Print

Mail

wiki links

NGOs to take lead at UN summit in Johannesburg

"Taiwan is a UN outsider. ... Let's face it and find a way out."

Lee Chia-lun, project manager of Taiwan Agenda 21

Aware of the diplomatic difficulties in the way of Taiwan's participation in the UN's World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), being held next month in Johannesburg, South Africa, both non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the government are groping for a way into one of its parallel events -- the Civil Society Global Forum.

The upcoming WSSD, from Aug. 26 to Sept. 4, is to be held on the the 10th anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, when the international community adopted Agenda 21, an unprecedented global plan of action for sustainable development.

Ten years on, the Johannesburg Summit will bring together leaders of nations, industry, NGOs and others to hash out concrete steps and identify quantifiable targets for implementing Agenda 21.

Since Taiwan's government will not be permitted to voice any of its views at the main WSSD conference, activists said, Taiwanese NGOs should try harder to build international connections through unofficial channels.

For this reason, Taiwanese activists regard the Civil Society Global Forum, scheduled to run from Aug. 19 to Sept. 4, as an excellent opportunity to publicize Taiwan. The forum is slated to host approximately 60,000 delegates from around the world

"The UN should pay more attention to Taiwan's NGOs," said Sam Lin (林聖崇), head of the Ecology Conservation Alliance. "The degree of NGO development in a country reflects its degree of democracy."

Since April, dozens of groups, with a diverse variety of missions, have been integrated into a Taiwan NGO delegation named Taiwan Action NGOs (TANGOs), which plans to systematically deliver messages pertaining to Taiwan's efforts in sustainable development at forum.

"Taiwan is a UN outsider," said Lee Chia-lun (李佳倫), project manager of Taiwan Agenda 21, a member of the TANGOs. "Let's face it and find a way out."

At the forum, according to Lee, TANGOs will establish four stands, where local grassroots activists, ranging from anti-nuclear to forest preservation and endangered species protection, will have multi-media displays with documentation in English.

In addition, Lee said, 25 TANGOs delegates would attend events held by influential foreign NGOS such a the US Earth Island Institute, the Global Greens and Friends of Earth.

Juju Wang (王俊秀), a sociology professor at National Tsing Hwa University and one of the 25 delegates, said that Taiwan has some distance in promoting sustainable development, such as passing the Environmental Impact Assessment Law.

"However, we have to make our voices heard, informing others that Taiwan is pursuing the same goals as they are," Wang said, adding that aggressive participation would eventually pay off for Taiwan in the international community.

The TANGOs ideas to publicize Taiwan, however, do not include better ways of raising funds.

Encouraged by the Cabinet's committee for promoting sustainable development, which is run by Minister Without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮), the TANGOs listed the government as one of its potential donors in June.

In doing so, the TANGOs were acting in accordance with Agenda 21, which mentions that the UN and governments should initiate a process, in consultation with NGOs, to review formal procedures and mechanisms for the involvement of these organizations at all levels, from policy-making and decision-making to implementation.

Months of communication resulted in a NT$2.3 million allocation to cover expenses of the activists' trip to South Africa, according to the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), the secretariat of the government's task force for the WSSD.

With the TANGOs struggling to raise funds from the private sector, however, some in the local media wonder whether local NGOs have lost their independence, something essential for any NGO.

Tu Wen-ling (杜文苓), co-chair of the Taiwan Environmental Action Network, a US-based environmental group composed of Taiwanese overseas students and environmentalists, denied the charges, saying the government's preparation for the WSSD was actually driven by the TANGOs.

"Our `Ten Years On' series of workshops held by the TANGOs is to condense the views of civil society into a basis for people to monitor the government," Tu said.

The two-month long "Ten Years On" series launched in June uses Agenda 21 as a basis to review Taiwan's handling of a number of issues over the past decade, including controlling chemical toxicants, water resources management, ecological preservation, the relation between women and the environment, energy policies and the establishment of a new partnership with Aboriginal people.

Lai Wei-chieh (賴偉傑), secretary-general of the Green Citizens' Action Alliance, a Taipei-based anti-nuclear group and a TANGOs member, said that NGOs are destined to be opposed to much of government policy, regardless of any recent support from Taipei.

It is a shame that Taiwan's government rarely considers its diplomatic strategies from the environmental angle, Lai said.

"Even now," Lai said, "the government has no strategy for the WSSD."

For NGOs, Lai told the Taipei Times, learning and exchanging experiences with counterparts from other countries is more important.

Government officials, however, said the idea of incorporating the strengths of all sectors of civil society into the government deserves encouragement.

"There are two kinds of NGOs," said Roam Gwo-dong (阮國棟), Director of the EPA's Science and Technology Consulting Office. "One builds a partnership with the government, while the other refuses to take a cent from the government in order to ensure their independence."

Roam stressed that a focus of Agenda 21 is to strengthen the roles of different sectors of the population, including women, children and youth, indigenous people, NGOs, local authorities, workers, business and industry, scientific and technological community, and farmers.

Roam said that governmental officials, including former EPA head Chang Lung-sheng (張隆盛), would present academic articles at workshops at the forum, in the name of representatives of NGOs.

"We officials will also enter the main conference of the WSSD [as representatives of NGOs] to gather information about adopting concrete steps for better implementation of Agenda 21 in Taiwan," Roam said.

Eric Liou (劉銘龍), secretary-general of the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation (環境品質文教基金會), which is not a TANGOs member, told the Taipei Times that his group took no money from the government but would work with government officials to raise Taiwan's profile at the main conference of the WSSD.
This story has been viewed 3933 times.