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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 Human Rights Sub-Commission Addresses WTO Issues Human Development Report 2002 (Extracts) Opening 57th Session of the GA SG Stresses Multilateralism ECOSOC 2002 Substantive Session Economic Survey of Latin America 55th Annual DPI/NGO Conference Calendar |
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UN Holds First Social Forum on Globalization and Human Rights |
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On 26 July and 2 August, the first UN Forum on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Social Forum) was held under the auspices of the UN human rights system in Geneva. Focusing on globalization, poverty and the right to food, the Forum generated a number of recommendations of a legal nature, including to the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The UN Social Forum is the first institutionalized attempt to bring together a range of actors, including those that normally do not participate in UN meetings such as organized grassroots social movements, to discuss the socio-economic dimensions of globalization from a human rights perspective. Operating within the framework of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the Social Forum does not only aim to foster dialogue between a broad spectrum of relevant actors (NGOs, community organizations, trade unions, social movements, private sector entities, international financial and trade institutions, and development agencies). It also aims to give a special voice to new grassroots actors (including the organized movements of the poor and marginalized that do not have an institutionalized space within the United Nations system); to articulate their concerns on the impact of globalization from a specifically human rights angle; and to make recommendations of a legal nature to relevant national and international bodies. A Difficult Birth However, the Commission’s decision needed to be formally endorsed by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) meeting in July 2002 in New York. On the day the Social Forum was supposed to start (25 July), ECOSOC had not yet voted on the matter, so procedurally, the meeting had to be postponed until further notice. According to some observers, this was a deliberate attempt by one Member State, apparently opposed to the Social Forum, to delay the ECOSOC vote because it would likely reflect the same favourable majority as in the Human Rights Commission. By 26 July (after coordinated lobbying efforts by Geneva- and New York-based NGOs) ECOSOC had endorsed the Commission’s decision, and the second date of the Forum was rescheduled for 2 August. NGO Preparatory Meeting The Forum itself was organized into three panels, the first on
globalization and human rights; the second on the experience of grassroots organizations on the
realities of hunger and poverty; and the third on the “institutional response” to these issues by
representatives of national governmental bodies, international agencies and NGOs. Speakers included
representatives of the Assembly of the Poor (a Thai coalition of urban and rural poor, indigenous
peoples and fisherfolk); La Via Campesina (an international coalition of landless and small farmers);
the South African Human Rights Commission; the Brazilian Department of State for Social Affairs; the
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD); the World Bank, the World Lutheran
Federation; ATD Quart Monde; and Food First Information and Action Network (FIAN).
The Social Forum’s discussions covered a wide spectrum of issues,
including: the impact on small farmers of the sudden surge of cheap agricultural imports as a result of
trade liberalization in developing countries; the justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights
as evidenced in recent South African court decisions; whether the integration of human rights concerns
into poverty reduction strategies promoted by international financial institutions would become added
conditionality; the impact of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on farmers’ rights and the right
to health; and the value of General Comment N°12 of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, as the most authoritative text to follow-up on the WFS:fyl agreement to develop voluntary
guidelines on the right to food. A detailed summary of the Forum’s discussions and recommendations is
contained in the Forum’s report (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/18) and is available on the OHCHR website
(www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/2/54sub/advancedoc.htm).
Recommendations to the WTO General Council Through the High Commissioner’s Office, the Social Forum also requested
that the three reports of the High Commissioner on human rights and trade be forwarded to the WTO Council
and to its relevant Committees and to the Director-General of the WTO, namely: reports on a human
rights analysis of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) of
the WTO (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2001/13); the WTO Agreement on Agriculture (E/CN.4/2002/54); and liberalization
of trade in services (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/18). Whether WTO members take up these issues remains to be
seen, but would depend not least on whether NGOs specialized in trade and development integrate human
rights prerogatives in their advocacy for greater economic justice in the international trading regime.
Next year’s Social Forum will focus on the following theme: “The relationship
between globalization and rural poverty and the rights of peasants, pastoralists and other rural communities.”
The dates have not yet been fixed, but like this year, may take place in late July.
