UN
WE BELIEVE
NGO REPORTER
Published Quarterly by
EXECOM - The NGO/DPI Executive Committee
| Vol. 6 No. 2 |
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Sept 1998
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Table of Contents
September 1998 - Current Issue
UN
WE BELIEVE
EXECOM - The NGO/DPI Executive Committee
| Vol. 6 No. 2 |
|
Sept 1998
|
Equality for Women: Equality for All
Words from the Chair, Elaine Valdov: Human Rights - Translating Ideals to Action
"Poor planning on your part does not constitute an automatic emergency on mine."
Fifty years after the Declaration of Human Rights we pause to look around us at what has been accomplished in the name of humanity and find little to celebrate except the indomitable will of those who have refused to yield and who have insisted, against all odds, on fighting for justice. The United Nations has helped create mechanisms to protect the weak. But there is a wide chasm of abuse between the nobility of the laws and the baseness of actions done in contravention of those laws. For those of us who believe in the perfectability of humankind the history of the last century has taught a humbling lesson. This is the century in which genocide became a household word.
At the dawn of history people cajoled the forces of nature in the attempt to avoid evil. We now recognize evil as an element within ourselves, and we know from experience that it is easier to control than to extirpate it. In an ideal world, there would be no need to protect the weak. The strong would become their natural protectors. Equity should be a by-product of love for a fellow being. If love falls, society must try moral suasion. If that falls, there remains only the power of international law.
Much abuse has been done in the name of national sovereignty and much more in the name of tradition and culture. For a long time nations were ready to excuse wrongs done to the individual in the name of tradition. Society, it was argued, took precedence over individual rights. Now, however, a worldwide consensus has emerged that the conflict between individual and group rights is more apparent than real. The two not only can, but must coexist. Cultural relativism must give way to international norms. Human rights are universal and transcend the rights of the tribe. One standard exists for all States and all people. Geography should not control destiny.
United Nations instruments now exist that set minimum standards for economic, social, cultural, civil, and political rights. These general terms are as lulling as oatmeal and cream. The realities are as harsh as rape and murder and torture, blighted lives and blasted dreams. A single bully, with the acquiescence of the group, can grind dissenters into the ground. People are mutilated for the sake of political expedience. Children are bought and sold like chattel. (Children as young as eight years of age have been forced to become soldiers. Within the last decade, two million children died in armed conflict, either as combatants or as bystanders. Two million more are presently engaged in prostitution, one million in Asia alone, and an untold number of those will never survive to celebrate their fourteenth birthday.)
Man's inhumanity to man - and women's, too - has woven a harsh-colored thread through the fabric of history. The challenge to change has been presented to our generation, the Ariel generation that sends messages around the world in a single moment and has planted its boots on the moon. We know what must be done. We must create, through education, a moral climate that establishes a norm of decency so that anyone who breaches it risks international censure. We must pool knowledge and resources and form new partnerships to do the work that languishes when States are amenable to change, but resources are not available. We must enlist governments to support international laws and to strengthen their own laws. We must find ways to enforce those laws that are already in place. In each of these steps, NGOs have an important function.
Examples of cooperation across diverse groups are available in abundance. In Bangladesh NGOs, the ILO, and UNICEF formed an alliance with the local garment worker's union. They are trying to solve the problems that arose in the wake of a boycott against industries that employed child labor. (Sometimes, in trying to right one wrong, other wrongs are committed. It is not always easy to assess the peripheral effects of a well-meaning action.) NGOs are serving as gadflies when States think they can terrorize political prisoners with impunity. NGOs map minefields. They monitor elections. They stage marches of conscience. They educate peoples. They protect street children from police who don't value human life at a pin's price. They harry legislators into considering new laws. They sew up the sick and bury the dead and always, everywhere, they cast their lot with the causes of the poor and the underprivileged. Everywhere, NGOs are trying to turn human wrongs into human rights.
U N Dues: An Assessment
As the United Nations begins its 2nd half century, its financial solvency is very much in doubt. The world community holds together because its members share some common purposes and derive benefits from their political association.
