Summary report, 26–29 January 1993

Organizational Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the elaboration ofan international convention to combat desertification in thosecountries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa (INC-D), opened its organizational sessionon Tuesday afternoon, 26 January 1993. This Committee wasestablished by UN Resolution 47/188, adopted in December 1992 bythe 47th session of the UN General Assembly. During the four-daysession, the INC adopted its rules of procedure and schedule of meetings, elected its officers, established two working groups andelected some of the working groups' officers, agreed upon theagenda for its first substantive meeting, and discussedextrabudgetary funds.

TUESDAY, 26 JANUARY 1993

The first item on the agenda was the election of the Committee'sBureau. Ambassador Bo Kjelln (Sweden) was elected Chair of theCommittee. Kjelln was most recently Chair of Working Group I ofthe UNCED Preparatory Committee. After assuming his duties asChair, Kjelln presided over the elections of the remainder of theBureau. The Committee elected the three Vice-Chairs nominated bytheir respective regional groups: Ambassadors Ren Valry Mongbe(Benin), T.P. Sreenivasan (India) and Jos Urrutia (Peru). TheEastern European Group had not yet nominated a Rapporteur andKjelln postponed election of this officer until the nomination hadbeen received.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA

The Committee quickly adopted the agenda of the organizationalsession (A/AC.241/1) and then Kjelln made a brief statement. Hesaid that the decision by UNCED to adopt Chapter 12 of Agenda 21and call for the negotiation of a convention to combatdesertification is based on a sense of political and economicurgency. It is a joint responsibility everyone shares towardspopulations that suffer from the daily consequences ofdesertification. There is very little time and the Committee willbe constantly running against the clock. The Committee needs clearobjectives and timetables for each session and will also have touse the periods between sessions. He said that he has receivedsupport from a number of UN agencies and that he plans onconducting regular meetings with them. Cooperation with the NGO andscientific communities is essential, as they have much expertiseand have demonstrated commitment in combatting desertification.

RULES OF PROCEDURE

Ambassador Arba Diallo, the Officer-in-Charge of the INC-D'sSecretariat, then took the floor to introduce the next item on theagenda -- adoption of the rules of procedure. The draft rules ofprocedure prepared by the Secretariat (A/AC.241.2) were based onthe relevant rules of procedure of the UN General Assembly, whiletaking into account resolution 47/188 and relevant rules ofprocedure from the climate change negotiations.

Colombia, on behalf of the Group of 77, and Denmark, on behalf ofthe European Community, both said that they could not approve therules of procedure until their groups had a chance to meet anddiscuss them. Kjelln responded that adoption of the rules ofprocedure would be postponed until the following day, but that hewanted to hear preliminary comments at this time.

Only a few of the 51 draft rules generated comment. Rule 9addresses the duties of the Secretary-General of the UN within thecontext of the INC-D. Tunisia and China pointed out that thelanguage used in the climate change rules of procedure werepreferable to those stated here, including the specification thatthe UN Secretary-General shall be the Secretary-General of the INC.

Cuba raised questions about the precedents used in the formulationof rules 27 (work will be accomplished by general agreement) and 29(decisions shall be made by a majority of members present andvoting). Diallo said that the language was taken from the climatechange negotiations. The US, supported by the UK and Japan,proposed new language based on the rules of procedure from thebiodiversity negotiations.

The only other draft rule of procedure to generate discussion wasrule 49 on the participation of NGOs. The US proposed new languagethat would set out a specific accreditation procedure for NGOs,based on the procedures used during UNCED. India suggested usingthe procedures established during the climate change negotiations.Kjelln recommended that interested parties meet the followingmorning to discuss this and the other rules that needed revision.

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

The next item on the agenda was the schedule of meetings. TheGeneral Assembly had decided that there should be five meetings,with the aim of completing the convention by June 1994. Originally,the first substantive session in Nairobi was scheduled from 29March - 8 April, however, the Secretariat said that it would bedifficult to prepare for the meeting at such an early date. Thus,to allow sufficient time for preparation, the Secretariat proposedthat the first meeting take place from 24 May - 4 June 1993,immediately after the UNEP Governing Council meeting. Kjellnannounced that they would discuss this further the following day.

