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Member States & Bureau
UNFF2 Meeting Summary - 27-8 January 2002
Minutes
of the third meeting of the UNFF2 Bureau
UNFF Secretariat, DC-2 Building, New York
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Bureau held its third meeting during Sunday 27 January and
Monday 28 January 2002. The first session of the meeting was
held on Sunday 27 January from 10 AM to 1 PM., followed by
a joint Bureaux meeting with the WSSD Bureau from 3:30 to
4:20 PM the same afternoon. The Bureau met again on Sunday
from 4:15 to 5:00 PM, and on Monday, 28 January from 6:00
to 7:00 PM. |
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Attendees
Bureau
Members and Contact Persons: Mr. Knut Øistad
(Chairman, Norway), Ms. Patricia Chaves (Vice Chair,
Costa Rica), Mr. Hossein Moeini Meybodi (Vice Chair,
Iran), Mr. Ositadinma Anaedu (Vice Chair, Nigeria)
and Mr. Oleg Shamanov (Contact person, Russian Federation).
UNFF Secretariat: Jag Maini, Kyaw Kyaw Shane, Mahendra
Joshi, Mia Soderlund and Abigail Sarmac
ECOSOC
Secretariat: Vladimir Zelenov
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The
objectives of the meeting of the Bureau were to review:
- The preparations for the second session
- High-level ministerial segment including
the ministerial dialogue with heads of member organizations
of the CPF
- Joint Bureaux meeting with WSSD Bureaux
- Update of the preparations for the Multi-stakeholder
dialogue
- Establishment of expert groups
- Division of work among the members of the
Bureau
- Briefing of the Permanent Missions and
regional groups in New York
- CPF activities
- Other business
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1.
Preparations for UNFF2
Ms.
Chaves informed the Bureau that due to unforeseen circumstances,
the Government of Costa has regretfully decided to withdraw
its offer to host the second session of UNFF in San Jose.
The Bureau reviewed the availability of alternate venues
and facilities in New York and Geneva (two UN cities), implications
to the high-level Ministerial segment and proposed contributions
to the WSSD process.
After
considering the various options, the Bureau, at its resumed
meeting on Monday, 29 January decided to convene the second
session in New York during the pre-scheduled period, 4-15
March 2002. The Bureau noted the facts that the change in
venue has to be approved by the Committee on Conference,
and that change in venue in New York at the late stage could
entail some difficulties in acquiring sufficient meeting
rooms and other facilities. However, the Bureau felt confident
that the delegations would understand the unusual situation
and be flexible in organizing in New York, the large number
of previously scheduled important side events. The important
factors in choosing New York include maintaining the original
schedule, and the minimum disruption to travel plans of
the Ministers and other delegations, and synchronizing the
submission of UNFF contribution to WSSD process at its third
Prepcom in March.
Documentation:
The Secretariat reported that all official documents including
the six SG’s reports and three Notes from the Secretariat
are being translated in official UN languages. The copies
of advanced unedited versions of those documents (in English
only) are now available in the official website of UNFF.
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2.
High-level ministerial segment
The
Bureau discussed matters related to the preparations for
the high-level ministerial segment at UNFF2, in the context
of the new development.
The
Bureau was informed that the Minister of Environment and
Energy of Costa Rica would not be able to chair the Ministerial
segment as previously planned. The Bureau started a process
to identify a new chairperson for the Ministerial segment.
Regarding
the dialogue between the ministers and heads of CPF member
organizations, the Bureau reiterated its earlier selection
of five critical issues, and that one Minister will be requested
to make an opening statement on one particular critical
issue. The heads from 2 - 3 CPF member organizations, to
be decided by CPF, would then respond to that Minister’s
statement. This would set the stage for a more interactive
dialogue among the ministers and CPF heads on that particular
critical issue. The Bureau would explore with some Ministers
to see their availability and willingness to make the opening
statements for each of the critical issues.
The
Bureau agreed that the output of the dialogue would be a
Chairman’s summary highlighting the key points of the
dialogue.
Regarding
ministerial deliberations the Bureau reflected on the draft
Ministerial message sent in advance by Mr. Øistad.
The Bureau found the draft as a useful basis for further
refinement of the possible ministerial message. Suggestions
were made to highlight the global environmental benefits
of forests and the need for resource mobilization for capacity
building in developing countries and countries with economies
in transition. Mr. Øistad would revise the draft
and distribute it as an unofficial note with the intention
to stimulate discussion on the context, strategic objectives
and elements of a possible Ministerial Message from UNFF
to WSSD.
