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The World Summit on Sustainable Development
Third Preparatory Committee (PrepCom-III)
New York, 25 March - 5 April 2002
Jump to: 25 March - 26 March - 27 March - 28 March - 1 April - 2 April - 3 April - 4 April - 5 April Back to homepage

Day 2: Tuesday, 26 March

Working Groups I and II met in morning sessions to begin work on the Chairman's Paper. Working Group I discussed the introduction and poverty eradication, and Working Group II discussed sustainable development in a globalizing world and health and sustainable development. In the afternoon, delegates participated in a discussion on partnerships. Annik Dollacher, CropLife International, and Joshen Eigen, UN Habitat, gave presentations on new partnerships to strengthen the implementation of Agenda 21 (right photo). The G-77/China also met during the afternoon in a closed consultation. Working Group III met in the afternoon to discuss sustainable development governance.
 
Working Group II: Sustainable Development in a Globalizing World
Members of the Mexican Delegation

Mexico called for reference to the outcomes of the recent Financing for Development Conference held in Monterrey, Mexico

 
Japan called for deleting the section addressing coordinated macroeconomic policy management, stating that it was an ambiguous term.
 
Norway said references to the Doha Declaration were limited to trade and development declaration, and called for reference to paragraphs from Doha that address trade and environment, noting that the WSSD is an obvious forum to address this issue.
 
UNCTAD highlighted its role as the UN's lead organization on trade and technical cooperation.

Working Group II Co-Chairs Ihab Gamaledldin (Egypt and Richard Ballhorn (Canada)
Co-Chair Ballhorn
opened the first session of Working Group II with a request for delegations to make short focused statements, and then submit their specific text by e-mail.
 
Venezuela, on behalf of the G-77/China, described the "superhuman effort" it had been exerting in order to achieve consensus in the Group in such short time, especially given the fact that the Monterrey Conference had just ended a few days ago. Moving on to the section on globalization, he wanted the chapeau to include references to the concept of equity and to the ultimate goal of the WSSD: sustainable development. He expressed a desire for greater cooperation between UN agencies, Breton Woods institutions, and the WTO; and wanted a reference made to the special and differentiated treatment of developing countries in the work of the latter institution.
 
The European Commission, for the EU, stated that the language on the interactions between UN agencies, Breton Woods institutions and the WTO should be expanded and reinforced. He called for balanced language referencing the impact of globalization on all three pillars of sustainable development and on how the WSSD can complement the Doha negotiations. He bracketed the paragraph on improved market access for agricultural products, saying that this one element of the Doha development agenda did not need to be singled out among others. He introduced a new paragraph calling for the strengthening of regional trade and cooperation agreements.
 
Switzerland called for new paragraphs addressing: ensuring coherence between the different pillars of sustainable development; internalization of all external costs; and reiterating the precautionary principle. On the corporate responsibility paragraph, he called for reference to the Global Compact and good practices. He called for ensuring good practices in trade and reference to international human rights instruments and declarations.
 

The US thanked the Chair for making time to focus on partnerships during the PrepCom, despite the important negotiations which lay ahead. He expressed his opposition to the removal of the topic of good governance from the section on governance. He said that globalization cannot be "managed", as is mentioned in the chapeau, and asked for balance in the passage by including reference to the opportunities presented by globalization. He also called for reference to community-based entrepreneurial capacity

Working Group II: Health and sustainable development
Venezuela, for the G-77/China, said that the topic of health and sustainable development must be approached from a people-centered point of view. In the chapeau, he called for insertion of reference to malaria and other infectious diseases along with the one to HIV/AIDS. He proposed a new paragraph on access to primary health care, and another calling for specific goals in the reduction of infant mortality rates and maternal death rates by 2015. Regarding technology transfer, he suggested that it be not only "disseminated", but actually "transferred".
 
Co-Chair Gamaledldin in a huddle with members of the CSD Bureau, discussing the evening's programme of work. WG-II did not meet at 6 PM for informals, as was once planned.
 

The Holy See proposed reference to lack of adequate shelter and malnourishment as causes of health problems, and also called for emphasis on people living in rural areas.

 
The US noted that health problems not only "deterred" development, but in fact "inhibited" it. He highlighted the importance of maternal and reproductive health. He called for additional research on the secondary effects of health on development, such as on agricultural and industrial productivity and on family structure. He called for the deletion of the multiple references to financial and technical assistance, saying they should be addressed once in the passage on implementation.
 
Spain, on behalf of the EU, stated that many health problems have a clear gender and poverty dimension, and should be addressed in the context of national strategies. He added reference to telemedicine, access to medical services, reinforcement of environmental protection, and to the International Labor Organization's work on unsustainable work conditions. He proposed a new paragraph on the labeling of chemical and hazards of heavy metals.

