| United Nations | E/C.2/1995/2 |
Economic and Social Council
Distr. GENERAL
16 December 1994
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
20-31 March 1995
Item 4 of the provisional agenda*
* E/C.2/1995/1.
QUADRENNIAL REPORTS ON THE ACTIVITIES OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS IN CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH THE ECONOMIC
AND SOCIAL COUNCIL, CATEGORIES I AND II
Quadrennial reports, 1990-1993
Report submitted through the Secretary-General pursuant
to Economic and Social Council resolution 1296 (XLIV)
of 23 May 1968
Note
In accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1296
(XLIV) on arrangements for consultation with non-governmental
organizations, organizations in consultative status in categories I
and II shall submit to the Committee on Non-Governmental
Organizations, through the Secretary-General, every fourth year a
brief report of their activities, specifically as regards the support
they have given to the work of the United Nations. Based on findings
of the Committee's examination of the report and other relevant
information, the Committee may recommend to the Council any
reclassification in status of the organization concerned as it deems
appropriate.
At its 1981 session, the Committee decided that quadrennial
reports submitted by non-governmental organizations should be limited
to no more than two single-space pages. At its 1989 session, the
Committee stressed the need for non-governmental organizations
required to submit quadrennial reports to provide the Secretariat with
clear and timely information, including, inter alia, a brief
introductory statement recalling the aims and purposes of the
organization.
At its 1991 session, the Committee emphasized the need for non-
governmental organizations requested to submit quadrennial reports to
provide a clear picture of their activities as they related to the
United Nations. The Committee further noted that the reports should
conform to the guidelines elaborated by the Non-Governmental
Organizations Unit pursuant to the relevant decisions of the Committee
(see E/1991/20, para. 47). The Committee decided that only those
reports elaborated in conformity with the guidelines and submitted to
the Non-Governmental Organizations Unit no later than 1 June of the
year preceding the Committee's session would be transmitted to the
Committee for consideration. The Committee recalled that
organizations failing to submit adequate reports on time would be
subject to reclassification in status that the Committee might deem
appropriate, in conformity with paragraph 40 (b) of Council resolution
1296 (XLIV) (see E/1991/20, para. 48). Pursuant to these decisions,
the Secretariat, in December 1993, communicated to all relevant
organizations guidelines for the completion of quadrennial reports.
The material issued in the present series of documents
(E/C.2/1995/2 and addenda) has been reproduced as submitted and
therefore reflects the policies and terminology of the organizations
concerned. The designations employed do not imply the expression of
any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Secretariat
concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or
of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or
boundaries.
Supplementary material, such as annual reports and samples of
publications, is available in the Non-Governmental Organizations
Section of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable
Development of the United Nations Secretariat.
CONTENTS
Page
Note ..................................................................... 2
1. Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization ......................... 7
2. America-Mideast Educational and Training Services, Inc. ............. 11
3. Amnesty International ............................................... 13
4. Anti-Slavery International .......................................... 15
5. Arab Lawyers Union .................................................. 18
6. Caritas Internationalis ............................................. 21
7. Centro Nazionale di Prevenzione e Difesa Sociale .................... 25
8. Coalition against Trafficking in Women .............................. 28
9. Commission of the Churches on International Affairs of the World
Council of Churches ................................................. 30
10. Commonwealth Human Ecology Council .................................. 33
11. Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations .......................... 37
12. Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration ............. 39
13. Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific, The ................ 43
14. Foundation for the Rights of the Family ............................. 45
15. General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists ........................ 47
16. Housewives in Dialogue .............................................. 49
17. Howard League, The .................................................. 52
18. Indigenous World Association ........................................ 54
19. Institute of Cultural Affairs International, The .................... 56
20. Institute of Internal Auditors, Inc. ................................ 58
21. International Abolitionist Federation ............................... 60
22. International Air Transport Association ............................. 63
23. International Alliance of Women - Equal Rights-Equal Responsibilities 65
24. International Association against Painful Experiments on Animals .....68
25. International Association of Ports and Harbors .......................70
26. International Association of Women in Radio and Television ...........74
27. International Astronautical Federation ...............................76
28. International Bar Association ........................................79
29. International Chamber of Commerce ....................................83
30. International Commission of Jurists.................................. 86
31. International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage.................. 90
32. International Confederation of Christian Family Movements............ 94
33. International Cooperative Alliance................................... 96
34. International Council of Jewish Women................................ 99
35. International Council of Scientific Unions...........................101
36. International Council of Voluntary Agencies..........................105
37. International Council on Alcohol and Addictions......................107
38. International Council on Management of Population Programmes ........110
39. International Council on Social Welfare .............................113
40. International Federation of Business and Professional Women .........117
41. International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers ....119
42. International Federation of Social Workers ..........................122
43. International Federation of University Women ........................126
44. International League for Human Rights ...............................130
45. International Organization for Standardization ......................133
46. International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination.....................................................136
47. International Organization of Consumer Unions ..................... 139
48. International Organization of Indigenous Resource Development...... 142
49. International Prisoners Aid Association .............................144
50. International Road Federation ...................................... 146
51. International Road Transport Union ..................................149
52. International Social Service ........................................151
53. International Touring Alliance ......................................155
54. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs .....................157
55. Italian Centre of Solidarity ........................................159
56. Liberal International ...............................................160
57. Lutheran World Federation............................................162
58. OXFAM (United Kingdom and Ireland)...................................164
59. Pan Pacific and South-East Asia Women's Association .................166
60. Pathways to Peace ...................................................170
61. Population Council, The .............................................173
62. Socialist International .............................................177
63. Socialist International Women .......................................179
64. Susila Dharma International Association .............................181
65. Vienna Institute for Development and Cooperation ....................184
66. Women's International Democratic Federation .........................186
67. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom ..................188
68. Women's International Zionist Organization ..........................191
69. World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations ................194
70. World Assembly of Small and Medium Enterprises ......................197
71. World Assembly of Youth .............................................200
72. World Association of Former United Nations Internes and Fellows......204
73. World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts ....................207
74. World Conference on Religion and Peace ..............................210
75. World Federalist Movement ...........................................213
76. World Federation for Mental Health ..................................217
77. World Federation of the Deaf ........................................219
78. World Federation of United Nations Associations .....................222
79. World Jewish Congress ...............................................225
80. World Leisure and Recreation Association ............................229
81. World Society for the Protection of Animals .........................233
82. World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations .......................236
83. World University Service ............................................239
84. World Veterans Federation ...........................................243
85. World Vision International ..........................................247
1. AFRO-ASIAN PEOPLES' SOLIDARITY ORGANIZATION
(Category II)
The Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization (AAPSO) is an
international non-governmental organization with national affiliates
in more than 90 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and America. It is
the only non-governmental organization to enjoy observer status in the
Movement of Non-Aligned Nations (NAM) from its inception.
The aims and purpose of the organization are:
(a) To unite broad democratic forces, irrespective of political,
religious, social and geographical differences, against all forms of
subjugation, including intolerance and hate for the common aim of
cooperation and solidarity in order to create a peaceful, happy and
prosperous life for humankind;
(b) To support national liberation movements and democratic
forces struggling for the preservation and defence of world peace,
national culture, sovereignty and territorial integrity, world
economic security, ecology, human rights, universal justice,
transparency, and free flow of information without distortion or
hindrance;
(c) To consistently work to mobilize popular support for the
principles of the United Nations and its agencies.
There has been no change in the geographical membership of AAPSO.
There has been no change in the funding process.
Participation in activities of the Economic and Social
Council and its subsidiary bodies and in conferences
and other United Nations meetings
AAPSO representatives in New York and Geneva have participated
regularly in all the meetings during the period under review.
Representatives of the Permanent Secretariat attended the
following conferences and meetings:
(a) Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development, New York, March 1992;
(b) International Preparatory Meeting for Environment and
Development, Brazzaville, March 1992;
(c) African Regional Conference on Human Rights, Tunis, November
1992;
(d) Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Human Rights, Bangkok,
March 1993;
(e) Preparatory meeting for the International NGO Conference on
Palestine, with full participation of the Committee on the Exercise of
the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for
Palestinian Rights;
(f) World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, June 1993.
AAPSO participated in the following international conferences
organized either by NGOs or by AAPSO to uphold, popularize and create
an awareness of the principles and policies of the United Nations:
(a) International Conference of NGOs on Non-Alignment and
Democratization of International Relations, Accra, August 1991 (AAPSO
was among the convenors);
(b) Conference of AAPSO committees of the countries of the South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) for the socio-
economic development of those countries in the context of South-South
cooperation, Dhaka, December 1991;
(c) Tenth meeting of the Arab Solidarity Committees, Tunis, April
1992 (organized by AAPSO);
(d) International NGO Conference on Comprehensive Peace and the
Developing Countries, New Delhi, August 1992;
(e) Tenth NAM Summit, Jakarta, August/September 1992;
(f) Meeting organized by the AAPSO Permanent Secretariat in
preparation for the World Conference on Human Rights, Cairo,
October 1992;
(g) International Conference of NGOs in Africa for the
preparation of the World Conference on Human Rights, Tunis, November
1992;
(h) Conference on Peace and Security in the Middle East, Malta,
November 1992;
(i) NGO Asia-Pacific Regional Conference in preparation for the
World Conference on Human Rights, Bangkok, March 1993;
(j) Meeting of the NGO Subcommittee on Racism, Geneva, April
1993;
(k) Second Conference of AAPSO Committees of the countries of
SAARC and seminar entitled "Towards regional cooperation and economic
integration of South Asia", Colombo, November 1993.
Other meetings at Geneva were attended by either the President or
the Secretary-General of AAPSO.
A number of national conferences and seminars in Afro-Asian
countries were attended by respective national leaders.
Cooperation with United Nations bodies
and specialized agencies
Cooperation has continued with the following entities:
Department for Disarmament Affairs
Division for Palestinian Rights
Centre against Apartheid
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
Department of Public Information
Commission on Human Rights
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Action taken in implementation of United Nations resolutions
at the international, regional or national level
Conferences, seminars, round tables, dialogues and meetings were
held, resolutions were adopted and press releases were issued to
mobilize public opinion in support of the following United Nations
resolutions: on aggression against Kuwait; on Iraq; on the Libyan
Arab Jamahiriya; on Somalia; on Angola; on Cambodia; and on Palestine.
The ministerial resolution of ECA and ESCAP on strengthening the
economies of Africa and Asia was also adopted. National affiliates of
AAPSO have also taken similar measures.
AAPSO maintains a close relationship with the South Centre and
organized an international seminar on the South Commission report
Challenge to the South in Cairo in June 1991.
Consultations and cooperation have been carried on with officials
of the United Nations Secretariat, including the following:
Under-Secretary-General, Department for Disarmament Affairs
Editor-in-Chief of Africa Recovery
Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Development
Forum
Chairman, Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of
the Palestinian People
Under-Secretary-General, Department of Public Information
Director, Department of Public Information
Department of International Economic and Social Affairs, Chief of
NGO Unit
Other consultative and substantive activities include field-level
collaboration, joint sponsorship of meetings, seminars, studies etc.
and membership in the Special NGO Committee on Disarmament, Geneva;
the Special NGO Committee on Human Rights; the NGO Committee on
Development; the NGO Subcommittee on Women; the NGO Subcommittee on
Racism; the NGO Subcommittee on Environment; and the Board of the
Conference of NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council (CONGO).
AAPSO publications
Development and Socio-Economic Progress (quarterly journal;
Arabic, English and French)
Recent books: Whither the South, NAM (on Non-Aligned Movement),
Human Rights, SAARC.
2. AMERICA-MIDEAST EDUCATIONAL AND TRAINING SERVICES, INC.
(Category II)
1. Founded in 1951, America-Mideast Educational and Training
Services, Inc. (AMIDEAST) is a private, non-profit organization
promoting understanding and cooperation between Americans and the
people of the Middle East and North Africa through education,
information and development programmes.
(i) Geographical membership
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AMIDEAST maintains 15 field
offices in 10 Arab countries or areas: Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan,
Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, West
Bank/Gaza Strip and Yemen. The offices in the Gulf region, Bahrain
and Kuwait just opened in 1992. In 1993, a new office was set up in
Casablanca, Morocco. Together, this network of offices serves the
entire region and the United States of America.
AMIDEAST has an institutional membership programme that assists
academic and English-language training institutions in evaluating and
advising their Middle Eastern students. This programme is open to all
accredited institutions of higher learning and to English-language
institutions adhering to the principles of good practice recommended
by the Association of International Educators (NAFSA). Since 1991,
the membership of AMIDEAST has grown from 130 to 174 members. The
geographical breakdown of its membership is as follows: United
States, 167; Canada, 2; England, 1; Greece, 1; Lebanon, 2; and United
Arab Emirates, 1.
(ii) Sources of funding
AMIDEAST's sources of funding include the following: contract
fees for services rendered; restricted grants for specific projects;
donations from individuals, foundations and corporations; sales of
publications; membership fees; and investment income.
(iii) Affiliation with international non-governmental
organizations
AMIDEAST is affiliated with the international NGO, Partners for
International Education and Training (PIET). PIET is a joint venture
between AMIDEAST, World Learning, Inc., the African-American Institute
and the Asia Foundation that administers the world-wide participant
training programme of the United States Agency for International
Development.
2. During the past three years, AMIDEAST has not directly
participated in the activities or programmes of the Economic and
Social Council or its subsidiary bodies and/or conferences.
3. AMIDEAST cooperates with United Nations programmes and bodies
primarily through contract fees for services, particularly with the
World Bank on large educational and training technical assistance
programmes in Yemen. AMIDEAST has also worked with the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency (UNRWA) on human resource development projects in the West Bank
and Gaza.
4. (i) AMIDEAST implements United Nations resolutions through its own
activities in human resource development, educational and cultural
exchange, training, technical assistance and public outreach. It
fosters international cooperation and understanding by working with
individual countries to develop their technical and managerial
capabilities for economic and social development. AMIDEAST also works
to promote democracy by strengthening democratic institutions in Arab
countries and making citizens aware of their legal rights and
responsibilities.
(ii) The President of AMIDEAST occasionally holds informal
consultations with officials of the United Nations Secretariat and
UNRWA.
(iii) AMIDEAST has not in the recent past prepared papers and/or
other material at the request of the Economic and Social Council and
its subsidiary bodies or of the United Nations Secretariat.
(iv) AMIDEAST regularly undertakes consultative and substantive
activities with United Nations bodies or programmes sponsored by
United Nations agencies. In the past few years, AMIDEASt has
undertaken major technical assistance programmes funded by the World
Bank/International Development Association in Yemen to improve primary
and secondary teacher training, as well as enhancements in the Yemen
Civil Service. In the West Bank and Gaza, formal and informal
collaboration between AMIDEAST and UNRWA and UNDP is necessary for the
completion of ongoing programmes in the occupied territories. Most
recently, AMIDEAST worked with UNDP to establish an international
computer network for universities and NGOs in the West Bank and Gaza.
3. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
(Category II)
1. Amnesty International was founded in 1961. It plays a specific role
in the international protection of human rights and works independently of
any Government, political ideology, economic interest or religious creed.
Based on the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
Amnesty International campaigns for the release of all "prisoners of
conscience", people who are detained anywhere for their beliefs or because
of their ethnic origin, sex, colour or language who have not used or
advocated violence; for fair and prompt trials for all political
prisoners; to abolish the death penalty, torture and other cruel treatment
of prisoners; and to end extrajudicial executions and "disappearances".
Amnesty International also opposes abuses by opposition groups: hostage-
taking, torture and killings of prisoners and other arbitrary killings.
Amnesty International has more than 1.1 million members, subscribers and
regular donors in over 150 countries and territories, with more than 6,000
local groups in over 70 countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe
and the Middle East. To ensure impartiality, each group works on cases
and campaigns in countries other than its own, selected for geographical
and political diversity. Amnesty International is financed by
subscriptions from its world-wide membership. No funds are sought or
accepted from Governments. To safeguard the independence of the
organization, all contributions are strictly controlled by guidelines laid
down by the International Council of Amnesty International.
2. During the past four years, Amnesty International has continued to
seek and make effective and responsible contributions to the work of the
United Nations through the opportunities provided by category II
consultative status. It maintained its office at United Nations
Headquarters in New York, as well as at the United Nations Office at
Geneva. It has been represented regularly at meetings of the United
Nations bodies in Geneva, New York and elsewhere, including meetings of
the General Assembly and its various committees, the Economic and Social
Council, the Commission on Human Rights and its Subcommission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and the
Committee on Crime Prevention and Control. In 1993, Amnesty International
attended the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna.
3. The articles embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the International Covenants on Human Rights and other international human
rights instruments adopted by the United Nations are central to the work
of Amnesty International, which has continually encouraged all States to
ratify or accede to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights and its optional protocols, the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, and the Convention against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The organization
continued to seek the incorporation of international human rights
standards into national legislation. Amnesty International also
endeavoured to promote a wider understanding of these norms and standards,
as well as of the United Nations bodies responsible for overseeing their
implementation. Recent activities with regard to cooperation with the
United Nations have included: the launch of a major campaign to end
political "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions, which was issued
as a report and distributed to all Member States of the United Nations and
contained specific recommendations to improve United Nations protection of
human rights (Getting Away With Murder, AI index ACT/33/25/93 and
"Disappearances" and Political Killings: Human Rights Crisis of the
1990s, ACT/33/01/94); recent activities related to the United Nations are
reflected in a report entitled Peace-keeping and Human Rights (AI index
IOR 40/01/94), detailing human rights questions in the emerging field of
peace-keeping operations, which was distributed to all Member States and
relevant United Nations officials; Amnesty International promoted the
creation of a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from
before the World Conference on Human Rights through to the establishment
of the Office of the High Commissioner in December 1993 at the close of
the forty-eighth session of the General Assembly (see Facing Up to the
Failures, AI index IOR 41/16/92, which is available in all United Nations
languages and was included as an official United Nations document at the
Fourth Preparatory Committee of the World Conference; and a report that
was widely circulated during the forty-eighth session of the General
Assembly, entitled A High Commissioner for Human Rights: Time for Action,
AI index IOR/41/35/93). Finally, Amnesty International continued its
regular activities undertaken at the national level to promote human
rights education and awareness.
4. Amnesty International believes that close scrutiny by the
international community is necessary to prevent the occurrence of human
rights violations. Accordingly, the main working method of the
organization is the verification and analysis of information obtained from
all regions of the world on violations of the human rights within its
mandate, and the frequent and public reporting of those violations. In
this connection, Amnesty International submitted reports or made oral
statements before those United Nations bodies responsible for monitoring
and enforcing adherence to the human rights standards which the United
Nations has elaborated. It regularly communicated, pursuant to Economic
and Social Council resolution 728 F (XXVIII), reports of violations of
human rights for consideration by the Commission on Human Rights and its
Subcommission under Economic and Social Council resolution 1503 (XLVIII).
It regularly submitted information to the Commission on Human Rights
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the Special
Rapporteur on torture, the Working Group on arbitrary detention, the
Ad hoc Working Group of Experts on Southern Africa, the Special Committee
to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the
Population of the Occupied Territories, and the special rapporteurs,
representatives and experts considering the situation of human rights in
specific countries as well as the special rapporteurs of the Subcommission
studying issues such as administrative detention and states of emergency.
Amnesty International also made regular oral and written statements on
these issues to the Commission on Human Rights and its Subcommission.
Under the provisions of article 20 of the Convention against Torture and
other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Amnesty
International submitted information to the treaty's monitoring body. It
continued to bring its concerns to the Special Committee against
Apartheid.
