PRESS BRIEFING ON UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION
Press Briefing
PRESS BRIEFING ON UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION
19970117
FOR INFORMATION OF UNITED NATIONS SECRETARIAT ONLY
The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, scheduled to conclude its tenth session today, had settled a "great number of issues", including those related to scientific and technical cooperation, the Chairman of the Committee, Bo Kjellen (Sweden), told a Headquarters press briefing yesterday.
Mr. Kjellen said a number of other issues remained, such as the important question of the functions of the Global Mechanism which would deal with financing matters provided for under the Convention. Those issues might have to be taken up by the Conference of the Parties, to be held in September. He hoped, however, that they could still be resolved during the current session, which began on 6 January. The Global Mechanism was an innovative concept, and if agreement was reached, it could have an impact on the forthcoming June special session of the General Assembly to review the implementation of Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), he said.
Another question that had to be decided by the Conference of the Parties was the physical location of the secretariat of the Convention, he continued. It was satisfying that important countries such as Canada, Germany and Spain, were competing to host it, underlining the Convention's importance, he added.
Giving a background to the Convention, he said it was signed in Paris in October 1994 after negotiations based on chapter 12 of Agenda 21, which called for an international instrument to combat desertification and drought.
Mr. Kjellen said the current session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee had been preparing for the first Conference of the Parties. The Convention had formally entered into force on 26 December 1996 with its ratification by the fiftieth country. The Convention was a legally binding international document that most strongly underlined that governments and donors had to create a favourable environment for local participation and empowerment in the fight against desertification. That meant the setting in motion of the consultative process to create what in many ways was the backbone of the Convention, namely national action programmes and national desertification funds.
Hama Arma Diallo, Executive Secretary of the Interim Secretariat of the Convention, also in introductory remarks, said discussions were continuing in the Committee on the final preparations for the Conference of the Parties.
Some issues, "as was usual, would still remain on the table until the D-day, as always". But in the meantime, the enthusiasm shown in the Convention by countries affected by desertification in all regions had been very striking. He recalled the day-long meetings yesterday at which representatives of those countries had spoken of the measures taken or planned at the national, subregional or regional level to implement the Convention.
"Indeed, we are witnessing, not only in Africa, but also in Asia and in Latin America, efforts aimed at promoting active collaboration" around activities which would help the identification and formulation of activities to improve the management of common natural resources, he stressed. The participatory process envisaged under the Convention was now being witnessed through the presence of more than 100 non-governmental organizations at the session.
He said those non-governmental organizations were key players or stakeholders at the field level. He expressed satisfaction that they were, through the Convention, showing that the "spirit of Rio is alive and well" on the fifth anniversary this year of UNCED. The Convention was having an impact on issues related to biodiversity and climate change.
He said that 62 countries, from all continents, had ratified the Convention, demonstrating that both developed and developing countries were joining hands to seek solutions to the problem of desertification. Mr. Kjellen noted that 115 countries had signed the Convention.
Responding to questions, Mr. Kjellen said that the size of the Convention's secretariat would have to be decided by the Conference of the Parties when it adopted its budget and programme of work. "We're not talking of a major secretariat", he said, adding that its task would be to continue to stimulate ongoing work on disseminating information about the Convention, and to work with non-governmental organizations. Answering a question about the Global Mechanism, he said the Convention provided that it should be housed in an existing organization but linked to the secretariat. He noted that the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had expressed interest in housing it.
Elaborating further, Mr. Diallo said that the idea of locating the mechanism in an existing institution was to facilitate the execution of its functions with the resources available within that organization. The mechanism was different from others such as the Global Environment Facility (GEF). They were looking for an institution which could help facilitate the processing of project requests from a large number of countries. He said that the secretariat would have 20 or 30 staff.
Asked whether more ratifications of the Convention were expected, Mr. Kjellen said there had been indications that various processes had been set in motion by countries to do so before the convening of the Conference of the
Desertification Briefing - 3 - 17 January 1997
Parties. The Convention had proven that the Rio process was important. He forecast that water would be a central issue at the forthcoming session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and at the Assembly's special session.
He also stressed the important role of women in the implementation of the Convention, and hoped the Conference of the Parties would underline that. "I think it is essential. Our Convention can give a very useful contribution to the advancement of women, in general." He also said the role of women in the implementation of the Convention was a subject of a panel discussion at the ninth session of the Committee, and he had, during the current session, met with women's representatives, including those from Africa.
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