PRESS CONFERENCE BY CO-CHAIR OF MILLENNIUM FORUM

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY CO-CHAIR OF MILLENNIUM FORUM

Hailing from more than 145 countries, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations, local authorities, parliamentarians, and many other non-State actors -- otherwise known as civil society -- attended today’s opening session of the Millennium Forum, Techeste Ahderom, Forum Co-Chair, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon. Other speakers at the opening session were Maj-Britt Theorin, Chair of the Council of Parliamentarians for Global Action, and Graciela Robert, representative of Médecins du Monde; while Paul Hoeffel, Chief, NGO Section of the Department of Public Information, acted as moderator.

Mr. Ahderom said that in his keynote remarks to the opening session, Secretary- General Kofi Annan had expressed the hope that civil society, assembled in New York, could formulate its views so that he would channel them to the Millennium Summit in September. The opening session had been very successful in eliciting the various views of NGOs, the United Nations, and parliamentarians.

The common denominator in this morning's speeches, said Mr. Ahderom, was the United Nations’ wish for a partnership with civil society, and civil society’s desire to have the United Nations’ support in carrying out its programmes of action. The wheel would not be recreated, Mr. Ahderom stated. But what needed to be said had been said.

A draft declaration had been prepared. It articulated the views of civil society, not only in terms of major sub-themes -- peace, security and disarmament; eradication of poverty; human rights; sustainable development and environment; facing the challenges of globalization; and strengthening and democratizing the United Nations and international organizations which had been exhaustively examined over the past two years -- but also taking into account the various alternative platforms of action produced by civil society during the global conferences of the last decade.

The draft declaration had been divided into three areas: First, what could governments do to live up to the commitments agreed upon in consensus documents over the last 10 years? Second, what could the United Nations do? And third, what could civil society do? He hoped that the coming days would witness a lively discussion that aired the whore range of views held by civil society.

Maj-Britt Theorin, Chair of the Council of Parliamentarians for Global Action, said that it was essential for civil society to exert pressure on governments in order to make the demands of the people heard. Without civil society, the United Nations and even governments could not exist. The community relied on civil society.

Warning that the existence of the United Nations might be under threat as a result of States taking their own initiatives in the name of the Organization, she said that the United Nations was the only forum in the world in which civil society, governments and corporations could work together. It was essential that the Charter of the United Nations, the basis for everything in international society, be observed, she said. She had been shocked by events in Europe over the past year: an unexpected war which had failed to follow the terms of the Charter, and which could lead other countries -- such as Russia in Chechnya -- to take unilateral military action. She would like to strengthen the

Millennium Forum Press Conference - 2 - 22 May 2000

Organization, but it could not be stronger than the nations themselves made it, or stronger than civil society allowed it to be.

She hoped that the Forum would give clear support to the United Nations, but also offer positive criticism in the areas of disarmament and human rights. It was her conviction that civil society was strong enough to force governments to act. Now that there was finally an agreement on the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it was up to civil society to present governments and the United Nations with a clear schedule, based on facts, for the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

Graciela Robert, representative of Médicins du Monde, said that her organization had a proposal to establish a humanitarian commission under the auspices of the United Nations. The commission would count victims, evaluate humanitarian needs, and recommend protective measures for civil populations in times of armed conflict.

Such a commission was necessary, she said, because 95 per cent of war victims were civilians. It had become increasingly difficult for NGOs to gain access to civilians in armed conflicts in order to deliver help.

Asked how many organizations participated in the Forum, Mr. Ahderom said that 1,800 organizations had been accredited, of which 1,200 had confirmed their intention to attend. He could give the exact numbers later.

He would address the difficulties African NGOs had faced in registering for the Forum because of lack of access to the Internet, he said in answer to another correspondent’s question. All African NGOs that had applied had been accredited. Necessary funds to bring all of them were not available, but Africa had received the lion’s share of whatever money there was. More NGOs had come from Africa than from any other continent. From Cameroon alone, close to 30 NGOs had been accredited.

Acquiring visas to travel to the United Nations had been a problem. One month ago, the Organization had provided the permanent missions with lists of accredited NGOs. It was, however, difficult to get visas to the United States, especially for African NGOs.

Asked about the schedule of the Forum, Mr. Ahderom said that there were plenary interactive sessions in the morning and the afternoon on major themes that included poverty eradication, the challenge of globalization, and human rights. There were also close to 48 working group sessions, focusing on specific issues of the Forum’s six major sub-themes.

Next Friday, the basic principles and basic programmes of action the Forum agreed on would be presented at the closing session. The set of principles agreed upon would remain open during June, to incorporate issues from the Peking+5 and Copenhagen+5 NGO discussions. This would also offer those NGOs from Latin America, Asia and Africa that had not been able to attend the opportunity to provide their input. At the end of June, a final draft would be presented to the President of the Assembly, who would then issue it as a General Assembly document.

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