NGO FORUM ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AND ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION TO BE HELD IN KUALA LUMPUR, 8-10 SEPTEMBER
Press Release
REC/8
NGO FORUM ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AND ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION TO BE HELD IN KUALA LUMPUR, 8-10 SEPTEMBER
19970905 BANGKOK, 5 September (UN Information Service) -- Major Asia and Pacific region non-governmental organizations will meet from 8 to 10 September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to give voice to their role in addressing pressing problems in the region and to consider future action which should be taken by governments, NGOs and other key groups.The meeting will decide on a set of recommendations that will be submitted to governments at the Fifth Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Social Development, in Manila from 5 to 11 November.
The NGO Forum on Social Development in Asia and the Pacific is being jointly organized by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the International Council on Social Welfare in cooperation with the Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, the Australian Council for Overseas Aid and the National Council of Social Welfare Malaysia. The meeting is being funded by the Government of the Netherlands and the Asian Development Bank.
The main objectives of the Forum are to strengthen the role of NGOs in the implementation of the Agenda for Action on Social Development in the ESCAP region and to facilitate the participation of NGOs in preparatory activities for the Manila Conference through a report on the Kuala Lumpur NGO Forum. The meeting will take stock of their contribution to poverty alleviation, employment expansion and social integration and the constraints NGOs face. It will also look into how to strengthen their role.
"The Manila meeting is being held in response to ESCAP and General Assembly resolutions referring explicitly to the need for active multisectoral implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, which the coming conference will focus on", said Edward Van Roy, Director, Social Development Division, ESCAP.
In considering the implementation of the regional Social Development Agenda, governments in the region have agreed that through intersectoral consultation and coordination, they will formulate clear priorities and ensure that the respective strengths of all partner institutions are utilized to best advantage.
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"They have agreed to establish consultative mechanisms to take into account the inputs of NGOs and other enablers in planning, financing and implementing social development programmes", Mr. Van Roy said, adding that ESCAP is fully prepared to take up the challenges and facilitate regional coordination between the region's governments and NGOs in promoting continuing dialogue regarding planning, implementation and evaluation of the regional Social Development Agenda. Adopted in 1994, the Agenda identifies specific time-bound regional social development goals, targets and agreements on their attainment.
The NGO meeting in Kuala Lumpur is coinciding with the annual Conference of NGOs and the Department of Public Information (DPI) in New York. The theme of the meeting in New York is "Building Partnership" -- a reference to the 50 years of partnership between the NGOs and the United Nations. In recent years, with the public attention drawn to major conferences focusing on global issues, groups in civil society around the world have been mobilized to join in the efforts of governments.
The New York Conference will review milestones in United Nations/NGO relations and will explore "best practices" of voluntarism and socially responsible projects all over the world. In Kuala Lumpur, the Officer- in-Charge of the United Nations Information Service in Bangkok, David Lazarus, will brief NGOs on the main issues being discussed in New York and discuss the relationship between Asia-Pacific NGOs and ESCAP. Approximately 50 NGOs from the region are expected to attend the event in Kuala Lumpur.
For further information contact M. Rehmani, Social Development Division, ESCAP, Renaissance Palm Garden Hotel, Fax (603) 943 1122; David Lazarus, Officer-in-Charge, UNIS Bangkok, Renaissance Palm Garden Hotel, Fax (603) 943 1122; UNIS Bangkok, ESCAP, Fax: (662) 288 1052; or Indira Nayar, UNDP in Kuala Lumpur, Fax: (603) 255 2870.
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