WEDNESDAY, 27 JANUARY 1993

The second meeting of the INC-D opened with a statement fromColombia, on behalf of the G-77, which requested that all officialdocuments issued on this topic reflect the full title of theCommittee: "Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for theelaboration of an international convention to combatdesertification in those countries experiencing serious droughtand/or desertification, particularly in Africa." Kjelln and Dialloassured the G-77 that they would correct the title. Apparently theG-77 wanted to ensure that both desertification and drought, aswell as the situation in Africa, received adequate focus.

RULES OF PROCEDURE

Kjelln announced that informal consultations on the rules ofprocedure had been held earlier that morning and that agreement hadbeen reached on the rules in question: 9, 29 and 49.

Rule 9 was amended to read: "The Secretary-General of the UnitedNations shall be the Secretary-General of the Committee. He, or hisrepresentative, shall act in that capacity in all meetings of theCommittee and its subsidiary organs." Rule 29 was amended toconfirm that the rules of the Committee, with regard todecision-making, would be based on the rules of the GeneralAssembly. The rule now reads: "Subject to rule 27, decisions of theCommittee and its subsidiary organs shall be taken in accordancewith the rules of procedure of the General Assembly and itscommittees, respectively."

Rule 49 was adapted from the rules of procedure of the climatechange negotiations with regard to NGOs. The Committee decided,however, that they also needed to have reference to decision 2/1 ofthe UNCED PrepCom, which contains a detailed presentation of theprocedure for determining NGO competence and relevance to the workof the Committee. The rule now reads: "Non-governmentalorganizations invited to the Committee may make contributions tothe negotiating process, as appropriate, on the understanding thatthese organizations shall not have any negotiating role during theprocess, and taking into account, in particular, decisions 1/1 and2/1 concerning the participation of non-governmental organizationsadopted by the Preparatory Committee for the United NationsConference on Environment and Development at its first and secondsessions." Some countries were not prepared to adopt the rules ofprocedure that morning, so Kjelln proposed that the Committeeconsider the rules of procedure adopted ad referendum andthat final approval would take place the next day.

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

On the issue of the schedule of meetings of the INC-D, Denmark, onbehalf of the EC, requested that the first meeting of the INC-Dtake place in March-April, as originally proposed, rather than theMay-June date announced the previous day. He added that the EC notonly preferred to get an early start on these negotiations, but wasconcerned that the May-June dates would overlap with the GEFparticipants meeting scheduled in Beijing. Egypt and Colombia (onbehalf of the G-77) expressed similar concerns.

Kjelln intervened to say that the time actually available fornegotiations in 1993 is very limited. Furthermore, since theSecretariat is just installing itself in Geneva, they need time toconsult with the panel of scientific experts and time to preparethe documentation and translate it into all UN languages. He saidthat he is aware of the GEF meeting and the fact that the UNDPGoverning Council begins on 2 June, but there is no other timeavailable.

Mauritania proposed that the Committee request that the GEF and thePopulation Conference preparatory committee meeting (which isscheduled to take place in May) adjust their dates to allow theINC-D to meet. Benin suggested that the INC-D meet from 25 April to7 May. Kjelln responded that these dates coincide with the UNICEFmeeting in New York and the Human Settlements meeting in Nairobi.He also suggested that maybe the INC-D could meet on Saturday, 29May and thus conclude one day earlier, on Thursday, 3 June, todecrease the overlap with other meetings. After a number of otherdelegates commented on the proposed schedule, Colombia proposedthat the Bureau look into the matter further. Kjelln thenadjourned the meeting.

SUBSIDIARY ORGANS

At 3:00 pm the Committee reconvened for an informal session toexchange views on the programme of work. Kjelln began thediscussion by outlining some of his own ideas. He commented thatexperience has shown that the Committee will need subsidiary organs(working groups) to negotiate a convention of this kind. However,there should never be any more than two working groups meeting atone time and these groups should not meet between sessions. Themandates of these working groups should be fixed in Nairobi, sothat the working groups could start to operate during the secondsession. He added that the purpose of the Committee is to negotiatea convention to combat desertification and that all the otherelements in the title, including the special concern for Africa,should be in the form of an annex or protocol, as this regionalaspect is an important part of the convention. While the Committeeis giving specific attention to Africa at this stage, other partsof the world should have specific protocols or annexes in thefuture.