Each agency in the UN system has its own budget and financing based on one common thread: funding for all of them comes almost entirely from the governments of member states. Amounts raised are either assessed, or contributed voluntarily to specific programs. States ratifying the UN Charter in 1945 undertook the legal obligation to bear the expense of the organization as apportioned by the General Assembly. Anticipating that some governments might fall to provide their share of the funds, the charter drafters included an enforcement mechanism which stated that if the amount of arrears equals or exceeds the amount due from a member for the preceding two years, that member shall have no vote in the General Assembly, unless failure to pay is due to conditions beyond the control of the member.
Globally there is a basic standard for assessing taxpayers - Capacity to Pay, measured by national income. There is a minimum and maximum rate, a writeoff for debt relief, and a consideration for spurts of income growth. The first General Assembly felt that comparative estimates of national income was the fairest guide to measure capacity to pay.
Data on national income from all member states would help to calculate each member's percentage share of the total income of all members. The formula devised by the UN would be adopted by each of the specialized agencies as part of the UN system.
In the beginning the UN Statistical Office had difficulty assessing national income because few states had adequate statistical data. Reporting has improved dramatically over the years. By 1988, 88% of member states supplied timely data. Whereas the Soviets wanted their share of world economic product, and therefore their dues, inflated in order to ensure they would be number two after the U.S., the U.S. has often sought to lower its assessment. Since 1948 the formula for apportioning UN expenses has made an allowance for the low per capita incomes of many members. For example, India and the Netherlands have roughly the same national income, but because the number of people sharing that income is so disparate, it would seem that Dutch taxpayers should be able to pay more toward UN expenses than India.
The U.S. and 15 states of the European Union have about the same shares of the world's income. The U.S. assessment for the UN budget is a flat 25% and the E.U.'s totals 32.7%. There is a separate account for the peacekeeping budget using the regular assessment formula. Peacekeeping missions, however, rely external voluntary support as well as on assessed budgets.
The financial problems that threaten to cripple the UN need to be addressed as all governments have a deep interest in currency stability. Many alternatives have been suggested. A major issue of how an international organization would appropriate funds for an automatic revenue stream needs to be discussed. Perhaps in the reforms being considered by S. G. Annan, the U.N. assessments will be the number one priority.
Return to index.
Peace is a human right. A General Assembly resolution solemnly proclaims that "life without war serves as the primary international prerequisite for ... the full implementation of the rights and fundamental human freedoms proclaimed by the United Nations, " and that "the peoples of our planet have a sacred right to peace. "
Human rights are the hinges of the door that will lead us into the new century. They must not be allowed to rust. According to UN documents, within the past few years it has been reported that:
Although great strides are being made in the administration of international law , judges are murdered and "disappeared" in many destabilized countries, causing huge backlogs in cases, making prisons nauseatingly overcrowded
Advertisements for gender-selection in India suggested that it was better to spend $38 now to terminate a female foetus than $3,800 later on her dowry.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in the 400 cases of domestic violence reported in 1993 in the province of Punjab, nearly half ended with the death of the wife.
In the United States, a woman is beaten every 18 minutes. About 30 per cent of women admitted to emergency rooms are there because they have been abused.
70 per cent of all reported crimes in Peru involve women who have been beaten by their husbands
Every year some 2 million girls undergo genital mutilation.
Much has been done, but much remains to be done. Every moment of the day, someone draws breath in pain inflicted by others.
Equality for Women: Equality for All
Violence against women was addressed by the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Sin6e 1995 it has assessed the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action proclaimed by the Fourth World Conference on Women, fully validating the claim that women's rights are human rights. A major focus of the platform in addition to this validation was reinforcing the Declaration on the Elimination of all Forms of Violence Against Women produced by the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights. The Declaration and the Platform are two other landmarks in the creation of international norms and standards to assure equal rights to half of humanity.
The task now is to see that it does not take another 50 years to achieve the authentic universality of human rights that can be reached only when gender equality has been achieved. Varied and vigorous efforts toward this goal are proliferating throughout the world. One of them to be publically promulgated in observation of the 50th anniversary of the original Declaration is a Declaration of Human Rights with a Gender Perspective drafted by The Latin American Council of Women and circulated it to all world regions for input and comment. They hope the occasion will bring forth a full commitment to gender equality.
