UN Millenium Summit; African Renaissance & International Cooperation Fund Bill

Meeting report

FOREIGN AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
1 November 2000
UN MILLENIUM SUMMIT; AFRICAN RENAISSANCE AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FUND BILL

Documents handed out:
African Renaissance & International Co-operation Fund Bill
United Nations Millennium Declaration (see Appendix 1)

Chairperson: Mr E Ebrahim

SUMMARY
The amendments by the NCOP to the African Renaissance and International Cooperation Fund Bill were discussed and accepted.

The briefing on the UN Millenium Summit outlined its resolutions and noted that:
- the Summit had recognised the negative impact of globalisation on poorer countries
- the Summit had recognised debt relief, development and poverty eradication as important
- South Africa was a key candidate for the Africa Seat in the Security Council in 2004
- The UN had also adopted the South African style of discussion, that is, round table sessions
- South Africa's status was changed from Category B to Category C which will reduce its financial contribution to peacekeeping strategies.

MINUTES
African Renaissance and International Co-operation Bill
The Committee considered the NCOP amendments to this Bill. They are as follows:

Clause 5
On page 3, line 15, after "available" to insert "or disbursed"

On Page 3, from line 17 to omit subclause (4) and to substitute:
Loans or other financial assistance, must be granted or rendered in accordance with an agreement entered into between the relevant parties, excluding assistance for the promotion of democracy and good governance or the prevention or resolution of conflict

Clause 6
On page 3, line 32, after "Fund" to insert:
" in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999)"

Mr Pallo Jordan (ANC) was concerned that the amendments would not be adequate and would blur the purpose of the Bill. Ms Fatima Hajaij (ANC) allayed Mr Jordan's fear by referring to Clause 5 which covered these concerns.

The Committee accepted these amendments.

Briefing on UN Millenium Summit
Mr Minty, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said that the Summit served to reaffirm the commitment to the organisation and its charter. It recognised the negative impact of globalisation since its benefits are very unevenly shared and its costs are unevenly distributed.

The Summit recognised development and poverty eradication as a key factor. It emphasised the implementation of the enhanced program of debt relief for the heavily indebted poor countries promptly and to agree to cancel all official bilateral debts of those countries in return for their making demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction.

It resolved to :
· Halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world's people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger; and also by the same date, to halve the proportion of people who are unable to reach, or to afford safe drinking water.
· Ensure that by the same date, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling; and that girls and boys will have access to all levels of education
· By the same date to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters and under-5 child mortality by two-thirds, of their current rates
· To have, by then, halted and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS, the scourge of malaria and other major diseases that afflict humanity
· By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers as proposed in the "Cities Without Slums" initiative.

With regards to Africa, it was resolved to
· To give full support to the political and institutional structures of emerging democracies in Africa
· To encourage and sustain regional and subregional mechanisms for preventing conflict and promoting political stability and to ensure a reliable flow of resources for peacekeeping operations on the continent.
· To take special measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa, including debt cancellation, improved market access, enhanced Official Development Assistance and increased flows of Foreign Direct Investment as well as transfers of technology
· To help Africa build up its capacity to tackle the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases.

Mr Minty stated that there were positive outcomes of the Summit with regard to South Africa. The UN was now taking seriously the following issues for which South Africa had long been lobbying: the Ban on Land Mines and Restriction of Illicit Trafficking of Small Arms. These were factors that desperately needed to be addressed in Africa since it contributed to wars.

He noted that South Africa had initiated round table discussion, which had been adopted as a favourable strategy in the Summit. This meant that the various leaders made a constructive contribution to decisions rather than merely listening to speeches.

South Africa had kept a low-level of lobbying so that countries involved in crisis should have a mandate in deciding what happens to them.

During the Apartheid era, South Africa had been placed in Category B which has the status intermediate to developed first world countries (Category A) and undeveloped third world countries (Category C). The Department of Foreign Affairs has opted that South Africa be placed in Category C as the funds it puts aside for peacekeeping are less than Category B countries (which have to make a contribution of at least $15 million which is not in line with the economy capacity of South Africa).

Mr Minty stated that UN would be commended for the write-off of debt at the start of South Africa's democracy. This was an illustration of support from the UN.

South Africa had been nominated to take the Africa seat in the Security Council in 2004. This decision would take place in 2002. This meant that South Africa could have an important impact on what happens to African countries.

