Go Between 83, Oct.-Dec. 2000 UN NEWS GA SPECIAL SESSION ON HIV/AIDS IN 2001 On 3 November 2000 the General Assembly resolved to convene a special session from 25-27 June 2001 to review and address the problem of HIV/AIDS and to secure a global commitment to combat the disease. The session, to be held in New York, will discuss the epidemic in Africa, international funding and cooperation, social and economic impacts, human rights, gender-specific issues, prevention, access to care and treatment, scientific research and vaccine development. To prepare for the session, the GA will convene open-ended informal consultations of the plenary, which will negotiate a draft declaration. In the resolution calling for the session (A/Res/55/13), the GA requested Secretary-General Kofi Annan, with the support of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), to report on the status of the pandemic. This should include discussion of the disease's effect on development, long-term social and economic manifestations, best practices in prevention and care, and major gaps and challenges. They should also note the level of national, regional and international response and cooperation; ensure effective and coordinated preparation for the special session across the UN system; and carry out a public information campaign to raise global HIV/AIDS awareness while building international support for the session. The GA said the session should be brought to the attention of all governments, relevant specialized agencies and programmes of the UN, international financial and trade organizations, civil society actors, and the business sector including pharmaceutical companies. Governments are invited to make appropriate voluntary contributions to a trust fund that will be established by Mr. Annan to foster widespread participation. In statements following presentation of the resolution, delegates underscored a variety of concerns including: the alarming spread of HIV/AIDS, which has exceeded all predictions; links between the disease and poverty; ways that HIV/AIDS undermines economic and social development; security implications; impacts on women and girls; the value of multi-sectoral and inter-governmental partnerships; and the need for giant pharmaceutical companies to take steps, such as relaxing patent restrictions, that would allow greater access to life-saving drugs. The UNAIDS Secretariat, which will serve as the substantive secretariat for the session, will be actively supported by its seven co-sponsoring organizations (United Nations Children's Fund; United Nations Development Programme; United Nations Population Fund; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; United Nations International Drug Control Programme; World Health Organization; and the World Bank), the United Nations Secretariat, and other organizations within the UN system. Among other things, the UNAIDS Secretariat will coordinate regional and country-level inputs from NGOs to the session and facilitate NGO and private sector involvement in it, especially networks of people living with HIV/AIDS. The NGO delegates to the UNAIDS Programme Coordination Board will also be actively involved in preparations for the session. Contact: Dominique De Santis, Press Officer, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4509, fax +41-22/791 4898, e-mail , website (www.unaids.org). CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE OF PARTIES As Go Between goes to press, delegates to the Sixth Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) were meeting in The Hague (Netherlands). COP-6 President Jan Pronk, Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment in the Netherlands, told thousands of participants from 180 countries on 14 November that their challenge was to agree on the instruments and details to achieve the targets and timetables for emissions reductions by industrialized countries agreed in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol (see E&D File, vol. III, no. 16) in order to pave the way for its ratification. Preparatory talks for COP-6, which is the deadline for agreeing on details for the Protocol's implementation, were held in Lyon (France) from 11-15 September 2000. 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 +49-228/815 999, e-mail , website (www.unfccc.de). FAO: 20 MILLION FACE SERIOUS FOOD SHORTAGES The number of people facing serious food shortages in eastern Africa has risen to nearly 20 million, up by three million since April 2000 according to the August issue of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Food Supply Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report says continuing drought has undermined food production in vast areas of eastern Africa, but it also blames war and civil strife for severely limiting farming activities in many areas. It warns that "large numbers of people will need massive and continued emergency assistance" well into 2001. Overall in sub-Saharan Africa, 16 countries face exceptional food emergencies. Most of the worst affected countries including Angola, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan are suffering from the impact of war or civil conflict. Others such as Kenya and Tanzania have been hard hit by drought. The 2000 cereal crop in southern Africa was expected to be normal, notwithstanding the damage caused by floods and cyclones in some parts. Harvesting of the main cereal crops was almost complete in most countries of the region, says the report. Southern Africa's cereal production, mainly maize, was forecast to be above normal and the food supply situation was satisfactory, although continued food assistance is required in some areas. In Angola, however, the food situation of some 2.6 million internally displaced persons is "precarious." In western Africa the overall food supply situation was stable following above-average or record crops in most countries last season, except in Guinea-Bissau due to civil strife. National food security stocks have been replenished, and markets were well supplied. Cereal prices were mostly stable and often much lower than in previous years. Agricultural activities in Sierra Leone had been disrupted by renewed civil disturbances; as a result a reduced rice crop was forecast. Sierra Leone and Liberia remain heavily dependent on international food assistance, notes the report. Contact: Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, fax +39-6/5705 4495, e-mail , website (www.fao.org/WAICENT/faoinfo/economic/giews/ english/eaf/eaftoc. htm). STATE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE Lessons learned over the past 50 years are a highlight of The State of Food and Agriculture 2000, the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) annual report. This year's report illustrates how technological progress has increased food production and reduced the number of hungry around the world. Thirty years ago, according to FAO, 960 million people didn't have enough to eat. Now the number stands at over 800 million. However 13% of the world's population still lack access to adequate amounts of food, and more than 30 countries are experiencing serious food emergencies. Advances in technology and resources "have made hunger more avoidable" observes the report, "and therefore more intolerable today." The report notes that progress in the fight against hunger has been uneven. Since 1970, the number of malnourished has doubled in Africa. At the same time, that number has been halved in East and South-East Asia. And the tremendous increases in agricultural production do not reveal the growing disparity among agricultural systems and populations. "The current agricultural revolution with all its attributes, in particular its heavy, complex and very expensive motorized mechanization, has not extended very far beyond the developed world," writes Marcel Mazoyer of the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon of France, in the report's section on "The Socio-Economic Impact of Agricultural Modernization." Among other things, he notes that "the gap between the most productive and least productive farming systems has increased twenty-fold in the last 50 years." A section on conflicts, agriculture and food security says that in developing countries already experiencing high levels of undernutrition, conflicts are one of the major causes of famine. It observes that agricultural output losses from conflict in developing countries has exceeded total food aid to those countries over the last 20 years. In the 1980s, the former amounted to nearly US$37 billion and the latter to US$29 billion. People have also become increasingly responsible for disasters affecting food security. "Whereas human-induced disasters contributed to only about 10 percent of total emergencies in 1984," says the report, "by late 1999 they were a determining factor in more than 50 percent of the cases." Microcredit small loans targeting the poor is intended to help people escape poverty by investing in their own small businesses and farms. These loans have marked an innovation in rural finance, according to FAO. The total number of borrowers grew by 50% between 1998 and 1999, says the report, reaching 21 million people. Twelve million of these people live on less than US$1 per day. The report also provides facts and figures about the current global agricultural situation and an overview of the world economic environment, world trade, and commodity prices. In addition it outlines the short- and medium-term prospects for low-income food-deficit countries and countries highly dependent on agricultural exports. Contact: Sales and Marketing Group, Food and Agriculture Organization, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/57051, fax +39-06/5705 3360, e-mail, website (www.fao.org/docrep/x4400e/x4400e00.htm). WFP: HUNGER-FREE WORLD POSSIBLE It is now possible to envision a world without hunger, according to World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Catherine Bertini on 15 October 2000, one day before World Food Day. She said resources, political will and broad public interest are beginning to converge with low-cost technologies for the benefit of poor and hungry people around the world. Ms. Bertini called for international and humanitarian communities to "work together toward the simple, practical solutions that will end the scourge of global hunger." She cited the Internet as an example of the revolutionary, cost-effective technology that can be used in the campaign to end world hunger. Ms. Bertini said that more than 100 million clicks on The Hunger Site (see below) since 1 June 1999 "demonstrate just how successful the Internet has been as the means to informing people about hunger issues." The click-to-donate site has also generated over US$3 million in contributions to WFP. With the Internet as a communications tool to reach donors, WFP said it is better placed to oversee the simple but proven mechanisms for targeting recipients such as school lunch programmes. Ms. Bertini said school feedings are an excellent example of a relatively modest humanitarian investment that makes a huge difference to the lives of the world's poorest and hungriest children. WFP can provide a nutritious meal to a schoolchild for "just a few cents yet these daily meals dramatically improve that child's health, education and nutritional status. That one solid meal a day at school will give children genuine prospects for a better future." Contact: Jeff Rowland, Public Affairs Officer, World Food Programme, Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, I-00148 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/6513 2971, fax +39-06/6513 2840, e-mail , website (www.thehungersite.com). ECOSOC SESSION ON HUNGER The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) met on 30 October 2000 at UN headquarters in New York for an unprecedented discussion on hunger. Heads of the three Rome-based UN agencies working on food and agriculture the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP) briefed delegates in a session entitled Eliminating Hunger in the New Millennium. ECOSOC President Makarim Wibisono said that the dialogue should be seen as a step toward translating commitments to halve the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015. Governments agreed to this target both at the 2000 Millennium Summit and the 1996 World Food Summit. Mr. Wibisono said the dialogue was intended to build on a now-established pattern of regular exchanges with heads of specialized agencies on specific themes, a process aimed at promoting overall policy coordination and coherence. General Assembly President Harri Holkeri concluded that hunger was a consequence of a wider problem, namely the rich who represent 5% of the world's population but consume some 45% of all meat and fish. He said the goal of eradicating hunger had been a target of the 1963 World Food Congress, was reiterated in 1974 at the World Food Conference, but still unmet by the 1996 World Food Summit. The common theme of the series of meetings on hunger, he noted, was that eradicating hunger needed a political commitment from governments. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette told delegates that "hunger is not just a sectoral concern but rather is an issue of central political, social and moral import." Hunger must be fought on a broad front, she said, because 800 million people go hungry every day, including one in three people in sub-Saharan Africa. She also called for consensus on how to address the inequities of globalization, and said losses in productivity and problems related to hunger are an economic handicap for communities and nations. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said progress toward the 2015 goal had been slow, and the target would not be reached without more urgent action. He underscored the key role of agricultural and rural development, but added that insufficient investment and declining external transfers were holding back progress and putting in question the capacity of future generations to feed themselves. This was particularly the case in areas where food emergencies have been increasing, such as the Horn of Africa. Official development assistance (ODA) there had fallen by 40% over the last ten years and had dropped around 50% in the area of agriculture. Fawzi Al-Sultan, President of IFAD, said more ODA focused on rural poverty would empower the poor to seize opportunities. It would also accelerate economic growth, particularly in Africa where the agricultural sector is often the largest source of livelihood. He proposed that one option for finding new resources to alleviate hunger would be debt relief. Mr. Al-Sultan said that increasing productivity must be matched by new opportunities for marketing products, including through an international trading system that reflects the interests of poorer nations and more open markets with special terms for developing countries. Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of WFP, noted the world would need to spend only US$2.6 to US$6 over current ODA levels in order to eliminate hunger. She called this expenditure minimal compared to the benefits that would be reaped. Ms. Bertini said the most important factor in fighting hunger was women, who grow most of the world's food but eat the least of it. Development assistance has often failed to recognize women's central role, or that targeting women has an impact on the community. If given an opportunity, she maintained, women would end world hunger. Contact: FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/57051, fax +39-06/5705 3152, website (www.fao.org). IFAD, 107 Via del Serafico, I-00142 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/54591, fax +39-06/504 3463, e-mail , website (www.ifad.org). WFP, Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Parco d‚ Medici, I-00148 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/65131, fax +39-06/659 0632, website (www.wfp.org). ECOSOC ESTABLISHES FORUM ON FORESTS The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) agreed on 18 October 2000 to establish a UN Forum on Forests (UNFF). The Forum, operating as an ECOSOC subsidiary, will have five years to consider developing a legal framework on forests. Delegates expressed satisfaction that talks on the controversial subject (see Go Between 80) had moved far enough to result in creating the first new ECOSOC subsidiary since formation of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in 1992. However, delegates also noted that widely divergent views held up a series of informal consultations to draft the resolution establishing the UNFF. A particularly difficult issue was the question of membership in the Forum, with the European Union (EU) arguing that an ECOSOC subsidiary body should have limited membership. Delegates eventually agreed to the G-77/China's position, which was to make the UNFF open to all UN Member States. Nigeria, speaking on behalf of the G-77, maintained that universality was the right step because it allows all countries the opportunity to present their issues and concerns. After the resolution passed, the EU noted its support for the Forum but said that "the creation of a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council with universal membership sets a regrettable precedent affecting both the authority of ECOSOC and the credibility of the Commission on Sustainable Development." The EU said it would work to ensure the Forum remains an exception within the UN system. The UNFF is expected to reflect agreements of the 1992 UN Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED), namely the Rio Declaration and the Forest Principles as spelled out in Agenda 21. The Forum will also build on work of the Commission on Sustainable Development and on two previous rounds of forest-related negotiations: the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF). Following an initial organizational meeting tentatively scheduled in February 2001, the UNFF will meet annually, with a first substantive session expected in late 2001. The Forum's mandate specifies the involvement of international organizations and the Major Groups identified in Agenda 21. ECOSOC subsidiary status means these groups, including NGOs, will be permitted greater access than an option that had been proposed to position the UNFF as a General Assembly body. A third option was to have the Forum report to the CSD, which would have encouraged access but weakened the Forum's political clout. The 24 April-5 May 2000 meeting of the CSD (see E&D File, vol. IV, no. 1) had invited the President of ECOSOC to initiate informal consultations on these placement choices. The CSD had also extended an invitation to ECOSOC and the GA to act on terms of reference for an international arrangement on forests, as had been negotiated by the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests. The IFF met in four sessions from 1997-2000, following a GA resolution calling for continued intergovernmental policy dialogue on forests. This followed an earlier set of talks held by the IPF, which met from 1995-1997 at the behest of the CSD. These meetings have raised the profile of forest issues in the international arena and encouraged some consensus on the subject following UNCED. A number of controversial issues trailed through the subsequent negotiations, however, with the most difficult being the question of whether governments should adopt a legally binding instrument (LBI). Supporters claim an LBI is urgently needed to cast a strong international focus on sustainable forest management, given the destruction of these regions around the globe: the UN estimates that two acres of forest are lost every second. Some of those who oppose an LBI say it would impinge on sovereign rights; others claim that instruments already exist for taking action. At the last meeting of the IFF in February 2000, indigenous NGOs worried that an LBI would affect traditional livelihoods, while a few activists said it would legitimize bad forestry practices. The LBI will be the main focus of debate as the UNFF becomes operational, although other difficult issues will likely include finances, technology transfer, biological resources, intellectual property rights, and trade and the environment. However, the IPF and IFF processes have already generated consensus on a long list of proposals for action on issues ranging from underlying causes of deforestation to forest assessment to criteria and indicators. At the first substantive session of the Forum, delegates will be charged with developing a plan for implementing these agreements. Contact: Tiina Vahanen, Programme Officer, UN Division for Sustainable Development, 2 UN Plaza, 12th Floor, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 3262, fax +1-212/963 3463, e-mail , website (www.un.org/esa/sustdev). CHEMICALS INC-7 MEETS Over 230 delegates representing more than 100 countries and representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations participated in the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for an International Legally Binding Instrument for the Application of the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. The session, held from 30 October to 3 November 2000 in Geneva, focused on issues related to the period between adoption of the 1998 Rotterdam Convention on the PIC procedure (see Go Between 71) and its entry into force. Among other things delegates at INC-7 discussed the location of the Rotterdam Convention Secretariat; support for implementation; illicit trafficking; discontinuation of the interim PIC procedure; rules of procedure for the Conference of the Parties; and financial arrangements. They said the ten-year review of implementation of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio+10) will be the target for entry into force and operation of the Rotterdam Convention. To date the Convention has been signed by 72 governments and ratified by 11; it will enter into force once 50 instruments of ratification have been deposited. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee is providing guidance on implementation of the PIC procedure until the first Conference of the Parties. Contact: Jim Willis, Director, UNEP Chemicals, Geneva Executive Centre, 11-13 chemin des An‚mones, CH-1219 Chƒtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 8183, fax +41-22/797 3460, e-mail , website (irptc.unep.ch) or (www.chem.unep.ch/pops). BERGEN ENVIRONMENT MEETING The Norwegian Ministry of the Environment convened an Informal Ministerial Meeting in Bergen from 16-17 September 2000. Thirty-one environment ministers and officials and nine senior officials from international agencies gathered to discuss three agenda items. They were: preparations for the ten-year review of implementation of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio+10), strengthened institutional structures for international environmental governance, and sustainable energy. "The forum was a good place for reflection and for the assessment of our global environmental strategy," said Jos‚ Luis Samaniego Leyva, Coordinator of International Affairs for Mexico's Secretariat of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries. "We were able to discuss our different perspectives without the pressure of negotiations." Concerning Rio+10, participants highlighted key issues as poverty alleviation and better integration of the components of sustainable development; the impact of globalization; and energy, water, forests and desertification. They agreed that early preparations for the 2002 Summit were required at the local, national and regional levels, and that these should include a range of stakeholders. In a discussion on institutional structures, participants acknowledged a lack of coordination between different environmental organizations and agreements, including what they described as the lack of an environmental counterweight to the World Trade Organization. They debated possibilities for action such as strengthening existing organizations like the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and streamlining systems of reporting to allow countries to produce national reports integrating all the environment conventions. A session on sustainable energy delved into the different challenges faced by developing and developed countries. Participants identified three main ones: developing sustainable global patterns of production and use of energy; increasing energy efficiency; and moving toward clean and renewable energy sources. On 15 September 2000, a Ministerial Dialogue Session was held with about 200 representatives of business, local government, trade unions, NGOs, indigenous peoples groups and women's organizations. Participants urged acknowledgment and support of what they described as the critical contributions they will make to the Rio+10 process, suggesting that stakeholders such as themselves might undertake joint commitments alongside governments in newly developed programmes of action. They said priority subjects should be provision of energy and fresh water to the most deprived communities, and they called for the establishment of realistic targets for achieving progress toward sustainable development. Differences arose when environmental groups suggested removing government subsidies on water, and promoting "green" energy alternatives in general. Delegates from developing nations said these notions clashed with local realities. "In my country we are dealing with a crisis situation," said Henry Muganwa-Kajura, Uganda's Minister of Water, Lands and Environment. "People in rural areas have no other source of energy than the trees around them. Unless we receive assistance from developed countries, they will continue this harmful practice. We simply have no other alternative. You should think about ways of solving the basic problems before you go into the fancy solutions." UNEP CONFERENCE IN IRELAND Environmental information managers, policy advisors and environmental lawyers representing governments and NGOs from six continents met in Dublin (Ireland) from 11-15 September 2000 to discuss ways of delivering timely and reliable environmental information to decision makers and the public. Participants in the Global Conference on Facilitating Access to Environmental Information, convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in cooperation with the Irish Department of Environment and Local Government, adopted the Dublin Declaration on Access to Environmental Management. Among other things, it calls on countries to enhance networking and coordinating mechanisms in order to achieve a sustainable interactive information system as well as improve international cooperation. The networking and mechanisms would be primarily in the form of consortia of key environmental information suppliers from governmental, non-governmental and private sectors. The Declaration also calls on governments to support UNEP in the development of a global environmental portal on the Internet. It encourages national consortia to use web-based technologies and to establish protocols and standards for delivering an integrated information service in each country. Governments participating in the enhanced UNEP-Infoterra global network are urged to appoint focal points for policy-level and operational matters related to delivery of high quality information and data on the environment. Contact: Tore Brevik, Spokesman and Director, Information, Communications and Public Information, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623292, fax +254-2/623692, e-mail , website (www.unep.org). UNEP SEMINAR ON CLEANER PRODUCTION At a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) high-level seminar on cleaner production, held in Montreal (Canada) from 15-17 October, 250 decision makers from 85 countries discussed how business, public authorities and other stakeholders can contribute to positive changes in production and consumption patterns. Cleaner production, similar to eco-efficiency, pollution prevention or waste minimization strategies, promotes the elimination of pollution before it is created rather than using end-of-pipe solutions. According to UNEP, it is the continuous application of an integrated preventive strategy toward processes, products and services to increase overall efficiency and reduce risks to human health and the environment. Participants said governments should play a larger role in promoting cleaner production through public policy, and they suggested setting up revolving funds to encourage implementation of cleaner production investments in developing countries. Also discussed was the need to address the impacts of consumption patterns, and issues such as linking cleaner production and sustainable development on one hand, and meeting the basic needs of the poor on the other. The seminar's discussions reflected profound changes in the market place and the way managers view their business operations and strategies. Participants gave a vision of the emerging world in terms of processes, products and services and industrial systems. They said a new understanding of "natural human capital" in the current economy and of consumer and cultural values is developing. The results of the seminar will be presented to UNEP's Governing Council session in February 2001, and to the ten-year review of implementation of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), to be held in 2002. The next seminar on cleaner production will be held in the Czech Republic in 2002. Contact: S.P. Chandak, Cleaner Production Coordinator, UNEP, 39-43 quai Andr‚ Citro‰n, F-75739 Paris Cedex 15, France, telephone +33-1/44 37 14 50, fax +33-1/44 37 14 74, e-mail , website (www.uneptie.org/hp_pc.html). UNEP MEETING ON MEAS/WTO The Economics and Trade Unit (ETU) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) hosted an international meeting in Geneva on 23 October 2000 to examine ways to enhance synergies and reduce potential tensions between Multilateral Environment Agreements (MEAs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The meeting was attended by high-level government representatives and the Secretariats of UNEP, WTO, MEAs and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Some delegates, including from Switzerland and the European Commission, argued in favour of further clarifying the relationship between MEAs and the WTO. Others, including representatives of some developing countries and the United States, said potential conflicts between these two bodies of international law are not apparent. UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said close interaction between the WTO, UNEP, MEA Secretariats and Member States could serve to solidify the UNEP-WTO relationship into an "early warning system" for potential MEA-related WTO disputes. Mr. Toepfer said he wants to harmonize and strengthen dispute settlement and liability mechanisms within specific MEAs, which could be a goal for the ten-year review of implementation of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio+10), to be held in 2002. One of the declared objectives of UNEP-ETU is "to strengthen coherence between multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), including clarifying the relationship between WTO rules and trade measures in MEAs." Contact: Economic and Trade Unit, UNEP, Geneva