| APRIL 2003
APRIL 2003 IN
THIS ISSUE:
United
Nations News Executive
Director Visits Partners Where
is the UN Going on Follow Up to Global Conferences?
This was the focus of a meeting on 17 April held by the President of the General Assembly with representatives of NGOs. Bette Mullen, ICSW Special Representative to the UN (New York), and representatives of many other NGOs were present although the UN provided only two days notice. NGOs were briefed on the progress of the Working Group, which is making recommendations on implementation and follow-up to UN conferences. NGOs were invited to share their concerns related to this work. To better understand the agenda of the Working Group you can log on to: http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ecosoc/wgga/wgga.htm or the GA home page at: http://www.un.org/ga/57/ (Specifically review resolution 57/270 at http://ods-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/557/23/PDF/N0255723.pdf?OpenElement) The President spoke about how the role of civil society is growing. He wants to find ways to sustain it during implementation of conference and summit outcomes. The Working Group has already held three sessions with a four point direction: 1.Integration of the implementation of the conferences outcomes at all levels (government /country focus) How to review and sustain the important role of non-governmental organizations and the private sector; 2.The role of intergovernmental bodies; 3.The role of the Second and Third Committees of the General Assembly and how to foster more interactive debates and 4.Review the implementation of the plus 5 year and plus 10 year reviews. These must be approached in a more flexible manner. The issues raised by 19 NGO representatives that were called on to speak included:
Ms.
Mullen comments that these problems and requests have been raised by
NGOs at the UN for many years. She feels that the charge to the
Working Group is seemingly impossible. Their time frame will not allow for a thorough review of the
many conferences, follow-ups and implementations and outcomes.
Consequently, the results of this effort will not be as thorough as
NGOs would like it to be. In
addition, it would be of interest to know just how many member
states actually responded to the call for “concrete proposals”
which were due by 22 April. At the end of
May 2003 the Committee will make its report
and the Outcome Document is to be reviewed and approved by the
General Assembly. Certainly NGO input to this process, limited to
this brief meeting, is hardly the kind of input that will greatly
enhance the civil society’s participation in future implementation
of conference outcomes. Ms. Mullen cautions that, “We have our
work cut-out for us.”
Review of UN Relations with Civil SocietySecretary General Kofi Anan has requested a review of relations between the UN and civil society. The Non Government Liaison Service (NGLS) is organising a consultation with NGOs in Geneva in June 2003. The theme is The Crisis in Global Governance: Challenges for the UN and Civil Society. The Secretary General wants the committee to address long-term structural problems. ICSW will attend a consultation in Geneva during the 2nd week of June. Update
on UN Commission
on the Status of Women What
steps nations should take to reduce Violence Against Women led to
the first-ever diplomatic failure at the UN Commission on the Status
of Women (CSW.) As
reported in the March edition of Global Cooperation, the CSW
was working on conclusions on the elimination of all forms of
violence against women. The conclusions are typically used as models
for governments to create policy and as advocacy tools by NGOs. The
document on ending violence against women and girls would have been
used by advocates to strengthen legislation to end domestic
violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking of women and to
educate governments on how to promote and protect women's human
rights. Consensus
on the conclusions came to an end when the Iranian delegation
objected to a specific paragraph that said governments must not use
religion or custom as an excuse for violence against women. The chair of the meeting moved to
accept the conclusions on violence regardless. The delegations of
Pakistan, Sudan, Egypt and the United States raised their placards
in objection. Ignoring them, the chair declared the conclusions
adopted which caused another round of placard waving and gavel
banging and eventually, the meeting was adjourned because they had
worked past the time that translation was available. Some advocates
who were present speculate that if the delegates had more experience
and authority, they could have stayed on and continued to work
toward consensus. Regardless, during the Commissions closing meeting
governments had time to renegotiate if they so chose but the
statement still did not pass. The
failure to endorse this language was due to more than cultural
differences. The recognition that religion and custom are not excuses for
violence against women has already been agreed upon in various U.N.
documents including; the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action, outcomes of the Special Session of the General Assembly June
2000, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence
Against Women. The fact that the CSW deliberations were being held at the
same time as the breakdown in the Security Council over Iraq is an
important factor in the failure of the negotiations.
