The annual DPI/NGO Conference has been an essential component of the partnership between the United Nations and NGOs for the past 56 years. This year's Conference will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 8 to 10 September 2003, under the theme "Human Security and Dignity: Fulfilling the Promise of the United Nations". Bringing together economists, educators, policy makers, psychologists and others who contribute to the front-line efforts to make human security a global reality, the Conference evinces the multifaceted nature of cooperation between NGOs and the United Nations. Topics include Human Security and Dignity, Sustainable Development in the Context of Globalization, Psychological Aspects of Human Dignity and Security, From Oppression to Empowerment, and Educating for a Secure Future.

This UN Chronicle E-Alert features articles relevant to human security and dignity that focus on specific topics of this year's DPI/NGO Conference.

Human Security and Dignity

Issue 4, 2002

• "Their Dignity Will Be Mine, As It Is Yours"
  Sergio Vieira de Mello, the late Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq, who contributed this article upon assuming charge as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights last year.

• Internalizing Human Rights in Business Practices
  Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, highlights that the benefits of globalization remain just a promise for many people on the planet.

• Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger
  Ramon Osiris Blanco, Permanent Representative of the Dominican Republic to the UN, analyses how the definition of poverty relates to human dignity.

• Global Development with Globalization:
  From Words to Reality
  Tarja Halonen, President of Finland, discusses globalization and how it has affected the lives of people.

Psychological Aspects of Human Dignity and Security

Issue 2, 2002

• Refugees and Mental Health
  Richard Mollica, Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma (HPRT) at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Laura McDonald, research assistant at HPRT, highlight culturally-sensitive approaches to the treatment of mental trauma.

• Mental Health - Improvement Involves Educators, Among Others
  Helen Herrman, Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health at the University of Melbourne, Australia discusses the effects of discrimination on mental health.

• WomenWatch - Transcending Difference:
  The United Nations Role
  Sherin Saadallah, PhD candidate at the Institute for International Education at Stockholm University, Sweden and an expert in gender and development, stresses the special needs of women in relation to poverty and discrimination of gender.

• School Bells from Bombshells
  Maha Muna, Deputy Director of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, a non- profit New York-based advocacy and public education organization, highlights the role of women and women NGOs in Afghanistan.

• Universities as Agents for Social and Economic Progress
  Erich E. Kunhardt, Dean of the School of Sciences and Arts and George Meade Bond Professor of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology, explains how universities in developing countries can serve a critical function in the realization of MDGs.

Issue 3, 2002

• Harnessing the Energies of Youth
  Isaac C. Lamba, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the UN, discusses the process of developing youth into useful, productive and responsible human beings.

These stories and more can be found at UN Chronicle Online at www.un.org/chronicle.

The UN Chronicle print edition is published by the United Nations Department of Public Information in English and French, and co-published in Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. It is not an official record; the views expressed in individual articles do not necessarily imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.

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