An African Gender and Media (GEM) Publication

Wednesday 4 September 2002

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“Change the system!”Colleen Lowe Morna and Pamella Makotsi

As verdicts of disappointment continuedto pour in yesterday over the final WSSDaction plan, the former Secretary Gen-eral of the Commonwealth, Chief EmekaAnyaoku called for the way in whichconferences such as this are organisedto be turned on its head.

In an exclusive interview withGEM, Anyaoku, who is also presidentof the World Wildlife Fund, said: “ Ihave wondered aloud whether in futurewe may not structure such meetings withsummits, the heads themselves, statingtheir policy framework for bureaucrats

to negotiate the details.“The experience that I have had this

time is that bureaucrats have put the eco-nomic interests of their countries farabove the two primary objectives of thesummit, namely poverty and the environ-ment. We are listening to many noblespeeches by heads since yesterday. Thesespeeches, their tone and policy frame-work has not been reflected in the nego-tiations. I wonder if in future we mightnot invert the process.”

For full interview turn to page 8

Women’s rights hung precariously in thebalance yesterday, as a proceduralcommittee met late into the night to decidewhether text that had apparently beenagreed could be reopened for negotiation.Canada, which contends that thecontentious paragrpah 47 was never agreedat the preparatory meeting in Bali, alsoprepared a legal argument on why thematter should be heard at the eleventh hour.UN officials were reportedly scramblingthrough tapes and transcripts to figure outexactly what had been agreed.

While UN observers predicted thatsome kind of compromise would behammered out so that the summit can wrapup today as scheduled, some mooted thepossibility of an extension should there failto be consensus.

Beneath the technicalities that havebedevilled this part of the Plan ofImplementation is the much more seriousissue of the commitment by governmentsto gains that have been made by womenon reproductive health, and the political willto assert them regardless what wasactually agreed in Bali.

Throughout the day, the Women’ sCaucus engaged in a flurry of lobbying anddemonstrations, holding a banner in frontof the Sadndton Convention Centre thatread : “WSSD trades off women’s rights”.Canada claims that the clause stating thatprovision of basic health care should besubject to national laws, customs and reli-gion was never agreed. It is proposing thatthis wording to be changed to “…… andin comformity with all human rights and

Women’s rights – the burning issueBy Rosemary Okello-Orlale

fundamental freedoms…”It is supported in its quest by the

Netherlands, Nordic countries, Egypt andVenezuela, which is currently heading theG77.

They are up against the Vatican andsome of the Islamic countries from theG77 group. The US has thrown in its lotwith this group based on procedural ratherthan ideological grounds.

Host country South Africa, one of thefew countries in the world whose consti-tution provides for gender equality, hasfound itself in an awkward position.

Foreign Minister Nkosazana Zumasaid that as the President of the Summit,she agreed that it is a procedural matter,and it is up to the committee to decidewhether or not the issue should be re-opened.

But speaking as a South AfricanMinister, and leader of the South Africandelegation to the Fourth World Conferenceon Women in Beijing, the minister said:“Women’s rights are human rights andSouth Africa believes that health is auniversal right, it should not be controlledby culture or religion.”

William Ryana of the United NationsPopulation Fund (UNFPA) said that whatwomen’s health means is the right to befree from violence and the right to repro-ductive health as set out in the final docu-ment of the UN Conference on Populationand Development in Cairo.

“I do not understand why anybodyin the world would oppose women’s rightto health which include the right to repro-ductive services,” he said.

Action Plan comes under fireBy Pamella Makotsi

The plan of action agreed after yesterday’spivotal summit negotiations was promptlydismissed as a document inferior to thedraft Johannesburg Political Declaration re-leased on Monday by the South AfricanGovernment.

Major groups and non-governmentalorganisations described the draft declara-tion as “a little more progressive”.

“The so-called Action Plan from thissummit has been a miserable failure, full

of weasel words and vague aspiration,”said Friends of the Earth in a statement.Although the network welcomed the dec-laration, saying it contained some “usefuland progressive” language, it noted thatthere was still room for improvement.

“There needs to be a stronger state-ment in the Challenges We Face section tothe effect that many of the world’s envi-ronmental and social problems have wors-

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ened since the Rio summit 10 years ago,”said the statement. “The world’s dominantneo-liberal system is not sustainable. Wemust act now to protect our commonhome for future generations.”

The draft declaration, titled From ourOrigins to the Future, binds heads of stateand government to declare their “commit-ment to build a humane and global societyin pursuit of the goal of human dignity forall” and re-affirm their commitment to sus-tainable development.

The declaration upholds the Rio prin-ciples and binds countries to fully imple-ment Agenda 21. “We recognise the cen-tral place of women in human society andtheir key role in promoting sustainable de-velopment,” it says. “We agree thatwomen’s emancipation and gender equal-ity should be integrated in all activities en-compassed within Agenda 21, the Millen-nium Development Goals and theJohannesburg Commitment.”

But Annabelle Waititu of the Nairobi-based Environment Liaison Centre Inter-national said the declaration should havebeen stronger in committing governments

to put into practice conventions they haveratified that recognise women’s humanrights.

While the declaration acknowledgesthat new conventions and protocols havebeen introduced to implement Agenda 21since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 — atwhich countries agreed on protection ofthe environment, social and social devel-opment as the three pillars of sustainabledevelopment — no individual nation shouldbe denied the opportunity to benefit fromdevelopment.

The declaration lists poverty, under-development, environmental degradationand social and economic inequalities withinand among countries as the most pressingchallenges.

Yesterday, Nkosazana Zuma, SouthAfrica’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, saidsuggestions from NGOs and major groupswould be taken into account before thefinal draft was made.

The major groups and NGOs said theyhad made proposals to strengthen the dec-laration, “if we are to move forward fromthis summit to work to protect the earth

from the combined impact of environmen-tal damage, poverty and equality”.

Nine major NGOs and groups, underthe Eco Equity network, published a letterto President Thabo Mbeki in which theyproposed changes to specific sections ofthe declaration.

The groups — Consumer Interna-tional, the Danish 92 Group, Earth Justice,Euroda, Friends of the Earth International,Greenpeace, Northern Alliance forSustainabilty, Oxfam International and theWorld Wildlife Fund (WWF) International— want the section on new conventionsand protocols for implementation of Agenda21 to be accompanied by a call for theirentry into force or implementation.

