[WSIS CS-Plenary] The Cultural Diversity Caucus

[Cobase]

Dear Ms. Dupuy,


In my capacity as a foundator I mantain that the Cultural Diversity Caucus
CDC)  is the expression of several organization, scientific bodies, local
and indigenous communities, which goal is to promote a creation of a legal
instrument for the Protection of the Cultural Diversity.

COBASE is the coordinator and the "historical facilitator" of this issue
inside the framework of several UN activities, conventions, conferences.

If someone heard about the existence of Cultural Divesity Caucus inside
WCAR, WSSD, CBD and so on, it is because inside these arenas COBASE
scheduled the meetings of the cultural diversity caucus.

The outcome of this activuty is the "Resolution of Rome - Guidelines for the
Protection of Cultural Diversity", that became an official document of
negotiation to the CBD and others.

The document it is a result of several meetings among indigenous peoples,
intergovernamental bodies, academics, local communities and governments.

All the meetings of the Cultural Diversity Caucus have been coordinated by
people who have adopted the Resolution of Rome and are willing to promote
it.

The Cultural Diversity Caucus rejects every form of racism, anti-Semitism,
inculturalization,transculturalization and evangelization.

The facts that I have personally registered are:

- As far as the WSIS is concerned I personally coordinated with the
secretariat the schedule of three meetings of the Cultural Diversity Caucus
during the prepcom.

- Also we hard about something called Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
Caucus, which purpose we don't know.

- after our  CDC  meetings the so called Cultural and Linguistic Diversity
Caucus disappeared.

- We stated, since the first meeting, which you participated in, that the
main purpose of the Cultural Diversity Caucus is to promote the document
Resolution of Rome and the project Poverty Information.

- We stated the same thing also during the second meeting which has had a
broader participation. Also we opened a discussion about our critics to the
UNESCO Universal Declaration.

I invite  now each organization,  willing to endorse and adopt  the
aforementioned attached document  "Resolution of Rome" and attend the side
event "Poverty Information", to communicate it to COBASE (cobase at tin.it) and
make wellcome suggestions.

Also because as a historical representative of the cultural Diversity Caucus
I would like to underline, once more, that CDC  rejects every form of
racism, anti-Semitism, inculturalization, transculturalization and
evangelization I invite each organization to adhere to these principles.

If, by chance, there is someone that on behalf of Cultural Diversity Caucus
promote inter or trans cultural dialogue, or inter-religious dialogue we
could state that is structurally outside the concept of Cultural Diversity
or it is exploiting incorrectly this important issue.

In any case we express total disagreement.

Moreover I would like to add that Cultural Diversity cannot be ridiculously
reduced to the concepts of "voicing opinions".

The concept of Cultural Diversity it is much more relevant, also inside the
limitations of international fora, that fredoom to express opinions.

In fact "Cultural Diversity, including Linguistic Diversity,  is the
instrument, the means, the art or technique of existence in which humanity
establishes  relationships  with Environmental Diversity and perceives it,
gains knowledge  of it , nurtures it and makes it grow" (Resolution of
Rome).

In conclusion we kindly invite you and your organizations  to avoid the use
of  the expression "Cultural Diversity Caucus" in order to not  create
confusion and continue to disturb our work

I look forward for your earliest reply. Best regards

Stefano Mannacio

COBASE
Cultural Diversity Caucus




Resolution of Rome


GUIDELINES FOR THE PROTECTION

OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY





Back round


This document is the outcome of various conferences  and meeting held in
Italy with the participation of representatives from Indigenous Peoples,
local communities, universities, companies, international and governamental
organizations.



It is intended as one of a basic documents with a view to the conference
“The value of Cultural Divrsity in Planning Sustainability”


DIVERSITY IS LIFE


Premise



In many international negotiations such as the Convention on Biological
Diversity, the Barcelona Plan of Action for the Mediterranean, the
Convention to Combat Desertification, the Agenda 21, the Panel of Forests, a
new basis for dialogue and negotiation has been established in which
Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and local communities are given an important
role. At the same time, other intergovernmental organisations including
UNESCO, FAO, UN Office of the High Commissioner for the Human Rights, ILO,
WIPO and the European Commission are also working to protect the rights of
Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and local communities.



These developments are an important step since they recognise there has been
a shift in judgement in Western scientific and political circles.  Now there
is a general tendency to recognise in an increasingly explicit manner the
scientific value of the knowledge of Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and
local communities.



