TOWARDS BELGRADE-2007
EUROPEAN ECO-FORUM NEWSLETTER
No 16
JANUARY 2007

1. FIRST MEETING OF THE PARTIES TO THE PROTOCOL ON WATER AND HEALTH

The first Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol on Water and Health to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes was held on 17-19 January 2007 at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Meeting of the Parties was organized by UNECE and the WHO Regional Office for Europe which are jointly servicing the Protocol. Representatives of 33 states, European Commission, international organizations, EEA, NGOs and others participated in the MOP-1. Anna Tsvetkova (MAMA-86; Coordinator of ECO-Forum's Water Issue Group) and Sergey Vykhryst (representative of ECO-Forum in Legal Board of the Water Convention) represented the European ECO-Forum.

The Protocol entered into force in August 2005 and to date has been ratified by 20 countries. The main aim of the Protocol is to protect human health by better water management, including the protection of water ecosystems, and by preventing, controlling and reducing water-related diseases. It requests Parties to establish targets and target dates to reduce water-related diseases. It includes provisions for international cooperation and international support for national action to support its implementation.

At MOP-1, the European ECO-Forum presented and disseminated among the delegations the NGO Statement. The European ECO- Forum urged the Parties to take urgent measures for establishing monitoring systems of the water related health problems in the rural areas of the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA). ECO-Forum called upon the Governments to put the priority on rural water supply and sanitation by development of the adequate legislation, regulations, policies, work plans and associated budget allocations to improve access to safe water and proper sanitation in rural areas of EECCA and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

ECO-Forum stressed that the actual implementation and achievement of the Protocol targets happens at local level. Therefore, local authorities should be informed and involved
into the Protocol's implementation at early stage.

ECO-Forum requested that Country Reports on water and health and progress achieved on the implementation of the Protocolhad to be open and available for the public.

In addition, European ECO-Forum made a proposal for Parties and Signatories to consider development of guidelines for governments (national and local authorities) on public awareness and information. These guidelines would help in implementation of the provisions of Article 9 and Article 10 of the Protocol by reducing practical constraints for citizens wishing to use the Protocol. ECO-Forum urged that the guidelines should be adopted at the Second Meeting of Parties that would be hosted by Romania in 3 years.

At MOP-1, the Parties adopted several decisions:

- The rules of procedure were adopted with the deletion of paragraph 3 of rule 20 due to the pressure of Germany, UK and Switzerland. This paragraph was about NGO participation as observers at Bureau meetings.

- The MOP elected the Bureau. The Bureau has 6 members: Chair from Romania plus representatives of Ukraine, Norway, Finland, Switzerland, and Hungary.

-  Compliance procedure under the Protocol on Water and Health was adopted. MOP-1 elected 9 members of the compliance committee nominated by the Parties. Among them there are 3 NGO representatives: Diana Iskreva-Indigo, NGO "Earth forever", Bulgaria, nominated by Switzerland; Sergey Vykhryst - ECO-Forum expert - nominated by Hungary; and a representative from French NGO nominated by France at the meeting.

- Programme of work for 2007-2009 was developed and adopted. ECO-Forum's proposals on public information and education strengthening are reflected in Programme area 1:Implementation, para 1.4 Public awareness, education, training, research and development and information (lead Party - Romania, has to be confirmed; participating countries - all interested Parties; among the main partners are relevant NGOs).

- The MOP considered and adopted a decision on the designation of focal points for the Protocol and their responsibilities.

- The MOP discussed the opportunity of opening the Protocol to countries outside the UNECE region. Due to the limits of time and the procedure difficulties the amendment was not prepared. Hungary and Switzerland expressed the readiness to prepare a proposal to amend the Protocol and asked for support of the Joint secretariat.

- The MOP agreed on (a) the preparation of draft guidelines on reporting, for consideration at the MOP-2; and (b) the preparation by end of 2008 of an interim report on water supply and sanitation issues, based on these draft guidelines.

-An Ad Hoc Project Facilitation Mechanism (PFM, initiative of Norway) was adopted to support national action concerning the improved formulation of projects, in order to facilitate access to sources of finance. In the context of this initiative, Finland presented the draft of the first project proposals "Strengthening Water and Health in the EECCA countries", which will be implemented with use of PFM.

- In the context of the item "Financial arrangements", it was decided to establish two trust funds under the Protocol.

