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GENERAL E/CN.6/1995/5/Add.6 6 January 1995 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH COMMISSION ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN Thirty-ninth session New York, 15 March-4 April 1995 Item 3 (c) of the provisional agenda* PREPARATIONS FOR THE FOURTH WORLD CONFERENCE ON WOMEN: ACTION FOR EQUALITY, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE Reports from regional conferences and other international conferences Addendum Excerpts from Agenda 21 1/ adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 3 to 14 June 1992 ________________________ * E/CN.6/1995/1. 1/ Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions adopted by the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8), resolution 1, annex II. INTRODUCTION The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992, adopted the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, in which principle 20 states: "Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development." The present document contains excerpts from Agenda 21, also adopted by the Conference, in which the advancement of women, gender equality, equality of opportunity for men and women, and the role of women and of women's groups are mentioned. The following synoptic table indicates where those passages are found in Agenda 21. Chapter Paragraphs 3. Combating poverty .................................... 3.2, 3.4-3.9 4. Changing consumption patterns ........................ 4.27 5. Demographic dynamics and sustainability .............. 5.12, 5.16, 5.21, 5.28, 5.33-5.37, 5.43-5.46, 5.48-5-53, 5.62 6. Protecting and promoting human health ................ 6.8, 6.11, 6.13, 6.18, 6.23-6.24, 6.27, 6.29-6.31, 6.33 7. Promoting sustainable human settlement development ... 7.4, 7.16, 7.20, 7.26, 7.28, 7.30, 7.45, 7.51, 7.76-7.77 8. Integrating environment and development in decision- making ............................................... 8.8, 8.10, 8.25, 8.45, 8.49 10. Integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources ....................................... 10.5, 10.10, 10.11, 10.16 11. Combating deforestation .............................. 11.2-11.3, 11.13, 11.18, 11.27 12. Managing fragile ecosystems: combating desertification and drought .......................... 12.14, 12.24, 12.28, 12.37, 12.56-12.58 13. Managing fragile ecosystems: sustainable mountain development .......................................... 13.11, 13.16- 13.17, 13.21 14. Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development .......................................... 14.14, 14.17- 14.18, 14.27, 14.81, 14.91 15. Conservation of biological diversity ................. 15.4-15.5 16. Environmentally sound management of biotechnology .... 16.13-16.15 17. Protection of the oceans, all kinds of seas, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas and the protection, rational use and development of their living resources ..................................... 17.15, 17.82, 17.94-17.95 18. Protection of the quality and supply of freshwater resources: application of integrated approaches to the development, management and use of water resources 18.9, 18.12, 18.19, 18.22, 18.33-18.34, 18.44-18.45, 18.50, 18.53- 18.54, 18.59, 18.62, 18.68, 18.76, 18.80 19. Environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals, including prevention of illegal international traffic in toxic and dangerous products ...................... 19.22 20. Environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, including prevention of illegal international traffic in hazardous wastes .................................. 20.20, 20.26- 20.28 21. Environmentally sound management of solid wastes and sewage-related issues ................................ 21.19, 21.25, 21.46 23. Preamble to section III, Strengthening the role of major groups ......................................... 23.1-23.3 24. Global action for women towards sustainable and equitable development ................................ 24.1-24.11 25. Children and youth in sustainable development ........ 25.5, 25.8-25.9, 25.14 26. Recognizing and strengthening the role of indigenous people and their communities ......................... 26.9 28. Local authorities' initiatives in support of Agenda 21 28.2 29. Strengthening the role of workers and their trade unions ............................................... 29.7 30. Strengthening the role of business and industry ...... 30.1, 30.17, 30.24 31. Scientific and technological community ............... 31.4, 31.10 32. Strengthening the role of farmers .................... 32.2, 32.4-32.8, 32.14 33. Financial resources and mechanisms ................... 33.8 34. Transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity-building .................... 34.3, 34.14 35. Science and sustainable development .................. 35.21, 35.25 36. Promoting education, public awareness and training ... 36.4-36.5, 36.10, 36.13 37. National mechanisms and international cooperation for capacity-building in developing countries ............ 37.5 38. International institutional arrangements ............. 38.14, 38.19, 38.25, 38.42 40. Information for decision makers ...................... 40.8, 40.11 Chapter 3 COMBATING POVERTY PROGRAMME AREA Enabling the poor to achieve sustainable livelihoods Basis for action 3.2. While managing resources sustainably, an environmental policy that focuses mainly on the conservation and protection of resources must take due account of those who depend on the resources for their livelihoods. Otherwise it could have an adverse impact both on poverty and on chances for long-term success in resource and environmental conservation. Equally, a development policy that focuses mainly on increasing the production of goods without addressing the sustainability of the resources on which production is based will sooner or later run into declining productivity, which could also have an adverse impact on poverty. A specific anti-poverty strategy is therefore one of the basic conditions for ensuring sustainable development. An effective strategy for tackling the problems of poverty, development and environment simultaneously should begin by focusing on resources, production and people and should cover demographic issues, enhanced health care and education, the rights of women, the role of youth and of indigenous people and local communities and a democratic participation process in association with improved governance. ... Objectives 3.4. The long-term objective of enabling all people to achieve sustainable livelihoods should provide an integrating factor that allows policies to address issues of development, sustainable resource management and poverty eradication simultaneously. The objectives of this programme area are: (a) To provide all persons urgently with the opportunity to earn a sustainable livelihood; (b) To implement policies and strategies that promote adequate levels of funding and focus on integrated human development policies, including income generation, increased local control of resources, local institution- strengthening and capacity-building and greater involvement of non-governmental organizations and local levels of government as delivery mechanisms; (c) To develop for all poverty-stricken areas integrated strategies and programmes of sound and sustainable management of the environment, resource mobilization, poverty eradication and alleviation, employment and income generation; (d) To create a focus in national development plans and budgets on investment in human capital, with special policies and programmes directed at rural areas, the urban poor, women and children. Activities 3.5. Activities that will contribute to the integrated promotion of sustainable livelihoods and environmental protection cover a variety of sectoral interventions involving a range of actors, from local to global, and are essential at every level, especially the community and local levels. Enabling actions will be necessary at the national and international levels, taking full account of regional and subregional conditions to support a locally driven and country-specific approach. In general design, the programmes should: (a) Focus on the empowerment of local and community groups through the principle of delegating authority, accountability and resources to the most appropriate level to ensure that the programme will be geographically and ecologically specific; (b) Contain immediate measures to enable those groups to alleviate poverty and to develop sustainability; (c) Contain a long-term strategy aimed at establishing the best possible conditions for sustainable local, regional and national development that would eliminate poverty and reduce the inequalities between various population groups. It should assist the most disadvantaged groups - in particular, women, children and youth within those groups - and refugees. The groups will include poor smallholders, pastoralists, artisans, fishing communities, landless people, indigenous communities, migrants and the urban informal sector. 3.6. The focus here is on specific cross-cutting measures - in particular, in the areas of basic education, primary/maternal health care, and the advancement of women. (a) Empowering communities 3.7. Sustainable development must be achieved at every level of society. Peoples' organizations, women's groups and non-governmental organizations are important sources of innovation and action at the local level and have a strong interest and proven ability to promote sustainable livelihoods. Governments, in cooperation with appropriate international and non-governmental organizations, should support a community-driven approach to sustainability, which would include, inter alia: (a) Empowering women through full participation in decision-making; (b) Respecting the cultural integrity and the rights of indigenous people and their communities; (c) Promoting or establishing grass-roots mechanisms to allow for the sharing of experience and knowledge between communities; (d) Giving communities a large measure of participation in the sustainable management and protection of the local natural resources in order to enhance their productive capacity; (e) Establishing a network of community-based learning centres for capacity-building and sustainable development. (b) Management-related activities 3.8. Governments, with the assistance of and in cooperation with appropriate international, non-governmental and local community organizations, should establish measures that will directly or indirectly: (a) Generate remunerative employment and productive occupational opportunities compatible with country-specific factor endowments, on a scale sufficient to take care of prospective increases in the labour force and to cover backlogs; (b) With international support, where necessary, develop adequate infrastructure, marketing systems, technology systems, credit systems and the like and the human resources needed to support the above actions and to achieve a widening of options for resource-poor people. High priority should be given to basic education and professional training; (c) Provide substantial increases in economically efficient resource productivity and measures to ensure that the local population benefits in adequate measure from resource use; (d) Empower community organizations and people to enable them to achieve sustainable livelihoods; (e) Set up an effective primary health care and maternal health care system accessible to all; (f) Consider strengthening/developing legal frameworks for land management, access to land resources and land ownership - in particular, for women - and for the protection of tenants; (g) Rehabilitate degraded resources, to the extent practicable, and introduce policy measures to promote sustainable use of resources for basic human needs; (h) Establish new community-based mechanisms and strengthen existing mechanisms to enable communities to gain sustained access to resources needed by the poor to overcome their poverty; (i) Implement mechanisms for popular participation - particularly by poor people, especially women - in local community groups, to promote sustainable development; (j) Implement, as a matter of urgency, in accordance with country-specific conditions and legal systems, measures to ensure that women and men have the same right to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and have access to the information, education and means, as appropriate, to enable them to exercise this right in keeping with their freedom, dignity and personally held values, taking into account ethical and cultural considerations. Governments should take active steps to implement programmes to establish and strengthen preventive and curative health facilities, which include women-centred, women-managed, safe and effective reproductive health care and affordable, accessible services, as appropriate, for the responsible planning of family size, in keeping with freedom, dignity and personally held values, taking into account ethical and cultural considerations. Programmes should focus on providing comprehensive health care, including pre-natal care, education and information on health and responsible parenthood and should provide the opportunity for all women to breast-feed fully, at least during the first four months post-partum. Programmes should fully support women's productive and reproductive roles and well-being, with special attention to the need for providing equal and improved health care for all children and the need to reduce the risk of maternal and child mortality and sickness; (k) Adopt integrated policies aiming at sustainability in the management of urban centres; (l) Undertake activities aimed at the promotion of food security and, where appropriate, food self-sufficiency within the context of sustainable agriculture; (m) Support research on and integration of traditional methods of production that have been shown to be environmentally sustainable; (n) Actively seek to recognize and integrate informal-sector activities into the economy by removing regulations and hindrances that discriminate against activities in those sectors; (o) Consider making available lines of credit and other facilities for the informal sector and improved access to land for the landless poor so that they can acquire the means of production and reliable access to natural resources. In many instances special considerations for women are required. Strict feasibility appraisals are needed for borrowers to avoid debt crises; (p) Provide the poor with access to fresh water and sanitation; (q) Provide the poor with access to primary education. (c) Data, information and evaluation 3.9. Governments should improve the collection of information on target groups and target areas in order to facilitate the design of focused programmes and activities, consistent with the target-group needs and aspirations. Evaluation of such programmes should be gender-specific, since women are a particularly disadvantaged group. Chapter 4 CHANGING CONSUMPTION PATTERNS 4.27. This programme is concerned primarily with changes in unsustainable patterns of consumption and production and values that encourage sustainable consumption patterns and lifestyles. It requires the combined efforts of Governments, consumers and producers. Particular attention should be paid to the significant role played by women and households as consumers and the potential impacts of their combined purchasing power on the economy. Chapter 5 DEMOGRAPHIC DYNAMICS AND SUSTAINABILITY 5.12. Awareness should be increased of the fundamental linkages between improving the status of women and demographic dynamics, particularly through women's access to education, primary and reproductive health care programmes, economic independence and their effective, equitable participation in all levels of decision-making. ... B. Formulating integrated national policies for environment and development, taking into account demographic trends and factors Basis for action 5.16. Existing plans for sustainable development have generally recognized demographic trends and factors as elements that have a critical influence on consumption patterns, production, lifestyles and long-term sustainability. But in future, more attention will have to be given to these issues in general policy formulation and the design of development plans. To do this, all countries will have to improve their own capacities to assess the environment and development implications of their demographic trends and factors. They will also need to formulate and implement policies and action programmes where appropriate. Policies should be designed to address the consequences of population growth built into population momentum, while at the same time incorporating measures to bring about demographic transition. They should combine environmental concerns and population issues within a holistic view of development whose primary goals include the alleviation of poverty; secure livelihoods; good health; quality of life; improvement of the status and income of women and their access to schooling and professional training, as well as fulfilment of their personal aspirations; and empowerment of individuals and communities. Recognizing that large increases in the size and number of cities will occur in developing countries under any likely population scenario, greater attention should be given to preparing for the needs, in particular of women and children, for improved municipal management and local government. Objective 5.17. Full integration of population concerns into national planning, policy and decision-making processes should continue. Population policies and programmes should be considered, with full recognition of women's rights. ... 5.21. Vulnerable population groups (such as rural landless workers, ethnic minorities, refugees, migrants, displaced people, women heads of household) whose changes in demographic structure may have specific impacts on sustainable development should be identified. ... 5.28. Population data should be disaggregated by, inter alia, sex and age in order to take into account the implications of the gender division of labour for the use and management of natural resources. ... 5.33. Policies and programmes should be developed for handling the various types of migrations that result from or induce environmental disruptions, with special attention to women and vulnerable groups. 5.34. Demographic concerns, including concerns for environmental migrants and displaced people, should be incorporated in the programmes for sustainable development of relevant international and regional institutions. ... 5.37. Understanding of the interactions between demographic trends and factors and sustainable development should be increased in all sectors of society. Stress should be placed on local and national action. Demographic and sustainable development education should be coordinated and integrated in both the formal and non-formal education sectors. Particular attention should be given to population literacy programmes, notably for women. Special emphasis should be placed on the linkage between these programmes, primary environmental care and the provision of primary health care and services. ... Objective 5.43. Population programmes should be implemented along with natural resource management and development programmes at the local level that will ensure sustainable use of natural resources, improve the quality of life of the people and enhance environmental quality. Activities 5.44. Governments and local communities, including community-based women's organizations and national non-governmental organizations, consistent with national plans, objectives, strategies and priorities, could, inter alia, undertake the activities set out below with the assistance and cooperation of international organizations, as appropriate. Governments could share their experience in the implementation of Agenda 21 at the International Conference on Population and Development, to be held in 1994, especially its committee on population and environment. (a) Developing a framework for action 5.45. An effective consultative process should be established and implemented with concerned groups of society where the formulation and decision-making of all components of the programmes are based on a nationwide consultative process drawing on community meetings, regional workshops and national seminars, as appropriate. This process should ensure that views of women and men on needs, perspective and constraints are equally well reflected in the design of programmes, and that solutions are rooted in specific experience. The poor and underprivileged should be priority groups in this process. 5.46. Nationally determined policies for integrated and multifaceted programmes, with special attention to women, to the poorest people living in critical areas and to other vulnerable groups should be implemented, ensuring the involvement of groups with a special potential to act as agents for change and sustainable development. Special emphasis should be placed on those programmes that achieve multiple objectives, encouraging sustainable economic development, and mitigating adverse impacts of demographic trends and factors, and avoiding long-term environmental damage. Food security, access to secure tenure, basic shelter, and essential infrastructure, education, family welfare, women's reproductive health, family credit schemes, reforestation programmes, primary environmental care, women's employment should, as appropriate, be included among other factors. ... 5.48. Special attention should be given to the critical role of women in population/environment programmes and in achieving sustainable development. Projects should take advantage of opportunities to link social, economic and environmental gains for women and their families. Empowerment of women is essential and should be assured through education, training and policies to accord and improve women's right and access to assets, human and civil rights, labour-saving measures, job opportunities and participation in decision-making. Population/environment programmes must enable women to mobilize themselves to alleviate their burden and improve their capacity to participate in and benefit from socio-economic development. Specific measures should be undertaken to close the gap between female and male illiteracy rates. (b) Supporting programmes that promote changes in demographic trends and factors towards sustainability 5.49. Reproductive health programmes and services, should, as appropriate, be developed and enhanced to reduce maternal and infant mortality from all causes and enable women and men to fulfil their personal aspirations in terms of family size, in a way in keeping with their freedom and dignity and personally held values. 5.50. Governments should take active steps to implement, as a matter of urgency, in accordance with country-specific conditions and legal systems, measures to ensure that women and men have the same right to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children, to have access to the information, education and means, as appropriate, to enable them to exercise this right in keeping with their freedom, dignity and personally held values taking into account ethical and cultural considerations. 5.51. Governments should take active steps to implement programmes to establish and strengthen preventive and curative health facilities that include women-centred, women-managed, safe and effective reproductive health care and affordable, accessible services, as appropriate, for the responsible planning of family size, in keeping with freedom, dignity and personally held values and taking into account ethical and cultural considerations. Programmes should focus on providing comprehensive health care, including pre-natal care, education and information on health and responsible parenthood and should provide the opportunity for all women to breast-feed fully, at least during the first four months post-partum. Programmes should fully support women's productive and reproductive roles and well being, with special attention to the need for providing equal and improved health care for all children and the need to reduce the risk of maternal and child mortality and sickness. 