GO BETWEEN 2001: no. 84
January-February
UN UPDATE
RIO+10 IN SOUTH AFRICA
The United Nations will hold a major summit in South Africa in 2002 to assess and continue the work of the Earth Summit, held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10), to be held in Johannesburg, will assess the state of progress and examine obstacles preventing implementation of the Earth Summit agreements.
The decision on Rio+10, which was approved by the General Assembly in resolution A/RES/55/199 in December 2000, calls for reinvigorating at the highest political level the global commitment to a North-South partnership for sustainable development. Rio+10 will seek to adopt time-bound measures, including institutional and financial requirements, to overcome implementation obstacles and address new issues that have emerged since the Earth Summit.
Global preparations for Rio+10 will take place under the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. Preparatory meetings in New York will begin in April/May 2001 and continue in January 2002 and March/April 2002. A final preparatory meeting will take place at the ministerial level in mid-May 2002 in Indonesia. These meetings and the Rio+10 Summit, which is expected to take place sometime between June and September 2002, will include special dialogue sessions to allow NGOs, environment activists, other civil society groups and business leaders to share their experiences, views and perspectives on the issues under discussion.
Contact: Zehra Aydin-Sipos, Major Groups Focal Point, Division for Sustainable Development, United Nations, Room DC2-2262, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 8811, fax +1-212/963 1267, e-mail <aydin@un.org>, website (www.un.org/rio+10).
FFD FINAL EVENT RESCHEDULED
The Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) on Financing for Development (FFD) decided in November 2000 to reschedule the final high-level international intergovernmental event until the first quarter of 2002. As a result of this change, the PrepCom will hold an additional meeting from 14-25 January 2002 in New York. The second meeting of the PrepCom was held in New York from 12-23 February 2001, and the third will be held from 30 April to 11 May 2001 (see focus page inside for more information on FFD).
A comprehensive assessment of how the world's development financing needs can be met–prepared by the United Nations in consultation with leading international trade, financial and development agencies–was released in January for the Financing for Development preparatory committee. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's stated concern is that globally endorsed plans to reduce the sway of poverty, ignorance and disease will be frustrated unless resources–both market-led investment and public funds–are available in sufficient amount and deployed where most needed.
On this basis, his report addresses a broad range of finance-related problems including recurring foreign debt and currency crises, lower levels of foreign aid, volatile international commodity prices, limits on access to developed country markets in sensitive product areas such as textiles and agriculture, weak financial systems, global tax dodging, inadequate access to financial services by the poor and women, and gaps in economic governance at national and global levels.
The report recommends new norms for international cooperation and new mechanisms to foster implementation through greater public dialogue at national and international levels. It recommends new ways to handle debt in crisis situations, strengthen cooperation on tax matters, improve the effectiveness of aid, and design appropriate financial regulations for developed and developing countries. It calls for tough measures to strengthen financial and legal institutions, fight corruption, and improve transparency in advanced economies as well as developing countries. The report also calls for efforts to seek greater access to financial markets and for greater development aid. It asserts that in the context of sound macro-economic policies, introduction of national controls on capital flows may be valid and responsible measures, especially during periods of volatility.
COP-6 TALKS FAIL
After two weeks of intensive negotiations, ministers and diplomats suspended talks in the Hague (Netherlands) in November 2000 aimed at making the 1997 Kyoto Protocol operational. The talks also focused on strengthening financial and technical cooperation between developed and developing countries on climate-friendly policies and technologies.
The sixth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and resumed sessions of the UNFCCC's subsidiary bodies were attended by around 2,200 participants from more than 180 countries.
The goal of COP-6 was to achieve a legally-binding technical agreement on details of how countries will reduce their greenhouse gases, which are gradually warming the Earth's atmosphere.
The session Chair, Environmental Minister of the Netherlands Jan Pronk, said it was extremely disappointing that political leaders were unable to work out and finalize guidelines for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, especially when the public had such high expectations.
“But I believe that the political will to succeed is still alive,” he said, “and I am confident that we can regroup in the very near future and complete a deal that leads to effective actions to control emissions and protect the most vulnerable countries from the impacts of global warming.”
The session did make progress toward outlining a package of financial support and technology transfer to help developing countries contribute to global action on climate change.
But the key political issues–including an international emission trading system, a clean development mechanism, the rules for counting emission reductions from carbon “sinks” such as forests, and a compliance regime–were not resolved.
Many NGOs blamed the United States and big business for the failure.
“Blame the United States and its supporters in the ironically named 'umbrella' group (Canada, Japan, Australia, etc.) which has fought tooth and nail to exploit every loophole in the Kyoto Treaty,” said Friends of the Earth International. “The group demanded a giant 'free gift' of existing forests and farmlands to count towards their Kyoto targets....[And] blame some of the world's largest companies including Exxon (which still denies that climate change is even happening), Texaco and DuPont. They have tried to exploit the talks to create a huge new market in carbon trading, while using the power of their political money to block effective action against climate change in the US Congress.”
Negotiators from the United States blamed a “crisis of European governance” for the collapse of talks. They said the US made significant concessions that were rejected by the 15-member European Union.
European environment ministers said the US proposal to limit its use of forests as carbon “sinks” had not gone far enough.
Differences were also evident between industrialized countries and countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. During negotiations Canada, Japan, the United States and the European Union said they would not make any additional funding available to developing countries, which were demanding additional resources for capacity building, technology transfer and adaptation.
Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said it was better to suspend the talks in order to resume them later “to ensure that we find the right path forward rather than take a hasty step that moves us in the wrong direction.”
A compromise text tabled by Mr. Pronk will be forwarded as an input to a resumed sixth session of the Conference of the Parties, which could be held in late May 2001 in Bonn (Germany).
Contact: Barbara Black, Meetings Services Officer, Conference and Information Support, UNFCCC Secretariat, PO Box 260 124, Haus Carstanjen, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8, D-53175 Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/815-1000, fax +49-228/815-1999, e-mail <secretariat@unfccc.de>, website (www.unfccc.de).
WFP: TOUGH YEAR FOR HUNGRY
A World Hunger Map produced by the World Food Programme (WFP) illustrates the extent of hunger, which affects an estimated 830 million people around the world. Among other things, the map shows that millions went hungry not just because of conflict or natural disaster but because of the effects of being poor.
Catherine Bertini, Executive Director of WFP, warned at the beginning of 2001 about “a tough year ahead” for millions of people trapped in poverty and numerous hunger “hot spots” around the world. She said that war and drought will continue to be the major culprits forcing people to go without food. Armed conflict, civil strife and natural disasters remain major sources of food insecurity.
“We are looking at a number of 'hot spots'–especially in Africa–where WFP's continued help will be necessary to prevent people from starving to death,” Ms. Bertini said. “We've seen an alarming trend where the poorest nations are hit simultaneously by both natural and man-made emergencies including in Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Tajikistan.”
