G8 COMMUNIQUÉ OKINAWA 2000
Henk Elegeert
HmjE at HOME.NL
Wed Jul 26 10:14:54 CEST 2000
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http://www.g8kyushu-okinawa.go.jp/e/documents/commu.html
"
G8 COMMUNIQUÉ OKINAWA 2000
Okinawa, 23 July
2000
Preamble
1.We, the Leaders of eight major industrialised democracies
and the President of the
European Commission, met together here in Okinawa for the
26th Summit in the year
which heralds a new millennium. We reflected upon the
challenges faced and progress
made since the First Summit in Rambouillet in working
toward peace and prosperity
throughout the world, and we discussed the role the G8
should play as it evolves in the
21st century.
2.During the last quarter of the 20th century, the world
economy has achieved
unprecedented levels of prosperity, the Cold War has come
to an end, and
globalisation has led to an emerging common sense of
community. Driving these
developments has been the global propagation of those
basic principles and values
consistently advocated by the Summiteers-democracy, the
market economy, social
progress, sustainable development and respect for human
rights. Yet we are keenly
aware that even now in many parts of the world poverty
and injustice undermine
human dignity, and conflict brings human suffering.
3.As we make the transition into the new century, we will
continue to exercise leadership
and responsibility in addressing these persistent
problems and squarely face new
challenges as they arise. We must tackle the root causes
of conflict and poverty. We
must bravely seize the opportunities created by new
technologies in such areas as
information and communications technology (IT) and life
sciences. We must
acknowledge the concerns associated with globalisation,
while continuing to be
innovative in order to maximise the benefits of
globalisation for all. In all our
endeavours we must build on our basic principles and
values as the foundations for a
brighter world in the 21st century.
4.In a world of ever-intensifying globalisation, whose
challenges are becoming
increasingly complex, the G8 must reach out. We must
engage in a new partnership
with non-G8 countries, particularly developing countries,
international organisations
and civil society, including the private sector and
non-governmental organisations
(NGOs). This partnership will bring the opportunities of
the new century within reach
of all.
5.We hope that our discussions in Okinawa provide a
positive contribution to the United
Nations Millennium Summit, which we expect to articulate,
in the spirit of the
Secretary-General's report "We the Peoples", a vision
that will guide the United
Nations as it rises to the challenges of the new century.
To that end, we will continue
to work for a strengthened, effective and efficient
United Nations and remain
convinced that reforms of the United Nations, including
the Security Council, are
indispensable.
6.A new era dawns. Let us move forward together, with hope,
toward a 21st century of
greater prosperity, deeper peace of mind and greater
stability.
Toward a 21st century of greater prosperity
World Economy
7.The 20th century has achieved unprecedented economic
progress. Yet the financial
and economic crises of the past few years have presented
enormous challenges for the
world economy. Together with many of our partners around
the world, we have
devoted ourselves to alleviating the adverse effects of
the crisis, stimulating economic
recovery, and identifying ways to help prevent future
upheavals, including measures to
strengthen the international financial architecture. The
world economy will grow
strongly this year, and we are particularly encouraged by
the strength of recovery in
most crisis-affected countries.
8.While the pace of recovery varies across Asia, trade is
expanding and indeed some
countries have achieved dynamic growth. Reform efforts
must now focus on
maintaining the momentum behind financial and corporate
sector reforms, improving
public and private sector governance and transparency,
and strengthening social safety
nets to ensure strong, sustainable growth and avoid
future instability.
9.Despite recent positive developments in the world
economy, we recognise that there is
no time for complacency as globalisation intensifies and
the rapid diffusion of IT brings
about fundamental structural changes to our economies.
There are encouraging signs of
a new reality in the improvement of productivity in the
United States and, to a lesser
extent, in other G8 economies. But to capitalise on the
opportunities before us, we
must renew our unwavering commitment to structural change
in our own economies,
including greater competition and more adaptable labour
markets, underpinned by
appropriate macro-economic policies.
Information and Communications Technology (IT)
10.IT empowers, benefits and links people the world over,
allows global citizens to
express themselves and know and respect one another. It
also has immense potential
for enabling economies to expand further, countries to
enhance public welfare and
promote stronger social cohesion and thus democracy to
flourish. Access to the digital
opportunities must, therefore, be open to all.
11.We clearly recognise that the process of globalisation
and the fast pace at which IT is
advancing have engendered various concerns. We need to
address such concerns so
that we can contribute to greater peace of mind for all.
Acting in concert, we will
maximise the benefits of IT and ensure that they are
spread to those at present with
limited access. In this regard, we welcome contributions
from the private sector, such
as those of the Global Digital Divide Initiative of the
World Economic Forum and
Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce (GBDe).
