ACTIVITIES TO IMPLEMENT ANTI-DESERTIFICATION CONVENTION IN AFRICA DESCRIBED IN NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ON TREATY

15 January 1997

Press Release
ENV/DEV/397

ACTIVITIES TO IMPLEMENT ANTI-DESERTIFICATION CONVENTION IN AFRICA DESCRIBED IN NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE ON TREATY

19970115 Committee Agrees to Accredit 23 NGOs; Oman, Syria, Iran Express Reservations on Accreditation of EcoPeace

A number of African States this morning outlined activities they were undertaking to arrest land degradation and appealed for multilateral assistance in drawing up national action programmes as the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification began consideration of measures taken in Africa and other regions to implement the treaty.

The representative of Ghana said a series of activities and education programmes had been organized to raise public awareness, prompting stakeholders -- meaning the civil society -- to consider possible collaborations at the local, national and international levels. One major constraint confronting Ghana was inadequate operational funds, and given the current circumstances, it was difficult to maintain a consistent level of interaction with all the relevant stakeholders.

The representative of Togo said his Government had launched a national information programme on the Convention but a national action programme was still stuck in the identification phase. There had been difficulties with its structure, conception, organization and funding.

The representative of Mauritania said his country's nationwide action plan to combat desertification was designed to make additional resources available by familiarizing lenders with national priorities so they could learn how to better assist in the fight against desertification.

Speaking on his country's support for a project in Burkina Faso, the representative of Denmark said his Government's assistance to countries in Africa amounted to approximately $1.7 billion, about 1 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). The integrated approach of the Burkina Faso project had successfully implemented actions to combat desertification at the community level. The lessons learned would facilitate implementation of the

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Convention. Priority would be given to improved land productivity, land rehabilitation and sustainable development of land and water resources.

The representative of Kenya said his Government had initiated a process to establish a national desertification fund with initial technical and financial assistance from the United Nations Office to Combat Desertification and Drought of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Botswana had made many attempts to develop mechanisms for coping with drought and desertification long before the convening of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) and the adoption of the Convention to Combat Desertification, the representative of Botswana said. Its main task in implementing urgent action for Africa was to consolidate the numerous ongoing programmes into a national action programme process and to improve the implementation capacity of all stakeholders.

The representative of the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel said the organization had helped its member countries develop their national capacities to promote the objectives of the Convention and to involve actors in that process.

The representatives of Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Gambia, Niger, Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Uganda, Burundi, Netherlands (on behalf of the European Union), Canada and Germany also spoke.

Also this morning the Committee granted accreditation to 23 non- governmental organizations listed in document A/AC.241/9/Add.13. The representatives of Oman (on behalf of the Arab Group), Syria and Iran expressed reservations on the accreditation of an organization called EcoPeace.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its deliberations.

Committee Work Programme

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee 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 hear country reports on urgent action for Africa and interim actions in Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, and Northern Mediterranean regions to promote public awareness about the Convention as well as programmes to promote its objectives.

Statements

HAMA ARBA DIALLO, Executive Secretary of the Interim Secretariat of the Convention, said the text of his statement on urgent action in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Northern Mediterranean would be circulated, and he would be available to answer any questions.

SALAH TAHOUN (Egypt) said a national action programme to combat desertification was currently being prepared in Egypt. Three projects which would dramatically change the demographic map of Egypt were being readied for implementation, and when they were completed in the year 2025, the effective inhabited areas would increase from the present 5 per cent to 25 per cent.

The first project concerned the sustainable development of the north- western region as well as the Mediterranean coast, he said. Local communities were being taught better water harvesting schemes, alternative energy resources, rational land use, improved plant and animal varieties, and diverse potential sources of income. In the second project, an extensive water supply network was currently under construction in the north-eastern part of the country for the supplementary irrigation of lands that suffered from insufficient and irregular rainfall. The backbone of the third project was the creation of a new branch of the Nile which would extend through the Western Desert so it would reach the major oases, thus creating a water supply comprised of underground and surface water resources.

KORACHJ BENSOUDA (Morocco) said the efforts being made in Morocco to combat desertification and protect natural resources had been in place for decades and included providing infrastructures, exploiting arable land, and using plant and animal resources. Under the implementation of the Convention, all measures taken focused on setting up a national programme of action.

