Introduction

The Ad hoc Intersessional Working Group of the Commission in Sustainable Development (CSD) met in New York from 24 February - 7 March 1997 to begin preparations for a special session of the UN General Assembly to held from 23-27 June 1997. The special session, dubbed Earth Summit +5, will conduct a review and appraisal of the implementation of Agenda 21, the 40-chapter action programme adopted with the Rio Declaration by the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The review will seek to assess progress made and areas where progress is lacking in the implementation of the Rio declaration and Agenda 21. In doing so, governments will not seek to renegotiate Agenda 21, but to revitalize the concept of sustainable development and to recommit themselves to its realization by taking necessary collective action. they will identify gaps in issues, and institutional mechanisms and policies that need to be addressed.

Additional NGO Positions and Activities

The CSD-NGO Steering Committee consists of regional and issue focal points among the hundreds of NGOs throughout the world that have regularly monitored CSD sessions. Steering committee focal points, acting as a bridge between international and local initiatives following UNCED, commit to facilitating information exchange on CSD-related work in their country, region or issue-area.

For further information or to contact the NGO focal point in your region, contact the NGO Steering Committee co-chairs:

Esmeralda Brown, UNMUNO
11th Floor, 777 UN Plaza
New York NY 10017
USA
Tel.: +1.212.682 3633
Fax: +1.212.682 5354
E-mail: cca@igc.apc.org