12.In support of these goals, we commit ourselves to
pursuing the aims and ambitions set
out in the Okinawa Charter on the Global Information
Society. We will set up a Digital
Opportunities Task Force (dot force), which will be asked
to report to our next
meeting its findings and recommendations on global action
to bridge the international
information and knowledge divide.
Development
13.The 21st century must be a century of prosperity for all,
and we commit ourselves to
the agreed international development goals, including the
overarching objective of
reducing the share of the world's population living in
extreme poverty to half its 1990
level by 2015. 13. We welcome the Report on Poverty
Reduction by Multilateral
Development Banks (MDBs) and the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) which we
requested in Cologne, and we look forward to receiving an
annual poverty report as
we review progress each year in reducing poverty across
the globe. This report shows
that progress is possible where the right conditions are
created for growth and social
development. But it reminds us of the vast challenges
that remain. While the
percentage of poor in developing countries declined from
29% in 1990 to 24% in
1998, there are still 1.2 billion people living on less
than one dollar a day and there are
marked differences both within and between regions. In
particular, many developing
countries, notably in Africa, are growing too slowly. The
HIV/AIDS pandemic
aggravates the situation.
14.As the report indicates, many countries have made
significant progress in overcoming
poverty in the past quarter century, and their example is
a beacon of hope for others.
From their success, we have learned that poverty can best
be overcome in resilient,
peaceful, and democratic societies with freedom and
opportunity for all, growing and
open economies and dynamic private sectors, and strong
and accountable leaders and
institutions.
15.Robust, broad-based and equitable economic growth is
needed to fight poverty and
rests on expanding people's capabilities and choices.
Government must, in
co-operation with the private sector and broader civil
society, establish economic and
social foundations for broad-based, private sector
growth. Small and medium sized
enterprises, together with the opportunities presented by
IT can be powerful tools for
development. We will work with developing countries to
put in place policies,
programmes and institutions that offer people a fair
chance to better their lives. We
therefore welcome the constructive discussions of the
Tenth Meeting of the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD X) in
Bangkok, and will
work in the United Nations and other fora to further
reduce poverty, especially in the
Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
16.We also welcome the increasing co-operation between the
International Labour
Organisation (ILO) and the International Financial
Institutions (IFIs) in promoting
adequate social protection and core labour standards. We
urge the IFIs to incorporate
these standards into their policy dialogue with member
countries. In addition, we stress
the importance of effective co-operation between the
World Trade Organisation
(WTO) and the ILO on the social dimensions of
globalisation and trade liberalisation.
17.Trade and investment are critical to promoting
sustainable economic growth and
reducing poverty. We commit ourselves to put a higher
priority on trade-related
capacity-building activities. We are also concerned that
certain regions remain
marginalised as regards foreign direct investment, and
that the 48 LDCs attract less
than 1% of total foreign direct investment flows to the
developing countries. We urge
multilateral development organisations and financial
institutions to support developing
countries' efforts to create a favourable trade and
investment climate, including through
the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) and the
Integrated Framework (IF).
18.We are particularly concerned about the severity of the
challenges facing the LDCs,
particularly those in Africa, which are held back from
sharing in the fruits of
globalisation by a debilitating and self-reinforcing
combination of conflict, poverty and
weak governance.
19.We are committed to mobilising the instruments and
resources of the international
community to support and reinforce the efforts of these
countries to combat and
overcome these challenges, with particular priority on
promoting equitable distribution
of the benefits of growth through sound social policies,
including regarding health and
education. To this end, as we set out in detail below, we
have agreed to:
-
Push forward the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)
debt initiative;
-
Provide significantly improved access to our markets;
-
Strengthen the effectiveness of our official development
assistance (ODA);
-
Implement an ambitious plan on infectious diseases,
notably HIV/AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis (TB);
-
Follow up vigorously the conclusions of the recent Dakar
Conference on Education
by ensuring that additional resources are made available
for basic education;
-
Address the widening digital divide;
-
Implement measures to prevent conflict, including by
addressing the issue of illicit
trade in diamonds.
20.ODA is essential in the fight against poverty. We commit
ourselves to strengthening the
effectiveness of our ODA in support of countries' own
efforts to tackle poverty,
including through national strategies for poverty
reduction. We will take a long-term
approach favouring those countries where governments have
demonstrated a
commitment to improve the well-being of their people
through accountable and
transparent management of resources devoted to
development. To achieve increased
effectiveness of ODA, we resolve to untie our aid to the
Least Developed Countries
on the basis of progress made in the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) to date and a fair burden-sharing
mechanism that we will agree
with our OECD partners. We believe that this agreement
should come into effect on 1
January 2002. In the meantime, we urge those countries
which maintain low levels of
untying of ODA to improve their performance. We will also
seek to demonstrate to
the public that well-targeted ODA gets results, and on
that basis will strive to give
increased priority to such assistance. Well co-ordinated
assistance is helpful for
developing countries and we will consider how best to
improve such co-ordination.