The afternoon's discussion was a productive one. Mauritaniasuggested that there should be only two working groups, to decreasepressure on small delegations. Furthermore, he suggested that thegroups be established and their bureaus elected during thisorganizational session. He also added that the terms of referencefor the working groups should be thematic rather than geographical.

The US proposed that the working groups meet sequentially to dealfirst with the convention and then address the protocol. Beninsupported the idea of two working groups that would meetsimultaneously. He also suggested that there be no more than threepeople in each bureau -- a Chair, a Vice-Chair and a Rapporteur. Headded that the Chair of one working group should be from the northand the Chair of the other group should be from the south. Algeriaproposed that the Committee give its Bureau the mandate to holdconsultations to determine the terms of reference to these workinggroups.

Peru agreed that at least the Chairs of the working groups shouldbe elected at this session and proposed that since there would besix positions (three for each working group) and there are fiveregional groups that maybe the African Group could nominate a Chairfor one working group and a Rapporteur for the other. A number ofother delegates, including Denmark, Colombia, France and Venezuelasupported these proposals.

The discussion then shifted to the scientific panel of experts.Resolution 47/188 established a "multidisciplinary panel ofexperts" to assist the Secretariat. Diallo explained that itsbudget will allow the Secretariat to establish a 12-member groupthat will include natural scientists, social scientists and expertson drought and desertification, from as broad a geographicaldistribution as possible. The Secretariat is currently creating thepanel and Diallo expressed hope that the first meeting will takeplace in late February. In response to questions about nominationsand the logistics of the panel, Diallo said that all of themeetings of the panel would take place in Geneva. The members ofthe panel will be appointed privately and not necessarily beemployed by their governments. The Secretariat is asking relevantUN agencies for recommendations and will make the finalappointments soon. A number of delegates said that theirgovernments would like to make nominations to this panel. Concernwas expressed by some that this panel not become anintergovernmental body, but remain an independent panel ofscientific experts.

Kjelln then adjourned the informal meeting and, after consultingwith the Bureau, convened the third meeting of the INC-D at 5:30pm. He summarized the consensus reached during the informaldiscussion:

The INC-D will establish two working groups that will meet for the first time at the second substantive session in September 1993.

Each working group will have a three-person bureau: one Chair, one Vice-Chair and one Rapporteur. One of the working groups will be chaired by a representative of a developing country and the other will be chaired by a representative of a developed country.

It is desirable to proceed with the election of these officers during the present session. Equal geographic representation should be used and Africa will provide one Chair and one Rapporteur.

The terms of reference of the working groups has not been determined, but the Chair has been mandated to undertake consultations and present a proposal before or at the Nairobi session.

Kjelln proposed that the Committee adjourn for the day andreconvene the next morning. He also suggested that the Committeenot meet in the afternoon so that the regional groups might have anopportunity to meet and discuss their nominations to the bureaus ofthe working groups. After a brief discussion on the logistics ofthis work plan, the Committee adjourned for the day.

THURSDAY, 28 JANUARY 1993

At the opening of the fourth meeting of the INC-D, the Committeeadopted the rules of procedure (A/AC.241/2) as amended in documentA/AC.241/L.3.

RULES OF PROCEDURE

At the opening of the fourth meeting of the INC-D, the Committeeadopted the rules of procedure (A/AC.241/2) as amended in documentA/AC.241/L.3.

SUBSIDIARY ORGANS

Kjelln then summarized the results of the previous day'sdiscussion on subsidiary organs. He added that the Committee mustreflect more on the terms of reference for the working groups. Heagreed to undertake consultations during the next few months sothat a decision could be taken at the first substantive session inNairobi. Without any further discussion the Committee agreed toestablish two working groups, with three-person bureaus that wouldbe elected at this session.

SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

Kjelln reviewed the discussion thus far on the schedule ofmeetings. He said that he sensed that there was general agreementto accept the proposal outlined in document A/AC.241/L.1 and thathe would contact representatives from the World Bank and China tosee if the dates of the GEF meeting could be modified so that theJune meeting of the GEF and the first session of the INC-D wouldnot overlap. He also said that he would be in touch with theSecretariat of the Population Conference to ensure that there wasno schedule conflict in May. With the understanding that the datescould be modified in the future, if necessary, he asked theCommittee if they could adopt the schedule of meetings as follows:24 May - 3 June 1993 (Nairobi); 13-24 September 1993 (Geneva);17-28 January 1994 (New York); 21-31 March 1994 (Geneva) and earlyJune 1994 (Paris). Thus, the schedule was adopted.

