2005 World Summit at the United Nations to be preceded by NGO conference (08/28/05)

2005 World Summit at the United Nations to be preceded by NGO conference

UNITED NATIONS - A week before the 2005 World Summit, more than 2,000 non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives and other civil society partners from over 80 countries are expected to voice their views on implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), peace and security, human rights and strengthening the United Nations.

Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko will attend the Summit accompanied by his wife, Kateryna.

The 58th DPI/NGO Conference, titled "Our Challenge: Voices for Peace, Partnerships and Renewal," will take place at the United Nations headquarters in New York on September 7-9.

The World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations participates on a yearly basis in the DPI/NGO conference. This year, Daria Dyka, Ph.D., Larysa Melnyk-Dyrszka, M.D., Marta Kichorowska-Kebalo, Ilona Levycky and Nadia Shmigel will represent the WFUWO.

An interactive website at http://www.undpingoconference.org will allow for worldwide participation and encourage social activists and advocates from around the world to join the discussions before, during and after the conference. The website also provides information for participants and media, and offers links to related documents.

Parallel to the DPI/NGO Conference there will be a Conference of Speakers of Parliamentarians at the U.N. headquarters in New York (Septermber 7-9). Volodymyr Lytvyn, chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament, will represent Ukraine. He was also invited to be a speaker at the 58th DPI/NGO Conference.

The DPI/NGO Conference aims to raise public awareness of the secretary-general's report "In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All," which outlines the agenda for the 2005 World Summit. A civil society perspective on peace and security, development, human rights and United Nations reform will be the focus of the conference.

The president of the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the secretary-general, and high-level U.N. officials will address the conference, joining representatives of civil society and member-states.

The three-day conference will consist of seven plenary sessions and three roundtables. There will be 30 midday interactive workshops sponsored by NGO partnerships and coalitions from around the world with participation by governments, inter-governmental organizations and civil society representatives. The themes of the workshops will focus on four clusters of the secretary-general's report: "Freedom from Want" (two sessions), "Freedom from Fear," "Freedom to Live in Dignity" and "Strengthening the United Nations."

The conference will also provide thematic networking sessions for NGO representatives. Other initiatives include media and exhibition projects that will explore NGO voices in implementing the 2005 World Summit agenda.

As an annual meeting of NGOs, representatives of civil society and the private sector with United Nations representatives, the conference provides an established forum for networking and exchange of views, opinions, expertise and best-practices on relevant issues. For the first time in the history of United Nations on June 23-24 the General Assembly held informal hearings with civil society and the Millennium + 5 Network of NGOs formally associated with the United Nations. The General Assembly informal hearings with civil society provided a unique opportunity to present the civil society's input into the Draft Outcome Document in preparation for the summit.

Dr. Larysa Melnyk Dyrszka, an NGO representative of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, had the opportunity to speak on behalf of 60 non-governmental organizations, including the WFUWO, members of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations, Committee on the Rights of the Child. In her very well received statement, she stressed the need for the secretary-general's report and the president's Outcome Document, as well as the Millennium Development Goals, to increase attention on children's rights, especially in conflict and post-conflict situations.

Drawing on the outcome of the plenary and roundtable sessions of the 58th DPI/NGO Conference, a set of recommendations for the future work of civil society representatives with the United Nations and the member-states will be reflected in the final summary report of the conference, and will be available online.

Source: DPI/NGO press release with additions/modifications by Nadia Shmigel, the WFUWO's NGO representative to the U.N.

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