59th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference (6-8 September 2006)

 

Minutes of the Planning Committee Meeting: 13 April 2006

 

1.0  Pre-Meeting Comments.

1.1  Mr. Juan-Carlos Brandt, new Chief of the NGO Section, was introduced as the new Co-chair of the Planning Committee. He said he was delighted to have assumed the position of Chief of DPI/NGO Section. He expressed that rather than chief, he saw himself as a colleague who had worked for the UN for a number of years and had the privilege to occupy a number of interesting positions that helped his career. He said that his most recent post as Director of the UN Information Center in Australia, with responsibilities of that country and others in the region, was extremely useful in his personal outlook with regards to NGOs. He was not much involved in NGO work before that, and that his position allowed a “conversion” into the power of NGOs as a force for societal change. As a result of this “conversion,” he said, he believed very firmly that the UN needed to partner with NGOs more now than ever before, especially in light of the MDGs. How can we get there? How can we be successful and effective in implementing the MDGs if we did not work side by side with NGOs? He expressed that he needed to learn a lot, but that he had a great team that was very patient and informative. He expressed that his door was open, and that he was available. He said he looked forward to working with the NGOs as much as possible.

 

2.0  Adoption of the Agenda.

2.1  Agenda was accepted.

 

3.0  Adoption of the Minutes

3.1  The following corrections were made to the minutes:

 

v     Fannie Munlin corrected the Networking Committee, regarding what was listed under the Midday Workshop Committee. The Networking Committee had said that it would work with the Midday Workshop Committee to identify presentations as networking rather than for the Midday Workshop. The Networking Committee would identify NGOs that were putting forth those proposals, but it would be limited.

v     Bill proposed that the Networking Committee should work as an independent, separate entity. His proposal was confirmed.

v     In the last sentence of 3.2, it should say speakers and workshops.

v     Michaela suggested that we needed to clarify registration again.

v     There was a request to coordinate vocabulary.

v     Sherrill clarified that Patrick was only responsible for the youth orchestra, if the Committee chose to have them.

 

3.2  Minutes were adopted.

 

 

4.0  Comments

4.1  Michaela said that she had been talking to many young people about participating in the Conference, and that it was increasingly important to look at effective partnerships in a very hopeful and positive way. She also expressed that the future could be hopeful. She brought up the idea that it was the responsibility of older generations to encourage youth by building confidence with regard to the world.

 

5.0  Subcommittee Reports

5.1  Resource Center

5.1.1        Nancy Ye, a new staff member in the Resource Center, would be working with Dan Uitti on online registration for the Conference. She informed the committee that the invitations to the Conference had been sent to NGO Headquarters and representatives. She said that a second letter would be sent out in a few weeks with instructions on how to register for the Conference online, including a login and a unique password. A letter would be sent to all representatives saying that the Headquarters would handle the confirmation letters. The letter also mentioned the blog and FAQ. Call ext 3-7233 if you have questions or stop by the Resource Centre.

5.1.2        Sol said that all of the speakers would be separate from the main registration, and given either a one day or three day pass.

5.1.3        Neither Gloria nor Paolo were present.

5.2  Media

5.2.1        The Media Committee said that they were continuing to work on three areas: 

v     Broadcast media with UN facilities and local TV outlets. They were pushing the interests of the Conference, including MDGs, human security, etc. Michaela would be interviewed by UN Radio.

v     A weekly blurb in Centerpoint news brief that was distributed to journalists all over the world. Last week, the committee sent a blurb to them with the title of the Conference.

v     Jeff, Judy and Estelle were working on the press release to NGOs, as a template for general information and would allow each NGO to plug in their interest regarding the Conference.

5.3  Networking

5.3.1        The committee had a meeting on the 30th. They had a brief meeting last Thursday, and developed a “Best Practices” letter. They would like to put this on the website to solicit best practices using networking as a tool to achieve the MDGs.

5.3.2        They had liaison meetings with various committees.

5.3.3        Fannie would participate in a training session, being held by the International Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Organizations on 20 April. They would teach the techniques of using networking as a means of communications and getting projects completed. Fannie would attend and report back to the committee, to provide a “how to” on networking.

5.3.4        The committee had assigned each member of the Networking Committee as a liaison to other committees, with the exception of the Resource Centre Support and Troubleshooting.

