GB93b

United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service

12.12.2003

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Serving the UN system and NGO community since 1975

NO 93   AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2002

UN UPDATE NGO & OTHER NEWS FOCUS

SG Announces Plan to Further Strengthen UN
New Human Rights Commissioner Takes Office
ICC States Parties Launch Court’s Operation
Regular Funding of UN Projects Down Controversy Over Genetically Modified Food Aid
WFP Launches Online Donation Feature
UNCTAD Says Importanceof TNCs on the Rise
WHO-WTO Joint Study on Public Health and Trade
UNIDO Says Rich-Poor Gap Widening
UNHCR Reports Number of Asylum Seekers Down
Conference on Disarmament Ends 2002 Session
Yearbook Says Military Spending on the Increase
UN Security Council Debates Women and War
Strong Support Shown to UNFPA
CEDAW Holds Exceptional Session
INSTRAW Launches New Website, Discussion Forum
International Literacy Day Observed 8 September
FAO Launches World Agriculture Study
Mary Robinson Leaves Office
OHCHR Adopts Principles and Guidelines
UNAIDS and OHCHR Revise Guideline
WHO Initiative Calls for Cleaner Environments
State of North America’s Environmen Oxfam Launches Coffee Campaign
State of the World’s Mothers 2002
HelpAge International: A Generation in Transition
Other News
ICHRP Reports on Post 11 September Human Rights
Stockholm Water Symposium Calls for Action UN Holds First Social Forum on Globalization— and Human Rights 22
Human Rights Sub-Commission Addresses WTO Issues
Human Development Report 2002
Opening 57th Session of the GA
SG Stresses Multilateralism
ECOSOC 2002 Substantive Session
Economic Survey of Latin America
55th Annual DPI/NGO Conference
Calendar

TOP
   NGO NEWS

   Oxfam Launches Coffee Campaign

According to Oxfam International’s recent report, Mugged: Poverty in your coffee cup, there is a crisis destroying the livelihoods of 25 million coffee producers around the world. The price of coffee has fallen by almost 50% in the past three years to a 30-year low, and Oxfam says the long-term prospects are grim.
Developing-country coffee farmers, mostly poor smallholders, now sell their coffee beans for much less than they cost to produce - only 60% of production costs in Viet Nam’s Dak Lak Province, for example. Farmers sell at a heavy loss while branded coffee sells at a high profit, and Oxfam’s report indicates that the coffee crisis has become a development disaster whose impacts will be felt for a long time.
Families dependent on the money generated by coffee are pulling their children, especially girls, out of school. They can no longer afford basic medicines, and are cutting back on food. Beyond farming families, coffee traders are going out of business. Oxfam warns that national economies are suffering and some banks are collapsing. At the same time, government funds are being squeezed dry, putting pressure on health and education and forcing governments further into debt.
Oxfam says the coffee industry has been transformed from a managed market, in which governments played an active role both nationally and internationally, to a free-market system, in which anyone can participate, and in which the market itself sets the coffee price. Recently this has brought very cheap raw material prices for the giant coffee companies. Oxfam warns that the current practice of paying prices as low as they can go—whatever the consequences for farmers—is a dangerous business strategy in the long term, and even in the short term it does not help the business interests of the producers of instant coffee. The report suggests that the coffee-market failure is, in part, a result of policy failure by international institutions.
Oxfam says that although existing market-based solutions—such as Fair Trade and the development of speciality coffees—are important and can help poverty reduction and the environment, they apply only to some farmers. Oxfam says a systemic and not a niche solution is necessary, and the scale of the solution needs to be commensurate with the scale of the crisis. Oxfam is calling for a Coffee Rescue Plan, bringing together all the major players in the coffee trade, to make the coffee market benefit the poor as well as the rich, and to make trade fair.
Under the auspices of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the proposed Rescue Plan would:
—Ensure companies pay farmers a decent price;
—Destroy some surplus coffee stocks to reduce supply and push up prices;
—Commit to global trade in only quality coffee;
—Call for the management of commodity markets to better balance supply and demand, and share benefits between producers and consumers;
—Target aid packages to farmers to alleviate immediate suffering and to create alternative livelihoods; and
—Reduce commodity dependence by supporting producing countries in developing the production and export of processed agricultural goods.
Néstor Osorio, ICO Executive Director, welcomed the Oxfam campaign on the plight of coffee farmers. “We are seeing an exodus from rural communities in Latin America as farmers abandon their farms in desperation, and migrate to the North; in Asia there have been incidents of suicides by indebted coffee growers, and the long-term development of producing countries is eroded as the education and health of their people suffer. The huge inequity between income received by producers and that received by consuming countries must be resolved as a matter of urgency,” Mr. Osorio said.
Contact: Oxfam International, Suite 20, 266 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DL, UK, telephone +44-1865/313939, fax +44-1865/313770, e-mail <information@oxfaminternational.org>, website (www.maketradefair.com).
International Coffee Organization, 22 Berners Street, London W1T 3DD, England, telephone +44-2075/808591, fax +44-2075/806129, e-mail <info@ico.org>, website (www.ico.org).

