WSSD has to focus on the suffering of the vulnerable

Iskandar Hadrianto Fellowship Student United Nations University Leadership Academy Jakarta ndorois@hotmail.com

Contained in the opening principle of the 1992 Rio Declaration is the assertion that: Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.

Ten years ago, the international community gathered in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss the intricacies ofenvironmental protection and development.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992, was a very significant global event --- better known around the world as the Rio Earth Summit 1992.

The Summit successfully came up with the principles stipulated in the Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 and the Statement of Forest Principles.

However, the most important result of the Rio Earth Summit was that the international community agreed within ten years to implement the protocol on sustainable development through a global partnership.

In sum, the Rio Summit's outcome should be the conceptual framework for mankind to deal with programs on sustainable development as stipulated by three major pillars: economic development, social development and the environment.

A decade has passed. Now the international community will meet again to review the implementation of Rio's commitments since developing countries are not fully satisfied with the implementation of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21.

Developing countries want to express their frustration, especially about the failure of the developed and rich nations to achieve Rio's targets of allocating the a small amount of their GDPs (0.7%) to help the vulnerable to sustain their development activities.

Even though the principles stipulated in the said declaration are "non-legally binding", it is indeed the responsible of all peoples of the world to pay more attention to the discourse of development and to place mankind in a harmonious relations with nature.

Within this context, United Nations (UN) Resolution No. A/RES/55/199 of 2000 ordered the Committee on Sustainable Development (CSD) to convene a World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) scheduled to be held in Johanessburg, South Africa, in September of this year. During the WSSD deliberations, the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21 will be reviewed so as to bring about better implementation and equal benefit from development cooperation to all of the human race.

Indonesia was given the task of hosting one of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) meetings.

Simultaneously following the April 2001 CSD-9 meeting, the other three PrepCom meetings were convened at the UN headquarters in New York. Meanwhile the Fourth Ministerial Level PrepCom WSSD meeting will be convened in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, and will run from May 24, 2002 until June 7, 2002.

From one beautiful tourist resort to another tourist resort, the international community is going to discuss the very basic needs of the peoples: sustainable development for a better life for all human beings.

Even though climate change and energy issues certainly will be the focus of discussions during the PrepCom meeting, it is high time that the deliberation of WSSD pays greater attention to the very essential philosophy of sustainable development itself --- the security and prosperity of all the human race.

The three major pillars comprising sustainable economic development, social development and environmental preservation have to be reflected in action programs formulated through synergy among multi-stakeholders and government sectors under the formula of global partnership.

Topical issues such as human security as it clearly mentioned in the 24th Special Session of the UN General Assembly meeting in Geneva, June 2001, should be translated into concrete action programs.

Ample opportunities for the poor and marginalized elements of society to fully participate in the development process must also be given.

From the anthropological point of view, human beings, especially marginalized and vulnerable ones, want things to be the way they should be.

However, from the sociological perception that portrays reality, they receive what it is available (which sometimes does not exactly reflect a just and equitable distribution of development yields).

A mathematical calculation between what it is available and what should be available results in a gap between ideas and reality.

This is the core problem with human aspirations that must be solved through concrete action based on the Political Declaration of the WSSD meetings.

In conformity with its foreign policy and commitment to eradicating poverty and conserving nature, as the host country, Indonesia should put on the table proposals reflecting the concerns of the developing world.

There is a dire need that the gathering in Bali come up with a proposals to create sustainable livelihoods via a synergy of multi-stakeholder participation during the PrepCom deliberations.

In addition, action programs on economic development, social development and environmental preservation have to be refocused on the vulnerable with a view to eradicating poverty and establishing a better standard of living for the poor and marginalized in society.