5.4  Internet

5.4.1        Bill reported that he spoke with Vanessa and Sarah. He thought that there were plenty of opportunities for coordinating our purpose, including the blog. One of the things the committee was aiming for was the creation of one or more blogs for facilitating communication before, during and after the Conference. The blog could replace the Town Hall Wall during last year’s Conference.

5.4.2        Vanessa said that the committee should receive information from Sarah on the blog shortly.

5.4.3        Vanessa was given access to the website and was ready to move forward.

5.4.4        The committee also worked on the Midday Workshop proposal form. They were cleaning it up and it would be ready soon.

5.4.5        Vanessa requested for a smaller conference room for the Planning Committee meeting on the 27 April. This was confirmed.

5.4.6        Richard Jordan suggested setting up a dedicated computer for those who do not have a computer but would be attending the Conference, for the purpose of viewing and posting to the blog. Vanessa volunteered to take responsibility for seeing this through.

5.4.7        Michaela spoke about StoryCorps. She said that the Planning Committee could engage them, and take the speakers over to Grand Central for a brief interview. This would serve as a partial record of the Conference and archive it in the Library of Congress, which would be very valuable toward these efforts.

 

5.5  MultiGenerational

5.5.1        The committee did not meet last week.

5.5.2        Next week there would be an opening of “What Moves You” on 18 and19 April through the end of May at Manhattanville College. Interested people should please contact Nita Himaduna or Paolo Tagatac, the hosts of the exhibit. It was a cross section of people reflecting on their communities and how they personally affect and are affected by the MDGs.

 

5.6  Events and Fundraising

5.6.1        Sherrill Kazan met with some people from the Centerpoint Journal last week, and they were interested in creating another journal.

5.6.2        With regard to the tent, Sherrill said that she was dealing with the finances and bureaucracy of it. She may have found an underwriter.

5.6.3         Sherrill was working on a ceremony to honor someone at the Conference.

5.6.4        Donation of Japanese cake and sake from Japan would be discussed with Sherrill.

5.6.5        Michaela said she has an appointment with Citibank, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund; however, there was nothing in hand and these were just preliminary talks.

5.6.6        Michaela clarified the use of the NGO Executive Committee stationary. She stated that she sent out a number of fundraising letters asking to defray the programme and transportation costs. She had signed the letter with a cc to Joan Kirby, Chair NGO/DPI Executive Committee. One of the people who received that letter called the DPI office on 12 April. Michaela clarified that there was a miscommunication and that letter went out from the NGO/DPI Executive Committee and not from DPI. All enquiries about funding should be forwarded to Michaela.

5.6.7        Michaela expressed that she would like to speak with anyone who had contacts with Bono.

 

5.7  Midday Workshops

5.7.1        The committee said that it had morphed into the Internet Committee and was working closely with Vanessa. There was information up on the website, which they would appreciate feedback on.

5.7.2        They expressed the need to work with the Resource Centre on invitation via regular mail. The committee was figuring out which tasks to assign to whom.

5.7.3        They also requested clarification regarding speakers for the Midday Workshops, and if they were part of the five. representatives from an NGO. The answer was that speakers  were independent from the NGO delegation.

Speakers would not be part of the five. A list would be sent to the Security for IDs. It would be the speaker/NGO responsibility to let the committee know which participants would be speakers. Plenary and Midday Workshop speakers would have to get their IDs from the Pass and ID Office.

5.7.4        Michaela expressed concern regarding the guidelines on the web, that they were impressive, but perhaps a bit too formidable. Her concern was clarified.

5.8  Troubleshooting

5.8.1        There were no problems reported.

5.9  Other Comments

5.9.1 The Following comments were made:

v     Fannie spoke about a presentation earlier in the day from MCAI that really spoke to her. Media Communications Association International in collaboration with DPI was having the “Second Annual United Nations Documentary Film Festival” in April 2006. Fannie suggested that the committee look into this, and use it potentially as a resource. There was a possibility that one or two films might be selected.

v     Michaela mentioned the Tribeca Film Festival, which was showing some amazing work from the young generation. She stated that it would be unfortunate if the committee did not find a way to build a film into this. She suggested showing segments of films, or some full-length films during the Conference. But a conversation was still in order regarding that.

v     Juan Carlos said he thought that the format of a film festival, regarding documentaries, was extremely powerful and effective. However, he expressed that it would take a lot of work and organization that may not be available for the committee at that point. He suggested that at next year’s film festival (The Third Annual UN Documentary Film Festival) there be at least one entry from the NGO/DPI group that would reflect the aims and aspirations of as many NGOs as possible. He also suggested that during the Conference, the committee could look into selecting a film that could be shown for its artistic merits and message.

v     Bill asked if there was a film that covered all of the MDGs. He said that that film did not exist, but should and would be a great way to spread awareness and increase involvement.

