ENV/DEV/374

GLOBAL MECHANISM TO PROMOTE FUNDING FOR CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION CALLED MOST DIFFICULT ISSUE BEFORE NINTH SESSION OF INCD

The Convention to Combat Desertification would be one of the first conventions to embrace the comprehensive approach to environmental problems of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit's Agenda 21, the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai, this morning told the International Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of that Convention.

As the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly Those in Africa opened its ninth session, the Under-Secretary-General went on to commended the Convention for taking into account the role of local communities and for its emphasis on financing and science and technology.

Committee Chairman Bo Kjellan (Sweden) said that water would be one of the major issues at next year's Special Session of the General Assembly to follow up on the Rio Summit, and he urged that countries make use of the potential of the Convention to support the decisions of the international community. For the current session of the Committee, the Global Mechanism (to promote the mobilization of funding) was the most complicated and difficult issue. He urged Committee members to use imagination and creative thinking in coming to a decision on the functions of the Mechanism and its housing.

The representative of Ireland, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said it was necessary to address with special urgency the definition of the functions of the Global Mechanism. As per the Convention, the essential function of the Mechanism should be to "promote" -- that is, to promote actions leading to the mobilization and channelling of substantial financial resources.

On the subject of funding, the representative of Honduras called the Convention a package of dreams, the realization of which would be based on the good will of the rich countries and the capacity of the poor countries to make

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use of aid. The Minister of Nature and Environment of Mongolia said that in its work the Convention organization should deal with socio-economic problems which contributed to desertification in developing countries. The Minister for Natural Resources and the Environment of the Central African Republic emphasized the importance of information on desertification being made available through the Internet.

Addressing the issue of providing administrative support to the Convention's permanent secretariat, Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said it had allocated almost one tenth of its budget to desertification and had taken the lead in redefining desertification in the early 1990s. It had been the voice crying in the wilderness when it seemed that no one wanted to hear.

Anders Wijkman, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the Convention was one of the most significant post-Rio frameworks for operationalizing the concept of sustainable development, for alleviating poverty and for ensuring food security for people living in the world's drylands.

Other opening statements were made by representatives of Canada, Chad, Honduras, Italy, Mexico, as well as by the Assistant President of the Economic Policy Resource Strategy Department of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Executive Secretary of the Interim Secretariat of the Convention.

Also this morning, the Committee adopted its agenda and its programme of work. The possibility of concluding the Committee's work a day ahead of schedule was mentioned.

During the rest of the week, the Committee's working groups will meet, with the next full Committee session scheduled for Friday, 6 September, at 3 p.m.

Committee Work Programme

The International Negotiating Committee (INCD) for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa met this morning to open its ninth session. It was expected to adopt its agenda and programme of work and hear introductory statements from Nitin Desai, Under Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development; Bo Kjellen (Sweden), Chairman of the Committee; and Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). (For background on the session and the reports before it, see Press Release ENV/DEV/373 of 3 September).

Statements

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, welcomed delegates to the ninth session of the International Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa. He commended the role of Committee Chairman Bo Kjellen (Sweden) in leading the negotiating process to enable the quick ratification of the Convention. He hoped that the Convention would be in force by the fifth anniversary of the Rio conference.

Mr. Desai assured delegates that his Department would continue to provide support to the interim Convention. He emphasized that the Convention was one of the first to really encompass the comprehensive approach to environment envisaged in Agenda 21. He commended its approach in taking into account the role of local communities and the participatory approach. He also emphasized that the Convention took into account the partnership between affected States and put emphasis on financing and science and technology. In fact, it reflected every major theme in Agenda 21. It was therefore important that the processes of ratification of the Convention be strongly supported. He stressed that it had already been ratified by over 40 countries and hoped that more would ratify it before the end of this session.

BO KJELLEN (Sweden), Chairman of the INCD, said the development of the Convention had led to an upsurge in interest in the drylands, their problems and possible solutions. He was convinced that the relationship between desertification, poverty and food security would be a major item of the World Food Summit in Rome in December. He also expected that water would be one of the major issues at next year's Special Session of the General Assembly to follow up on the Rio Summit. He appealed to all countries which would be addressing the water issue to make use of the potential of the Convention to support the decisions of the international community.

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With 39 countries having ratified the Convention, he said he hoped that it would enter into force by the end of 1996, which would mean that the first Conference of the Parties would most probably be held in September 1997. For the session at hand, the Global Mechanism was the most complicated and difficult issue. He urged Committee members to look at the issue in a constructive way and to use imagination and creative thinking to arrive at the best possible background for a decision on the functions of the Mechanism and its housing.

