rescue mission 2002

Peace Child International presents

a young people’s assessment of progress on the implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the other major UN summits in the ten years between 1992-2002

sponsored by The Government of the Netherlands

UNICEF

The Government of Finland

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOR PEACE CHILD INTERNATIONAL Project Manager Project Director Project Consultant Workbook Designer Workbook Editor Design Team

Russell Parkinson David Woollcombe Rosey Simonds Francisco Pereira Aaron Hawkins & Tom Burke José Luis Bayer & Ivonne Lacombe Jesús de Lasheras Andújar,

FOR INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL GENEVA Principal, La Chataigneraie Campus Coordinator, La Chataigneraie Consultant, La Chataigneraie Principal, La Grande Boissiére Earth Focus Coordinator, La Grande Boissiére

Michel Chinal Ellie Alchin Richard Heery Anthony Gorton Hubert Schneebeli

FOR THE BELLERIVE FOUNDATION Foundation Director Earth Focus Project Director Earth Focus Administrator

Nazir Sunderji Barry Gilbert-Miguet Karen Pelosi

Peace Child International presents

a young people’s assessment of progress on the implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the other major UN summits in the ten years between 1992-2002

DISCLAIMER The views expressed in this book are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Peace Child International, the Bellerive Foundation or any of the sponsors or publishers.

EXPERT ADVISORY GROUP Peace Child International would like to thank the following people who gave generously of their time to read through the first draft of this book and prepare an advisory note to the editors of the Final Draft: Dr Noel Brown, Alex Marshall, Pragati Pascale, Bas de Auer, Pierre Quiblier, Jing Jing Qian The production of this book was made possible by grants from the Government of the Netherlands, the Government of Finland and UNICEF. This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. Peace Child International would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this book as a source. No use of this book may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior written permission from Peace Child International. All images in this book have been reproduced with the knowledge and prior consent of the artists concerned and no responsibility is accepted by the producer, publisher or printer for any infringement of copyright arising from the contents of this book. Every effort has been made to ensure that all credits comply accurately with the information supplied.

Development Studies - Geography Dewey Number : 333.1 ISBN No. © 2002 Peace Child Inter national Printed in Italy by Museumici Industriografica on recycled paper made from 100% post-consumer waste

Bellerive Foundation

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Published by Peace Child International, The White House, BUNTINGFORD, Herts UK SG9 9AH Telephone: (+44) 176 327 4459; Fax: (+44) 176 327 4460; e-mail: contact@peacechild.org; website: www.peacechild.org International School of Geneva

EDITORS 1st Draft Editors Bonus Caesar (19) Tanzania Cesar Carrascal Vizarreta (20) Peru Lile Jandreska (19) FYR Macedonia Filip Kosik (15) Czech Republic Bushra Razack (15) South Africa Maia Sarrouf (17) Lebanon Csilla Varga (18) Yugoslavia

Peace Child Team Editors Vera Akatsa-Bukachi (19) Kenya Tom Burke (17) UK Clotilde Fenoy (26) France Yoshi Funaki (23) UK David Pedrueza Diaz (24) Spain Carolina Rengifo Rios (26) Peru Stephanie Wilks (23) USA

2nd Draft Editors Ahmed Abbas (13) Sudan Jaclyn Adelman (17) USA Katie Bora (11) Australia/Canada Stephanie de Verteuil (17) UK/ Canada Maya Dominice (17), Australia/Argentina Sebastian Ellis (11) UK/Colombia Bayann Hamid (17) Palestine/USA Sarah Hamid (17) Palestine/USA Valerie Haseltine (17) France/UK Anna Juchnowicz (18) Poland Woyni Kahssay (17) Ethiopia Assaf Levin (13) Israel Nisha Khanna (17) India Cathy Mayne (12) Thailand/ UK Mark Padley (16) UK Katie Paroschy (15) Canada Cara Peterson (13) USA Alex Qaqaya (15) Netherlands/Morocco Friso Schlingeman (16) Netherlands Jenna Troup (13) USA Andrea Tumbas (17) Yugoslavia Joric van der Hoeven (16) Netherlands Beth Wilson (11) UK

DARJA MALIGINA, 12, RUSSIA

I n t ro d u c t i o n s

6

S E C T I O N I : S TAT E O F T H E W O R L D W h a t d o e s S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p m e n t M e a n t o Yo u ?

I f t h e Wo r l d We re a V i l l a g e o f 1 0 0 P e o p l e . . .

Ta k e a C l o s e r L o o k . . .

The Summits Millennium Summit

8 10 12 14 16 18

SECTION II: AGENDA 21 A t m o s p h e re : Ta k e a D e e p B re a t h F o re s t s : R o o t s o f L i f e O c e a n s : Wa v e s o f C h a n g e Wa t e r : D r i n k f o r y o u r H e a l t h M o u n t a i n s a re F o re v e r. . . ?

Deserts: Shifting Sands B i o d i v e r s i t y : N a t u re ’s E x t e n d e d F a m i l y L a n d : C u l t i v a t i n g o u r F u t u re C i t y o f D re a m s Expelling Poverty Consumption: In One End... . . . a n d O u t t h e O t h e r : Wa s t e P o p u l a t i o n : G e t t i n g C ro w d e d Population: The Numbers Game H e a l t h : D o c t o r, W h e re ?

AIDS: No Longer the Silent Killer

20 22 24 26 28 30 31 32 34 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50

SECTION III: MAJOR GROUPS Wo m e n R o c k Science: Virtual Advance Getting Down to Business Local Agenda 21: Sustainability Begins at Home N G O s : N o n - G o v e r n m e n t a l O v e rd r i v e F a r m e r s : E n d a n g e re d S p e c i e s ?

Indigenous Peoples: The Power of the Spirit Yo u t h : P a r t i c i p a t e !

Learning to Survive Black Holes: Gaps in Agenda 21 Rights for All! Wa r & P e a c e Show me the Money Ta k i n g C h a r g e : G o v e r n a n c e f o r S u s t a i n a b i l i t y

52 54 56 58 60 61 62 64 66 67 68 69 70 72 74

S E C T I O N I V: T H E R O A D A H E A D J o h a n n e s b u r g Yo u t h M a n i f e s t o Ta k i n g A c t i o n : T h e W i n d s o f C h a n g e G o O n . . . W h a t ’s S t o p p i n g Yo u ?

In Our Opinion The Road Ahead

76 78 80 82 84 86

S E C T I O N V: R E F E R E N C E S E C T I O N F o r M o re I n f o r m a t i o n . . .

Contributors List A f t e r w o rd Glossary Index Peace Child & Be the Change!

88 90 92 93 94 95 96

5

M

Foreword

Y

Introduction EC

O

N

O

by the Youth Editors

by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General,

EN V IR O N M EN

6

T S O C IE

AMY HOE, 25, USA

United Nations

TY

7

1992: RIO DE JANEIRO UN Conference on Environment & Development

1962: Silent Spring a book by Rachel Carson 1987: Our Common Future The Brundtland Commission

Ten years have passed since a

business affects our planet. More

environment on which all future

group of young editors published

and

groups

life depends? One thing is certain:

the original Rescue Mission: Planet

throughout the world have taken

we need to involve young people

Earth -– a children’s version of

up the cause.

— those under the age of 25 who

more

citizens’

currently make up half the world’s

Agenda 21. Agenda 21 is the blueprint

for

development

sustainable

adopted

at

the

“Earth Summit” in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. Rescue Mission was a wake-up call to “stop senseless wars” and “end the pollution of our beautiful planet.” It was a call for “politicians to make the decisions they should have made

At the same time, new challenges have emerged. Ten years go, the ravages of HIV/AIDS had barely made their imprint on some countries; today, the virus has spread to every corner of the earth.

The Internet barely existed; today, we are faced with a digital divide between those who have, and those who lack, access to this

long, long ago.”

powerful tool for education and

population. It is they, after all, who will

have

to

live

with

taken at the World Summit on Sustainable

Development

in

Johannesburg. It is they who will inherit a world which has – or has not – made progress towards the Millennium Development Goals agreed

by

all

the

world’s

Governments.

years? Not nearly as far as we

only beginning to reveal itself;

Rescue Mission 2002 reflects Peace

would have hoped. Our planet’s

today, it is the hallmark of our age

Child’s strong commitment to that

environment is still fragile; too

— its benefits are far from equally

quest. I congratulate the young

many people still live in poverty.

distributed, yet it has the potential

people who took part in this work.

Governments

to improve the lives of millions.

And I hope that 10 years from

have

begun to pay more attention to the environment when making decisions. Many large companies have started to look at how their

Our quest remains the same: how

now, we will be able to say that

can we achieve economic progress

we have come a very, very long

and

way in rescuing our planet.

end

preserving

poverty, and

while

still

healing

the

1984: The World Conservation Strategy

by UNEP, IUCN and WWF 1972: Limits to Growth report The Club of Rome

THE ROAD TO JOHANNESBURG BY ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND

consequences of the decisions

development. Globalisation was

progress.

2002: JOHANNESBURG World Summit for Sustainable Development

the

How far have we come in ten

However, we have made some

1972:: STOCKHOLM UN Conference on the Human Environment

Kofi A. Annan

In June 1992 the governments of the World gathered in Rio de Janeiro for The Earth Summit. At last, the link between the need to save the environment and the equally great need to eradicate poverty was recognised. Governments commited to address these needs and came up with Agenda 21, which outlined the biggest challenges to the World in the 21st century, as well as some real solutions.

The first Peace Child book, Rescue Mission : Planet Earth was based on this and demonstrated the enthusiasm, especially of young people, behind the idea of sustainable development!

In spite of this initial enthusiasm, we agree with Kofi Annan: not enough has been done in the past decade. In this book, prepared for the World Summit for Sustainable Development to take place in Johannesburg in August 2002, we have sat down and given star ratings on the key

commitments in Agenda 21. We give you our personal view on how far we think we have come since Rio - 5 for a long way, 0 for nowhere! This is not at all scientific - we just want to provoke you to think about each issue.

It is 10 years on from Rio and Johannesburg is all about reviewing our progress (or lack of as the case may be!). Principle 21 of Agenda 21 states, "The creativity, ideals and courage of youth should be mobilised to forge a global partnership in order to achieve sustainable development and ensure a better future for all". Now is time to look around and ask what has been the impact on your community and your local environment?

Like Rescue Mission, this book is not “another doom and gloom book about eco-disasters with some kindly advice at the end on how to sort your garbage.” Instead, it seeks to celebrate

the progress we have made and identify those tasks that we must all work upon together if humanity is to enjoy another millennium of life upon this beautiful planet.

As we prepared this book, the challenge in our minds was sustainability. It is all too easy to sit back and let others worry about the state of the planet after all what can you do? Young people are significant consumers. We recognise that we are responsible right now for establishing sustainable lifestyles.

Ten years from now, our formal education will be over. Some of us will have children of our own - and we hope that learning to live sustainably will be more at the centre of their school curriculum than it was in ours. And we hope that this book will help!

The Editors

9

Section 1

State of The World

W H AT D O E S S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T MEAN TO YOU?

10

LIANA LUCHNIKOVA, 12, RUSSIA

IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE OF 100 PEOPLE...

12

TA K E A C L O S E R L O O K . . .

14

THE SUMMITS

16

MILLENNIUM SUMMIT

18

10

What does Sustainable Development Mean to YOU? Sustainable development means cleaning up our atmosphere and stopping global warming!

It means preserving our oceans and freshwater and stopping the polar icecaps from melting!

To me sustainable development is about people. Everyone has the right to not live in poverty, to education and employment.

Its not just for the experts!

SQUEEZING THE PLANET DRY BY ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND, ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA AND STEPHANIE WILKS, 23, USA

If we want sustainable development, I think we must conserve our land for agriculture to feed our growing population.

We cannot achieve sustainable development without stopping the growth of big coporations. They just allow the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer.

Sustainable development means caring for the environment AND for humans – making sure everyone has access to health care stopping the spread of AIDS.

11

Stopping them is not the answer. We must learn to work with them.

You’re all right! Sustainable development means meeting the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs!

But who is going to pay for all of this? It is more developed countries that have caused most environmental damage.

Yet less developed countries are those most in need of support.

12

If the World were a Village of 100 People...

15 villagers live in the richer areas of the village

13 13

The world is huge: 6 billion people is hard to imagine, right? So to give you a sense of the state of our world, we’ve scaled everything down to a village of 100 where you would know everyone and what their life is like.

78 villagers live in poverty 33 are Christians, 28 are Muslims, 21 are from other religions and 28 have no religion The village covers 600 acres of land; 70 acres are used as cropland, 140 as pasture, and 190 as woodland.

The village has a yearly budget of $300,000. $18,000 is used for weapons and warfare, $16,000 for education, and $13,000 for healthcare.

6 have a computer and 3 have access to the internet. 50 of the villagers have never made a phone call.

27 villagers do not have access to clean drinking water. One of the villagers is a doctor and one is infected with HIV. 17 villagers are without adequate shelter.

78 villagers are literate, 22 are not, and only one has a college education.

Average income in the village is $6000 a year but over 50 villagers live on less than $730 ($2 a day).

39 villagers are under 20 years old.

Life expectancy for the richer villagers is 78 years, in the poorest areas it is only 52 years.

In 1960, the richest 20 had 30 times more wealth than the poorest 20; now they have 82 times more and they generate 86% of the garbage!

39 villagers are of school age, but only 31 of them actually attend school.

7 villagers have a car.

The village has quadrupled its carbon emissions in the past 50 years.

Only half the children in the village are immunised against preventable diseases

Two babies will be born this year and one person will die.

GAVIN HENCHOZ, 12, SWITZERLAND

Take a Closer Look ...

World temperatures rose 0.6% during the past 100 years. The trend is not continuous: since 1976 the global average has risen three times faster than the rest of the century.

Global wood consumption is projected to double over the next 30 years.

2 billion hectares of land (an area the size of USA and Mexico) is classed as ‘degraded by human activities.’ Global warming will increase this area by 17%. Worldwide desertification is making 12 million hectares useless for agriculture every year.

15

80 countries where 40% of the world’s population live are suffering from serious water shortages.

In the year 2000 27% of the world’s coral reefs were classified as ‘severely damaged,’ whereas in 1992 the figure was 10%.

Global warming is predicted to increase sea levels by 5-35 cm by the year 2050.

Half the world’s rivers are polluted.

,1 8,

PO

LA ND

2.4 acres of forest are cut down per second the equivalent of two US football fields. Only one-fifth of the Earth’s original forests remain pristine and undisturbed.

&

AN

NA

JU

CH N

OW ICZ

In the 1950s there were 20 large-scale natural disasters. In the 1970s there were 47, and in the 1990s there were 87 affecting 147 million people and costing the planet over $100 billion.

At current rates of destruction, it is estimated that two thirds of the world’s plant and animal species will be extinct by 2100.

30% of fish stocks are classified as over-exploited and 60% are classified as ‘in need of urgent attention’. 15 of the world’s 17 largest fisheries are over-fished or in trouble.

IC O

14

Imagine you are standing on the moon looking back at our earth. From a distance the Earth looks perfect. However, if you hold up a magnifying glass or a very powerful telescope, how does it really look?

FAO estimates a global land loss of productive land through erosion to be 5-7 million hectares per year.

SA

CE A

LO AB

P

M

OR

,M 12 I,

R

EX

Vienna, Austria, December 1997 UN World Youth Forum

The Summits 16

The Earth Summit is not the only major global summit..

The UN held several important summits through the 1990s reviewing every aspect of the state of our world.

New York, UN Headquarters, September 1990 World Summit for Children – to promote the wellbeing of children. Convention on the Rights of the Child quickly becomes the most widely ratified UN document.

Barbados, May 1994

Youth met to discuss/ endorse the World Programme of Action for Youth to 2000 and beyond.

Small Island Developing States Conference Islands create network to preserve and repair their fragile eco-systems, provide disaster relief and secure technical assistance for sustainable development programs.

New York, UN Headquarters, September 2000 Millennium Summit - the most important summit. Biggest gathering of Heads of State (149) and government ever. Met to discuss and act on major challenges of the new millennium & to re-define UN’s role. Agreed Millennium Development Goals.

Honolulu, Hawaii, October 1999 Millennium Young People’s Congress - to establish youth priorities for the new millennium Education was the top priority. It also set up the ‘Be The Change!’ youth action programme.

D a k a r, Senegal, April 2000 2nd World Conference on Education for All – repeated Jomtien goal of free, universal primary education for all, now by 2015. Donor governments promised the necessary finance to make it happen.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development: The ‘Earth Summit’ Biggest of the UN summits and parent to Agenda 21, the Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification Conventions as well as the Rio principles. Massive NGO involvement and media coverage.

Brussels, Belgium, May 2001

Vienna, Austria, June 1993

Rome, Italy, November 1996

World Conference on Human Rights - the Vienna Plan of Action confirmed that the protection of human rights is the birthright of all human beings. Created a High Commissioner for Human Rights.

World Food Summit – Rome Plan called for sustainable progress to eliminate hunger and malnutrition and ‘provide all people, at all times, physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food.’

Yo k o h a m a , Japan, May 1994

Copenhagen, Denmark, March 1995

International Conference on Natural Disaster reduction the declaration called for new International partnerships to enhance preparedness, coordinate relief efforts and help save lives.

World Summit for Social Development – agreed to eradicate poverty, create full employment, justice, tolerance, accelerated economic growth for Africa and ‘people centred development for all’. Also the 20:20 compact - 20% of ODA to go to pressing social needs and 20% of National Budgets of LDCs go to them.

Cairo, Egypt, September 1994 International Conference on Population and Development - 20 year plan of action to empower and educate women to plan and space births rather than reach arbitrary population targets.

Istanbul, Turkey, June 1996 Habitat II Conference on Settlements – to provide adequate shelter for all in sustainable human settlements in an urbanising world.

The Habitat Agenda offers a positive vision of healthy, sustainable cities.

Durban, South Africa, July 2000 14th AIDS conference – to ‘break the silence’ & banish the stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS through International action and co-operation.

Beijing, China, July 1995

Sydney, Australia, October 2000 International Youth Parliament 200 delegates from 150 countries gathered to catalyse increased youth participation in the UN and provide an alternative youth voice within the UN system.

J o m t i e n , Thailand, March 1990 ‘Education for All’ conference – promised to provide free access to primary education for all by the year 2000. UNESCO to supervise the programme of action with the World Bank, UNDP, and UNICEF.

UNLDC III - to assess the results of the ‘90s Programme of Action on sustainable development in the 47 least developed countries (LDCs) and their progressive integration into the world economy. To reaffirm the Millennium Development Goal of halving

STEPHANIE WILKS, 23, USA

the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.

17

Johannesburg, South Africa, August 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development – 10 year review of the Rio Earth Summit and Agenda 21 implementation. Focus on the difficult challenges involved with improving people’s lives whilst preserving natural resources for future generations.

Fourth World Conference on Women – Platform for Action set a timetable for eliminating all forms of discrimination against women in work, in decision making, education, health, and the law.