Unfortunately, she said, there is a potential for that to continue or even increase in 2001.
In the Greater Horn of Africa alone about 16 million people who suffer from conflict and drought will continue to have the greatest need this year. Over two-thirds of WFP's total projected emergency food aid needs are designated for the Horn in 2001.
War, conflict and natural disaster are not the only culprits of hunger, according to WFP. Millions of people around the world are dying a slow death from hunger and malnutrition. Added burdens such as the movement of rural poor to over-crowded urban areas, the lack of clean drinking water and the toll of AIDS will increasingly have a negative impact on the world's hungry and poor.
“The international community needs to confront these problems with us now,” said Ms. Bertini, “in places like Sudan, Guinea, and Afghanistan. Both more money and greater political resolve must be committed before these crises grow worse. Hunger is a global problem and it needs global responses.”
Contact: Jeff Rowland, Public Affairs Officer, WFP, Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, I-00148 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/6513 2971, fax +39-06/6513 2840, e-mail <jeffrey.rowland@wfp.org>, website (www.wfp.org).
FAO: 28 MILLION AFRICANS SHORT OF FOOD
Some 28 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are facing severe food shortages as food supply problems persist in a number of countries, mainly because of prolonged drought and civil strife. These are some of the findings of the report on Food Supply Situation and Crop Prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa, published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The situation is most critical in eastern Africa, where 20 million people face serious food shortages that will require continued food aid well into 2001. The food situation is particularly serious in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan where large cereal imports, mostly as food aid, are needed to hold off starvation. So far, timely and generous donor response has averted massive starvation, but the report warns that the food crisis there is far from over.
Despite improvement in the overall food supply situation in parts of southern Somalia, FAO says that serious malnutrition rates are increasingly reported, which reflects diminished livelihoods due to a succession of droughts and long-term effects of insecurity and lack of investment in the economy.
Tanzania's 2000 cereal crop, mainly maize, is estimated at about 3.5 million tonnes, nearly 20% below the average of the previous five years. The decline is attributed to drought conditions in several parts of the country. However, the report says that “the overall food supply situation has improved due to large maize imports which have led to marked declines in food prices. Despite reduced pasture, livestock conditions are reported to be satisfactory.”
In Uganda the overall food supply situation is satisfactory. However, the situation remains precarious in the north-east due to a recent poor harvest and loss of cattle due to raids. Overall, food assistance is required for an estimated 1.2 million people affected by adverse weather and civil unrest.
In the Great Lakes region, the report describes the humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo as “grim,” with as many as two million internally displaced persons cut off from humanitarian agencies because of fighting and general insecurity.
In Rwanda severe yield reductions of main staples, as well as other crops and livestock losses due to poor conditions of pastures and scarcity of water sources, have been reported. The government has appealed for international assistance for food aid and agricultural rehabilitation assistance.
In Burundi, the report says that the food supply is “very tight” following a succession of reduced harvests. The situation was aggravated by low precipitation from late April to mid-October 2000. Angola continues to suffer from fighting between government and rebel forces, particularly in northern parts of the country, which has resulted in fresh waves of internally displaced people and refugees to neighbouring countries. The number of internally displaced, recently estimated at 2.5 million, is on the increase. The country will continue to rely heavily on food assistance to meet its food needs, says the report.
Elsewhere in southern Africa, the overall food supply situation is satisfactory, reflecting this year's bumper cereal harvest in spite of severe floods in some parts. Outputs increased substantially in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana, while in Malawi they remained at the same record level of last year.
Other problem areas in Sub-Saharan Africa include Sierra Leone, where a reduced harvest is anticipated because of a resurgence in civil strife in early May 2000 during the critical planting period. Due to insecurity, input distribution and relief operations were suspended or seriously disrupted, notably in the north. With the rainy season the food supply situation deteriorated since many areas were inaccessible due to transport problems.
Contact: Global Information and Early Warning System on Food and Agriculture, Commodities and Trade Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, fax +39-6/5705 4495, e-mail <giews1@fao.org>. The full report is available online at website (www.fao.org/WAICENT/faoinfo/economic/giews/english/giewse.htm).
FOOD SUMMIT REVIEW TO BE HELD
Member Countries of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have endorsed holding an event entitled the World Food Summit: Five Years Later, to be held during the next session of the FAO Conference in November 2001.
At the 1996 World Food Summit, held in Rome (Italy), 186 countries pledged to cut by one-half the number of 800 million hungry people by the year 2015. According to FAO, unless extra efforts are made to accelerate progress in the fight against hunger, the Summit goal will not be achieved before the year 2030–a full 15 years later.
FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf, who proposed the five-year review, said that “the number of hungry people is being reduced only by eight million per year instead of the 20 million necessary to achieve the goals of the World Food Summit.” He told the FAO Governing Council, meeting in November 2000, that “a number of problems–human made and natural disasters–are leading to a situation where the number of people affected by these disasters has increased from 52 million in 1999 to 62 million in 2000. We need to react and involve the highest political levels of our countries to face this situation.”
Council members agreed it was appropriate and desirable that the review be carried out at the highest level, and that it include the participation of civil society.
Contact: Erwin Northoff, Media Officer, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 3105, fax +39-06/5705 4975, e-mail <erwin.northoff@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org).
FAO: FOREST LOSS SLOWING
The global rate of net forest loss has slowed to nine million hectares per year, according to the latest global forest assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The assessment shows a rate 20% lower than the global figure reported in 1995. The world contains around 6,000 square metres of forest for each person, which is being reduced by 12 square metres every year. Forests are disappearing most rapidly in Africa and Latin America, while in Asia the reduction of natural forests is largely compensated by new plantation forests. In Europe and North America the forest area is increasing, according to the FAO.
These figures have been published on the FAO Forestry Web site (see contact) and were presented in FAO's State of the World's Forests 2001, released in March 2001.
The current survey is the latest in global forest assessments by FAO spanning a 50-year period and the first of its kind to be implemented using a uniform global definition of “forest.”
The findings reveal a diverse picture, where some countries still have very high levels of deforestation (mainly conversion of forests to other land uses) while others show significant increases in forest cover through plantations or natural re-growth.
“These differences,” according to FAO Director General Jacques Diouf, “cannot be explained by population pressure on forests alone. Rather they are apparently the results of economic developments at large, and national forest or land use policies. Therefore, forestry surveys should address, on a sustainable basis, further development of the forestry sector which constitutes a backbone of world food security.”
Contact: Publications and Information Coordinator, Forestry Department, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 4778, fax +39-06/5705 3024, e-mail <forestry-information@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org).
UNFF PROGRAMME DISCUSSED
The International Expert Consultation on the Eight-Country Initiative on Shaping the Programme of Work of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), held 27 November to 1 December 2000 in Bonn (Germany), brought together 100 participants from over 30 countries.