5. Among the other United Nations organizations and specialized agencies
with which Amnesty International worked are the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in connection with Amnesty
International's work, particularly that of its national sections, for the
protection of refugees and asylum seekers. Amnesty International also
annually attended the International Labour Conference.
4. ANTI-SLAVERY INTERNATIONAL
(Category II)
The aims of Anti-Slavery International (ASI) (previously the Anti-
Slavery Society) are:
(a) The elimination of all forms of slavery, including forced
labour;
(b) The defence of the interests of both oppressed and threatened
indigenous peoples;
(c) The promotion of human rights in accordance with the principles
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
In 1990, the Director represented ASI at the fifteenth session of
the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery and the eighth session
of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations. Reports were submitted
to the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of slavery on the following
issues: Bangladeshi slaves in Karachi Central Prison; Haitians in the
sugar-cane plantations of the Dominican Republic; bonded labour in India;
bonded labour in Pakistan; Mauritania; forced labour in Burma; Sudan;
migrant domestic workers in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland; Convention on the Rights of the Child.
ASI presented a joint statement with other non-governmental
organizations on the theme "Exploitation of child labour". The theme of
the session was the prevention of trafficking in persons and of the
prostitution of others. ASI submitted three reports under this theme:
on forced prostitution in India; on forced prostitution in Turkey; on
trafficking and forced prostitution of Burmese women in Thailand.
At the eighth session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations
of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities, in 1990, ASI made submissions on Burma, West Papua, the
Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh and the Australian Aborigines.
At the forty-second session of the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in 1990, there was a
submission from ASI on contemporary forms of slavery.
At the sixteenth session of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms
of Slavery, in 1991, there were submissions on Bangladeshi slaves in
Karachi Central Prison; a report by the Bonded Liberation Front of
Pakistan; debt bondage of a Philippines Dumagat Community; Haitians in
the Dominican Republic; a report on forced prostitution in India; migrant
domestic workers; and Portuguese child labour.
At the ninth session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations
of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities, in 1991, there were submissions from ASI on deaths of
Aborigines in custody; debt bondage of a Philippines Dumagat Community;
and West Papua.
At the forty-third session of the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, ASI submitted a report on
the proposed referendum in Western Sahara. An East Timorese spoke under
the aegis of ASI on the situation in his country. ASI submitted a joint
statement with the Nordic Saami Council, the Inuit Circumpolar Conference
and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs on recent
developments in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. ASI also
supported a statement on traditional practices affecting the health of
women and children, which was made on presentation of the final report of
the Special Rapporteur.
At the seventeenth session of the Working Group on Contemporary
Forms of Slavery, in 1992, there were submissions on debt bondage and
slavery in Brazil; forced prostitution of women and girls in Brazil;
forced labour in Myanmar; and evaluation of the Working Group during the
fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth sessions. With other NGOs, there was
a joint submission on the membership of the Working Group and its working
methods.
At the forty-fourth session of the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, ASI made submissions on
child labour and bonded labour in South Asia; the Working Group on
Contemporary Forms of Slavery at its seventeenth session; and the
situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.
In 1992, ASI submitted a report to the Committee on the Rights of
the Child entitled "Sudan: war, slavery and children". On behalf of the
Subgroup on Child Labour of the NGO Group on the Rights of the Child, ASI
reported on child labour.
At the eighteenth session of the Working Group on Contemporary Forms
of Slavery, in 1993, ASI submitted reports on bonded labour in Nepal; the
status of slavery in Mauritania; bonded labour in South Asia; trafficking
and slavery of Mozambican refugees in South Africa; child slaves of South
Asia; a seminar on bonded labour; slavery in Brazil; and exploitation of
child domestic servants in West Africa and an NGO leaflet on elimination
of child labour.
At the forty-fifth session of the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in 1993, ASI submitted
reports on the resolution of slavery in Mauritania and the situation in
the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh.
In 1993, on behalf of the Subgroup on Child Labour of the NGO Group
on the Rights of the Child, ASI submitted a paper on eliminating the
exploitation of child labour.
The Director of ASI also attended the following international
meetings:
(a) Breaking the Silence on Human Rights Violations in the African
World (Toronto, Canada, October 1991);
(b) Congress on Child Labour in Europe (Tecklenberg, Germany,
October 1991).
ASI was represented at the following international meetings:
(a) Twelfth session of the African Commission on Human and People's
Rights (October 1991);
(b) International Conference on Children's Ombudswork (Amsterdam,
January 1992);
(c) Subregional Conference of the International Labour Organization
on the Abolition of Child Labour and the Improvement of Conditions of
Working Children (Dakar, February 1992);
(d) Seminar on Child Labour in the Carpet Trade (Frankfurt, 1992);
(e) World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 14-25 June 1993).
5. ARAB LAWYERS UNION
(Category II)
The Arab Lawyers Union (ALU), established in 1944, is a pan-Arab
confederation of bar associations and law societies. ALU currently has
27 affiliated organizations, with a membership of more than 200,000
individual lawyers. The Union tries to pool their efforts and
orchestrate their activities to enhance the independence of the legal
profession, the rule of law, human rights, fundamental freedoms and
popular participation in the Arab world and internationally by forging an
Arab public consensus based on internationally recognized norms and
principles enumerated in the United Nations instruments spelling out the
duties and obligations undertaken by each State party.
By virtue of its membership on the Board of the Conference of
Non-Governmental Organizations in consultative status with the Economic
and Social Council (CONGO), and its main special committee, ALU has been
a partner in all the multilateral and some of the bilateral initiatives
undertaken by CONGO members during the period.
ALU attended the substantive session of 1993 of the Economic and
Social Council (Geneva, 28 June-30 July 1993). It actively participated
in the forty-sixth, forty-seventh, forty-eighth and forty-ninth sessions
of the Commission on Human Rights, the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and their various working
groups by making written and oral statements under the items concerning
the violations of human rights in the occupied territories, including
Palestine; the human rights of all persons subjected to any form of
detention or imprisonment; the violation of human rights and fundamental
freedoms in any part of the world, with particular reference to colonial
and other dependent countries and territories; and the independence and
impartiality of the judiciary and the legal profession. It provided
information that contributed to the thematic debates and reported cases
of human rights violations in the Arab world.
For ALU, since its inception, the inalienable rights of the
Palestinian people have been and still are a central issue of concern.
ALU attended the seventh and tenth United Nations international NGO
meetings on the question of Palestine (Geneva, 29-31 August 1990, and
Vienna, 25-27 August 1993), and participated in the deliberations and the
preparatory activities of the Committee on the Exercise of the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and of the Division for
Palestinian Rights through its membership on the Board of the
International Coordinating Committee.
ALU participated in the African Seminar on International Human
Rights Standards and the Administration of Justice, held in Cairo from 8
to 12 July 1991. The Seminar was organized by the Centre for Human
Rights of the United Nations Secretariat, in cooperation with the African
Commission on Human and People's Rights and the Government of Egypt, and
formed part of the programme of advisory services and technical
assistance of the Centre for Human Rights.
In preparation for the International Year of the Family, ALU
participated in the Africa and Western Asia Preparatory Meeting, held at
Tunis from 29 March to 2 April 1993.
World Conference on Human Rights
In cooperation with the Arab Organization for Human Rights and the
Arab Institute for Human Rights, ALU formed a Preparatory Arab Committee.
The Committee published and disseminated information concerning the
issues and objectives of the World Conference. It organized a meeting in
Tunis, on 29 and 30 October 1992, in which 25 national and regional NGOs
participated. Also, the Arab Committee participated in the proceedings
of the African Forum of NGOs, held in Tunis on 1 and 2 November 1992. In
addition, it participated in the Regional Meeting for Africa, held in
Tunis from 1 to 3 November, as a preparatory activity to the Conference.
In April 1993, as a preparatory activity to the Vienna Conference, ALU
participated with the Arab Organization for Human Rights and the Arab
Institute for Human Rights in organizing the Arab Conference for Human
Rights, which was held in Cairo.
During the Vienna Conference ALU participated in the NGO Forum and
initiated the organization of a workshop within the Forum on the right to
fair elections and methods of monitoring elections. ALU also organized,
in cooperation with the Arab Organization for Human Rights, an exhibition
entitled "Cartoons and human rights", in which 22 Arab cartoonists
participated.
Other activities
The Eighteenth General Conference of ALU, whose theme was "Human
rights and promotion of democracy", was held in Casablanca from 20 to 23
May 1993. The Human Rights Committee of the Conference organized a forum
in which more than 700 individual jurists, intellectuals and human rights
advocates participated. They discussed the human rights situation in the
Arab world, and the report was published and disseminated.
ALU participated in the proceedings of the Seminar on Educating
Democracy and Human Rights, which was organized by the Arab Institute for
Human Rights and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) as part of the preparatory activities of UNESCO for
the World Conference on Human Rights.
ALU participated in the Eighth United Nations Congress on the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held in Havana. The
report of the Congress was published in Arabic and disseminated
throughout the Arab world.
ALU was actively involved in supplying information to and organizing
a number of meetings for the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in the Sudan. Furthermore, ALU monitored the
human rights situation in the Sudan and contributed to the campaign
launched to release political prisoners and restore democracy, the rule
of law and observance of human rights standards.
ALU also played a central role in defending political prisoners and
prisoners of conscience in the Arab world through the commissioning of
member lawyers to participate in their defence or to campaign for their
release.
The ALU Legal Research and Studies Centre (LRSC) also played a
central role in these activities. During the period under review, LRSC
carried out many research activities, held a number of workshops and
round tables in various human rights fields and published the results of
these activities. LRSC also publishes a monthly bulletin, Law and Human
Rights. The bulletin addresses different human rights issues and
problems in a regional and universal context.
6. CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS
(Category II)
Introductory statement
Founded in 1951, Caritas Internationalis (CI) is an international
confederation of 125 autonomous national member organizations directed by
its statutes to "spread charity and social justice in the world". The
aims of the organization include information sharing, coordination and
representation among Catholic-sponsored charitable, social service and
development efforts. Every four years, the national member organizations
of CI gather in a General Assembly to make administrative decisions about
the confederation and to formulate a joint work plan. The most recent
General Assembly of CI was held in Rome from 23 to 29 May 1991; its theme
was "Christian charity: human solidarity". At the 1991 General
Assembly, the following national Caritas organizations were admitted to
CI membership: Cuba, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, Namibia and Nepal.
The major issues selected for reflection and action during the 1991-1995
CI mandate included: HIV/AIDS; refugees, migrants and internally
displaced persons; environment; global economy; and the family.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and
other United Nations meetings or conferences
CI participated in the following meetings and conferences:
New York
(a) General Assembly (1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993);
(b) Annual NGO conferences (1991 and 1993) of the Department of
Public Information of the United Nations Secretariat;
(c) Preparatory Committee on International Cooperation against Drugs
and seventeenth special session of the General Assembly on narcotic drugs
(12-14 February 1990);
(d) Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (2 March-3 April 1992);
(e) Regional Evaluation and Planning Meeting of NGO and United
Nations Key Agencies on Education for All Conference (17-19 May 1993).
Geneva
(a) The forty-sixth, forty-seventh, forty-eighth and forty-ninth
sessions of the Commission on Human Rights (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993). CI
submitted written statements and joined oral statements at each of these
meetings, concerning the situation of internally displaced persons;
(b) The first special session of the Commission on Human Rights,
concerning former Yugoslavia (13-14 August 1992);
(c) The thirty-ninth, fortieth, forty-second, forty-third, forty-
sixth, forty-eighth and forty-ninth sessions of the Human Rights
Committee (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993);
(d) The forty-second, forty-third, forty-fourth and forty-fifth
sessions of the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities (1990, 1991, 1992, 1993);
(e) The fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth sessions of the Working
Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery (1990, 1991, 1992);
(f) The first, second, third and fourth meetings of the Preparatory
Committee of the World Conference on Human Rights (9-13 September 1991,
30 March-10 April 1992, 14-18 September 1992, 19 April-7 May 1993). CI
submitted written statements at each of these meetings, concerning the
situation of internally displaced persons;
(g) The substantive session of 1993 of the Economic and Social
Council (28 June-30 July 1993);
(h) The forty-first, forty-second, forty-third and forty-fourth
sessions of the Executive Committee of the Programme of the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (October 1990, 1991, 1992
and 1993). CI joined other NGOs in an oral statement at each of those
sessions.
Vienna
(a) Commission on Narcotic Drugs (29 January-2 February 1990,
29 April-9 May 1991, 16 December 1991, 6-15 April 1992, 16-17 December
1993);
(b) Committee on Crime Prevention and Control (5-16 February 1990,
10-19 February 1992);
(c) The first and second sessions of the Commission on Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice (21-30 April 1992, 13-23 April 1993);
(d) The thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh
sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women (26 February-9 March
1990, 27 February-8 March 1991, 11-20 March 1992, 17-26 March 1993);
(e) The thirty-second and thirty-third sessions of the Commission
for Social Development (11-20 February 1991, 8-17 February 1993);
(f) The Inter-Agency Meeting on Ageing (18-19 February 1993).
Paris
(a) Intergovernmental Committee of the World Decade for Cultural
Development (4-8 February 1991, 6-10 April 1992, 29-30 April 1993);
(b) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)/NGO Consultations on Youth (25-28 September 1990, 27 June 1991,
14-22 September 1991, 10-16 November 1992);
(c) UNESCO Consultation on Literacy and Adult Education
(2-6 December 1990);
(d) The one hundred fortieth and one hundred forty-first sessions of
the Executive Board of UNESCO (12-31 October 1992, 10-28 May 1993).
Rome
(a) The fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth sessions of
the Committee on World Food Security of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (26-30 March 1990, 11-15 March
1991, 23-27 March 1992, 19 March-1 April 1993);
(b) The ninety-eighth, ninety-ninth, one hundredth, one hundred
second, one hundred third and one hundred fourth meetings of the FAO
Council (19-30 November 1990, 10-21 June 1991, 5-7 November 1991,
9-20 November 1992, 14-25 June 1993, 2-4 November 1993);
(c) The twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh sessions of the FAO
Conference (9-28 November 1991, 6-25 November 1993);
(d) The thirty-second, thirty-third, thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth
meetings of the World Food Programme (WFP) Committee on Food Aid
(18-19 March 1991, 3-13 December 1991, 25-29 April 1992,
31 May-4 June 1993, 25-29 October 1993);
(e) The thirteenth and fourteenth meetings of the Governing Council
of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (23-26
January 1990, 29-30 May 1991).
Special conferences and summits
(a) World Ministerial Conference to Reduce the Demand of Addictive
Drugs and Cocaine (London, 9-11 April 1990);
(b) United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de
Janeiro, June 1992);
(c) Summit on the Economic Advancement of Rural Women (Geneva,
25-26 February 1992);
(d) World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna, 14-25 June 1993).
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies
and specialized agencies
CI participated as an observer in the Management Committee meetings
of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Programme on AIDS (1990,
1991, 1992, 1993).
CI published an article entitled "Drug abuse: a challenge to
Caritas", in the Bulletin on Narcotics (vol. XLIII, No. 1, 1991) of the
United Nations International Drug Control Programme.
CI made a presentation on assisting families to deal with severe
problems at the fourth International Seminar of the NGO Committee on the
Family, which was held at Vienna from 30 November to 1 December 1992.
CI has provided monthly consultation services to the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) in the training of professional child protection
service workers in Romania since April 1993.
7. CENTRO NAZIONALE DI PREVENZIONE E DIFESA SOCIALE
(Category II)
The institutional aim of the Centro Nazionale di Prevenzione e
Difesa Sociale (CNPDS) is the promotion of the study and implementation
of a system of crime prevention and social control. This task is
fulfilled through in-depth analyses, pioneering research and debates,
conducted with a multidisciplinary methodology, on the processes of
social and economic change in contemporary societies and of the demands
addressed to political, economic, legal, judicial and social professions.
In so doing, the Centro has been taking actions in support of the United
Nations in an attempt to achieve common aims in crime prevention and
criminal justice, while preserving fundamental human values and
respecting basic human rights.
During the period under review, CNPDS continued its activities in
close cooperation with the United Nations. The following initiatives
were taken.
CNPDS contributed to the scientific preparation of the Eighth United
Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of
Offenders (Havana, 27 August-7 September 1990) through the organization
and publication of the Report of the Seventh Joint Colloquium, convened
in cooperation with the four major non-governmental organizations active
in the crime field (International Association of Penal Law (IAPL),
International Society for Criminology (ISC), International Society of
Social Defence (ISSD) and International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation
(IPPF)), which dealt with effective national and international action
against: (a) organized crime and (b) terrorist criminal activities
(substantive topic III on the agenda of the Eighth United Nations
Congress). The report of the Colloquium was submitted to the Congress.
CNPDS, in cooperation with the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Branch of the United Nations Secretariat, continued its efforts for the
application of the recommendations of the Seventh and Eighth United
Nations Congresses (Milan, 1985, and Havana, 1990), as well as for the
preparation of the Ninth Congress.
On 20 December 1990, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the
Secretary-General of CNPDS and the Director-General of the United Nations
Office at Vienna, with a view to establishing an international council of
scholarly scientific research and professional organizations and academic
institutions to strengthen international cooperation in crime prevention
and criminal justice by furthering the exchange of information and
providing technical and scientific assistance to the United Nations and
the world community which it serves.
Pursuant to General Assembly resolutions 40/32, 41/107, 42/59,
43/99, 44/72, 45/107 (annex, para. 28), 46/152 and 47/91 and Economic and
Social Council resolutions 1986/11, 1987/53, 1988/144, 1989/68, 1990/23,
1990/26, 1990/28, 1992/22 and 1993/34 and to the Seventh United Nations
Congress's resolution on Guiding Principles for Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice in the Context of Development, the International
Scientific and Professional Advisory Council of the United Nations Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice Programme (ISPAC) was constituted in
September 1991, with a comprehensive programme of activities. The
secretariat of the Council is located at CNPDS, which has been serving as
the seat of the International Committee for Coordination (ICC) of the
above-mentioned four major NGOs since 1982. The Secretary-General of
CNPDS, who also acts as Standing Secretary of ICC, was elected President
of ISPAC and Chairman of its Executive Board.
On 23-24 March 1992, CNPDS organized an International Meeting of
Experts on Money Laundering and Control (convened at Courmayeur, Italy),
preparatory to the International Conference on the same subject to be
held in 1994 in compliance with the resolution adopted by the Commission
on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at its second session (Vienna,
April 1992).
On 25-27 June 1992, CNPDS convened an International Workshop on the
Protection of Artistic and Cultural Patrimony, at Courmayeur, Italy, for
the purpose of assisting the United Nations in the fulfilment of its
mandates, in pursuance of the resolution of the Eighth United Nations
Congress on the use of automated information exchange to combat crimes
against movable cultural property. The Workshop, which was attended by
representatives of some 20 Governments, drafted a series of
recommendations, contained in the so-called Charter of Courmayeur, to be
submitted to the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice at
its third session (Vienna, 26 April to 6 May 1994).
On 20-21 September 1992, CNPDS, in its capacity as the secretariat
of ICC, convened a preliminary international meeting on the theme
"Criminal justice and police systems: management and improvement of
police and other law enforcement agencies, prosecution, courts and
corrections and the role of lawyers" (topic 3 on the provisional agenda
of the Ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the
Treatment of Offenders), selected by ICC for its Eighth Joint Colloquium,
to be held in 1994.
