UNDP: Durban - What is at stake for Africa?

• Date:29 Nov 2011
• Source(s):United Nations Development Programme - South Africa (UNDP South Africa)

At its most fundamental, climate threatens to negate the achievements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and hinder positive movement in the areas directly related to UNDP’s mandate. Ensuring that developing countries are best able to tackle the many dimensions of climate change is therefore core business for our organization. The mechanisms established by the Cancun Agreements provide new opportunities for countries to develop, finance and deliver climate change programming. UNDP's role will be to help them to make the most of the emerging mechanisms.

Why is the current round of climate negotiations important for Africa?

The current round of climate negotiations, known as 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will take place in Durban. It is hoped that Africa will be better represented than in the past. As a region, Africa is the least responsible for climate change but it will be most affected. The region has been speaking with one voice but is struggling to be heard. For Africa, the requirements are the same as in previous years. First, countries from the region are asking that global warming be kept below a 1.5 degrees temperature increase by the end of the century – which is almost impossible now given the current trends in emissions. Secondly, African countries are asking that developed and emerging countries (China, India, Brazil, etc.) agree to massively reduce their emissions. The third requirement is for the international community to help Africa adapt to the impact of climate change because its economies are fragile, like their agriculture which is often rain-fed.

What should be the most important message for developed countries?

Developed countries must fulfill their previous commitments. The Bali Roadmap had created opportunities in the area of technology transfers, adaptation, mitigation and financing. On financing, developed countries had estimated the needs at USD 30 billion by 2012 and 100 billion annually by 2020. But the current economic downturn has made it much more difficult to confirm these commitments. Today, some Northern countries are proposing that we should include private sector investments in these global commitments. Africa is calling for new and additional financial commitments.

What are the most important mechanisms which will be discussed in Durban?

In Cancún, one of the agreements was to establish a Green Climate Fund. Since then, a few great ideas have emerged, such as the adoption of an international currency tax to feed that fund. The Adaptation Fund will also be on the agenda, currently financed by a 2 percent levy on all carbon credits, which allow Northern countries to reduce emissions in Southern countries by purchasing emissions permits. The future of the fund will obviously be uncertain if the Kyoto Protocol is not extended. Another issue in Durban will be technology transfers, including the creation of a center and a network devoted to the issue. There is already a consensus and this point will probably constitute a real step forward in the negotiations. Durban will also see further progress on REDD, which allows developing countries to finance their reductions in carbon emissions by protecting their forests.

What is the role of UNDP and can you provide some examples of our work on the ground?

In general terms, UNDP aims to build the capacities of developing countries, particularly in the climate change negotiations. In addition, UNDP assists them in accessing the funds that are being gradually established, helping them to define strategies for developing low- carbon and climate resilient economies.

Another example is our “Boots on the Ground” programme, through which we mobilized 26 climate change focal points from UNDP in the Least Developed Countries, including 14 African countries. This initiative aims to support African decision-makers in their approach and understanding of the problem. Climate change cannot be the sole jurisdiction of Environment Ministries – all government departments must be involved. Tackling climate change involves designing policies on land use, agriculture, the economy, energy, etc. UNDP is also following countries in their application for direct access to international funds, which will allow for more flexibility and better responses to their requests. So far, international funds were available through implementing agencies. Now, we are helping them to meet the fiduciary requirements for direct access. Thus, Senegal became the first African country to identify a national agency that will have direct access to financing from the Adaptation Fund.

Additional information

http://www.undp.org.za/cop17-information/416

EXCLUSIVE: As Security Council Demands End to Syria Violence, U.N. Positions Itself for Assad 'Reforms'

By George Russell

Published August 04, 2011 | FoxNews.com (Click here for story on FoxNews)

Even as the United Nations Security Councildemands that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad cease its campaign of killing civilian protesters, the U.N. bureaucracy is extending its assistance to Syria through 2012 in the hope Assad’s vague promises of political reform and “national dialogue” will eventually prove to be real.

According to a document obtained by Fox News, the full spectrum of United Nations assistance programs in Syria have been extended through next year, “in order to ensure that reforms initiated by the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in 2011 are reflected in the new programs of cooperation of the United Nations agencies” that are slated to succeed them.

The revelation is contained in a UNICEF document dated July 22, 2011 -- in the midst of the latest wave of harsh Syrian repression -- and intended for the next meeting of UNICEF’s 36-nation executive board, in mid-September.

