MANY TO MANY 63

YOU and the UN

This meeting, arranged by the World Civil Society Forum Group, took place 13 December 1997, at Kensington Olympia, London, for the purpose of: 1. gathering support for the 1995 proposal by the Commission on Global Governance for an Annual Forum of Civil society linked with the UN General Assembly as a step towards a People's Assembly within the UN system, and
2. in support of the 1997 recommendation by the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a People's Millennium Assembly as a companion to the Millennium General Assembly in the Year 2000. The Meeting received a message from Tony Lloyd, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which read:

"The Government is firmly committed to the United Nations and supports its modernisation. A United Nations that is more representative, efficient and properly funded will benefit all Member States. The Government values the expertise of NGOs. We are committed to building links with them and believe they can contribute to many areas of the UN's work. That is why we particularly support the Secretary-General's proposals to involve NGOs and the private sector more closely in the work of the UN."

Mr. Lloyd subsequently added the comment that: "You are quite right to infer from my message that the Government would welcome an enthusiastic response from civil society to the proposal for a People's Millennium Assembly."

During the meeting, Patsy Robertson (Commission on Global Governance) made the comment that an annual People's Assembly is needed and that Kofi Annan's proposal is a step in the right direction. She had faith that Britain is a good place for sharing ideas and for bringing them about. She also felt it was intolerable that democratic countries preach democratization to other UN member states while refusing to democratise the international institutions they control.

Keith Hindell (Chair, London region UNA) also expressed support for the Millennium People's Assembly: "We'll have to involve many organisations, not yet interested in the project, dig deeply into our pockets, and face major problems of organisation."

Jeffry Segall reminded the meeting of Roosevelt's original vision of the UN as a "world organization for permanent peace". Jeffrey thought that a programme for permanent peace was feasible in the post-cold-war climate of globalization – of economies and finance, communication, travel and now civil society. It would be supported by initiatives such as UNESCO's Draft Declaration on the Human Right to Peace and the 1999 centennial commemorations of the Hague 1899 International Peace Conference.

Guest speaker, Dr. Keith Suter (President, UNA of NSW, Australia) argued that to engage civil society in the widest sense we need to recognise that most people – young people – especially – find the UN boring. The nation-state system, on which the UN is based, is declining, he said, with power shifting to intergovernmental bodies, transnational corporations and NGOs. Young people these days join campaigns, not political parties, so we need to make UN reform a campaigning issue.

Allsion Williams (Co-Vice Chair, Forum for UN Renewal, UK) read a paper, written for this meeting by Graciela Samuels, Chief of UNESCO's Unit for Relations with Parliamentarians, in which she calls attention to the growing importance of 'representative diplomacy' aimed to "establish friendly and cooperative relations between free peoples represented by their parliaments" and to complement the more formal traditional inter-governmental diplomacy.

It is through education that rights and fundamental freedoms can be guaranteed, Graciela Samuels maintained, and Member States should be encouraged to adopt policies and legislation which acknowledge the right to learn, and which take cultural diversity into account. UNESCO as well as people throughout the world need to enhance their efforts for "genuine democracy, respect for human rights, the eradication of illiteracy and poverty, the establishment of real equality, whether at national or international level, and the promotion of a culture of peace instead of a culture of war, confrontation and hatred."

During the 'open discussion' various issues were raised: should ECOSOC be replaced by a high-level Economic Security Council perhaps with a parallel Environmental Council; should leadership in the democratising of the UN come from people and organisations who are well informed and experienced in international affairs; local communities might rightly be base for representing civil society internationally; should special efforts be made to have more women officials within the UN in the future? With 99% of UN officials being men, it is still very much a 'Boys' Club'.

Points raised in the discussion included the need for both national networking and international equity to achieve a representative People's Millennium Assembly. The UN's NGO Conference is not a suitable model: in 1997 there were over 2000 participants, but they represented organisations from only 61 countries, 43% of them from the USA.

Twelve participants volunteered to serve on a steering committee for establishing a UK network for linking civil society with the General Assembly. The title 'UNGA-Link, UK' was suggested.

Further information from:
World Civil Society Forum Group, 38 Cricklewood Lane, London NW2 2PX. Tel/Fax +44 181 455 5005.

Anthony Brooke and Gita Brooke, co-founders
Te Rangi, 4 Allison Street, Wanganui 5001, New Zealand
phone/fax: +64-6-345-5714 ~ e-mail: Many to Many
under the aegis of
Operation Peace Through Unity
is a communicating link between
'we, the peoples' of all nations, races, creeds and ideologies offering in the spirit of the preamble of the United Nations Charter an instrument for the furthering of better relationships based on deepening mutual understanding and the aspiration to promote unity and cooperation beyond all differences.