Towards WSSD in Johannesburg
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Towards WSSD in Johannesburg |
Lawrence Correa
PrepCom III, UN, NY, March 22 to April 5, 2002
PrepCom III for the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held at the UN, New York, from March 22 to April 5, 2002. Nearly 1500 representatives of governments, UN agencies, international organizations and Major Groups attended. The main document used was the ‘Chairman’s paper’ (A/CONF.199/PC/L.1) that was prepared on the basis of deliberations in the PrepCom II. It dwelt on nine substantive issues: poverty eradication; changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production; protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development; sustainable development in a globalizing world; health and sustainable development; sustainable development of small island developing states; sustainable development initiatives for Africa; and means of implementation. The section on strengthening governance for sustainable development at the national, regional and international levels was to be completed during PrepCom III. This PrepCom was primarily meant to negotiate elements for decisions contained in the Chairman’s Paper and in a discussion paper-‘Sustainable Development Governance at the International, Regional and National Levels’ prepared by Bureau vice-chairs. During the two-week meeting, delegates met primarily in three working groups.
NGOs participating in PrepCom III worked towards a ‘NGO dialogue paper’ to be used during the multi-stakeholder dialogue at PrepCom IV in Bali, Indonesia. The issues covered there are: governing globalization; corporate accountability; stakeholders and partnerships; access to information, participation and justice; institutions for sustainable development; role of the States; and ratification of conventions, integration and implementation of UN Millennium Summit decisions. (www.vivatinternational.org, under sustainable development)
PREPCOM IV: May 27- June 07, 2002, Bali International Convention Center,
Bali, Indonesia
PrepCom IV will be a
ministerial level meeting, which will draw upon the agreed text from PrepCom III
to prepare a concise and focused document that will aim to: emphasize the need
for a global partnership to achieve the objectives of sustainable development;
reconfirm the need for an integrated and strategically focused approach to the
implementation of Agenda 21, and address the main challenges and opportunities
faced by the international community in this regard. The challenge facing
PrepCom IV therefore is, how to move the debate from its focus on policy
formulation and give more guidance to concrete implementation. The outcome of
PrepCom IV will be submitted for further consideration and adoption at the 2002
Summit meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.
VIVAT International
is exploring the possibility of a couple of its members from Indonesia
participating in PrepCom IV and the People’s Forum on PrepCom IV in Nusa Dua
– Bali, Indonesia during the same time.
VI is planning for
its participation in the UN World Summit from August 26 to September 4 and the
NGO Forum that will take place at the NASREC site from August 18-25, 2002.