Millennium Summit – September 2000 18

In September 2000 149 Heads of State and High Government officials from over 40 other countries gathered together at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for the Millennium Summit - the largest ever gathering of World Leaders. They came together for 3 days to discuss the role of the United Nations and set the International Agenda for the 21st century.

“What is needed is not more technical or feasibility studies. Rather, states need to demonstrate the political will to carry out commitments already given and to implement strategies already worked out.”

Kofi Annan, Secretary General, United Nations

THE MILLENIUM DEVELOPOMENT GOALS - BY 2015 1. Eradicate extreme poverty:

19

• halve the number of people living on less than $1 a day • halve the number who suffer from hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education for all 3. Promote gender equality and empower women • ensure that equal enrolment of girls and boys enrol at all levels of education - if possible by 2005.

4. By improving nutrition and primary health care, reduce by two thirds the number of children who die before their fifth birthday.

5. By improving pre-natal and primary health care, reduce by three quarters the number of mothers who die in childbirth 6. Halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDs • halt and reverse the number of cases of malaria and other major diseases

THE FAMILY PHOTOGRAPH - 149 HEADS OF STATE AT THE UN FOR THE MILLENNIUM SUMMIT Though not in any way designed to replace the goals and targets reached at the other summits, the Millennium Summit of the United Nations attempted to bring together the most important goals of the world community into a list of absolute top priority goals to be reached by 2015. Many of these goals have been set before – Education for All by the year 2000, Health for All by 2000, halve poverty during the decade of

poverty eradication… etc. This time they say they mean it.

The UN is so determined that we reach these goals, they have set up a Millennium Development Goal team headed by Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the UN Development Programme. They have hired top Harvard Economist, Jeffrey Sachs, to calculate the cost of achieving these goals – basically a management plan for how to get

there. Also, the UN has set out a “Road Map” to show how we are going to get there – there will be annual reports showing progress on key indicators of how we are doing on each goal. In 2005 and 2010, there will be comprehensive reports to show where we are at.

It isn’t just about meetings and reports though. The UN know the old saying: ‘You don’t grow a pig by weighing it ’ You have to feed it

– and that costs money. But it’s not just money that you need: you need total commitment by all sectors of society. All must believe that these goals can be met – and they will be met.

Young people will play an important role in this. They must take action. Interestingly, most of the MDG’s are identical to the priorities that were agreed at the Millennium Young People’s Congress. So we hope that every concerned group of active young people will get to work to see what they can do to help the UN and their government members to keep these promises and actually reach their goals for once!!

7. Integrate the principles of sustainability into all country policies • reverse the loss of environmental resources • halve the number of people without access to safe drinking water • achieve significant improvement in the lives of 100 million slum dwellers.

8. Develop a global partnership for development ie.

Make globalisation work to achieve sustainability and the eradication of poverty • Create a trading and financial system that is accountable, predictable and fair • Address the special needs of the least-developed countries create tariff and quota-free access to markets, and increase official aid • Address the special needs of Small Island Developing States • Deal with the Debt – make debt sustainable in the long-term • Develop decent and productive work for youth • Provide access to affordable drugs in developing countries

9. Share technology • bridge the digital divide and, in cooperation with big companies, make sure that the benefits of new technologies are available in developing countries

21

Section 2

Agenda 21

ATMOSPHERE: TAKE A DEEP BREATH

22

FORESTS: ROOTS OF LIFE

24

OCEANS: WAVES OF CHANGE

26

WATER: DRINK FOR YOUR HEALTH

28

MOUNTAINS ARE FOREVER...?

30

DESERTS: SHIFTING SANDS

31

BIODIVERSITY: NATURE’S EXTENDED FAMILY

32

LAND: CULTIVATING OUR FUTURE

34

CITY OF DREAMS

36

EXPELLING POVERTY

38

CONSUMPTION: IN ONE END...

40

... AND OUT THE OTHER: WASTE

42

POPULATION: GETTING CROWDED

44

POPULATION: THE NUMBERS GAME

46

HEALTH: DOCTOR WHERE?

48

AIDS: NO LONGER THE SILENT KILLER

50

Star Rating In this section of the book we have summarised in boxes what Agenda 21 said and given star ratings on the key commitments. It is not at all scientific. It is based solely on our own personal views and experience. 5 stars = Good job! No stars = could do better! You may agree or disagree with us, but what we wanted to do is provoke some thought about progress on these issues.

Atmosphere: Take a Deep Breath At the Kyoto Summit of 1997 160 countries signed up to set targets for carbon emissions, but only 54 countries have done so. We must support this process and get Kyoto ratified in order to achieve lower carbon emissions through greater energy efficiency and use of renewables.

• Promote national energy efficiency and emissions standards and integrate energy, environment and economic policies in a sustainable manner.

• Develop efficient, cost-effective, less polluting and safe rural and urban mass transport systems.

• Put

into force international agreements calling for reductions in the use of ozone-depleting substances.

Lukasz Strzyzewski,

23

TAKE A DEEP BREATH Take a deep breath, You can smell death.

Look around, And all you see is barren ground.

The world was green, Now that is a dream.

It’s so covered in smog, You can’t see a frog.

This was our fault, And we’ll never again, See the earth, that we have slain.

For me, killed earth, In our drive to make it our hearth.

Sebastian Ellis, 11, UK/ Colombia

WHAT YOU CAN DO

GLOBAL WARMING “Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa. My grandmother told me that in the past the mountain was completely covered with ice.

Even when I was young, I remember seeing the white capped mountain. But now the situation has changed due to the global warming.

I can say it is true the ice really has started to melt.”

AN ZA NIA

AGENDA 21 SAYS

“The destruction of the atmosphere is the main problem of these past 50 years. We can live 20 days without eating, 3 days without drinking, but how long can we exist without fresh air? Are there ways to reduce the pollution of the atmosphere and to repair the errors of our past? The answer is yes, so why don’t we do it?”

“In 1997, 160 countries agreed the Kyoto Protocol to cut carbon emissions. The largest CO2 producer, USA, agreed to cut emissions to 7% below 1990 levels by 2010. But experts believe by then, they’ll be 34% above!

President Bush decided not to ask Congress to ratify it” David Pedrueza Diaz, 24, Spain.

17 ,T

17, Poland

A AS

FadhlunMahmood, 18,Tanzania EMANUEL

DARIO F. GAPUEN, 17, PHILIPPINES

22

T (°C)

T(°F)

16.0

60.8

15.8

60.4

15.6

60.0

15.4

59.7

15.2

59.3

15.0

59.0

14.8

58.6

14.6

58.2

14.4

57.9

14.2

57.5

14.0

57.2

MO

A,

ON ES

S

Annual Global Average Temperatures during the last 150 years

1850

1870

1890

1910

1930

1950

1970

1990

2000

• Walk, cycle or use public transport whenever it is safe for you to do so.

• Share car journeys with friends and neighbours.

• Ensure your car is serviced regularly.

• Maintain the correct tyre pressure to improve fuel efficiency and use energy efficient fuels.

• Do not buy products that contain gases that are harmful to the environment.

Forests: Roots of Life Billions of trees have been planted since Rio, but still forests are being destroyed at ever faster rates. We can re-plant them, but we cannot recreate the precious habitats they provide for people, plants and animals.

These are all good reasons to cut down trees, but think of all the reasons to leave them standing!

Standing trees conserve soil and filter water, they absorb carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming, and they prevent erosion! This is why reafforestation is so important.

AGENDA 21 SAYS • We must plant new forests!

• We need to research how trees can be better used for fruits, nuts, dyes, medicines, gums and other products.

• Damaged woodlands must be replanted.

• We must increase tree planting in urban areas.

We can be very proud of the condition of forests in Finland.

Logging is strictly supervised and there are many areas preserved by nature conservation laws. Trash is not thrown in forests so they are still healthy, and large parts of forests still remain untouched. Our ancestors lived in the forests and lived by hunting and fishing - and that’s what every Finn wants to get back to in the summer!

Elina Nikkanen, 9, Finland

CASE STUDY FUTURE FORESTS Recognising that cutting carbon emissions is not happening fast, Future Forests has set up an alternative: carbon offset. If you plant 11 trees, you offset the amount of carbon an average household produces in a year.

Through this scheme Avis Car Hire has pledged to plant trees to offset the cars they rent and Virgin Cars plant 20 trees for every car they sell.

WHAT YOU CAN DO? • Always use both sides of paper.

• Use recycled paper and recycle it again when done.

• Buy only timber and paper products made from trees raised in sustainable forests.

• Learn how to grow trees.

• Use cloth grocery bags instead of paper or plastic.

• Try not to buy products that use excess paper or cardboard packaging.

Earth's forest • Over 50% of the Earth’s species live in tropical forests.

The firs rustle in the breeze,

• Close to 130 countries have developed or updated their National Forest Programmes over the past decade.

The brown of the autumn trees.

The red leaves shimmer in the heat, The leaves are crunching at my feet.

• It is projected that deforestation and the burning of biomass will be responsible for 15% of carbon emissions between 1990 and 2025.

The leaves are floating to the ground, They fall; they fall, without a sound.

The birds sing a beautiful song,

To you, what is your home worth?

It no longer looks like the Earth.

Cathy Mayne12, Thailand/ UK, Beth Wilson 11,UK

PRISCILLA BLAY, 14, GHANA

DO,

16, PHIL IPPINES

To kill their homes is very wrong.

EL F RAN

We all know that forests are cut down and used for firewood and to build houses, but trees are also used for things like medicine, food oils, cosmetics, and fibres.

HAZ

24 24 24

CASE STUDY - FINLAND

• Between 1980-1997 more efficient paper production processes reduced raw timber pulp consumption by 56%.

25

Oceans: Waves of Change Oceans and seas are under siege from humanity - increased shipping and tourism, deep-sea fishing fleets, more pollution from sewage plants and agricultural fertilisers, dynamite fishing, the list is endless. The Law of the Sea was one of the first attempts to regulate use of the planet’s resources, yet the sea is still under serious threat.

27 , 15 , PO

LAN D

AGENDA 21 SAYS

IM OW

ICZ

• Protect and check environmental

AN D

AN

IA

KL

damage to coastal areas nationally and internationally.

should be rewarded.

• Protect marine life by controlling

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• With coastal waters pollute and ocean fisheries over-fished, fish farm production grew ten times between 1972-1998.

Just a reminder!

• Accidental introduction of South American jellyfish into the Black Sea caused fish catches to plummet from 250,000 to 30,000 tons, at a cost of $300 million to local economies.

Whatever goes from your house or from the street into a sewer ends up in a river... And all rivers lead to the sea!!!

CONTAMINATION OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS

ANON, GHANA

damage they cause.

R ND

• Those using cleaner methods

• Financial Losses from toxic algae blooms have tripled in the last three decades - about $250 million in the 1990s.

contamination may extend to eco-systems on land. In all circumstances, the negative consequences of environmental incidents in the sea often goes hand in hand with similar negative consequences to economic activities such as fishing, recreation and

• Polluters should pay for the

PE SA

• 2.5 million people catch hepatitis from eating contaminated shell-fish; of those 25,000 die and another 25,000 suffer permanent disability.

Contamination of aquatic eco-systems is the worst consequence of a water related accident. It is not only the water that is contaminated. The aquatic plants, fishes and seabirds suffer too. Moreover, such

ANDRAZ JEZ, 17, SLOVENIA

RE K

• 37% of the world’s people live within 60km of a coast - more than the 1950 global total - causing massive coastal pollution.

A

26

tourism. The experience of the last ten years has shown that it is much better to invest money in immediate action, rather than wait until it has evolved into a full-scale disaster.

Coasts are amongst the loveliest parts of our planet. We cannot allow them to become wastelands!

• Keep litter, and debris out of gutters. These outlets drain directly to streams, rivers, and wetlands and the open sea.

• if you must apply lawn and garden chemicals, use sparingly and follow the directions carefully.

• Dispose of used oil, antifreeze, paints, and other household

ANDRAZ JEZ, 17, SLOVENIA

chemicals in designated containers, not down the drain.

If your community does not have a programme for collecting hazardous waste, ask your local authority to establish one.

what materials may be removed from ships at sea and by banning removal of hazardous waste

• Nations

should technologies.

share

new

• Set limits on how many fish may be caught.

• Clean up spilled brake fluid, oil, grease, and antifreeze. Do not hose them into the street where they will flow to rivers and, eventually, to the sea.

• Control soil erosion on your property by planting flowers and trees to stabilize erosion-prone areas.

• Encourage fishing by skilled local people.

• Stop fishing for species at risk until they are back up to their normal numbers.

• Ban and police destructive fishing practices like dynamiting, poisoning and others; develop new practices to replace them.

Water: Drink for Your Health 28

Water is the essence of life yet we abuse it massively. Though there has been a 4% increase in the number of people with access to safe water since Rio, half our rivers remain polluted and we are sucking underground water reservoirs dry faster than nature can replenish them.

By 2032, more than half the population is likely to be living in ‘water-stressed’ conditions.

THE WATER CRISIS Water has moved rapidly up the international agenda in the years since Rio. There have been several high level water summits and a number of significant reports showing how desperate our situation in relation to water is.

‘Dam ‘em up!’ some say. This conserves water, generates electricity and enables a controlled flow into irrigation systems. BUT it

CASE STUDY THE GREAT LAKES The Great Lakes of North America contain nearly one fifth of the world’s fresh water and supply drinking water for 21 million people. However, the lakes are severely polluted.

70% of the fish should not be eaten because they are diseased. In 1999, 370 beaches were closed or issued a contamination advisory.

Reasons for closure include dsewage pollution and increased bacterial levels due to farm run-off carrying fertiliser residues, industrial effluent and sewer overflows.

also wrecks habitats, moves people from their homes, and causes the kind of miscalculations that lead to the drying up the Aral Sea in Central Asia. People are more cautious now: plans to reverse the flow of north-flowing rivers south into Central Asia, or create a lake in Australia’s great central basin, have been put on hold.

The basic problem is distribution, in some places there is too little water, in others there is too much.

Short of building huge pipelines around the World. solutions seem thin on the ground.

WATER IS LIFE! WATER IS DEATH! The drop glistens on my finger I long to taste it - to ease the fire on my cracked lips.

Water is life Without it, I should die Yet water is also death.

This drop is full of bacteria Trachoma, bilharzia - names that strike terror in my young heart.

Safe water is free in some places Here - it costs more than milk, more than Coca-cola!

Is that fair? Is that wise?

Is that sustainable?

Anon, Mozambique

CASE STUDY At ten, James knows that they need to clean up the place where he, his brothers and his sisters collect water for their family every day. The clean, fresh spring water that bubbles up from the ground in abundance is polluted even before he can get it into his bucket. The trouble is that, without a pump, you have to climb down into the pit to scoop out the water. The answer is obvious: concrete over the spring to secure it, place a strong pump in the centre and pump up the water directly from the spring into the

containers to carry home using the timehonoured technique of balancing large buckets on your head. One day, there might be a pipe leading to every house in the neighbourhood - but that is a long way away.

The immediate need is for the pump so that all the germs from people’s feet are not mixed into the drinking water. With that, fewer babies would get sick and die; fewer adults would have health problems, and more work would get done.

Esther Kamara, 21, Sierra Leone

WHAT YOU CAN DO • Respect water! Don’t throw anything in a river or pond. Think if you would like to swim in it or drink it after!

• Conserve water: there are many ways you can conserve water in your own home repair those leaky taps, don’t spend so much time in the shower, recycle water in the garden • Check local rivers and ensure industries are not polluting them.

SHEKU SYL KAMARA, 21, SIERRA LEONE

AGENDA 21 SAYS • 40 litres of safe drinking water to all city-dwellers.

• Provide 75% of city-dwellers with safe sanitation.

• Ensure all rural people have access to safe water and sanitation.

• By 2025, have universal water supplies for all human needs.

• All commercial water users must pay the full cost of supply.

• Water management must involve full local participation.

• The number of people served with safe water supplies has increased from 4 billion (1990) to 4.9 billion (2000).

• 80 countries (40% of the world’s population) were suffering serious water shortages in 1995. By 2032, it will be 50 - 90% in the West Asia region.

• Water-related diseases cause 4.2 million deaths a year - the equivalent of 40 jumbo jets crashing every day.

• Around 1.1 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water. 2 billion lack access to proper sanitation.

• Only 2.5% of the water on earth is freshwater of which less than 1% is available for human use. (The rest is locked up in ice caps and glaciers.)

• 70% of water is used for agriculture, 20% for industry and only 10% for domestic use.

• 20% of irrigated land is unusable because of salinisation.

• 2 billion people live on water pumped from underground reservoirs. In many regions, these are drying up as people draw more from them than nature refills. Near coasts, sea water intrudes making the water saline and undrinkable.

CLAUDE DIDACE, 21, BENIN

29

Mountains are for Ever...?

Most of us don’t give much thought to mountains. Yet 1 in 10 people call these delicate eco-systems home and rely on them for their livelihood.

Mountains also provide water for more than half the world’s poplulation. they deserve our respect, but are put under constant threat by our actions.

Mountains collect and store fresh water. Deforestation on mountainsides means that water runs straight off and washes away the fertile soils, causing landslides and flooding. Rare animal and plant life is also washed away. This leads to increased poverty and hunger for local people.

Hands up if you knew that 2002 was designated ‘The International Year of Mountains’? Probably not many of you. The aim is for this year to be an opportunity to learn about mountain eco-systems and promote conservation programmes in the many high risk areas.

CASE STUDY

ALP ACTION The Alps are known as the ‘playground of Europe’ - but all that fun has made them one of the most threatened mountain systems in the world. Peppered with ski resorts, punctured with tunnels and cluttered with dams, they suffer from deforestation, erosion, air and water pollution, and much more.

With the help of the Bellerive Foundation, Alp Action has enabled local people to work on 140 projects in 7 countries to preserve the Alps’ natural and cultural diversity.

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Erosion control measures should be promoted.

• Local mountain communities should be educated in how to develop their resources sustainably.

• Areas threatened by air pollution, erosion and landslides should be identified.

EDWARD GEORGE, 20, TANZANIA

The dominant feature of deserts, magnificent though they look, is that not much can survive in them. If we are to provide sustainable livelihoods for our expanding global population, we have to fight the expansion of deserts which today threatens 250 million people across the planet.

CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

30

Deserts: Shifting Sands

The image of sand dunes rolling across farms and villages is only one aspect of desertification.

The real problem is how poor farming techniques, drought, and deforestation turn fertile farmland into useless wasteland.

The Convention to Combat Desertification has been signed by 179 countries. It promotes local action projects and research but funding has been an obstacle. Countries that suffer most cannot afford the US$10-$22 billion cost. 40 times that is spent on the military: surely combating the very real threat of desertification is worth it?

When I read the original ‘Rescue Mission’ book, I felt immediately responsible for my surrounding environment.