21.We also agree to give special attention to three issues -
debt, health, and education, as
a spur to growth.
Debt
22.Last year in Cologne, we agreed to launch the Enhanced
HIPC Initiative to deliver
faster, broader and deeper debt relief, releasing funds
for investment in national
poverty reduction strategies. We welcome endorsement of
this initiative by the
international community last autumn.
23.Since then, while further efforts are required, progress
has been made in implementing
the Enhanced HIPC Initiative. Nine countries (Benin,
Bolivia, Burkina Faso,
Honduras, Mauritania, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania and
Uganda) have already
reached their Decision Points and are seeing the benefits
of the Initiative. Total debt
relief under the HIPC Initiative for these countries
should amount to more than US$15
billion in nominal terms (US$8.6 billion in Net Present
Value).
24.We welcome the efforts being made by HIPCs to develop
comprehensive and
country-owned poverty reduction strategies through a
participatory process involving
civil society. IFIs should, along with other donors, help
HIPCs prepare PRSPs and
assist their financial resource management by providing
technical assistance. We are
concerned by the fact that a number of HIPCs are
currently affected by military
conflicts which prevent poverty reduction and delay debt
relief. We call upon these
countries to end their involvement in conflicts and to
embark quickly upon the HIPC
process. We agree to strengthen our efforts to help them
prepare and come forward
for debt relief, by asking our Ministers to make early
contact with the countries in
conflict to encourage them to create the right conditions
to participate in the HIPC
Initiative. We will work together to ensure that as many
countries as possible reach
their Decision Points, in line with the targets set in
Cologne, giving due consideration to
the progress of economic reforms and the need to ensure
that the benefits of debt relief
are targeted to assist the poor and most vulnerable. We
will work expeditiously
together with HIPCs and the IFIs to realise the
expectation that 20 countries will reach
the Decision Point within the framework of the Enhanced
HIPC Initiative by the end of
this year. In this regard, we welcome the establishment
of the Joint Implementation
Committee by the World Bank and the IMF. We for our part
will promote more
responsible lending and borrowing practices to ensure
that HIPCs will not again be
burdened by unsupportable debt.
25.We note the progress made in securing the required
financing of the IFIs for effective
implementation of the Enhanced HIPC Initiative, and
welcome pledges including those
to the HIPC Trust Fund. We reaffirm our commitment to
make available as quickly as
possible the resources we have pledged in the spirit of
fair burden sharing.
Health
26.Health is key to prosperity. Good health contributes
directly to economic growth
whilst poor health drives poverty. Infectious and
parasitic diseases, most notably
HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, as well as childhood diseases
and common infections,
threaten to reverse decades of development and to rob an
entire generation of hope
for a better future. Only through sustained action and
coherent international
co-operation to fully mobilise new and existing medical,
technical and financial
resources, can we strengthen health delivery systems and
reach beyond traditional
approaches to break the vicious cycle of disease and
poverty.
27.We have committed substantial resources to fighting
infectious and parasitic diseases.
As a result, together with the international community,
we have successfully arrived at
the final stage of polio and guinea worm eradication, and
have begun to control
onchocerciasis.
28.But we must go much further and we believe that the
conditions are right for a step
change in international health outcomes. We have
widespread agreement on what the
priority diseases are and basic technologies to tackle
much of the health burden are in
place. In addition there is growing political leadership
and recognition in the most
afflicted countries that health is central to economic
development. We particularly
welcome the success of the recent HIV/AIDS conference
held in Durban and the
importance attached to tackling HIV/AIDS by African
leaders, donors, international
financial institutions and the private sector.
29.We therefore commit ourselves to working in strengthened
partnership with
governments, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and
other international
organisations, industry (notably pharmaceutical
companies), academic institutions,
NGOs and other relevant actors in civil society to
deliver three critical UN targets:
-
Reduce the number of HIV/AIDS-infected young people by
25% by 2010 (UN
Secretary-General Report to the General Assembly on
27/3/2000);
-
Reduce TB deaths and prevalence of the disease by 50% by
2010 (WHO Stop TB
Initiative);
-
Reduce the burden of disease associated with malaria by
50% by 2010 (WHO Roll
Back Malaria).