Discussion
The Chair noted what Mr Minty had said but wondered if anything concrete had been achieved with regard to poverty alleviation especially since a deadline had been set

Mr Minty stated that the UN has just come to realise the harsh implications of globalisation on poorer countries and poverty alleviation. It was difficult to get initiatives running since there was no body established to acquire funds from better developed countries. It is only recently that Japan had taken a political interest in SA. Political affiliations are being developed via Singapore with Japan and this will facilitate the establishment of concrete initiatives. OCED will not grant funds until a good poverty alleviation program is established. It now rests on creating and establishing efficient poverty eradication programs that will be funded by international donors or countries.

Ms Mohommed (ANC) asked if the topic of gross human rights violations, such as that in Palestine, is discussed at such summits. She also wondered why members of the Committee did not accompany the department to these summits.

Mr Minty stated that the crisis such as that in the Middle East was not discussed at these meetings.

Ms Hajaij (ANC) asked if Nigeria or Egypt could possibly be candidates for the Africa seat on the Security Council.

Mr Minty noted that the focus was on strengthening the UN and not reforming it. That was the reason for an African seat. African countries would decide on the country that would occupy the seat.

The Chair wished the members well in their campaigning for the local elections and hoped that they would return fresh and ready for work in the New Year.

Mr Ramgobin (ANC) wished the Democratic Alliance a massive failure. Dr Geldenhuys (NNP) responded that Mr Ramgobin was thinking wishfully.

The meeting was concluded.

Appendix 1:
UNITED NATIONS MILLENNIUM DECLARATION

I. VALUES AND PRINCIPLES
1. We, Heads of State and Government, have gathered at United Nations
Headquarters in New York from 6 to 8 September 2000, at the dawn of a new
Millennium, to reaffirm our faith in the Organization and its Charter as
indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world.

2. We recognize that, in addition to our separate responsibilities to our individual societies, we have a collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level. As leaders we have a duty, therefore, to all the world's people, especially the most vulnerable and, in particular, the children of the world, to whom the future belongs.

3. We reaffirm our commitment to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, which have proved timeless and universal. Indeed their relevance and capacity to inspire have increased, as nations and become increasingly interconnected and interdependent.

4. We are determined to establish a just and lasting peace all over the world in accordance with the objectives and principles of the Charter. We rededicate ourselves to support all efforts to uphold the sovereign equality of all States; respect for their territorial integrity and political independence; resolution of disputes by peaceful means and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law; the right to self-determination of peoples which remain under colonial domination and foreign occupation; non-interference in the internal affairs of States; respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; respect for the equal rights of all without distinction to race, sex, language, or religion; and international cooperation in solving international problems of economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character.

5. We believe that the central challenge we face today is to ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for all the world's people. For while globalization offers great opportunities, at present its benefits are very unevenly shared, while its costs are unevenly distributed. We recognize that developing countries and countries with economies in transition face special difficulties in responding to this central challenge. Thus, only through broad and sustained efforts to create a shared future, based upon our common humanity in all its diversity, can globalization be made fully inclusive and equitable. These efforts must include policies and measures, at the global level, which correspond to the needs of developing countries and economies in transition, and are formulated and implemented with their effective participation.

6. We consider certain fundamental values to be essential to international relations in the twenty-first century. These include:
· Freedom. Men and women have the right to live their lives and raise their children in dignity, free from hunger and from the fear of violence, oppression or injustice. Democratic and participatory governance based on the will of the people best assures these rights.
· Equality. No individual and no nation must be denied the opportunity to benefit from development. The equal rights and opportunities of women and men must be assured.
· Solidarity. Global challenges must be managed in a way that distributes the costs and burdens fairly in accordance with basic principles of equity and social justice. Those who suffer, or who benefit least, deserve help from those who benefit most.
· Tolerance. Human beings must respect each other, in all their diversity of belief, culture and language. Differences within and between societies should be neither feared nor repressed, but cherished as a precious asset of humanity. A Culture of Peace and Dialogue among all civilizations should be actively promoted.
· Respect for nature. Prudence must be shown in the management of all living species and natural resources, in accordance with the precepts of sustainable development. Only in this way can the immeasurable riches provided to us by nature be preserved and passed
on to our descendant. The current unsustainable patterns of production and consumption must be changed, in the interest of our future welfare and that of our descendants.
· Shared responsibility. Responsibility for managing worldwide economic and social development, as well as threats to international peace and security, must be shared among the nations of the world and should be exercised multilaterally. As the most universal and most representative organization in the world, the United Nations must play the central role.