5.52. Consistent with national priorities, culturally based information and education programmes that transmit reproductive health messages to men and women that are easily understood should be developed. (c) Creating appropriate institutional conditions 5.53. Constituencies and institutional conditions to facilitate the implementation of demographic activities should, as appropriate, be fostered. This requires support and commitment from political, indigenous, religious and traditional authorities, the private sector and the national scientific community. In developing these appropriate institutional conditions, countries should closely involve established national machinery for women. ... 5.62. The areas of human resource development and capacity-building, with particular attention to the education and training of women, are areas of critical importance and are a very high priority in the implementation of population programmes. Chapter 6 PROTECTING AND PROMOTING HUMAN HEALTH (c) Human resources development 6.8. Intersectoral approaches to the reform of health personnel development should be strengthened to ensure its relevance to the "Health for All" strategies. Efforts to enhance managerial skills at the district level should be supported, with the aim of ensuring the systematic development and efficient operation of the basic health system. Intensive, short, practical training programmes with emphasis on skills in effective communication, community organization and facilitation of behaviour change should be developed in order to prepare the local personnel of all sectors involved in social development for carrying out their respective roles. In cooperation with the education sector, special health education programmes should be developed focusing on the role of women in the health-care system. ... 6.11. With HIV infection levels estimated to increase to 30-40 million by the year 2000, the socio-economic impact of the pandemic is expected to be devastating for all countries, and increasingly for women and children. While direct health costs will be substantial, they will be dwarfed by the indirect costs of the pandemic - mainly costs associated with the loss of income and decreased productivity of the workforce. The pandemic will inhibit growth of the service and industrial sectors and significantly increase the costs of human capacity-building and retraining. The agricultural sector is particularly affected where production is labour-intensive. ... 6.13. Each national Government, in accordance with national plans for public health, priorities and objectives, should consider developing a national health action plan with appropriate international assistance and support, including, at a minimum, the following components: (a) National public health systems: (i) Programmes to identify environmental hazards in the causation of communicable diseases; (ii) Monitoring systems of epidemiological data to ensure adequate forecasting of the introduction, spread or aggravation of communicable diseases; (iii) Intervention programmes, including measures consistent with the principles of the global AIDS strategy; (iv) Vaccines for the prevention of communicable diseases; (b) Public information and health education: Provide education and disseminate information on the risks of endemic communicable diseases and build awareness on environmental methods for control of communicable diseases to enable communities to play a role in the control of communicable diseases; (c) Intersectoral cooperation and coordination: (i) Second experienced health professionals to relevant sectors, such as planning, housing and agriculture; (ii) Develop guidelines for effective coordination in the areas of professional training, assessment of risks and development of control technology; (d) Control of environmental factors that influence the spread of communicable diseases: Apply methods for the prevention and control of communicable diseases, including water supply and sanitation control, water pollution control, food quality control, integrated vector control, garbage collection and disposal and environmentally sound irrigation practices; (e) Primary health care system: (i) Strengthen prevention programmes, with particular emphasis on adequate and balanced nutrition; (ii) Strengthen early diagnostic programmes and improve capacities for early preventative/treatment action; (iii) Reduce the vulnerability to HIV infection of women and their offspring; (f) Support for research and methodology development: (i) Intensify and expand multidisciplinary research, including focused efforts on the mitigation and environmental control of tropical diseases; (ii) Carry out intervention studies to provide a solid epidemiological basis for control policies and to evaluate the efficiency of alternative approaches; (iii) Undertake studies in the population and among health workers to determine the influence of cultural, behavioural and social factors on control policies; (g) Development and dissemination of technology: (i) Develop new technologies for the effective control of communicable diseases; (ii) Promote studies to determine how to optimally disseminate results from research; (iii) Ensure technical assistance, including the sharing of knowledge and know-how. ... 6.18. In addition to meeting basic health needs, specific emphasis has to be given to protecting and educating vulnerable groups, particularly infants, youth, women, indigenous people and the very poor as a prerequisite for sustainable development. Special attention should also be paid to the health needs of the elderly and disabled population. ... 6.21. Women. In developing countries, the health status of women remains relatively low, and during the 1980s poverty, malnutrition and general ill-health in women were even rising. Most women in developing countries still do not have adequate basic educational opportunities and they lack the means of promoting their health, responsibly controlling their reproductive life and improving their socio-economic status. Particular attention should be given to the provision of pre-natal care to ensure healthy babies. ... 6.23. The general objectives of protecting vulnerable groups are to ensure that all such individuals should be allowed to develop to their full potential (including healthy physical, mental and spiritual development); to ensure that young people can develop, establish and maintain healthy lives; to allow women to perform their key role in society; and to support indigenous people through educational, economic and technical opportunities. 6.24. Specific major goals for child survival, development and protection were agreed upon at the World Summit for Children and remain valid also for Agenda 21. Supporting and sectoral goals cover women's health and education, nutrition, child health, water and sanitation, basic education and children in difficult circumstances. ... 6.27. National Governments, in cooperation with local and non-governmental organizations, should initiate or enhance programmes in the following areas: (a) Infants and children: (i) Strengthen basic health-care services for children in the context of primary health-care delivery, including prenatal care, breast-feeding, immunization and nutrition programmes; (ii) Undertake widespread adult education on the use of oral rehydration therapy for diarrhoea, treatment of respiratory infections and prevention of communicable diseases; (iii) Promote the creation, amendment and enforcement of a legal framework protecting children from sexual and workplace exploitation; (iv) Protect children from the effects of environmental and occupational toxic compounds; (b) Youth: Strengthen services for youth in health, education and social sectors in order to provide better information, education, counselling and treatment for specific health problems, including drug abuse; (c) Women: (i) Involve women's groups in decision-making at the national and community levels to identify health risks and incorporate health issues in national action programmes on women and development; (ii) Provide concrete incentives to encourage and maintain attendance of women of all ages at school and adult education courses, including health education and training in primary, home and maternal health care; (iii) Carry out baseline surveys and knowledge, attitude and practice studies on the health and nutrition of women throughout their life cycle, especially as related to the impact of environmental degradation and adequate resources; (d) Indigenous people and their communities: (i) Strengthen, through resources and self-management, preventative and curative health services; (ii) Integrate traditional knowledge and experience into health systems. ... 6.29. Educational, health and research institutions should be strengthened to provide support to improve the health of vulnerable groups. Social research on the specific problems of these groups should be expanded and methods for implementing flexible pragmatic solutions explored, with emphasis on preventive measures. Technical support should be provided to Governments, institutions and non-governmental organizations for youth, women and indigenous people in the health sector. (c) Human resources development 6.30. The development of human resources for the health of children, youth and women should include reinforcement of educational institutions, promotion of interactive methods of education for health and increased use of mass media in disseminating information to the target groups. This requires the training of more community health workers, nurses, midwives, physicians, social scientists and educators, the education of mothers, families and communities and the strengthening of ministries of education, health, population etc. (d) Capacity-building 6.31. Governments should promote, where necessary: (i) the organization of national, intercountry and interregional symposia and other meetings for the exchange of information among agencies and groups concerned with the health of children, youth, women and indigenous people, and (ii) women's organizations, youth groups and indigenous people's organizations to facilitate health and consult them on the creation, amendment and enforcement of legal frameworks to ensure a healthy environment for children, youth, women and indigenous peoples. ... 6.33. The health and well-being of all urban dwellers must be improved so that they can contribute to economic and social development. The global objective is to achieve a 10 to 40 per cent improvement in health indicators by the year 2000. The same rate of improvement should be achieved for environmental, housing and health service indicators. These include the development of quantitative objectives for infant mortality, maternal mortality, percentage of low birth weight newborns and specific indicators (e.g. tuberculosis as an indicator of crowded housing, diarrhoeal diseases as indicators of inadequate water and sanitation, rates of industrial and transportation accidents that indicate possible opportunities for prevention of injury, and social problems such as drug abuse, violence and crime that indicate underlying social disorders). Chapter 7 PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT 7.4. The overall human settlement objective is to improve the social, economic and environmental quality of human settlements and the living and working environments of all people, in particular the urban and rural poor. Such improvement should be based on technical cooperation activities, partnerships among the public, private and community sectors and participation in the decision-making process by community groups and special interest groups such as women, indigenous people, the elderly and the disabled. These approaches should form the core principles of national settlement strategies. In developing these strategies, countries will need to set priorities among the eight programme areas in this chapter in accordance with their national plans and objectives, taking fully into account their social and cultural capabilities. Furthermore, countries should make appropriate provision to monitor the impact of their strategies on marginalized and disenfranchised groups, with particular reference to the needs of women. ... 7.16. One existing framework for strengthening management is in the United Nations Development Programme/World Bank/United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) Urban Management Programme (UMP), a concerted global effort to assist developing countries in addressing urban management issues. Its coverage should be extended to all interested countries during the period 1993-2000. All countries should, as appropriate and in accordance with national plans, objectives and priorities and with the assistance of non-governmental organizations and representatives of local authorities, undertake the following activities at the national, state/provincial and local levels, with the assistance of relevant programmes and support agencies: (a) Adopting and applying urban management guidelines in the areas of land management, urban environmental management, infrastructure management and municipal finance and administration; (b) Accelerating efforts to reduce urban poverty through a number of actions, including: (i) Generating employment for the urban poor, particularly women, through the provision, improvement and maintenance of urban infrastructure and services and the support of economic activities in the informal sector, such as repairs, recycling, services and small commerce; (ii) Providing specific assistance to the poorest of the urban poor through, inter alia, the creation of social infrastructure in order to reduce hunger and homelessness, and the provision of adequate community services; (iii) Encouraging the establishment of indigenous community-based organizations, private voluntary organizations and other forms of non-governmental entities that can contribute to the efforts to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life for low-income families; (c) Adopting innovative city planning strategies to address environmental and social issues by: (i) Reducing subsidies on, and recovering the full costs of, environmental and other services of high standard (e.g. water supply, sanitation, waste collection, roads, telecommunications) provided to higher income neighbourhoods; (ii) Improving the level of infrastructure and service provision in poorer urban areas; (d) Developing local strategies for improving the quality of life and the environment, integrating decisions on land use and land management, investing in the public and private sectors and mobilizing human and material resources, thereby promoting employment generation that is environmentally sound and protective of human health. ... 7.20. All cities, particularly those characterized by severe sustainable development problems, should, in accordance with national laws, rules and regulations, develop and strengthen programmes aimed at addressing such problems and guiding their development along a sustainable path. Some international initiatives in support of such efforts, as in the Sustainable Cities Programme of Habitat and the Healthy Cities Programme of WHO, should be intensified. Additional initiatives involving the World Bank, the regional development banks and bilateral agencies, as well as other interested stakeholders, particularly international and national representatives of local authorities, should be strengthened and coordinated. Individual cities should, as appropriate: (a) Institutionalize a participatory approach to sustainable urban development, based on a continuous dialogue between the actors involved in urban development (the public sector, private sector and communities), especially women and indigenous people; (b) Improve the urban environment by promoting social organization and environmental awareness through the participation of local communities in the identification of public services needs, the provision of urban infrastructure, the enhancement of public amenities and the protection and/or rehabilitation of older buildings, historic precincts and other cultural artifacts. In addition, "green works" programmes should be activated to create self-sustaining human development activities and both formal and informal employment opportunities for low-income urban residents; (c) Strengthen the capacities of their local governing bodies to deal more effectively with the broad range of developmental and environmental challenges associated with rapid and sound urban growth through comprehensive approaches to planning that recognize the individual needs of cities and are based on ecologically sound urban design practices; (d) Participate in international "sustainable city networks" to exchange experiences and mobilize national and international technical and financial support; (e) Promote the formulation of environmentally sound and culturally sensitive tourism programmes as a strategy for sustainable development of urban and rural settlements and as a way of decentralizing urban development and reducing discrepancies among regions; (f) Establish mechanisms, with the assistance of relevant international agencies, to mobilize resources for local initiatives to improve environmental quality; (g) Empower community groups, non-governmental organizations and individuals to assume the authority and responsibility for managing and enhancing their immediate environment through participatory tools, techniques and approaches embodied in the concept of environmental care. ... 7.26. In addition, international efforts, such as the Urban Management Programme, in cooperation with multilateral and bilateral agencies, should continue to assist the developing countries in their efforts to develop a participatory structure by mobilizing the human resources of the private sector, non-governmental organizations and the poor, particularly women and the disadvantaged. ... 7.28. The objective is to provide for the land requirements of human settlement development through environmentally sound physical planning and land use so as to ensure access to land to all households and, where appropriate, the encouragement of communally and collectively owned and managed land. 6/ Particular attention should be paid to the needs of women and indigenous people for economic and cultural reasons. ... 7.30. Subsequently, all countries should consider developing national land-resource management plans to guide land-resource development and utilization and, to that end, should: (a) Establish, as appropriate, national legislation to guide the implementation of public policies for environmentally sound urban development, land utilization, housing and for the improved management of urban expansion; (b) Create, where appropriate, efficient and accessible land markets that meet community development needs by, inter alia, improving land registry systems and streamlining procedures in land transactions; (c) Develop fiscal incentives and land-use control measures, including land-use planning solutions for a more rational and environmentally sound use of limited land resources; (d) Encourage partnerships among the public, private and community sectors in managing land resources for human settlements development; (e) Strengthen community-based land-resource protection practices in existing urban and rural settlements; (f) Establish appropriate forms of land tenure that provide security of tenure for all land-users, especially indigenous people, women, local communities, the low-income urban dwellers and the rural poor; (g) Accelerate efforts to promote access to land by the urban and rural poor, including credit schemes for the purchase of land and for building/acquiring or improving safe and healthy shelter and infrastructure services; (h) Develop and support the implementation of improved land-management practices that deal comprehensively with potentially competing land requirements for agriculture, industry, transport, urban development, green spaces, preserves and other vital needs; (i) Promote understanding among policy makers of the adverse consequences of unplanned settlements in environmentally vulnerable areas and of the appropriate national and local land-use and settlements policies required for this purpose. ... 7.45. With the assistance and support of funding agencies, all countries should, as appropriate, undertake training and popular participation programmes aimed at: (a) Raising awareness of the means, approaches and benefits of the provision of environmental infrastructure facilities, especially among indigenous people, women, low-income groups and the poor; (b) Developing a cadre of professionals with adequate skills in integrated infrastructural service planning and maintenance of resource-efficient, environmentally sound and socially acceptable systems; (c) Strengthening the institutional capacity of local authorities and administrators in the integrated provision of adequate infrastructure services in partnership with local communities and the private sector; (d) Adopting appropriate legal and regulatory instruments, including cross-subsidy arrangements, to extend the benefits of adequate and affordable environmental infrastructure to unserved population groups, especially the poor. ... 7.51. A comprehensive approach to human settlements development should include the promotion of sustainable energy development in all countries, as follows: (a) Developing countries, in particular, should: (i) Formulate national action programmes to promote and support reafforestation and national forest regeneration with a view to achieving sustained provision of the biomass energy needs of the low-income groups in urban areas and the rural poor, in particular women and children; (ii) Formulate national action programmes to promote integrated development of energy-saving and renewable energy technologies, particularly for the use of solar, hydro, wind and biomass sources; (iii) Promote wide dissemination and commercialization of renewable energy technologies through suitable measures, inter alia, fiscal and technology transfer mechanisms; (iv) Carry out information and training programmes directed at manufacturers and users in order to promote energy-saving techniques and energy-efficient appliances; (b) International organizations and bilateral donors should: (i) Support developing countries in implementing national energy programmes in order to achieve widespread use of energy-saving and renewable energy technologies, particularly the use of solar, wind, biomass and hydro sources; (ii) Provide access to research and development results to increase energy-use efficiency levels in human settlements. ... 7.76. The objective is to improve human resource development and capacity-building in all countries by enhancing the personal and institutional capacity of all actors, particularly indigenous people and women, involved in human settlement development. In this regard, account should be taken of traditional cultural practices of indigenous people and their relationship to the environment. 