Contact: Secretary of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection
of Human Rights, OHCHR, Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Pâquis, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland, telephone +41-22/917 9328,
fax +41-22/917 9011, website (www.unhchr.ch). |
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At its 54th session in August this year, the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights examined the human rights impact of services trade liberalization, including through the ongoing negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The Sub-Commission is a subsidiary body of the UN Commission on Human Rights and is composed of human rights experts nominated by States to act in their independent capacity. The Sub-Commission had before it a report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Liberalization of trade in services and human rights (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2002/9), which it had requested last year. The report is the third in a series of the High Commissioner’s reports concerning human rights and trade, the others being on the WTO agreements on intellectual property and on agriculture (see previous story). Inconsistency between GATS and Human Rights Obligations? —The establishment of a two-tiered service supply with a corporate segment focused on the healthy and wealthy
and an under-financed public sector focusing on the poor and the sick; The report stresses that human rights law does not place obligations on States
to be the sole provider of essential services; however, States must guarantee the availability, accessibility,
acceptability and adaptability of essential services, including their supply, especially to the poor, vulnerable
and marginalized.
Looking specifically at GATS itself, the report outlines a number of concerns,
including the following: The High Commissioner also encourages greater consultation between WTO delegates
and delegates representing the same country as members or observers of the Commission on Human Rights on the
links between human rights and trade, and on particular ways to ensure coherence in policy and lawmaking.
“Chilling Effect” of WTO Rules and Enforcement Towards Cancun The resolution further requests that the High Commissioner submit to the 55th
session of the Sub-Commission in August 2003 a report on human rights, trade and investment, paying specific
attention to the human rights implications of privatization. Finally, it requests the High Commissioner to make
a comprehensive submission on human rights, trade and investment to the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the WTO,
to take place in Cancun (Mexico) in September 2003.
Contact: Guennadi Lebakine, Secretary of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights, OHCHR, Palais Wilson, 52 rue des Pâquis, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland,
telephone +41-22/917 9328, fax +41-22/917 9011, e-mail <glebakine.hchr@unog.ch>, website (www.unhchr.ch). |
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The Human Development Report (HDR) 2002, commissioned by UNDP to explore major issues of global concern, looks at the advance of democracy in the 20th century and how it has affected developing countries and poor people. The report, entitled Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World, says that although scores of countries took steps towards democracy during the 1980s and 1990s, progress in many is stalled and some are slipping back to authoritarian rule, putting human development at risk. The report notes that while 140 of the world’s nearly 200 countries hold multi-party elections, only 82 are fully democratic with institutions such as a free press and independent judiciary. It calls for a new wave of democracy building to give ordinary people a greater say in both national and global policy making. Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office and lead author of the report, said that having the means and the freedom to fight for one’s rights, to shape decisions about the future of one’s own community, to gain access to crucial information and markets is at the core of human empowerment. “The central message of this report is a simple one: to promote human development successfully we need to put the politics back into poverty eradication,” said UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown. “That means ensuring that the poor have a real political voice and access to strong, transparent institutions capable of providing them with the kind of personal security, access to justice, and services from health to education they so desperately need,” he stressed. The report highlights a number of reforms that could address some of what it calls the “more obvious imbalances” in global decision making, including eliminating the Security Council veto, reforming the selection process for the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (which it says is currently controlled by Europe and the United States), and new programmes to help the poorest countries better represent their interests at the World Trade Organization (WTO), with the report noting that 15 African countries did not have a single trade representative stationed at the WTO. Citing recent global civil society campaigns—on everything from reducing poor country debt, to accessing essential medicines under the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Agreement (TRIPS), to establishing the International Criminal Court—the report argues that rather than feeling threatened by such global activism, the international community should see it as an opportunity to inject new energy and popular legitimacy into global decision making. The report also notes that nearly one-fifth of the world’s 37,000 international NGOs were formed in the 1990s and that “[m]ore than US$7 billion in aid to developing countries now flows through international NGOs, reflecting and supporting a dramatic expansion in the scope and nature of NGO activities.” The HDR also provides a country-by-country assessment of trends towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) established in September 2000 (see Go Between 90). It concludes that at the current pace, only 55 countries, with 23% of the world’s population, are on track to achieve as many as three-quarters of the MDGs, while 33 countries with 26% of the world’s population are failing on more than half of the targets. The report says a vital element in making the goals viable will be increasing aid from the developed nations, and warns that developing countries must benefit