7. In order to translate these shared values into actions, we have identified key objectives to which we assign special significance:

II. PEACE, SECURITY AND DISARMAMENT
8. We will spare no effort to free our peoples from the scourge of war, whether within or between States, which has claimed more than 5 million lives in the past decade. We will also seek to eliminate the dangers posed by weapons of mass destruction.

9. We resolve, therefore:
· To strengthen respect for the rule of law, in international as in national affairs and, in particular, to ensure compliance by Member States with the decisions of the International Court of Justice, in compliance with the Charter of the United Nations, in cases to which they are parties.
· To make the United Nations, more effective in maintaining peace and security, by giving it the resources and tools it needs for conflict prevention, peaceful resolution of disputes, peacekeeping post-conflict peace building and reconstruction. In this context we take note of the Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations and request the General Assembly to consider its recommendations expeditiously.
· To strengthen cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter VIII of the Charter.
· To ensure the implementation, by States Parties, of treaties in areas such as arms control and disarmament, and of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and call upon all States to consider signing and ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
· To take concerted action against international terrorism, and to accede as soon as possible to all the relevant international conventions.
· To redouble our efforts to implement our commitment to counter the world drug problem.
· To intensify our efforts to fight transnational crime in all its dimensions, including trafficking as well as smuggling in human beings and money laundering.
· To minimize the adverse effects of United Nations economic sanctions on innocent populations; to subject such sanctions regimes to regular reviews; and to eliminate the adverse effects of sanctions on third parties.
· To strive for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons and to keep all options open for achieving this aim, including the possibility of convening an international conference to identify ways of eliminating nuclear dangers.
· To take concerted action to end illicit traffic in small arms and light weapons especially by making arms transfers more transparent and supporting regional disarmament measures, taking account of all the recommendations of the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons.
· To call on all States to consider acceding to the Convention on the
Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, as well as the Amended
Mines Protocol to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

10. We urge Member States to observe the Olympic Truce, individually and collectively, now and in the future, and to support the International Olympic Committee in its efforts to promote peace and human understanding through sport and the Olympic ideal.

III. DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ERADICATION
11. We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanizing conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone, and to freeing the entire human race from want.

12. We resolve, therefore, to create an environment - at the national and global levels alike - which is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty.

13. Success in meeting these objectives depends, inter alia, on good governance within each country. It also depends on good governance at the international level, and on transparency in the financial, monetary and trading systems. We are committed to an open, equitable, rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading and financial system.

14. We are concerned about the obstacles developing countries face in mobilizing the resources needed to finance their sustained development. We will, therefore, make every effort to ensure the success of the High-level International and Intergovernmental Event on Financing for Development, to be held in 2001.

15. We also undertake to address the special needs of the least developed countries. In this context, we welcome the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in May 2001 and will endeavour to ensure its success. We call on the industrialized countries:
· to adopt, preferably by the time of that Conference, a policy of duty-and quota-free access for essentially all exports from the least developed countries;
· to implement the enhanced programme of debt relief for the heavily indebted poor countries without further delay and to agree to cancel all official bilateral debts of those countries in return for their making demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction;
· and to grant more generous development assistance, especially to countries that are genuinely making an effort to apply their resources to poverty reduction.

16 . We are also determined to deal comprehensively and effectively with the debt problems of low- and middle-income developing countries, through various
national and international measures designed to make their debt sustainable in the long term.

17. We also resolve to address the special needs of Small Island developing States, by implementing the Barbados Programme of Action, and the outcome of the twenty-second special session of the General Assembly, rapidly and in full. We urge the international community to ensure that, in the development of a vulnerability index, the special needs of Small Island developing States are taken into account.

18. We recognize the special needs and problems of the land-locked developing countries, and urge both bilateral and multilateral donors to increase financial and technical assistance to this group of countries to meet their special development needs, and to help them overcome the impediments of geography, by improving their transit transport systems.

19. We resolve further:
· To halve, by the year 2015, the proportion of the world's people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger; and also, by the same date, to halve the proportion of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water.
· To ensure that, by the same date, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling; and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of education.
· By the same date, to have reduced maternal mortality by three quarters, and under-5 child mortality by two thirds, of their current rates.
· To have, by then, halted, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS, the scourge of malaria and other major diseases that afflict humanity.
· To provide special assistance to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.
By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers as proposed in the "Cities Without Slums" initiative.

