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Government
delegates met all day and all night Wednesday and into Thursday
morning to complete negotiations on the Regional Platform on Sustainable
Development for Asia and the Pacific. These negotiations continued
late into the evening. In the afternoon, the high level segment
opened, followed by the following addresses: Kim Hak-Su, Executive
Secretary of ESCAP and UN Under Secretary-General (bottom left);
Shafqat Kakakhel, UNEP Deputy Executive Director; Kalman Mizsei,
Assistant Administrator and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and
CIS; Rolf Zelius, Chief, Office of Environment and Social Development,
the Asian Development Bank; Message of Nitin
Desai,
UN Under Secretary-general for Economic and Social Affairs; and
Inaugural address by his Excellency Hun Sen, Prime Minister,
Royal Government of Cambodia (right photo) . Delegates then
elected officers, adopted the agenda and discussed the Regional
Platform on Sustainable Development for Asia and the Pacific, including
assessment of the implementation of Agenda 21, key regional sustainable
development issues and goals, and specific proposals for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development. A policy statement was presented
by Kim Hak-Su, ESCAP Executive Secretary. Another statement was
presented by Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary, UN Convention
to Combat Desertification, and Roundtable Chair Cielito Habito presented
the report of the Asia-Pacific Roundtable on Sustainable Development.
Delegates then made statements on WSSD issues, priorities, goals
and actions for sustainable development.
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Excerpts
from the Prime Minister's inaugural address: One
Two
Three
Reflecting
on Cambodia's recent transition to peace, Cambodian Prime Minister
Hun Sen highlighted domestic rehabilitation efforts to eradicate
poverty, maintain stability, improve living standards, promote
sustainable development, and integrate into the regional and global
economy. He elaborated on national initiatives to ensure the rational
use of natural resources, such as: new legislation, including
creation of a national biodiversity strategy and climate change
action plan; establishment of various ministries to administer
natural resources; and efforts to combat corruption in sectors
such as forestry. He described the links between landmines, poverty,
environmental degradation and social equity, and outlined lessons
learned such as: peace and stability are determining factors for
success of sustainable development programmes; civil society can
positively contribute to achieving sustainable development objectives;
NGOs and media are important partners; technical and financial
assistance from donors should have emphasize on human resource
development; sustainable development requires a new model based
on human, not monetary, values that benefit the majority and increase
well-being to an acceptable level; and that there is no uniform
model of development.
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Kim
Hak-Su, Executive Secretary of ESCAP and UN Under Secretary-general,
welcoming delegates, noted the Region's various preparatory
meetings, outlined some of the region's sustainable development
gains and challenges, and stressed poverty, globalization and
emerging social issues as the Commission's future priority agenda,
which will be further informed by the Regional Platform for Action.
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Shafqat
Kakakhel, UNEP Deputy Executive Director, emphasized poverty
and globalization as the two major sustainable development challenges
for the Region. He described the region's platform as remarkable
- succinct yet comprehensive - and said the Summit challenge was
reinvigorating the commitment to work for sustainable development.
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Rolf
Zelius, Chief, Office of Environment and Social Development, Asian
Development Bank (right)
outlined
ADB initiatives toward environmental and social capacity building
and integration of poverty reduction and environmental improvement.
He said too much attention has been placed on producing reports,
and called for the involvement of environment, planning and financing
agencies in action plans, which should ensure: sustained economic
growth, inclusive social development and investment in social support
programmes; and improved governance for institutions that support
public sector management at all levels.
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Noting the region's
economic changes since the 1960s, Kalman
Mizsei, Assistant Administrator and UNDP Regional Director for Europe
and the CIS, stressed the need to build on the 1992 achievements
and to ensure the Summit launches a bold new plan that assures human
security. He elaborated UNDP's planned activities towards the Summit,
including a joint initiative with the ECE, UK and World Bank to
highlight successful partnerships and practices to be spread across
the world
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Informal
Consultations on the draft Regional Platform on Sustainable Development
for Asia and the Pacific
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Chair
of the informal consultations Kiyotaka Akasaka, Japan (right) with
Ravi Sawhney, ESCAP |
Regional Platform on Sustainable Development for
Asia and the Pacific: Assessment of the implementation of Agenda 21;
Key regional sustainable development issues and goals; and specific
proposals for the World Summit on Sustainable Development |
Kim Hak-Su, ESCAP Executive Secretary presented
a statement on regional sustainable development policy, urging
the promotion of economic and social development without undermining
natural resources. He highlighted five priority areas for sustainable
development: reject poverty as an acceptable human condition;
maximize benefits and minimize adverse effects of globalization;
conserve biodiversity and manage natural resources; improve governance
and participation of government and civil society; and provide
the financial resources for sustainable development.
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Statement
by Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary, UN Convention to Combat
Desertification, said progress in sustainable development
had been constrained by intervening factors, including the economic
slowdown. Recalling the Convention's origin from the Rio process,
he elaborated on progress in UNCCD implementation, noting this
region's achievements and general implementation constraints,
and noted the relevance to the CCD of the Kitakyushu deliberations
on land degradation.
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Indonesia
and Iran during the informal negotiations
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The
ESCAP information center
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Side event: Strategic Dialogue on Civil Society: The Constituency
for sustainable development? Hosted by UNDP
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Delpin
Ganapin, Chair, Civil Society Counterpart, Philippine Council for
Sustainable Development, Kalman Mizsei, Assistant Secretary General
and Director, Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS, UNDP, Agus Sari,
PELANGI, Indonesia, Elizabeth Roxas, Director, Environmental Broadcast
Circle, the Philippines, Minendra Rijal, APEX, College and Chair,
Sustainable Development Agenda for Nepal (SDAN), Nepal
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This
event considered, inter alia, the following questions: What
has civil society done in the last 10 years to implement sustainable
development?; What does civil society need to do between now and
the Johannesburg Summit to impact deliberations and decision-making?;
and What concrete initiatives can be recommended for the implementation
of sustainable development post-Johannesburg?
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Side event: UNEP information session on the Climate
Change Implementation Mechanism |
Vijai
Sharma, UNEP, gives a briefing on the Clean Development Mechanism
including a discussion of the negotiations backdrop, the nature
and scope of the Kyoto Mechanisms, the Clean Development Mechanism,
related institutional arrangements and further work. Vijai
Sharma with Shafqat Kakakhel, UNEP Deputy Executive Director (left)
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Linkage's
Portal to the Johannesburg Summit 2002
ENB
Coverage of the First Preparatory Session of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development
ENB
Coverage of the UNECE Regional Ministerial Meeting for the World Summit
on Sustainable Development
ENB
Coverage of the African Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Summit
on Sustainable Development
ENB
Coverage of the West Asia Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Summit
on Sustainable Development
ENB
Coverage of the Latin America and Caribbean Regional Preparatory Meeting
for the World Summit on Sustainable Development
UN
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Asia
Pacific Regional Preparatory Process
Stakeholder
Segment at the Asia-Pacific Regional PrepCom
South
Africa Summit Site
UN
Official Summit Website
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