September 3-5, 2008
The 61st Annual Conference for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) will be held in Paris at UNESCO Headquarters from Wednesday, 3 September to Friday, 5 September 2008. This is the first time this Conference is taking place outside the UN Headquarters in New York. To mark the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this year’s Conference is entitled “Reaffirming Human Rights for All: The Universal Declaration at 60”. Philo Morris will be representing MMS at this conference.
Jun 27 – 29, 2008
CONGO Civil Society Development Forum
New York Component
Development Cooperation Forum, Jun 30 – Jul 1, 2008
Annual Ministerial Review, Jul 2 – 3, 2008
The Conference of Non-governmental organizations (CONGO) organized the Civil Society Development Forum (CSDF), New York Component and this took place from June 27 to 29, 2008. It was a busy week with three events taking place one after the other. The following topics were covered in the 2 ½ sessions: Old Issues, New Approaches
• Agricultural and rural development and challenges
• Food security, poverty eradication and the mobilization and management of critical natural resources
• Human rights and the international financial aid architecture: the sustainable development and human rights nexus
• Globalization and good governance: the MDGs at risk?
The Forum came up with a three-page statement, which was presented at the ECOSOC meeting, which began June 30th.
Development Cooperation Forum (DCF): Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) opened 2008 substantive session with High-level Segment, with the first biennial Development Cooperation Forum on June 30 to July 1st.
The biennial high-level Development Cooperation Forum is one of the principal new functions of a strengthened Economic and Social Council. The Forum is mandated to enhance the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and promote dialogue to find effective way to support it.
Secretary-General’s message to the Council brought out four pressing challenges:
i) Fragile state of the major developed market economies
ii) Rising food and energy prices hitting hard on the livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people
iii) Profound threat of climate change
iv) Skepticism about globalization, a system whose wealthiest 400 citizens command, as a group, more resources than its bottom billion
European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid gave the keynote address on “A new vision for development cooperation in the 21st century”.
There were a series of round tables covering various topics related to development. I was one of the seven civil society spokespersons nominated by CONGO to speak on their behalf in the various round tables. Philo Morris spoke in the round table on, “Aid effectiveness agenda: towards consensus at Accra and Doha”. There is a big Aid Effectiveness meeting coming up in Accra in September and the World Review Conference of Monterrey Consensus will take place in Doha in November – December. Ambassador of Pakistan was moderating the round table.
An Innovation Fair, showcasing some groundbreaking practices and providing an opportunity for policy makers to interact with innovations from the private sector, foundations and other civil society organizations ran parallel to the high-level segment.
The ECOSOC meeting will go on with its various segments till July 24th.
Annual Ministerial Review (AMR): The two day AMR began Jul 2-3rd and four developed nations and four developing nations made voluntary presentations, which included the United Kingdom and Belgium.
There were quite a few side events as well. Philo Morris was one of the four speakers for the side event on “Currency Transaction Tax” (CTT) organized by UBUNTU a Barcelona based NGO. We are proposing 0.005% tax on currency transactions, a minuscule amount, which will go a long way to raise funds to meet the MDGs by 2015. This is a proposal for an international political agreement to implement a Currency Transaction Tax. NGOs are working that this to be addressed at the Doha Conference on Financing for Development.
Sulabh International Social Service Organization (Sulabh Sauchalaya) had a side event. About 36 women scavengers of night soil were brought to the UN from Rajasthan, India. These women were rehabilitated to the mainstream with new skills. They were all dressed in blue sarees. People in India will be familiar with this project. The founder of the Sulabh International, Mr. Bindeshwar Pathak was present for the event. There were models of toilets, tanks and biofuel production exhibited at the neck area of the UN, pretty impressive!
April 14, 2008: The ECOSOC meeting with World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) took place at the UN Headquarters.
ECOSOC meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The day began with a plenary session with opening statements after which the session broke into three simultaneous round tables (RT). RT 1 focused on the topic of new initiatives on financing for development, RT 2 dealt with ‘Supporting development efforts and enhancing the rule of middle-income countries, including in the area of trade,’ and RT 3 dealt with ‘Supporting development efforts of the least developed countries (LDCs)’. There are 50 countries in this category most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Secretary-General (SG) in his opening address remarked that the rapidly escalating crisis of food availability around the world has reached emergency proportions. The World Bank has indicated that the doubling of food crisis over the last three years could push 100 million people in poor countries into poverty. Food riots have erupted in 30 countries. Some countries are beginning to realize that they had not invested sufficiently in agriculture, which is critical for feeding the people.
Most of the statements presented in the morning session painted a very grim picture of the global economy. There were two consecutive sessions in the afternoon, one thematic debate on ‘Building and sustaining solid financial markets: challenges for international cooperation’ and a special event on “Financing for climate change mitigation and adaptation”. Dealing with climate change has evolved into a very major focus as it has serious implications on development particularly of developing countries. A number of key issues were raised in the round tables and at the thematic debates and the President of ECOSOC will write a report of the day’s deliberations and this will feed into the preparatory process for the Doha conference, which will take place in November 2008.
Though the Civil Society had been pushing for change in the quota system of the IMF nothing much happened at the Spring Meeting of IMF and WB in Washington and the frustration of Civil Society was clearly articulated at the ECOSOC meeting.
