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1. Opening Remarks

The workshop opened with a prayer after which the Yonge Nawe Director, Ms. Thuli Makama, welcomed Honorable Members of Parliament.  In her remarks the director ably addressed the following issues:
1) What sustainable development is as seen in the context of Swaziland
2) Defined who Yonge Nawe is and what her major operational programmes are and
3) The role of legislators in sustainable development leading to the WSSD

Explaining the purpose of the workshop Ms. Makama "it was to share opinions on what sustainable development means for Swaziland and also to discuss how the positive initiatives can be enhanced, turning around the negatives and, filling any existing gaps."  This, she explained, was in preparation of the World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg from 26th August to 4th September 2002.  The forum was expected to deliberate on the upcoming Summit and its possible outcomes. 

The concept sustainable development was defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."  The director stressed the fact that sustainable development puts emphasis on the three pillars of sustainable development, which are social, economic and environmental concerns.   The Director emphasised the important role that members of parliament have to play in determining the enabling framework for sustainable development and all its facets, as well as monitoring and periodically evaluating the impact of initiatives.  These include the responsibility of Parliament to debate the national budget and also reflect on how national funds have been employed through committees like the Public Accounts Committee. For an institution charged with so many responsibilities, it is important that the concept of sustainable development informs deliberations and conclusions. 

A brief overview of international instrument and processes flowing from the first Social Summit in Rio in 1992 was made. In her closing remarks, members of parliament were encouraged to utilize the outcomes of the forum in translating them into tangible actions that will help the country take charge of its sustainable development path towards the Summit and beyond.

2.   PRESENTATION ON SUSTANABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENTARIANS: LANCE GREYLING (GLOBE, S.A.) 

2.1 Rio to Johannesburg
Mr. Greyling presented a brief introduction of Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment, which started in 1989 and now has 200 members in fifteen countries in Southern Africa.  A detailed overview of major events prior to Rio was made, beginning with the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in 1972, which subsequent brought the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) into being.  Other events included the 1983 a World Commission on Environment and Development set up by the United Nations, which culminated in the publishing of their findings in the 1987 Brundtland Report entitled Our Common Future and finally the preparations that led to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or the Earth Summit as it became known, which was held in Rio De Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992.

The presentation alluded to the outcomes of this conference which included: The Rio Principles, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the Rio Forestry Principles and Agenda 21.  The Earth Summit also led to a number of subsequent international outcomes that included the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD).  The presentation viewed the Earth Summit as marking a new era in the world's awareness around environmental problems and the manner in which they inter-link with development issues. However, and although the summit produced some very real outcomes, one of its failures was not substantially addressing the problem of international economic relations and structures that are preventing developing countries from achieving the levels of development that are required to overcome poverty. It also fell short in obtaining meaningful commitments from industrialized countries in terms of moving towards more sustainable consumption and production patterns. 

He observed that whilst The Rio + 5 summit was called to evaluate the progress that had been made in the five years since the Earth Summit, 66 countries have become poorer, poverty and environmental degradation is worsening, and levels of assistance have decreased.  What remains a growing concern is that developing countries face greater vulnerability to the adverse effects of unsustainable consumption and production in the developed world and the lack of preventative action taken by industrialised countries.   The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) is expected to reinvigorate the commitment of the international community to the goals of sustainable development, with renewed vigor in relation to the means of implementation. The Summit represents an important political opportunity for renewing the global commitment to sustainable development in all its social, economic and environmental dimensions and for strengthening the partnership between developed and developing countries based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. It also provides an opportunity for tackling with a clear sense of urgency the emerging global challenges since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, such as globalization and the worsening of poverty in many countries. 

Emphasis was further placed on the global deal between governments, private sector and civil society which has the potential to bridge the political differences between developed and developing countries.  This involves a series of equitable political tradeoffs that encompass the concepts of equity/balance and democracy/participation and that address economic, environmental and poverty related issues.

2.2 South Africa’s Deal and the challenge
Several perceptions were presented on the expectations of the WSSD and the Johannesburg Programme of Action (JPOA).  The presentation expects the JPOA to establish the enabling framework and means of implementation for sector and issue specific targeted achievements for the period 2002 – 2015 from governments and other actors. The overriding goal is to ensure that results of the Summit are practical and deliverable, and are aimed at the implementation of all the pillars of sustainable development at all levels.  The challenge of the global deal approach to govern sustainable development in the 21st century would require a level of political commitment to address global sustainable development that does not appear to exist now. There is a strong level of resistance from the US, supported by Canada, Australia and Japan to the kinds of responsibilities and resource transfers envisaged in the global deal and the removal of protectionist barriers are still being blocked by special interests in the industrialised world. Some industrialized countries have argued against the term "Global Deal", partly because of the domestic connotations of the term, partly because of uncertainty as to what it means, and partly because they feared that a simple equation lay behind the term. Several developing countries have expressed displeasure with the term "global deal " as it suggests a bargaining process on unequal terms in which developing countries interests would remain secondary. 

