| INTRODUCTION A Civil Society Forum on the progress in implementation of the World Summit for Social Development in Central America was held in Guatemala City, Guatemala from 30 November – 2 December, 1998. The Forum was attended by representatives of civil society organisations from seven countries in the region. The Forum was convened by the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) and co-organised by its Guatemalan member, the Asociacion de Entidades de Desarrollo y de Servicio No Gubernamentales de Guatemala (ASINDES). The Civil Society Forum was part of a series which ICSW has organised around the world following the World Summit for Social Development, which was held in Copenhagen in 1995. A review of implementation of the Summit will be conducted by a Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in June 2000. The General Assembly will be held 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 Central American Forum was held over two days and was a mixture of plenary and workshop sessions. Speakers included leading governmental and non-governmental experts. A number of keynote speeches are included in this 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. Vote of thanks ICSW and ASINDES are grateful to the Soros Foundation (Guatemala), The Canadian Fund for Local Initiatives in Guatemala and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) offices in Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras and the Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK whose generous financial support made this Forum possible. |