TOP

  State of the World’s Mothers 2002

Save the Children’s third annual report, State of the World’s Mothers 2002: Mothers and Children in War and Conflict, takes a comprehensive look at the status of mothers and children in some of the most conflicted regions of the world. It also examines mothers’ roles as protectors, caregivers, income-earners and educators of the next generation, particularly during times of conflict, and the life-saving roles mothers play in post-conflict countries.
“This year’s report documents the horrific consequences of the world’s failure to protect women and children in war and conflict,” says Charles MacCormack, President of Save the Children. “But, with increased investments in women and mothers, we can provide a lifeline to these children and, at the same time, help ensure a region’s successful transition from war and disaster to peace and stability.” The report highlights the fact that women and children account for 28 million of the world’s 35 million refugees.
Calling for changes in international policies and humanitarian response efforts to prioritize the care and protection of women and children, State of the World’s Mothers 2002 says that these “critically needed reforms and investments” will enable mothers to do more for themselves and their children, and increase the likelihood that poverty and the instability it fosters will not be repeated in the next generation.
Some of the principal findings include:
—The report says the nature of war has changed immensely in recent decades, putting mothers and children at greater risk of death, disease, displacement and exploitation. Women and girls face an increased risk of being subjected to sexual assault and abuse, and when parents lose the ability to protect and provide for their children, boys and girls as young as eight or nine years old may be pressed into military servitude. “Today, women and children are the casualties of deliberate and systematic violence against entire populations. Women and children are killed, maimed and exploited as opposing forces—often acting on long-simmering ethnic and religious grievances—seek to destroy each other’s cultures and the very fabric of society.”
—The report stresses that during wartime, the world community must recognize the inextricable link between mothers’ and children’s wellbeing and do more to ensure the survival of both. “In poor countries, when men go away to fight—perhaps never to return—women become heads of households and assume even greater responsibility for the security and wellbeing of the family….Livelihood protection measures, expanded food distribution and emergency therapeutic feeding programmes are critically needed during times of conflict to ward off malnutrition and death.”
—The report says that investing in mothers is one of the most effective ways to help post-conflict societies achieve reconciliation and move forward. Suggestions for investment include small business loan programmes; maternal health services; and adult literacy programmes. “Often, after enduring years of destruction and chaos, women step up to play highly constructive roles as peacemakers and rebuilders…. Evidence suggests that additional investments in mothers can be a key ingredient in helping post-conflict societies achieve reconciliation, development and a better future for children.”
The report also notes that while warfare has changed dramatically, the humanitarian response has not, and urges governments and international organizations to do more to ensure the protection and care of women and children. It also stresses the role that NGOs can play at the community level, and calls for shifting more resources to NGOs closest to the ground in emergency situations.
The report also offers a Mothers’ Index that ranks the wellbeing of mothers and children in 105 countries, 31 of which are either currently experiencing conflict or have recently emerged from conflict. The Index uses six indicators measuring the status of women in the areas of health, literacy, use of contraception and political participation; and four indicators covering the wellbeing of children, which are: infant mortality, nutritional status, primary school enrollment and access to safe water. Switzerland, Canada and Norway top the rankings this year, and Niger is the bottom-ranked country.
Contact: Colleen Barton, Save the Children USA, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, CT 06880, USA, telephone +1-203/221 4187, website (www.savethechildren.org).

