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NO 96 FEBRUARY — MARCH 2003
| NGO AND OTHER NEWS | UN UPDATE | FOCUS |
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UN/NGO News First Global Accountability Report Launched World Vision/WFP School Feeding Programme Popular Coalition Becomes International Land Coalition NGO News WFUNA Convenes Monthly MDG Meetings New NGO Network Launched in Brussels World Consumer Rights Day Observed 15 March Other News Gates Foundation Announces US$200M NAM Summit Calls for New Global Human Order IMF Executive Board Reviews Communications WTO Announces Accreditation Procedures |
Panel to Assess UN-Civil Society Relations UN Estabishes Secretariat of Permanent Forum ICC Elects Judges Migrant Workers Convention Enters into Force UNRWA Appeals for International Support UNHCR Warns of Lack of Funds Experts Urge Fairness in Globalization Process Anti-Personnel Mine Treaty’s Fourth Anniversary
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PrepCom II of the World Summit on the Information Society Further Progress Needed in Afghan Peace Process UNEP 22nd Session of Governing Council IFAD Holds 25th Anniversary Session Conference Follow-Up Working Group Meets Commission for Social Development Holds 41st Session Investment in Women Stressed on International Women’s Day Publications Online |
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UN/NGO NEWS |
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The first Global Accountability Project (GAP) report, entitled Power Without Accountability? was launched on 20 January 2003 in the Houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom. Prepared by One World Trust, a London-based charitable organization, the report is the first of its kind to compare the accountability of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), transnational corporations (TNCs) and international NGOs. Eighteen of the world’s most powerful organizations are assessed in this pilot report, including the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Bank for International Settlements, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); GlaxoSmithKline, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Microsoft Corporation, Rio Tinto, Nestlé and Aventis; Amnesty International, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), Oxfam International, Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). At the heart of the report is a framework that explains what accountability means, and which identifies eight core organizational dimensions crucial to fostering greater accountability: governance/member control; appointment of senior staff; compliance mechanisms; evaluation processes; external stakeholder consultation; complaint mechanisms; corporate social responsibility; and access to information. The pilot report focuses on two of the dimensions in detail—member control of governance structures and access to information—scoring organizations’ performance within these dimensions and providing recommendations on how to increase accountability. A clear conclusion emerging from the study is that only a minority of members actually exert real control over many of the organizations examined. IGOs are far more susceptible to this than international NGOs, with the World Bank and the Bank of International Settlements exhibiting institutionalized minority member dominance. Even in the case of the WTO, which works on a one-member one-vote basis, a small minority of members still exerts control through informal decision-making processes. TNCs also suffer from a form of minority control as a result of the rise in the number of large institutional investors. Although these investors represent numerous shareholders, they can act as a bloc vote and can often monopolize decision making through control of a majority of votes and access to greater information prior to governing body meetings. International NGOs on the whole avoid this problem, according to the report, employing mechanisms to ensure that a minority of members cannot control the executive. Another important aspect of accountability is the transparency of an organization. Access to relevant, timely information about what an organization is doing is vital to ensure that both internal and external stakeholders are able to hold an organization to account. The report focuses on access to online information, using it as a proxy for an organization’s overall transparency. The study comes to two conclusions: international NGOs provide less online information about their activities than IGOs and TNCs, and all of the groups limit access to information about their decision-making processes. As work on the other six dimensions progresses, One World Trust will develop a set of indicators to assess and compare the very different types and levels of power among global organizations. Without such an assessment for organizations as diverse as the World Bank, the WTO, Nestlé and Oxfam, the results can only ever give a partial picture of accountability. Contact: One World Trust, Houses of Parliament, London SW1A OAA, United Kingdom, telephone/fax +44-20/7219 3825, e-mail <owt@parliament.uk>, website (www.oneworldtrust.org). |
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Through a major school-feeding programme, the United Nations
World Food Programme
(WFP) and World Vision International have combined their efforts in order to reach children in Burundi’s northern
province who were likely to miss school because of hunger. The country has suffered from years of conflict and, in
some areas, prolonged drought spells, which have affected food production. The school feeding programme is mainly to encourage children, especially girls, to attend school. The enrolment
of girls in first grade is now over the number of boys—2042 boys to 2061 girls. A successful and continuous
programme may help to maintain at least a balance between boys and girls attending school.
Construction of kitchens in 21 schools has been completed and work continues to complete water and kitchen
facilities for the remaining 25 schools. Currently, 14,746 pupils in the 21 schools are already benefiting from
the programme.
“We have waited so long to see the programme start and now that the actual feeding of the children in school
has started, children can stay in school much longer,” says World Vision Burundi Director Maereg Tafere, who also
pointed out that the programme provides education in agronomy, health, peace and reconciliation.
