BUILDING BRIDGES, NOT WALLS
DECLARATION
EURO-MEDITERRANEAN CIVIL FORUM
Naples 28-30 November 2003
From 28 to 30 November 2003, more than 300 participants from the
Euro-Mediterranean region met in the Euro-Med Civil Forum in Naples,
to discuss the promotion of sustainable development and of strengthening
civil society in the context of EU Mediterranean Partnership.
The Forum was organized by the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo,
under the responsibility of a Steering Committee and the collaboration
of the NGO Platform for the Euro-Med Civil Forum, with the support
of the EU Commission and the Fondazione Laboratorio Mediterraneo.
We adopted the present declaration addressed to the Meeting of
the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership,
2-3 December 2003 in Naples:
1. We, representatives of EuroMed Civil Society
have a common wish to build bridges of solidarity in a region that
needs urgent reforms bringing real changes to people’s lives.
We met in a common quest to move beyond the superficial changes
the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP) so far brought to the region
and to break out of the constraints and adverse pressures caused
by the one-sided pro-liberalization trade policies as well as the
increasing political tensions in the region.
2. We believe that peace and security in the region
and the respect for UN decisions are the basis for the success of
the EMP.
3. We condemn the continued occupation of Iraq,
and the subsequent cycle of violence, in the denial of UN decisions.
We are also deeply concerned about the violation of international
law and human rights caused by an otherwise legitimate fight against
terrorism.
4. Moreover, the intensified Israeli occupation
of the Palestinian land, the continued violation of the Palestinian
people’s rights and the consequent suicide attacks, has lead
to an unprecedented cycle of violence and insecurity in Palestine
and Israel. The devastating realities produced by the Wall of Separation,
that seeks to kill the prospects for a viable Palestinian state,
negate all values upon which the Barcelona process is founded.
5. We ask the governments of the EuroMed Partnership
to work proactively to immediately establish the respect for international
law, international humanitarian law and human rights and bring and
end to occupation of Iraq and Palestine, with the help of the UN.
6. In Naples we warmly welcomed participants of
civil society from future EU countries. We call the governments
of the future EU Member States to fully participate in the Euro-Mediterranean
Partnership and contribute actively to promoting the ideals of democracy
and human rights, civil society participation, sustainable development
and cultural exchange upon which the Barcelona Declaration is built.
We insist that the new neighborhood policy of the EU does not reduce
the significance of the Partnership but increases the importance
of its regional dimension.
The participants in Naples examined a range of issues related to
strengthening civil society, sustainable development and employment.
A detailed overview of the Civil Forum debates and recommendations,
and of the national consultations preceding the meeting, will be
forwarded to the Ministers in a separate report. Here, we wish to
highlight the following points in anticipation of the Ministerial
meeting:
7. The Mediterranean region is characterized by
widespread poverty, with 30% of the population in the southern countries
living on less than 2 US$/day, and economic developments that are
aggravating the economic situation for parts of the population.
It is threatened by serious and persistent environmental problems,
due to the nature of economic activities and the absence of effective
government intervention. The human rights situation has in general
deteriorated over the past 8 years and there is an urgent need for
establishing, strengthening and guaranteeing gender equality, women’s
dignity and participation.
8. Sustainable development must become a central
objective of the EMP. While the concept appears in many political
statements, reality goes in a different direction. We urge the European
Commission to finally conclude the Sustainability Impact Assessment
it promised in Stuttgart 1999, welcomed by the Ministers for Foreign
Affairs in Valencia in 2002, who called for its launch by the end
of that year.
9. We urge the Ministers to adopt the framework
for a Euro-Mediterranean Strategy for Environmental Integration
as developed by the EMP Environmental Ministers Conference in Athens,
2002 and take decisions on its practical, immediate, implementation.
10. We are deeply concerned about the prospects
for employment in the region in particular for women, young people
and people with special needs. We call upon the governments to organize
a Euro-Mediterranean meeting of Ministers of Labour to examine the
situation and design urgent policies and instruments to redress
the situation of unemployment.