20. We also resolve:
· To promote gender equality and the empowerment of women, as effective ways to combat poverty, hunger and disease and to stimulate development that is truly sustainable.
· To develop and implement strategies that give young people everywhere a real chance to find decent and productive work.
· To encourage the pharmaceutical industry to make essential drugs more widely available and affordable by all who need them in developing countries.
· To develop strong partnerships with the private sector, and with civil society organizations, in pursuit of development and poverty eradication.
· To ensure that the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies, in conformity with recommendations contained in ECOSOC 2000 Ministerial Declaration, are available to all.

IV. PROTECTING OUR COMMON ENVIRONMENT
21. We must spare no effort to free all of humanity, and above all our children and grandchildren, from the threat of living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities, and whose resources would no longer be sufficient for their needs.

22. We reaffirm our support for the principles of sustainable development, including those set out in Agenda 21, agreed upon at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

23. We resolve, therefore, to adopt in all our environmental actions a new ethic of conservation and stewardship, and, as first steps we resolve:
· To make every effort to ensure the entry into force of the Kyoto
Protocol, preferably by the tenth anniversary of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development in 2002, and to embark
on the required reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases.
· To intensify our collective efforts for the management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests.
· To press for the full implementation of the Convention on Biological
Diversity and the Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries
Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in
Africa.
· To stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources, by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supplies.
· To intensify cooperation to reduce the number and effects of natural
and man-made disasters.
· To ensure free access to information on the human genome sequence.

V. HUMAN RIGHTS, DEMOCRACY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE
24. We will spare no effort to promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development.

25. We resolve, therefore:
· To fully respect and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
· To strive for the full protection and promotion in all our countries of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for all.
· To strengthen the capacity of all our countries to implement the principles and practices of democracy and respect for human rights, including minority rights.
· To combat all forms of violence against women and to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
· To take measures to ensure respect for and protection of the human rights of migrants, migrant workers and their families, to eliminate the increasing acts of racism and xenophobia in many societies, and to promote greater harmony and tolerance in all societies.
· To work collectively for more inclusive political processes, allowing genuine participation by all citizens in all our countries.
· To ensure the freedom of the media to perform their essential role and the right of the public to have access to information.

VI. PROTECTING THE VULNERABLE
26. We will spare no effort to ensure that children and all civilian populations who suffer disproportionately the consequences of natural disasters, genocide, armed conflicts and other humanitarian emergencies are given every assistance and protection, so that they can resume normal life as soon as possible.
We resolve, therefore:
· To expand and strengthen the protection of civilians in complex emergencies, in conformity with international law.
· To strengthen international cooperation, including burden-sharing in, and the coordination of humanitarian assistance to countries hosting refugees; and to help all refugees and displaced persons to return voluntarily to their homes, in safety and dignity, and to be smoothly reintegrated into their societies.
· To encourage the ratification and full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols on the involvement of children in armed conflicts, and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

VII. MEETING THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF AFRICA
27. We will support the consolidation of democracy in Africa and assist Africans in their struggle for lasting peace, poverty eradication and sustainable development, thereby bringing Africa into the mainstream of the world economy.

28. We resolve, therefore:
· To give full support to the political and institutional structures of emerging democracies in Africa.
· To encourage and sustain regional and subregional mechanisms for preventing conflict and promoting political stability, and to ensure a reliable flow of resources for peacekeeping operations on the continent.
· To take special measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa, including debt cancellation, improved market access, enhanced Official Development Assistance (ODA), and increased flows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as well as transfers of technology.
· To help Africa build up its capacity to tackle the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases.

VIII. STRENGTHENING THE UNITED NATIONS
29. We will spare no effort to make the United Nations a more effective instrument for pursuing all of these priorities: the fight for development for all the peoples of the world, the fight against poverty, ignorance and disease; the fight against injustice; the fight against violence, terror and crime; and the fight against the degradation and destruction of our common home.

30. We resolve, therefore:
· To reaffirm the central position of the General Assembly as the chief deliberative, policy-making and representative organ of the United Nations, and to enable it to play that role effectively.
· To intensify our efforts to achieve a comprehensive reform of the Security Council in all its aspects.
· To further strengthen the Economic and Social Council, building on its recent achievements, to help it fulfil the role ascribed to it in the Charter.
· To strengthen the International Court of Justice, in order to ensure
justice and the rule of law in international affairs.