Go Between no. 89
December 2001-January 2002
UN UPDATE
KOFI ANNAN LAUNCHES UN ICT TASK
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has launched a global Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force to help spread the benefits of new technology to the world’s poor, and to build universal interconnectivity. The Task Force was set up at the request of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to work with partners such as regional development banks, international donors and NGOs to help mobilize resources around specific programmes and initiatives related to ICT.
The Task Force, which also includes the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), has representatives from governments, the private sector, NGOs, foundations and UN bodies.
Speaking at the launch, the Secretary-General stressed that since the information and communication technology age had dawned for some, but not for all, the Task Force faced an important challenge “to help build digital bridges to the billions of people who are now trapped in extreme poverty, untouched by the digital revolution and beyond the reach of the global economy. The new technologies that are changing our world are not a panacea or a magic bullet,” he added. “But they are without doubt enormously powerful tools for development. They create jobs. They are transforming education, health care, commerce, politics and more. They can help in the delivery of humanitarian assistance and even contribute to peace and security.”
According to José María Figueres Olsen, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on ICT and former President of Costa Rica, even though the Task Force is global in its conception, it aims to be regional and specific in terms of country and regional needs. He said the Task Force has established six different working groups to look at issues, such as regulatory frameworks, low-cost connectivity and applications for health and education.
Contact: Sarbuland Khan, Director, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, 1 UN Plaza, Office DC1-1432, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 4628, fax +1-212/963 1712, website (www.unicttaskforce.org).
DATES FOR WSSD CHANGED
The General Assembly’s Second Committee approved a resolution modifying the dates for the World Summit for Sustainable Development to be held in Johannesburg (South Africa). The new dates are from 26 August to 4 September 2002 (see NGLS Roundup 88).
US BACKS OUT OF ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE TREATY
The United States has given Russia formal notice that it will withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in six months, President Bush said on 13 December 2001. “I have concluded the ABM Treaty hinders our government’s ability to develop ways to protect our people from future terrorist or rogue-state missile attacks,” President Bush said.
Former President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty in 1972, one of two agreements reached during the first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I), which set limits on strategic offensive weapons to slow the nuclear arms race between the United States and Soviet Union.
“President [Vladimir] Putin and I have also agreed that my decision to withdraw from the treaty will not in any way undermine our new relationship or Russian security,” Mr. Bush said.
“The US decision to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty has not set off an arms race,” said Secretary of State Colin Powell. “Rather, it has had the opposite effect,” he added “as both the United States and Russia have pledged to begin reducing strategic nuclear arsenals substantially.” Mr. Powell said the US has offered to cut its operationally deployed strategic nuclear arsenal by 60 to 70%, from 6,000 warheads to a range of 1,700-to-2,200. President Putin said Russia is proposing to cut its nuclear arsenal down to a range of 1,500-to-2,200.
“The United States and Russia will continue negotiations to develop a new strategic framework of arms control that could be put into a legal framework for [Presidents] Bush and Putin to sign when President Bush visits Moscow next year,” the Secretary of State said. Legal framework would “involve substantial reductions in offensive nuclear forces, cooperation on missile defence, enhanced non- and counter-proliferation efforts, and measures to promote confidence and transparency,” according to US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Avis Bohlen.
The decision was criticized by US Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who said, “I think it underlines the fragile coalition we have with our allies,” and by US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, who said “the move would cause an arms build-up not just in Russia but also in Pakistan and India, increasing tensions in southern Asia.”
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan noted with regret the decision of the United States to withdraw from the ABM Treaty, and in a message to the UN Conference on Disarmament on 22 January 2002, said the US’s decision to withdraw from the ABM Treaty “raised concerns over the risk of a new nuclear arms race, a loss of credibility in the commitment to nuclear disarmament, a weaponization of outer space and a tendency towards unilateral approaches to international arms issues.”
UN Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala, in his 22 January 2002 address to the Arms Control Association (ACA) in Washington DC, called for “deeper multilateral cooperation rooted in binding legal norms.” Mr. Dhanapala said, “While some prefer paperless disarmament, that is surely no reason to jettison the treaties and conventions that do act as a legal barrier to the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the proliferation of their delivery systems. Our need to prevent terrorist groups from obtaining WMD material and technology demands the strengthening of existing norms and greater efforts to implement them.”
John Bolton, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control, defended the US’s position on 24 January during the Conference on Disarmament saying, “It has become fashionable to characterize my country as ‘unilateralist’ and against all arms control agreements. Nonetheless, our commitment to multilateral regimes to promote non-proliferation and international security never has been as strong as it is today, through numerous arms control treaties and non-proliferation arrangements...In fact, trying to characterize our policy as ‘unilateralist’ or ‘multilateralist’ is a futile exercise. Our policy is, quite simply, pro-American, as you would expect.”
BWC TALKS COLLAPSE ON LAST DAY
Against the backdrop of increasing global concern over the use of biological weapons, the Fifth Review Conference of the United Nations Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) was held in Geneva from 19 November to 7 December 2001. Ambassador Tibor Toth (Hungary) served as President of the Conference, which brought together 91 of 144 States Parties to continue their article-by-article negotiations to amend the 1972 treaty, which has no mandatory verification mechanism.
Serious differences existed between States on issues concerning: non-compliance with the Convention; the assessment of the Ad Hoc Group mandated in 1994 to develop a draft protocol to the Convention on the issue of compliance/verification; and issues of follow-up. On the opening day of the Conference, before a UN press conference, US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton said, “The draft protocol that was under negotiation for the past seven years is dead in our view. Dead, and it is not going to be resurrected. It has proven to be a blind alley.” Mr. Bolton also said the draft protocol is “hopelessly defective in three major respects,” citing that it would endanger the viability of biological warfare defence programmes, that the inspection mechanism would compromise the export control programmes of the US and other Western countries, and that the protocol would have posed a risk to proprietary commercial information.
Throughout the Conference, drafting sessions and intense formal and informal consultations were held in an attempt to reach consensus on outstanding issues. On Thursday, 6 December, the first draft of the Final Declaration was seen to require further work on the recent anthrax issue, transfers and export controls, guidelines on penal legislation, retaliation with biological weapons, a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) proposal for a Cooperation Committee, and a European Union proposal for establishing an investigation mechanism. On 7 December, the closing day of the Conference, the Drafting Committee continued its efforts though a number of delegates claimed that the US was being “difficult” on some of the minor issues, and progress on reaching the final draft was seen to stall.
The Drafting Committee’s meeting was abruptly suspended when the US announced, late in the day, its proposal calling for the dissolution of the Ad Hoc Group, which had been drafting the protocol setting out enforcement rules for the treaty. “The Conference takes note of the work of the Ad Hoc Group and decides that the Ad Hoc Group and its mandate are hereby terminated,” the US proposal read. Group meetings and a short meeting of the General Committee were held immediately, and a consensus decision adjourned the Conference until November 2002.
Mr. Toth expressed his opinion on the failed negotiations: “We were quite close to finishing our work, both in terms of the volume of the elements which were consolidated and in terms of the understandings which we reached. However, there seemed to be a serious absence of understanding concerning the issue of the Ad Hoc Group where the differences between positions seemed to be irreconcilable, at least in the time remaining today [7 December]. The draft final declaration was 95% ready. In my judgement, the draft final declaration can in the meantime be an orientation for delegations to undertake or already some national efforts to join in forces and in this period, even to start implementation of some of these ideas. All the consolidated elements will not all fade away. This is a kind of damage control if you wish.”
A resumption of the Conference has been scheduled for 11 to 22 November 2002 in Geneva, where States Parties will continue work on a final declaration.
Contact: V. Bogomolov, Department for Disarmament Affairs, Palais des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 3441, fax +41-22/917 0034, website (www.un.org/Depts/dda).
