every year by the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic
Development on International Human Rights Day. 

The conference adopted a document entitled Montreal Message: The Spirit of Montreal, with
conference proceedings and reports of workshops attached. The document can be found on
the WOCSOC website (www.wocsoc.org/english/papers.htm).

"As a new millennium dawns," says the message, "it will not belong to those who are content
with today, apathetic towards common problems, timid and fearful in the face of new ideas
and bold projects. Rather it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in
the pursuit of the ideals of justice, solidarity and democracy." It says civil society has
"established itself as a source of responsible leadership that demands action rather than words
to address the imperfections of this world." Among other things, the document calls for "the
reassertion of human values over money values, and the subordination of trade and finance
rules to the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, treaties and world conference agreements.
The negative impacts of economic globalization demand an urgent response. Civil society will
work with strong, accountable and democratic governments and a strong United Nations at
the centre of global governance for equity, human rights and sustainability."

Contact: WOCSOC Secretariat, Forum Internationale de Montreal (FIM), 380 St.-Antoine
West, Suite 3200, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 3X7, telephone +1-514/499 9468, fax
+1-514/987 1567, website (www.wocsoc.org).


ECE REVIEWS IMPLEMENTATION OF BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION

A regional preparatory meeting to review implementation of the 1995 Beijing Platform For
Action in the  Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) region took place in Geneva from
19-21 January. Prior to the meeting, held by ECE, an NGO working session took place from
17-18 January with participation by some 200 NGOs.


The regional preparatory meeting was attended by 51 ECE member states and the European
Community (EC), as well as representatives of the United Nations system and specialized
agencies, and other intergovernmental organizations. Participants addressed some of the major
issues since the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women. They considered good practices
and made action-oriented proposals. The meeting adopted a report and agreed conclusions,
which will provide input for the special session of the United Nations General Assembly,
entitled Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First
Century, to be held in June in New York. 

The ECE meeting and the NGO working session focused on four issues: women and the
economy; institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; women and violence; and
women in power and decision making.

NGOs as Partners
The NGO working session was organized by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women
and its Working Group on Women in the ECE Region, in cooperation with sub-regional
networks and the ECE secretariat. An unprecedented number of participants came from
Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). 

At the working session NGOs called on governments to intensify their efforts to move toward
full implementation of the Platform For Action, and to adopt tools and targets to measure and
monitor progress. NGOs stressed the need for more resources and closer cooperation between
themselves, governments, women's groups and other actors involved. In addition to inequality
between men and women, discussions highlighted the growing inequalities between women
and the deteriorating situation of women in countries with economies in transition.

After examining the sub-regional reports of NGO coalitions, participants held caucus meetings
in order to prepare concrete proposals for action for the ECE regional preparatory meeting.

Women and the Economy
During international conferences, women's NGOs emphasized the need for sustainable
development and the linkages to women's livelihoods, and that global policies should reflect
women's experiences and perspectives.

"The economic world would not be the same if women occupied decision making positions,"
said Denise Fuchs, President of The European Women's Lobby (EWL). "We have to
implement a women's counter-culture."

NGOs reaffirmed their interest in participating in international conferences. According to
EWL, "working towards a social and political Europe, women reinforce politics as the entity
that controls globalization."

According to NGOs, globalization presents new obstacles to equality. Economic restructuring
and competition have often led to reduced job security, which exacerbates female
unemployment. The reduction of social budgets especially affects women.  
The NGOs' recommendations called for: equal employment opportunities and equal treatment;
and social protection and legislative frameworks for more flexible working conditions. In the
context of trade liberalization and the increasingly global economy, NGOs asked governments
to augment their support for human rights protection initiatives.

They suggested ECE governments give priority to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises
in their national economic policies, and provide management training and technical support to
women's economic activities in rural areas (including organic farming, ecotourism and
artisanal production).  

In the agreed conclusions of the ECE meeting, four major challenges were emphasized: the
elimination of discrimination against women in the labour market, increasing women's
employment opportunities, promoting gender equality in social protection, and women's
empowerment through access to and control over resources. 

Violence Against Women
In order to prevent and combat violence against women and girls, NGOs urged the ECE to
appeal all legislation that discriminates against them and to develop comprehensive guidelines
for criminal justice systems. This includes providing training to police, prosecutors and judges
about their human rights obligations, and the importance of gender sensitivity in handling
crimes of violence against women. NGOs also asked the United Nations system to establish
gender-specific statistical databases and ethical guidelines, and to convene a high-level
international task force to develop uniform indicators and ways to measure violence against
women and girls. 