Walking around I noticed the permanent damage that was being done in my local community. I was particularly concerned about the giant sand dunes that threaten my town, Keita. So I decided to produce as many plants as possible in order to plant them in the dunes and stop the erosion phenomenon. It made a big difference - and our group continues. We feel that, if nothing is done now to stop desertification, the Sahara will pass right on through Keita to engulf neighbouring towns. Our group, Green Keita, now has 160 young people working on planting and reafforestation projects.

AHMED ABDOULAYE, 21, NIGER

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Accelerate planting programmes using fast growing, drought resistant, indigenous trees and plants.

• Reduce demand for fuel wood & promote alternative sustainable fuel sources.

• Adopt sustainable management of water resources.

31

Rio gave us the Convention on Biodiversity which attempts to conserve plants and animals both in the wild and in nature parks and seed-banks. But the speed of species loss is increasing - nature no longer has the time or the range of places for evolution to repair what we have destroyed. Johannesburg has made preserving biodiversity one of its top five priorities - and we must all take responsibility for taking action to achieve it.

32

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Develop national strategies to conserve and sustainably use biological diversity.

• Promote the rehabilitation of damaged ecosystems, and the recovery of threatened and endangered species.

Biodiversity means ‘variety of life forms.’ Some areas have greater biodiversity than others: Costa Rica has 830 species of birds - more than Canada and the mainland United States combined. No one knows how many species there are on Earth, but we do know that all depend on complex food chains.

No animal can survive on its own.

This is why preserving animals and their environments is so important.

The number of protected areas has grown. There are now 12 million hectares of earth where no logger can intrude, no farmer can cultivate and fertilise, no hunter can kill.

There needs to be more.

“Hundreds of years ago, indigenous people and nature were equal. The mutual respect between nature and native communities ensured environmental equilibrium.”

Do you think polar bear skins look better hanging on the wall, in front of the fireplace or on the polar bear? I think polar bear skins look best on the bears.

Every year over 625 polar bears are killed by hunters or by pollution. Did you know that American sport hunters will pay over ten thousand dollars for the chance to kill a polar bear? Now, hunting has become regulated in Greenland, Canada and USA and it is banned

33

Katie Bora , 11, Australia/ Canada

Dario Lopez, 21, Paraguay

WHAT YOU CAN DO Don’t buy clothing, jewellery or ornaments made from endangered animals.

• If a species in your area is endangered, join or start a campaign to save them.

• Do not buy exotic pets.

•

WHY I CARE

PETRA SNIRCHOVA, 13, CZECH REPUBLIC

in Norway and Russia.

On the other hand, environmental threats like oil spills destroy polar bear habitats and if oil gets into the polar bears’ fur the insulation gets ruined and the bear will freeze to death.

Nowadays the polar bear population is under threat and it could take a century for it to fully recover.

ANNA JUCHNOWICZ,18,POLAND

Nature’s Extended Family

THE FUTURE OF POLAR BEARS

“There are strong practical reasons for saving wildlife. We depend on them for fuel, food, medicines, clothing and industrial goods.”

Ryan Kerpelman, 11, Switzerland

In my opinion, nature would be just fine if human beings disappeared from the earth. For me, plants and animals, forests, lakes and mountains, rivers, beaches, and the under-water world of coral reefs and rocky coves are the real wonders of our world.

Any one of them is more magnificent than anything that humans can build.

Plants and animals are living beings that should live in their own natural environment. I don’t like snakes and spiders much but I could not bring myself to kill one.

“Never before has life on earth depended so much on human beings’ behaviour and their relationship with nature” Lesly Grandin, 21, Cuba

Maia Kalister, 16, Slovenia

KAROLINA KREJCI, 14, CZECH REPUBLIC

Increased human activity and a growing population is putting increased strain on land and agriculture. An estimated $31.85 billion is needed to implement its recommendation. Sounds a lot. Well the USA spends $110 billion each year just on fast food! What price food for all?!

34

The Rome Food Summit AGENDA 21 SAYS • Bring together everyone who works on the land for planning meetings (local farmers, managers, business people, local officials, sales agents, scientists,

and

government

officials).

• Provide advice to farmers on the use of

environmentally

In 1996, the UN Food & Agriculture Organisaation (FAO) hosted the World Food Summit in Rome. 185 nations vowed to achieve universal food security access for all people at all times to sufficient, high-quality safe food.

This was the first time that governments pledged to halve

the number of hungry people by 2015. In a follow-up conference in 2001, they checked on their progress and found that the number of malnourished people was only falling by 6-8 million a year. The figure needs to be at least 20 million each year to reach the 2015 goal.

friendly

fertilisers.

• Encourage farmers to switch to alternative energy sources.

• Educate them on methods of preserving topsoil.

• Raise people’s awareness about land use

through

education

ANDR

EA

AS, TUMB

UG 17, Y

VIA OSLA

campaigns.

and

CASE STUDY In the past decade, British agriculture has suffered two major crises: “mad cow disease” (BSE) and Foot and Mouth. Both were caused by poor intensive farming methods. BSE resulted from beef cows being fed crushed bone and brain of other cows.

Foot and Mouth spread quickly because livestock was transported to markets and other farms. If we want to feed the world’s growing population and meet the Food Summit goals, we must be sure that we have the land and agricultural methods to do it safely.

Tom Burke, 17, UK

Are GMOs the answer?

Go Organic

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are plants whose genetic make-up has been changed in some way. Scientists can do this by transferring desirable qualities from one organism to another, simply by separating and transferring the genes. For example, they can make crops grow faster or make a crop resistant to a certain herbicide. Scientists have developed a new strain of rice that allows the same field to produce three crops a year.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? Problem is, these crops are being introduced without testing the longterm effects they may have on land, other crops, local wildlife and, not least, the humans that consume them!

They even admit not knowing the effects they may have!

The dominant feature of environmental debate since Rio has been the increase in public demand for safe, organically grown food. Organic food is grown without chemical pesticides in natural surroundings. The USA has seen a huge increase in CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture.

Similar schemes exist in Europe and Japan.

CSAs are farming cooperatives that grow organic food for sale and personal consumption by the co-op members. Organic farming is a good alternative in many places because it requires more human input, which creates employment. Furthermore, it is not harmful to the land and local eco-systems that it supports.

WHAT YOU CAN DO Educate yourself about the food you eat. Read the labels, know all the ingredients in your food and where they came from. Try to support local farmers so you know who grows your food.

CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

Land: Cultivating our Future

35

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Homeless and unemployed must get access to land, credit and low cost building materials.

• People are provided protection from unfair eviction.

• All urban areas need access to clean

water, sanitation, waste collection.

• Construction programmes should encourage the use of local materials that do not harm health or the environment, and energy efficient designs.

Summit’ in Istanbul in 1995 - and they have a whole Agency, ‘Habitat’, dedicated to solving the problems of cities, where 51% of the world’s people now live.

Cleaning up slums is one of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals and it is a massive task.

There are 19 mega-cities in the world with populations of over 10 million; 14 of these are in less developed countries. There are many slums and shanty-towns with no safe fresh-water, no sanitation, few schools and health centres.

There is high unemployment and high crime rates. All in all not the ideal place to live. Massive investment in these areas is needed, but more importantly, the people who live in them, especially the young people, must be empowered to build, secure and

We decided to measure the waste produced in the period of a week. We calculated the average amount of waste produced per person in one day is 0.3 kg.

run their own communities. Urban communities are tremendously resourceful and it is the human resources that must be mobilised along with the financial.

In measuring the waste, we discovered some interesting things like the amount of garbage produced actually differs throughout the year.

We talked with the authorities and environmental organisations about how to clean our city. We realised that the first task is to change people’s mentality. When people think cleanliness is important, they will take the time and make an effort to change. That will result in a cleaner environment. While they don’t care, nothing will change.

Goce Ristovski, 17 , Macedonia

• Rural living conditions and services

strategies must be developed.

NADJA JURCA, 16, SLOVENIA

• Clean and efficient transportation

If there are too many people living a city the sanitation and hygiene will deteriorate.

Disease can spread much faster. Cities are thus disease factories often with limited healthcare.

People move to the cities to find work. If there are more people more jobs are needed. Many of these people are unskilled and unemployment will rise.

People moving from rural areas can have access to health care and education, which they didn’t when they lived in rural areas.

People have a better chance of making more money in the city and there are a greater variety of opportunities.

There is more interaction between people. There is entertainment and fun, like cinema and the theatre, and new technology to explore.

Cities are full of traffic jams and congestion. The cars emit poisonous gases so just walking along the street can be a health hazard.

When people move into cities from rural areas, they aren’t used to the cramped conditions. The pressure leads to social breakdown, family problems, crime and violence.

16 ,P

should be improved to discourage migration to the cities.

Pros and Cons of Living in the City

37

HIL IPP INE S

Cities cover 2% of the world’s surface, but accommodate 75% of its population. The cities chapter of Agenda 21 was estimated to be the most expensive to implement $218 billion. Practically none of it was raised! The UN held a ‘City

Our city, Bitola, is the second biggest city in Macedonia. There’s a printing plant nearby that badly pollutes the environment. Because the city is dirty anyway, people don’t care about keeping it clean. They throw garbage everywhere. That is why we started our waste management project.

UL LE RO ,

Welcome to the city of dreams where tons of fun is waiting for you: a good job, theatres, cinemas, shopping centres, museums... Ohhh! Did you come alone? You don’t like the traffic jams?

Nor the overcrowding? Sorry, just keep on dreaming!

LORIE ANNE FULLERO, 16, PHILIPPINES

36

CASE STUDY

KOSSI OGOUBI, 21, TOGO

City of Dreams

NE

IE LO R

AN

F

Expelling Poverty

Birth gave life to poor little Bitis.

At five, he sold fresh fish, what a pity…

At six, he hoped to start his education, Bitis had plenty of dedication.

Instead, he was given a cutlass made of brass To cut his own and neighbours’ grass.

At fifteen, Bitis left the village for the city, But no school = no job for him, poor Bity.

At eighteen, frustrated, he joined a very bad gang.

At nineteen, he ended up dead with a very big “bang”.

Poverty was the virus that killed poor Bitis.

From beyond the grave, I can hear his cry: NO EDUCATION, NO LIFE! Ezikpe Okoro, 17, Nigeria

Eradicating poverty is not so much about bringing everyone to the same level but to give the opportunity to each individual to participate in society and earn a living in a sustainable way.

THE ROOTS OF POVERTY The number of people living in extreme poverty has increased since Rio - it is now over a billion.

Roughly 300 million people around the World live on less than $1 a day. Yet the number of Billionaires in the USA has tripled over the same period.

Inequality is a powerful root of poverty, but poverty is more than just a lack of money. Poverty is about the lack of opportunity to participate fully in society.

Other roots of poverty are the absence of human rights, clean water, health and security.

Prosperity starts not necessarily with money, but the presence of these these things in people’s lives. The UN has set itself a target of halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. Let’s hold them to it!

POVERTY AND THE ENVIRONMENT Ten years ago, it became clear that poverty and the environment were two interdependent issues. If we want the man who’s chopping down large parts of the Amazon to make a living to then worry about deforestation and global warming, poverty must be addressed.

However, environmental concerns are not always the same from one country to another. Global warming is surely a big issue on the international arena but does not affect people as directly as lack of clean water in certain countries.

Current policies regarding poverty and the environment are more locally based and acknowledge that some communities experience environmental problems in very different ways.

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Give responsibility to local groups and women.

• Enable local people to participate in the protection and sustainable management of the environment.

• Provide free primary education for all boys and girls.

• Cancel unpayable national debt.

WHAT YOUTH CAN DO?

THE UN SOCIAL SUMMIT, COPENHAGEN, 1994: The Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development promised to:

“We all have the right to be economically independent. Young women and men should be empowered to start their own enterprises not wait around for hand-outs or jobs in government.”

Samuel Alege, 15, Nigeria ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND

“In order to achieve sustainable forest management, it is necessary to first eradicate poverty. If we do not, the forests of Madagascar will disappear” Saidi Mohamed & Sitroka Ramavoharitoandro, 17, Madagascar

39

LEANDRO AHL, 17, ARGENTINA

38

BITIS’S POVERTY

Poverty is everyone’s resposibility. We must acknowledge and raise awareness about these issues if we are to tackle them effectively. You think you can’t do anything to help... Wrong, you can help!

Nisha Khanna, 17, India

• Eradicate absolute poverty by a date agreed by each country.

• Have universal free access to education & primary health care.

• Increase % of national budgets for social development.

In the 5-year review, it was found that governments have set up national anti-poverty programmes, actions to create economic growth, new social security systems and given more money for public services and income-generating activities.

However, in the Least Developed Countries, lack of international assistance, crippling debt and poor trade conditions, corruption, and crises like war & HIV/AIDs have prevented progress.

FAIR TRADE AND ME!

Consumption: In One End...

40 40

Consumption is the one area where we can all make a difference, especially young people! The money in your pocket has a lot of power. If we can persuade big companies that we are interested in sustainable consumption - organic products, clothes and shoes that are not made in sweat shops by child labour - they will begin to make products that adhere to our sustainable values.

Young people are advertisers’ best friends!

We are targeted because we are big consumers. We are often impulse buyers, purchasing things that we later find we don’t need. In the process, we rake in profits for large companies.

Over-consumption causes other problems like crime and discrimination may arise as a result of our purchasing decisions. The waste from producing some goods can cause air and water pollution.

This is an area where I think there has been absolutely no progress since Rio. We are just as greedy, and still at the mercy of the global advertising industry.

‘Is it cool?’ ‘What will my friends think?’ Peer pressure is the main reason for spending amongst my friends who have money to spend.

Barely a thought goes into the consequences of our consumption.

We rarely think if we really need what we purchase, and certainly not about how it got to the store, or what will happen to it once I have finsihed with it.

If youth reject brand culture, and encourage adults to do the same; if we buy based on quality, eco-labels and real need, we can really help to reduce people’s unsustainable consumption.

CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

Stephanie de Verteuil, 17,

In Europe, we buy $11 billion dollars worth of ice cream each year. Primary education for every child on the planet would cost just $6 billion. Imagine...

UK/ Canada

I always try to buy Fair Trade because it makes me feel a whole lot better about shopping. Fair Trade means that the producers get a guaranteed price that justly rewards their work and skills. This gives them a regular income. It enables them to plan for the future, send their children to school and invest in their business.

Fair Trade producers also have decent working conditions, no forced labour of children, healthcare.

It aims to create dignified and fair tade between consumers and producers. There are just not enough of these products on the market right now though!

Stephanie de Verteuil, 17, UK/ Canada

MATERIALISM - THE BLIGHT OF CANADA Canada is a wonderful country to live in, but materialism makes the people less wonderful.

Materialism takes away individuality, dictates our thoughts, and maps out our dreams. Keeping up with the latest trends makes many Canadians passive, unaware of what is happening to their fellow human beings and to the environment. Most Canadians know little of where products come from, who made them, or their true value.

Katie Paroschy,15, Canada

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Consume less, use less energy.

• Eco-label less harmful products.

• Make eco-friendly products cheaper by taxing eco-harmful ones.

41

• Tax industries that pollute or spoil limited nature resources, support eco-friendly industry.

• Develop sources of renewable energy.

• Help developing countries in building their economies.

WHAT YOU CAN DO • Always check for eco-labels on everything you buy.

• Buy, and get your parents and friends to buy, Fair Trade products when ever you can.

• Limit your shopping try not to buy anything unless you absolutely need it.

• Make a habit of saving energy: turn off lights and computers, use low energy light bulbs throughout your house and school, use your bicycle instead of a car, get your parents to buy the most fuel-efficient car on the market.

• Reduce, repair, re-use, recycle never buy new unless you have to.

• Buy enough to meet your needs, not your greed!

GOCE RISTOVSKI, 17, FYR MACEDONIA

FACTOR 4 Factor 4 is one of the most brilliant ideas since Rio. It means getting twice as much from half the resources, living twice as well on half as much.

Examples include putting a 20-volume encyclopaedia on a CD-ROM; or a low wattage light bulb that gives the same amount of light from a third of the power; or a car that goes twice as far on half the fuel.

Factor 4 conserves resources and helps the environment. It is a key to sustainability.

Scientists are now working on Factor 10 and Factor 20, even Factor 100 technologies!

Luke Murray, 17, UK

MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND… ?

... and Out the Other: WASTE 42

If we learned anything from Rio, it was the four “Rs” - reduce, repair, re-use, recycle. In less developed countries they have done this for ages as a way of life; now industrialised countries are realising the benefits of it. But we can do so much more.

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT WASTE DISPOSAL

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Reduce waste, recycle, and packaging materials.

tax

• Require that industry adopt cleaner production methods.

• Promote the transfer of low waste production methods to less developed countries.

• Let people know the risks of the chemicals they are exposed to.

• Clean up contaminated areas and give help to their inhabitants.

Mobius Loop: The chasing arrows symbol indicates a product can be recycled or contains recycled material. Each arrow represents a part of the cycle: (1) the manufacturer, (2) the consumer, and (3) completing the loop, the recycling industry.

• Make polluters pay clean up costs.

• Ensure the military disposes of their hazardous wastes properly.

• Ban export of hazardous waste to countries not equipped to deal with it.

RESULTS OF A SURVEY ON RECYCLING DONE IN A EUROPEAN SCHOOL: Think we should recycle Do generally recycle Cans Bottles Paper Glass Cardboard

93% 74% 50% 84% 94% 92% 65%

Full-Life Management: When manufacturers take back their used products for recycling. They do it with printer cartridges. BMW pioneered the concept with their cars.

Landfill: A huge hole dug in the earth to fill with garbage. Alternate layers of garbage and soil are built up over a long period.

Incineration: The process of burning combustible waste, producing heat, gases and

“Why do we pay for useless packaging that pollutes our planet. The first basic question is: ‘ARE WE PAYING TO POLLUTE?’

All those packages are going to be incinerated. And we are the first victims of incineration, with its toxic, harmful effect on health. So the second basic question is: ‘ARE WE PAYING TO DIE?’”

43

Maia Sarrouf, 17, Lebanon

ash. The heat can be used to generate electricity. However, incineration also releases toxic gases.

Re-thinking: Thinking again on what your purchase will do to the environment. Reduce the amount of harmful products that you buy, repair old things, reuse them when you’re done, and finally, recycle!

DENISE SMITH, 15, CANADA

TALKING NUMBERS

9

GARBAGE MOUNTAINS HERE TO STAY!

1 m stack of newspaper = one

2

10 metre high evergreen tree.

5

CASE STUDY

16 trees = the number of trees required to make one tonne of newsprint.

4

68 trees = one tonne of bond (fine white) paper.

57 kg of waste paper = what the average office worker produces each year.

8

25% less energy = the amount of energy you save by making cardboard from recycled cardboard instead of new wood fibre.

7

3

3 hours of TV = the amount of electricity you save by making an aluminium can from recycled cans instead of raw ore.

JOHNSON AGWU, 21, NIGERIA

In recent times, government agencies have taken up the challenge to clean my town, Enugu, of waste. Garbage has covered streets, open spaces, market places, and even government premises. Their efforts involved the removal of dumping sites. The waste was carried away on the massive trucks of the contractors. Landlords and tenants welcomed the plan and willingly paid the monthly dues. For a while it looked as if the plan was going to work. But soon the interest flagged; the contractors’ trucks ceased to rumble.