from increases in trade as well as aid in order to achieve the eight goals and 18 related targets. “Developing countries must be accountable for necessary social, political and economic reform and rich countries must hold up their end of the bargain in terms of providing the trade, aid and investment that will be needed to support these efforts,” said Mr. Malloch Brown while noting that the MDGs are “still feasible if global leaders take action now.” Most parts of the world have made progress in human development, but 21 countries registered a decline in the Human Development Index (HDI)—based on life expectancy, education and income per person—during the 1990s and 52 countries ended the decade poorer than at its beginning. The report calls attention to Eastern and Central Europe, the former Soviet Union and sub-Saharan Africa, where many countries actually have a lower HDI today than they did at the start of the 1990s, and in some cases, lower than in 1975. Norway remains on top of the HDI list for the second year in a row, with Sweden, Canada and Belgium close behind. Sierra Leone is still ranked last, with the bottom 24 countries on the Index all in sub-Saharan Africa. HDR reported that aid to developing countries fell during the decade, and for Africa it was halved, dropping from US$39 to US$19 per person annually. Donor countries continued to subsidize their farmers at a rate of US$1 billion a day, more than six times their total aid to poor countries, flooding markets with cheap imports and squeezing out poor country farmers. The number of refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide grew by 50%. These trends are “deeply troubling,” said Ms. Fukuda-Parr. “All this adds up to a
world in urgent need of a political order that can achieve greater inclusion, an order in which all people and
countries can have a say in decisions that affect their future, and one with rules and institutions which command
trust among all people and countries.” Contact: Trygve Olfarnes, UNDP Communications Office, 1 UN Plaza, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/906 6606, fax +1-212/906 5364, e-mail <trygve.olfarnes@undp.org>, website (www.undp.org/hdr2002/). |
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| Opening 57th Session of the GA SG Stresses Multilateralism | ||
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The new General Assembly (GA) President, Jan Kavan (Czech Republic), opened the Assembly’s 57th session on 10 September 2002, emphasizing the role of the UN in maintaining international peace and security, enhancing economic, developmental and humanitarian cooperation, and promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. The GA also welcomed East Timor and Switzerland as new Members, bringing the total number of UN Member States to 191. Opening the General Debate on 12 September 2002, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan reflected on the one-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States (US), calling for a broad, sustained and global response to terrorism. “Broad,” he said, “because terrorism can be defeated only if all nations unite against it. Sustained, because the battle against terrorism will not be won easily, or overnight. And global, because terrorism is a widespread and complex phenomenon, with many deep roots and exacerbating factors.” Mr. Annan emphasized, “I believe that such a response can only succeed if we make full use of multilateral institutions.” In the face of grave pronouncements by the US suggesting unilateral actions against Iraq, the Secretary-General went on to strongly reaffirm the indispensable necessity and enduring relevance of multilateralism and multilateral institutions in efforts to maintain international peace, security and freedom for all. “I also believe that every government that is committed to the rule of law at home, must be committed also to the rule of law abroad. All States have a clear interest, as well as a clear responsibility, to uphold international law and maintain international order.” “I stand before you today as a multilateralist—by precedent, by principle, by Charter and by duty,” he told delegations and world leaders. “The more a country makes use of multilateral institutions—thereby respecting shared values, and accepting the obligations and restraints inherent in those values—the more others will trust and respect it, and the stronger its chance to exercise true leadership,” Mr. Annan said. When countries worked together in such institutions, he stressed, developing, respecting and when necessary, enforcing international law, they also developed mutual trust and cooperation on other issues, including ensuring open markets and providing protection from acid rain, global warming or the spread of HIV/AIDS. Noting that national self-defense is enshrined in the UN Charter, Mr. Annan added that nonetheless, “when States decide to use force to deal with broader threats to international peace and security, there is no substitute for the unique legitimacy provided by the UN.” The Secretary-General said the existence of an effective international security system depended on the Security Council’s authority, and that the Council must therefore have the political will to act, even in the most difficult cases, when agreement seemed elusive. He highlighted several challenges facing the international community, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq, Afghanistan, and in South Asia where tension has increased between India and Pakistan. Mr. Annan introduced his annual Report on the Work of the Organization (A/57/1), which underscores that no single country has the capacity to cope with the challenges of an interconnected world, from terrorism to refugee movements, and from AIDS to environmental problems. The report is available online (www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/index.shmtl). |
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| ECOSOC 2002 Substantive Session | ||
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The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) held its annual substantive session from
1-26 July 2002 at UN headquarters in New York. Convened “at a time when the UN system is gearing up to pursue
internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration,” according to
Council President Ivan Simonovic (Croatia), it was also held at a “crucial juncture” in the cycle of major UN
conferences—soon after the Monterrey International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD) and just before the
Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD).