He said activities taken during the last months of 1996 included: ratifying the Convention and depositing instruments of ratification; carrying out a broad public awareness campaign during the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought; holding a round table with national officials

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responsible for the implementation of the Convention; initiating a study on establishing a fund to combat desertification; and organizing two national days to present the national plan.

GHEBALOU ABDELLAH (Algeria) called for international cooperation to combat the scourge of desertification. He said that desertification had become a fact of life and the tools to combat it existed. The Global Mechanism to finance action to combat it remained a fundamental problem. Algeria had completed its national programme to sensitize the population about the scourge. The Government was building upon what had already been achieved, and it proposed coordinated regional efforts to combat desertification.

A two-day national workshop had been organized with the support of the Interim Secretariat of the Convention, he said. Efforts were being made to involve non-governmental organizations and other actors in a national coordinated attempt to raise awareness about the Convention and to achieve its objectives. Algeria was on the right track, he said, expressing the hope that specific measures to combat desertification would emerge.

FODAY BOJANG (Gambia) said his Government had conducted a series of public information and awareness campaigns prior to its ratification of the Convention. That had been made possible with funding assistance by the local office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A two-day workshop had been held in May 1996 followed by a day-long trip to affected areas of the country by the participants.

The Government had reviewed and subsequently revised its forestry policy, making it possible for local communities to own and manage their own natural forests, he continued. A similar policy review was planned for the department of parks and wildlife. Preparatory work had been begun on a national action programme and consultations had started with the local population to create awareness among them. Those were being done at zonal and divisional levels. Financing of the consultations also had been provided by the local UNDP office, and Germany had provided funds for the preparation of the national action plan.

SULEMANA OSMAN SAAKA (Ghana) said no firm partnerships for implementing the Convention have been established in Ghana. However, his Government had formed of a national committee on desertification and organized a national awareness seminar and numerous other public awareness and education programmes that had prompted stakeholders to consider possible collaborations at the local, national and international levels. Preliminary discussions were also being held between Ghana and some bilateral and multilateral donors and agencies with the view to establishing partnership arrangements with them.

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One major constraint that confronted Ghana in its bid to implement the resolution concerning urgent action for Africa had been inadequate operational funds, he said. Given the current circumstances, it was difficult to maintain a consistent level of interaction with all the relevant stakeholders, yet his Government had plans to carry out awareness and sensitization activities in all affected regions and districts as a follow-up to the national awareness seminar. Other scheduled actions included finalizing arrangements for the establishment and operation of a national desertification fund and drafting a national action programme.

KODJO MENAN (Togo) said his Government had launched a national information programme on the Convention and had move forward on a national environmental action programme in November 1995. However, the national action programme was still stuck in the identification phase, and there had been difficulties with its structure, conception, organization, and funding. Grass-roots efforts had moved forward in regional and thematic ways, and steps were being taken in efforts to inform affected populations through a broad information programme.

The Government was cooperating with all actors on the national and international level, including non-governmental, private and public organizations and unions on the question of the national action plan, he said. It was involving the chief actors in the process, particularly ministers, local leaders, non-governmental organizations, communities, women and young people. Another focus had been mobilizing international assistance in environmental planning, because current assistance fell short of the assistance needed. Meetings were scheduled for all partners in the development process to brief them on the national action plan and current activities undertaken. Togo was taking every effort to integrate the environmental dimension in political sectors, programmes and projects, he concluded.

ABDOULMOUMINE HADJO (Niger) said that in Niger the attitude towards desertification was dictated by the effect of the phenomena on the territories and its inhabitants. Regarding the urgent measures related to the Convention to Combat Desertification, her Government was holding workshops on the process of developing a national plan of action for creating an environment for sustainable development. That plan would act as a frame of reference for developing strategies and programmes of action in environmental matters.

Also part of the efforts were the establishment of information and publicity campaigns and the creation of regional structures through which regional workshops had been held in October 1996, she said. Her Government wished to thank its partners in cooperation, especially the UNDP. Niger had also started a diagnostic process on the problems of the environment in the country and held meetings at subregional, regional and international levels on implementation of the Convention. Future activities would include

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strengthening institutional capacity, information campaigns, diagnostics and development.