But although a number of international legal instruments now contain
provisions affirming the importance of protecting the traditional knowledge
and traditional practices of Indigenous Peoples, nonetheless we are
convinced that no instruments to date have recognised Cultural Diversity's
fundamental importance and the protections that must be afforded to it.



>From this point of view a number of limitations have emerged in the course
of international negotiations:



Ø       There is a limitation at the outset. At the 1992 Unced in Rio, in
considering negative ecological phenomena such as the loss of biodiversity,
the greenhouse effect, deforestation, desertification, spreading of
environmental and endemical illnesses, there never was any explicit
recognition of the relation between these problems and the highly dangerous
tendency to level all Cultural Diversity and to make the whole world
uniform.



Until now, the process of  the reduction  of Cultural Diversity has not been
cause for alarm and no one has explored the possibility of initiating a new
line of scientific research and dialogue among peoples that would be based
on an understanding of the inextricable relation between Cultural Diversity
and Environmental Diversity.



On the contrary, efforts have focused on the attempt to find global
solutions within the context of the cultural-scientific-technological system
that has produced the very environmental problems that need solving. These
kind of global solutions have not yet appeared and Cultural Diversity has
still received no consideration.



Ø       References to traditional knowledge and to the practices of
Aboriginal and Indigenous Peoples and local communities that are found in
the current International Conventions are clearly insufficient for coming to
terms with the essential role of Cultural Diversity. Cultural Diversity,
including Linguistic Diversity,  is the instrument, the means, the art or
technique of existence in which humanity establishes  relationships  with
Environmental Diversity and perceives it, gains knowledge  of it , nurtures
it and makes it grow.



Cultural Diversity is the expression of local and practical ways in which
human beings relate to their environment and it can be a source of happiness
and satisfaction for those who practice it.



Ø       In the texts of International Conventions and accords, traditional
knowledge is not valued for what it is, that is a complex, different,
spiritual, cognitive, and technical alternative to formalised Western
science and technology. A complete self-sufficient system which is able to
meet all the expectations of its members and which pursues wellbeing and
health protection.



To the contrary, the current interpretation holds that traditional knowledge
is merely a source of information that can be useful in filling gaps in the
knowledge of formalised Western science, medicine, pharmacology, nutrition.



This way of looking at the question constitutes a serious conceptual and
practical error. Nobody can accept the hypothesis that traditional knowledge
should be seen as a source of useful information that can flow freely into
Western science, because traditional knowledge has different categories of
thought, different basic premises, different methodologies and different
objectives. No piece of information derived from traditional knowledge can
be usefully entered into Western databases and inserted in formalised
models, since they are part of a scientific system that is incompatible with
traditional knowledge.



Recognition of this fundamental diversity is the only basis for beginning a
dialogue or a kind of exchange between western science and traditional
knowledge, even from a health point of view.



Cultural Diversity represents a complete and self sufficient system that can
give its greatest contribution only when it is practised in all its
spiritual, religious, practical, ecological, territorial, ethical and legal
dimensions. Therefore any attempt not to take all these aspects into account
works against Cultural Diversity's ability to make useful proposals and even
threatens the very existence of Cultural Diversity.



Ø       Current International Conventions arise in a very specific cultural,
organisational and legal contact and they function according to well-tested
models of negotiation. This means that Cultural Diversity finds itself
treated according to conceptualisations that are extraneous to it and that
have arisen for purposes other than the protection of Cultural Diversity.



The most serious consequence is that the specificity and the importance of
the Indigenous question is not recognised and it is treated in the same
manner as other problems that do not directly relate to it, such as the
Clearing House Mechanisms or the Biosafety Protocols, Checking Procedures,
Principles of Safeguard, Precaution, Ethics, Bioethics etc.



These limitations can constitute a real danger. As long as the protection of
Cultural Diversity is left only to conventions on the environment, these
conventions will act merely as mechanisms of levelling and normalisation of
Cultural Diversity and will lead to a process of assimilation.



On these bases, we emphasise the importance of setting up for a new
international instrument that will guarantee the protection of Cultural
Diversity, an instrument to be developed by both Indigenous and
non-Indigenous Peoples.



[On these bases, we think it is necessary to open a process of negotiation
to develop a new international instrument specifically created for the
protection of Cultural Diversity].