7.77. Specific human resource development and capacity-building activities have been built into each of the programme areas of this chapter. More generally, however, additional steps should be taken to reinforce those activities. In order to do so, all countries, as appropriate, should take the following action: (a) Strengthening the development of human resources and of capacities of public sector institutions through technical assistance and international cooperation so as to achieve by the year 2000 substantial improvement in the efficiency of governmental activities; (b) Creating an enabling policy environment supportive of the partnership between the public, private and community sectors; (c) Providing enhanced training and technical assistance to institutions providing training for technicians, professionals and administrators, and appointed, elected and professional members of local governments and strengthening their capacity to address priority training needs, particularly in regard to social, economic and environmental aspects of human settlements development; (d) Providing direct assistance for human settlement development at the community level, inter alia, by: (i) Strengthening and promoting programmes for social mobilization and raising awareness of the potential of women and youth in human settlements activities; (ii) Facilitating coordination of the activities of women, youth, community groups and non-governmental organizations in human settlements development; (iii) Promoting research on women's programmes and other groups, and evaluating progress made with a view to identifying bottlenecks and needed assistance; (e) Promoting the inclusion of integrated environmental management into general local government activities. Chapter 8 INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT IN DECISION-MAKING 8.5. To support a more integrated approach to decision-making, the data systems and analytical methods used to support such decision-making processes may need to be improved. Governments, in collaboration, where appropriate, with national and international organizations, should review the status of the planning and management system and, where necessary, modify and strengthen procedures so as to facilitate the integrated consideration of social, economic and environmental issues. Countries will develop their own priorities in accordance with their national plans, policies and programmes for the following activities: (a) Improving the use of data and information at all stages of planning and management, making systematic and simultaneous use of social, economic, developmental, ecological and environmental data; analysis should stress interactions and synergisms; a broad range of analytical methods should be encouraged so as to provide various points of view; (b) Adopting comprehensive analytical procedures for prior and simultaneous assessment of the impacts of decisions, including the impacts within and among the economic, social and environmental spheres; these procedures should extend beyond the project level to policies and programmes; analysis should also include assessment of costs, benefits and risks; (c) Adopting flexible and integrative planning approaches that allow the consideration of multiple goals and enable adjustment of changing needs; integrative area approaches at the ecosystem or watershed level can assist in this approach; (d) Adopting integrated management systems, particularly for the management of natural resources; traditional or indigenous methods should be studied and considered wherever they have proved effective; women's traditional roles should not be marginalized as a result of the introduction of new management systems; (e) Adopting integrated approaches to sustainable development at the regional level, including transboundary areas, subject to the requirements of particular circumstances and needs; (f) Using policy instruments (legal/regulatory and economic) as a tool for planning and management, seeking incorporation of efficiency criteria in decisions; instruments should be regularly reviewed and adapted to ensure that they continue to be effective; (g) Delegating planning and management responsibilities to the lowest level of public authority consistent with effective action; in particular the advantages of effective and equitable opportunities for participation by women should be discussed; (h) Establishing procedures for involving local communities in contingency planning for environmental and industrial accidents, and maintaining an open exchange of information on local hazards. ... 8.10. Countries, in cooperation, where appropriate, with national, regional or international organizations, should ensure that essential human resources exist, or be developed, to undertake the integration of environment and development at various stages of the decision-making and implementation process. To do this, they should improve education and technical training, particularly for women and girls, by including interdisciplinary approaches, as appropriate, in technical, vocational, university and other curricula. They should also undertake systematic training of government personnel, planners and managers on a regular basis, giving priority to the requisite integrative approaches and planning and management techniques that are suited to country-specific conditions. ... 8.25. Participation in training is expected to benefit practitioners from developing countries and to enhance training opportunities for women. Demand for this type of postgraduate and in-service training is known to be high. The seminars, workshops and conferences on review and enforcement that have been held to date have been very successful and well attended. The purpose of these efforts is to develop resources (both human and institutional) to design and implement effective programmes to continuously review and enforce national and local laws, regulations and standards on sustainable development. ... 8.45. At the national level, the programme could be adopted mainly by the agencies dealing with national accounts, in close cooperation with environmental statistics and natural resource departments, with a view to assisting national economic analysts and decision makers in charge of national economic planning. National institutions should play a crucial role not only as the depositary of the system but also in its adaptation, establishment and continuous use. Unpaid productive work such as domestic work and child care should be included, where appropriate, in satellite national accounts and economic statistics. Time-use surveys could be a first step in the process of developing these satellite accounts. ... 8.49. National Governments could consider implementing the necessary enhancement in data collection to set in place national IEEAs with a view to contributing pragmatically to sound economic management. Major efforts should be made to augment the capacity to collect and analyse environmental data and information and to integrate it with economic data, including gender disaggregated data. Efforts should also be made to develop physical environmental accounts. International donor agencies should consider financing the development of intersectoral data banks to help ensure that national planning for sustainable development is based on precise, reliable and effective information and is suited to national conditions. Chapter 10 INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT OF LAND RESOURCES 10.5. The broad objective is to facilitate allocation of land to the uses that provide the greatest sustainable benefits and to promote the transition to a sustainable and integrated management of land resources. In doing so, environmental, social and economic issues should be taken into consideration. Protected areas, private property rights, the rights of indigenous people and their communities and other local communities and the economic role of women in agriculture and rural development, among other issues, should be taken into account. In more specific terms, the objectives are as follows: (a) To review and develop policies to support the best possible use of land and the sustainable management of land resources, by not later than 1996; (b) To improve and strengthen planning, management and evaluation systems for land and land resources, by not later than 2000; (c) To strengthen institutions and coordinating mechanisms for land and land resources, by not later than 1998; (d) To create mechanisms to facilitate the active involvement and participation of all concerned, particularly communities and people at the local level, in decision-making on land use and management, by not later than 1996. ... 10.10. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with national organizations and with the support of regional and international organizations, should establish innovative procedures, programmes, projects and services that facilitate and encourage the active participation of those affected in the decision-making and implementation process, especially of groups that have, hitherto, often been excluded, such as women, youth, indigenous people and their communities and other local communities. ... 10.11. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with national institutions and the private sector and with the support of regional and international organizations, should strengthen the information systems necessary for making decisions and evaluating future changes on land use and management. The needs of both men and women should be taken into account. To do this, they should: (a) Strengthen information, systematic observation and assessment systems for environmental, economic and social data related to land resources at the global, regional, national and local levels and for land capability and land-use and management patterns; (b) Strengthen coordination between existing sectoral data systems on land and land resources and strengthen national capacity to gather and assess data; (c) Provide the appropriate technical information necessary for informed decision-making on land use and management in an accessible form to all sectors of the population, especially to local communities and women; (d) Support low-cost, community-managed systems for the collection of comparable information on the status and processes of change of land resources, including soils, forest cover, wildlife, climate and other elements. ... 10.16. Governments at the appropriate level, in collaboration with the appropriate local authorities, non-governmental organizations and international institutions, should promote the development of the human resources that are required to plan and manage land and land resources sustainably. This should be done by providing incentives for local initiatives and by enhancing local management capacity, particularly of women, through: (a) Emphasizing interdisciplinary and integrative approaches in the curricula of schools and technical, vocational and university training; (b) Training all relevant sectors concerned to deal with land resources in an integrated and sustainable manner; (c) Training communities, relevant extension services, community-based groups and non-governmental organizations on land management techniques and approaches applied successfully elsewhere. Chapter 11 COMBATING DEFORESTATION 11.2. The objectives of this programme area are as follows: (a) To strengthen forest-related national institutions, to enhance the scope and effectiveness of activities related to the management, conservation and sustainable development of forests, and to effectively ensure the sustainable utilization and production of forests' goods and services in both the developed and the developing countries; by the year 2000, to strengthen the capacities and capabilities of national institutions to enable them to acquire the necessary knowledge for the protection and conservation of forests, as well as to expand their scope and, correspondingly, enhance the effectiveness of programmes and activities related to the management and development of forests; (b) To strengthen and improve human, technical and professional skills as well as expertise and capabilities to effectively formulate and implement policies, plans, programmes, research and projects on management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests and forest-based resources, and forest lands inclusive, as well as other areas from which forest benefits can be derived. 11.3. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of regional, subregional and international organizations, should, where necessary, enhance institutional capability to promote the multiple roles and functions of all types of forests and vegetation inclusive of other related lands and forest- based resources in supporting sustainable development and environmental conservation in all sectors. This should be done, wherever possible and necessary, by strengthening and/or modifying the existing structures and arrangements, and by improving cooperation and coordination of their respective roles. Some of the major activities in this regard are as follows: (a) Rationalizing and strengthening administrative structures and mechanisms, including provision of adequate levels of staff and allocation of responsibilities, decentralization of decision-making, provision of infrastructural facilities and equipment, intersectoral coordination and an effective system of communication; (b) Promoting participation of the private sector, labour unions, rural cooperatives, local communities, indigenous people, youth, women, user groups and non-governmental organizations in forest-related activities, and access to information and training programmes within the national context; (c) Reviewing and, if necessary, revising measures and programmes relevant to all types of forests and vegetation, inclusive of other related lands and forest-based resources, and relating them to other land uses and development policies and legislation; promoting adequate legislation and other measures as a basis against uncontrolled conversion to other types of land uses; (d) Developing and implementing plans and programmes, including definition of national and, if necessary, regional and subregional goals, programmes and criteria for their implementation and subsequent improvement; (e) Establishing, developing and sustaining an effective system of forest extension and public education to ensure better awareness, appreciation and management of forests with regard to the multiple roles and values of trees, forests and forest lands; (f) Establishing and/or strengthening institutions for forest education and training, as well as forestry industries, for developing an adequate cadre of trained and skilled staff at the professional, technical and vocational levels, with emphasis on youth and women; (g) Establishing and strengthening capabilities for research related to the different aspects of forests and forest products, for example, on the sustainable management of forests, research on biodiversity, on the effects of air-borne pollutants, on traditional uses of forest resources by local populations and indigenous people, and on improving market returns and other non-market values from the management of forests. ... 11.13. Governments should recognize the importance of categorizing forests, within the framework of long-term forest conservation and management policies, into different forest types and setting up sustainable units in every region/watershed with a view to securing the conservation of forests. Governments, with the participation of the private sector, non-governmental organizations, local community groups, indigenous people, women, local government units and the public at large, should act to maintain and expand the existing vegetative cover wherever ecologically, socially and economically feasible, through technical cooperation and other forms of support. Major activities to be considered include: (a) Ensuring the sustainable management of all forest ecosystems and woodlands, through improved proper planning, management and timely implementation of silvicultural operations, including inventory and relevant research, as well as rehabilitation of degraded natural forests to restore productivity and environmental contributions, giving particular attention to human needs for economic and ecological services, wood-based energy, agroforestry, non-timber forest products and services, watershed and soil protection, wildlife management, and forest genetic resources; (b) Establishing, expanding and managing, as appropriate to each national context, protected area systems, which include systems of conservation units for their environmental, social and spiritual functions and values, including conservation of forests in representative ecological systems and landscapes, primary old-growth forests, conservation and management of wildlife, nomination of World Heritage Sites under the World Heritage Convention, as appropriate, conservation of genetic resources, involving in situ and ex situ measures and undertaking supportive measures to ensure sustainable utilization of biological resources and conservation of biological diversity and the traditional forest habitats of indigenous people, forest dwellers and local communities; (c) Undertaking and promoting buffer and transition zone management; (d) Carrying out revegetation in appropriate mountain areas, highlands, bare lands, degraded farm lands, arid and semi-arid lands and coastal areas for combating desertification and preventing erosion problems and for other protective functions and national programmes for rehabilitation of degraded lands, including community forestry, social forestry, agroforestry and silvipasture, while also taking into account the role of forests as national carbon reservoirs and sinks; (e) Developing industrial and non-industrial planted forests in order to support and promote national ecologically sound afforestation and reforestation/regeneration programmes in suitable sites, including upgrading of existing planted forests of both industrial and non-industrial and commercial purpose to increase their contribution to human needs and to offset pressure on primary/old-growth forests. Measures should be taken to promote and provide intermediate yields and to improve the rate of returns on investments in planted forests, through interplanting and underplanting valuable crops; (f) Developing/strengthening a national and/or master plan for planted forests as a priority, indicating, inter alia, the location, scope and species, and specifying areas of existing planted forests requiring rehabilitation, taking into account the economic aspect for future planted forest development, giving emphasis to native species; (g) Increasing the protection of forests from pollutants, fire, pests and diseases and other human-made interferences such as forest poaching, mining and unmitigated shifting cultivation, the uncontrolled introduction of exotic plant and animal species, as well as developing and accelerating research for a better understanding of problems relating to the management and regeneration of all types of forests; strengthening and/or establishing appropriate measures to assess and/or check inter-border movement of plants and related materials; (h) Stimulating development of urban forestry for the greening of urban, peri-urban and rural human settlements for amenity, recreation and production purposes and for protecting trees and groves; (i) Launching or improving opportunities for participation of all people, including youth, women, indigenous people and local communities in the formulation, development and implementation of forest-related programmes and other activities, taking due account of the local needs and cultural values; (j) Limiting and aiming to halt destructive shifting cultivation by addressing the underlying social and ecological causes. ... 11.18. Essential means for effectively implementing the activities include training and development of appropriate skills, working facilities and conditions, public motivation and awareness. Specific activities include: (a) Providing specialized training in planning, management, environmental conservation, biotechnology etc.; (b) Establishing demonstration areas to serve as models and training facilities; (c) Supporting local organizations, communities, non-governmental organizations and private landowners, in particular women, youth, farmers and indigenous people/shifting cultivators, through extension and provision of inputs and training. ... 11.27. The success and effectiveness of the programme area depends on the availability of skilled personnel. Specialized training is an important factor in this regard. New emphasis should be given to the incorporation of women. Human resource development for programme implementation, in quantitative and qualitative terms, should include: (a) Developing required specialized skills to implement the programme, including establishing special training facilities at all levels; (b) Introducing/strengthening refresher training courses, including fellowships and study tours, to update skills and technological know-how and improve productivity; (c) Strengthening capability for research, planning, economic analysis, periodical evaluations and evaluation, relevant to improved utilization of forest resources; (d) Promoting efficiency and capability of private and cooperative sectors through provision of facilities and incentives. Chapter 12 MANAGING FRAGILE ECOSYSTEMS: COMBATING DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT 12.14. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations working on the issue of desertification and drought, should: (a) Strengthen national and local institutions by providing adequate staff equipment and finance for assessing desertification; (b) Promote the involvement of the local population, particularly women and youth, in the collection and utilization of environmental information through education and awareness-building. ... 12.24. Governments at the appropriate level and local communities, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Establish mechanisms to ensure that land users, particularly women, are the main actors in implementing improved land use, including agroforestry systems, in combating land degradation; (b) Promote efficient extension-service facilities in areas prone to desertification and drought, particularly for training farmers and pastoralists in the improved management of land and water resources in drylands. ... 12.28. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Adopt policies at the national level regarding a decentralized approach to land-resource management, delegating responsibility to rural organizations; (b) Create or strengthen rural organizations in charge of village and pastoral land management; (c) Establish and develop local, national and intersectoral mechanisms to handle environmental and developmental consequences of land tenure expressed in terms of land use and land ownership. Particular attention should be given to protecting the property rights of women and pastoral and nomadic groups living in rural areas; (d) Create or strengthen village associations focused on economic activities of common pastoral interest (market gardening, transformation of agricultural products, livestock, herding, etc.); (e) Promote rural credit and mobilization of rural savings through the establishment of rural banking systems; (f) Develop infrastructure, as well as local production and marketing capacity, by involving the local people to promote alternative livelihood systems and alleviate poverty; (g) Establish a revolving fund for credit to rural entrepreneurs and local groups to facilitate the establishment of cottage industries/business ventures and credit for input to agropastoral activities. ... 