6 June 2008

Dear NGO Representative,

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 it will take 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" and is being organized in partnership with the NGO/DPI Executive Committee, UNESCO, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of France.

The Conference aims to highlight effective ways in which civil society, in partnership with other actors, can contribute to the advancement of human rights at the international, regional, national and local levels, generate greater awareness of human rights issues and strengthen commitments to address them among diverse stakeholders worldwide. In addition to representatives of NGOs, civil society organizations, grassroots constituencies, the UN System and Member States, representatives of the media, academia, the private sector and other institutions will also be present. The Conference will provide various opportunities to engage participants in sharing experiences and articulating perspectives on how to enhance their activities in the protection and promotion of human rights including roundtable panel discussions and break-out sessions, interactive dialogue, workshops, caucuses and other activities. Background documents and information on the programme will be available on the Conference website.

NGOs associated with DPI, in consultative status with ECOSOC, accredited to UNESCO and/or that work with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights are invited to register for the Conference. Please extend this invitation to members and staff of your organizations, including youth and grassroots representatives. Please note that we must limit the number of participants from any one organization to no more than three persons.

All participants, including those who already have UN or UNESCO grounds passes, are required to register for the Conference. The registration will be available online at www.un.org/dpi/ngosection beginning on Monday, 9 June 2008; the deadline for registration is 1 August 2008 to ensure timely receipt of your confirmation letter and a special invitation to all events.

The DPI/NGO Relations cannot assist NGO representatives in obtaining visas for France and cannot fax confirmation letters to French embassies. Arrangements for travel, visa, and accommodations, as well as all expenses related to participation in the Conference, must be provided for entirely by the participants or their sponsoring organization.

Please check our website at www.un.org/dpi/ngosection for updated information on the Conference. We look forward to your participation.

Sincerely,

Maria-Luisa Chávez, Chief
NGO Relations, Outreach Division
Department of Public Information

Shamina de Gonzaga, Chair
61st Annual DPI/NGO Conference
Representative, Fundación Cultural Bauer

Travel and stay with the other NGO representatives at the DPI/NGO Conference. A great opportunity for networking. A NGO/DPI affiliate has agreed to prepare your trip at a low, NGO rate. Commissions will not go to travel agents/sites but will be donated to support the DPI/NGO conference! NOTE: This package offer has been approved by the NGO/DPI Executive Committee for your inspection and convenience.

DPI NGO CONFERENCE HOTEL RESERVATIONS NOW AVAILABLE
ˇ Each of the online packages are available at 2-star, 3-star OR 4-star hotels;
ˇ Prices are based on double occupancy; single rooms are available upon request;
ˇ Extensions and upgrades are available;
ˇ Land packages include personal travel insurance, metro passes and other extras,
and personal tax savings for U.S. delegates and perhaps others, too.

All prices and services are limited, processed on a first come first served basis, and subject to availability at time of purchase. This is a very busy period in Paris, one of the highest points of its high season; hotel offers will change and Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Inc. (FAF) will keep you updated online each week. Ordering early is essential for the best remaining hotel deals. Go to (http://www.faf.org and look for the Green listing on the right hand side) to make your reservations or learn more details today!

Packages are subject to availability at the time of actual booking and must be secured by a 50% non-refundable deposit.

FAF is celebrating its 35th anniversary and is a 501c3, not for profit, tax exempt, NGO Affiliate of the Department of Public Information and an NGO in operational relations with UNESCO. The foundation is providing this travel service with no fees or responsibility whatsoever to the NGO DPI Executive Committee, the Planning Committee or any other producers of the DPI NGO Conference, the United Nations, or others. FAF has not sought to find the absolute lowest costs for individuals, but safe and economical group rates that also include a contribution to the NGO DPI; availability of these group rates is limited and will be provided on a first come, first served basis.

Contact FAF:
http://www.faf.org, See the Green listing in the middle right hand column
email: friendshipambassadors@faf.org
Fax requests to: 001-203-542-0661

The NGO Reporter Editors extend a warm welcome to Maria -Luisa Chávez who is the new Chief of the NGO Relations Section (formerly NGO Section). Ms. Chávez joined the UN in 1982 as an Associate Programme Officer with UNITAR and continued as a Political Affairs Officer in the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs. She has held many posts since then, notably as Director of the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Athens in June 2000, and later, in 2004, as Chief of the DPI Educational Outreach Division at UN Headquarters. Ms. Chávez has had numerous official travel assignments to more than twelve countries. She holds degrees from Columbia University, the Sorbonne in Paris, the Université Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, and Marymount College in Tarrytown, New York.