- The declaration of the first Meeting of the Parties was adopted. Due to the efforts of ECO-Forum, the paragraph on water as a basic human right was incorporated into the Declaration in context of evaluation of the Round Table "The Human Right to Water and the Protocol on Water and Health: making access to water a reality". The Round Table took place on 18th January in the framework of the MOP-1. Anna Tsvetkova was one of the panelists and made an intervention on the role of NGOs in improving access to safe water in EECCA.

The documents of MOP-1 are available at:
http://www.unece.org/env/water/meetings/documents_MoPPWH.htm

For more information contact:
Anna Tsvetkova
MAMA-86, Ukraine
Coordinator of Water Issue Group at European ECO-Forum
E-mail: atsvet@mama-86.org.ua

2. FIRST MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE CARPATHIAN CONVENTION

The first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians was held in Kyiv, Ukraine from 11 to 13 December 2006.

The Carpathian Convention provides the framework for cooperation and multi-sectoral policy coordination for the sustainable development of the Carpathians, with the participation of seven countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine. By now, only one ratification (of Serbia) is pending.

The COP adopted the Carpathian Declaration and 19 decisions, hich set the operational framework of the Convention and include the work programme from 2006 to 2008.  However, as it failed to reach consensus on the geographical scope of the Convention's application and on arrangements for the Permanent Secretariat, decisions on these issues were postponed until COP2.

As the cornerstone of the institutional framework, the Carpathian Convention Implementation Committee was established as a Subsidiary Body of the Convention. It will also oversee the establishment and convening of six Working Groups responsible for managing the projects and activities under the EU co-financed INTERREG IIIB CADSES project.

The six Working Groups cover the following issues:

 WG on conservation and sustainable use of biological and landscape diversity to consider and finalise the draft Protocol on the Conservation of Biological and Landscape Diversity and support the Carpathian Network of Protected Areas (CNPA);
 WG on cultural heritage and traditional knowledge;
 WG on sustainable agriculture, rural development and forestry;
 WG on sustainable industry, energy, transport and infrastructure;
 WG on sustainable tourism aiming at a strategy and protocol on sustainable tourism;
 WG on Spatial Planning, which will also undertake work on sustainable and integrated water and river basin management.

The number and composition of the Working Groups will be revised at COP-2. COP-2 will be hosted by Romania in Brasov in spring 2008.

As cross-cutting issues of the Convention, the COP supports and recommends to governments to establish and develop national mechanisms to foster the Convention's implementation, including information, involvement and capacity building of all relevant stakeholders and civil society. It also requests the interim Secretariat to support public participation in decision-making and implementation of the Carpathian Convention. The COP also invited the European Community to accede to the Carpathian Convention.

NGOs took an active role already in the processes leading to the birth of the Convention and in the further development and implementation. NGOs and NGO networks (including ANPED, CEEWEB, Carpathian EcoRegion Initiative, WWF) contribute in many different fields, like public participation, sustainable tourism, landscape and biological diversity, cultural heritage, etc.

For documents of COP1 see
http://www.carpathianconvention.org/index.htm

For Background Document on Sustainable Tourism Opportunities in the Carpathians (PDF, 2 MB) prepared by CEEWEB see
http://www.ceeweb.org/workingroups/
sustainabletourism/resources/
ST_Opportunities_Carpathians_Bg_Doc_31-10-2006.pdf

For outcomes of national stakeholder meetings organised by ANPED see
http://www.anped.org/index.php?part=45&section=politicalprocesses&reference=0

For more information contact:
Klara Hajdu
CEEWEB
E-mail: hajdu@ceeweb.org

3. EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH COMMITTEE AND CEHAPE TASK FORCE MEETINGS

The European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC) will hold a meeting for its members in Brussels on 27-28 February 2007. The CEHAPE Task Force meeting will take place on 1 March 2007.

The EEHC oversees coordination and follow-up of the outcomes of the "Environment and Health" process. The CEHAPE Task Force was set up to promote and oversee implementation of Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe adopted by the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health (2004) in Budapest.

The EEHC meeting in Brussels will discuss the latest developments and the details in the organization of the Intergovernmental mid-term review (IMP) meeting which will take place on 13-15 June 2007 in Vienna. The EEHC will also take decisions on how to drive the process forward following the IMR.

Another important issue in the agenda of the EEHC is the development of a legal instrument addressing environmental risk factors that impact on children's health. The results of the legal instrument project, sponsored by Ireland, will be presented to the EEHC members, informing the discussion about the need in the WHO European Region of such an instrument, and the feasibility of preparing this instrument in time for the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in 2009.

