Many to Many
September 2003
I. EDITORIAL – Faith
II. THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN HEALING THE WORLD
III BOUNTY – Poem by Joanna Margaret Paul
IV. STEPS TOWARD AN ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
V. THE FREEDOMS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A WORLD PRESS
VI. TO REACH PEACE – TEACH PEACE
VII. THINKING ABOUT AN ETHICAL CAREER IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
VIII. "GLOBAL CIVILISATION: A BUDDHIST-ISLAMIC DIALOGUE"
- book by Daisaku Ikeda and Majid Tehranian
IX. "HEALING THE HURTS OF NATIONS, The Human Side of Globalisation
– book by Palden Jenkins
X. WATER
THE GREAT INVOCATION
I. Faith
As the farmer – in early spring - looks for that shimmer of green over the
seemingly barren fields, announcing the arrival of new crops, so too in this
first quarter of a new millennium there is a sense of expectancy of new and
better things to come.
In the wake of violent acts and the habitual retaliatory responses in kind,
the feeling of spring makes us watch out for opportunities for change: for
new methods of healing and restoring relationships.
Perhaps one of the most inspiring approaches to repairing relations between
the peoples of a brutally divided and traumatized nation was the proceedings
of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the 1990s. Based
upon the principle that reconciliation depends on forgiveness, and that true
forgiveness can only take place if gross violations of human rights are fully
and openly disclosed, this Commission, through its committees, began the
process of healing the nation. From the beginning it was made clear that
for repairing all relationships and building a peaceful society there would
be the need for understanding, listening and fairness – not vengeance
and retaliation, or victimization.
It may take some time before this and other methods of overcoming evil with
good will have fully replaced the old eye-for-an-eye tactics. Because although
hoping for the best, we tend to fear the worst: fear continuously driving
us instinctively to strike out at what could be an enemy. And in today’s
tumultuous and rapidly changing world nations as well as individuals are
struggling to restore a sense of security, stability and order to their lives;
some relying on the old means of force and intimidation – others on the building
of good neighbourhoods.
In increasing numbers throughout the world people are, like the farmer, looking
for that which we know in our hearts is about to appear into full view.
"Faith", says St Paul, "is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen".
We can, if we choose, give substance to the things we hope for. We can, if
we have courage, bear witness to the kind of world we would like to see,
for ourselves and for our children.
There is for sure already a shimmering of light dawning over the fields of
the past – the evidence of an emerging new civilization and a more enlightened
culture.
"Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden
but never extinguished"
- Nelson Mandela -
II. THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN HEALING THE
WORLD
In his message on the International Day of Women, 8 March 2003, the UN Secretary-General,
Kofi Annan, stressed that: "across all levels of society, we need to see
a deep social revolution that transforms relationships between women and
men". When women thrive, he said, "all of society benefits, and succeeding
generations are given a better start in life".
In the groundbreaking 18-point resolution (1325) on women and peace and security
unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council, October 2000, a commitment
was made to work resolutely towards greater protection of women and girls
in conflict zones; to appoint more women in peacekeeping operations and ensuring
that women would increasingly become more active participants in decision-making
processes, whether on national, regional or international levels.
Some of this resolution’s points were included in the commitments made by
the 191 UN member states in the so-called "Millennium Declaration" in which
they resolved: "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", and "to combat all forms of violence against
women and to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women."
The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is among those organizations and
women’s groups who work continuously to help these commitments and goals
become common practice throughout the world.
A recent independent study, initiated by UNIFEM, which has been examining
the impact of war on women and children and the role of women in peace-building,
describes a number of examples of women introducing new ways to reconstruct
their war-torn and conflict-ridden communities.
"Women" says the UNIFEM Executive Director, Noeleen Heyzer, "often have informal
social service systems already in place that can service as a foundation
for reconstruction." As an example of this she reminds us of how women in
Afghanistan, during the Taliban rule, ran schools for girls, provided health
care for women and set up home-based work to support their families.