We greatly appreciate the expertise and experience she brings to the Executive Committee and to our efforts as NGO Reporter co-editors.

Patrick Sciarratta
Lester Wilson

DEAR NGO COLLEAGUES,

As we finalize the 2007-2008 briefing season and we enter the summer months, let me take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the NGOs who have welcomed me in my new position. As you already know, there has been a restructuring in the Outreach Division. Eric Falt is the new Director of the Division. In April 2008, Juan Carlos Brandt moved to the Advocacy Cluster of the Outreach Division and I was assigned to be the Chief of NGO Relations, formerly the NGO Section.

I would like to bring to your attention that, although personnel changes have been made in the NGO Cluster, the expertise and experience of the new staff members, with over 30 years with in the Organization, can only enhance the continuity and implementation of the mandate of NGO Relations.

As you know, the 61st Annual DPI/NGO Conference, 'Reaffirming Human Rights for All: The Human Rights Declaration at 60," will be held in the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This will be the first time that the Conference will be held outside of UN Headquarters in New York.

The Paris Conference will be a learning curve and a major challenge for all of us. I hope you will agree that taking the Conference on the road present a unique opportunity to build new partnerships with various regional NGOs. Reaching out to new communities will create new diversity within our community and create opportunities for reaching out to new grass roots organizations, especially in developing countries.

As we begin our historical journey to Paris, let me conclude my message to all of you with some food for thought from one of our former Secretary-Generals:

"Human Rights are your rights. Seize them.
Defend them. Promote them.
Understand them and insist on them.
Nourish and enrich them
They are the best in us. Give them life. "

With best regards from all of us in the NGO Relations Section and looking forward to our continuing fruitful cooperation, have a lovely summer and I hope to see you in Paris.

Maria-Luisa Chávez
Chief, NGO Relations
Department of Public Information

Under-Secretary-General Kiyo Akasaka opened the 12 June DPI/NGO Town Hall meeting. His remarks, "The Road Ahead: Prospects for a Strengthened UN- NGO Partnership," covered many issues of great relevance for the large audience of NGOs present in the Dag Hammarskjöld Auditorium. The Capital Master Plan and the impact it will have on NGOs and NGO activities at UN Headquarters were discussed in some detail by Mr. Akasaka. His comments on the plan are reported verbatim in the passages below.

"Finally, I would like to say a few words about the Capital Master Plan and how it will affect you. As you know, the NGO Resource Centre has now moved to a new location in the General Assembly Building. While this is a temporary move, I hope you will agree that the space has been well designed and is conveniently located near both the main entrance and conference rooms. In early 2009, the Centre will move into the UNITAR Building, occupying a complete floor, and it will remain there throughout the rest of the CMP period. This will enable you to remain close to the Secretariat, whilst avoiding much of the disruption expected on the site itself.

"The programme of NGO briefings will continue. For the next year these will still take place in the DHL Auditorium. In May or June 2009, the Auditorium will be converted to accommodate the press briefings, as the media's offices will then be located in the DHL Building. As a result, we are currently working to locate a new permanent venue in order to avoid disruption of the programme. Naturally, we will keep you fully informed of progress in this matter.

"DPI itself will be somewhat dispersed during the main phase of the CMP when the Secretariat building is emptied. However, we will continue to offer the same level of services to our constituents throughout this period. Most of the activities of the News and Media and Outreach Division will remain close-by in the DC1 Building, while the Strategic Communications Division will be housed at 380 Madison Avenue. Library reference services will continue both in their current location, as well as in the temporary North Lawn Conference Building. Visitors' services and the UN Bookshop will remain in situ through 2011."

In November 2006, after deliberations on how to more effectively involve NGO representatives in all UN Regions--representatives who actually live within their regions rather than in New York City and the surrounding environs--the NGO/DPI Executive Committee approved the appointment/election of Regional Representatives as full voting members of the Committee. Committee By-Laws were amended to reflect this change in membership. The inclusion of Regional Representatives as full voting members of the Committee represents a major change in the ability of the Committee to expand its goals and operations to all UN regions and facilitates the transmission of information from UN/DPI to NGOs worldwide as well as the receipt of information to UN/DPI about the concerns of worldwide NGOs.

Qualifications for Regional Representatives include (1) membership and leadership in a recognized NGO that is associated with UN/DPI or ECOSOC, (2) leadership qualities that are respected in his/her region, (3) support of his/her NGO, (4) broad and comprehensive understanding of UN/DPI issues, (5) access to communication networks, i.e. mail, fax, email, phone, and (6) communication skills in one or more of the working languages of the UN. Regional Representatives are expected to enhance the two-way flow of information between their regions and the UN and to make recommendations on NGO issues that are of concern in their regions. They also are responsible for establishing an Advisory Committee of individuals who are representative of NGOs within their regions.