12.37. Governments at the appropriate level, and with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Establish or strengthen, national and local anti-desertification authorities within government and local executive bodies, as well as local committees/associations of land users, in all rural communities affected, with a view to organizing working cooperation between all actors concerned, from the grass-roots level (farmers and pastoralists) to the higher levels of government; (b) Develop national plans of action to combat desertification and as appropriate, make them integral parts of national development plans and national environmental action plans; (c) Implement policies directed towards improving land use, managing common lands appropriately, providing incentives to small farmers and pastoralists, involving women and encouraging private investment in the development of drylands; (d) Ensure coordination among ministries and institutions working on anti-desertification programmes at national and local levels. ... 12.56. The objectives of this programme area are: (a) To develop and increase public awareness and knowledge concerning desertification and drought, including the integration of environmental education in the curriculum of primary and secondary schools; (b) To establish and promote true partnership between government authorities, at both the national and local levels, other executing agencies, non-governmental organizations and land users stricken by drought and desertification, giving land users a responsible role in the planning and execution processes in order to benefit fully from development projects; (c) To ensure that the partners understand one another's needs, objectives and points of view by providing a variety of means such as training, public awareness and open dialogue; (d) To support local communities in their own efforts in combating desertification, and to draw on the knowledge and experience of the populations concerned, ensuring the full participation of women and indigenous populations. 12.57. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Adopt policies and establish administrative structures for more decentralized decision-making and implementation; (b) Establish and utilize mechanisms for the consultation and involvement of land users and for enhancing capability at the grass-roots level to identify and/or contribute to the identification and planning of action; (c) Define specific programme/project objectives in cooperation with local communities; design local management plans to include such measures of progress, thereby providing a means of altering project design or changing management practices, as appropriate; (d) Introduce legislative, institutional/organizational and financial measures to secure user involvement and access to land resources; (e) Establish and/or expand favourable conditions for the provision of services, such as credit facilities and marketing outlets for rural populations; (f) Develop training programmes to increase the level of education and participation of people, particularly women and indigenous groups, through, inter alia, literacy and the development of technical skills; (g) Create rural banking systems to facilitate access to credit for rural populations, particularly women and indigenous groups, and to promote rural savings; (h) Adopt appropriate policies to stimulate private and public investment. 12.58. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Review, develop and disseminate gender-disaggregated information, skills and know-how at all levels on ways of organizing and promoting popular participation; (b) Accelerate the development of technological know-how, focusing on appropriate and intermediate technology; (c) Disseminate knowledge about applied research results on soil and water issues, appropriate species, agricultural techniques and technological know-how. Chapter 13 MANAGING FRAGILE ECOSYSTEMS: SUSTAINABLE MOUNTAIN DEVELOPMENT 13.11. Governments at the appropriate level, and with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Launch training and extension programmes in environmentally appropriate technologies and practices that would be suitable to mountain ecosystems; (b) Support higher education through fellowships and research grants for environmental studies in mountains and hill areas, particularly for candidates from indigenous mountain populations; (c) Undertake environmental education for farmers, in particular for women, to help the rural population better understand the ecological issues regarding the sustainable development of mountain ecosystems. ... 13.16. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Undertake measures to prevent soil erosion and promote erosion-control activities in all sectors; (b) Establish task forces or watershed development committees, complementing existing institutions, to coordinate integrated services to support local initiatives in animal husbandry, forestry, horticulture and rural development at all administrative levels; (c) Enhance popular participation in the management of local resources through appropriate legislation; (d) Support non-governmental organizations and other private groups assisting local organizations and communities in the preparation of projects that would enhance participatory development of local people; (e) Provide mechanisms to preserve threatened areas that could protect wildlife, conserve biological diversity or serve as national parks; (f) Develop national policies that would provide incentives to farmers and local people to undertake conservation measures and to use environment-friendly technologies; (g) Undertake income-generating activities in cottage and agro-processing industries, such as the cultivation and processing of medicinal and aromatic plants; (h) Undertake the above activities, taking into account the need for full participation of women, including indigenous people and local communities, in development. 13.17. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Maintain and establish systematic observation and evaluation capacities at the national, state or provincial level to generate information for daily operations and to assess the environmental and socio-economic impacts of projects; (b) Generate data on alternative livelihoods and diversified production systems at the village level on annual and tree crops, livestock, poultry, beekeeping, fisheries, village industries, markets, transport and income-earning opportunities, taking fully into account the role of women and integrating them into the planning and implementation process. ... 13.21. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Consider undertaking pilot projects that combine environmental protection and development functions with particular emphasis on some of the traditional environmental management practices or systems that have a good impact on the environment; (b) Generate technologies for specific watershed and farm conditions through a participatory approach involving local men and women, researchers and extension agents who will carry out experiments and trials on farm conditions; (c) Promote technologies of vegetative conservation measures for erosion prevention, in situ moisture management, improved cropping technology, fodder production and agroforestry that are low-cost, simple and easily adopted by local people. Chapter 14 PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT 14.14. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Involve and train local economists, planners and analysts to initiate national and international policy reviews and develop frameworks for sustainable agriculture; (b) Establish legal measures to promote access of women to land and remove biases in their involvement in rural development. ... 14.17. The objectives of this programme area are: (a) To promote greater public awareness of the role of people's participation and people's organizations, especially women's groups, youth, indigenous people, local communities and small farmers, in sustainable agriculture and rural development; (b) To ensure equitable access of rural people, particularly women, small farmers, landless and indigenous people, to land, water and forest resources and to technologies, financing, marketing, processing and distribution; (c) To strengthen and develop the management and the internal capacities of rural people's organizations and extension services and to decentralize decision-making to the lowest community level. 14.18. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Develop and improve integrated agricultural extension services and facilities and rural organizations and undertake natural resource management and food security activities, taking into account the different needs of subsistence agriculture as well as market-oriented crops; (b) Review and refocus existing measures to achieve wider access to land, water and forest resources and ensure equal rights of women and other disadvantaged groups, with particular emphasis on rural populations, indigenous people and local communities; (c) Assign clear titles, rights and responsibilities for land and for individuals or communities to encourage investment in land resources; (d) Develop guidelines for decentralization policies for rural development through reorganization and strengthening of rural institutions; (e) Develop policies in extension, training, pricing, input distribution, credit and taxation to ensure necessary incentives and equitable access by the poor to production-support services; (f) Provide support services and training, recognizing the variation in agricultural circumstances and practices by location; the optimal use of on-farm inputs and the minimal use of external inputs; optimal use of local natural resources and management of renewable energy sources; and the establishment of networks that deal with the exchange of information on alternative forms of agriculture. ... 14.27. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Develop and disseminate to farming households integrated farm management technologies, such as crop rotation, organic manuring and other techniques involving reduced use of agricultural chemicals, multiple techniques for sources of nutrients and the efficient utilization of external inputs, while enhancing techniques for waste and by-product utilization and prevention of pre- and post-harvest losses, taking particular note of the role of women; (b) Create non-farm employment opportunities through private small-scale agro-processing units, rural service centres and related infrastructural improvements; (c) Promote and improve rural financial networks that utilize investment capital resources raised locally; (d) Provide the essential rural infrastructure for access to agricultural inputs and services, as well as to national and local markets, and reduce food losses; (e) Initiate and maintain farm surveys, on-farm testing of appropriate technologies and dialogue with rural communities to identify constraints and bottlenecks and find solutions; (f) Analyse and identify possibilities for economic integration of agricultural and forestry activities, as well as water and fisheries, and to take effective measures to encourage forest management and growing of trees by farmers (farm forestry) as an option for resource development. ... 14.81. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Prepare and conduct training programmes on approaches and techniques for integrated pest management and control of pesticide use, to inform policy makers, researchers, non-governmental organizations and farmers; (b) Train extension agents and involve farmers and women's groups in crop health and alternative non-chemical ways of controlling pests in agriculture. ... 14.91. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Train extension officers and researchers in plant nutrient management, cropping systems and farming systems, and in economic evaluation of plant nutrient impact; (b) Train farmers and women's groups in plant nutrition management, with special emphasis on topsoil conservation and production. Chapter 15 CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 15.4. Governments at the appropriate level, with the cooperation of the relevant United Nations bodies and regional, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, the private sector and financial institutions, and taking into consideration indigenous people and their communities, as well as social and economic factors, should: (a) Press for the early entry into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with the widest possible participation; (b) Develop national strategies for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources; (c) Integrate strategies for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources into national development strategies and/or plans; (d) Take appropriate measures for the fair and equitable sharing of benefits derived from research and development and use of biological and genetic resources, including biotechnology, between the sources of those resources and those who use them; (e) Carry out country studies, as appropriate, on the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources, including analyses of relevant costs and benefits, with particular reference to socio-economic aspects; (f) Produce regularly updated world reports on biodiversity based upon national assessments; (g) Recognize and foster the traditional methods and the knowledge of indigenous people and their communities, emphasizing the particular role of women, relevant to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources, and ensure the opportunity for the participation of those groups in the economic and commercial benefits derived from the use of such traditional methods and knowledge; (h) Implement mechanisms for the improvement, generation, development and sustainable use of biotechnology and its safe transfer, particularly to developing countries, taking account of the potential contribution of biotechnology to the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources; (i) Promote broader international and regional cooperation in furthering scientific and economic understanding of the importance of biodiversity and its functions in ecosystems; (j) Develop measures and arrangements to implement the rights of countries of origin of genetic resources or countries providing genetic resources, as defined in the Convention on Biological Diversity, particularly developing countries, to benefit from the biotechnological development and the commercial utilization of products derived from such resources. 15.5. Governments at the appropriate levels, consistent with national policies and practices, with the cooperation of the relevant United Nations bodies and, as appropriate, intergovernmental organizations and, with the support of indigenous people and their communities, non-governmental organizations and other groups, including the business and scientific communities, and consistent with the requirements of international law, should, as appropriate: (a) Develop new or strengthen existing strategies, plans or programmes of action for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources, taking account of education and training needs; (b) Integrate strategies for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological and genetic resources into relevant sectoral or cross-sectoral plans, programmes and policies, with particular reference to the special importance of terrestrial and aquatic biological and genetic resources for food and agriculture; (c) Undertake country studies or use other methods to identify components of biological diversity important for its conservation and for the sustainable use of biological resources, ascribe values to biological and genetic resources, identify processes and activities with significant impacts upon biological diversity, evaluate the potential economic implications of the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological and genetic resources, and suggest priority action; (d) Take effective economic, social and other appropriate incentive measures to encourage the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources, including the promotion of sustainable production systems, such as traditional methods of agriculture, agroforestry, forestry, range and wildlife management, which use, maintain or increase biodiversity; (e) Subject to national legislation, take action to respect, record, protect and promote the wider application of the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities embodying traditional lifestyles for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of biological resources, with a view to the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising, and promote mechanisms to involve those communities, including women, in the conservation and management of ecosystems; (f) Undertake long-term research into the importance of biodiversity for the functioning of ecosystems and the role of ecosystems in producing goods, environmental services and other values supporting sustainable development, with particular reference to the biology and reproductive capacities of key terrestrial and aquatic species, including native, cultivated and cultured species; new observation and inventory techniques; ecological conditions necessary for biodiversity conservation and continued evolution; and social behaviour and nutrition habits dependent on natural ecosystems, where women play key roles. The work should be undertaken with the widest possible participation, especially of indigenous people and their communities, including women; (g) Take action where necessary for the conservation of biological diversity through the in situ conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats, as well as primitive cultivars and their wild relatives, and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings, and implement ex situ measures, preferably in the source country. In situ measures should include the reinforcement of terrestrial, marine and aquatic protected area systems and embrace, inter alia, vulnerable freshwater and other wetlands and coastal ecosystems, such as estuaries, coral reefs and mangroves; (h) Promote the rehabilitation and restoration of damaged ecosystems and the recovery of threatened and endangered species; (i) Develop policies to encourage the conservation of biodiversity and the sustainable use of biological and genetic resources on private lands; (j) Promote environmentally sound and sustainable development in areas adjacent to protected areas with a view to furthering protection of these areas; (k) Introduce appropriate environmental impact assessment procedures for proposed projects likely to have significant impacts upon biological diversity, providing for suitable information to be made widely available and for public participation, where appropriate, and encourage the assessment of the impacts of relevant policies and programmes on biological diversity; (l) Promote, where appropriate, the establishment and strengthening of national inventory, regulation or management and control systems related to biological resources, at the appropriate level; (m) Take measures to encourage a greater understanding and appreciation of the value of biological diversity, as manifested both in its component parts and in the ecosystem services provided. Chapter 16 ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF BIOTECHNOLOGY 16.13. Governments at the appropriate level, with the assistance of international and regional organizations, academic and scientific institutions, and the pharmaceutical industry, should, taking into account appropriate safety and ethical considerations: (a) Develop national and international programmes for identifying and targeting those populations of the world most in need of improvement in general health and protection from diseases; (b) Develop criteria for evaluating the effectiveness and the benefits and risks of the proposed activities; (c) Establish and enforce screening, systematic sampling and evaluation procedures for drugs and medical technologies, with a view to barring the use of those that are unsafe for the purposes of experimentation; ensure that drugs and technologies relating to reproductive health are safe and effective and take account of ethical considerations; (d) Improve, systematically sample and evaluate drinking-water quality by introducing appropriate specific measures, including diagnosis of water-borne pathogens and pollutants; (e) Develop and make widely available new and improved vaccines against major communicable diseases that are efficient and safe and offer protection with a minimum number of doses, including intensifying efforts directed at the vaccines needed to combat common diseases of children; (f) Develop biodegradable delivery systems for vaccines that eliminate the need for present multiple-dose schedules, facilitate better coverage of the population and reduce the costs of immunization; (g) Develop effective biological control agents against disease- transmitting vectors, such as mosquitoes and resistant variants, taking account of environmental protection considerations; (h) Using the tools provided by modern biotechnology, develop, inter alia, improved diagnostics, new drugs and improved treatments and delivery systems; (i) Develop the improvement and more effective utilization of medicinal plants and other related sources; (j) Develop processes to increase the availability of materials derived from biotechnology, for use in improving human health. 16.14. The following activities should be undertaken: (a) Research to assess the comparative social, environmental and financial costs and benefits of different technologies for basic and reproductive health care within a framework of universal safety and ethical considerations; (b) Development of public education programmes directed at decision makers and the general public to encourage awareness and understanding of the relative benefits and risks of modern biotechnology, according to ethical and cultural considerations. 16.15. Governments at the appropriate levels, with the support of relevant international and regional organizations, should: (a) Develop and strengthen appropriate safety procedures based on programme area D, taking account of ethical considerations; (b) Support the development of national programmes, particularly in developing countries, for improvements in general health, especially protection from major communicable diseases, common diseases of children and disease-transmitting factors. Chapter 17 PROTECTION OF THE OCEANS, ALL KINDS OF SEAS, INCLUDING ENCLOSED AND SEMI-ENCLOSED SEAS, AND COASTAL AREAS AND THE PROTECTION, RATIONAL USE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR LIVING RESOURCES 17.15. Coastal States should promote and facilitate the organization of education and training in integrated coastal and marine management and sustainable development for scientists, technologists, managers (including community-based managers) and users, leaders, indigenous peoples, fisherfolk, women and youth, among others. Management and development, as well as environmental protection concerns and local planning issues, should be incorporated in educational curricula and public awareness campaigns, with due regard to traditional ecological knowledge and socio-cultural values. ... 17.82. Coastal States should support the sustainability of small-scale artisanal fisheries. To this end, they should, as appropriate: (a) Integrate small-scale artisanal fisheries development in marine and coastal planning, taking into account the interests and, where appropriate, encouraging representation of fishermen, small-scale fishworkers, women, local communities and indigenous people; (b) Recognize the rights of small-scale fishworkers and the special situation of indigenous people and local communities, including their rights to utilization and protection of their habitats on a sustainable basis; (c) Develop systems for the acquisition and recording of traditional knowledge concerning marine living resources and environment and promote the incorporation of such knowledge into management systems. ... 