30.In order to achieve this ambitious agenda our partnership
must aim to cover:
-
Mobilising additional resources ourselves, and calling
on the MDBs to expand their
own assistance to the maximum extent possible;
-
Giving priority to the development of equitable and
effective health systems,
expanded immunisation, nutrition and micro-nutrients and
the prevention and
treatment of infectious diseases;
-
Promoting political leadership through enhanced
high-level dialogue designed to
raise public awareness in the affected countries;
-
Committing to support innovative partnerships, including
with the NGOs, the private
sector and multilateral organisations;
-
Working to make existing cost-effective interventions,
including key drugs, vaccines,
treatments and preventive measures more universally
available and affordable in
developing countries;
-
Addressing the complex issue of access to medicines in
developing countries, and
assessing obstacles being faced by developing countries
in that regard;
-
Strengthening co-operation in the area of basic research
and development on new
drugs, vaccines and other international public health
goods.
31.We note with encouragement new commitments in these
areas. We strongly welcome
the World Bank's commitment to triple International
Development Association (IDA)
financing for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and TB. We also welcome
the announcements to
expand assistance in this area made by bilateral donors.
32.In addition, we will convene a conference in the autumn
this year in Japan to deliver
agreement on a new strategy to harness our commitments.
The conference should look
to define the operations of this new partnership, the
areas of priority and the timetable
for action. Participation of developing country partners
and other stakeholders will be
essential. We will take stock of progress at the Genoa
Summit next year and will also
work with the UN to organise a conference in 2001
focusing on strategies to facilitate
access to AIDS treatment and care.
Education
33.Every child deserves a good education. But in some
developing countries access to
education is limited, particular for females and the
socially vulnerable. Basic education
not only has intrinsic value, but is also key to
addressing a wide range of problems
faced by developing countries. Without accelerated
progress in this area, poverty
reduction will not be achieved and inequalities between
countries and within societies
will widen. Building on the Cologne Education Charter, we
therefore support the
Dakar Framework for Action as well as the recommendations
of the recently
concluded follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on
Women, and welcome the
efforts of developing countries to implement strong
national action plans. We reaffirm
our commitment that no government seriously committed to
achieving education for all
will be thwarted in this achievement by lack of
resources.
34.We therefore commit ourselves to strengthen efforts
bilaterally and together with
international organisations and private sector donors to
achieve the goals of universal
primary education by 2015 and gender equality in
schooling by 2005. We call on IFIs,
in partnership with developing countries, to focus on
education in their poverty
reduction strategies and provide greater assistance for
countries with sound education
strategies. These strategies should maximise the
potential benefits of IT in this area
through distance learning wherever possible and other
effective means.
Trade
35.The multilateral trading system embodied by the WTO,
which represents the
achievements of half a century of untiring efforts on the
part of the international
community to realise rule-based free trade, has provided
its Members, developed and
developing countries alike, with enormous trade
opportunities, spurring economic
growth and promoting social progress. In order to extend
these benefits to a greater
number of countries in a more tangible manner, the system
needs to better address
legitimate concerns of its developing country members,
particularly the LDCs. The
adoption of the short-term package in Geneva, regarding
implementation of Uruguay
Round undertakings, increased market access for the LDCs,
technical assistance for
enhanced capacity building as well as improvement in WTO
transparency, was an
important first step in this direction and must be
pursued expeditiously. We recognise
the need to go further with greater urgency in this area.
And we will do so. In
particular, in view of critical importance of trade for
the development of developing
countries, trade-related capacity building should be
substantially expanded, which
would be conducive to the more effective participation of
developing countries in the
system, and especially to fuller utilisation of improved
market access in their favour.
We also commend bilateral and regional initiatives in
this regard. We commit ourselves
to playing a leading role by strengthening our support to
developing country members
for capacity building in line with their individual
needs. We also call on international
organisations including the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF,
the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), and UNCTAD, to join with us
in working
collectively toward this objective.
36.We must ensure that the multilateral trading system is
strengthened and continues to
play its vital role in the world economy. Recognising
this responsibility, we are firmly
committed to a new round of WTO trade negotiations with
an ambitious, balanced and
inclusive agenda, reflecting the interests of all WTO
members. We agree that the
objective of such negotiations should be to enhance
market access, develop and
strengthen WTO rules and disciplines, support developing
countries in achieving
economic growth and integration into the global trading
system, and ensure that trade
and social policies, and trade and environmental policies
are compatible and mutually
supportive. We agree to intensify our close and fruitful
co-operation in order to try
together with other WTO members to launch such a round
during the course of this
year.
