[sustran] Re: ESCAP Committee on Transport and Communications

[Ralph B. Hirsch]

On 7 January, Priyanthi Fernando of IFRTD (International Forum for Rural
Transport and Development) wrote about a December 1997 meeting in Bangkok
organized by ESCAP, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for
Asia and the Pacific: 
>Unfortunately, the content of the meeting included 
>hardly anything about non-motorised transport modes, 
>about environmental issues (limited to the transportation 
>of hazardous goods), about poverty issues or gender issues. 
                                
and asked:
> Should we attempt to influence our government 
>delegations to include in the discussion issues that 
>should be of greater concern to a region that is home to
>a large number of poor people?

V. Setty Pendakur of the University of British Columbia commented:
> It is extra-ordinary that ESCAP, which is the regional 
>organization for Asia where non-motorized transport is 
>predominant, has not included the concerns expressed 
>by your memo.  We may have to device strategies to make 
>presentations to national delegations as well as their 
>Committees on Social and Economic Affairs.  Perhaps, some 
>one more familiar with the structure of UN can advise us.

Perhaps the following comments can be helpful. They are based on the
experience of my organization, the International Federation of Pedestrians
(FIP), which has been in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) for about 25 years. During that period we have been active
with ECOSOC's Economic Commission for Europe (ECE), and more recently also
with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). There are similar bodies for
Western Asia (ESCWA), for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and -- as
mentioned by Priyanthi Fernando --  for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Due to
lack of resources FIP has not yet become active in the work of any of the
last three commissions named, although in principle we could become involved
in their activities relating to transport, environment and urban development
issues. 

On the basis of FIP's long years at the UN, I'll contradict my esteemed
colleague, Setty Pendakur. No, it is NOT extraordinary that the concerns in
Priyanthi Fernando's memo were left out of the discussions at ESCAP. It is
amazing, it is deplorable. But it is unfortunately commonplace rather than
extraordinary. Such concerns -- in order to be part of the agenda of the
UN's regional commissions -- must be brought up either by a member country
in the region, by an NGO in consultative status, or by the commission's
secretariat. If the concerns are not among the priority issues of a country
in the region, or if they are not championed by one of the NGOs, they are
unlikely to be raised. 

An open discussion list such as SUSTRANS may not be the ideal medium to
develop a detailed strategy for overcoming this deficiency, but it can
provide an excellent starting point. For now let me say, on the basis of our
experience, that for an NGO to work effectively with the regional
commissions requires a dedicated, well-qualified, and versatile staff (most
such staffs are paid, though a few are volunteers), enough money for travel
to the meetings called by the commissions, and a tremendous amount of
staying power. 

Presentations and other forms of contact with the delegations of individual
countries can be a valuable complement to work with the regional commissions
and its specialized bodies. Contacts made at one level are likely to
reinforce those made at the other. 

A number of people, among them Setty Pendakur, who share the concerns listed
by  Priyanthi Fernando, will be in Washington, DC next week for the annual
meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB).  I hope that there we
may move the matter a little further along in face-to-face discussions. I do
see the Internet -- and this splendid discussion list SUSTRAN -- as
potentially crucial tools for overcoming some of the handicaps that
disadvantaged groups and NGOs with small financial resources have long
labored under. 

Ralph B. Hirsch,  Secretary General
International Federation of Pedestrians (FIP)
3500 Race Street
Philadelphia PA 19104-4925
USA
telephone/fax +1.215.386.1270
e-mail <hirsch at igc.org>