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Based on the above concept, the Minimum Common Programme
aims to synergize efforts for the realization of the following
goals and elements:
A. Environmental and natural resources
management
There is growing recognition that continuing environmental
degradation in developing countries of the Asian and Pacific
region is brought about not so much by the lack of political
will as by the rapid rate at which natural resources are
being depleted in these countries. Environmental problems
in the region can be classified into two broad categories:
(a) those resulting from poverty, hunger and underdevelopment,
and (b) those arising from the very negative effects of
development.
The report State of the Environment in Asia and the Pacific
2000, published by ESCAP, strikes a sombre note on environmental
degradation in eroded croplands, falling water tables,
declining forests and biodiversity, and increased pollution.
It notes that the principal environmental challenges in
the twenty-first century are promoting economic and social
growth while safeguarding natural resources; promoting
eco-efficiency; countering the negative effects of globalization;
and enhancing public participation while empowering communities
to become custodians of the environment. As noted in Agenda
21, which was adopted at the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, in 1992, these objectives are critically dependent
on the possession of objective and sufficient environment
information. In the absence of reliable data, planning
and foresight will be defective in the development process
and this will exacerbate the degradation of the environment.
Issues related to the environment cut across geographical
barriers and transcend national boundaries. The vantage
point of space makes it practical to employ Earth-observation
technologies on a wide scale to obtain a synoptic view
of the dynamics of environmental and natural resource
conditions over a wide area. By facilitating improved
information infrastructure (such as topographical and
thematic maps), Earth-observation technology also makes
possible better resource management decisions.
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B. Poverty alleviation
Space technology applications address the primary development
objective, poverty alleviation, in several ways. The rapid
development of Internet-based information services will
create great opportunities for the rural poor to realize
their right to learn and to access knowledge. In rural
areas, and even in urban areas, space technology, when
appropriately applied, can improve essential infrastructure
such as information and communications. This magnifies
the opportunities for small medium-sized enterprises,
which would otherwise not be able to market their products
competitively. Poor health services are a direct contributor
to poverty, as they reduce the ability of individuals
to earn a living and to sustain a family. Space technology
can improve the delivery of health services to isolated
areas through telemedicine, allowing specialists who are
far away to diagnose and treat illness even from a distant
urban centre.
Earth-observation data from satellites can help agronomists
and farmers choose better irrigation, planting, fertilization
and cropping strategies, and can also provide guidance
on regional or global production estimates, thus helping
producers to determine the best marketing and pricing
approach. Improved statistical data, utilizing remote
sensing and GIS techniques, can better establish the relationship
between environment and poverty, helping to guide development
and poverty alleviation policies. This approach to "poverty
mapping" has been employed by the World Bank and
by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in
Ecuador, Mexico and Viet Nam, enabling governments to
target the beneficiaries of development programmes more
objectively. Poverty maps, when integrated with environment,
land and water resource data generated through remote
sensing and GIS, enable governments to target beneficiaries
of development programmes more effectively. The above
approach is expected to improve the cost-effectiveness
of programmes launched to alleviate poverty and food insecurity,
by appropriately empowering the rural poor.
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C. Natural disaster reduction
Many countries in the Asian and Pacific region suffer
from damage brought about by natural disasters. In developed
countries and in some developing countries with a strong
space technology base, satellite observations form the
core of early warning and emergency management systems,
helping to prevent and reduce loss of life and property.
However, in many other countries, particularly least developed
countries and island developing countries, these methods
are absent or rudimentary: this further increases the
vulnerability of their populations to chronic or transitory
poverty. Improved disaster management systems serve as
a social safety net which helps the poor and disadvantaged.
Acknowledging the increasing vulnerability of countries
to natural disasters, various programmes by international
and regional organizations have worked towards creating
"a global culture of prevention". The International
Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction proved to be a great
success in establishing an international cooperative framework
for disaster reduction. ESCAP has coordinated regional
efforts to implement General Assembly resolutions related
to the Decade, even as it recognizes disaster prevention
as an integral component of sustainable development in
Asia and the Pacific. In most of these efforts, science
and technology are seen to contribute to the disaster
reduction process in particular, through the operation
of integrated warning systems and the enhancement of disaster
management.
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D. Food security and agriculture systems
The phenomenal growth in global food production in the
last 50 years has been dampened by the ever-increasing
population, which has continually exerted extra pressure
on the world's food production. The Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that
the Asian and Pacific region has the highest food production,
but that the incidence of malnutrition is also highest
in the region. The region's 3.6 billion population, comprising
60 per cent of the global population, demands much attention,
not only from governments but from regional and international
organizations as well. In particular, developing countries
are faced with the challenges of improving their agricultural
systems and sustaining a level of food security that can
keep pace with the increasing rates of population growth.