CEDAW, the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of discrimination Against Women, has been the catalyst of considerable progress in the realization of women's human rights. Subject not only to the monitoring of governmental reports to the UN Committee established by the Convention, but also to nongovernmental "shadow" reports, it has become the measure of the advancement of women.
From Words to Deeds
Before the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, societies had different conceptions of religious freedom, women's rights, freedom of expression and opinion - as well as the nature of economic, social and cultural rights. Most differences were due to cultural traditions and the political makeup of the countries. Some of these differences continue to this day.
On December 10, 1948, 48 of the 58 member states voted in favor of the Declaration. Thus the world agreed on a definition of "Human Rights." Since that date, the Declaration has symbolized and provided the framework for expression of basic principles and freedoms that are regarded as birth rights.
On June 25, 1993, representatives of 171 States adopted by consensus the "Vienna Declaration of
Human Rights." That marked the beginning of a renewed effort to strengthen and further implement
the body of human rights instruments that had been painstakingly constructed on the foundation of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 1948.
A shift in the focus of human rights is now taking place - from focusing not only on the rights of the individual but also looking at the rights of groups such as women and indigenous people. The rights set out in the Declaration are not being rewritten, but our understanding and perceptions are being challenged. This change in focus reflects the importance of issues like economic justice and sustainable development, and the recognition that the two Covenants of the International Bill of Human Rights - Civil and Political, and Economic, Social and Cultural - and the Optional Protocol to Civil and Political Rights must be considered as interdependent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The DPI/NGO Annual Conference, "50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: From Words to Deeds", will bring together the NGO community to focus on the promotion, implementation and achievement of human rights for all. We will share information and try to find new ways to achieve the full implementation of the Human Rights Convention.
A sample of The Mid-Day Dialogues topics are areas like Traumatic Stress of Workers in the Field, Article 19 of the UNDHR, Methodology of a Human Rights Organization and the Future of Human Rights Issues.
This Conference can and should mark our renewed effort to strengthen and further implement the human rights instruments.
Dorrie Weiss, Economists Allied forArms Reduction
Contributors:
Barbara Leslie, International Council of Jewish WomenClaretta Nesbitt, United Methodist Church
Betty Reardon, International Peace Research Association
The Executive Committeeof Non-Gouernnental Organizations Associated with the United
Nations Office of Coininuitications and Public information
Please leave comments and contributions in the Executive Committee box in UN/NGO Resource Center
Words From the Chair, Elaine Valdov
Human Rights - Translating Ideals to Action
The time has come to move beyond rhetoric toward concrete action. We must Join Mary Robinson, our New High Commissioner of Human Rights, who states that she awakens each morning, thinking what she will do today to protect human rights.
As we move toward the Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, can we honestly say that this is an occasion to celebrate? Our world has entered an age of advanced technology but we continue to live with widespread discrimination on the basis of religion, gender, race, and sexual orientation. Can we praise a present day world where atrocities have been carried out systematically as the rest of the world watched? Can we celebrate while 1/5 of the world's population lives in "absolute poverty" and millions of children die of curable diseases because of where they were born?
Mary Robinson says, "This is a failure of implementation, on a scale which shames us."
The Vienna Declaration of Human Rights, in 1993, stated that "Human rights and fundamental freedoms are the birthrights of all human beings." HCHR has asked us to partner with them in ensuring that these birthrights are protected and to work with them to promote the following objectives:
To serve as an important vehicle for advancing the role of all human rights along with peace, democracy and development as the guiding principles for harmonious international relations and strong community life in all nations in the next century.
To enhance the implementation of human rights and prevention of their violations, as well as promote good practices To focus on reaching people everywhere, in particular at the grass rootslevel, and to strengthen the partnership for human rights within and outside the UN system.
The Celebration of the Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights must be a time of revisiting our vision of human rights and committing to take action, so that this vision becomes a reality.
The Human Rights Declaration must be a living document. What is the role of the NGO community in making it live to its fullest? The Secretary General has called upon the UN Family, as we approach the New Millennium, to come together and work on 5 areas: 1) human rights, 2) peace and security, 3) humanitarian affairs, 4) economic and social issues and 5) development.
The challenge is to ACT - to make this a New Millennium of Human Rights - to make the preamble a living force in the hearts of all: "Whereas recognition of inherent dignity and of equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, Justice and peace in the world."