The high-level segment of the session, held from 1-3 July 2002 (see Go-Between 92)
was an occasion for the Council to give renewed political impetus to national and international efforts to improve
health and education and to launch new approaches and partnerships to accelerate progress towards human development.
The operational activities segment was devoted to UN activities for international development cooperation, with a
focus on efforts to improve the functioning of the UN system at the country level. The humanitarian segment
considered special economic, humanitarian and other disaster relief assistance, as well as ways to strengthen the
coordination of UN humanitarian assistance to vulnerable groups, and the transition from relief to development.
Coordination Segment In his summary of the session, Council President Simonovic said that the Council’s debate with heads of financial
and trade institutions had shown that, given the uncertainty of recovery in the world economy, further progress
in official development assistance (ODA), debt relief, trade and investment was needed to create an enabling
environment for development. ECOSOC had clearly expressed its determination to carry out the role assigned to it
in the follow-up to FFD, he said, working together with the BWIs, the WTO and other stakeholders. The WSSD, he
cautioned, would test the political will of the international community to build on the momentum created by the
Monterrey Consensus and the Doha Ministerial Declaration, and to make progress towards the implementation of the
commitments made at UN conferences and summits.
The Council took note of both the Secretary-General’s report on the strengthening
of the Council (E/2002/62) and his consolidated report on the work of the functional commissions of the Council
(E/2002/73). Introducing the reports, Patrizio Civili, the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination
and Inter-Agency Affairs, said that they aimed to suggest ways in which the thematic approach that characterizes
the Council’s work could be more systematically linked to the overall process of implementation of the
Millennium Declaration, and applied not only to each segment, but also to the relationship among them.
Finland introduced the 23 agreed conclusions of the coordination segment related
to strengthening the Council, which were adopted without a vote. Among them, the Council recognized that in order
to meet the challenges and opportunities of globalization and sustainable development and to promote the
effective implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including those contained in the
Millennium Declaration and in the outcomes of all other major UN conferences and summits, it would need to build
on these achievements to further strengthen its role and impact.
Venezuela, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China
(G-77), said that follow-up to the major UN conferences should include all major conferences and summits, and
that the follow-up of the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) fell within the competence
of the General Assembly (GA), though it was the Council’s role to assist the Assembly in that regard.
Denmark, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), said that the five (+5)
and ten (+10) year review conferences should not be convened automatically but rather on a case-by-case basis as
well as on their substantive merits. Existing structures, such as the Council’s functional commissions should be
used for follow-up. The EU also said it was “high time” to bring the discussion of enhancing coordination among
the development, economic and social, and environmental areas of the UN to fruition in the Council. The
implementation of the MDGs and the Monterrey Consensus at the national level could not wait, the EU said, noting
that the “Staying Engaged” section of the Monterrey Consensus was a good building block (see NGLS Roundup 91).
Recalling that the Monterrey Consensus had emphasized stronger involvement of the WTO and BWIs, the EU said that
such enhanced dialogue should focus on ensuring sustainable development and reaffirming broad commitment to
implementing the MDGs at the country level.
The EU said it believed that the innovative modalities for stakeholder
participation in preparations for the FFD should be continued and suggested that stakeholders be invited to the
Council’s informal consultations on such issues, so that innovative approaches for engaging civil society, the
private sector and other non-State actors could be applied, practically to the regular work of the Council.
Speaking at an afternoon panel discussion on improving the Council’s role in the
follow-up of the Millennium Declaration and other major conferences and summits, John Langmore of the
International Labour Organization (ILO) noted that though the Council was a globally representative institution,
it was not operating decisively or in a timely way to address global economic and social issues. The Spring
Meetings with the BWIs would be more interesting, he said, if specific issues were discussed and if they were
held before the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank so that messages
about the international political context could be heard by participants and taken into account.