Representatives of governments, international agencies and the UN, NGOs and the private sector discussed the concept and basic elements of the UNFF's multi-year work programme. A report from the consultation is being sent to the UN Secretary-General's office as part of contributions to preparations for the first session of the UNFF, expected to be held in June 2001 in New York.
The UNFF was established in October 2000 by the Economic and Social Council (see Go Between 83) as an ECOSOC subsidiary body.
Contact: Secretariat, UNFF, Division of Sustainable Development, DESA, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 3160, fax +1-212/963 3463, website (www.un.org/esa/sustdev/forests.htm).
HUMANS’ ROLE IN CLIMATE CHANGE
Confirming humanity's influence on the global climate, a United Nations-sponsored report warns that temperatures will continue to rise in the coming century and “possibly cause serious harm.” This includes sea levels rising by 88 centimetres by the year 2100, which would make homeless tens of millions of people in Bangladesh, China, Egypt and other countries. Northern polar sea ice has already been reduced by 15% in the last 40 years, and snow cover has decreased by 10% in the last 30 years.
The report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is jointly sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), projects a “potentially devastating” global warming of 1.4 degrees to 5.8 degrees Celsius from 1990 to 2100.
“The scientific findings being reported today should convince governments of the need to take constructive steps towards resuming the climate change talks that stalled last November in The Hague [see story],” said Michael Zammit Cutajar, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The report provides strong evidence of human influence on the rising temperatures that have been recorded over the past 50 years. It contains new analyses of data from tree rings, corals, ice cores and historical records for the Northern Hemisphere, which indicate that the increase in temperature over the past 100 years was likely the largest of any century during the past 1,000 years. The report notes that the 1990s were likely the warmest decade and 1998 the warmest year ever recorded. Changes predicted by the report will cause many glaciers to disappear, cut short growing seasons for staple crops in Africa, and kill many of the world's forests. The higher temperatures will cause greater amounts of rain and snow, according to the report, which states that more intense precipitation events are likely over many of the Northern Hemisphere's mid- to high-latitude land areas.
The report on Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis Volume I, will be followed by a Volume II on the impact of the phenomenon, and a Volume III on response strategies.
Contact: Robert Bisset, Office of the Spokesman/Director, Communications and Public Information, UNEP, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623084, fax +254-2/623692, e-mail <robert.bisset@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org).
MEETING ON MONTREAL PROTOCOL
Over 300 participants attended the 12th Meeting of the Parties (MOP-12) to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, held from 11-14 December in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso).
“While enormous progress has been made over the past decade in phasing out ozone-destroying chemicals, the health of the ozone layer remains critical,” said Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose auspices the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (see E&D File, Treaty Series, no. 9) was adopted. “Our key task for the next decade–and for the meeting here in Ouagadougou–is to complete the effort of the previous decade to ensure that developing countries have the financial and technological resources they need to make a full transition to ozone-friendly economies.”
A key item on the agenda was a review of developing countries' 1999 data reports on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Under the Protocol, developing countries were committed to freezing their CFC emissions at average 1995-1997 levels during the 12-month period that ended on 30 June 2000. They must now start reducing rapidly in order to achieve a 50% cut by 2005; the deadline for a complete phase-out is 2010. Developed countries stopped using these chemicals almost completely in 1996.
Decisions adopted concerned, among other things, measures to facilitate the transition from CFC-based metered dose inhalers used by asthma sufferers; efforts to prevent illegal traffic; new ozone-depleting substances entering the market; exemptions for the use of controlled substances as process agents in the chemicals industry; and other technical matters.
Some observers noted that only three representatives of NGOs participated in MOP-12. Business and industry representatives, on the other had, had a significant presence and many participated as experts on assessment panels.
Contact: Michael Graber, Deputy Executive Secretary, Ozone Secretariat, PO Box 30552, Nairobi, Kenya, telephone +254-2/623855, fax +254-2/623913, e-mail <michael.graber@unep.org>, website (www.unep.org/ozone or www.unep.ch/ozone).
DESERTIFICATION CONVENTION COP-4
Around 1,000 people attended the Fourth Conference of the Parties (COP-4) to the Convention to Combat Desertification, held 11-22 December 2000 in Bonn (Germany). Participants in the meeting included heads of state, ministers and representatives of intergovernmental organizations, the United Nations and NGOs.
Participants discussed programmes, policies and strategies to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought at the national, sub-regional and regional levels. The agenda also included ways and means to enhance cooperation at the international level and support concrete solutions in the world's drylands; review reports on implementation of the Convention in regions other than Africa; and implementation.
Affected countries emphasized the need for predictable financial support, enhanced South-South cooperation, and for the possibility of opening access to Global Environment Facility (GEF) funds to support programmes to combat desertification. During a session on 15 December devoted to dialogue with NGOs, representatives of the International NGO Network on Desertification stressed the need for political will, among other things. At a second dialogue with NGOs on 20 December, issues raised included NGOs' important role in implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification and the need for supporting NGO involvement in the work of the COP.
The meeting approved a Declaration of commitments to enhance special efforts to combat and prevent desertification and/or mitigate the effects of drought between 2001-2010 in order to address the severe situation prevailing in various affected developing country Parties, particularly in Africa.
Delegates expressed concern that despite important efforts made by all interested partners, adequate financial and other resources have not yet been mobilized, thus constraining the ability of affected developing countries to fulfil their commitments under the Convention. They urged all actors to take a set of proactive financial measures and indicated strategic areas for action at all levels including, among others, development of new and renewable energy sources; sustainable land use management including water, soil and vegetation; sustainable use and management of rangelands; development of sustainable agricultural and ranching production systems; launching of reforestation/afforestation programmes and intensification of soil conservation programmes; and development of early warning systems for food security and drought forecasting.
The Declaration reaffirms the invitation to Parties to take action to improve and facilitate further access of affected developing countries to resources of the GEF for implementation of the Convention. Delegates also adopted an additional “implementation annex” to it for country Parties of Central and Eastern Europe in addition to those already existing for Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Northern Mediterranean. The annex contains provisions for the preparation of action programmes, technical and scientific cooperation, and financial resources.
The Convention is a legally binding instrument resulting from the 1992 Earth Summit. It entered into force in 1996, and 172 countries are currently Parties to it.
Contact: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Haus Carstanjen, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8, D-53175 Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/815 2801, fax+49-228/815 2899, e-mail <secretariat@unccd.de>, website (www.unccd.de).
POPS TEXT FINALIZED
Diplomats from 122 countries finalized the text of a legally binding treaty in December 2000 in Johannesburg (South Africa) that will require governments to minimize and eliminate some of the world's most toxic chemicals. The talks, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), were the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for an International Legally Binding Instrument for Implementing International Action on Certain Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs, see Go Between 70).
“Persistent organic pollutants threaten the health and well-being of humans and wildlife in every region of the world,” said John Buccini, the Canadian government representative who chaired the talks. “This new treaty will protect present and future generations from cancers, birth defects, and other tragedies caused by POPs.”