In an interview appearing in the International Herald Tribune Noeleen Heyzer
draws attention to the current situation in Iraq and the important role Iraqi
women – known to be among the most educated in the Middle East – would
be able to play in the rebuilding of the nation: "Women have the collaborative
outlook needed to deal with Iraq society’s complexities and the pragmatic
organizing expertise need to cut through the current chaos."
The following extensive excerpts are taken from a statement made, 20th May
2003, by the NGO WORKING GROUP ON WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY * to the UN Security
Council, entitled:
The Implementation of and Strict Compliance with
UNSC
Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in the Case of Iraq
Given that "major combat operations have ended in Iraq",
and the US-led Coalition is now engaged in "securing and reconstructing Iraq",
according to US President Bush,
Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations and the primary responsibility of the Security Council under the
Charter for the maintenance of international peace and security,
Given that at the first US-sponsored meeting in Nassiriya on April 15 to
discuss the development of an interim government, only four out of 123 participants
were women,
Given that at a subsequent meeting in Baghdad on April 28, there were only
three women, out of approximately 300 participants,
Given that no women are included in the exclusively male legal team of lawyers
and judges appointed by the US-led Coalition to develop a new legal code,
Recognising that the exclusion and under-representation of Iraqi women in
decision-making processes and other aspects of the post-conflict period of
rebuilding undermines the spirit and the letter of UN Security Council Resolution
1325 and the UN principles of equality,
The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
calls for:
I. Women in decision-making
The Security Council to ensure that women are involved in political, formal
and informal decision-making processes and in any legal training that may
be relevant for all women and men appointed to decision-making positions.
Democratically representative Iraqi women and Iraqi women’s organizations
to be fully involved and supported in all peace negotiations and their implementation,
as called for in UNSC 1325.
The Security Council to ensure women’s equal participation in the creation
of legislation, incorporation of the principle of equality of men and women
in the legal system and abolition of discriminatory laws against women as
is endorsed in CEDAW and in article nine of UNSC Resolution 1325.
II. UN Peacekeeping and Peace-building
A United Nations peace-building and peacekeeping mission to be deployed in
Iraq to create an environment that facilitates the work of humanitarian organizations
and promotes a fully representative Iraqi governing structure with regard
to gender, ethnicity and religion.
The peacekeeping monitoring and protection components to have the appropriate
capacity and special training on the provision of protection for women and
girls, as called for in article six of UNSC Resolution 1325.
III. Protection of Women and Girls
The Security Council to ensure that all international humanitarian and human
rights laws are implemented to protect the rights of women and girls in the
post-conflict period, as required by UNSC Resolution 1325.
The special needs of women and girls to be taken into account during repatriation
and resettlement and for rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict
reconstruction, as called for in article eight of UNSC Resolution 1325.
IV. Security Sector Reform
The Security Council to explicitly build into peace-building mandates support
for the development of a gender-aware police, military and other operating
security bodies, which are trained to monitor these issues.
V. Gender Justice
The Security Council to mandate appropriate authority to ensure that there
is no impunity for gender-based crimes during and after conflict and to support
indigenous community-based reconciliation initiatives that will allow women
to seek justice.
VI. Humanitarian Considerations
The Security Council to request that all UN humanitarian bodies working in
the region maintain gender perspectives and include the protection of women
and girls in all aspects of their work.
Women and girls to have full access to programs for education, health care,
prevention and response to gender-based violence, housing, employment and
related skills training. We stress that these programs must reach women in
disadvantaged rural areas, widows and women who are disabled, displaced or
illiterate.
Therefore, the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security recommends
and supports your urgent attention to and action on the above.
*The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security includes: Hague Appeal
for Peace, International Alert, International Women’s Tribune Centre, Women’s
Commission for Refugee Women and Children, and the Women’s International
League for Peace and Freedom.
Contact: NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security
c/o Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom,
777 United Nations Plaza, 6th floor, New York, NY 10017, USA
e-mail: indira@peacewomen.org
__________________________________
Among recent publications on the issue of human rights and the role of women
in future societies is a publication by PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human
Rights Education, entitled:
I. "Passport to Dignity: connecting the 12 Areas of Concern of the Beijing
Platform
For Action, to the human Rights Framework for the Fulfillment of Human Rights
of Women of all Ages, Worldwide",
Written by Betty Reardon with Shulamith Koenig and Epilogue by Ivanka Corti.