17.94. States individually, or through bilateral and multilateral cooperation and with the support of relevant international organizations, whether subregional, regional or global, as appropriate, should encourage and provide support for developing countries, inter alia, to: (a) Expand multidisciplinary education, training and research on marine living resources, particularly in the social and economic sciences; (b) Create training opportunities at national and regional levels to support artisanal (including subsistence) fisheries, to develop small-scale use of marine living resources and to encourage equitable participation of local communities, small-scale fishworkers, women and indigenous people; (c) Introduce topics relating to the importance of marine living resources in educational curricula at all levels. 17.95. Coastal States, with the support of relevant subregional, regional and global agencies, where appropriate, should: (a) Develop research capacities for assessment of marine living resource populations and monitoring; (b) Provide support to local fishing communities, in particular those that rely on fishing for subsistence, indigenous people and women, including, as appropriate, the technical and financial assistance to organize, maintain, exchange and improve traditional knowledge of marine living resources and fishing techniques, and upgrade knowledge on marine ecosystems; (c) Establish sustainable aquaculture development strategies, including environmental management in support of rural fish-farming communities; (d) Develop and strengthen, where the need may arise, institutions capable of implementing the objectives and activities related to the conservation and management of marine living resources. Chapter 18 PROTECTION OF THE QUALITY AND SUPPLY OF FRESHWATER RESOURCES: APPLICATION OF INTEGRATED APPROACHES TO THE DEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT AND USE OF WATER RESOURCES 18.9. Integrated water resources management, including the integration of land- and water-related aspects, should be carried out at the level of the catchment basin or sub-basin. Four principal objectives should be pursued, as follows: (a) To promote a dynamic, interactive, iterative and multisectoral approach to water resources management, including the identification and protection of potential sources of freshwater supply, that integrates technological, socio-economic, environmental and human health considerations; (b) To plan for the sustainable and rational utilization, protection, conservation and management of water resources based on community needs and priorities within the framework of national economic development policy; (c) To design, implement and evaluate projects and programmes that are both economically efficient and socially appropriate within clearly defined strategies, based on an approach of full public participation, including that of women, youth, indigenous people and local communities in water management policy-making and decision-making; (d) To identify and strengthen or develop, as required, in particular in developing countries, the appropriate institutional, legal and financial mechanisms to ensure that water policy and its implementation are a catalyst for sustainable social progress and economic growth. ... 18.12. All States, according to their capacity and available resources, and through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, including the United Nations and other relevant organizations as appropriate, could implement the following activities to improve integrated water resources management: (a) Formulation of costed and targeted national action plans and investment programmes; (b) Integration of measures for the protection and conservation of potential sources of freshwater supply, including the inventorying of water resources, with land-use planning, forest resource utilization, protection of mountain slopes and riverbanks and other relevant development and conservation activities; (c) Development of interactive databases, forecasting models, economic planning models and methods for water management and planning, including environmental impact assessment methods; (d) Optimization of water resources allocation under physical and socio-economic constraints; (e) Implementation of allocation decisions through demand management, pricing mechanisms and regulatory measures; (f) Flood and drought management, including risk analysis and environmental and social impact assessment; (g) Promotion of schemes for rational water use through public awareness- raising, educational programmes and levying of water tariffs and other economic instruments; (h) Mobilization of water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas; (i) Promotion of international scientific research cooperation on freshwater resources; (j) Development of new and alternative sources of water-supply such as sea-water desalination, artificial groundwater recharge, use of marginal-quality water, waste-water reuse and water recycling; (k) Integration of water (including surface and underground water resources) quantity and quality management; (l) Promotion of water conservation through improved water-use efficiency and wastage minimization schemes for all users, including the development of water-saving devices; (m) Support to water-users groups to optimize local water resources management; (n) Development of public participatory techniques and their implementation in decision-making, particularly the enhancement of the role of women in water resources planning and management; (o) Development and strengthening, as appropriate, of cooperation, including mechanisms where appropriate, at all levels concerned, namely: (i) At the lowest appropriate level, delegation of water resources management, generally, to such a level, in accordance with national legislation, including decentralization of government services to local authorities, private enterprises and communities; (ii) At the national level, integrated water resources planning and management in the framework of the national planning process and, where appropriate, establishment of independent regulation and monitoring of freshwater, based on national legislation and economic measures; (iii) At the regional level, consideration, where appropriate, of the harmonization of national strategies and action programmes; (iv) At the global level, improved delineation of responsibilities, division of labour and coordination of international organizations and programmes, including facilitating discussions and sharing of experiences in areas related to water resources management; (p) Dissemination of information, including operational guidelines, and promotion of education for water users, including the consideration by the United Nations of a World Water Day. ... 18.19. The delegation of water resources management to the lowest appropriate level necessitates educating and training water management staff at all levels and ensuring that women participate equally in the education and training programmes. Particular emphasis has to be placed on the introduction of public participatory techniques, including enhancement of the role of women, youth, indigenous people and local communities. Skills related to various water management functions have to be developed by municipal government and water authorities, as well as in the private sector, local/national non-governmental organizations, cooperatives, corporations and other water-user groups. Education of the public regarding the importance of water and its proper management is also needed. ... 18.22. In creating the enabling environment for lowest-appropriate-level management, the role of Government includes mobilization of financial and human resources, legislation, standard-setting and other regulatory functions, monitoring and assessment of the use of water and land resources, and creating of opportunities for public participation. International agencies and donors have an important role to play in providing support to developing countries in creating the required enabling environment for integrated water resources management. This should include, as appropriate, donor support to local levels in developing countries, including community-based institutions, non-governmental organizations and women's groups. ... 18.33. Recommended actions include: (a) Identifying education and training needs geared to the specific requirements of countries; (b) Establishing and strengthening education and training programmes on water-related topics, within an environmental and developmental context, for all categories of staff involved in water resources assessment activities, using advanced educational technology, where appropriate, and involving both men and women; (c) Developing sound recruitment, personnel and pay policies for staff of national and local water agencies. 18.34. The conduct of water resources assessment on the basis of operational national hydrometric networks requires an enabling environment at all levels. The following national support action is necessary for enhanced national capacities: (a) Review of the legislative and regulatory basis of water resources assessment; (b) Facilitation of close collaboration among water sector agencies, particularly between information producers and users; (c) Implementation of water management policies based upon realistic appraisals of water resources conditions and trends; (d) Strengthening of the managerial capabilities of water-user groups, including women, youth, indigenous people and local communities, to improve water-use efficiency at the local level. ... 18.44. Innovative approaches should be adopted for professional and managerial staff training in order to cope with changing needs and challenges. Flexibility and adaptability regarding emerging water pollution issues should be developed. Training activities should be undertaken periodically at all levels within the organizations responsible for water-quality management and innovative teaching techniques adopted for specific aspects of water-quality monitoring and control, including development of training skills, in-service training, problem-solving workshops and refresher training courses. 18.45. Suitable approaches include the strengthening and improvement of the human resource capabilities of local governments in managing water protection, treatment and use, particularly in urban areas, and the establishment of national and regional technical and engineering courses on the subjects of water-quality protection and control at existing schools and education/training courses on water resources protection and conservation for laboratory and field technicians, women and other water-user groups. ... 18.48. The New Delhi Statement (adopted at the Global Consultation on Safe Water and Sanitation for the 1990s, which was held in New Delhi from 10 to 14 September 1990) formalized the need to provide, on a sustainable basis, access to safe water in sufficient quantities and proper sanitation for all, emphasizing the "some for all rather than more for some" approach. Four guiding principles provide for the programme objectives: (a) Protection of the environment and safeguarding of health through the integrated management of water resources and liquid and solid wastes; (b) Institutional reforms promoting an integrated approach and including changes in procedures, attitudes and behaviour, and the full participation of women at all levels in sector institutions; (c) Community management of services, backed by measures to strengthen local institutions in implementing and sustaining water and sanitation programmes; (d) Sound financial practices, achieved through better management of existing assets, and widespread use of appropriate technologies. ... 18.50. All States, according to their capacity and available resources, and through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, including the United Nations and other relevant organizations as appropriate, could implement the following activities: (a) Environment and health: (i) Establishment of protected areas for sources of drinking-water supply; (ii) Sanitary disposal of excreta and sewage, using appropriate systems to treat waste waters in urban and rural areas; (iii) Expansion of urban and rural water-supply and development and expansion of rainwater catchment systems, particularly on small islands, in addition to the reticulated water-supply system; (iv) Building and expansion, where appropriate, of sewage treatment facilities and drainage systems; (v) Treatment and safe reuse of domestic and industrial waste waters in urban and rural areas; (vi) Control of water-associated diseases; (b) People and institutions: (i) Strengthening of the functioning of Governments in water resources management and, at the same time, giving of full recognition to the role of local authorities; (ii) Encouragement of water development and management based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policy makers at all levels; (iii) Application of the principle that decisions are to be taken at the lowest appropriate level, with public consultation and involvement of users in the planning and implementation of water projects; (iv) Human resource development at all levels, including special programmes for women; (v) Broad-based education programmes, with particular emphasis on hygiene, local management and risk reduction; (vi) International support mechanisms for programme funding, implementation and follow-up; (c) National and community management: (i) Support and assistance to communities in managing their own systems on a sustainable basis; (ii) Encouragement of the local population, especially women, youth, indigenous people and local communities, in water management; (iii) Linkages between national water plans and community management of local waters; (iv) Integration of community management of water within the context of overall planning; (v) Promotion of primary health and environmental care at the local level, including training for local communities in appropriate water management techniques and primary health care; (vi) Assistance to service agencies in becoming more cost-effective and responsive to consumer needs; (vii) Providing of more attention to underserved rural and low-income peri-urban areas; (viii) Rehabilitation of defective systems, reduction of wastage and safe reuse of water and waste water; (ix) Programmes for rational water use and ensured operation and maintenance; (x) Research and development of appropriate technical solutions; (xi) Substantially increase urban treatment capacity commensurate with increasing loads; (d) Awareness creation and public information/participation: (i) Strengthening of sector monitoring and information management at subnational and national levels; (ii) Annual processing, analysis and publication of monitoring results at national and local levels as a sector management and advocacy/awareness creation tool; (iii) Use of limited sector indicators at regional and global levels to promote the sector and raise funds; (iv) Improvement of sector coordination, planning and implementation, with the assistance of improved monitoring and information management, to increase the sector's absorptive capacity, particularly in community-based self-help projects. ... 18.53. To effectively plan and manage water-supply and sanitation at the national, provincial, district and community level, and to utilize funds most effectively, trained professional and technical staff must be developed within each country in sufficient numbers. To do this, countries must establish manpower development plans, taking into consideration present requirements and planned developments. Subsequently, the development and performance of country-level training institutions should be enhanced so that they can play a pivotal role in capacity-building. It is also important that countries provide adequate training for women in the sustainable maintenance of equipment, water resources management and environmental sanitation. 18.54. The implementation of water-supply and sanitation programmes is a national responsibility. To varying degrees, responsibility for the implementation of projects and the operating of systems should be delegated to all administrative levels down to the community and individual served. This also means that national authorities, together with the agencies and bodies of the United Nations system and other external support agencies providing support to national programmes, should develop mechanisms and procedures to collaborate at all levels. This is particularly important if full advantage is to be taken of community-based approaches and self-reliance as tools for sustainability. This will entail a high degree of community participation, involving women, in the conception, planning, decision-making, implementation and evaluation connected with projects for domestic water-supply and sanitation. ... 18.59. All States, according to their capacity and available resources, and through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, including the United Nations and other relevant organizations as appropriate, could implement the following activities: (a) Protection of water resources from depletion, pollution and degradation: (i) Introduction of sanitary waste disposal facilities based on environmentally sound low-cost and upgradable technologies; (ii) Implementation of urban storm-water run-off and drainage programmes; (iii) Promotion of recycling and reuse of waste water and solid wastes; (iv) Control of industrial pollution sources to protect water resources; (v) Protection of watersheds with respect to depletion and degradation of their forest cover and from harmful upstream activities; (vi) Promotion of research into the contribution of forests to sustainable water resources development; (vii) Encouragement of the best management practices for the use of agrochemicals with a view to minimizing their impact on water resources; (b) Efficient and equitable allocation of water resources: (i) Reconciliation of city development planning with the availability and sustainability of water resources; (ii) Satisfaction of the basic water needs of the urban population; (iii) Introduction of water tariffs, taking into account the circumstances in each country and where affordable, that reflect the marginal and opportunity cost of water, especially for productive activities; (c) Institutional/legal/management reforms: (i) Adoption of a city-wide approach to the management of water resources; (ii) Promotion at the national and local level of the elaboration of land-use plans that give due consideration to water resources development; (iii) Utilization of the skills and potential of non-governmental organizations, the private sector and local people, taking into account the public's and strategic interests in water resources; (d) Promotion of public participation: (i) Initiation of public-awareness campaigns to encourage the public's move towards rational water utilization; (ii) Sensitization of the public to the issue of protecting water quality within the urban environment; (iii) Promotion of public participation in the collection, recycling and elimination of wastes; (e) Support to local capacity-building: (i) Development of legislation and policies to promote investments in urban water and waste management, reflecting the major contribution of cities to national economic development; (ii) Provision of seed money and technical support to the local handling of materials supply and services; (iii) Encouragement, to the extent possible, of autonomy and financial viability of city water, solid waste and sewerage utilities; (iv) Creation and maintenance of a cadre of professionals and semi-professionals, for water, waste water and solid waste management; (f) Provision of enhanced access to sanitary services: (i) Implementation of water, sanitation and waste management programmes focused on the urban poor; (ii) Making available of low-cost water-supply and sanitation technology choices; (iii) Basing of choice of technology and service levels on user preferences and willingness to pay; (iv) Mobilization and facilitation of the active involvement of women in water management teams; (v) Encouragement and equipment of local water associations and water committees to manage community water-supply systems and communal latrines, with technical back-up available when required; (vi) Consideration of the merits and practicality of rehabilitating existing malfunctioning systems and of correcting operation and maintenance inadequacies. ... 18.62. Implicit in virtually all elements of this programme is the need for progressive enhancement of the training and career development of personnel at all levels in sector institutions. Specific programme activities will involve the training and retention of staff with skills in community involvement, low- cost technology, financial management, and integrated planning of urban water resources management. Special provision should be made for mobilizing and facilitating the active participation of women, youth, indigenous people and local communities in water management teams and for supporting the development of water associations and water committees, with appropriate training of such personnel as treasurers, secretaries and caretakers. Special education and training programmes for women should be launched with regard to the protection of water resources and water-quality within urban areas. ... 18.68. The key strategic principles for holistic and integrated environmentally sound management of water resources in the rural context may be set forth as follows: (a) Water should be regardrvation and distribution; (iii) disaster mitigation plans; (iv) environmental protection and conservation of the natural resource base; (d) It is necessary to recognize and actively support the role of rural populations, with particular emphasis on women. ... 