African Regional Advocacy Workshop on Human Rights and Sustainable Development
African Regional Advocacy Workshop on Human Rights and Sustainable Development Nairobi, Africa
Nairobi Declaration for Sustainable Development in Africa
"There is no sustainable development without sustainable peace and respect for human rights"
Nairobi, May 11, 2002
We, over 50 participants from 17 different countries mostly Africa[1], having met in Nairobi, Kenya from 5 to 11 May 2002 at the ICMICA African Regional Advocacy Workshop on Human Rights and Sustainable Development around the theme "Human Rights and Sustainable Development - The Challenge of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)[2] to African Christian Professionals in a Globalising World" jointly convened by Pax Romana ICMICA Africa and the International Secretariat of ICMICA based in Geneva and hosted by CMICA Kenya, ICMICA member federation in Kenya,[3]
1. Welcoming the decision of the UN General Assembly at its 55th session to hold the WSSD in South Africa in 2002,
2. Expressing our deep concern about the Agenda 21 has not been fully implemented both at the national and global levels since its adoption in 1992,
3. Emphasizing the need for coherence and consistency in the international legal regimes pertaining to trade, human rights, security and environment,
4. Recognizing the catalytic role of United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) in formulating normative standards in the fields of environmental protection and acting as the environmental conscience of the UN,
Revisiting conditions of unsustainable development in Africa,
5. Stressing the fact that ongoing humanitarian crisis due to international or internal armed conflicts whether owing to the scarcity or the abundance of national resources in a number of African countries, are serious obstacles to achieving sustainable peace and development,
6. Noting with concern the social costs of schemes to attract foreign investment in Africa such as economic processing zones, including the lack of protection of workers' rights, environmental norms and standards as well as the impunity enjoyed by the employers and investors,
7. Emphasizing the urgency of conserving the rich bio-diversity in the African continent through adequate national remedies including preservation through compatible domestic legislation
8. Noting with grave concern the persistence of extreme poverty in most of the African countries, including its manifestation in increased rates of HIV/AIDS infection with many of the countries losing many of its people in their prime of life,
9. Gravely concerned about the serious humanitarian crisis in the shortage of food in Southern Africa,
10. Gravely concerned about the environmental degradation due to desertification, drought, flood, volcanic eruption and the lack of political will and commitment on resource allocation, and the mismanagement and misuse of allocated resources in many African countries,
11. Deploring the insufficient attention paid by most Governments to slum dwellers to the promotion and protection of civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, adding to the scourge of environmental racism,
Assessing the African responses to a call for sustainable development
12. Taking note of the African Ministerial Statement issued in Nairobi on 18 October 2001 which
- i) "recognizes the important role played by civil society and the need to ensure their full participation in achieving sustainable development",
- ii) "recognizes the participation by young people in sustainable development is the foundation of the success of this strategy to combat poverty for the future of Africa",
- iii) failed to recognize the role of women in promoting sustainable development,
13. Noting that the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) can be a useful political and economic tool to promote democratic governance and sustainable development at the local, national and regional levels with an adequate mechanism for civil society participation,
14. Recognizing the role of African civil society and NGOs in promoting an integral approach to sustainable development taking into account other inter-linked dimensions such as human rights, ethics, peace, gender and environment in the changing reality of African context,
Reaffirming basic principles for sustainable development
15. Underlining the close linkage that exists between the right to healthy environment and the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health,
16. Affirming that the realisation of the right to education with adequate resources and proper curriculum is integral to achieving sustainable development,
17. Emphasizing the need of governance based on international human rights norms and standards including transparency and accountability with effective popular participation thereby enhancing the progress towards sustainable development,
18. Emphasizing that faith-based groups and religious communities can play constructive role in promoting sustainable development in Africa,
19. Affirming the importance of spiritual and ethical imperatives in overcoming selfish attitudes and lifestyles which led to unsustainable development,
20. Recognizing the urgent need to have a comprehensive ethical framework such as the Earth Charter which contains fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century,
21. Dedicating ourselves to the objectives and goals of the WSSD,
To the International Community
1. Call upon the Inter-governmental and multilateral institutions involved in trade, human rights and environment to collaborate actively on an inter-agency level for better coherence and compliance thereby achieving inter-connectedness and compatibility, enhancing sustainable development,
2. Urge the international financial institutions to be pro-poor integrating their human rights and environmental concerns with effective policies and practices and without undue delay, particularly related to eradication of extremely poverty
3. Appeal to the international community towards enhancing international cooperation through adequate and timely outlay of Official Development Assistance (ODA) including the reach out to 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the rich industrial countries,
4. Urge the international community to monitor and to facilitate the observance of human rights norms and environmental protection standards while framing multi-lateral rule-based trading systems concerning goods and services,
5. Urge the international community to accelerate its humanitarian and diplomatic initiatives towards cessation of hostilities thereby effectively promoting sustainable peace and human security,
6. Call upon the international community to increase its efforts towards enhancing the corporate social responsibility of trans-national corporations (TNCs) and business, including building code of conduct and wherever possible, with affirmative action for the poor,
7. Call upon the international community to multiply its initiatives regarding technological transfer, observing relevant environmental and human rights standards,
8. Call upon the international community to enhance its capacity towards effective and rapid disaster management, respecting humanitarian norms and improving domestic capacity building in disaster management, wherever needed,
9. Call upon the international community to respond to the humanitarian crisis situations particularly related to food, health, water, sanitation and environment
10. Call upon the international community to respect and implement the commitments made at various UN Conferences on Environment and Development, Human Rights, Social Development, Women, Food, Racism, etc.