This 536 pp. publication aims to "initiate an interactive process whereby
readers can adopt the human rights framework in their own actions" and develop
"proactive strategies in the global struggle for economic and social justice
with the realization that all are born equal with dignity." It is designed
to affect the lives of women and of men within local communities and enable
them to join the development of a just and harmonious society.
Contact: Women Ink. 777 UN Plaza, NY. NY 10017, USA
e-mail wink@womenink.org
__________________________________
III. Bounty
American bounty falls on Baghdad
In the fallout of twenty thousand heads
Of stainless shining steel.
A cornucopeia of death
Rains, reigns
Joanna Margaret Paul
(21.3.03)
__________________________________
IV. Steps Toward an Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in the Middle East by Rene V.L. Wadlow*
Jean Monnet, one of the fathers of the European Union,
had said "Men take great decisions only when crisis stares them in the face."
Crises have dragged on in the Middle East, in particular Iraq and Israel-Palestine
without any great decisions being taken that could lead to peace. Mistrust
has grown, for in international relations mistrust is a function of military
build-ups and the disposition of forces, as well as of trends in security
postures and armaments. Inter-State relations in the Middle East are today
essentially militarized power relations. They inherently tend to generate
mistrust and mutual perceptions of malevolent intent. Stereotyped images
of the enemy become fixed, and adversaries get caught in an endemic process
of cognitive rigidity and competitive armaments. Suspicion and mistrust are
sustained by deeply ingrained nationalism and self-righteousness, as reproduced
daily by the official media and a pseudo-patriotic educational system.
In such circumstances, it is not easy to reverse the process
and infuse confidence. Theoretical exhortations of peaceful intent are certainly
not enough. Rather, declared willingness for change has to be validated and
corroborated by tangible measures in the military disposition of forces and
by credible communication of non-aggressive peaceful intent. If we are to
arrive at greater confidence, then misperceptions and distorted attitudes
on the nature of the security predicament have to be made transparent and
eliminated. The establishment of trust and confidence has to be seen as a
process. Nothing can be achieved overnight. However, even small steps should
be acknowledged as progress. The aim of active public opinion organized through
non-governmental organizations should be to accelerate this process.
An important need is to create a framework in which Middle
East security questions can be discussed on a permanent basis. While the
United Nations remains the overarching organization for world politics, it
is important to have regional bodies with an independent secretariat, which
can facilitate different elements of the needed confidence-building and peace
process.
The prime example of a multi-purpose regional security
organization is what is now the Organisation for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE). The creation of such an organization arose from proposals
and discussions in the late 1960s as an effort to find ways for structured
discussions between NATO, Warsaw Pact, and neutral countries of Europe. The
creation of such an organization was negotiated in the early 1970s and then
signed at a Summit in Helsinki in 1975. Military confidence-building measures
and arms control, economic cooperation, human rights and cultural development
were to be the areas in which measures could be facilitated on a permanent
basis, a step forward from the segmented discussions on economic questions
in the UN’s Economic Commission for Europe or in ad hoc conferences which
had existed from the start of the Cold War in 1945. Today, the OSCE has a
decentralized secretariat and a host of conflict reduction missions as well
as technical assistance programmes for strengthening civil society institutions
and an independent press.
While the OSCE has not fully lived up to its security
aims, as the conflicts in former Yugoslavia and Chechenya show, the over
all record is good. Important precedents have been taken, including the creation
of a Parliamentary Assembly where elected members of national parliaments
meet to discuss policy and cooperation.
The Middle East needs such a security and cooperation
framework for action. Beyond the Iraq and Israel-Palestine conflicts which
make the headlines of the world’s press and which are fundamental crises
of the world political-security system, there are other tensions in the Middle
East area, currently overshadowed, concerning water, minorities, natural
resources, relations with the States of Central Asia which could grow if
not discussed openly and creatively.
