Maximo Kalaw, the Director
General of the National Councils for Sustainable
Development (NCSDs), died in New York on
Thursday. He had been fighting cancer for
many years. He was 62 years old.
Known
as Junie to many, Kalaw was a leading figure in the
area of sustainable development.
During the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992
Kalaw co chaired the Internal NGO Forum (INGOF).
He joined the Earth Council, a nongovernmental
organization (NGO) that promotes and advances the
implementation of the Earth Summit agreements,
shortly after its conception following the Earth
Summit. He would eventually serve as Director General
of the Earth Council.
Since the Earth Summit of 1992 more than 70 countries
have formed NCSDs, due in part to the efforts of
Kalaw. NCSDs are multi-stakeholder participatory
bodies to promote sustainable development at the
national level. In 1992 Kalaw organized the first
NCSD in his native Philippines.
Kalaw stepped down as Director General of the
Earth Council at the beginning of this year due
to his illness. Following this, he devoted all
his energy to the NCSDs. NCSDs are currently in
place in more than 80 countries.
In addition to
his practical work in the area of sustainable
development he published a book
entitled "Soul and Society: Explorations on
Sustainable Development" in 1997.
Kalaw received distinguished awards from the Filipino
government and the Philippine Women's University.
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