THE AFRICAN REGIONAL PREPCOMM, OCTOBER 15-18
UNED Forum's Co-chair, Hesphina Rukato reports on African Regional
Civil Society Preparations.
UNEP NGO Forum
The NGO Forum was held on 15-16 October. Much of the first day was spent
on discussions of the UNEP/Civil Society Engagement debate, and not on
Summit preparatory meetings. While this debate was deemed to be very important
by many stakeholders, it was felt that UNEP should have organised a separate
process to deal with this very important issue. Further, many participants
had not prepared themselves for this debate, since the draft UNEP/Civil
Society Engagement report was only circulated on the day of the discussion.
This limited the effective participation of those present. It was also
clear that the deadline for comment that was announced by UNEP staff was
not conducive to effective stakeholder input. Participants to the UNEP
meeting raised fears that this process is too rushed, and might therefore
not deliver the desired outcome.
Summit Preparations
SANGOCO made a presentation on where they were in terms of the Summit
preparations. They appealed for cooperation and support from other African
NGOs and civil society groups. A proposal was put forward for the formation
of an African regional Steering Committee that would work together with
the SANGOCO secretariat to facilitate and ensure the participation of
African NGOs and civil society organisations. SANGOCO will take a lead
in this process. Other sub-regional focal points made presentations on
their Summit preparations.
African Strategy Meeting
The Heinrich Boell Foundation organised a pan African strategy meeting
during the weekend before the PrepComm to prepare the present NGOs for
the PrepComm. NGO representatives from the Eastern Africa WSSD Focal Point,
from SANGOCO and the SADC Civil Society Forum were present as well as
representatives from North, West and Central Africa. A policy paper that
resulted from the meeting fed into the UNEP NGO Forum and was used as
the basis for discussion during the Forum.
UNED Forum stakeholder meeting
UNED Forum facilitated a stakeholder dialogue meeting on Tuesday, 16
October. The meeting was aimed at giving stakeholder representatives an
opportunity to exchange views and sectoral priorities for the Summit.
The presentations were made by: Lorraine Lotter, South Africa, Trade Unions,
Women, Youth, ICLEI and two NGO/Civil society representatives. A summary
of issues report was prepared and circulated during the ministerial segment
on Thursday.
Presentations to the ministerial segment
Several stakeholder groups presented sectoral reports to the ministerial
segment on Wednesday, 17 October. The following groups presented reports:
industry report, Civil Society/Non-governmental Organisations, Trade Unions,
the Youth, and the United Nations Secretariat for the International Strategy
for Disaster Reduction. The NGO position paper developed during the NGO
sessions before the ministerial segment were widely circulated.
The various non-government stakeholder groups made it clear that they
were willing to take responsibility for the future implementation of Agenda
21 principles, and were willing to go into partnerships with other stakeholder
groups and governments for the achievement of sustainable development
objectives of Agenda 21. The Youth expressed their desire to use the Summit
to dispel the notion that Africa is a "dark continent". They also made
it clear that this could only be achieved if they, and other stakeholders,
were given enough space and resources to ensure their effective participation
both in the Summit and the process leading up to the Summit.
Key outcomes
A quick glance at the various stakeholder reports, as well as the draft
ministerial declaration suggest that there is a convergence of views of
many stakeholders as to what the outcome of the Johannesburg Summit should
be. The most common challenges that were raised include:
+ Setting targets and timeframes for the implementation of agreements
+ Eradicating poverty for Sustainable Development
+ Bridging the digital divide between the North and the South in the
context of globalisation
+ Ensuring security, particularly in the wake of the tragic events
of 11 September in the United States
+ Addressing HIV/AIDS
+ Reforming existing international institutions for environmental
governance both for ensuring effective participation of African stakeholders,
and for implementation of Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)
+ Cancelling Africa's debt, coupled with good governance and accountability
with the African states
+ Developing an African vision for the Johannesburg Summit that will
be guided by the New African Initiative (NAI) principles
Where this leaves us
The need for a Johannesburg Plan of Action or Global Deal/Partnership
is evident. What is not clear is how this Plan of Action or Deal will
be arrived at. Proposals have been made for the African Ministers to initiate
a process through which the various components of the Partnership/Deal/Plan
of Action can be unpacked. This would allow enough time for consultations
to ensure that when it comes to the Summit, there will not be any "killer
issues" as has characterised the Kyoto negotiations. Whether or not South
Africa, as host to the Summit, or the African ministers are receptive
to this proposal remains to be seen. However, if this process is to take
place, it should not be left until it is too late.
On the part of NGOs and Civil society, there is a need for more organising
and planning if they are to use the summit as an opportunity to strengthen
Civil Society in Africa and the South as a whole. While South African
NGOs are set to play an important role in the preparations of the Summit,
there is a need to present a coherent African NGO/Civil Society voice
prior, during and after the summit. The Summit process presents a good
opportunity for African NGOs/civil society to strengthen themselves the
same way the Latin American NGOs/Civil society did as a result of their
region hosting the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
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