The times call for leadership and concerted action. Most
historical progress is achieved by leaders who can discern the main currents
of their time and give a new sense of direction and ascent to a community.
Today, the crises and opportunities of the Middle East call for the creation
of an Organisation for Security and Cooperation in the Middle East.
____
*Rene Wadlow is the editor of www.transnational-perspectives.org,
an internet journal of world politics and social policy. Formerly he was
professor and Director of Research of the Graduate Institute of Development
Studies, University of Geneva. Since the early 1970s, he has represented
the Association of World Citizens at the United Nations, Geneva, working
on conflict resolution, human rights, and social development.
__________________________________
V. THE FREEDOMS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A WORLD
PRESS
Among the events marking the 2003 World Press Freedom Day (3 May) was a panel
discussion held in the United Nations headquarters and organized by the UN
Department of Public Information.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette opened the discussion and, referring
to the theme of the panel "Media and Armed Conflict", made the appeal that
the 2003 World Press Freedom Day should be used to call for action against
hate media, noting the way such media had helped to trigger genocide in Rwanda,
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ms Frechette acknowledged that journalism always involved difficult choices,
but "wartime raises the level of intensity, leading you into a veritable
minefield of issues; objectivity versus propaganda; skepticism versus chauvinism;
bigger picture context versus single dramatic images". The need to cover
the traumatic impact of conflict on civilians must be tempered by sensitivity
and respect for the dignity of suffering individuals. Saturation coverage
could end up "diminishing our capacity to feel, to care, and to act".
Ms Frechette also mentioned the struggle by reporters to balance the need
for objectivity with the benefits of access from being "embedded", as in
Iraq, with troops. This point was taken up by several panelists and speakers,
who felt that the practice of "embedding" journalists (as was the case of
most CNN journalists in Iraq) did not allow them to get a full picture of
the situation.
Tony Jenkins, UN Correspondents Association (UNCA), made the comment that
"like all rights, if you do not use the freedom of the press to its fullest,
it will wither", and "I fear", said Jenkins, "that is what is happening in
this country as dissenters to the government line are forced to shut up,
drowned out by the chorus of voices accusing them of being unpatriotic or
traitors. Tony Jenkins warned that, "the American media has come to worship
power and that is not a recipe for protecting true freedom of press".
In his message to the 2003 World Press Freedom Day, the UNESCO Director-General
Koichiro Matsuura, spoke of the importance of press freedom as a prerequisite
for a healthy functioning democracy in which people are free to speak their
minds. He reminded the meeting of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which states that "everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without
interference and to seek, receive and import information and ideas through
any media and regardless of frontiers."
The 2002 report published by Reporters Without Borders, entitled Freedom
of the Press throughout the World, presents the results of its fact-finding
missions in some 155 countries. At the top of their "World’s Worst Places
to Be a Journalist" list is named Iraq, where nine journalists, covering
the US-led war were killed in action during the first three weeks of hostilities,
by US or Iraqi fire, land mines, or suicide bombers. Another four died in
accidents or from illness. As proof that respect for freedom of expression
is not limited to the developed, western countries, the report mentions the
freedom enjoyed by reporters in countries like South Africa, Benin, Botswana,
Cape Verde, Mali and Mauritius. Israel had the record for journalists arrested,
including several Palestinians.
The report also pays tribute to all the journalists around the world who
make many sacrifices and in spite of physical violence, harsh press laws
and indiscriminate gunfire persevere in bringing us the news.
Contact: Reporters without Borders, 5 rue Geoffroy-Marie, 75009 Paris, France.
Website: www.rsf.org
__________________________________
VI. TO REACH PEACE – TEACH
PEACE
The Hague Appeal for Peace is a strong and persistent promoter education.
The goal of its Global Campaign for Peace Education is to "assure that all
educational systems throughout the world will educate for a culture of peace".
The Campaign Statement says that "a culture of peace will be achieved when
citizens of the world understand global problems; have the skills to resolve
conflicts constructively; know and live by international standards of human
rights, gender and racial equality; appreciate cultural diversity; and respect
the integrity of the Earth". The Statement underscores that "Such learning
can not be achieved without intentional, sustained and systematic education
for peace."
