Fourth round meeting of WTO

By Soorya Lal Amatya

The fourth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO ) was just held in Doha, Qatar from 9 to 14 November 2001. There is a great curiosity regarding the final outcome of this ministerial meeting. The speed of liberalisation of multilateral global trade arrangements and its impact on developing countries, particularly on LDCs, are important aspects of wide concern. At present there are 142 member countries or customs territories in the WTO. The official agenda at this meeting was the accession of three countries, China, Taiwan and Vanuatu, to the WTO. It was planned for up to 13 November but had to be extended for one more day for creating a general consensus in the final ministerial declaration. The proposal on accession of China and Taiwan to WTO was finally approved.

The WTO was established in 1995 and has replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which had acted as a watchdog in regulating multilateral world trade since 1948. The proposal for the establishment of the WTO was made at the Uruguay round of international trade negotiations and finally approved by the trade ministers’ meeting held in Marrakesh, Morocco in 1994. The first WTO ministerial meeting was held in Singapore in 1996, the second in Geneva in 1998 and the third in Seattle in 1999. The WTO has its headquarters in Geneva and it is the negotiating forum and custodian of the legal and institutional foundation of the multilateral global trading system. It has global status similar to Bretton Woods Institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But it is not a United Nations agency. The WTO is a member driven organisation and decisions are usually taken by consensus of the member countries. The WTO is often called a rich man’s club and is dominated by the industrialized countries of the world. The LDCs have not yet become its members.

That trade liberalization in the developing countries will promote economic development and the virtuous circle of open trade and growth will contribute to poverty alleviation have been proved as wrong assumptions. It has been widely experienced that economic liberalization and open trade policy alone can not promote growth and economic development. These are to be accompanied by reform measures in different sectors of the economy, good governance, transparent dealings and effective implementation of policies and programmes. The developing countries have been complaining that there are imbalances in the WTO agreement and inequity in the distribution of the benefits. The continuing fear is that the LDCs might be further marginalized when they open up their domestic markets. Most of the WTO members experienced the failure of the third round summit meeting in Seattle in 1999 and realized the need for more flexibility and constructive handling of the thorny issues concerning the multilateral world trading system. The USA and EU have jointly pledged to provide financial support to developing countries in building negotiating capacity for WTO agreement. The European Union went even further in removing trade barriers to all products from the poorest countries of the world.

The six day meeting in Doha was fruitful in the sense that it was a broad and balanced round of negotiations. It approved a work programme of negotiations on a range of subjects like opening up of trade in agriculture, services and industrial products, environment issues, priority for accession of the least developed countries, additional assistance to LDCs in negotiation process, keeping medicinal products free from trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) and other aspects. The negotiation on non-trade areas such as multilateral investment, global rules on competition, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation The global economy was already in the grip of a slowdown prior to the terrorists attacks in New York and Washington on September 11 and now the speculation is that the US retaliatory strikes in Afghanistan would bring further recession. This would obviously hinder the economic development of developing countries and particularly of LDCs. The global multilateral trading system needs to be made more balanced, equitable and fair. All the countries have to liberalize and open up their markets, but the development dimension and poverty issues need to be properly addressed in the multilateral global trading system. The WTO multilateral trading agreements affect the lives of people in all countries. So all the countries including LDCs have to take a keen interest in the formal rounds of trade negotiation. The WTO plays a unique role in providing a dispute settlement mechanism whenever there is an outstanding dispute on trade issues between two member countries.

The 48 least developed countries together account for about 10.5 per cent of the total world population but contribute less than 1 percent to the total world export. The LDCs need focused technical assistance in promoting sustained economic development and capacity building while negotiating in the existing multilateral trading system and grasping potential market opportunities in future. Nepal has already adopted a policy of economic liberalization and has opened up its markets. But we have failed miserably in taking advantage. The bilateral trade agreement with India signed in 1996 can be taken as an example. It was a very good trade pact for Nepal. But because of substantial export of vegetable ghee, acrylic yarn, GI pipes, zinc oxide and copper wire to India, the Indian trade delegation has been pressing hard for inclusion of a 50 percent value added condition for free entry of commercial goods to India. My contention here is that the government of Nepal should have regulated properly the flow of goods to India and other countries and also the flow of imported goods into the country. In this context, the private sector’s role seems to be vital. This obviously will indicate how important is the role of government policy and cautious implementation and the private sector’s cooperation when Nepal finally gets accession to the WTO.

