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The Secretariat of Youth for Habitat International
Network participated in the 11TH Session of the
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) which was
organized by United Nations, held in
New York between April 28, 2003 and May 10, 2003.
This meeting is the first global follow-up meeting to
the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The purpose
of the session was to determine how to implement the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI). Instead of
thematic negotiations on any particular issues such as
water or energy, much of the discussion centered on how
the CSD would function in the coming decade.
During the meeting
CSD's Multi-Year Programme of Work for the years
2004-2017 was adopted.
Link:
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/index.html
INTERNATIONAL FOLLOW-UP
TO THE WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 11TH
SESSION
APRIL 28, 2003-MAY 10, 2003 NEW YORK
Report by the Secretariat of Youth for Habitat
International Network
11TH Session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development
which was organized by United Nations, held in New York
between April 28, 2003 and May 10, 2003 with the
participation of more than 40 countries. Beside the
governments, NGO, private-public sector, another
foundations’ representatives took place in the meeting
as well. The 11th Session of the Commission
on Sustainable Development (CSD-11) was the first global
follow-up meeting to the World Summit on Sustainable
Development. The purpose of the session was to determine
how to implement the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
(JPOI). Instead of thematic negotiations on any
particular issues such as water or energy, much of the
discussion centered on how the CSD would function in the
coming decade.
The session began with a three-day ministerial meeting,
a Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue, and a meeting on Small
Island Developing States, followed by a week of
negotiations on the Chair’s draft text. In his opening
address, Chair Valli Moosa, South Africa’s Minister of
the Environment, spoke to the importance of
multi-lateral engagement in these times and noted that
“the poor watch and wait to see whether hunger and
global warming will be tackled with the same vigor
displayed by some on the military front.”
Outcomes
Throughout the second week, delegations negotiated on
the Chair’s draft text in two working groups and several
closed contact groups, with a very strict deadline to
finalize by Thursday. The main players were the JUSCANZ
group (Japan, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), G-77
and China (led by Morocco, with strong participation
from Brazil, China, and Saudi Arabia), and the EU (led
by Greece, with strong participation from Netherlands,
Finland, and Sweden), and independent countries such as
Norway and Switzerland.
Significant achievements in the Preamble include mention
of the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities and reaffirmation of the principles of
sustainable development: poverty eradication, education,
changing unsustainable patterns of production and
consumption, and protecting and managing the natural
resources base for economic and social development.
On the future organization of work, each year will have
a “thematic cluster of issues” with a series of
“cross-cutting issues” to be addressed with each
thematic cluster. The
thematic cluster for 2004-2005 is water; sanitation;
human
settlements. 2006-2007 is energy for SD; industrial
development; air
pollution/atmosphere; climate change. The “cross-cutting
issues” are the
chapter headings of the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation (JPOI), PLUS
GENDER EQUALITY and EDUCATION. Governments decided on a
two-year implementation cycle for CSD through 2017, with
a review session and a policy session in alternate
years. A thematic cluster was assigned to each two-year
cycle through 2017. In April-May 2004, the CSD will
hold a review session on water, sanitation, and human
settlements, followed by a preparatory policy meeting in
February 2005 and a policy session in April-May 2005.
There will be negotiated text only during the policy
sessions. The next cycle, 2006-2007, will focus on
energy for sustainable development, industrial
development, air pollution/atmosphere, and climate
change. A group of Cross-Cutting Issues will be
addressed in every cycle, consisting of the main
headings of the JPOI, as well as gender equality,
education, and other regional initiatives. The CSD
Bureau will hold consultations on how future CSD
sessions would be organized and ensure regional and
gender balance.
On reporting requirements, there were conflicts on
monitoring, indicators, regional and local involvement,
and the role of stakeholders. The final document makes
reporting voluntary, but encourages national reporting
and development of indicators (in accordance with
national priorities). The decision also asks the
Secretariat to consult with Major Groups as appropriate
on reporting requirements.