Contact: World Vision International, International Liaison Office, 6 Chemin de la Tourelle, CH-1209 Geneva,
Switzerland, telephone +41-22/798 4183, fax +41-22/798 6547, e-mail <newsvision@wvi.org>, website
(www.wvi. org/home.shtml).
Caroline Hurford, Public Affairs Officer, WFP, Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, I-00148 Rome, Italy, telephone
+39-06/6513 2330, fax + 39-06/6513 2840, e-mail <caroline.hurford@wfp.org>, website
(www.wfp.org).
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On 17 February 2003, the Popular Coalition to Eradicate Hunger and Poverty took up
a new name to better reflect its mandate of land and property rights of the rural poor—becoming the International
Land Coalition—as it met during its First Assembly of Members. The First Assembly took place two days prior to the
opening of the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) 25th anniversary session of the Governing
Council, also held in Rome (see article page 29).
Formed in 1995 as the outcome of the International Conference on Hunger and Poverty, the Coalition has grown
into an alliance of intergovernmental, governmental and civil society organizations that support collaborative
activities in over 40 countries, working both inside and outside the UN system. The Coalition converts
complementary resources into actions that improve the livelihood of the poor; works to provide global, national
and local space for dialogue on land issues; and supports activities to strengthen the capacity of poor rural
people to influence related public policies.
In order to translate the potential of this alliance into action, the Coalition, during its First Assembly,
prepared a strategy for 2004-2006, exchanged lessons learned and sought to build collective momentum. Presentations
examined practical actions and interorganizational alliances that have resulted in improved access by the poor to
land and related productive requirements at the local, national and international levels. A session on initiatives
at the international level led to a debate that reinforced the need to translate international level agreements
into joint efforts to explicitly ensure that the lives of rural poor are improved on the ground.
Civil society representatives expressed their satisfaction at being provided a place in the Coalition and voiced
support for its work by its intergovernmental and government partners.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director General Jacques Diouf also endorsed the
Coalition by citing his agency’s collaboration with the Coalition as a model of Rome-based inter-agency cooperation
during his address at the IFAD meeting.
Coalition partners include IFAD, FAO, the
World Bank, the European
Commission, the Inter-American Development
Bank, and over 40 civil society and community organizations representing different perspectives.
Contact: Bruce Moore, Coordinator, International Land Coalition, Secretariat at IFAD,107 via del Serafico,
00142 Rome, Italy, telephone +39-06/5459 2445, fax +39-06/504 3463, e-mail <Coalition@ifad.org>, website
(www.landcoalition.org).
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NGO NEWS |
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| WFUNA Convenes Monthly MDG Meetings | |||
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The World Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA) held the first of its monthly
information-sharing meeting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on 30 January at UN headquarters in New
York. The discussion, which was opened by Eveline Herfkens, Millennium Campaign Executive Coordinator, centred on
how New York-based NGOs and their partners could best exchange information on their MDG-related activities and how
they could lend support to national, regional and global MDG initiatives. Ms. Herfkens emphasized that the MDGs could be achieved only if efforts focused on each country’s situation and conditions, and if civil societies could work with their governments to achieve the goals of that country. National ownership of the MDGs was vital, she stressed, and said that this would encompass all of the goals and not just some. “There is synergy between each of the Goals,” she remarked. Having just come from the World Social Forum, Ms. Herfkens raised a few concerns that NGOs had raised with her. Endorsement by the international financial institutions (IFIs) of the MDGs made some NGOs skeptical of how much scope there would be in-country to pursue the MDGs using policies that diverged from instruments such as the IFI-led Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs). To this, she responded that it was a matter of domestic policy, with civil society working with their government, on what course would be adopted to achieve the MDGs. Ms. Herfkens also brought up the concern that Goal 8, achieving a global partnership for development, was somehow receiving less attention than the other seven more concrete goals. More work was taking place on defining Goal 8, she said, but assured the NGOs that she was working towards keeping the goals as a package. Participants at the briefing suggested topics for future meetings, which included: the country reporting process; fundraising for civil society MDG activities; the MDG website and related information and communication technology issues; gender as a crosscutting issue; MDGs and volunteerism; and the Millennium Research Project. Contact: Stephanie Rossi, WFUNA, 1 UN Plaza, Room DC1-1177, New York NY 10017, USA, telephone +1-212/963 5610, fax +1-212/963 0447, e-mail <wfunany@wfuna.org>, website (www.wfuna.org). |
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| New NGO Network Launched in Brussels | |||
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Development Commissioner Poul Nielson and representatives from the European Union
(EU) institutions joined NGOs from 18 national platforms and networks on 30 January to celebrate the launch of the
new European NGO confederation for relief and development entitled CONCORD (Co-operation of Relief and Development
NGOs).