They also want the declaration to re-fer to “clean” energy and “clean” technol-ogy alongside sanitation and water. Theysay the sections on corporate accountabil-ity are too weak. “This section needs tobe made stronger, citing accountability aswell as responsibility.”

The groups also want the section onthe World Trade Organisation to call for areview of the Trade-Related Intellectual

Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement at theCancun WTO Ministerial meeting in 2003.They also want the heads of states andgovernments to agree that the UN shouldconvene a conference to discuss the fulldevelopment and effective implementationof inter-governmental agreements andmeasures to actively promote corporateresponsibility and accountability.

Waititu said the declaration should alsocommit governments to implement theMillennium Declaration on Development.“I would like to see governments com-mitting the means that will be used in termsof capacity and finances,” she said. “Theymust come up with a clear institutionalmechanism for implementation.”

In its assessment of the draft, WWFsaid the declaration failed to deliver on keysustainability objectives. “Past experiencehas shown that such declarations aremainly window-dressing and do not leadto constructive action,” the organisationsaid in a statement. “Indeed, their finewords have been known to conceal lackof action.”

Plan under fire

As the clock ticks towards the end of theWorld Summit on Sustainable Develop-ment, questions are being raised abouttrends that suggest that the developedcountries are leaning heavily towards part-nerships that favour working with privatesector rather than governments — withserious consequences for implementationof the Johannesburg Plan of Action.

This is anathema to civil society andsome members of the business commu-nity, who fear that the mistake made 10years ago at the Rio Summit may be re-peated in Johannesburg. Then, govern-ments did not come up with strong com-mitments on targets, finances and time linesfor implementing what they had agreedupon.

The United States and its traditionalallies, Europe and Japan, have weakenedor, in some instances, rejected thespirit of government to govern-ment partnerships, which are morebinding than partnerships with theprivate sector and civil society.Partnerships between govern-ments are crucial because suchagreements translate into policiesand laws.

“What is being developed hereis a very weak plan of implemen-tation that is not going to achievemuch, even after we have failedto make gains since the 1992 EarthSummit,” says Juanita Costano, anadviser to the World ConservationUnion (IUCN).

European countries havepledged here to set aside morethan two billion euros for partner-ships in areas such as trade, en-ergy, water and sanitation, andpoverty alleviation in Africa.

Earlier this week, BritishPrime Minister Tony Blair andFrench President Jacques Chiracannounced that their countries had

earmarked one billion pounds and 100 mil-lion euros respectively for developingcountries. They went on to say: “We be-lieve governments and the private sectormust work together to help deliver the Mil-lennium Development Goals and theJohannesburg Plan of Action.”

The European Union launched a 750million euro allocation for trade-related is-sues and 700 million euro for energy un-der private sector partnership. And theUnited States has pledged a total of over$2.7 billion to be distributed to projects inareas such as energy, water, health, agri-culture, biodiversity and eco-system aswell as science and education, sustainableproduction and consumption, andurbanisation and local authorities.

Says Yolanda Kakabadse, President ofIUCN: “We have to watch them carefully.

Governments cannot refuse to pass poli-cies and instead want to delegate respon-sibility to citizens by supporting the typetwo outcomes and partnerships.”

Critics see the developed countries’strategy of using partnerships with privatesector and civil society as a way to financethe implementation of the summit’s politi-cal document as a way of spreading costs.They say these countries do not want tobe held responsible for failing to deliveron targets.

“They do not want commitments theymake to be binding so that they cannot beheld accountable for what they do,” saysMuna Lakhani of Friends of the Earth.“Without adequate political statements, thesummit will have achieved nothing.”

Private sector groupings, such as theSouth Business Challenge, say they have

Strange bedfellows or genuine partners?By Arthur Okwemba

no problems with such partnerships. In adeclaration released earlier, they said theywere committed to Agenda 21 provisions,which support partnerships.

But some businessmen have arguedthat the private sector will support gov-ernments only if they get something outof it. “We are not charitable organisationsor public utilities,” said a member of theAustralian delegation. “Our bottom line isprofits and what we do should reflectthis.”

Koos Richelle, Director-General of theEuropean Commission, says however thatit is important that governments partnerwith the private sector and NGOs to makethings happen since governments cannotdo everything.

Even though they have not openly saidit, the developed countries might just as

well be implementing the New Part-nership for Africa Development(NEPAD) provisions which call for in-vestment in the private sector ratherthan aid.Chirac and Blair said during their press

conference: “We want a culture ofpartnerships and not of assistance. Inreturn, governments must be commit-ted to sustainable development, goodgovernance and responsibility.”Major groups participating at the sum-

mit were hoping that government togovernment agreements will be strongon issues such as energy and the en-vironment and end up being linked topartnerships with the private sectorand civil society.Says Tiahoga Ruge, General Co-

ordinator of the Centre for Educationand Training for Sustainable Develop-ment in Mexico’s Ministry of Environ-ment and Natural Resources: “Thereare unfortunate things happening, butwhat is important is the partnershipswe make between ourselves. Theseare the ones that make things happen.”

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Indigenous people take a swipe at IUCNThe Indigenous Peoples Caucus yesterdayaccused the World Conservation Union(IUCN) of slapping them in the face by sign-ing a partnership with the International Coun-cil of Mining and Metals (ICMM).

ICCM has entered into a partnership onMining and Biodiversity with IUCN.

At a press conference in the Sandton me-dia centre, the Caucus sent a strong messageto IUCN, with whom it said it had had a longcollaboration, that it did not accept any ef-forts to make the mining industry environmen-tally friendly.

“By nature of its technology, mining is un-sustainable. The mining industry has a poorrecord of corporate responsibility to local com-munities,” said Tom Goldtooth of the Indig-enous Environmental Network. Joji Carino ofTebtebba Foundation, the Indigenous PeoplesInternational Centre for Policy-Research andEducation, described the partnership as “grosscynicism”.

A global coalition of indigenous peoplesorganisations, mine-affected communities andcivil society groups issued a statement at thepress conference which called for:• A moratorium on mining activities until gov-

ernments and corporations respect indig-enous peoples’ rights to self-determinationand to free prior and informed consent to allforms of mining;

• Downsizing of the mining industry;• A stop to environmentally damaging min-

ing practices such as bulk and strip; min-ing; cyanide heap leach-pit mining and sub-marine tailings disposal;

• Reparations to affected communities andrestitution for past damages; and

• A Convention on Corporate Accountabilitycovering the mining, energy and chemicalindustries.