Exploitation in NGOs

By Reema Shrestha

There are around 12,000 NGOs in this country working for the upliftment of poor people. The main objective of these NGOs is to eradicate poverty and empower people below the poverty line. The growth of NGOs is in full speed like the growth of wild mushrooms. Seeing the vast progress in formation of institutions for the poor, we all expect the development of our poor community by now. But why are those isolated and deprived people of our villages still waiting to see their place in progress and to live a comfortable life in contrast to their harsh lot. Why is this happening? In spite of the rapid growth of Social Work institutions why are villagers still deprived of many things and isolated from the city. Is this all because of exploitation at social work institutions and selfish human nature that only thinks about self-development and profit?

Exploitation is one dark side of this wonderful world. Exploitation of weaker sections by stronger has been in practice since decades. Poor people are exploited by rich people, elders exploit Children and labours are exploited by their boss. In the same way at some NGOs, workers are exploited by their boss. This can be verified after reading this true story of one educated female worker of an NGO. She has faced difficulties and frustration while working. She worked for voluntarily almost 8 months without any salary at accounts section as she was a commerce graduate. She has been working hard full time from 10 am to 5.30 pm during this 8 month period. She used to work really hard thinking of gaining experience coz to find work in any kind of institution experience counts as the most important. Keeping all this in mind she worked loyally at that institution, expecting good evaluation by her boss. But her positive thinking on doing more work led her to the path of frustration. In spite of hard and quality work one day she was appointed by her boss to the reception on a daily wage basis but not permanently. (What an insult to her hard work, education and dedication.) She had no choice left. She decided to leave the institution and become idle rather than work as a receptionist even after becoming an expert in Accounts. Now she is still in search of a job to her to suit her. Devastating.

This is just a small example of exploitation; there are many more cases of exploitation facing weaker sections and helpless people. Those NGOs whose main objective are to eradicate exploitation, are practicing exploitation in their own institutions. Can we fully rely upon them and trust them as a medium of development? If educated people are experiencing exploitation than how can we assure development to uneducated and deprived poor? Will this kind of Institution be able to uplift the poor and weaker sections?

Women in arms against Taliban

By Neeta Maskey

What has been beneath the veil all this while is now out in the open. Recent CNN documentaries on Afghanistan — "Beneath the Veil" and "Unholy War"— were an eye opener to what life is like under the regime of the Taliban, a group of Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan. The documentaries revealed the injustices that people in Afghanistan, especially women, have had to endure in the name of strict religious and social mores set up by this ruthless regime of fanatics.

All people, including children, are forced to adhere to a strict way of life set up by the Taliban. Many activities normally taken for granted in society are strictly forbidden under the Taliban’s rule.

Children are not allowed to fly kites. The reason: it distracts them from their religious studies. Afghans are not allowed to clap or whistle or cheer. Laughing aloud or in public is prohibited. Smoking is banned. Television, photography, music and movies or any other form of entertainment are banned. Men must +wear turbans and grow long beards. Homosexuality, socializing with foreigners and converting from Islam can be punishable by death.

Under the Taliban regime, women have practically no rights. Their treatment by the Taliban is so appalling that it has been described as similar to treatment of livestock - they exist just for breeding purposes. Women are not allowed to go to school or to work. They cannot leave their houses without an escort. They cannot even look out of the windows of their houses, which must be shut and painted black. Women must wear "burqa", the traditional garb that covers them from head to toe. Any violation of law, even as minor as failing to cover the ankles, leads to severe punishment.

Ironically, it was a group of Afghan women who helped a CNN female reporter document the Afghan people’s plight. The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) - a banned Afghan women’s rights group - helped reporter Saira Shah expose the Taliban’s atrocities.

Some of the most shocking footage obtained by Shah came from RAWA members. They hid video cameras under their "burqas" to document and publicize the Taliban’s brutality in hopes of undermining the Islamic regime and bringing attention to their cause. One segment showed the public execution of a woman on a football field. Armed men in turbans hurl a female convict from a truck to the penalty line. Confused and unable to see through her burqa, all she hears is the jeering of the crowd as she kneels. She is then cold-bloodedly shot in the head.

RAWA members helped sneak Shah into the country so that she could film and experience firsthand life under the Taliban, knowing very well that being caught would mean death.

RAWA which was originally founded in 1977 as an Afghan feminist group focused on women’s rights, but its mandate broadened when the fundamentalists rose to power. In defiance of the Taliban’s ban on women’s education, RAWA opened clandestine home-based schools for girls. RAWA has also set up handicraft skills training for Afghan women and helps sell their products online (Web site: www. RAWA.org). RAWA also provides medical assistance, housing and education for Afghans in the refugee camps in Pakistan.

