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The United Nations, NGOs and Global Governance Table of Contents
Foreword
NGLS's 20th Anniversary Conference on The United Nations, NGOs and Global Governance: Challenges for the 21st Century (see Annex I) was held in Geneva, from 30 October-1 November 1995. Participants at the meeting (see Annex II) included 43 non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives from developing, developed and transition countries, as well as 17 international NGOs and some 20 representatives of the United Nations system. The meeting was convened to bring together a representative group of NGOs that have been participating in UN fora and events for the past few years, and UN staff with direct experience of working with NGOs. The objective was to address a range of issues and questions arising from increased participation of NGOs in the work of the United Nations in recent years. To prepare for the meeting, NGLS consulted informally with a large number of NGOs and discussed the proposed conference themes in depth with its sponsoring UN agencies. These consultations revealed a widely felt need to step back from the frenetic activity of UN preparatory committee meetings, international conferences, and meetings of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) commissions and other fora to reflect upon the nature and meaning of the experience of the past few years, and prospects for the future. The conference addressed a number of key questions on the UN, NGO, and UN-NGO agendas through a series of panel presentations and discussion sessions. How do NGOs understand the international development agenda, the contribution of the UN world conferences to development thinking and action, and the role of NGOs in conference follow-up? And, more generally, how does NGO work at the international level support the work of NGOs back home in their countries? How can NGOs be better organized, more efficient and effective in their advocacy work at the international level? How are the concept and existing practices of global governance perceived and understood? What is the role of NGOs in promoting and participating in global governance? What is at stake in the UN reform debate and process? In light of the ECOSOC Review of Arrangements for Consultation with NGOs, how can NGO participation in the work of the UN be better facilitated and accommodated, and what are the responsibilities of NGOs in this regard? What is the experience of cooperation between UN agencies and NGOs? How can practical cooperation be improved and made more effective? In preparation for the meeting, NGLS produced and distributed an informal background information note on the main conference themes, which is available on request. While the meeting did not reach consensus on all of these questions, it did throw a great deal of light on many issues involved, and revealed a range of differing viewpoints and perspectives. In keeping with its forward-looking objectives, the conference also identified areas which require greater attention from the UN system and the NGO community if the mutual benefits and gains of the past few years are to be sustained and built upon. The report that follows summarizes both the panel presentations and the discussion sessions. It begins with an overview of the meeting's debates and discussions prepared by NGLS. The conference was held informally on the understanding that participants' contributions were made in a personal capacity and did not necessarily represent the views of the institutions where they work. This allowed frank and open discussion of the issues posed by the conference agenda. NGLS would like to take this opportunity to thank those participants who provided background notes, prepared panel presentations, and chaired or reported on discussion groups. NGLS is also indebted to the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA) for their generous financial support for the meeting. Tony Hill NGLS, May 1996
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