Trade guns for developmentThe Global Compliance Research Project hascalled on governments at the WSSD to trans-fer the US$900 billion global military budgetto fund plans and programmes for sociallyequitable and environmentally-sound devel-opment.

Joan E. Russon, Co-ordinator of the Re-search Project, says the cost of implementingAgenda 21 is estimated at being less than theworld’s annual military budget. The UN mem-ber states, she added, have a commitment toreduce their military budgets and translatethese funds into peace dividends to promotesocial justice.

A partnership for childrenNot far from the WSSD events, the HillbrowCommunity Project in Health Personal Educa-tion, in a unique partnership with the Green-house Project in Joubert Park helps youngchildren in the inner city district to appreciatenature.

“One of the aims of the GreenhouseProject in partnership with the Hillbrow Com-munity Project is to introduce toddlers andtheir guardians to the possibility of turningthe neighbourhood’s balconies green,” saidRefiloe Maruping, a tour guide at the Green-house Project.

Maruping says regular arrangements aremade for the young children to visit and par-ticipate in planting gardens in little bottles.

“We believe a child’s natural curiosity inwatching a vegetable grow makes the childenthusiastic to want to eat vegetables andfruits by recognition,” said Melissa Bortz, aspeech therapist who works with the HillbrowCommunity Project.

In an interview with GEM, Bortz explainedthat the project is linked to the health sciencesfaculty at Wits University and it incorporatesfour projects in Hillbrow — a multi-discipli-nary clinic, environmental health, a youth pro-gramme and women and child care.

The Indigenous Peoples Caucus says al-though they have lobbied and submittedan action plan, their concerns are virtuallymissing in the WSSD document.

According to Tom Goldtooth, the Di-rector of the Indigenous EnvironmentNetwork, and Lucy Mulenkei the net-work’s Director of Information, the so-called Action Plan from this Summit hasbeen a “miserable failure”.

In an interview with GEM, Goldtoothand Mulenkei, expressed concern that theIndigenous Peoples declaration, agreedupon in August by more than 300 peoplefrom Indigenous NGOs from all over theworld in Kimberly, South Africa, had notbeen clearly spelt out in the WSSD ActionPlan.

“We have done our best and have beenlobbying for so many years. This worldsummit, which is supposed to be on sus-tainable development, seems to be on un-sustainable development. We cannot meetthe world leaders to challenge them,”Goldtooth said.

”We are responsible for defending in-digenous lands and communities. We arenot objects of tourism development,” headded. “We are active participants withrights and responsibilities of our territo-ries, including the process of planning andimplementation, and yet our respective gov-ernments never consult us before they de-cide what to do with our lands.”

The World Bank has noted that indig-enous people are the poorest of the poor,Goldtooth said, and yet, “the United StatesGovernment, backed by Australia and theUnited Kingdom, has been very resistantto the collective rights of indigenous peo-ples.

“We are the gatekeepers ofbiodiversity. We have always shared our

Keepers of biodiversity sidelinedBy Loga Virahsawmy

cultural diversity and traditional cultureswith other people. We have lived in per-fect harmony and in balance with natureand mother earth for millennia and yet westill do not own our space,” he said.

Goldtooth explained that the economicagenda and form of development pushed

by western industrialised nations takesplace on the “sacred land and territories”of indigenous people who are never con-sulted.

“These countries, especially theUnited States are more concerned withmoney than anything else. We are opposedto the way this economic globalisation isbeing forced upon us and at the same timedestroying our eco-system. The UnitedStated failed to take a stand on climatechange and now people are in life and deathsituations.

Goldtooth cited the flooding in thePacific Islands, ice thinning in the Articand soil erosion in other regions as someof the natural disasters caused by climatechange, which indigenous people face.

“We have a profound spiritual rela-tionship with Mother Earth and we areconcerned about the degradation of ourenvironment and livelihood. These prac-tices of unsustainable development are aform of genocide and ethnocide againstour people. We have to put a human faceto all these issues.”

The UN High Commissioner for Hu-man Rights, Mary Robinson, is on recordas saying that, “it is necessary to adoptpreventive and necessary measures in or-der to protect the lives of the members ofindigenous communities.”

But still, “there are no constructive,participative negotiations, and the traditionand culture of the indigenous peoples arebeing jeopardised,” Mulenkei said.

“Indigenous peoples are the custodi-ans of the environment and the ecosys-tem and yet their whole lives are beingdestroyed. We live in harmony with na-ture in a specific lifestyle by cropping,hunting, sea and river fishing, and we haverespect for sacred and historic places. Wemust fight for our human rights and dig-nity,” Mulenkei said.

Mulenkei added that indigenous peo-ple have become “refugees in alien lands,thus losing our tradition and culture. Wedo not want to be extinct. Despite our ne-gotiations in different conventions regard-ing bio-diversity and climate change, po-litical leaders do not want to recognise usas indigenous peoples. They say that webelong to the local community.”

According to official figures, there are250,000 to 300,000 million indigenouspeople globally, “and this is a conservativefigure”, Goldtooth said. “We hear that 90per cent of biodiversity is being threatened.We are the gatekeepers of this 90 per centand we can make a difference.”

All the signs are there — delegates peer-ing intently into the green glow of theircell phones; the klick-klack of fingers hur-riedly running across computer keyboards.Everyone agrees that the new informationtechnologies (IT) have had a big impacton the WSSD.

“Thank God for IT!” exclaimed MariaSuarez, co-director of Feminist Interna-tional Radio Endeavor (FIRE). “Here is ashowcase of how to make the right con-nections in order to be heard,” Suarez said,adding that IT had given ordinary peoplearound the world a voice and an ear intothe Summit. FIRE, based in Latin America,has webcasted the Summit live to its vari-ous audiences.

Reflecting back on the 1992 EarthSummit in Rio, Suarez said: ”Rio de Ja-neiro was very difficult. The technolo-gies available also were inefficient, expen-sive and difficult to access. …E-mail hadnot quite taken root then.”

Women not only claimed their space,but networked and made their voices heardthroughout the WSSD, and IT made thispossible, said Sally Shackleton.