At the last session, the Committee had made good progress on the issue of scientific and technological cooperation. He hoped that a complete agreement would be reached during the ninth session. He assured the three cities that had expressed interest in hosting the Secretariat that their submissions would be studied with great care and objectivity.

Ts. ADYASUREN, Minister of Nature and Environment of Mongolia, said the Parliament of his country had ratified the Convention on 22 August and would be a party to it very soon. He stressed that the ratification of the Convention would provide Mongolia with more opportunities to cooperate with the world bodies. The Convention would also have an effect on socio-economic problems which contributed to desertification to a significant extent. He emphasized that at present more than 70 per cent of the pasture land in his country had been degraded and that had contributed to poverty.

He said Mongolia faced a debt problem and many of its state enterprises still followed inefficient economic practices. The new democratic government of the country was taking steps to counter the problem. The whole issue of land ownership was under consideration. He added that Mongolia would look to the INCD for support in implementing national programmes to combat desertification. He stressed the need to develop cooperation between the North and the South and between the countries in the region.

CARLOS MEDINA (Honduras) said he was there to see if his country could help prevent desertification throughout the world. The Convention was a very promising document, but it was a package of dreams, the realization of which would be based on the good will of the rich countries and the capacity of the poor countries to make use of aid. The historical record was not so promising.

He appealed to the rich countries and the international aid institutions to help the poor ones, both those that now have desert regions and those poor countries, such as Honduras, that do not have deserts but are threatened with desertification. He hoped that Honduras would ratify the Convention in 1996.

OSCAR GONZALEZ, Deputy Minister for Natural Resources of Mexico said Mexico was the first country in the world to ratify the Convention because of

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the importance of combating desertification in Mexico. It was attending the ninth session to work together with the other Committee members to find ways of coping with the global problem. It was important to view the problem in an international context and to simultaneously take into consideration its economic, social and environmental aspects.

PIERRE LAKOUTENE, Minister for Natural Resources and the Environment of the Central African Republic, said his country faced serious problems caused by overgrazing. He emphasized that northern countries should be generous in assisting the developing countries to combat the problem. The Central African Republic had not waited for the ratification of the Convention to take steps to combat desertification. In fact, it had prepared a national policy on the subject. The budget in the Department of Tourism financed tree planting and a workshop had been organized to make parliamentarians more acutely aware of the problem.

He said he was carrying the instruments for ratification of the Convention with him and would soon hand them over to the Secretariat. Reiterating the importance of assistance from northern countries, he said that since his country did not belong to any international organization to combat desertification, it lacked information. It was also important that the information be made available through the Internet. He hoped that the Convention would come into force very soon so that thousands of individuals affected by desertification could benefit.

ELIZABETH DOWDESWELL, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said it had offered to provide administrative support for the Convention's Permanent Secretariat because it had been engaged in the battle to combat desertification for a long time. In 1977, UNEP's Executive Director was the Secretary-General of the first major United Nations Conference on Desertification. As the agency responsible for achieving policy and programme coordination within the United Nations system on issues related to the environment, UNEP could bring to bear the capabilities of all members of the United Nations system on combating desertification.

The Programme recognized that the Head of the Permanent Secretariat must be directly responsible to the Conference of the Parties, she said. The UNEP would not interfere with that relationship as it focused on providing administrative support and assistance. The support that UNEP had provided to the preparation of the Convention was characteristic of how it worked. It was a catalyst. It provided start-up funds. It supported case studies and pilot projects. It supported programmes during unplanned difficult periods, as it had done with the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The UNEP was the United Nations flagship programme for the environment, she said. It allocated almost one tenth of its budget to desertification. It

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had been the voice crying in the wilderness when it seemed that no one wanted to hear. It had played the lead in redefining desertification in the early 1990s, which had helped ensure that a whole chapter of Agenda 21 would be devoted to the issue.

ANDERS WIJKMAN, Assistant Administrator and Director, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said 115 countries had signed the Convention and 40 had ratified it, which meant that it might be possible for the Convention to enter into force in early 1997. The UNDP considered the Convention to be one of the most significant post-Rio frameworks for operationalizing the concept of sustainable development, for alleviating poverty and for ensuring food security for people living in the world's drylands.

The UNDP was committed to working closely with the INCD and eventually with the Conference of Parties and its Secretariat, he said. He hoped that the Parties to the Convention would be able to translate the concept of partnership into a truly operational and effective mechanism for supporting the implementation of action programmes at national and sub-regional levels. He stressed the importance of the provision of substantial financial resources and access to technology to enable implementation of the Convention. He emphasized that the moral and political will of the Parties would be important as well, in the translation of the Convention provisions into action.

