WG on the right to development - March 1st - LR

Working Group on the Right to Development, eight session, 26 February-2 March 2007 : 1st March 2007, 10h-13h

Item 5: Discussion and adoption of conclusions and recommendations

The Chairperson-Rapporteur, Mr. Salama, submitted its draft conclusions and recommendations for consideration to the member states. He pointed out that he tried to make them as brief and clear as possible. As the recommendations and conclusions are carefully worded and balanced he recommended to the member states to make as little changes as possible.

The Chairman then explained the conclusions and recommendations, paragraph by paragraph.

The 1st paragraph is about the evaluation of the high-level task force. Member state are not supposed to endorse the report but just to welcome it.

The 2nd paragraph defines the objectives of the whole exercise. It is a building-block approach.

The 3rd paragraph is a remainder of the scope of the WG’s mandate.

The 4th paragraph clarify the methods used and tries to depict a common denominator.

The 5th paragraph is about a possible Convention. The WG has had lengthy debate about this topics. It is a strategic issue for many countries. The Chairperson explained that he tried to make a compromise (a win-win situation) between the EU which don’t think it is an appropriate time for a convention and the NAM group. Mr Salama said that he hopes that the EU do recognize that this paragraph does not include any automaticity or imposition for a Convention. On the other hand, he hopes that NAM can see in this text that the option for a Convention is neither rejected nor postponed for an indefinite period of time. The member states have to engage in a constructive dialog. The main advantage of such a draft are the following: this paragraph is an answer and not a question, moreover this answer is not invented; this approach creates a link to the current work of the WG (demystify a convention); there is a link between the convention and the collaborative process; by providing the answer you preserve the task force for what it is (it is not a political body); by solving this issue we avoid to reopen the question.

The 6th paragraph states that the views of all member states will be incorporated in the task force.

The 7th paragraph says that the task force has to adopt a gradual approach.

The 9th paragraph states that further partnerships should be more representatives.

Having explained the chairperson’s draft, Mr Salama adjourned the meeting in order to leave time for delegations to consider those recommendations and conclusions.