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Civil Society Observer
is a bi-monthly package of documentation of various kinds from all political
persuasions to keep you informed of developments related to NGOs and civil
society.
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The
views reflected in this publication are those of the authors and not those
of the United Nations
Non-Governmental Liaison Service or the UN system. See UN Link -- http://www.un.org/terms.htm#disclaimer |
| Special Section: UN World Summit - Sept 2005 |
| Implementation
of Decisions from the 2005 World Summit: Outcome for Action by the Secretary-General 19 October 2005 The present report
was submitted by the Secretary-General to inform Member States of the
work plan for implementing the specific "deliverables" emanating
from the UN World Summit. It provides information on the overall framework
established for implementation of the Summit Outcome, touching upon both
programmatic and management-related issues, and the basic processes and
timelines expected for each area of activity. (read)
Draft Resolution
and Options Papers on a Peacebuilding Commission These options paper
were prepared by the two co-Chairs, Permanent Mission of Denmark and Tanzania,
for the informal consultations on the establishment of a Peacebuilding
Commission. In this paper, the co-Chairs included proposals received from
Members States on issues dealing with mandate, composition, voting procedures
and other outstanding issues. Emanating from these options papers is a
draft resolution, which Member States are currently reviewing for adoption. Download : First
Options Paper - 19 October 2005 , Second
Options Paper - 28 October 2005 , Draft
Resolution
The co-Chairs of the consultations on the Human Rights Council, Permanent Mission of Panama and South Africa, recently issued an Options Paper outlining options on status; mandate and functions; size, composition and membership; election; rules of procedure and methods of work; and transitional arrangements. (read)
In this report, the German Development Institute outlines what it deems the successes and failures of the World Summit. Despite a polarization between North and South that grew in intensity in the course of the negotiation process, the report notes, the 191 UN member countries did reach agreement on a final document containing a number of noteworthy positions on securing international peace and preventing humanitarian disasters. (read)
Read how Mary Robinson, the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, sees the potential of stakeholders, including the private sector and civil society, to come together through different initiatives like partnerships to address the gaps left by the intergovernmental process at the Summit. (read)
As the UN World Summit drew to a close in New York on 16 September, AlertNet asked NGOs for their reaction to the largest gathering of world leaders in history. The result offers a tale of two Summits for those interviewed. On the one hand, some felt the Summit Outcome Document fell short on the development agenda, yet others were heartened by new institutional mechanisms, such as the Human Rights Council and the Peacebuilding Commission, to tackle more effectively abuses and conflict. (read)
This briefing paper draws on a discussion led by Robert Orr, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Strategic Planning, and Will Davis, new Director of the UN Information Center, which highlighted the accomplishments and shortcomings of the UN World Summit. (read)
A Gender Monitoring Group made up of women's organizations produced a gender analysis of the Summit's Outcome Document in which issues critical to women's rights are highlighted. The analysis also includes a call to all women's groups to continue monitoring and advocating for gender perspectives in the follow-up processes to the Summit, especially with the establishment the Peace-building Commission and the Human Rights Council, as well as in national level implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. (read) |
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These articles offer a snapshot of how NGOs and civil society are being portrayed and profiled in the press around the world.
In the negotiations leading up to the WTO ministerial conference set for December, the new role of NGOs as certifying agents for the quality standards of agricultural products is raising some questions. While NGOs have been viewed by some as neutral third-party actors, the author suggests that their verification role could be vulnerable to political meddling. With non-trade barriers, such as quality standards, being seen as impediments to the market access of agricultural products coming from developing countries, third-party certifying NGOs are becoming a point of contention. (read)
--- Why NGO Corruption
in Africa is Unsettling --- Are NGOs the
New Colonialists? Echoing the concerns of Henry Munene's article (listed above), the author makes a case for increasing the accountability of charitable organizations in Africa. While these organizations have contributed to the advancement of the rights and livelihoods of many Africans, it is argued that the non-for-profit world has become a lucrative business that needs to be better regulated. (read)
Africa's attempts to tackle the issues that govern its fate are influenced increasingly by a growing number of foreign NGOs. Reflecting on this trend, the author suggests that the 'Africanization' of international NGOs should take place in order to increase the ownership and effectiveness of NGO actions. (read)
In this interview, the associates of a Bangalore-based management research and consultancy centre discuss their new book exploring management issues related to non-profit organizations, with an emphasis on the important role played by governing boards in the efficient performance of NGOs. (read) |
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Statements and positions from NGOs and civil society are featured here to demonstrate how these actors relate to the UN system and use multilateral fora to advance the issues they champion. Also featured is documentation on civil society and NGOs emanating from the multilateral system.