OUMAR COULIBALY (Mauritania) said Mauritania was one of the countries hardest hit by the desertification phenomena. In 1992, well before the Rio United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), his Government held a round table with lenders involved in the plan to fight desertification, which was multi-sectoral in nature. It had organized a seminar every year since then, he added.

Since the ratification of the Convention, Mauritania had undertaken a drive to sensitize people and involve a variety of players in the fight against desertification, he said. It had set up a sustainable development account at national level which included a major component of proper environmental planning. Legislation had been updated, most recently measures concerning forest management. The nationwide action plan to combat desertification was designed to make additional resources available by working with lenders to familiarize them with the national priorities so they could learn how to better assist Mauritania in fighting desertification on the ground.

IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal) said permanent and constructive dialogue with all actors involved in combating desertification had focused on establishing priorities and removing certain restrictions, which had so far resulted in the adoption of a new forestry code. Senegal's policy to combat desertification was in accordance with the Convention and could already stand as a model. The development of a national programme of action would be integrated into the larger national programme of action for the environment, and that would include decentralized consultations, studies, and information campaigns.

All those activities, he continued, would be in preparation to the holding of a national forum on the matter. The Senegal programme of information was continuing, and actors had been called on to carry out consultations to discover the chief concerns of all people to find a common approach which would make it possible to achieve harmonious results. In order to finance future actions, the Government was creating a national fund for the environment to be co-managed by various groups involved, and that would lead to a national foundation to combat desertification and the implementation activities defined in the national programme for action.

EDOUARD AHO-GLELE (Benin) said his country had ratified the Convention last July and had organized in August a national forum to sensitize the public on the treaty. A number of events had been staged on the problem of desertification. With the support of the UNDP a nationwide plan had been established to combat desertification, and activities under it had begun last November. Funds were being mobilized to translate the plan into action. He stressed that notwithstanding efforts made with its partners, Benin appealed

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for more support to move forward with its national action programme to combat desertification.

DJIRI DAKAR (Burkina Faso) spoke about an initiative supported by Denmark which involved grass-roots organizations in action to combat desertification. The programme fitted into the country's overall programme of meeting basic needs of the people and it was aimed at restoring the natural environment. A number of major tools devised included a territorial management plan. The project was a long-term one which aimed at bringing ordinary people into play in the development of the economy and in efforts to halt the spread of the desert. Germany and the Netherlands were also financing some aspects of the project, which fitted into the country's overall national programme.

HENNING NOHR (Denmark), speaking on his country's support for the Burkina Faso project, said that Danish development assistance to programme countries in Africa amounted to approximately $1.7 billion, about 1 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Denmark was committed to supporting the Convention through contributions to the United Nations regular budget, the special voluntary and the trust funds for the Convention. It was, in addition, integrating implementation of the Convention into its bilateral assistance.

He said the participatory and integrated approach of the Burkina Faso project had been successful in implementing effective actions to combat desertification at the community level. The lessons learned from that and other similar projects would facilitate implementation of the Convention. Priority would be given to improve land productivity, land rehabilitation and sustainable development of land and water resources. Denmark would support the implementation of elements within the national action programmes of recipient countries and assist them in fulfilling their obligations under the Convention.

GAOUSSOU TRAORE, speaking on behalf of the Executive Director of the Permanent Inter-State Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel, said that since the Committee's last session, the organization had helped its member countries develop their national capacities to promote the objectives of the Convention and to involve actors in that process. It had also helped its member countries develop communication strategies, and simple tools to monitor and evaluate the process of developing national action programmes.

The Committee, with the assistance of the Club du Sahel, aimed at enabling its member countries to better understand the concepts of national action plans and subregional action programmes, he said. It had also promoted partnership and the mechanism for financing projects. He appealed to the international community to help Sahelian women and to support the region by making the Global Mechanism under the Convention an active tool for

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development. That should be done through mobilization and the channelling of adequate financial resources to all levels.