FUNDS

Resolution 47/188 established two funds to assist the Committee inits operations: a trust fund for the operation of the Secretariatand a voluntary fund designed to facilitate the participation ofdeveloping countries in the negotiating process.

The US announced that they intend to contribute US$200,000 tosupport Secretariat operations and US$50,000 to support developingcountry participation. Sweden announced that they would contribute2 million Swedish crowns (approximately US$300,000) to thevoluntary fund and will make an additional contribution to theSecretariat trust fund. France said that they will contribute600,000 francs to the Secretariat trust fund and 500,000 francs tothe voluntary fund. The Netherlands announced a contributionbetween US$300,000-500,000, but that the final figure would bedetermined once the Secretariat has specified what funding isnecessary. Spain said that they intend to contribute 600 millionpesetas (US$70,000) to enable developing countries to participate.

Germany, Norway, Japan, the UK, Canada and Denmark announced thatthey would also be making contributions to the funds. A number ofcountries had questions about the funds and the financial needs ofthe Secretariat and both Kjelln and Diallo assured that they wouldfollow up on these matters.

PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE NAIROBI SESSION

The next item on the agenda was the adoption of the provisionalagenda for the first substantive session of the INC-D. Kjellnintroduced the provisional agenda (A/AC.241/L.2), which is dividedinto the following parts: organizational matters; informationsharing; discussion on the format and content of the convention;review of the situation as regards extrabudgetary funds; adoptionof the provisional agenda for the second substantive session andadoption of the report of the Committee. The information sharingsegment was called for in resolution 47/188 and Kjelln proposedthat it take place during the first four days of the Nairobisession. The discussion that followed centered primarily on theinformation sharing segment. Even though Kjelln explained that theseven sub-headings were only to serve as indications of the topicsthat might be discussed, many delegates wanted to makemodifications.

Sweden said that they needed to broaden their perspective and lookat these issues from a local perspective, not a top-down approach.Sweden also made some specific proposals for documentation at thissession, including reports on the scientific and social scientificknowledge of desertification; an investigation of channels by whichfinancial resources are being used to combat desertification; andan investigation of different planning systems that exist and areapplied to combat desertification. A number of other delegatessupported these proposals. The discussion continued until 1:00 pmwhen Kjelln adjourned the meeting, promising to submit a revisedagenda the next day.

FRIDAY, 29 JANUARY 1993

At the fifth meeting of the INC-D Kjelln introduced a revisedversion of the provisional agenda for the first substantive sessionof the Committee (A/AC.241/L.2/Rev.1). He said that he had takeninto account the suggestions made during the previous day'sdiscussion, specifically those suggestions regarding the four-daytechnical information session. The sub-headings now include: (a)desertification, drought and the global environment; (b) causes,general extent and consequences of land degradation in arid,semi-arid and sub-humid areas; (c) social and economic dimensions;(d) pattern of bilateral and multilateral assistance programmes;(e) experiences with international, regional, subregional andnational programmes to combat desertification and mitigate theeffects of drought in developing countries; (f) experiences ofdeveloped countries; and (g) some possible elements of a newstrategy to promote sustainable development in countriesexperiencing drought and desertification.

After a discussion that focussed on clarifying a number of pointsthat differed between the French and English texts, the provisionalagenda was adopted. Kjelln also requested that he be permitted tolimit all interventions during the general debate to ten minutes.

PROVISIONAL AGENDA FOR THE NAIROBI SESSION

ELECTION OF OFFICERS

The Chair then moved to the next item on the agenda, the electionof officers. Kjelln still had not received a nomination from theEastern European Group for the position of Rapporteur and herepeated his request for a nomination before the Nairobi session.

