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THIRD WORLD RESURGENCE #180/181 (August/September 2005) This issue’s contents:
By Saradha Iyer The 2005 World Summit in New York, the largest ever UN gathering of heads of state and government, had set itself an ambitious agenda of reform to mark the 60th anniversary of the world body. However, as Saradha Iyer points out in this report, the occasion turned out to be an anti-climax lacking in real substance.
By Saradha Iyer Just what did the World Summit 2005 achieve? Saradha Iyer outlines the main issues which were deliberated and the commitments undertaken by member states under the final Summit declaration.
By Martin Khor When the 2005 World Summit declaration came up for adoption, representatives of several developing countries criticised the undemocratic process by which it had been finalised and voiced strong dissatisfaction at the Summit's outcome.
By Phyllis Bennis The Bush administration's pathological hostility to the UN was clearly manifested by the savage response of its UN ambassador John Bolton to the Summit declaration when it was being finalised. In this report, written before the Summit, Phyllis Bennis characterises the 450 amendments he proposed as a clear onslaught against any move that could strengthen the UN or international law.
By Wim De Ceukelaire While the promises of the Millennium Development Goals are welcome, the Goals' inadequacies, shortcomings and limitations are only too evident when comparison is made with the 1978 Alma Ata Declaration.
By Christine Auclair Although it is now some 35 years after rich nations committed themselves to increase their official development assistance to 0.7% of their national income, five years after the launch of the Millennium Development Goals, only five of the 22 major donor countries have met this target.
By Kanaga Raja While trade has the potential to act as a catalyst for human development and accelerated progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, that potential is being undermined by current trade policies, a failure to tackle national inequalities and structural forces that exclude poor people from market opportunities, says the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Indigenous strength grows in Peruvian Amazon By Clare James The Amazon is still being carved up for consumption by the United States, but now it is doing it 'legally' under the pretence of sustainable extraction. While Peruvian authorities are trampling over the international laws that protect indigenous peoples' rights, Clare James reports on a meeting that may be able to stop the rot.
Rice set to be in the grip of Swiss company's global patents By Devinder Sharma Swiss biotech giant Syngenta is seeking to tighten its monopoly control over rice by securing global patents over the genes in the rice seed. ECONOMICS
Little progress on development in WTO talks, says UN S-G By Martin Khor In a new report to the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stressed the urgency to re-energise the now stalled World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations in Geneva to deliver on the development objectives envisioned in the negotiating mandate. Multilateral trade negotiations and the origins of the Andean-US free trade talks By Humberto Campodonico The US has recently begun pushing for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Andean countries of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Examining US motives behind this move, Humberto Campodonico concludes that the proposed Andean FTA will only serve to entrench an economic model that consecrates liberalisation and deregulation of the economy whilst reducing the scope for independent policymaking.
WORLD AFFAIRS India embraces the US, abandons non-alignment By Praful Bidwai India's recent vote against Iran at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors in Vienna in September constitutes an abject and unprecedented capitulation on New Delhi's part to US pressure and represents a clear break with India's half-century-long foreign policy orientation, says Praful Bidwai. The poverty of America By Jeremy Seabrook Hurricane Katrina tore down the screens which concealed the hopelessness, poverty and want which are the daily experience of millions of Americans. And, says Jeremy Seabrook, when President Bush referred to Katrina as 'a cruel and wasteful storm', observers could be forgiven for thinking that 'this sounds like a definition of America itself under the present administration, in the tempestuous bluster of its self-righteous rage in the world.' Hypocrites and liars By Cindy Sheehan Cindy Sheehan, who is leading the anti-war campaign in the US, set up Camp Casey - named after her soldier son who was killed in Iraq - outside President George W Bush's Texas ranch in August, when he was vacationing there. In this article, she takes on critics who have been vilifying her and seeking to discredit her campaign.
HUMAN RIGHTS Indonesia: Former political prisoners demand justice There are today in Indonesia literally hundreds of thousands of people who, with their relatives and offspring, continue to be stigmatised because they were detained and held in prison for 10 or more years without charge or trial, following the events of October 1965 which brought former President Suharto to power. Although charges were never brought, they are subject to a range of discriminatory practices, affecting their lives and the lives of their families. Since 2003, these victims have been waging a struggle for justice and this article recounts their painful efforts.
WOMEN Will world leaders face the 'pink collar' underclass? By Anja Tranovich A report by the UN Development Fund for Women which links poverty with gender inequality says that women not only are more likely to work in the informal sector but also tend to work in the most precarious jobs and earn the lowest wages. MEDIA Chavez's media initiative for Latin America ruffles feathers in Washington By Kalinga Seneviratne The launching in Caracas in July of Telesur, a Latin America-wide television channel aimed at competing with American and European channels beamed into the region, has added to US neo-conservatives' paranoia about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's increasing influence in the region. Kalinga Seneviratne contends that there is actually need for more such regional alternatives, particularly in the Asian region.
VIEWPOINT Chronicle of chronic adventures By Renato Redentor Constantino Renato Redentor Constantino sifts through the verbiage of half-truths, untruths and doublespeak issuing from the mouths of American 'freedom fighters' past and present, and turns up some priceless nuggets of wisdom.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Second People's Health Assembly
Health for All Now: From bottom up By Santuah Niagia The Second People's Health Assembly convened in Cuenca, Ecuador from 17-22 July with some 1,500 participants from 80 countries attending. The main aim of the Assembly has been to reinstate and realise the vision of 'Health for All' set out in 1978 by the international community in the landmark Alma Alta Declaration (with the target date of 2000), now sadly abandoned by most governments. In this piece, Santuah Niagia explains the approach taken by the Assembly to realise this goal. War, occupation and the people's resistance: a challenge for health activists By Bert De Belder In this account of his organisation's activities against the war in Iraq, Dr Bert De Belder highlights the horrendous health effects of the US war and occupation on the people of that hapless land and underscores the duty of health activists to prevent the massive ill health that would be caused by future wars of aggression. Breaches of medical neutrality in Iraq under the US occupation By Rebecca Khor At the Assembly at Cuenca, an Iraqi doctor gave a harrowing account of the destruction and deterioration of his country's health system and the total absence of security for health personnel, patients and people under the US occupation. The US was particularly guilty of breaches of medical neutrality as enjoined by the Geneva Convention. Rebecca Khor interviews Dr Salaam Ismael, whose testimony at the Assembly gave a glimpse of the horror of life in Iraq today.
GMOs and human health By Mae-Wan Ho In her speech to the Second People's Health Assembly, Dr Mae-Wan Ho asserted that genetic engineering is proving bad for health because it goes against the grain of the new genetics science. 'I will become impoverished ... then I will die' A patient speaks out on health care reform in the US By Lori Smith In a speech to the Second People's Health Assembly, Lori Smith, a US citizen and a medical patient herself, gave a graphic, moving account of her plight as a result of the 'aggressive and harmful health care reform in the United States'. Her chronicle of suffering had more than a personal significance, because, as she put it, 'what they are doing... is the model for a broad global agenda'. For subscription and enquiries: THIRD WORLD NETWORK Tel: 60-4-2266728/2266159; Fax: 60-4-2264505; Email: twnet@po.jaring.my
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