| ACC |
Administrative
Committee on Co-ordination |
| Agreement |
The
term "agreement" can have a generic and a specific
meaning. It also has acquired a special meaning in the law of
regional economic integration.
(a) Agreement as a generic term: The 1969 Vienna Convention on the
Law of Treaties employs the term "international agreement"
in its broadest sense. On the one hand, it defines treaties as
"international agreements" with certain characteristics.
On the other hand, it employs the term "international
agreements" for instruments, which do not meet its definition
of "treaty". Its Art.3 refers also to "international
agreements not in written form". Although such oral agreements
may be rare, they can have the same binding force as treaties,
depending on the intention of the parties. An example of an oral
agreement might be a promise made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs
of one State to his counterpart of another State. The term
"international agreement" in its generic sense
consequently embraces the widest range of international
instruments.
(b) Agreement as a particular term: "Agreements" are
usually less formal and deal with a narrower range of subject matter
than "treaties". There is a general tendency to apply the
term "agreement" to bilateral or restricted multilateral
treaties. It is employed especially for instruments of a technical
or administrative character, which are signed by the representatives
of government departments, but are not subject to ratification.
Typical agreements deal with matters of economic, cultural,
scientific and technical cooperation. Agreements also frequently
deal with financial matters, such as avoidance of double taxation,
investment guarantees or financial assistance. The UN and other
international organizations regularly conclude agreements with the
host country to an international conference or to a session of a
representative organ of the Organization. Especially in
international economic law, the term "agreement" is also
used as a title for broad multilateral agreements (e.g. the
commodity agreements). The use of the term "agreement"
slowly developed in the first decades of this century. Nowadays by
far the majority of international instruments are designated as
agreements.
(c) Agreements in regional integration schemes:
Regional integration schemes are based on general framework treaties
with constitutional character. International instruments that amend
this framework at a later stage (e.g. accessions, revisions) are
also designated as "treaties". Instruments that are
concluded within the framework of the constitutional treaty or by
the organs of the regional organization are usually referred to as
"agreements", in order to distinguish them from the
constitutional treaty. For example, whereas the Treaty of Rome of
1957 serves as a quasi-constitution of the European Community,
treaties concluded by the EC with other nations are usually
designated as agreements. Also, the Treaty of Montevideo of 1980
established the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), but
the subregional instruments entered into under its framework are
called agreements.
http://untreaty.un.org/english/guide.asp |
| AOSIS |
The
Alliance of Small Island States, with 42 members and observers |
| BCSB |
Business
Council for Sustainable Development |
| Bureau |
Bureaux
of Commissions of Preparatory Processes are composed of the Chair or
Co-Chairs and representatives of the five regional groupings of
member states |
| CSocDev |
UN
Commission on Social Development |
| CAN |
Climate
Action Network |
| CBD |
Convention
on Biological Diversity |
| CEDAW |
Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women |
| CEDAW
Committee |
Committee
for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women |
| CGIAR |
Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research |
| Chair |
Chairs
/ chairpersons are responsible for facilitating progress in the work
of a meeting or body |
| Charter |
The term "charter" is used for particularly
formal and solemn instruments, such as the constituent treaty of an
international organization. The term itself has an emotive content
that goes back to the Magna Carta of 1215. Well-known recent
examples are the Charter of the United Nations of 1945 and the
Charter of the Organization of American States of 1952.
http://untreaty.un.org/english/guide.asp |
| CHS |
UN
Commission on Human Settlements |
| CITES |
UN
Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species |
| COP |
Conference
of the Parties; regularly held meetings of those States which have
signed a Convention and hence are "Parties to the
Convention" |
| Consultative
Status |
Non-governmental,
non-profit public or voluntary organizations may be admitted into a
mutually beneficial working relationship with the United Nations by
attaining consultative status with the Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC). This status was based on Article 71 of the Charter of the
United Nations. Article 71 of the Charter provides that "...the
Economic and Social Council may make suitable arrangements for
consultations with non-governmental organizations which are
concerned with matters within its competence". The rights and
privileges enumerated in detail in ECOSOC resolution 1996/31
enable qualifying organizations to make a contribution to the work
programmes and goals of the United Nations by serving as technical
experts, advisers and consultants to governments and the UN
Secretariat. Sometimes, as advocacy groups, they espouse UN themes,
implementing plans of action, programmes and declarations adopted by
the United Nations. In concrete terms this entails their
participation in ECOSOC and its various subsidiary bodies through
attendance at meetings, and also through oral interventions and
written statements on agenda items of those bodies. In addition,
organizations, qualifying for General Category consultative status,
may propose new items for consideration by ECOSOC. Organizations
granted status are also invited to attend international conferences
called by the UN, General Assembly special sessions, and other
intergovernmental bodies (The participation modalities for NGOs are
governed by the rules of procedure of those bodies).
http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/faq.htm |
| Convention |
The
term "convention" again can have both a generic and a
specific meaning.