Kjelln then adjourned the meeting for thirty minutes so that theregional groups might finalize their nominations for the bureaus ofthe two working groups. After the break, however, only two of thefive regional groups had nominations to submit. Kjelln proposedthat they elect those officers who had been nominated and thenreconvene at 5:00 pm to allow the other groups more time to reachagreement. He announced that the nominations from the African Groupwere Ahmed Djoghlaf (Algeria) as Chair of one of the working groupsand Frederick Mallya (Tanzania) as Rapporteur of the other group.Djoghlaf was the Rapporteur of the UNCED Preparatory Committee andMallya is a counsellor at the Tanzanian Mission to the UN. TheAsian Group nominated Iran for the post of Vice-Chair of one of theworking groups, but Iran had not submitted a name yet. Kjellnproposed that they postpone election for this position until a namewas submitted.

Bulgaria, on behalf of the Eastern European Group, said that theywere still undertaking consultations for the post of Rapporteur ofthe Committee and that they will announce their nomination beforethe Nairobi session. Mauritania expressed the urgency of fillingthe seats on the bureaus of the working groups and hoped that theEastern European Group, Latin American Group and Western Europe andOthers Group (WEOG) would complete their consultations as soon aspossible.

After the Committee approved the election of the two Africans,Djoghlaf took the floor to express his thanks and to announce someof the work Algeria has already done with regard to contributing tothe negotiating process. Algeria has prepared a national reportthat takes stock of its experience in combatting desertification.He said that they would like to distribute this report in Nairobi.Furthermore, they have already drafted a preliminary convention andhave submitted it to the African group for consideration.

Kjelln said that in order to optimize the negotiating process, allcountries that want to propose draft text should submit it inwriting before 1 July 1993, so that the Secretariat can have alldrafts translated in time for the September session. The US,responding to both Algeria and the Chair, thought that delegatesshould wait until after the information session in Nairobi beforerushing into the submission of text. Kjelln then adjourned themeeting.

When the sixth meeting of the INC-D reconvened at 5:25 pm, thenomination process had not advanced. Both the Latin American Groupand WEOG were unable to reach consensus on their nominations, aVice-Chair and Chair respectively. Both groups had two candidatesvying for each position. France, on behalf of WEOG, suggested thatWEOG be given two posts: Chair of one working group and a post inthe Bureau of the Djoghlaf Group. Peru responded that the LatinAmerican Group had the same problem but rather than ruin thebalance of the bureaus by adding a new position, they think it ismore prudent to have negotiations within the regional group so thata single candidate can be presented in Nairobi. Another problem waspresented when Bulgaria said that the Eastern European Group wouldsubmit a nomination for one Vice Chair position. Kjelln respondedthat there had been an agreement that Eastern Europe would nominatea Rapporteur. Rather than rush into any decisions, Kjelln putthese issues aside for the moment and gave the floor to Iran whoannounced that they were submitting the name of Morad-AliArdeshiri, the alternate permanent representative of Iran to theFAO, as Vice Chair of one of the working groups.

Algeria then took the floor to suggest that the election process besuspended so that the Chair could undertake consultations duringthe intersessional period and bring a package to Nairobi regardingthe remaining posts to be filled. As there was no opposition tothis plan, the Committee elected Ardeshiri to the post of ViceChair and suspended the election process. The bureaus of the twoworking groups currently are as follows: Chairs: Ahmed Djoghlaf(Algeria) and vacant (WEOG); Vice-Chairs: Morad-Ali Ardeshiri(Iran) and vacant (Latin America); Rapporteurs: Frederick Mallya(Tanzania) and vacant (Eastern Europe).

ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

The final item on the agenda was the adoption of the report of thecommittee. As there was no Rapporteur, the Vice-Chair from India,T. P. Sreenivasan, presented the report of the Committee(A/AC.241/L.4). With the provision that the gaps in the reportwould be completed by the Secretariat, the report was adopted.

Kjelln closed the meeting by complimenting the group on theconstructive spirit during this session. He said that those whoknow the work of international organizations know that it issometimes difficult to avoid long discussions on procedural itemsbut it testifies to the spirit of this Committee that they wereable to complete the agenda on time. He paid tribute to the earlyresponse to the call for contributions to the voluntary fund andthe trust fund. He thanked everyone for their cooperation duringthis meeting and said that he looks forward to seeing them inNairobi. As scheduled, at 6:00 pm Kjelln gavelled theorganizational session of the INC-D to a close.