In addition to the 15 national platforms of the old Liaison Committee (CLONG), CONCORD members include the national platforms of three accession countries, Slovakia, Malta and the Czech Republic, and ten networks: ActionAid Alliance, Aprodev, Caritas Europa, International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE), EuronAid, Eurodad, Eurostep, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Solidar and Terre des Hommes. Seven other networks have applied to become members in the course of 2003. Core working groups include EU NGO Funding; Development Education; and EU Presidencies. The Thematic Working Groups are currently: Cotonou, Trade, Funding for Global Development, Enlargement, Food Security and Humanitarian Aid. Its objectives include: coordinating co-operation among NGDOs in order to influence the debate and policy making on development and humanitarian issues; improving the legitimacy and promoting the political interests of European NGDOs as partners to the EU and its institutions; ensuring stability and access to funding by the EU for European NGDOs; promoting the quality of NGDO work, in particular relation with civil society in the South; and contributing to capacity building of NGDOs. CONCORD’s secretariat will comprise seven people. For more information, contact Claire Davidson <cdavidson@bond.org.uk>. Contact: Eurostep, 115 rue Stévin, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, telephone +32-2/231 1659, fax +32-2/230 3780, e-mail <admin@eurostep.org>, website (www.eurostep.org). |
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OTHER NEWS |
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| Gates Foundation Announces US$200 million | |||
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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a US$200 million grant to
establish the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, a new effort and partnership with the United States
National Institutes of Health (NIH). The initiative will identify critical scientific challenges in global health
and increase research on diseases that cause millions of deaths in the developing world. Only 10% of medical
research is currently devoted to the diseases that cause 90% of the health burden in the world, especially among
the poor, according to the Global Forum on Health Research.
“There is great potential for science and technology to solve persistent global health challenges, but far
greater resources are needed,” said Mr. Gates, announcing the initiative on 26 January 2003 at the World Economic
Forum in Davos (Switzerland). “This initiative is about discovery and invention. It is about finding specific
solutions to the hardest problems. By accelerating research to overcome scientific obstacles in AIDS, malaria, and
other diseases, millions of lives could be saved.”
The new initiative will be administered by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), while
the NIH has agreed to provide scientific advice, expertise, and support, identifying activities that it deems
appropriate for funding. Nobel Laureate Harold Varmus, President of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in
New York and former Director of the National Institutes of Health, will chair a board of preeminent scientists who
will guide and direct the initiative. The scientific board will identify and publish a focused set of critical
problems, or “grand challenges,” in global health, that—if solved—could lead to important advances against diseases
of the developing world. The initiative will then provide competitive grants to teams of scientists around the
world to search for solutions to each of the challenges.
Examples of potential challenges to be considered include:
— Finding novel approaches to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS; |
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| World Consumer Rights Day Observed 15 March | |||
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In celebration of the 15 March World Consumer Rights Day, consumer groups from
Nigeria to Ecuador and Trinidad to Ukraine coordinated events to raise awareness on genetically modified foods and
the methods used by agribusiness to promote such foods. Consumers International, a global federation of over 250
consumer organizations worldwide, coordinated the global wave of actions to assert the principle that consumer
rights come before profits and corporate control in determining what food consumers eat.
“Consumer groups’ concerns around genetically modified (GM) foods no longer centre only on issues of food safety and the environment. The pressing issue now facing consumers is the way in which agribusiness is using GM technology to consolidate its control over global food production,” said Sothi Rachagan, Asia Pacific Regional Director of Consumers International. “There is now an urgent need to halt this process and to expose the tactics used by big business to extend yet further their control over food production through the patenting of GM seeds; the aggressive marketing of GM varieties globally, the contamination of non-GM crops and the steady stream of misinformation regarding the benefits of this technology,” said Julian Edwards, Director General, Consumers International. Consumer groups around the world brought attention to the issue through different activities ranging from street protests to press conferences and live television broadcasts, to public forums and report launches. In Jamaica, consumers lobbied for a regulatory framework to protect consumers, and a study into the prevalence of GM foods in the local markets was launched. In Viet Nam, actions aimed at raising awareness around the issue of GM foods took place in 18 different provinces. To assist consumer groups worldwide in their efforts to raise awareness around the issue of GM technology, Consumers International has produced a report entitled Corporate control of the food chain—the GM link. Contact: Maya Vaughan, Consumers International, 24, Highbury Cresent, London, N5 1RX, United Kingdom, telephone +44-207/226 6663, fax +44-207/354 0607, e-mail <mvaughan@consint.org>, website (www.consumersinternational.org). |
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| NAM Summit Calls for New Global Human Order | |||
