Recent Noteworthy Regional Commissions Publications
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ECE The Aarhus Convention enters into force The ECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters enters into force on 30 October 2001. At the time of writing 17 countries, one more than the minimum 16, have ratified the Convention triggering its entry into force as a legally binding international instrument. Why, is the Convention so important? As stated by the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, the Aarhus Convention is “a giant step forward in the development of law in this field” and “by far the most impressive elaboration of principle 10 of the Rio Declaration.” As such, “it is the most ambitious venture in the area of ‘environmental democracy’ so far undertaken under the auspices of the United Nations”. The Secretary-General also indicated that the Rio +10 conference would be a timely occasion to examine the relevance of the Aarhus Convention as a possible model for strengthening the application of principle 10 in other regions of the world. The first meeting of the parties to the Convention will be convened sometime after mid-2002. By then there will certainly be a greater number of parties than now, judging by the number of countries which are presently in the process of ratification.
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ESCAP Reducing Disparities: Balanced development of urban and rural areas and regions within the countries of Asia and the Pacific Despite a decline in poverty across the ESCAP region, there are significant disparities between urban and rural areas and between regions within countries. Poverty in all its forms is more common in rural areas than in urban areas. The disparities are the main reason for the rapid urbanization of the Asian and Pacific region. Within the next two or three decades, a majority of the region’s population is expected to live in urban areas. This urbanization could well mean an urbanization of poverty. Faced with this trend, the region has to continue to invest in urban and rural development to reduce poverty and ensure an adequate standard of living for the population in both rural and urban areas. It is of critical importance for economically backward areas to develop transport and communication links with markets, seaports and other transport nodes. Improved links allow regions to exploit their comparative advantages, thereby reducing the cost of products and services from those regions and making them more competitive. In an economically globalizing world, the transport nodes and markets need not be located in the same country, but can be situated in adjacent countries. For many years, ESCAP has been promoting the development of such transport links across the Asian region. While rural-urban disparities and disparities between region within countries demand utmost attention, newly emerging global trends can cause new disparities. Globalization of the economy, the information revolution and the emergence of the knowledge society will profoundly alter social and economic conditions around the world and in the Asian and Pacific region. New disparity will emerge due to what is known as the “digital divide”. However, it is more than a divide between those with access to information technology and those without such access. It is a divide between those with the appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes and those without them. This new disparity is likely to pose an enormous challenge to the countries in the Asian and Pacific region and therefore to ESCAP.
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ECLAC Social Panorama of Latin America 2000-2001 ECLAC has just launched the latest edition of its flagship publication the Social Panorama of Latin America 2000-2001, and it is available in Spanish on ECLAC’s web site: www.eclac.cl. Some of the highlights of the study are: Achievements and Challenges in the Fight Against Poverty: Towards the decade’s end, at least 11 countries had successfully reduced poverty levels compared to those of 1990, and they contain most of the region’s poor people. However, achievements in poverty reduction during the 1990s “were not sufficient to completely compensate for demographic growth during this period, given that from 1990 to 1999 poverty in Latin America rose by 11 million people.” Social Expenditure in Latin America Rose 50% During the 1990s: Social spending per capita rose 50% for all 17 countries of Latin America during the 1990s, and only two countries (Honduras and Venezuela) saw it drop in real terms. The study cites that the spending that benefits the poorest households most, is spending on primary and secondary education, followed by health care and nutrition, and basic services such as water and sewage. Protecting this spending level through adverse conditions and increasing its effectiveness and efficiency are the next challenges. Inequity Remains Throughout the Region: Despite the relative recovery of economic growth and higher social spending, Latin America stands out in the international context especially because of the large amount of total earnings received by the wealthiest 10% of the population. Over the past decade, of 17 countries studied, only Uruguay ended the period with results indicating progress in terms of distribution, thus confirming observations offered by previous editions of Social Panorama concerning the difficulties implicit in substantially improving the structural factors underlying income distribution. Unemployment rises in Latin America: According to ECLAC, a range of factors contributed to number of unemployed rising by 10.5 million people, from 7.6 million in 1990 to 18.1 million people in 1999. The labour market’s weakness was compounded in many countries by the government’s reduced role in generating jobs and restructuring of the productive system. Moreover, the intensive use of new technologies suggests that the formal or structured sector of the economy will become steadily less able to add to job supply.
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ECA Leaders against AIDS ECA draws attention to the precious lessons learnt from the devastation caused by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Today, Africa is by far the most severely-affected continent with 70% of the adults and 80% of the children living with HIV in the world, most of whom still have inadequate access to even basic health care. Africa has buried three-quarters of the more than 20 million people worldwide who have died of AIDS since the epidemic began. As children lose their parents and teachers, and hospitals, farms and factories their workers, the epidemic has become a full-blown development crisis. ECA findings cite a great deal of best practice implemented outside the health sector. There is a good reason for this. AIDS is an epidemic with special features that call for a special response. With no vaccine available against HIV, prevention hinges on informing people, motivating them, and empowering them to protect themselves, their partners and their newborn infants. Likewise, though the health sector is the mainstay of health care for those infected, it can do little to alleviate the poverty that afflicts many AIDS-affected households, ease the plight of orphaned children, or safeguard country’s development achievements. Paradoxically, though, Africa already possesses most of the “tools”—if not all the resources—needed to change the course of the epidemic. Communities and countries across the continent have pioneered, developed and tested many successful responses to HIV and AIDS. There is an impressive range of best practice in Africa, proof that the continent is not powerless against the epidemic.
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ESCWA Implications of the Euro Currency for the Economies of the ESCWA Region The introduction of Euro as the single currency for members of the European Union has vast implications for the economies in the ESCWA region. A single currency governing most economies of Europe can provide considerable impetus to further strengthening the trade, financial and economic relations between the EU members and the ESCWA region for mutual benefit. However, this can be done only through undertaking necessary policy instruments, supported by relevant institutional mechanisms, from both sides. This is the most important finding of the above recent publication by ESCWA. The framework of cooperation among the countries in the two regions was last reviewed in 1990 and, subsequently, was substantially altered by the Barcelona Declaration and establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership in 1995. Among the major objectives of the Declaration is the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean region of mutual economic and financial cooperation. Provisions are included also for the establishment of a free trade area (though restricted to certain products) by the year 2010. Notably, the approach of the oil-exporting Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries and the ESCWA member countries with more diversified economic base vary with regard to accepting the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership Agreements as providing the basis for broad-based economic relationship. While, in general, the existence of a single market in the EU is expected to stimulate growth among its member countries, and thereby create new opportunities for trade in between the two regions, the ESCWA study suggests that additional stimulants should be considered to make this actually happen. For instance, the EU could provide interim support by absorbing some of the losses incurred by ESCWA member countries in connection with the establishment of the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area. |
