REGIONAL PREPARATORY MEETING FOR 2002 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT TO BE HELD IN RIO DE JANEIRO 18-24 OCTOBER

REGIONAL PREPARATORY MEETING FOR 2002 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT

TO BE HELD IN RIO DE JANEIRO 18-24 OCTOBER

(Reissued as received.)

RIO DE JANEIRO, 16 October (UNEP) -- From 18 to 24 October 2001, a series of meetings will take place in Rio de Janeiro in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development scheduled to be held in Johannesburg in September 2002.

International Forum Rio+10:  Where We Are, Where We Are Going

A series of events begin with the “Rio+10 International Forum:  Where We Are, Where We Are Going”, organized by the Brazilian Business Council and sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.  The inauguration will be at 9 a.m.on

18 October, with the presence of the Vice-President of Brazil, Marco Maciel, at the premises of the SESI/FIRJAN Theatre located at Graca Aranha,

Nº 1 Centro, Rio de Janeiro.

One of the objectives is the elaboration of a common position of Latin America's productive sector, keeping in mind the World Summit on Sustainable Development of Johannesburg.

For more information contact María José Suely:  C.E.:  cebds@cebds.com

Meeting of Main Groups of Latin America and the Caribbean

The Brazilian Forum of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), representatives from NGOs from the subregions of the Southern Cone, Caribbean, Andes and Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America), and the Earth Council have convened, within the framework of the Regional Preparatory Process towards the World Summit on Sustainable Development, a Meeting of Networks of Main Groups of Latin America and the Caribbean, which will take place in Rio de Janeiro on 18 to 20 October 2001. 

Support for the event has been provided by UNEP through its Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and ECLAC.  The Meeting will be held at RIOCENTRO Pavilhao de Congressos -- 5 Av. Salvador Allende, 6555 Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro/RJ, BRASIL, Tel.:(55-81)442-133 y 442-1300; Fax:(55-21)442-1155 Sitio:www.rio.rj.gov.br/riocentro

Thirteenth Meeting of Forum of Ministers of Environment

of Latin America and the Caribbean

Next Monday, at 9 a.m., 22 October, the Thirteenth Meeting of the Forum of Ministers of the Environment of Latin America and the Caribbean will begin at the Rio Centro premises.  Most of the Ministers of the Environment of the region, as well as numerous guests from other agencies of the United Nations system and international organizations, will attend the Meeting.  This event has been organized by the Ministry of the Environment of Brazil.  The UNEP is the secretariat of the Forum of Ministers.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Klaus Toepfer, who is also an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, will also be present at the event.

The Forum will address topics such as:  the actual state and the management of the plant cover in Latin America and the Caribbean; urban disasters and vulnerability:  a preliminary focus to the problem of Latin America and the Caribbean.

On the other hand, the Forum will revise the recommendations made at the Fifth and Sixth Meetings of the Intersessional Committee of the Forum for their approval.  At the same time, the First Regional Action Plan of the Forum of Ministers of the Environment will be evaluated.  The Interagency Technical Committee, formed by UNEP, the UNDP, the World Bank and ECLAC, has prepared a report that contains an evaluation of the activities undertaken between 1998 and 2001.  Based on these analyses, a proposal of the regional action plan for 2002-2005 will be submitted for consideration of the Ministers of the Environment of the region.

The closing ceremony of the Forum of Ministers and the inauguration of the Regional Preparatory Conference towards the World Summit on Sustainable Development will be led by the President of Brazil, Fernando Henrique Cardoso  This ceremony will take place at RIOCENTRO on Tuesday, 23 Octobe, at 4 p.m.

Deliberations of the Forum of Ministers will take place at RIOCENTRO Pavilhao de Congressos  5 Av. Salvador Allende, 6555 Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro/RJ, BRASIL, Tel.: (55-81)442-1330 y 442-1300; Fax: (55-21)442 155 

Web site:  www.rio.rj.gov.br/riocentro

Regional Preparatory Conference

The Regional Preparatory Conference towards the World Summit on Sustainable Development will be held on 23 to 24 October 2001. Representatives from governments, the private sector, NGOs and civil society must reach a consensus regarding the Regional Declaration that will be taken to the World Summit on Sustainable Development next year (Johannesburg, South Africa, 2 to 11 September 2002).

The Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP/ROLAC) and ECLAC, have elaborated the document titled "The Sustainability of Development of Latin America and the Caribbean", based on national and subregional evaluations.  The document is a synthesis of the evaluation of the progress achieved in implementing

Agenda 21 and the Rio Declaration in the various meetings held in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The document will be available to the press in the morning of

24 October, at UNEP/ROLAC's Web site: www.rolac.unep.mx

For more information, agendas of different meetings as well as press conferences please visit: www.rolac.unep.mx

Rody Oñate

Information Officer

UNEP/ROLAC

Email:  ronate@rolac.unep.mx

Matilde R. Díaz-Almazán

Information Assistant

Email: mdiaz@rolac.unep.mx

Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente

Oficina Regional para América Latina y el Caribe

Unidad de Comunicaciones e Información Pública

Boulevard de los Virreyes 155, Lomas de Virreyes. CP 11000 - México, D.F., MEXICO  Tels.: (52) 5202-6394 y 5202-4841  -  Fax: (52) 5202-0950

C.E.: centinf@rolac.unep.mx -  Sitio: http://www.rolac.unep.mx/

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