"Poor planning on your part does not constitute an automatic emergency on mine. "
That's what the sign reads over the desk at the security office where UN passes are issued. It indicates some frustration with those self-important people who think their needs deserve an immediate response and a place at the head of the line. But it also smacks of humor and an underlying tolerance.
The officers on duty are an affable lot, willing and accommodating. They will do their best - providing that you do your bit. Make sure your credentials are in order, your organization has faxed in its authorization, and you have reported to DPI or ECOSOC and filled in the necessary forms before you go for your pass.
The security office for the issuance of passes is located in the UNITAR building, where the Resource Center was located when the NGOs were in exile from the main building. The officers like it: their quarters are more commodious than they were across the street. If you need your photograph taken, you will find the new equipment a marvel of efficiency. Photos are not taken automatically when passes are renewed: if there hasn't been a noticeable change in your appearance, if you haven't grown a beard or shaved one off, changed your hair color or developed dozens of new wrinkles, you can get by with the old photo. If the officers don't point and click, feel flattered: it means that, though you may feel older, you don't look older.
Issuing passes is a routine, though necessary, precaution. But the people who stand in line sometimes provide a break in the day's occupation for the officers on duty. One day Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany dropped by to chat, and flattered the staff with the sincerity of his interest. Another, more amusing incident occurred when one of the NGOs did indeed exhibit poor planning and could not get his pass because his credentials were inadequate. He became angry; he argued; he threatened. Then, getting nowhere, he turned his back, dropped his slacks, and "mooned" the officers. Perhaps he was not an NGO at all, but a fugitive from a local clinic. Life in the security office is not always dull.
UN
WE BELIEVE
EXECOM - The NGO/DPI Executive Committee
| Vol. 5 No. 2 |
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May 1997
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Editor:
Dorrie Weiss, Economists Allied for Arms Reduction
Contributors:
Esmerelda Brown, Southern Co-Chair, CSD/NGO Steering Committee
Deborah Moldow, The World Peace Prayer Society
Sharrye Moore, Pan African Islamic Society for Agro-Cultural Development
Vernon Nichols, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Doris Schapira, League of Women Voters
Claudia Strauss, World Information Transfer
Elaine Valdov, Pathways to Peace
The Executive Committee of Non Governmental Organizations
Associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information
******
Please leave comments and contributions in the Executive Committee box in UN NGO Resource Center
e-mail suggestions and comments to administrator.
DPI/NGO 50th Annual Conference
The International Day of Peace
UN Commission on the Status of Women
Limited Access for Disarmament NGOs
The Executive Committee: Words from the Chair, Dr. Elaine Valdov
Why the UN Needs Money - Reason # 64
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There were fifty - count them, 50 - new organizations accredited to the Department of Public Information in March, bringing the total number of NGOs to a whopping 1,514. The United Nations is obviously doing something right: civil society groups are clamoring for admission. If all of their representatives tried to attend the same Thursday briefing at New York headquarters, they would have to be stacked ten to a seat. Their diversity and vitality will enrich the NGO Community.
Here they come! Eighteen are US groups, nine from the Russian Federation, three from Italy. Bangladesh, Egypt, and Iran each contributed two, and the others are scattered, one apiece, from Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Vatican. The geographical breadth would make a lexicographer smile.
What do they have in common? Admission depends on certain criteria. Allegiance to the goals of the UN Charter is essential. All are non-profit organizations, and all are committed to maintaining and disseminating UN ideals. They range from very large groups (The African American Islamic Institute, from Senegal, has 500,000 individual members) to small, specialized groups. Some of them are fledgling organizations. Some are old, established groups. The oldest is the Order of St. Augustine at the Vatican, which has been in existence since 1244 - older than many Member States that comprise the United Nations. For the first time, admission was granted to academic and health organizations, so that colleges, universities, and The Hague Model United Nations were among the affiliations granted. They represent a broad range of interests, but all work for the common good of humanity. We welcome them.
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The dates are set, so mark your calendars for September 10, 11, and 12, 1997. The fiftieth annual Conference will roll 'round as surely as the seasons. Planning is underway; the location is The United Nations Headquarters in New York, and the Conference title is Building Partnerships.