On 10-12 December 1992, CNPDS organized the International Conference
on the Mafia - what to do next?, which was held at Palermo, Italy, in
cooperation with the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch, in
pursuance of Economic and Social Council resolution 1992/23. The aim of
the Conference was to analyse certain aspects of the Mafia problem, to
discuss measures to combat it, and to identify appropriate strategies for
the future, at both the national and international levels. Various
contributions to the Conference were collected in a volume published by
ISPAC.
On 12-16 May 1993, an International Workshop on Victim Protection
and Conflict Resolution was organized by ISPAC, CNPDS and the
International Institute for the Sociology of Law, in cooperation with the
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch. The Basque Government at
On~ati, Spain, hosted the Workshop. A substantive intervention was made
by the Secretary-General of CNPDS in opening the meeting, which was held
in pursuance of Economic and Social Council resolution 1990/22.
In 1992/93, CNPDS carried out a research project on juvenile
maladjustment in urban areas. The results were discussed at an
international workshop held at Courmayeur, Italy, on 19-20 June 1993,
focusing on the activities of the United Nations in the field of juvenile
delinquency and criminality in urban areas, as well as on the protection
of the rights of the child as related to juvenile justice, in order to
analyse the phenomenon of social marginality of youngsters and the
interventions of responsible institutions.
On 9-12 December 1993, CNPDS, under the auspices of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, convened a
brainstorming session on minorities, multiculturalism and the culture of
globalization at Courmayeur, Italy, in order to discuss the legal issues
in the protection of minorities in multicultural or multi-ethnic
societies.
CNPDS participated in the World NGO Forum on the theme "Promoting
families for the well-being of individuals and societies", held in Malta
on 28 November-2 December 1993, which was organized to launch the
International Year of the Family, and submitted a paper on volunteering
and the family.
8. COALITION AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN
(Category II)
The general aim of the Coalition against Trafficking in Women is to
promote women's human rights by working within the human rights framework
of the United Nations to address the sexual exploitation of women,
particularly in prostitution and through sex industries. The Coalition
serves as an umbrella that both initiates and coordinates international
programmes and actions to promote and expand women's human rights
consistent with the spirit and intent of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. Structurally, the objective of the Coalition is to develop
and work through regional organizations that draw from local and grass-
roots organizations and projects in each region of the world in an effort
to expand the grass-roots base of NGO action on sexual exploitation.
Affiliation with the Coalition has grown to include 90 organizations
from all the world regions. Within the United States, 30 prominent
individuals have become affiliated with the Coalition. Affiliation-
membership in the Coalition has expanded significantly, especially in the
Asian region, in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean and in
Europe, where regional networks of the Coalition have been formed. The
work of the Coalition has been enhanced by its coordinated actions with
other NGOs in consultative status, such as the International Abolitionist
Federation, the International Federation of Human Rights and the Third
World Movement against the Exploitation of Women.
In April 1991, the Coalition and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held an International
Meeting of Experts on Sexual Exploitation, Violence and Prostitution.
The meeting evaluated the relevance of the 1949 Convention for the
Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the
Prostitution of Others in relation to the global industrialization of
sex. Recognizing that the 1949 Convention remains useful but is limited
in its ability to address the contemporary global sex industries, with
the enormous increase they have produced in prostitution, the meeting of
experts recommended that a new convention be developed. The elements of
the new convention, developed at that meeting, are consistent with the
human rights conventions of the United Nations and build upon the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights by expanding human rights norms to
include sexual exploitation as a human rights violation.
The conclusions and recommendations of that meeting were published
in English and French by UNESCO and the Coalition in the Penn State
Report (1991), which includes a new legal study and analysis of the 1949
Convention. The report was forwarded in advance in writing and then
jointly presented orally by representatives of UNESCO and the Coalition
to the United Nations Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, at
Geneva in August 1991, which had as its focus prostitution, traffic in
women and the 1949 Convention. The elements of the new convention and
the issues raised by the Coalition delegation of 10 members were
published in the report of the meeting of the Working Group on
Contemporary Forms of Slavery. In the autumn of 1991, the Coalition
participated in the seminar on action against traffic in women and forced
prostitution as violations of human rights and human dignity, organized
by the European Committee for Equality between Women and Men of the
Council of Europe.
From the spring of 1991 to June 1993, the Coalition actively
participated in a wide range of NGO consultations in preparation for the
World Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna in 1993. Sponsored by
the NGO Committee for Human Rights, NGOs in consultative status held an
early consultation in June 1991. There the Coalition presented the
elements of the new convention against sexual exploitation, which were
endorsed and included in the report of that meeting and then forwarded to
the Secretariat for the World Conference on Human Rights. In
January 1993, the Coalition participated in the Women's Rights Working
Group of the Latin American and Caribbean Preparatory Conference of the
World Conference on Human Rights. In March 1993, the Coalition was
represented at the Preparatory Committee meeting of the Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. The NGO resolution included
a recommendation on the proposed convention against sexual exploitation.
In 1992, with funding from UNESCO, the Coalition held a series of
drafting meetings in New York and at Penn State University to develop the
proposed articles of the new convention. These meetings included experts
in international law and human rights and representatives of UNESCO and
the Coalition. In conjunction with the drafting of articles, the
Coalition and UNESCO sponsored a one-day meeting of human rights and
women's rights NGOs in New York in October 1992.
A European meeting to introduce the proposed new draft convention
was held in Brussels on 8 March 1993 and sponsored by UNESCO, the
International Federation of Human Rights, and the Communaute' franc'aise
de Belgique. The Coalition has held consultations in the Asian region on
the proposed new convention against sexual exploitation, with an Asia-
wide meeting at Manila in March 1993 that included local and regional
review, analysis and recommendations.
In coordination with UNESCO and in conjunction with NGOs in
consultative status, the Coalition held a one-day NGO Forum with several
panels on sexual exploitation and women's human rights during the World
Conference on Human Rights at Vienna. Preparations are under way, in
collaboration with UNESCO, for a round-table session at the NGO Forum of
the Fourth World Conference on Women, to be held in Beijing in 1995.
9. COMMISSION OF THE CHURCHES ON INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
OF THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
(Category II)
Aims and purposes
The Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA)
serves the World Council of Churches (WCC), its 326 member churches in
more than 125 countries with a total membership of over 400 million;
regional and national councils of Christian churches around the world;
and world confessional bodies. Its aim is to inform the churches on
world issues and to assist them in promoting peace with justice and
freedom; the development of international law and of effective
international institutions; respect for and observance of human rights
and fundamental freedoms, including religious liberty; efforts for
disarmament; the furthering of economic and social justice, the right of
self-determination of peoples, and social, cultural, educational and
humanitarian enterprises.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council
and its subsidiary bodies
During the period 1990-1993, CCIA/WCC has been active in a wide
variety of activities related to the Economic and Social Council.
It maintains regular contact with the Centre for Human Rights, and
sends delegations drawn from the several regions of the world to meetings
of the Commission on Human Rights and its Subcommission, where it has
made written and oral submissions on pressing human rights concerns. It
has cooperated with Special Rapporteurs and specialized committees
through the periodic submission of information and by facilitating
contacts with human rights organizations, church bodies and victims in
situations under study.
Regular representations are made to the Commission on the Status of
Women, where particular attention has been paid to violence against
women, women in development and the promotion of women's participation at
all levels of society. As it did in Nairobi and Copenhagen, it is
planning a major ecumenical women's forum in Beijing in conjunction with
the forthcoming World Conference. CCIA/WCC has also cooperated with the
Committees on Human Settlements and Transnational Corporations and with
the Commission on Social Development.
Relations with specialized agencies
CCIA/WCC maintains consultative relations with the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and cooperates on a regular basis with the International Labour
Organization (ILO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and
the World Health Organization (WHO). It also cooperates with regional
intergovernmental bodies such as the Organization of American States
(OAS), the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Council of Europe.
Other relevant activities
CCIA/WCC has closely followed the work of the Security Council
during the period under review, and has corresponded frequently with the
Secretary-General with respect to items on its agenda. It has sought to
stimulate dialogue on issues related to global governance in the post-
cold war period, and has shared its views through direct contacts with
relevant United Nations bodies and the Secretariat, and more widely
through its numerous publications, seeking to strengthen public opinion
in favour of the Organization at this critical turning-point of history.
Through its Geneva central office and its liaison office at United
Nations Headquarters, New York, CCIA maintains regular working relations
with a broad range of offices in the United Nations Secretariat at
various levels. Areas of concentration during this quadrennium have been
issues related to the Agenda for Peace, especially with respect to
conflict resolution and the peaceful resolution of conflict; human
rights, with particular attention to the implementation of resolutions,
declarations and norms; environmental concerns, especially on global
warming; trends in the global economy, with special attention to
international development and global debt; refugees and migrants,
especially with respect to maintaining high international norms and
standards of protection; and programmes related to women, youth and
children, especially the rising incidence of poverty and violence among
these populations.
By means of its periodic and occasional publications, the World
Council of Churches assists the public information activities of the
United Nations by informing the churches around the world about a wide
range of United Nations activities and encouraging their participation
and support. Special attention is paid to field-level cooperation with
United Nations programmes and specialized agencies in such areas as
economic and social development, refugee protection and assistance,
migrants, women, youth, children, environmental concerns, human rights,
and peace and conflict resolution. Broad regional representation, gender
balance and the participation of youth has been sought in the various
delegations formed to represent CCIA/WCC at United Nations meetings and
conferences, in order to give expression to the conviction expressed in
the Charter of the United Nations that the United Nations is an
instrument of the "peoples".
Concluding remarks
Within the limited space available, this report of a world-wide
non-governmental organization with the scope of membership and programme
of CCIA/WCC is necessarily restricted to a general overview. It seeks to
demonstrate the continuing dedication of this organization to furthering
the goals and ideals enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,
which representatives of the churches expressed at the San Francisco
Conference in 1945.
The activities of the World Council of Churches reflect a wide range
of the concerns listed in the agenda of the Economic and Social Council
and go beyond this to areas of competence of a series of other United
Nations organs and specialized agencies. In concrete terms, WCC has
channelled upwards of US$ 50 million annually to programmes of economic
and social development, assistance to refugees and emergency aid to
victims of conflicts and natural disasters, defense of human rights and
the promotion of the status of women and of youth and children around the
world. The total direct contributions of its member churches in these
and related fields are several times this figure. In addition, the
Council has provided personnel and organizational infrastructure for the
field-level implementation of United Nations programmes in a broad
variety of situations. It has also contributed election and human rights
monitors in cooperation with United Nations supervised transitions to
independence or democratic rule.
10. COMMONWEALTH HUMAN ECOLOGY COUNCIL
(Category II)
Aims of the Council
The objective of the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council (CHEC) is to
ensure that the principles of human ecology become embedded in the values
and attitudes of individuals and organizations in society and to develop
the application of human ecology. Such programmes meet the need to
fulfil human potential for holistic living, to conserve resources and to
arrest environmental degradation, and to act as a catalyst in promoting
the interaction of governmental and non-governmental agencies concerned
with education.
Increased geographical spread
The Council's programmes have continued to extend in every region of
the world during the period 1990-1993. In the past four years, new human
ecology action has been launched in Australia, Mauritius, Barbados,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Guyana, Nigeria, Canada, Zimbabwe and India.
CHEC-India, established in 1979 with Headquarters in Rajasthan, has
extended its work to seven additional States in the past two years. CHEC
now has 22 affiliates in 22 Commonwealth countries and two affiliates
outside the Commonwealth, in Brazil and Indonesia.
Changes in sources of funding
The Human Ecology Foundation, the Government of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Overseas Development
Administration), the Commonwealth Foundation, the Commonwealth
Secretariat, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO), the Canadian International Development Agency and
the International Development Research Centre continue to be the
Council's regular sources of funding. The level of funding from each
source has varied depending on the type of activity and the financial
support required for the activity. The Council has recently completed a
core document which will facilitate support from new funding sources,
nationally and internationally. Substantial and regular support comes
from UNESCO and occasional support from the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements
(Habitat).
Association with United Nations bodies
CHEC has been in consultative status, (category II), with the
Economic and Social Council since 1972. In 1979, UNESCO accorded CHEC
consultative status C. CHEC has working relations with UNEP.
Affiliation to an international NGO in consultative status
CHEC is a member of the Commission on Education of the International
Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). A
representative of CHEC served with the Board of the International
Coalition for 10 years and is currently a contributing member.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary
bodies, conferences and other United Nations meetings
CHEC has participated in the meetings of the Commission for
Sustainable Development.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies and specialized
agencies
CHEC continues to collaborate with UNESCO in: (a) the sponsorship
of conferences, presenting expert papers; (b) the production of
documentation for environmental education on contract, and the production
of books related to proceedings; during the past four years, some five
CHEC international and regional conferences/seminars have been co-
sponsored with UNESCO; (c) joint funding and expertise concerned with
institution-building (e.g., Pakistan, India); (d) Joint collaboration on
educational projects that are regional in scope.
Other relevant activities
International conferences
In association with UNESCO, three regional seminars were organized
during 1991/92 on the theme "Human ecology, environmental management and
education", in the Caribbean and Asia and a synthesizing seminar in
Canada. These meetings drew conclusions defining the role of human
ecology as a guiding principle at all levels: environmental education
and the management of the natural and urban ecosystem, the development of
land, water, energy and marine resources and principles of social
responsibility and people's participation. On the recommendations of
these meetings CHEC-India made a second contribution by addressing a
similar theme a few months later (March 1992) in a pre-UNCED seminar held
in Delhi, focusing on environmental ethics - law and education.
In April 1992, with UNESCO as a co-sponsor, CHEC mounted a pre-UNCED
consultative conference in the United Kingdom on the theme "Sustainable
development through a dialogue of cultures". Associated in this
enterprise were the Commonwealth Secretariat, Soka Gakkai International
and the Commonwealth Foundation. The conference publication was widely
distributed to participating organizations and non-governmental
organizations.
Having attended two of the Preparatory Meetings of UNCED, CHEC
worked actively at the Rio Earth Summit, in June 1992. It was supported
by a delegation of four, from Africa, Latin America and CHEC
headquarters. The present work of CHEC includes building on its pre-
UNCED and UNCED activities and the follow-up to Rio, and focusing on the
UNCED documents. It is developing ties with the Convention on Biological
Diversity.
Collaboration in international conferences
The Council's participation in international conferences included
the following:
(a) INTECOL, Beijing, 1990, presented a paper at the Human Ecology
Symposium on "Human ecology coming of age - an international overview";
(b) Society for Human Ecology, Michigan, April 1990, attended
Applied Human Ecology sessions;
(c) Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Zimbabwe, 1991, and
Cyprus, 1993;
(d) Regional seminars, 1991 (as mentioned above);
(e) Society for Human Ecology, Goteborg, June 1991, "Human
responsibility and global change";
(f) UNCED Preparatory Meeting, Egypt, 1991, International Training
Seminar for Environmental Education;
(g) Pan-Commonwealth Consultative Conference, United Kingdom, April
1992, "Sustainable development through a dialogue of cultures";
(h) United Kingdom Government Post-Rio, Manchester, 19 September
1993, "Commonwealth partnerships day";
(i) During 1993, preparatory action was taken for a Commonwealth
programme, as part of Global Forum '94, Manchester ("Cities and
sustainable rural developments: coping with the external footprints of
cities"), 23 and 28 June 1994.
In the post-UNCED initiatives (see above), CHEC, in association with
the Government of the United Kingdom Department of the Environment,
successfully mounted a curtain-raiser to the Partnerships for Change
Conference. The Commonwealth Partnerships Day provided the momentum for
the June 1994 Commonwealth Global Forum Meeting, for which CHEC is
convenor, coordinating and integrating some 24 Commonwealth professional
bodies and NGOs backed by the Commonwealth Foundation, the Commonwealth
Secretariat and UNESCO, and developing an operational programme centred
on seven action-oriented workshops.
Consultations and cooperation with officials of the United Nations
Secretariat
The Executive Officer of CHEC has regular contact with senior
officials of the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme,
UNESCO and the United Nations Children's Fund and representatives of
these bodies attended CHEC events.
Other activities
CHEC was an early participant in the United Kingdom Government's
Joint Funding Scheme, launched in 1986 to target direct project aid to
developing countries. The Scheme funds up to 50 per cent of approved
programmes, and CHEC had six projects operating in India and Uganda
during 1990-1993, using local field management advised by United Kingdom-
based consultants. These CHEC projects cover human resource development
and environmental improvement. This successful government scheme
recently obtained an increased share of the United Kingdom aid budget,
and CHEC is actively developing plans for further projects based in Asia
and Africa.
11. COORDINATING BOARD OF JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS
(Category II)
The Coordinating Board of Jewish Organizations (CBJO) is a
non-governmental organization in consultative status with the Economic
and Social Council. It has served in that capacity since the 1940s and
represents more than 1 million members in more than 50 countries through
three constituent organizations - B'nai B'rith International, the Board
of Deputies of British Jews and the South African Jewish Board of
Deputies.
During the past four years, CBJO has been actively represented at
all sessions of the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Human
Rights and the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities, and at meetings of the human rights treaty
bodies. It was represented as well at all the preparatory meetings for
the World Conference on Human Rights, at the Latin American and Caribbean
Regional Meeting of the World Conference on Human Rights and at the World
Conference in Vienna, where it fielded a delegation of 16 people from
seven countries.
The principal CBJO representative played an active role in the
United Nations NGO Human Rights Committee. As Vice-Chairman, he was an
organizer and leader of the NGO effort for the World Information Campaign
on Human Rights. As Chairman from 1991 to 1994, he helped to organize
two satellite conferences in preparation for the World Conference on
Human Rights, chaired Committee preparations for the World Conference,
and served as a leader of the NGO community at the Vienna Forum and the
World Conference. He also pioneered discussion among NGOs of new
frontiers in human rights, such as the contemporary problems of genocide,
human rights and the environment, human rights and development, human
rights and democracy, and human rights and peace, as well as the problems
of relatively unprotected groups such as women, children and indigenous
populations.
Following the World Conference decision to ask the General Assembly
to give high priority to the establishment of a High Commissioner for
Human Rights, he organized three public meetings with United Nations
diplomats to discuss the issue, coordinated NGO efforts in support of a
High Commissioner and prepared a three-page background information sheet
on the subject, which was widely distributed and helped foster an
understanding of the need for a High Commissioner.
During this same period, he also organized conferences at the United
Nations on "World security for the twenty-first century", "New challenges
facing the NGO community", and "Reforming the Security Council".
In 1991, the principal representative was appointed a delegate to
the United Nations World Youth Forum at Vienna, representing the Youth
Committee NGOs at United Nations Headquarters in New York. He was also
re-elected Honourary Chairman of the Committee.
In 1992, the principal representative was appointed by the President
of the United States of America to the United States Commission on
Improving the Effectiveness of the United Nations, and elected Secretary
of the Commission by its members.
In 1993, the principal representative was invited by the Government
of Liechtenstein to participate in a meeting of experts on self-
determination. His paper on that subject, expanded for publication, was
published as a monograph.
The representatives of CBJO at Geneva and Vienna have been active at
their respective United Nations centres and representatives at the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in
Paris have also played a leading role, especially through participating
in UNESCO meetings and conferences and in NGO activities relating to
human rights education.
12. EASTERN REGIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
(Category II)
I. Introduction
The Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA),
which is an Asian organization of States, groups and individuals in the
Asia and Pacific region, was established in 1960 in response to a common
desire among developing countries to promote regional cooperation in
improving knowledge, systems and practices of government administration
to help accelerate economic and social development. At present, it has
13 State members, 90 institutional members (institutes or schools of
public administration, universities, government agencies and municipal
corporations) and 301 individual members. EROPA was accorded
consultative status by the Economic and Social Council in 1966.