An integrated land and water resources management strategy
supports such goals through the use of remote sensing
and GIS. Increased productivity through the effective
use of appropriate technology allows the generation of
surplus food crops and other agricultural, silvicultural
and horticultural products, which can be marketed. This
helps to alleviate poverty, offset national balance-of-payments
deficits and avoid social problems by sustaining rural
communities. This approach also helps to equip developing
countries to better manage the impact of globalization,
especially in relation to improving the national balance
of payments.
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E. Capacity-building
Countries in the region are endowed with varying amounts
of resources, and they have unequal capacity and different
levels of technological development, besides having different
national agenda and priorities. Although the region contains
some of the world's most highly advanced economies, it
is also home to 13 of its least developed countries. It
is also acknowledged that governments must invest significantly
in human resources and infrastructure development in order
to upgrade their capacity for engaging in space activities
on a more comprehensive scale. Programmes aimed at enhancing
national capacity should therefore take these differences
into consideration, while encouraging the sharing and
pooling of resources. The use of existing infrastructure
and institutional facilities should likewise be coordinated
in order to improve the access of developing countries
to up-to-date operational technology at minimum cost.
It is important that the benefits from space technology
not remain only in the R and D domain or only in the realm
of those who can afford it. Space technology should be
well integrated into national development plans and applications
that are developed in such mode and scope that the benefits
will reach the grass roots. The increased technological
skills flowing from the endogenous development of space
technology can help generate new value-adding industries
and provide wealth-creating opportunities and jobs in
the community.
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F. Human resources development and
education
Appropriately trained personnel are vital for national
development. In this age of globalization, they are important
elements for international competitiveness in the global
economy, so much so that both developed and developing
countries devote a great deal of attention to the development
and management of their human resources. It is recognized,
however, that investments, expenditure and efforts to
upgrade human capabilities are extremely large; it is
imperative that means and mechanisms for enhancing human
resource capabilities be sought and implemented with less
financial burden and constraints.
In the Asian and Pacific region, there are two major
concerns about human resources as they relate to space
technology development and applications. The first is
the lack of a "critical mass" of trained personnel
and professionals who are able to implement and sustain
programmes to which space technology applications could
make a substantial contribution. The introduction of new
space technologies in the region will require the training
of a large number of people in the use of these technologies.
Along this line, cooperation between private industry
and academia is crucial to establishing an environment
conducive to fruitful research, technology transfer and
education opportunities. The significant step taken by
the United Nations in cooperation with the Government
of India in establishing the Centre for Space Science
and Technology Education is a move towards addressing
some of the above issues.
The second area of concern regards how space technology
applications per se can be optimally used to benefit and
empower the majority of the 3.6 billion persons in the
region. In this context, education includes further education,
that is, on-the-job training, professional development,
and the acquisition of new job skills, perhaps by disadvantaged
groups, including farmers, women, the disabled and post-school-age
students. A number of exciting recent developments in
satellite communication technology, and in regional distance
education infrastructure, mean that distance education
by satellite has become a premier means of teacher in-service
training and for delivering rural extension services in
some countries. Increased educational and training opportunities
in rural areas help reduce the pressure for transmigration
and the attendant social problems.
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G. Health care and hygiene
ESCAP reports that many people in the region suffer from
poor health as a result of economic and social conditions,
including customary attitudes, harmful traditional practices
and low education. There is evidence of close interrelationships
among environmental elements, changes in ecological systems,
and human health. In general, it is recognized that poor
health is often caused by the lack of a healthy environment
(poor water quality, air pollution), inadequate health
services, and the absence of information, awareness and
support systems that promote healthy behaviour patterns
in everyday life. Inadequate hygiene and health care increase
the risk of becoming or remaining poor. A significant
issue in hygiene and health is the lack of adequate water
for drinking and sanitation, an issue highlighted in the
World Day for Water 2001. About one third of the people
in the Asian and Pacific region do not have ready access
to clean water. Satellite observations have been effectively
used to select areas suitable for water-drilling. This
technique has dramatically increased the success rate
of the expensive drilling, helping to reduce cost and
time required to bring potable groundwater into use.
