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Regional
Implementation Meeting for Asia and the Pacific
27-28
October, 2003
Bangkok, Thailand
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***** FINAL
REPORT *****
In follow-up to the Johannesburg Summit and the Eleventh Session of the
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-11), the UN Regional
Commissions were invited to hold regional implementation meetings to
assess regional progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI). In response to this call, a
Regional Implementation Meeting (RIM) for Asia and the Pacific was
co-organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and United Nations Department of Economic
and Social Affairs (DESA), in cooperation with United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP). The Regional Implementation Meeting
contributed to the global assessment of progress in the thematic areas
of water, sanitation and human settlements by making the Chair’s
Summary of the meeting available to CSD, which will also feed into the
Secretary-General’s reports being prepared on each of the three
thematic areas for CSD-12.
The RIM reviewed the regional state of implementation of Agenda 21 and
JPOI in the areas of water, sanitation, and human settlements, which are
the themes for the next two-year, “review-policy” cycle for CSD-12
and CSD-13. The objectives of the RIM were to:
- Review progress in
implementation of Agenda 21 and JPOI under the themes of water,
sanitation and human settlements;
- Identify major achievements,
obstacles and constraints, new challenges and opportunities in
implementation;
- Share best practices and
lessons learned;
- Exchange partnership
experiences.
The participants of the RIM included representatives from government
organizations from more than 30 countries, regional/subregional
organizations, regional financial institution as well as representatives
from nine Major Group organizations.
At
the opening ceremony, statements were made by Ms. Keiko Okaido, Deputy
Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP); Ms. Jo-Anne DiSano, Director, Division for
Sustainable Development of UNDESA; Mr. Robert England, Resident
Coordinator of UNDP; Mr. Surachai Sasisuwan, Director General of the
Water Resources Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment, Royal Thai Government. A video message for the meeting was
also delivered by the CSD-12 Chair, H.E. Børge Brende, Minister of the
Environment, Norway.
In
her welcoming statement, Ms. Keiko Okaido, Deputy, ESCAP, stated that
major international events, in particular the Rio Summit, the Millennium
Summit, the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and most
recently, the Third World Water Forum, have brought to global attention
the numerous challenges faced in better managing our precious water
resources, as well as the attempts made to reach consensus across the
international community of the possible solutions to these challenges in
the context of sustainable development. She explained that this meeting
was arranged to review the regional state of progress in the
implementation of Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
(JPOI) agreed at WSSD, in the areas of water, sanitation and human
settlements, that were selected as the themes for the Twelfth Session of
the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-12). She said that the
meeting would seek to identify major achievements, obstacles and
constraints, new challenges and opportunities in implementing the JPOI,
as well as sharing best practices and the lessons learned, and
exchanging experiences in developing new partnerships that address these
challenges. She explained that the report from this meeting would
contribute to the Regional Forum to be held at CSD-12, as well as
provide the regional input for the Secretary General’s Report. Ms.
Okaido stated that more than two thirds of the 1.1 billion people who do
not have access to safe drinking water, and 80 per cent of the 2.5
billion who lack access to adequate sanitation live in Asia. It is
estimated that 550 million people in developing countries of Asia are
living in urban slums, or 45 per cent of the urban population. She also
stated that requirements for financing for water and sanitation
improvements to meet the ambitious targets set in the JPOI would cost an
additional US $8 billion to US $13 billion each year, that will require
new and innovative methods of financing and the strengthening of the
participatory process and partnerships involving all stakeholders. She
wished the participants fruitful discussions and success in sending a
strong and meaningful message from the meeting to CSD-12.
Ms.
JoAnne DiSano, UNDESA, in her introductory statement, said that the
success of WSSD was largely due to the intensive preparations made at
national, sub-regional and regional levels, including the ten year
assessments, which included the sub-regional and regional PrepComs held
to formulate regional positions. She thanked ESCAP, UNDP, UNEP-ROAP, ADB
and other organizations for their key roles in these processes. She said
that the JPOI called for the active involvement of the UN Regional
Commissions and other organizations in the implementation of the
commitments and targets agreed to in the JPOI, the Programme for the
Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and Agenda 21, and noted that CSD-11
had invited the Regional Commissions to organize regional implementation
meetings prior to the CSD two-year Review Sessions and Policy Sessions
in alternating years, which started in 2004. She explained that the
outcome of this meeting would be a Chair’s Summary of discussions,
including highlights of multistakeholder discussions and break-out
sessions on water, sanitation and human settlements, and although not
negotiated, the Summary to be submitted to CSD-12 in April 2004, would
reflect the varied experiences and views shared by participants. Ms.