The UNDP had taken many steps to combat desertification, through its Office to Combat Desertification and Drought, as well as through its country offices and regional bureaus, he continued. During the eighth INCD session in Geneva, UNDP Administrator James Gustave Speth had confirmed the Programme's availability to host the Global Mechanism if so decided. Reconfirming the ideas of the Administrator, he said, there was no doubt that the Committee was about to embark on an important stage of work towards operationalizing the Global Mechanism. He hoped that all efforts would be made to finalize and achieve consensus on key aspects of the Terms of Reference for the Global Mechanism, including achieving baseline agreement on the criteria for selecting a hosting agreement for it.

SHIGEAKI TOMITA, Assistant President of the Economic Policy Resource Strategy Department of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said the Convention should not be seen as an add-on to existing desertification programmes or as an additional economic development programme. It should develop new initiatives and innovative ways to help existing programmes. Dryland people must begin to see new opportunities for concrete action, otherwise there was a risk that they might react cynically to efforts to reform existing programmes.

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People-driven, local, community-based initiatives should be supported, he said. The question was how to enhance communities' capabilities to promote effective action. Many interesting ideas had been developed at a June conference sponsored by Sweden. They deserved further consideration.

The Global Mechanism must go beyond a clearing-house role. It must seek to harness resources not currently available for drylands. It must be a catalyst and innovator for providing financing. The Mechanism should not be saddled with bureaucratic responsibilities that would hamper it in its work. He reaffirmed IFAD's willingness to host the Global Mechanism, contingent on how the functions of the Mechanism were defined.

JOHN FRASER (Canada) stressed the importance of an emphasis on basic human needs such as primary health care, basic education, water and shelter, since people with the tools to meet those needs were less likely to be forced to take actions that would harm their lands and waters. It was also important to give priority to women in development, as they spend more time gathering fuel wood or fresh water and therefore pay a disproportionate share of the price of desertification. Steps to help protect the environment could also mitigate land degradation. Human rights, democracy and good governance were also important. One of the enduring lessons of official development assistance (ODA) was the value of community-based action and the need to strengthen civil society. The people affected by desertification must be the focus of solutions.

Canada had proposed Montreal as a site for the Secretariat, as it was a leading city for French-English bilingualism, he continued. He invited delegates to hear the Mayor of Montreal, Pierre Bourque, present Canada's bid on Thursday.

JAMES O'CONNELL (Ireland), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said it was necessary to address with special urgency the definition of the functions of the Global Mechanism. Selection of an institution to house the Global Mechanism could best be decided after those functions had been agreed upon. And that agreement must be accomplished as soon as possible, because the institution to house the Mechanism was to be identified at the first session of the Conference of the Parties.

He said agreement could and must be reached on the basis of the text of the Convention itself. As per article 21.4 of the Convention, the essential function of the Mechanism should be to "promote" -- that is, to promote actions leading to the mobilization and channelling of substantial financial resources.

The problem of desertification, particularly in Africa, was a major development issue, he continued. Over the last five years, the European

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Community had spent 950 million European currency units on projects in which the fight against desertification constituted a large or significant share. The Union intended to continue such cooperation with affected countries to combat the problems generated by desertification through the programmes, projects, financial and technical assistance which it had promoted and provided through various instruments of cooperation.

ALI NGARAM (Chad) congratulated the Chairman for his efforts on behalf of the Committee and said his country was appreciative of the Chairman's visit. He called the Convention a landmark towards international solidarity. Noting that half of his country's territory was desert, he said Chad had been one of the first countries to ratify the Convention. The instruments of ratification would be handed to the Secretariat before the end of the present session. Moreover, the country had also organized days of public awareness and meetings for donors. He emphasized that the ratification of the Convention would provide Chad with much hope for measures to counter desertification.

HAMA ARBA DIALLO, Executive Secretary of the Interim Secretariat, thanked all the speakers at the morning meeting. He expressed confidence that the required 50 ratifications would soon be achieved. He said that Italy had offered to hold the first conference of the Parties to the Convention.

Commenting on the activities of the Secretariat to combat desertification, he said it had undertaken activities in the 29 countries most affected by desertification. It had taken various steps in the direction of awareness building. In the first stage, the primary focus had been to provide more information about the Convention, and in almost all the African countries that first stage had been completed. It had also helped in the establishment of sub-regional plans of action to combat desertification. The preparatory work in Latin America and the Caribbean had been speeded up, and national seminars to make people aware of desertification had been organized with the Secretariat's help. Such seminars had been organized in Argentina and Bolivia. Several other countries had also expressed interest in awareness- building activities and more seminars would be organized. The Asian countries had held their first meeting to combat desertification in New Delhi in August.

P. FRANCHETTI (Italy) confirmed that the Italian Government had offered to host the first Conference of the Parties in Rome. He said his country was in the process of ratifying the Convention.

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