To All Governments particularly in Africa
11. Call upon the African governments to undertake urgent measures on an emergency basis towards eradication of extreme poverty through proper agricultural policies for food sovereignty relevant initiatives towards combating unemployment, respect for the rule of law and meaningful policies and practices in the critical areas of health, habitation, education, sanitation and drinking water.
12. Call upon the African governments to address themselves to real issues which bring about sustained food security including relevant agricultural policies that avoid overuse of chemical fertilizers causing soil degradation,
13. Urge the African governments toward governance based on the informed consent of its people with due respect for human rights standards including the fundamental freedoms and independence of the judiciary,
14. Urge the African governments that accession or ratification to international law regimes related to trade, human rights and environment should be based on the wide ranging consultation with its peoples and related institutions of domestic legislation,
15. Urge all African governments to make more efforts to develop effective mechanism of collaboration in the field of human rights and sustainable development with civil society organizations including the Churches, Indigenous peoples, youth and women organizations,
16. Urge all African governments to take collective measures in developing preventive diplomacy and conflict transformation such as early warning system to eliminate the scourge of internal armed conflicts in Africa,
17. Call upon all governments at the WSSD endorse the Earth Charter as a declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century,
18. Urge all governments to take steps both nationally and with international cooperation to achieve the best possible standards of the rights to a healthy environment and the right to health without discrimination,
19. Urge all governments to maintain the link between human rights and environmental protection through adequate domestic remedies seen as a necessary means to achieve sustainable development,
20. Urge all governments to integrate fully the empowerment of women through sustainable development both as participants and as beneficiaries,
To Civil Society and NGOs in Africa
21. Call upon the African Civil Society and NGOs to endorse fully ongoing initiatives of the African Civil Society and NGOs, particularly the African Civil Society Position regarding the WSSD at the African NGO Forum held in Nairobi on 15 to 16 October 2001 assuring our partnership and collaboration,
22. Call upon the African Civil Society and NGOs to integrate fully the promotion and protection of human rights as an essential tool in achieving sustainable development,
23. Urge the African Civil Society and NGOs to negotiate both nationally and regionally on procedural and substantive matters concerning consultative status with the African governments and regional institutions,
24. Urge the African Civil Society and NGOs to take into account the importance of combating impunity regarding human rights and environmental degrading and make their respective governments take appropriate measures to address the question of impunity,
25. Call upon the African Civil Society and NGOs to urge all states to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders and environmental activists,
26. Call upon the African civil society and NGOs to play a critical role in effective lobbying towards the governments to endorse different international instruments and to ensure its implementation at the national level,
To Christian Communities in Africa
27. Call upon all Christian communities in Africa to be more prophetic in their mission in promoting human rights and sustainable development in partnership with people of good will in civil societies in Africa,
28. Urge the Church leaders to incorporate actively both human rights and environmental concerns in their pastoral options, policies and practices,
29. Call upon the local Churches and the regional Episcopal bodies to engage themselves in proactive dialogue with all religions and religious leaders on human rights, sustainable development and environmental protection,
30. Call upon the faith-based communities and groups to continue rigorously their commitments towards enhancing the effectiveness of human rights and environmental standards, particularly from the perspective of the poor, the vulnerable, the marginalized and the excluded.
[1] The countries represented were Belgium, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, France, India, Korea and United States.
[2] The WSSD is to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 26 August to 4 September 2002.
[3] This workshop was organized as part of ICMICA preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Following this Nairobi workshop, Asian regional workshop will take place in Bali, Indonesia from May 23 to 28, 2002, and the Latin America and Inter-continental workshop will be held in Lima, Peru from July 6 to 11, 2002. Some of Pax Romana ICMICA delegates will be attending the Global Forum (August 18 to 25) and WSSD itself.