The treaty sets out control measures covering the production, import, export, disposal and use of POPs. Under it governments are to promote the best available technologies and practices for replacing existing POPs while preventing the development of new ones. They will draw up national legislation and develop actions plans for carrying out their commitments. The POPs Review Committee will consider additional candidates for the list on a regular basis, which UNEP said would “ensure the treaty remains dynamic and responsive to new scientific findings.” A financial mechanism will help developing countries and countries with economies in transition meet their obligations to minimize and eliminate POPs. “New and additional” funding and technical assistance will be provided.
The 12 initial POPs include eight pesticides, two industrial chemicals and two unwanted by-products of combustion and industrial processes. Most are subject to an immediate ban. However, a health-related exemption has been granted for DDT, which is still needed in many countries to control malarial mosquitoes.
The treaty will be formally adopted and signed by ministers and other plenipotentiaries at a diplomatic conference in Stockholm (Sweden) on 22-23 May 2001. Governments must then ratify, and when 50 have done so the treaty will enter into force.
Contact: Jim Willis, Director, UNEP Chemicals, Geneva Executive Centre, 11-13 chemin des Anemones, CH-1219 Chatelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 8183, fax +41-22/797 3460, e-mail <chemicals@unep.ch>, website (irptc.unep.ch) or (www.chem.unep.ch/pops).
WATER SUPPLY REPORT AND FORUM
Despite tremendous efforts in the last two decades to provide improved water and sanitation services for the poor in the developing world, 2.4 billion people do not have any acceptable means of sanitation. This is one of the findings of The Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000, published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
According to the assessment, around one-fourth of the 4.8 billion people in developing countries are without access to improved sources of water, and half are without access to improved sanitation services. Of the 4.9 billion people worldwide who have access to water supply services, around three billion have the convenience of access through house connections or yard taps.
There are four billion cases of diarrhoea in the world every year with 2.2 million deaths, mostly among children under five. The report says that safe water, adequate sanitation and hygiene could reduce diarrhoeal disease by between one-fourth and one-third of these cases.
Rural services still lag far behind urban ones, but delivering affordable services to the rapidly growing numbers of urban poor remains a formidable challenge. There are huge inequities in the amounts invested in improving services to the better-off sections of urban society, compared with investments in providing basic services for the unserved poor.
“Access to safe water and to sanitary means of excreta disposal are universal needs and, indeed, basic human rights,” write UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy and WHO Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland in the report's introduction. “They are essential elements of human development and poverty alleviation and constitute an indispensable component of primary health care.”
The assessment was launched as public health, water and sanitation experts met in Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) in November 2000 to call attention to the need to cut the huge death toll from diarrhoeal disease in developing countries and improve squalid living conditions. Participants in the Global Forum of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) said they would work to advocate and promote the VISION 21: Water for People initiative, which was launched last year at the Second World Water Forum and Ministerial Conference in The Hague (Netherlands).
An action programme agreed by those attending the Brazil meeting said they will work to raise the profile of hygiene and environmental sanitation issues; promote institutional management, public-private partnerships, a code of ethics and rights; monitor progress on VISION 21; and aim to strengthen regional and country networking.
Contact: WSSCC, WHO (CCW), 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 3685, +41-22/791 4847, e-mail <wsssc@who.ch>, website (www.wsssc.org).
DAMS COMMISSION REPORT
The World Commission on Dams launched a report in November 2000 entitled Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making, which seeks to “turn costly controversies into clear and productive consensus.”
The report is an unprecedented global public policy process that brought together engineers, environmentalists, government officials, indigenous people, financiers, people affected by dams and academics. After two years of discussions, they unanimously signed the report on the future role of the US$42 billion dam industry.
“It means nothing to build billion-dollar dams if your monuments alienate the weak,” said the Chair of the World Dams Commission, Kader Asmal. “It means nothing to stop all dams if your protests only entrench poverty.”
Key points from the report include the fact that dams have made an important and significant contribution to human development, but in too many cases the social and environmental costs have been unacceptable and often unnecessary. A new framework for decision making that moves beyond simple cost-benefit tradeoffs is recommended to introduce an inclusive “rights and risks approach,” which recognizes all legitimate stakeholders in negotiating development choices. The report suggests a set of core values, strategic priorities and practical criteria and guidelines governing water and energy resources development in the future. It also challenges national governments, civil society groups, bilateral aid agencies and multilateral development banks and the private sector to change the way they view energy and water resources development.
The report calls on national governments to review existing procedures and regulations concerning large dam projects. It says civil society groups should actively assist in identifying relevant stakeholders for dam projects using the rights and risk approach, as well as the ability to monitor compliance with agreements and assist aggrieved parties to seek recourse. The report recommends, among other things, that concerning affected peoples' organizations' technical and legal capacity for needs and options assessment be strengthened.
Contact: World Commission on Dams Secretariat, PO Box 16002, Vlaeberg, Cape Town 8018, South Africa, telephone +27-21/426 4000, fax +27-21/426 0036, e-mail <jworkman@dams.org>, website (www.dams.org).
UNEP MEETING ON OCEANS
Experts from the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations met from 6-11 November 2000 in Monaco to decide how to fortify international efforts to protect and sustainably use the world's oceans and coasts. The meeting, organized under the framework of the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) Regional Seas Programme, was hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency's Marine Environment Laboratory.
Responsibility for helping governments to manage the oceans' natural resources, reduce pollution, and protect endangered species and ecosystems is shared among many global and regional treaties, action plans and organizations, according to UNEP. It said collaboration must be improved among these regimes, and global action to return the sea to health should be accelerated.
Participants discussed improving the assessment and monitoring of the ocean environment, and they reviewed progress under UNEP's Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities. They also considered proposals by officials of, among others, the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the various conventions of the International Maritime Organization, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Contact: Michael Williams, Information Officer, UNEP, Geneva Executive Centre, 15 chemin des Anemones, CH-1219 Chatelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/979 9242, fax +41-22/797 3464, e-mail <mwilliams@unep.ch>, website (www.unep.ch/ozone).
UNEP GOVERNING COUNCIL
The Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which held its 21st session in Nairobi (Kenya) in February 2001, has decided “to establish an open-ended intergovernmental group of ministers or their representatives” to examine how to strengthen international environmental governance and the funding of UNEP in the run-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in 2002 in South Africa.
UNEP's 2002-2003 work programme and budget of nearly US$120 million was approved by environment ministers from over 80 countries. Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director, said that to meet its ambitious work programme UNEP needed more financial support. He stressed the importance of broadening the donor base and the need for reliable contributions.
Among other things, decisions concerning UNEP's chemicals agenda included a new initiative to tackle the issue of lead in petrol, and another aimed at getting nations to ratify the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (see Go Between 71). In addition, a global study on the health and environmental impacts of mercury, to be undertaken by UNEP, will include an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of mercury anti-pollution measures and technologies. The launching of the study was one of several decisions adopted at the close of the session.
