NGO Representive in Advisory Committee for Marrakech and CSD

Marrakech Process

NGO Representive in Advisory Committee for Marrakech and CSD

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Sylvia 10-01-2007, 3:02 PM
Dear Friends,

most of you have heard I suppose that the Marrakech Process shall be equiped with an Advisory Committee including one seat for a NGO representive. Due to several discussions that were helt at the meeting in Ljubljana last week it seems to be time to organise a process identifying such a person. Decision has to be made within this year for sure, I dont know if a specific day was set.

I see two main criteria here.

The person should be selected in a democratic process open for every NGO interested in the Marrakech/CSD work.

It should be one with good comunication skills to organise a common input and deliver information as soon as the committee starts its work.

A sub aspect maybe kept in mind is that Mohan stronly recommend not to take a Western (even more not an European) as the process is dominated by them already. I dont know if we have to follow this rule but for me it sounds reasonable.

What is needed now is to open up the selection with suggesting people, open the discussion list to a broader group of potential interested, develop a decision making procedure and to find the best comunication structure. Regarding the latter I'd go for the SDIN discussion forum but better ideas are welcome.
As a starting point I like to give the following timeline.

Making friends and potential candidates aware: 15.10.
Suggesting candidates until 31.10.
E-Election 15.11.

The time table is purely created by my own. There might be good reasons to disagree for specific reasons. It is only to start a bit more concrete than calling for someone to come up with ideas.

SyL

Re: NGO Representive in Advisory Committee for Marrakech and CSD - Uchita's Response)

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Uchita de Zoysa 10-01-2007, 11:55 PM

Re: NGO Representive in Advisory Committee for Marrakech and CSD

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Brizga 10-03-2007, 1:47 PM
Dear friends,

I will distribute this message to the organizations and networks I know which might be interested.

I would like to nominate Uchita as I think he complies with criteria suggested by Sylvia.

Best,

Janis Brizga

Re: NGO Representive in Advisory Committee for Marrakech and CSD

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Sylvia 10-03-2007, 6:01 PM
On behalf of Rajan, du to technical problems on his side.

Dear Sylvia
I agree with you entirely about the criteria for selection. The deadlines you have suggested also sound very reasonable. I shall circulate your message to several NGOs I know of who are involved in work on the Marrakech Process.

May I also put across some of my concerns:

a) There are myriad civil society organisations which work on issues very closely related to the CSD and the Marrakech process without actually using the terms "Marrakech Process, CSD, SCP" etc. Consumer Groups, for example, are at the forefront of sustainable consumption issues, and we have a very large number of environmental NGOs working on both consumption and production issues - such as waste disposal, emissions by manufacturing units etc. I feel we should include them, too, in the process of arriving at a consensus on the NGO representative, even if they have not so far been part of the SPAC discussion.

b) The "South" is no longer so easily identifiable. We have LDCs, developing countries, transitioning economies etc. The differences between, say, sub-Saharan Africa and India are almost as large as the differences between Europe and India. How do we ensure a truly representative view ?

These concerns should not delay the process you have suggested but perhaps others may wish to add to the concerns I have expressed.

Best wishes to all

Rajan

Re: NGO Representive in Advisory Committee for Marrakech and CSD

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Sylvia 10-24-2007, 3:52 AM
Dear Friends,

Well, the discussion here is not as lively as I hoped it to be when I suggested a transparent process in finding a person to represent us in the Marrakech advisory board. I am unsure if this should concern us or if it is a normal phenomena. At least the topic had 145 views which make me assume there is interest somewhere.

Therefore I like to give another input. It does not offer a solution but hopefully help to open up discussion.

Janis recommended Uchita for the vacancy. Indeed a very good candidate. Still I like to bring two further names into the discussion. Both I know from the European community I have to confess but they are at least rooted in other societies and cultures, too.

The first is Emmanuel Prinet, well known from the most I suppose, if not the following link should bring you to his introduction on the SDIN Forum http://sdissues.net/CS/forums/139/ShowPost.aspx

The second is Lewis Akenji. He is from Cameroon, lived in Canada (and several other countries) for a while and is now based at a Hungarian consumer organization, coordinating the Central European Network on Sustainable Consumption. (Lewis, please post your vita, too.)

What I think is needed most from our person in the advisory board is if he/she can ensure transparency, foster position building and ensure that our voice is heard in decision making. So it is communication skills: What is discussed? What kind of input is needed and by when? Where are obstacles we have to overcome or at least to highlight?

This was the easy part. What I am less clear about is how to make a decision? Does anyone have experience here? Jeffrey recently told me, that there are technical possibilities to have online-elections which might be fine. But before we can come to decision we first need a broader participation and discussion by the topic readers.

The ball is with you!