STATEMENT BY YOUTH CAUCUS
World Summit on Sustainable Development

We, the young people gathered here in Johannesburg for the World
Summit on Sustainable Development entered this process with hope and
optimism that the spirit of the 1992 Earth Summit would live on, and
be further transformed into concrete actions and achievable plans by
governments. Today, we are disappointed and angered that the rich and
powerful have blocked the road to sustainable development and
generated meager results from this summit. We are troubled by the
efforts of governments of the North to gut Agenda 21 and to co-
operate with and even encourage an unprecedented corporate invasion
of democratic, multilateral, and cooperative processes. Further, we
are outraged by one government in particular, the United States of
America, and its attempts to undermine and sabotage agreements at
this summit.

We live in an epoch characterized by environmental degradation,
global poverty, underdevelopment, the marginalisation of billions of
people and all forms of violence and discrimination.  It is also an
epoch of an unprecedented revolution in information and technology,
including the field of bio-technology; an epoch during which
humankind has accumulated sufficient volumes of capital, technology
and knowledge to be able to eradicate global poverty,
underdevelopment as well as the profound socio-economic disparities
existing between and within nation-states.

We recognize the globalization of markets and the imposed forms of
global governance by which it is accompanied present major
challenges:

·       The concentration of financial and economic power into the
hands of a few individuals and multi-national corporations.
·       The degradation and depletion of the Earth's natural
resources.
·       The dismantling of nation states and their ability to
effectively implement measures for sustainable development.

We believe that the crucial challenge facing humankind today is to
ensure that globalization becomes a positive force for the world's
people.  All must be committed to building a more equitable and just
world economic and political order, and to infusing the globalization
process with new values and ethics of equity, social justice, and
inclusion.

We recognize:

·       That attempts to confront poverty have been impeached and
limited to inadequate measurers that fail to redress historical and
current inequalities.
·       The closure of the UN Center on Transnational Corporations
and the present gutting of mechanisms for corporate regulation and
enforcement of international agreements is shocking and must be
reversed.
·       That the Rio declaration and other multilateral agreements
remain crucial instruments to global governance, as long as they are
accompanied by clear targets and time-frames aimed at the fulfillment
of basic human needs. In addition, the strengthening of regional
organizations is fundamental to the equitable implementation of
targets and timelines for sustainable development.
·       That we have two paths before us: the path of consensus,
cooperation and decisive action at all levels; or the path of
division, disparity and the further concentration of power into the
hands of the few.

We affirm:

·       Our commitment in bringing about a developed and sustainable
better world.  In this regard, poverty eradification, sustainable
consumption and production, and the protection and sustenance of the
life supporting eco-system are indispensable prerequisites.
·       Our unwavering determination in dealing with the legacy of
colonialism and underdevelopment, in infusing all levels of
governance with democratic principles, and in fighting against any
form of discrimination based on gender, race, class, age and
geographic location.
·       Our dedication to implementing the Rio declaration and plan
of action, the Kyoto Protocol and other agreements of an
interdependent nature.

We declare:

·       Our support for the peaceful resolution of all conflicts, in
particular those in the Middle East and Great Lakes region.
·       Our support for and end to all foreign occupation and for the
rights of all nations in their struggles for self-determination.
·       Our urgent call for the implementation of the United Nation
resolution to end the occupation of Palestine.
·       Our call for the completion of the decolonisation of Africa,
by implementing a referendum on self-determination for the people of
Western Sahara.
·       Our call for the recognition of the rights of Indigenous
peoples to self-determination pertaining to the governance of
traditional lands and territories, resources and knowledge.
·       Our support for the immediate removal of all unilateral
economic sanctions against any country that results in the
impoverishment of the population.
·       Our call for respect for the integrity and independence of
youth organizations and structures in all United Nations processes.
·       Our support for strong public services and programmes, and
our opposition to the privatization of basic services.
·       Our support for the consensus-building, collaborative
approach agreed upon in Rio in 1992, and our opposition to the new
reliance on the so-called "Type II" partnerships, which we see as a
cover-up for the failure of the multilateral process.

As this WSSD closes, we call on all governments to work side by side
with youth to ensure the following changes:

·       Return in good faith, to the multilateral process. As part of
this commitment, there must be a fundamental democratization and
reorganization of the international trade and financial institutions
such as the World Trade Organization, in keeping with (not
overriding) existing multilateral structures and agreements.
·       Take joint action to reject the drumbeat of war, redirect
funds from militarism to development. We are appalled by the complete
absence of the principle of disarmament in the plan of implementation.
·       Bring to life the Rio principle of common but differential
responsibilities and commit to the principle of global taxes and
measurers to fund global priorities such as poverty eradication.
·       Lesson the ecological footprint of human society in developed
countries, through coordinated, targeted and cooperative efforts to
curb production and consumption patterns and to identify the true
costs of the goods and services cycle, including so-called
economic "externalities".

In view of the fact that sustainable development is a condition to
secure our future, we pledge to act, together with other social
actors both within and outside governments, as partners for
sustainable development.  We are committed to the creation of a
better global community existing within the context of sustainable
development.

We see this summit as a turning point for the United Nations system,
whether it shall continue to be weakened or whether it can re-assert
its leadership role in accordance with the UN Charter. Frankly, we
are not happy with the empty promises and unwillingness of the
developed countries to implement multilateral agreements.

Now, we call for the post-Rio decade of undermining and weakening the
United Nations to be transformed by a post-Johannesburg decade of
rebuilding and strengthening the UN, reclaiming the UN for the people
of the world. We will do our part to realize this goal.

We urge all Member States and the United Nations itself to assert
their role as democratic governments and to halt the corporate
hijacking of the sustainable development agenda.  Although our common
task is not easy, its overriding principle is simple: people and
planet come before profit.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Siswe Shezi             South African Youth Council             
083-709-6936
082-575-3976

Liz Carlyle             International Union of Students         
073-247-2060
083-318-2845

Olowole Oshota          International Youth and Student Movement for
the United Nations
083-515-9887

Fikile Mbalula          International Union of Socialist Youth  
082-553-0181

Richard Buukumbwe       Southern African Youth Forum            
263-23-826-317