The Executive Committee already has appointed four Regional Representatives. They are (1) Jorge Rojas Zegers from Rotary International in Chile, representing Latin America & the Caribbean, (2) Eleanor Nwadinobi from Medical Women's International Association (MWIA) in Nigeria, representing Africa, (3) Razia Sultan Ismail from The Women's Coalition Trust for Peace and Development in India, representing South Asia and (4) Omar Ahmad Teyeh Saleh from the Seeds of Peace Organization in Jordan, representing the Middle East. Recommendations to appoint Regional Representatives from Eastern/Central Europe and the Far East will be made in the fall of 2008.

L. Eudora Pettigrew, Regional Representatives Sub-Committee Chair

Eleanor Nwadinobi, MD, a resident of Enugu, Nigeria, and recently appointed West African NGO/DPI Executive Committee Regional Representative, attended the 28 February meeting of the Committee at UN Headquarters. She is the founder and president of the Nigerian Widows Development Organization (WIDO) and also of the Tabitha Infirmary Foundation, which sponsors community health projects.

In her introductory remarks to the Executive Committee, she emphasized that her first task was to acquire an understanding of the Executive Committee and its functions. Thanks to the committee liaison for Sub-Saharan Africa, Aaron Etra, her orientation is proceeding smoothly. She has appointed an advisory committee, chaired by Akesina Saluwu, a solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Dr. Nwadinobi will extend her outreach initiatives as widely as possible, including French-speaking countries. She intends to focus on four areas: Environment/Climate Change, Human Rights, Health/HIV/AIDS and Development/Micro-Credit. She will develop a network of country NGO coordinators with expertise in these issues who will disseminate information to NGOs in their localities.

Dr. Nwadinobi will be in Paris for the September Conference and is working to help others from her region to attend. She looks forward to the day "when the Conference will take place in the Sub-Saharan Africa Region."

Lester Wilson

Expanding Outreach and Communications:
Partnering with UNESCO

17 April 2008

Summary Excerpt

The Communication Workshop discussed the United Nations International Years as a way of raising awareness on issues on the Organization's agenda. Media outreach for this year's 61st Annual DPI/NGO Conference was also examined, as were new media tools such as online social networking sites. The morning session speakers included: Ms. Suzanne Bilello, Senior Communications Officer, UNESCO; Ms. Sherill Kazan and Ms. Anne Riccitelli, Co-Chairs, Media and Publicity, Conference Planning Committee, 61st Annual DPI/NGO Conference; and Ms. Nanci St. John, Content Management and Knowledge Sharing Officer, Knowledge Solutions and Design, OD/DPI. During the afternoon session, Ms. St. John conducted a two hour hands-on training on how to use Facebook as a tool to plan and promote the Conference.

About 70 representatives of NGOs, United Nations and Permanent Mission staff attended the briefing.

Deweaponization and Civil Society (DEWs) is a new initiative by the NGO/ DPI Executive Committee in association with the United Nations Department of Public Information. It is undertaken at a time when the world faces a ferocious wave of intra-state violence not necessarily related to criminality, insurgency or terrorism. From Albania to Zimbabwe, rarely in recent history have so many developing counties experienced such frequent outbreaks of violent civil unrest with, or without, the use of small arms and light weapons. However, there have been occasions where unanticipated or incipient episodes of random violence have brought forth widespread efforts by civil society to prevent and/or contain these self-destructive threats to peace and security.

DEWs aims to raise consciousness among policymakers and opinion leaders on the importance of engaging global civil society more actively in preventing, curbing and dealing with the aftermath of recurring incidences of intra-state violence. It will draw upon ongoing and new political initiatives for a more supportive global climate to serve these goals. The primary focus of DEWs will be on sub-regions known to be in the harm's way in South Asia, Central and South America and Africa. The time frame is 2008- 2010. Closer interaction with the academic community and grass root advocacy through youth and women will be central to its strategy in action.

To implement DEWs, Jeffery Huffines, Chair of the NGO/DPI Executive Committee, has assembled an Advisory Team that collectively represents a pool of technical expertise, track record of advocacy, experience in best practices, skills in media relations and worldwide outreach. The members of the Advisory Team are: Pamela Mopanga, Deputy Chief of the Conventional Arms Branch in the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs; Alistair Edgar, Executive Director, Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS); Pera Wells, Secretary General of the World Federation of United Nations Associations; Sarah Masters, Women's Network Coordinator for the International Action Network on Small Arms and Light Weapons; David Atwood, Director of the Quaker UN Office in Geneva; and Michele Wucker, Executive Director of the World Policy Institute. Liberato C. Bautista, CONGO Chair, appointed the Co-Presidents of the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and International Security, Nichols Vernon and Jim Nelson. Members of the Advisory Team will take the lead in proposing and carrying out activities most suited to their institutional programs, expertise and resources.

