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Report of the Second WANA Forum Forum WANA Report of the Second Report of the Second WANA Forum Pursuing Supranational Solutions to the Challenges of Carrying Capacity MAY 2010 MAY 16 - 18 MAY 2010 AMMAN, JORDAN Copyright © 2010 by the WANA Forum No part of this report may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission from the WANA Forum. Deposit No. 2010 / 7 / 2768 ISBN: 978 - 9957 - 419 - 10 - 3 Publisher: WANA Forum Editors: Laura Haddad, Nour Qabba’ah, Baker al-Hiyari and Martti Antola Designer: Ihsan Hussein Printing: National Press Amman, Jordan The West Asia–North Africa Forum garetfully acknowledges the support of The Nippon Foundation. Building Trust Together Report of the Second WANA Forum Pursuing Supranational Solutions to the Challenges of Carrying Capacity 16 - 18 MAY 2010 AMMAN, JORDAN 2 WANA Forum Report 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD 5 POST-FORUM REFLECTIONS 8 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 11 1. Overview of the WANA Forum 15 2. Opening Remarks 18 3. Transcending Regional Carrying Capacity 21 4. Regional Themes and Priorities of the WANA Forum 24 5. Launch of the Arabic Report of the Legal Empowerment of the Poor: Making the Law Work for Everyone 29 6. Displacement and Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Recovery 32 7. Social Cohesion in the WANA Region 39 8. Our Common Future: Water, Environment and Energy Community 43 9. Environment and Green Economy 47 10. Mobilising the Third Sphere for Collective Action 51 11. Dinner Remarks by Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 55 12. Break-Out Groups 56 12.1 Social Cohesion 56 12.2 Green Economy 62 12.3 Environment 64 12.4 Reconstruction and Recovery 70 13. Conclusions of WANA Forum 2010 73 Annexes 77 A1. Agenda 79 A2. Participants 89 A3. Speaker Bios 95 A4. Break-Out Session Participants 115 A5. Background Paper: Beyond WANA Forum 2010 117 A6. WANA Forum Secretariat 127 Photo credit: AP/EMPICS FOREWORD BY HRH PRINCE EL HASSAN BIN TALAL, CHAIRMAN OF THE WANA FORUM he West Asia-North Africa (WANA) where regional cooperation could bring region continues to face many added value: reconstruction and recovery, T challenges, some of them untold; green economy, water and energy, education most of them tragic and sadly, man-made. for sustainable development (ESD), the After taking part in three days of discussions revival of hima and social cohesion. and deliberations during WANA Forum 2010 This year, poverty as one source of I remain optimistic. This optimism is not social fragmentation, was one of the areas ‘rose-tinted’ nor does it jar with the reality of addressed with the launch of the Arabic these ongoing tragedies; rather, listening to version of the Report of the Commission the stories of those WANA participants who on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (LEP), have lived through such adversity, gives me in collaboration with the United Nations hope and faith in the possibility of greater Development Programme (UNDP) and the things to come for the peoples of this region. Arab Thought Forum (ATF). The Report, These participants from all over the WANA Making the Law Work for Everyone, states region come together to form a community that poverty is not merely about a lack of of individuals comprised of the Third Sphere material resources, but also about a lack – government, private sector and civil society of property rights, labour and business rights – of WANA and beyond. These concerned as well as access to justice and the rule WANA citizens – some of them ‘witnesses’ of law. Seventy per cent of the world’s from crisis areas – are motivated by a sense population is unable to improve their of responsibility to combat the structures of livelihood regardless of how hard they work injustice wherever they exist. because of blatant exclusion. What seems Inspired by the Helsinki Process of 1975, yet to be understood by many in our society which is based on three ‘baskets’ – economy, is that all of humanity stands to lose if four security and humanitarian issues, the WANA billion human beings remain outside an Forum in 2009 identified priority issues inclusive societal structure. WANA Forum Report 2010 5 We are now only five years away from scarcity and drought, as no single state can 2015 – the year in which the Millennium effectively achieve this on its own. This is Development Goals (MDGs) are supposed where the concept of a Community of Water to be realised. Yet, in the LEP session, I was and Energy for the Human Environment, a reminded of how much we have to do in concept I have been advocating for many order to get there. Did we set the benchmark years, comes into its own. It takes a regional too high? Or did we fail as a community approach to water, hunger, climate, health