The Civil Society forum took place on April 13th prior to the ECOSOC meeting with three events. First was a session on Currency Transaction Tax (CTT). This had been in the making for a number of years; finally more governments are also talking about it now. The SG’s report for the ECOSOC meeting mentioned that there is renewed international interest in a possible currency-transaction “development levy” of 0.005 percent, a minuscule tax that is not expected to materially affect market operations while having the potential to generate billions of dollars that can be allocated for development. A Working Group on CTT was launched at this session and Medical Mission Sisters became member of this Working Group. All the statements made during ECOSOC meetings are posted on www.un.org/esa/ffd/ecosoc/springmeetings/2008/index.htm
March 17, 2008 : Annual Ministerial Review of ECOSOC
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) convened a global preparatory meeting for its Annual Ministerial Review (AMR) and Development Cooperation Forum (DCF), to be held in July 2008, on 6 March 2008 at the UN Headquarters, New York.
The 2005 World Summit outcome mandated the ECOSOC to convene an Annual Ministerial Review to assess progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the implementation of the other goals and targets agreed at the major UN conferences and summits over the past 15 years that constitutes the UN’s development agenda. Thus, AMR and DCF are the two new mandates of ECOSOC.
The meeting was planned to help the Council to get ready for the 2008 AMR by:
• Identifying key issues for discussion in the area of sustainable development by ministers at the 2008 AMR
• Collecting ideas on how to keep on innovating in order to ensure the AMR remains an attractive process which adds value and is well attended by the diverse group of stakeholders.
There were two panel presentations and one dealt with “The role of ECOSOC in achieving sustainable development”. One of the presenters said that the planet is a developing country and that there can be no sustainable development without effective climate stabilization. The mandate is to link climate change and sustainable development.
The presentations by countries are voluntary and this year eight countries volunteered to make their presentations including four developed countries. The council is trying to strengthen this new process - AMR and DCF. One does get the feeling that governments are trying to find their way in this new process.
The General Assembly (GA) held a thematic debate on “Addressing climate change: The United Nations and the world at work" in New York.
Two interactive panel discussions took place on 11 February titled:
- Rising to the Challenge: Partnerships on Climate Change
- Responding to Multifaceted Challenge: The UN at work
The President of the GA in his opening statement stated that the General Assembly had a unique role to play on climate change due to its global composition and the broad range of social and economic issues it covered. The Bali conference on climate change did come up with a powerful declaration on commitment and political will to carry it to the next level. The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg addressed the summit. He stated that global warning has the potential to kill everybody. There was active participation by the number of countries in the debate.
A number of delegations highlighted partnerships to promote the development of advanced energy technologies to help protect the global environment while enabling economic growth. Many delegations voiced that climate change is a sustainable development challenge, which needs to be addressed in an integrated manner, with due regard to all its economic, social and environmental dimensions. Five specific proposals were also made in the course of the debate on addressing climate change. It was quite demanding to sit and listen to debates for three days.
For full report of the three-day event please visit www.un.org/ga/presdient and click on Thematic Debates.
60 Annual Department of Public Information (DPI)/NGO Conference 5-7 September 2007 United Nations, New York
The 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference, entitled “Climate Change: How It Impacts Us All”, took place in UN Headquarters, New York from September 5 – 7, 2007. Around 1,800 participants representing over 500 Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from more than 80 countries attended the Conference. The three day event consisted of 7 roundtables dealing with climate change and related topics and 33 midday workshops. Round Tables dealt with the following topics:
• Climate Change: The Scientific Evidence
• Indigenous Peoples, Culture and Traditional Knowledge
• Water Security and Climate Change
• Coping with Climate Change: Best Land Use Practices
• The Economics and Politics of Energy and Climate Change
• Streamlining the System
• Sustainable Development, Accountability & Ethical Standards
A lot of enthusiasm, zeal and interest were evident among the participants. We hope this will translate into concrete actions back in home countries of the participants.
The keynote address brought out the fact that climate change has taken central stage in the United Nations. 2007 is a remarkable year. For the first time in the history, humanity is confronted with a phenomenon, whether rich or poor, climate change is a challenge to everyone’s existence.
Other speakers highlighted the following: “We cannot solve this if we all do not unite. 2000 scientists worked on climate change. This scientific report has taken center stage. It has galvanized all. People are finally asking the Government and Business sector “What are you doing about it?” Climate is being discussed at all levels political, regional and local. It is transformative in a number of ways. Ecologists are becoming informed economists and economists are becoming informed ecologists. In the floods around the world, it is the poor who are affected most. Climate change does pose a threat to everyone’s work, be it in the area of health or social sector, etc. We live on this planet with 6 ½ billion people and we live with an infrastructure which we cannot afford. In Greenland they are growing potatoes”. It was stated that 1/1000 of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be required to tackle climate change.
Deputy Secretary-General stated that “the recent findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have settled the basic science, and silenced any lingering doubters. The Panel’s report has unequivocally confirmed the warming of our climate system, and linked it directly to human activity”. The Secretary-General has identified climate change as one of his top priorities since his very first days in office. In one of the sessions it was mentioned that Germany has become number one in wind power.
For more information please visit www.undpingoconference.org