FAO ADOPTS TREATY ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES
The Thirty-First Session of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference adopted on 3 November 2001 the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. FAO says the Treaty, which is the outcome of several years of negotiations to revise the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources, will ensure better use of plant genetic diversity to meet the challenge of eradicating world hunger.
According to FAO experts, the new Treaty is a comprehensive international agreement that takes into consideration the particular needs of farmers and plant breeders, and aims to guarantee the future availability of the diversity of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture on which they depend, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits. The Treaty is in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which was adopted in 1992 as the first international binding agreement covering biodiversity.
The legally binding international agreement, which will enter into force when ratified by 40 Member States, provides a framework to ensure access to plant genetic resources, and to related knowledge, technologies, and internationally agreed funding. The Treaty also provides the agricultural sector with a multilateral tool to promote cooperation and synergy with other sectors, particularly with trade and the environment, says FAO. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf called the Treaty a “milestone in international cooperation,” and says it “is at the crossroads where agriculture, environment and trade meet.”
The Treaty revises the previous International Undertaking, which was adopted by the FAO Conference in 1983. It recognized Farmers’ Rights as being complementary to Plant Breeders’ Rights. The International Undertaking is monitored by FAO’s Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), a permanent forum created in 1983 and currently composed of 160 Member States. It will act as the Interim Committee for the new Treaty, until it enters into force.
Secretary of the Commission José Esquinas-Alcázar says that despite the approval of the Treaty, “an enormous task still lies ahead to implement the provisions of the Treaty, in particular in view of the need to ensure that the genetic resources and local technologies developed by generations of farmers are complemented and enhanced by the new genetic technologies, and not threatened or replaced by them.” The length of the negotiations needed to adopt the Treaty reflects the difficulties in reaching agreement on matters related to intellectual property rights and the list of crops covered by the Treaty.
Following the Treaty’s approval, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) said that agricultural researchers in developing countries now stand a much better chance of developing new plant strains with improved traits to help combat hunger and malnutrition. CGIAR is sponsored by the FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank.
“Plant genetic diversity, the result of a combination of farmers’ selection over millennia, natural evolution and plant breeding is a foundation of agricultural development,” said Ian Johnson, World Bank Vice-President and CGIAR Chairman. “Plant breeders all over the world rely on existing diversity to create new varieties of plants with higher yields and increased resistance to pests and diseases, while for many small farmers in developing countries, diversity is the basis of food security and income.”
Contact: José Esquinas-Alcázar, Secretary of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, I-00100 Rome, Italy, telephone + 39-06/5705 4986, e-mail <jose.esquinas@fao.org>, website (www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/default.htm).
CONSOLIDATED INTER-AGENCY APPEALS FOR 2002
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan launched a US$2.5 billion appeal on 26 November 2001 to help 33 million people in desperate need of humanitarian assistance and protection. “The US$2.5 billion dollars that we are seeking today is a large amount–but it is far less than what the world spends on military purposes in a single day,” the Secretary-General told donors gathered at UN headquarters in New York for the launch of the Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeals.
Mr. Annan noted that the world was currently focused on the plight of Afghans who, along with more than 30 million war- and drought-affected people around the world, would have suffered through yet another winter “largely off camera” had it not been for recent events. “Is it not ironic that it took a terrorist attack and military reaction to raise awareness of the vast humanitarian needs in Afghanistan?” he asked.
While welcoming donor efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people, the Secretary-General urged those present not to forget the 17 other complex humanitarian crises identified in the UN appeals. “In Angola, Somalia and Sudan, long-running civil wars continue to threaten already fragile livelihoods,” he noted. “In Indonesia, 1.3 million people have become internally displaced in less than three years because of new internal conflicts.” And though the past year had brought new hope for the future in Burundi, Mr. Annan said that massive humanitarian assistance remains urgently needed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Sierra Leone.
“No matter how good our strategy, or how well we prioritize, the United Nations and its partners cannot fulfil their commitments to millions of people in need of humanitarian assistance without the financial and political support of the Member States,” the Secretary-General told donors, noting that the appeal for 2001 was met with only 50% of the required amount. “We must do better next year, and I repeat my appeal that we should forget no one who depends on us for help and for hope.”
Echoing the Secretary-General’s statements, the President of the Security Council, Ambassador Patricia Durrant (Jamaica), told donors that their contributions would restore hope and erase despair. “The investment you make today will not only help save lives, it will set the basis for self-sufficiency for people and their communities,” she told the meeting, which also heard from individuals who had personally witnessed humanitarian crises in Kosovo and Ethiopia.
On behalf of members of the Council, Ambassador Durrant urged all States to give generously to the appeals. “Members of the Council recognize that gaining access to vulnerable populations and the increasing need to engage with armed groups is one of the key challenges facing humanitarian agencies,” she said, noting that such access was “sporadically granted or even bluntly denied.” Council members called on all States to respect the recognized rules of international humanitarian law, and to facilitate the work of aid agencies carrying out their work.
Contact: Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 2380, fax +1-212/963 1312, e-mail <ochany@un.org>, website (www.reliefweb.int/appeals/2002).
GLOBAL COMPACT ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Global Compact Advisory Council, the first United Nations advisory body composed of both public and private sector leaders, held its first session on 8 January 2002 at UN headquarters in New York. Created in July 2000 at UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s initiative, the Global Compact challenges corporations to embrace nine internationally accepted principles on human rights, labour rights, and the environment in order to promote cooperative solutions to the challenges of globalization.
The meeting brought together 11 business executives, two international labour leaders and five civil society organizations and academics to discuss the Compact’s goals, examine current operations, determine procedures and policies for proposing better standards of participation, and to consider what types of corporate behaviour are inconsistent with the Compact. Fred Higgs, General Secretary of the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions, said “The Global Compact, like any successful voluntary initiative, needs to be a dynamic, credible process, subject to ongoing review and development. I believe the advisory process is extremely important to ensure that the Global Compact continues to be relevant and credible.”
Members of the Advisory Council said that issues falling under the aegis of the Global Compact were increasingly critical to the stability of the international economy. “Every day, billions of people are affected by business decisions–be it in the realm of employment, environment or human rights,” Director-General of the World Conservation Union Achim Steiner said.
“We must work to underpin the marketplace with solid and stable foundations,” the Secretary-General stressed, “and open the door to full participation by all people, including and especially the world’s poor. The Global Compact gives us a tool for achieving that.” Mr. Annan said that projects are being launched in areas such as investment in least developed countries, diversity in the workplace, and environmental protection, adding that “A collective effort is under way to establish a culture and practice of pragmatic solution-finding through cooperation.”
Some civil society groups have called for the nine principles to be made mandatory and binding, and for an independent monitoring body to be established.
Members of the advisory council will serve rotating terms of two and three years and will meet twice a year.
Contact: E-mail <partners@un.org>, website (www.unglobalcompact.org).
SC HOLDS REVIEW ON CHILDREN IN ARMED CONFLICT
On 20 November 2001, the UN Security Council held a one-day review meeting on the situation of children in armed conflict and considered the Secretary-General’s report on the subject (A/56/342-S/2001/852), as well as an update from Olara Otunnu, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
Some 30 speakers addressed the meeting, including a vivid testimony from a former child combatant from Sierra Leone, 14-year-old Alhaji Babh Sawaneh, who was abducted by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) at the age of ten. He described his two-year ordeal as a child combatant, and his experience with disarmament, demobilization and reintegration. On behalf of the children of Sierra Leone, he asked the Council to do all they could to end their “sad tale.”
Today, over 300,000 young persons under the age of 18–some as young as seven or eight, girls as well as boys–are taking part in hostilities in over 30 countries. They are often abducted from schools, refugee camps or their homes.