37.We recognise that more comprehensive partnership must be
developed to help
address the challenges of globalisation. In this regard,
international and domestic policy
coherence should be enhanced, and co-operation between
the international institutions
should be improved. We also underline the importance of
our engagement with our
publics to establish a constructive dialogue on the
benefits and challenges of trade
liberalisation.
38.It is in our common interest to integrate all economies
into the multilateral trading
system. We therefore welcome the progress made on China's
accession to the WTO
and support the efforts of other applicants toward early
accession.
Cultural Diversity
39.Cultural diversity is a source of social and economic
dynamism which has the potential
to enrich human life in the 21st century, as it inspires
creativity and stimulates
innovation. We recognise and respect the importance of
diversity in linguistic and
creative expression. We welcome the work of relevant
international organisations, in
particular the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO), in this field.
40.Increased interaction among peoples, groups and
individuals is bringing greater
understanding of and appreciation for what is interesting
and good in every culture.
Promoting cultural diversity enhances mutual respect,
inclusion and non-discrimination,
and combats racism and xenophobia. We renew our strong
support for the work of
the United Nations in its preparations for the UN World
Conference against Racism to
be held in South Africa in 2001. The first steps toward
enhancing cultural diversity are
the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage. We
welcome efforts already made
to preserve tangible heritage and call for further
efforts toward the preservation and
promotion of intangible heritage. We encourage programmes
dedicated to protect
movable art and archaeological wealth in developing
countries, as well as UNESCO's
projects on Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible
Heritage of Humanity.
41.Increased encounters between different cultures foster
creative cultural interaction. IT
opens up unprecedented opportunities for individuals to
create and share cultural
content and ideas inexpensively and world wide.
Experience shows that diversity can
arouse interest, engender initiative and be a positive
factor in communities seeking to
improve their economies, particularly when assisted by
the extraordinary means of the
IT society. We shall strive to promote the digitalisation
of cultural heritage through, for
example, fostering international links between national
museum systems, with a view to
enhancing public access.
42.To maximise the benefits of cultural interaction, we must
encourage our peoples to
learn to live together by nurturing interest,
understanding and acceptance of different
cultures. We therefore welcome the results of the G8
Education Ministers' Meeting on
the promotion of education that fosters understanding of
different cultures and
non-mother tongue languages and encourage competent
authorities to promote
exchange of students, teachers, researchers and
administrators with the goal of
doubling the rate of mobility over the next ten years.
Toward a 21st century of deeper peace of mind
Crime and Drugs
43.Everyone deserves a life free from the threat of crime.
Rapid globalisation has opened
up new opportunities for pursuing more fulfilling lives.
But it has also created new room
for criminal exploitation, challenging the basic rules of
our social, economic and
political systems. We reaffirm our support for the
adoption by the end of 2000 of the
United Nations Transnational Organised Crime Convention
and three related
Protocols on firearms, smuggling of migrants and
trafficking in persons for the
establishment of an effective legal framework against
transnational organised crime
(TOC). We are particularly concerned to fight against
those who organise and take
advantage of illegal immigration and human trafficking.
We appreciate the work
undertaken by the Lyon Group in the fight against TOC,
and request them to report
back to our next meeting. We also endorse the results of
the Moscow G8 Ministerial
Conference on Combating Transnational Organised Crime.
44.We must take a concerted approach to high-tech crime,
such as cyber-crime, which
could seriously threaten security and confidence in the
global information society. Our
approach is set out in the Okinawa Charter on Global
Information Society. Taking this
forward, we will promote dialogue with industry,
including at the joint Berlin meeting in
October. We welcome the results and the momentum created
by the
Government/Industry Dialogue on Safety and Confidence in
Cyberspace in Paris, and
look forward to the second High-level Meeting on
High-tech Crime with industry to be
held in Japan.
45.We reaffirm our concern at the increasing global threat
posed by the trafficking and
use of illegal drugs. We remain committed to reducing
demand in our own countries,
and to countering the threat from the production and
trafficking of illicit drugs globally.
We will work with other countries, the UN system and
other groups to reduce both
supply and demand. We will support regional initiatives
to end narcotics production
and trafficking. We urge universal implementation of the
conclusions of the 1998 UN
Special Session on countering the world drugs problem. We
are also committed to
strengthening international co-operation to:
-
Combat the illicit diversion of precursor chemicals for
the production of illegal drugs;
-
Address the growing new threat from amphetamines and
other synthetic drugs, and
will convene an ad hoc meeting of drugs experts by the
end of this year;
-
Accelerate the pace of work on asset confiscation;
-
Examine, by means of an international conference hosted
by the United Kingdom,
the global economy of illegal drugs.