TSEDALE WAKTOLA (Ethiopia) said the Convention would hopefully be ratified by his country before the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties. Ethiopia's actions to combat desertification began with the organization of a national workshop to promote national awareness in 1994, which was followed by another workshop for a wider spectrum of stockholders in 1995.

Currently, existing policies and strategies were being reviewed in order to formulate a national action programme for implementation of the Convention, and Ethiopia had prepared a number of support documents outlining projects in the spirit of the Convention to be undertaken in the national action plan process, she said. The remaining parts awaited the input and support of the other partners. At this point, her Government requested that all partners support that initial phase of the national action programme, which would include the identification of priorities and programmes and the establishment of partnerships.

SEMERE AMLESOM (Eritrea) said his Government's commitment to the Convention was manifested in its sustained positive actions undertaken in the fight against desertification. Eritrea was committed to developing a national action plan to address desertification and had organized a series of revision exercises. Decentralization and further democratization of the political system was also under way to strengthen local governments and enhance the participation and decision-making process of the local communities in the management of resources.

Participation by the population in all aspects of socio-economic development was the cornerstone of Eritrea's policy, and the mobilization of local resources had been the guiding principle in the implementation of community programmes, he said. Active participation in subregional workshops and in the formulation of subregional plans had also been pursued in the months since the Committee's ninth session. In addition, Eritrea had accepted the secretariat's offer to host the second United Nations workshop on the Convention for 15 representatives from Africa and their development partners, to be held in Asmara in April.

HAROLD ACEMAH (Uganda) said his Government had started work on establishing a national desertification fund. A task force on the project had held consultations with various actors at the local level in two affected areas on the possible scope, mechanisms and modalities for the fund. Various stakeholders at national level were expected to give their inputs before a national workshop was held in April this year. The Government had proposed a series of activities intended to carry forward the process of elaborating a national action programme to combat desertification and drought which would,

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among other things, involve the creation of awareness of the Convention among stakeholders at all levels.

Priority programmes would be identified and measures to implement them would focus on poverty alleviation, which was a major cause and effect of land degradation, he said. Uganda welcomed the interest of the UNDP to support some of its programmes and appealed for additional funding from other partners to carry forward the national action programme process. Arrangements were far advanced for Uganda's ratification of the Convention, he added.

WILLIAM P. MAYAKA (Kenya) said his Government had set the necessary process in motion to ratify the Convention. It had identified a national coordinating body and had formed a subcommittee on desertification within the framework of an interministerial committee on environment. A number of activities had been undertaken to create public awareness of the Convention. One such activity took place in one of the districts most affected by desertification. It was followed by a workshop last December attended by several participants, including government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

Kenya had joined the world in observing the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought under the theme "bridging the gaps", he said. The Government had forged partnerships and collaborated with various interested parties at local, subregional and regional levels to address the problem of desertification and drought. It was also working with the Interim Secretariat.

In addition, Kenya had embarked on the process of preparing a national action programme and was, through a task force, preparing a document detailing Kenya's needs for support, he continued. The task force had completed a framework, a work plan and a proposal to finance the national action programme. The Government had initiated the process to establish a national desertification fund with initial technical and financial assistance from the United Nations Office to Combat Desertification and Drought of the UNDP.

ETIENNE KAYEMGEYENGE (Burundi) said Burundi had recently ratified the Convention. In preparation for the implementation process, a national steering committee had been set up to organize a national day of awareness and an information campaign on the Convention. His Government expected to organize a national forum on combating desertification, which would lead to the formulation of a national action plan. In organizing those activities, Burundi was counting on the support of the Convention's secretariat and its other development partners.

HANS HOOGEVEEN (Netherlands), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said that in its bilateral aid programmes, the European Union was paying attention to the problems related to land degradation and the consequences of

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drought, on a national as well as regional level. Poverty alleviation, rural development and sustainable use of natural resources formed the basis of its development cooperation policies in sub-Saharan Africa. To serve the specific objectives of the Convention, the European Union was regularly revising the programmes and projects concerned. It also participated actively in research programmes aimed at finding long-term sustainable solutions for complicated technical problems related to desertification.