The document notifies the board of the extension, not only of UNICEF’s programs in Syria, but of a wide variety of other U.N. programs. It also informs the board that approval of UNICEF’s portion of the extension has already been granted by the agency’s executive director, Anthony Lake.

A copy of the document appeared on the executive board’s public website shortly after Fox News began asking questions about it.

The existence of the document underlines the dual-track tightrope the U.N. continues to walk in Syria, where it continues to engage the Assad regime with the carrots of humanitarian aid and assistance in modernizing its creaking and corrupt social welfare structure, while relying on international condemnation and targeted economic sanctions to restrain Assad’s brutal crackdown against demonstrators who want more fundamental change.

So far, an estimated 1,750 people have been killed by the regime as it tries to quell political protests, and scores more may be dead in an ongoing Syrian tank assault on the center of the insurgent city of Hamas.

A spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told Fox News that he “was not involved” in the deliberations that led to the U.N. program renewals, though he has been deeply embroiled in efforts to make the Syrian regime end the repression and embark on a reform agenda. The spokesman referred other questions about the U.N.’s Syria programs to the agencies involved.

“The Secretary General has repeated called for reforms in Syria,” the spokesman declared. Ban did so again yesterday, following a Security Council statement -- less forceful than a full-scale resolution -- condemning a new wave of regime violence that began to crest last weekend.

He condemned the “brutally shocking” events in Syria and declared that “the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people must be addressed through an inclusive Syrian-led political process that guarantees fundamental freedoms and rights for all.”

Most U.N. programs in Syria are slated to expire at the end of 2011, in line with a government five-year planning cycle, and replaced with a new series of development and humanitarian efforts. As the Assad crackdown has expanded, the U.S. and other Western governments have imposed selective economic sanctions to make the regime end its repressive tactics.

The new document obtained by Fox News specifically mentions the programs of UNICEF, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and a mixed bag of development assistance programs known as the U.N. Development Assistance Framework, or UNDAF, as continuing on an interim basis.

Click here to read the document.

The quiet renewal of the UNDAF programs, at a time when Western nations were tightening economic sanctions on the Assad regime in protest over the repression, was first reported by Fox News last month.

UNFPA’s extension of its Syria program was contained in documents Fox News obtained at that time. UNICEF declined to respond to questions from Fox News about its executive board document.

A UNDP spokesman confirmed the program renewal “to avoid operational vacuum,” while future programming was deferred to ensure that it “best meet the evolving needs of the Syrian people.”

The spokesman took issue with the “presumption” that UNDP’s future programming “was deferred to reflect reforms initiated by the Syrian government,” which he termed “incorrect.”

“UNDP is not examining current reforms with a view to incorporate them in any program,” he said. “Nor are we working with the government on their reform plans.”

Reform in Syria has mainly consisted of little more than vague speech-making by Assad and his top officials, coupled with attacks by security forces that are ongoing. And in the wake of yesterday’s Security Council statement, Assad showed that the game of promised reform and actual repression was still on.

The regime today issued a presidential decree authorizing a multi-party system in the one-party Ba’athist state, and a new elections law ostensibly giving candidates the right to oversee balloting. Both were dismissed as meaningless while the repression continued.

"It is incredible to see UN agencies referring to 'reforms initiated' by the Syrian government in 2011,” commented Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a deputy national security adviser for the region during the Bush administration. “The only actions the Assad regime has actually initiated this year have been aimed at killing unarmed civilians and crushing demands for freedom.”

Abrams has publicly advocated greater U.S. pressure to oust Assad entirely.

“U.S. policy should be that all U.N. activity in Syria cease, except for purely humanitarian programs carried out in entirely non-political terms,” added former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, who is a Fox News contributor. “Continued, visible U.N. cooperation with the Assad regime strengthens Assad and delegitimizes the U.N.”

But waving the reform flag while crushing his opposition has proved effective for Assad. In May, President Obama declared that Assad “has a choice.” He could lead a transition to greater democracy “or get out of the way.”

Yesterday, the Security Council took note of “the announced commitments by the Syrian authorities to reform,” regretted “the lack of progress in implementation,” and called upon the regime to "implement its commitments.”

So far, Assad appears to be doing nothing to make that happen.

George Russell is executive editor of Fox News and can be found on Twitter @GeorgeRussell.