TOP

  HelpAge International: A Generation in Transition

Many older people in East and Central Europe live on the edge of survival, according to a recent report from HelpAge International entitled A Generation in Transition, launched as the UN’s Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) met in Berlin to discuss how the region will implement the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing adopted in April 2002 (see Go Between 91).
The report, which draws on consultations with older people in late 2001, argues that the collapse of the Soviet-dominated economic and political systems and the “shock therapy” of the 1990s have hit older people hardest. “The current generation of older people has lived through the deprivations of World War II and, for many, the impact of mass deportations in the 1950s. They saved and planned for a dignified and relatively secure retirement. Now they have feelings of isolation and loss, and their contribution to society is often not recognised,” said Paul Hinchliff, ECE Regional Programme Manager. “Many older people do not have access to adequate health services, a basic income to cover essential bills and the cost of medicines. At the same time, the value of pensions is shrinking with inflation.”
Families still form the backbone of east and central European societies, but are changing. The report notes that more young people are migrating in search of new opportunities. Though many older people still contribute to their families, an increasing number, especially older women in rural areas, find themselves living alone with neither family nor state support. In the conflict torn areas of the Balkans, older people who have been forced to move from one country to another frequently lose access to their pensions.
The publication says that despite the problems, older people are increasingly trying to change their situation, and shows how a network of older people’s organizations is developing in various parts of the region. These groups, often consisting of older people working as volunteers, are giving older people more confidence to advocate on their own behalf. “This publication goes some way to documenting how older people are supporting themselves and in many cases their families,” says Mr. Hinchliff. “They are also working with the younger generation in non-governmental organizations.”
Contact: Sarah Graham-Brown, Media Officer, HelpAge International, 1st Floor, York House, 207-221 Pentonville Road, London N1 9ZN, UK, telephone +44-20/7278 7778, e-mail <hai@helpage.org>, website (www.helpage.org).

TOP
  OTHER NEWS

  ICHRP Reports on Post 11 September Human Rights

The International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) has published a report, entitled Human Rights after September 11, based on a two-day meeting convened by the International Council in January 2002 to discuss the longer-term implications, for those who work on human rights, of the suicide attacks against the United States and their aftermath, particularly the formation of an international campaign against terrorism.
The report aims to provide useful guidance to human rights experts, both by analyzing the development since the 11 September 2001 attacks and by identifying issues that ICHRP says ought to be awarded priority in human rights work. Among the issues covered are the problem of the definition of terrorism, threats to the rule of law, the policy effects of unilateralism, and the overall challenges for human rights organizations.
Chapter One examines major themes and concerns that emerged during the two days of discussion. First, there was concern that “multilateral and more diplomatic approaches to solving international problems may surrender ground to unilateral and more forceful approaches.” A second concern raised was that “approaches to solving international problems based on the rule of law will give way to approaches that are security-driven.” Third, there was concern expressed about the “legal definition of ‘terrorism’ and the definition and application of policies to suppress it.” A further concern was that “recourse to military solutions, as the first rather than the last response to political violence, would create new risks of conflict in many parts of the world and would not deal effectively with international terrorism.” Discussion of related issues established, in broad terms, that there is a “relationship between global inequity (or perceptions of inequity) and political violence (or sympathy for it).”
Chapter Two considers the issue of terrorism and its definition. Chapter Three identifies and discusses some specific threats to human rights. Chapter Four reflects on issues of multilateralism and security, while Chapter Five examines motives and the relevance of related causes, in particular economic marginalization. Chapter Six identifies particular challenges facing human rights organizations, and a final section sets out some general recommendations.
Contact: International Council on Human Rights Policy, 48, chemin du Grand-Montfleury, CH-1290 Versoix, Geneva, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/775 3300, fax +41-22/775 3303, e-mail <ichrp@international-council.org>, website (www.ichrp.org).