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The XIII Conference of the Heads of State and Government of the Movement of the Non-Aligned Countries (NAM) met in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) from 24-25 February 2003 to address the global issues affecting their peoples, with a view to agreeing to a set of actions conducive to a multilateral system of relations in accordance with the UN Charter and international law. One hundred and five NAM member countries attended, with 8 countries attending as observers, and another 22 countries invited as guests. The central message emerging from the Summit was the urgent need to reaffirm the importance of multilateralism in face of the threat of rising unilateral actions in international affairs. Chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, the Summit adopted a final document, the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, on continuing the revitalization of NAM, and separate statements on Iraq and Palestine. In his closing speech, Dr. Mahathir said that the Summit had been extremely useful for exchanging views, stocktaking and formulating strategies for the future of the movement. He also stressed that the NAM had become ever more relevant to protecting and promoting the interests of the South. “It is clear the wellbeing of the world will be better served by a strong multilateral system revolving around a UN that is more representative and democratic, than a unilateral system based on the dominance of one power, however benign that power may be,” he said. “We are resolved to give strong and sustained support to the UN, for its future is linked with that of the NAM and multilateralism.” Dr. Mahathir summarized new challenges facing NAM, including NAM’s role in the international effort to combat international terrorism; information and communications technology that is changing the world and widening the North-South digital divide; and globalization and efforts towards integration of developing countries into a new political, economic and human global order that is equitable, just and democratic. Dr. Mahathir added that these challenges required urgent responses, pragmatic strategies and coordinated actions. He referred to the Kuala Lumpur Declaration as a blueprint for collective action, with guiding principles and practical action plans to chart NAM’s future course. Participants agreed to hold the next Summit in Cuba in 2006. Contact: XIII NAM National Secretariat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia, Wisma Putra, 62602 Putrajaya, Malaysia, tel +603-4045/7944, website (www.namkl.org/my) or (www.nam.gov.za/index.htm). |
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| IMF Executive Board Reviews Strategy | |||
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On 5 March 2003, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) met to
review the IMF’s external communications strategy, the third discussion within five years on the subject. The
Directors took stock of progress achieved in recent years in increasing IMF’s openness and responsiveness to
outside views, but noted that “more needs to be done” on the strategy.
The Directors also observed that although much of IMF’s work—advising countries on how best to face economic reality in difficult circumstances—tends to attract controversy, they suggested that improving understanding of it and enhancing the credibility of its policies were among the key objectives of its communications—even more so than increasing its popularity. Some of the Directors “felt the currently high media visibility of the IMF offers a valuable opportunity to enhance the implementation of its external communications strategy.” Directors pointed out that the IMF’s transparency policy has led to the release of an increased volume of policy and country papers and summaries of Board discussions, with the IMF’s external website being the primary means for dissemination. Directors supported ongoing efforts to improve the drafting, editing, and summarizing of IMF material intended for public dissemination, but indicated that more needs to be done to make the material more accessible, including reducing jargon. Directors noted the considerable expansion in recent years of the IMF’s communications with non-officials, particularly legislators and civil society organizations, saying that given its limited resources, the IMF will need to be selective and set priorities for outreach and dialogue. Several Directors urged a further strengthening of efforts at constructive dialogue with NGOs and academic and policy research institutes on IMF-related issues. Directors welcomed a staff proposal that would prepare a guidance note for Fund staff outreach to civil society organizations. They also discussed the conclusions of a report from an interdepartmental task force on IMF publications in languages other than English and agreed that increased publication of IMF documents and other information in languages other than English, including local languages as well as the most widely used international languages, could be helpful for increasing understanding and support for IMF policies and advice, as well as fostering country ownership. Contact: Public Affairs, External Relations Department, IMF, 700 19th Street NW, Washington DC, 20431, USA, telephone +1-202/623 7300, fax +1-202/623 6278, e-mail <publicaffairs@imf.org>, website (www.imf.org). |
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On 10 February 2003, the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced the procedures for registration and attendance of NGOs at the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference, to be held in Cancun (Mexico) from 10-14 September 2003.
— NGOs will be allowed to attend only the Plenary Sessions of the Conference (without the right to speak); NGOs wanting to attend the Cancun Ministerial Conference will be requested to supply all the necessary information indicating how they are concerned with matters related to those of the WTO. This procedure is waived for NGOs that were registered for at least two previous Ministerial Conferences. NGOs that qualify must officially request registration and are subject to all other procedures and deadlines that apply to NGOs requesting to attend the Fifth Ministerial Conference. NGOs that want to attend should submit their request for registration forms no later than 30 April 2003. Registration forms will be sent by 31 May to all NGOs fulfilling the registration criteria. Completed registration must be returned to the External Relations Division of the WTO Secretariat before 30 June 2003. The Secretariat will then process a list of registered NGOs to be circulated to all WTO members in July, and confirmation of registration will be sent to the NGOs beginning in August. Contact: WTO, Centre William Rappard, Rue de Lausanne 154, CH-1211 Geneva 21, Switzerland. telephone +41-22/739 5111, fax +41-22/731 4206, e-mail <enquiries@wto.org>, website (www.wto.org) |
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