DiSano drew attention to the fact that the diversity of the Asia and
Pacific region poses many challenges for pursuing sustainable
development, particularly in South Asia, where more than one third of
the people lack access to improved sanitation, one third live in
poverty, one quarter is malnourished and nearly one in ten children die
before the age of five. She noted that the rapid rise in urban
populations in the region had worsened living conditions, and that 14 of
the world’s 22 mega-cities of more than 10 million are in Asia. She
said that she looked forward to working with the Asia and Pacific region
to strengthen its links to the global forum of CSD, and wished the
participants success in their efforts at the meeting.
In
his introductory statement, Mr. Robert England, UNDP said that he
welcomed the collaboration with ESCAP and UNDESA in the organization of
this important regional preparatory process for CSD-12. He noted the
convening power of ESCAP to hold regional fora to identify challenges
and opportunities in water resources management and human settlements,
which can subsequently be implemented at national level by UNDP and
other organizations’ country programmes. He outlined some of UNDP’s
initiatives in water resources management in working towards achieving
the Millennium Development Goals, highlighting its work in water and
governance; water, education and capacity-building; climate change and
water; water and gender; transboundary water; and public-private
partnerships for the urban environment. He also noted that in policy
development and implementation in the water and sanitation sector, UNDP
works closely with partnerships with the Water and Sanitation Programme
of the World Bank, the Water Supply and Collaborative Council and the
International Water and Sanitation Centre.
Mr.Surachai
Sasisuwan, Royal Thai Government, in his opening statement, said that
Thailand has participated in and supported many international water
events and is committed to strengthening ongoing actions to implement
global agreements related to water resources. He stated that
Thailand’s greatest challenge in meeting basic needs in the water
sector is to increase village water supplies from 76 per cent to 100 per
cent by 2009. He noted that Thailand is working towards developing
integrated plans for water resources management in all river basins
through a participatory approach, and improving risk management,
covering floods, drought and severe pollution, following the
establishment of a Centre of Water Crisis Prevention last year. He
emphasized the importance of monitoring water resources and the
collaboration with ESCAP in developing indicators for the Chao Phraya
River Basin for the First World Water Development Report, which will
provide information for policy guidance in this most
strategically-important river basin in Thailand and be further developed
for other river basins across the country. He wished the meeting success
in reviewing the state of progress in the implementation of Agenda 21
and the JPOI and looked forward to seeing the results of the regional
input to the Secretary General’s report.
The
message from H.E. Børge Brende, Minister of the Environment, Norway and
Chair for CSD-12 was presented as a video statement. He opened by saying
that the international community has set itself ambitious goals for
sustainable development, and that there was no time to lose in
transforming the global commitments into action at the local and
regional levels. He said that a step-by-step approach must be taken to
achieving the goals for water and sanitation, and although a daunting
task, we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to strive towards
these key goals of delivering safe drinking to another 270,000 people
every day for the next 12 years and basic sanitation to another 370,000
people over the same period. He note that much of what was achieved in
the 1980s was lost due to mismanagement, and that we have to make sure
that lessons are learned, and comprehensive plans for integrated water
resources management are drawn up in with participation, transparency
and ecosysytems-oriented approach. He said that to ensure successful
implementation of policy decisions taken during the Review Session at
CSD-12 next year, we will have to ensure that ministers who are
responsible for water, sanitation and housing participate and join
forces with implementing agencies and financial institutions at the
international and regional levels, and to mobilize the political will to
provide additional resources, we must encourage alliances and
partnerships to drive the process forward. He stated that to succeed, we
need a strong and dynamic UN system to collaborate with national and
international partners for sustainable development. As Chair of CSD, he
said that he would do his best to ensure that last year’s World Summit
in Johannesburg will be seen as the beginning of the process, rather
than the end of one, to befit the daily lives of people all over the
world.
Highlights from the Regional Implementation
Meeting and photographs of participants can also be found at www.iisd.ca/csd/rim/escap/october27.html
with other linkages to CSD-11 and CSD-12 materials.
Related documents:
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