Refuse mountains with foothills of plastic bags once again spread down our streets, gutters became choked with garbage. The air was filled with smoke from burning waste.

Waste disposal in Enugu is a success waiting to happen. lets not give up!

Chioma Ogazie, 16, Nigeria

Population: Getting Crowded 44

INTERVIEW WITH HERBERT PETERSON M.D, DEPARTMENT OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RESEARCH, WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION

In Rescue Mission, a World Bank official called the $35 it costs to give a girl a year of primary education ‘the best $35 you’ll ever spend...’ because if you give it to a hundred girls, they will have 50 less babies! Slowing down sky-rocketing population growth (almost a billion new mouths to feed since Rio!) is maybe the most urgent and sensitive challenge we face.

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Countries need to assess how the changing age structure of their populations will make new demands on resources in the future.

• There should be appropriate reproductive health programmes to reduce maternal and infant mortality, and provide both men and women with the information and means to plan family size.

• Empowerment of women in schools, the workplace, and in decision making is an essential part of population control.

SANDRA PEREK & ANIA KLIMOWICZ, 15, POLAND

“I strongly believe that educating girls about sex at the right age is the best way to stabilise population growth. Using contraception is important because anyone is liable to temptation.”

Marie Bangura, 18, Sierra Leone

• World population has doubled since 1960. It is currently growing at 1.2%, or 77 million people, a year. Estimates for total population in 2050 range from 8-13 billion. Almost all this growth will be in developing regions, half of it in India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Indonesia.

• The population of more developed regions, currently 1.2 billion, is expected to change little during the next 50 years.

• By 2050, the population of 39 countries, such as Japan, Italy and the Ukraine, is actually projected to be smaller.

• The population of less developed regions is projected to rise steadily from 4.9 billion in 2000 to between 8.2 and 11.6 billion in 2050.

• Life expectancy is expected to continue rising. By 2050 it could reach 82 in more developed regions, 75 in less developed regions.

• Despite the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the population of the most affected countries will continue to rise due to high fertility rates. Only in South Africa will the epidemic reduce population.

• Growing population, combined with unsustainable consumption patterns is putting increased stress on air, land, water, energy and other essential resources.

Cara: Why do you feel family planning is so important?

Dr. Peterson: Firstly can I say that I am speaking for myself and not for WHO. Family planning is important for the wellbeing of individuals and for the planet as a whole. For individuals, family planning helps to assure that being a parent is a conscious decision. Although family planning has increased dramatically in the last 3 decades, 350 million couples didn’t have access to the broad range of family planning methods now available to many. At least 120 million couples are not using any at all.

population of the world has tripled, use of water increased 6 fold. That means each of us is using twice as much water. This is is a serious concern because the world’s supply of fresh water is limited. The problem is not simply too many people and too few resources but how to use available resources to the benefit of all.

Cara: What are the main goals of family planning?

conferences were held in the 1990’s, including the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, in 1994.

One of the important objectives adopted during this conference was to have 60% of primary healthcare facilities offering the widest possible range of safe and effective family planning methods by 2005. By 2015, all primary healthcare facilities should offer these methods.

Cara Peterson, 13, USA

Dr. Peterson: A series of UN

Cara: You mentioned that family planning has an impact on the planet. How so?

Dr. Peterson: Everyone on the planet should be able to enjoy a healthy, happy and long life, but large increases in population have had and will continue to have an inevitable impact on human health and on the environment. Let’s look at water as a global resource. While the SAMUEL BAIDOO, 19, GHANA

45

Population: The Numbers Game 46

World population reached 6.2 billion in mid-2002. the consequences of an ever increasing population are clear. But how to slow population growth? Promoting family planning, birth control, access to reproductive health care and empowering women, but are governments doing it?

CASE STUDY: KENYA The current population of Kenya is 30 million and rising, despite the falling life expectancy due to HIV/AIDS. 60% of the population is aged 25 and below.

Programmes to empower young women have already taken root.

However, these programmes have received mixed reactions amongst families and achieved similarly mixed results.

Reproductive health care services are picking up, but the pace is not always encouraging.

Often parents and teachers find it hard to talk to us about sex.

Sex education is not always taught in schools because the church and government do not support it. Similarly abortion is a sensitive issue and is not discussed.

Poor health care services, a dwindling economy, and limited natural resources mean there is an urgent need to stabilise the population of Kenya quickly.

Bikundo Onyari, 23, Kenya

Ghana, shown here, has a population of almost 20 million. This is expected to increase to about 27 million by 2010, and 36.6 million by 2020. The population will probably have doubled by the time I am 40! This will put unbelievable strain on an already stressed environment and economy. We read about the problem in the newspapers, but we don’t really know what is being done about it. Is it enough?

Probably not.

OBED PREMPEH, 17, GHANA

“Lebanon is one of those countries where religion has a great impact on society. So contraception, abortion and all topics related to sexuality are big taboos. It’s time to move on.”

CASE STUDY: UK Britain has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates inK Europe. Every year some 90,000 teenagers in England become pregnant. They include nearly 8,000 who are under 16. Twice as high as in Germany, three times as high as in France and six times as high as in the Netherlands. This is not something we are proud of, so it is something young people are taking action on.

Young people are working with their peers here to educate them and empower them to make informed choices. While some people don’t want teenagers to have sex - they do. The key is to give teenagers information, access to contraception, and advice. This enables young people to prevent unwanted pregnancies and protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections.

Teenage pregnancy isn’t just about sex. There is a striking link between countries with high teenage pregnancy rates and those with high numbers of school drop-outs and wide gaps between the richest and poorest sectors of society. By attacking inequality in the UK we can also combat the number of teenage pregnancies.

“The only problem a country faces, with or without a large population, is ensuring resources are not over utilised.”

Solarin Olamide, 15, Nigeria

Tom Burke, 17, UK Maia Sarrouf, 17, Lebanon

JOHNSON AGWU, 21, NIGERIA

47

Health: Doctor, Where?

YOUTH AND DRUGS

‘Health for all by the year 2000’was what Agenda 21 promised. This was not achieved, so is now a goal to be reached by 2015. You may think it sounds too idealistic, but perhaps we need to aspire to an ideal to be able to meet the real health needs of today. It is estimated that to achieve health for all by 2015 will cost $38 billion a year. About the same as Europe spends on pet food! Are we going to find it? - we hope!

48

AGENDA 21 SAYS

Dou you think drug awarness is important?

• Eliminate diseases like river blindness, and leprosy.

DASHA STENKOVAIA, 15, RUSSIA

• Control tuberculosis, measles and cut childhood deaths due to diarrhoea by 50-70%. Immunise all children.

• Strengthen services for youth in health, education and social sectors to provide better education, counselling and treatment for health problems.

• Establish anti-malaria programmes

• Use effective traditional knowledge in national health-care systems.

NUMBER OF PEOPLE PER DOCTOR

• All nations to identify environmental

• Establish standards for industrial hygiene, use of pesticides, maximum permitted safe noise and exposure levels to ultraviolet radiation.

• Protect vulnerable groups, such as children, the elderly and the disabled.

20.000

Ghana Yes No

ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA 700 300

Bikundo Onyari, 23, Kenya Russia

Argentina Venezuela India

Unsure Yes No

TRADITIONAL HEALING vs. MODERN MEDICINE - WHY FIGHT?!

5.000

2.000

Chad

Jenna Troup 13, USA

“There are two temporal blessings; health and money. Money is the most envied but the least enjoyed, health is the most enjoyed but the least envied. The superiority of the latter is still most obvious when we reflect that the poorest man wouldn´t part with health for money, but the richest would gladly part with all his money for health.”

Nyantakyi Owusu Quayson, 20,

HEALTH FOR ALL. Governments committed years ago To Health for EVERYONE! Disease is life’s greatest setback!

They cried - Let’s have Health for all!

Debates continue - people die; Commitments ignored - people die; Progress, if any, has been short lived.

Health remains a privilege for the rich!

Health for all I insist.

Dou you think adults do enough to educate kids about drugs?

In Africa there is lots of conflict between doctors and traditional healers. Some people choose to go to traditional healers, others mainstream doctors.

Traditional healers have vast cultural knowledge on traditional treatments, but usually lack the modern technology that mainstream doctors have at hand. Modern doctors treat diseases with

in countries where malaria presents a significant health problem.

health hazards and take steps to reduce them.

We did a survey with young people aged 12-17 at my school and found that a surprising 26% of the students surveyed had taken drugs, and 18% said that they would take drugs if a good friend offered them. It may not seem all that much, but it’s far from the ideal. And this is just a typical school.

Drugs are a much bigger health problem than we would often like to admit and it isn’t getting any better. Across every section of society around the World this is a Have you ever taken drugs?

Would you take drugs if a close serious problem, friend offered them to you? especially for youth. What is it going to take for people to Yes Yes take action?

No No

pharmaceutical drugs that may not necessarily be the best for the ailment in question. I think the only solution is for doctors and traditional healers to come together and discuss things. Together they can work towards finding ways to best help their communities.

Bushra Razack, 15, South Africa

49

“I’M A VERY LUCKY LITTLE BOY...” - BREAKING THE SILENCE!

AIDS: No Longer the Silent Killer WANTED!!!

• 70% of AIDS cases are in Africa.

• It is not just an African problem. In Haiti over 5% of the adult population is infected. In India 7 in 1000 adult AIDS cases were reported in 2000. This translates into 3.7 million infected adults.

• In the USA and Europe, behaviour that increases the risk of infection is once again rising.

• In Uganda, AIDS awareness campaigns have

ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA

poignantly, lucky because he had a loving guardian who cared for him.

Nkosi is a symbol of hope. He identified the harsh reality and injustice associated with AIDs and inspired people to break the silence.

Sadly, he passed away 11 months after making this speech. But in part because of his memory and courage, the silence has indeed been broken.

Bushra Razack, 15, South Africa

AGENDA 21 SAYS

cut the infection rate from 30% to 11% between 1992 and 2000 • 70% of teacher deaths in Côte d’Ivoire are a direct result of HIV. • AIDS drugs are expensive. Only 17,000 of South Africa’s 5 million sufferers get them.

HIV/ AIDS VIRUS ARMED AND DANGEROUS HAS KILLED MILLIONS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE TAKE PRECAUTIONS BE INFORMED!

“The HIV epidemic is altering the social and economic fabric of society in many countries around the world, having a knock-on effect on agriculture, business, education, and of course healthcare.”

Vera Akatsa-Bukachi, 19, Kenya

ablaze with warmth and passion.

“I’m a very lucky little boy,” he said

These are the wise words spoken by 11-year-old Nkosi Johnson at the June 2001 Durban AIDS conference. Having been born with the virus, he now found it difficult to drag his body on stage. On the outside, he looked weak and frail, dressed in a suit that hung on his body. On the inside, his heart was

ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA

50

HIV/AIDS is not simply a health issue, it is the biggest social issue we face today. Since Rio it has wiped out years of progress in development and effects every aspect of life from time we are born to the time we die.

“Care for us and accept us. We are human beings. We are normal. We can walk. We can talk. We have needs just like everybody else.”

• Mobilise and unify national and international efforts to control HIV/ AIDS by 2015.

‘Today’ s young peo parents and lead ple are tomorro vital ro w’s ers, an le in terms in the future of d will play a of its en t vironmen he world both t and it s people.’

Alex Ad usei, 21, Ghana

ts no ‘It spares nobody, respec persist one, Yet too many still ey are in the attitude that th tion’. somehow immune to infec

bade, 21 Nigeria Onize bayo, 15 and Bumni Oye

, ignorance f o k a he clo tion ‘Dispel t supersti d n a sm se mystici e disea h t s d n urrou e that s cate th u d e ly e equat and ad ria public.’ , 13, Nige ukwu Alex Ilech

“Of all the challenges that youth face this century, the most formidable and apocalyptic is the AIDS Bumni Oyebade, Nigeria virus. “ “While we, the youth, are the most affected by the virus, we are also the key to beating it!”

CEAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

‘My frien ds make jo kes about virus. Nob the AIDS ody in my school know affected b s anyone y it. Ther e are sex classes in education my school but the te not tell us achers do anything a bout AIDS.’ Supritha Sanjay , 13, India

David Ssemwogere, 21, Uganda

SAMUEL OKWERE, 16, NIGERIA & ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA

‘Spread the message, not the virus’.

Charles Ugochukwu, 14, Nigeria

51

53

Section 3

Major Groups

WOMEN ROCK

54

S C I E N C E : V I R T U A L A D VA N C E

56

GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS

58

L O C A L A G E N D A 2 1 : S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y B E G I N S AT H O M E

60

N G O S : N O N - G O V E R N M E N TA L O V E R D R I V E 62 FA R M E R S : E N D A G E R E D S P E C I E S ?

63

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT

64

Y O U T H : PA R T I C I PAT E !

66

ESD: LEARNING TO SURVIVE

67

Andrea Tumbas, 17, Yugoslavia

BLACK HOLES: GAPS IN AGENDA 21

68

RIGHTS FOR ALL!

69

WA R & P E A C E

70

SHOW ME THE MONEY

72

TA K I N G C O N T R O L : G O V E R N A N C E F O R S U S TA I N A B I LT I Y

74

Women Rock

You are used against your will

Women have come a long way in the ten years since Rio. They are arguably the most powerful citizen’s lobby at the UN. Their share of parliamentary seats is rising as is their share of senior management positions. But women still only earn 78% of a man’s wage for the same work, and discrimination against the world’s poorest women remains a violation of their human rights.

Have been experiencing a life of slavery.

It’s time to reinstate your lost pride.

They are as voiceless as tombs

Women - start beating the drum!

55

Women oh! Women what kind of plight is this?

IA

Hannah Conteh, 18, Sierra Leone

ZAN 19, TAN LAURE,

SALEM M

role to play in achieving sustainable development and in order to do it they need to be empowered. We can no longer afford to alienate them.

Your pride as a woman is lost

ND 18, POLA

the gender gap in school enrolment by 2005. Many countries still enrol more boys than girls in school. Two thirds of those who never get to school are girls. A lot of work to do in three years. The UN also aims to promote the role of women in the decision-making process. Women have a huge

Women, since creation a helpmate to man,

ICZ, CHNOW ANNA JU

“Women hold up half the sky!”

Women made a huge impact on the Rio process and remain powerful leaders of it. The UN has one main, and several subsidiary targets in relation to women. The main one is to eliminate

MAIA SARROUF, 17, LEBANON

54

THE PLIGHT OF WOMEN

CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

BEIJING CONFERENCE

AS, TUMB REA D N A

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Eliminate violence, persistent sexual stereotypes and prejudices against women.

• Reduce their workload at home and outside the home as well as encourage men to share household tasks with women.

• Value of unpaid work, including domestic work when measuring the state of the economy.

• Encourage women to educate themselves in sustainable consumption.

• Ensure a role for women in ecosystem management to control environmental degradation.

17 ,

IA SLAV YUGO

Over 36,000 women attended the Beijing Women’s Conference, making it one of the largest United Nations conferences. The main themes were the advancement of women, women’s rights, poverty, women in decision making, the girl-child, and violence against women.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action were signed by all participants. This Declaration agreed to: • Recognise violence against women as a human rights problem.

• Place special importance on the right of women to act free of all pressures respecting their sexual and reproductive health.

• Identify the need for equality regarding the Right of Inheritance and for women to have an equal share of parental property.

• In 1997, nearly 4 million women held more than one job.

• Fewer than one quarter of new mothers leave the paid labour force for a substantial period after childbirth.

• Only 6.8% of the world’s cabinet ministers are women.

• 11.7% of the seats in the world’s parliaments are held by women.

Only 8 countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and South Africa) have reached the UN’s target of women in 30% of seats.

• Women’s share of the paid employment work pool has risen slightly: Ukraine is top of the list with 54% of paid jobs going to women; Chad is the bottom with 5%.

• In most of the 59 countries for which we have data, more women are achieving senior managerial positions. In only 16 of them do they occupy the 30% target for those positions.

• Rural women produce 55% of the food grown in developing countries, but they make up only 31% of the paid labour force.

Science: Virtual Advance 56

Rio took place at the dawn of the Internet age, so ‘Technology Transfer’ - the sharing of science and technology among all countries was a big issue. The speed at which technology is advancing these days is incredible, but is it the same everywhere? How much of this technology is benefitting the people who really need some amazing solutions?

…”My worry is that other advances in science may result in other means of mass destruction, maybe more readily available even than nuclear weapons.”

Joseph Rotblat, British physicist

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Full

and open sharing of information by scientists on matters that would support sustainable development.

• More efficient use of resources, including a massive increase in number of scientists working in the less developed world.

• 50% of the world has never heard a dial tone.

• Fewer than 1% of the people are connected to the internet.

• There are only 1 million Internet users in the entire continent of Africa.

• Some 90% of Genetic Engineering research is funded by the biotech industry.

57

Getting Down to Business

• Trade unions should train workers and give them the skills to lead sustainable livelihoods.

THE ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Businesses should create responsible and ethical policies to reduce their impact on the environment and local communities.

• Governments should come up with incentives, laws and standards to ensure cleaner production.

DANIEL NUÑEZ, 20, PERU

58

Business and industry are often criticised for being the enemy of sustainable development. Make as much money first, then worry about the consequences on the environment and local communities later. This is still true for many companies. Sustainable development is not their top priority, but things are changing and much progress has been made.

• Workers should work with employers to improve eco-policies, working conditions, health and safety.

Businesses have huge influence over nearly all aspects of development. If businesses are to make a positive contribution to sustainable development they need to be more responsible. Businesses need to respect their local environment, using resources efficiently, minimising waste, and taking local communities into account. In this respect they are encouraged to carry out environmental audits and calculate the environmental cost of production. Many initiatives have now begun to

force companies to meet targets in reducing waste or face being heavily fined or taxed. Sadly many of these have not been effective and are difficult to enforce.

Agenda 21 planned a whole chapter on the control of large multinational corporations, but this was left out because of strong opposition. Money is very influential when it comes to government decisions and policy making. Current trade regulations must also be improved if developing countries are to ever benefit from

• National councils for Sustainable Development should be created to work with experts. These should include large multinationals right down to small businesses.

• Environmentally sound technologies should be researched and made freely available to developing countries.

it. Ultimately, businesses must be prepared to sacrifice profits in return for a sustainable planet and an improved world for everyone.

However more and more businesses are now proving that investing in sustainability is also profitable, and the creation of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development means that even the biggest companies are beginning to take it seriously.

Trade Unions are used to dealing with industrial change and are therefore vital to sustainable development, since workers will be amongst those most affected by the radical changes needed to achieve it.

The goal is that everyone should have a job that leads to a sustainable livelihood both at work and beyond.

Full employment is a big enough challenge in itself given the growing world population.

However, we must ensure that workers are educated about sustainable development issues so they can take an active role in

59

promoting sustainability in the workplace. Trade Unions are responsible for this education.