II. Structure
The principal organs of EROPA are the General Assembly, the
Executive Council and the Secretariat General, in addition to three
specialized centres: the EROPA Local Government Centre in Tokyo, the
EROPA Training Centre in New Delhi and the EROPA Development Management
Centre in the Republic of Korea. The General Assembly is composed of all
EROPA State, group and individual members and is convened every two
years. It formulates general policies and gives overall financial
direction to the organization. It also approves applications for State
membership in the organization and the budgets and accounts of EROPA.
The Executive Council, which is the governing body of EROPA, meets once a
year. It is composed of designates of State members and elected
representatives of institutional and individual members. The Council
directs the activities of the organization, determines working procedures
and the agenda, date and place of the General Assembly.
The Secretariat General, which is located in Manila, executes the
decisions and instructions of the Council, coordinates the work of the
various centres, and prepares communications and documents for all EROPA
meetings. The Secretariat operates on an annual budget of US$ 35,000
derived from membership fees, and miscellaneous income such as the sale
of publications and interest income. It has a personnel complement of
nine part-time staff, including the Secretary General. The three centres
are all supported by the respective countries in which they are located.
The Development Management Centre in the Central Officials Training
Institute (COTI) in the Republic of Korea conducts training programmes
aimed at the development and improvement of organization and management
programmes in public administration in the region. The EROPA Training
Centre located in the Indian Institute of Public Administration in New
Delhi offers training programmes in various aspects of public
administration. The EROPA Local Government Centre, housed in the Local
Autonomy College, Ministry of Home Affairs in Japan, conducts group
training programmes on local public administration for officials
connected with local government in the EROPA area.
III. Activities
The fourteenth General Assembly/Conference was held in Beijing in
October 1991, with the theme "Administrative reform towards promoting
productivity in bureaucratic performance". The United Nations was
represented at that Conference by the Director of the Development
Administration Division of the Department of Technical Cooperation for
Development. The Asian and Pacific Development Centre (APDC) was
represented by its Director and the International Institute of
Administrative Sciences (IIAS) by its Vice-President. The fifteenth
General Assembly/Conference was held in Tehran in November 1993 on the
theme "Public administration and sustainable development". At that
Conference, the United Nations was represented by the Director of the
Department of Technical Cooperation for Development. The thirty-seventh
Executive Council meeting was held at Kuala Lumpur in October 1990; the
thirty-eighth meeting in Beijing in October 1991; the thirty-ninth
meeting in Seoul in October 1992, with the United Nations Centre for
Transnational Corporations as co-sponsor; and the fortieth meeting in
Tehran in November 1993.
During the period under review, the following seminars were
conducted: on public sector financial management, sponsored by EROPA in
collaboration with the German Foundation for International Development,
in February/March 1990; on accountability in the public service, in Kuala
Lumpur in October 1990; on administrative reform towards promoting
productivity in bureaucratic performance, in Beijing in October 1991; on
decentralization towards democratization and development, in Seoul in
October 1992; and on public administration and sustainable development,
in Tehran in November 1993.
The EROPA Development Management Centre conducted four International
Executive Development Programmes for Foreign Government Officials in the
EROPA region, from 1990 to 1993 at the COTI campus in Kyenggido, Republic
of Korea. The EROPA Local Government Centre in Tokyo launched the
following projects: (i) comparative study on the role of local government
in the development of depopulated rural areas in 1990 and (ii)
comparative studies of public administration: the role of residents,
non-governmental organizations and quasi-public agencies in local
government, in 1992. The Centre also conducted the twenty-sixth, twenty-
seventh, twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth sessions of its Group Training
Course in Local Public Administration for local officials in the EROPA
region. A four-member EROPA Election Study Team conducted an observation
study of local elections held in March 1990 in Bangladesh with the
co-sponsorship of the Asia Foundation.
A research project on changes and trends in public administration,
in collaboration with the Department of Economic and Social Development
of the United Nations Secretariat was initiated in 1993. The project
involved the participation of countries in the EROPA region, such as the
Republic of Korea, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Australia and the
Philippines. It is an ongoing project, with EROPA as the lead
institution.
The Secretary General of EROPA attended the United Nations Meeting
of Experts in Public Administration and Finance, in New York in February
1992. EROPA was commissioned by the Transnational Corporations and
Management Division of the Department of Economic and Social Development
to conduct research on changes and trends in public administration in the
Asian region. The Director of Research and Publications represented
EROPA in the United Nations Meeting in New York on the changes and trends
project. The Transnational Corporations and Management Division and
EROPA co-sponsored the seminar on decentralization in Asia, held in Seoul
in October 1992. EROPA was represented at the eleventh Meeting of
Experts in Public Administration and Finance in Geneva on
6-14 October 1993.
EROPA publications
The publications programme in public administration and related
fields is one of the major activities of EROPA. In continuing to fulfil
its functions of disseminating the results of its research projects,
conferences, seminars and meetings, the organization publishes books,
monographs, an occasional paper series, the documentation of conference
proceedings and the EROPA Journal. During the period under review, EROPA
has published the following: (a) from January 1990 to June 1993, 13
issues of the EROPA Bulletin; (b) from 1989 to 1992, four volumes of the
Asian Review of Public Administration (ARPA). The following books were
published:
Administrative Reform Towards Promoting Productivity in Bureaucratic
Performance, volumes 1 and 2, edited by Zhang Zhijian, Raul P. de Guzman
and Mila A. Reforma, 1991, 693 pages;
Public Administration in the 1990s: Challenges and Opportunities,
edited by G. B. N. Pradhan and Mila A. Reforma, 1991, 401 pages;
Public Administration in Asia and the Pacific , edited by
Ledivina V. Carino, 1991;
Decentralization Towards Democratization and Development, a
collection of selective papers presented at the regional seminar/workshop
on decentralization in Asia, sponsored jointly by the Transnational
Corporations and Management Division of the Department of Economic and
Social Development of the United Nations Secretariat, EROPA and the
Government of the Republic of Korea in October 1992.
IV. Linkages
EROPA has continued to promote linkages with other international,
regional and national institutions not only in the Asia/Pacific region
but also in other parts of the world. These include APDC, the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United
Nations Development Programme, the German Foundation for International
Development, the International Development Research Centre, the Ford
Foundation, the Asia Foundation, the United States Agency for
International Development, IIAS, the International Union of Local
Authorities (IULA), the Japan World Exposition (EXPO'70) and the Jichi
Sogo Centre. EROPA has, on several occasions, received grants from these
sources to fund research activities, training programmes and seminars,
and travel grants to enable participants from member countries to attend
conferences and seminars organized by EROPA. Mutual exchange of
information and experience are provided through participation of
representatives of member countries in conferences organized by IIAS,
IULA, the Association of Development Research and Training Institutes of
Asia and the Pacific and APDC, and through participation of
representatives of these organizations in meetings and conferences
organized by EROPA. Exchanges of publications also promote closer
linkages with these organizations.
13. THE FOUNDATION FOR THE PEOPLES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
(Category II)
Aims and purpose of organization
The Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific (FSP), founded
in 1965 as The Foundation for Emerging People, had as its goal "to assist
the growth of non-governmental organizations in emerging nations". Its
purpose was to do this by providing resources and technical assistance so
that local communities could solve their own problems through their own
structures.
Changes in geographical membership
During the period 1990 to 1993, FSP members in Australia, the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu,
Kiribati, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Samoa and Canada joined in an
11-nation consortium with the FSP parent agency in the United States to
form the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International
(FSPI). FSPI was incorporated in Papua New Guinea and has its
headquarters in Fiji, where it maintains close relations with the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations bodies and
specialized agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations
Children's Fund and the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
During 1990-1993, FSP experienced dramatic growth in its
geographical membership in the former Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics. The Board of Directors of FSP voted to form a new division -
Counterpart Foundation Inc. - for its operations in non-Pacific Island
nations. Counterpart/Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific
currently has partner members in the Russian Federation, the Republics of
Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus and is actively setting up new members in
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Changes in sources of funding
During the period 1990-1993, there were substantial changes in the
sources of funding for the Foundation for the Peoples of the South
Pacific. New sources included the MacArthur Foundation and the Lounsbery
Foundation (United States), the United States Department of State and
Department of Defense humanitarian assistance and excess property
programmes, and international donor agencies like CEBEMO in the
Netherlands and MISEREOR in Germany.
Cooperation with international non-governmental organizations in
consultative status
In the period 1990-1993 FSP signed a memorandum of understanding for
partnership work in environment and conservation with the Worldwide Fund
for Nature/World Wildlife Foundation.
Participation in United Nations meetings and conferences
The Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific/Counterpart
participates in the annual briefings of the Department of Information of
the United Nations Secretariat and attends all relevant meetings of the
General Assembly. In addition, FSP/Counterpart has participated in all
of the preparatory meetings for the Global Conference on the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States.
Cooperation with United Nations bodies and specialized agencies
The Foundation for the People of the South Pacific/Counterpart
Foundation has been cooperating with United Nations programmes, bodies
and specialized agencies in the following activities:
(a) In 1991, in close collaboration with UNDP, FSP/Counterpart
launched a Pacific-wide consortium, the Pacific Islands Association of
NGOs (PIANGO). This regional NGO consortium of national NGO consortia
has between 300 and 400 members in the island nations of Micronesia,
Melanesia and Polynesia;
(b) FSP/Counterpart has also provided substantial support to another
Pacific NGO consortium, the South Pacific Association for Family Health
(SPAFH), which has a board of directors consisting of the Directors of
Health of 11 Pacific member nations. As a specialist family-planning and
AIDS agency, SPAFH has achieved considerable recognition and works in
collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund;
(c) The Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific/Counterpart
works closely with the United Nations Children's Fund in Kiribati,
Vanuatu, Fiji and Solomon Islands in child survival and vitamin A
deficiency programmes;
(d) The Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific/Counterpart
has a memorandum of understanding for joint activities with the South
Pacific Environmental Programme (SPREP), a UNDP-funded regional programme
in the Pacific Island nations;
(e) The secretariat for the Global Conference on the Sustainable
Development of Small Island Developing States asked the Foundation for
the Peoples of the South Pacific to be the lead NGO in putting together a
delegation of Pacific NGOs to the April 1994 Conference in Barbados. FSP
has been active since the Rio Conference at the United Nations meetings
leading up to the Global Conference, will lead a delegation of 25 NGOs at
the Conference and will be intimately involved in the Conference itself.
14. FOUNDATION FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE FAMILY
(Category II)
Introduction
The Foundation for the Rights of the Family (PRODEFA), with its
International Secretariat of 21 members dispersed across Africa, America,
Asia, Australia and Europe, is a non-governmental organization in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, category II.
In July 1992, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) established official relations with PRODEFA in
accordance with article II of UNESCO's directives on foundations.
The aims and purpose of PRODEFA are to reinforce the vital role of
families in society. To this end, PRODEFA (i) promotes study and
research groups on family issues; (ii) organizes congresses and meetings;
and (iii) enhances the values of families from social, educational,
ethical, legal, religious and political standpoints. Since 1982, PRODEFA
has been mainly engaged in promoting a declaration on the roles,
responsibilities and rights of the family as the basic unit of society.
PRODEFA is in permanent contact with the Spanish Ministry for Social
Affairs, as a source of funding and mutual information.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council
and its subsidiary bodies
Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development of the
United Nations Secretariat
PRODEFA is in close contact with the Coordinator for the
International Year of the Family.
In 1989, PRODEFA prepared a compilation entitled "The family and
human rights: a review of United Nations instruments, reports and
statements", which has been widely distributed during United Nations
inter-agency and other meetings and to international non-governmental
organizations.
In May 1992, the Coordinator for the International Year of the
Family, 1994, awarded to PRODEFA a testimonial "for long-standing
commitment to and active involvement in preparations for the
International Year of the Family"; another such testimonial was granted
to the General Secretary of the International Secretariat of PRODEFA.
Commission for social development
PRODEFA attended the thirty-second and thirty-third sessions of the
Commission for Social Development. Prior to those sessions, PRODEFA
submitted written statements on related items on the agenda. At both
sessions, oral statements were made, focusing on family issues and the
possibility of a declaration on the family.
During the thirty-third session, PRODEFA, in collaboration with the
Chairman of the Vienna Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations on the
Family, informed some of the delegations about the work being done by a
working group of the Committee in connection with a declaration on the
family. As a result, a paragraph was included in the draft resolution
submitted by Germany and supported by another 25 countries, which was
unanimously adopted by the Commission for Social Development.
Preparatory meetings of the United Nations for the International Year of
the Family
PRODEFA has attended the following meetings (during which its
Chairman or Secretary General made oral statements and distributed
documentation): (i) for Europe and North America (26-30 April 1993,
Valletta); (ii) for Asia and the Pacific (24-28 May 1993, Beijing);
(iii) for Latin American and the Caribbean (10-14 August 1993, Cartagena,
Colombia).
Contacts with the United Nations in New York
The Chairman of PRODEFA visited United Nations Headquarters in May
1990.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization
PRODEFA has had personal contacts with the Director-General of
UNESCO and is permanently represented in Paris at the NGO/UNESCO Group on
the Family.
Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations
on the Family, Vienna
PRODEFA has been a member of this Committee since its creation in
1985, attends all its meetings (held twice a year) and seminars at the
United Nations Office at Vienna, collaborates with several of its working
and task force groups, is in permanent contact with the Committee
Executive Secretariat for the International Year of the Family and
exchanges information and experience with about 100 NGO members of the
Vienna Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations on the Family.
PRODEFA was a leading member of a special group of NGOs created in
November 1985 by the Committee of NGOs on the Family, with the purpose of
preparing a text as the basis for a declaration on the rights and
responsibilities of families.
With a view to ensuring that no individual rights were forgotten or
contradicted in such a document, PRODEFA made a survey of 58 United
Nations instruments, reports and statements, entitled "The family and
human rights", which was used as a reference book by the group.
The group met twice a year at Vienna and had two special meetings in
Brussels in July 1990 and July 1992; during the latter meeting, consensus
was reached on a text entitled "Guiding principles on the family", which
was approved by the full Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations on
the Family.
15. GENERAL CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
(Category II)
Aims and purpose
As the highest administrative body of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church and its 44,00 subsidiary organizations, the General Conference
coordinates, regulates and manages a growing enterprise in more than 204
countries and areas around the world. During the past four years,
membership has grown from about 6 million to over 8 million. Total
contributions to the church exceeded US$ 1 billion per year.
The mission of the church is to proclaim to all people the
everlasting gospel as described in the Holy Bible. Acknowledging that
development of mind and character is essential to God's redemptive plan,
the Church promotes the growth of a mature understanding of a
relationship to God, His Word and the created universe. Affirming the
biblical emphasis on the well-being of the whole person, the church makes
the preservation of health and the healing of the sick a priority, and,
through its ministry to the poor and oppressed, cooperates with the
Creator in His compassionate work of restoration.
Report on activities
To accomplish this mission, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
operates 5,551 schools (primary to graduate), 161 hospitals and 433
clinics, orphanages and nursing homes. Books and journals on Christian
principles (mostly health, educational and family-oriented materials)
were sold around the world for US$ 83 million in 1992. The Christian
Record Service, a subsidiary organization, renders help to over 75,000
blind, hearing-impaired and physically disabled individuals in 76
countries and conducts summer camps for an average of 15,000 handicapped
children each year. The Home Study Institute offers primary through
college courses for 5,000 active students in about 70 countries. Griggs
University, a component of the Home Study Institute accredited by the
National Home Study Council, offers degrees in several majors.
The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the humanitarian
arm of the church, operates in over 100 countries. Working with the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United
Nations Children's Fund, the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations
Development Programme, the Red Cross and other organizations, it
distributed food and relief supplies to people living in the Ural
Mountain district of the Russian Federation; critical relief supplies
such as tents, blankets, medicines, water and food to earthquake victims
in India in 1991 and 1993 and in southern California in 1993; and relief
for famine victims in Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Mexico and the United
States. A wide range of developmental projects, including mother/child
health, community development, water projects, agricultural projects,
institutional development and training are carried out in the developing
countries.
Countries with ADRA child-survival projects include the Sudan,
Pakistan, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Mozambique. These projects combine
immunizations, health screenings and education to improve the health of
hundreds of thousands of children.
In 1992 and 1993, ADRA delivered relief packages to desperate
families in Sarajevo and ran a postal system in and out of that city,
enabling thousands of separated families to communicate with one another.
The value of materials distributed by ADRA in the past four years
averaged US$ 36 million per year.
The humanitarian work done by ADRA is supplemented by Maranatha, an
organization of volunteers who construct buildings for schools,
orphanages, hospitals, youth camps, chapels etc. in Central, South and
North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. In the past four years, this
organization constructed 228 buildings as gifts to many countries and
localities. The General Conference has been coordinating volunteer
services overseas, averaging 525 persons per year who go abroad for
periods of one to two years.
The General Conference participates in the war against smoking. For
35 years its Five-Day Stop-Smoking seminars have been conducted by
thousands throughout the world, helping millions of people. Most
recently, seminars and training session have been conducted in China,
where it is estimated that 500 million people use tobacco.
Besides acute health care, the General Conference also emphasizes
preventive care through education in nutrition classes, exercise classes,
stress management seminars and the like. A position statement on the
environment was adopted by a plenary of the General Conference to enlist
concern by members, students, friends, neighbours and radio listeners for
the physical world.
In addition, Adventist World Radio, with 18 major transmitters (over
a thousand hours per week in 30 major languages), broadcasts messages on
health, family life, youth problems and children's needs and offers
lessons in English as a second language. A number of college radio
stations and hundreds of radio stations are under contract to broadcast
the messages.
The General Conference Women's Ministry has been working closely
with the United Nations. This appendage participated in the World Forum
for the International Year of the Family (IYF) in 1993 in Malta and had
its events listed on the United Nations IYF calendar. Thousands of
leaders in the local women's organization have been promoting grass-roots
participation in IYF in 1994.
The General Conference actively participates in human rights
activities, having membership in the New York NGO Committee on Freedom of
Religion or Belief, and the Association internationale pour la de'fense
de la liberte' religieuse is active in the Commission on Human Rights.
In June 1993, the organization attended the World Conference on Human
Rights. In the past three years, the General Conference has had a
significant supportive role in two large conferences on religious
freedom, sponsored by the International Association for Religious
Liberty: in Nairobi in 1991; and at Suva, Fiji, in 1993. This
Association also co-sponsored three religious liberty conferences with
the International Academy for Freedom of Religion and Belief, in Tirana
and Budapest in 1992 and in Moscow in 1993.