The global deal approach would require a complex and delicate set of north-south arrangements that could fail or collapse for any number of reasons. Past experience has shown that many of the issues likely to be under discussion in any ‘deal’- including consumption targets, market access, debt relief and ODA are among the most difficult to negotiate.  There is a risk that the Deal could become little more than a political declaration with poor implementation potential.

The action plans and declarations from the past decade of UN Conferences and Summits have stated clearly that poverty eradication and environmental regeneration must be at the centre of national and international development efforts.  However, carrying out the clearly stated goals proves elusive.   For sustainable development there is agreement that the process of putting Agenda 21 into practice needs to be reinvigorated.  There must be a departure from business as usual, there is still a great deal of uncertainty over what programmes and projects are needed, who will do them, and when they will be done.  If the goal of sustainable development is to be seen to apply equally to all countries of the world, rich and poor, developed and developing.  Then there is a strong need for the Johannesburg Summit to determine and agree on the ‘how' and communicate a message of hope and belief in a sustainable development future.

2.3   Status of the Johannesburg negotiations
The tenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development 
(CSD) acting as the Preparatory Committee (Prep-Com) for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) took place from 27 May to 7 June 2002, at the Bali International Convention Center in Bali, Indonesia.  This produced the Draft Plan of Implementation for the WSSD A/CONF.199/PC/L.5/Rev.1), which was transmitted to the Summit in Johannesburg for further negotiation.  Negotiations on the implementation plan were conducted in working groups and contact groups, while the Plenary, Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues and High-Level Ministerial Segment provided input for the implementation plan and the political declaration. There were also informal consultations on partnerships. 

2.4   Gaining Momentum for Johannesburg
The presentation made a detailed overview of the events in the final run up to the Summit where South Africa has been involved in several key initiatives to ensure the final obstacles are removed and the foundations for a successful summit are in place. These included the “Handing over of the Torch” meeting in Rio de Janeiro, which took place from 23-25 June 2002. The other was the June seminar on sustainable development from Rio to Johannesburg, which included a discussion of commitments and a formulation of scenarios for the next 10-30 years and the New York on the 17th July 2002 attended by 25 countries and included the Group of Eight industrialized nations.  This meeting was to map out an approach that will allow negotiators to find common ground on some of the most difficult issues.  Some of these issues include finance and trade issues along with disagreements over setting targets and timetables. 

In conclusion, participants were assured that the stage is set for a successful outcome at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. It is clear, however, that some intense negotiations will still have to take place to reach final agreement on the 25 percent of the negotiating text that is still not agreed upon.   The summit is about the coming together of various sectors of the global society to share ideas and reinvigorate the commitment of the world to the ideals of sustainable development.  Since there are limits to how much a global meeting of this kind can achieve tangible results, participants were reminded that the real work would actually have to take place after the dust has settled on Johannesburg. It is then that parliamentarians around the world will have to find ways of translating the political commitments into robust national policies that take forward the spirit of Johannesburg. It is for that reason that parliamentarians need to be involved in the deliberations of the World Summit and create forums afterwards whereby they can share ideas and different legislative initiatives that take the agenda forward. GLOBE Southern Africa offered to assist this participation of parliamentarians towards ensuring the building of a more sustainable African continent.
At the end of the presentation parliamentarians were given the platform to ask questions make comments and or raise concerns.  The parliamentarians raised the following questions:

i. How do legislators in the workshop today would ensure that lessons learnt are conveyed to the next generation of parliamentarians?
ii. What is a simplified definition of sustainable development?
iii. How realistic is sustainable development in the light of issues like poverty, HIV/AIDS and increasing scarcity of resources?
iv. How could MPs be assisted to get to the Summit in large number?

The presenter and Yonge Nawe director gave satisfactory responses to the parliamentarians’ questions. In some case enlightened responses to the questions were
given by were given by other members of parliament who seemed very conversant with the issues of sustainable development.

3.   PRESENTATION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SWAZILAND: MR. J. VILAKATI: SWAZILAND ENVIRONMENT AUTHORITY

The presentation commenced with an outline of the major international events that preceded the World Summit on Sustainable Development.  These ranged from the 1972 UN Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm to the Millennium Summit of 2000 in New York and the Third UN Conference on Less developed Countries (LDCs) in Brussels which included the NGO Forum on Financing for Development and the subsequent preparatory meetings.  An outline of the purpose of the World Summit on Sustainable Development was presented as: 

To set up a Worldwide strategy for further implementation of Agenda 21 and agree on a course of action for the 21st century to be followed by all Nations in order to achieve Sustainable Development.

The expectations from the summit were outlined as follows:

• Adoption of a Global deal re-affirming the Rio Declaration and a refocus on Poverty Reduction
• Global deal to ensure a new balance between global economic, social and environmental development
• Global deal should secure the following for developing countries:
• International market access
• Debt reduction
• Transfer of sustainable technology
• Global deal should enhance and strengthen the international co-operation to protect the environment, to further international labor standards and to protect world trade.