The Council unanimously adopted resolution 1379 (2001), which calls for various actions to address the widespread impact of armed conflict on children and the long-term consequences on durable peace, security and development. The Council’s readiness to include provisions for the protection of children in mandates for peacekeeping operations was expressed in the resolution, which asked the Secretary-General to include, on a case-by-case basis, child-protection staff in missions and peace-building operations.
In its report on implementation, the Council requested the Secretary-General to attach a list of parties to armed conflict that recruit or use children in violation of their international obligations. With regard to punitive measures, the Council said that it would assess the socio-economic impact of sanctions on children in order to provide appropriate humanitarian exemptions that would take account of their specific needs and vulnerability, as well as minimize such impact.
The resolution urges Member States to end impunity; prosecute those responsible for crimes against humanity and other egregious crimes committed against children; and exclude those crimes from amnesty provisions and relevant legislation. Member States are also urged to consider measures to discourage corporate actors within their jurisdiction from maintaining commercial relations with parties to armed conflict.
Commenting on the resolution, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasized the importance of field monitoring, and the deployment of child protection advisers. He committed himself to providing timely, accurate information to the Security Council about the implementation of its resolutions, and said that he was prepared to bring to the Council’s attention “the identities of parties that are in violation of any part of this resolution.”
Mr. Otunnu stressed that there was an urgent need for the international community to organize a more systematic and effective way of monitoring and reporting on the conduct of parties to conflict in relation to their treatment of children. “Unless critical knowledge gaps are filled,” he said, “interventions on behalf of children are unlikely to be effective.” He proposed a Research Agenda on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children to focus on filling this gap, as a way to inform and strengthen policy making and action. Mr. Otunnu called attention to the fact that the international community was not doing enough to prevent harm to girls in wartime and to ensure appropriate recovery and rehabilitation services in the aftermath.
Contact: Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, United Nations, Room S-3161, New York NY 10010, USA, telephone +1-212/963 6194, fax +1-212/963 0807, website (www.un.org/special-rep/children-armed-conflict/index.html).
GA DEBATE ON YEAR OF DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS
The General Assembly (GA) convened a two-day debate at UN headquarters from 8-9 November 2001 on the UN Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations, 2001–an initiative aimed at fostering understanding across borders that was widely seen to have taken on greater importance in the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks against the United States. Some 56 speakers addressed the Assembly, including three Heads of State and Government, and ten Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
In his opening address, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the Dialogue was “based not on the premise that we as humanity are all the same, or always in agreement, but rather on appreciation of the fact that we represent a diversity of cultures, and that our beliefs reflect this diversity.” According to Mr. Annan, the Dialogue among Civilizations was in this sense “not an expression of hopes, but a reflection of the world as it is.”
Delegates from several countries took the floor to denounce the extremist beliefs and intolerance that they believed had led to the September terrorist attacks. Other delegates noted that the UN represented the diversity of the world’s civilizations and was a forum for all different civilizations. They urged that the Organization conduct the Dialogue among Civilizations to remove the negative impact of the cold war mentality from international relations; promote the principles of democracy and equality in international affairs; and push forward the establishment of a just and equitable new international political order.
GA President Han Seung-soo (Republic of Korea) said that in the globalizing world, diverse cultures could constitute a source of stability, which was an important lesson the Dialogue among Civilizations had taught. “Indeed, tolerance and dialogue should be included among the core values of the international community. Without them, peace and security cannot be achieved and would hardly be worth achieving,” Mr. Han said.
President Seyed Mohammad Khatami of Iran, who initially proposed the Dialogue, noted that “all cultures, civilizations and faiths were now bound to cohabit the same world by the inviolable verdict of technology.” It was therefore the best of times to “cultivate harmony and foster empathy among this variety,” he said.
During an informal segment, a Group of Eminent Persons appointed by the Secretary-General on the occasion of the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations launched their report entitled Crossing the Divide, which explains the context and the goal of the Dialogue, and sets out a new paradigm of global relations and advocates a key role for the UN.
At the conclusion of the debate, the Assembly adopted a “Global Agenda for Dialogue among Civilizations” (A/RES/56/6) containing objectives, principles and a Programme of Action (POA) for follow-up to the Year.
According to the Agenda, the Dialogue among Civilizations constitutes a process for attaining such goals as inclusion, equity, justice and tolerance in human interactions; promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms; development of a better understanding of common ethical standards and universal human values; and enhancement of respect for cultural diversity and cultural heritage.
The POA invites States, the UN system and other international and regional organizations and civil society to consider as a means of promoting dialogue among civilizations: facilitating and encouraging interaction and exchange among all individuals from various societies and civilizations; promoting of mutual visits and meetings of experts in various fields from different civilizations; exchange of visits among representatives of the arts and culture and the organization of cultural festivals; sponsorship of conferences, symposia, and workshops to enhance mutual understanding, tolerance and dialogue among civilizations; planning sport competitions; and other activities.
Contact: Group of Eminent Persons, Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, Secretariat, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Avenue, South Orange NJ 07079, USA, telephone +1-973/275 2515, fax +1-973/275 2519, website (www.un.org/dialogue).
FOLLOW-UP TO THE RACISM CONFERENCE
In late December 2001, agreement was reached on the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) held in Durban (South Africa) from 31 August to 7 September 2001. In a letter dated 27 December 2001, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, informed the High Commissioner for Human Rights and governments that she, in her capacity as President of the Conference, had decided that the texts would remain as they were on 24 September, and that they would be published in the final report without further delay.
The texts were adopted on 8 September 2001 in Durban, but disaccords between governments prevented them from being printed and subsequently delayed the issuance of the final report of the Conference. Disagreement concerned the placement of several paragraphs relating to slavery and reparations. Some governments felt the paragraphs were of an action-oriented nature and should be moved from the Declaration to the Programme of Action; other governments opposed this, mainly because of the possible legislative consequences it might entail. The General Assembly considered the report of the Conference, including the Declaration and Programme of Action, at the end of January. It adopted a resolution endorsing the WCAR outcome documents and the creation of a follow-up mechanism in the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The publication of the final texts will allow OHCHR to implement the anti-discrimination agenda set out in the Declaration and Programme of Action. “With this agenda in our hands,” High Commissioner Mary Robinson said, “we can regain the momentum created by the Conference and get down to the business of making the commitments made at Durban a reality.”
One aspect Mrs. Robinson pointed to is the establishment of the Anti-Discrimination Unit in her Office. This unit will work to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and will promote equality and non-discrimination (see Go Between 88). Another tool for taking the anti-discrimination movement further is the appointment of a body of five experts–representing all regions–to follow the implementation of the WCAR outcome documents. The expert body will provide annual progress reports to the UN Commission on Human Rights and the General Assembly.
In an attempt to maintain the momentum of the WCAR while disagreement over the outcome documents continued, the OHCHR dedicated the 10 December 2001 Human Rights Day to the follow-up of the World Conference and the Office’s anti-discrimination priorities. In her speech commemorating the Day, the High Commissioner reiterated the importance of implementing the anti-discrimination agenda in the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001 in New York and Washington. “My Office is committed to taking the lead in follow-up to the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action,” she said, pointing to consultations that are taking place with NGOs and other partners.
On 6 December 2001, a large number of NGOs gathered in Geneva to discuss follow-up activities to Durban. Staff of the newly established Anti-Discrimination Unit of the OHCHR took the opportunity to discuss implementation of the WCAR outcome documents and informed participants that the interim Unit had begun its tasks and had developed a work plan pending the appointment of the Head of the Unit.
Recent NGO activities discussed at the gathering include Migrants Rights International’s intent to set up regional focal points and to step up its campaign to reach rapid ratification of the UN Convention on Migrants and Migrant Workers. The World Organization Against Torture will organize anti-racism parallel events during the upcoming UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva as well as the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna (Austria). It plans to contribute to the discussion on racism in the criminal justice system within the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and the Protection of Human Rights.