ECE member states expressed their willingness to promote a comprehensive approach to
combatting all forms of violence against women and girls, adopt basic principles and
strengthen research and information sharing on violence against women and girls, and work
toward the elimination of violence in society. 

NGOs emphasized the need to specifically address violence against girls in order to develop a
better analysis of violence against children, and to ensure implementation of adequate
legislation. 

The priorities identified to address the issue of domestic violence included the development
and enforcement of laws against domestic violence, as well as assistance and protection to
women and girls who are victims of violence.

On the issue of trafficking in women and girls, NGOs urged ECE governments to confiscate
the profits from such trafficking and use them for the protection of women and girls, and to
immediately grant women victims a secure resident status and the right to work. Governments
agreed to work toward the elimination of trafficking in human beings, in particular women, by
focusing on prevention; strengthening laws and their enforcement; and protecting and
supporting victims of trafficking.

Women and Girls in Armed Conflict Situations
Widney Brown of Human Rights Watch in the United States said, "We call on the ECE
countries here today to promptly ratify and fully implement the Rome Statute for the
International Criminal Court and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. When these two treaties enter into force, they
will be a substantial realization of the Beijing Platform For Action's call for an end to impunity
for human rights violations against women in times of armed conflict." 

Tomka Dilevska of the Union of Women's Organizations of Macedonia said, "Women and
girls living in the war-affected areas face an increase of kidnapping, trafficking and rape."
Because recent armed conflicts have resulted in a growing number of affected civilians and
greater risks for women and girls as victims of gender-based violence, NGOs urged
governments to recognize women not only as victims but as partners for non-violent conflict
prevention and resolution, peacemaking and peace-building. 

Valentina Leskaj of the Albania Family Planning Association said, "Health care needs to be
available and accessible for women in armed conflict." In Kosovo thousands of refugee
women crossing the border were raped. Many were pregnant; some gave birth while fleeing.
NGOs called for the participation of local women and gender-sensitive NGOs as equal
partners in designing, implementing and monitoring health programmes. 

They also asked governments to commit to demilitarize, reduce military expenditures
significantly and create structures to promote peace and ensure the protection of women and
girls from affected neighbouring countries. Michaela Told of the Women's International
League for Peace and Freedom asked government delegates: "Women's NGOs are committed
to a culture of peace. Will you do likewise?"

The ECE meeting agreed on the following priorities for action: develop and implement
international and national legislation against gender-based violence; protect and support
victims during and after conflict situations; improve rehabilitation and reintegration
programmes; and create an enabling environment for lasting peace by recognizing and
promoting the role of women in all peace processes.

Women in Power and Decision Making
As stated in the conclusions of the ECE meeting, prejudice and cultural attitudes that exclude
women from leadership positions persist. Lack of political will to support positive action, lack
of transparency in recruitment policies and insufficient daycare facilities are some of the
factors hindering women's access to decision making positions in both public and private
sectors.

NGOs asked all ECE governments to incorporate the principle of parity into national
constituencies, create permanent ministerial-level bodies specifically responsible for equal
opportunities for women and men, and to involve more young women.

The preparatory meeting's conclusions focused on the creation of an enabling environment to
encourage more women's participation in power and decision making, involving governments,
parliaments, political parties, the media and NGOs in raising public awareness on the positive
role and contribution of women in decision making positions. Fostering women's participation
in political parties and elected bodies, and in high-level positions in government and appointed
bodies, was identified as a key area for action. Another priority stressed was the promotion of
women's access to high-level decision making positions in economic and social spheres, which
would involve the joint effort of governments, the private sector and civil society.  
Institutional Mechanisms for Advancement of Women
In many countries the allocation of financial and human resources is inadequate, and the
political will and necessary legal tools to establish an effective gender mainstreaming strategy
across government structures are lacking. In a large number of ECE countries, gender equality
is not recognized as an integral part of good governance.

NGOs urged ECE governments to recognize the importance of NGO participation in decision
making, which they said leads to stronger democracies. They also asked governments to
provide women's NGOs with the necessary resources from national budgets.

ECE governments and NGOs from Western Europe and North America agreed to provide
support to national mechanisms for the advancement of women in countries with economies in
transition and to developing countries.

The ECE meeting agreed on the following key areas for action: strengthening institutional
mechanisms for gender equality; developing tools for enforcing and monitoring policies of
equality; and strengthening synergy with civil society.

