62nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference
The 62nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico City, Mexico from 9 to 11 September 2009. The Theme was “DISARM NOW! for peace and development.” This was done in partnership with the Government of Mexico and the Office for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations. About 1300 enthusiastic NGOs from over 30 countries attended the event.
The Opening Ceremony took place in the Convent of St. Hipolito and Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General (SG) along with others addressed the welcoming session. Many of the late afternoon Workshops took place in the various museums around which was walking distance from the place of the main meeting venue, the Ministry of Home Affairs. This also gave the NGOs to have a glance around some of the museums which were very beautiful. The city also had an excellent and clean Metro system. A reception was also hosted by the Mexican government for the NGOs.
The conference highlighted effective ways in which civil society, in partnership with other actors, can contribute to the advancement of disarmament and peace, and as a result promote sustainable development.
The United Nations designated 2001 – 2010 as the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World. In 1999, the UN defined eight key action areas necessary to cultivate a culture of peace.
1. Fostering a culture of peace through education
2. Promoting sustainable economic and social development
3. Promoting respect for all human rights
4. Ensuring equality between women and men
5. Fostering democratic participation
6. Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity
7. Supporting participatory communication and the free flow of information andknowledge
8. Promoting international peace and security
At the conclusion of the Conference, the NGOs came out with a 2 page “NGO Declaration: Disarming for Peace and Development”. It stated that a 1000 people per day are killed by small arms and 3000 more are seriously injured. The declaration addressed Governments and International organizations for Nuclear Disarmament, Small Arms and Other conventional disarmament and to the UN System. The purpose of this declaration was simple. Its aim was to save lives and to reduce injuries, and in the case of nuclear weapons, to prevent the destruction of civilization.
A whole day was devoted at the 63rd session of the General Assembly on Africa. The High-level plenary meeting on the theme “Africa’s development needs: state of implementation of various commitments, challenges and the way forward” took place on 22 September 2008 at the UN Headquarters. Besides the opening and closing plenary meetings, there were 4 round tables and numerous side events.
This meeting was an extraordinary opportunity for the UN member states to thoroughly assess actions taken by Africa, donor countries, the UN and the rest of the international community since African leaders adopted the New Partnership for Africa’s Development as the continent’s main development blueprint on 2001. Africa is the poorest of the five continents. There was a call to turn ‘vision into action.’
Secretary General (SG) Ban-Ki-Moon pointed out that the OECD countries spent an estimated 267 billion dollars last year on agricultural subsidies alone. (OECD stands for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development consisting of 30 member countries that are mostly rich). You are aware that the agricultural subsidies of rich countries have adverse effects on poor countries. In a side event on Food Crisis SG further added that the majority of Africans live in rural areas where small farmers are the main food producers. Solving the food crisis means addressing difficulties they face in producing and marketing their output.
The President of the General Assembly Father Brockmann said, ‘almost a decade later, it is time to assess the progress made towards the goals we set in the Millennium Declaration. In this regard, Africa has undeniably made considerable democratic advances, with the holding of elections and the establishment of elected Governments all cross that fair continent.
It was pointed out that no African country will achieve all the goals by 2015. One speaker said that ‘Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is a statement of shame. Mahatma Gandhi had said that there is not enough for everyone’s greed, it was true then and true now.’
Those of us working on Currency Transaction Tax were very happy to see Paragraph 86 of the Report of the Secretary-General which reads as follows: There is a need for the international community to increase resources by establishing currency transaction taxes, global environmental taxes such as carbon taxes and the taxes on freight transport.
Access to the UN for NGOs was highly restricted other than those with special passes and the UN was filled with member states and their delegations.
For more information on the above please visit www.un.org/ga/president/63/interactive/africahlm.shtml