Contact: Elsa Le Pennec, World Organization Against Torture, Rue du Vieux-Billard 8, PO Box 21, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/809 4939, fax +41-22/809 4929, e-mail <elp@omct.org>, website (www.omct.org).
Sandra Aragón, NGO Liaison Officer, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Anti-Discrimination Unit, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 9393, fax +41-22/917 9050, e-mail <saragon.hchr@unog.ch>, website (www.ohchr.ch).
MINISTERIAL MEETING ON REFUGEE CONVENTION
Refugees and asylum-seekers should receive stronger protection at a time when uprooted people are increasingly being wrongly associated with criminals and terrorists, according to a ministerial declaration adopted at a meeting on the 1951 Refugee Convention, the key legal document that defines who is a refugee, their rights, and the legal obligations of States. The ministerial meeting, jointly hosted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Swiss Government, was held in Geneva from 12-13 December 2001. Ministers from over 150 countries, representatives of UN agencies, and NGO observers attended the meeting.
In his opening speech, Ruud Lubbers, High Commissioner for Refugees, described the millions of uprooted people as “products of political failure.” He said the Convention “is fundamentally about freedom from fear....Unfortunately, governments’ policies towards refugees and asylum-seekers are often based on fear and mistrust. Political leaders are no leaders when they fuel anti-foreigner and anti-refugee sentiments, contributing to this cycle of fear and mistrust.” He also said that governments were not doing enough to find solutions to refugee crises. “Unless governments do more to find lasting solutions for refugees, more of them will fall into the hands of human smugglers, traffickers and criminal networks. Who is then fuelling crime? Fleeing refugees or failing governments?”
The High Commissioner criticized the lack of burden-sharing in taking in refugees among States. Some developed countries have been calling for solutions to refugee problems to be found within the region, and officials in Iran and Pakistan–which host the largest refugee population–are complaining of a lack of burden-sharing. Mr. Lubbers said that the paradox was that countries were refusing to meet their obligations in respect of refugees unless there was burden-sharing, but that if all countries were to meet these obligations, burden-sharing would not be a problem.
“It’s time to speak of refugees not only as a burden or as miserable people but to see them as potential valuable citizens,” Mr. Lubbers said. “Our challenge is to find ways of empowering them, so that they can contribute to our societies.” He called for the Refugee Convention to be placed at the same level as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mr. Lubbers also warned that the Convention was not a migration control instrument and “must not blamed for the inability of States to successfully manage illegal migration.”
The meeting, which commended the “enduring importance” of the Convention, looked at problems such as massive migration, the increase in trafficking in persons, protracted exile, and the blurred line between migration and asylum.
The Ministerial Declaration reaffirms the commitment of signatory States to the Refugee Convention, and stresses the principle of “non-refoulement” (non-forcible return of asylum-seekers). It calls on States to take measures to strengthen protection of asylum by adopting national legislation and urges caution because of the tense political climate after the attacks of 11 September 2001.
The meeting was part of the Global Consultations on International Protection, launched by UNHCR in 2001, involving governments, NGOs, academics, judges and other experts. The consultations will end in 2002 with the adoption of an Agenda for Protection to strengthen refugee protection worldwide for use by governments and humanitarian groups.
A follow-up session was held on 14 December with African ministers who attended the earlier meeting to discuss the refugee problems in Africa. They reiterated their commitment to help refugees, but said they needed international assistance to be able to tackle the root causes of displacement. They also expressed concern at the “impunity” of some refugee-exporting African nations and called for more to be done on preventing conflicts.
The ministerial meeting was preceded by a conference on 11 December, also held in Geneva, which brought together 50 NGOs to discuss how to better implement the Refugee Convention. The emerging consensus was that any arrangement to strengthen implementation would have to be independent, transparent and impartial.
Contact: Craig Sanders, Coordinator, NGO Unit, Division of Communication and Information, UNHCR, Case postale 2500, CH-1211 Geneva 2 Dépôt, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/739 7944, fax +41-22/739 7302, website (www.unhcr.org).
WHO REPORT ON MACRO-ECONOMICS AND HEALTH
A World Health Organization (WHO)-commissioned panel’s report Macroeconomics and Health: Investing in Health for Economic Development says that a scaling-up of investments in health for the world’s poor will not only save millions of lives but also produce large economic gains, based on the research conducted by the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, composed of 18 leading economists and health experts.
Harvard Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs chaired the Commission which sought to clarify the links between poverty reduction, health and economic development. The report says that good health is an essential prerequisite for equitable development and fair globalization, and shows that just a few health conditions are responsible for a high proportion of the avoidable deaths in the poor countries. It also states that “well-targeted measures, using existing technologies, could save the lives of around eight million people per year and create substantial economic growth.”
The plan laid out by the Commission recommends that official development assistance (ODA) for health be increased from its current level of US$6 billion per year to US$27 billion by 2007. Under the plan, donor and recipient countries would enter a new “health pact” where international financing of health and the mechanisms of donor financing would evolve to include increased debt relief and increased mobilization of tax revenues for health.
The Commission’s report also outlines a global framework for access to life-saving medicines that includes norms on differential pricing schemes, broader licensing, and bulk purchase agreements. Differential pricing schemes would mean that poor countries would pay only the “baseline” costs of production, while richer countries would bear the costs of research and development. The report also indicates ways in which globalization contributes to the spread of diseases through activities such as tourism, migration, business travel or flows of refugees, stating that even a small increase in movement across borders substantially increases the transmission and incidence of infectious diseases.
The Commission sets the highest priority for scaling-up of health interventions at the community level, where health services are delivered. It also calls for donors to invest amply to strengthen the effective operation of health systems, singling out sub-Saharan Africa as the region with the greatest need for aid. The report identified HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and childhood diseases as targets of new spending.
Contact: Gregory Hartl, WHO Spokesperson, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4458, fax +41-22/791 4858, e-mail <hartlg@who.int>, website (www.who.int).
REPORT ON GLOBALIZATION, GROWTH AND POVERTY
A recent World Bank report, Globalization, Growth and Poverty: Building an Inclusive World Economy, says that globalization has helped reduce poverty in a large number of developing countries but it must be harnessed better to help the world’s poorest, most marginalized countries improve the lives of their citizens, especially in light of the current worldwide economic slowdown.
While the study says that 24 developing countries increased their integration into the world economy during the last two decades, with an average 5% growth rate in per capita income in the 1990s, it also states that not all countries were able to do so. Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union are cited as countries that have been unable to increase their integration into the global economy, resulting, according to the report, in growing levels of poverty.
The report notes that the 24 developing countries which were able to benefit from globalization represent some three billion people, while the number of people living in countries that are being left behind represent an estimated two billion people. “For the two billion people in the non-integrating countries, globalization is not working as well as it should,” says David Dollar, co-author of the research report. “Some of these countries have been handicapped by weak policies, institutions, and governance, or by civil unrest and even civil war. Others have been handicapped by unfavourable geography, such as being land-locked and prone to disease. Both global and national action is needed to help those people who have been marginalized.”
The study proposes a seven-point plan to help developing countries benefit from globalization while managing the risks. The plan calls for a development round of trade talks; improving the investment climate in developing countries; improving delivery of education and health services; providing social protection to a changing labour market; increasing foreign aid from rich nations; supporting debt relief for reformers; and tackling greenhouse gases.
“Globalization often has been a very powerful force for poverty reduction, but too many countries and people have been left out,” says Nicholas Stern, the Bank’s chief economist. “Some anxieties about globalization are well-founded, but reversing globalization would come at an intolerably high price, destroying the prospects of prosperity for many millions of poor people,” Mr. Stern warned. “We do not agree with those who would retreat into a world of nationalism and protectionism. That way leads to deeper poverty and it is fundamentally hostile to the wellbeing of people in the developing countries. Instead, we must make globalization work for the poor people of the world.”
