Don't boycott PrepCom IV outcome, delegates plead
Don't boycott PrepCom IV outcome, delegates plead
Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
Government delegates called for local non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) and civil society groups not to boycott the
results of the ongoing UN meeting in Bali and instead keep on
voicing and fighting for the welfare of the common people through
to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
Canadian delegate Angela Keller-Herzog said during the last
open dialog at the Indonesian People's Forum on Thursday that she
was impressed with the quality and analysis of the statements
delivered by representatives of the major groups voicing
disappointment and disagreements over the negotiating process at
the Bali meeting here.
"All of us at times feel that we're not heard and that we're
being marginalized," said Keller-Herzog, senior economist from
the Canadian International Development Agency
She said that the Indonesian People's Forum had produced a
level of analysis that was "very impressive."
"I think that's exactly the kind of approaches and tools that
are useful for constructive engagements," Keller-Herzog added.
Other senior delegates also voiced the same sentiment, saying
that NGOs should not boycott either the results of the current
meeting in Bali or the upcoming World Summit in Johannesburg in
August and September.
Other delegates attending the open dialogue included
Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Social Affairs Jusuf Kalla,
the Netherlands' Environment and Development Department director
Sweder van Voorst tot Voorst, director general of the Danish
Environmental Protection Agency Steen Gade, and Finland's
Environmental Committee chairman and member of parliament Pentti
Tiusanen.
Local NGOs and civil society groups had voiced their rejection
of all the results of the current preparatory committee (PrepCom)
meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development,
including the Draft Plan of Implementation -- previously called
the Chairman's Text.
They even called for a boycott of the World Summit in
Johannesburg in August and September.
They claimed that government delegations at the meetings were
working in the interests of industrialized countries and
multinational corporations, at the expense of developing
countries.
Denmark's Gade said that it would not be good for progress if
NGOs boycotted the dialogues between governments and civil
society groups.
"They should instead see it as a struggle and to continue
voicing their concerns from one conference to another," he said.
Furthermore, the role of the NGOs must be stronger in
Johannesburg than it was here in Bali, or even at the WTO
meetings, said Finland's Tiusanen.
NGOs should not boycott the meetings but force the governments
to hear their demands, he said.
The Netherlands's Voorst said that the ongoing negotiations
were a difficult process because of the many complex subjects
being negotiated, and were complicated by the rules and
procedures applied within the United Nations.
He also said that the number of countries involved in the
process was huge.
"It certainly could not please everyone, everybody, not all
societies, not all governments, but that's part of the deal," he
said, adding that NGOs as well as governments should continue to
fight to get a more favorable outcome from the negotiations.