Working Group I
Working Group I Co-Chairs Kiyotaka Akasaka (Japan) and Maria Viotti (Brazil)

New partnerships to strengthen the
implementation of Agenda 21
Chair Salim with Vice-Chair Jan Kara
Chair Kara's introductory statement for the afternoon's discussion
 
Joshen Eigen, UN-Habitat, presented his organization's achievements in the creation of sustainable urbanization partnerships. Describing the logical framework and approach used to create them, he said the goal was not to start new undertakings but to create synergies among existing ones. After outlining the main challenges to be addressed by the partnerships, he stated that UN Habitat selected a few programmes that could be accelerated and intensified in time for WSSD. He said that the unifying rationale was to concentrate on the capacity-building needs of local actors, external sources of support, and on the strategic funding that might be provided by donors. Eigen said that the partnerships themselves could be grouped into three closely-linked and related areas: decentralized (city-to-city) capacity building, regional forums on capacity building, and thematic contributions to capacity building. Outlining the next steps, he highlighted the World Urban Forum, to be held in Nairobi from 29 April-3 May, the revision of partnership implementation planned for PrepCom-IV, and the separate parallel events for selected coalition partners at WSSD.
 
The Third World Network cautioned against lumping all stakeholders together and called for deliverable results, as well as a process and procedure for assessing what is sustainable. She said Type I commitments must to be undermined. Regarding the case study presentations, she said the Habitat initiative represented a good example of what is being done at the local level. She expressed deep concern with the initiative of CropLife International. In conclusion, she stressed tapping the richness and diversity of opinions and said that dealing with conflict is the way forward and said that the UN and governments should play the role of arbiter.
 
South Africa said that partnerships needed to recognize the role of governments. Noting the lack of a common working definition of partnerships, she suggested that they should be based on common values and agreed goals. She concluded by proposing criteria for the selection of partnerships to avoid duplication and lack of coherence, including the criteria that there should be a balance between poverty eradication and unsustainable consumption.
 
A representative of the Labor Community Strategy Center, Los Angeles stated that it was symbolic that he be seated behind Samoa's plaque, since it will be decisions made by residents of Los Angeles that will decide the fate of that country. He stated that sustainability can only be achieved if developed countries consume and produce less, but these reductions cannot be arrived through voluntary partnership - legally enforceable rules would be required. He expressed the hope that governments will work with NGOs to enforce the notion of corporate accountability.

Facilitators Jan Kara (Czech Republic) and Diane Quarless (Jamaica) speak with Crispian Olver from South Africa
 
Annik Dollacker, CropLife International, introduced the initiative on "Promoting Capacity Building for Sustainable Agriculture." She said that in the Asia Pacific Region, CropLife has supported the development of the Asia Pacific Regional Technology Center (APRTC), which has developed the agLearn Web-based distance learning programme focused on the promotion of sustainable agriculture. She said that, in light of the WSSD, CropLife was proposing to explore ways to use this tool at the global level, mainly focusing on developing countries, to reach more farmers. Regarding the relationship with the objectives of Agenda 21 and the Millennium Declaration, she said the initiative will promote sustainable agriculture practices to professionals that work with smallholder farmers and other rural development stakeholders in developing countries, resulting in improved farming practices that minimize environmental impacts, while improving agricultural productivity. She said some of the international development targets tackled through the initiatives are: education, gender, environment, health and sustainable development. She said the latter requires a major contribution from SARD, particularly in terms of poverty alleviation, food security and economic development of rural areas. In conclusion, she said CropLife has started a collection of case studies in developing multi-stakeholder approaches to public-private cooperation to improve outreach in basic sustainable agricultural techniques and knowledge to farmers with small-holdings and to the rural poor, and is envisaging and developing a Type II initiative in this area.
 
Chair Elim Salim said that type two outcomes (public/private partnerships) were linked with type one outcomes (implementation programme being negotiated in the PrepCom), which together with a political message will form the three types of outcomes from WSSD. He said that Type-II outcomes were a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to take initiative and participate in implementation of sustainable development. Using the example of an integrated sustainable fisheries project, he said that the partnerships need to be linked, and give substance, to the Chairman's Paper and the goals of the Millennium Declaration. He said that the partnerships must also be bottom-up in their approach, and should ensure that WSSD is a summit of all stakeholders.
 

The Netherlands underscored that the two tracks should not be disconnected. He said that Type II commitments must fully respect the outcomes of the Chairman's paper. He emphasized partnerships related to water, energy, sustainable agriculture, health care and urban poverty, and Africa.

 
The Stakeholder Forum said partnerships were a small piece of the overall cake of Agenda 21 implementation. She stressed the need to look at the linkages between Type I and Type II outcomes and to look at criteria. She said the challenge of the outcome package is to find a balance between authority and leadership, and responsibility and broad stakeholder participation.
 
Business Action for Sustainable Development called for action and deliverable results, and stressed that the initiatives should be replicable, have measurable results, include the three pillars of sustainable development and have multi-stakeholder involvement.

Miscellaneous Photos
ENB Managing Editor Kimo Goree with Zehra Aydin of the DESA Secretariat
 
Felix Dodds, UNED Forum, speaks with Wagaki Mwangi, ENB
Delegates enjoying the lunch break at the Vienna Cafe in the basement of the UN
 
Delegates wait outside the Conference Room for the G-77/China to finish their coordination meeting

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