The
Bureau noted that the outcome of the Ministerial deliberation
could be an endorsement of UNFF Plan of Action and political
commitment towards its implementation; enhanced international
cooperation including the role of CPF; repositioning of
forests on the national and international political agenda;
and a Ministerial message to WSSD and other fora.
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3.
Joint Bureaux meeting with WSSD Bureau
In addition
to informing the WSSD Bureau of the new development in organizing
the second session of UNFF, other key points for discussion
would include possible ways for further cooperation between
the two bureaux, show casing forest as a success story in
post-Rio era at the Johannesburg Summit and synchronizing
the submission of UNFF contribution to WSSD process.
At the
joint meeting, held on the Sunday afternoon (27 January),
the two bureaux exchanged information and views regarding
cooperation and coordination between the two processes,
implications of the new developments in scheduling of the
submission of UNFF’s inputs to the Johannesburg Summit.
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4.
Update on Multi-stakeholder dialogue
The
Secretariat informed the Bureau that the response from the
major group to the invitation by the Secretariat for contributions
and planned preparatory meeting, scheduled on Tuesday, 29
January 2002, was minimal. Only one major group, IUFRO,
provided a written contribution to UNFF2, and one other
major group, Confederation of European Forest Owners, yet
to be accredited, showed willingness to attend the preparatory
meeting. Accordingly, the meeting has been canceled.
Mr.
Øistad informed the Bureau that he has communicated
the Bureau’s previous decision to a major group that
the UNFF will follow the ECOSOC Rule of procedures and that
the multi-stakeholder dialogue will be chaired by the Chairman
of the Bureau.
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5.
Ad Hoc Expert Groups
The
Bureau considered draft terms of reference for three ad
hoc expert groups prepared by the Secretariat. The draft
note from the Secretariat will be posted at the UNFF Secretariat
web-site.
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6.
Division of work among the Bureau members
The
Bureau agreed to a request by Mr. Øistad to share
the responsibilities of chairing the working groups and
rapporteur as follows:
| Mr.
Hossein Moeini Meybodi: |
Chairman,
Working Group 1 |
| Mr.
Ositadinma Anaedu: |
Chairman,
Working Group 2 |
| Ms.
Patricia Chaves: |
Rapporteur
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It is
also decided that Mr. Øistad and Ms. Chaves would
co-chair the informal consultations on ad hoc expert groups,
to be held prior to the opening of the second session of
UNFF.
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7.
Briefing to the Permanent Missions and regional groups
Consistent
with the past practice, the Bureau decided to brief the
Missions in New York about the preparations for UNFF2,
including the recent developments, as soon as possible.
It was also decided that in case Mr. Øistad could
not to travel to New York for the informal briefing, then
other members present in New York would conduct the briefing.
The
Secretariat would brief, regional and other groups of countries
on the documentation and other issues related to UNFF2,
when requested.
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8.
CPF activities
The
Secretariat briefed the Bureau about the recent activities
of CPF including the development of CPF framework and initiation
of the CPF Network. The Bureau expressed its appreciation
for the excellent support the Secretariat had received from
CPF partners in preparing the official documentation for
UNFF2. The Bureau also expressed the view that the CPF
should work within the mandate it was provided by ECOSOC
and the guidance provided by UNFF, and to keep its activities
focused in support of UNFF functions and objectives.
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9.
Other business
a)
The Secretariat briefed the Bureau about the recruitment
process and staffing situation. The UN has already advertised
the post of Coordinator and Head of the Secretariat (D-2).
It is in the process of advertising three other professional
posts.
b)
FAO has recently seconded a senior staff member, Ms. Susan
Braatz, to the Secretariat. Following the retirement of
Mr. Jaime Hurtubia, UNEP is in the process of recruiting
a senior staff member to be seconded to the Secretariat.
c)
On travel support to the participating countries from
developing countries, the members of the Bureau suggested
that in light of the new developments, the deadline for
submission of requests should be extended.
d)
The Bureau decided to send a letter to chairmen of the
regional groups informing the change in venue to New York
for the second session of UNFF and requesting for the
nomination of members for the Bureau of the third session
of UNFF, to be elected at the conclusion of the second
session. Mr. Øistad will send the letter as soon
as possible.
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