”We have been able to provide an at-mosphere for women to relax, reflect andremind ourselves of some of our victo-ries,” she said. “…We can get comfort-

IT makes a differenceBy Juliana Omale

able with IT and appropriate these tech-nologies for ourselves to meet our realneeds.”

Many of the cyber café users,Shackelton said, were South Africans liv-ing and working near the Women’s Cen-tre, as well as delegates, activists and jour-nalists. The service was free.

On the business side, an IT company,SchlumbergerSema, managed the vastdatabase and media information systemsfor the WSSD. “We designed the softwarethat cues up-coming media events at theSummit venues, and coordinates transportmodules that monitor logistics to move

delegates efficiently from venue to venue,”said Jennifer Cherry.

SchhlumbergerSema’s software forthe accreditation system is managed by theUN and the South African National Intelli-gence Agency.

”There are 70,000 people at the Sum-mit,” she said. “We have the capacity todisaggregate this information by sex, butthis information is not yet in the publicdomain until the UN gives authorisation.”

Derik Storm of Mthombo IT Serv-ices (MIT), said that his organisation isone of three South African companiesproviding IT infrastructure, installation andsupport to the WSSD.

Florence Machio, coordinator of thevirtual newspaper AfricaWoman, said thatIT had helped women journalists to inter-view experts and activists working withcommunity groups in Kenya, Uganda, Zim-babwe and Ghana – the four countriesparticipating in the virtual publication.

”We have had four video conferenceswhere we had people talking about waterand energy, HIV/AIDS and women, agri-culture and land, as well as fair trade,” saidMachio. “The responses have been posi-tive and it has also helped us get a handleon our perspectives on news coming outof the conference.”

News Round-up

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Activists attending the Johannesburg Sum-mit are calling on developed countries towrite off debts owed by developing coun-tries as a show of commitment to sustain-able development.

Developing countries owed a total ofUS$2.5 trillion to the rest of the world in2000, according to the New EconomicsFoundation. This amounted to 40 per centof their combined income.

Though the 42 most Heavily IndebtedPoor Countries owed only $175 billion ofthis money, they owed a much greater per-centage of their national incomes than theirrich neighbours, the foundation says in itspublication Balancing the Other Budget:Proposals for Solving the Greater Debt Cri-sis.

Ivon Yanez of Ecological Action saysmuch of the debts that African, Latin Ameri-can and Asian countries have run up havetheir roots in colonialism by the North. “Theexternal debt which is attributed to us startedto accumulate in the colonial period, so it isillegitimately attributed to us,” she adds. “Itis the responsibility of the North to slashit.”

Yanez argues further that the North hasbenefited tremendously from the knowledgeand natural resources of developing coun-tries even though the colonial era is longgone. “Debt has a great social and environ-mental impact and has had repercussionson sustainable development in poor coun-tries. We call it ecological debt because ithas serious repercussions on the ecologicalsystems of most developing countries.”

Activities such as “stealing” plant ge-netic diversity and too much consumptionof natural resources by rich countries havebeen classified as ecological debt. A typicalAmerican produces around 200 times moreof the key greenhouse gas than a typicalTanzanian, according to the New Econom-ics Foundation. “In effect, the citizens ofthe United States and other industrialisednations have accumulated a substantial ‘car-bon debt’ by free-riding on the planet’s

shared atmosphere,” says the organisation.Yanez says it is difficult to quantify the

total amount the North owes the South. “Wecan’t quantify the amount needed to re-for-est; we can’t quantify the cost of people dy-ing as a result of drought due to climate changearising from air pollution by multi-nationalsand carbon dioxide and other environmentalinjustices.”

She adds: “The debt is so huge and wouldtwist the financial position between the Northand South. The South would become thecreditors, hence the reluctance to accept andassume the debt.”

Demba Moussa Dembele, Director of theForum for Africa Alternatives, says the UnitedNations has a responsibility to ensure thatmulti-national companies contribute to thesocial and economic development of the coun-tries they operate in, especially in the South.

“The UN must also take steps to reign inthe international financial institutions,” saysDembele. “The corporations must committhemselves to the development of their hosts;they must be held financially and legally forthe distortion of the environment and the eco-logical damage they cause.”

In 1999, the heavily indebted poor countriesspent $8.6 billion on servicing their debts andonly $5.2 billion on school fees for their chil-dren. According to the New Economics Foun-dation, African countries spent a fifth of theirrevenues in 2000 on servicing their debts.War-ravaged countries like Angola and SierraLeone spent up to 90 per cent of their rev-enues servicing their debts.

“Over the past three decades, creditorsand governments have engaged in a recklesscycle of lending and borrowing, often under-taken without a proper, legitimate and account-able process,” says Balancing the OtherBudget.

“Even when loans were made for sup-posedly ‘productive’ purposes, much of themoney was wasted through prestige projectsthat yielded little, or that failed through badadvice from international lenders.”

Debt: Who owes who?By Columbus Mavhunga

Love, life and hBy Nonqaba waka Msimang

HIV/AIDS and environmental justice mightseem to be poles apart but not to membersof Mission Antarctica, which was formedat the Rio Summit as a strategy to involveyoung people in environmental conservation.

Says Zola Tshabalala of South Africa’sloveLife project, who is one of 46 youth from31 countries who are part of the MissionAntarctica team at Ubuntu Village: “We musttreat the environment like us, like humanbeings. You don’t want anybody to dumpthings on you. Why should you throw allsorts of things on the ground?”

LoveLife teaches young people to takecare of themselves in order to fight AIDS.“We teach them about all the negative thingsin their life, teen crime and pregnancy. Thatis the rubbish in theirlife, and we advise themabout how the earthfeels when we pollute.”

The Rio Summit of1992 gave RobertSwan, who led an ex-pedition to the SouthPole in 1986, the man-date to create an envi-ronmental project thatwould involve youngpeople. The MissionAntarctica team went tothe North Pole in Marchthis year.

Stephanie Spencer,a Canadian, says:“When you want tochange something, youstart with yourself, yourfriends, your family. Iregard environmentaljustice as respect forthe environment. Don’tcreate problems for theearth, problems that willbe felt by future gen-

erations.”Visitors to the Mission Antarctica stand

first enter a maze of art made from soda bot-tles bundled into all shapes and forms, stacksof newspaper crushed by rusty cut-up bar-rels, bundles of 36-pack containers of eggswhose omelette-making days are long gone,exhaust pipes that have lost their sting andother items humans use and refuse.

