Partnership a key theme in lead up to the World Summit on
Sustainable Development UNITED NATIONS - Among the outcomes of
the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro was an unprecedented
coming together of civil society from all sectors on a global
scale. Some 30,000 representatives of non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) concerned with a wide range of issues
gathered in Rio, making the Summit among the most dynamic and
colorful meetings of the decade. At the time, many believed the
engagement of so many NGOs with the issues, with each other, and
with governments meeting there represented a great new impulse
in the pursuit of sustainable development. If organizers of the
upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) have
their way, one of the main outcomes will be a deepening and
formalizing of the burgeoning partnerships between governments
and civil society in pursuing the goals of poverty eradication,
promoting sustainable consumption and production, and protecting
the integrity of the earth's ecosys