[WSIS CS-Plenary] NGO meeting with UNGA President, Jan Eliasson

[Renata Bloem]

Dear all, 

 

Below might be of interest to some of you.

Best

Renata

 

 

NGO Meeting with UNGA President, Jan Eliasson

 

 

Geneva, November 22, 2005

 

UNGA President, Jan Eliasson was in Geneva 21-22 November to meet with the
Human Rights Community to discuss the future Human Rights Council. He met on
Monday with the Regional Coordinators, attended on Tuesday morning an
informal session of the Commission on Human Rights, open to NGOs, and met
with the larger NGO community on Tuesday afternoon.

 

1.         The UNGA President recalled his early background in NGOs. He said
we were in a crisis for multilateralism: we need to live together, to work
together, yet we do not have the multilateral tools that are necessary

 

2.         The UNGA September 2005 Summit was perhaps not fully adequate,
but it contained many advances for multilateral cooperation. Ongoing
negotiations on which he hoped to get agreement (quality consensus) before
the end of the year were on the Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights
Council, the comprehensive Convention against Terrorism, the revitalisation
of ECOSOC, and UN management reform

 

3.         Renate Bloem (CONGO) thanked for this opportunity of interaction
with NGOs and hoped that the same would be given to colleagues in New York.
She then asked that in creating the new Human Rights Council, the rights and
responsibilities given to NGOs in the present UNCHR be at the least
maintained, and a clause should be in a GA resolution, transferring 1996/31
practices.  She further inquired about the role of civil society in the new
Peace Commission and in which way any reformed/strengthened ECOSOC would be
more open to civil society, in particular in follow up of the major UN
Conferences, including the just finished Tunis Summit  

 

4.         Others questions were asked on

 

            - recognition of indigenous populations

            

            - the UN Sub commission on Human rights

            

            - the methods of work of the new HR Council

 

5.         Eliasson said he hoped the HR Council would retain the best
practices of UNCHR;that the peace building commission should be field
oriented, to get optimum results; that the GA itself needed to be
revitalised and the time was very opportune for that

 

6.         Further questions were put on

 

            - renewing the NGO/Civil Society June 2005 Hearings during 2006,
hopefully in September before or during the GA

 

            - adequate financing of the UN to enable it to do the job(s)
required of it

 

            - the role of ECOSOC in the elimination of poverty, including
seeking the participation of             the poor

 

            - the timing of the push for reforms

 

            - the need for UN structures to be involved in conflict
prevention

 

7.         Eliasson responded that he had no dates yet for further NGO-type
Hearings but that there would be such events during his Presidency; that the
next stage for discussing UN financing would be the Committee on Assessment
of Contributions in later 2006; that poverty and development were
interlinked, and the trade dimension was crucial - unfortunately the
prospects for progress at the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial were currently slim;
the timing on reform was urgent a) because of realities, b) because many of
the issues had been debated already for 12 to 18 months, c) because the
September Summit asked for action during the 60th UNGA

 

8.         Further questions were put on

 

            - more socially-oriented   business   practices,   allied   to
internationally-accepted   taxation       mechanisms

 

            - how to include NGOs as representatives of democracy in UN
processes and provide for          them some funding for grass-roots work

 

9.         Eliasson said there is a tremendous role for business in solving
the world's problems and urged participation in the UN Global Compact -
enlightened self-interest was as important as idealism; globalisation is the
right course but we all have to be alert to some bad effects and remedy
them; the growth of civil society in developing countries was crucial to
good governance and INGOs should support this.

 

10.       During the course of the meeting, Eliasson said that his staff
would be making arrangements to have a similar meeting shortly with NGOs
based in New York. The timing would of course depend on his GA Presidential
obligations.

 

 

Note by Cyril Ritchie

 

CyrilRitchie
CICCase20
CH-1211Genève20
Tél.+4122733.6717
Fax+4122734.7082
E-mail : c.ritchie at fiig.org

 

 

 

 

 

Renate Bloem
President of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO)
11, Avenue de la Paix
CH-1202 Geneva
Tel: +41 22 301 1000
Fax: +41 22 301 2000
E-mil: rbloem at ngocongo.org
Website: www.ngocongo.org

 

 

 

The Conference of NGOs (CONGO) is an international, membership association
that facilitates the participation of NGOs in United Nations debates and
decisions. Founded in 1948, CONGO's major objective is to ensure the
presence of NGOs in exchanges among the world's governments and United
Nations agencies on issues of global concern.  For more information see our
website at www.ngocongo.org

 

.

 

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