6.0  Speakers

6.1  There were about 160 speaker recommendations on file in the Resource Centre. Michaela said she has been in touch with many of them. She requested that if a speaker was submitted, that they should be contacted and determine if they were available to speak.

6.2  Michaela said that she had identified four very strong moderators.

6.3  Estelle mentioned that the briefing on genocide a few weeks ago showed that the Dag Hammarskjold Library auditorium could work for a round-table.

6.4  It was noted that recommending speakers was not too late. However, they should find out if they would be available to speak before recommending them.   

6.5  Speakers do not necessarily need to be well known, but they must be willing to be very specific about partnerships they have been involved with in the past.

7.0  Other Business

7.1  Sol said there would be a Communications Workshop on 20 April, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in the Dag Hammarskjold Library auditorium; 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Conference Room B.

7.2  Deadline for the Midday Workshops schedule was 31 July, but could be extended to the 4 August.

7.3  The issue was raised on the need to discuss the themes for the Midday Workshops. Michaela responded that they had discussed the themes and were working on adding a sentence on each theme. She promised to get that out over email before the next meeting.

7.4  Michaela advised that the next Planning Committee meeting would be for co-chairs only. But it was clarified that non co-chairs could still sit in on the meeting.

7.5  There was a comment regarding the replacement of a roundtable on science and education, or technology and communication, with something on peace and collective security or rule of law and governance or human security. This was seconded. Michaela expressed that Jan Elliasson has offered to be part of a roundtable on Best Practices of NGOs, which means there was another roundtable that was spoken for. She said that there had to be a compromise regarding the issues to be discussed at the roundtables. She also expressed excitement about the NGO roundtables, because it meant that some of the NGOs who were not registered under DPI could be invited to participate. Michaela said she invited Lester Solomon, who was a professor at Johns Hopkins, who had been researching ODAs and civil society, looking at the financial resources that were available. He determined that this was the 6th largest sector. The UN had a handbook done by Mr. Solomon, and he now had support from 26 countries to collect data on how important NGOs really were in countries around the world. He had offered to speak in the Conference. He would speak on issues of partnership and efficacy regardless of prestige and power. 

7.6  Bill expressed concern that the NGOs were not valued enough and were given second class status at the UN for lack of importance. Juan Carlos agreed that there were people in the UN with this opinion and that was because they were ignorant. But as long as there was a group of people in DPI supporting and championing the work of NGOs, they would be valued. The majority at the UN, he said, was strongly supportive of the NGO community.

7.7  Moses spoke on the issue of civil society’s support to the UN, versus the UN’s support to NGOs.

7.8  Michaela said that themes were more encompassing than titles, and said that the themes would be articulated in more precise language.

7.9  Sol said that last year’s Conference had the Midday Workshops in the UN, but in this years Conference having back up venues in the Church Center would be helpful.

7.10 Joan commented that we were fortunate last year to keep everything in the main building, because trying to get back through security from other buildings was problematic two years ago.

7.11 Richard Jordan expressed concern that there were many new officers at the UN who, the NGOs did not know and did not know the NGOs. Many of the old Security officers were retiring.

7.12 There was concern of having foresight regarding special issues that may lead to room changes and the Planning Committee must be prepared for it. Sol seconded the need to be flexible. Michaela requested that the interns or Troubleshooting Committee be ready to tackle that problem.

7.13 Leslie said that we may have to consider cutting back on Midday Workshops that might have to meet at the Church Center, so as not to create any “second class citizenship” or standards of participation. 

7.14 There was a question regarding when the intern from Art Center was coming. The intern from Art Center usually comes the first week of June. This remained unconfirmed.

7.15 A few members offered to provide some extra people to serve as interns for the summer.