Only after being educated can workers begin to hold employers accountable for implementing sustainable management policies.

In some businesses this is already being done. Workers take part in volunteering schemes, and support projects in their local communities through charitable donation schemes. These sort of projects must be encouraged and publicised as they are sadly still few and far between, but those that exist are encouraging.

CASE STUDY In October 2001, Goldfields Ghana Ltd. spilled cyanide into the Esumen and Huni rivers, resulting in the death of fish and other untold environmental and human risks. The company’s lack of environmental management and disregard for the well-being of local people lead them to refute accusations of the dangers posed by the spillage, saying they detected only a small amount of cyanide in the rivers. the public was repeatedly assured of their safety.

If companies that use dangerous chemicals can be so ignorant of the materials they handle and treat their spillage with such abandon, then what is our fate in life from these companies? While there is no accountability for polluters, who pays to clean up the mess they cause, and what help is there to people affected by it?

Thanks to Professor Oduro who came out against the company to brief the public, the Ghanaian government has set up a committee to help prevent contamination by mining companies.

Mark Padley, 16, UK

GOCE RIVSTOVSKI, 17, FYR MACEDONIA

AGENDA 21 SAYS

Evans Kwesi Dom, 19, Ghana

CASE STUDY Ben & Jerry’s is an American ice cream company, which has always been socially aware. As well as supporting local farmers, in 1985 it established a foundation to empower employees to work towards eliminating environmental and social problems. Ben & Jerry’s uses some of its profits to make donations to organisations worldwide as well as supporting community projects in its home state of Vermont.

Recently they have been working with groups in West Africa to stop child trafficking, especially in the chocolate industry. Their ‘one sweet whirled’ campaign focuses on the reduction of Greenhouse Gases. They have even set themselves targets to reduce emissions in their own factories.

Frizo Schlingemann, 16, Netherlands

Sustainability Begins at Home 60

Many of the problems and solutions discussed in this book have their roots in local activities. Being the level of government closest to the people, local government and authorities therefore have a key role in making sustainable development happen.

AGENDA 21 SAYS • By 1996 every local authority should have consulted with the community and presented their local agenda 21.

• Local authorities should reshape community policies and regulations taking Agenda 21 into consideration.

• Local authorities are reponsible for educating and mobilising the general public to implement Agenda 21.

“If we are to stand any chance of reaching my dream of what Hertfordshire, and the World should look, smell, and be like in ten years time, we will all have to do our own little bit. “ Jakariya Yahiya, 14, UK NIO TO

Z, UE SQ VA

U

PER

AN

“A Local Agenda 21 for every community by 1996!” The Agenda 21 target was astonishingly specific. Of course it wasn’t achieved. But it was a fantastic challenge: mayors and local leaders met through the leadership of various organisations and individuals were mobilised, which created a massive local government movement for sustainability. According to the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, 6,416 cities, towns, and counties in 113 countries have now made a Local Agenda 21 - or something similar.

The key difference in Local Agenda 21 planning is that everybody is involved - young people, pensioners, nurses, businessmen, teachers, mothers, sports groups - everyone!

It’s a great process as everyone learns about each other’s concerns.

But only 18 countries have national structures to co-ordinate and evaluate Local Agendas. Lack of finance is one problem. Lack of community interest is another; often local people just can’t be bothered to turn up. We must now more than ever support these processes to allow them to turn their agendas into action.

OONA TASTO, 15, FINLAND

ad a ! I h K U , l l , th om Russe ymou le fr Dear in Pl peop g m n a ou Local ! I the y Hello on’s s h r t e i P a ing w oing oung meet are d th Y u y o e e m h s I e Ply t. T that the rojec e p m i 1 t irst d to da 2 the f Agen signe s e ’ d t I n y job! ecisio ficall great in d speci t e l e c th y oje eop 996, g p a pr 1 n u n i o the le, ve y here xamp w e invol ” r y o a F Civic ng… tine d n the maki Valen g i “ s a e d re ater ised as l ad to w organ h e l n p a g peo w pl nnium youn Mille ir ne s e ’ h y T t i C shop re. work g the Squa n y o a d m wo ded a ld a t inclu so he l a A YP Bid! P

yle t st bare a c show er a . The s geth w o e i t ic, ir v ut conom e f the to p o , l n a o ci s ntati fficer al, so prese ior o ment n n e o S r i . r we e env ues uncil al iss links o n C o i t y it duca the C and e s of r e , b ance. em huge form r e p and m es is i e t i h v t i ted act d to enera their g invite s f a o t th xtent rojec itmen The e omm this p c y l l d a n a asic d the siasm e an but b l u p h t o n e p of e ung a lot he yo t h t wi both Tom s. adult t s e b e All th

Dear Carolina !

Hello, I’ve just visted Cajamarca in Peru. The province looks very poor and polluted. However, things are getting much better since 1993 when the mayor initiated a Local Agenda 21 plan!

Firstly, they gave more power to local governments so that even the

Hi Ve ra !

We’re still in Fi mad nlan e a d. Y visit offic to th esterday, e o f SW we e ag inter enda -Fin view land 2 e 1 d co-o and Jaan rdin a a w t e o Itälä in t r of A he s , th gend outh e a sever 21 pr -wes al te o t j . e c a t In F s ms w regio inla orkin ns a nd, g in re su the g diffe bmit overn rent ting men appr p r o t . jects oved When to thro it r a pr ugh oject eceiv t h i e s e s fu exam agen ndin ple, da 2 l g a 1 AHA st ye offic ar th 21 pr e. Fo oject ey se r t up to pr otect the the w aters

smallest and most remote communities could express their needs. Then they created a Committee with representatives from each province, NGOs, and the private sector to submit a proposal addressing all the issues covered by Agenda 21.

In 1994, the plan was approved by the citizens after a referendum!!!

Since then, they have implemented projects to provide potable water, sanitation, environmental education and rural electrification. The Local Agenda 21 process has mobilized more than US $21 million for sustainable development activities since 1993!

Hope you’ll include Camajarca in your report!

Stephanie

of th e spa rsely are popu also lated p rojec peop area t s tha le’s s. Th t are ere envi k n o impr wled ronm o v g e i e ng nt by poin of placi ts in ng in the libra publ form ic pl ries ation aces, and radi news diffe o. p a rent Educ pers susta and atin inab g ch on th l e i conc e ldren deve ern lopm abou ent here speci t is a ! T al tr each lso a aini to th ers ng to eir p recei t e u a pils! ch th ve Hope ese i this ssues is he lpful for y our a rticl e.

All th e bes t.

Oona Tasto .

61

Non-Governmental Overdrive 62

Rio was where Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) came of age. All of a sudden, governments listened to them, the UN allowed them to enter and speak at meetings, and the decisions were richer as a result. NGOs advisory position has strengthened over the last 10 years, but many people still question their effectiveness.

• Get close communication between governments and NGO’s; • Increase cooperation between NGO’s themselves;

• Protect the rights of NGO’s to say and promote things that governments and industries might not agree with.

Of the 80,000 expected to go to Johannesburg, 60,000 will be representatives of NGOs. Because of their number and ability to get things done, NGOs have been at the forefront of Agenda 21 implementation. $7.6 billion of Overseas Aid is channelled through NGOs. They pioneered the ‘Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues’ at the UN which bring together people representing all sides of the argument. The arrival of the Internet has enabled them to network much more effectively in the years since Rio. It has also resulted in some well-organised mass protests like those in Seattle and Genoa. However, NGOs of all sizes whilst being effective face the same problem, legitimacy!

There are currently about 1 billion farmers in the world whose livelihood is threatened by land degradation. This is a major concern for all countries because to be able to feed our growing population, we must rely on farmers to increase their grain production by 40% before the year 2020.

Farmers make up almost half of the world’s labour force. Organic farming is a lucrative and eco-friendly style of farming that is becoming increasingly popular in the world. The growing demand for organic products has created new export opportunities for less industrialized countries.

AGENDA 21 SAYS

• Improve UN support of NGO’s;

Farmers: Endangered Species?

However, farmers wishing to “go organic” must hire an organic certification agency to annually inspect their products and make sure that they conform to organic farming standards. The cost for this service can be expensive, which prevents many farmers from entering into the market.

“In Togo, farming activities have become less attractive since 1992 because people prefer to migrate to towns for better jobs. The government does not support farmers sufficiently, so many products are no longer produced locally and must be imported for a high price. Farmers in Togo should benefit from new agricultural techniques and get compensation for the falling of selling prices.”

Akposso Mawuena, 17, Togo

CORINNA PANAYIOTIDES DJAFERIS, 14, CYPRUS AND GERMANY,

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Develop

environmentally sound farming practices that improve crop yields, conserve water, recycle nutrients and control pests and weeds.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF NGO’S STRENGTHS:

WEAKNESSES:

• Cost effectiveness • Strong grassroots links & field-based expertise • Innovative & flexible • Long-term commitment and emphasis on sustainability

• • • • •

• Help farmers share their knowledge with each other on soil conservation, reducing and re-using farm waste and the most efficient use of water and energy.

Can only do small-scale projects Limited financial expertise Low levels of self-sustainability Limited institutional capacity Lack of understanding of broader social and economic context

• Encourage self-sufficiency and indigenous farming practices.

• Support research of equipment that makes optimal use of human labour and animal power.

CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

63

The Power of the Spirit 64

FROM SAVING SOULS TO SAVING OUR ENVIRONMENT

Agenda 21 was very clear that the World’s135 million indigenous people should be recognised.

Many of them have been living sustainably with nature for thousands of years in stark contrast to modern destructive way of life. A notable moment in Rio was the ‘Earth Summit’ where indigenous people and religious leaders came together to lead the way.

AGEND 21 SAYS • Let indigenous people take part in all political decisions affecting them, their land, and the management of resources.

• Provide indigenous people with suitable technologies to increase the efficiency of their resource management.

• Recognise the values, property, culture, social activities, traditional knowledge and resource management practices of indigenous people.

• Protect indigenous peoples’ lands from environmentally unsound activities.

• Incorporate the rights and responsibilities of indigenous people into the national legislation.

“All indigenous peoples have the right to take part in the economic, social, political and cultural life of their country” Dario Lopez, 21, Paraguay

Religions are about saving souls, so why can’t they also be about saving the environment? The Christian faith and environmentalism could appear in opposition as their teaching puts humankind at the centre of the universe. The famous phrase in Genesis talks about men having dominion over the earth, and in Leviticus, "The Earth is mine…" Thus there is a tension between the God-given right to use creation and the God-given responsibility to protect and nurture it.

In the home town of St Francis, Assisi, Italy in 1986 representatives of five major faiths – Buddhism, Christians, Hindus, Jews and Muslims –

came together to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of WWF and created a religious conservation alliance. Buddhists and Hindus have a long tradition of vegetarianism and not harming any living thing. Islam teaches care for the environment – for water, for forests, for animals. The Prophet Mohammed forbids mistreatment or the hunting of animals for sport. Sikhs, Baha’is, Shintos and others have now joined the alliance.

Katie Paroschy, 15, Canada

THE ENVIRONMENTAL SABBATH The UN Environment Programme calls on all religions and indigenous traditions to celebrate an Environmental Sabbath – to instruct congregations on the dangers humanity currently poses to the natural world, and to call upon them to adjust their life-styles to be more in harmony with God’s creation. It publishes a guide which starts with a story of an infant sucking on its sick mother’s breast. If the infant goes on sucking until the mother dies, the infant must die too. "Humankind is such an infant. Blessed with a mother of inestimable beauty, the earth, we have become careless of the profoundly tragic loss of a bird’s song, a flower’s scent, a tree’s majesty. STOP the sacrilege! Help us to reach the centre of change: the human heart! We must remember that we are not God’s only child. If we are indeed the steward of His divine purpose, we must act on earth as angels of mercy, not angels of destruction."

CASE STUDY Aang Who?

books. They are even working towards an

It is often thought that to modernise, and

official Foundation Certifcate in

to industrialise is the way forward. For

Indigenous Knowledge.

years indigenous medicine was thought

They try to translate these skills into

of as mumbo jumbo. Agenda 21made it

livelihoods and show how beneficial they

the subject of international conferences.

are, especially to young people who

It has its own department at the World

believe them to be outdated and would

Health Organisation and is promoted as

much rather follow Western cultures.

an accesible system of health care.

They have opened up a fair trade shop

Aang Serian is an organisation set up in

and even created a studio for recording

1999 by young people in Arusha,

traditional music.

Tanzania, singers,drummers, painters,

All over the World , indigenous people

wood-carvers, poets, all wanting to show

are recognising that their culture has cash

off their traditional skills. Their aim was

value as well as historic value.

to preserve and promote Masai culture.

Their educational centre promotes the kind of education that is not written in

Gemma Burford, 21, UK KESUMA OLE KASIKASI, TANZANIA

ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA

65

Learning to Survive

Youth: PARTICIPATE! 66 62

In Agenda 21, youth were promised participation in decision-making. What’s happened? In some countries, good progress: school and college student councils, Municipal Youth Councils, Youth Parliaments and Fora have been set up. But in most countries, youth remain disenfranchised - no votes, no formal participation, no formal voice in the decision-making processes that shape society. So we have work to do!

PROGRESS ON GLOBAL YOUTH PARTICIPATION SINCE 1992 In 1997, the UN began a series of Youth conferences with a meeting in Vienna. There was a 2nd one in Portugal in 1999 which produced a declaration that was presented to a meeting of Youth Ministers. It was due to be considered by the United Nations General Assembly, but, due to some governments’ objections, it never was. A 3rd meeting was held in Dakar, Senegal in August 2002.

Over the last ten years, the number of governments putting young people on their UN delegations has increased slowly. Young people played a significant role at all the major UN conferences of the ‘90s.

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Governments should consult and let youth participate in decisions that affect the environment.

• Youth representation at international meetings and participation in decision-making at the UN.

• By the year 2000, more than 50% of women and men of the right age should be enrolled in secondary schools.

UNEP has also held a series of Global Youth meetings. Oxfam helped set up an International Youth Parliament in Australia. Peace Child organised the Millenium Young People’s Congress in Hawaii. UNICEF made a concerted effort to include the views of children and young people at the Special Session on Children in 2002. This was perhaps the best success of all as the children participated on a par with the adult delegation. So what did all this youth participation achieve? A wider recognition that young people have excellent ideas. But, equally, youth are aware that ‘Declarations’ and speeches have limited value. The real value lies in action! Young people all around the World are out there actually working towards sustainable development.

Programmes like Be the Change! launched at the MYPC are helping them to do this.

YOUTH COUNCILS Since 1992, the UK has taken some positive steps towards youth participation.

Many towns, including our small town of Buntingford, now have a Youth Town Council. Several others have them too, and we have an East Herts District Youth Council plus a UK Youth Parliament .

Each had democratic elections in which young people aged 11-18 voted. Our mandate is to represent the feelings of UK youth. So the Buntingford Youth Council has set up a Cyber Café in town as young people under 18 wanted a place to go to relax. The UK Youth Parliament made recommendations to government on several matters public transport, youth employment, recycling and environmental conservation. So, at last, the UK is taking its young people seriously and including us.

Charlotte Cowell, 17, UK

WHAT YOUTH CAN DO Lobby!! Don’t wait patiently for your voice to be heard. Get out there and raise hell! Hone your arguments until they cut like a knife then find a way to the right person and beat on their door ‘til you get a chance to meet them!

Because the most ‘educated’ people on earth are doing the most damage to the environment, Agenda 21 called on governments to “re-orient education towards sustainable development.” Most have not. Education systems are still designed to turn out people well-trained in the exploitation of the planet’s resources not in the sustainable use of them.

EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD) In 1996, the UN Commission for Sustainable Development agreed a 23-point Work Programme to achieve Agenda 21’s ESD goals.

UNESCO, the UN body responsible, has addressed three of the tasks: they have made an excellent CD-ROM with 25 modules to train teachers to teach sustainable development. They started a registry of ESD initiatives on the Internet and created a network of Vice Chancellors to introduce ESD at some universities.

However, other tasks have not been done. The ‘broad alliance’ of governments, NGOs and educators called for in the work programme has not been created.

Many hope that Johannesburg will call for speedy action to get the rest of the Work Programme done.

There are also calls to give education major group status to give educators a stronger platform in the Agenda 21 process.

Young people have always called for more ESD in their curricula. It has not happened. The reality is, in most schools, students have little or no control over what they are taught.

THE RIGHT TRAINING Imagine an Olympic athlete. To prepare for her race, she must follow a rigorous training programme. She needs to be at peak physical fitness if she wants to do her best in the race. Now, imagine that you are an athlete only it’s not your muscles that you are training, but your mind. This is what your academic education should be about. Preparing you for the challenges you will face in life. Education should be about stretching your mind. As long as you are challenged by your teachers and forced to think, you will be training.

The question is, what sort of training do you need to prepare you for the challenges of the 21st century? Whatever job you do, you will be a consumer. You will make choices and have an impact on the environment. Is your education preparing you for this challenge?

Do you get to learn about sustainable development? Check out the syllabuses at your school to find out if you are getting the right training for the race.

Ellie Alchin (Geography Teacher)

AGENDA 21 SAYS • Re-orient education for sustainable development.

• Make ESD available to people of all ages.

• Work with the media and the advertising industry to promote debate on the environment.

• Bring indigenous people’s experience into ESD. CESAR CARRASCAL, 20, PERU

67

68

Black Holes: Gaps in Agenda 21

Rights for All!

In Rescue Mission: Planet Earth, the young editors called on young people to “speak out on matters that governments cannot or dare not talk about.” They identified many black holes – some of which, like energy and eco-tourism, are now being addressed. Like our predecessors, we feel a need to raise these issues and encourage every one to address them.

To promote peace and avoid a chaotic society, we must have a government of individuals who are accountable to all of us, who are committed to our security and the protection of that fragile web of human rights which is the only way to assure everbody’s peace and contentment.

Rocelyn Correa, 17, Philippines

RENEWABLE ENERGY In the run-up to Rio, oil-exporting countries succeeded in limiting discussions about renewable energy. There is now much more recognition of alternative energy technologies, but this still does not get explicit commitments from governments – yet!

Natural Disasters

Disease

Desertification Deforestation

CORRUPTION Corruption in bureaucracies is a huge barrier to sustainable development. The UN is now negotiating a comprehensive protocol on corruption – but this is not part of the Agenda 21 process.

MULTINATIONALS

ADVERTISING AND MEDIA DIGITAL DIVIDE At Rio, the Internet barely existed.

In 10 years, it has become the main communications artery for NGOs, individuals and business and a key aid for education and research.

But not everywhere! In high income countries, there are 48.8 Internet hosts per 1,000 people; in middle income, 1.09; in the poorest, only 0.02. Not really a ‘global’ information highway is it!

The $400 billion a year advertising industry has a powerful influence on our lives, urging us to consume what we do not need. Nothing in Agenda 21 addresses this problem.

Civil Society Eco-groups with tiny budgets have very little power to use against the might of the advertising industry – and clearly media companies shy away from efforts to place advertisements telling people NOT to buy their products.