to do our best and try our hardest to make and poverty which is encompassing and the MDGs a reality? The UNDP gently consultative, with a view to averting future conflict or as we have recently Until uprooted communities are seen in some media reports, ‘water wars’. afforded autonomy over their lives, During the WANA Forum regional and global human security 2010 we discussed the notion of the ‘uprooted’ (a term originally will be threatened by a growing hatred introduced by the Independent industry borne of human suffering and Commission on International Humanitarian Affairs in the our collective failure to act early 1980s) in the context of Territoriality, Identity and warned us that with regard to the MDGs, Movement/Migration (TIM), a concept that there are three on which the WANA region challenges the current discourse around is failing: (1) Poverty, Employment and mandates – mandates for Palestinians; Hunger; (3) Women’s Empowerment and mandates for Iraqis and so on. The theory (7) Environmental Sustainability. This is behind the uprooted is that all peoples who an opportunity for the WANA community have been forced to leave their homeland are to mobilise and to look at the underlying equally vulnerable and their needs are often reasons as to why we are not on track to grossly misunderstood. People uprooted by meet these Goals. war, violence, environmental devastation and One of the highlights of this year’s persecution do not just need bags of flour Forum was the Strategic Foresight Group’s and rice, or cement to rebuild houses, albeit session on water, ‘Our Common Future: these items are important in themselves. Water, Environment and Energy Community’ Retaining dignity in their lives is what lies at where the concept of concentric circles of the root of all human aspiration and identity, cooperation to break political deadlocks and and until uprooted communities, irrespective generate ideas that can be implemented at of labels are afforded autonomy over their the policy level was discussed. Water must lives, regional (and global) human security be treated as an instrument of partnership, or will be threatened by a growing hatred there is every chance it will reach a critical industry borne of human suffering and our impasse which will threaten our security collective failure to act. and survival in the coming decades, such The WANA Forum is here to ask the as we have seen with Weapons of Mass difficult questions and to suggest alternatives Destruction. Of the 15 most water-poor that are sustainable and situated in the countries in the world, ten are in the WANA context of the WANA region. As our region. All states must take responsibility resources continue to dwindle, it is evident for finding regional solutions to water that we should invest more in a resource of 6 WANA Forum Report 2010 which we have plenty – people. We have to moment during the Forum, when I was told conserve our physical resources and develop that the sessions were being simultaneously our social and human capital with respect webcast to viewers all over the globe. Given to human dignity because the true wealth the high number of young people who use of nations relies on social cohesion, not the Internet to access information, I can only just on indicators such as GDP. A Regional hope we reached some of them, as it is this Cohesion Fund would be an important group we most need to engage, listen to and step toward establishing a more productive encourage. mechanism for enabling inter-regional This is not my Forum or your Forum. It and intra-independent action to enhance is a shared, inclusive space where we can all regional social cohesion. This will need to come together to consolidate our efforts and be based on a ‘code of conduct’ outlined in resources, through regional multidisciplinary, a social charter and informed by a cohesion multi-sectoral approaches, to legitimate index that is developed with the help of and motivate collective action to influence constructive consultations across WANA. An decision-makers and change agents. The empirical, apolitical database which can be challenge now is to turn ideas into a easily accessed by policymakers, community practical framework which is inclusive and leaders, advocates, the public and the media accessible, bridging the gaps between theory will be an important tool in this process. and practice; between the local, regional The WANA region would also do well and global; and to devise strategies to to listen and learn from the rest of Asia. influence political structures in ways that are As was clear from the presentations by meaningful and relevant to the communities our speakers from China, Japan and the on which we ultimately want to have an Association of Southeast Asian Nations impact.

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