A-21: NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Distr.
GENERAL
A/CONF.151/26 (Vol. III)
14 August 1992
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
(Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992)
Chapter 27
STRENGTHENING THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS:
PARTNERS FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMME AREA
Basis for action
27.1.Non-governmental organizations play a vital role in the shaping and
implementation of participatory democracy. Their credibility lies in the
responsible and constructive role they play in society. Formal and
informal organizations, as well as grass-roots movements, should be
recognized as partners in the implementation of Agenda 21. The nature of
the independent role played by non-governmental organizations within a
society calls for real participation; therefore, independence is a major
attribute of non-governmental organizations and is the precondition of real
participation.
27.2.One of the major challenges facing the world community as it seeks to
replace unsustainable development patterns with environmentally sound and
sustainable development is the need to activate a sense of common purpose
on behalf of all sectors of society. The chances of forging such a sense
of purpose will depend on the willingness of all sectors to participate in
genuine social partnership and dialogue, while recognizing the independent
roles, responsibilities and special capacities of each.
27.3.Non-governmental organizations, including those non-profit
organizations representing groups addressed in the present section of
Agenda 21, possess well-established and diverse experience, expertise and
capacity in fields which will be of particular importance to the
implementation and review of environmentally sound and socially responsible
sustainable development, as envisaged throughout Agenda 21. The community
of non-governmental organizations, therefore, offers a global network that
should be tapped, enabled and strengthened in support of efforts to achieve
these common goals.
27.4.To ensure that the full potential contribution of non-governmental
organizations is realized, the fullest possible communication and
cooperation between international organizations, national and local
governments and non-governmental organizations should be promoted in
institutions mandated, and programmes designed to carry out Agenda 21.
Non-governmental organizations will also need to foster cooperation and
communication among themselves to reinforce their effectiveness as actors
in the implementation of sustainable development.
Objectives
27.5. Society, Governments and international bodies should develop
mechanisms to allow non-governmental organizations to play their
partnership role responsibly and effectively in the process of
environmentally sound and sustainable development.
27.6. With a view to strengthening the role of non-governmental
organizations as social partners, the United Nations system and Governments
should initiate a process, in consultation with non-governmental
organizations, to review formal procedures and mechanisms for the
involvement of these organizations at all levels from policy-making and
decision-making to implementation.
27.7. By 1995, a mutually productive dialogue should be established at the
national level between all Governments and non-governmental organizations
and their self-organized networks to recognize and strengthen their
respective roles in implementing environmentally sound and sustainable
development.
27.8. Governments and international bodies should promote and allow the
participation of non-governmental organizations in the conception,
establishment and evaluation of official mechanisms and formal procedures
designed to review the implementation of Agenda 21 at all levels.
Activities
27.9. The United Nations system, including international finance and
development agencies, and all intergovernmental organizations and forums
should, in consultation with non-governmental organizations, take measures
to:
(a) Review and report on ways of enhancing existing procedures and
mechanisms by which non-governmental organizations contribute to policy
design, decision-making, implementation and evaluation at the individual
agency level, in inter-agency discussions and in United Nations
conferences;
(b) On the basis of subparagraph (a) above, enhance existing or, where
they do not exist, establish, mechanisms and procedures within each agency
to draw on the expertise and views of non-governmental organizations in
policy and programme design, implementation and evaluation;
(c) Review levels of financial and administrative support for
non-governmental organizations and the extent and effectiveness of their
involvement in project and programme implementation, with a view to
augmenting their role as social partners;
(d) Design open and effective means of achieving the participation of
non-governmental organizations in the processes established to review and
evaluate the implementation of Agenda 21 at all levels;
(e) Promote and allow non-governmental organizations and their
self-organized networks to contribute to the review and evaluation of
policies and programmes designed to implement Agenda 21, including support
for developing country non-governmental organizations and their
self-organized networks;
(f) Take into account the findings of non-governmental review systems
and evaluation processes in relevant reports of the Secretary-General to
the General Assembly, and of all pertinent United Nations organizations and
other intergovernmental organizations and forums concerning implementation
of Agenda 21, in accordance with the review process for Agenda 21;
(g) Provide access for non-governmental organizations to accurate and
timely data and information to promote the effectiveness of their
programmes and activities and their roles in support of sustainable
development.
27.10. Governments should take measures to:
(a) Establish or enhance an existing dialogue with non-governmental
organizations and their self-organized networks representing various
sectors, which could serve to: (i) consider the rights and
responsibilities of these organizations; (ii) efficiently channel
integrated non-governmental inputs to the governmental policy development
process; and (iii) facilitate non-governmental coordination in implementing
national policies at the programme level;
(b) Encourage and enable partnership and dialogue between local
non-governmental organizations and local authorities in activities aimed at
sustainable development;
(c) Involve non-governmental organizations in national mechanisms or
procedures established to carry out Agenda 21, making the best use of their
particular capacities, especially in the fields of education, poverty
alleviation and environmental protection and rehabilitation;
(d) Take into account the findings of non-governmental monitoring and
review mechanisms in the design and evaluation of policies concerning the
implementation of Agenda 21 at all levels;
(e) Review government education systems to identify ways to include
and expand the involvement of non-governmental organizations in the field
of formal and informal education and of public awareness;
(f) Make available and accessible to non-governmental organizations
the data and information necessary for their effective contribution to
research and to the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes.
Means of implementation
(a) Financing and cost evaluation
27.11. Depending on the outcome of review processes and the evolution of
views as to how best to build partnership and dialogue between official
organizations and groups of non-governmental organizations, relatively
limited but unpredictable, costs will be involved at the international and
national levels in enhancing consultative procedures and mechanisms.
Non-governmental organizations will also require additional funding in
support of their establishment of, improvement of or contributions to
Agenda 21 monitoring systems. These costs will be significant but cannot
be reliably estimated on the basis of existing information.
(b) Capacity-building
27.12. The organizations of the United Nations system and other
intergovernmental organizations and forums, bilateral programmes and the
private sector, as appropriate, will need to provide increased financial
and administrative support for non-governmental organizations and their
self-organized networks, in particular those based in developing countries,
that contribute to the monitoring and evaluation of Agenda 21 programmes,
and provide training for non-governmental organizations (and assist them to
develop their own training programmes) at the international and regional
levels to enhance their partnership role in programme design and
implementation.
27.13. Governments will need to promulgate or strengthen, subject to
country-specific conditions, any legislative measures necessary to enable
the establishment by non-governmental organizations of consultative groups,
and to ensure the right of non-governmental organizations to protect the
public interest through legal action.
END OF CHAPTER 27
.
============RRojas Research Unit/1996===================================
