THE TSUNAMI

As the effects of the most recent tsunami are still being felt in some Pacific Islands, I thought of sharing here an abridged version of a report that I wrote on the United Nations International Conference to Review the Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States (SIDS)*, which took place a few days after the devastating tsunami that hit significant parts of the world at the tip end of 2004 – described by National Geographic as probably the deadliest tsunami in History – exposing the extreme vulnerability of SIDS to this kind of mother nature’s whims.

The Conference, held in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 10-14 January 2005, was marked at its opening ceremony by a one minute’s silence in memory of the 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims. It was attended by 18 Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Prime Ministers, some 60 Ministers, around 2000 Delegates, Civil Society Representatives and Journalists from 114 countries, and 15 UN or Multilateral Agencies. The Conference’s proceedings were structured in plenary sessions, panel discussions, round tables, contact groups, informal consultations, side events, parallel partnership activities and a high-level segment around the following themes:

Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol

Environmental Vulnerabilities and Resilience-building

Addressing Emerging Trends and Social Challenges

Role of Culture in Sustainable Development

Special Challenges in Trade and Economic Development

Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the BPoA

Mobilizing Resources for Implementation of the Programme of Action

Building Capacity in SIDS

Final Outcomes and Lessons Learned

 Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol**

 Preventive Measures to Strengthen Early-Warning Systems

 Special and Differential Treatment and Graduation from LDC Status

 Renewable Energy

 ICT

 Transport

 Fisheries

 HIV/AIDS and Malaria

 Monitoring & Implementation

"We are all inhabitants of the global island. All of us, rich and poor, weak and strong, whether citizens of great power or tiny atoll, are linked in webs of opportunity and vulnerability. We should have known this already, but it has taken a tsunami to press the point home. The question now is whether we will act over the long term, not just in small islands but everywhere, in the same spirit of unity that characterises the current moment."
Kofi Annan

[REPORT HERE]

* SIDS are small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar sustainable development challenges. At present, forty-three small island developing states and territories (there are 51 SIDS in total) are included in the list used by the UN in monitoring the progress of implementation of the BPoA. These states and territories often work together through the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). SIDS in Africa comprise Cape Verde, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Sao Tome & Principe and Seychelles

**The Kyoto Protocol finally entered into force one month after the Mauritius Conference, on 16/02/2005

As the effects of the most recent tsunami are still being felt in some Pacific Islands, I thought of sharing here an abridged version of a report that I wrote on the United Nations International Conference to Review the Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA) for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States (SIDS)*, which took place a few days after the devastating tsunami that hit significant parts of the world at the tip end of 2004 – described by National Geographic as probably the deadliest tsunami in History – exposing the extreme vulnerability of SIDS to this kind of mother nature’s whims.

The Conference, held in Port Louis, Mauritius, on 10-14 January 2005, was marked at its opening ceremony by a one minute’s silence in memory of the 26th December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami victims. It was attended by 18 Presidents, Vice-Presidents and Prime Ministers, some 60 Ministers, around 2000 Delegates, Civil Society Representatives and Journalists from 114 countries, and 15 UN or Multilateral Agencies. The Conference’s proceedings were structured in plenary sessions, panel discussions, round tables, contact groups, informal consultations, side events, parallel partnership activities and a high-level segment around the following themes:

Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol

Environmental Vulnerabilities and Resilience-building

Addressing Emerging Trends and Social Challenges

Role of Culture in Sustainable Development

Special Challenges in Trade and Economic Development

Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the BPoA

Mobilizing Resources for Implementation of the Programme of Action

Building Capacity in SIDS

Final Outcomes and Lessons Learned

 Climate Change, Sea-Level Rise and Implementation of the Kyoto Protocol**

 Preventive Measures to Strengthen Early-Warning Systems

 Special and Differential Treatment and Graduation from LDC Status

 Renewable Energy

 ICT

 Transport

 Fisheries

 HIV/AIDS and Malaria

 Monitoring & Implementation

"We are all inhabitants of the global island. All of us, rich and poor, weak and strong, whether citizens of great power or tiny atoll, are linked in webs of opportunity and vulnerability. We should have known this already, but it has taken a tsunami to press the point home. The question now is whether we will act over the long term, not just in small islands but everywhere, in the same spirit of unity that characterises the current moment."
Kofi Annan

[REPORT HERE]

* SIDS are small island and low-lying coastal countries that share similar sustainable development challenges. At present, forty-three small island developing states and territories (there are 51 SIDS in total) are included in the list used by the UN in monitoring the progress of implementation of the BPoA. These states and territories often work together through the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). SIDS in Africa comprise Cape Verde, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Sao Tome & Principe and Seychelles

**The Kyoto Protocol finally entered into force one month after the Mauritius Conference, on 16/02/2005

HUMAN RIGHTS: LOOKING BEYOND THE DECLARATION(S)

It’s 60 years today since the adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
So, today’s date was “absurdly” made Human Rights Day.