18.76. All States, according to their capacity and available resources, and through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, including the United Nations and other relevant organizations as appropriate, could implement the following activities: (a) Water-supply and sanitation for the unserved rural poor: (i) Establish national policies and budget priorities with regard to increasing service coverage; (ii) Promote appropriate technologies; (iii) Introduce suitable cost-recovery mechanisms, taking into account efficiency and equity through demand management mechanisms; (iv) Promote community ownership and rights to water-supply and sanitation facilities; (v) Establish monitoring and evaluation systems; (vi) Strengthen the rural water-supply and sanitation sector with emphasis on institutional development, efficient management and an appropriate framework for financing of services; (vii) Increase hygiene education and eliminate disease transmission foci; (viii) Adopt appropriate technologies for water treatment; (ix) Adopt wide-scale environmental management measures to control disease vectors; (b) Water-use efficiency: (i) Increase of efficiency and productivity in agricultural water use for better utilization of limited water resources; (ii) Strengthen water and soil management research under irrigation and rain-fed conditions; (iii) Monitor and evaluate irrigation project performance to ensure, inter alia, the optimal utilization and proper maintenance of the project; (iv) Support water-users groups with a view to improving management performance at the local level; (v) Support the appropriate use of relatively brackish water for irrigation; (c) Waterlogging, salinity control and drainage: (i) Introduce surface drainage in rain-fed agriculture to prevent temporary waterlogging and flooding of lowlands; (ii) Introduce artificial drainage in irrigated and rain-fed agriculture; (iii) Encourage conjunctive use of surface and groundwaters, including monitoring and water-balance studies; (iv) Practise drainage in irrigated areas of arid and semi-arid regions; (d) Water-quality management: (i) Establish and operate cost-effective water-quality monitoring systems for agricultural water uses; (ii) Prevent adverse effects of agricultural activities on water-quality for other social and economic activities and on wetlands, inter alia, through optimal use of on-farm input and the minimization of the use of external input in agricultural activities; (iii) Establish biological, physical and chemical water-quality criteria for agricultural water-users and for marine and riverine ecosystems; (iv) Minimize soil run-off and sedimentation; (v) Dispose properly of sewage from human settlements and of manure produced by intensive livestock breeding; (vi) Minimize adverse effects from agricultural chemicals by use of integrated pest management; (vii) Educate communities about the pollution-related impacts of the use of fertilizers and chemicals on water-quality, food safety and human health; (e) Water resources development programmes: (i) Develop small-scale irrigation and water-supply for humans and livestock and for water and soil conservation; (ii) Formulate large-scale and long-term irrigation development programmes, taking into account their effects on the local level, the economy and the environment; (iii) Promote local initiatives for the integrated development and management of water resources; (iv) Provide adequate technical advice and support and enhancement of institutional collaboration at the local community level; (v) Promote a farming approach for land and water management that takes account of the level of education, the capacity to mobilize local communities and the ecosystem requirements of arid and semi-arid regions; (vi) Plan and develop multi-purpose hydroelectric power schemes, making sure that environmental concerns are duly taken into account; (f) Scarce water resources management: (i) Develop long-term strategies and practical implementation programmes for agricultural water use under scarcity conditions with competing demands for water; (ii) Recognize water as a social, economic and strategic good in irrigation planning and management; (iii) Formulate specialized programmes focused on drought preparedness, with emphasis on food scarcity and environmental safeguards; (iv) Promote and enhance waste-water reuse in agriculture; (g) Water-supply for livestock: (i) Improve quality of water available to livestock, taking into account their tolerance limits; (ii) Increase the quantity of water sources available to livestock, in particular those in extensive grazing systems, in order to both reduce the distance needed to travel for water and to prevent overgrazing around water sources; (iii) Prevent contamination of water sources with animal excrement in order to prevent the spread of diseases, in particular zoonosis; (iv) Encourage multiple use of water-supplies through promotion of integrated agro-livestock-fishery systems; (v) Encourage water spreading schemes for increasing water retention of extensive grasslands to stimulate forage production and prevent run-off; (h) Inland fisheries: (i) Develop the sustainable management of fisheries as part of national water resources planning; (ii) Study specific aspects of the hydrobiology and environmental requirements of key inland fish species in relation to varying water regimes; (iii) Prevent or mitigate modification of aquatic environments by other users or rehabilitate environments subjected to such modification on behalf of the sustainable use and conservation of biological diversity of living aquatic resources; (iv) Develop and disseminate environmentally sound water resources development and management methodologies for the intensification of fish yield from inland waters; (v) Establish and maintain adequate systems for the collection and interpretation of data on water quality and quantity and channel morphology related to the state and management of living aquatic resources, including fisheries; (i) Aquaculture development: (i) Develop environmentally sound aquaculture technologies that are compatible with local, regional and national water resources management plans and take into consideration social factors; (ii) Introduce appropriate aquaculture techniques and related water development and management practices in countries not yet experienced in aquaculture; (iii) Assess environmental impacts of aquaculture with specific reference to commercialized culture units and potential water pollution from processing centres; (iv) Evaluate economic feasibility of aquaculture in relation to alternative use of water, taking into consideration the use of marginal-quality water and investment and operational requirements. ... 18.80. Education and training of human resources should be actively pursued at the national level through: (a) assessment of current and long-term human resources management and training needs; (b) establishment of a national policy for human resources development; and (c) initiation and implementation of training programmes for staff at all levels as well as for farmers. The necessary actions are as follows: (a) Assess training needs for agricultural water management; (b) Increase formal and informal training activities; (c) Develop practical training courses for improving the ability of extension services to disseminate technologies and strengthen farmers' capabilities, with special reference to small-scale producers; (d) Train staff at all levels, including farmers, fishermen and members of local communities, with particular reference to women; (e) Increase the opportunities for career development to enhance the capabilities of administrators and officers at all levels involved in land- and water-management programmes. Chapter 19 ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF TOXIC CHEMICALS, INCLUDING PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN TOXIC AND DANGEROUS PRODUCTS 19.22. International organizations, with the participation of Governments and non-governmental organizations, should launch training and education projects involving women and children, who are at greatest risk, in order to enable countries, and particularly developing countries, to make maximum national use of international assessments of chemical risks. Chapter 20 ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF HAZARDOUS WASTES, INCLUDING PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN HAZARDOUS WASTES 20.20. Many countries lack the national capacity to handle and manage hazardous wastes. This is primarily due to inadequate infrastructure, deficiencies in regulatory frameworks, insufficient education and training programmes and lack of coordination between the different ministries and institutions involved in various aspects of waste management. In addition, there is a lack of knowledge about environmental contamination and pollution and the associated health risk from the exposure of populations, especially women and children, and ecosystems to hazardous wastes; assessment of risks; and the characteristics of wastes. Steps need to be taken immediately to identify populations at high risk and to take remedial measures, where necessary. One of the main priorities in ensuring environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes is to provide awareness, education and training programmes covering all levels of society. There is also a need to undertake research programmes to understand the nature of hazardous wastes, to identify their potential environmental effects and to develop technologies to safely handle those wastes. Finally, there is a need to strengthen the capacities of institutions that are responsible for the management of hazardous wastes. ... 20.26. The following activities should be undertaken: (a) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant organizations and industry as appropriate, should increase support for hazardous waste research management in developing countries; (b) Governments, in collaboration with international organizations, should conduct research on the health effects of hazardous wastes in developing countries, including the long-term effects on children and women; (c) Governments should conduct research aimed at the needs of small and medium-sized industries; (d) Governments and international organizations in cooperation with industry should expand technological research on environmentally sound hazardous waste handling, storage, transport, treatment and disposal and on hazardous waste assessment, management and remediation; (e) International organizations should identify relevant and improved technologies for handling, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes. 20.27. Governments, according to their capacities and available resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant organizations and industry as appropriate, should: (a) Increase public awareness and information on hazardous waste issues and promote the development and dissemination of hazardous wastes information that the general public can understand; (b) Increase participation in hazardous waste management programmes by the general public, particularly women, including participation at grass-roots levels; (c) Develop training and education programmes for men and women in industry and Government aimed at specific real-life problems, for example, planning and implementing hazardous waste minimization programmes, conducting hazardous materials audits and establishing appropriate regulatory programmes; (d) Promote the training of labour, industrial management and government regulatory staff in developing countries on technologies to minimize and manage hazardous wastes in an environmentally sound manner. 20.28. The following activities should also be undertaken: (a) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations, other organizations and non-governmental organizations, should collaborate in developing and disseminating educational materials concerning hazardous wastes and their effects on environment and human health, for use in schools, by women's groups and by the general public; (b) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other organizations, should establish or strengthen programmes for the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes in accordance with, as appropriate, health and environmental standards, and extend surveillance systems for the purpose of identifying adverse effects on populations and the environment of exposure to hazardous wastes; (c) International organizations should provide assistance to member States in assessing the health and environmental risks resulting from exposure to hazardous wastes, and in identifying their priorities for controlling the various categories or classes of wastes; (d) Governments, according to their capacities and available resources and with the cooperation of the United Nations and other relevant organizations, should promote centres of excellence for training in hazardous waste management, building on appropriate national institutions and encouraging international cooperation, inter alia, through institutional links between developed and developing countries. Chapter 21 ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND MANAGEMENT OF SOLID WASTES AND SEWAGE-RELATED ISSUES 21.19. Governments and institutions and non-governmental organizations, including consumer, women's and youth groups, in collaboration with appropriate organizations of the United Nations system, should launch programmes to demonstrate and make operational enhanced waste reuse and recycling. These programmes should, wherever possible, build upon existing or planned activities and should: (a) Develop and strengthen national capacity to reuse and recycle an increasing proportion of wastes; (b) Review and reform national waste policies to provide incentives for waste reuse and recycling; (c) Develop and implement national plans for waste management that take advantage of, and give priority to, waste reuse and recycling; (d) Modify existing standards or purchase specifications to avoid discrimination against recycled materials, taking into account the saving in energy and raw materials; (e) Develop public education and awareness programmes to promote the use of recycled products. ... 21.25. Training will be required to reorient current waste management practices to include waste reuse and recycling. Governments, in collaboration with United Nations international and regional organizations, should undertake the following indicative list of actions: (a) Including waste reuse and recycling in in-service training programmes as integral components of technical cooperation programmes on urban management and infrastructure development; (b) Expanding training programmes on water supply and sanitation to incorporate techniques and policies for waste reuse and recycling; (c) Including the advantages and civic obligations associated with waste reuse and recycling in school curricula and relevant general educational courses; (d) Encouraging non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations and women's, youth and public interest group programmes, in collaboration with local municipal authorities, to mobilize community support for waste reuse and recycling through focused community-level campaigns. ... 21.46. Research activities could be enhanced. Countries, in cooperation with appropriate international organizations and non-governmental organizations, should, for instance: (a) Find solutions and equipment for managing wastes in areas of concentrated populations and on small islands. In particular, there is a need for appropriate refuse storage and collection systems and cost-effective and hygienic human waste disposal options; (b) Prepare and disseminate guidelines, case-studies, policy reviews and technical reports on appropriate solutions and modes of service delivery to unserved low-income areas; (c) Launch campaigns to encourage active community participation involving women's and youth groups in the management of waste, particularly household waste; (d) Promote intercountry transfer of relevant technologies, especially technologies for high-density settlements. Chapter 23 PREAMBLE 23.1. Critical to the effective implementation of the objectives, policies and mechanisms agreed to by Governments in all programme areas of Agenda 21 will be the commitment and genuine involvement of all social groups. 23.2. One of the fundamental prerequisites for the achievement of sustainable development is broad public participation in decision-making. Furthermore, in the more specific context of environment and development, the need for new forms of participation has emerged. This includes the need of individuals, groups and organizations to participate in environmental impact assessment procedures and to know about and participate in decisions, particularly those which potentially affect the communities in which they live and work. Individuals, groups and organizations should have access to information relevant to environment and development held by national authorities, including information on products and activities that have or are likely to have a significant impact on the environment, and information on environmental protection measures. 23.3. Any policies, definitions or rules affecting access to and participation by non-governmental organizations in the work of United Nations institutions or agencies associated with the implementation of Agenda 21 must apply equally to all major groups. Chapter 24 GLOBAL ACTION FOR WOMEN TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME AREA Basis for action 24.1. The international community has endorsed several plans of action and conventions for the full, equal and beneficial integration of women in all development activities, in particular the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, 1/ which emphasize women's participation in national and international ecosystem management and control of environment degradation. Several conventions, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex) and conventions of ILO and UNESCO have also been adopted to end gender-based discrimination and ensure women access to land and other resources, education and safe and equal employment. Also relevant are the 1990 World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children and the Plan of Action for implementing the Declaration (A/45/625, annex). Effective implementation of these programmes will depend on the active involvement of women in economic and political decision-making and will be critical to the successful implementation of Agenda 21. 24.2. The following objectives are proposed for national Governments: (a) To implement the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, particularly with regard to women's participation in national ecosystem management and control of environment degradation; (b) To increase the proportion of women decision makers, planners, technical advisers, managers and extension workers in environment and development fields; (c) To consider developing and issuing by the year 2000 a strategy of changes necessary to eliminate constitutional, legal, administrative, cultural, behavioural, social and economic obstacles to women's full participation in sustainable development and in public life; (d) To establish by the year 1995 mechanisms at the national, regional and international levels to assess the implementation and impact of development and environment policies and programmes on women and to ensure their contributions and benefits; (e) To assess, review, revise and implement, where appropriate, curricula and other educational material, with a view to promoting the dissemination to both men and women of gender-relevant knowledge and valuation of women's roles through formal and non-formal education, as well as through training institutions, in collaboration with non-governmental organizations; (f) To formulate and implement clear governmental policies and national guidelines, strategies and plans for the achievement of equality in all aspects of society, including the promotion of women's literacy, education, training, nutrition and health and their participation in key decision-making positions and in management of the environment, particularly as it pertains to their access to resources, by facilitating better access to all forms of credit, particularly in the informal sector, taking measures towards ensuring women's access to property rights as well as agricultural inputs and implements; (g) To implement, as a matter of urgency, in accordance with country-specific conditions, measures to ensure that women and men have the same right to decide freely and responsibly the number and spacing of their children and have access to information, education and means, as appropriate, to enable them to exercise this right in keeping with their freedom, dignity and personally held values; (h) To consider adopting, strengthening and enforcing legislation prohibiting violence against women and to take all necessary administrative, social and educational measures to eliminate violence against women in all its forms. 24.3. Governments should take active steps to implement the following: (a) Measures to review policies and establish plans to increase the proportion of women involved as decision makers, planners, managers, scientists and technical advisers in the design, development and implementation of policies and programmes for sustainable development; (b) Measures to strengthen and empower women's bureaux, women's non-governmental organizations and women's groups in enhancing capacity-building for sustainable development; (c) Measures to eliminate illiteracy among females and to expand the enrolment of women and girls in educational institutions, to promote the goal of universal access to primary and secondary education for girl children and for women, and to increase educational and training opportunities for women and girls in sciences and technology, particularly at the post-secondary level; (d) Programmes to promote the reduction of the heavy workload of women and girl children at home and outside through the establishment of more and affordable nurseries and kindergartens by Governments, local authorities, employers and other relevant organizations and the sharing of household tasks by men and women on an equal basis, and to promote the provision of environmentally sound technologies which have been designed, developed and improved in consultation with women, accessible and clean water, an efficient fuel supply and adequate sanitation facilities; (e) Programmes to establish and strengthen preventive and curative health facilities, which include women-centred, women-managed, safe and effective reproductive health care and affordable, accessible, responsible planning of family size and services, as appropriate, in keeping with freedom, dignity and personally held values. Programmes should focus on providing comprehensive health care, including pre-natal care, education and information on health and responsible parenthood, and should provide the opportunity for all women to fully breastfeed at least during the first four months post-partum. Programmes should fully support women's productive and reproductive roles and well-being and should pay special attention to the need to provide equal and improved health care for all children and to reduce the risk of maternal and child mortality and sickness; (f) Programmes to support and strengthen equal employment opportunities and equitable remuneration for women in the formal and informal sectors with adequate economic, political and social support systems and services, including child care, particularly day-care facilities and parental leave, and equal access to credit, land and other natural resources; (g) Programmes to establish rural banking systems with a view to facilitating and increasing rural women's access to credit and to agricultural inputs and implements; (h) Programmes to develop consumer awareness and the active participation of women, emphasizing their crucial role in achieving changes necessary to reduce or eliminate unsustainable patterns of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries, in order to encourage investment in environmentally sound productive activities and induce environmentally and socially friendly industrial development; (i) Programmes to eliminate persistent negative images, stereotypes, attitudes and prejudices against women through changes in socialization patterns, the media, advertising, and formal and non-formal education; (j) Measures to review progress made in these areas, including the preparation of a review and appraisal report which includes recommendations to be submitted to the 1995 world conference on women. 24.4. Governments are urged to ratify all relevant conventions pertaining to women if they have not already done so. Those that have ratified conventions should enforce and establish legal, constitutional and administrative procedures to transform agreed rights into domestic legislation and should adopt measures to implement them in order to strengthen the legal capacity of women for full and equal participation in issues and decisions on sustainable development. 24.5. States parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women should review and suggest amendments to it by the year 2000, with a view to strengthening those elements of the Convention related to environment and development, giving special attention to the issue of access and entitlements to natural resources, technology, creative banking facilities and low-cost housing, and the control of pollution and toxicity in the home and workplace. States parties should also clarify the extent of the Convention's scope with respect to the issues of environment and development and request the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women to develop guidelines regarding the nature of reporting such issues, required under particular articles of the Convention. 