NGO Recommendations for Actions and Commitments at Earth Summit II

19th Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, June 23-27, 1997

Integrated Monitoring Frameworks

We call for: The establishment through the Department for Policy Co-ordination and
Sustainable Development [now Department of Economic and Social Affairs] of an integrated
comprehensive framework - making effective use of modern information and communications
technology - for systematic monitoring of the implementation of all the Rio agreements as
well as the agreements of the other recent global conferences.

• Information that the UN has available at web-sites and other new information
technologies should be made accessible to the public on a no-cost basis

• The development of indicators and criteria shall in no way undermine obligations

incurred under treaties, covenants conventions or commitments made in conference
action plans.

Implementation: Develop a comprehensive framework - to be accessible online - to enable the

systematic monitoring and implementation of the agreements of the "Rio cluster" of United
Nations conferences and proceedings; develop an integrated, fully searchable database that
incorporates the text of all these agreements, that documents initiatives - including best
practices - taken by intergovernmental agencies, governments and major groups, and that
incorporates data and indicators that can help show current status and trends towards
sustainability; the use of geographic information systems as a tool to assist in organizing and
integrating information on measures; and measures to support capacity building in the use of
information and communications technology - including the strengthening of information
and communications infrastructure in developing countries

Rationale: There is currently no systematic framework in place by which it is possible to assess

and monitor the extent and specifics of implementation of the Rio agreements. Modern
information and communications technology offers a range of powerful tools to organize and
integrate a broad base of diverse information, and to make it widely accessible. There are
many areas of overlap between the Rio agreements and the other "Rio cluster" agreements -
all of which, in one way or another relate to the attainment of a sustainable common future -
so there is a need for an integrated process of monitoring implementation of the whole set of
agreements.

This recommendation, by the Information Ecology Caucus, was published as Section 6.3 in
Recommendations for Actions and Commitments at Earth Summit II: Non-Governmental
Organization Background Paper - habitat.igc.org/csdngo/1997/es2ngo1.html - prepared by the
CSD/NGO Steering Committee

For additional information concerning the Information Ecology Caucus, contact Information
Habitat: Where Information Lives, habitat.igc.org , email: ecologist@information-habitat.net