TOP
  Stockholm Water Symposium Calls for Action

Speaking at the Stockholm Water Symposium, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Töpfer called on world leaders to move “from declarations to action and implementation” in assisting the 1.1 billion people who still lack access to safe drinking water and the 2.4 billion who lack access to adequate sanitation.
Addressing the opening session of the four-day meeting held in Stockholm (Sweden) from 12-15 August 2002, and which is also part of the annual World Water Week, Mr. Töpfer stressed that the use of water is expected to jump by 40% in the next 18 years, while 17% more water will be needed for food production because of the world’s growing population.
“Without adequate clean water, there can be no escape from poverty,” the Executive Director said, calling for more funding to assist developing countries in managing scarce water supplies. He said water pollution, poor sanitation and shortages could lead to the deaths of millions of people this year alone and leave millions more “in bad health and trapped in poverty.”
The conference’s final declaration was presented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg (South Africa) from 26 August to 4 September. It urges world leaders to put water high on their agenda and uphold the integrated approach to freshwater management.
The declaration says immediate action is needed to:
—improve governance of water resources and water services;
—establish participatory mechanisms;
—improve dramatically drinking water supply and sanitation;
—establish regimes for integrated management of river basins and aquifers including where these are for trans-boundary waters;
—increase water productivity, get more benefit from each drop of water, both in agricultural and other uses;
—prevent pollution of both ground and surface water; and
—protect and restore vulnerable ecosystems.
The 2003 Stockholm Water Symposium, entitled Balancing Production, Trade and Water Use, will take place from 11-14 August 2003 in Japan.
Contact: Stockholm International Water Institute, SE-113 59 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone +46-85/221 3975, fax +46-85/221 3961, e-mail <sympos@siwi.org>, website (www.siwi.org).