The European Union was integrating the objectives of the Convention in its policy strategies as a leading principle for allocation of its assistance to the affected African countries, he said. Some of the member States of the European Union were acting as leaders in specific countries, while others planned to do so. The Union encouraged affected African countries still in the process of starting the formulation of national action programmes to approach European Union member States with possible requests to act as donor- coordinator. Action had to be taken on a participatory basis and the formulation of national action programmes should be an exercise that involved all stakeholders concerned, including the people that struggle daily against land degradation, particularly women.

PIERRE-MARC JOHNSON (Canada) said he had had the honour of visiting two African countries -- Mali and Uganda -- where urgent action was being undertaken to implement the Convention. The challenges were huge, the process involved many people and the presence of donors was not always clear. National desertification funds must sometimes be placed in a competitive context and often had to compete with national environmental funds. The solid establishment of desertification funds had been examined quite clearly in those two countries, and they implied an open attitude of the government structure of those funds.

The presence of non-governmental organizations seemed to secure that projects at the local level would be multiplied on the national level, he said. The Convention discussed how projects with small budgets could inject a large amount of practical momentum. The insertion of those funds into national action plans was essential in lending credibility to the national desertification funds. That innovative mechanism was on its way to being established, and that was a reassuring thought.

HANS PETER SCHIPULLE (Germany) said it was most encouraging that a number of countries had been able to initiate genuine participatory processes in preparing national action programmes by associating closely the various resource users and the organizations representing them. It was also positive that in a number of countries national coordination bodies for the elaboration of national action programmes had been established and were working effectively. Some of those bodies had proceeded in organizing fruitful regional exchanges. The growing willingness of donors at the country level to

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become genuine partners in those processes was another positive effect of the efforts to elaborate national action programmes.

Although awareness raising campaigns had been organized in many countries, it was evident that much remained to be done to make full use of the Convention's potential, he said. It was regrettable that often the official bilateral and multilateral negotiations on development cooperation did not properly refer to the Convention. To overcome that problem, a joint effort of the partners in development was required. Another problem was the apparent lack of harmonization of the national action programmes with existing sectoral programmes and the lack of their integration in the overall economic and social development plans.

MASEGO MPHATHI (Botswana) said his country had made many attempts to develop mechanisms for coping with drought and desertification long before the UNCED and the adoption of the Convention. Its main task in implementing urgent action for Africa was to consolidate the numerous ongoing programmes into a national action programme process and to improve the implementation capacity of all stakeholders.

His Government hoped to achieve the initial part of that task through the $400,000 in assistance offered to it through the development assistance programme of Denmark and the UNDP framework programme of support to the implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification in southern Africa. Preparatory activities would focus on institutional strengthening of the national focal point, followed by awareness raising seminars to ensure active participation in the process by the affected people and national and local authorities. The national action programme process would culminate in a national forum in July.

MOHAMED AL-HASSAN (Oman), speaking on behalf of the Arab Group of States, said the list of non-governmental organizations contained in document A/AC.241/9/Add.13 included an organization calling itself "EcoPeace". He expressed reservations regarding that organization. EcoPeace, its organization, the location of its headquarters, and its activities must be thoroughly investigated, and many Member States had not yet recognized that organization and its status. He asked the Chairman to enter that reservation into the official record and to view the recommendation adopted this morning by the Committee as provisional subject to a final decision by the Conference of the Parties.

FAROUK AL-ATTAR (Syria) said at the time the Committee agreed to accredit the list of non-governmental organizations, members of the Arab Group were meeting to discuss that same document. Had a member of the group been present, he would have objected to the accreditation. His delegation supported in full the statement of the representative of Oman. The final decision on the accreditation of the non-governmental organizations should be

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left to the Conference of the Parties and not to the Committee. The credentials of all non-governmental organizations must be discussed, because the one in question was not compatible with the objectives of the Convention.

BO KJELLEN (Sweden), Committee Chairman, said the decision being referred to was a recommendation made by the Committee, and the matter would be reviewed again by the Conference of the Parties.

SERAIDOON KHAKPOOR (Iran) supported the statement by the coordinator of the Arab Group. He asked that the record reflect Iran's reservation on the decision taken on the list of non-governmental organizations.

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