In light of these principles, for the purpose of developing guidelines for a
new international instrument for the protection of Cultural Diversity, the
Conference of Rome recognises:



-          that Environmental Diversity exists and Cultural (and Linguistic)
Diversity exists and this is constituted by innumerable distinct components
including peoples, nations, tribes and communities and that both
Environmental and Cultural Diversity are assets that are equally important
for the continuation of all life on the planet;



-          that Cultural (and Linguistic) Diversity and Environmental
Diversity are intimately connected in a reciprocal and local relationship
and that the alteration, destruction or disappearance of the one, leads to
the alteration, destruction  or disappearance of the other;



-          that the maintenance of Cultural (and Linguistic) Diversity
allows all peoples to know, to value and to reproduce Environmental
Diversity;



-          that the rigor and the effectiveness of the laws and oral
traditions promote the maintenance of Cultural and Environmental Diversity;



-          that traditional knowledge that is cosmogonic and holistic is a
highly technological expression that can promote correct management of the
environment, in situ conservation and sustainability;



-          that nomadism and other ways of living including hunting and
gathering, fishing and small-scale agriculture, have high spiritual and
cognitive value that allows for the maintenance of diversity;



-          that the survival of the nomadic and other traditional ways of
living is fundamental for the maintenance of Cultural and Environmental
Diversity;



-          that each Culturally Diverse People develops its way of life in a
specific spiritual, ecological, territorial, intellectual and legal
environment;



-          that the maintenance of traditional communal institutions such as
communal land ownership and land use and communal decision-making is also
for the survival of Cultural and Environmental Diversity;



-          that each Culturally Diverse People defines its own identity by
means of laws, regulations, obligations, rights, traditions, customs,
languages, forms of communication, rites, practices and behaviours
establishing internal relations as well as external relations with both
living and non-living entities;



-          that each Culturally Diverse People has scientific,
technological, spiritual, ethical and cognitive value;



that each Culturally Diverse People defines a complex and complete system
fully able to take decisions, promulgate laws and regulations, transmit
knowledge and education, prevent and treat illnesses, pursue and guarantee
satisfaction and wellbeing:



-          that each Culturally Diverse People holds collective and
individual intellectual property rights over its own intellectual, technical
production and also its own image and the spread of its archaeological
treasures and exercises recognised and recognisable rights over all of
these.



The Conference of Rome also considers:



-          that there exist Culturally Diverse Peoples that conceive their
existence as strictly connected with plants, animals and the inanimate world
and that these relations are sources of happiness and joy that are necessary
for their survival;



-          that there exist physical and mental places that have become
sacred and the destruction, conversion or improper use of these places can
create grave harm in the life of these peoples and in the environment in
which they define their identity;



-          that activities in the areas of cloning, genetic alterations of
people, plants and animals, patents on living organisms, the destruction of
species, the modification and destruction of landscapes can cause pain,
unhappiness and irreversible damage for many different Culturally Diverse
Peoples.



In the area of Environmental Protection, the Conference of Rome recommends:



-          that official government and international recognition be given
to the fact that the traditional knowledge of Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples
and local communities is an essential and crucial part of the knowledge base
which countries have available to ensure the wise and sustainable use of the
natural environment;



-          that only the Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and local
communities know and understand the appropriate methodologies for the use
and transfer of  their own traditional knowledge;



-          that each component of Cultural Diversity be given full access to
all species that keep their culture healthy and strong and that their full
right to utilise these species fully be recognised;



-          that guidelines for environmental assessment be made or developed
by the components of Cultural Diversity such as Aboriginal , Indigenous
Peoples and local communities for their own individual needs;



-          that outside access to species be limited; the components of
Cultural Diversity such as Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and local
communities have knowledge they can keep to themselves just as national
governments do.



-          that privacy or sacred information be considered areas of
self-governing;



-          that local and traditional descriptions of species and species
utilisation be employed including using environmental assessment processes
that identify species with indigenous language vocabulary;



-          that a "Cultural Ecosystems Stories" approach be used to furnish
the names of species and to evaluate the condition  and the abundance of
these species - indicating how available they are for sustaining a healthy
culture;



-          that traditional knowledge be incorporated, where appropriate,
with science in assessments of fish, wildlife, hunting, gathering and that
consistency of information be presented to ensure that the process is
repeatable and defensible;



-          that species be identified by including traditional languages
when assessments are conducted so that the components of Cultural Diversity
such as Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and local communities can respond and
identify possible impacts on them and on their ecosystem;



-          that governments, international organisations, industries, banks,
and research institutes provide a sufficient quantity of funds and resources
for the development of specific and local plants in the area of
sustainability with the participation and the management of the components
of Cultural Diversity such as Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and local
communities;



-          that traditional knowledge and the components of Cultural
Diversity be considered in binding fashion in the impact assessments and
evaluations of sustainability in areas of interest of them.