Contact: Caroline Anstey, World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington DC 20433, USA, telephone +1-202/473 1800, e-mail <canstey@worldbank.org>, website (www.worldbank.org).
WORLD BANK LAUNCHES ENVIRONMENT STRATEGY
The World Bank Environment Strategy: Making Sustainable Commitments sets a direction for future activities and identifies specific actions for the next five years. It also emphasizes the need to tailor assistance according to differences in institutional development and environmental management capacity in client countries. The World Bank says the strategy is based on an understanding that sustainable development, built on a balance of economic growth, social cohesion, and environmental protection, is fundamental to its core objective of lasting poverty alleviation.
“The Environment Strategy will ensure economic growth does not come at the expense of people’s health and future opportunities because of pollution and degraded natural resources and ecosystems,” noted Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Director of the Environment Department. “It calls for a full and coherent mainstreaming of environmental concerns into poverty reduction strategies, and in Bank lending and non-lending activities.”
The strategy is built around three interrelated objectives: improving people’s quality of life; improving the prospects for and the quality of growth; and protecting the quality of the regional and global environmental commons.
Quality of life efforts will focus on three broad areas where environment, quality of life and poverty reduction are strongly interlinked. The strategy will first attempt to enhance livelihoods, by helping to improve the sustainable management and protection of natural resources such as land, water and forests; will work to prevent environmental health risks including unsafe water and pollution; and aims to reduce vulnerability to environmental/natural hazards.
Efforts to improve the quality of growth will seek to ensure that short-term gains do not constrain opportunities for future development. Recognizing that sustainable environmental management is an essential condition for long-term economic growth and lasting improvements in people’s wellbeing, the Bank says it will focus on helping countries:
—strengthen their environmental policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks;
—strengthen environmental assessment systems and practices; and
—support good governance, increased transparency, access to environmental information, and public participation in decision making, among others.
The strategy notes that the deteriorating quality of the global environment–as reflected by climate change, the degradation of land, forests, water resources and biodiversity–threatens many developing countries. Therefore, the strategy will place increased emphasis on the local aspects of these challenges, on reducing degradation impacts on developing countries, and on actions that are targeted to benefit developing countries and local communities.
“We have a very real chance of reducing world poverty, and doing so in a manner consistent with a clear social and environmental conscience,” Ian Johnson, World Bank Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development commented on the Bank’s newly launched strategy. “But it takes actions across all communities of the world–from a small farmers’ organization to a large private multinational corporation to the Western governments of the world….The challenge is to convert policy commitments into real progress on the ground.”
Contact: World Bank, 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433, USA, telephone +1-202/477 1234, fax +1-202/477 6391, e-mail <eadvisor@worldbank.org>, website (www.worldbank.org/environment).
ECA HEAD CALLS FOR MORE AID AND NEW RELATIONS
Delivering a lecture in London at 10 Downing Street as part of UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Millennium Lectures series, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Executive Secretary K.Y. Amoako called for a new model in relations between African countries and international donors to reverse the decrease in aid to the continent.
Before the Prime Minister and other high-ranking officials, Mr. Amoako described the current trend of reduced development aid, saying overall aid to Africa has declined from US$19 billion a year at the beginning of the 1990s to US$12 billion now, a per capita drop of 40%. “In the same period, our share of global aid has dropped from 37% to 27%–this, when the quality of Africa’s development has improved. Shouldn’t better performance be better recognised?” The Executive Secretary called for a more holistic response from the G-8, which he said might include periodic leadership dialogues between the G-8 and Africa.
Mr. Amoako outlined six challenges to a brighter future in Africa: promoting good governance in both the political and economic spheres; making societies inclusive in order to tap the potential of women and youth; reducing poverty, which would require better economic growth and capably spent social budgets; making Africa part of the global future of science-based progress in order to sustain food security; creating an information-rich economy to expand national information, communications, and technology systems; and freeing up the potential of the private sector which, according to Mr. Amoako, can reduce poverty by building skills, creating jobs, and paying taxes.
He also proposed a new paradigm that would feature greater African leadership in policies and programmes, and would seek a joint commitment to commonly agreed development goals, and mutual accountability in progress towards those goals. “This moves us away from the past model of donor-imposed conditionalities–and towards self-monitoring and peer review among Africans,” he said.
Finishing his 17 December lecture, Mr. Amoako said, “I have been candid about Africa’s challenges and promises. We live in a tough neighbourhood, and the struggle may be long. But I want to close by underscoring what is absolutely our biggest asset and our biggest hope. It is the human spirit, which, when given a chance, will fulfil Africa’s promise.”
Contact: Economic Commission for Africa, PO Box 3001, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, telephone +251/151 5826, fax +251/151 0365, e-mail <ecainfo@uneca.org>, website (www.uneca.org).
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FRESHWATER
The International Conference on Freshwater brought together 118 governments, 47 intergovernmental organizations, and 73 representatives from Major Groups in Bonn (Germany) from 3-7 December 2001 to examine issues and action relating to the worldwide water supply and wastewater disposal, protection of water bodies and cross-border cooperation. The Conference produced Recommendations for Action (RFA) as a means to bridge the gap between policy and implementation, and will also serve as the Conference’s main contribution to the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg (South Africa) from 26 August to 4 September 2002.
Working under the Conference theme of “Water–A Key to Sustainable Development,” two multistakeholder dialogues were held on equitable access and sustainable supply of water for the poor, and on strategies for sustainable and equitable management of water resources. The resulting Chairman’s Summary recommends that partnerships should include: multistakeholder participation in watershed management groups; support for underrepresented groups to ensure their participation; decentralized decision making at the local level; full public access to information, knowledge sharing and transparency; capacity building; and clear legal and regulatory frameworks.
A closed-door ministerial session was held on 4 December and considered questions of equitable and sustainable use of water resources, and mobilizing financial resources for infrastructure investment. The Ministerial Declaration calls on the WSSD to include decisive action on water issues. It recommends that resources be made available to assist developing countries in mitigating natural disasters, and that women should have an equal voice in water management, among other recommendations.
In the plenary session on integrating gender perspectives, delegates recommended building women’s agricultural, scientific, professional and financial capacity to overcome the inequities in representation in decision making and land tenure. They also called for the integration of water issues into the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, and for reporting on the progress made to both the WSSD and the Third World Water Forum to be held in Kyoto in March 2003. Three parallel working groups were also held on sub-themes related to the RFA.
The final text of the RFA is divided into sections on governance; mobilizing financial resources; and capacity building and sharing knowledge. It points out that US$180 billion is required as investment in providing water and sanitation services to about 1.2 billion people around the world, where only US$70-80 billion is presently invested in water infrastructures, and calls for mobilizing “all sources for funding in developing countries–public funding from general budget revenues, water tariffs and charges, external assistance, and private investment.” The RFA describes water security for all as an achievable goal, and states that policies for all aspects of water should be clearly linked to policies for poverty reduction and economic growth. The RFA also says that water resources management should complement work to combat desertification and other forms of environmental and ecological degradation.
Contact: Secretariat of the International Conference on Freshwater, Tulpenfeld 7, D-53113 Bonn, Germany, telephone +49-228/2804655, fax +49-228/2804660, e-mail <info@water-2001.de>. Conference documents available on website (www.water-2001.de).
FISHERIES CONVENTION ENTERS INTO FORCE
The 1995 UN agreement to ensure the long-term conservation of high seas fisheries entered into force on 11 December 2001, 30 days after Malta became the thirtieth country to ratify the agreement. The agreement implements provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which relate to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks. It aims to restrict over-fishing by enhancing cooperation in collecting and exchanging information, and gives enforcement agents increased authority to board and inspect fishing vessels. Parties to the agreement also commit to cooperate in regional fisheries management.
