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RECENT EVENTS |
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RECENT EVENTS |
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Second Working Meeting of the Water Security Policy Action Group Vancouver,
British Columbia The Policy Action Group on Water Security, in development during March, April, and May 2002, is proceeding under the direction of Co-Chair Lloyd Axworthy, Executive Director of the Liu Centre for the Study of Global Issues at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The project is jointly sponsored by the Liu Centre and State of the World Forum as an input to the Commission on Globalisation. An initial Draft Paper titled "Water Security" was developed with the input of several water specialists, including Oscar Olivera who visited the Liu Centre during March. This paper provided an outline for the terms of reference, composition, and responsibilities of the Water Policy Action Group and suggested several areas that could be addressed in this project. On April 10, Dr. Axworthy chaired a first planning meeting during which nine water specialists from North America provided guidance about the areas in which this Policy Action Group could usefully contribute new insights. Critical competing interests for water were discussed, including rural vs urban needs, domestic vs agricultural vs other uses, affordability vs requisite incentives to attract investment capital, and the public good vs commodification of the resource. In tackling any of these challenges, it was agreed that the appropriate unit of analysis to be used in the research would be the "watershed". The results of this consultative process led to the revision of the Draft Paper and its subsequent distribution to a wider, more geographically balance audience for refinement. Based on this Revised Draft Paper, a second planning meeting was held on May 21, again at the Liu Centre, in which 17 water specialists participated. The discussion focused on the multi-stakeholder nature required by the work, the value-add that could result from this research, the criteria for target watersheds, and the composition of the advisory and research teams that would proceed. From this process, a funding proposal is being developed to: (1) collect available research on best practices in watershed management; (2) apply these lessons to the study of five selected watersheds in various parts of the world to improve the resource management capability of those areas; and (3) in selected watershed areas, build a coalition of community groups that could work with local governance institutions to insure sustainable management practices are followed. During
June and July, the proposal will be reviewed by specialists from both
the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and a geographically diverse
advisory group will be assembled. Funding is currently being sought
in both Europe and the North America. A report will be prepared for
the 2002 December Commissioner meeting in Mexico City and the initial
results of the work will be discussed at the World Water Forum in
Kyoto in 2003.
New
Threats Policy Action Group Planning Meeting The planning meeting for the New Threats and Integrated Security Policy Action Group was convened at the Brookings Institution. The meeting was chaired by Gordon Smith, Executive Director of the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada. Participants for the meeting, drawn primarily from the Washington DC area, included: Ruth David of Analytic Services Inc. (ANSER), Harriet Fletcher of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, Shep Forman of the Center on International Cooperation, Randy Forsberg of the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies, John Gannon of Intellibridge, Jerome Glenn of the Millennium Project American Council/United Nations University, Peggy Hamburg of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Jim Hickman from State of the World Forum, Richard Hodapp from The Mapping Alliance, Heather Hurlburt from the International Crisis Group, Chris Kelly of Booz Allen Hamilton, Michael Levett from Citizen's Democracy Corps, Alistair Millar from the Fourth Freedom Forum, Linda Millis from Business Executives for National Security (BENS), Tom Rautenberg from the State of the World Forum, Alison Sander of Boston Consulting Group, John Sewell of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Jim Steinberg of the Brookings Institution and Steve Trevino from Booz Allen Hamilton. Over the course of the day, the discussion focused mainly on the root cause of terrorism, which set the background and the context for discussions as to best strategies with which to respond to the new threats environment. Noting that the broadening threat environment was increasingly complex and global in nature, participants discussed probable socio-cultural, economic and political conditions that give rise to terrorist “mentalities” and motivate terrorist activities. The proposal for this PAG will be further refined over the coming months to incorporate the discussion in Washington and other suggestions and input. For a report of this meeting, click here.
G8/Africa
Special Initiative Inaugural Meeting The first phase of the G8/Africa Special Initiative was centered on the “Emerging Global Challenges” conference convened at the Rockefeller Foundation retreat center in Bellagio, Italy April 15-19, 2002. The meeting brought together over 20 individuals, including members of the Canadian G-8 Summit team, representatives from donor agencies, noted experts on the various initiatives, and leading African personalities involved with the NEPAD process, to finalize the project design. The second phase of this project will be to select, on a “Request for Proposal” (RFP) competitive basis, the NEPAD initiatives that would most benefit from a strategic mapping exercise, and provide extensive visibility for the NEPAD agenda, while also advancing long-term sustainable development priorities. It is currently planned to commission 15 proposals on topics drawn from the NEPAD document’s list of program actions and initiatives. The topics will also be consistent with the themes of the Genoa G8 Summit “Action Plan for Africa. The final phase of
the project will be draft each of the selected initiatives into a
blueprint that maps specific approaches, actors, policies, and plans.
The resulting papers will be comprehensive proposals that include
critical analysis of the current situation in the sector and geographic
region, practical and cost-effective approaches to attain the objectives,
and appropriate long-term operational plans to maximize effectiveness.
For a pdf. report of this meeting, please click here.
GEM
Policy Action Group Meeting Thirty-two international environmental governance and development experts from fifteen nations took part in the inaugural meeting of the Global Environmental Mechanism (GEM) Policy Action Group on April 17-18, 2002 convened at the Surdna Foundation in New York and sponsored by the State of the World Forum and the Johnson Family Foundation. Key discussion topics included goals and challenges, mechanisms for global environmental governance, and pressure points for advancing reform. The group also began to lay out an analytical and strategic agenda, as well as an action plan, for the GEM Policy Action Group. Participants identified
four major areas where sustained analysis and policy outreach are
most necessary: 1) Improvement of the
collection and dissemination of environmental information; 2) Strengthening of
environmental technology transfer between the North and South and
throughout the world; 3) Establishment of
new financing sources and mechanisms to fund sustainable development
and environmental protection throughout the world; 4) Creation of an international forum – physical and/or virtual – to serve as a space for global environmental norm-setting, negotiations, and bargaining. In working on these four potential streams of reform, the group plans to devote a good deal of energy to building a constituency for the notion of strengthened global environmental governance. In the short term, the Johannesburg Summit will provide a focus for the GEM Group effort, where a number of concrete and feasible initiatives will be put forward for consideration and lobby. For a report of this meeting, please click here.
Grasping
Globalisation Conference: A Canadian National Youth Conference
and Youth Declaration on Globalisation Kids Can Free the Children,
in collaboration with the Canadian International Development Agency
and the State of the World Forum, convened the second in a series
of five conferences to engage and empower Canadian Youth in the globalisation
debate. Over 50 youth, ages 12-20 years, gathered from across Through seminars, workshops,
and debates, students examined issues such as technology, the media,
sustainable development, the environment, poverty, education, consumerism,
and armed conflict. Speakers from around the world including professors,
professionals, representatives from international organizations, and
a family of refugees from Sierre Lione, highlighted the central political,
economic and cultural complexities of globalisation. Two Commissioners
of the Commission on Globalisation, Dr. Paul Cappon, Director General,
Ministers of Education, Canada and Craig Kielburger, Founder, Kids
Can Free the Children, introduced students to the work of the Commission.
The conference concluded in youth meetings around the Commission’s
Policy To view this Declaration, please click here. |
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