11. We ask the member states of EMP to implement
economic and financial instruments in order to redress commercial
imbalances in the region. We request that the association agreements
do not lead to a deterioration of the socio-economic situation in
the South. In this regard we recall that no real partnership can
operate without sub-regional integration in the South based on empowerment
of their productive and competitive capacities and the respect for
rule of law as well as an environment conducive to productive investment.
12. We call upon the Ministers to initiate the
development, with full civil society participation, of a Mediterranean
Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development policy to ensure better
rural livelihoods, environmental protection and food security, to
be adopted by their next meeting.
13. We urge the governments to consider migration
as a resource and a cultural asset for the development of region
rather than a persistent security problem.
14. In general we request that social considerations
and measures are integrated into all policies of the EMP and to
encourage the social dialogue within the countries.
15. We urge the government to require the European
Investment Bank (EIB) and the emerging Facility for Euro-Mediterranean
Investment to work on the basis of strict environmental, social
and human rights standards for all its activities in the region,
developed and reviewed from time to time with meaningful involvement
of civil society organisations from the region.
16. We express the need for the Partnership to
introduce policies and measures that strengthen civil society and
its effective participation in the EMP.
17. In this context we ask the governments of
the EMP to end the current visa policies, and other impediments
of free movement, that for many years have systematically complicated
EuroMed civil society meetings, including the one in Naples, harassing
civil society actors, affecting their dignity or simply impeding
them to meet.
18. Strengthening of civil society means in the
first instance the respect of the rule of law and providing civil
society with legal means to act. It means the effective respect
of freedom of association, assembly and of expression in all the
countries of the EMP – including the right to set-up, and
be organized in, trade unions.
19. It further implies the release of all prisoners
of conscience and the ending of current attacks on, and harassment
of, human rights defenders in several of the EMP countries as well
effectively supporting their right to act according to the UN Human
Rights Defenders Declaration of December 1998 including their right
to unconditionally receive international funds.
20. It implies the guarantee of the rights of
minorities and refugees wherever they live as well as the fight
against all kinds of racism and xenophobia. It also implies effective
plans and strategies for integrating women into all aspects of the
Partnership through affirmative action as well as gender mainstreaming
of the three baskets of the EMP. A precondition for achieving these
latter goals is to remove the reservations to the Convention for
the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) by all EMP
countries and to implement it within the national legislation as
a top priority for the political agenda of the Partnership.
21. We welcome the Commission Communication on
Reinvigorating Democracy and Human Rights in the Mediterranean and
urge the governments of the EMP to give high priority to its effective
implementation. We recommend to establish a legal body to monitor
the human rights clause of the Association Agreements.
22. We discussed the cultural aspects of the EMP
and agreed that its priority task should be to create the necessary
conditions for cultural exchange on an equal basis. We insist that,
to be credible, the Foundation for dialogue between cultures must
benefit from an independent juridical status and receive significant
funding. We call upon the Foundation to support and promote the
contemporary dimension of cultures, the mobility of all cultural
actors and their independence from political and religious powers
and to base its activities upon the reality of those who act on
the ground.
23. We wish to emphasize the new and participatory
approach of the Civil Forum in Naples that introduced qualitative
changes of civil society’s relation to the EMP. It confirms
the existence of a vibrant independent EuroMed civil society that
more than ever is willing to forge alliances, strengthen solidarities
and build bridges across the Euro-Mediterranean region. We look
forward to close contacts and dialogue with a committed and transparent
EuroMed Parliamentary Assembly.
24. Finally, we ask the governments of the EMP
to adopt a plan of action for civil society in the EuroMed region
and for systematically including dialogue with civil society at
all levels in its dealings and decision making procedures. We would
like to see the opportunity given at the recent Crete EMP Ministerial
Meeting, to discuss the outcomes of the Civil Forum debates directly
with the Ministers, to become a regular feature. |