Curtain raiser

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE INCD

While the idea of a convention to combat desertification had beendiscussed during the UNCED preparatory process, it was only in Riowhere language was adopted requesting the General Assembly toestablish an intergovernmental negotiating committee for thepurpose of negotiating a convention. The General Assembly, duringits 47th session in 1992, adopted resolution 47/188 calling for theestablishment of the INCD, which will hold five sessions, with aview to finalizing a convention by June 1994. The organizationalsession of the INCD was held in January 1993. At that meetingdelegates elected Bo Kjell‚n (Sweden) Chair of the Committee,elected the Bureau, adopted the rules of procedure, set theschedule of meetings and established two working groups.

The first session of the INCD was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 24May - 3 June 1993. The first week of this session focused on thesharing of technical information and assessments on various aspectsof drought and desertification. Divided into seven sections, theinformation sharing segment provided an opportunity for scientists,technical experts, delegates and NGOs to share relevant experiencesand learn more about the scourge of desertification and its globaldimensions. The second week focused on the structure and elementsto be contained in the Convention. Delegates also exchanged ideasabout the Convention and its objectives.

While agreement was reached on the mandates of the working groups,negotiations stalled in Nairobi over the elaboration of relatedregional instruments while still giving priority action to Africa.Kjell‚n proposed that an instrument on Africa, such as an annex, benegotiated once the main structure of the Convention had beendefined and that similar instruments for other regions benegotiated subsequently. This proposal met with resistance from afew countries in regions other than Africa. They felt that theirown problems with desertification deserved attention and thatsimilar instruments for their regions should be negotiatedsimultaneously with the instrument for Africa. The decision on thismatter was deferred.

The second session of the INCD met in Geneva from 13-24 September1993. At this session, the Committee considered the compilationtext of the Convention prepared by the Secretariat and agreed onthe future programme of work of the Committee, including theelaboration of regional instruments for Africa, Asia and LatinAmerica to supplement the Convention. As in Nairobi, the mostdifficult issue to resolve was the negotiation of regionalinstruments. At the conclusion of the second session of the INCD,the two working groups completed their discussion of theSecretariat's compilation text, identifying areas of convergenceand divergence. There appeared to be consensus on a number of areasincluding the need for: a clear and concise preamble that refers tothe history of desertification in the UN system; clear and conciseobjectives; and implementable commitments that are central to theConvention and articulated at different levels (local, regional andinternational). All delegates stressed the need for a publicawareness strategy; improved education; and increased cooperationand coordination between North and South, South and South and amongdonors.

The 48th session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolutionsubmitted by the INCD that urges the INCD to successfully completethe negotiations by June 1994. The INCD shall hold one sessionafter the adoption of the Convention in order to review thesituation in the interim period pending its entry into force, inparticular with regard to the implementation of provisions adaptedto the specific needs of each region. This extra session should beheld not later than 31 January 1995.

INTERSESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

The "Conference on Human Livelihoods in Drylands - Constraints andPossibilities" was held in Sigtuna, Sweden from 23-25 November1993. The theme of the Conference was the supply of basicrequirements of food, water and energy in drylands. The meeting,sponsored by the Swedish Government through its Ministry of ForeignAffairs and the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation withDeveloping Countries (SAREC), was attended by 60 participants.Participants presented issue papers and case studies with theobjectives of taking stock of the present situation and identifyingpriority areas for further research and development. A second majorobjective was to provide input to the INCD and to establishpriorities for future research and development efforts. Theconclusions of the Conference will be made available to the INCD atthis session.

CONFERENCE ON HUMAN LIVELIHOODS IN DRYLANDS

The "Conference on Human Livelihoods in Drylands - Constraints andPossibilities" was held in Sigtuna, Sweden from 23-25 November1993. The theme of the Conference was the supply of basicrequirements of food, water and energy in drylands. The meeting,sponsored by the Swedish Government through its Ministry of ForeignAffairs and the Swedish Agency for Research Cooperation withDeveloping Countries (SAREC), was attended by 60 participants.Participants presented issue papers and case studies with theobjectives of taking stock of the present situation and identifyingpriority areas for further research and development. A second majorobjective was to provide input to the INCD and to establishpriorities for future research and development efforts. Theconclusions of the Conference will be made available to the INCD atthis session.

LEGAL SEMINAR ON THE CONVENTION

The International Academy of the Environment, in cooperation withthe INCD Secretariat, convened the "Seminar on Legal Aspects of aConvention on Desertification" in November 1993 in Geneva. A smallgroup of international legal policy experts met with the INCDSecretariat and the INCD Bureau to discuss legal aspects of theConvention, with the objective of supporting and facilitating theINCD negotiations. The group discussed the legal nature andpossible content of the regional instruments and the strength ofdonor country obligations resulting from either annexes orprotocols. In addition, the group discussed legal matters relatedto the implementation of the Convention, including: theestablishment of mechanisms to review implementation; theassociation of organizations with the Convention; disputesettlement mechanisms; Convention ratification issues; and optionsfor the number of signatories needed for the Convention to enterinto force. The INCD Chair and the Secretariat will share theresults of this policy dialogue with the INCD at its third session.