DESERTIFICATION AND THE UN SYSTEM

The recognition within the United Nations system of desertificationas a global problem began with a series of resolutions adopted bythe General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)during 1974, culminating in resolution 24/337, which decided toconvene a United Nations Conference on Desertification (UNCOD).This meeting, held in Nairobi, Kenya from 29 August - 9 September1977, adopted the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD).The implementation of PACD was left to governments with an overallcoordinating role assigned to UNEP. As a result of UNCOD, twogroups were formed: 1) the Interagency Working Group onDesertification, which is responsible for giving guidance to UNEPin overall implementation of the plan; and 2) the ConsultativeGroup for Desertification Control (DESCON) that assists inmobilizing resources for combating desertification.

The international efforts to combat desertification and theimplementation of the PACD have been less than expected. Accordingto UNEP, in the 1992 report of the Executive Director, Status ofDesertification and Implementation of the United Nations Plan ofAction to Combat Desertification, several global conferencesand studies identified the following reasons for the failure of theplan: 1) low priority by funding agencies; 2) lack of funds bydeveloping countries to cope with the problem; 3) lack ofintegration of desertification control programmes into othersocio-developmental programmes; 4) failure to include localpopulations in the solutions; and 5) technical solutions weresought for socio-political and socio-economic problems.

Even before the adoption of UN General Assembly resolution 44/228,which created the UN Conference on Environment and Development(UNCED), desertification was given high priority. In resolution44/172, adopted three days before the UNCED resolution, the GAinvited UNCED to "accord high priority to desertification controland consider all means necessary, including financial, scientificand technological resources, to halt and reverse the process ofdesertification with a view to preserving the ecological balance ofthe planet," and invited UNEP to provide a report on the progressof the implementation of the PACD. (That report was presented tothe UNEP governing council in February 1992 (UNEP/GCSS.III/3).)

Nevertheless, desertification was given little attention during thefirst three sessions of the UNCED Preparatory Committee (PrepCom).At PrepCom I, decision 1/15 (Soil Loss, Desertification andDrought) invited UNEP to report on the implementation of the PACDand requested the UNCED Secretariat to consult with the specializedagencies dealing with the implementation of the PACD and report onthe results achieved, the control measures applied and the need forfurther international cooperation to combat desertification anddrought. They also requested that the Secretariat prepare a studyon the ways and means of expanding reforestation activities tocombat land degradation and desertification.

At PrepCom II, the UNCED Secretariat presented a document on theprotection and management of land resources (A/CONF.151/PC/25). Thegovernments requested the Secretariat to elaborate on theseproposals at PrepCom III.

At PrepCom III the Secretariat presented a "Report of theSecretary-General of UNCED on Combatting Desertification andDrought" (A/CONF.151/PC/62) that contained a review of the issues,a report on current work in the area by the various UN agencies anda discussion of progress made in the implementing of measures tocontrol desertification. Annexes to this document included a UNEPprogress report, a review of drought monitoring and researchactivities and reports on reforestation activities to combat landdegradation and desertification, and alternative and sustainablesystems of production and livelihoods in marginal lands.

Working Group I did not address desertification until the thirdweek of the session and discussion was cut short due to lack oftime and unavailability of documents in all working languages.There was criticism, especially on the part of the developingcountries, of the proposed programme areas for Agenda 21(A/CONF.151/PC/42/Add.2). In decision WG.I/L.29, the governmentsrequested the Secretariat to present a revised set of proposals forPrepCom IV and, at the insistence of the African Group, it wasdecided that Working Group I would put the issue of desertificationat the top of its agenda for PrepCom IV.

In November 1991 more than 40 ministers from African states met inAbidjan, Cote d'Ivoire for a regional preparatory meeting for UNCEDand adopted the African Common Position on Environment andDevelopment accompanied by the Abidjan Declaration. Among otherthings, this document called for a convention to combatdesertification as one of the concrete outcomes to be included inAgenda 21.

The draft of what was to become Chapter 12 of Agenda 21(A/CONF.151/PC/100/Add.17) was tabled at PrepCom IV as the firstsubstantive item of business for Working Group I. The African Grouppresented a series of amendments, including a new programme area,"Encourage and Promote Popular Participation and EnvironmentalEducation Focusing on Desertification Control," to this documentand the revised text became the basis for negotiation. By the endof the session, the PrepCom had adopted almost the entire Agenda 21chapter on combatting desertification. However, they were unable toreach consensus on two paragraphs that dealt with a future bindingconvention on desertification.