South African Jeane Hoffman is respon-sible for organising the artists who made themaze and other provocative art made fromsupermarket shopping bags and Styrofoamcups. “It is easy to talk about what we aredoing to the environment if people see theartwork,” says Hoffman. “We have createdvalue from objects regarded as waste.”Why the rich owe the poor

Each person in sub-Saharan Africa owes the West $327 — a figure greater than thetotal yearly income of people in 19 African countries.

As the decades pass, the poorer nations are sinking deeper into debt. The debt ofthe South to the North more than doubled during the 1980s despite net repayments —debt repayments minus new loans — of some $209 billion during the second half ofthat decade. During the 1990s, it doubled again.

Last year, developing countries paid a total of $382 billion to their creditors —more than $1 billion a day. This represented more than 13 times what was transferredfrom North to South in terms of aid grants.

At $2.2 trillion, the external debt of the United States dwarfs that of even the mostindebted developing country. Accumulated spending on imports into America has notbeen met by an accompanying increase in exports, leading to deficits of around $450billion a year. As a result, each American now owes the rest of the world $7,333 —compared with $500 million for each citizen in the developing world.

Only the US has so far escaped from the full implications of its external debt.Because the US dollar serves as the world’s reserve currency, and because the USTreasury bill has become the de facto global monetary standard, America is in a strongposition to fix interest rates on its own borrowing.

The number of people seriously affected by mostly climate driven ‘natural’ disas-ters has grown enormously over the past 30 years. According to the World DisastersReport 2002, it is up from 740 million in the 1970s to over two billion in the last decade.

Reported economic losses from disasters have increased five-fold from $131billion in the 1970s to $629 billion in the 1990s. The number of reported disasters rosethree times from 1,110 to 2,742 in the same period.

Source: Balancing the Other Budget, New Economics Foundation, 2002

Environmental justice:

5

abitatMarta Markowska, from Poland, says

her country has recycling bins that are di-vided into three — plastics, metals and bio-degradable waste. But she feels that moreshould be done. “We learn about ecologyand the environment at school. I don’t likepeople smoking in the car, they throw outcigarettes. In Poland, we have many parks.Some people cut trees.”

The young women have a great deal ofrespect for Swan. Supported by govern-ments and business, he chose young explor-ers to help him create a project with a “cando” approach to the environment and showthat ambitious goals like preserving Antarc-tica begin with small positive steps. “The35 young people were very different from

each other, black and whiteSouth Africans, Jews andArabs,” adds Hoffman.

Swan and his explorers,with the cooperation of theRussian Antarctic Expedi-tion, removed over 1,000tons of waste from the sci-entific base, Bellingshausen,on the Antarctic Peninsula.After the successful clean-up operation, Mission Ant-arctica’s communicationvessel, yacht 2041 sailedfrom Antarctica to CapeTown. From there, it trav-elled by road to the WSSD.

The yacht, which bearsthe loveLife logo, is on dis-play. Tshabalala has herown way of articulating en-vironmental justice: “If wedon’t fight HIV/AIDS, wewon’t be sustainable. Wecan do it. They told RobertSwan that he could not doit, he could not remove allthat rubbish, but he did it.”

Former South African leader Nelson Mandelasaid yesterday that sustainable developmentwould only be achieved if people broke awayfrom traditional thinking, catalysed a new vi-sion and joined hands in new partnerships.

“The challenges that face conservationand sustainable development have clearlybeen identified,” Mandela said. “We need todeal with inequality and divisions, to fightagainst complacency and narrow view-points.”

He was speaking at the launch of theInternational Parks Congress to be held nextyear in Durban, South Africa. The congressis being organised by the World Conserva-tion Union and World Commission on Pro-tected Areas.

Environmentalists have argued that Af-ricans often view protected areas as sym-bols of injustice because of the alienation theysuffer when they are pushed out of their landand the fact that they are subsequently de-nied a share of the resources generated.They, therefore, neither visit nor considersuch sites as important parts of their heri-tage.

Citing the example of Kruger NationalPark in South Africa, Mandela said indigenouspeople could not see the park set aside “bythe privileged for the privileged” as a sourceof pride.

“Many of Africa’s most beautiful pro-tected areas have their origins in a colonialpast and have a legacy of being set aside,thus alienating people who view them as

Build a park, bring in the communityBy Arthur Okwemba

meaningless or even costly,” Mandela said.“The key to a sustainable future for the

protected areas lies in the development ofpartnerships,” Mandela added. “It is onlythrough alliances and partnerships that pro-tected areas can be made relevant to theneeds of society.”

Brazilian President Fernando Cardosostressed the need to improve nature throughco-operation with people. “Thisshould entail informing them ofthe importance of conservingnature,” he added.

Cardoso suggested the cre-ation of a World Fund for Pov-erty Eradication and global rela-tions based on justice to helpsolve some of theseproblems. “We want a differen-tiated, sustainable and all-inclu-sive globalisation.”

Zulu King GoodwillZwelithini proposed that devel-opment of parks should takeinto account the welfare of thepeople. “And research using theindigenous knowledge on howto use the parks in a sustainableway should also be pursued.”

World Conservation UnionPresident Yolanda Kakabadsesaid: “Five years ago, onlyseven per cent of land was con-served. But now the area hasmoved to 10 per cent, which is

a tremendous improvement.”She said it was important to involve

women and youth in decision-making in con-serving the environment and biodiversity.Pointing to four young people in the audience,she added: “These four young persons sur-prised many when they explained what con-servation is all about. We need to have suchgroups on board.”

From Benin to France with a green messageBy Nonqaba waka Msimang

Born in Benin, Marie Agbessi has built a for-midable political career far from her originson the strength of her commitment to envi-ronmental justice. She is the Deputy Mayorof Villeneuve D’Asq, in northern France.

“It is about the right to a healthy envi-ronment now and in the future,” she says.Agbessi joined French politics in March2001. She is one of five members ofLesverts, the Green Party of France, in hercity.

“Look at me. The Green Partydoesn’t care where you were born. Theywant me because I know the work and Istand for sustainable development and en-vironmental justice. Lesverts adopted gen-der equality before it became law in Francelast year.”

According to Agbessi, the north ofFrance used to make a lot of money fromcoal. Boys went to the coal mines as youngas 16. Now they are closed, the environ-ment has been destroyed, the majority ofthe population is suffering from cancer andthere is unemployment.