INTERNATIONAL PANEL OF EXPERTS ON DESERTIFICATION (IPED)

The IPED met from 29 November to 1 December 1993 in Geneva tocomment on the draft text of the Convention. They began work on theelaboration of definitions, which will probably be included as aglossary to the Convention. They also discussed a series ofdocuments and technical papers, some of which will be presented atINCD-3 and INCD-4. Of particular interest will be the papersemerging from the IPED on the interaction of Climate andDesertification (sponsored by WMO and UNEP) and on biodiversity anddrylands.

INTER-AGENCY GROUP ON DESERTIFICATION

The UN inter-agency group on desertification met in Geneva from 1-2December 1993. The group was informed of progress on the ongoingcase studies, including: the receipt of the Tunisia and Malireports; the expected arrival of the reports from Uganda andBotswana; that the subregional case studies for the AMU, CILSS andIGADD areas are nearing completion; and updates of the additionalcase studies proposed for countries in Africa and other regions.

UNEP WORKSHOP ON "LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE: SOCIAL ASPECTS OF DRYLAND MANAGEMENT"

The UNEP Desertification Control Programme Activity Centre (DC/PAC)hosted an international workshop on "Listening to the People:Social Aspects of Dryland Management" in Nairobi from 14-18December 1993. This meeting brought together about 80 participantsfrom academia, government, donor organizations and NGOs. A commontheme throughout the workshop was that to be meaningful, strategiesto address land degradation must result in fundamental changes topower relations between the various actors at international,national and local levels. In particular, effective communicationchannels are needed to enable affected communities in drought proneareas to express their needs and development priorities. Suchchannels would enable communities to negotiate with representativesof other groups and governments whose interests and activitiesimpact on their livelihood.

Governments were urged to create an enabling environment for truebottom-up development by stressing a popularly-based developmentstrategy. Recommendations included a review of inappropriatepolicies and legislation and the creation of conductive marketconditions. Participants also called for land tenure reform, withguaranteed security of access to land to encourage propermanagement of resources.

Participants noted that a prerequisite to the planning of anyintervention in a local community area is to recognize existingindigenous knowledge and management institutions and structures,including knowledge of production, consumption and marketing. Inparticular, governments and the international community shouldsupport efforts by local communities to develop environmentallysustainable marketing systems for renewable natural products fromdryland areas. On gender issues, participants stressed thatmechanisms for promoting the equal participation of women in thedecision-making process should be supported and their productivityand independent income generating capacity strengthened.

A report and complete list of recommendations from the workshopwill be circulated during this session of the INCD.

IDRC WORKSHOP ON "INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND TRADITIONAL COPING STRATEGIES"

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) sponsored aworkshop on the "Impact of Indigenous Knowledge and TraditionalCoping Strategies for the Prevention or Mitigation of LandDegradation and the Desertification Process in Africa." Theworkshop was held in Cairo from 3-5 January. Thirtyparticipants, including African INCD negotiators, representativesof African NGOs, specialists from African research organizationsand representatives from African regional bodies, attended.

The recommendations of the workshop include: the need forgovernment officials to take into account indigenous knowledge inthe development and implementation of policies; research should becarried out on how local communities and outside agencies adapt andinnovate using traditional and modern knowledge systems; mechanismsshould be found for the effective involvement of localrepresentative institutions in higher level decision-making; newmechanisms must be developed to increase the freedom of movementfor pastoralists; indigenous knowledge needs to be documented; andcurricula that includes indigenous knowledge needs to be developed,applied and funded.

DONORS MEETING

IDRC sponsored a donor's meeting hosted by UNDP and UNSO in NewYork on 14 January 1994. The meeting was attended by approximately20 organization and donor representatives and focused on fundingfor research and capacity building. The meeting's conclusionsincluded that: technology is not the answer; more attention shouldbe paid to local level action and enabling environments; focusshould be not on what to do but how to do it, with a shift towardunderstanding the socio-economic and anthropological dimensions; amore integrated approach should be taken; steps must be taken tomove beyond the "report" stage to putting knowledge into practice;development approaches need to be less "front-ended"; focus shouldbe placed more on actors; and existing leadership should beidentified and used. The implications for donors on funding forresearch and capacity building were: more long-term funding isneeded; the importance of "seed" money; more funding for"down-stream" activities; more funding for capacity building; morecoordination between donors; and the expansion of the donor'stesting of electronic communication.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY

PLENARY: The INCD begins its third session this morning. Anumber of speakers are expected to address the opening Plenary,including Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination andSustainable Development Nitin Desai, UNDP Administrator Gus Spethand several ministers. INCD Chair Bo Kjell‚n is also expected toaddress the Committee and outline his expectations for thistwo-week session.

WORKING GROUPS: Most of the substantive negotiations duringthis session will take place within the two working groups, whichwill begin meeting this afternoon. The main focus of this sessionwill be the Secretariat's negotiating text of the Convention(A/AC.241/15). This will be the first time that delegates will beworking from this text and, thus, look for delegates to focus ondrafting, negotiating and bracketing.

Working Group I, chaired by Ahmed Djoghlaf (Algeria), will beresponsible for the sections of the convention that deal with thepreamble; principles; objectives; structure and nature ofcommitments; national action programmes; regional actionprogrammes; capacity building; education and public awareness;financial resources and mechanisms; and coordination andcooperation. Working Group II, chaired by Anne de Lattre (France),will examine the sections on definition; technology transfer andcooperation; research and development; information collection,analysis and exchange; institutions; regional instruments; andprocedures and final clauses.