Executive Centre, 15 chemin des An‚mones, CH-1219 Chƒtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 8243, fax +41-22/796 9240, e-mail , website (www.unep.ch/etu). ENVIRONMENTAL LAW MEETING Senior legal experts from 70 governments met in Nairobi (Kenya) along with officials of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in October 2000 to discuss a comprehensive environmental law programme for UNEP's action for the next decade. Following extensive debate on 20 proposed subject areas, participants adopted a draft programme which contains components designed to increase the effectiveness of environmental law and address related issues. These include: implementation, compliance and enforcement; capacity building; prevention and mitigation of environmental damage; avoidance and settlement of international environmental disputes; strengthening and development of international environmental law; harmonization and coordination; public participation; information technology; and innovative approaches to environmental law. The strategic plan also considers sectoral environmental issues such as freshwater resources, coast and marine ecosystems, soil, forests, biological diversity, pollution prevention and control, production and consumption patterns, and environmental emergencies and natural disasters. The plan also focuses on the interlinkages between the environment and areas including trade, security and military activities. The draft programme will be submitted for adoption at the 21st session of the governing council of the UNEP/Global Ministerial Environment Forum, to be held in Nairobi in February 2001. Contact: Tore Brevik, Spokesman and Director, Information, Communications and Public Information, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623292, fax +254-2/623692, e-mail , website (www.unep.org). WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENT REVIEW Environmental management suffers from a lack of leadership, not a lack of resources, according to a World Bank report entitled Annual Review of the Environment: Environment Matters. The report, released during the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in September 2000 (see focus page), maintains that public awareness of environmental degradation is growing. It presents evidence of an emerging partnership between governments, business and civil society lobbying for sustainable development and calls for building leadership and supporting environmental management at national and international levels. However the report warns that the debate on globalization is not paying enough attention to either environmental or social concerns. These issues still have little impact on international trade and investment activities, it says, despite numerous international conventions and agreements on global problems such as climate change, biodiversity and water management. The report forms part of the Bank's ongoing efforts to reformulate its environmental strategy, a process that began in 1999 and is expected to produce a series of recommendations to the Bank's Board of Directors in 2001. The new strategy is being designed to strengthen the Bank's institutional environmental agenda and to more closely align this work with the Bank's central mission: poverty reduction. In developing its plans, the Bank says it is reaching out to a variety of external stakeholders including client countries, international donors, civil society and scientific organizations. "Our aim is to help governments and other actors in developing countries improve poor peoples' livelihoods, health and security and promote a sustainable use of natural resources," said Ian Johnson, World Bank Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development. The World Bank's strategy calls for environmental programmes that either directly benefit the poor or foster sustainable economic growth through changes in governance or public policy. Activities fall in three categories: improving people's health through efforts such as improving air quality in urban areas; enhancing livelihoods by managing natural resources sustainably; and reducing people's vulnerability to environmental risks such as natural disasters and the impacts of climate change. Among ongoing projects, the Bank has funded 97 related to the environment over the past ten years for a total of US$5.1 billion. Nearly half are devoted to urban pollution, another one-third focus on natural resources and rural environment management, and the rest focus on building environmental management capacity and addressing issues funded by the Global Environment Facility and the Montreal Protocol Multilateral Fund. During 2000 the Bank approved 13 new projects totalling US$515 million. These and other projects that place emphasis on environmental objectives comprise about 10% of total Bank lending. Examples include developing city management strategies in Africa, monitoring environmental performance in East Asia, improving energy efficiency in Latin America, and linking pollution and natural resource management in South Asia. Contact: Kristyn Ebro, External Affairs, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/458 2736, fax +1-202/522 7122, e-mail , website (www.worldbank.org). UNDP/DESA ENERGY REPORT Broad-based economic development in the 21st century will depend on implementation of far-sighted policies and pricing mechanisms to encourage greater energy efficiency, more reliance on renewable resources and advanced energy technologies, according to a report published in September 2000. World Energy Assessment: Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability is a joint project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the World Energy Council, which represents major energy suppliers. The 500-page report chronicles wide disparities in energy consumption, which is eight times higher per capita in the United States and Canada than in sub-Saharan Africa. A lack of energy supplies in many regions of the developing world means that two billion people struggle to meet their basic needs each day, it says. Current methods of energy production, distribution and worldwide use exacerbate health and environmental problems. These include global warming and millions of deaths each year related to pollution. "Whatever the effect of higher energy prices on the pocketbooks of the rich world, the impact on poor countries is counted in more serious currency livelihoods and sometimes even lives," said UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown. He called on the North and South, and the rich and poor to form partnerships to confront energy challenges. The report, which says that the world can enjoy both high levels of energy services and a better environment, disputes the notion that there is a choice between economic growth and environmental protection. It also states that the supply of fossil fuels is not running out, contrary to earlier theories. While it does not discount the need for alternative sources of energy, it stresses that impetus for the search should now come from strategic changes in public policy and private sector initiatives rather than from fears of depletion. Given the capital-intensive nature of energy systems, these new approaches must be tried now before the world finds itself locked into unsustainable patterns of energy production and use. The report calls for three fundamental changes: -- more efficient use of energy, given that about two-thirds is currently wasted in the conversion from raw materials; -- greater reliance on modern renewable energy resources such as solar, wind and biomass, which currently account for just 2% of the global fuel mix; and -- accelerated development and diffusion of new energy technologies including cleaner, safer ways of using fossil fuels. World Energy Assessment concludes that the private sector can play a powerful role in these changes and in making energy services available to the world's poor, but government guidance must frame this process. The market alone will not meet all needs or consistently protect the environment, it says. While industrialized countries could realize efficiency gains of 25%-35% over the next 20 years through more effective energy policies, developing countries lacking an energy infrastructure are well-placed to "leapfrog" the technology curve by introducing innovative technologies, according to the report. Contact: UNDP, 304 East 45th Street, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/906 6068, fax +1-212/906 5148, e-mail , website (www.undp.org/seed/eap). World Energy Council, Regency House, 1-4 Warwick Street, London W1R 6LE, United Kingdom, telephone +44-171/734 5996, fax +44-171/734 5926, e-mail , website (www.worldenergy.org). DESA WORLD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY 2000 The latest version of the World Economic and Social Survey concludes that policy makers are overlooking the potential economic contributions of agriculture, even though it can play a leading role in allowing countries to break out of poverty. The report was released at UN headquarters in New York on 28 September 2000 by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Part I of the report was first published in July 2000 (see Go Between 82). It looks at the state of the world economy and notes that a remarkable recovery has taken place since the 1997-1999 crisis. Financial markets are calm again, and international trade has largely bounced back. However the social consequences of the crisis persist, with unemployment and poverty rates higher than a few years ago. While the short-term forecast is for continued and widespread economic growth, the survey urges policy makers to address global macro-economic tensions, and the international community to update international financial architecture to contend with future swings. Part II of the survey, released in September 2000, considers issues related to assisting poorer countries on the path to sustained and sustainable development. It notes that the external economic environment plays a critical role in the development success of the least developed and other low-income countries. However, actions to address key domestic constraints on development must complement official development assistance (ODA) and initiatives such as trade preferences and debt relief, says the report. It proposes a new consideration of agriculture as a way out of "poverty traps" that never allow gross domestic product (GDP) per capita to rise fast enough to improve living standards. "Agriculture used to have a key role in development policies, but has suffered relative neglect over the years," writes Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, in the foreword to the report. In most developing countries, agriculture engages 70%-95% of the labour force and accounts for 20%-60% of GDP and up to 90% of exports. Contrary to prevailing beliefs the productivity of agriculture can often be raised, with results that stimulate other economic sectors. For example, says the report, food production can increase, nutrition and productivity can improve, and demand can grow for manufactured goods. Critical steps toward better productivity can include development of infrastructure and land redistribution that favors smaller, more productive farms. The report also looks at issues it says have played prominent roles in the development agenda, including education and technology, and says results have been mixed. In education, one continuing lesson is that an economic development strategy generating demand for educated and skilled workers also fuels investment in education. Since progress in one level of education prompts advances in higher levels, the most effective approach is to concentrate on high quality primary education, with the goal of eradicating illiteracy. A chapter on technology explores opportunities for developing countries and stresses they must adapt technology to their context, rather than simply replicating what has worked elsewhere. In countries with low levels of technology the emphasis must be on education, says the report, which will advance technological progress in agriculture and low-technology manufacturing. This will eventually spur wider benefits. Governments play an important role in fostering a climate allowing an emerging private sector to benefit from technology, but speed and sequencing are crucial. For example, liberalizing imports before local industries have established new capabilities can destroy emerging manufacturing sectors, as has been the case in parts of Africa. The report concludes with a chapter on the role of institutions and notes their centrality to development. The experience of the 1990s, when economic performance in Africa and Latin America remained lower than expected even after market reforms, affirms the need for appropriate institutions to guide economic activities, as well as to guarantee basic rights such as the right to own property. Despite inherent challenges, the report says it is possible to successfully create and change institutions. Wide-spread participation in this process pulls together a critical mass of support, reconciles diverse needs and ensures sustainability. Contact: UN Publications, 2 UN Plaza, Room DC2-853, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8302, fax +1-212/963 3489, e-mail . UN Publications, United Nations, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 2614, fax +41-22/917 0027, e-mail , website (www.un.org/Pubs/sales.htm). FIRST GLOBAL POLIO SUMMIT Over 250 leaders from business, governments, UN agencies and humanitarian groups attended the first Global Summit of Polio Eradication Partners, held at UN headquarters in New York on 27 September 2000. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the effort a race to reach the last child at risk to the disease, who is probably under five, living in Africa and suffering the effects of hunger, poverty and/or armed conflict. He stressed that "if we do not seize the chance now, the virus will regain its grip and the opportunity will elude us forever." Summit organizers hoped to galvanize support for the 12-year old Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a collaborative partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Rotary International and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland presented the strategy plan for the next five years of the initiative, which aims for full eradication by 2005. The initiative has already dramatically reduced the number of polio victims worldwide from 350,000 in 1988 to less than 1,200 in 2000. Before the discovery of a "miracle vaccine" a generation ago, polio was the world's leading cause of permanent disability, according to WHO. Ms. Brundtland outlined three challenges to full eradication: access to all children for immunization, especially in conflict areas; adequate financing from public and private sectors; and continuing high-level political support. According to WHO estimates, polio remains in at least 20 countries; US$450 million will be needed to fight it. "We know what we have to do, and we have the tools and strategies to do it," Ms. Brundtland reminded participants. "The challenges can be surmounted, but only if current and new partners commit their support. I urge you all to play your part in making history." Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF, called the battle against polio an effort of "Olympian proportions." She stressed that as long as one child remains a transmitter of the virus, all children are at risk. "Until we reach that last child, even children in the vast areas of the planet that are polio-free will need to be immunized," she said. Ms. Bellamy predicted that sustained efforts over the next 24 months could eradicate polio by the 2005 deadline. Rotary International President Frank Devlyn and CNN founder Ted Turner called on global corporations and individual philanthropists to contribute to the anti-polio effort. They said they planned an 18-month campaign of traveling around the world to ask for donations of US$1million or more. "The cost of failure will far outweigh the funds we are seeking," Mr. Devlyn said. "This campaign will solicit funds to support National Immunization Days, surveillance and other projects that directly affect the eradication of polio." Government representatives at the Summit included US Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. She said eradicating polio, a disease that knows no borders, is everyone's responsibility. Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo sent a message to the Summit that committed his nation to a regional eradication campaign involving 17 countries in West and Central Africa. The Summit also offered what was described as a potent working symbol of the race against time to beat polio. Thaddeus Farrow, son of actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow and paralyzed by polio, joined Mr. Annan in starting a specially-designed Countdown Clock of polio victims donated by watchmaker Omega. Contact: WHO, Division for Vaccines and Other Biologicals, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +44-22/791 2111, fax +44-22/791 0746, e-mail , website (www.who.int). WHO HEARINGS ON TOBACCO Public hearings on a tobacco-control convention (see Go Between 79), which will legally bind Member States, were held by the World Health Organization in Geneva from 12-13 October 2000. Speakers included representatives of consumers associations, academia, anti-smoking organizations, medical groups, women's groups, NGOs and the tobacco industry. Speakers from public health institutions and organizations said tobacco was the only legal consumer product that killed half its regular users. Any role of the tobacco companies in negotiation of the framework convention and drafting should be categorically excluded from consideration by WHO and Member States, they stressed. There is a direct causal relationship between increased advertising and the rise in starting and continuing to smoke, particularly among young people, women and racial minorities. They called on Member States to adopt a global ban on advertising, marketing and sponsorship. Public health advocates identified environmental tobacco smoke and passive smoking as a major health concern that should be specially addressed in the framework convention. Most tobacco companies questioned whether the convention could be a single global regulator. Issues of national sovereignty, the appropriateness of regulation at national level, and self-regulation by companies were raised. Representatives of public health institutions and organizations said that truly viable tobacco control had to be global in reach. The only way to assure that was for Member States to negotiate a strong convention. Member States were requested to pay adequate attention to country and culture-specific solutions and to include in the convention provisions that would ensure technical support to States Parties. Various groups emphasized that attention should be given to curbing contraband tobacco products. Member States were urged to hasten work on formulating a global protocol against smuggling. Many speakers referred to the targeting by tobacco companies of new markets in developing countries, and Member States were urged to control what was described as the unchecked expansion of such markets. Contact: Derek Yach, Executive Director and Project Manager, Tobacco Free Initiative, World Health Organization, avenue Appia 20, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 2108, fax +41-22/791 4832, e-mail , website (www.who.int/toh). NEW SECURITY COUNCIL MEMBERS After several rounds of voting and much contentious debate, the United Nations General Assembly elected five new non-permanent members to the Security Council on 10 October 2000. Singapore, Colombia, Ireland, Norway and Mauritius will serve two-year terms on the Council from 2001-2002. With the firm backing of their regions, both Singapore and Colombia easily passed through the first round of voting to capture the Asia and Latin America and Caribbean seats that were up for election. Colombia had publicly advocated its ability to understand the issues related to Security Council dealings, and noted its experience as an active member of multilateral organizations. Ireland also won election in the first round, after claiming that its strong participation in a variety of peacekeeping efforts qualified it for one of the two open seats assigned to Western Europe and Other States. The Irish victory left Norway and Italy to wrangle over the second place. Italy has served on the Council longer than any other non-permanent member, and in the months before the election some observers noted that it had conducted a concerted but assured campaign of lobbying General Assembly delegates. However, some observers said Norway heightened the competition by increasing its foreign assistance budget by US$170 million and holding a reception in New York hosted by King Harald V. With the support of other Scandinavian countries, Norway argued it was a small country that had not been on the Council for a long time and deserved a chance to participate. Ingrid Morken, General Secretary of the United Nations Association of Norway, predicted that Norway would make the Security Council more open to women and gender issues given the country's leadership on this front in its own national political system. "We need to bring more women into central positions, especially in peace-making and peacekeeping," she said. Norway finally secured enough ballots to beat Italy after four rounds of voting. Mauritius also required four rounds to win its victory, after running a close and politically-charged race with Sudan for the available Africa seat. Sudan enjoyed the backing of the Organization for African Unity, which uses a rotation system to put forward its candidates. However, Sudan was strongly opposed by the United States which maintained that its presence on the Council would undermine UN legitimacy. It said this was in part because Sudan is under UN sanctions for its suspected role in a 1995 assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. US officials also stressed Sudan's devastating 17-year civil war, which has killed two million people and displaced four million and included what they described as ongoing abuse of Christians in the south by the country's Muslim-led government. US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke said that "the Security Council is the leading peacekeeping institution in the world, and it cannot have on it a country under sanctions." He noted that Sudan had offered to withdraw its Security Council candidacy if the US government worked to repeal the sanctions. Mr. Holbrooke said he rejected this offer and predicted that what he described as Sudan's persistent lobbying for a Council seat would cost it US support concerning lifting of the sanctions. In the Council elections Uganda was the first African country to break regional solidarity and vote against Sudan, followed by several Southern African nations. Latin American countries, expressing support for the Sudanese Christians, also joined this bloc. India lobbied directly for Mauritius, with which it shares strong ethnic ties. Mauritius itself later disclaimed the notion that it was the "American candidate." Anund Neewoor, Mauritius' Ambassador to the UN, pointed out that his country had announced its candidacy several months before Sudan. With the final vote cast, Sudanese Ambassador Elfatih Mohammed Ahmed Erwa said he was proud that Sudan lasted four rounds against the US, and he criticized what he described as the US government's interference. "We consider that we were fighting against the United States and not Mauritius," he said. "We stayed to the end against the superpower. We are not the loser." The 15-member Security Council holds annual elections for five non-permanent seats. Outgoing countries include Argentina, Canada, Malaysia, Namibia and the Netherlands. At the end of 2001 the terms of Bangladesh, Jamaica, Mali, Tunisia and Ukraine will expire. SECURITY COUNCIL ON WOMEN AND CONFLICT The UN Security Council held a historic first session on women and armed conflict on 24 October 2000 in New York. More than 40 speakers debated the role of women in UN peace operations and in the process of building and sustaining peace. The Council also held an "Arria Formula" meeting, which are special informal briefings to receive information from outside parties. The informal briefing took place on 23 October 2000 and allowed Council members to hear the views of women's NGOs. The Council session, which was called for and chaired by Namibia, resulted in a resolution that stresses the importance of women's equal participation in all peace and security efforts. It urges Member States to ensure increased representation of women at all levels in national, regional and international institutions related to peace making. It also urges UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to appoint more women as Special Envoys and Representatives and expand the role of women in UN peacekeeping operations. The delegate from Namibia said a good beginning toward these goals had been made with the recent establishment of gender units in peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and East Timor. In opening the Council session, Mr. Annan reminded government delegates that the UN Charter promises both to end the scourge of war and to proclaim the equal rights of men and women. "We must live up to both challenges," he said, "or we will not succeed in either." Mr. Annan called for more to be done to protect women during war, bring perpetrators of violence against women to justice, and allow women to take their rightful place at the peacetable. He noted that "women, who know the price of conflict so well, are often better equipped than men to prevent or resolve it." Worldwide, women still remain almost entirely excluded from peace and security operations, which the representative of India described as a "steel purdah" for men. Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), told the Council there are currently no women among the 61 UN Special Envoys appointed for negotiations or peacekeeping. The question of women's participation has grown more urgent as women and children now comprise over 75% of the 40 million people displaced worldwide by armed clashes or human rights violations, according to UN statistics. At the same time, observers note, grassroots women's activism has emerged in many regions to offer a variety of creative new avenues to assuring that peace is achieved and sustained. Angela King, UN Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, said there is growing recognition that the socio-economic fabric of a country should be the major focus of peace negotiations. Groups within society, including women's organizations, can make critical contributions to this process. She referred to a recent UN study entitled Mainstreaming a Gender Perspective in Multidimensional Peace Operations, which found that women's participation in peacekeeping missions resulted in stronger ties to local communities. Government representatives who addressed the Council broadly agreed that more women should participate in peace building at all levels, with a number underscoring the importance of appointing more women as UN Special Envoys. Several speakers commended the Rome Statute (see Go Between 74), which describes sexual violence as a war crime and a crime against humanity. Malaysia suggested that "gender impact" should be a central concern in all peace and security actions and decisions. Liechtenstein highlighted the importance of including women in preventative diplomacy. Netherlands, which called for including a gender perspective not just at the United Nations but in regional organizations involved in peace and security, has decided to fund a gender advisor for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Pakistan, which stated that most of the issues being discussed in the Council session were also being taken up by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and the General Assembly, questioned whether the Security Council's mandate was broad enough to deal with the subject comprehensively. At the special informal briefing, women representing some 100 groups presented a joint statement that said increasing violence against girls and women is not an accident of war. Instead it is a "strategic weapon" used to spread terror, destabilize society, break resistance, "reward" soldiers and extract information. The statement emphasized that peace processes must begin to view women as active negotiating partners rather than simply as victims. "We must be at the table, at every table, in equal numbers," Cora Weiss, a veteran US peace activist, told a news conference later. "We must not be ignored in preventing war or in resolving violent conflicts." Isha Dyfan, a lawyer and activist from Sierra Leone currently exiled in the United States, spoke to the Council about the overall insecurity experienced by women in her war-torn country. She called for ending the impunity that often accompanies gender crimes such as rape and sexual enslavement, and urged these crimes be properly defined by the proposed special court for Sierra Leone. Luz Mendez of the National Union of Guatemalan Women said the participation of women in her country's peace negotiations had ensured sweeping new commitments to women's rights and their social and political participation. Contact: Abigail Loregnard-Kasmally, Coordination and Outreach Unit, Division for the Advancement of Women, 2 United Nations Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 3137, fax +1-212/963 3463, e-mail , website (www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw). Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Case postale 28, CH-1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/733 6175, fax +41-22/740 1063, e-mail , website (www.wilpf.int.ch). WORLD MARCH OF WOMEN Women from over 150 countries converged at UN headquarters in New York on 17 October 2000 to present thousands of signatures on a petition demanding equality for women, elimination of poverty and an end to domestic violence. The day before in Washington DC, a group of women representing all regions handed the petition to World Bank President James Wolfensohn and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Horst Kohler. UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette praised the women for their efforts to raise awareness of the many obstacles preventing women from fully enjoying their rights. Ms. Frechette referred to the recent UN Millennium Summit, where governments agreed to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as effective ways to combat poverty and stimulate development. She said that "these commitments must now be translated into concrete actions. Governments have the primary responsibility for this task, but [women] can help by working in partnership with them to achieve their goals." General Assembly President Harri Holkeri told the women that "a key entry point to poverty eradication lies in addressing women's needs, including the necessity to make available economic opportunities, political empowerment and education....To accomplish true development we need to end discrimination, denial and violence against women and girls." Presentation of the petition at the UN was the final stage of a series of activities conducted by women around the world as a part of the World March of Women in the Year 2000, initiated by the Canadian NGO F‚d‚ration des femmes du Qu‚bec (see Go Between 76). The days leading up to the petition's presentation at the UN included protests and demonstrations on a wide range of issues. In Belgium 45,000 people turned out for a march, political theater, and knitting of a five kilometre-long scarf in honor of 18th century French women revolutionaries. Women from Indonesia's Moluccan Islands called for an end to sectarian violence in their homeland. French lesbians demanded that international bodies adopt anti-discrimination laws. Women in the Philippines called for an end to trafficking of women. And Arab immigrant women demonstrated for access to basic social care in European countries. World March of Women organizers say that women in many countries have directed and participated in alternatives to poverty and violence and have set up cooperatives, human rights groups and unions and now want to go farther. The objectives of the initiative include: popular education that allows all women to analyze the causes of their oppression; work at the national level to implement solutions to poverty; unifying actions to encourage solidarity among women of all continents, particularly in the context of market globalization; and laying foundations of an international feminist network. Contact: World March of Women, F‚d‚ration des femmes du Qu‚bec, 110 rue Ste-Th‚rŠse #307, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1E6, telephone +1-514/395 1196, fax +1-514/395 1224, e-mail , website (www.ffq.qc.ca/marche2000). CEDAW OPTIONAL PROTOCOL IN FORCE The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) entered into force on 22 December 2000. While 62 countries have signed the Protocol since the General Assembly adopted it on 6 October 2000, full legal status required ten ratifications followed by a three-month waiting period. Italy became the tenth nation to ratify on 22 September 2000. The Protocol permits individual women or groups of women who have suffered gender discrimination and exhausted all national remedies to petition the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. (CEDAW established the Committee to monitor implementation of its provisions.) The Protocol also enables the Committee to conduct inquiries into grave or systematic violations of CEDAW; however, an "opt-out" clause allows States Parties to declare that they do not accept this procedure. States Parties may not enter any reservations against the terms of the Protocol, although this has been common practice with CEDAW. In adopting the Protocol, the General Assembly called on all States Parties to the Convention to sign the new instrument as soon as possible. Currently, 166 nations have signed and/or ratified CEDAW, with the most recent signatory being Saudi Arabia on 7 September 2000. During the Millennium Summit, from 6-8 September 2000 (see NGLS Roundup, no. 62), Denmark, France, Namibia, Senegal and Thailand announced they would sign the Protocol. An Optional Protocol to CEDAW was first suggested during drafting of the Convention in 1976. At the time, delegates who opposed this step argued that complaints procedures were only needed for "serious international crimes" such as apartheid. Their definition did not include gender discrimination. Women's rights advocates spent many years advocating for creation of the Protocol, arguing that individual women needed a form of recourse that might not be provided by their national governments. This would allow women in some cases to shine an international spotlight on state-sponsored human rights abuses. Without the Protocol, only governments could make presentations to the CEDAW Committee. In 1993, the UN World Conference on Human Rights finally acknowledged the need for new procedures to strengthen women's human rights. The Commission on the Status of Women established an open-ended Working Group to draft the Protocol in 1996; its negotiations were completed in March 1999, and a draft resolution was forwarded to the Economic and Social Council. The adoption of the Optional Protocol now puts CEDAW on an equal footing with other prominent international human rights instruments that have individual complaints procedures, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Contact: Elisabeth Ruzicka-Dempsey, UN Department of Public Information, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 1742, fax +1-212/963 1186, e-mail , website (www.un.org). Abigail Loregnard-Kasmally, Coordination and Outreach Unit, Division for the Advancement of Women, 2 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 3137, fax +1-212/963 3463, e-mail , website (www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw). WORLD BANK, PRSP GENDER GUIDELINES In order to assist those involved in poverty reduction strategies at the country level, the World Bank has made available online (see below) the chapter on gender from the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) Sourcebook. In the chapter, a full understanding of the gender dimensions of poverty is recognized as having a significant impact on policy priorities and programme interventions. It suggests women's needs are often not fully recognized by conventional methods of poverty analysis and participatory planning. In order to address this, the Sourcebook says a gender analysis must be integrated into poverty diagnosis and that participatory consultation and planning processes must be specifically designed to capture the concerns of both women and men. The chapter focuses on four main areas. In the first section, "Integrating Gender into the PRS Processes," the authors introduce four dimensions of poverty used in the PRS: first, a lack of opportunity which translates into low levels of consumption and income; low capabilities due to little or no improvement in health and education; a low level of security which increases exposure to risk and income shocks at the national, local, household or individual level; and empowerment which reflects the capacity of poor people to access and shape public policy. In this regard, the recommended actions for PRS policy makers include promoting studies on gender issues in key development areas such as labour markets, schools, environment, HIV/AIDS, and community management. It also suggests that policy makers commission participatory studies to identify the major concerns of women and men for their visions of the future, the constraints they face in improving their economic and social conditions, and the kinds of assistance they would like to receive from government and development agencies. The second section focuses on "Integrating Gender into the Poverty Diagnosis," and notes that the gender-differentiated structural economic roles of men and women need to be analyzed explicitly and integrated into PRS policies and key interventions. Recommended actions for PRS managers in this regard include proactively involving both men and women in building and sustaining country ownership of the PRS process; ensuring that poverty analysis combines quantitative and qualitative methods; and ensuring that survey design and data collection methods adequately cover gender issues. A third section looks at "Defining the Policy Implications of Gender Analysis for the PRS." PRS managers are encouraged to review the gender analysis of data gathered in the poverty diagnosis stage to identify major gender gaps and issues in each of the four dimensions of poverty; and to prepare a PRS Gender Action Plan to be distributed to stakeholders for reference, monitoring and evaluation. The last section, "Gender Analysis for Monitoring and Evaluation," provides guidelines for ensuring that the PRS monitoring and evaluation systems can monitor differences in how men and women are involved in selecting, designing, implementing and evaluating the PRS programmes. The Sourcebook is intended to provide guidance and analytical tools to countries and country teams developing poverty reduction strategies. It is a collection of broad policy guidelines, examples of best practice, and technical notes. The Sourcebook also covers "core techniques" such as organizing participatory processes, and public spending; "macro and sectoral approaches" including rural poverty, urban poverty, human development, and private sector and infrastructure; and "cross cutting issues" of governance, community-driven development, gender, environment, and statistical capacity building. The publication is available online in English and Russian and will soon be available in French, Portuguese and Spanish. Contact: World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, United States, telephone +1-202/477 1234. Electronic versions of the Sourcebook can be found at (www.worldbank.org/poverty/strategies). Requests for free copies of the publication may be sent to e-mail . DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE MEETS The Conference on Disarmament, the world's sole multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations, concluded its 2000 session in September in Geneva without agreeing on a programme of work. This was the second year during which the work of the Conference was stalemated because of inability of its Member States to agree on a programme of work. Despite a number of draft proposals by the rotating presidents of the Conference, disagreement remained about agenda items on nuclear disarmament and prevention of an arms race in outer space. At the opening of the 2000 session, a message from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted what he described as the deplorable lack of progress on the disarmament and international security issues that the international community considered of highest priority: the multilateral search for genuine measures of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, and prevention of an arms race in outer space. Mr. Annan observed that the fact the Conference remained deadlocked on these issues was part of a wider and disturbing stagnation in the overall disarmament and non-proliferation agenda. He said he hoped the Conference would continue its search for compromises in a spirit of flexibility and with a real sense of urgency. Throughout the session, the Conference heard calls from its Member States to break the stalemate affecting its work and warnings that this stagnation was affecting the credibility of the body. International developments concerning the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and the proposed United States National Missile Defence System were discussed during the session. China warned that there would be grave consequences if a US national missile defence system was developed and deployed. It would undermine the global strategic balance and stability, China said, and threaten international peace and security. The United States said amendments to the ABM Treaty that it was proposing would bring the instrument up-to-date and enable it to continue fulfilling its essential purpose. Russia said it supported re-establishing an ad hoc committee of the Conference on prevention of an arms race in outer space, in order to elaborate specific and practical arrangements that would block ways of transforming it into another arena of confrontation. In an annual report, adopted as the session concluded, the Conference requested current and incoming session presidents to make recommendations that could help commence early work on various agenda items. It said these consultations should take into account proposals and views presented and discussions held in the 2000 session. The Conference fixed the following dates for its 2001 session, which as usual will be held in three parts: -- 22 January to 30 March; -- 14 May to 29 June; and -- 30 July to 14 September. Contact: Conference on Disarmament, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907 2280, fax +41-22/917 0034, website (www.un.org/Depts/dda). MINES CONVENTION MEETING The second meeting of States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and Their Destruction took place from 11-15 September 2000 in Geneva. Six new countries Bangladesh, Colombia, Gabon, Kiribati, Maldives and Moldova agreed to sign the Convention, bringing the total number of States Parties to 107. An opening ceremony drew statements of support from Vladimir Petrovsky, Director-General of the UN Office at Geneva; Adolf Ogi, President of the Confederation of Switzerland; and Princess Astrid of Belgium. Landmine survivors from 13 countries made a special presentation on their personal experiences. The final report of the meeting includes a declaration expressing deep concern that anti-personnel mines kill, maim and threaten the lives of countless innocent people each day. It deplores the continued use of mines by some countries and urges provision of technical and financial assistance for mine eradication efforts. It calls on States that have not accepted the Convention to ratify or accede to it promptly, and for those in the process of formally signing to apply all terms provisionally. In reviewing progress made on implementing the Convention, the declaration notes that 20 States Parties have completed destruction of their stockpiles of anti-personnel mines and another 24 have initiated this process. Donors have allocated approximately US$250 million over the past year to address the global landmine problem. The report also includes an action programme summarizing activities of the standing committees of experts, which have identified practical steps to implement the Convention. It lists a series of meetings that will take place in preparation for the third annual meeting of States Parties from 18-21 September 2001 in Managua (Nicaragua). These include: -- a seminar on stockpile destruction in Buenos Aires (Argentina) from 6-7 November 2000; -- a seminar in early 2001 on the destruction of anti-personnel mines that maim or kill; and -- a conference in Bamako (Mali) on implementation in Africa from 15-16 February 2001. A workshop was also held in Ottawa (Canada) in November 2000 to prepare recommendations for review in December by the Standing Committee on the Status and Operation of the Convention. Delegates at the Geneva meeting agreed to revise their intersessional work programme by shortening it from six weeks to three weeks annually, including the main States Parties meeting. They also reached consensus on the creation of a coordinating committee of co-chairs of the standing committees. Finally, an amendment was made under the Convention's Article 7. It now provides an opportunity for States Parties to report on compliance issues not covered by formal reporting requirements, such as assistance provided for the care, rehabilitation, and social and economic reintegration of mine victims. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines released a report during the Geneva meeting which noted Angola, Sudan and Burundi continue to deploy these weapons despite having signed the Convention. Other countries that supply landmines, notably the United States, have been unwilling to sign because of the stipulation to cease production and distribution. The Anti-Personnel Mines Convention was established in Ottawa in 1997 (see Go Between 67). The first meeting of States Parties took place from 3-7 May 1999 in Maputo (Mozambique) and affirmed a set of global priorities for anti-personnel mine eradication. The UN estimates that over 80 million live mines are strewn around the world, with the greatest concentration in Africa. Each year they kill and maim an estimated 24,000 civilians, often long after armed conflict, and keep large tracts of land from being used for social and economic development. Contact: United Nations Mine Action Service, FF-360, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 1875, fax +1-212/963 2498, e-mail website (www.un.org/Depts/dpko/mine/index.html). International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 110 Maryland Avenue NE, Suite 504, Box 6, Washington DC 20002, United States, telephone +1-202/547 2667, fax +1-202/547 2687, e-mail , website (www.icbl.org). DEBATE OVER UN FINANCIAL SITUATION The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) of the United Nations General Assembly spent much of October and November 2000 discussing some of the most contentious administrative issues on the UN agenda. The Committee's discussions revolved around the accumulation of Member States' unpaid dues to the UN regular and peacekeeping budgets. Negotiations on reform remain complicated, as the United States continues to tie its payment of outstanding dues and future payments to changes in the scales of assessment, which determine how much each Member State must contribute to the Organization. Currently the United States is assessed at the maximum or "ceiling level" contribution as a percentage of the budget; others are assessed at a minimum or "floor level." The majority of Member States fall somewhere in the middle as determined primarily by their capacity to pay, which is based on their percentage of world gross national product (GNP). Non-payments and withholdings by Member States were undermining the financial stability of the United Nations, Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Management Joseph Connor said in presenting the financial situation to the Fifth Committee on 17 October 2000. Unpaid dues were growing at an alarming rate which jeopardized the ability of the UN to take on initiatives being considered by the current General Assembly, he noted. Peacekeeping had the largest and most erratic resource requirements, Mr. Connor said. In addition to the twice-yearly peacekeeping assessments, additional notifications were sent out throughout the year to deal with new and expanded missions. Mr. Connor said corresponding payments often were not forthcoming. As of 30 September 2000, unpaid assessments regular budget, peacekeeping and tribunals totalled US$3.1 billion. Mr. Connor pointed out that this amount almost equalled anticipated total assessments for the year 2000 of US$3.4 billion. Of the total amount due as of September 2000, the major contributor, the United States, owed 61% with 14 other major contributors accounting for 25%. Speaking to the Committee on the scale of assessments for the regular budget, US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke said the Organization must stop the practice of placing excessive reliance on one Member State. "Almost every Mission in this room has been contacted by the United States," he said, "in an effort to build a consensus for reform which will make it more possible for us to meet our full financial obligation." Despite binding obligations of Member States to pay contributions on time, in full and without conditions, the US Congress adopted legislation in November 1999 which linked payment of a portion of the US arrears to action by the General Assembly to reduce the regular budget ceiling assessment for Member States (see Go Between 80). Mr. Holbrooke acknowledged that while arrears of his country had contributed to the "financial straightjacket" of the UN, the problem had no single cause. He said "capacity to pay" would remain the cornerstone of the scale, but it would need to be modified by new ceiling levels. The United States has proposed lowering the current ceiling of 25% of the regular budget for any one contributor to 22%, arguing that since the level was established 56 new Member States have joined the Organization. Ambassador Jean-David Levitte of France, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), said the EU accounts for about 29.5% of world GNP and contributes some 36.6% of the regular budget. He suggested that the ceiling should remain at 25% to avoid a more serious distortion in contributions. "We consider that the ceiling of 25% is already a great privilege because the United States represents 29% of the world GNP," he said. "Already the US is paying 4% less than its share of the world GNP." Any reduction in the ceiling could result in increased assessments for some members of the EU and a possible increase for Japan, which is currently the second highest contributor to the Organization. Mr. Levitte argued that while an adjustment should remain in place for countries whose per capita income was lower than the world average, that adjustment factor for low income countries should not exceed the threshold level of 75%. Ambassador Arthur Mbanefo of Nigeria, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 (G-77), reaffirmed that the principle of capacity to pay was the fundamental criterion in the apportionment of UN expenses. He said low per capita income adjustment must remain an integral part of the scale methodology, and a comprehensive discussion on the adjustment should be held with a view to increasing its threshold level. Any modifications to the current ceiling, Mr. Mbanefo said, would only be considered if it spread the burden of payment among the major contributors without affecting the G-77. Ambassador Wang Yingfan of China expressed regret at Japan's suggestion that permanent members of the Security Council should give up the benefits of low per capita income allowances in the regular budget due to their "special responsibilities" within the UN. "The low per capita income adjustment is an excellent expression of the principle of capacity to pay," Mr. Wang said. He argued that both a country's aggregate national strength as well as its per capita income needed to be taken into consideration. He said any proposals that called for a floor for permanent members of the Council violated the principle of capacity to pay. Over the past 20 years China's economic growth has been relatively high, but distribution among its population of 1.3 billion people results in a low per capita income. Ambassador Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation agreed with China that a floor for the permanent members of the Security Council in the regular budget scale of assessments was unacceptable. "Russia, as a permanent member of the Council," he said, "is meeting and will continue to meet its additional financial obligations in respect to peacekeeping budgets." However Russia strongly objected to attempts to impose additional regular budget financial responsibility on permanent members of the Security Council. During the opening discussion on the peacekeeping scale, many Member States agreed that in conditions of unprecedented expansion of peacekeeping activities and financial expenditures, a review of the methodology for apportionment of expenses for peacekeeping operations was a high priority. Member States pointed out that a number of distortions existed in the allocation of peacekeeping expenses. Negotiations are focusing on reducing what some Member States consider to be over-contributions and augmenting the contributions of emerging economies such as the oil-rich Gulf states, the Republic of Korea and Singapore. Member States also raised concerns that due to shortfalls in the regular budget, the UN Secretariat has resorted to cross-borrowing from peacekeeping funds. Ambassador Shamshad Ahmad of Pakistan said this often led to delays in reimbursement to Member States, which were of special concern to troop and equipment-contributing developing countries. Negotiations will continue into December 2000 with a view to adopting resolutions on the scales of assessment for the period 2001-2003. UN PLEDGING CONFERENCE At the annual United Nations Pledging Conference, held from 1-2 November 2000 in New York, 21 Member States pledged contributions to support development activities of the United Nations system. Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, said that while new funding mechanisms were being introduced by different UN bodies, the conference provided an opportunity for Member States, particularly developing countries, to assist development activities. It is a critical time for UN development cooperation, he stressed, with overall levels of assistance remaining far below target. Some countries, which reiterated statements made during last year's Pledging Conference, said the Conference is an out-of-date mechanism and should be abolished. The European Union (EU) representative said EU countries would inform UN funds and programmes separately of their annual contributions. The representative from the Czech Republic supported eliminating the Conference and establishing another pledging mechanism. The representative of the Republic of Korea said the Conference's timing was "out of sync" with the budgeting cycle of many countries and should be modified. Countries pledging funding for UN agencies included Algeria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Egypt, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Russian Federation, Singapore, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. They made pledges to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In a special meeting devoted to the World Food Programme (WFP) Angola, China, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman and Yemen pledged over US$1.5 million. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of UNFPA, expressed appreciation for the contributions and underscored the need for urgent action on HIV/AIDS and providing universal health services and education. Abdoulie Janneh, Assistant Administrator of UNDP, recognized a new climate of support for UNDP that provides a critical foundation on which to rebuild core resources. Karin Sham Poo, Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, noted a reduction in total funds pledged to UNICEF and said there was no more important resource for the future than the world's children. UN COMPETITION POLICY CONFERENCE The United Nations 1980 Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices recently came under review at the fourth UN conference on the subject. The meeting, held in Geneva on 25-29 September 2000 under the auspices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), adopted Resolution TD/RBP/Conf.5/15 which aims at more efficient and equitable globalization and stresses the need for controls on anti-competitive practices. It reaffirms the validity of the 1980 Set, and recommends the General Assembly subtitle the Set for reference as the "UN Set of Principles and Rules on Competition." The resolution calls upon all Member States to implement the provisions of the Set. It reaffirms further the fundamental role of competition law and policy for sound economic development and recommends that the General Assembly convene a fifth UN conference on the subject in 2005. The resolution also calls upon States to increase cooperation at all levels between their competition authorities and governments to "strengthen effective action in the field of merger control and against cartels as covered by the Set, especially when these occur at the international level." The resolution invites UNCTAD to convene an Expert Meeting on Consumer Policy; to study the possibility of formulating a "model cooperation agreement on competition law and policy;" to continue to study the issues of competition, competitiveness and development; and to provide inputs to deliberations on possible international agreements on competition, including how such agreements might apply to developing countries through preferential or differential treatment and dispute mediation mechanisms. According to some observers, the lack of opposition by the United States to further studies into a multilateral framework on competition policy and of possible preferential treatment for developing countries signifies a softening of the United States position, at least within UNCTAD. While the European Union, Japan and the Republic of Korea have for some time been calling for a multilateral agreement on competition to be negotiated in the World Trade Organization (WTO), the US has been opposed to such negotiations. Some developing countries have also indicated they needed more time and study before deciding on the issue. Contact: Gloria-Veronica Koch, Chief, Civil Society Outreach, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907 5690, fax +41-22/907 0122, e-mail , website (www.unctad.org). GA THIRD COMMITTEE DISCUSSES HUMAN RIGHTS Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented her fourth annual report to delegates of the Third Committee of the General Assembly on 24 October 2000 at UN headquarters in New York. The Committee, which oversees social, humanitarian and cultural issues, held a three-day debate on human rights questions including alternative approaches for improving the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms. Ms. Robinson told delegates the 2000 Millennium Summit had demonstrated that human rights are central to the concern of world leaders, and that protecting human rights is the UN's main task. Evidence of this could be seen in the increasing amount of work in her office, she said, with a growing number of requests for technical cooperation and advisory services from governments around the world. However, Ms. Robinson said the overall human rights situation worldwide is worrying and in some areas, such as the Middle East and parts of Africa, it is rapidly worsening. She called on the Committee to confront the "selectivity" that was emphasizing some conflicts and ignoring others, particularly in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The High Commissioner's annual report notes overall progress in focusing on human rights during conflict and in integrating human rights throughout the UN system. The report calls on the General Assembly to build on human rights strategies for the achievement of social justice, gender equality, and the implementation of core international human rights conventions. It also emphasizes the inter-relationship between human rights and development. Several Special Rapporteurs addressed the Committee. Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said certain patterns contributed to repeat violations including persistent impunity, disrespect for the rule of law, and weak judicial systems. These factors were a breeding ground for violence, particularly when combined with poverty and discrimination, she said. Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur on the question of religious intolerance, told delegates that the level of intolerance and discrimination based on religion or belief was alarming and found in every country. He warned of the growth of extremism and policies that are detrimental to society, particularly to women and children. Nigel Rodney, Special Rapporteur on torture, said victims should receive reparation commensurate with the gravity of harm suffered. He said poverty contributed to the practice of torture and stressed that the overwhelming majority of those subjected to torture were ordinary people often from the lowest strata of society, who could not afford legal representation or were unaware of their rights. Arjun Sengupta, Independent Expert on the right to development, said the traditional North-South, East-West debate about development was dead. The new economic order was rights-based, and a "development compact" would be the foundation for a new economic framework to implement the basic right to development. Other Special Rapporteurs addressed the human rights situations in Afghanistan, Sudan, Iraq, Myanmar and Burundi. The Committee also reviewed reports on a wide range of issues including human rights and unilateral coercive measures, the right to development, the effect of globalization on human rights, cultural diversity, human rights defenders, regional arrangements for promoting and protecting human rights, Cambodia, strengthening the rule of law, and protecting migrants. Contact: Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 8-14 avenue de la Paix, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 9000, fax +41-22/917 9016, website (www.unhchr.ch). UNCTAD: TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE MEETING New avenues should be explored to protect traditional knowledge from exploitation and extinction, said experts at a meeting held by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva from 30 October to 1 November 2000. Many participants suggested strengthening customary laws, grassroots initiatives and possible international mechanisms to protect traditional knowledge, and said the most promising avenue would be to bridge traditional collective rights with the Western concept of intellectual property rights. The meeting the first in UNCTAD's history to involve indigenous groups in the organization's intergovernmental work on such a large scale was attended by over 150 representatives of governments, non-governmental organizations, UN specialized agencies, academia and the private sector from nearly 80 countries. Views and recommendations of the meeting will be submitted to UNCTAD's Commission on Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities, in February 2001. The "appropriation" of knowledge is one result of the falling barriers to the flow of information that characterizes our times, said UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero in an opening statement. The paradox, he noted, is that at the same time new economic barriers to the flow of information are being erected. Of greatest importance, he stressed, is to put all forms of knowledge, traditional and otherwise, to the service of development as the "very essence of the process." Participants examined the role and protection of traditional knowledge in key sectors, and possible means of harnessing it for development and trade. The challenge, some speakers said, is to ensure equitable sharing of the benefits; protect the intellectual property rights (IPR) of both the custodians and developers of traditional knowledge systems; and prevent the loss of traditional knowledge and biodiversity wherever possible. Divergent views were expressed as to the extent to which the existing IPR regime can actually protect traditional knowledge. Indigenous groups attending the meeting felt this was not possible. The current IPR system comprising international agreements, patent and copyright protection and other legal instruments is inappropriate for the recognition and protection of traditional knowledge systems because of the inherent conflicts between the two forms of protection, they said. Douglas Nakashima of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) contended that existing arrangements for protecting IPRs "serve to protect knowledge by setting the rules for their commercial exploitation [but] in fact deliver up local knowledge to the global marketplace." Some 95% of all world patents are held in developed countries, while the "vast majority" of plant genetic resources and other forms of biodiversity are found in, or originate from, developing countries. Speakers emphasized the need for a traditional knowledge protection system that would be consistent with other forms of IPRs. They said that "bridging" the collective rights applicable to traditional knowledge with the IPR regime was "the most promising avenue." Many agreed that priority should be given to strengthening existing customary laws and suggested a "pluralistic legal approach" that would accommodate the interests of local and indigenous communities. The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) sets minimum requirements for the protection of six categories of IPRs, including patents and trademarks. Its stated objective is to ensure that the protection and enforcement of IPR contributes "to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations." However, it is frequently criticized as being "born out of big business interests," and participants noted it does not explicitly address the protection of traditional knowledge. Some argued that it should be included in the Agreement to prevent its misappropriation internationally. Indigenous leaders called for a ban of patenting life forms since this "attacks the values and livelihoods of indigenous and traditional peoples." Some speakers called for a "bottom-up" approach to development policies, building on the resources and strengths of local and indigenous communities. They advocated exploration of the potential of information and communication technologies for the transmission of traditional knowledge such as through virtual markets, community multi-media centres and culturally-specific education activities. Capacity building to empower communities particularly women to use global and local knowledge should promote intercultural exchange of experience, awareness-raising, documentation of traditional knowledge and its conversion into economically viable products and services, they said. At the same time measures are needed to avoid overexploitation and to make commercialization sustainable. Contact: Gloria-Veronica Koch, Chief, Civil Society Outreach, UNCTAD, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907 5690, fax +41-22/907 0122, e-mail , website (www.unctad.org). WIR: MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS ON RISE The World Investment Report 2000 (WIR 2000), published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), says globalization is creating intense pressure for many firms. Companies' quest to survive or prosper through for instance increased market power and dominance has become the paramount strategic driver of the accelerating boom in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The report says that over the past decade, most of the growth in international production has been via cross-border M&As rather than "greenfield investment," which is the establishment of new production facilities. The value of cross-border M&As rose from less than US$100 billion in 1987 to US$700 billion in 1999. Less than 3% of the total number of cross-border M&As are officially classified as mergers; the rest are acquisitions. The report notes there are growing concerns in developed and developing countries about the market power of transnational corporations and the potential anti-competitive implications of M&As. Such corporate moves are generally perceived as resulting mainly in a change of ownership and a shifting of control from domestic to foreign hands without necessarily adding productive assets or new jobs to a country. In fact M&As often lead to employment loss, the report adds, and can be used to reduce competition and strengthen market power. They may also lead to breaking up of the acquired firm and divestment of its individual parts. In industries such as the media and entertainment, M&As may also threaten national culture or identity. The reports says that especially at the time of entry and in the short-term M&As as compared to greenfield investments may involve smaller benefits or larger negative impacts on the host country's development. However, it adds that there are no a priori solutions to these concerns: "Each country needs to make its own judgement in the light of its condition and needs and in the framework of its broader development objectives. It also needs to be aware of and to assess the trade-offs involved, whether related to efficiency, output growth, the distribution of income, access to markets or various non-economic objectives." However, the report draws what it describes as an "intriguing parallel" between the emergence of national market and production systems in the late 19th century in the United States in wake of the "massive" wave of domestic M&As taking place at the time, and the emergence today of a similar phenomenon at the global level. The wave of M&As in the United States led to a series of national measures designed to strengthen the country's competition control systems, including prohibition of M&As considered likely to lessen competition. The world economy today may be facing a similar challenge in terms of global market structure and competition. "In the end, a global market for firms may already need a global approach to competition policy," the report says, "an approach that takes the interests and conditions of developing countries fully into account." At a press conference in Geneva on 3 October 2000, UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero said the report's launching coincided with conclusion the week before of the UNCTAD-hosted Fourth UN Review Conference on the Set of Multilaterally Agreed Equitable Principles and Rules for the Control of Restrictive Business Practices (see page 17). At the press conference, Mr. Ricupero was asked whether the report's call to consider a global approach to competition policy meant that UNCTAD supports inclusion of competition as part of the future trade negotiating agenda at the World Trade Organization (WTO). While making it clear that this was not what the report is advocating, Mr. Ricupero stressed that the difference between UNCTAD's approach to competition policy compared to proposals made in other institutions is that it is more important to look at the way companies behave rather than mainly at how governments behave. Contact: UN Publications, 2 UN Plaza, Room DC2-853, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1212/963 8302, fax +1-212/963 3489, e-mail . UN Publications, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/907 2606 or 907 4872, fax +41-22/917 0027, e-mail , website (www.un.org/pubs/sales.htm). WHO/UNAIDS/EC JOINT STAND ON HIV/AIDS The World Health Organization (WHO), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the European Commission have announced a common stand against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the developing world. As a first step in designing a programme of action for the European Union to help developing countries confront the three diseases, the Commission convened a high-level roundtable in September 2000 in Brussels (Belgium). The event was co-sponsored by WHO and UNAIDS. "We in Europe can all too easily forget that good health and well-being are not the norm for most people in this world," said Romano Prodi, President of the Commission. "Developing countries, where most poor people live, are suffering under the double burden of poverty combined with an explosion in three communicable diseases: HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis....I want to see the European Union playing a larger and more effective role in assisting developing countries to confront these epidemics." At the same time the European Commission adopted a new policy framework on accelerated action targeted at the three diseases in the context of poverty reduction. The policy framework describes a "coherent set of approaches the Commission will take to improve the impact of existing interventions, increase the affordability of drugs and products to prevent and treat these diseases, and increase investment in research to find new solutions, such as vaccines for malaria and HIV/AIDS." Contact: Dominique De Santis, Press Officer, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4509, fax +41-22/791 4898, e-mail , website (www.unaids.org). UNESCO/UNAIDS JOINT PROJECT Participants in an inter-regional conference entitled A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care, held 2-4 October 2000 in Nairobi (Kenya), discussed a joint project of the same name by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Conference participants reviewed the joint project, assessed different aspects of the cultural approach, and discussed pilot projects and experiments. The international combat against HIV/AIDS initially focused on health and medical care. It was only later that information, education and communication were used as instruments of prevention, though still with limited results. The UNESCO/UNAIDS project was set up in May 1998 to identify the "interaction between culture and HIV/AIDS," and to adjust prevention and care accordingly. Studies were carried out in countries in Southern Africa, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. The findings were used to identify and formulate basic concepts, guidelines and methods for designing with a cultural approach strategies, policies and projects. The goal is to "build more efficient, appropriate and sustainable action programmes, which will fully take into account the cultural references and resources of the various populations affected by HIV/AIDS," according to UNESCO. The core assumption of the project is that greater efficiency and sustainability will be reached in HIV/AIDS prevention and care through a better understanding of people's motivations, among other things. Contact: Helena Drobn , Project Coordinator, A Cultural Approach to HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care, UNESCO, 7 place de Fontenoy, F-75700 Paris, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 43 30, fax +33-1/45 68 57 07, e-mail , website (www.unesco.org/culture/development). Dominique De Santis, Press Officer, UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4509, fax +41-22/791 4898, e-mail , website (www.unaids.org). UNESCO EXECUTIVE BOARD The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) must be "the world forum where the international community can help give a meaning and a conscience to the globalization processes," UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura told its Executive Board in October 2000 in Paris. Mr. Matsuura placed the strategy in the context of UNESCO's reform process underway (see Go Between 80) and noted that "in order to move in the direction of globalization with a human face,' I propose to articulate the Organization's future activities along three strategic axes" which are protecting the common good, enhancing diversity, and promoting knowledge sharing. He said the first task responds to the organization's "ethical [and] universal vocation" and argued that this requires UNESCO develop "in its fields of competence principles, norms and standards, based on shared values, and if necessary new regulatory mechanisms in order to defend universally-recognized rights." Among other things, UNESCO must play a role in ensuring that consideration is given to the ethical implications of scientific and technological advances. In this field, Mr. Matsuura said that the Organization must provide both governments and public opinion with guidance and principles concerning areas such as the life sciences, water, atmospheric space, and energy. It must also face the challenge of the new information and communication technologies. The second strategic issue enhancing diversity seeks to encourage local responses to global processes, "taking into account the diversity of needs and aspirations, environments and lifestyles, identities and cultures." Mr. Matsuura argued that "UNESCO must with every breath defend the maintenance of diversity in all its forms: biological diversity, cultural and linguistic diversity, the mosaic of cultural expressions that is known as our cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible." Concerning promotion of knowledge sharing, Mr. Matsuura said that "in the emerging knowledge societies, the Organization has a duty to promote access for all to information and knowledge, whether by the new or the more traditional channels and media." He highlighted two key concerns underpinning these policy choices: the fight against poverty, especially extreme poverty; and the need to draw on the new information and communication technologies to develop education, science and culture. Concerning the 2002-2003 Draft Programme and Budget, Mr. Matsuura emphasized the refocusing of UNESCO's activities. "I have chosen to make drastic proposals," he said, "by retaining five high priorities fields of action to which I propose to attribute budgetary increases of at least 50% compared to their present funding." These five areas are: basic education; water resource research; ethics of science and technology; diversity, intercultural pluralism and dialogue; and access to information for all, particularly to public domain information. Mr. Matsuura appealed to the 58-member Executive Board for financial assistance of US$17 million to fund UNESCO's reform process over the next two years. He said the most painful part of reform had largely been accomplished including a sharp reduction in the number of high-level posts and voluntary departure of some 100 staff members. The Board broadly endorsed Mr. Matsuura's reform proposals and agreed that over the coming year UNESCO's activities should be based on the unifying theme of "contributing to peace and human development in an era of globalization through education, sciences, culture and communication." Regarding the draft programme and budget for 2002-2003, it approved the themes proposed by Mr. Matsuura for priority and additional financial resources. UNHCR ANNUAL SESSION The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, addressing challenges of the future during the 51st annual session of UNHCR's Executive Committee, warned that UNHCR will become "critically weakened" unless it receives urgently needed funding. During her remarks to the 57-nation advisory body, which met in September 2000 in Geneva, High Commissioner Sadako Ogata thanked UNHCR's main donors for their support. She listed the United States, Japan, the Nordic countries, the Netherlands and Switzerland as the agency's most consistent financial backers. However, she said that despite continued support by some nations, UNHCR has become an under-funded organization. "When I go to the field, it pains me to see my colleagues unable to meet some of the basic needs of those they are out there to serve," she said. She mentioned several UNHCR operations, from Rwanda and Tanzania to Afghanistan, which have already been affected by funding shortages. Ms. Ogata, who retired at the end of 2000, said that during the extremely complex crises of the 1990s humanitarians were often left to themselves: "We faced terrible ambiguities and dilemmas, frequently alone." She noted some successful resolutions of refugee crises: the return of anti-apartheid refugees to South Africa, the return of civil war refugees to Mozambique, and conclusion of the 25-year refugee saga in Indochina, as well as in Central America. Ms. Ogata said UNHCR must evolve and further modernize to meet the challenges of a constantly changing environment of humanitarian work including strengthening its ability to respond to crises quickly and efficiently. She said larger issues that need to be tackled include the security of refugee-populated areas, the "blurred line" between migrants and refugees, the dilemmas of internal displacement, the aid gap during transition from war to peace, and efforts to promote coexistence between divided communities. In the section of the Executive Committee's final report concerning international protection, it recognized the need for governments to continue to respond to asylum needs and noted that voluntary repatriation is the "preferred durable solution." The report welcomes UNHCR's proposal to start a process of global consultations with States and including involvement of refugee protection experts, NGOs and refugees to revitalize the international protection regime. Regarding the safety of humanitarian personnel, the report expresses "deep outrage" at recent incidents of violence and murders of UNHCR personnel in the field. It urges States to assume full responsibility of safeguarding the physical security of UN personnel and investigate the crimes committed. The report also proposes an alternative pledging arrangement designed to strengthen dialogue between UNHCR and donors concerning resource mobilization, and says that 20 June will be marked as World Refugee Day, beginning in 2001. HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION COMMISSION Many observers say that intervention in domestic conflicts may be one of the most politically difficult issues facing the United Nations, coming up against both hard-worn debates over national sovereignty and recent humanitarian horrors such as the genocide in Rwanda. On 14 September 2000, Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy launched the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty at UN headquarters in New York. He called the Commission a response to Secretary-General Kofi Annan's challenge to the international community to address "the highly complex problem of state sovereignty and international responsibility." Mr. Axworthy told General Assembly delegates that "nothing so threatens the UN's very future as the apparent contradiction between people's security and government's interests." Mr. Axworthy said the Commission would contribute to building a broader understanding of sovereignty issues and foster a global political consensus. It will consider the question of the appropriate international reaction to massive violations of human rights and crimes against humanity, and address the subject of preventive action through an international programme of consultation and outreach. The ten-member Commission will be chaired by Gareth Evans, a former Australian Foreign Minister, and Mohamed Sahnoun of Algeria, UN Special Advisor on the Horn of Africa. Other participants will include scholars, diplomats, politicians and activists on both sides of the intervention debate. After a series of discussions in the United States, Europe, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America, in September 2001 the Commission will present a set of non-binding recommendations to the UN including guidelines for the terms and conditions justifying humanitarian intervention. Western nations have often argued that the UN should intervene in domestic conflicts when there is a humanitarian reason, regardless of whether or not the national government consents. As examples, they cite the massive human rights violations in Kosovo in 1999 or the 1998 genocide in Rwanda, which resulted in more than 800,000 lives lost over three months. In September 2000, US President Bill Clinton told the UN Millennium Summit that "these conflicts present us with a stark challenge: Are they part of the scourge the UN was established to prevent? If so, we must respect sovereignty and territorial integrity, but still find a way to protect people as well as borders." Mr. Clinton noted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervention in Kosovo took place after Russia and China blocked discussion of the issue at the UN. However most developing countries, along with Russia and China, have expressed concerns about the role of the Security Council in humanitarian intervention. They question whether the Council, dominated by a small number of powers, has a legitimate right to interfere in domestic affairs, or would even be equipped to make politically neutral choices. At a ministerial meeting in Colombia in 2000, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) condemned "all unilateral military actions or threats of military action, including humanitarian intervention, against the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of members of the Movement." Developing nations including India, Egypt, Tunisia, China and Namibia have told the Security Council that they place a higher priority on sovereignty than on humanitarian intervention. When the United Nations was formed, its charter provided for the organization to keep peace between states but backed away from allowing the UN the right to intervene in national affairs. However, conflicts within states have become increasingly common since then and often take a devastating toll on civilians. Mr. Annan recently advised the Security Council that universal norms, as embodied in international humanitarian, human rights and refugee laws, provide a framework for humanitarian action. "We must re-dedicate ourselves to ensuring that the legal and principled basis for humanitarian action," he said, "is maintained, respected and strengthened." Contact: Ellen Wright, Advisor, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations, 885 Second Avenue, 14th Floor, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/848 1100, fax +1-212/848-1195, e-mail , website (www.un.int/canada). UNIDO PROGRAMME/BUDGET COMMISSION The 16th session of the United Nations Industrial Organization (UNIDO) Programme and Budget Committee, which met in Vienna (Austria) from 4-5 September 2000, considered a range of issues related to the financial situation of UNIDO, including arrears. Agenda items also covered the transition to a single-currency system, financial regulations, a report of an external auditor covering the financial period 1998-1999, mobilization of financial resources, and the medium-term programme framework 2002-2005. "I am confident, and I have to believe, that the magnitude of our success in transforming the Organization and refocusing its services to fulfill the mandate of the Business Plan will generate a strong and renewed commitment from Member States financial as well as political," said UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magari¤os. However he noted that although the overall concept of integrated programmes was initiated by Member States, results to date in terms of funding were considerably less than had been anticipated. Mr. Magari¤os said that, in line with UNIDO's Business Plan, structural and programmatic reforms had stabilized the organization, which then commenced development of comprehensive packages of integrated services and new technical cooperation initiatives. "All these changes were evaluated by the independent report of the External Auditor for the biennium 1998-1999, which has been under discussion during this session," he said. Alojz Nemethy, Permanent Representative of Slovakia to UNIDO and outgoing Chairman of the Committee, stressed three issues that he said were of greatest importance for the newly reformed UNIDO: strengthening cooperation in implementation of various programmes with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), tightening contacts with Member States, and calling on Member States to pay their assessed contributions on time. The Committee invited the Director-General to conduct consultations with Member States before scaling down the integrated programmes and to identify a course of action to bring about effective decentralization, so that the results could be reviewed at the November 2000 session of the Industrial Development Board. Approved net budget estimates for 2000-2001 were US$132,909,600 for the regular budget and US$28,256,300 for the operational budget, totaling US$161,165,900 and representing a real growth of 0.2% compared to 1998-1999. UNIDO PARTNERSHIP FOR SMES The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has launched a partnership programme with business, government and civil society organizations, which is aimed at promoting industrial development and improving the quality, efficiency and international competitiveness of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. UNIDO organized an expert group meeting on the programme in Vienna (Austria) from 30-31 October 2000. Participants included representatives of major international corporations such as BASF, DaimlerChrysler and Group Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, business organizations such as the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Organization of Employers, bilateral development agencies and UN organizations. Participants recommended, among other things, that UNIDO continue to develop specific programme guidelines that are flexible and regularly-reviewed. Contact: Wilfried Luetkenhorst, Director, Private Sector Development Branch, IPC/PSD, UNIDO, Vienna International Centre, PO Box 300, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/26026 4820 or 4821, fax +43-1/2626 6842, e-mail , website (www.unido.org). UNCHS SECURE TENURE CAMPAIGN The Global Campaign for Secure Tenure was launched on the African continent on 1 October 2000 in Durban (South Africa). The event, attended by 7,000 slum dwellers of whom 70% were women, was organized by the South African Homeless People's Federation with support from the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), Durban Metropolitan Council, and the South African Ministry of Housing, among others. South African Housing Minister, Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, said the country's move toward equity in housing had been made possible by "the partnership formed between the government and her people....The people's housing process initiatives were led by women's groups within the South African Homeless People's Federation." On 2 October, World Habitat Day, a Workshop on Partnership for Secure Tenure brought together representatives of mass movements of organized poor, government, NGOs, and multilateral and bilateral donors. The launch is the second in a series of events to promote the campaign, which seeks to highlight the importance of secure land tenure for the urban poor in cities worldwide (see Go Between 82). Contact: Ali Shabou, Information Manager, Global Campaign for Secure Tenure, UNCHS (Habitat), PO Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623141, e-mail , website (www.unchs.org/tenure). UNCHS AND ECE PARTNERSHIP The Executive Director of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) has asked countries of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) to collaborate with Habitat to address the challenges of human settlements development. Addressing the ECE Ministerial Meeting and 61st session of the ECE Committee on Human Settlements in Geneva, Anna Tibaijuka said Habitat was playing a leading role in the preparatory process for Istanbul+5, the Special Session of the General Assembly for an Overall Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Habitat Agenda, scheduled for June 2001 (see NGLS Roundup 55). She urged ECE countries to submit their national reports to Habitat and noted they had valuable experiences that could be replicated in other regions. Ms. Tibaijuka, referring to the August 2000 UN Millennium Declaration, reiterated the pledge made by world leaders to improve the living conditions of 100 million slum dwellers by the year 2020. She added that there needed to be more city-to-city linkages to exchange lessons learned and mobilize additional voluntary resources between cities. She announced that Habitat would undertake the task of organizing a special parallel event on city-to-city cooperation at the third UN Conference on Least Developed Countries, to be held in May 2001 in Brussels (Belgium). The ECE meeting resulted in a Ministerial Declaration on Sustainable Human Settlements Development in th