(a) Convention as a generic term: Art.38 (1) (a) of the Statute of
the International Court of Justice refers to "international
conventions, whether general or particular" as a source of law,
apart from international customary rules and general principles of
international law and - as a secondary source - judicial decisions
and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists. This
generic use of the term "convention" embraces all
international agreements, in the same way as does the generic term
"treaty". Black letter law is also regularly referred to
as "conventional law", in order to distinguish it from the
other sources of international law, such as customary law or the
general principles of international law. The generic term
"convention" thus is synonymous with the generic term
"treaty".
(b) Convention as a specific term: Whereas in the last century the
term "convention" was regularly employed for bilateral
agreements, it now is generally used for formal multilateral
treaties with a broad number of parties. Conventions are normally
open for participation by the international community as a whole, or
by a large number of states. Usually the instruments negotiated
under the auspices of an international organization are entitled
conventions (e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity of 1992, United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, Vienna Convention
on the Law of Treaties of 1969). The same holds true for instruments
adopted by an organ of an international organization (e.g. the 1951
ILO Convention concerning Equal Remuneration for Men and Women
Workers for Work of Equal Value, adopted by the International Labour
Conference or the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child,
adopted by the General Assembly of the UN).
http://untreaty.un.org/english/guide.asp |
| CPD |
UN
Commission on Population & Development |
| CSD |
UN
Commission on Sustainable Development |
| CSD
Intersessional |
The
official between-sessions meetings of the CSD |
| CSW |
UN
Commission on the Status of Women |
| DAW |
(UN)
Division for the Advancement of Women |
| Declaration |
The
term "declaration" is used for various international
instruments. However, declarations are not always legally binding.
The term is often deliberately chosen to indicate that the parties
do not intend to create binding obligations but merely want to
declare certain aspirations. An example is the 1992
Rio Declaration. Declarations can however also be treaties in
the generic sense intended to be binding at international law. It is
therefore necessary to establish in each individual case whether the
parties intended to create binding obligations. Ascertaining the
intention of the parties can often be a difficult task. Some
instruments entitled "declarations" were not originally
intended to have binding force, but their provisions may have
reflected customary international law or may have gained binding
character as customary law at a later stage. Such was the case with
the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://untreaty.un.org/english/guide.asp |
| DPI |
(UN)
Department of Public Information |
| EC |
European
Commission |
| ECA |
(UN)
Economic Commission for Africa |
| ECE |
(UN)
Economic Commission for Europe and North America |
| ECLAC |
(UN)
Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean |
| ECOSOC |
(UN)
Economic & Social Council |
| EFITA |
European
Federation of Information Technology in Agriculture |
| EIT |
Countries
with Economies in Transition, i.e., those in Central and Eastern
Europe |
| ESCAP |
(UN)
Economic & Social Commission for Asia & the Pacific |
| ESCWA |
(UN)
Economic & Social Commission for Western Asia |
| EU |
European
Union |
| FAO |
(UN)
Food & Agriculture Organisation |
| FDI |
Foreign
Direct Investment |
| G-77
& China |
The
Group of 77 and China was the original group of the so-called
non-aligned states. It is in effect the negotiating bloc of the
negotiating countries and seeks to harmonize the negotiating
positions of its over 140 developing-country members |
| GA |
(UN)
General Assembly |
| GATT |
Global
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade |
| GC |
Governing
Council - governing bodies of many UN Agencies, such as UNEP, and
their meetings |
| GEF |
The
Global Environment Facility. The multi-billion-dollar GEF was
established by the World Bank, the UN Development Programme, and the
UN Environment Programme in 1990 to fund environmental programmes,
especially in the South and the EIT |
| Gender
Mainstreaming |
"Mainstreaming a gender perspective
is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of
any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes,
in any area and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women's
as well as men's concerns and experiences an integral dimension of
the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the
policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal
spheres so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not
perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality."
