WTO Ministerial Section • Volume • Number • 11th September 2001
Civil Society In Doha: Few Into The Glass Building, None Outside It
On 10 August, WTO Director General Mike Moore sent a letter to 647 applicants eligible for representing the community of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) at the Forth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, on 9-13 November. Despite the warm welcoming words of the Director General, many civil society representatives expressed frustration and dissapointment about the limitations for participation and the allocation of slots.
According to a Friends of Earth International (FOEI) report on the WTO list circulated on 15 August, ‘business initiated’ NGOs (termed “BINGOs”) outnumber ‘public interest’ NGOs (”PINGOs”). Of the 647 slots granted, less than 25 percent are allocated to developing country representatives. The presence in the list of some 35 ‘government-appointed’ trade advisory committees (”GONGOs”) drew strong criticism by some NGOs, including FOIE, which has issued an open letter to the WTO asking to refuse accreditation to these organisations seen as “commercial arms of the US government and [...] US industry”.
According to several observers, another shortcoming of the list refers to multiple accreditations. In fact, some entities in the list have been offered multiple places while the great majority will only be allowed to bring one single representative to Doha. Nine organisations will share 53 places. In the end, due to multiple accreditations, the actual number of organisations invited to register for the Ministerial meeting is around 600.
During a recent tour in Latin America, Moore stated that “the difference [between Qatar and Seattle] is this: Qatar will not allow people to enter unless they have a visa, and you can’t get a visa unless you have accommodation, and we only have 4 400 rooms.” Moore also rejected rumours concerning the choice of Qatar as been motivated by security reasons or by the need of confidentiality during the talks. At the time when Doha was chosen as the base for the Ministerial, many NGOs had expressed concern regarding the difficulties anticipated in accessing the Arab nation (see BRIDGES Weekly, 30 January 2001).
A Joint Civil Society Delegation to Doha?
Despite proposals by some NGOs to boycott the Ministerial meeting, ‘public interest’ NGOs seem unwilling to leave the entire representation of the non-governmental community to the ‘business initiated’ NGOs. Alternatively, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has proposed to pool NGO slots together and give room to a Civil Society Delegation to Doha. The formal proposal (available at http://www.wtowatch.org/library/admin/uploadedfiles/Proposal_for_a_Civil _Society_Delegation_to_Doh.htm) suggests that “some of the criteria for such a delegation could include North-South balance, ensuring expertise in the core issues, and a balance from different constituencies, as well as advocates, activists, media experts, etc.”
Although the proposal was enthusiastically welcomed by some, others have pointed out the difficulties of achieving a balanced and all- encompassing delegation. Steve Krezman, of the Institute of Policy Studies in Washington commented “the devil is in the details”. If a unified delegation is to work, he said, “it needs to be handled in an extraordinarily careful way”.
Protests might pave the road to Doha.
According to the Arab NGO Network for Development, 3000 delegates of civil society organisations will convene in Beirut from 5 to 8 November for the World Forum on the WTO (see http://www.worldforumbeirut2001.org/) for three days of meetings, workshops, teach-ins and cultural events concerning the WTO.
The Lebanese Platform on the WTO, which is co-hosting the Forum, gathered more than 200 NGOs around signing “Our world is not for sale. WTO: Shrink or Sink” petition (available online at: http://www.canadians.org/campaigns/campaigns-trade-notforsale.html). Under this flag, hundreds of organisations — Third World Network, Friends of the Earth and Public Citizen are among the signers — are planning coordinated actions before and during the Doha Ministerial.
Greenpeace International will send its flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, to Doha during the Ministerial. The boat will probably cross the Qatari water together with an “Our world is not for sale Flotilla” funded by FOEI, International Forum on Globalisation, Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, Via Campesina and the World Forum of Fisher People. The Common Front on the WTO (CFWTO) will shortly send “Quebec to Qatar” caravans across Canada, with the goal of awakening grassroots towards the “Day of Action” on 9 November.
“647 Non-Governmental Organisations eligible to attend the Doha ministerial,” WTO press Release, 10 August 2001; “The WTO ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar: Note on the General Composition of NGO Representation”, FRIENDS OF EARTH INTERNATIONAL, 15 August 2001; “No room at the inns of Qatar for visaless WTO protestors,” REUTERS, 31 August 2001; “A Proposal for a Civil Society Delegation to Doha,” IATP, August 2001; “‘All-star protest team at WTO? Groups would unify asÁß voice against globalisation,” CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 20 August 2001; “International Call of Action, Our world is not for sale,” Friends of Earth Europe; “Greenpeace criticises WTO over NGO restrictions at its fourth ministerial conference” GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE, 13 August 2001; “Curb on WTO charity reps,” THE GUARDIAN, 14 August 2001. ICTSD Internal Files.