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The World Conservation Union steers southern African civil society towards the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development
IUCN - The World Conservation Union - Regional Office for Southern Africa (ROSA)
By Hastings Chikoko and Sandi Nielsen
August 05, 2002

The forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in August this year is being viewed as a multi-stakeholder high-level forum that will shape the environment agenda through the regional and international multi-stakeholder dialogues. It is at this Summit where individual governments, companies, international organisations, civil society and other stakeholders will take specific positions in relation to poverty, environment, and sustainable development issues in Africa and the whole continent.

Considering that this summit is taking place in southern Africa, IUCN – the World Conservation Union has seen it imperative to ensure that the civil society in southern Africa meaningfully contribute to both the preparations for, and the deliberations at the Summit. Participation of civil society groups is sometimes constrained by a limited capacity and lack of information. IUCN has therefore supported the participation of the region’s civil society in key Preparatory Committee Meetings (PrepCom) for the Summit.

"There was a clear recognition that civil society contribution to the Summit’s preparatory process was constrained," said Dr. Yemi Katerere, Regional Director for IUCN in southern Africa. "IUCN is therefore ensuring effective contribution by existing civil society networks in the Summit’s preparatory processes in order to raise Africa's position on conservation, poverty and sustainable development both at the PrepComs and the Summit."

Katerere pointed out that given the importance of the Summit in determining the direction for sustainable development, IUCN realised the need to mobilise civil society in the region ahead of the fourth and final preparatory committee meeting.

First, IUCN took some representatives from the civil society in southern Africa to a meeting in Dakar, Senegal in May 2002. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the main issues of the Summit with about 50 Anglophone and Francophone experts from Africa on the basis of some expert papers that were produced by IUCN.

Fannie Mutepfa, the Programme Co-ordinator from Zimbabwe Regional Environment Organisation (ZERO), an IUCN member, stressed the role of civil society as she saw it at play during the Dakar meeting. "We assist in translating the global agreements and strategies into local action and ensure that the voices and needs of local and grassroots communities are heard and taken into account when drafting global agenda for action."

Mutepfa noted that it is important that civil society documents and brings to the attention of leaders the experiences from the field. "This is critical in informing the agenda for the future. It is up to us - in consultation with national governments - to create the awareness on WSSD at local levels and consult the grassroots communities on their vision for Sustainable Development.

According to Katerere, IUCN also supported participation of civil society in the May 2002 PrepCom IV that was held in Bali, Indonesia. "PrepCom IV was important because it included on its agenda the chapter on Africa in the Chairman’s report," said Katerere. "We saw it necessary for southern Africa civil society to contribute to the discussions around this chapter."

An IUCN member, Malcolm Powell, Executive Director of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), remarked that the greatest achievement of the Bali meeting was that it provide an opportunity for community based organisations (CBOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from diverse disciplines around the world, to meet and exchange ideas and view-points.

"Linked to this was the opportunity for these organisations to agree on joint strategies related to sustainable development," said Powell.

Although civil society has much to offer in the WSSD, in most countries the engagement with government has not been easy. Powel observed that it is regrettable that in most instances CBOs and NGOs voices are only heard through protest action rather than through official, open, and meaningful dialogue with the global powers as was the case in Bali.

Lovemore Simwanda, Chairman for the Environmental Conservation Association of Zambia (ECAZ), a Zambian IUCN member, commented that the situation is improving as civil society organisations are increasingly putting forward to the Government substantial issues that are open for discussion.

"Most of civil society organisations in Africa make the mistake of ignoring the real developmental and environmental management issues," said Simwanda. " The Bali meeting offered a platform for civil society to contribute to the global development agenda. After participating in the Bali PrepCom and a few meetings with government, my office has been requested to make recommendations to government on WSSD."

IUCN took the opportunity provided by these meetings to encourage southern Africa’s civil society’s input into the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

"This was a real effort towards engaging civil society in unfolding process of NEPAD," said Katerere. "For many southern African NGOs that attended the meetings, it was the first time to discuss NEPAD meaningfully."

During the Summit’s June 2002 Preparatory Committee meeting in Bali, Indonesia, IUCN convened a side event to facilitate dialogue between different parties on NEPAD and its implications for sustainable development in Africa.

"From this meeting, it became apparent that it is not only the civil society that are marginalized in the process of NEPAD but also other African governments," pointed out Dr. Katerere. This underscores the need for a more inclusive consultation process to ensure that NEPAD is for all Africans. "Engaging a cross-section of African stakeholders will ensure that NEPAD does not evolve to become a continental structural adjustment programme."

According to Katerere, the meeting recognised NEPAD as an opportunity for donors to work with African institutions. Also, the meeting observed that the private sector’s role in delivering NEPAD should not only favour the big businesses but also include the local enterprises.

"More importantly, the environment need not be seen as a sector under NEPAD but should be taken as a cross-cutting issue that should be considered in the implementation of all activities under NEPAD," says Katerere.

ZERO’s Mutepfa felt that civil society managed to bring in the environmental agenda into NEPAD by suggesting ways in which ecosystem management can enhance community livelihoods.

"Related to Chapter 8 of the Chairman's paper, civil society convinced Governments that NEPAD need not be the only model for the Plan of Action regarding implementation of sustainable development programmes in Africa," enthused Mutepfa. "Hence after this intervention, there was now reference to other development initiatives.

Civil society also managed to drive the point home that NEPAD still needs to be put under intense discussion if it is to stand a chance of success. The civil society members therefore convinced IUCN on the need for broader dialogue on NEPAD.

Founded in 1948, IUCN brings together States, government agencies and a diverse range of non-governmental organisations in a unique world partnership. It has over 980 members spread across some 140 countries.

As a Union, IUCN seeks to influence, encourage and assist societies throughout the world to conserve the integrity and diversity of nature and to ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable. IUCN mission for southern Africa is to facilitate and strengthen an integrated approach for the sustainable and equitable use of natural resources and the conservation of biological diversity. IUCN-ROSA.

Visit the IUCN-ROSA fact sheet

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