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WSSD News for US NGOSMay 24, 2002 issue Of Partnerships and PrepComsAs PrepCom 3 closed, many NGOs were critical of the inefficiency of the process and the lack of political will to move forward, with some governments seemingly attempting to revise or reinterpret text from previously agreements. The particular focus and reliance on partnerships as a key measure of WSSD's success has some NGOs concerned that efforts to build a globally strong, action oriented declaration will be subordinated by a piecemeal collection of regional partnerships. Several governments also voiced concerns, but most, citing similar processes in the past, considered the lack of progress, and the largely expanded "summary" document to be an awkward, necessary step, especially given that what is expected and hoped for this Summit is markedly different from previous CSD outcomes. Here in Washington, DC, several meetings about WSSD took place on April 25th, separately held by World Watch Institute, UNA-USA, and Heinrich Boell Foundation. In these meetings, the tone was a bit more positive, with several speakers suggesting that while it is important for NGOs to be vigilant for corportate attempts to use partnerships for greenwashing or "bluewashing", we should also be open to the possibility of partnerships as a useful tool for achiving civil society's goals. Including partnerships as an official WSSD outcome does indeed reflect a significant shift in practices within the UN, according to Jacob Scheer of NRDC, away from lengthy paper declarations and toward more practical, pragmatic agreements focused on implementation to fulfull previous commitments. It was suggested that the role of these partnership agreements should be given a chance to succeed within the UN process before dismissing them out of hand. With numerous partnership summaries now available online, pointing out weaknesses with individual proposals, suggesting ways to strengthen them, or highlighting specificly how they support general criticism, Looking forward to Bali in the two weeks ahead, it is hoped that governments, in their zeal to put forth partnerships for a successful summit, will not relinquish their responsibility to our planet's people to deliver the effort necessary for a strong consensus declaration text. While partnerships will be a strong kickstart towards achieving more widespread sustainable development, only through such a declaration will governments be able to catalyze the global political will for a truly successful summit in Johannesburg. The World Summit Process: News and UpdatesVisas required for ALL PrepCom 4 participantsContrary to earlier information, be advised that all people attending PrepCom
4 in Bali are required to have Indonesian visas to enter the country. For those
in the US, Indonesia has embassies in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York,
San Francisco, and Washington, DC where you may get a visa. You will need two
passport size color photos and your passport, possibly more, to get a visa.
For Indonesian embassy locations and phone numbers: For Indonesian visa services information: Only accredited NGOs allowed at official Joburg SummitIf you are planning to go to Johannesburg and wish to be involved with the official proceedings, be sure you are a member of an accredited organization. Several NGOs have registered to go without being on the ECOSOC, CSD, or WSSD accreditation lists, and cannot be approved. Because of limited UN staff, you will NOT be notified if they are unable to process your unaccredited registration. It's most efficient if you pre-register online, since only accredited organizations are listed there. Note that this does not affect the civil society summit - all NGOs are welcome there, only the official governmental meetings require accreditation. (If you are from an unaccredited NGO in the US and would like to attend the official conference, contact CitNet [info@citnet.org or 301-770-6375] and we will assist you in finding a suitable partner organization through which you might attend.) Accreditation lists available on the Joburg Summit site: Institutional framework paper, Chairman's Text ready for BaliLast week, the UN released a paper on "Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development" and the "Chairman's Text for Negotiation". The 14 page framework paper is written by WSSD vice-chairs Anaedu and Engfeldt for discussion, while the 39 page chair's text is "a concise, action-oriented and pragmatic document" based on the inputs and discussions at PrepCom 3. Chairman Salim's plan is to reach consensus on this text during the first week, reserving the second week for a political declaration to bring to Johannesburg. To be most effective, you may wish to examine the sections of these papers pertinent to your work and relay your specific comments/suggestions to key governments prior to Bali. Since the PrepCom will start with a three day "pre-session" before the first week, much of this text may already be discussed informally by Tuesday and Wednesday, when the intergovernmental meetings officially start. You can find the Framework paper, the Chairman's Text, the PrepCom 4 daily
schedule, and other documents here: Multistakeholder dialogue papers availableAt PrepCom 4, the multistakeholder dialogues at the beginning of the first week will focus on "sustainable development governance", "capacity building for sustainable development", "developing a major groups' framework for partnership initiatives", and "major groups' views on future priorities". Each of the nine major groups has produced a dialogue paper of the views on these topics within their consitutiencies. Intended to spark discussion, you might consider looking through them before Bali to become more familiar with the context within which other groups view these issues, as well as to identify possible points of multistakeholder agreement or actions for the dialogues. Read the dialogue papers at: Partnership Initiatives OnlineThere are now over 70 WSSD partnership summaries in nine cross-cutting categories on the Johannesburg Summit's website. Many are looking for additional partners or funding. Whether you are a proponent or critic of the partnership approach, this is a good resource. Browse partnership listings at: Find Out Who To Contact on SD in the AdminstrationNeed to determine who is the focal point in the US government on an issue you work on? CitNet has received a preliminary list of contacts for the US interagency processes related to sustainable development. View the contact list at: New Publications
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