While environmental NGOs welcomed the Treaty’s entry into force, some cautioned that nearly three-quarters of the world’s top fishing nations have not yet ratified the agreement. “They account for nearly 80% of the world catch,” noted Director of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Simon Cripps. “While their support is not needed for the UN Fish Stocks Agreement to enter into force, their compliance is essential in order for the Treaty to be effective,” he said.
WWF also said that most fishing nations and regional government bodies fall short of international standards for responsible fisheries management. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the top fishing countries accounted for up to eight million tonnes of fish caught in 1999.
Contact: UN Office of Legal Affairs, Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, 2 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 3962, fax +1-212/963 5847, website (www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_overview.fish.stocks.htm).
UNEP RELEASES STUDIES ON FISHERIES
Developing countries that open up their waters to foreign fishing fleets may lose far more than they gain, recent studies from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) indicate. The studies, undertaken in collaboration with national organizations in Argentina and Senegal, show that the eventual costs born by developing countries, in terms of loss of income for local fishermen, environmental damage and fish stock depletion, can far outweigh the short-term financial gains generated from foreign governments and fleets.
Hussein Abaza, head of UNEP’s Economics and Trade Branch (ETB) says, “Unraveling the precise impacts of trade liberalization and subsidies on the environment is not an easy business. Many of the impacts can be hidden, indirect and not immediately obvious.” He added that the studies have pointed to action that needs to be taken if developing countries are to “truly benefit.”
Argentina opened up its waters to European and other fleets, mainly from South-East Asia including Korea and Japan, during the 1980s and early 1990s. Factors such as deregulation, free movement of foreign capital and a reduction of export taxes triggered the boom in the export of Argentinean fish. During the first ten years, the report notes, the number of fish caught mushroomed and exports grew by 478%. However, since 1997, the quantity of fish caught has fallen dramatically as a result of the over-exploitation of key stocks.
Senegal became a major exporter of fish to the European market in the late 1980s as a result of a series of trade-related actions and agreements. Two-thirds of Senegalese export revenues now come from fish exports to Europe. Nevertheless, the study says, these policies resulted in a sharp decline of key fish stocks, with related environmental degradation, as well as threatened food-security of the country.
According to UNEP, the harmful impacts on the marine environment in Senegal and Argentina stem more from a lack of policies to ensure the sustainable management of fish stocks than trade liberalization. Tradable quotas, diversifying exports, measures to preserve the local markets, fines for vessels exceeding quotas, as well as greater enforcement and policing of the fisheries and the type of fishing gear allowed could solve some of the problems. The report estimates that the cost to the economy of the current, unsustainable fishing of one species alone– hake–has cost Argentina US$500 million, and suggests that a better-managed fishery could benefit the economy by as much as US$5 billion.
UNEP will host a technical workshop on the subject on 20 March 2002 in Geneva.
Contact: Hussein Abaza, Chief, Economics and Trade Branch, UNEP, 15 chemin des Anémones, CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 8298, e-mail <hussein.abaza@unep.ch>, website (www.unep.ch/etu).
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MOUNTAINS
The International Year of Mountains (IYM) was launched at UN headquarters in New York on 11 December 2001, with senior UN officials warning that mountain ecosystems face increasing risks as conflicts and environmental damage are harming irreplaceable resources.
The launch was co-sponsored by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Year of Mountains Focus Group, in cooperation with the UN Department of Public Information.
In his keynote address, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf underscored the importance of eliminating armed conflict and hunger to protect the world’s fragile mountain ecosystems and to alleviate the desperate poverty that exists in many mountain communities. “Mountain areas are home to most of the armed conflicts in the world as well as many of the world’s poorest and least food-secure populations,” he said. “As we begin commemorating the International Year of Mountains, conflict may be the single greatest obstacle to achieving our goals.” Mr. Diouf called on countries and UN agencies to make peace in the mountains a priority in the Year by addressing the root causes of conflict.
Other key concerns expressed by UN officials, governments and NGOs included conflict resolution; food security; the loss of ice caps due to global warming; sustainable tourism; sustainable mining; preservation of mountain spaces and development by mountain communities; and legislative and regulatory approaches for sustainable mountain development. The importance of religious and spiritual traditions linked to mountains, particularly among indigenous peoples, was also emphasized.
Mountains occupy one-fifth of the world’s land area, and are home to one-tenth of the world’s population and sources of biodiversity, minerals and forests. More than three billion people–half of humanity–rely on mountains for water to grow food, to produce electricity, to sustain industries and most importantly, to drink. Yet, according to FAO and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reports, many mountain ecosystems throughout the world are being degraded by unsustainable forestry and agriculture practices, often a result of poverty, urbanization and growing population.
The General Assembly declared the IYM 2002 in November 1998 to increase awareness of the global importance of mountain ecosystems and the challenges faced by mountain people and to stimulate long-term on-the-ground action. This unprecedented opportunity to address mountain issues and celebrate mountain culture evolved out of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), which placed mountains on equal footing with climate change, tropical deforestation and desertification as a key issue in the global debate on environment and development.
FAO is the lead UN agency for the Year, with partners including UN agencies, NGOs, the Mountain Forum, mountain people’s organizations and more than 40 national committees representing countries around the world.
Contact: Douglas McGuire, Senior Forestry Officer, International Year of Mountains Coordination Unit, FAO, Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/570 53275, e-mail <Douglas.McGuire@fao.org>, website (www.mountains2002.org).
MEETING TO STRENGTHEN MONTREAL PROTOCOL
The 13th Meeting of the Parties (MOP-13) to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer was held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) from 16-19 October 2001, with 325 participants from 108 countries, representing governments, UN agencies, and international and non-governmental organizations participating. MOP-13 focused on the implementation of existing commitments, rather than the negotiation of new provisions, as it considered ways to strengthen the effectiveness of the Montreal Protocol and ways to accelerate the recovery of the ozone layer.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), under whose auspices the 1987 Montreal Protocol was adopted, is calling for tighter controls saying that the current spring ozone “hole” over Antarctica measures 24 million square miles–almost the combined size of the Russian Federation and Brazil. “Despite the enormous cuts in ozone-depleting chemicals achieved under the Montreal Protocol, the stratospheric ozone layer remains in poor health as a result of past emissions,” said Klaus Töpfer, Executive Director of UNEP. “To minimize the damage to humans and the environment caused by increased ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation reaching the surface, we need to tackle simultaneously all the remaining sources of these chemicals,” he said.
MOP-13 adopted decisions on: the terms of reference (TOR) for a study on the 2003-2005 replenishment of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which provides support for phase-out projects in developing countries; an evaluation and review of the performance of the Protocol’s financial mechanism; a review of the Multilateral Fund’s fixed-exchange-rate mechanism; Parties’ compliance; procedures for assessing the ozone-depleting potential (ODP) of new substances; expedited procedures for adding new substances to the Protocol; and monitoring of international trade and prevention of illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and mixtures and products containing ODS, among others.
MOP-14 is scheduled to take place in Nairobi from 25-29 November 2002.
Contact: Michael Williams, Information Officer, UNEP, International Environment House, 15 chemin des Anémones, CH-1219 Châtelaine (Geneva), Switzerland, telephone +41-22/979 9242, fax +41-22/797 3464, e-mail <mwilliams@unep.ch>, website (www.unep.org).
GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON OCEANS AND COASTS
The Global Conference on Oceans and Coasts at Rio+10: Toward the 2002 World Summit of Sustainable Development–Assessing Progress, Addressing Continuing New Challenges, was held in Paris from 3-7 December 2001. Organized by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the conference brought together representatives of intergovernmental, international and regional organizations, NGOs and ocean experts to assess progress made in the implementation of Agenda 21, the 1992 Earth Summit programme of action, on issues relating to oceans and coasts.