The EEHC meeting will be followed by a back-to-back CEHAPE Task Force meeting. Environment and health focal points will be asked to contribute their views on the reporting back at the IMR. Other topics for discussion include:

-progress on the implementation of a strategy for youth involvement in the CEHAPE process;
-progress made on Table of Actions and collection of case studies;
-the future of the CEHAPE Task Force after the IMR.

For documents of the meetings see
http://www.euro.who.int/eehc/meetings/20061219_1 and
http://www.euro.who.int/eehc/meetings/20061219_2

For more information contact:
Sascha Gabizon
Women in Europe for a Common Future
Coordinator of Environment and Health Issue Group at
European ECO-Forum
E-mail: sascha.gabizon@wecf.org

4. PRIORITIES OF THE GERMAN PRESIDENCY

Germany holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from 1 January 2007. Germany will be followed by Portugal on 1 July 2007 and Slovenia on 1 January 2008.

For the first time, an 18-month programme for three successive German, Portuguese and Slovenian Presidencies
(see http://www.eu2007.de/includes/Download_Dokumente/Trio-Programm/trioenglish.pdf)
was elaborated for the period from January 2007 to June 2008. This "team programme" is designed to increase continuity in the Council's work.

The programme for the German EU Presidency
(see http://www.eu2007.de/includes/Downloads/
Praesidentschaftsprogramm/EU_Presidency_Programme_final.pdf)
is based on the 18-month programme. Both documents contain numerous programme activities on environment and sustainable development.

The German EU Presidency places a strong emphasis on driving forward international climate protection under the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol. The German Presidency will press for a common EU position on international climate protection after 2012 and will work on the development of a negotiation package with proposals for emission reduction goals and ways to involve further major greenhouse gas emitters.

Guaranteeing a secure, environmentally sound and competitive energy supply is another important area for the German Presidency. It underlines the importance of reducing the need for energy imports by boosting energy efficiency, saving energy and making greater use of renewable energies. The German Presidency plans to launch an initiative in the field of resource-saving and energy-efficient technologies.

A particular concern for the Presidency is the protection and sustainable use of biological diversity. It believes that EU's leading role in this area is to be reinforced through substantial contributions to the preparations for the 9th Conference of States Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Germany in 2008.

The Trio Programme for German, Portuguese and Slovenian Presidencies confirms that the renewed EU Strategy for Sustainable Development will remain key to future policy- making. The future Presidencies will give particular emphasis to climate change and to halting biodiversity loss by 2010. As outlined in the Trio Programme, the three Presidencies will promote work on the issue of co-existence of genetically modified crops and conventional farming.

For more information see
http://www.eu2007.de/en/The_Council_Presidency/index.html

For information on EEB's Ten Green Tests for the German EU
Presidency see http://www.eeb.org/Index.htm

5. REEEP MEDIA AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REPORTING IN CEE

The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) announced the launch of the REEEP Media Award for Excellence in Sustainable Energy Reporting in Central and Eastern Europe. The Award aims to increase the knowledge, awareness and understanding of the role of renewable energy and energy efficiency in economic development, environmental protection and community engagement. It also aims to improve the quality and quantity of articles and feature stories that cover sustainable energy alternatives within the mass media.

The REEEP Media Award for Excellence in Sustainable Energy Reporting in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) will be awarded in three categories:

-First Prize of EUR 1,500;
-Second Prize of EUR 750;
-Honourable Mention of EUR 500.

Winning media entries should:

-Cover topics and provide vital information related to sustainable energy, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, alternative forms of energy, and their effects on society and the environment;
-Have had impact on communities and society in CEE countries (e.g. increased number of renewable energy users, investment in energy efficiency, government decisions or policies in favour of sustainable energy etc.);
-Have appeared in print, on air or online in the period August 1, 2006 - February 28, 2007;
-Demonstrate high-quality journalism.

Entries must be received by March 15, 2007. For more details and application form see
http://www.rec.org/Media/media_award.html

For more information contact:
Judit Balint
REEEP Regional Secretariat for Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey,
Regional Environmental Center
E-mail: jbalint@rec.org

6. WHO PHOTO AND VIDEO CONTEST ON HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT

WHO's photo and video contest "Images of Health and Disability" focuses this year on Health and Environment.

Powerful images, illustrations, stories and video clips can provide an important support in the protection of human environment and health. This contest may provide a good opportunity for illustrating the situations in which you are most interested, concerned or pleased about.

The contest is open until 9 March 2007. See rules at
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/events/2007/photo_video_contest/en/index.html