Prior to the meeting, insurers that are members of a UNEP financial services initiative said global warming may cost the world several billion US dollars a year. In a report they warned that unless urgent efforts are made to curb emissions of carbon dioxide and the other gases linked with the “greenhouse effect,” losses could annually cost around US$304.2 billion. These losses would be due to more frequent tropical cyclones; loss of land as a result of rising sea levels; and damage to fishing stocks, agriculture and water supplies. In some low-lying states such as Maldives, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia, losses linked with climate change could exceed 10% of their national wealth by 2050.
RIVER AND LAKE NETWORK MEETING IN GHANA
Enhanced regional collaboration and the harmonization of policies for land and water management were the focus of a meeting of the Regional Network for the Integrated Management of International River, Lake and Hydrogeological Basins, held in November 2000 in Accra (Ghana).
The meeting, at which discussions took place in the context of the Regional Action Programme (RAP) to combat desertification in Africa, was organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology of Ghana and by the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for Africa. Participants included representatives of specialized regional and sub-regional institutions of Africa, international and non-governmental organizations, and development cooperation partners.
Although endowed with immense renewable natural resources, in particular water and land, African countries are faced today with worsening environmental problems with heavy economic, social and political consequences. The continent has 80 international rivers, vast lakes and wetlands, and limited but widespread ground waters. Such resources are essential for agriculture development, which accounts for 34% of the region's gross domestic product (GDP), over 70% of its labour force and 40% of its exports, said meeting organizers. However, the continent is faced with problems such as water resource pollution and increasing scarcity; land degradation and desertification; recurring droughts; lack of agreements, or over regulations, on transboundary waters; and lack of cross sectoral and international coordination. Watershed degradation caused by poor land use (uncontrolled woodfuel collection, land clearing, poor cultivation methods and overgrazing) is altering hydrologic factors and increasing the vulnerability of important watersheds.
Participants discussed ways to ensure coherence for more effective implementation of national and sub-regional action programmes and priority activities; how to facilitate the exchange of information and data; and technology transfer and adaptation through scientific and technical cooperation. They also addressed practical modalities for inter-institutional and inter-agency collaboration, the respective roles of each of the participants to the network, and means of financial and institutional support.
A total of six Thematic Programme Networks (TPNs) are being launched in the context of the Regional Action Programme for Africa, as identified and approved during the first Panafrican Conference on the implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification in Burkina Faso in 1997.
Contact: UNCCD, Haus Carstanjen, Martin-Luther-King-Strasse 8, D-53175 Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/815 2801, fax +49-228/815 2899, e-mail <secretariat@unccd.de>, website (www.unccd.de).
CARTAGENA PROTOCOL COMMITTEE MEETS
With the debate over genetically-modified foods continuing to make headlines around the world, officials from the 177 member governments of the Convention on Biological Diversity (see E&D File Treaty Series, no. 4) met in Montpellier (France) from 11-15 December 2000 to discuss practical steps for minimizing some of the potential risks of biotechnology. The first meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (see Go Between 79) aimed to “seek progress on crafting the procedures and practical details” that are required to make the Protocol effective.
“The world's governments adopted the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety [in 2000] to establish a fair and transparent system for international trade in genetically modified organisms,” said Executive Director Klaus Töpfer of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which administers the Secretariat for the 1992 Biodiversity Convention under which the Protocol was negotiated. He said that the “the sooner governments make the Protocol operational, the sooner we can assure the public that human health and the natural environment are being fully protected.”
Adopted in January 2000, the Biosafety Protocol aims to ensure the safe transfer, handling and use of genetically (or living) modified organisms (GMOs) that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account risks to human health.
Participants in Montpellier discussed issues such as information sharing, including possible creation of a Biosafety Clearing House; a review of international rules and standards pertaining to the handling, transport, packaging and identification of genetically modified organisms; options for establishing a compliance regime; and facilitating decision making by Parties that may wish to import GMOs. Among other things the meeting helped to highlight upcoming challenges, especially concerning developing countries' capacity to implement the Protocol, and making the Biosafety Clearing House operational. It also made recommendations concerning intersessional activities before the second meeting of the Committee in Montreal (Canada) from 1-5 October 2001.
The Protocol was adopted by 150 governments and has thus far been signed by 76 governments plus the European Community. It will remain open for signature at United Nations headquarters in New York until 4 June 2001. After 50 governments have ratified the Protocol it will enter into force and become legally binding.
Contact: Biosafety Programme, Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, World Trade Centre, 393 St. Jacques Street, Office 300, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 1N9, telephone +1-514/288 2220, fax +1-514/288 6588, e-mail <secretariat@biodiv.org>, website (www.biodiv.org).
INTERNATIONAL BIOETHICS COMMITTEE
Major issues raised by advances in biomedicine and genetics were examined by some 150 participants at the seventh session of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC), held in Quito (Ecuador) from 7-9 November 2000. Participants included members of the International Bioethics Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and representatives of the United Nations, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs.
During the session the Committee proposed that an international mechanism or fund be created and financed from a proportion of the profits of private and public companies earned from human genome data. It said this would permit financing of research, education and training, dissemination, support for vulnerable groups and promotion of bioethics.
In order to encourage solidarity and international cooperation in the specific context of the human genome, the working group proposed action on five levels: encourage, support and promote free access to knowledge and scientific information; access to scientific knowledge and information through training of researchers and experts in the field of human genetics; research in human genetics; implementation of research and educational structures; and evaluation of risks and benefits of human genome research.
Contact: Bioethics Unit, UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732 Paris Cedex 15, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 38 58 or 45 68 39 39, fax +33-1/45 68 55 15, website (www.unesco.org).
PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES IU
Around 100 participants from 37 countries attended the Fourth Inter-Sessional Contact Group Meeting for the Revision of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources (IU) in Harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Neuchatel (Switzerland) from 12-17 November 2000. Discussions focused on articles within a composite draft text, including coverage of the multilateral system, benefit sharing, financial resources, and a governing body.
In a Declaration participants said a revision of the IU will be “a cornerstone for international cooperation on food security and the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.”
They said their discussions led to significant progress on the issue of financial resources in the multilateral system, although “some issues regarding benefit sharing arising from commercialization need further clarification. We, the members of the Contact Group, commit ourselves to achieving a fair and equitable as well as a workable system of benefit sharing.”
In April 1993 the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, currently comprised of 166 countries, considered implications for the IU of the 1992 Earth Summit and the Convention on Biological Diversity. As a result, the commission agreed that the IU should be revised in order to be in harmony with the Convention. In November 1994 a first negotiating draft, grouped into 14 articles, was reviewed by the Commission.
Contact: Jose Esquinas-Alcázar, Secretary, Committee on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5705 4986, fax +39-06/5705 6347, e-mail <jose.esquinas@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org).
