D+C Development and Cooperation (No. 4, July/August 2002)

The extent of deforestation in the rain forests of Brazil is once again close to the high levels of the 1980s, according to a report in the scientific Journal of Environmental Conservation and quoted in Germany's Tageszeitung (taz). Between 1995 and 2000, 19,000 square km of forest areas were destroyed each year, close to the 19,800 square km of the period 1978 - 1989. In the first half of the 1990s, this rate had dropped to 14,000 square km per year. These figures are based on satellite photos collected by the state space research institute. What was particularly worrying, Ana Albernaz of the National Amazon Research Institute told taz, was the fact that there was not only an increase in absolute figures but also in per-head ratios. Although fewer people were living in the Amazon Region due to migration to the cities, deforestation caused by fire and cutting of trees was accelerating along the roads. Environmental laws were violated with impunity, Albernaz said.

According to Mario Menezes of Brazil's environment ministry, the situation is under control. During the next two years deforestation would decline by at least 6 per cent, he maintained. Environmentalists in Brazil welcome the latest study because it gives a new impetus to the debate on deforestation.
(taz)

UN Health Fund to Take up Work

The UN Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), based in Geneva, has been officially founded and taken up its work. An interim working group consisting of 40 representatives of countries, NGOs, international organisations and the private sector was commissioned in mid-2001 with preparing its founding. At the working group's third meeting in mid-December the final details of the composition of the Fund's governing board, legal status, financial arrangements and the location of its secretariat were agreed. The first meeting of the governing board at the end of January determined questions on the implementation and date of the official founding act.

By end-January, the participating countries, international organisations, foundations, companies and private persons had pledged a total of US$ 1.7 billion to promote the GFATM's work. Most of the pledges, however, did not mention a timeframe for the payments, so they could be spread over several years. The fund expects to be able to disburse US$ 700 million in 2002.

The governing board has 18 voting members, seven representing the donor countries and seven the developing countries (by region). Different from other international organisations, not only countries will be represented. Four voting seats are reserved for representatives of civil society, consisting of an NGO each from the developed and developing countries, a private sector donor, and a donor foundation. The board also has four non-voting seats, one each for a HIV/Aids patient or someone from a community in which malaria or TB is prevalent, the WHO, UNAIDS, and a trustee organisation yet to be named.

Based on the level of financial pledges, the USA, Italy and Japan have permanent seats on the board. Germany, with a pledge of US$ 132 million, has no permanent seat, and together with France and Spain forms a voting block, which initially is represented by France. Britain and Sweden also represent voting blocks. Other voting seats are held by the EU, Uganda and Brazil, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (pledge: US$ 100 million). The board is to meet three to four time a year, and take its decisions by consensus or, if necessary, by a two-thirds majority. The fund's work will cover both developing and transition countries. Its priorities will be projects in sub-Saharan Africa and countries with above-average poverty and a high prevalence of diseases and potential for their rapid spread. Applications for funding will be examined by a Technical Review Panel. The fund expected to be able to make its first pledges for financing projects in April this year. Projects both for prevention and care of the sick are to be considered, including the promotion of treatment of Aids patients with retroviral therapy.
Reprinted from Migration und Bevölkerung, Ralf E. Ulrich

Use of Child Soldiers Outlawed by United Nations

The recruitment of child soldiers is from now on illegal - at least in the 14 states which have ratified an annex to the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the UN General Assembly on May 16,2000. Although there is only one state among the 14 signatories where child soldiers are actually active in a war situation (the Democratic Republic of Congo) it is believed that there will be increased international pressure to end the use of child soldiers now that the annex has come into force.

According to the United Nations and international NGOs, about half a million children between the age of 7 and 17 are serving in regular armies and non-statal armed conflicts. About 300,000 of them are at present engaged in wars in 30 countries, most of them in Africa. Many of the children are forcefully recruited, especially in civil war situations, and many are being sexually abused. A notorious case is Sierra Leone where thousands of children were forced by militias to commit the most horrible brutalities. It is estimated that about a third of the 47,000 demobilised combatants in Sierra Leone are minors who now need help for their re-integration.

The Protocol on Child Soldiers, which has been signed, but not ratified, by 96 states, sets a minimum age of 18 years for military service. Some countries, among them the USA, Britain and Germany, believe a younger age - 16 or 17 - should be permissible for voluntary military service outside combat situations.