16. HOUSEWIVES IN DIALOGUE
(Category II)
Housewives in Dialogue (HinD) is an educational charity for
advancing the education of the public by research into race and community
relations, with particular reference to women, and by the publication of
such research. The name "Housewives in Dialogue" reflects the
organization's focus on women in their capacity as unwaged workers in the
family and the community, and on race and community relations as a major
part of women's unwaged work. HinD promotes and carries out research;
maintains a reference library and archives; publishes books, articles,
pamphlets and audio-visual materials; organizes meetings, seminars,
workshops and exhibitions; runs the King's Cross Women's Centre in
London, which serves as a base for continuous dialogue among women of
different ethnic and social backgrounds; and exchanges information with
individuals and with women's organizations nationally and
internationally. Since 1990, HinD has strengthened its communications
with the following countries: Barbados, Guyana, India, Ireland, the
Philippines and Trinidad and Tobago.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and
its subsidiary bodies and/or conferences and other
United Nations meetings
Representatives of HinD participated in the following:
(a) Thirty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women,
Vienna. HinD made an oral and a written statement;
(b) Facilitated two workshops at the NGO consultation, "Making the
Forward-looking Strategies work", Vienna, 22-23 February 1990;
(c) Eighteenth General Assembly of the Conference of NGOs in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, Geneva, 28-31
October 1991;
(d) First meeting of the NGO Planning Committee for the
International Conference on Population and Development, Geneva, 29
October 1991;
(e) NGO Planning Committee for Forum '95, Beijing, 1991 to the
present;
(f) ECO'92 Public Forum, organized by the Centre for Our Common
Future in cooperation with the secretariat of the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, New York, 29 February 1992.
HinD made an oral and a written statement, "Counting women's work for
development and the environment";
(g) Priorities 95: Global Issues for Women - Bay Area Forum and
Fair, 4-5 June 1993, co-sponsored by the Department of Women's Studies,
University of California, and the International Research and Training
Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), HinD's representative
was a workshop resource person;
(h) NGO Consultation on NGO Preparations for the World Summit for
Social Development, New York, 21 October 1993;
(i) Meetings of the Employment, Management and Entrepreneurship
Working Group and the Health Working Group of the NGO Committee on the
Status of Women, New York, November-December 1993;
(j) Meeting of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York,
18 November 1993. HinD's representative made an oral statement;
(k) Meetings of the Process Task Force of the NGO Committee on the
Status of Women, New York, December 1993;
(l) Inter-sessional Working Group of the Commission on the Status of
Women, New York, December 1993. HinD submitted a written statement on
the draft Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women:
Action for Equality, Development and Peace.
Cooperation with United Nations bodies and
specialized agencies
On 8 March 1990, HinD organized a public forum, "Counting women's
work for health in the inner city", publicizing the "Healthy cities
project" of the World Health Organization.
HinD submitted a paper entitled "Women's unwaged work - the heart of
the informal sector", to the INSTRAW Consultative Meeting of Experts on
Macro-Economic Policy Analysis of Women's Participation in the Informal
Sector, Rome, 18-22 March 1991.
At the tenth session of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, HinD circulated recommendations 16 (X) and
17 (X) on counting women's unremunerated work, and corresponded with the
Committee on this issue.
In September 1993, HinD was granted association with the Department
of Public Information of the United Nations Secretariat.
Other relevant activities
HinD's priority has been to circulate information relevant to the
implementation of paragraph 120 of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies
for the Advancement of Women, in which it is stated that women's
unremunerated work should be counted in the national accounts, economic
statistics and gross national products of member States. To this end,
HinD activities have included:
(a) Circulating information to the public and reporting to women's
networks and organizations on the United Nations Decade for Women and its
follow-up;
(b) Documenting progress on the implementation of paragraph 120 at
government and grass-roots levels internationally;
(c) Serving as consultants for the Pilot Study on Unwaged Work in
Trinidad and Tobago, undertaken by the 16 English-speaking Caribbean and
CARICOM countries for their subregional report to the Fourth World
Conference on Women;
(d) Publishing fact sheets on Black and immigrant women, single
mothers, women's poverty, and housework, and an annotated bibliography of
United Nations and other reference materials on women' unremunerated work
for use in multicultural academic programmes;
(e) Carrying out research on (i) methodologies for evaluating
women's unremunerated work; (ii) women's and girls' unwaged work and
double/multiple working day, including their contribution to sustainable
development, for a cross-cultural analysis; (iii) women's experience and
views on the use of solar cookers, in order to explore the relationship
between women's access to technology and race and community relations;
(iv) shifts in the international debate on population control and
reproductive rights before and since the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development, 1992;
(f) Contributing to international conferences: (i) Counting Women's
Work: Activism and Academe, Pitzer College, Claremont, California (April
1992); (ii) International Time Off for Women Conference, Discovering
Women 1492-1992 - Counting 500 Years of Unwaged and Low-waged Work,
London (November 1992); (iii) International Conference on the Measurement
and Valuation of Unpaid Work, Ottawa, Canada (April 1993).
17. THE HOWARD LEAGUE
(Category II)
1. The Howard League was founded in 1866 to work for humane and
effective reform of the penal system. It was named after the first penal
reformer, John Howard, to commemorate his national and international
work.
2. The Howard League has a permanent representative at the United
Nations Office at Vienna and in New York. In addition, the League sent
representatives to the following:
(a) Preparatory meeting for the eighth United Nations Congress on
the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Vienna, 1990;
(b) Eighth United Nations Congress, Havana, 1990. The Vice-Chairman
and Council member distributed a paper about juveniles and crime and
organized a meeting on standards;
(c) United Nations conference in Minsk, 1991;
(d) United Nations Latin American Institute for the Prevention of
Crime and the Treatment of Offenders conference on abolition, Costa Rica,
1993. The Director gave a paper on abolition of penal custody for
juveniles;
(e) Preparatory meeting for the ninth United Nations Congress on the
Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Vienna, 1994.
3. The Howard League has published several reports aimed at encouraging
the implementation of United Nations standards. These have been
submitted to the Government of the United Kingdom and are published with
a press release.
The Rights of Prisoners (1991) was produced for the Human Rights
Committee in connection with its consideration of the United Kingdom
Government's third report on the implementation of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Rights and Standards for Prisoners (1992, 20 pp.) called for legally
enforceable minimum standards to be enshrined in new domestic
legislation.
State of the Prisons: 200 Years On (London, Routledge 1991, 210
pp.) comprised essays on the state of prison systems in 10 countries
around the world.
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1993) was an
open letter to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, criticizing the
United Kingdom Government's record on progress towards implementation.
4. The Howard League Council has set up a subcommittee to coordinate
the League's international activities. The main focus of its work is to
keep a watching brief on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
and to encourage the implementation of relevant United Nations
conventions in the United Kingdom and world wide. The Chairman of the
committee wrote to the Chairman of the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities offering to provide detailed
research findings for its investigation into commercially managed
prisons.
5. The Howard League is developing its international links bilaterally.
The League has welcomed many international visitors during the past four
years to its London offices, and these informal meetings always focus on
how best to adhere to United Nations codes and standards for the
treatment of prisoners. These meetings have included prison governors
and human rights activists from Lesotho, Guyana, Pakistan and many other
countries.
In 1991, the League held a three-day conference on European penal
issues, at which its representative at the United Nations Office at
Vienna made a statement.
6. The Howard League works for the abolition of capital punishment
world wide. It distributes a booklet entitled The Case against Capital
Punishment, which refers to international human rights standards. During
1992 and 1994, the League participated in national debates about
abolition, focusing on parliamentary votes.
18. INDIGENOUS WORLD ASSOCIATION
(Category II)
The aims of the Indigenous World Association are to provide
education about the application of international human rights
initiatives, law and processes and to promote the rule of law
domestically and internationally in relation to the rights of indigenous
peoples, ethnic minorities and uprooted peoples, and to inform those
groups and the general public in various countries about the achievements
and work of the United Nations system in those fields. The means of
achieving these aims include: documentation and information in English
and Spanish; organization of conferences, seminars and other forums;
emergency meetings on urgent situations; consultation with Governments,
international and intergovernmental organizations and organs, private
institutions and religious bodies, regarding the rights of vulnerable
peoples; participation in the work of the Commission on Human Rights and
the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities, and its Working Group on Indigenous Populations.
The Indigenous World Association has sent large delegations of
indigenous representatives to the annual meetings of the Commission on
Human Rights, the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities and the Subcommission's Working Group on
Indigenous Populations. At each meeting, oral and written statements
were made. Representatives of the organization monitored the General
Assembly's Third Committee during each of the years under review. A
representative participated in the meetings of the Working Group on
Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, which were held during the
annual session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.
The Indigenous World Association participated in the International
Labour Conference, in Geneva, in the years under review.
The Indigenous World Association has cooperated closely with the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A representative
of the organization was invited to observe the situation of indigenous
refugees in Honduras on a number of occasions during the period under
consideration. The Indigenous World Association has provided five
articles to UNHCR's Refugees on the topic of indigenous refugees.
Information was provided to Governments and non-governmental
organizations in support of all resolutions on the rights of indigenous
peoples.
The organization has consulted and cooperated with numerous
officials of the United Nations Secretariat, in particular with those in
the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva and the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations. The organization provided materials requested by the United
Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations.
The Indigenous World Association sponsored representatives of the
Innuit (Eskimo) people at the 1990-1994 meetings of the International
Whaling Commission.
The Indigenous World Association has a growing concern about the
increase of indigenous communities becoming refugees and being relocated.
In this regard, the organization has cooperated with a number of
institutions in field-level collaboration and joint sponsorship of
meetings, seminars and studies. A representative of the organization
participates in the Refugee Studies Programme, Oxford University, to
assist in the development of a section on indigenous refugees. The
representative is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal for
Refugee Studies, which is associated with the Programme and is published
by Oxford University Press.
The organization has been active in promoting the human rights of
indigenous and other vulnerable peoples. A report on "The cultural
legitimacy of human rights in Latin American indigenous perspectives" was
presented to the International Conference on Human Rights in Cross-
Cultural Perspectives, organized by the College of Law, University of
Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, on 12-14 October 1989. The report was
published in 1991, along with other papers from the Conference, in book
form. The organization cooperates closely with Human Rights Advocates,
an NGO in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, in
organizing panels and other forums, and with the United Nations
Association of San Francisco.
Papers were presented on indigenous peoples' human rights at the
following international conferences: the State of the World's Indigenous
Peoples, University of California, October 1992; the Association of
Learned Societies of Canada, in 1990-1992.
The Indigenous World Association collaborates closely with the
Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI),
supported in its founding by General Assembly resolution 37/201 (1982).
A representative of the Indigenous World Association was a member of the
drafting group for the ICIHI report, Indigenous Peoples: A Global Quest
for Justice. During 1993-1994, specialists in the organization
investigated the human rights of indigenous peoples in the republics of
the former Soviet Union.
The Indigenous World Association worked during the period under
consideration to observe a year and decade for indigenous peoples, which
was implemented in 1992 and 1993. The organization has participated in
all the activities organized surrounding those events.
19. THE INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS INTERNATIONAL
(Category II)
The aims and purpose of the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA)
International are to promote socio-economic change and self-sufficiency
in communities in developing countries; to provide training and planning
assistance for grass-roots projects carried out with local communities;
to strengthen the institutional capacity of indigenous governmental and
non-governmental organizations and to provide training in management and
organization development. The Institute provides technical assistance
for the initiation and implementation of locally designed development
projects. Training is provided to strengthen the capacity of Southern
NGOs in management training and institutional development. ICA
International conducts programmes in the following countries or areas:
Jamaica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru,
Venezuela, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Province of China,
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Samoa, Ghana, Co^te d'Ivoire,
Kenya, Mauritius, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Egypt.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and
its subsidiary bodies, conferences and other United
Nations meetings
ICA International participated in the following conferences:
(a) International Conference on Popular Participation in the
Recovery and Development Process in Africa, Arusha, United Republic of
Tanzania, 12-16 February 1990. The organization's Secretary General and
staff from Zambia attended;
(b) World Conference on Education for All, Jomtien, Thailand,
5-9 March 1990. The organization's staff from Malaysia attended;
(c) United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, 1992. The organization's President and staff from
Brazil attended;
(d) Conference on Governmental and Non-Governmental Cooperation in
the Field of Human Settlements, The Hague, 2-6 November 1992. The
organization's Secretary General attended.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes, bodies and
specialized agencies
During the period 1990-1993, the organization's Secretary General
participated in the annual meetings of the NGO Consultative Group of the
International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome, as a member of the
Consultative Group.
The organization's staff in Egypt worked with the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) to develop a health caretakers manual for UNICEF
during the period 1991-1993. Physicians' use of participatory methods in
Quema Governate were reviewed in 1992. A primary health-care evaluation
was conducted in 1993.
Other relevant activities
World Bank
The organization's representatives facilitated a five-day (13-
17 August 1992) Diagnostic and Strategic Planning Seminar for Grupo
Tactico Amazona, the Amazon Planning Group, a network of 280 Brazilian
NGOs. The seminar was held at Manaos, Brazil, and was funded by the
World Bank to finalize a three-year proposal for Amazon conservation.
The organization's representatives conducted a pre-funding assessment of
management capacities in Brazilian "extractive reserves". This
assessment was conducted in the States of Acre, Rondonia and Amapa in May
and June 1993. It was funded by the World Bank as part of a pilot
project for the protection of the Brazilian tropical rain forests, funded
by the G-7 countries.
World Bank, Economic Development Institute
The organization's staff helped design and facilitate, together with
a selected group of Latin American consultants, the first seminar of
strategic planning for NGOs of Latin America and the Caribbean, which was
held at San Jose, Costa Rica, from 1 to 6 June 1992. NGOs from 19
countries, mostly in Latin America, were represented.
United Nations Development Programme, Programme Development and Support
Division
The organization's main representative designed and facilitated a
brainstorming session on the role of UNDP in poverty alleviation, which
was held in New York on 8-9 December 1993 and was attended by selected
staff and consultants.
20. INSTITUTE OF INTERNAL AUDITORS, INC.
(Category II)
Introduction
The Institute of Internal Auditors, Inc. (IIA) is a non-profit
membership organization consisting of 50,000 members throughout the
world. IIA has as its objective to be the primary international
professional association, organized on a worldwide basis, dedicated to
the promotion and development of the practice of internal auditing. This
includes, but is not limited to, the following: (a) providing, on an
international scale, comprehensive professional development activities,
standards for the practice of internal auditing, and certification;
(b) researching, disseminating and promoting to its members and to the
public throughout the world, knowledge and information concerning
internal auditing, including internal control and related subjects; (c)
establishing meetings worldwide in order to educate members and others
about the practice of internal auditing as it exists in various countries
throughout the world; (d) bringing together internal auditors from all
countries to share information and experiences in internal auditing and
promoting education in the field of internal auditing.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council
and other United Nations meetings
At the twenty-third meeting of Representatives of the Internal Audit
Services of the United Nations Organizations and Multilateral Financial
Institutes, the Institute of Internal Auditors, Inc. presented a
definition of management audit. The members of the Joint Consultative
Group on Policy (JCGP) subsequently decided to adopt this recommended
definition. Further, the working group reviewed and discussed the
standards which were recommended by IIA and adopted by the Internal Audit
Services of the United Nations. The working group recommended that these
standards be unanimously adopted by all JCGP organizations, namely, the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Cooperation with United Nations programmes, bodies
and specialized agencies
IIA, together with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
sponsored an operational audit course in Vienna on 23-27 April 1990.
Internal auditors from the following United Nations bodies also
participated in the programme: United Nations Relief and Works Agency
for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA); United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Internal Audit Division
of the United Nations Office at Geneva.
In cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO), three IIA programmes were held in Rome, as follows:
on fraud detection and investigation for internal
auditors, 1 February 1993; on operational auditing, 8-12 February 1993
and on writing internal audit reports that sell, 15-17 December 1993.
The World Health Organization (WHO) held an IIA operational auditing
course, at Geneva, from 14 to 18 June 1993.
The United Nations Development Programme sponsored an IIA report
writing course, in New York, on 23-24 September 1993.
Other relevant activities
The Institute also conducted programmes for the World Bank, in
Washington, D.C., and the Asian Development Bank in Manila, as follows:
(a) World Bank:
Tools and Techniques for Beginning Auditors, 25-27 March 1991;
Operational Auditing and Negotiation Skills for Auditors
(combination of two programmes into one course), 20-24 April
1992;
Writing Internal Audit Reports that Sell, 8-10 September 1993;
(b) Asian Development Bank:
Fraud Detection and Investigation for Internal Auditors,
15-17 November 1993;
Operational Auditing, 17-20 November 1993.
21. INTERNATIONAL ABOLITIONIST FEDERATION
(Category II)
Background
The International Abolitionist Federation (IAF) was founded in
England in 1875 by Josephine Butler, an eminent Victorian feminist. It
was granted consultative status with the Economic and Social Council,
category II, in 1952 and later with the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund
and the Council of Europe. It has a close working relationship with the
Centre for Human Rights of the United Nations Secretariat and the World
Health Organization, in Geneva, the Department for Policy Coordination
and Sustainable Development of the United Nations Secretariat, in New
York, and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and the
International Year of the Family secretariat, in Vienna. It works
closely with the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) in
Lyon, France. It has permanent representatives at the United Nations in
New York, Geneva and Vienna.
Objectives
Its objectives are (a) to prevent the traffic in persons, the
exploitation of prostitution of others, all forms of discrimination based
on gender and state regulation of prostitution in any form; and (b) to
promote public awareness and understanding of the problems of
prostitution and related crimes (through congresses, regional conferences
and publications) and social rehabilitation of the victims of traffic in
prostitution (by sponsoring projects for education, training and health
care).
Activities
IAF has national sections, affiliated branches and individual
members in more than 30 countries. It was one of the first NGOs that
campaigned vigorously against the social problems of traffic in persons
and sexual exploitation of women and children, particularly in
prostitution.
Every three years, IAF organizes an international congress, each
time in a different country, to enable its affiliated organizations and
international members to assess the prevailing global situation of the
phenomenon of prostitution and sexual exploitation of adults and
children, pornography, drug trafficking and violation of human rights.
IAF organized its thirtieth Triennial International Congress at the
Centre for Human Rights, Geneva, on 17-20 September 1990. The Congress
was inaugurated by Mr. Jan Martenson, the then Director-General at the
United Nations Office at Geneva. The title of the Congress was
"Exploitation of prostitution: violation of human rights". The
Government of Switzerland supported and participated in the Congress. In
addition, UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO and INTERPOL actively supported and
participated in the Congress. There were 250 participants from 43
countries, among which were many national and international NGO
representatives, from both developed and developing countries. The
Congress resolutions were distributed to United Nations agencies,
national Governments, NGOs and motivated individuals for the
dissemination of information and the implementation of appropriate
measures to prevent social crimes.
IAF actively participates in a number of United Nations Commissions,
such as those on the Status of Women, Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice, Narcotic Drugs, and Human Rights and in the Working Group on
Contemporary Forms of Slavery. The objectives of IAF are based on four
important United Nations conventions: (a) the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, of 10 December 1948; (b) the Convention for the Suppression
of Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of
Others of 2 December 1949; (c) the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women of 18 December 1979; and (d) the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, of 20 November 1989.
IAF publishes newsletters (three times a year) and records of
triennial congresses and regional conferences in English, French, German
and Spanish for the global dissemination of information through United
Nations agencies, international institutions, governmental and non-
governmental organizations, educational institutions and motivated
individuals.
IAF has also organized regional conferences - one in Africa
(Abidjan) in 1991 and one in Latin America (Sao Paulo) in 1993, with
United Nations support and participation. The African National Congress
was held in Abidjan, Co^te d'Ivoire, from 4 to 7 November 1991, on the
theme "Culture, sex and money: their impact on women and children". The
Latin American Regional Conference was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 15
to 18 February 1993, on "Violence, power and sexual slavery: women and
children are primary victims".
IAF sponsors projects and contributes grants to its affiliated NGOs
in developing countries to help promote activities in the areas of health
care, nutrition, adult education and rehabilitation through income-
generating activities to help the victims of various social crimes, of
which sexual exploitation and prostitution are the worst.