UNESCO GENOMICS SYMPOSIUM
More than 200 researchers, legal experts and representatives of national and international organizations discussed the “patentability” of living organisms during an International Symposium on Ethics, Intellectual Property and Genomics, held in Paris from 30 January to 1 February 2001.
Participants at the event, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), included heads of patent offices, specialized lawyers, international law experts, geneticists, and representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and UNESCO's International Bioethics Committee.
“Ethics are essential in UNESCO's present thinking and have a uniquely important place within the human community and the community of nations,” said UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura. “If the 20th century has focused on matter, the 21st century will, no doubt, focus on life. In just a few decades, our knowledge of living organisms and of the world around us has been turned upside down by discoveries with tremendous ramifications....Yet, though advances in biomedicine are giving rise to unparalleled optimism, they raise doubts as to their moral legitimacy. Is everything that can be done technically acceptable from an ethical point of view?”
Participants discussed ethical questions raised by the patenting of genes or genetic sequences, particularly of the human genome, as well as patenting of genetically modified animals and vegetable crops.
Presentations addressed the increase in private ownership of genes and genetic resources of populations, despite principles such as in the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights of UNESCO. The Declaration stipulates that the human genome is, in a symbolic sense, the heritage of humanity.
“Patenting is increasingly being seen as promoting gambling rather than enterprise,” said Sandy Thomas, Director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, based in the United Kingdom. This reaction–described as “humanist resistance”–upholds the principles of non-commercialization of the human body, free access to genetic data and knowledge-sharing (particularly between the countries of the North and South), and the principle of mandatory free and informed consent. The “looting of genetic material” notably in Asia and Africa, was criticized since some rural populations provide–without consent–genetic resources from which others profit.
Contact: Bioethics Unit, UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732 Paris Cedex 15, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 38 58 or 45 68 39 39, fax +33-1/45 68 55 15, website (www.unesco.org).
UNESCO WORLD CULTURE REPORT
Humanity should widen its concept of cultural heritage to include traditions and customs alongside great monuments and natural sites, according to the World Culture Report 2000–Cultural Diversity, Conflict and Pluralism.
The report examines in depth a series of issues related to culture, cultural policy and cultural diversity at a time of increasing globalization. Issues it raises include:
-- how to incorporate a cultural dimension into the way human development is evaluated;
-- the extent to which Hollywood dominates cinema screens across the planet;
-- how cultural pluralism can be reconciled with a sense of national identity; and
-- how to define cultural injustice and cultural recognition.
Contributors to the report suggest that hand-weaving in India, traditional Japanese puppet theatre, and age-old handicrafts such as African use of the calabash should have a right to be considered as part of humanity's cultural heritage.
The report's theme is of acknowledging, approving and celebrating diversity in a context of cultural pluralism. “Our choices in regard to our cultural heritages,” it says, “in relating to others with different traditions and in drawing new three-dimensional cultural maps of the world, will shape the societies of the 21 century.”
Contact: Publishing, Promotion and Sales Division, UNESCO, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732 Paris Cedex 15, France, fax +33-1/45 68 57 41, e-mail <publishing.promotion@unesco.org>, website (www.unesco.org/WCR2000).
IFAD RURAL POVERTY REPORT
With the right kind of support, the world's rural poor “can help themselves to escape from poverty,” says the Rural Poverty Report 2001: The Challenge of Ending Rural Poverty. The report, published by the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), focuses on the rural poor who make up around three-fourths of the world's 1.2 billion poor.
Hundreds of millions of people are mired in poverty in the rural areas, according to the report. While the years between 1970 and 1990 witnessed real gains in the fight against poverty, hunger, premature death and illiteracy, progress has since stalled. Rural economies have been neglected, with aid for agriculture dropping from 20% of overall assistance in the late 1980s to 12% today. The Green Revolution–which began in the 1960s and involved high-yielding seeds, fertilizer and irrigation–-has also stalled.
Most of the rural poor make their living from farming or farm labour. For this reason the international commitment to halving poverty by 2015 “must focus on reviving agriculture,” says the report. It stresses that “poor-pro” agricultural techniques are needed to raise the output of staple foods; make better use of water; and increase the demand for labour. Although resources need to be redistributed in favour of the poor, this does not imply a neglect of economic growth, adds the report. Rather it can help the process of growth.
The report highlights four issues as particularly important.
-- The critical role of food staples in the livelihoods of the rural poor must be recognized in technology and marketing policy. People in extreme poverty usually get around 70%-80% of their calories from staple foods.
-- Rural poverty reduction requires better allocation and distribution of water. There is a “tightening squeeze” on rural water supplies, not least because of pressure to divert water to urban areas and industrial uses. Securing “more water to help increase the output of staple foods,” notes IFAD, “is a major challenge.”
-- Economic growth alone in the rural areas will not be enough to ensure that the target of halving poverty is met. Inequality may be too great and poverty too deep. “Redistributive empowerment” of the rural poor is needed.
-- Particular groups merit special attention, especially women. The importance of participation of the rural poor in decision making should also be recognized.
The report says institutional change is needed to enable the poor to have a bigger say in the decisions and forces that affect their lives. Giving the poor access to land, water, credit, information and technology, health-care services and education “can do much to reduce poverty,” according to IFAD. “When changes have been made in land tenure systems to give the poor more security, encouraging increases in food output have usually resulted.”
Biotechnology must be both employment-intensive and sustainable. And the poor must have the power to participate in decisions that determine the technology to be used–if not, they are unlikely to benefit from its implementation. Access to farm inputs and to markets at local, national and global levels is important. This can involve better roads, especially to isolated areas, and improved marketing institutions. Marketing cooperatives can be a solution, with controls over traders as a necessary complement to liberalization and privatization. Access to inputs can be helped by facilities such as micro-credit.
At the international level, coordination among donors can increase the effectiveness of aid funds and help in the poverty reduction effort. However, the report stresses that poverty reduction is a complex and many-sided task “requiring sustained commitment....there are no quick fixes, no easy solutions.”
Fawzi Hamad Al-Sultan, IFAD President, cautioned that increases in food production by commercial farmers are welcome but “may do little to reduce food insecurity and poverty for the millions of small-holder farmers and herders. A rise in production in their hands will have a significantly larger impact on poverty.”
Contact: IFAD, Via del Serafico 107, I-00142 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/54591, fax +39-06/5459 2141, e-mail <ifad@ifad.org>, website (www.ifad.org).
IFAD EXECUTIVE BOARD
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will provide loans for 11 development projects worth over US$180 million. The Fund's Executive Board, which met in Rome (Italy) in December 2000, approved loans for Cambodia, China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Pakistan, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Uruguay.
IFAD is loaning US$10 million to the Community-Based Rural Development Project in Cambodia, which aims to improve household food security and nutrition and help enhance the role of women in social and economic development.