(E.1997.L.10.Para.4. Adopted by ECOSOC 17.7.97) |
| GHG |
Green
House Gases |
| GPA |
Global
Programme of Action |
| High
Level Segment |
The
Ministerial-level part of a meeting where most significant issues
are debated |
| IACSD |
UN
Inter Agency Committee on Sustainable Development |
| IAEA |
International
Atomic Energy Agency |
| ICC |
International
Chamber of Commerce |
| ICLEI |
International
Council for Local Environmental Initiatives |
| ICPD |
International
Conference on Population & Development, Cairo 1994 |
| IFAP |
International
Federation of Agricultural Producers |
| IFF |
Inter-governmental
Forum on Forests |
| IGO |
Inter-Governmental
Organisation |
| IIED |
International
Institute for Environmental Development |
| ILO |
International
Labour Organisation |
| IMF |
International
Monetary Fund |
| ISO |
International
Standards Organisation |
| IUCN |
International
Council for the Conservation of Nature |
| IULA |
International
Union of Local Authorities |
| JUSSCANNZ |
The
non-EU industrialized countries meet as a group to discuss various
issues; they are Japan, the US, Switzerland, Canada, Australia,
Norway, and New Zealand. Iceland, Mexico, and the Republic of Korea
may also attend meetings |
| MAI |
Multi-lateral
Agreement on Investments |
| Major
Groups |
The
term used in Agenda 21 to describe nine sectors of society
fundamental to achieving sustainable development. The Major Groups
are: Women, Children and Youth, Indigenous People, Non-governmental
Organizations, Local Authorities, Workers and Trade Unions, Business
and Industry, Scientific and Technological Communities, and Farmers |
| MAP |
Mediterranean
Action Plan |
| MARPOL |
International
Convention for the Protection of Pollution from Ships |
| MEA |
Multi-lateral
Environmental Agreement |
| Member
State |
A
nation that is a member of the United Nations |
| Multi-stakeholder
processes |
Processes which aim to
bring together all major stakeholders in a new form of
decision-finding (and possibly decision-making) structure on a
particular issue. They are also based on recognition of the
importance of achieving equity and accountability in communication
between stakeholders, involving equitable representation of three or
more stakeholder groups and their views. They are based on
democratic principles of transparency and participation, and aim to
develop partnerships and strengthened networks between stakeholders.
Multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs) cover a wide spectrum of
structures and levels of engagement. They can comprise of dialogue
(e.g. the CSD stakeholder dialogues), or grow into processes
encompassing consensus-building, decision-making and implementation.
The exact nature of any MSP will depend the issue, the participants,
the time-frame, etc.
See UNED Forum's work on MSPs at www.earthsummit2002.org/msp |
| NAFTA |
North
Atlantic Free Trade Agreement |
| NGLS |
UN
Non-Governmental Liaison Service |
| NGO |
Non-Government
Organisation - any
non-profit, voluntary citizens' group that is organized on a local,
national or international level. NGOs perform a variety of services
and humanitarian functions, bring citizens' concerns to Governments,
monitor policies and encourage political participation at the
community level |
| North |
The
current widely used term to describe developed, industrialised
countries |
| OECD |
Organisation
for Economic Co-operation & Development |
| OEEC |
Organisation
for European Economic Co-operation |
| Plenary |
A
meeting of all participants at a meeting, where formal decisions are
taken |
| POPs |
Persistent
Organic Pollutants |
| Protocol |
The
term "protocol" is used for agreements less formal than
those entitled "treaty" or "convention". The
term could be used to cover the following kinds of
instruments:
(a) A Protocol of Signature is an instrument subsidiary to a treaty,
and drawn up by the same parties. Such a Protocol deals with
ancillary matters such as the interpretation of particular clauses
of the treaty, those formal clauses not inserted in the treaty, or
the regulation of technical matters. Ratification of the treaty will
normally ipso facto involve ratification of such a Protocol.
(b) An Optional Protocol to a Treaty is an instrument that
establishes additional rights and obligations to a treaty. It is
usually adopted on the same day, but is of independent character and
subject to independent ratification. Such protocols enable certain
parties of the treaty to establish among themselves a framework of
obligations that reach further than the general treaty and to which
not all parties of the general treaty consent, creating a
"two-tier system". The Optional Protocols to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 are
well-known examples.
