Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Bangkok Post - July 17, 2004
The historic Earth summit in Rio in June, 1992 successfully tackled the environmental, economic and social challenges facing the international community at that time. Its sequel, 10 years later in Johannesburg, was supposed to find ways of achieving sustainable development to combat poverty. It was a resounding flop. The World Trade Organisation staggered from a disastrous meeting in Seattle to one which achieved some success out in the desert in Doha, and on to one which had to be aborted after it collapsed in Cancun.
In September 2000, at the largest-ever gathering of world leaders, more than 150 heads of state met at the United Nations and pledged to give billions of people a better life. Their Millennium Summit declaration vowed, by 2015, to send every child to primary school, deliver millions from destitution, halt the spread of Aids, malaria and other major diseases, end racism, promote democracy and peace and prevent environmental destruction. Fine goals, fine ideals. But UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has watched subsequent developments and expressed disappointment. Some targets have been achieved but many have not. It seems that far too many luminaries had forgotten their visionary speeches and pledges by the time they reached the airport for the flight home.
It is too early to measure the success of the XV Aids Conference in terms of long-term achievement. There is no question that it was superbly organised and this helped to make up for the apathy shown by those world leaders who were invited but couldn't be bothered to attend. The issues were similar to those discussed in Barcelona two years ago and Durban four years ago, which shows how hard it is to move forward.
Cancun, Barcelona, Durban, Bangkok, Johannesburg. These are exotic destinations yet delegates fail to be inspired and all too often trot out the same lengthy speeches, wake-up calls and tired position papers which say nothing new. And that is if the ever-vocal protesters allow them to make their point. The name of their game is blame. What exactly was achieved by drowning out the US representative's speech with boos, insulting our prime minister while he was speaking and shouting down the chief of Pfizer so he couldn't give his speech or answer questions? Why deny them the right of free speech?
One way to obtain genuine, long-lasting progress at major international meetings lies in quiet discussions between delegates meeting in corridors, coffeeshops or venues outside the main conference halls. Of course, it takes time to achieve results from these unofficial and semi-diplomatic contacts. Nothing is gained by having shouting matches or engaging in vandalism. Confrontations are non-productive. And the squabbling in public over money and "turf" was demeaning.
The world has become a selfish place and national interests are being given precedence over global interests. The dilemma is how to get these to converge because until they do, we can forget about solving the major problems plaguing our planet and that includes the HIV/Aids pandemic. Perhaps we should take these delegates and dignitaries away from their luxury hotels, gourmet meals and media spotlight and lock them up in a large hall and leave them there on a starvation diet until they reach agreement. But that's not an option.
One alternative is to prune down the size of these expensive talking shops. It would be difficult to get 17,000 people to agree on the time of day, let alone a cure for what ails humankind. We should learn this lesson and apply it at the next meeting in Toronto in 2006.
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