TOP

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TOP	NGO NEWS
	Oxfam Launches Coffee Campaign
	According to Oxfam International’s recent report, Mugged: Poverty in your coffee cup, there is a crisis destroying the livelihoods of 25 million coffee producers around the world. The price of coffee has fallen by almost 50% in the past three years to a 30-year low, and Oxfam says the long-term prospects are grim. Developing-country coffee farmers, mostly poor smallholders, now sell their coffee beans for much less than they cost to produce - only 60% of production costs in Viet Nam’s Dak Lak Province, for example. Farmers sell at a heavy loss while branded coffee sells at a high profit, and Oxfam’s report indicates that the coffee crisis has become a development disaster whose impacts will be felt for a long time. Families dependent on the money generated by coffee are pulling their children, especially girls, out of school. They can no longer afford basic medicines, and are cutting back on food. Beyond farming families, coffee traders are going out of business. Oxfam warns that national economies are suffering and some banks are collapsing. At the same time, government funds are being squeezed dry, putting pressure on health and education and forcing governments further into debt. Oxfam says the coffee industry has been transformed from a managed market, in which governments played an active role both nationally and internationally, to a free-market system, in which anyone can participate, and in which the market itself sets the coffee price. Recently this has brought very cheap raw material prices for the giant coffee companies. Oxfam warns that the current practice of paying prices as low as they can go—whatever the consequences for farmers—is a dangerous business strategy in the long term, and even in the short term it does not help the business interests of the producers of instant coffee. The report suggests that the coffee-market failure is, in part, a result of policy failure by international institutions. Oxfam says that although existing market-based solutions—such as Fair Trade and the development of speciality coffees—are important and can help poverty reduction and the environment, they apply only to some farmers. Oxfam says a systemic and not a niche solution is necessary, and the scale of the solution needs to be commensurate with the scale of the crisis. Oxfam is calling for a Coffee Rescue Plan, bringing together all the major players in the coffee trade, to make the coffee market benefit the poor as well as the rich, and to make trade fair. Under the auspices of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the proposed Rescue Plan would: —Ensure companies pay farmers a decent price; —Destroy some surplus coffee stocks to reduce supply and push up prices; —Commit to global trade in only quality coffee; —Call for the management of commodity markets to better balance supply and demand, and share benefits between producers and consumers; —Target aid packages to farmers to alleviate immediate suffering and to create alternative livelihoods; and —Reduce commodity dependence by supporting producing countries in developing the production and export of processed agricultural goods. Néstor Osorio, ICO Executive Director, welcomed the Oxfam campaign on the plight of coffee farmers. “We are seeing an exodus from rural communities in Latin America as farmers abandon their farms in desperation, and migrate to the North; in Asia there have been incidents of suicides by indebted coffee growers, and the long-term development of producing countries is eroded as the education and health of their people suffer. The huge inequity between income received by producers and that received by consuming countries must be resolved as a matter of urgency,” Mr. Osorio said. Contact: Oxfam International, Suite 20, 266 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7DL, UK, telephone +44-1865/313939, fax +44-1865/313770, e-mail <information@oxfaminternational.org>, website (www.maketradefair.com). International Coffee Organization, 22 Berners Street, London W1T 3DD, England, telephone +44-2075/808591, fax +44-2075/806129, e-mail <info@ico.org>, website (www.ico.org).
TOP	State of the World’s Mothers 2002
	Save the Children’s third annual report, State of the World’s Mothers 2002: Mothers and Children in War and Conflict, takes a comprehensive look at the status of mothers and children in some of the most conflicted regions of the world. It also examines mothers’ roles as protectors, caregivers, income-earners and educators of the next generation, particularly during times of conflict, and the life-saving roles mothers play in post-conflict countries. “This year’s report documents the horrific consequences of the world’s failure to protect women and children in war and conflict,” says Charles MacCormack, President of Save the Children. “But, with increased investments in women and mothers, we can provide a lifeline to these children and, at the same time, help ensure a region’s successful transition from war and disaster to peace and stability.” The report highlights the fact that women and children account for 28 million of the world’s 35 million refugees. Calling for changes in international policies and humanitarian response efforts to prioritize the care and protection of women and children, State of the World’s Mothers 2002 says that these “critically needed reforms and investments” will enable mothers to do more for themselves and their children, and increase the likelihood that poverty and the instability it fosters will not be repeated in the next generation. Some of the principal findings include: —The report says the nature of war has changed immensely in recent decades, putting mothers and children at greater risk of death, disease, displacement and exploitation. Women and girls face an increased risk of being subjected to sexual assault and abuse, and when parents lose the ability to protect and provide for their children, boys and girls as young as eight or nine years old may be pressed into military servitude. “Today, women and children are the casualties of deliberate and systematic violence against entire populations. Women and children are killed, maimed and exploited as opposing forces—often acting on long-simmering ethnic and religious grievances—seek to destroy each other’s cultures and the very fabric of society.” —The report stresses that during wartime, the world community must recognize the inextricable link between mothers’ and children’s wellbeing and do more to ensure the survival of both. “In poor countries, when men go away to fight—perhaps never to return—women become heads of households and assume even greater responsibility for the security and wellbeing of the family….Livelihood protection measures, expanded food distribution and emergency therapeutic feeding programmes are critically needed during times of conflict to ward off malnutrition and death.” —The report says that investing in mothers is one of the most effective ways to help post-conflict societies achieve reconciliation and move forward. Suggestions for investment include small business loan programmes; maternal health services; and adult literacy programmes. “Often, after enduring years of destruction and chaos, women step up to play highly constructive roles as peacemakers and rebuilders…. Evidence suggests that additional investments in mothers can be a key ingredient in helping post-conflict societies achieve reconciliation, development and a better future for children.” The report also notes that while warfare has changed dramatically, the humanitarian response has not, and urges governments and international organizations to do more to ensure the protection and care of women and children. It also stresses the role that NGOs can play at the community level, and calls for shifting more resources to NGOs closest to the ground in emergency situations. The report also offers a Mothers’ Index that ranks the wellbeing of mothers and children in 105 countries, 31 of which are either currently experiencing conflict or have recently emerged from conflict. The Index uses six indicators measuring the status of women in the areas of health, literacy, use of contraception and political participation; and four indicators covering the wellbeing of children, which are: infant mortality, nutritional status, primary school enrollment and access to safe water. Switzerland, Canada and Norway top the rankings this year, and Niger is the bottom-ranked country. Contact: Colleen Barton, Save the Children USA, 54 Wilton Road, Westport, CT 06880, USA, telephone +1-203/221 4187, website (www.savethechildren.org).