(c) A Protocol based on a Framework Treaty is an instrument with
specific substantive obligations that implements the general
objectives of a previous framework or umbrella convention. Such
protocols ensure a more simplified and accelerated treaty-making
process and have been used particularly in the field of
international environmental law. An example is the 1987 Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer adopted on the
basis of Arts.2 and 8 of the 1985 Vienna Convention for the
Protection of the Ozone Layer.
(d) A Protocol to amend is an instrument that contains provisions
that amend one or various former treaties, such as the Protocol of
1946 amending the Agreements, Conventions and Protocols on Narcotic
Drugs.
(e) A Protocol as a supplementary treaty is an instrument that
contains supplementary provisions to a previous treaty, e.g. the
1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees to the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
(f) A Proces-Verbal is an instrument that contains a record of
certain understandings arrived at by the contracting parties.
http://untreaty.un.org/english/guide.asp |
| Side
Event |
An
open, lunchtime or evening event at an official meeting, (e.g. panel
discussion) usually related to the issues being negotiated |
| SIDS |
Small
Island Developing States, especially important in relation to the
Barbados Plan of Action for SIDS |
| South |
The
current widely-used term to describe developing countries |
| Square
brackets |
Used
during negotiations to indicate that a section of text is being
discussed but hasn’t been agreed |
| Stakeholders |
Stakeholders
are those individuals or groups who have a stake in a certain policy
or decision – they are impacting the decision or policy and/or are
affected by it. Agenda
21 recognises nine stakeholder groups (so-called “Major Groups”,
see below), and women are one of them. |
| Sustainable
Development |
Can be
defined as development that allows the present generation to meet
their needs without compromising the ability of future generations
to meet theirs. Sustainable
development needs to balance three goals: environmental protection,
healthy economic growth, and social equity |
| Treaty |
The
term "treaty" can be used as a common generic term or as a
particular term that indicates an instrument with certain
characteristics.
(a) Treaty as a generic term: The term "treaty" has
regularly been used as a generic term embracing all instruments
binding in international law concluded between international
entities, regardless of their formal designation. Both the 1969
Vienna Convention and the 1986 Vienna Convention confirm this
generic use of the term "treaty". The 1969 Vienna
Convention defines a treaty as "an international agreement
concluded between States in written form and governed by
international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two
or more related instruments and whatever its particular
designation". The 1986 Vienna Convention extends the definition
of treaties to include international agreements involving
international organizations as parties. In order to speak of a
"treaty" in the generic sense, an instrument has to meet
various criteria. First of all, it has to be a binding instrument,
which means that the contracting parties intended to create legal
rights and duties. Secondly, the instrument must be concluded by
states or international organizations with treaty-making power.
Thirdly, it has to be governed by international law. Finally the
engagement has to be in writing. Even before the 1969 Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties, the word "treaty" in
its generic sense had been generally reserved for engagements
concluded in written form.
(b) Treaty
as a specific term: There are no consistent rules when state
practice employs the terms "treaty" as a title for an
international instrument. Usually the term "treaty" is
reserved for matters of some gravity that require more solemn
agreements. Their signatures are usually sealed and they normally
require ratification. Typical examples of international instruments
designated as "treaties" are Peace Treaties, Border
Treaties, Delimitation Treaties, Extradition Treaties and Treaties
of Friendship, Commerce and Cooperation. The use of the term
"treaty" for international instruments has considerably
declined in recent decades in favour of other terms.
http://untreaty.un.org/english/guide.asp |
| UNCED |
United
Nations Conference on Environment & Development, Rio 1992 |
| UNCTAD |
United
Nations Conference on Trade & Development |
| UNDESA |
United
Nations Department on Economic & Social Affairs |
| UNDP |
United
Nations Development Programme |
| UNDPCSD |
United
Nations Division for Policy Co-ordination for Sustainable
Development |
| UNDSD |
United
Nations Division for Sustainable Development |
| UNEP |
United
Nations Environment Programme |
| UNESCO |
United
Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation |
| UNFCCC |
United
Nations Framework Climate Change Convention |
| UNGASS |
United
Nations General Assembly Special Session |
| WB |
World
Bank |
| WBCSD |
World
Business Council for Sustainable Development |
| WEDO |
Women's
Environment & Development Organisation |
| WHO |
World
Health Organisation |
| Working
Group |
A
sub-group of, for example a UN Commission, tasked with drafting
language for the final documents |
| WSSD |
World
Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen 1995 |
| WTO |
World
Tourism Organisation |
| WTO |
World
Trade Organisation |
| WTTC |
World
Travel & Tourism Organisation |
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