Unemployment around Pas de Cal-ais is double that of France, she says. “Itwas the most industrialised part of France.You see, the money made 400 years ago isuseless now because of what it did to theland and the people, who are sick and havelittle skills beside the coal mines.”

She adds: “You cannot have real eco-nomic development if you do not care to

preserve the environment. My job is to lookat applications to put up a commercial build-ing, a square, anything. We have certain in-dicators. Engineers are invited by the com-munity to city hall. They answer questionsabout the materials they will use. Are theyproduced with the environment in mind?

What energy controls will be building have?Will the paint they use harm the health of thepeople? Will there be enough air circulation?

Because of health problems associatedwith coal mining in the north, the French havebecome environmentally alert. At the districtlevel, they have non-partisan investigators ofpossible environmental violations who takethe case to the public via radio, television andnewspapers.

“Involvement and participation by anycitizen is the heart of sustainable develop-ment,” says Agbessi. “We cannot preservethe environment if sustainable developmentremains with a few, or just educated peopleonly.”

She first won a seat in the local com-munity council in 1989. Her term of officeended in 1995 because Leverts had a poorshowing in the election. “I am worried aboutthe artificial development European countriesare doing in Africa. They mine coal and ura-nium. They create an artificial economy,where the product is taken to Europe, to de-velop Europe. What is left at the end of theday is bad health and a bad environment.”

Agbessi says she first got involved inlocal politics by campaigning on behalf ofAfrican citizens, who comprise five per centof the population. She adds: “I am an immi-grant woman. I understood their issues andspoke on their behalf. A heritage of bad envi-ronment results in bad health and unemploy-ment.”

Maries Agbessi, Deputy Mayor,Villeneuve, D’Asq, France

balancing the scales

6

The health of thousands of women and girls is put at riskdaily by the burning of paper products, plastic used formedical purposes and other polyvinyl products.

Dioxin, a toxic chemical caused by the incinerationof such products, has been linked to endometriosis, adisease which affects women and girls worldwide.

The disease causes growths on the lining of the uterus(called the endometrium). It leads to a variety of symp-toms ranging from pains before and during periods, painduring sexual intercourse, constant fatigue, painful uri-nation, allergies and other infections.

Research by the Endometriosis Society of SouthAfrica shows a clear link between dioxin exposure andendometriosis. “It is very unfortunate that people lookfor the quickest method of getting rid of their waste. Theyjust incinerate them without realising that they are notonly polluting the atmosphere, but the dioxin emitted inthe atmosphere is threatening the health of thousands ofwomen and young girls around the globe,” says JoyMargolis, the chair of the Endometriosis Society.

“It is usually men who do the incineration at munici-pal councils and hospitals, and yet the disease only tar-gets women and young girls,” she adds.

NGOs at the Women’s Tent in Nasrec put en-dometriosis among the diseases linked to environmentalfactors in their WSSD Plan of Action.

Margolis knows the disease intimately–she has lived

Environmental health — Pollution leads to painBy Loga Virahsawmy

with it for 32 years. “I know I will never be cured,” shetold GEM. Her symptoms began at 13 and the diseasehas made her infertile.

“Many of the sufferers themselves may not knowthat they suffer from endometriosis. This disease takesso many faces that it is difficult to diagnose,” Margolissays.

“Even sufferers who know about their disease haveproblems in coming to terms with it. They are afraid andembarrassed to talk. They feel there is a stigma attachedto this disease as it affects their wombs. They are afraidto be branded. Their intimate life may be a stake,” sheadds.

GEM did a random sample at the Sandton MediaCentre to see if women knew of the disease, which islinked to environmental pollution. Some of the responsesreceived were: “What the hell is that?” “I have never heardof endome…how do you say it again?” “Is this a newthing?”

The South African Endometriosis Association willundertake massive educational programmes in schools,health centers and with the local authorities. “The diseasehas reached pandemic proportion and it is about time thatsomething is done worldwide, especially in places wherethere are more dioxin emissions.”

There is no cure yet, and Margolis explains that thetreatment “has been on a hit and miss basis”.

“I underwent over 10 operations and even had a par-tial hysterectomy before the doctors could diagnose thatI was suffering from endometriosis. Fortunately, there islots of research to find out other ways of detecting thedisease than having to undergo a surgery called alaparoscopy, which has to be done under anesthesia. Ihave been told that soon doctors will be able to diagnosedthe disease through blood tests,” she says.

“Treatments can be very expensive and not all womencan afford that. It is indeed a heart-breaking disease notonly because of the costs but the pain and other prob-lems associated with this disease can be insurmountable,”Margolis explains.

“Very often women find themselves having to stopwork while others lose their jobs, because of continuedabsences due to sickness. It’s like a vicious circle whichmakes them become even more vulnerable,” she adds.

Hard as endometriosis is for adult women, it can beeven worse for young girls. “It can be very frustratingfor them… Very often the disease has an impact on theirstudies as they cannot sit through examinations or keepup with their homework. We therefore encourage themto contact their local support group.”

The Endometriosis Association has support groupsnot only in South Africa, but also in South America, Eu-rope, Asia, and Africa. There also are groups in the UnitedKingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Although their smiles were warm and friendly, the black-robed WSSD volunteers had more than their fair share ofproblems trying to get to and from the summit venue.

“We had a big problem, especially with transport afterwork,” said Kenneth Bhoodu, supervisor of the transportfor the volunteers. The volunteers, he explained, aredropped at central locations from where they then had tofind their own way home.

“There were reports from Ubuntu Village that somevolunteers were robbed of their uniforms and cards. Onewoman was almost raped when she could not find trans-port to take her home after she was dropped at centralplace,” said Bhoodu, adding that it may have been wiserfor volunteers to have been housed together in a centralplace during the WSSD.

The volunteers, however, said that they were notthe only ones with transport problems. “I joined the teambecause I wanted to be part of those giving assistance tothe delegates,” said Buitumelo Kgapola. “It makes me feelbad when there is no bus to a certain place or the busdoes not leave at the expected time, because the delegatesput the blame on us.

“We are only supposed to direct the delegates to theright bus. It’s the responsibility of the transport manag-ers to find out if there are buses and to ensure that theyleave at the expected time,” Kgapola said.

The Transport Manager, Alex Weschta, refused tocomment on the issue saying : ‘The last time I said some-thing to the media, things were scrambled.”