The conference called for these issues to be placed on the agenda of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), to be held in Johannesburg (South Africa) from 26 August-4 September 2002. Growing population in coastal areas leads to more pressure on ocean and coastal resources, and the conference called for the World Summit to develop an action plan to “insure the sustainability and life-support functions of the world’s oceans and coasts.”
Some of the issues discussed and possible actions emanating from the conference include:
—Poverty reduction and healthier coastal communities can be achieved by targeting donor aid towards poverty reduction and improving public health in these regions; and, in cases where fishing has to be restricted, by helping communities to find alternative livelihoods.
—Implementation and compliance with international agreements can be enhanced by developing a common vision for oceans and seas; and pursuing wider ratification and implementation of multilateral agreements on oceans and coasts.
—Capacity building for governance of ocean and coastal areas can be accomplished by increasing the capacity of local governments and community-based groups to manage coastal and marine areas; and improving links between education and training in integrated coastal management.
—Protection of coastal and marine areas and biodiversity can be enhanced by developing an internationally accepted marine biodiversity classification system; and incorporating marine protected areas into an overall integrated coastal system.
—Strengthen monitoring of the marine environment by effective international coordination for an integrated assessment of the status of oceans and coasts; and a comprehensive global report on the state of oceans.
—Regarding issues relating to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), there is a need to integrate economic, environmental and social vulnerability factors into a vulnerability index with special applicability to SIDS; and a need for a ten-year review of the 1994 UN Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.
Contact: Julian Barbière, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, 1 rue Miollis, F-75732 Paris Cedex 15, France, telephone +33-1/45 68 40 45, fax +33-1/45 68 58 12, e-mail <j.barbiere@unesco.org>, website (ioc.unesco.org/iocweb).
UNAIDS/WHO 2001 AIDS EPIDEMIC UPDATE
The annual report AIDS Epidemic Update, published on 28 November 2001 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), estimates that around the world 40 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2001. The report says that 20 years after the first clinical evidence of AIDS was reported, more than 60 million people have been infected with the virus, making it the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, and the fourth-biggest killer worldwide.
The impact of the AIDS epidemic on growth, income and poverty is deepening in many parts of the world, the report says. In sub-Saharan Africa, the region the hardest hit by the epidemic, the report estimates that heavily affected countries can lose more than 20% of their gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020 because of AIDS. Also severely affected are the education systems, civil administrations, health services and farms of many countries in the region.
The report shows that Eastern Europe and Central Asia continue to experience the fastest-growing epidemic in the world. In 2001, there were an estimated 250,000 new infections in this region, bringing the number of people living with HIV to one million. Given the high levels of other sexually transmitted infections and the high rates of injecting drug use among young people, the report says the epidemic looks set to grow considerably. In this region several factors facilitate the spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic: mass unemployment and economic insecurity which affect much of the region; social and cultural norms that are increasingly liberalized; and the steady disintegration of public health services, making a much larger and more generalized epidemic a real threat.
The report calls for prompt, focused prevention efforts including in countries that still have low levels of HIV infection. It says that the key to success in low-prevalence countries, where HIV is not yet a risk to the wider population, is to enable the most vulnerable groups to adopt safer sexual and drug-injecting behaviour, to interrupt the spread of the virus among and between those groups, and to buy time to increase the wider population’s ability to protect itself against the virus. The report says it also is vital to defuse the stigma and blame often attached to vulnerable groups.
According to the report, unequal access to affordable treatment and adequate health services is one of the main factors accounting for the drastically different survival rates among those living with HIV/AIDS in rich and poor countries and communities. Public pressure and UN-sponsored engagements with pharmaceutical companies through the Accelerating Access Initiative, along with competition from generic drug manufacturers has helped bring antiretroviral drug prices down. The report says that reducing the high prices of antiretroviral drugs is essential but not enough, and calls for large-scale international support to help countries to meet the challenge of functioning and affordable health systems to bring treatment to those who need them.
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 <desantisd@unaids.org>, website (www.unaids.org).
ICASA FOCUSES ON COMMUNITY
“The Community Commits Itself” was the theme of the 12th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Africa (ICASA), held in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) from 9-13 December 2001, and sponsored by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
UNAIDS and conference organizers, Society on AIDS in Africa, the African Union against Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and the Government of Burkina Faso, chose the community theme to share insights and experiences gained in disease control and management strategies within the African context and to facilitate greater regional and interregional collaboration. “The most helpful responses to the epidemic so far have been those that build on the mobilization of communities,” organizers said in a statement. “It is therefore absolutely necessary to study community projects, to highlight the success and examine the difficulties encountered in organising community participation….It is only a community whose knowledge of HIV/AIDS has been reinforced which will be able to face up to the epidemic.”
Opening the conference, President of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaore urged Africans to admit that AIDS was the leading disaster in Africa, and that it was hindering further expansion of the continent’s economic and social development. He addressed the devastating effects that HIV/AIDS has had on Burkina Faso. “We see entire families destroyed,” said Mr. Compaore, “the framework that holds them together falling apart, their legendary solidarity fragmented by HIV/AIDS and numerous orphans joining the ranks of the ‘street children’ whose numbers have increased to an alarming degree.”
His sentiments were echoed by UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot who said it was time for donor agencies and governments to delve deeper into communities in order to reach more people. Dr. Piot pointed out that there were many possible sources of funding for “scaling-up” AIDS efforts from community to national levels, essential to linking local, district, national and regional decision making.
“In Africa it would require US$5 billion to organize effective prevention, to care for people living with HIV and to support AIDS orphans,” he said, adding that the money should come from the national budgets of African countries, international donors, financial institutions and from the Secretary-General’s Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. “The commitments made at international conferences on AIDS this year must be turned into action if the epidemic is to be effectively pushed back in Africa and other seriously affected areas,” Dr. Piot stressed.
Scientists at the conference emphasized the need for discounted HIV drugs. Despite assertions that Africa does not have a strong enough health infrastructure or sufficient qualified health personnel to administer these drugs, studies were presented showing that the drugs had been effective in Africa. Ibra Nboye, Director of the African Society Against AIDS, cited a study on Senegal that found that between 70 and 80% of patients appropriately followed their drug regimen for several consecutive years. Results of a similar study conducted by France’s National Agency for AIDS Research were also presented at the conference. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNAIDS officials noted that UN efforts to broaden access to anti-AIDS drugs were gaining momentum, with tangible results emerging in one out of five African countries. ICASA XIII will be held in Nairobi (Kenya) in 2003.
In related news, a recent report The Ecumenical Response to HIV/AIDS in Africa outlines a plan of action to address HIV/AIDS based on dialogue between churches, ecumenical and church-related organizations in Africa, Europe and North America and the World Council of Churches. The preamble calls on church leaders and congregations to speak honestly about HIV/AIDS and to act practically in response to it. Their objectives include the eradication of stigma and discrimination and to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are supported and actively involved in all activities of the churches. The report also outlines steps to be taken concerning education; training; prevention; care and counselling; advocacy; gender; culture; and liturgy.
Contact: XIIème CISMA 2001, Secrétariat Permanent, 09 BP 360 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, telephone +226/373139 or +226/373140, fax +226/373137, e-mail <cisma2001@cenatrin.bf>, website (www.cisma2001.bf).
Calle Almedal, UNAIDS, 20 Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4570, fax +41-22/791 4898, e-mail <almedalc@unaids.org>, website (www.unaids.org).
UN MARKS WORLD AIDS DAY
A town hall-style meeting was held at UN headquarters in New York in observance of World AIDS Day on 1 December 2001 under the theme “I care...Do you?”–a question designed to provoke awareness that individual action can go far in slowing infection rates and breaking the silence surrounding the epidemic.
