Concerns over material from thematic groups
30 June 1999
Some members of the drafting group that is currently working on the final documents for the conference are voicing concern that key recommendations for the draft Declaration and Framework documents may not find their way into the final texts to be presented at Thursday's plenary session.
These include recommendations emanating from many of the thematic meetings, as well as an idea put forward yesterday by the Africa group for highly indebted countries to set aside a portion of their debt relief for a science fund (see naturenews+ No 4, page 3).
Another recommendation that hangs in the balance is a call for countries to pledge to spend at least one per cent of gross domestic product on research and development.
The reasons for their possible omission appear to be procedural: some members of the drafting group, which yesterday evening finalized 80 per cent of the draft Declaration, are understood to be reluctant to introduce new proposals, preferring instead to consider only specific changes to the draft text.
"This really is very disturbing," says one member of the drafting group who has raised the issue with Unesco officials. "Recommendations from participants from the forum sessions areA much more focussed and practical than those in the conference draft documents." He adds that a failure to incorporate these recommendations deprives many individual participants from having a say in the final recommendations.
A senior Unesco official who chairs the drafting group, confirms that only specific amendments to the text of the draft documents -- received from around half of the 25 thematic meetings -- are being considered by the group.
Recommendations that do not relate to the conference text will, he says, instead be published as separate documents. But he adds that it is not too late to put down amendments for the drafting group to consider.
According to the rules of procedure, amendments can be submitted to the central bureau of the conference. The bureau is to have its final meeting at 8.30 this morning (Wednesday).
 Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 1999 Registered No. 785998 England. |