ENB:04:55
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ARTICLE 6 -- OBLIGATIONS OF DEVELOPED COUNTRY PARTIES:
This paragraph proved to be one of the most contentious paragraphs in the entire Convention. Agreement was not reached until early Saturday morning, 18 June 1994, and, at times, it appeared as if the negotiations would end in deadlock.When financial resources and mechanisms (Articles 20 and 21) were first discussed in the informal working group on finance, Algeria, on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, insisted on linking Article 6 with Articles 20 and 21, since financial resources and mechanisms should not be discussed separately from developed country obligations. After a procedural debate that lasted all afternoon, Johnson and Sonko reported back the next day that they would open discussions with Article 6.
This Article was also linked to the ongoing discussions on categories of countries. During the discussion, the G-77 insisted that the title read "Obligations of developed country Parties," while other options included "Obligations to provide assistance in implementation" and "Obligations of country Parties able to provide assistance." Other issues that emerged during the discussions during the subsequent week were: the use of the phrase "as mutually agreed," which was the strongly supported by the OECD countries and opposed by the G-77; the reference to the mobilization of new and additional financial resources; the reference to the target of 0.7% of GNP for ODA; and reference to the countries in the former Soviet Union.
The final Article, which was adopted with reservations by Ethiopia,
Uganda, Sudan, India and Djibouti, states that developed country
Parties undertake to: "(a) actively support, as agreed,
individually or jointly, the efforts of affected developing country
Parties, particularly those in Africa, and the least developed
countries, to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of
drought; (b) provide substantial financial resources and other
forms of support to assist developing country Parties, particularly
those in Africa, effectively to develop and implement their own
long-term plans and strategies to combat desertification and
mitigate the effects of drought; (c) promote the mobilization of
new and additional funding in accordance with Article 20, paragraph
2(b); (d) encourage the mobilization of funding from the private
sector and other non-governmental sources; and (e) promote and
facilitate access by affected country Parties, particularly
affected developing country Parties, to appropriate knowledge,
know-how and technology."
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