There will be a reception in the Delegates Dining Room sponsored by the NGO/DPI Executive Committee on Thursday evening, September 11, 1997. Reservation forms for the reception and for the Conference itself should be mailed by the end of June to The Executive Committee of NGOs Associated with the Department of Public Information at the United Nations.
Contributions of in-kind services and/or money would be greatly appreciated. All contributors will be listed on all publications related to this event. Please send your contributions to:
"The Executive Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations".
Our addresss is: The Executive Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations Associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information, NGO Resource Center, Room L-1B-31, New York, NY 10017, U.S.A.
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On September 16, 1997, the opening day of the 52nd session of the General Assembly, delegates from all the member states will stand in a Minute of Silence in observance of the annual International Day of Peace. NGOs can find many ways to further the concept of this important moment.
In 1981 the G.A. unanimously declared that the third Tuesday in September "shall be officially dedicated and observed as the International Day of Peace and shall be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples" (Resolution 36/67). In 1983, Robert Muller, then Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, began encouraging widespread participation in the observation of the Day of Peace.
At UN headquarters every year the Secretary-General rings the Peace Bell, made of coins donated by 65 member countries as an appeal to prevent the tragedy of war. This bell-ringing ceremony is duplicated throughout the world.
A Florida-based organization, People for World Peace, distributes a proclamation calling for observation of this day through a moment of silence followed by thoughts and actions to promote peace and harmony "within and among ourselves, our state, our nation and our world," which has been sent to 392 mayors in the state. They suggest that NGOs contact local officials in an effort to spread the practice to other communities. In Switzerland last year, UNIS Geneva, with the World Peace Day Association, helped hundreds of school children release balloons bearing messages of peace and tolerance. The Y Teens of Oil City, PA held a similar balloon launch in the U.S. Since 1983, Pathways to Peace has promoted the observation of the Minute of Silence. The Committee of Religious NGOs also organizes an inter-religious prayer service each year on this day.
If you would like to help promote this ceremony, contact any of the organizations listed for assistance in organizing it - or find a Peace Bell and make your own music!
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A young woman from Yaounde, Cameroon spoke movingly about the fact that girls in the rural areas of her country were not sent to school and were married at age twelve, often to much older men. A doctor from India told about grass-roots centers in over 1000 villages that were established by her organization. She spoke about young women in her country who were killed by suspicious stove fires after their dowries had been paid. A writer from Mexico, chair of an international women writers' committee, spoke of the persecution of women writers in many parts of the world. One woman, from Sierra Leone, had worked for free elections in her country; another, from Afghanistan, begged for international help to clear over a million landmines left in her country after years of war.
These were some of the wonderful and brave women who attended the UN CSW. The meeting ran from March 10 to March 21, 1997 and was preceded by a full day NGO Consultation on March 9, run by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women. At the consultation, speakers from CSW and from the secretariat briefed NGOs on the upcoming meeting. That was followed by the NGOs dividing into groups to suggest wording for the Committee to present to the CSW. (Each year the CSW will tackle four different areas from the Beijing document.)
While the meeting did not draw as many NGO participants as last year's post Beijing meeting, a substantial number did attend. Each day began with a briefing by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women. During the lunch break the overlapping caucuses and mission briefings created a dilemma for those interested in attending conflicting meetings.
Although this CSW meeting was meant to show progress since Beijing, in many instances the government delegations, in producing a document at this session, had to work mightily to maintain the wording established in the original Beijing document, rather than moving forward. This was extremely discouraging for most NGO representatives.
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NGO access has two purposes: to observe and to contribute. At the April PrepCom for the Review Conference of the Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty, observation was severely limited. NGOs arrived from many countries to find closed doors. During the nine days of the PrepCom, only a few hours were open to them. The NGO Committee on Disarmament had worked hard to secure access, but it was even more limited than it had been in past negotiations. They did, however, gain an entire morning session, which was set aside for substantive contributions by a selected few representative presenters. Some forty delegates attended that session.
The NGOs held their own "mini- conference" that spun in a separate orbit while the official conference was closed to them. The NGO Committee on Disarmament arranged regular briefings, caucuses, meeting space for interested groups, access to PrepCom documents, and the opportunity for the NGO presentations to delegates. This could not have been achieved without the cooperation of the UN Centre for Disarmament Affairs.
