JOHANNESBURG--The
organizers of the nongovernmental organizations'
(NGOs) Global People's Forum Wednesday declared
their meeting here "a success"--largely
based on the efforts of the 500 or so activists
to get to know each other and network.
The
final documents from the People's Forum differ so fundamentally
in their conclusions from the document emerging from
the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)
that it would appear that there were two summits in
two separate locations--which there were.
The 17 separate but sometimes overlapping
commission reports from the NGO meeting,
reflecting the work of some 500 interested
organizations over seven days of meetings,
are much more direct than the diplomatically
worded WSSD document.
In agriculture,
for instance, the WSSD document calls
for "phasing" out
of only "harmful" subsidies.
The NGO agriculture commission report
read, "Northern governments should
stop subsidizing their farmers in ways
that undermine southern producers." The
finance commission was even more direct: "Eliminate
agricultural subsidies and other direct
and indirect trade barriers in developed
countries."
The NGO
document contains language unlikely
to appear in UN literature in the near
future: "Processes of liberalization
and globalization are failing to achieve
food security. In recent years the World
Trade Organization (WTO) has gained excessive
power, and its policies further marginalize
local livelihoods through biases against
small producers."
Equally
unlikely to interest the UN is the
first recommendation from the
Commission on Global Governance and Corruption: "The
UN should be dissolved and restructured,
and replace consultation with participation." That
commission also found that, "Corruption
originates from the North and the West
(G8 countries)."
The 42-page
presentation of the commission reports
also calls for debt cancellation
and the establishment of international
debt arbitration; a banning of all genetic
engineering products; a "ban on
the patenting of life;" legally
binding rules for corporations to be
accountable for "the highest social,
labor and environmental standards;" a
campaign against the fossil fuel industry "as
was done in the anti-tobacco campaign;" and
strict timetables--specifically before
the year 2015--for meeting targets on
poverty reduction, infant mortality,
halving poverty and achieving universal
primary education and gender equality.
The reports
include the following demands and statements: "No new issues,
such as investment, competition, government
procurement in the WTO." "Local
communities and indigenous peoples are
the custodians of biodiversity." "The
principle of economic justice (i.e. distribution
of land, exploitation of natural and
human resources) should be integrated
into peace processes and conflict interventions." "There
should be an undertaking by all nations
for a radical decline in military spending
and support for violent instruments of
change." "Take agriculture
out of WTO--agriculture is not a commodity.
It is a means of livelihood and survival
for small-scale farmers." "Financial
liberalization does not result in economic
growth." "Laws of the WTO and
rich countries protect business, not
people." "We call for the formation
of a new social movement to combat globalization
and countries that promote it."
The NGOs agreed with the WSSD on several
issues including: the need for transparency
in good governance and transparency in
corporate dealings with governments;
the need for global corruption mechanisms;
the need for education on the relationship
between environment and health; and access
to water and sanitation being a basic
right of all people.
Gordon
Bispham of Barbados, head of the International
Steering Group (ISG),
said at a final press conference, "I
think we have been extremely successful
in terms of building on social movement
and social coordinators."
But a written statement handed out by
the ISG was less enthusiastic about the
final declarations of the World Summit
on Sustainable Development than ran parallel
to the forum.
The statement
said the forum had "serious
concern" about: "The silence
on issues of health, especially HIV/Aids;
the ambiguity on the privatization of
essential services like water and electricity;
The lack of political will by powerful
countries to commit towards set targets;
The resistance by business and political
leaders of the North to fair trade; The
refusal of the leaders gathered S to
commit measurable resources to drive
sustainable development programs; The
refusal of the United States to discuss
pollution caused by industries through
the use of fossil fuel." The statement
continued, "We condemn the behavior
of these countries. But civil society
is not new to such disappointment.
The People's
Forum, said that it had achieved success
in its specified goals: "To
build alliances based on Solidarity.
To work out sustainable development programs
to take us to the next ten years. To
reduce the gap between civil society
organizations in the north and the south;
and to create a single platform from
which we can henceforth speak with one
voice."
The statement
also said that, "in
terms of the above objectives we believe
we have achieved more than was realistically
expected."
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