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DEVELOPMENT: Helsinki Follow-Up to Stress Inclusive Governance
By Julio Godoy
DAR ES SALAAM, Nov 23 (IPS) - Government and civil society representatives from Africa, Europe, and other
regions of the world are meeting here beginning Nov. 27 to examine issues of
globalisation - from peace and security, environment and energy policy, to
respect for human rights, and financing for development.
The Dar es Salaam conference, to be carried out from Nov. 27 thru 29, will be
the third held as part of the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy
since it was initiated in 2002 by the governments of Finland and Tanzania to
address developing countries fears that growing international
interdependencies are creating greater inequality in an already unequal
world.
The meeting, titled "Inclusive governance - bridging global divides", is the
follow-up of a Sep. 2005 conference held in the Finnish capital of Helsinki
marking the culmination of the first phase of the process.
The role of non-state actors in promoting peace and security is high on the
agenda for the review conference.
"The aim of the session on peace and security is to explore the specific
contributions non-state actors could make to confidence and trust building,
the challenges of improving both democracy and security in unstable
environments and the possibilities for non-state actors to contribute to
resolving individual crises, especially in the Middle East," Folke Sundman, of
the Finish ministry for foreign affairs, told IPS.
Another theme to be discussed at length in Dar es Salaam is the relationship
between national and global economic policies.
"The aim of the debate at Dar es Salaam is considering how developing
countries could both best utilise their existing policy autonomy and gain
more of it within the context of the global economy," Sundman stressed.
"How the global economic framework could best support national
development programmes, and what innovative measures and new forms of
cooperation between different stakeholders could be envisaged at the
national and global levels," will also be discussed, according to Sundman.
"At the Helsinki conference, it was decided that our process, facilitated by the
governments of Finland and Tanzania, should continue its work of mobilising
political will for the implementation of global commitments and developing
multi-stakeholder cooperation in global governance," Ilkka Kanerva, Finish
minister for foreign affairs, said in a joint declaration with her Tanzanian
counterpart Bernard K. Membe.
"In order to set a timeline for the Second Phase of the Helsinki Process, it was
decided that a review of activities taken and experiences gained would be
organised after two years, to provide a forum for facilitators of Road Maps,
hosts of Roundtables, Consultative Network members, as well as other
partners and key external reference groups to come together and discuss
what has been done and what still needs to be done," the declaration read.
The concept of the multi-stakeholder cooperation is based on the
understanding that globalisation has brought with it a fundamental change in
world politics: states, traditionally seen as the only legitimate players on the
international stage, have been joined by other stakeholders, such as
international organisations, civil society organisations, and business and
religious actors.
In the realm of peace and security, new threats have emerged.
Transmissible diseases, cross-border organized crime, trafficking and drugs,
and climate change, menace not only states but also their citizens directly.
The Helsinki Process is based upon the belief that state security and human
security have become intertwined.
The first phase of the Helsinki Process culminating in the Helsinki Conference
of 2005 focused on how to mobilise the political will and resources required
to implement commitments agreed upon by the international community -
such as those outlined in the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
The MDGs - to be achieved by 2015 - include a 50 percent reduction in
extreme poverty and hunger; universal primary education; promotion of
gender equality; reduction of child mortality by two-thirds; cutbacks in
maternal mortality by three-quarters; combating the spread of HIV/AIDS,
malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability; and
developing a North-South global partnership for development.
(END/2007)
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