In 1991, IAF sponsored technical cooperation projects for the
rehabilitation of victims of sexual exploitation in Haiti, Taiwan
Province of China, India and Nepal. It supported and gave a grant to the
Swiss movement of End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT).
In 1992, it sponsored three projects in India to help the victims of
prostitution, supported and made contributions to the French movement of
End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), and sponsored a project
in Brazil to help the activities of a rehabilitation centre for street
children, in Recife-Pernambuco.
In 1993, IAF sponsored three new projects to help the children of
prostitutes in India and one project in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to help the
young victims of prostitution, and provided grants and support to the
French movement of ECPAT for preventing sex tourism.
IAF is a voluntary organization and has to raise funds from United
Nations agencies, foundations and national Governments for its annual
action programmes. All its international committee members, including
officers, work in a voluntary capacity.
IAF remains in regular contact with the United Nations Offices in
New York, Geneva and Vienna. IAF also has close contacts with various
national Governments and other donors.
IAF activities are directly related to the stated objectives of the
United Nations, such as (a) prevention of the violation of human rights,
trafficking in persons and trafficking in illicit drugs, prostitution,
sexual abuse and violence; (b) promotion of education, health care and
dissemination of information to eradicate illiteracy, discrimination and
all contemporary forms of slavery.
22. INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION
(Category II)
Description, aims and objectives
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the world
trade organization of scheduled airlines, numbering 225 members as of
May 1994. It was established in 1945 by a special Act of the Canadian
Parliament as the successor to the International Air Traffic Association,
founded at The Hague in 1919. The Association is currently headquartered
jointly in Geneva and Montreal.
The Articles of Association define the aims of IATA as follows:
(a) To promote safe, regular and economical air transport for the
benefit of the peoples of the world, to foster air commerce and to study
the problems connected therewith;
(b) To provide means for collaboration among air transport
enterprises engaged directly or indirectly in international air
transport;
(c) To cooperate with the International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) and other international organizations.
The primary reason for the establishment of IATA was, therefore, to
establish permanent and close liaison with ICAO and, to that end,
maintain a headquarters in Montreal. IATA is represented at meetings of
the General Assembly, the Council of ICAO and its subordinate bodies, the
Air Navigation, Air Transport and Legal Committees. The Association
participates fully on all panels and working groups established by ICAO
to formulate standards and recommend practices in a variety of fields
associated with international air transport. Key topics include work in
connection with the Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection
(CAEP), Future Air Navigation Systems (FANS), transport of dangerous
goods, security, machine-readable passports, computer reservation systems
and statistical collection and evaluation.
The Association's relations with other bodies of the United Nations
system and the specialized agencies are either general in scope or of a
specialized or technical nature.
Relations of a general nature
IATA participates as an observer at meetings of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) of interest to air
transport, including work on privatization and land-locked and island
developing countries.
IATA attended the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, and continues to follow the
work of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). IATA maintains
relations with the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
In the area of tourism cooperation, IATA is an active member of the
Affiliate Members Group of the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and
attends meetings of WTO and its Commissions for Africa and for Europe.
Air transport is vitally interested in the liberalization of
international trade in services and IATA is in close liaison with the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
Relations of a technical or specialized nature
In conjunction with the IATA training scheme referred to as the
Programme for Developing Nations Airlines (PDNA), since 1987, IATA has
been active in a training project funded by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), involving airlines of the developing island
States of the South Pacific. It has also been involved with UNDP on
aviation projects in Africa.
IATA maintains official relations with the World Health Organization
and its regional offices and attends seminars and working groups dealing
with subjects relating to aviation medicine, including air travel and
disease dissemination, vaccine development, aircraft disinfection, HIV
and drug screening, food hygiene, carriage of disabled and invalid
passengers etc.
IATA participates in the work of the Universal Postal Union on
matters pertaining to conveyance rates and postal security.
The Association's Live Animals Regulations governing the air
transport of domestic animals, have been adopted by the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
and the International Office of Epizootics (OIE).
Air cargo is part of the overall trade between nations, requiring
close coordination with the Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) and the
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE). For many years,
IATA has worked with ECE on EDIFACT standards development. A joint
IATA/CCC project to develop recommendations for automated interfaces
between customs and air carriers is of particular significance. In
developing standard messages for cargo transport automation, IATA has
aligned data elements with the United Nations Trade Data Elements
Directory (UN/TDED). Close cooperation also exists with the Committee of
Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and with the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
IATA has also maintained close contact with the International
Telecommunication Union, the World Meteorological Organization
(particularly the Commission on Aeronautical Meteorology) and the World
Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference in developing and
ensuring data interchange standards, frequency allocation and use of
satellites in various applications.
23. INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE OF WOMEN -
EQUAL RIGHTS-EQUAL RESPONSIBILITIES
(Category I)
The International Alliance of Women - Equal Rights-Equal
Responsibilities (IAW) was formally constituted at a congress in Berlin
in 1904 as the International Women's Suffrage Alliance. The original
purpose, as expressed at that meeting, "to insure that all women be
vested with all political rights and privileges of electors", has been
expanded and refined as follows:
(a) To secure all such reforms as are necessary to establish a real
equality of liberties, status and opportunities between men and women,
and to work for equal partnership between men and women in all spheres of
life;
(b) To urge women to accept their responsibilities and to use their
rights and influence in public life to ensure that the status of every
individual, without distinction of sex, race or creed, shall be based on
respect for the person, the only guarantee for individual freedom and
peace;
(c) To promote a better quality of life and good understanding among
peoples.
Additionally, the Declaration of Principles states that:
(a) The Alliance acknowledges that achieving the goals of the United
Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace, is necessary
to attain a society based on political, economic and social justice in an
interdependent world;
(b) The Alliance affirms the principles of the United Nations
instruments on human rights and reaffirms its abhorrence of any
discrimination on grounds of sex, race, colour or creed, whenever and
wherever it occurs;
(c) IAW aims for worldwide adoption and implementation of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women.
The work of the United Nations and its programmes is fully supported
by IAW, and continues to be a priority for the more than 60 affiliates
and associate societies. During the period under review, affiliates in
Ukraine and the Russian Federation became members.
A team of permanent representatives in New York, Geneva and Vienna
work closely with the appropriate secretariats of the United Nations
family, including the World Health Organization, the International Labour
Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and
the United Nations Industrial Development Organization at each location.
Representatives have been appointed in other locations where consultative
status has also been granted, namely, in Paris with the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and in Rome with the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
IAW representatives also work closely with other NGOs on various NGO
committees such as the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, the NGO
Committee on Human Rights, the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development,
the NGO Committee on the Family and the NGO Committee on the United
Nations Development Fund for Women.
Economic and Social Council
IAW representatives in New York and Geneva attended the spring and
summer sessions of the Council from 1990 to 1992, as well as the
substantive session of 1993, in Geneva. Written statements were
submitted jointly with other NGOs at each of the sessions. Oral
statements were also made, at the spring sessions at United Nations
Headquarters, on the questions of the advancement of women and human
rights.
Commission on the Status of Women
IAW representatives in New York and Vienna, as well as the president
and other officers, attended the thirty-fourth through thirty-seventh
sessions of the Commission. IAW joined with other NGOs in presenting
written statements at each session. IAW representatives also made oral
statements at the sessions. In addition, IAW participated in the NGO
consultations held in conjunction with the meetings of the Commission.
IAW is on the Planning Committee for the NGO Forum, to be held in Beijing
in 1995, parallel to the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
IAW has had teams of observers at the ninth through twelfth sessions
of the Committee. During the ninth and eleventh sessions, the IAW
representative, as the convenor of the working group on equality (of the
NGO Committee on the Status of Women), organized discussion meetings with
experts on the implementation of the articles of the Convention. The
discussions in 1990 focused on article 16, in the light of the
International Year of the Family and the adoption of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child. The question of the number and the seriousness
of the reservations to the Convention was one of the subjects taken up at
the discussion meetings in 1992.
World conferences
IAW has had teams of observers and/or representatives of its
affiliates at the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, in Rio de Janeiro, in June 1992, and at the World Conference
on Human Rights, in Vienna, in June 1993. IAW also participated in the
Preparatory Committee meetings prior to the two Conferences. IAW
representatives also attended the European Population Conference and the
meetings of the Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on
Population and Development, held in Cairo in September 1994.
Workshops and seminars related to the work of the United Nations
1991 Workshop on population, Japan
Seminar on the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, Denmark
1992 Seminar entitled "Parity democracy - the contemporary
concept of democracy and gender equality", Greece
Workshop on the girl child
Workshop on women's rights and peace
1993 Seminar on environment and development, Zambia
Publications
The International Women's News (the journal of IAW) is published
quarterly. Every issue includes information and articles on the United
Nations.
24. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION AGAINST PAINFUL
EXPERIMENTS ON ANIMALS
(Category II)
The International Association against Painful Experiments on Animals
(IAAPEA) was established in 1969 to coordinate the activities of groups
throughout the world opposed to the use of animals for experimental
purposes and to encourage the development of procedures and techniques
which not only replace the use of animals but promote safer and more
reliable results.
Currently, the Association has 57 affiliate organizations in 28
countries and has developed a network of individual representatives in a
further 10 countries where no national organizations exist to promote
objectives similar to those of the Association.
During the period under review, there has been no substantial change
in sources of funding for the Association and its continues to rely on
support from sympathetic individuals and affiliation fees from member-
societies. It receives no financial assistance from any governmental
source.
One of the principal objectives of IAAPEA is to expose the cruel and
unethical treatment of animals during experimental procedures, especially
in countries where there is no organized opposition to the use of animals
for research, and to encourage the development and adoption of humane
alternative methods of research. To this end, the Association has
embarked on a series of educational initiatives, which can be summarized
as follows:
Promotion of humane research
Recognizing that the lack of human tissue is often cited as the
reason for its neglect as a research medium to replace the use of
animals, IAAPEA launched a scheme to enlist the cooperation of commercial
companies to provide facilities for their own tissue banks so that human
material is available for research whenever it is needed. Concomitant to
this approach, the Association also launched a "Humane Research Donor
Card" scheme with the objective of ensuring the availability of human
tissue for experiments, thus leading to reduced animal usage, decreased
costs, more reliable drug research and increased safety of products.
These initiatives received enthusiastic support from many scientists,
including surgeons, neurologists and drug researchers, and the "Donor
Card" scheme has been adopted in the United States of America, the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Italy and is currently
under active consideration elsewhere.
The Association has coordinated the financial sponsorship by its
member- societies of humane (non-animal) research programmes throughout
the world. Such programmes have included those concerned with in vitro
toxicology and bio-medical research, and the production of a series of
computer programs for use in schools as alternatives to the dissection of
animals for teaching purposes. Assistance has also been given by the
Association to its Russian member-society for the establishment of a
laboratory in Moscow for the study and development of alternative non-
animal research.
The Association has been active in promoting the International
Charter for Health and Humane Research, which was devised by IAAPEA as a
means of educating the public, politicians and the media about the
unreliability of animal experimentation as a system of research and which
stresses the positive benefits of alternative approaches. The Charter
has been issued in English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
The Association has commissioned surveys into the use of animals in
Argentina, Portugal and Greece, all of which showed that insufficient
attention has been devoted to humane and more relevant alternative
approaches and that little recognition has been given to the fact that
animals often fail to mimic human responses.
Production of video films
"The Parliament of the Doomed" was designed to introduce the subject
to audiences world wide, showing the cruelty inseparable from animal
tests and the advantages to be gained from the adoption of alternative
non-animal approaches to research. Originally made in English, other
language versions of the video have subsequently been issued in Italian,
Russian, Spanish, Portuguese and Norwegian.
"Creatures of God", a film using Islamic theological teachings to
influence the better treatment of animals by the Muslim community, issued
at the end of 1989, has been vigorously promoted during the period under
review. Originally made in Arabic, an English subtitled version has
subsequently been issued.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions have been organized in Singapore, the Russian Federation
and Portugal under the title "They Also Share This World". They are
designed to raise consciousness regarding the need for the humane
treatment of animals. Particular emphasis was given to the use of
animals for experimental purposes.
Publications
By means of a financial grant, IAAPEA has sponsored the launch of
the first journal in Chile devoted to raising consciousness of animal
welfare problems, and has maintained publication of its own bulletins and
newsletters.
The Association has sought to bridge the divide between scientific
interests using animals in research programmes and those who oppose the
practice, by sponsoring scientific seminars and symposia. These have
been held in Italy, Greece, Sweden, Portugal and the United States of
America.
The Association does not, at present, have a permanent
representative in New York but is actively seeking to appoint such a
representative in the near future. However, contact has been maintained
with the secretariat of the Non-Governmental Organization Section of the
Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development and visits
to United Nations Headquarters for discussions have been made by the
Association's Secretary-General and its Campaigns Director.
25. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PORTS AND HARBORS
(Category II)
Objective
The International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) is a not-
for-profit, non-governmental world-wide association of port authorities,
founded in 1955 in Los Angeles. It currently comprises some 350 members,
mostly of public port authorities, covering 84 countries and territories
throughout the world.
Its principal objective, as laid out in its Constitution, is to
develop and foster good relations and cooperation among all ports and
harbours of the world by promoting greater efficiency of all ports and
harbours through the exchange of information on new techniques and
technology relating to port development, organization, administration and
management.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and its
subsidiary bodies and conferences and other United Nations
meetings by the organization's representatives
International Maritime Organization
The organization was granted consultative status with the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) in October 1967.
In 1990, IAPH participated in the following activities:
(a) The organization's representative attended the third meeting of
the Group of Experts on the Annexes to the London Dumping Convention,
London, 15-19 January;
(b) The organization's liaison officer attended the twenty-ninth
session of the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee, London,
12-16 March;
(c) The organization's liaison officer attended the International
Conference on the Revision of the 1974 Athens Convention, under the aegis
of IMO, London, 26-30 March, and submitted thereto the organization's
information note on the conference subject;
(d) The organization's representatives attended the thirteenth
meeting of the Scientific Group of the London Dumping Convention,
23-27 April, and submitted thereto an information document entitled
"Matters relating to the disposal at sea of dredged material";
(e) The organization's representative attended the sixty-second
session of the IMO Legal Committee, London, 2-6 April;
(f) The organization's liaison officer attended the sixty-third
session of the IMO Legal Committee, London, 17-21 September;
(g) The organization's representative attended the thirteenth
Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Dumping
Convention, 29 October-2 November, and submitted thereto the
organization's position paper entitled "Consideration of the report of
the Scientific Group on Dumping: matters related to the disposal at sea
of dredged material".
In 1991, the organization's activities included the following:
(a) The organization's representative attended the sixty-fourth
session of the IMO Legal Committee, London, 18-22 March;
(b) The organization's representative attended the sixty-fifth
session of the IMO Legal Committee, London, 30 September-4 October;
(c) The organization's representative attended the fourteenth
Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Convention on the
Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter
(London Dumping Convention), London, 25-29 November, and submitted
thereto a paper entitled "Precautionary approach and London Dumping
Convention".
In 1992, IAPH participated in the following activities:
(a) The organization's representative attended the sixty-sixth
session of the IMO Legal Committee, London, 16-20 April. Major items of
relevance to the organization were: draft HNS convention, maritime liens
and mortgages, Protocols to the 1969/1971 Oil Convention, the Basel
Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and their Disposal, application of the 1969 CLC (or Oil) Convention in
cases of base bottom charters;
(b) The organization's representatives attended the fifteenth
meeting of the Scientific Group of the London Dumping Convention, London,
11-15 May;
(c) From 9 to 12 November, IMO organized an International Symposium
on Transport of Dangerous Goods, in Tokyo, at which the organization took
part as a co-sponsor and presented relevant papers (both oral and
written);
(d) The organization's representative attended the fifteenth
Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Convention on the
Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter
(London Dumping Convention), London, 9-13 November, and submitted thereto
the organization's paper entitled "Consideration of the report of the
Scientific Group on Dumping";
(e) The organization's representative attended the Conference on the
Revision of the 1969 Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution
Damage and on the 1971 Convention on the Establishment of an
International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, London, 9-
11 November.
In 1993, IAPH activities included the following:
(a) The organization's liaison officer attended the IMO Facilitation
Committee, 26-30 April;
(b) The organization's report on the disposal of dredged material
(1987-1990), prepared in 1992, was presented to the sixteenth meeting of
the Scientific Group of the London Dumping Convention, 10-14 May;
(c) The organization's liaison officer attended the IMO Maritime
Safety Committee, 24-28 May;
(d) The organization's liaison officer attended the IMO Council
meeting, 14-18 June;
(e) The organization's liaison officer attended the IMO Technical
Cooperation Committee, 17 June;
(f) The organization's liaison officer attended the IMO Marine
Environment Protection Committee, 5-9 July;
(g) The organization's representative attended the sixteenth
Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Convention on the
Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter
(London Dumping Convention), London, 8-12 November, and submitted thereto
the organization's position paper on amendments to the Convention and its
Annexes;
(h) The organization's position paper on monetary erosion of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) SDR and the accounts of limitations of
liability in maritime transport was submitted to the IMO Secretary-
General, in December, to call attention to the detrimental effects of
monetary erosion.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The organization was granted consultative status with the United
Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in August 1973.
The organization's representative attended an informal meeting of
port jurists, held at the initiative of UNCTAD, in Geneva from 18 to
20 November 1991.
The organization's representative attended a diplomatic conference,
organized jointly by IMO and UNCTAD, in Geneva from 19 April to
6 May 1993, to draw up and to adopt a new maritime law international
convention on maritime liens and mortgages.
The organization's representative attended and chaired a meeting of
the UNCTAD Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Ports, in Geneva on
25-29 October 1993.
United Nations Environment Programme
The organization was granted observer status with the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) in June 1991.
The organization's liaison officer attended the third session of the
UNEP Governing Council, in Nairobi, from 3 to 5 February 1992.
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
In August 1991, the organization's representative submitted to
Mr. Maurice Strong, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development, the organization's position paper on the
consideration of marine pollution prevention strategies for the third
session of the Preparatory Committee for the Conference, Geneva,
12 August to 4 September 1991.
In response to the UNEP questionnaire on dangerous chemical
substances, in preparation of a list of environmentally dangerous
chemical substances harmful at the global level, the organization
submitted its recommendations for the management of dredged material to
prevent pollution to the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee for
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, New York, 2
March to 3 April 1992.
26. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN IN
RADIO AND TELEVISION
(Category II)
Aims and purposes
The international Association of Women in Radio and Television is a
professional organization with a world-wide membership of women actively
engaged in the electronic media or in fields closely allied to
broadcasting. The aims of the Association are to work to improve the
quality of the media, to promote the entry, development and advancement
of women in the media and to further the position and status of all women
by raising the awareness of the privilege of free speech and utilizing
member access to media to broadcast issues of interest and concern to and
about women.
Membership
The membership of the Association is found world wide. During the
past four years, there has been an increase in members from the
developing countries. Members are found in more than 30 countries.
Members represent themselves and/or their respective broadcasting
companies/employers.
Affiliations
The International Association of Women in Radio and Television is a
member of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Committee (CONGO). A
representative of the Association is a Board member of the NGO Committee
on the Status of Women, in New York; serves on the Executive Board of the
Committee for UNIFEM; regularly attends press briefings and confers with
other NGO representatives on an ongoing basis. Representatives of the
Association attended the Commission on the Status of Women, Vienna,
March 1992; the Commission on Human Rights, Vienna, June 1993; the
preparatory meetings for the Fourth World Conference on Women, New York,
Vienna and Bangkok; and the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit
for Social Development.
