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CSD11 Highlights,
Wednesday, May 7th
Richard
Jolly, Chair, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council;
Prince
Willem Alexander of the Netherlands; Ronnie Kasrils, Minister
of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa
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Delegates convened
in two parallel working groups in the morning and afternoon to continue
negotiating the Chair's draft decision on the future programme, organization
and methods of work of the Commission. Working Group I discussed the
CSD's multi-year work programme and the future organization of work,
while Working Group II considered reporting, partnerships, and the
future bureau. In the morning, participants also viewed a presentation
on the International Year of Freshwater, while an informal consultation
took place in the morning and afternoon to finalize the draft decision
on the preparations for the 10-year review of the implementation of
the Barbados Programme of Action (BPOA).
PRESENTATION:
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF FRESHWATER "Connecting People and Goals"
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 Ronnie
Kasrils, South Africa's
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry
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Crown
Prince Willem Alexander, Netherlands
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This
panel discussion was chaired by Ronnie Kasrils,
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry, South Africa. In his
keynote address, Willem Alexander, Crown Prince
of the Netherlands, said improving sanitation required special
effort, and that a new agricultural revolution was needed,.
He noted the vital role of the UN, lauded the work of UN agencies,
and commended the CSD's emphasis on water. Ambassador Rashid
Alimov, Tajikistan, the country which initiated the
International Year of Freshwater, said that sustainability of
water resources and access must be ensured and provided for
future generations.
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Rashid
Alimov,
Ambassador of Tajikistan
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Albert
Wright, Co-chair,
Water and Sanitation Task Force, Millennium Project
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Richard
Jolly, Chair, Water
Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council
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Albert
Wright, Co-Chair, Water and Sanitation Task Force, Millennium
Project, presented a status report on the Millennium Project Task
Force on Water and Sanitation, and discussed concrete work on
the ground in developing countries. Richard
Jolly, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council,
noted the need for social mobilization, mobilization of the media,
and a focus on people, households and communities. |
Koichi
Haraguchi, Ambassador
and Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations
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William
Cosgrove,
Vice-President, World Water Council |
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Koichi
Haraguchi, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of
Japan to the UN, in discussing outcomes of Kyoto, expressed disappointment
at the lack of commitments to new actions and commitments made
by developing countries. William Cosgrove, Vice-President,
World Water Council, in discussing outcomes of Kyoto, expressed
disappointment at the lack of commitments to new actions and commitments
made by developing countries.
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Nitin
Desai ,
UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs
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Jennifer
Francis,
Executive Secretary, Gender
and Water Alliance
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Jennifer
Francis, Gender and Water Alliance, called for a gender
sensitive strategy.
Nitin Desai, UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic
and Social Affairs, emphasized an integrated view of water resource
use and management, addressing pollution and impacts of water
usage, and innovative organization and technical solutions. |
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During
the ensuing discussion, Bhutan stressed the
importance of creating water infrastructures and increased ODA.
The US stated that work at the grassroots level
should filter up to other levels. Lebanon noted
it would host World Environment Day in 2003, and emphasized
increasing stress on water resources in the Middle East. In
his closing remarks, Chair Kasrils said multilateralism
is alive and well and commended the focus in Kyoto on the household
level.
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Delegate from the
US
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Delegate
from Lebanon
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Delegate from Bhutan
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Prince Willem shaking
hands with Nitin Desai
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Chair
Ronnie Kasrils closing the meeting |
WORLD
WATER DEVELOPMENT REPORT
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c |
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The
presentation of the World Water Development Report (WWDR) was
chaired by Pradeep
Aggarwal, Head of Isotope Hydrology, International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). (In photo on immediate left.)
Andras
Szollosi-Nagy, Deputy Assistant Director General, UNESCO,
provided a summary of steps leading to the production of the
WWDR, noting it is a result of the work of 23 UN agencies.
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Andras
Szollosi-Nagy, Deputy Assistant
Director General, UNESCO |
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Gordon
Young, Coordinator,
World Water Assessment Programme |
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Gordon
Young, World Water Assessment Programme, discussed the
report's contents, described the nature of the water crisis, and
highlighted challenge areas, including governance. Manuel Dango,
DESA, emphasized the WWDR could be used by the CSD as a monitoring
tool and as a baseline document. |
WORKING
GROUP 1
Delegates
from the US, New Zealand and Canada
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MULTI-YEAR
PROGRAMME OF WORK: Regarding the paragraph addressing the three
main themes of poverty, consumption and production, and the natural
resource base, the G-77/ CHINA expressed its preference for deleting
it, or rewording it using exact language from the JPOI .