46.Financial crime, including money laundering, poses a
serious threat to our economies
and societies. We hereby declare our commitment to take
all necessary national and
international action to effectively combat financial
crime, in line with international
standards.
47.We renew our commitment to combat corruption. We stress
the need for transparency
in government in this regard, and call for the
ratification and effective implementation of
the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention by all signatory
parties. Working with other
countries, we will prepare for the launch of negotiations
in the United Nations on a
new instrument against corruption, and instruct the Lyon
Group to pursue work on this
issue. We look forward to the Second Global Forum to be
hosted by the Netherlands
as a continued response to our call at Birmingham.
48.Enhanced investigation and prosecution of crime requires
enhanced judicial
co-operation. We direct our experts to find ways to do
so.
49.We must assist capacity-building efforts in the more
vulnerable jurisdictions to
strengthen their criminal justice systems, in order to
prevent criminal groups from
threatening their social, economic and political
structures and exploiting them as
loopholes in the global framework to fight crime.
50.We must also protect vulnerable groups and the young in
the fight against crime, and
provide particular care for the victims of crime. We
reaffirm the need for effective
co-operation among competent authorities and for measures
to be taken in
co-operation with civil society.
Ageing
51.The progressive ageing of our populations compels us to
rethink the conventional
concept of a three-stage life cycle of education,
employment and retirement. As the
vitality of our societies increasingly depends on active
participation by older people,
we must foster economic and social conditions, including
IT-related developments,
that allow people of all ages to remain fully integrated
into society, to enjoy freedom in
deciding how to relate and contribute to society, and to
find fulfilment in doing so. The
concept of "active ageing", as articulated at the Denver
Summit, remains our guiding
principle in this endeavour.
52.The central challenge is to promote a culture that values
the experience and knowledge
that come with age. To this end, we will:
-
Make further efforts to remove inappropriate
disincentives for people below
retirement age to stay in the labour market;
-
Counter age prejudice in employment;
-
Encourage life-long learning so that people can remain
active through the
accelerating transition toward an information society;
-
Pursue healthy ageing policies that permit a continued
high quality of life;
-
Seek to increase relevant cross-national research,
including comparable longitudinal
surveys;
-
Engage with the private sector and civil society in
promoting older people's
participation in community and volunteer activities.
53.In pursuing these objectives we attach continued
importance to international
co-operation and policy dialogue, and encourage the OECD
to continue its work in
this area.
54.We look forward to the upcoming meeting of G8 Labour and
Social Affairs Ministers
in Italy in November.
Life Science
Biotechnology/Food Safety
55.Maintenance of effective national food safety systems and
public confidence in them
assumes critical importance in public policy. We are
committed to continued efforts to
make systems responsive to the growing public awareness
of food safety issues, the
potential risks associated with food, the accelerating
pace of developments in
biotechnology, and the increasing cross-border movement
of food and agricultural
products.
56.The commitment to a science-based, rule-based approach
remains a key principle
underlying these endeavours. The on-going work in
international fora to develop and
refine such an approach needs to be accelerated. In
particular, we attach strong
importance to the work of the CODEX Alimentarius
Commission (CAC), the
principal standard-setting body in food safety, and
encourage its Ad Hoc
Intergovernmental Task Force on Foods Derived from
Biotechnology to produce a
substantial interim report before completion of its
mandate in 2003. We also support
the efforts of the CAC's Committee on General Principles
to achieve greater global
consensus on how precaution should be applied to food
safety in circumstances where
available scientific information is incomplete or
contradictory.
57.Policy dialogue, engaging all stakeholders and including
both developed and
developing countries, must be intensified to advance
health protection, facilitate trade,
ensure the sound development of biotechnology, and foster
consumer confidence and
public acceptance. The report by the OECD Ad Hoc Group on
Food Safety and the
work of the Task Force for the Safety of Novel Foods and
Feeds and the Working
Group on Harmonisation of Regulatory Oversight of
Biotechnology represent a useful
step in this direction. We welcome the further work
agreed by OECD ministers. We
note with approval that the OECD will continue to
undertake analytical work and to
play an effective role in international policy dialogue
on food safety, maintaining its
engagement with civil society and seeking to share its
work in this area with countries
outside the organisation's membership. Drawing on its
comparative advantages, the
work of the OECD will effectively complement the
activities of other international
organisations, in particular the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) and WHO.
We also encourage the FAO and WHO to organise periodic
international meetings of
food safety regulators to advance the process of
science-based public consultations.
58.In pursuing this dialogue we will pay particular
attention to the needs, opportunities and
constraints in developing countries. We will work to
strengthen our support for their
capacity building to harness the potentials of
biotechnology, and encourage research
and development as well as data and information sharing
in technologies, including
those that address global food security, health,
nutritional and environmental challenges
and are adapted to specific conditions in these
countries.