In order to accomplish the task of building public awareness and political
support for peace education and of promoting the education of all teachers
to teach for peace, the Campaign works in a networking style. Therefore it
depends on the support and collaboration of local and international educators,
organizations, researchers, youth activists, and policy-makers committed
to the vision and goal of the Campaign.
A visit to the Campaign website: www.haguepeace.org or http://youth.haguepeace.org
will give detailed information on how to get actively involved in the peace
education work.
Coordinating Offices:
Hague Appeal for Peace, c/o IWTC, 777 UN Plaza,
New York, NY 10017, USA. E-mail: gcpe@haguepeace.org
and
International Peace Bureau (IPB), 41 Rue de Zurich, CH-1201 Geneva,
Switzerland. E-mail: mailbox@ipb.org
__________________________________
VII. Thinking About an Ethical Career in Science and Technology
On the 7 March 2003 the first three in a series of 8-page briefings entitled
"Thinking About an Ethical Career in Science and Technology" was launched
by the UK based Scientist for Global Responsibility (SGR). Co-editors of
these papers are Stuart Parkinson, the new elected Executive Director of
SGR, and Vanessa Spedding.
Each of these briefings offers an in-depth discussion of an area of science
and technology and is intended to give young scientists and engineers an
understanding of the wider ethical dimensions of various careers within these
fields. The briefings focus on areas in which science and technology can
play a major role, for good or bad, and examine the social and environmental
controversies within these areas.
The first three briefings already available are:
- Career Choice and Climate Change, by Stuart Parkinson
- Cleaner Technologies: a Positive Choice, by Tim Foxon
- Career Choice, Ethics and Animal Experimentation, by Gill Langley,
produced in association with Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research.
Two further briefings, one on sustainability and career choice and the other
on the militarisation of space, will be published shortly. Further briefings
will be published later this year or early next year. These will cover issues
such as the military and space technology; ethics and genetics; assessing
the sustainability of your career; nuclear issues; and military involvement
in science and technology.
Copies of the briefings can be downloaded from SGR’s ethics web
page: http://www.sgr.org.uk/ethics.html . Paper copies can be ordered from
the SGR office: Scientists For Global Responsibility, P.O.Box 473, Folkestone.
CT20 1GS, England.
__________________________________
VIII. Book
Global Civilisation: A Buddhist-Islamic Dialogue
Daisaku Ikeda and Majid Tehranian,
Published by British Academic Press.
Daisaku Ikeda, the spiritual leader of Soka Gakkai International (SGI), a
worldwide lay Buddhist organization, has conducted over 1500 dialogues during
the past 40 years with world figures such as Zhou Enlai, Michael Gorbachev,
Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela and has written over 80 books on Buddhist
themes. This volume is a sequel to his dialogues with Arnold Toynbee and
Johan Galtung.
Majid Tehranian is professor of international communication at the University
of Hawaii and director of the Toda Institute for Global Peace and Policy
Research. His latest of over 20 books are Dialogues of Civilisations: A New
Peace Agenda for a New Millennium and Bridging a Gulf: Peacebuilding in West
Asia.
The book focuses on the spiritual and ethical foundations of a global civilization
in the process of formation and begins with the central importance of dialogue
to the physical and cultural survival of humanity. It ranges over the worldview
and cultures of Islamic and Buddhist civilisations. It emphasizes the importance
that dialogue can make to a world torn by political, economic and cultural
divisions. As noted in the preface to the book, this dialogue is of particular
significance since Islam and Buddhism seem the farthest apart of all the
religions and remain the last frontier, the least likely arena for fruitful
interfaith dialogue.
One of the needed transformations stressed in this conversation is the shift
from what both participants agreed could well be described as "cultural narcissism"
to "cultural altruism" as a basis for the norm of a global civilization in
the making. In its charter issued in 1995, the SGI stresses respect for cultural
diversity and the promotion of cultural exchange, "thereby creating an international
society of mutual understanding and harmony".