FUTURE ORGANIZATION OF WORK: On text addressing the contribution
of the CSD's organization of work to the implementation of sustainable
development, the G-77/CHINA, opposed by NORWAY, SWITZERLAND, AUSTRALIA,
the US and EU, called for a reference to the principle of common
but differentiated responsibilities. The working group agreed
that the Commission's work will be organized as a series of two-year
action oriented "Implementation Cycles," with a "Review
Session" and "Policy Session."
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Representative of the G77/China
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On
contributions from Major Groups, delegations accepted language
proposed by Co-Chair Meybodi and amended by the G-77/CHINA. On
text proposing an Intergovernmental Action Forum, the REPUBLIC
OF KOREA proposed that it should be held in February in the second
year of a cycle; it also bracketed reference to the Forum's "two
weeks" duration. Together with the EU and G-77/CHINA, it
voiced concern over the imbalance in the number of meetings in
the two year cycle of work. JAPAN reminded the Secretariat of
its request that delegates be briefed on the budgetary implications
of the various proposals regarding the schedule of meetings.
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Representatives
of the EU considering the text projected on a screen
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Comparing
the printed draft text with the text on the screen
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WORKING
GROUP 2
Delegate
from China
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Working
Group II continued negotiating the Chair's draft decision, which
had been further revised in a compilation text incorporating
the outcome of discussions held on Tuesday. Following a brief
discussion of various proposals to amend the title of one section,
delegates agreed to remove all section titles from the draft.
The G-77/CHINA proposed text for a preamble
at the beginning of this section. The EU agreed to this, while
AUSTRALIA, CANADA, the US and JAPAN objected. Delegates then
discussed a paragraph reiterating that partnerships are an important
complementary instrument to enhance implementation of Agenda
21 and the JPOI. The G-77/CHINA introduced language clarifying
that "partnerships are not intended to substitute commitments
made by governments, but to supplement the implementation of
JPOI."
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Delegates
New Zealand (above left) and Canada (center)
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Delegates
devoted considerable attention to a paragraph emphasizing the
importance of a reporting system for evaluating progress in
implementation. Much of the debate focused on whether to retain
references to "an effective system" of reporting,
which was preferred by the EU, and also on including language
on "evaluating and monitoring." The
working group then discussed a paragraph on reporting to the
CSD, starting with text proposed by the G-77/CHINA. Following
amendments by the EU and US to this text, language was accepted
that "encourages countries to present, on a voluntary basis,
national reports, in particular to the Review Session of the
CSD, focusing on concrete progress in implementation, including
achievements, constraints, challenges and opportunities."
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Photo
(left to right): Delegates from China, South Africa and Morocco
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Delegate
from Australia
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SIDE EVENTS
The
Millennium Project: Addressing environmental sustainability
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The Millennium Project, directed by Jeffrey Sachs, is an independent
advisory body to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Its purpose
is to propose the best strategies for meeting the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), including frameworks for implementation. |
Photo
(left to right): Guido Schmidt-Traub, Millennium Project Secretariat,
Albert Wright, Africa Water Task Force, Coordinator of Task Force
7 on Water and Sanitation, Roberto Lenton, International Research
Institute for Climate Protection, Columbia University, Coordinator
of Task Force 7 on Water and Sanitation, and Charles McNeill,
Environment Programme Team Manager and Biodiversity Conservation
and Poverty Reduction Advisor, Environmentally Sustainable Development
Group, UNDP, Member Task Force on Environmental Sustainability
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This
involves reviewing current innovative practices, prioritizing
policy reforms, identifying means of policy implementation, and
evaluating financing options. For more information, visit: www.unmillenniumproject.org
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Interlinkages:
The WTO, Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg Plan
of Implementation
Photo
above (left to right): Christian Ossa, Financing for Devlelopment,
Yin Shao Loong, Third World Network, Rene Vossenar, UNCTAD,
Vicky-Corpuz, Tebtebba Foundation
PARTNERSHIPS
FAIR
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Healthy
Environments for Children: Opportunities for Action in a
Global Alliance
The
Healthy Environments for Children Alliance is a world-wide
alliance to intensify global action on environmental risks
to children’s health that arise from the settings
where they live, learn, play and earn, by providing knowledge,
increasing political will, mobilizing resources, and catalyzing
action.
Photo (on left): David Nabarro, Executive Director, Sustainable
Development and Healthy Environments, WHO
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Photo
(left to right): Moderator Robert Musil, Executive Director
and CEO, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Adnan Amin,
Director, New York Office, UNEP, Vanessa Tobin, Chief, Water,
Environment and Sanitation Section, UNICEF, and Susan West
Marmagas, Environmental Health Programme, Physicians for
Social Responsibility
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