Mixing countries and companies together, 40 of the 100 largest earners are companies. General Motors has twice the annual income of the whole of Greece.

Unbelievable, no?! Nobody has any control over corporations. A planned chapter in Agenda 21 on this subject was left out!

Renewable Energy Sources

Air, Land and Water Pollution

“Do to others as you would have done to you”

War

Consumption

ANIMAL RIGHTS Agenda 21 said very little on this subject and there has not been much discussion since. Hunting, animal testing, vivisection, factory farming and the use of animals for entertainment - there are campaigns all over the world to prevent these. We feel it’s an important part of sustainable development. Are we right?

Animal Rights

Overpopulation

“The World today is becoming more and more unfair. It’s not enough to respect other people and share equal rights. People invented laws to protect us but sometimes those laws are abused so nobody can be sure that they are safe. This problem can be solved only when every human being lives in a fair society with enough to meet their basic needs and are all taught the absolute basic value of respect for other people. In that way, nobody would ever need to do anything against them. Will that ever be possible?

Urska Ivanovic, 16, Slovenia

65 69

War & Peace

Jessiel Sayco Correa,17, Philippines

GOCE RISTOVSKI, 17, FYR MACEDONIA

Japan, Russia and the United States spent a total of $400.5 billion on military expenditures in 2001. That’s enough to fund the implementation of all Agenda 21’s environmental and social programs.

TUM

BA

S,

SLAVIA UGO

,Y 17

Warfare is inherently destructive to development. Nowhere shows this better than the recent history of Iraq. During the Gulf War, tens of thousands of the best and brightest young people were killed. Many more fled the country. This was not just an enormous human calamity, it also stripped Iraq of vital human resources.

During the Gulf War, the air, soil and water of Iraq were contaminated by more than 600,000 pounds of radioactive waste and 142,000 tonnes of bombs.

Total devastation.

Today food shortages due to UN sanctions cause untold damage to an entire generation of Iraqi children. Hospitals lack basic medicine and electricity to refrigerate vaccines. Polio and diphtheria break out unchecked. People who lack food and basic medicines do not have the luxury of thinking of sustainable development?

DEPLETED URANIUM

LANDMINES - POOR CAMBODIA, LUCKY SIERRA LEONE The most appalling environmental pollution of our world comes from the 110 million landmines hidden in the ground. Removing them is an expensive business. Mines that cost $3 each to make cost up to $1,000 to remove. In spite of the Nobel-prize winning Landmines campaign which resulted in the Ottawa Treaty banning the manufacture and use of landmines, it will still take over $100 billion to clear those laid already. In a country like Cambodia, where 10 million mines were planted during its long and bloody conflict, adults and children will be being killed and maimed for years to come. But lucky Sierra Leone! Though this West African country suffered ten years of brutal civil war, international aid experts are saying prayers of thanks for one thing. Neither side laid mines in this war. Recovery can be that much swifter.

When a Depleated Uranium shell hits steel armour, it releases small radioactive particles. These particles can travel with the wind and be ingested or inhaled by humans, often resulting in a “hot spot” of radioactivity lodged in some vital organ. Although the US military knew the grave danger posed by the use of these weapons years ago, it proceeded with their development and use, showing a callous disregard for its own troops, countless civilians and the global environment.

This is not the first instance in which militaries have used weapons of mass destruction in such a way that even their own troops were guinea pigs; this happened with atomic bombs and with Agent Orange.

MOHAMMED BAKER, 15, JORDAN

DID YOU KNOW?

EA

The environment is always an early casualty of modern warfare. Today, fighting is not even necessary for the military to damage the environment. Preparations for war are also destructive. The production, testing and disposal of weapons pollutes the earth. Military training destroys the land where it happens and military activities squander non-renewable resources. The radioactive and toxic materials used by militaries can cause cancer, birth defects, and other illnesses.

The World’s militaries are poisoning the environment and thus the people they were supposed to protect.

71

CASE STUDY IRAQ

WAR’S DESTRUCTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT

ANDR

70

Agenda 21 was written at the height of the Gulf War. As we write this conflicts are still blazing around the World. Peace has not broken out, and the peace dividend from the ending of the Cold War is less than we hoped. But we have an International Criminal Court, a treaty on landmines, Milosevic is in court for his war crimes, East Timor is free at last, and the Taliban is overthrown in Afghanistan. So progress towards peace has been made since Rio.

Show me the Money!

Agenda 21 promised ‘new and additional sources of finance’ to achieve sustainable development. In fact, the reverse has happened: in 1992, ODA (Overseas Development Aid) was $59 billion; in 1998, it was $52 billion - a drop of 12%. This is the great betrayal of the Agenda 21 process.

72

Bn. 120

THE MONTERREY CONSENSUS

INEQUALITIES

This Consensus was the result of the Financing for Development Conference in Monterrey Mexico in March 2002. The Document starts out well with fine words like: “Our goal is to eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth and promote sustainable development as we advance to a fully inclusive and equitable economic system.”

Then it gets to the nitty-gritty: “We note with concern current estimates of dramatic shortfalls in resources required to achieve internationally agreed development goals...” - the Millennium Development Goals. When you get to the ‘Show me the money’ bits, there’s nothing. No new ideas, no new money,.nothing on the key issue of new ways to raise money except, “We agree to study the results of the analysis by the Secretary General...: They agree little things, but nothing major. As the chart below shows, the debt repayments rise and rise and the overseas development aid falls and falls. Very disappointing.

20% of the world’s population consume 86% of the wealth. The poorest fifth consume only 1.4%. What does that mean? What can we do about it?

David Beckham, the footballer, earns in three minutes what it would take to give an African child a decent school lunch every day of the year! If he were to give up a quarter of his salary, he could feed 42,000 Africans for a year, and still have £3,000,000 of his own to spend!

What does that mean? That Beckham is an awful person?? No! It means that he is a very good footballer - and his club, Manchester United gives a millionpounds a year to UNICEF. But how many of us could buy meals for a year on $34? When you think about it, the gap between us and Beckham is far narrower than the gap between us and the African child. So if more of us normal people took responsibility for helping African children, perhaps we would attract more people like David Beckham to contribute more?

100 90 80 70 60 50 92

93

94

95

96

97

AGENDA 21 SAYS • New and additional sources of funding to raise $141.9 bn cost of Agenda 21.

• More developed countries commit to reach the UN target of donating 0.7% of GNP in overseas development aid.

• Help low-income countries deal with the problem of unpayable foreign debt. $10 billion of foreign debt has been cancelled. 0.5% of total.

• Funds should be raised by re-allocating resources now committed for military purposes.

Official Development Assistance Interest paid by aid recipients

110

40

Charlotte Potter-Landua, 13, Switzerland

98

99

NEW WAYS TO RAISE MONEY Sustainable development demands more money. Governments won’t give it, so we need new ideas: 1. The Tobin Tax: At Monterrey, all NGOs called Time for Tobin! This is a tax of 0.5% on currency speculation - the daily trades that bankers do to make money on the fluctuations in exchange rates. The tax could raise $150-$300 billion dollars a year more than enough to wipe out poverty. But the point of Tobin is to calm the currency markets and stop the reckless trading. How can you do business when you never know what your currency is going to be

DEBT CRISIS:

worth tomorrow? James Tobin thought of the tax to make gambling on currency less attractive.

2. Bit-tax: A tax on e-mails to help bridge the digital divide. A penny on

$/¥ every hundred e-mails over a certain size would raise billions of dollars.

3. Tax on use of global commons: eg. an airline fuel tax. Airplanes

contribute to global warming.

The climate changes they cause will cost us billions in building new sea walls, new flood defences etc. There has to be a tax to raise funds to pay for it.

Conclusion: A Tobin tax could be levied tomorrow just by adding a little bit of code to a few computers.

No one would mind because banks can afford to pay. But most governments will not even consider it because they are opposed to any one else collecting taxes. BUT the Canadian, French and Belgian governments are supporting Tobin.

The Tobin Tax Network feels that we are on a roll. A Tobin tax could be just around the corner.

3rd World debt kills 13 children in Africa every minute.

What is third world debt? - It is money loaned to less developed countries by banks and official lenders like the World Bank. Debt forces countries with very small budgets to pay large chunks of it back to banks in more developed countries instead of using it for clean water, education, health, and other human needs.

Where did the debt come from? - Back in the ‘70s, rich countries lent money to help less developed countries to build new roads and government buildings. It was usually big, flashy projects not small clinics and schools that would really help the poorest people!

Often, loans were taken out by dictators to buy military equipment or big cars for their friends. When they were overthrown

and sent off in disgrace, the debts remained and the banks still demanded interest. If you couldn’t pay, the banks lent you money to pay themselves their interest and added the new loan to the total. Thus third world debt spiralled upwards. CRAZY! What is Jubilee 2000? - Jubilee 2000 is a network of over 100 organisations working in over 65 countries to draw attention to this madness and get governments to drop the debt.

What you can do. Join Jubilee 2000! Spread awareness about how third world debt kills people.

Lobby governments to drop the debt.

7369

"All our work for development and peace has taught us that if the issue of governance

Taking Control

is neglected, we are building on sand. No amount of aid, no degree of diplomacy can produce lasting progress if it is not rooted in legitimate, rule-bound institutions -

If you were in an airplane, plunging towards the earth, you would want a pilot of great experience to take control. You would not want a committee of individuals, each with different interests and ideas, arguing over what steps to take. With humanity on an unsustainable course towards self-destruction on a fragile planet, it is extremely important that some one – any one! – take control. But Who?

Cara Peterson, 13, USA

SUCHITRA SRINIVASAN, 14, INDIA

O

17, ARG

ENTINA

A

ANON, RUSSIA

LEA

ND R

, HL

WAR In 1947, the UN divided Palestine into two states. The day after Israel’s independence, 7 Arab states attacked Israel but after a 19 month war were defeated. More wars followed; a peace process started but collapsed in violence. The only way to solve the problem is to listen to one another, communicate honestly and find a compromise. A stronger UN police force that could root out the murderers and suicide bombers and prosecute them like ordinary criminals could help. The ‘blame game’ does not work. I hope that peace will come soon.

POVERTY In a fair world, we must eradicate poverty. But it is very complicated: giving free food does not help local farmers to sell their’s and make a living. Giving aid conditional on good government behaviour, though it sounds sensible, often ends up hurting the poorest people. Many things could be done by a well organised global welfare system that ensures that there is: • free primary education for all • free primary healthcare for all • free reproductive health care and pre-natal health care for all women • compulsory HIV/AIDS counselling for all • free condoms on demand • free safe drinking water for all • protection of everyone’s human rights; any officials that abuse them will be prosecuted • Encourage individual enterprises - give micro-credit start-up loans with proper training and mentoring for all recipients • Drop the foreign debt of all highly indebted poor countries (HIPCs); • Create fair trading conditions that open all markets to producers from the world’s least developed countries.

Assaf Levin, 13, Israel

Y U G O SL AV I A

HUMAN AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS Children have no place in armies - but in Southern Sudan, 10,000 children aged 8 to 18 have been kidnapped and forced to serve in the Lord’s Resistance Army. On the battlefield, girls and boys are treated the same both have to advance firing on the enemy. If they do not run firing their guns at the enemy (the army), they are shot in the back by their commanders. Either way they get killed in their thousands.

Tues. 27th Feb. 2001: UNICEF takes control.

UNICEF Director, Carol Bellamy negotiates with the commanders to airlift 2,500 child soldiers out of the conflict zone and take them to transit camps to try and trace their families. “The first priority is to get these children to a place of safety,” says Dr Sapra of UNICEF. “Our ultimate goal is to completely end the use of children as soldiers in Sudan. There are still thousands of child combatants in various armed groups here, but we have shown can be done with strong advocacy and follow-through.

Ahmed Abbas, 13, Sudan

ENVRONMENT It amazes me how little governments do for the environment – and how much they do to harm it through tax breaks and perverse subsidies to big companies like those in nuclear and auto industries that pollute it.

Governments need to take charge and the first thing they must do is give everyone knowledge about what’s going wrong and what they can do about it – like turning their computer off, recycling batteries, using bicycles instead of cars.

Governments must research ways to power cars and trucks in ways that do not damage the environment, like by using fuel cells or solar power. They must phase out industries that damage the environment.

When people break environmental laws, rather than fining them or throwing them in prison, they should make them work for a day in the forests or the mountains so that they can see and feel just how precious is the environment that we are abusing.

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Kofi Annan, Secretary-General United Nations

7,

GRZEGORZ KRÓL, 17, HUNGARY

74

responsive and accountable to the people."

AN

E DR

A

TU

M

BA

S,

1

77

Section 4

The Road Ahead

78

TA K I N G A C T I O N : T H E W I N D S O F C H A N G E

80

G O O N . . . W H AT ’ S S T O P P I N G Y O U ?

82

IN OUR OPINION

84

THE ROAD AHEAD

86

e r u ut

ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND

F

JOHANNESBURG YOUTH MANIFESTO

Johannesburg Youth Manifesto 74 78

Youth are very clear about the road ahead: priorities emerging from major global youth meetings of the last 20 years are remarkably similar. Here is a summary of the main elements of the UN Youth Statement to the WSSD and the Action Plans of the major Youth WSSD Prepcoms in Honolulu, Hawaii (MYPC), Borgholm, Sweden, Aarhus, Denmark (Global Youth Forum) and Dakar, Senegal (World Youth Forum).

EDUCATION Free Primary Education For All, of course, + secondary education for as many as possible. Education for sustainable development for all too and support working children with grants to ensure that they do not lose out by going to school.

“We, as youth, see the oppressive role of privileged, over-developed nations, the unequal playing field in international relations and the transfer of power from governments to trans-national corporations. Many of us live with poverty and AIDS, others live in countries with unsustainable consumption patterns. We call for a new ethical framework for sustainable development in accordance with regional priorities. We commit ourselves to demanding Borgholm (2001) & Aarhus (2002) that current declarations are implemented. “

79

YOUTH AND CONSUMPTION Polish up the Planet, BY ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND

Youth must take the lead in living and promoting sustainable consumption and life-styles. Governments must institute green taxes and have public awareness campaigns to promote eco-efficiency, limit over consumption and put limits on corporate advertising pollution in puclic places. All companies to pursue cleaner production methods.

POVERTY

PEACE Peace education, eliminate the arms trade and immediate nuclear disarmament.

The road ahead must lead to the complete elimination of poverty in our lifetimes. Trade laws must favour least-developed countries; a Tobin tax must be adopted to raise funds and micro finance programmes must be promoted, also in rural areas along with entrepreneurial training to employ youth.

POPULATION

ENVIRONMENT The agreements exist - governments just have to ratify and implement them: Kyoto, Basel, PICs, POPs, Biodiversity, CITES, Desertification, Forest Principles Implement them! End production and research into GMOs Strengthen eco-governance to enforce sustainability.

Don’t build any more nuclear reactors.

While respecting cultural diversity all people, especially adolescents, must have access to high quality, user-friendly, reproductive health services.

EMPLOYMENT

HUMAN RIGHTS Promote global justice through non-violent peace-building, strengthening democracy and human rights all over the world.

Eliminate xenophobia, sexism, racism, homophobia, gender bias and all forms of discrimination.

HEALTH & HIV/AIDS Ensure anti-retroviral drugs are available, including through compulsory licensing, to all diagnosed with HIV/AIDS no matter where they live. Ensure young people have access to information that allows them to make informed choices about substance misuse.

66 million unemployed youth with 500 million new jobs needed in the next ten years - this is a big challenge! We applaud the UN’s Youth Employment Network and the Youth Employment Summit process but we need more entrepreneurship training, more apprenticeships, more mentoring programmes and a bridging of the digital divide to enable more youth to benefit from IT. Under-employment must also be addressed.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE & ECONOMICS All Overseas Development Aid must be targeted towards alleviating extreme poverty through ensuring that the 20:20 compact is met. This would mean restructuring government priorities to ensure education, health care and poverty alleviation is made possible. We call for the immediate cancellation of LDC debt and a total commitment to achieving the MDGs.

The Winds of Change In Rio, all participants called for Action not just more statements. It made a priority of “Type Two” outcomes - partnerships that lead to action. Young people have been leaders in action for sustainable development since Rio, both individually and with partners.

SAVE THE INDIAN TIGERS! think that I was being a little over-optimistic but ten weeks later, the 7000 signatures in my hand proved him wrong. ... Just doing something, however small it may be, is a thousand times better than doing nothing. Now, at least the government of India knows that 7000 people in England care.”

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Jenny Osgood, a 16-year-old girl from Britain, was shocked to hear there were only 7000 tigers left on Earth. She organized a petition to be sent to the prime minister of India to help save the tigers. Her goal was to collect 7000 signatures. She traveled to India to deliver the signatures to the prime minister in person!

Jenny said: “My father seemed to

ON ,

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ILS

TH BE

ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLAND

PROTEST and SURVIVE!

W

THE LEGACY OF IQBAL MASIH! Iqbal Masih was sold into child labour at the age of four for an advance of less than $16. For six years, he worked, chained to a carpet loom, tying small knots 12 hours a day earning practically no money. His debt to his boss rose to $149. Iqbal got out. He became a leader against child slavery in Pakistan and, during the last 2 years of his life, helped free hundreds of child slaves. He was given a Reebok award for his efforts and, whilst in the USA receiving it, visited the Broad Meadows School. Students there agreed to help him in his efforts to set up schools and new opportunities for ex-child slaves.

Five months later, Iqbal was dead - shot on his bicycle by persons unknown. In his short life, he had become one of the mightiest voices speaking out against child slavery. Young people across the world were inspired by his memory. Broad Meadows students started a Kids Campaign for a “School for Iqbal”. They raised an amazing $147,000 for a school which opened in 1998. Craig Kielburger read his story while flicking through a newstand for a comic. He was so moved, he started “Free The Children” which has become one of the largest and most effective youth-led movements in the world - with over 100,000 members, big budgets, action campaigns and many awards for Craig and his colleages.

IQBAL MASIH

Protest is the simplest and most natural action to take when eco-madness grips a company or local authority.

There are several types: • Physical: climb the tree under threat, occupy the threatened land, dig tunnels under the threatened area like Swampy and his eco-warriors in the UK. • Demonstrate: Carry your protest to the street. Sit down outside the offices of the offender and hand out leaflets explaining your point of view to every one who enters or leaves their offices.

• Letter-writing: Amnesty has saved lives and won freedom for many by writing to governments. Global Alert does similar campains for the environment.

• Other: There are no limits to the types of protest and campaigns except your imagination. Backwards marches, slow cycle rides (critical mass), vigils, door-to-door signature collections, poster campaigns, leafletting, stunts! Anything!

BUTTERFLY WOMAN, USA Julia “Butterfly” Hill was 21 years old when she scrambled to the top of a threatened Redwood tree in December 1997. She was 23 when she finally came down, 738 days later.

The Pacific Lumber Company planned to cut down a whole area of Redwoods around her tree. As a result of Julia’s protest, the company agreed to save the area and give $50,000 to a university for research. Julia also persuaded them to sign a UNA deed and covenant to protect the tree.