At UNCED in Rio de Janeiro, Ambassador Tommy Koh of Singapore,Chair of the Main Committee, took personal responsibility forholding informal consultations on the issue of a convention tocombat desertification. These consultations were facilitated whenthe US delegation announced that it had changed its position andcould now support the idea of a convention. However, whencompromise text was brought to the Main Committee, the EuropeanCommunity announced it could not accept a global convention,arguing that desertification is a regional problem not necessarilywarranting global action. Intense negotiations followed between theAfricans and the Europeans as well as within the EC. Finally, theEC announced that it would accept the wording proposed by the Chairthat would request the UN General Assembly to establish anintergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) to elaborate aconvention to combat desertification.

Chapter 12 of Agenda 21, "Managing Fragile Ecosystems: CombatingDesertification and Drought", contains six programme areas: (a)Strengthening the knowledge base and developing information andmonitoring systems for regions prone to desertification anddrought, including the economic and social aspects of theseecosystems; (b) Combating land degradation through, interalia, intensified soil conservation, afforestation andreforestation activities; (c) Developing and strengtheningintegrated development programmes for the eradication of povertyand promotion of alternative livelihood systems in areas prone todesertification; (d) Developing comprehensive anti-desertificationprogrammes and integrating them into national development plans andnational environmental planning; (e) Developing comprehensivedrought preparedness and drought-relief schemes, includingself-help arrangements, for drought-prone areas and designingprogrammes to cope with environmental refugees; and (f) Encouragingand promoting popular participation and environmental education,focusing on desertification control and management of the effectsof drought.

As requested by UNCED, the 47th session of the UN General Assemblytook up discussions on the establishment of an INC to elaborate aconvention to combat desertification as part of a series ofresolutions negotiated in an open-ended ad hoc working group of theSecond Committee under the chairmanship of Malaysian AmbassadorRazali Ismail. (See Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Vol. 3 Nos.2 and 3.)

In early October 1992, the African Group held consultations on adraft resolution establishing the INC-D. The final draft wasforwarded to the Group of 77 as a "non-paper" and was latersubmitted to the Razali Group on 7 November. This resolution wasprimarily procedural in nature, leaving the substantive matters tobe decided by the INC-D and, to a lesser extent, by theorganizational session in an attempt to avoid a prolonged debate.The debate within the Razali Group focused on the length of theorganizational session; the number and location of substantivesessions; the size and role of the multidisciplinary expert groupto assist the INC-D Secretariat in its mandate in the scientific,technical and legal fields; the issue of funding; and theparticipation of NGOs.

In December 1992, the Second Committee adopted the draft resolution(A/C.2/47/L.46) entitled "Establishment of an intergovernmentalnegotiating committee for the elaboration of an internationalconvention to combat desertification in those countriesexperiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularlyin Africa" and the statement on budgetary implications of theresolution. The final resolution 47/188, as adopted by the GeneralAssembly, establishes the INC-D with a view to finalizing theconvention by June 1994 and welcomes the candidature of AmbassadorBo Kjelln as Chair. It decides to hold five substantive session,each lasting for two weeks in Geneva, Nairobi, New York and Parisand that the first session, to be held in Nairobi, will devote thefirst week to the sharing of technical information between experts.It also decides to establish a multidisciplinary panel of expertsto assist the Secretariat, a special voluntary fund to assistdeveloping country participation, and a trust fund for existing UNfunds and contributions to be administered by the Secretariat. Itfurther requests the Secretary-General to prepare a report on theimplementation of the resolution at the forty-eighth session of theUN General Assembly.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN THE COMING MONTHS

During the next fewmonths, Ambassador Arba Diallo will be busy establishing the INC-DSecretariat in Geneva. At present, the offices will be located inthe former UNCED headquarters in Conches, where the Swissgovernment has extended the use of the facility until 1 April.Negotiations are still underway with the Swiss Government forpermanent office space. In the meantime, the Secretariat can bereached at POB 80, 1231 Conches, Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41-22)789-1676; fax: (41-22) 789-3536.

