You are viewing our old site. See the new one here

ENB:08:18 [Next] . [Previous] . [Contents]

RESUMED SESSION OF THE PREPARATORY COMMITTEE

The PrepCom met in a resumed session from 7-11 March 1994 at UN Headquarters in New York. Delegates spent most of the week in informal sessions where they painstakingly negotiated the remaining bracketed text in the Programme of Action (A/48/36). For the most part, delegates based their comments on a comprehensive informal paper prepared by the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), "Suggested Amendments to the Draft Action Programme for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States." This document contained the AOSIS/G-77 amendments and other comments and facilitated the work of the Committee during the week. While delegates spent the most time on Chapter XV, "Implementation, Monitoring and Review," and the preamble, they also managed to review and remove some brackets in the other 14 chapters, as well as comment on the nature of the Barbados Declaration.

Most of the bracketed text remains in the preamble and Chapter XV. Sections of the preamble that remain in brackets include: human beings as the center of concern for sustainable development; reference to environmental destruction caused by external interventions; despite population density, the small population size of SIDS inhibits them from generating economies of scale; the vulnerability of the economic performance of SIDS; women's critical contributions to sustainable development; the special situation and needs of the least developed countries; and references to national governments as being primarily responsible for the implementation and financing of the action programme.

In Chapter XV, issues remaining to be resolved include: reference to the international community's commitment to meeting Agenda 21 agreements on implementation; the role of the public in decision-making; reordering of economic priorities in the use of resources and increased use of economic instruments; the role of the private sector and the rights of resources owners and intellectual property rights; increasing public awareness and information dissemination; the sharing of financing responsibilities for sustainable development in SIDS; the role of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in monitoring implementation of the Programme of Action; and other institutional follow-up to the Conference.

[Return to start of article]