59.Open and transparent consultation with and involvement of
all stakeholders, including
representatives of civil society, supported by shared
scientific understanding, is a key
component of a credible food and crop safety system. We
note the proposal to
establish an independent international panel put forward
at the recent OECD
Edinburgh Conference. Building on the success of that
Conference, we will explore, in
consultation with international organisations and
interested bodies including scientific
academies, the way to integrate the best scientific
knowledge available into the global
process of consensus building on biotechnology and other
aspects of food and crop
safety.
Human Genome
60.Advances in life science continuously improve our quality
of life. Opening new medical
frontiers points to unprecedented opportunities for the
benefit of humankind and will
have to be achieved taking account of principles of
bioethics.
61.The announcement of the nearly complete mapping of the
human genome, a
momentous discovery in itself, constitutes a further
dramatic and welcome step in this
development.
62.We consider this mapping to be critically important for
all humanity and call for the
further rapid release of all raw fundamental data on
human DNA sequences as such.
We also emphasise the importance of pursuing the post
genome-sequence research on
the basis of multilateral collaboration.
63.We recognise the need for a balanced and equitable
intellectual property protection for
gene-based inventions, based wherever possible on common
practices and policies.
We encourage further efforts in relevant international
fora to achieve broad
harmonisation of patenting policies of biotechnological
inventions. Environment
64.We must all work to preserve a clean and sound
environment for our children and
grandchildren. We welcome the results of the G8
Environment Ministers' Meeting in
Otsu. We also welcome the conclusion of the Cartagena
Protocol on Biosafety, and
encourage the parties concerned to work for its early
entry into force.
65.We will endeavour with all our partners to prepare a
future-oriented agenda for
Rio+10 in 2002. We are strongly committed to close
co-operation among ourselves
and with developing countries to resolve as soon as
possible all major outstanding
issues, with a view to early entry into force of the
Kyoto Protocol. To that end, we are
determined to achieve a successful outcome at the Sixth
Conference of the Parties to
the Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP6), in
order to achieve the goals
of the Kyoto Protocol through undertaking strong domestic
actions and supplemental
flexibility mechanisms.
66.Working together and with existing institutions to
encourage and facilitate investment in
the development and use of sustainable energy,
underpinned by enabling domestic
environments, will assist in mitigating the problems of
climate change and air pollution.
To this end, the increased use of renewable energy
sources in particular will improve
the quality of life, especially in developing countries.
We therefore call on all
stakeholders to identify the barriers and solutions to
elevating the level of renewable
energy supply and distribution in developing countries.
We invite stakeholders to join
in a Task Force to prepare concrete recommendations for
consideration at our next
Summit regarding sound ways to better encourage the use
of renewables in developing
countries.
67.We fully endorse the conclusions of our Foreign Ministers
regarding sustainable forest
management. In this regard, we attach particular
importance to projects that help
indigenous and local communities practice sustainable
forest management. We will also
examine how best we can combat illegal logging, including
export and procurement
practices.
68.Export credit policies may have very significant
environmental impacts. We welcome
the adoption of the OECD work plan to be completed by
2001. We reaffirm our
commitment to develop common environmental guidelines,
drawing on relevant MDB
experience, for export credit agencies by the 2001 G8
Summit. We will co-operate to
reinvigorate and intensify our work to fulfil the Cologne
mandate.
69.Strengthening international maritime safety is vital for
the protection of the ocean
environment, a global heritage. We will jointly
co-operate with the International
Maritime Organisation (IMO) to improve maritime safety.
We endorse efforts by the
IMO to strengthen safety standards, in particular for
ships carrying dangerous or
polluting cargo, and to verify implementation and
enforcement of the application of
international standards by flag States. We also endorse
efforts by coastal states to
enhance safety of navigation and protection of their
marine environment through the
use, where appropriate, of IMO-adopted routing and
reporting measures. We
encourage the early achievement of these goals.
70.We welcome the IMO efforts to pursue practical reform of
current international
regimes on maritime pollution, in particular the 1992
Convention on Civil Liability for
Oil Pollution Damage and the 1992 International Oil
Pollution Compensation (IOPC)
Convention with respect to, inter alia, better
compensation.
Nuclear Safety
71.We renew the commitment we made at the 1996 Moscow Summit
to safety first in the
use of nuclear power and achievement of high safety
standards world wide. We
agreed to continue to co-operate in promoting a high
standard of nuclear safety. We
continue to attach great importance to the full and
timely implementation of the Nuclear
Safety Account Grant Agreement.
