Chapter
27
STRENGTHENING
THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS: PARTNERS FOR SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMME AREA
Basis
for action
27.1.
Non-governmental organizations play a vital role in the shaping and
implementation of participatory democracy. Their credibility lies in
the responsible and constructive role they play in society. Formal
and informal organizations, as well as grass-roots movements, should
be recognized as partners in the implementation of Agenda 21. The
nature of the independent role played by non-governmental
organizations within a society calls for real participation;
therefore, independence is a major attribute of non-governmental
organizations and is the precondition of real participation.
27.2.
One of the major challenges facing the world community as it seeks to
replace unsustainable development patterns with environmentally sound
and sustainable development is the need to activate a sense of common
purpose on behalf of all sectors of society. The chances of forging
such a sense of purpose will depend on the willingness of all sectors
to participate in genuine social partnership and dialogue, while
recognizing the independent roles, responsibilities and special
capacities of each.
27.3.
Non-governmental organizations, including those non-profit
organizations representing groups addressed in the present section of
Agenda 21, possess well-established and diverse experience, expertise
and capacity in fields which will be of particular importance to the
implementation and review of environmentally sound and socially
responsible sustainable development, as envisaged throughout Agenda
21. The community of non-governmental organizations, therefore,
offers a global network that should be tapped, enabled and
strengthened in support of efforts to achieve these common goals.
27.4.
To ensure that the full potential contribution of non-governmental
organizations is realized, the fullest possible communication and
cooperation between international organizations, national and local
governments and non-governmental organizations should be promoted in
institutions mandated, and programmes
designed to carry out Agenda 21. Non-governmental organizations will
also need to foster cooperation and communication among themselves to
reinforce their effectiveness as actors in the implementation of
sustainable development.
Objectives
27.5.
Society, Governments and international bodies should develop mechanisms
to allow non-governmental organizations to play their partnership
role responsibly and effectively in the process of environmentally
sound and sustainable development.
27.6.
With a view to strengthening the role of non-governmental
organizations as social partners, the United Nations system and
Governments should initiate a process, in consultation with
non-governmental organizations, to review formal procedures and
mechanisms for the involvement of these organizations at all levels
from policy-making and decision-making to implementation.
27.7.
By 1995, a mutually productive dialogue should be established at the
national level between all Governments and non-governmental
organizations and their self-organized networks to recognize and
strengthen their respective roles in implementing environmentally
sound and sustainable development.
27.8.
Governments and international bodies should promote and allow the
participation of non-governmental organizations in the conception,
establishment and evaluation of official mechanisms and formal
procedures designed to review the implementation of Agenda 21 at all
levels.
Activities
27.9.
The United Nations system, including international finance and
development agencies, and all intergovernmental organizations and
forums should, in consultation with non-governmental organizations,
take measures to:
(a)
Review and report on ways of enhancing existing procedures and
mechanisms by which non-governmental organizations contribute to
policy design, decision-making, implementation and evaluation at the
individual agency level, in inter-agency discussions and in United
Nations conferences;
(b) On the basis of subparagraph (a) above,
enhance existing or, where they do not exist, establish, mechanisms
and procedures within each agency to draw on the expertise and views
of non-governmental organizations in policy and programme design,
implementation and evaluation;
(c)
Review levels of financial and administrative support for
non-governmental organizations and the extent and effectiveness of
their involvement in project and programme implementation, with a
view to augmenting their role as social partners;
(d)
Design open and effective means of achieving the participation of
non-governmental organizations in the processes established to review
and evaluate the implementation of Agenda 21 at all levels;
(e)
Promote and allow non-governmental organizations and their
self-organized networks to contribute to the review and evaluation of
policies and programmes designed to implement
Agenda 21, including support for developing country non-governmental
organizations and their self-organized networks;
(f)
Take into account the findings of non-governmental review systems and
evaluation processes in relevant reports of the Secretary-General to
the General Assembly, and of all pertinent United Nations
organizations and other intergovernmental organizations and forums
concerning implementation of Agenda 21, in accordance with the review
process for Agenda 21;
(g)
Provide access for non-governmental organizations to accurate and
timely data and information to promote the effectiveness of their programmes and activities and their roles in
support of sustainable development.
27.10.
Governments should take measures to:
(a)
Establish or enhance an existing dialogue with non-governmental
organizations and their self-organized networks representing various
sectors, which could serve to: (i) consider
the rights and responsibilities of these organizations; (ii)
efficiently channel integrated non-governmental inputs to the
governmental policy development process; and (iii) facilitate
non-governmental coordination in implementing national policies at
the programme level;
(b) Encourage and enable partnership and
dialogue between local non-governmental organizations and local
authorities in activities aimed at sustainable development;
(c)
Involve non-governmental organizations in national mechanisms or
procedures established to carry out Agenda 21, making the best use of
their particular capacities, especially in the fields of education,
poverty alleviation and environmental protection and rehabilitation;
(d)
Take into account the findings of non-governmental monitoring and
review mechanisms in the design and evaluation of policies concerning
the implementation of Agenda 21 at all levels;
(e)
Review government education systems to identify ways to include and
expand the involvement of non-governmental organizations in the field
of formal and informal education and of public awareness;
(f)
Make available and accessible to non-governmental organizations the
data and information necessary for their effective contribution to
research and to the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes.
Means
of implementation
A)
Financing and cost evaluation
27.11.
Depending on the outcome of review processes and the evolution of
views as to how best to build partnership and dialogue between
official organizations and groups of non-governmental organizations,
relatively limited but unpredictable, costs will be involved at the
international and national levels in enhancing consultative
procedures and mechanisms. Non-governmental organizations will also
require additional funding in support of their establishment of,
improvement of or contributions to Agenda 21 monitoring systems.
These costs will be significant but cannot be reliably estimated on
the basis of existing information.
B)
Capacity-building
27.12.
The organizations of the United Nations system and other
intergovernmental organizations and forums, bilateral programmes and the private sector, as
appropriate, will need to provide increased financial and
administrative support for non-governmental organizations and their
self-organized networks, in particular those based in developing
countries, that contribute to the monitoring and evaluation of Agenda
21 programmes, and provide training for
non-governmental organizations (and assist them to develop their own
training programmes) at the international
and regional levels to enhance their partnership role in programme
design and implementation.
27.13.
Governments will need to promulgate or strengthen, subject to
country-specific conditions, any legislative measures necessary to
enable the establishment by non-governmental organizations of
consultative groups, and to ensure the right of non-governmental
organizations to protect the public interest through legal
action.
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