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The whole world was abuzz with discussions on sustainable development as the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) approached. Civil society and governments globally were engaged in preparatory consultative processes with various stakeholders as part of their preparations for the WSSD. Yonge Nawe, a local environmental NGO hosted a half-day forum, which brought together scores of Swazi Parliamentarians. The workshop was held on the 25th of July 2002, at the Ezulwini Sun Hotel. 
 

MPs discussing sustainable development issues

The purpose of the forum was to discuss sustainable development in the context of Swaziland; exchange information and knowledge on what sustainable development means for the Kingdom. Discussions were held on how the positive sustainable development

initiatives in the country could be enhanced, turning around the negatives and, filling any existing gaps.  The forum recognised the importance of Parliamentarians as political leaders, legislators, advocates and resource mobilisers, which is critical in sustainable development. The forum provided a perfect opportunity for the forum convenors and honourable Members of Parliament to discuss the WSSD and also pave the way for future discussion around sustainable development. 

"Because development was not working equally well for everyone and was degrading the environment, the word sustainable had to be added to qualify the concept," Yonge Nawe Director said. She explained that it is now generally agreed that sustainable development has three elements:

• Social concerned with who makes the rules, who controls access to resources and the means of production, who benefits and who carries the costs. 
• Economic which is about the way in which things are defined as resources and produced as resources through investment, labour and technologies.
• Environmental which is about natural systems that sustain life and also, places where people live, work, etc.

MPs play a critical role in determining an enabling framework for sustainable development as well as monitoring and periodically evaluating the impact of initiatives on the ground. In this regard, MPs were challenged to assess the situation on the ground and draw their

The forum recommended that Parliament should be keep abreast with international trends that have a bearing on Swaziland especially international agreements that she signs. The forum suggested that parliament should facilitate the nationalisation of the obligations and benefits flowing there from without compromising the communities and the generality of the country.

Mr. Lance Greyling making a presentation at the forum

Key presentations were made by Mr. Lance Greyling, from the Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), an International Membership organisation for legislators. His presentations alluded to

political commitment as an essential ingredient to a rights-based response to sustainable development and to the allocation of adequate resources to implement it.  He said that, Global Parliamentary diplomacy contributes to the process of institutionalisation of the laws and public policies and prioritise the attention paid to sustainable development. He recommended that at the international level, parliamentarians need to complement these activities by meeting to obtain and share information, exchange views and experiences and discuss the structure, working methods and sustainable development issues facing the global community. 

Mr. Greyling suggested types of outcomes, which could be points of entry for the participation of Swaziland’s parliamentarians at the World Summit on Sustainable Development:

Type A:

1.  At the level of political commitments made by the Swaziland through international treaties and conventions 

2. Through the Programme of Action: where parliamentarians nationalise the treaties and addresses time-bound targets on how to reach Agenda 21

Type B:

The development and strengthening of partnerships at the global and regional level so that the different partners are involved.  Two categories of involvement were identified. These were:

• Finance, Terms of trade and globalisation, and 
• Programme of Work from Agenda 21

A presentation by the Director of the Swaziland Environment Authority (SEA) was focused on the country’s preparations for the summit. In his presentation he identified constraints that Swaziland has faced in implementing Agenda 21 in the past ten years. He highlighted the following constraints among others, policy constraints, availability of resources, planning, poverty, unemployment, and access to water, food insecurity and the concern for improved human development.

Part of the MPs deliberating sustainable development

Parliamentarians were informed that Swaziland has prepared a national report to be tabled at the World Summit for Sustainable Development.  The report was prepared through stakeholder participation and reflects the views of a crosscutting

section of representatives of Swazi society. 

The Swaziland report to the WSSD identified priority issues as: 

• Poverty Eradication
• Industrialisation
• Health: HIV/AIDS, malaria, cholera, etc.
• Good Governance: civil society participation
• Trade and market access
• Financing for development
• Debt Relief
• Agriculture and food security
• Youth
• Increased Foreign Direct Investment
• Increased official development assistance
• Access to fresh water
• Desertification and land degradation
• Bio-diversity management:  access, equitable utilisation and beneficial access
• Environmentally sound management of chemicals through infrastructure and sustainable human settlements and 
• Human development