NGOs to take lead at UN summit in Johannesburg

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.