Daisaku Ikeda quoted the German poet and critic H.M. Entzenberger, who described
our time as a period of transition "from the cold war to civil wars", citing
as examples the conflicts in Bosnia, to which Prof. Tehranian added the conflicts
in the caucasus between
Azerbaijan and Armenia, Georgia and Abkhazia, and Russia and Chechnya, all
these having much to do with the rise of ethnic nationalism and conflicting
territorial claims.
Regarding the bigger picture Daisaku Ikeda stressed that there was no alternative
but to patiently promote "intercivilisational dialogues" in order to avoid
the "clash of civilizations". Ending the chapter on this part of the discussion,
Prof. Tehranian expressed the view that the time had come for us to embrace
some such "axial" principle as the Gaia Hypothesis, itself based on much
scientific evidence, in order to unify the world against war, ignorance and
injustice. A global civilization must, he said, be founded on a human revolution
that considers the Spaceship Earth as a vehicle for our common journey of
discovery towards inter-civilisational peace, friendship and transcendence.
Commenting on the future role of the United Nations Daisaku Ikeda said that
he and Prof. Tehranian had for years been urging the creation of a "Peoples
Assembly", to function creatively as a coordinating force, the timing now
being good to pool know-how from around the world and seriously to consider
how the UN can be reformed to function as an "assemblage of humankind", a
human agency. Prof. Tehranian said that a Peoples Assembly was needed with
members elected on a representative basis, using a system that employed elections
as for the European Parliament. The Toda Institute in collaboration with
La Trobe University (Australia) and Chulalongkom University (Thailand) had
already resulted in the publication of two books, focusing on proposals to
democratize global governance at the UN and beyond.
Both participants in this dialogue agreed that there should be a clear-headed
examination of the history behind the tragedies that have occurred so that
the right lessons can be learnt and the needed changes take place.
In his epilogue to the dialogue Diasaku Ikeda states: "It is the function
of evil to divide human beings. This world and our own lives are the stage
for a ceaseless struggle between hatred and compassion. In the end, the evil
over which we must triumph is the impulse towards hatred and destruction
that resides within us all. We must restore and renew our faith in human
goodness and one another."
"It is my prayer and conviction that the reverence for life illuminating
our conversations will become the prevailing spirit of the times, and that
waves of dialogue that will inspire and elevate us all with faith in humanity
and in one another will engulf the whole globe".
Contact: Soka Gakkai International
15-3 Samoncho shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0017, Japan
Web site: www.sgi.org
_________________________
IX. Healing the Hurts of Nations, The Human Side
of Globalisation,
By Palden Jenkins.
To attempt a worthy review of this timely, groundbreaking analysis of the
human condition, and its prospects for the future in the context of today’s
tumultuous and rapidly changing world, would present a challenge to any reviewer.
In the introduction to his book the author makes the point that we people
are "desperately addicted to individuality and distinction". Yet we need
mutual agreements upon which we can build a global neighbourhood. "Paradoxically",
says Palden Jenkins, "to join the global community, nations need to feel
they can make their own decisions."
In "Healing the Hurts of Nations" the author has sought to address "humanity’s
unconscious, basic, bottom-line feelings, from which conflict and resolution
arise". Rummaging around in the "heavy globs of fermenting gunk underneath",
he is offering suggestions and giving us some "contextual perspectives" which
he hopes will help us in turning "a quagmire into fertile soil".
At the end of the book we are presented with a hypothetical roadmap taking
us, decade by decade, to an evolutionary stage where the meaning of relationship
has been lifted to a whole new dimension.
"Healing the Hurts of Nations" is a book with vision.
Contact: Gothic Image Publication, PO Box 2568, Glastonbury
Somerset BA6 8XR, England.
Website: www.gothicimage.co.uk or www.palden.co.uk/hhn/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
X. WATER
Throughout the 2003 International Year of Freshwater there has been an intense
worldwide effort to raise public awareness on the vital role water plays
in the all our lives and involve us in the discussion on how we can – and
must – find ways of treating this source for life with greater care and use
it wisely.