There will be other PrepComs before the Review Conference in the year 2000. Perhaps member States will consider making the process more transparent to civil society.
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In 1994, the need arose for a body that would help insure that NGOs from all parts of the world are treated fairly and are entitled to equal access to activities and meetings pertaining to the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD.) To that end, the NGO Steering Committee to the CSD was formed in 1994. Representatives from the South, when they attended the first meeting of the CSD, found that NGOs were not organized in a democratic, transparent and inclusive manner, and that the process was largely controlled by an elite northern group. This led to the formation of a Southern Caucus and the election of a coordinator to protect the interests of the South between major CSD sessions, in order to safeguard adequate representation and participation. Ensuing debates, struggles, and negotiations led to the creation of the NGO Steering Committee, whose basic ground rules include the responsibility for an effort toward gender balance and North/South balance.
The Steering Committee began its work amid many difficulties. Lack of funding, and the need for volunteer contributions from other NGOs, hampered its activities. It was pledged to uphold its commitment to the development process and to fulfill the historic NGO role as the conscience of society and critic of social inadequacies. It forged a strong coalition between the North and the South, strengthening both in the process, and leading to a greater understanding between the two groups. The process has also led to the creation of a credible base-line document that incorporates the input of thousands of NGOs around the world. The document represents the best interests of the North and the South, of major groups, and of issue caucuses. Much of the language has found its way into the final text of the CSD Government document that will be presented at the Special Session of the General Assembly - RIO+5 CSD, June 23rd to the 27th, 1997.
Committee concerns will now move toward a new vision for the United Nations in the next five years. As the custodians of the interests of peoples at risk, the group will lobby for solutions to the environmental and economic problems detailed in the base-line document. They will work to raise a travel fund - connected to the Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS)..in order to help at least three NGO representatives (One female, one youth, and one male) selected by national networks in each developing country of the South and Eastern Europe to attend future sessions. They will try to harness the potential of NGOs in all communities of the world in the effort to resolve the environmental and economic problems of the world.
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If Margaret Mead said that it only takes a small group of concerned citizens to change the world, then the possibilities become unfathomable when we start to realize the potentials for people to impact global change through the increasing support and networking of NGOs around the world and through their partnering with the United Nations.
The NGO/DPI Executive Committee EXECOM helps to facilitate this partnership and networking, as well as serving as a liaison between the NGOs and the Department of Public Information at the United Nations. We invite all NGOs to work with us, and welcome you and your ideas.
Four of the ways in which you can participate in the work of the committee are: 1. you can contribute to our sub-committees; 2. take part in the 50th Anniversary NGO/DPI NGO/DPI Conference; 3. partner with us in joint programs and 4. offer ideas and suggestions for action.
There are eight sub-Committees working at this time:
1. The DPI/NGO Conference Planning Committee, which is planning the 50th Annual DPI/NGO Conference to be held September 10-12, 1997. (See related article.)
2. The NGO Korean Conference Committee, which is reviewing the possibility of co-sponsoring a world-wide NGO conference in Korea. If this international conference does develop, the group will help to conceptualize, develop, and manage the conference.
3. EXECOM Communications Committee, which is working to increase communication with NGOs around the world to build partnerships and provide outreach.
4. World Wide Web Committee, which is developing our web pages. http://www.ngo.org
The purpose of the Web site is to keep NGOs informed of activities of NGOs at the UN Headquarters in NYC and establish links/contacts with NGOs worldwide.
5. The Resource Center Committee, which is working with DPI on the new Resource Center. The aim is to provide current information on partnerships and networks, world conference updates and action plans, UN reform, methods of strengthening the UN, tools for NGO outreach, UN Agency connections and NGO/ NGO networks. Computer services and a Video Library which includes every Thursday DPI/NGO Briefing and many official UN videos...all for loan, as well as printed matter, is already and continually being made available in the Center.
6. Committee for Teaching About the UN, which is developing educational programs that can be disseminated widely to assure a more informed public.
7. NGO Executives' Committee, which is creating new avenues of partnership between UN executives and their NGO counterparts. The Committee is currently developing a symposium between the Secretary General's office, UN agencies, and NGO Executives to identify program areas in which they can create partnerships and further communication processes.