Addressing the meeting, UN officials stressed the need to refocus attention on the global fight against the epidemic and to sustain the momentum that has been achieved in that effort so far. Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette noted that while the events of the past few months had propelled the world into an uncertain environment, the resolve to address the epidemic should not be diminished as a result. “The Secretary-General has issued a call to action with five clear objectives:
—to ensure that people everywhere know what to do to avoid infection;
—to stop HIV transmission from mother to child;
—to provide treatment for all infected persons;
—to redouble the search for a vaccine, as well as a cure; and
—to care for all those whose lives have been devastated by AIDS, particularly orphans.”
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan painted a grim picture of the reach of HIV/AIDS, which according to the most recent figures has infected more than 40 million. Despite these bleak trends, the Secretary-General said the world had reached a new level of commitment to fight the epidemic. “People are grasping the seriousness of the crisis, but they are also realizing that we are not powerless against this disease.” In order to meet the challenge of building on the current momentum, he said greater resources would be needed. “We estimate that an effective response to AIDS in low- and middle-income countries requires US$7 to 10 billion dollars each year. Clearly, funds will need to be boosted through changes in national priorities. Many governments have indicated they are going to increase their national health budgets. And of course, we can also do more by further debt relief to these countries that are spending more in debt repayments, as well as contributions through civil society and the private sector.” The Global AIDS and Health Fund has thus far received pledges of over US$1.5 billion.
Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Gro Harlem Brundtland, sounded an optimistic note, observing that the world had seen the start of a real change over the past year. “Silence about HIV and AIDS is being broken,” she said in a message. “All governments are confronting the epidemic with a new openness. They know that the effects [of AIDS] are relevant for their people. Taboos are starting to erode.”
Contact: UNAIDS, 20 avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 4651, fax +41-22/791 4187, e-mail <unaids@unaids.org>, website (www.unaids.org).
WHO LAUNCHES TOBACCO-FREE SPORTS CAMPAIGN
The World Health Organization (WHO) has been joined by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), the International Federation of the Automobile Association (FIA), Olympic Aid and other regional and local sports organizations in its Tobacco-Free Sports campaign. The campaign’s aim is to clean sports of all forms of tobacco, including tobacco consumption, exposure to second-hand smoke, and tobacco advertising, promotion and marketing.
Tobacco-free events will be organized all over the world, including the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games in the US and the 2002 FIFA World Cup in the Republic of Korea and Japan.
WHO points out that tobacco companies spend millions of dollars every year sponsoring sports events. “Many athletes, sports fans and spectators are young people,” the WHO reports, adding that recent data suggest that one-third of young smokers start before the age of ten. At the same time, youth consumption of tobacco is up in many parts of the world. Although tobacco companies claim that they do not target youth, the WHO says they advertise on “team jerseys and caps, tote bags and T-shirts, fields and stadia, cars and sports equipment” in order to “create a positive association between tobacco and the strength, speed, grace, success, fun and excitement of sports.” Tobacco kills more than four million people every year, according to WHO figures, and it is estimated that tobacco will kill 8.4 million people every year by 2020.
In related news, WHO’s 191 Member States are negotiating a global public health treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), to bring down tobacco-related deaths. According to the WHO, the FCTC will combine science and economics with legislation and regulation as it seeks global and national solutions for problems such as global tobacco advertising or smuggling–issues that cut across national boundaries, cultures, age groups and socio-economic strata.
Contact: Tobacco Free Initiative, WHO, 20 Avenue Appia, CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/791 2108, fax +41-22/791 4832, e-mail <tfi@who.int>, website (tobacco.who.int).
EAST EUROPEAN HEALTH CARE IN CRISIS
According to a recent survey by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Public Services International (PSI), the economic and social situation in several East European countries has resulted in the near collapse of some health care systems and afflicted health sector workers with high stress, poor working conditions and salaries at or below minimum wage–if and when they are paid.
“Rapidly increasing rates of sexually-transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and numerous chronic diseases have created a crisis of care made all the more dramatic by diminishing public health structures, lack of training of health care professionals and general de-skilling of the workforce,” says Guy Standing, ILO Director of the Socio-Economic Security Programme and coordinator of the studies. “All of this has surely contributed to the catastrophic fall in life expectancy rates in Russia, Ukraine and some other countries in the region.”
The ILO People’s Security Surveys (PSS) found 88% of families in Ukraine and 82% in Hungary were unable to afford basic health care. Meanwhile, 78% of healthcare workers surveyed in Ukraine reported that their wages were worse than the average for all workers. In Moldova, the poorest country in Europe, the health service is close to collapse and workers are paid months late, if at all, the survey reports. In the Czech Republic and Lithuania, most healthcare workers said their working conditions and pay had worsened in the past five years.
According to the study, the crisis stems from governments cutting public funding and decentralizing funding responsibilities, leaving many local authorities without the resources or administrative capacity to meet new obligations. The survey notes that the lack of funds has encouraged doctors and others in direct contact with patients to demand or expect illegal payments, and points to Russia, where such “under the table” arrangements represent an estimated 40% of all expenditures by persons seeking medical care.
The ILO says the overall economic situation in certain countries in Central and Eastern Europe puts them on a par with many developing countries, citing that two out of five Romanians live on less than US$30 per month, lower than Peru where the minimum monthly is US$40. Tuberculosis, at 65 per 100,000 of the population, is equivalent to the average found in sub-Saharan Africa.
Contact: ILO Department of Communication (DCOMM), 4, route des Morillons, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/799 7912, fax +41-22/799 8577, e-mail <communication@ilo.org>, website (www.ilo.org/communication).
UNICEF REPORT ON CIS, CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
According to a recent UNICEF report, Decade of Transition, child poverty is widespread in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), in spite of growing economies throughout the region. The report, published by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence, looks at the standard of living of the more than 400 million people who live in the CIS/CEE region.
UNICEF says that almost 18 million children and young people are living in poverty, and increasing numbers of children are ending up in institutions or being put up for adoption as families strain to cope. According to the report, higher rates of children in out-of-home care reflect the greater risks faced by children: weaker family ties, lower household income, poorer access to health and education, higher rates of adult mortality.
In parts of the region, the report finds high levels of school dropout, repetition, and late entry. Secondary school attendance in Central Asian countries has fallen from two-thirds in 1989 to less than half of 15 to 18 year-olds in 1998. Cases of HIV/AIDS have increased dramatically in the region affecting primarily young people (see related story above), and there has been a 50% increase in tuberculosis, with Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Romania being the most affected.
The report notes huge disparities in the situation of children across the 27 countries in the region and calls for renewed efforts to grant a better future for all. Radical reforms of child protection systems in the region are no less urgently needed now than they were a decade ago, says the report, which urges stronger preventive and better targeted policies to help keep children and their families together.
Some of UNICEF’s recommendations include moving child poverty to the forefront of national policy debate, combating long-term problems such as educational disadvantages, teenage pregnancy and ill health that perpetuate child poverty, and supporting family incomes through both economic policy and tax and transfer systems. The report also makes recommendations on education, health and child institutionalization.
Contact: Patrick McCormick, UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Piazza SS. Annunziata 12, I-50122 Florence, Italy, telephone +39-05/5203 3253, fax +39-055/244817, e-mail <pmccormick@unicef.org>, website (www.unicef.org/newsline/01pr94.htm) or (www.unicef-icdc.org).
ILO LAUNCHES RED CARD TO CHILD LABOUR CAMPAIGN
The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched its “Red Card to Child Labour” campaign in January 2002 to coincide with the start of the 2002 African Cup of Nations football tournament that began on 19 January in Bamako (Mali). The