"Today war is being waged over oil, tomorrow it will be for water",
was the note of warning by Leonardo Morelli, Social Water Forum organizer
and coordinator of "Shout for Water" (Brazil).
The Social Water Forum was held in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, with similar
gatherings taking place in Florence, New Delhi and New York, at the same
time as the Third World Water Forum (Japan March 2003), bringing together
non-governmental organizations and individuals to discuss the issue of managing
our common freshwater resources.
The meetings resulted in a Social Water Forum Statement which outlines a
number of guiding principles, including: fighting for transparency, accountability
and participatory communitarian management of the national and international
resources for environmental projects; promoting the globalisation of scientific
knowledge for eco-efficiency on a daily basis, thinking globally and action
locally; and promoting awareness that global equilibrium is related to the
consciousness of human ecology, among others.
According to the World Water Development Report – Water for People, Water
for Life - compiled by the World Water Assessment Programme (hosted
by UNESCO), the global water supply is expected to decline by a third
in the next twenty years. The seriousness of this dire forecast is compounded
by what it describes as widespread "political inertia."
The World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) comprises all UN agencies and
commissions, which are dealing with water issues and working together to
monitor progress against water related targets within various fields, such
as health, food, ecosystems, cities, industry, resource sharing, governance
and others. Through maps, charts and graphs WWAP is continuously assessing
how diverse societies are managing water scarcity, distribution, pollution,
etc
WWAP’s worst-case scenario prediction estimates that seven billion in 60
countries will be experiencing water shortages by 2050, while a more ‘positive’
projection believes that two billion people in 48 countries will be experiencing
water scarcity by the same time. Climate changes are seen as accounting for
some 20 per cent of the increase in global water scarcity. Humid areas are
likely to see more rain, while in drought-prone regions rain could decrease
significantly. To this gloomy picture the report is adding the prospect of
the continuous worsening of water quality, due to rising water temperatures
and pollution levels. The poor will continue to be the worst affected, says
the report, "with 50 per cent of the population in developing countries exposed
to polluted water".
Water and sanitation also formed part of the 19th Session of the UN Human
Settlements Programme’s, UN-HABITAT’s, Governing Council meeting (May 2003,
Nairobi).
UN-HABITAT has estimated that the figure of the one billion poor people now
living in urban slums in developing countries will have doubled by 2030.
At the conclusion of their meeting governments approved an increase by 40
per cent of the budget for the UN-HABITAT and Human Settlements Foundation’s
2004-2005 biennium. UN-HABITAT Executive Director, Anna Tibaijuka saw this
as a clear signal from the international community of its readiness to help
improve the living conditions of the urban poor: "Together we can make sure
that one day our children will live in cities without slums, where every
family will have adequate shelter with clean water and decent sanitation."
This year’s worldwide debate on freshwater has highlighted the many diverse
and complex problems and challenges that must be faced and solved and – hopefully
– opened our eyes to the gross ‘disparities’ that exists as to how this vital
and precious resource is distributed and used. It seems that we – all of
us – wherever we live, are part of the problem. Therefore we shall have to
be part of the solution.
Contacts: World Social Forum on Water, Leonardo Morelli,
E-mail: Leonardo-morelli@aol.com Website: www.wd-team.de/wsfw/en/home_en.html
World Water Assessment Programme, UNESCO Division of Water Sciences, 1, rue
Miollis,
75015 Paris, France. E-mail wwap@unesco.org, website: www.unesco.org/water/wwap
UN-HABITAT, Sharad Shankardass, Spokesperson & Head, Press & Media
Relations Unit,
PO Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya. E-mail habitat.press@unhabitat.org. Website:
www.unhabitat.org
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THE GREAT INVOCATION
From the point of Light within the Mind of God
Let light stream forth into the minds of men.
Let Light descend on Earth.
From the point of Love within the Heart of God
Let love stream forth into the hearts of men
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre where the Will of God is known
Let purpose guide the little wills of men –
The purpose which the Masters know and serve.
From the centre which we call the race of men
Let the Plan of Love and Light work out
And may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light and Love and Power restore the plan on Earth.