Concerted efforts are being made on a global scale to
use space science and technology to improve human health
throughout the world. The World Health Organization (WHO)
launched the HealthMap Programme to promote and implement
the use of mapping and GIS as operational tools for planning,
monitoring and managing public health programmes. In addition,
WHO is promoting the use of GIS, the Global Positioning
System (GPS) and remote sensing in its disease surveillance
programmes and in planning emergency responses to emerging
and re-emerging infectious diseases. Such programmes were
further articulated at the Third United Nations Conference
on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, held
in Vienna in 1999, which recommended that programmes at
the regional level should be established to prevent the
re-emergence of diseases. It concluded that the use of
remote sensing and GIS could help prevent infectious diseases,
particularly in developing countries.
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H. Sustainable development planning
The Earth Summit (United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development) of 1992 provided an impetus to the development
planning activities of countries around the world. Since
the Summit, countries have gradually developed their national
versions of Agenda 21 for a comprehensive and integrated
approach to development anchored on the premise of sustainability:
that environment and development can go hand in hand.
Development is seen to be sustainable if it meets the
following two requisites: (a) it improves the quality
of human life, and (b) it conserves the Earth's vitality
and diversity. In the region, countries agree that sustained
efforts are needed in protecting the environment and conserving
both renewable and non-renewable resources. Concerted
action from various stakeholders and sectors of society
are vital in optimizing the resources and ensuring their
efficient distribution to meet the basic requirements
of the region's population and growing industries. Agenda
21 noted the important role that new technologies must
play in the acquisition and analysis of objective information
about the environment and natural resources.
For more than two decades, countries of the region have
used space technology applications to study their natural
resources, map their extent and distribution and manage
their exploitation. Space-based technologies contribute
to more robust and objective decision-making about sustainable
development policies at the national level. In turn, this
helps developing countries to take more effective action
in poverty alleviation and in avoiding or mitigating social
problems. A better information base is an essential component
of the efforts of developing countries to improve their
position in the face of the challenges of globalization.
The continuing challenge is to integrate space technology
applications into various stages of sustainable development
planning activities.
The Minimum Common Programme views the overall development
process in the light of the whole concept of sustainability,
which in itself is anchored on the premise that the environment
and development can go hand in hand. In consideration
of the above goals, the projects that comprise the Programme
are intended to support the pursuit of economic growth
that improves the welfare of people as ultimate beneficiaries,
without causing deterioration to or depletion of the resource
base that underpins development. At once, one can see
the emergence of four critical interacting dimensions
of sustainable development, which a report of the World
Resources Institute categorizes as (a) economic, (b) human,
(c) environmental and (d) technological.
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Economic dimensions include optimizing the consumption
of natural resources, such as forest, land and water,
by industrialized countries and minimum depletion of non-renewable
resources. To a certain extent, these also include putting
a price on the negative and adverse impacts of resource
consumption or the environmental degradation and pollution
caused by such activity. Economic dimensions may also
include minimizing destruction or loss of life and property
in disasters. Information infrastructure and services
using space technology applications that are affordable
and sustainable to developing countries in the region
may also be considered part of the economic dimension.
Human dimensions relate to the commitment of resources
to improve living standards in poor and underdeveloped
countries, reducing the disparities, and providing improved
health care and education to vulnerable groups, such as
women and people with disabilities. Controlling the migration
of population to urban areas, raising the capacity of
the urban and rural population, and protecting the cultural
and ethnic diversity of human beings are also a part of
this concept.
Environmental dimensions generally comprise mitigating
the negative impact of increased population pressure and
human activities on the environment and natural resources.
This category also includes arresting soil loss and land
degradation, enhancing food production without overuse
of chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides, ensuring the
availability of surface and groundwater for drinking and
irrigation, and maintaining the biodiversity of plant
and animal life. Reducing air, land and water pollution
while maintaining the productivity of associated resources,
as well as regulating the indiscriminate conversion of
lands, also come under this category.
Technological dimensions relate to the use of
environment friendly technologies and processes, enhancing
energy efficiency and promoting the use of renewable sources
of fuel and energy, and awareness of affordable information
and communication infrastructure and services based on
space and information technology. The creation of resource
databases using Earth observation and spatial information
systems to support informed decision-making for sustainable
development, and the use of advanced technologies, such
as satellite communications and information technology
for information generation and dissemination, also come
under this category. Technological dimensions also relate
to establishing affordable systems for environmental monitoring,
disaster warning, tele-education and telemedicine.
These four dimensions of sustainable development clearly
incorporate the eight goals discussed earlier and unify
them into a cohesive, interrelated set of common denominator
projects that are to be carried out to support the implementation
of the Minimum Common Programme.