24.6. Countries should take urgent measures to avert the ongoing rapid environmental and economic degradation in developing countries that generally affects the lives of women and children in rural areas suffering drought, desertification and deforestation, armed hostilities, natural disasters, toxic waste and the aftermath of the use of unsuitable agro-chemical products. 24.7. In order to reach these goals, women should be fully involved in decision-making and in the implementation of sustainable development activities. 24.8. Countries should develop gender-sensitive databases, information systems and participatory action-oriented research and policy analyses with the collaboration of academic institutions and local women researchers on the following: (a) Knowledge and experience on the part of women of the management and conservation of natural resources for incorporation in the databases and information systems for sustainable development; (b) The impact of structural adjustment programmes on women. In research done on structural adjustment programmes, special attention should be given to the differential impact of those programmes on women, especially in terms of cut-backs in social services, education and health and in the removal of subsidies on food and fuel; (c) The impact on women of environmental degradation, particularly drought, desertification, toxic chemicals and armed hostilities; (d) Analysis of the structural linkages between gender relations, environment and development; (e) The integration of the value of unpaid work, including work that is currently designated "domestic", in resource accounting mechanisms in order better to represent the true value of the contribution of women to the economy, using revised guidelines for the United Nations System of National Accounts, to be issued in 1993; (f) Measures to develop and include environmental, social and gender impact analyses as an essential step in the development and monitoring of programmes and policies; (g) Programmes to create rural and urban training, research and resource centres in developing and developed countries that will serve to disseminate environmentally sound technologies to women. 24.9. The Secretary-General of the United Nations should review the adequacy of all United Nations institutions, including those with a special focus on the role of women, in meeting development and environment objectives, and make recommendations for strengthening their capacities. Institutions that require special attention in this area include the Division for the Advancement of Women (Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations Office at Vienna), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) and the women's programmes of regional commissions. The review should consider how the environment and development programmes of each body of the United Nations system could be strengthened to implement Agenda 21 and how to incorporate the role of women in programmes and decisions related to sustainable development. 24.10. Each body of the United Nations system should review the number of women in senior policy-level and decision-making posts and, where appropriate, adopt programmes to increase that number, in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1991/17 on the improvement of the status of women in the Secretariat. 24.11. UNIFEM should establish regular consultations with donors in collaboration with UNICEF, with a view to promoting operational programmes and projects on sustainable development that will strengthen the participation of women, especially low-income women, in sustainable development and in decision-making. UNDP should establish a women's focal point on development and environment in each of its resident representative offices to provide information and promote exchange of experience and information in these fields. Bodies of the United Nations system, governments and non-governmental organizations involved in the follow-up to the Conference and the implementation of Agenda 21 should ensure that gender considerations are fully integrated into all the policies, programmes and activities. ... Chapter 25 CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 25.5. Each country, by the year 2000, should ensure that more than 50 per cent of its youth, gender balanced, are enrolled in or have access to appropriate secondary education or equivalent educational or vocational training programmes by increasing participation and access rates on an annual basis. ... 25.8. Each country should combat human rights abuses against young people, particularly young women and girls, and should consider providing all youth with legal protection, skills, opportunities and the support necessary for them to fulfil their personal, economic and social aspirations and potentials. 25.9. Governments, according to their strategies, should take measures to: (a) Establish procedures allowing for consultation and possible participation of youth of both genders, by 1993, in decision-making processes with regard to the environment, involving youth at the local, national and regional levels; (b) Promote dialogue with youth organizations regarding the drafting and evaluation of environment plans and programmes or questions on development; (c) Consider for incorporation into relevant policies the recommendations of international, regional and local youth conferences and other forums that offer youth perspectives on social and economic development and resource management; (d) Ensure access for all youth to all types of education, wherever appropriate, providing alternative learning structures, ensure that education reflects the economic and social needs of youth and incorporates the concepts of environmental awareness and sustainable development throughout the curricula; and expand vocational training, implementing innovative methods aimed at increasing practical skills, such as environmental scouting; (e) In cooperation with relevant ministries and organizations, including representatives of youth, develop and implement strategies for creating alternative employment opportunities and provide required training to young men and women; (f) Establish task forces that include youth and youth non-governmental organizations to develop educational and awareness programmes specifically targeted to the youth population on critical issues pertaining to youth. These task forces should use formal and non-formal educational methods to reach a maximum audience. National and local media, non-governmental organizations, businesses and other organizations should assist in these task forces; (g) Give support to programmes, projects, networks, national organizations and youth non-governmental organizations to examine the integration of programmes in relation to their project requirements, encouraging the involvement of youth in project identification, design, implementation and follow-up; (h) Include youth representatives in their delegations to international meetings, in accordance with the relevant General Assembly resolutions adopted in 1968, 1977, 1985 and 1989. ... 25.14. Governments should take active steps to: (a) Implement programmes for children designed to reach the child-related goals of the 1990s in the areas of environment and development, especially health, nutrition, education, literacy and poverty alleviation; (b) Ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child (General Assembly resolution 44/25 of 20 November 1989, annex), at the earliest moment and implement it by addressing the basic needs of youth and children; (c) Promote primary environmental care activities that address the basic needs of communities, improve the environment for children at the household and community level and encourage the participation and empowerment of local populations, including women, youth, children and indigenous people, towards the objective of integrated community management of resources, especially in developing countries; (d) Expand educational opportunities for children and youth, including education for environmental and developmental responsibility, with overriding attention to the education of the girl child; (e) Mobilize communities through schools and local health centres so that children and their parents become effective focal points for sensitization of communities to environmental issues; (f) Establish procedures to incorporate children's concerns into all relevant policies and strategies for environment and development at the local, regional and national levels, including those concerning allocation of and entitlement to natural resources, housing and recreation needs, and control of pollution and toxicity in both rural and urban areas. Chapter 26 RECOGNIZING AND STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND THEIR COMMUNITIES 26.9. International development agencies and Governments should commit financial and other resources to education and training for indigenous people and their communities to develop their capacities to achieve their sustainable self-development, and to contribute to and participate in sustainable and equitable development at the national level. Particular attention should be given to strengthening the role of indigenous women. Chapter 28 LOCAL AUTHORITIES' INITIATIVES IN SUPPORT OF AGENDA 21 28.2. The following objectives are proposed for this programme area: (a) By 1996, most local authorities in each country should have undertaken a consultative process with their populations and achieved a consensus on "a local Agenda 21" for the community; (b) By 1993, the international community should have initiated a consultative process aimed at increasing cooperation between local authorities; (c) By 1994, representatives of associations of cities and other local authorities should have increased levels of cooperation and coordination with the goal of enhancing the exchange of information and experience among local authorities; (d) All local authorities in each country should be encouraged to implement and monitor programmes which aim at ensuring that women and youth are represented in decision-making, planning and implementation processes. Chapter 29 STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF WORKERS AND THEIR TRADE UNIONS 29.7. Joint (employer/worker) or tripartite (employer/worker/Government) collaborative mechanisms at the workplace, community and national levels should be established to deal with safety, health and environment, including special reference to the rights and status of women in the workplace. Chapter 30 STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY 30.1. Business and industry, including transnational corporations, play a crucial role in the social and economic development of a country. A stable policy regime enables and encourages business and industry to operate responsibly and efficiently and to implement longer-term policies. Increasing prosperity, a major goal of the development process, is contributed primarily by the activities of business and industry. Business enterprises, large and small, formal and informal, provide major trading, employment and livelihood opportunities. Business opportunities available to women are contributing towards their professional development, strengthening their economic role and transforming social systems. Business and industry, including transnational corporations, and their representative organizations should be full participants in the implementation and evaluation of activities related to Agenda 21. ... 30.17. Entrepreneurship is one of the most important driving forces for innovations, increasing market efficiencies and responding to challenges and opportunities. Small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, in particular, play a very important role in the social and economic development of a country. Often, they are the major means for rural development, increasing off-farm employment and providing the transitional means for improving the livelihoods of women. Responsible entrepreneurship can play a major role in improving the efficiency of resource use, reducing risks and hazards, minimizing wastes and safeguarding environmental qualities. ... 30.24. Business and industry should establish national councils for sustainable development and help promote entrepreneurship in the formal and informal sectors. The inclusion of women entrepreneurs should be facilitated. Chapter 31 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL COMMUNITY 31.4. Governments should undertake the following activities: (a) Review how national scientific and technological activities could be more responsive to sustainable development needs as part of an overall effort to strengthen national research and development systems, including through strengthening and widening the membership of national scientific and technological advisory councils, organizations and committees to ensure that: (i) The full range of national needs for scientific and technological programmes are communicated to Governments and the public; (ii) The various strands of public opinion are represented; (b) Promote regional cooperative mechanisms to address regional needs for sustainable development. Such regional cooperative mechanisms could be facilitated through public/private partnerships and provide support to Governments, industry, non-governmental educational institutions and other domestic and international organizations, and by strengthening global professional networks; (c) Improve and expand scientific and technical inputs through appropriate mechanisms to intergovernmental consultative, cooperative and negotiating processes towards international and regional agreements; (d) Strengthen science and technology advice to the highest levels of the United Nations, and other international institutions, in order to ensure the inclusion of science and technology know-how in sustainable development policies and strategies; (e) Improve and strengthen programmes for disseminating research results of universities and research institutions. This requires recognition of and greater support to the scientists, technologists and teachers who are engaged in communicating and interpreting scientific and technological information to policy makers, professionals in other fields and the general public. Such support should focus on the transfer of skills and the transfer and adaptation of planning techniques. This requires full and open sharing of data and information among scientists and decision makers. The publication of national scientific research reports and technical reports that are understandable and relevant to local sustainable development needs would also improve the interface between science and decision-making, as well as the implementation of scientific results; (f) Improve links between the official and independent research sectors and industry so that research may become an important element of industrial strategy; (g) Promote and strengthen the role of women as full partners in the science and technology disciplines; (h) Develop and implement information technologies to enhance the dissemination of information for sustainable development. ... 31.10. The following activities could be undertaken: (a) Strengthening national and international cooperation, including the non-governmental sector, to develop codes of practice and guidelines regarding environmentally sound and sustainable development, taking into account the Rio Declaration and existing codes of practice and guidelines; (b) Strengthening and establishing national advisory groups on environmental and developmental ethics, in order to develop a common value framework between the scientific and technological community and society as a whole, and promote continuous dialogue; (c) Extending education and training in developmental and environmental ethical issues to integrate such objectives into education curricula and research priorities; (d) Reviewing and amending relevant national and international environment and development legal instruments to ensure appropriate codes of practice and guidelines are incorporated into such regulatory machinery. Chapter 32 STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF FARMERS 32.2. The rural household, indigenous people and their communities, and the family farmer, a substantial number of whom are women, have been the stewards of much of the Earth's resources. Farmers must conserve their physical environment as they depend on it for their sustenance. Over the past 20 years there has been impressive increase in aggregate agricultural production. Yet, in some regions, this increase has been outstripped by population growth or international debt or falling commodity prices. Further, the natural resources that sustain farming activity need proper care, and there is a growing concern about the sustainability of agricultural production systems. ... 32.4. The sustainable development of people in marginal and fragile ecosystems is also addressed in Agenda 21. The key to the successful implementation of these programmes lies in the motivation and attitudes of individual farmers and government policies that would provide incentives to farmers to manage their natural resources efficiently and in a sustainable way. Farmers, particularly women, face a high degree of economic, legal and institutional uncertainties when investing in their land and other resources. The decentralization of decision-making towards local and community organizations is the key in changing people's behaviour and implementing sustainable farming strategies. This programme area deals with activities which can contribute to this end. 32.5. The following objectives are proposed: (a) To encourage a decentralized decision-making process through the creation and strengthening of local and village organizations that would delegate power and responsibility to primary users of natural resources; (b) To support and enhance the legal capacity of women and vulnerable groups with regard to access, use and tenure of land; (c) To promote and encourage sustainable farming practices and technologies; (d) To introduce or strengthen policies that would encourage self- sufficiency in low-input and low-energy technologies, including indigenous practices, and pricing mechanisms that internalize environmental costs; (e) To develop a policy framework that provides incentives and motivation among farmers for sustainable and efficient farming practices; (f) To enhance the participation of farmers, men and women, in the design and implementation of policies directed towards these ends, through their representative organizations. 32.6. National Governments should: (a) Ensure the implementation of the programmes on sustainable livelihoods, agriculture and rural development, managing fragile ecosystems, water use in agriculture, and integrated management of natural resources; (b) Promote pricing mechanisms, trade policies, fiscal incentives and other policy instruments that positively affect individual farmer's decisions about an efficient and sustainable use of natural resources, and take full account of the impact of these decisions on household food security, farm incomes, employment and the environment; (c) Involve farmers and their representative organizations in the formulation of policy; (d) Protect, recognize and formalize women's access to tenure and use of land, as well as rights to land, access to credit, technology, inputs and training; (e) Support the formation of farmers' organizations by providing adequate legal and social conditions. ... 32.8. Governments and farmers' organizations should: (a) Initiate mechanisms to document, synthesize and disseminate local knowledge, practices and project experiences so that they will make use of the lessons of the past when formulating and implementing policies affecting farming, forest and fishing populations; (b) Establish networks for the exchange of experiences with regard to farming that help to conserve land, water and forest resources, minimize the use of chemicals and reduce or reutilize farm wastes; (c) Develop pilot projects and extension services that would seek to build on the needs and knowledge base of women farmers. ... 32.14. Governments should, in the light of each country's specific situation: (a) Create the institutional and legal mechanisms to ensure effective land tenure to farmers. The absence of legislation indicating land rights has been an obstacle in taking action against land degradation in many farming communities in developing countries; (b) Strengthen rural institutions that would enhance sustainability through locally managed credit systems and technical assistance, local production and distribution facilities for inputs, appropriate equipment and small-scale processing units, and marketing and distribution systems; (c) Establish mechanisms to increase access of farmers, in particular women and farmers from indigenous groups, to agricultural training, credit and use of improved technology for ensuring food security. Chapter 33 FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND MECHANISMS 33.8. All countries should assess how to translate Agenda 21 into national policies and programmes through a process that will integrate environment and development considerations. National and local priorities should be established by means that include public participation and community involvement, promoting equal opportunity for men and women. Chapter 34 TRANSFER OF ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND TECHNOLOGY, COOPERATION AND CAPACITY-BUILDING 34.3. Environmentally sound technologies are not just individual technologies, but total systems which include know-how, procedures, goods and services, and equipment as well as organizational and managerial procedures. This implies that when discussing transfer of technologies, the human resource development and local capacity-building aspects of technology choices, including gender-relevant aspects, should also be addressed. Environmentally sound technologies should be compatible with nationally determined socio-economic, cultural and environmental priorities. ... 34.14. The following objectives are proposed: (a) To help to ensure the access, in particular of developing countries, to scientific and technological information, including information on state-of-the-art technologies; (b) To promote, facilitate, and finance, as appropriate, the access to and the transfer of environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how, in particular to developing countries, on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed, taking into account the need to protect intellectual property rights as well as the special needs of developing countries for the implementation of Agenda 21; (c) To facilitate the maintenance and promotion of environmentally sound indigenous technologies that may have been neglected or displaced, in particular in developing countries, paying particular attention to their priority needs and taking into account the complementary roles of men and women; (d) To support endogenous capacity-building, in particular in developing countries, so they can assess, adopt, manage and apply environmentally sound technologies. This could be achieved through inter alia: (i) Human resource development; (ii) Strengthening of institutional capacities for research and development and programme implementation; (iii) Integrated sector assessments of technology needs, in accordance with countries' plans, objectives and priorities as foreseen in the implementation of Agenda 21 at the national level; (e) To promote long-term technological partnerships between holders of environmentally sound technologies and potential users. Chapter 35 SCIENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 35.21. The primary objective is to improve the scientific capacities of all countries - in particular, those of developing countries - with specific regard to: (a) Education, training and facilities for local research and development and human resource development in basic scientific disciplines and in environment-related sciences, utilizing where appropriate traditional and local knowledge of sustainability; (b) A substantial increase by the year 2000 in the number of scientists - particularly women scientists - in those developing countries where their number is at present insufficient; (c) Reducing significantly the exodus of scientists from developing countries and encouraging those who have left to return; (d) Improving access to relevant information for scientists and decision makers, with the aim of improving public awareness and participation in decision-making; (e) Involvement of scientists in national, regional and global environmental and developmental research programmes, including multidisciplinary research; (f) Periodic academic update of scientists from developing countries in their respective fields of knowledge. ... 