Julia joins a long list of eco-warriers, from the Chipkos 400 years ago right up to the present, who are prepared to put their bodies and their lives on the line to save the environment.

Stephanie Wilks, 23, USA.

77 81

Go On... What’s Stopping You? Otpor! Resistance!: The clenched fist: Otpor helps young Yugoslavian people express their thoughts on the government, good or bad. We helped to mobilise young people across the country to change the Milosevic government. We believe that every person should be invested to bring about change.

Csilla varga, 18, Yugoslavia

Eden Project: A global garden for the 21st century. Built in an abandoned china clay quarry, these vast conservatories house lush rain forests and dry mediterranean landscapes. A successful visitor attraction (over a million visitors in two years!), it is also a key educational resource and a powerful glorification of our natural world. Eden takes a fresh look at our world and our place in it.

DAVID PEDRUEZA DIAZ, 24, SPAIN

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It is not just young people who are taking action. Since Rio, it seems to us that there has been a vast increase in the number of activities that draw our attention to the need for sustainable development. The momentum is building. Now you have no excuse...

The Duang Prateep Foundation: For many years the slums of Bangkok have been shacks, without clean water, play space for children or schools. At the age of 12, Prateep Ungsongtham decided she’d had enough of this life style. She worked 24 hours a day to get her education and earn money. Finally, she set up her school with the little money she had earned. Soon, through grants, it became a foundation and now has hundreds of students. The dream of one young girl has made a big change in a Bangkok slum.

Pauline Yeung, 19, Hong Kong

L’Escolinha: « The little school in a happy corner » is our school in the heart of a slum in Recife, Brazil. Created 10 years ago, it has never ceased to grow and improve. Local people built the school in partnership with the children who have now brought it to life. It is designed to take children off the street and give them a basic education. Some students have gone on to join mainstream public schools. The Escolinha project respects, and is respected by, the community who are so proud to have this wonderful school in the happy corner.

Marie Ballester and Lucie Chambezron, 16, France

Clean up the streets / clean up your mind: Lansana Koroma runs an unusual drug rehabilitation programme. He gets drug addicts who are determined to kick the habit to clean up the choked sewers, gutters and drains of his community in the slums of Freetown, Sierra Leone. People dismissed the idea when he proposed it, but it really works! The young people take pride in their cleaned-up community: it helps them find strength to keep off drugs in the future .

The Edhi Foundation: For 8 years, from the age of 11, Abdul Sattar Edhi had to care for his sick and dying mother. The experience inspired him to create clinics, free medical dispensaries, hospitals and ambulance services to give those in need access to medical care. His youth and vigour in partnership with visionary medical staff has made this Foundation the largest of its kind in Pakistan with over 543 health facilities throughout the country.

Global Youth Service Day: This is a global project, designed to highlight ways that young people can improve their communities 365 days a year and recruit the next generation of volunteers. It has been running for 3 years and happens each year in April. Started in the USA, it has grown each year and now operates in well over 100 countries.

Jenna Troup, 13, USA

Blooming Colibri: As a street child in Peru the thing that Karla Tello could never get used to was being dirty

Hand in Hand with Tanzania: This project was started in 1994 to enable students at the International School

the whole time. Escaping the streets through becoming a batik artist, she has now gone back to help her friends who remain on the streets by building a walk-in centre where they can find soap, showers and food. The artists cooperative to which she belongs also gives the children training in Batik making.

by Carolina Rengifo, Peru

of Geneva get involved in helping their peers in Northern Tanzania. Students who work on the project raise money and travel to Tanzania and work with the local Tanzanian group to build extra classrooms or libraries for the local school. Sometimes they build shops or workshops to provide jobs for the growing population of Tanzania. The project is entirely student-led with advice and guidance from teachers in Switzerland and Tanzania.

Philippe Polman, 17. Netherlands

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In Our Opinion 80 84

We asked young people worldwide why they felt sustainable development is important to their lives, to their future. Some sent statements, some sent poems, some sent things they had heard others say. Conclusion: Young people DO care!

“There are 10 Afghanistans waiting to happen in Africa. It is not a matter of compassion, its financial. It is cheaper by a factor of 100 to prevent the fires from happening than to put them out once they have started. 70% of the HIV/ AIDS problem is in Africa. We’re talking about a continent bursting into flames and we stand around with watering cans.”

Bono, U2

“My friends don’t care about nature. they only care about football. In school they don’t get enough information about sustainable development, and nobody sets them an example.”

Sola Folorunso, 19, Nigeria

Csilla Varga, 18, Yugoslavia

Katie Paroschy, 15, Canada Jukka Lehtovaara, 14, Finland

“Don’t blame other for the loss of the forests. Think instead what you can do yourself to help save them.”

Amadeo Dayto Jr., 16, Philippines

“Sustainable development can simply be said to mean securing our future. This can only be achieved when our leaders stand up to their responsibilities.”

“This book is just a very short summary of the mistakes we have made. With it we’re trying to show young people that change is needed to make the world a better place.”

Dear Mr. & Mrs. Adult You were once just like me, I do not wish to thank you Or even to be kind, Because you just won’t let me be You’re blinded by what you think Are your rights over me.

Why can’t you see?

I do not like you, but fear you Your words hold me like a cage, I will never be free.

Look into my eyes You were once just like me.

“This book is filled with the voices and spirit of young people from around the world. It has been designed not just to draw your attention to the problems we are facing, but to challenge you to find solutions, and inspire you to go out and implement them!”

Bushra Razack, 15, South Africa

“We are not anymore interested in being called the nation of tomorrow, we are the nation of TODAY! This book reflects young people’s creativity, courage and experience from around the world.”

“It took Britain half the resources of the planet to achieve its prosperity. How many planets will a country like India require...?”

Mahatma Gandhi

Bonus Caesar, 19, Tanzania

“The world is great and fantastic and we must look after it.”

Mary Hughes, 8, UK

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The Road Ahead Sustainability

MIGHT-IS-RIGHT FUTURE After September 11th and the wave of suicide bombings that we are seeing in the Middle East, another scenario occurs to us. Fictionalised in a BBC film called, “The March”, it tells of a future in which divisions between rich and poor become so great, in desperation, the poor of the world take over their countries battle tanks and fighter planes

SECURITY FIRST FUTURE This is described as the “Gated Community” approach. As environmental dangers and social inequalities increase the rich sectors of the global community shut themselves off, keeping out the poorer elements, by force if necesssary.

After a period of ‘muddling through’ interest in issues like sustainability give way to instincts of self preservation and comfort. Concerns for civil conflict and violence in distant regions of the world recede as do wars about water, oil and other resources. A supply of resources is guaranteed by large military installations.

Private sector interests become vastly more powerful and corruption increases.

and, using every means at their disposal, take revenge on the rich countries. They march on them, attack their cities, infect their water supplies, drench them in infectious diseases - eboli, smallpox etc. In this scenario, rich countries would be brought to their knees and forced to negotiate a sustainable future. It could come to that.

FREE MARKET FUTURE This scenario assumes that things stay just about the same, with everyone trusting the free market to lead the necessary reactions environmental problems. It allows more people to work from home so energy costs are reduced.

Eco-efficiency is profitable so factor four technologies flourish.

Innovations continue but these tend to favour the rich countries so poorer countries are left behind and economically colonised. Water shortages are seen as a market opportunity and tankers full of the stuff fill the oceans. Markets do stimulate efficient responses to new situations - but environmental concerns and thoughts of future generations come very low on the list of market priorities.

ANNA JUCHNOWICZ, 18, POLNAD

NATURE’S TAKE-OVER Another scenario is total ‘natural disaster’. If steps are not taken soon, global warming could melt the ice caps and the glaciers; 100-250 million people living in coastal regions could become environmental refugees; entire cities would be forced to relocate to higher ground placing tolerable strain on economies.

Another possibility is ocean flip-flop the reversal of major ocean currents.

If the Atlantic Gulf Stream changed direction, which is likely to occur if ice caps melt, this could bring an ice age to Northern Europe. Climates across the entire world would change causing food shortages, relocation of entire populations and stresses and strains on the social structure of the planet.

With luck, this would force a peaceful transition to a sustainable future.

DASHA STENKOVAIA, 15, RUSSIA

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we are now at a crossroads. It gives us a chance to choose our future, carry straight on as we are now, or do a sharp left turn and head for a more sustainable World.

Experts give us several alternative futures. Now is time to decide which way we are heading?

POLICY LED FUTURE This can be characterised as the top-down regulation, centrally planned approach. It includes strengthening treaty organisations for climate change, conservation, water etc., the growth of regional groupings the European Union, Mercosur, NAFTA and a newly formed African Union. The United Nations would become stronger and the World Bank would exert greater control on economies. In all this national governments would take a firmer grasp on policy and would co-operate with centralised business, labour organisations, and NGOs. The World Trade Organisation, so despised by anti-capitalist demonstrators, becomes more responsive to the needs of the South and many good things comefrom strong policy leadership being established at every level of government.

SUSTAINABILITY FUTURE So what is the sustainability future which we, and many other groups advocate? Its essence is inclusion, consensus-building and collaboration amongst all sectors of society. It assumes that all people have a heavy chunk of altruism hard-wired into their bodies at birth and that we all basically want the best for each other and future generations. So from families and grass roots communities, right on up to international level, the culture of sustainability becomes ingrained in our every action. Local groups become more active, businesses become more visionary in their pursuit of sustainability and all become much, much better informed about the state of our world. Changes in lifestyles take place slowly, often imperceptibly, as the values of simplicity,

cooperation and community displace those of competition, consumerism and individualism.

The emphasis on stewardship of natural resources is strengthened, of forests, fisheries and many other resources. New, eco-efficient technologies are welcomed and introduced as rapidly as they arrive on the drawing boards.

Their inventors become household names. Restrictions on technology transfer crumble as the rich world hurries to share its technology with poorer parts to give them equal access to global comforts.

The nature of leadership changes: it is driven by the power and the vision of grassroots individuals and organisations, supported strongly at the highest level. The journey to sustainability is a long one, but we shall be well on the way by 2032 if we start now.

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Section 5

ANDREA TUMBAS, 17, YUGOSLAVIA

Reference Section

F O R M O R E I N F O R M AT I O N . . .

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CONTRIBUTORS LIST

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AFTERWORD

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G L O S S A RY

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INDEX

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PEACE CHILD & BE THE CHANGE!

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www.populationconcern.org.uk ***** ‘Working for the Right to Reproductive Health Care Worldwide’ www.populationconnection.org/ **** Useful info on population + a pleasant and easily usable interface. www.unfpa.org/swp/swpmain.htm **** Official UN pop site www.youthcoalition.org ***** A youth perspective on pop.

For More Information ...

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You can find everything on the web! - and it’s true: all the issues we have written about have got websites that go deeper. Many of them are absolutely brilliant (4-5 stars!) making research fun and really interesting! We lay them out by chapter...

IF THE WORLD WERE A VILLAGE OF 100 PEOPLE 10 www.un.org/millennium/sg/report *** Read the full report by Kofi Annan, where the village of 100 people comes from.

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK 12 www.lead.org/leadnet/footprint/default.htm *****- a fun and scary site. The questionnaire asks how often you fly, eat meat, travel by car etc. Then it asks what % of earth’s resources should be go to non-humans. It deducts that from your total, then tells you how many planets we’d needed for everyone in the world to live your lifestyle.[We needed 11!] www.ciesin.org **** Columbia University Earth Science Site good for studies on the environment, and facts. www.greenpeace.org **** Good design; plenty of resources www.foei.org **** Loads of information on campaigns etc.

SO WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? 14 www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd.htm **** Essential information about sustainable development policies at the UN www.iisd.org/ ***** International Institute for Sustainable Development. Layout is great on this comprehensive site.

THE SUMMITS 16 www.unicef.org/wsc** The World Summit on Children(WSC) www.unicef.org/specialsession**** WSC + 10 www.crin.org/specialsdession **** General info on WSC www.un.org/esa/susdev*** The Rio Earth Summit www.un.org/esa/sustdev/agenda21 *** Rio Agenda 21 www.igc.org/habitat/undocs/vienna.html ***Vienna H. Rts. www.unhchr.ch/html/vdparev.htm ** Vienna + Five www.unfpa.org/icpd/background.htm** Cairo Pop. Conf. www.unfpa.org/icpd.htm*** Cairo + 5 www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssd.htm** Copenhagen www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssdy2k0.htm** Copenhagen + 5 www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/beijing/platform *** Beijing www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/news/review.htm*** Beij+ 5 www.unhabitat.org/nabitat2/index.htm*** Istanbul MILLENNIUM SUMMIT 18 www.un.org/millennium **** Main UN site on it; www.undp.org/mdg/ *** Site for progress on the MDGs ATMOSPHERE: TAKE A DEEP BREATH 22 www.unfccc.int **** UN Climate Change Convention site. www.doc.mmu.ac.uk/aric/arichome.html**** Best site on this solstice.crest.org/ ***** Renewable Energy Policy Info. www.greenpeace.org/~climate/ **** Greenpeace campaigns www.toowarm.org/ **** Accessible info on global warming.

FORESTS: ROOTS OF LIFE 24 www.fscoax.org *** Forestry Stewardship Council; V. Good; www.saveordelete.com **** Greenpeace forest campaign

www.foresttrust.org/ ** US site on sustainable forestry OCEANS: WAVES OF CHANGE 26 www.msc.org **** Marine Stewardship Council: excellent. www.panda.org/endangeredseas *** Info. on WWF’s work to ensure sustainable fishing and keep the oceans clean. www.whoi.edu **** Woods Hole oceanographic institute WATER: DRINK FOR YOUR HEALTH 28 www.iawq.org.uk *** Intl. Water Association site. www.wateraid.org.uk **** Beautiful design; great info! www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/noaatv/esdim/eis/noaatvstop25.html *** A useful source for statistics and graphs. www.drought.noaa.gov/ *** Complicated but informative; www.nsc.org/ehc/ew/disaster/floods.htm *** Basic -useful MOUNTAINS ARE FOREVER 30 www.alpaction.com **Information on Alp’s and campaigns; www.mountains2002.org **** UN Year of Mountains site DESERTS: SHIFTING SANDS 31 www.unccd.int * UN Convention to Combat Desertification http://www.wcmc.org.uk/dynamic/desert ** Deserts Info. www.fao.org/desertification **** Excellent comprehensive site on impact desertification will have on food production.

BIODIVERSITY: NATURE’S EXTENDED FAMILY 32 www.biodiv.org ***** Convention on biological diversity. www.unep-wcmc.org/ **** Site for endangered species LAND: CULTIVATING OUR FUTURE 34 www.fao.org **** UN Food & Agriculture Organization. OK. www.wri.org ***** World Resource Institute. GREAT site!! www.purefood.org/ *** the organic food promotion site CITY OF DREAMS 36 www.unchs.org ***UN’s excellent Habitat Website www.dismantle.org/curitiba.htm*** famous Curitiba story CONSUMPTION: IN ONE END... 38 www.neweconomics.org **** This site has a wonderful design and takes a different, practical view of consumption. www.ethicalconsumer.org **** how to consume ethically www.fairtrade.org.uk/*** consume with producers in mind http://www.uneptie.org/pc/sustain/youth/youthxchange.htm *** UNEP/UNESCO prog. on Youth Sustainable Consumption ... AND OUT THE OTHER: WASTE 40 www.wastedisposal.com/ - global waste disposal stories www.wastewatch.org.uk ** Good info on recycling & waste POPULATION: GETTING CROWDED!

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EXPELLING POVERTY! 46 www.un.org/esa/socdev/wssd.htm **** more on Copenhagen www.oxfam.org ***International website of OXFAM, full of information on the causes of poverty and possible solutions www.cpag.org.uk ****Looking at childhood poverty in UK www.worldbank.org/mp/ *** The site is an essential site when researching international aid and development.

HEALTH: DOCTOR, WHERE? 48 www.who.int **** The World Health Organisation. Good!

AIDS: NO LONGER THE SILENT KILLER 50 www.unaids.org _ The UN’s response to HIV/AIDS www.unicef.org/aids/intro.html AIDS impact on children. www.actionaid.org/ourpriorities/hiv/hiv.shtml **** An in-depth site campaigning for better HIV/AIDS strategies WOMEN ROCK 54 www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/ ***** Great UN site! www.undp.org/unifem/ *** UN site on rights for women. www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw **** Up to date information on women’s rights and a nice clean layout. www.whrnet.org/home.htm **** Womens Human Rights SCIENCE: VIRTUAL ADVANCE 56 www.unepie.org/ **** UNEP’s Technology site - great info! www.idn.org/ ** big susdev portal with science news items www.globalissues.org/EnvIssues/GEFood.asp *Info on GM food GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS 58 www.wbcsd.org *** World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The business approach to sus. dev. www.unglobalcompact.org *** UN’s compact with business www.benjerry.com/ - fun site of good-hearted company www.icftu.org ** International Trade Union org. website NGOs: NON-GOVERNMENTAL OVERDRIVE 60 www.stakeholderforum.org Information on Susdev NGOs FARMERS: ENDANGERED SPECIES? 61 www.ifap.org ** Website of farmers of the world INDIGENOUS PEOPLE: THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT 62 www.omphalos.net/files/rituals/NEWDAY.TXT * eco-Sabbath www.wcrp.org **World conference on religion and peace; www.nativeweb.org/ *** premier Indig. People’s site www.itpcentre.org/ *** excellent Indig. People’s portal SUSTAINABILITY BEGINS AT HOME 64 www.iclei.org *** site of group behind Local Agenda 21s www.iula.org/ **International Union of Local Authorities YOUTH: PARTICIPATE! 66 www.yesworld.org **** Youth for environmental Sanity. www.igc.apc.org/cgv **** Centre for Environmental Citizens www.caa.org.au/iyp **** Intl. Youth Parl. website. Great!

ESD: LEARNING TO SURVIVE 67 www.educationindex.com/ **** Info on eco-teaching. www.nc.uk.net/esd **** great UK site for ESD info. www.learn.co.uk/*** resources by teachers for teachers BLACK HOLES 68 www.digitaldividenetwork.org/ ** portal to info on IT divide www.adage.com/datacenter.cms**** intro to advertising! www.caddet-re.org **** great renewable energy portal www.transparency.org/** all you’d ever want on corruption multinationalmonitor.org/ *** info on multinationals www.vrg.org/nutshell/animalrights.htm*** pro-rights group www.animalrights.net/ ** interesting anti-animal rights stuff HUMAN RIGHTS 69 www.freethechildren.org**** Brilliant site for youth action www.hrw.org *** Excellent global Human Rights site; www.unicef.org/crc/crc ****An in depth look at UN CRC www.amnesty.org *** World’s most famous Human Rts org.