8. NGO Net Committee, which is exploring the possibilities of worldwide networking, in order to strengthen NGO links and to increase the participation of under-represented regional NGOs at the United Nations.
If you wish to participate on any of these committees, please fax Larry Gell at 212-697-2363, or email lgell@undp.org. He will forward your requests, send current meeting arrangements and give you the contact persons.
The 50th anniversary of the DPI/NGO Conferences will be held on September 10-12, 1997 in New York City and will focus on effective Partnership Building. Attend if you can; create your own conferences, symposiums, or celebratory events in your own organizations. Work with UN Information Centers around the world to create joint endeavors. Tell us what you are doing and we will be pleased to publish it in the literature packet for the 50th Anniversary. Contact the DPI/NGO Resource center for information. Fax: 212-963-2819.
Send us your ideas and suggestions. If you are interested in working on a subcommittee, or think we need to form a new one, or are interested in joint projects or partnerships, or have ideas about NGO participation in the DPI/NGO Thursday Morning Briefings at UN Headquarters, let us know. We would like to hear from you.
The NGO/DPI Executive Committee works to heighten the work of the United Nations and the work of the people. We believe that by the working together of NGOs, governments and the UN, we can become co-creators of a world that is not measured by military might or GNP, but a world that flourishes in health, education, housing and jobs...a world where equality is a norm, where we live in harmony with our earth and values are at the core of living.
Together, we can create a new world that we can proudly pass on to our children and future generations.
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World Information Transfer's (WIT's) Sixth Annual Conference on Health and Environment: Global Partners for Global Solutions was held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on Friday, April 18th. The conference, entitled Environmental Degradation: Its Effect on Children's Health was co sponsored by the Government of Chile and supported by the UN Department of Public Information. International experts spoke on topics which included the impact of toxins on child development, environmental contamination in the Southern Hemisphere and its effect on children's health, dietary influences on behavior, environmental degradation and learning, women's health and the environment, media and health, the impact of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster on children's health, and the influences of lead poisoning.
The expert panelists focused on the linkages between environment and health. Sustainable development, it was argued, was not about saving the planet, but about saving ourselves. One speaker suggested that new partnerships be formed, like one that would ally UNICEF with major medical schools. One panelist provided mortality statistics of children in South America and the Caribbean that stunned many in the audience. The emotional impacts of domestic violence, war, poverty, and abusive labor practices that limit the development of children globally was considered, as was the current role of the media in disseminating health information and setting perceptions of health and illness.
The discussion of the real, unedited impact of the Chernobyl disaster with the employment of 600,000 cleanup workers, many of whom have since died, was sobering to those who are ready to forget. There is a continued abridgment of the facts pertaining to the immensity of this disaster.
The health of children now and in the future depends on the responsible actions of adults. That was a major message of the Conference, which was well attended despite the fact that the three sessions planned were condensed into two because of the short-notice closing of the UN facilities. The audience included nearly 100 science and medical students.
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The regional UN centers are falling behind in their information services, often in the very places that are most dependent upon them. A visiting Japanese delegation from Franciscans, Int'1 reported that they were unable to find current information in the Tokyo center. The group works in the fields of environment, disarmament, and human rights. All of them reported that material they sought was not current, but was at least a year old. There are now two-hundred fifty NGOs in Japan with official government recognition, according to the Franciscans, and possibly many more grassroots groups, all of whom need current information...a need that is nearly impossible to fill given the current budgetary constrictions at the United Nations.
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The NGO Steering Committee will sponsor an NGO Global Gathering Expo, June 20-27, 1997 during the Special Session of the General Assembly. They will make space available for events sponsored by and funded by individual organizations, in space just across from United Nations Headquarters. There will be displays and presentations on Best Practices developed since UNCED, space in close proximity to the United Nations, booths for exhibits, at least one major event sponsored by the Steering Committee itself, and high visibility to NGO activity associated with the Special Session. The theme of the Expo is Lighting the Path to a Sustainable Future. For more information, contact Sharrye Moore at (212)978-8000, fax at (212)571-2036, or email Sharrye@igc.apc.org.
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In the last edition of The Reporter, a Methodist group was identified as having originated a war-toys project. It is actually a group of Presbyterians that administer this continuing project.
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