Transport bluesBy Caroline Sitongo

OPINION7

EDITORIAL

The phrase “poverty reduction” will be onmy mind long after I have hung up thebadges that allowed me to go into varioussites of the World Summit on SustainableDevelopment (WSSD).

I heard a lot of speeches about “pov-erty eradication” and read of the Millen-nium Development Goals signed by 147countries and passed unanimously by theUnited Nations General Assembly twoyears ago. However, I do not rememberseeing one definition that will apply equallyto a person living in Toronto, Canada, andin Kwa-Nyuswa, north of Durban.

The United Nations should receive apat on the back for making reducing pov-erty the first goal. However, I believe thatpoverty eradication will continue to be elu-sive unless it is defined, not by scholarswho are ‘experts’ in world poverty, butby the people themselves. I mean this lit-erally, because there is a perception thatthere is no poverty in Europe and NorthAmerica. The Oxford dictionary does nothelp either, because it defines poverty as‘want, scarcity or lack, inferiority’. Infe-riority to what or to whom? I have a nig-gling feeling that the Oxford dons meaninferiority to Europe, the continent thatplundered and pillaged the countries thatthey now regard as “poor.”

Definitions are important because theydetermine solutions. Incorrect diagnosisresults in the wrong medicine that mightkill the patient. I seriously thought aboutthe word “poor” in Canada a few yearsago. In the province of Ontario, Bob Rae’sthe New Democratic Party (NDP) had justbeen upset by the Tories led by Mike Harris.Social programmes were first on their guil-lotine.

An unemployed single mother on tel-evision told viewers that because of theTories, for the first time in four years, shewas unable to take her children to Disney-land. Working parents were aghast. Theysaid their children did not know one singleentrance to the land of Mickey Mouse andhis relatives.

I have never forgotten what that sin-gle parent said because I have never beenpoor. I was born and raised in a four-roomed house. I had two pairs of shoes,one for church and the other for school.My cousins gave me clothes that they hadoutgrown. We had meat or chicken onlyon Sundays. Our toys were the trees, theanimals and the land around us. We had aroof over our heads and Ma loved us. Wewere richer than the Oppenheimers.

Be that as it may, that woman washonest about what she regards as poverty.Law students will tell you of many caseswhere during divorce proceedings, law-yers demand settlements that will leave theirclients in the ‘standards that she is accus-tomed to.’ This means the ability to buy allfour coats: spring, summer, autumn/falland winter.

I believe that poverty differs fromcountry A to country B. Furthermore,country A is not all poor. Certain groupsof people within it are well-off or can makeends meet. In South Africa for example,Africans will be the poorest for a long timeto come, despite some white people whostand in large street intersections, eyesdown with the sign, ‘No work, no food.”However, not all people in Soweto and

Who defines who is poor?By Nonqaba waka Msimang*

Umlazi townships regard themselves aspoor.

They have their four-roomed housesthat they have renovated to six rooms.They do not have cars and take taxis towork. The little money they receive ena-bles them to take their children to board-ing schools, do their hair every week anddress smart.

They do not know that a single, fe-male parent who lives in a council flat inEngland regards them as poor. To her,Africa is synonymous with poverty. Itnever occurs to her that her counterpartin Soweto will regard her as poor becauseher flat is highly subsidised by the gov-ernment and that she is on the ‘dole’ or

social assistance.In South Africa, we have a phrase

‘historically disadvantaged individuals’,also known as HDI. That basically meansblack people, and Africans in particular,whose land was taken by colonials, andthe free labour they used to build this coun-try, WSSD delegates have been admiringsince they landed at Jan Smuts Interna-tional Airport.

One of the memorable interviews Ihad during the summit was with C. Kasturifrom southern India, on how women inthe region first defined poverty for them-selves and then came up with a solution.They save 30 rupees (three Rand) everymonth and the money rotates among thewomen. Women use the money to buysewing machines, goats, poultry stock andto pay school fees.

I could not believe it. If I had a heli-copter, I would have taken her to all town-ships in South Africa where women wouldhave told her about similar saving schemes.They are given various names, stokvels,imali ezalayo, societies, the names areendless. Ten or 12 women contribute to acommon purse. This money earns inter-est and is divided at the end of the yearusually at Christmas but, more and morewomen have opted to do it in January inorder to buy school uniforms and books.

Some societies work exactly like theones in southern India. The money doesthe rounds and is never divided at the endof the year. For three years, my motherhad an agreement with her society to havethe money in February to pay the Univer-sity of Zululand, where I learnt to writesuch articles.

This is not restricted to South Africa.Lesotho, which is six hours away by car,has a population that is predominantlywomen, because most men work in SouthAfrican mines and cities. Thuli Moketestarted one of these schemes in her area.“Because I am a businesswoman and adoctor’s wife, my neighbours constantlycame to me for help. I could not helpthem all the time so I suggested these col-lective savings. One woman wantedmoney to buy her first box of apples tosell, now she is has several little shops.As for the other women, you should seethe houses they have built!”

This system also has taught banks athing or two. Major banks now have sav-

ings accounts dedicated to these societiesand stokvels. But Mokete does not agree.“Why make money for the bank? The in-terest should be for the women, it shouldfloat around for their needs.” Many SouthAfrican women agree. The money thatbanks are able to get are collective sav-ings that women use for funerals.

Such schemes work because womenin Southern Africa identified their povertyand took steps to reduce it. Their coun-terparts in the western world might regardthem as poor because they do not havesix kitchen appliances and a television setin every room, but that is immaterial. TheMillenium Development Goals will onlyhave meaning through self-definition.

* Nonqaba waka Msimang is a photogra-pher, filmmaker and poet.

End globalapartheid!

The world came to South Africa to seeup close that miracles are possible. Butas the mother of all summits ends heretoday, we need to be honest in asking ifany of that has been taken heart.

Ten years ago, when the Earth Sum-mit took place in Rio de Janeiro, SouthAfrica, then in the final throes of apart-heid, could not participate. South Afri-can NGOs did, however, coin and sharean idea that has since gained currency,and that we cover extensively in this is-sue — that of environmental justice.

The essence of this concept is that“the environment” does not exist in avacuum. It is a complex relationshipbetween people and resources. Poorpeople do not abuse their environmentbecause they want to, but because theyhave to. Rich people, through their overconsumption, abuse the environment notbecause they have to but because theywant to.