A poverty alleviation project in China is receiving an IFAD loan of over US$30 million to help address food deficits, low performance of government services, high levels of illiteracy and higher than average health problems. The project is expected to benefit some 260,000 households in the region of Western Guangxi.
IFAD is providing a US$17 million loan to the Upland Food Security Project in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to increase food production. The project will focus on four counties in two provinces.
In Kenya around 36,000 households are expected to benefit from a smallholder and community services development project aimed at, among other things, introducing measures to reduce mortality and morbidity and improve the general well-being of the rural poor.
IFAD will be providing a load for the Upper Mandrare Basin Development Project in Madagascar, which aims to increase agricultural and non-agricultural income of the rural population, improve general living conditions, and contribute to food security.
A six-year, IFAD-initiated project in Morocco aims to contribute to the sustainable socio-economic development of disadvantaged rural populations of the mountain zones of Al-Haouz Province.
The South Federally Administered Tribal Areas Development Project in Pakistan is also a six-year, IFAD-initiated project that is working to improve household food security and living conditions, boost farm-family incomes, and contribute to the empowerment of rural communities by strengthening their capacity for managing and developing their productive resources.
The Village Organization and Management Project-Phase II in Senegal is receiving an IFAD loan of US$13.40 million. In the first phase of the project, assistance was provided to more than 400 village communities aimed at improving soil fertility, erosion control and diversification of farm and non-farm incomes. The proposed second phase will aim to consolidate and broaden support activities already initiated, tested and improved.
The Rural Financial Services Programme in Tanzania is a nine-year, IFAD-initiated programme that aims to further rationalize and strengthen grassroots micro-finance institutions to enable the rural poor to access services in an effective and efficient manner. Over US$18 million will be financed by an IFAD loan under the Flexible Lending Mechanism.
IFAD is financing over US$17 million through a loan to a National Agricultural Advisory Services Programme in Uganda to help increase the security of rural livelihoods through sustainable improvements in agricultural productivity and household incomes. Some 450,000 farming families are expected to benefit from the programme.
And an IFAD-initiated project in Uruguay focuses on reducing rural poverty, increasing rural household incomes and improving the living conditions of the rural poor. While national in scope, the project is expected to benefit directly some 10,000 families of small producers and rural poor. IFAD is providing a US$14 million loan to the project.
As of end 1999, IFAD had financed 568 projects in 116 countries and had provided 1,337 grants for research and technical assistance.
Contact: IFAD, Via del Serafico 107, I-00142 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/54591, fax +39-06/5459 2141, e-mail <ifad@ifad.org>, website (www.ifad.org).
UN INTER-AGENCY APPEALS
The global launch of the UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeals for 2001 took place on 28 November 2000 at UN headquarters in New York. Organized by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the appeal's theme was Women and War, in recognition of both the special needs and the important contributions of women in emergency situations.
It was “time for the issue of women and peace and security to receive greater recognition on the UN agenda,” said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He noted that the funding requested–US$2.26 billion for 2001–to alleviate suffering and address the root causes of vulnerability to disaster was less than the world spent for military purposes in a single day. The money would help vulnerable people in 19 countries and regions with projects focusing on women's practical needs including protection, food, health services and fuel wood as well as strategic needs such as their role in decision making. Mr. Annan highlighted the value of well-funded and well-coordinated humanitarian action, citing the example of East Timor, where a rapid and generous response by donors helped avert a crisis last year. But he noted that in 2000, the UN had received only 55% of the funds it had sought. “Flagging support for UN appeals risks marginalizing the Organization's efforts while increasing the already enormous burden borne by countries affected by humanitarian emergencies,” he said.
Harri Holkeri (Finland), President of the General Assembly, said that the consolidated appeals process was critical in peace-building efforts and in the overall coordination of humanitarian response. He called on Member States to set aside all political differences to provide for humanitarian protection and aid.
Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), said that women and their children comprised approximately 80% of displaced civilians. Although women are generally non-combatants, they are most affected by the violence of conflict, damage to essential health services and the loss of family support. Protection and assistance for women, she said, must be focused and targeted to their special needs. All humanitarian responses in conflict situations must include systematic reporting on sexual violence and reflect strengthened policy guidelines on responses to gender-based violence and sexual exploitation.
The appeals documents, which can be accessed on the website below, describe the main concerns, priorities and goals of multilateral humanitarian action in each affected country or region and the manner in which to meet them. They also give the requirements of all appealing agencies and organizations.
Contact: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Room S-3628B, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, telephone +1-212/963 2380, fax +1-212/963 1312, website (www.reliefweb.int/appeals/2001.html).
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS INITIATIVE
The General Assembly adopted in December 2000 a resolution on global partnerships (A/RES/55/215) that reaffirms the central role of the UN in promoting partnerships in the context of globalization. The resolution stresses the need for Member States to further discuss these partnerships, and requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report compiling the views of Members States and other relevant partners for consideration at the 56th session of the Assembly.
Germany first introduced the initiative on 14 September 2000 in New York with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joschka Fischer. It said that the world needed a form of global governance to solve global challenges, and this would require the UN to enter into new and creative partnerships with industry and civil society. Mr. Fischer said Germany strongly supported the Secretary-General's Global Compact initiative with major companies, and his delegation would take up this and other issues relating to the globalization process through the “Towards Global Partnerships” resolution.
In negotiations on the resolution, Germany pointed out that it had been based on three fundamental assessments:
-- globalization is a fact of life;
-- globalization has led to the emergence of new “global players” particularly from the private sector, which is driving the need for new partnerships between these actors, the UN and Member States; and
-- this cross-sectoral issue is so important that it should involve all Member States.
India said an example of a real global partnership would be if pharmaceutical companies were to develop cures for diseases that mainly affect poor citizens in the developing world, even though there would be less profit for them. Pakistan stressed the primacy of governments as the representatives of peoples and states, and expressed concern about the authoritarian governance structure of many private corporate entities. Santa Lucia said the current result of cooperating with the private sector was the acquisition of developing economies by developed economies, which was a form of exploitation and colonization.
NGOs expressed concern about the resolution, which refers primarily to private sector partnerships and builds on the Secretary-General's 1999 Global Compact with corporations (see Go Between 76). The Alliance for a Corporate-Free United Nations has warned that sustainability must not be redefined to mean “good for big business.”
CONFLICT DIAMONDS RESOLUTION
The UN General Assembly adopted a South African-sponsored resolution on 1 December 2000 on the role of diamonds in fueling conflict. The resolution (A/RES/55/56), which was adopted by consensus, calls upon states to implement fully Security Council measures targeting the link between the trade in “conflict diamonds” and the supply to rebel movements of weapons, fuel or other prohibited material. It urges all states to support the efforts of the diamond producing, processing, exporting and importing countries, and for the diamond industry to find ways to break the link between conflict diamonds and armed conflict. It also encourages other appropriate initiatives to this end including improved international cooperation on law enforcement.