International Criminal Court Close to Start

The International Criminal Court (ICC) which the United Nations decided to establish in 1998 will probably be formally inaugurated in the beginning of 2003. 60 nations must ratify the statutes before the agreement can come into force, and 52 states have already done so. The remaining 8 nations needed to reach the quorum are about to ratify the statutes in the next few months.

More quickly than originally expected, the new United Nations institution will then be able to play its role in international law. The working of the International Criminal Court will, however, be seriously handicapped by the refusal of the United States to recognise its jurisdiction. For years, Washington insisted in the negotiations that the Security Council, where the US have a veto, should have a decisive say in future trials, and that American soldiers should be exempted from persecution by the ICC. President Clinton, in the end, signed the Treaty of Rome which established the Court, but refused to recommend ratification by the Senate.

In the meantime, the US Congress drafted a law which not only banned all US government agencies to cooperate with the ICC, but also threatened to freeze military support for all states (except NATO allies) who ratified the statutes. Although in the end the House of Representatives and the Senate could not agree on details of the "Service Members 'Protection Act", but fundamental opposition to the ICC in Congress remains a fact. The Bush Administration is also opposed to the establishment of the Court. In spite of the opposition of the United States - which also means that there will be no financial contribution from the richest UN member state - the ICC will go ahead with its preparations to take up work next year. The new court will be located at The Hague in the Netherlands which is already the seat of the International Tribunal for Yugoslavia where the trial is currently taking place of former Yugoslav President, Slobodan Milosevic. The International Court of Justice was also established here after World War One. With the launching of the ICC, another step will taken to create a supra-national system of justice with a global mandate.

Growth Industry: Crime in Mexico

Crime is a fast growing industry in Mexico. According to estimates of the InterAmerican Development Bank, it costs the country 6.2 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product, or US$35 billion annually. Mexico's National Security Council even puts that figure at $65 billion. The reasons for the increase in crime are believed to be poverty and an inefficient police and judiciary. 90 to 97 per cent of all crimes are never cleared up, and only about 10 per cent are reported to the police in the first place.

Mexico is the country with the second highest number of abductions, after Colombia. In the first nine months of 2001, 256 kidnappings were reported in the country, 140 of them in Mexico City. But the real figure is estimated to be as high as 1000 per year. Mexico is also a leading nation when it comes to car thefts.

While the high crime rate scares away foreign investors, trade with security equipment is booming. For the year 2002, imports of security technology worth more than US$2 billion are expected. Imported products include all sorts of alarm systems, electrical fences, satellite tracing systems, and armoured cars.

Poverty and Hunger in Mountain Areas

Mountain dwellers are among the world's largest populations of undernourished and hungry, David Harcharik, Deputy Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said in Rome.

As evidence of the growing crisis being played out on many of the world's highest landscapes, Harcharik said 52 of the 81 countries receiving emergency assistance from the World Food Programme (WFP) in the year 2000 were mountain countries.

Speaking at a special FAO launch of the International Year of Mountains (IYM), Harcharik said that current estimates show there are more than 800 million chronically under-nourished people in the world. By paying special attention to the plight of mountain people, he predicted the numbers of hungry and undernourished citi-zens in the world could be reduced substantially.

One in ten, or about 600 million, people live in mountain areas. Outside the well-to-do mountain resorts and commuter towns in industrialised countries, the majority of mountain people are chronically undernourished.

The reasons for this harsh reality are complex, but most relate to issues of poverty and political marginalisation. For example, policies and decisions concerning the management of mountain resources are often made from afar, leaving those who live in mountain communities with the least amount of influence and power.

In addition, mountain people face massive physical barriers, such as rugged terrain, poor communications systems and inadequate roads. But armed conflict is currently the greatest obstacle to improving conditions in mountain communities.

Most of the armed conflicts in the world today are in mountain areas. In 1999, 23 of the 27 major armed conflicts in the world were being fought in mountain regions.

FAO's priority for IYM is to stimulate long-term, on-the-ground action as well as to support the creation and ongoing efforts of national committees dedicated to the International Year of Mountains.

Mountains are crucial to all life on earth. They are home to at least one-tenth of the world's population and sources of biodiversity, minerals and forests. They are also source of all the world's great rivers. More than 3 billion people rely on mountains for fresh water to grow food, to produce electricity, to sustain industries and, most importantly, to drink.