Cooperation
A representative of the United Nations is invited to speak at the
Association's biennial conference.
Other relevant activities
The International Association of Women in Radio and Television meets
for a biennial conference under a conference theme with reference to
major topics usually coinciding with international years designated by
the United Nations as follows:
In 1990, in New York (at United Nations Headquarters) and in
Washington, D.C.: "Literacy and ageing". Excerpts of radio and
television programmes and news reports on this subject were produced and
reported, and broadcasts by members in their countries were reviewed by
conferees and guests. The Director of UNESCO gave the keynote address;
In 1992, in Stockholm: "Refugees: people on the move". A
representative of UNHCR delivered the keynote address. Once again,
excerpts from television and radio programmes focused on refugees þ a
global issue þ the flight and plight of refugees due to war, famine and
economic conditions.
Publications
"Network" is an index of professional women for media projects put
together by the Association. It is a register of media women throughout
the world willing to share their professional knowledge wherever needed
and available for media projects.
"IAWRT-Newsletter" is published three to four times a year and
contains, inter alia, information and reports on various United Nations
activities by members who have attended United Nations events.
The "Bulletin" is devoted to the last conference of the Association
and is compiled every second year.
Funding
The income of the organization is derived from membership dues,
which are collected on an annual basis.
The Association received funding from UNESCO to underwrite some
costs of printing and distributing "Network" and to finance travel and
costs for members from developing countries.
27. INTERNATIONAL ASTRONAUTICAL FEDERATION
(Category II)
The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is a
non-governmental organization of national societies and institutions
interested in rocketry and the development of space exploration. Founded
in 1950, the Federation now has 127 members in the following 45
countries: Argentina (2), Australia (2), Austria (2), Bangladesh,
Belgium (2), Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada (3), China (2), Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Finland, France (12), Germany (8), Greece, Hungary,
India (2), Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Italy (7),
Japan (5), Liechtenstein, Mexico, Netherlands (4), Norway (2), Pakistan,
Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian
Federation (4), Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Spain (5), Sweden (4),
Switzerland, Tunisia, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland (6), United States of America (27), Uruguay and
Yugoslavia (2).
The purposes of the Federation, as set forth in the Constitution
are:
(a) To foster the development of astronautics for peaceful purposes;
(b) To encourage the dissemination of technical and other
information concerning astronautics;
(c) To stimulate public interest in, and support for, astronautics
through the various media of mass communications;
(d) To encourage participation in astronautical research or other
relevant projects by international and national research institutions,
universities, commercial firms and individual experts;
(e) To create and foster as activities of the Federation academies,
institutes and commissions dedicated to continuing research in all
aspects of the natural and social sciences relating to astronautics and
the peaceful uses of outer space;
(f) To convoke international astronautical congresses, symposia,
colloquia and other scientific meetings;
(g) To cooperate with appropriate international and national
governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions in all
aspects of the natural, engineering and social sciences related to
astronautics and the peaceful uses of outer space.
The governing body of the Federation is the General Assembly, which
meets once a year during the annual Congress organized by the Federation.
The executive body is the Bureau, consisting of the President and
eight Vice-Presidents who are elected every two years by the General
Assembly, and the last-retired President. The Presidents of associated
bodies created by the Federation, the International Academy of
Astronautics (IAA) and the International Institute of Space Law (IISL)
and the General Counsel are non-voting members of the Bureau. The Bureau
usually meets twice a year.
In 1993, the Federation reviewed the structure of its technical
committees which are responsible for organizing the various sessions of
the congresses. As a consequence of this restructuring, IAF now has 26
technical committees and subcommittees as follows: Astrodynamics, Earth
Observations, Space and Natural Disaster Reduction, IAF/IAA Life
Sciences, with Space Physiology and Medicine Subcommittee, Space and
Planetary Biology and Biophysics Subcommittee, Human Factors
Subcommittee, Biotechnology and Life Support Subcommittee, Management,
Material and Structures, Microgravity Sciences and Processes, Satellite
Communications, Space and Education, with Student Activities Subcommittee
and Supervised Youth Rocket Experiments (SYRE) Subcommittee, SOLAR Sail
Working Group, Space Exploration, Space Power, with Power System
Experimentation Working Group 1, Nuclear Reactor Space Power Systems
Working Group 2, Power from Space Working Group 3, Space Propulsion,
Space Station, Space Systems, Space Transportation. Their Chairmen serve
on the International Program Committee. Congresses are organized every
year in a different country, upon the invitation of one of the IAF
national members. The Congress is open to any individual from any
national who wishes to participate. In 1991 the Congress was held in
Montreal, Canada, in 1992, in Washington, D.C., in 1993, in Graz,
Austria. This year, the Congress will take place in Jerusalem, from 10
to 14 October 1994. The theme of the Congress is: "Space and
cooperation for tomorrow's world". In addition to the technical
sessions, there will be plenary sessions at noon and in the evening.
Prior to the Congress, from 6 to 9 October 1994, in Jerusalem, there will
be an IAF/United Nations workshop on "Benefits of space technology for
the developing world þ from economic growth and environmental
protection".
The Federation maintains close contacts with the United Nations and
several other organizations of the United Nations system concerned with
astronautics and the peaceful uses of outer space. Since 1976, the
Federation has had observer status with the United Nations Committee on
the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). In this capacity, the
Federation has regularly participated in COPUOS sessions, as well as the
sessions of its two subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical
Subcommittee, and the Legal Subcommittee.
In recent years, cooperation between the Federation and the United
Nations has been growing steadily. The Federation produced with the
Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) two specialized reports on various
approaches that the United Nations might take in providing assistance to
developing countries in realizing the benefits of space technology,
including opportunities for the exchange of information, contacts between
scientists, development of infrastructure and improvement of the level of
education for graduates and post-graduates, and on environmental effects
of space activities, with particular emphasis on space debris. For
several years, the Federation has prepared annual reports on the
development of space technology. Another kind of cooperation with the
United Nations has been developed since 1985, when the Federation was
invited to organize every year during the sessions of the Scientific and
Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS, together with COSPAR, symposia on
specific topics. In 1991, IAF and COSPAR prepared a joint symposium on
space technology protection of the Earth's environment: development of
endogenous capabilities, in particular in the developing countries and in
the context of International Space Year, in 1992 on applications of
remote sensing for mineral water, biological and agricultural resources,
in 1993 on space-based communications global systems and new services,
and in 1994 the subject will be space applications for disaster
prevention, warning, mitigation and relief.
Furthermore, the Federation has category B consultative status with
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and
consultative status with the World Meteorological Organization and
maintains official relations with the World Health Organization.
Moreover, the Federation has good working relations or contacts with a
number of international organizations such as the International
Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), the International Aeronautical
Federation (FAI), the International Civil Aviation Organization, the
International Council of Scientific Unions, the International Labour
Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency, some of which
have consultative status either with the United Nations or with other
organizations of the United Nations system.
IAF continues to present at its annual congresses the Allan D. Emil
Memorial Award for International Cooperation in Astronautics for an
outstanding contribution in space science, space technology, space
medicine or space law. The Award is donated by the family of the late
Allan D. Emil. IAF also continues to give a student award to a student
who presents the best paper at the Congress. IAF also gives, since 1992,
the L. G. Napolitano Award to a young scientist who has significantly
contributed to the advancement of aerospace science, and the F. G. Malina
Award to an educator involved in space science.
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics produces for
IAF preprints of the Congress papers, which are sold during its annual
congresses.
The Federation has published the proceedings of its congresses since
1951. Selected papers from its congresses appear regularly in special
issues of Acta Astronautica, the journal of the International Academy of
Astronautics.
The Federation is financed by dues paid by its members, by a share
of the registration fees of its annual congresses, by income from its
publications and by specialized reports requested by the United Nations.
28. INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION
(Category II)
Principal aims
The principal aims and objectives of the International Bar
Association (IBA) are: to encourage the discussion of problems relating
to professional organization and status; to promote an exchange of
information between legal associations world wide; to support the
independence of the judiciary and the right of lawyers to practise their
profession without interference; to keep abreast of developments in the
law, and to help in improving and making new laws.
Membership
IBA currently represents some 16,000 individual lawyer members in
163 countries and 154 law societies and bar associations, together
representing more than 2.5 million lawyers.
IBA liaison officers with the United Nations
Liaison officers appointed in New York, Geneva and Vienna keep IBA
advised on a frequent basis of developments of interest to international
lawyers. Reports are published regularly in the Association's journals,
the International Business Lawyer and the International Legal
Practitioner.
Discussion of United Nations-related topics
at IBA conferences
Conferences were held in Montreal, Canada, in June 1991 (attended by
some 400 lawyers), in Hong Kong in October 1991 (attended by 1,500
lawyers), in Cannes, France, in September 1992 (some 2,800 lawyers
attended) and in New Orleans, United States of America, in October 1993
(at which 2,500 lawyers were present). Topics discussed included the
international and national claims procedures before the Compensation
Commission established by Security Council resolutions 687 (1991) and
692 (1991) relating to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait; the relation of
national laws to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the
International Sale of Goods; recent developments in the work of the
International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) to
implement a universal franchise code; the liability regime of the Multi-
Model Transport Operator under the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) rules; the resolutions adopted at the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992;
developments regarding the UNIDROIT draft convention on art thefts; and
progress in establishing public procurement systems in Eastern Europe and
the developing countries based on the United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law and World Bank standards.
Speakers included staff from the Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice Branch of the United Nations Secretariat, UNIDROIT, the United
Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Geneva, the Office of the United
Nations Secretary-General, and the Secretary of UNCITRAL.
Links between IBA special committees and
United Nations bodies
Each of the following committees has appointed one or more members
to act as liaison officer with the United Nations body specified. The
role of these officers is to keep the United Nations advised of IBA
activities likely to be of interest and to inform his or her committee of
United Nations activities relevant to the area of interest of the
committee. Reports on developments are regularly published in the
committee's newsletters.
Committee United Nations body
Maritime and Transport Law UNCTAD and UNCITRAL
Antitrust and Trade Law UNCTAD
Arbitration UNCITRAL
Banking Law UNCITRAL
Environmental Law UNEP
Human Rights United Nations Centre for Human
Rights
Sales of Goods UNIDROIT
Labour Law ILO
Construction Law UNIDO, UNCITRAL
Multinational and Foreign UNCTC, UNCTAD
Investment Policy
Franchising UNIDROIT
Space Law United Nations Committee on the
Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
Criminal Law United Nations Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice Branch and Centre
for Human Rights
Cultural Property UNIDROIT
Business Crime United Nations Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice Branch
IBA representation at United Nations meetings
The Banking Committee was represented at the UNCITRAL Congress in
New York in May 1992; the Sales of Goods Committee at the UNCITRAL
Intercountry Trade Working Group meeting, New York, September 1991, at
the twenty-fifth session of UNCITRAL, Vienna, July 1993, and at the
meeting of the UNCITRAL Working Group on International Contract
Practices, New York, May 1993. The Franchising Committee was represented
at the meeting of the Subcommittee of the Governing Council of UNIDROIT
to plan the future work of UNIDROIT in connection with international
franchising, Rome, June 1993; the Cultural Property Committee at meetings
of UNIDROIT to draft a convention on stolen and illegally exported
cultural goods, Rome, 1992 and 1993; the Human Rights Committee at a
number of preparatory meetings for the World Conference on Human Rights,
Vienna, June 1993 and at the Conference itself. The Maritime and
Transport Law Committee was represented at the July 1992 Congress at
United Nations Headquarters, New York, to celebrate the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the founding of UNCITRAL. The Chairmen of the Criminal
Law and Business Crime Committees visited the Crime Prevention and
Criminal Justice Branch of the United Nations Secretariat, Vienna, in
June 1992, to discuss the possibility of cooperation in the United
Nations working group on environmental crime. The Business Crime
Committee was represented at a further meeting in February 1993. The
Environmental Law Committee was represented at the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, Brazil, June 1992; the Family
Law Committee organized a programme at the first World Congress on the
Family and Children's Rights, organized by the United Nations Secretariat
of the International Year of the Family, at Sydney, in July 1993. The
Construction Law Committee was represented at the sixth session of the
UNCITRAL Working Group on the Model Law on Procurement, in Vienna,
December 1991, and at the twenty-fifth anniversary meeting of UNCITRAL,
New York, May 1993. The Criminal Law Committee was represented at a
meeting to contribute to the development of criminal law, organized by
the European Community, the Council of Europe, the United Nations Centre
for Human Rights and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Branch, at
Siracusa, in November 1991, at the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Branch preliminary meetings, in Siracusa and Haiti, in autumn 1991, and
at regional preparatory meetings in Vienna in February and in Amman in
March 1994 for the ninth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of
Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, in 1995.
Other activities
Following expressions of concern made to IBA that individuals in
some South Asian countries were unaware of where or how they could file a
claim with the United Nations Commission at Geneva for losses arising
from the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, IBA wrote to the national bars in
those countries, giving full information and sample claim forms, and
requesting that they advertise this information in their local papers.
In October 1993, a meeting was held between members of the
secretariat of UNIDROIT and officers of the IBA Franchising Committee to
finalize the composition of a study group to prepare a uniform instrument
involving some form of uniform franchise legislation to be submitted to
Governments of the member States of UNIDROIT for adoption. Officers of
the Franchising Committee are expected to be members of the study group.
At the invitation of the Ankara Bar, Turkey, the immediate past-
Chairman of the Cultural Property Committee addressed their seventieth
anniversary celebrations on the draft UNIDROIT convention on stolen and
illegally exported cultural goods.
29. INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
(Category I)
The principal purpose of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
is the promotion of international trade and investment, open markets for
goods and services, the free flow of capital, and entrepreneurship and
free enterprise. In the period 1990-1993, a new local chapter of ICC
(National Committee) was organized in Chile, bringing the total number of
National Committees to 60. In addition, local Chambers of Commerce and
individual business enterprises in the following countries (where no
National Committee has been organized) became "direct members" of ICC:
Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Armenia,
Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Nauru, Romania and Russian
Federation.
During the period under review, ICC attended all sessions of the
following bodies:
(a) The Economic and Social Council, New York and Geneva;
(b) The Commission on Transnational Corporations, New York;
(c) The Intergovernmental Group of Experts on International
Standards of Accounting and Reporting, New York;
(d) The Commission on Sustainable Development, New York;
(e) The Commission on the Development and Utilization of New and
Renewable Sources of Energy, New York;
(f) The Commission on Science and Technology for Development, New
York;
(g) The Committee on Natural Resources, New York;
(h) The Population Commission, New York;
(i) The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, New York;
(j) The Governing Council of UNDP, New York and Geneva;
(k) The High-Level Committee on Technical Cooperation among
Developing Countries, New York;
(l) The Governing Council of UNEP, Nairobi;
(m) The Economic Commission for Europe, Geneva.
ICC also participated in the sessions of the Trade and Development
Board of UNCTAD and, since the eighth session of UNCTAD, in meetings of
the Board's Standing Committee on Development of the Service Sectors in
Geneva, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, in
New York and Vienna and in the New York sessions of its Working Groups on
International Contract Practices, the New International Economic Order
and Electronic Data Interchange.
It was represented at the following:
(a) The eight session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development, Cartagena;
(b) The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
Rio de Janeiro;
(c) The special observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of
UNCITRAL, New York;
(d) The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework
Convention on Climate Change, New York and Geneva;
(e) The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration
of an International Convention to Combat Desertification in Those
Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification,
particularly in Africa, New York.
ICC made oral statements in the following meetings:
(a) The Economic and Social Council on aspects of the world economic
situation;
(b) The Commission on Transnational Corporations, on the role of
transnational corporations in the world economy;
(c) The Committee on NGOs, on consultative arrangements with NGOs
under Economic and Social Council resolution 1296 (XLIV);
(d) The Governing Council of UNEP, on the business community's role
in helping implement UNEP's work programme;
(e) The eighth session of UNCTAD, giving business views on issues
before the Conference;
(f) The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, on
the role of the private sector in sustainable development;
(g) The observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of UNCITRAL, on
the contribution of ICC to the development of private international law
and international commercial arbitration.
ICC entered into two "Framework Agreements", with UNDP and the
Department for Development Support and Management Services of the United
Nations Secretariat, respectively, for joint cooperation to promote
private entrepreneurship and strengthen private sector business and trade
organizations in developing countries and countries in transition to a
market economy. It also arranged, under the WHO Food Safety Programme,
for the distribution through private sector channels of WHO's brochure on
Food Safety for Travelers.
ICC continued to maintain broad informal contacts with the relevant
departments of the United Nations Secretariat and with UNEP, UNCTAD and
UNCITRAL. In 1992, UNCITRAL recommended that Governments encourage and
facilitate the use of ICC's so-called "INCOTERMS", a glossary of
standardized terms for use in international contracts of sales. During
the period covered by this report, its top officers also paid three
visits to the United Nations Secretary-General to inform him of ICC
activities in furtherance of United Nations objectives. A statement by
the Secretary-General on the roles of the private and public sectors in
promoting growth and development was delivered to the thirty-first ICC
Congress, in Cancun, Mexico by the Under-Secretary-General of the
Department for Development Support and Management Services, in
October 1993. Of particular note is the annual session of the ICC-United
Nations/GATT Economic Consultative Committee, which brings together
leading businessmen from around the world and senior United Nations and
agency officials for a discussion of current issues of mutual interest.
ICC members were regularly kept informed of developments in the
United Nations system of interest to business and industry, including
decisions taken and resolution adopted, through a variety of channels,
including oral/written reports by ICC delegations to United Nations and
agency meetings; ICC's quarterly journal, Business World, which
frequently includes articles and commentary on United Nations system
activities pertinent to business; and the IGO Report, which appears at
least six times a year and is devoted largely to reviewing developments
in the United Nations and its specialized agencies related to the conduct
of international business.
30. INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS
(Category II)
The activities of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in
the four years 1990 to 1993 have continued to be directed at promoting
the observance, respect for and implementation of human rights, and at
matters relating to the violations of human rights and international
standard-setting.
A great number of activities concerning the promotion and protection
of human rights and the observance of the Rule of Law have taken place
within the United Nations pursuant to the consultative status enjoyed by
ICJ with the Economic and Social Council. These have included making
reports and oral and written interventions, lobbying governmental
delegates and members of United Nations bodies in support of proposals
put forward and attending United Nations committee meetings.
The subjects covered have included the 1993 World Conference on
Human Rights; indigenous populations; slavery and slavery-like practices;
principles for the protection of persons under any form of detention or
imprisonment; enforced or involuntary disappearances; administrative
detention; the draft declaration on the administration of justice; the
elimination of racial discrimination; economic, social and cultural
rights and the right to development; and other situations of human rights
violations.
Some of the main activities are summarized below:
United Nations Human Rights Award
At the ceremony on Human Rights Day, 10 December 1993, ICJ was one
of a group of organizations awarded the United Nations Award for
Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Human Rights.
World Conference on Human Rights, June 1993
ICJ participated actively in the regional meetings (Tunis, 1992; San
Jose' and Bangkok, 1993), in a meeting of experts in Turin and in
meetings of the Preparatory Committee for the World Conference on Human
Rights.
ICJ contributed to the World Conference by submitting a proposal for
the establishment of an international penal court and a study on United
Nations human rights mechanisms.
Indigenous populations
ICJ organized two seminars, one in Guatemala in 1992 and the other
in Oruro, Bolivia in 1993, to mark the International Year of Indigenous
People, 1993.