General Segment In his summation, Mr. Simonovic said that the general segment had further
confirmed the Council’s need to focus on the follow-up to the Millennium Declaration and conferences, and to
reflect on cross-cutting policy issues emerging from its subsidiary machinery. He noted that during the segment,
for the first time ever, the Council’s bureau had met with the chairpersons of the functional commissions to
ensure better coordination.
The Council adopted a draft decision (E/2002/L.28) on implementation of the
Council’s agreed conclusions regarding the role of the UN in promoting development, particularly with respect to
access to and transfer of knowledge and technology through partnerships with relevant stakeholders, including the
private sector.
The Council also adopted the Facilitator’s draft resolution on the FFD, by which
it affirmed its commitment to contribute to implementation of the Monterrey Consensus. The Council agreed to
attach priority to four broad tasks related to follow-up activities: to promote coherence and an integrated
approach within the UN system; to intensify interactions with the BWIs, the WTO and other stakeholders; to
continue involving other relevant stakeholders, including civil society organizations and the private sector; and
to prepare inputs for the GA’s consideration.
The Council further affirmed its commitment to make full use of the annual
spring dialogue of the ECOSOC, the BWIs and the WTO to address issues of coherence, coordination and cooperation
related to follow-up of the FFD. The Council also decided to invite all institutional stakeholders to provide the
Secretary-General with interim reports during the first quarter of 2003 on work undertaken and planned regarding
the implementation of the different components of the Monterrey Consensus in preparation for the spring
dialogue.
The Council decided to postpone consideration of the Secretary-General’s reports
on basic indicators for the implementation of and follow-up to the major UN conferences and summits at all levels
(E/2002/53) and on the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major UN conferences and summits
(E/2002/57).
NGOs Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues In an additional decision (E/2002/L.32), the Council requested that the
Secretary-General submit proposals to the 57th session of the GA concerning the provision of adequate resources
to support the secretariat unit for the Forum within DESA.
The Council decided (E/2002/L.19) by a vote that the second session of the Forum
would be held at UN headquarters in New York from 12-23 May 2003. The US, however, along with Australia, Germany,
Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, said that the Forum should carry out its work within existing
resources and rejected the proposed programme budget. The matter will come before the GA’s Fifth Committee
(Financial and Budgetary).
Contact: Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination, Department of Economic
and Social Affairs, One UN Plaza, Room 1428, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 4628,
fax +1-212/963 1712, website (www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc/document.htm). |
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| Economic Survey of Latin America | ||
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According to a recent United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) report, the annual regional output of Latin American and Caribbean economies is expected to fall by 0.8% this year, and unemployment is expected to exceed 9%, with the report calling future prospects for the region “disappointing.” Current Conditions and Outlook, Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2001-2002 states that hopes for the start of an economic reactivation in the region in the second half of 2002 are based on projections of an upturn in the United States economy and better economic conditions in Europe, adding that any improvement in the international environment ought to be reflected in the Mexican, Central American and Caribbean economies, which have close trade relations with the US. The study classifies mainland Latin America into two groups in terms of growth in 2002. Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela form the first group, which the report says will most likely see GDP decline. The second group, composed of Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru, is expected to experience modest growth rates of up to 3%. Growth in Central America remains relatively low, while the situation of island countries in the Caribbean varies widely, with average growth for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries expected to reach 1%. The report also notes that the slowdown has also taken a toll on reform programmes in the region, that investment and saving have failed to show any sign of improving upon the figures posted in 2001, and that the labour demand remained sluggish in the first semester of 2002. The report is available for downloading on the ECLAC website in both Spanish and English. Contact: Hubert Escaith, Economic Development Division, ECLAC, Casilla 179-D, Santiago, Chile, telephone +56-2/210 2539, e-mail <hescaith@eclac.cl>, website (www.eclac.cl). |
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| 55th Annual DPI/NGO Conference | ||
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The 55th annual Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations, sponsored by the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) and NGOs accredited to the UN, was held from 9-11 September 2002 in New York with the theme “Rebuilding Societies Emerging from Conflict: A Shared Responsibility.” Some 2,700 NGO representatives from 85 countries attended the conference, which featured plenary panel discussions and numerous regional and thematic workshops. At the opening of the conference, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette
said that post-conflict situations were a “crucible” for the UN, where its achievements and failures were
most plain and where only the daily test of self-improvement enabled it to do its part in rebuilding nations. She noted that the UN was reaching out as never before to new partners, and said that NGOs held a “unique place in those endeavors.” In their keynote speeches, both Lakhdar Brahimi, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, and Mary Robinson, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stressed the importance of joint UN and NGO work, while recognizing the vital role of local leadership. “If there is one lesson that years of experience in peacekeeping and peace-building have taught us, it is that a peace and reconstruction process stands a far better chance of success when it is nationally owned, rather than led by external actors,” Mr. Brahimi said. “Without… local leadership,” Ms. Robinson said, “efforts are destined to be piecemeal, of limited effect and unsustainable.” Mr. Brahimi emphasized the importance of supporting fledgling government institutions in post-conflict societies. “We must all recognize that the international community’s role is often dramatically transformed in the post-conflict stage, and this requires that we change the manner in which we do business,” he said. While humanitarian efforts are getting the most attention, Mr. Brahimi said, “we must ensure that reconstruction and rehabilitation are not neglected.” Ms. Robinson highlighted the role of justice in rebuilding societies, including NGO work in assisting the truth and reconciliation commissions in Sierra Leone and East Timor. She noted, however, that “we still do not put enough emphasis on helping developing countries to build their own national protection systems for human rights.” The complexity of creating legal systems as part of peace-building was addressed in a panel on “Re-establishing the Rule of Law and Encouraging Good Governance.” According to the moderator, Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs Hans Corell, numerous components that had to be created from scratch in post-conflict situations included not only rules governing civil society but also civilian police, a justice system and regulations concerning property. Local participation, a free press and accommodation of local culture also had to be ensured, he said, for the long-term sustainability of whatever systems of order were created. Entrusting serious tasks only to expatriates and foreign NGOs was what “killed” local initiative and impeded self-sustainable development, Janina Ochojska, President of the Polish Humanitarian Organization, stressed during a panel on “Restoring Social Services: Identifying Priorities.” From the first day of emergency assistance, she said, aid recipients must participate in the entire process, from planning to implementation. During a panel entitled “From Less than Zero: The Challenge of Rebuilding Economies,” Evgenii Vassilev, a representative of the Friendship Ambassadors Foundation (Bulgaria), said he was convinced that economics was at the heart of many conflicts and that economic remedies must therefore be stressed. Vincent Lelei, Oxfam Regional Director for the Horn, East and Central Africa concurred. “Before conflicts take their devastating toll on lives,” he said, “they kill livelihoods.” Noting the capacity of Africa’s communities to survive, recover and go on, Mr. Lelei emphasized that local people should be placed firmly at the centre of planning and delivery and have some measure of control over decisions that impacted them and their livelihoods. In the process of making those decisions in a community setting, trust could be rebuilt. Mr. Lelei also advocated that global policies, in trade and other areas, be looked at critically, so that grassroots populations could build relationships in a wider and more sustainable way. Speaking on a panel entitled “Against the Odds: The Process of Reconciliation,” Daniel Ntoni-Nzinga, a representative of the Angolan Reflection Group for Peace, asserted that peace was more than the silencing of guns. Pointing out that some 85,000 rebels had been demobilized in Angola without any achievement of peace, he said that attempts at reconciliation meant Angolans had to first agree, “who we are, who we want to be.” Concluding the conference were two world leaders dedicated to rebuilding their own societies after terrible conflict: President Vojislav Kostunica of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Jose Luis Guterres, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of East Timor. Mr. Guterres described the 20 years of suffering East Timor had endured, noting that a new era had begun with the UN Mission there and the establishment of a Serious Crime Unit and a Commission on Reception, Truth and Reconciliation. Many NGOs had helped the Timorese, he said, giving their time and energy and denouncing human rights violations, violations against women and arbitrary arrests. He said that the fundamental values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had now been incorporated in the country’s Constitution, and announced that East Timor had deposited its instruments of accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Contact: NGO Section, Department of Public Information, Room L-1B-31, United Nations, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 7233, fax +1-212/963 2819, email<dpingo@un.org>, website (www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/55conf.htm). |
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| Calendar | ||
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Children Disarmament
—Disarmament Commission, Organizational session, December (2 days), New York Ecosoc/General Assembly Food and Agriculture Human rights International Law Social Development Sustainable Development |
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