The governments responsible for deliberating to consensus may
have been too preoccupied and angry about the dynamics of the
Security Council. Nevertheless, this incident exemplifies that
accords on women’s human rights can come to be considered
negotiable in the current neo-conservative climate.
It may also point to an inherent weakness within the CSW and
the limitations of the commission processes overall. ICSW Executive Director Visits Partners in Switzerland 1st
– 4th April 2003 Executive
Director Denys Correll made his first visit to Geneva and met with
ICSW’s long-standing representative to the UN (Geneva) Anne Herdt.
She has been a dedicated volunteer representative to ICSW.
She has extensive knowledge of the functioning of the UN and
related NGO’s. ICSW’s other Geneva representative, Homayra
Etemadi, has a particular interest in refugee and trafficking
issues. They advise on issues or events that are important for ICSW
intervention, report on relevant meetings and propose when ICSW
should make submissions either written or verbal, to UN processes.
Both
the representatives accompanied Denys on meetings to UN agencies.
INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS- Denys met with Tom Johannesen, Secretary General, and Lisbeth Mattsson, Communications Officer, to discuss the many elements that ICSW and IFSW have in common. IFSW is interested in resuming related considerations regarding biennial conferences again (the last time our two organisations held consecutive conferences was 1998 in Israel.) The future of our partnership in producing International Social Work, a peer reviewed quarterly journal which ICSW, IFSW and the International Association of Schools of Social Work co publish was also discussed. WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION – Denys
met with Dr
Desmond J. O'Byrne, Health
Education Specialist. Dr O’Byrne has been with WHO for eleven
years and knows ICSW quite well. He commented that ICSW can help WHO
communicate its messages through our global network and is able to
provided independent critiques of WHO matters. ICSW can assist in
the implementation of commitments and Denys also met a technical
officer on ageing to discuss ICSW follow-up to the Madrid
International Plan of Action on Ageing.
INTERNATIONAL
LABOUR OFFICE – The Chief of Staff, Mrs Ducci, relayed the high
esteem that Director General Juan Somavia has for ICSW.
She discussed the difference in the structure of ILO to that
of UN agencies. As it is tripartite of governments, employers and
unions. relations with NGOs are within this sophisticated tripartite
structure. ICSW’s involvement is facilitated through the
secretariat and the Adviser on Relations with NGOs. There exist many
opportunities for involvement in the many areas of
ILO responsibility.
UNAIDS – This
meeting introduced ICSW to the Chief of Partnership Unit, Ms
Terisita (Bei) Bagasao. She was most interested in our Regional
Cooperation Project Civil Society Forums and the potential for
advocating on HIV/AIDS herein. UNAIDS has a system of
representatives or country programme advisers/coordinators who will
be engaged in programming for future civil society forums.
Planning for 31st International Conference on Social Welfare
Denys
Correll travelled to Malaysia to sign the agreement between ICSW and
the National Council of Welfare and Social Development, Malaysia
and
review the arrangements for the 2004 conference.
The Local Organizing Committee and Denys signed the agreement
at the office of Minister of National Unity and Social Development
Dato' Dr. Hajjah Siti Zaharah Binti Sulaiman who expressed
strong support for the conference. The First Announcement of the
conference will be mailed within the next month. The content of Global Cooperation may be freely
reproduced or cited provided the source is acknowledged. The views
expressed in this publication are not necessarily the policy of ICSW.
Would you please distribute this newsletter as widely as possible
to:
o your
organisation’s staff
o your
Board/Committees
o your
members
o other
interested people
Newsletter Editor: Felicity Daly, Project Officer, London Global Office ICSW Contact Details Website: www.icsw.org
Email icsw@icsw.org London Global Office: 16 Hatton Wall, London EC1N 8JHN, Tel: + 44 20 7404 9780, Fax: + 44 20 7404 9527 Kampala Global Office: PO Box 28957, Kampala, Uganda. Tel: +256 41 531036, Fax: +256 41 531037, Roselyn Nakirya, Programme Assistant /Administrator
Global
President: Qazi Faruque
Ahmed
Global Vice Presidents:
Solveig Askjem and Bushra Gohar
Treasurer:
Michael Raper
Executive
Director: Denys
Correll
If you have any questions or need further information on any of the activities or issues mentioned in this newsletter, please contact: Felicity Daly, Project Officer, at the Secretariat in London, or reply to this email. icsw@icsw.org.
|