On coordination within the UN system, UN bodies and
financial and trade institutions are invited to report
to the CSD. Further measures are identified, including
strengthening linkages between the global, regional, and
national activities, coherence and collaboration, and
mobilizing resources. The document refers to the
General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Working Group on Follow-up to
Major UN Conferences, which is expected to report by the
end of June.
On Major Group participation, there was discussion on
the level of Major Group participation during the High
Level Segment and on whether other stakeholder groups
should be specifically included. While suggestions were
made to include disabled persons, consumer groups,
educators, parliamentarians, media, and the elderly
during the discussions, there were no included in the
final decision. The final document calls for
strengthening Major Group participation and enhanced
participation of civil society and other relevant
stakeholders, and mentions educators as an important
group. An initial debate over separation of
“implementation” and “policy” NGOs was interpreted as a
tactic to divide the NGO community and prioritize
service-focused organizations. NGOs accredited to the
WSSD expected to be automatically accredited to CSD, as
was the case in 1992 following UNCED. Instead, it was
decided that accreditation would be determined by ECOSOC,
which will significantly delay their accreditation. The
proposal by the US to channel this accreditation process
through the ECOSOC NGO Working Groups was prevented.
On partnerships, the decision identifies the CSD as a
focal point for partnerships and refers to the Bali
Guidelines, reiterating that partnerships are not a
substitute for intergovernmental commitments.
Registration of partnerships is voluntary but
partnerships should submit regular reports. The
partnership fair held in parallel to negotiations
reported limited participation, and there were proposals
to centralize these kinds of activities in future CSD
sessions.
CSD-12 will be chaired by Norway’s Minister of the
Environment Borge Brende.
YOUTH CAUCUS
18 NGO representatives participated in CSD11. Only four
of them were official youth delegates. Main points
raised by youth caucus were education, youth
participation, and capacity building. During the
multi-stake holder dialogue, youth emphasized the role
of major groups and their necessary participation in the
process in order to reach sustainable development.
Throughout the CSD, youth organized themselves into
different groups such as lobbying and media. Sayida
Vanenburg from Netherlands, Michael from Germany,
Catherine Kamping from Philippines, Luis Davilla from
Global Youth Action Network and Burcak Alagok from Youth
for Habitat - Turkey were in charge of lobbying points.
They mainly focused on education in all means, effective
and active youth participation and capacity building.
Carlos Gorcias from Mexico, Luis Davilla from Global
Youth Action Network and Burcak Alagok from Youth for
Habitat - Turkey were responsible for media.
During the second week, youth met the United Nations
Youth Unit and suggested them to work together in order
to strengthen the voice of youth in the process.
Moreover, youth will provide information such as repots
of the meetings and other documents to UNYU so that they
can publish youth reports for youth who do not have the
opportunity all around the world.
Youth met delegates of the United States of America.
Discussions were primarily on education, implementation
of Agenda 21 and JPOI and creation of national youth
council within the United States of America. US
delegates promised to establish a national youth
council. They also mentioned the importance of
education. They emphasized the free lectures taken place
within the UN on sustainable development and means of
implementation. Youth raised the point of lack of
accessibility to education. Furthermore, youth suggested
to US, as a super power, should take the lead to promote
education especially in Africa.
Youth met with Sweden delegates as well. Swedish
Delegates shared their experiences in the youth caucus
in the UN with the youth caucus. Youth mentioned the
concern on lack of official youth delegates and their
limits in participation. Swedish government accepted to
fund a youth from south, especially from Africa for next
meetings. Ingrid Westerfors from Sweden is responsible
to write a project on this particular issue and let
other governments be part of it.
The other points youth was discussing were a long-term
structure of the youth caucus and expectations from the
future. In order to be more effective, youth decide to
set an agenda mentioning the goals and expectations from
the process. Sayida Vanenburg from Netherlands, Luis
Davilla from Global Youth Action Network and Burcak
Alagok from Youth for Habitat - Turkey are responsible
to set the long-term structure of the youth caucus.
Furthermore, Matthew Carroll from Woodcraft Folk,
Catherine Camping from Philippines and Elisa Smith from
UNESCO Canada are responsible for establishing a
clearinghouse for the future youth caucuses. |