Herein lies the injustice. Herein liesthe simple fact that you cannot talk aboutsustainable development without ad-dressing the issue of poverty. And youcannot address the issue of poverty with-out talking about empowerment, particu-larly of women.

Has any of this happened in Johan-nesburg? We fear not. The rich havesteered clear of any breaks to their overconsumption including paying their farm-ers subsidies to create butter mountainsand milk lakes. Under great duress, theyhave given in to targets on water andsanitation, but steered clear of the farmore important and overarching issueof poverty.

That gender has slid down to thebottom of the list is highlighted by thefact that on the contentious paragraph47 that deals with health and women’srights, no one is even sure what wasagreed at the preparatory conference. South Africa’s position on all this isclear enough, but as host country it hasshied away from taking the decisive lead-ership role so sorely needed. Indeed, soparanoid has the government been thatit has come close to using tactics fromthe bad old days to silence the poor atthis conference.

In Rio, there was some sense thatbetween rich and poor rests some com-mon ground — the future. In Johannes-burg, the prevailing mood is that it’s acase of survival of the fittest, no matterwhere you start in the race.

If there is one lesson that delegatesshould take away from South Africa itis that transformation can and nevershould be left to the law of the jungle.The few successes that South Africa hasachieved in closing the glaring gaps be-tween whites and blacks, women andmen, rich and poor, have been a resultof deliberate policy, concerted action.

It’s not good enough that as SouthAfrica engineers its way out of its dis-mal past, the world is merrily creating,and justifying — a new global apartheid.End it. Now!

8

Co-ordinator: Rosemary Okello-OrlaleManaging Editor : Colleen Lowe Morna

Editors: Pat Made, Lucy Oriang’, Pamella MakotsiReporters: Juliana Omale, Loga Virahsawmy, Columbus Mavhunga,

Caroline Sitongo, Arthur Okwemba,Gladwin Groenewaldt, Nonqaba Msimang,Lindiwe Nkutha

Advertising: Nonqaba MsimangLayout: Noel Lumbama

Photographers: Nonqaba Msimang, Loanna HoffmannPrinted by: C&R Printers

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This publication is brought to you by the Johannesburg-based GenderLinks and the Nairobi-based African Woman and Child Feature Service,partners in the African Gender and Media initiative.

Q: What is your assessment of the Jo-hannesburg summit?A: In a general sense we have been disap-pointed with the outcome of this summitwith regard to attaining the stated objec-tive of poverty reduction and safeguard-ing the environment. But we acknowledgethere has been progress in some areas,notably water and sanitation. We are re-lieved that on biodiversity there was noretrogression on Rio and related confer-ences. We would have wished for an ad-vance but that has not happened. Therehas also been some limited progress onmarine resources with the agreement toreplenish the fish stocks. Let me return tofresh water. We are disappointed that theissue of how to safeguard the sources ofwater has not been adequately addressed.There are 261 trans boundary rivers in theworld. These need proper multilateral in-stitutions to manage them effectively.

Q: Perhaps the major difference betweenthe Earth Summit 10 years ago and theJohannesburg Summit is globalisation.Has globalisation been good or bad forAfrica?A: Globalisation is a reality, but it needs tobe managed in a better way for Africa,because so far Africa is losing out.Globalisation so far has been increasingthe marginalisation of Africa in economicterms. We are being obliged to liberalise

Africa losing out to globalisation:interview with Chief Emeka Anyaoku*

By Colleen Lowe Morna and Pamella Makotsi

and open our markets, but we are beingdenied access to markets in the developedcountries for our agricultural products inparticular. Until the issue of subsidies andmarkets is settled, globalisation will con-tinue to work against our interests.

Q: What is your response to the strongpressure witnessed in Johannesburg notto go beyond provisions made in theWorld Trade Organisation in matters re-lating to trade?A: It is understandable that this confer-ence was not meant to be a repeat of theDohar negotiations. WTO is the appropri-ate platform for negotiating trade. But be-cause trade is so central to development, Ihad hoped that this meeting would adoptprinciples and policies. After all this is asummit. Dohar was a ministerial meeting.This summit should have adopted policiesthat would help negotiations like those atDohar and steer them from the point ofview of sustainable development.

Q: Have we backtracked since Rio?A: We have gone backwards in the areaof the important precautionary principles.Rio still had in its Article 15 the impor-tance of the science based precautionaryprinciple, in other words unless there wasany scientific evidence that the introduc-tion of any new structure or genetic or-gan is safe, then it should not be done.

Here there has not been a strong reaffir-mation of that precautionary principle.

Q: What has Africa gained, if anything?A: I suppose the commitment to the pro-vision of water and sanitation to at leasthalf of those who do not have it by 2015is a score for us in Africa. On energy therewas division of opinion between the G77countries that produce oil and those whodo not. They, with the US, were able toresist the target of 15 percent renewableenergy by 2010. Africa cannot be expectedto commit to a target without the resourcesto invest in alternatives that are environ-mentally safe and the technology to do it.

Q: Many partnerships have been an-nounced at this Summit. Developingcountries are suspicious of these. Whatare your views?A: Partnerships in themselves, the “typetwo” arrangements are good, but theymust not take the place of “type one” ar-rangements which is a commitment bygovernments, because governments are inthe driving seat. Unless governments adoptlaws and policies to make the work ofpartnerships valid, it will not happen. TheUS and others would have preferred thatthe whole thing be partnerships rather thangovernments. I do not share that view.Governments have a responsibility to cre-ate the environment in which partnershipscan be successful.

Q: Women have been concerned aboutthe backtracking in the final documenton women’s rights. What is your view?A: Since Rio and Cairo and Beijing we havebeen making progress on acknowledgingthe progress of women’s rights. If thisdocument has not lived up to that and hasnot advanced it further, I would be disap-pointed.

* Chief Anyaoku is former Secretary General ofthe Commonwealth and President of the WorldWildlife Fund (WWF). WWF has about five mil-lion supporters and projects in over 90 coun-tries in the world and employs a little over 8000people. It spends about 217 million on conser-vation projects.

Chief Emeka Anyaoku

The dream team

These are the women andmen that brought you your

favourite read during the Jo’burg Summit. As we bring youthis final issue we would like tothank all our readers, sponsors

and advertisers.

BON VOYAGE!