3.2     What has Swaziland done in Preparation to the WSSD
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
• Industrialization
• 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 utilization and beneficial access
• Environmentally sound management of chemicals through infrastructure and sustainable human settlements and 
• Human development

4.  THE ROLE OF LEGISLATORS IN IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: LANCE GREYLING (GLOBE)

4.1 The Role

• Legislators are the mainstay of democracy
• The legislature, as the most representative political institution, is entrusted with the responsibility of promoting general welfare by making, amending and repealing the law. 
• Parliaments play a crucial role in enacting legislation for the implementation of sustainable development.  Parliamentarians can be effective in creating a legislative framework and adoption of organizational structures to ensure co-coordinated, equitable and efficient service delivery, resource mobilization and sustainable development.
• Parliaments and their members are in a position to influence and prompt governmental action to realize international sustainable development as well as monitor their implementation. 
• Parliaments contribute to ensuring that this question remains at the heart of the national political debate. 
• Parliament also provides institutional and direct popular participation in the parliamentary decision-making process through hearings and parliamentary debates on sustainable development priorities. 
• Parliamentarians have a responsibility to engage civil society and vice versa to overcome the limitations that weak administrative and research facilities sometimes impose on their ability to deal on equal terms with the executive and to communicate with their constituents. Environmental law organizations may have the capacity to draft environmental and sect oral bills, which MPs can introduce into parliament.
• Parliamentarians have a major responsibility in the implementation of the sustainable development policies and programmes.

4.2   Table A. Function of MPs for sustainable development
 
 
 

Function	Role
Political leaders	Influence public opinion, and increase public knowledge of relevant sustainable development issues.
Legislators	Vote on acts of parliament and ensure that legislation protects the environment and quality of peoples’ lives, and advances effective sustainable development programmes.
Advocates	Mobilise the involvement of government, private sector and civil society to discharge their societal responsibilities in responding appropriately to the challenges of sustainable development.
Resource mobilizers	Allocate financial resources to support and enhance effective sustainable development programmes that are consistent with sustainable development principles.

4.3   Table B: Overview of Function Cluster for Sustainable Development
 

Cluster

Obligations/Commitments/Resolutions

Legislation

1. Adopt enabling legislation and ensure legislative compatibility with the commitments contained in the WSSD Outcomes. 2. Adopt, review or revise national legislation in order to ensure compatibility with policies of sustainable development 3. Adopt legislative provisions, which ensure the effective involvement of public participation in the decision making process, and strengthen the role of Parliaments in monitoring the activities of governments and restricting corruption. 4. Emphasise the importance of review and reform of the law, government policy analysis and development management for sustainable development implementation. 5. In an oversight role, parliamentarians need to ensure that all countries implement legislation and relevant laws in relation to the implementation of sustainable development. 6. Parliamentarians need to monitor and ensure accountability in terms of the implementation of post WSSD programmes.

4.4      Suggested types of Outcomes

 The presenter 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

    1.   Finance, Terms of trade and globalisation

2. Programme of Work from Agenda 21
 

5. THE WAY FORWARD
The Honorable members of parliament were appreciative of all the important information tabled to them in the half-day workshop.  They however, raised concern on their ability to digest all that information and be able to make concrete suggestions for a way forward considering the time limitations they also faced.  It was therefore suggested and agreed that Yonge Nawe hosts a follow-up workshop to deliberate on the way-forward as soon as possible so that they can be able to send their message to the summit and also strategize on their participation prior to, and during, the summit.

This was acceptable Yonge Nawe and confirmation made that funds can be available to host it.  GLOBE was also asked to explore possibilities of assistance to members of parliament for participation at the summit.

6. CLOSING REMARKS
The workshop was officially closed by Ms. Joan Taffe, who represented Canada Fund for Local Initiatives.  She particularly thanked members of parliament for availing themselves to input into this preparatory process that is mapping the way for Swaziland’s participation at the WSSD.  She further thanked members of parliament for their active participation and involvement in the process and she hoped that the next workshop will be fruitful.
 

LIST OF ACRONYMS

CSD  Commission on Sustainable Development

JPOA  Johannesburg Programme Of Action

LDC  Less Developed Countries

ODA  Overseas Development Assistance

NGO  Non Governmental Organization

UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

UNEP  United Nations Environmental Programme

WSSD  World Summit on Sustainable Development

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The forum was organized Yonge Nawe.  Yonge Nawe would like to extend thanks and appreciation to the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives for making funds available for this forum.  Further thanks and appreciation is extended to the GLOBE and the Swaziland Environment Authority for the leading papers presented to the forum.  The forum would not have been a success without the tireless work and efforts of Yonge Nawe staff that worked tirelessly before and during the workshop to ensure its success.  Lastly, we would like to thank Ms. Dumisile Shabangu for facilitating the process and compiling the report.

Thuli Makama
Director