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.