ENB:04:34
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COMMON BUT DIFFERENTIATED RESPONSIBILITIES:
The second
outstanding core issue refers to the concept of "common but
differentiated responsibilities." While it is clear that some
countries that are affected by desertification need assistance
(financial, technical, research, information, etc.) to fulfil their
obligations under the Convention (whatever those obligations may
be), it is not clear who those countries are, the severity of their
problems and the type and sources of assistance needed. The
developed countries are in favor of a new partnership between all
countries "in a position to provide assistance" and those suffering
from desertification and/or drought. Some of the developing
countries, including Malaysia, Brazil, India, China, Argentina and
others, believe that it is the responsibility of the traditional
donor community to provide this assistance, thus obviating the need
for a new category of "countries in a position to provide
assistance." Some of the least developed countries suffering from
desertification are more concerned with actually receiving
assistance than its source. Until this problem is resolved, little
progress can be made in removing the brackets from a majority of
articles in the current draft Convention. There are at least 30
sets of brackets in the preamble and 12 articles that result from
disagreement on these definitional issues related to common but
differentiated responsibilities.