TOP	HelpAge International: A Generation in Transition
	Many older people in East and Central Europe live on the edge of survival, according to a recent report from HelpAge International entitled A Generation in Transition, launched as the UN’s Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) met in Berlin to discuss how the region will implement the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing adopted in April 2002 (see Go Between 91). The report, which draws on consultations with older people in late 2001, argues that the collapse of the Soviet-dominated economic and political systems and the “shock therapy” of the 1990s have hit older people hardest. “The current generation of older people has lived through the deprivations of World War II and, for many, the impact of mass deportations in the 1950s. They saved and planned for a dignified and relatively secure retirement. Now they have feelings of isolation and loss, and their contribution to society is often not recognised,” said Paul Hinchliff, ECE Regional Programme Manager. “Many older people do not have access to adequate health services, a basic income to cover essential bills and the cost of medicines. At the same time, the value of pensions is shrinking with inflation.” Families still form the backbone of east and central European societies, but are changing. The report notes that more young people are migrating in search of new opportunities. Though many older people still contribute to their families, an increasing number, especially older women in rural areas, find themselves living alone with neither family nor state support. In the conflict torn areas of the Balkans, older people who have been forced to move from one country to another frequently lose access to their pensions. The publication says that despite the problems, older people are increasingly trying to change their situation, and shows how a network of older people’s organizations is developing in various parts of the region. These groups, often consisting of older people working as volunteers, are giving older people more confidence to advocate on their own behalf. “This publication goes some way to documenting how older people are supporting themselves and in many cases their families,” says Mr. Hinchliff. “They are also working with the younger generation in non-governmental organizations.” Contact: Sarah Graham-Brown, Media Officer, HelpAge International, 1st Floor, York House, 207-221 Pentonville Road, London N1 9ZN, UK, telephone +44-20/7278 7778, e-mail <hai@helpage.org>, website (www.helpage.org).
TOP	OTHER NEWS
	ICHRP Reports on Post 11 September Human Rights
	The International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) has published a report, entitled Human Rights after September 11, based on a two-day meeting convened by the International Council in January 2002 to discuss the longer-term implications, for those who work on human rights, of the suicide attacks against the United States and their aftermath, particularly the formation of an international campaign against terrorism. The report aims to provide useful guidance to human rights experts, both by analyzing the development since the 11 September 2001 attacks and by identifying issues that ICHRP says ought to be awarded priority in human rights work. Among the issues covered are the problem of the definition of terrorism, threats to the rule of law, the policy effects of unilateralism, and the overall challenges for human rights organizations. Chapter One examines major themes and concerns that emerged during the two days of discussion. First, there was concern that “multilateral and more diplomatic approaches to solving international problems may surrender ground to unilateral and more forceful approaches.” A second concern raised was that “approaches to solving international problems based on the rule of law will give way to approaches that are security-driven.” Third, there was concern expressed about the “legal definition of ‘terrorism’ and the definition and application of policies to suppress it.” A further concern was that “recourse to military solutions, as the first rather than the last response to political violence, would create new risks of conflict in many parts of the world and would not deal effectively with international terrorism.” Discussion of related issues established, in broad terms, that there is a “relationship between global inequity (or perceptions of inequity) and political violence (or sympathy for it).” Chapter Two considers the issue of terrorism and its definition. Chapter Three identifies and discusses some specific threats to human rights. Chapter Four reflects on issues of multilateralism and security, while Chapter Five examines motives and the relevance of related causes, in particular economic marginalization. Chapter Six identifies particular challenges facing human rights organizations, and a final section sets out some general recommendations. Contact: International Council on Human Rights Policy, 48, chemin du Grand-Montfleury, CH-1290 Versoix, Geneva, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/775 3300, fax +41-22/775 3303, e-mail <ichrp@international-council.org>, website (www.ichrp.org).
TOP	Stockholm Water Symposium Calls for Action
	Speaking at the Stockholm Water Symposium, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Töpfer called on world leaders to move “from declarations to action and implementation” in assisting the 1.1 billion people who still lack access to safe drinking water and the 2.4 billion who lack access to adequate sanitation. Addressing the opening session of the four-day meeting held in Stockholm (Sweden) from 12-15 August 2002, and which is also part of the annual World Water Week, Mr. Töpfer stressed that the use of water is expected to jump by 40% in the next 18 years, while 17% more water will be needed for food production because of the world’s growing population. “Without adequate clean water, there can be no escape from poverty,” the Executive Director said, calling for more funding to assist developing countries in managing scarce water supplies. He said water pollution, poor sanitation and shortages could lead to the deaths of millions of people this year alone and leave millions more “in bad health and trapped in poverty.” The conference’s final declaration was presented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg (South Africa) from 26 August to 4 September. It urges world leaders to put water high on their agenda and uphold the integrated approach to freshwater management. The declaration says immediate action is needed to: —improve governance of water resources and water services; —establish participatory mechanisms; —improve dramatically drinking water supply and sanitation; —establish regimes for integrated management of river basins and aquifers including where these are for trans-boundary waters; —increase water productivity, get more benefit from each drop of water, both in agricultural and other uses; —prevent pollution of both ground and surface water; and —protect and restore vulnerable ecosystems. The 2003 Stockholm Water Symposium, entitled Balancing Production, Trade and Water Use, will take place from 11-14 August 2003 in Japan. Contact: Stockholm International Water Institute, SE-113 59 Stockholm, Sweden, telephone +46-85/221 3975, fax +46-85/221 3961, e-mail <sympos@siwi.org>, website (www.siwi.org).
TOP	home about ngls un-ngo relations publications un news staff/contacts faq links	next