Toward a 21st century of greater world stability
Conflict Prevention
72.The international community should act urgently and
effectively to prevent and resolve
armed conflict. Many people have been sacrificed and
injured, many economies have
been impoverished, and much devastation has been visited
upon the environment. In
an ever more interdependent world such negative effects
spread rapidly. Therefore, a
"Culture of Prevention" should be promoted throughout the
global community. All
members of the international community should seek to
promote the settlement of
disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the Charter
of the United Nations.
73.We underline the importance of the work done by our
Foreign Ministers on conflict
prevention since their special meeting in December 1999
in Berlin and the Conclusions
of their July 2000 meeting in Miyazaki. We commit
ourselves to work for their
implementation particularly with respect to economic
development and conflict
prevention, children in conflict, and international
civilian police. We express special
concern that the proceeds from the illicit trade in
diamonds have contributed to
aggravating armed conflict and humanitarian crises,
particularly in Africa. We therefore
call for an international conference, whose results shall
be submitted to the UN,
building on the UN Security Council Resolution 1306 and
inter alia the 'Kimberley'
process launched by the Government of South Africa, to
consider practical
approaches to breaking the link between the illicit trade
in diamonds and armed
conflict, including consideration of an international
agreement on certification for rough
diamonds. The UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small
Arms and Light Weapons
in All Its Aspects next year requires strong support to
ensure a successful outcome,
including earliest possible agreement on the Firearms
Protocol. We invite the
international community to exercise restraint in
conventional arms exports, and are
committed to work jointly to this end. We invite our
Foreign Ministers to examine
further effective measures to prevent conflicts.
Disarmament, Non-proliferation and Arms Control
74.We welcome the successful outcome of the 2000 Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) Review Conference. We are determined to implement
the conclusions reached
at this Conference, including the early entry into force
of the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the immediate
commencement and the
conclusion within five years of negotiations for the
Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty. We
remain committed to promoting universal adherence to and
compliance with the NPT.
75.We look forward to the early entry into force and full
implementation of the Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty (START) II and to the conclusion of
START III as soon as
possible, while preserving and strengthening the
Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty as
a cornerstone of strategic stability and as a basis for
further reductions of strategic
offensive weapons, in accordance with its provisions. We
welcome the ratification of
the CTBT and START II by Russia.
76.The transparent, safe, secure, environmentally sound and
irreversible disposition and
management of weapon-grade plutonium no longer required
for defence purposes
remains vital. The agreement on plutonium disposition
reached between the United
States and Russia, reinforced by their statement of
intention concerning non-separation
of additional weapon-grade plutonium, marks a critical
milestone. The co-operation
among the G8 countries has yielded significant results
and our next steps should build
on this co-operation and related international projects.
77.Our goal for the next Summit is to develop an
international financing plan for plutonium
management and disposition based on a detailed project
plan, and a multilateral
framework to co-ordinate this co-operation. We will
expand our co-operation to
other interested countries in order to gain the widest
possible international support, and
will explore the potential for both public and private
funding.
78.We welcome the reinforcement of global regimes to prevent
proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction and their delivery systems. We also
recognise the need to examine
and promote further multilateral measures to curb missile
proliferation. In this regard,
we strongly support the important work of the Missile
Technology Control Regime
(MTCR) and will consider the proposal for a Global
Monitoring System. We will
work to increase the level of international contributions
to the Russian chemical
weapons destruction programme. We commit ourselves to
work with others to
conclude the negotiations on the Verification Protocol to
strengthen the Biological
Weapons Convention as early as possible in 2001.
Terrorism
79.We renew our condemnation of all forms of terrorism
regardless of their motivation.
We are determined to combat them. We call for the urgent
strengthening of
international co-operation, in particular in exchanges of
counter-terrorism information,
improving measures against the financing of terrorist
activities, and working together to
bring terrorists to justice. We welcome the adoption of
the International Convention
for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. We
call for all states to become
parties to the twelve international counter-terrorism
conventions to enhance
international co-operation against terrorism.
80.We are deeply concerned at the increased number of
terrorist acts, including hijacking
and taking of hostages. We express our great concern over
the continuing pattern of
terrorist activities in many regions. We will continue to
raise this in our bilateral
contacts, carefully monitor developments and maintain
close co-operation between us.
81.In this regard, emphasising the international concern
over the terrorist threat emanating
from Afghan territory under the control of the Taliban,
we call for full implementation
of the UNSCR 1267.
Next Summit
82.We have accepted the invitation of the Prime Minister of
Italy to meet in Genoa next
year. To enhance communications in the meantime, we have
agreed to establish an
e-mail network among ourselves.
"
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