[WSIS CS-Plenary] [Fwd: UN embraces civil society]

Thu Jun 23 23:58:15 BST 2005

I am there now at the GA Hearings with civil society.  I am  
rapporteuring a session on peace and security tomorrow, and then a  
press briefing.

Will report back as soon as I can.

Rik

On Jun 23, 2005, at 5:54 PM, Dr. Francis MUGUET wrote:

>
> Hello everybody
>
> Seems an important piece of news to pass...
> and to discuss
>
> Best
>
> Francis
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: UN embraces civil society
> Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 14:21:20 -0700
> From: Other News - Roberto Savio / IPS  
> <soros at topica.email-publisher.com>
> Reply-To: <othernet at ips.org>
> To: muguet at wtis.org
>
> /Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited,  
> article sent for information purposes./
>
> U.N. Hosts Historic Session With Civil Society
> Mithre J. Sandrasagra
>
> UNITED NATIONS, Jun (IPS) - For the first time ever, civil society has  
> been invited to participate in interactive sessions of the U.N.  
> General Assembly, but the guest list has irked some leading activists  
> who wonder why they were not asked to attend.
>
> The event will draw thousands of representatives of civil society,  
> non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the private sector to New  
> York on Thursday and Friday to present proposals on development,  
> security and human rights.
>
> ”While governments have traditionally been known as the engine for  
> development, it has increasingly become imperative for them to partner  
> with civil society,” said Jean Ping of Gabon, president of the General  
> Assembly.
>
> The informal hearings are a clear demonstration that ”member states of  
> the U.N. are prepared not only to work with civil society but also to  
> give serious consideration to proposals and ideas presented at these  
> discussions,” Ping said.
>
> ”These hearings are taking place at a crucial time,” as negotiations  
> are being held on the outcome document for the 2005 World Summit in  
> September to review progress made on commitments made during the 2000  
> Millennium Summit, said Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
>
> U.N. officials say that Ping has invited over 200 participants  
> representing a ”broad and balanced cross-section of civil society,  
> NGOs and the private sector, both high-level leadership and grassroots  
> membership,” to present their views.
>
> But many NGOs disagree. ”We do not know how they selected speakers,”  
> Esmeralda Brown of the Southern Caucus of NGOs for Sustainable  
> Development told IPS.
>
> Though Brown was the vice president and chairperson of the NGO  
> Millennium Forum, held during the lead-up to the Millennium Summit of  
> world leaders here in 2000, she has not been chosen to speak at the  
> interactive hearings.
>
> Of the 1,350 NGOs that Brown brought to the U.N. in 2000, many have  
> not been invited back this year, she says. ”These are the groups that  
> have been working on the on the basis of our outcome document for five  
> years, how can we have a follow-up without them?”
>
> The Southern Caucus has been a voice of NGOs at the world body and  
> instrumental in U.N. processes since before the Earth Summit +5 review  
> in 1997.
>
> The United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS), a small  
> inter-agency programme with offices in Geneva and New York and a  
> combined staff of 10, selected nine Northern NGOs to advise Ping on  
> the modalities of the hearings and the selection of participants,  
> Brown says.
>
> No speakers have been included from the nuclear and general  
> disarmament and international law fields, according to John Burroughs,  
> executive director of the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy.
>
> Burroughs points to an International Herald Tribune op-ed on May 30 in  
> which Annan challenged world leaders meeting in September to ”break  
> the deadlock on the most pressing challenges in the field of nuclear  
> nonproliferation and disarmament.”
>
> ”Why is there no speaker who will address nonproliferation and the  
> related issue of suspected WMD proliferation?” he asked.
>
> At the heart of the hearings will be a push by civil society to  
> strengthen the United Nations and hold governments accountable for  
> their commitment to work toward a more peaceful, prosperous and just  
> world.
>
> World leaders agreed at the Millennium Summit to meet eight Millennium  
> Development Goals (MDGs), which included decreasing by half the number  
> of people living in poverty and hunger by 2015, ensuring primary  
> schooling for all children, and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS,  
> malaria and other major diseases.
>
> Since 2000, however, many governments have not acted on their  
> promises, and the gap between rich and poor continues to widen.
>
> The basis of the hearings will be four informal interactive sessions  
> that will focus on the four main themes of the secretary-general's  
> report, titled ”In Larger Freedom”: freedom from want, freedom from  
> fear, freedom to live in dignity, and strengthening the U.N..
>
> Five rapporteurs will be appointed by civil society participants to  
> prepare a summary of their respective sessions, which they will  
> present at the closing segment.
>
> Asked weather the member states will incorporate the views expressed  
> at the civil society meetings into their outcome document for the  
> September summit, Ping said that ”many things will be considered in  
> the preparation of the outcome document.”
>
> ”Civil society plays an important role, they are not marginalised,”  
> Ping stressed. ”NGOs today are a player that we can not ignore.”
>
> Nevertheless, rumours are circulating at the U.N. that even Southern  
> governments are failing to have much influence on the draft of the  
> World Summit outcome document.
>
> Gemma Adaba, representative of the International Confederation of Free  
> Trade Unions to the U.N. (ICFTU), thinks the process is fair. ”We are  
> a broad constituency of NGOs,” she told reporters Wednesday. ICFTU was  
> selected by NGLS to advise Ping.
>
> ”We are optimistic people and hope that governments will take our  
> viewpoints into consideration,” Adaba said.
>
>
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> -- 
>
> ------------------------------------------------------
> Francis F. MUGUET Ph.D
>
> MDPI Foundation Open Access Journals
> Associate Publisher
> http://www.mdpi.org   http://www.mdpi.net
> muguet at mdpi.org       muguet at mdpi.net
>
> ENSTA   Paris, France
> KNIS lab.  Director
> "Knowledge Networks & Information Society" (KNIS)
> muguet at ensta.fr   http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet
>
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