The Conference of Rome in the area of Education also recommends:



-          that government and research bodies provide sufficient resources
and funding to ensure the preservation and development of traditional
knowledge in terms defined by Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and local
communities;



-          that the components of Cultural Diversity such as Aboriginal,
Indigenous Peoples and local communities be given positive encouragement to
enter into and create university courses;



-          that there be continuing general education in all countries to
further understanding the traditional  view of ecosystems including which
species are important to keep the native culture healthy and strong;



-          that Western-trained scientists have access to training, where
appropriate, in how to appreciate and understand the crucial role that
Indigenous and traditional knowledge plays in contributing to human
knowledge.



The Conference of Rome recommends that all Parties make a commitment to:



-          protect Cultural Diversity and to recognise its expressive,
linguistic characteristics and its ceremonies, rites, laws and regulations;



-          protect the sacred places, animals, plants, living and
non -living entities of the components of Cultural Diversity such as
Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and local communities;



-          encourage respect for laws and local regulations of the
components of Cultural Diversity such as Aboriginal, Indigenous Peoples and
local communities and in the case of conflicts and incongruities with
national legislation, to find modalities of coexistence.





The Conference of Rome and the International research workshop
“Sustainability of Taste” in the nutrition field,



Aware that food is a reflection of the relationship between culture and
environment and is the product of the relationship between plants, animals
and human beings;



Aware that also food is the result of combinations among environmental,
cultural, sensorial and technical resources according to laws and traditions
of each single community and expresses a local cultural relationship with
the land and takes a ritual and sacred value;



Aware that also taste, the experience of the senses, qualifies food,
specializes, differentiates and makes it familiar and safe and that taste is
an indicator of security and quality of food and its processes, tested by
age-old practises which enable us to detect the cultural and territorial
origin of food;



Recognizing that when the relationship between culture and environment is
well balanced species, cultivation and breeding not only survive but they
develop, diversify and sustain themselves, when this relationship is
disturbed, the species rapidly decline in both abundance and diversity;



Affirming  that animals may not be bred just and only for being eaten and
that trees may not be cultivated just and only for being cut;



Considering that for thousands of years indigenous peoples, aborigines and
the local communities have developed, tested and applied holistic systems of
food production and that these systems, based on the traditional management
of nature, have been devoid of health risks and have left a little
ecological impact;



Worried by the fact that the current system of food production has showed
the uncertainties and the shortcomings of relying on science alone;



Worried by the fact that the scientific and technologically-based approach
to food production has produced serious threats to environment, human,
animal and vegetable health and the preservation of biodiversity;



Worried by the fact that mad cow disease is one of the most prominent and
disconcerting examples of a scientific, economical and technologically-based
approach to food production;



Reasserting  that the relationship between humans, animals and plants
constitutes a source of satisfaction, knowledge and happiness,



Asks and invites the national and international bodies:



1.           To recognize the urgent need for a profound re-orientation in
the current food production methods;



2.           To keep into the right consideration the strategic importance
of cultural and biological diversity: natural resource and environmental
protection efforts must not only protect, but restore the historic diversity
and abundance of plant and animal species that are integral to indigenous
lifestyles;



3.           To recognize that the scientific, genetic and technical
alteration of plant and animal species has social cultural, health and
spiritual implications, in changing the taste of traditional food;



4.           To guarantee the development of specific methodologies for land
use and management that mimic the natural functions and integrity of
traditional ecosystems, restoring the conditions that are necessary for the
maintenance of cultural and biological diversity;



5.           To recognize the important role of women with regard to food
preparation: the traditional knowledge and practises of women must be
maintained to ensure food safety and security;



6.           To recognize  that the modern techniques of food preparation
and consumption are diminishing women’s control over the origin, content and
health effects of the food they prepare for their children and families;