Isn’t it absurd that we, humans, should have a day to celebrate, or simply be reminded of, our rights? Aren’t we supposed to be entitled to human rights every single day of our lives?

Yet, these too become “absurd” questions in the face of the absurdly frequent violations of human rights everywhere, everyday, in the world.

And they often become even more “absurd” when, as we try to find answers to questions such as “what exactly constitutes a 'human rights violation' to different people in different contexts?”, we come across the many layers there are to human rights issues beyond what “universal” declarations usually manage to convey.

That’s the sort of question Australian cartoonist Nicholson addresses in what he called the “Great Wall of Feminism”, depicting how, in the context of women's rights (it was his take on the Beijing Declaration), the exact same issues are experienced on either side of the divide (left-click on the image for a better reading):

*****
N.B.: Apesar de apenas ter visto este cartoon pela primeira vez no proprio dia em que aqui o postei, ele ilustra de algum modo algumas das questoes que tinha em mente neste post e tambem neste artigo e nesta discussao.

It’s 60 years today since the adoption of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
So, today’s date was “absurdly” made Human Rights Day.

Isn’t it absurd that we, humans, should have a day to celebrate, or simply be reminded of, our rights? Aren’t we supposed to be entitled to human rights every single day of our lives?

Yet, these too become “absurd” questions in the face of the absurdly frequent violations of human rights everywhere, everyday, in the world.

And they often become even more “absurd” when, as we try to find answers to questions such as “what exactly constitutes a 'human rights violation' to different people in different contexts?”, we come across the many layers there are to human rights issues beyond what “universal” declarations usually manage to convey.

That’s the sort of question Australian cartoonist Nicholson addresses in what he called the “Great Wall of Feminism”, depicting how, in the context of women's rights (it was his take on the Beijing Declaration), the exact same issues are experienced on either side of the divide (left-click on the image for a better reading):

*****
N.B.: Apesar de apenas ter visto este cartoon pela primeira vez no proprio dia em que aqui o postei, ele ilustra de algum modo algumas das questoes que tinha em mente neste post e tambem neste artigo e nesta discussao.

WOLFOWITZ GOING... GONE!

The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, is to resign the post by the end of June, it just emerged, over the scandal surrounding a pay rise and promotion of Shaha Riza, an officer of the Bank who happens to be also his girlfriend.

I just think that this is a fair outcome for an issue that invokes all over the command: "practice what you preach"! There are, however, other views according to which this was a manufactured event, specially on the part of Europeans opposed to the war in Iraq, of which he was one of the main architects, meant to tarnish the White House, where Wolfowitz counted until now with the stern support of George Bush.

Some of the same views argue that the same treatment should have been dispensed to Kofi Anan over his son's involvement in the "Oil for Food" scandal... Yet other commentators utter that it's unjust that the image of Riza is being drawn through the mud like this, when she is "a very honest woman who campaigns for women's rights in North Africa and the Middle East and a substantial professional" who was working in the World Bank long before Wolfowitz assumed the post.

What do you think?

(Read more about this issue here - in Portuguese)

The president of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz, is to resign the post by the end of June, it just emerged, over the scandal surrounding a pay rise and promotion of Shaha Riza, an officer of the Bank who happens to be also his girlfriend.

I just think that this is a fair outcome for an issue that invokes all over the command: "practice what you preach"! There are, however, other views according to which this was a manufactured event, specially on the part of Europeans opposed to the war in Iraq, of which he was one of the main architects, meant to tarnish the White House, where Wolfowitz counted until now with the stern support of George Bush.

Some of the same views argue that the same treatment should have been dispensed to Kofi Anan over his son's involvement in the "Oil for Food" scandal... Yet other commentators utter that it's unjust that the image of Riza is being drawn through the mud like this, when she is "a very honest woman who campaigns for women's rights in North Africa and the Middle East and a substantial professional" who was working in the World Bank long before Wolfowitz assumed the post.

What do you think?

(Read more about this issue here - in Portuguese)