--- Civil Society
Participation in the 2005 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and IMF The Civil Society Teams at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund organized a Civil Society Policy Dialogue that included 180 civil society representatives from some 30 countries. The event included 18 policy dialogue sessions and covered nearly all the major issues on the Development Committee agenda. About half of these sessions were co-organized and/or co-hosted with CSOs. (read) --- Statement by
Global Unions to the 2005 Annual Meeting of the IMF and World Bank This collective statement delivered by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on behalf of itself as well as the Global Union Federations (GUFs), and Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) at the World Bank and IMF annual meeting focuses on the need for new commitments for debt cancellation and development assistance in order for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be met. (read)
--- World Youth
Report --- Roundtable Discussion "Young People: Making Commitments Matter" A roundtable discussion, entitled "Young People: Making Commitments Matter," was held at UN Headquarters in New York on 5 October as a precursor to the General Assembly's plenary session on the 10-year review of the World Programme of Action on Youth. The roundtable, which was comprised of three segments: young people in the global economy; young people in civil society; and young people and their well-being, served as a forum to discuss concrete, practical ways to further implement the 1995 World Programme of Action for Youth. (read) --- General Assembly adopts Resolution on 10-year Anniversary of the World Programme of Action on Youth (WPAY) The General Assembly held two plenary meetings on 6 October, devoted to the evaluation of progress made in the implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth. During these meetings, Members States, many of which were represented by national youth delegates, presented their views while delegates from youth organizations and UN Agencies attended as observers. (read)
Report on World
Summit on Information Society PrepCom-3 Who should manage the Internet? How to coordinate the bridging of the "Digital Divide" across the United Nations system and beyond? Will the extraordinary multi-stakeholder model set by the World Summit on the Information Society continue beyond Tunis in November? These were some of the key questions that governments and other stakeholders were to address during the final preparatory committee of the World Summit on the Information Society, held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva last September. (read)
The upcoming 44th
session of the Commission on Social Development marks the end of the UN
Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, and NGOs following the process
have prepared a statement emphasizing the empowerment and full participation
of stakeholders, including the poor themselves, in the various UN decision-making
processes. The signatories are encouraging those interested to sign on
to the statement. (read)
Sitting down with Soka Gakkai International, Gillian Sorensen, former Assistant Secretary-General for External Relations at the United Nations, discusses general trends in UN-civil society relations. Drawing the history of this relationship, Ms. Sorensen notes the constant evolution and creative tensions that have kept the partnership between civil society and the UN vibrant and meaningful. (read) |
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This section draws on the scholarly/academic discourse on the significance of NGOs and civil society in both international and national political landscapes.
What is the current state of "accountability" vis-à-vis leaders, political systems, and the issues citizens care about? In this article, Simon Zadek, chief executive of AccountAbility, explores this question through a historical lens that points toward a new generation of accountability mechanisms focused on the horizontal, not the hierarchical. (read)
Viewing Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as an integral part of Palestinian society, the author sheds light on the relations these organizations have maintained with governments, but also among themselves, and their impact on the overall development, especially in the area of service provision, and governance of the Palestinian territories. (read)
This article briefly introduces the contours of civil society organizations and the laws that affect them in the Middle East. It profiles ten major Middle Eastern countries, whose laws span the gamut from extremely repressive to excessively liberal. Though the term "civil society organization" ordinarily includes professional organizations, trade unions, and religious trusts, in the Middle East these groups are by and large controlled by the government or subject to substantial governmental interference. (read)
Examining the role of civil society organizations as public finance watchdogs, this paper argues that an enhanced partnership between formal auditing institutions and civil society could engender greater public scrutiny to this practice and lead to stronger budgetary oversight of government use of public funds. To demonstrate the positive effect of this partnership, the authors use a set of case studies highlighting the collaborative work of civil society organizations with auditing authorities in India, Philippines and South Africa. (read) |
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Advocacy is a feature often associated with NGOs and civil society, but many also have the capacity to produce compelling and valuable research, which underpins their advocacy work. This section carries examples of recent civil society and NGO research.
In this book, it is argued that while the aims associated with the Millennium Development Goals are admirable and the vision clear, this approach will not make poverty history without a much stronger focus on local institutions and processes. The authors acknowledge that central governments have an important role to play, but that other decentralized mechanisms have shown to reach local people more effectively. (read)
More than two-thirds of the 159 nations surveyed in Transparency International's 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) scored less than 5 out of a clean score of 10, indicating serious levels of corruption in a majority of the countries surveyed. Despite progress on many fronts, including the imminent entry into force of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, seventy countries - nearly half of those included in the Index - scored less than 3 on the CPI, indicating a severe corruption problem. (read)
This volume brings together a comprehensive set of country studies on the effects of privatization on people-and answers the overarching question: who are the winners and losers of the wave of privatizations that swept across the developing world in the 1980s and 1990s? Some readers will be surprised at the general conclusion: that privatization has, in many cases, been a reasonably good thing, and not only for the rich. Others will be surprised at its limited effects. (read)
Looking at opportunities and concerns associated with the creation of a United Nations Peacebuilding Commission, the author provides a comparative analysis of past efforts at peacebuilding in four countries - Guatemala, Mozambique, Haiti and Palestinian Territories - and outlines best practices and lessons learned. (read)
The first Human Security
Report documents a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number
of wars, genocides and human rights abuse over the past decade. The Report
argues that the single most compelling explanation for these changes is
found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded
by the UN, which took place in the wake of the Cold War. (read)
Diversity in Donorship:
Changing Landscape of Humanitarian Aid This report explores the role of non-DAC donors -- that is those outside of the traditional DAC (OECD) countries -- in international humanitarian action. It details their history of aid-giving, financing trends and institutional and policy frameworks, as well as the implications of their efforts for the international humanitarian system. (read) |
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Disclaimer: The views reflected in this publication are those of the authors and not those of the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service or the UN system. See UN Link -- http://www.un.org/terms.htm#disclaimer Note: |
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