7.           To recognize the importance of maintaining ecological
structures and functions allowing a sustainable production of food otherwise
a more widespread availability and a right cost of production and food
stocks won’t be ensured, determining a critical situation for the security
of nutrition and public health;



8.           To understand that without the widespread adoption of
sustainable practises, the natural systems will be disturbed: the climate
change, for example, negatively affects the local weather patterns and, as a
consequence, the existence of the habitats and survival of many species;



9.           To understand and recognize the adverse ecological impacts of
resource extraction, industrialization, deforestation, urbanization and
tourism;



10.        To commit in order to establish specific principles and
precautionary regulations in the food production and the environment
management which, including traditional nature, health and ecology, ensure
the possibility to take specific, informed and conservative decisions;



11.        To recognize the need for the immediate cessation of cloning and
genetic alterations of plants, animals and mankind until and only when their
material and unknown implications are totally known and understood by
everybody;



12.        To recognize the need of the immediate cessation of the
transgenic practises of plants, animals and humans until and only when their
material and unknown implications are totally known and understood by
everybody;



13.        To proceed to the immediate cessation of voluntary and arbitrary
practises concerning the massacre and extermination of animals and plants,
in particular of cows;



14.        To recognize that the practises of genetic alterations,
transgenic cloning, massacres and extermination of animals and plants (and
mankind) have got serious racist implications;



15.        To proceed  to the immediate cessation of intensive breeding and
cultures which anyway do not respect the environmental conditions and the
times and ways of the biological cycles of the species;



16.        To recognize the  need to prevent the suffering of animals and
plants and to commit oneself to establish principles and rules in order to
guarantee their full cultural well-being and the development of the
biological and life circle;



17.        To recognize the urgency for the organization and diffusion of
programmes concerning food education and the employment of resources, in
particular towards children and young people, according to programmes that
should be based on the knowledge and traditional and indigenous practises;



18.        To ensure and exploit the cultural diversity and the employment
of the most rigorous environmental assessment methodologies with particular
emphasis on the utilisation of traditional species;



19.        To recognize that the indigenous people, aborigines and the local
communities because of the scientific- technological systems of food
production and the global loss of biodiversity run greater risks of disease,
a higher rate of mortality and a diminished ability to sustain the
traditional lifestyle of their own existence.





-----Messaggio originale-----
Da: Dupuy Stephanie [mailto:dupuys at lu.unisi.ch]
Inviato: giovedì 20 novembre 2003 15.58
A: plenary at wsis-cs.org; cobase at tin.it
Oggetto: Cultural Diversity Caucus


Dear Stefano,



As explained by Kazunari Fujii, any organisation, association or individual
is free to join and participate in any caucus. Caucuses are spontaneous ad
hoc expressions of civil society. As such they have no formalized structure
beyond the international event in the context of which they occur. We, as
OIDEL, participate in the Cultural diversity caucus initiated in the
prospect of the WSIS together with other NGOs, groups and individuals. At
caucus meetings organized during PrepCom-3 and PrepCom-3A a number of
organisations could not be present. However the Caucus, by definition is
open to e-mail communications. OIDEL is a Geneva-based organisation enjoying
consultative status with ecosoc and for practical and geographical reasons
can play a co-ordinating role along with other organisations (Alain Ambrosi,
from Carrefour mondial de lInternet citoyen, acted as co-ordinator also
during former PrepComs).



I should add that Cultural diversity is by no means the property of any
organisation, not only for formal reasons since the term is commonly used in
international fora, but by definition: cultural diversity implies that any
organisation can voice its opinion. Concerning further collaboration please
feel free to join our work and we will be pleased to co-operate. I remember
having made that suggestion to you when we met in September but, so far, you
havent attended our meetings.



Best regards,



Stphanie Dupuy

OIDEL /UEDH



OIDEL
Organisation Internationale pour le Droit   l'ducation et la Libert
d'enseignement
32, rue de l'Athn e
1206 Genve
T l  +4122 7892949
Fax  +4122 7892922
http://www.oidel.ch/ <http://www.oidel.ch/>


UEDH - SUHR
Universit d' t des Droits de l'Homme
32, rue de l'Ath ne
1206 Gen ve
Tl  +4122 7892949
Fax  +4122 7892922
http: www.droitshumains.org/uni/








-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman-new.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/plenary/attachments/20031125/4c767b12/attachment.html