The Assembly expressed the need for pragmatic measures, including: the creation and implementation of a simple and workable international certification scheme for rough diamonds, based primarily on national certification schemes; the need for national practices to meet internationally agreed minimum standards; securing the widest possible participation; the need for diamond exporting, processing and importing states to act in concert; appropriate arrangements to help ensure compliance, acting with respect for the sovereignty of states; and the need for transparency.
The resolution also encouraged countries participating in the Kimberley Process–an initiative by African diamond-producing countries to launch a consultation process of governments, industry and civil society–to consider expanding their membership and to develop detailed proposals for the envisaged international certification scheme.
Some diamond-producing countries cautioned that the certification plan must be cost-effective and must not hurt the legitimate diamond trade. South Africa emphasized that conflict diamonds consist of about only 4% of the total world diamond market. It noted that the legitimate trade in diamonds was critical to economic development in many countries. India said that although it was important that the principal countries engaged in the diamond industry should continue their consultations and their efforts, measures must not lead to undue financial or administrative burden on governments or on the industry.
Sierra Leone said the nine years of banditry and horrific brutality that it had endured had been caused by the complex, entrenched relationship between exploitative systems of financial intermediation and resource management, poverty and the “spectacularly mysterious wealth of the diamond trade.” Angola said that the illicit trade reflected negatively on diamond producing countries as well as on the whole industry. Angola called on the international community to “join hands to fight vigorously against the problem of conflict diamonds in fuelling conflict.”
The General Assembly has requested that countries participating in the Kimberley Process present a report on progress made no later than the 56th General Assembly session in 2001, and it has included the role of diamonds in fueling conflict in its provisional agenda for the 56th session.
ILLEGAL SMALL ARMS TRADE MEETING
A common regional approach to the illegal small arms trade at the International Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects, scheduled for 9-20 July of this year in New York, was the focus of discussions in Brasilia (Brazil) in November 2000. The Brasilia meeting, organized by the government of Brazil, brought together representatives of 22 Latin American and Caribbean States to prepare for the international conference.
Although the illicit trade in small arms (see NGLS Roundup 67) was described as “a global problem without a passport,” each region “clearly has its own unique characteristics that must be considered when crafting effective responses to this global challenge,” said Jayantha Dhanapala, Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs.
In the Brasilia Declaration, participants called for the international conference to adopt a political declaration and a global programme of action, while reaffirming that the outcome should take into account the right of states to self-defence. They emphasized the need for the conference to take into account the specific character and experience of regions, subregions and countries. They also called for strengthening international cooperation in the judicial, technical, financial and law-enforcement fields, and acknowledged what was described as the important role civil society has to play in achieving the goals of the conference.
The Brasilia meeting is one in a series being held at regional and subregional levels to prepare for the international conference.
Contact: Department for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations, New York NY 10017, United States, fax +1-212/963 1121, website (www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/WMD.htm).
ORGANIZED CRIME CONVENTION
The efforts of the UN to strengthen international cooperation to combat organized crime have been ongoing for some 25 years. The results of these efforts–the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime and its two protocols–were officially opened for signature at a High-Level Signing Conference, which took place in Palermo (Italy) from 12-15 December 2000. The Conference was chaired by Italy's Minister of Justice, Piero Fassino.
The Convention seeks to strengthen the power of governments in combating serious crimes. The new treaty will provide the basis for stronger common action against money laundering, arms smuggling, international fraud, drug trafficking and corruption, as well as greater ease of extradition, measures on the protection of witnesses, and enhanced judicial cooperation. It will also establish a funding mechanism to help countries implement the Convention. An important goal of the instrument is to get all countries to synchronize their national laws, so that there can be no uncertainty as to whether a crime in one country is also a crime in another. Toward this end, the Convention offers the international community universally-recognized definitions of several fundamental concepts of criminal law linked to organized crime. The 41 articles define such concepts as “organized criminal group,” “serious offense” and “proceeds of crime.”
The aims of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children are three-fold: to prevent and combat trafficking in persons; to protect and assist the victims of such trafficking; and to promote cooperation among states Parties to meet these objectives. The protocol will serve as a model for national legislation, detailing provisions on conduct that should be sanctioned, the severity of punishment, and effective measures to combat as well as prevent trafficking.
The Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air will combat and prevent the smuggling of human cargo. The protocol recognizes that migration in itself is not a crime, however, and therefore not liable to criminal prosecution. Migrants are considered victims in need of protection; therefore emphasis is placed on criminalization of the smugglers and organized criminal groups behind them.
In his opening address to the conference, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan highlighted the issue of trafficking in persons. He said the problem was “widespread and growing” and was rooted in social and economic conditions in the countries from which the victims came. It was facilitated by practices that discriminate against women and was driven by cruel indifference to human suffering. Mr. Annan called the issue “one of the most egregious violations of human rights which the United Nations now confronts.” He also drew attention to the way in which criminal groups have embraced “today's globalized economy and the sophisticated technology that goes with it,” noting that efforts to combat them “have remained, up to now, very fragmented, and our weapons almost obsolete.” Mr. Annan called the Conference evidence of the will of the international community to answer a global challenge with a global response. If crime crossed all borders, he said, then so must law enforcement.
In addition to the daily plenary meetings during the four-day conference, a number of parallel events were held. These included a symposium on examining issues of sovereignty and universality in the context of the rule of law in the global village; a forum for global action against trafficking in persons; and a seminar for the media on issues involving the Convention. The municipality of Palermo also conducted an event highlighting its experiences with respect to the role of civil society in countering organized crime.
By the end of the signing conference, 124 UN Member States had signed the Convention, with 80 also signing the accompanying protocols. Adopted by the UN General Assembly on 15 November 2000, the Convention will enter into force after 40 countries have ratified it.
In his closing statement to the Conference, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP), Pino Arlacchi, declared that never before had an international convention attracted so many signatures barely four weeks following its adoption by the General Assembly.
“Let us not lose the momentum we have achieved so far,” Mr. Arlacchi said. He invited delegations to join forces to ensure that the Convention and its protocols entered into force within the year, and offered UN support to countries that needed help translating the new instruments into national legislation.
Contact: Centre for International Crime Prevention, UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP), PO Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria, telephone +43-1/21345, fax +43-1/21345-5898, website (www.undcp.org/crime_cicp.html).
ODCCP ON TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
The practice of smuggling women, children and slave labourers could be the world's fastest growing organized crime operation, according to delegates at the International Seminar on the Trafficking of Human Beings. The event, held in Brasilia (Brazil) from 28-29 November 2000, was hosted by the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP).
“Trafficking in persons is now the third most profitable business for organized crime, behind drugs and arms,” said ODCCP Executive Director Pino Arlacchi. “It is also the fastest growing form of international crime, already generating US$7 billion per year in criminal proceeds. There are even reports that some trafficking groups are switching their cargo from drugs to human beings, in a search of high profits at lower risk.”