Outcome of the Meeting
ECE governments adopted a set of agreed conclusions, with a preamble to which NGOs
provided significant input, reaffirming the governments' commitment to implement the Beijing
Declaration and Platform For Action. This will be done by promoting and protecting all human
rights and fundamental freedoms, mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and
programmes, and promoting equal participation of women and men in all spheres of society.
They said this calls for, among other things, strengthening mechanisms for effective
implementation of legislation for gender equality, as well as a solid system of benchmarks and
monitoring to assess progress and mobilize for further action. Governments said that the
primary responsibility for full implementation of these commitments rests with them, and that
the promotion of equality between women and men is a matter of priority for the international
community. They also recognized the important role that NGOs are playing in implementation
of the Beijing Platform For Action. 

ECE governments also underscored the protection and promotion of women and girls' human
rights at all stages of life: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. They said they
would also take into consideration the additional barriers women face such as race
discrimination, language, ethnicity, culture or religion, sexual orientation, disabilities,
socio-economic class or status as indigenous people, migrants, displaced people or refugees.

Governments recognized the special requirements of countries with economies in transition
and emerging democracies, which remain fragile and require particular attention. They said
these need additional support to address the disproportionate negative impacts of transition
processes on women's lives and livelihoods. Governments reaffirmed the right and capacity of
women from these countries to play an active part in leading and managing their development
and peace processes, and the need to support them in doing so.

The agreed conclusions spell out in detail: the key areas for action in each of the four themes
taken up at the ECE meeting for Beijing+5; and strategic direction and recommendations
under each area, with actors identified for each recommendation. The adopted text represents
the ECE region's contribution to the UN global review for Beijing+5.

Contact: Patrice Robineau, Senior Adviser to the Executive Secretary, Economic Commission
for Europe, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917
4858, fax +41-22/917 0036, e-mail <patrice.robineau@unece.org>, website (www.unece.org).


CALENDAR

DISARMAMENT
--   Conference on Disarmament, 1st part, 17 January-24 March, Geneva
--   2000 Review Conference of the States Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons, 24 April-19 May, New York

ECOSOC/GENERAL ASSEMBLY 
--   Committee for Development Policy (CDP), 2nd session, 3-7 April, New York
--   Special High-Level Meeting between the Economic and Social Council and the Bretton
Woods Institutions, April, New York
--   Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Resumed organizational session, 3-4 May,
New York

HEALTH 
--   Working Group on the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, 2nd meeting,
6-17 March, Geneva

HUMAN RIGHTS
--   Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 56th session, 6-24 March,
Geneva
--   Human Rights Committee, 68th session, 13-31 March, New York
--   Commission on Human Rights, 56th session, 20 March-28 April, Geneva
--   Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, 60th session, 24-27
April, New York
--   Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 22nd session, 24 April-12 May,
Geneva
--   Committee Against Torture, 24th session, 1-19 May, Geneva

Racism
--   First Preparatory Committee for the World Conference Against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, 1-5 May, Geneva

INTERGOVERNMENTAL MEETINGS
--   Non-Aligned Movement, Ministerial meeting, 7-9 April, Cartagena
--   Group of 77, (G-77) South Summit, 10-14 April, Havana

INTERNATIONAL LAW
--   Preparatory Commission for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, 4th
session, March (3 weeks), New York

NARCOTIC DRUGS
--   Commission on Narcotic Drugs, 43rd session, 6-15 March, Vienna 

POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT
--   Commission on Population and Development, 33rd session, 27-31 March, New York

REGIONAL COMMISSIONS
--   Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), 28th session,
3-7 April, Mexico City
--   Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), 56th session,
April (7 days), Bangkok
--   Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), 55th session, 3-5 May, Geneva

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
--   Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the United Nations General
Assembly on the Implementation of the Outcome of the World Summit for Social
Development and Further Initiatives (WSSD+5), 2nd substantive session, 3-14 April, New
York

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)
--   Orientation meeting for NGOs, 20 April, New York
--   CSD, 8th session, 25 April-5 May, New York

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
--   Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species, 11th session, 10-20 April, Nairobi

Global Environment Facility (GEF)
--   NGO consultation, 8 May, Washington DC
--   GEF Council meeting, 9-11 May, Washington DC

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee
--   4th session, 20-25 March, Bonn

TRADE, FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT
Financing for Development
--   Preparatory Process, started in January

United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD)
--   Expert Meeting on International Investment Agreements, 22-24 March, Geneva

WOMEN
--   Consultative Committee on the United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM), 40th session, February/March, New York
--   Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) acting as the Preparatory Committee for
the GA Special Session on Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the
Twenty-First Century, 3-17 March, New York
--   Inter-Agency Symposium on Violence Against Women, May