The CNN documentaries on Afghanistan drew more viewers because of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11th. Sadly, the efforts to expose and publicize the Taliban’s brutality against women in Afghanistan got the world’s earnest attention only after these attacks.

On that day, terrorists crashed 2 jetliners into the World Trade Centre, killing themselves, all passengers and thousands of others as the twin towers collapsed in flames. The tragedy didn’t end there. Another highjacked plane hit the Pentagon (the US military headquarters) in Washington, DC, and yet another crashed in Pennsylvania. This fourth plane was believed to have headed for either the White House (the US president’s residence) or the Capitol (that houses the US Congress). But the hijackers were overpowered by passengers and the plane crashed during the struggle.

The alleged mastermind of the attacks is Saudi-born millionaire Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda terror network, who are given shelter in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

Women leaders around the world have bravely taken up the challenges that have arisen after the Sept 11th terrorist attacks. First Lady Laura Bush stepped in for her husband recently to deliver the weekly US presidential radio address. The occasion was the launch of a worldwide campaign against the Taliban’s oppression of women and children. Laura Bush also wanted to make sure Afghanistan’s post-Taliban government grants a voice to women. British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie delivered a similar message.

Laura Bush became the first wife of a US president to deliver the weekly presidential radio address. Shy and introvert, America’s First Lady had opted for a low-key role in American politics, preferring to be known simply as wife of the President of the United States. A former teacher and school librarian, she had been modestly going about encouraging children to read. But after Sept 11th, she became more vocal about it.

The First Lady appeared on national television, gave interviews, attended public events, even wrote letters to school children, telling parents and kids how best to cope with the aftermath of the tragic events. While she advised parents to be there for their children, she urged children to refrain from watching television and spend time reading instead.

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton, always a woman of action and strong leadership, wasted no time in helping New York, which she now serves as a senator. Together with her colleague Sen. Charles Schumer, she managed to gather overwhelming support from both houses of Congress and substantial federal aid to rebuild New York City.

The aftermath of the terrorist attacks has posed new challenges to Condoleezza Rice, the US president’s national security advisor. This has been a test of her ability as an expert on US foreign policy. Pakistan’s women leaders - ambassador to the United States, Maleeha Lodhi, and ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto - have also been called on for their expertise on important issues following the Sept 11th attacks.

Queen Noor and Queen Rania of Jorden, a Muslim nation which is a key US ally in the Middle East, came forward to clarify misconceptions about Islam when Muslims were looked at with suspicion and anger following the Sept 11th attacks by Islamic fanatics.

What happened on Sept 11th gave a more serious purpose to what many professional women have been doing. It highlighted the opinions of Judith Miller, who is a newspaper columnist, a bio-terrorism expert and the writer of the book, "Germs." It justified the concerns and criticism that former US government aviation inspector general Mary Schiavo expressed about airport security lapses when she resigned from her post a few years ago.

It spurred Indian novelist Arundhati Roy to lash out against the US retaliatory strikes on Afghanistan in her prolific essays published in India and Europe. Known for her bold writings, Roy did not hesitate to decry the bombing of Afghanistan as another act of terror and described bin Laden as a product of America’s foreign policy mistakes.

One organization that has come into focus is the Feminine Majority Foundation, which has been campaigning for the rights of Afghan women long before Sept 11th attacks. Restoring Afghan women’s rights and re-establishing a constitutional democracy in which women have equal rights have been the main objectives of the foundation’s "Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan" (for more information, check out www.HelpAfghanWomen.com).

It wasn’t just the rich, famous and powerful who came forward to heal the pain and promote peace in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. The wife of a passenger, whose hijacked plane crashed on September 11th, took the same flight weeks after the attacks to encourage Americans to fly. In confined quarters of a California prison, women inmates who earn as little as 60 cents per hour, made and sold American flags and quilts with stars and stripes to raise thousands of dollars for the terrorist victims’ families.

Most recently, a delegation of Afghan women addressed a United Nations council on the role of women in nations torn by conflict. It urged the United Nations to help build a new democratic government in Afghanistan that would give women equal opportunities to rebuild the country. The delegation said, "Do not think that because women wear a veil, we do not have a voice." It took years of suffering for Afghan women to finally find a voice. They’re determined today more than ever before that the world hears it and answers their call.