35.25. Capacity-building includes the following: (a) Creating conditions (e.g., salaries, equipment, libraries) to ensure that the scientists will work effectively in their home countries; (b) Enhancing national, regional and global capacities for carrying out scientific research and applying scientific and technological information to environmentally sound and sustainable development. This includes a need to increase financial resources for global and regional scientific and technological information networks, as may be appropriate, so that they will be able to function effectively and efficiently in satisfying the scientific needs of developing countries. Ensure the capacity-building of women by recruiting more women in research and research training. Chapter 36 PROMOTING EDUCATION, PUBLIC AWARENESS AND TRAINING 36.4. Recognizing that countries, regional and international organizations will develop their own priorities and schedules for implementation in accordance with their needs, policies and programmes, the following objectives are proposed: (a) To endorse the recommendations arising from the World Conference on Education for All: Meeting Basic Learning Needs 2/ (Jomtien, Thailand, 5-9 March 1990) and to strive to ensure universal access to basic education, and to achieve primary education for at least 80 per cent of girls and 80 per cent of boys of primary school age through formal schooling or non-formal education and to reduce the adult illiteracy rate to at least half of its 1990 level. Efforts should focus on reducing the high illiteracy levels and redressing the lack of basic education among women and should bring their literacy levels into line with those of men; (b) To achieve environmental and development awareness in all sectors of society on a world-wide scale as soon as possible; (c) To strive to achieve the accessibility of environmental and development education, linked to social education, from primary school age through adulthood to all groups of people; (d) To promote integration of environment and development concepts, including demography, in all educational programmes, in particular the analysis of the causes of major environment and development issues in a local context, drawing on the best available scientific evidence and other appropriate sources of knowledge, and giving special emphasis to the further training of decision makers at all levels. 36.5. Recognizing that countries and regional and international organizations will develop their own priorities and schedules for implementation in accordance with their needs, policies and programmes, the following activities are proposed: (a) All countries are encouraged to endorse the recommendations of the Jomtien Conference and strive to ensure its Framework for Action. This would encompass the preparation of national strategies and actions for meeting basic learning needs, universalizing access and promoting equity, broadening the means and scope of education, developing a supporting policy context, mobilizing resources and strengthening international cooperation to redress existing economic, social and gender disparities which interfere with these aims. Non-governmental organizations can make an important contribution in designing and implementing educational programmes and should be recognized; (b) Governments should strive to update or prepare strategies aimed at integrating environment and development as a cross-cutting issue into education at all levels within the next three years. This should be done in cooperation with all sectors of society. The strategies should set out policies and activities, and identify needs, cost, means and schedules for their implementation, evaluation and review. A thorough review of curricula should be undertaken to ensure a multidisciplinary approach, with environment and development issues and their socio-cultural and demographic aspects and linkages. Due respect should be given to community-defined needs and diverse knowledge systems, including science, cultural and social sensitivities; (c) Countries are encouraged to set up national advisory environmental education coordinating bodies or round tables representative of various environmental, developmental, educational, gender and other interests, including non-governmental organizations, to encourage partnerships, help mobilize resources, and provide a source of information and focal point for international ties. These bodies would help mobilize and facilitate different population groups and communities to assess their own needs and to develop the necessary skills to create and implement their own environment and development initiatives; (d) Educational authorities, with the appropriate assistance from community groups or non-governmental organizations, are recommended to assist or set up pre-service and in-service training programmes for all teachers, administrators, and educational planners, as well as non-formal educators in all sectors, addressing the nature and methods of environmental and development education and making use of relevant experience of non-governmental organizations; (e) Relevant authorities should ensure that every school is assisted in designing environmental activity work plans, with the participation of students and staff. Schools should involve schoolchildren in local and regional studies on environmental health, including safe drinking water, sanitation and food and ecosystems and in relevant activities, linking these studies with services and research in national parks, wildlife reserves, ecological heritage sites etc.; (f) Educational authorities should promote proven educational methods and the development of innovative teaching methods for educational settings. They should also recognize appropriate traditional education systems in local communities; (g) Within two years the United Nations system should undertake a comprehensive review of its educational programmes, encompassing training and public awareness, to reassess priorities and reallocate resources. The UNESCO/UNEP International Environmental Education Programme should, in cooperation with the appropriate bodies of the United Nations system, Governments, non-governmental organizations and others, establish a programme within two years to integrate the decisions of the Conference into the existing United Nations framework adapted to the needs of educators at different levels and circumstances. Regional organizations and national authorities should be encouraged to elaborate similar parallel programmes and opportunities by conducting an analysis of how to mobilize different sectors of the population in order to assess and address their environmental and development education needs; (h) There is a need to strengthen, within five years, information exchange by enhancing technologies and capacities necessary to promote environment and development education and public awareness. Countries should cooperate with each other and with the various social sectors and population groups to prepare educational tools that include regional environment and development issues and initiatives, using learning materials and resources suited to their own requirements; (i) Countries could support university and other tertiary activities and networks for environmental and development education. Cross-disciplinary courses could be made available to all students. Existing regional networks and activities and national university actions which promote research and common teaching approaches on sustainable development should be built upon, and new partnerships and bridges created with the business and other independent sectors, as well as with all countries for technology, know-how, and knowledge exchange; (j) Countries, assisted by international organizations, non-governmental organizations and other sectors, could strengthen or establish national or regional centres of excellence in interdisciplinary research and education in environmental and developmental sciences, law and the management of specific environmental problems. Such centres could be universities or existing networks in each country or region, promoting cooperative research and information sharing and dissemination. At the global level these functions should be performed by appropriate institutions; (k) Countries should facilitate and promote non-formal education activities at the local, regional and national levels by cooperating with and supporting the efforts of non-formal educators and other community-based organizations. The appropriate bodies of the United Nations system in cooperation with non-governmental organizations should encourage the development of an international network for the achievement of global educational aims. At the national and local levels, public and scholastic forums should discuss environmental and development issues, and suggest sustainable alternatives to policy makers; (l) Educational authorities, with appropriate assistance of non-governmental organizations, including women's and indigenous peoples' organizations, should promote all kinds of adult education programmes for continuing education in environment and development, basing activities around elementary/secondary schools and local problems. These authorities and industry should encourage business, industrial and agricultural schools to include such topics in their curricula. The corporate sector could include sustainable development in their education and training programmes. Programmes at a post-graduate level should include specific courses aiming at the further training of decision makers; (m) Governments and educational authorities should foster opportunities for women in non-traditional fields and eliminate gender stereotyping in curricula. This could be done by improving enrolment opportunities, including females in advanced programmes as students and instructors, reforming entrance and teacher staffing policies and providing incentives for establishing child-care facilities, as appropriate. Priority should be given to education of young females and to programmes promoting literacy among women; (n) Governments should affirm the rights of indigenous peoples, by legislation if necessary, to use their experience and understanding of sustainable development to play a part in education and training; (o) The United Nations could maintain a monitoring and evaluative role regarding decisions of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development on education and awareness, through the relevant United Nations agencies. With Governments and non-governmental organizations, as appropriate, it should present and disseminate decisions in a variety of forms, and should ensure the continuous implementation and review of the educational implications of Conference decisions, in particular through relevant events and conferences. ... 36.10. Recognizing that countries, regional and international organizations will develop their own priorities and schedules for implementation in accordance with their needs, policies and programmes, the following activities are proposed: (a) Countries should strengthen existing advisory bodies or establish new ones for public environment and development information, and should coordinate activities with, among others, the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and important media. They should encourage public participation in discussions of environmental policies and assessments. Governments should also facilitate and support national to local networking of information through existing networks; (b) The United Nations system should improve its outreach in the course of a review of its education and public awareness activities to promote greater involvement and coordination of all parts of the system, especially its information bodies and regional and country operations. Systematic surveys of the impact of awareness programmes should be conducted, recognizing the needs and contributions of specific community groups; (c) Countries and regional organizations should be encouraged, as appropriate, to provide public environmental and development information services for raising the awareness of all groups, the private sector and particularly decision makers; (d) Countries should stimulate educational establishments in all sectors, especially the tertiary sector, to contribute more to awareness building. Educational materials of all kinds and for all audiences should be based on the best available scientific information, including the natural, behavioural and social sciences, and taking into account aesthetic and ethical dimensions; (e) Countries and the United Nations system should promote a cooperative relationship with the media, popular theatre groups, and entertainment and advertising industries by initiating discussions to mobilize their experience in shaping public behaviour and consumption patterns and making wide use of their methods. Such cooperation would also increase the active public participation in the debate on the environment. UNICEF should make child-oriented material available to media as an educational tool, ensuring close cooperation between the out-of-school public information sector and the school curriculum, for the primary level. UNESCO, UNEP and universities should enrich pre-service curricula for journalists on environment and development topics; (f) Countries, in cooperation with the scientific community, should establish ways of employing modern communication technologies for effective public outreach. National and local educational authorities and relevant United Nations agencies should expand, as appropriate, the use of audio-visual methods, especially in rural areas in mobile units, by producing television and radio programmes for developing countries, involving local participation, employing interactive multimedia methods and integrating advanced methods with folk media; (g) Countries should promote, as appropriate, environmentally sound leisure and tourism activities, building on The Hague Declaration of Tourism (1989) and the current programmes of the World Tourism Organization and UNEP, making suitable use of museums, heritage sites, zoos, botanical gardens, national parks, and other protected areas; (h) Countries should encourage non-governmental organizations to increase their involvement in environmental and development problems, through joint awareness initiatives and improved interchange with other constituencies in society; (i) Countries and the United Nations system should increase their interaction with and include, as appropriate, indigenous people in the management, planning and development of their local environment, and should promote dissemination of traditional and socially learned knowledge through means based on local customs, especially in rural areas, integrating these efforts with the electronic media, whenever appropriate; (j) UNICEF, UNESCO, UNDP and non-governmental organizations should develop support programmes to involve young people and children in environment and development issues, such as children's and youth hearings and building on decisions of the World Summit for Children (A/45/625, annex); (k) Countries, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations should encourage mobilization of both men and women in awareness campaigns, stressing the role of the family in environmental activities, women's contribution to transmission of knowledge and social values and the development of human resources; (l) Public awareness should be heightened regarding the impacts of violence in society. ... 36.13. The following objectives are proposed: (a) To establish or strengthen vocational training programmes that meet the needs of environment and development with ensured access to training opportunities, regardless of social status, age, gender, race or religion; (b) To promote a flexible and adaptable workforce of various ages equipped to meet growing environment and development problems and changes arising from the transition to a sustainable society; (c) To strengthen national capacities, particularly in scientific education and training, to enable Governments, employers and workers to meet their environmental and development objectives and to facilitate the transfer and assimilation of new environmentally sound, socially acceptable and appropriate technology and know-how; (d) To ensure that environmental and human ecological considerations are integrated at all managerial levels and in all functional management areas, such as marketing, production and finance. Chapter 37 NATIONAL MECHANISMS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR CAPACITY-BUILDING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 37.5. As an important aspect of overall planning, each country should seek internal consensus at all levels of society on policies and programmes needed for short- and long-term capacity-building to implement its Agenda 21 programme. This consensus should result from a participatory dialogue of relevant interest groups and lead to an identification of skill gaps, institutional capacities and capabilities, technological and scientific requirements and resource needs to enhance environmental knowledge and administration to integrate environment and development. UNDP in partnership with relevant specialized agencies and other international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations could assist, upon request of Governments, in the identification of the requirements for technical cooperation, including those related to technology transfer and know-how and development assistance for the implementation of Agenda 21. The national planning process together, where appropriate, with national sustainable development action plans or strategies should provide the framework for such cooperation and assistance. UNDP should use and further improve its network of field offices and its broad mandate to provide assistance, using its experience in the field of technical cooperation for facilitating capacity-building at the country and regional levels and making full use of the expertise of other bodies, in particular UNEP, the World Bank and regional commissions and development banks, as well as relevant international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Chapter 38 INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS 38.14. Within the intergovernmental framework, consideration should be given to allowing non-governmental organizations, including those related to major groups, particularly women's groups, committed to the implementation of Agenda 21 to have relevant information available to them, including information, reports and other data produced within the United Nations system. ... 38.19. A highly qualified and competent secretariat support structure within the United Nations Secretariat, drawing, inter alia, on the expertise gained in the Conference preparatory process is essential for the follow-up to the Conference and the implementation of Agenda 21. This secretariat support structure should provide support to the work of both intergovernmental and inter-agency coordination mechanisms. Concrete organizational decisions fall within the competence of the Secretary-General as the chief administrative officer of the Organization, who is requested to report on the provisions to be made, covering staffing implications, as soon as practicable, taking into account gender balance as defined in Article 8 of the Charter of the United Nations and the need for the best use of existing resources in the context of the current and ongoing restructuring of the United Nations Secretariat. ... 38.25. Its role should include the following: (a) Acting as the lead agency in organizing United Nations system efforts towards capacity-building at the local, national and regional levels; (b) Mobilizing donor resources on behalf of Governments for capacity-building in recipient countries and, where appropriate, through the use of the UNDP donor round-table mechanisms; (c) Strengthening its own programmes in support of follow-up to the Conference without prejudice to the fifth programming cycle; (d) Assisting recipient countries, upon request, in the establishment and strengthening of national coordination mechanisms and networks related to activities for the follow-up to the Conference; (e) Assisting recipient countries, upon request, in coordinating the mobilization of domestic financial resources; (f) Promoting and strengthening the role and involvement of women, youth and other major groups in recipient countries in the implementation of Agenda 21. ... 38.42. Non-governmental organizations and major groups are important partners in the implementation of Agenda 21. Relevant non-governmental organizations, including the scientific community, the private sector and women's groups, should be given opportunities to make their contributions and establish appropriate relationships with the United Nations system. Support should be provided for developing countries' non-governmental organizations and their self-organized networks. Chapter 40 INFORMATION FOR DECISION-MAKING 40.8. Countries and, upon request, international organizations should carry out inventories of environmental, resource and developmental data, based on national/global priorities for the management of sustainable development. They should determine the gaps and organize activities to fill those gaps. Within the organs and organizations of the United Nations system and relevant international organizations, data-collection activities, including those of Earthwatch and World Weather Watch, need to be strengthened, especially in the areas of urban air, freshwater, land resources (including forests and rangelands), desertification, other habitats, soil degradation, biodiversity, the high seas and the upper atmosphere. Countries and international organizations should make use of new techniques of data collection, including satellite-based remote sensing. In addition to the strengthening of existing development-related data collection, special attention needs to be paid to such areas as demographic factors, urbanization, poverty, health and rights of access to resources, as well as special groups, including women, indigenous peoples, youth, children and the disabled, and their relationships with environment issues. ... 40.11. Countries, with the cooperation of international organizations, should establish supporting mechanisms to provide local communities and resource users with the information and know-how they need to manage their environment and resources sustainably, applying traditional and indigenous knowledge and approaches when appropriate. This is particularly relevant for rural and urban populations and indigenous, women's and youth groups. -----