 |
|
Highlights from Tuesday, 29 February
Ad Hoc Working Group on Integrated Planning
and Management of Land Resources and Agriculture
The Ad Hoc Intersessional Working Group (AHWG) on Integrated
Planning and Management of Land Resources & Agriculture reconvened
to discuss land issues in the morning and agriculture in the
afternoon. On Wednesday, the Co-Chairs' initial draft summaries
of discussion and elements for a decision on land and planning
and agriculture will be distributed.and the Group will reconvene
in the afternoon to discuss the new texts.
Co-Chairs Modesto
Francisco Fernandez Diaz-Silveira and Patrick McDonnell, Ireland
|
|
|
|
|
Ositadinma Anaedu, Nigeria, with Julio
Mascarenhas, Portugal |
 l
(Listen
to the G-77/China's intervention on Land Resources)
The G-77/China, with BRAZIL and INDONESIA, said the UN Secretary-General's
Report on Integrated Planning and Management of Land Resources
ignored the international dimension of sustainable land
development and offered little on resolving technical problems.
He said the CSD Secretariat was promoting Eurocentric concepts.
He saidland ownership in developing countries was governed
by culture and tradition.
(Listen
to the EU's intervention)
The EU called for, inter alia, the promotion of productive
land use systems, the prevention of urban sprawl, and the
protection of critical resources and ecosystems together
with poverty eradication.He described good urban management
and spatial appreciation of the land-use interdependence
between rural and urban areas, and said these were key to
sustainable urban development and sustainable livelihoods
for the poor. EU said that the CSD should encourage governments
to promulgate laws that guarantee secure tenure and access
to land, particularly for marginalized groups. He also called
for soil protection measures as a prerequisite for food
production and security, and the protection of biodiversity.
.
|
|
|
Chief Bisi Ogunleye, CSD NGO Women's Caucus (right) She
recommended that the CSD draw up timetables for governments
to ensure that laws guarantee women's equal rights to own
and inherit land.
|
|
| The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives
(above left) identified measures to strengthen local government including
improved coordination of national and local policies. |
|
Chief
Bisi Ogunleye with ENB writer Jon Hanks (left), and Ositadinma Anaedu,
Nigeria
|
|
DiSano
and McDonnell before the convening of the afternoon session on agriculture
|
 |
|
Women and Sustainable Development:2000-2002
Commitments Benchmarked for the year 2000-Are we going to Review?
This side event,
sponsored by the CSD NGO Women's Caucus, addressed the issue of
women and sustainable development. Speakers discussed commitments,
the linkages between different processes and options for reviewing
implementation. The event highlighted that the full and equal participation
of women is an indispensable prerequisite of sustainable development.
Agenda 21 recognizes this, and in addition to Chapter 24, "Global
Action for Women Towards Sustainable Development",
Agenda
21 has over 100 other references pertaining to women. Some recommendations
have been benchmarked for the year 2000, such as urging governments
to issue their strategies to overcome obstacles towards women's
full participation in sustainable development and in public life
by the year 2000. The Women's Caucus has produced a position paper
on "Women and Sustainable Development: Recommendations in Agenda
21 and Related Documents and Suggestions for a Review of Implementation."
For this document go to http://www.csdngo.org/csdngo
|
|
|
|
Left
to right: Patricia Holden, United Kingdom, Alison Drayton, Guyana,
Chair Chief Bisi Ogunleye, Women's Caucus, Country Women's Association
of Nigeria, and WEDO, Minu Hemmati, Co-facilitator Women's Caucus
|
 |
June
Zeitlin, Executive Director, WEDO (left) and Diana Lee-Smith, Habitat
(right)
|
 |
|
|
|