On June 6, the Academic Council of the UN System (ACUNS) took the lead in launching DEWs at a Panel discussion during its 2008 annual conference in Bonn, hosted by the German Ministry of Development Cooperation. The Panel, chaired by Swadesh Rana, introduced DEWs, highlighted its approach to violence prevention in societies at war with themselves and raised issues not covered by negotiated global norms on small arms and light weapons. The discussions were led by Irene Martinetti, Director of Programs of the World Federation of UN Associations, Achim Wennmann, the Principal Investigator at the Small Arms Survey for a forthcoming report on the "Global Burden of Armed Violence" and Ifti Arman Rashid, an Australian Leadership Awards scholar at the Monash Asia Institute in Victoria. Sir Richard Jolly, Co-Director of the UN Intellectual History Project, Subhash Birla, ACUNS Representative in Asia, and Tsutomo Kono, Advisor to the UN Committee on Disarmament in Geneva also participated. The outcome of the Panel and future activities of DEWs will be considered at the first meeting of the Advisory Team in New York on 18 July.

Swadesh M. Rana
Focal Point
Deweaponization and Civil Society

NGO RESOURCE ROOM HAS RELOCATED

The DPI/NGO Resource Centre moved to a new location, GA-37, in the General Assembly Public Concourse at the beginning of May 2008. The new Centre is conveniently situated near the Visitors' Entrance and the conference rooms and includes the same (or improved) amenities and services NGO representatives received in the former location. In addition to office space for staff and interns, it includes a large information area where pamphlets and other materials on the United Nations are displayed, a "private" conference room, and several computers for the use of NGO representatives.

Associated NGOs may reserve the conference room for official business by calling the Resource Centre at 212-963-7234. The Resource Centre is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday.

Mona Gillet

EDITORS

Patrick L. Sciarratta
Friendship Ambassadors Foundation
Lester N. Wilson, Ph.D.
Long Island University

NGO REPORTER EDITORIAL BOARD

Maria-Luisa Chávez
Chief, NGO Relations
Department of Public Information

Jeffery Huffines
Chair, NGO/DPI Executive Committee
Baha'is of the United States

Joan Levy
End Child Prostitution and Trafficking

Vincenzo Pugliese
Public Information Officer for the South Region
MINUSTAH, Les Cayes, Haiti

Dr. Elaine Valdov
International Institute of Integral Human Sciences

CONTRIBUTORS

Maria-Luisa Chávez
Chief, NGO Relations
Department of Public Information

Mona Gillet
Supervisor, NGO Resource Centre

L. Eudora Pettigrew, Ph.D.
Chair, Regional Representatives Committee International Association of University Presidents

Estelle Perry
NGO/DPI Regional Representative and President, The Center for UN Reform Education

Swadesh M. Rana, Ph.D.
Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS)

LAYOUT

Patrick Sciarratta
Friendship Ambassadors Foundation

WEBMASTER

Daniel Uitti
Philippine Human Rights Information Center

COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS

Lester Wilson (Lester.Wilson@liu.edu)
Patrick Sciarratta (psglobal@faf.org)

NGO/DPI EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ˇ 2008-2009

OFFICERS

Jeffery Huffines, Chair*
Baha'is of the United States

Swadesh Rana, Ph.D., Vice-Chair*
Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS)

Jackie Shapiro, Vice-Chair*
Zonta International

Janet Stovin, Secretary
Women of Reform Judaism

Antoinette Iadarola, Treasurer*
International Association of University Presidents

MEMBERS

Rita Arthur*
Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary

Elizabeth Burns*
International Association for Volunteer Effort, United Kingdom

Anne-Marie Carlson
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International

Juanita Carrillo, Ph.D.*
International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics

Niger Innis*
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

Richard Jordan
International Council for Caring Communities

Sybil Kessler*
B'nai B'rith International

Stafford Mousky
Federation of Association of Former International Civil Servants

Deirdre Mullan
Mercy Global Concerns Office

Faye Parris*
Women's Bar Association of the State of New York

Kelly Roberts
Association of International Educators [NAFSA]

Flavia Trevisani*
Lawyers Without Borders

Catherine White*
International Association of Women in Television

*Newly Elected