The Secretariat will probably grow to 10 or 12 professionals (with2 or 3 seconded from governments or UN agencies) and four generalservices staff members. Diallo has yet to select his Deputy, butchances are that "she" will be chosen within the next two weeks.

FORMATION OF THE INC-D SECRETARIAT: During the next fewmonths, Ambassador Arba Diallo will be busy establishing the INC-DSecretariat in Geneva. At present, the offices will be located inthe former UNCED headquarters in Conches, where the Swissgovernment has extended the use of the facility until 1 April.Negotiations are still underway with the Swiss Government forpermanent office space. In the meantime, the Secretariat can bereached at POB 80, 1231 Conches, Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41-22)789-1676; fax: (41-22) 789-3536.

FORMATION OF THE PANEL OF EXPERTS: The selection of themembers of the multidisciplinary panel of experts, which will serveas the principle source of technical input for the Secretariat,will take place by the end of the first week in February whenDiallo forwards a short list of social and natural scientists to UNSecretary-General Boutros-Boutros Ghali. The 12-member panel willmeet from 22 - 25 February in Geneva for an orientation session andthen again on 18 March to discuss the format for a convention andthe title headings of the main chapters. The Secretariat would liketo see the individual members of the panel serve as focal pointsfor input from scientists in each discipline into the process. Itis planned that the panel will meet approximately six weeks beforeeach of the negotiating sessions to review the program of work andcontribute to elements of the convention under negotiation. Inaddition, the Secretariat also has plans to convene an inter-agencyworking party following each Experts Group meeting.

DRAFTING THE FORMAT OF THE CONVENTION: Based on thecontributions of the panel of experts, the results of the Chair'sintersessional consultations, and the drafts prepared by theinter-agency working party, the Secretariat may begin to puttogether a draft format for the convention. This document, whichmay be presented at the first substantive session in Nairobi, willprobably incorporate ideas from previous conventions andsubmissions from governments, such as the 40-page draft conventionprepared by Algeria and the Egyptian position paper currently incirculation.

NGO ACCREDITATION: The INC-D Secretariat will also bedealing with the question of NGO participation in the Conference.Diallo has stated that he will follow UNCED procedures and thatNGOs that wish to be accredited to INC-D should send a formalapplication to the Secretariat with the relevant informationindicating what they have been doing in the area of land resourcesmanagement and specifically in the management of fragileecosystems. It is probable that the list of NGOs seekingaccreditation will be forwarded to the first Plenary session inNairobi for approval. The Secretariat is actively looking for NGOinput into the information session during the first week inNairobi. For further information about how NGOs can participate inthe negotiation process and on related NGO activities, contactSylvia Jampies at the INC-D Secretariat, POB 80, 1231 Conches,Geneva, Switzerland; tel: (41-22) 789-1676; fax: (41-22) 789-3536.

CHAIR'S INTERSESSIONAL TASKS: The Committee mandated itsChair, Bo Kjelln, to undertake consultations on several itemsduring the intersessional period. The first issue is the terms ofreference for the two working groups. Kjelln proposed severaloptions: one working group could deal with commitment andprinciples and the other legal and institutional matters (the modelused in the climate change negotiations) or one working group couldaddress the legal general issues of the convention and other couldfocus on a protocol or annex on the situation in Africa. Hepromised that he would have a proposal prepared in time for theNairobi session.

Kjelln must also undertake consultations regarding the election ofofficers to the bureaus of the working groups. Three of theregional groups had not submitted nominations by the conclusion ofthe organizational session (Western Europe and Others (WEOG), LatinAmerica and Eastern Europe). Two problems developed in the closinghours of the session. The first was that WEOG requested anadditional seat on the bureau of one of the working groups so thatrather than choose between the two countries that want seats on thebureaus, they can nominate both of them. The other problem was thatthe Eastern European Group was not satisfied with therapporteurship of one of the groups and requested a vicechairmanship instead. Kjelln is expected to consult with theregional groups and try to reach consensus on the distribution ofseats on the working groups' bureaus.

Participants

National governments: UK; US
Negotiating blocs: African Group; Asian Group; Central and Eastern Europe; Group of 77 and China; Western Europe and Others Group
Non-state coalitions: NGOs