WAR & PEACE 70 www.caat.org **Campaign Against the Arms Trade www.hrw.org/wr2k1/special/landmines.html** good intro www.iacenter.org/iraqchallenge/*** iraq & sanctions SHOW ME THE MONEY 72 www.un.org/esa/ffd/ ***The Monterrey Conference website www.tobintax.org.uk **News on Tobin tax campaign TAKING CONTROL 74 http://www.earthsummit2002.org/es/issues/Governance/governance.htm *** Detailed info & links on gov. issues JOHANNESBURG YOUTH MANIFESTO 78 www.un.org/youth*** Link to the UN Youth Unit & Forum www.unep.org/children_youth** UNEP’s Youth Info. site TAKING ACTION 80 www.gysd.org **** global youth service day site www.earthaction.org ***great action site for concerned kids THE ROAD AHEAD 86 www.unep/GEO/index.htm*** detail on alternative futures PEACE CHILD & BE THE CHANGE! 96 www.peacechild.org*** all the info. about PCI stuff www.bethechange.info **** 100s of youth-led dev. projects GENERAL & REGIONAL SITES www.africanews.org **** Up-to-date Africa issues. www.arab.net **** Arab perspectives on major issues europa.eu.int/index_en.htm ** European Union online. www.oneworld.net **** excellent social NGO entry portal www.envirolink.org***great youth entry site for eco-action! www.takingitglobal**** an IT leader for youth action www.iearn.org **** briliant teacher support site www.undp.org *** UN’s Development Site; Capacity 2015; www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/index.html*** intro to UN www.edenproject.com/**intro to UK’s big indoor eco-jungle www.pluggingintothesun.org.uk/plugsun/link.htm ****

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Contributors Lists 92

Argentina: • Maria Florencia Becerra, La Plata • Jovenes Sin Fronteras, Lujan • Peace Child Argentina, Buenos Aires • Peace Child Jujuy, Jujuy • Vanesa Pressel, Paraná

Egypt: • LCHR, Cairo

Australia: • Neeola School, New South Wales

Finland: • Puolalanmäki Secondary School, Turku

Belarus: • YESDC, Minsk • International Friendship Club, School 10, Gomel

FYR Macedonia: • Children’s Embassy, Skopje • Kozuli, DSEMU Gorgi Naumov, Bitola

Benin: • Etincelle, Cellule Universitaire de la Jeune Chambre du Bénin, Cotonou • Vision for the Future, Cotonou Botswana: • Westwood International School, Gaborone Cameroon: • Girls and Their Environment, Batouri • Habitat Group, Limbe • Lycee Technique de Dschang, Dschang • Nouvelle Afrique, Douala Canada: • Full Circle Cooperative School, Prince Edward Island • Huntsville High School, Ontario • Rescue Mission Canada, Ontario Chad: • Jeunesse Sans Frontiére, N’djamena Cuba: • Environmental King, Universidad de Matanzas, Matanzas Czech Republic: • Club of Ecological Education, Olomouc • University Palacky (faculties of Law and Pedagogy), Olomouc • Gymnasium Cesky tesin, Olomouc • Primary School Halkova, Olomouc • Primary School, Litovel, Olomouc • Primary School Sromotova Hranice, Olomouc • Primary School Sv. Kopecek, Olomouc • Primary School Zeyerova, Olomouc • Slovanske Gymnasium, Olomouc • UNESCO Club Olomouc, Olomouc Democratic Republic of Congo: • ADDE, Kinshasa

Ethiopia: • Fiche Secondary School UNESCO Club, North Shewa

Ghana: • Ashanti Goldfields School, Obuasi • Ash Town Youth Club, Accra • George Barimah, Kumasi • Church of the Pentecost Youth Ministry, Kumasi • Friends of Tree Plantations, Offinso-Ash • International Youth Ghana, Offinso-Ash • Presbytarian Boys Secondary School, Legon • Rescue Mission Ghana, Accra • Societal Youth Builders, Accra • St Andrews School, Legon • Youth Club for Nature Conservation, Cape Coast Hong Kong, China: • Pauline Yeung, Kowloon India: • Anupama Sekhar, Chennai • Mihir Chatterjee, Jaipur • MUSKAAN, Jaipur • Peace Child India, Bangalore Iran: • Green Front of Iran, Tehran Italy: • Artemisia Gentileschi, Milan Kenya: • DEEBS, Nairobi • John Onyango, Nairobi, • Youth in Focus Foundation, Nairobi Lebanon: • Youth Green Project, Ballouneh Liberia: • Children’s Welfare Foundation, Monrovia Lithuania: • Kalnieciai Secondary Friends Group, Kaunas

Madagascar: • Club UNESCO du College d’AntanetibeAntehiroka Malawi: • BTC – YEC, Lilongwe Morocco: • Association CHOÄLA, Bouznika • Moroccan Youth Forum for the 3rd Millennium, Bouznika Nepal: • Budhanikantha School, Kathmandu • ECO-Nepal, Kathmandu • World United Nations Student and Youth Organisation, Kathmandu Nicaragua: • Club de Jovenes Ambientalistas, Managua Niger: • Association des Jeunes Pour un Environnement Durable, Keita Nigeria: • Association of Nigerian Tourist Youth, Kogi State • Ebonite Foundation, Enugu • Green Nation Monitoring Group, Rivers State • International Centre for Environment Child Education Network, Enugu • Peace Child Nigeria, Port Harcourt • YIELD, Imo StateYouth Action Project, Ijebu-Ode • Youth Emancipation and Support, Lagos Norway: • International School of Stavanger, Stavanger Paraguay: • Casa de la Juventud, Asuncion Peru: • Mision Rescate Planeta Tierra Peru, Lima • United Games Peru, Cajamarca • VIDA, Ica, Lima & Ucayali Philippines: • Young Peace Society, Sorsogon Poland: • CK Norwid School, Czestockowa EKOLA, Wroclaw Russia: • Peace Child Krasnoyarsk, Zheleznogrsk

Senegal: • Banlieusard, Pikine • Book Diom, Dakar • Convention des Jeunes pour l’Afrique, Thiaroye • Cosapere, Dakar • Internationale Culturelle de la Jeunesse, Dakar

Spain: • American School of Barcelona, Barcelona

Sierra Leone: • Peace Child Sierra Leone, Freetown • SERUP, Freetown

Switzerland: • Ecole Moser, Chêne-Bougeries • International School of Geneva

Slovak Republic: • Primary School Bosaca • Primary School Nova Bosaca • Primary School Sv. Michala Nemsova • Primary School Trencianske Bohuslavice

Tanzania: • Aang Serian, Arusha • Amani UNESCO Club, Mtwara • Fadhlun Mahmood, Dar-Es-Salaam • Global Brotherhood of Light, Dar-EsSalaam • PCI Azania High School, Dar-Es-Salaam

Slovenia: • Gimnazija Koper, Koper

Sri Lanka: • Sri Lanka Interactive Media Group, • Colombo • Intereractive Children’s Movement, Kelaniya

The Union of Serbia and Montenegro: • United Games Serbia and Montenegro, Subotica

South Africa: • Diversity, Ladysmith • Wilger Veld and Youth Conservation Group, Gauteng

Togo: • Partnerships and Exchange Program for Development, Lomé

Afterword DEDICATED

TO

MIA

AND

PORTIA

It is hard to believe that ten years have passed since Rio Earth Summit, and even harder to believe that nine summers have faded out since August of 1993 - the best summer of all for the 21 young editors of Children’s Edition of Agenda 21 entitled “Rescue Mission : Planet Earth”, predecessor to this book.

• Programme de Soutien Jeune, Lomé Uganda: • National Association of Professional Environmentalists, Kampala • Rescue Mission Uganda, Kampala • SPW Uganda, Tororo Ukraine: • All Together, Odessa United Kingdom: • Hertfordshire County Council Environment Department, Hertford • Farnborough Grange School, Farnborough • Hitchin Boys’ School, Hitchin • John Warner School, Hoddesdon • The Knights Templar School, Baldock • Raglan Primary school, Bromley • Roundwood Park School, Harpenden • Shephall Green Infant School, Stevenage • Stevenage Music and Arts Centre, Stevenage • WWF-UK, Godalming • Ysgol Gyfan Llanhari, Llantrisant

and photos to 28 of us selected for the editorial team, all our kind advisers from UN agencies, experts in the field, politicians, artists, including rock stars like U2 who invited us all to the concert “Zooropa” in Wembley, London. Imagine that!

As one of the many who put that special book together, I am very happy to see its life continue in as meaningful and powerful a way as the process of making it was. “Rescue Mission 2002” is written and designed by new unique young individuals who again come from all different sides of this planet, who all share the same invincible Life Energy that motivates and connects us all.

We all came from very different places, but still from the same planet, and we all shared the same invincible Life Energy In the effort to make our world a the one that makes tree roots grow over much better place that it is, many concrete, the one that makes violin problems still seem hard to underconcerts happen in wartorn cities, the one stand, even impossible to solve. Keep that puts a smile on a sad child’s face in a this book beside you to guide you refugee camp We all came with big ideas, through the current challenges of great concerns and some knowledge and sustainable development and inform experience from our different you about fantastic efforts already e n v i r o n m e n t s . Put together with such done and being done. We all know an important task as to create a book on that there is still A LOT to do! So, stop sustainable development by and for young reading now, feel the Energy seep people, we felt like a team with no limits through your veins and get active!! but our imagination. We had access to the latYou will see, change is possible if we est information and analysis, adult Original Rescue Mission Editors all get involved. expertise and the whole Peace Child logistics to back us up. So “Rescue Mission : Planet Earth” Welcome my friend, to the great adventure of saving came to life. Its success with 320,000 copies sold and our beautiful world! translated into 20 languages, is a reflection of love, trust and sincerity put into it by everyone who Danijela Zunec Brandt, editor of contributed to its creation - the thousands of young the original “Rescue Mission : Planet Earth” people who sent in their thoughts, poems, paintings

89 93

S Sanctions – trade penalties and prohibitions

Glossary 94

A Advocacy – Speaking out in support of an argument or a cause Alleviation – lessening; making something better Apocalyptic – resembling the Apocalypse – the end of the world!

Arbitrary – A random decision or one based on an uninformed opinion B Batik – The art of making coloured designs on textiles using wax Bio-mass – The volume of living things in a certain area Biotech – The exploitation of living cells for commercial and industrial uses BSE – Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis: Mad cow disease - fatal to cows Bureaucracies – often critical word describing central government offices or administrations C Child trafficking – illegally buying and selling of children Consensus – when all agree, more or less Contaminated – dirtied, polluted, poisoned Corporation – registered company, businesses Corruption – use of bribery and fraud, especially in government or business Cyanide – deadly poison; causes instant death if consumed by humans D Desertification – the process by which land becomes a desert Declaration – Statemen; formal announcement Deforestation – the clearance of forests or trees Dictator – an individual who rules a country with absolute authority; the opposite of democracy Disenfranchised – people who are not allowed to vote in elections Donor government – a government that gives money or resources E Economic progress – financial improvement of a country or business Eco-policies – environmental strategies implemented by governments Ecosystems – the chain of life that links plants, animals, insects and physical surroundings Eco-tourism – tourism that tries to conserve the environment Effluent - sewage or industrial waste coming out of a factory or a town

Empowerment – giving power (and trust and confidence) to some one Environmentalism – the study and care for, the environment, the natural world Equilibrium – balance, calm – either physical or emotional Erosion – the wearing away of rock or soil by the action of rain, air, sea or rivers Ethical – corresponding with ethics; moral, upright, honorable, correct Explicit – up-front, leaving nothing unsaid or implied; clearly stated Exploitation – make use of, derive financial benefit from using a person or a resource F Family planning – use of birth control to prevent pregnancies and limit the size of your family Fertile soil – earth or farms that support good crops and harvests Fertiliser – chemical or natural resource that can enrich soils and give better harvests Foot and Mouth – highly infectious disease that affects livestock; controlled by slaughtering whole herds of animals G Global warming – the bio-chemical process by which our atmosphere is enriched with carbon produced by burning fossil fuels – coal, oil, gas – warming up the surface of our planet Grass roots – local level; people working at community level rather than at the level of national governments or international institutions Greenhouse gases – Carbon Dioxide and other gases that drive global warming, which heats the planet up in the same way as a greenhouse does H Herbicide – poisonous weed-killer that kills grasses and other plant life I Immunised – person who has had an injection to prevent them getting a certain disease Implementation – putting into action Indigenous – native; original people of a country or a region Incentive – a payment or gift to motivate people to work harder Initiative – the start, the origination of an idea or a project Integration – the process by which things are drawn together into a whole

Interdependent - things that depend on each other; eg countries or people who trade, depending on the work of others Irrigation – the process by which fields and farmland is watered L Land degradation – the erosion and gradual wasting of soil to the point where things cannot grow any more Landmine – bomb buried in the ground that are designed to explode when you stand on them Literate – able to read; opposite of illiterate Livelihood – means of living; how you earn the means to live Lobby – seek support; used especially to gain political support for a cause M Malaria – a fever spread by mosquitoes, it often causes death when untreated. Large numbers of developing countries still suffer from it Malnutrition – the state of being under-nourished; not having enough food Materialism – a philosophy that values material things over spiritual values or feelings Migration – moving from one place/country to another Mobilise – organise people for action!

O Over-exploited – over-used; used too much!

P Pesticides – substances that you can spread or spray on fields or plants that kill insects Pharmaceutical – to do with drugs or medicines Phenomenon – an occurrence usually an unusual occurrence or happening Pre-natal – before the birth of a baby Prejudice – feelings arrived at without the benefit of rational study or research R Referendum – happens when the government allows the whole electorate to vote on a particular issue Re-orient – re-direct something or somebody to a new direction Reproductive Health – health care for pregnant mothers River blindness – a tropical skin disease caused by thread worms, the eggs of which can cause blindness

taken against countries that disobey international rules of behaviour Sanitation – drains and process of disposing of human sewage Salinisation – the making of ground, water or other material salty Shanty town – also called a slum; a neighbourhood of crudely built houses Smallpox – formerly one of the world’s most virulent killer diseases; now eradicated through vaccination since 1979 Sustainability – the ability to continue indefinitely; resources which are replenished as quickly as humans consume them

Index A Aang Serian Animal Rights

64 64

B Be the Change!

16, 66 Bellerive Foundation 30 Beijing Women’s Conference 55 Bit-tax 69 C Child slavery Child soldiers Chipkos CITES Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Convention to Combat Desertification D Drug Rehabilitation 81 Durban Aids Conference E Earth Summit Eco-governance Eco-warriors Eden Project Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Environmental Sabbath F Fair Trade products 39 Indigenous Knowledge Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) 34 Free the Children

78 72 79 76 35 31

51

6, 7, 64 76 79 80 67 65

64

78

Sustainable development – development that meets the needs of today’s generation without affecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Defintion given in Bruntland Report Sweat shop – factory or workshop where people work long hours, for little pay

rural area becomes a town Ultraviolet radiation – Radiation that comes from the sun and causes damage to your skin Uranium – element that occurs naturally from which the raw material for nuclear energy are drawn

T Tariff – a tax or customs duty Toxic gases – poisonous fumes Trans-national – across borders and between countries

V Vigil - a peaceful demonstration in support of a cause or a person Vivisection – the cutting up and examination of live animals for scientific research

U Urbanisation – the process by which a

X Xenophobia – dislike or fear of foreigners

G Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) Genetic Engineering Genoa Global Alert Globalisation Global Youth Participation Global Youth Service Day Green Keita

6, 35 56 62 79 6 66 81 31

H Hand in Hand with Tanzania 81

Mark Malloch Brown 18 Mobius Loop 40 Millennium Young People’s Congress 66 Millennium Young People’s Project 16 Multi-Stakeholder Dialogues 62 N Nkosi Johnson

51

O Ottawa Treaty 67 Overseas Deveopmnt Aid (ODA) 68, 77

HIV/AIDS 6,19,42,44, 47, 50, 73, 82 Herbert Peterson 43 High Commission for Human Rights 17 I International Council for Local Environment Initiatives (ICLEI) 60 International Youth Parliament 17, 66 International Conference on Population and Development 43 J Jomtien Jeffrey Sachs Johannesburg Jubilee 2000 K Kofi Annan Kyoto Summit

16, 17 18 7 69

7, 19 22

L Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) 36 Lord’s Resistance Army 72 M Millennium Development Goals 6, 18, 19, 36, 68

R Rescue Mission Planet Earth 6, 7 Renewable Energy 64 Rome Food Summit 34 S Seattle 62 Sustainable development 6 Small island developing states 16, 19 Social Summit 47 Special Session on Children 66 T Third World Debt Tobin Tax Trade Unions

69, 73, 77 69, 77 59

U UN police force

73

W World Business Council 58 World Summit for Sustainable Development 7, 17 World Summit for Children 16 World Conference on Human Rights 17 World Youth Forum 16, 76 Y Youth Councils

66

95 91

Peace Child International ACTION

AWARENESS Peace Child International was founded in 1981 to encourage young people to become more aware of the global issues that will shape their future and to give them a platform from which to express their opinions about those issues. For the first ten years, they did this through the musical, Peace Child. Like the Papua New Guinea story, the musical was about young people from cultures in conflict working together to build peace through youth exchange. In the mid-80s, Peace Child successfully braught some the first Russian young people to the USA on a youth exchange - an event that helped hasten the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

Peace Child’s mission is “Empowering young people” - putting youth in control! None of the 5,000 Peace Child performances were the same as each cast was encouraged to re-write it to create their own characters and include their own ideas.

Since 1991, Peace Child has enabled young people to create a series of highly successful books on global issues - like human rights and sustainable development. Working closely with the United Nations, with which it has consultative status, Peace Child books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and been translated into over 20 languages.

The Peace Child musical

The Peace Child books

96

In Papua New Guinea; when warring tribes of head-hunters made peace, they each exchanged a child. The two children would grow up with the others' tribe and if in the future, conflict threatened between the tribes, those children would be sent to negotiate the peace. Such a child was called a "Peace Child."

Out of the books and conferences that Peace Child has organised came the clear demand from young people to go beyond talking and take action. ‘Be The Change’ is the programme that came out of the Millennium Young People’s Congress in Hawaii in October 1999.

It encourages young people to identify the most urgent needs in their communities and devise projects to address them. Several hundred projects have been processed and nearly fifty are now underway or completed.

Projects include touring plays to promote AIDS awareness, vaccinating slum children, building solar cookers, hosting workshops for rival gangs. Peace Child now sees its core business as promoting youth-led sustainable development as a key contribution to the United Nations effort to achieve the Millennium Development goals by 2015. With the government of the Kingdom of Morocco, it is organising a follow-up to the Hawaii Congress to explore the role of young people in development and, it is hoped, mobilise more funding to support their efforts.

The White House

JOIN US!! You can get involved in Peace Child by: adopting a Be the Change! project; becoming a Be the Change! ambassador (doing presentations about sustainable development to schools & youth groups); taking part in one of our congresses; contributing to one of our books or magazine; or working as a volunteer in our office.

Contact: PEACE CHILD INTERNATIONAL, The White House, BUNTINGFORD, Herts, UK SG9 9AH Phone: (+44) 1763 274 459; Fax: (+44) 1763 274 460; e-mail: contact@peacechild.org www.peacechild.org