| INTRODUCTION In November 1998 the International Council on Social Welfare convened a Civil Society Forum of non-governmental organisations in Europe to review and promote implementation of the agreements which were made at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995. The Civil Society Forum was part of a series which ICSW is organising around the world before the special review of implementation of the Copenhagen agreements which will be conducted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in June 2000. The General Assembly review will be held in Geneva five years after the Summit and has become known as Copenhagen + 5. It will concentrate on accelerating progress with implementation of the existing agreements, not on negotiating new agreements. The European regional meeting was held in Paris and involved plenary sessions and parallel workshops. Speakers included leading governmental and non-governmental experts. A number of keynote speeches are included in this conference report, alongside the main recommendations arising out of the workshops. The recommendations will be used to promote civil society priorities in the UN’s official preparatory process for the Copenhagen + 5 review. |
