12/04/2005: The 13 th
session of the Commission on Sustainable Development
(CSD 13) is underway from 11/04/05 to 22/04/05
at the United Nations, New York, United States
of America where South Africa's government
and civil society are joining hands in an
effort to influence the world's sustainable
development programme.
Preparing for the second week when the Ministerial
segment will be held, a team of government
senior officials and leaders from labour,
local government, civil society and business
have started to participate in discussions
that will generate the initial proposal on
the implementation of a sustainable development
programme. Expected to attend in the second
week is included Ministers of Environmental
Affairs and Tourism, Water Affairs and Forestry,
Housing and Finance, Western Cape 's MEC of
Environmental Affairs and Development Planning,
Tasneem Essop and Johannesburg City 's Executive
Mayor, Amos Masondo.
“ South Africa 's delegation includes stakeholders
from the civil society and business sectors
whilst Ministers will be supported by senior
managers from their respective departments,
making the SA team one that anchors its sustainable
development approach on partnership between
all sectors of society” said Mike Muller,
Director General of Department of Water Affairs
and Forestry and leader of the officials'
delegation. “As custodians of WSSD outcomes,
the SA team intends to focus its energies
on encouraging a stronger review,monitoring
and reporting systems that will inform improved
future implementation efforts and therefore
the realisation of sustainable development
at a global scale” further added Muller as
he emphasised that the country's efforts are
more on how targets set are being realised
instead of renegotiating future plans.
CSD 13 is an intergovernmental forum intended
to review the implementation of the world's
progress in implementing WSSD outcomes. The
first week of CSD 13 will be an official's
meeting, which will culminate in the distribution
of the Chairperson's 1 st draft negotiating
text. The second week will focus on negotiations
on the text and the Ministerial segment that
will deal with overarching themes of meeting
Millennium Development Goals targets as it
relates to water, sanitation and human settlement.