Enforced or involuntary disappearances
In 1988, ICJ proposed a draft Declaration on the Protection of All
Persons from Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to the Subcommission
on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities Working
Group on Detention, and in March 1990 convened a three-day meeting of the
members of the Working Group on Detention, persons active in the
preparation of the draft, as well as governmental representatives and
members of the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
The General Assembly adopted the Declaration in November 1992.
ICJ prepared comments and observations for the Working Group on
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on the question of impunity, in
1991.
In 1992, ICJ organized, jointly with the Commission nationale
consultative des droits de l'homme (France), an international conference
on the question of impunity. It was hoped that the report of that
conference would make a useful contribution to the Subcommission's study
on the impunity of the perpetrators of violations of human rights.
Administration of justice/independence of the judiciary and protection of
lawyers
In 1990, the ICJ Centre for the Independence of Judges and Lawyers
(CIJL) organized a seminar on the independence of the judiciary, in New
Delhi, in collaboration with the United Nations Centre for Human Rights.
The initiatives of ICJ have led the United Nations to designate a
Special Rapporteur on the independence of the judiciary and to undertake
a study on impunity for human rights violators, in 1992.
CIJL submitted at each session of the Subcommission, its report on
the harassment and persecution of judges and lawyers all over the world
(later called "Attacks on Justice").
CIJL participated actively in the eighth United Nations Congress on
the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Officers, in Havana, in
1992, and at the subsequent meetings of the Commission on Crime
Prevention and Criminal Justice, in Vienna in 1992 and 1993.
Working Group on a draft optional protocol to the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
ICJ participated actively in this Working Group with a view to
presenting the draft optional protocol to the Commission on Human Rights,
in 1992 and 1993.
Right to development
Oral intervention was made by ICJ at the forty-ninth session of the
Commission on Human Rights, in 1993, developing the idea of extreme
poverty as an obstacle to the enjoyment of human rights and emphasizing
the need to approve an optional protocol to the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, introducing the rights of
individuals to submit communications.
Gross and systematic violations of human rights
A report on Myanmar was submitted to the Commission on Human Rights
in February 1992.
ICJ submitted a study on Chile, Argentina and Uruguay to the
Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities in 1992, for its study on the rights to compensation and
indemnification. A report on trials in Dili, East Timor and Jakarta,
Indonesia, was submitted to the Subcommission in August 1992.
The report on the trial of Xanana Gusmao (East Timor) was submitted
to the Subcommission in August 1993. An intervention on "comfort women"
was made to the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery in
May 1993 and to the Subcommission in August 1993.
A study of the legal system in Iraq was submitted to the Commission
on Human Rights in February 1994.
On many occasions, ICJ has made oral and written interventions on
situations with which it has been concerned, particularly at the
Commission on Human Rights and its Subcommission.
Elimination of racial discrimination
ICJ attended a round-table discussion on the occasion of the
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,
21 March 1991.
Rights of the child
ICJ, together with Defence for Children International and the
International Association of Penal Law, organized a joint seminar on the
rights of the child, in Siracusa, Italy, in September 1990.
In September 1993, ICJ organized, jointly with AGHS Law Associates,
an Asian seminar on children's rights, in Lahore, Pakistan.
ICJ has submitted information to the Committee on the Rights of the
Child.
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
ICJ has submitted several cases to this Working Group.
Application of international human rights norms at the domestic level
In 1993, seminars and training courses directed at judges,
prosecutors and lawyers were organized in Montevideo, in Buenos Aires and
La Paz.
United Nations Human Rights World Campaign
ICJ has been cooperating with the Centre for Human Rights in this
programme and members of ICJ staff participated as experts in human
rights training courses in Chile, Italy, Swaziland, Angola, Namibia,
Mozambique and Lesotho.
Cooperation with United Nations bodies and specialized agencies
WHO
ICJ attended the WHO Global Programme on AIDS Management Committee
in April 1990.
UNHCR
ICJ participated at a colloquium on problems and prospects of
refugee law, organized by UNHCR and the Graduate Institute of
International Studies in Geneva, in May 1991. ICJ staff regularly
attended the annual session of the UNHCR Executive Committee.
ILO
ICJ staff regularly attended the annual session of the ILO
Conference.
Information
ICJ publishes a twice-yearly Review (in English, French and
Spanish), and annual CIJL Yearbook (in English, French and Spanish), an
annual Attacks on Justice (in English) and a quarterly Newsletter (in
English).
These contain, as a regular feature, reports of meetings of the
Commission on Human Rights and its Subcommission, the Human Rights
Committee and other United Nations meetings. Important United Nations
documents are reproduced in full or in summary in the "Basic Texts"
section of the ICJ Review or as appendices to the CIJL Yearbook.
31. INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE
(Category II)
Introduction
The International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) was
established as a scientific and technical non-governmental international
organization, dedicated, inter alia, to improve land and water management
for the enhancement of the world-wide supply of food and fibre for all
people.
The objectives of ICID are to stimulate and promote the development
and application of the arts, sciences and techniques of engineering,
agriculture, economics, ecology and social science in managing water and
land resources for irrigation, drainage, flood control and river training
and/or for research in a more comprehensive manner, adopting up-to-date
techniques.
ICID accomplishes its objectives by:
(a) An interchange of information among its National Committees;
(b) Holding periodical world congresses, regional conferences and
other technical meetings;
(c) Organizing studies and experiments;
(d) Publishing technical literature in the form of conference
proceedings, special publications, bulletins etc.
(e) Cooperating with other international organizations whose
interests and activities are analogous or related to and/or consistent
with the objectives of ICID.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and
its subsidiary bodies and/or conferences and other
United Nations meetings
In the years 1990-1993, ICID was represented at the following United
Nations conferences or meetings:
1990
(a) Informal planning meeting for the Conference on Hydrological
Services in Africa, 1991, UNESCO headquarters, 14 March;
(b) Ninth session of the Intergovernmental Council of the
International Hydrological Programme, UNESCO headquarters, 19-24 March;
(c) Sixteenth Ministerial Session of the World Food Council,
Bangkok, 21-24 May;
(d) Tenth meeting of the WHO/FAO/UNEP/UNCHS Panel of Experts on
Environmental Management for Vector Control, FAO headquarters, 3-7
September;
(e) Second World Climate Conference, Geneva, 29 October-7 November;
(f) Ninety-eighth session of the FAO Council, Rome, 19-30 November.
1991
(a) Seventh session of the High-level Committee on the Review of
Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries, United Nations
Headquarters, 28-31 May;
(b) Seventeenth Ministerial Session of the World Food Council,
Helsingor, Denmark, 5-8 June;
(c) Ninety-ninth session of the FAO Council, Rome, 10-21 June;
(d) Special High-level Meeting of the Economic and Social Council,
Geneva, 4-5 July;
(e) Annual Conference of the Department of Public Information for
Non-Governmental Organizations, United Nations Headquarters,
11-13 September;
(f) Eleventh meeting of the WHO/FAO/UNEP/UNCHS Panel of Experts on
Environmental Management for Vector Control, Kuala Lumpur, 21-25 October.
1992
(a) International Conference on Water and the Environment, Dublin,
Ireland, 26-31 January;
(b) Twenty-fourth session of the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean, Santiago, 8-15 April;
(c) Twenty-seventh session of the Economic Commission for Africa/
Eighteenth meeting of the Conference of African Ministers Responsible for
Economic Development and Planning and thirteenth meeting of the Technical
Preparatory Committee of the Whole, Addis Ababa, 20-23 April;
(d) Tenth session of the Intergovernmental Council of the
International Hydrological Programme, Paris, 6-11 July;
(e) Tenth session of the Commission for Basic Systems of the World
Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 2-13 November.
1993
(a) UNESCO/WMO/ICSU International Conference on Hydrology - Towards
the Twenty-first Century: Research and Operational Needs, Paris, 22-26
March;
(b) Intergovernmental meeting on the World Climate Programme,
Geneva, 14-16 April;
(c) Eleventh session of Regional Association III (South America) of
the World Meteorological Organization, Asuncio'n, 22 September-1 October.
ICID has circulated the highlights of the above meetings to all its
National Committees to keep them informed of the activities of the United
Nations agencies in areas of interest to them.
Cooperation with United Nations bodies and
specialized agencies
ICID gives high priority to cooperation with international
organizations whose interest and activities are analogous to its
objectives. ICID has consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council, category II, special consultative status with FAO and
consultative status with WMO. The Commission is a category A liaison
member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO),
Technical Committees 113 and 23 and a founding member of the
International Union of Technical Associations and Organizations (UATI).
In 1993, ICID and the International Irrigation Management Institute
(IIMI) signed a revised and expanded memorandum of understanding for
closer collaborative arrangements in the field of irrigation management.
ICID cooperates closely with UNESCO, the World Bank, UNDP, UNEP, WHO, the
Economic Commissions for Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin
America and the Caribbean and regional development banks.
All these organizations were invited by icid to participate in the
fourteenth International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage (Rio de
Janeiro, 1990) and the fifteenth International Congress on Irrigation and
Draining (The Hague, 1993). Sixteen international organizations,
including, FAO, ILO, the International Programme for Technology Research
in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID), ISO, the Mekong Committee, UNEP and
the World Bank were represented at the fifteenth ICID Congress at The
Hague.
The representatives of these organizations, having cooperated in
activities of common interest with ICID, have permanent observer status
on the ICID technical committees and working groups. The number of
committees/working groups with which the various organizations were
associated are: FAO (12); IPTRID (2); ISO (3); UNDRO (1) and World Bank
(8).
ICID and FAO are cooperating in the revision of the FAO Guidelines
on Crop Water Requirements.
ICID is collaborating with ISO and FAO in the development of minimum
standards for micro-irrigation systems to be used in developing
countries.
The Commission and the World Bank are cooperating on the
International Programme for Technology Research in Irrigation and
Drainage. The ICID central office now forms a part of the IPTRID central
network.
Actions in implementation of United Nations resolutions
The dominating global event of 1992, the Earth Summit, was of direct
concern to ICID. Soon after that Conference, copies of the full text of
chapter 18 of Agenda 21 were circulated to all National Committees of
ICID. The Commission has prepared a 10-point action programme to
implement the Agenda 21 recommendations.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 47/193
declaring 22 March of each year World Day for Water, ICID was one of the
signatories to the proposal submitted to the United Nations for the
observance of that day. ICID National Committees participated actively
in the celebrations on the first World Day for Water, in 1993.
32. INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF CHRISTIAN
FAMILY MOVEMENTS
(Category II)
The International Confederation of Christian Family Movements
(ICCFM) has as its purpose the promotion and protection of family life as
a witness to Christian faith and values. ICCFM achieves this by
supporting and encouraging its national member movements. These exist in
more than 40 countries throughout the world, with a membership of over
60,000 couples and 6,000 single persons. National member Christian
Family Movements (CFM) follow programmes using a common process, that is,
to observe family situations within their countries, to judge based on
their faith/values, and to act accordingly. At the international level,
ICCFM conducts World Assemblies every three years to maintain direction
and commitment. ICCFM participates in various international and regional
functions and structures related to family life. Contact has recently
been made with several family-life associations in Europe. The
Associacao Familias in Portugal has applied for membership. In addition,
association with family-life organizations in Austria, Slovakia, Poland
and Germany are a future possibility.
ICCFM does not receive funding for its ongoing programmes from any
sources. All programme activities at the international, national and
local levels are performed and funded by volunteers. There are no paid
staff.
The initial contact of the International Confederation of Christian
Family Movements with the Economic and Social Council took place in 1991.
Its representatives to the United Nations in New York visited the New
York Liaison Office of the United Nations Office at Vienna. The purpose
of this visit was to establish ways in which ICCFM could participate in
the International Year of the Family (IYF). As a result, the ICCFM
Continental representatives for Europe were appointed representatives to
the United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna and worked on the Vienna
NGO Committee on the Family in preparation for the IYF. They attended
all meetings of that Committee as well as the European/ North American
Regional Conference (April 1993) and the world NGO Forum (November 1993),
both held in Malta. They facilitated the South America regional meeting
at the World Forum. The Christian Family Movement of Malta actively
worked on behalf of both conferences. ICCFM was among the organizations
which received official recognition for its contribution to the
International Year of the Family. As a member organization of the Vienna
NGO Committee on the Family, ICCFM was a signatory to that Committee's
submission to the Commission for Social Development (February 1993).
The representatives to the United Nations in New York attended the
Economic and Social Council round table on understanding the role of
international NGOs, held in New York in April 1992.
In support of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development in 1992, the ICCFM theme for its World Assembly of Families,
held in Mexico in 1992, was "Families of the Earth: creating new
covenants in a changing world". Its purpose was to link the ecological
crisis in the world with Christian faith and moral responsibilities.
ICCFM conducted a survey among its member movements to examine their
views on stewardship of the Earth. ICCFM responded to the UNFPA Global
Population Assistance Survey, in 1992, and to the questionnaire received
from the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social
Development at the request of the Economic and Social Council.
The ICCFM Continental representatives for Europe represented the
Movement at the International Symposium of NGOs/UNESCO, in preparation
for the IYF (Paris, 1992).
The representatives to the United Nations in New York participated
in the forty-sixth NGO/DPI Annual Conference, entitled "Social
development: a new definition for security" (New York, 1993).
Typical international/regional/national Christian Family Movement
(CFM) activities in support of United Nations resolutions and programmes
included:
(a) At the invitation of the Pontifical Council for the Family,
ICCFM participated in a meeting to plan the Vatican's celebration of the
IYF (Rome, 1993);
(b) Participation of ICCFM-Europe in a meeting of Catholic family
organizations studying family policies in the new Europe (Germany, 1993);
(c) The CFM of the Philippines presented a Declaration of Family
Rights to President Corizon Aquino;
(d) Development by CFM-USA of an international programme booklet on
racism/apartheid/war/human rights/poverty;
(e) A drive to establish a forest reserve next to the mountains of
Catacama by CFM-Honduras;
(f) Counselling in responsible parenthood by CFM-Malawi and CFM-
Nigeria;
(g) Participation by CFM-Spain, along with 37 other family life
organizations, in a national conference to plan IYF celebrations and to
bring to the attention of political and public bodies the problems of the
family in Spain.
The above-mentioned national activities are typical but not exhaustive
examples of Christian Family Movement actions.
33. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATIVE ALLIANCE
(Category I)
Founded in 1895, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) is an
independent, non-governmental organization which unites, represents and
serves cooperatives from all economic sectors and from all regions of the
world. ICA regroups 225 organizations from 101 countries, representing
over 725 million individuals. The objectives of ICA are to promote and
strengthen autonomous cooperatives throughout the world; to promote and
protect cooperative values and principles; to facilitate the development
of economic and other mutually beneficial relations between its member
organizations; and to further the economic and social progress of people,
thereby contributing to international peace and security.
ICA was among the first non-governmental organizations granted
category I consultative status with the Economic and Social Council in
1946. Since that time, the ICA rules have specifically noted
collaboration with the United Nations as a method of achieving its aims.
Collaboration is carried out through the ICA network of the Head Office,
the ICA regional offices in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the ICA
permanent representatives at the United Nations and its specialized
agencies in Geneva, Vienna, Paris and Rome. Close collaboration with the
United Nations and its specialized agencies is also ensured through
participation in the work of the Committee for the Promotion and
Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC), in which the United Nations, the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the
International Labour Office are members.
Collaboration with United Nations bodies
In the period 1990-1993, ICA has provided information and input to
two major United Nations conferences and their preparatory processes:
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in 1992,
and the World Conference on Human Rights, in 1993. ICA has also
disseminated information on United Nations priority issues such as the
rights of the child, the International Year of Literacy and the World
Decade for Cultural Development, and has included information in its
publications on the celebration of various international days.
ICA was represented at the substantive session of 1993 of the
Economic and Social Council at Geneva, and submitted a statement to the
high-level segment of the Council (E/1993/NGO/3). ICA was also
represented at the thirty-third session of the Commission on Social
Development (Vienna, February 1993).
ICA participated in the preparation of the report of the
Secretary-General on the status and role of cooperatives in the light of
new economic and social trends (A/47/216-E/1992/43), through COPAC.
ICA also collaborated with the United Nations regional commissions.
Specifically, ICA participated in the forty-sixth session of ESCAP and
presented a statement. It was also represented at the forty-seventh and
forty-eighth sessions of ESCAP, the 2nd meeting of the Steering Group for
Regional Economic Cooperation (April 1993) and the Committee on Poverty
Alleviation through Economic Growth and Social Development
(September 1993), at which ICA presented a statement and provided
information on its contribution towards poverty alleviation and the
empowerment of people through cooperatives.
ICA was represented at meetings of ECE, including the forty-eighth
session of the Commission; the forty-second, forty-third and forty-fourth
sessions of the Committee on Agriculture, the fifty-third session of the
Committee on Human Settlements and the NGO consultation with the Bureau
of the Committee on Human Settlements (September 1993), as well as at a
number of seminars and workshops which examined the changes in housing
policies in the countries in transition.
ICA was also represented at the ECLAC-organized meeting - the fifth
Regional Conference on the Integration of Women into the Economic and
Social Development of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Curac'ao
in September 1991.
Collaboration with United Nations bodies and
specialized agencies
During the period under review, ICA has continued to expand its
collaboration with FAO, ILO, UNCTAD, UNESCO and UNIDO.
ICA was represented at the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh sessions
of the FAO Conference. ICA was also represented at the eleventh and
twelfth sessions of the Committee on Agriculture, the FAO Working Party
on Women and the Agricultural Family (Prague, October 1990), the FAO
Expert Consultation on the Role of Cooperatives in Agricultural
Production (February 1991), the FAO/Netherlands Conference on Agriculture
and the Environment (April 1991) and the twenty-first FAO Regional
Conference for Asia and the Pacific (February 1992). In addition, ICA
was represented at the FAO/WHO International Conference on Nutrition
(Rome, December 1992), its preparatory meetings in Geneva and the
Regional Meeting for East Africa (March 1992). ICA also participated in
a number of technical cooperation activities in Africa, Asia and Latin
America, including inter-agency missions and the preparation of joint
seminars and workshops.
ICA was represented at the ILO statutory meetings, as well as at the
International Meeting of Experts on Cooperatives (Geneva, March 1993) and
undertook a number of joint activities with ILO, including the
ILO/ICA/UNCSDHA Regional Workshop on Cooperatives of Disabled Persons
(January 1992) and inter-agency missions to Africa and Asia. ICA
collaborated closely with the ILO Cooperative Branch during the reporting
period and participated in the ILO COOPNET (Human Resource Development
for Cooperative Management and Networking), a service programme of the
ILO Cooperative Branch.
ICA was represented at the thirteenth session of the Committee on
Invisibles and Financing related to Trade (CIFT) (February 1990), the
first (November 1992) and second (June 1993) sessions of the Ad Hoc
Working Group on Comparative Experiences in Privatization, and the second
session of the Standing Committee on Developing Services Sectors:
Fostering Competitive Service Sectors in Developing Countries: Insurance
(February 1993)
ICA collaborated in the selection of candidates and the follow-up
for the UNESCO Travel Grant for Leaders in Workers' and Cooperative
Education Programmes (1990-1991). It participated in the UNESCO NGO
Standing Committee and was regularly represented at the UNESCO General
Conference.
ICA was represented at the Symposium on Industrial Sustainable
Development (October 1991) and collaborated with UNIDO in sponsoring
training courses dealing with industrial cooperatives.
34. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH WOMEN
(Category II)
Founded in 1912, the International Council of Jewish Women is a
non-partisan, volunteer organization that has directed its efforts
towards improved education, social welfare and advocacy of human
improvement. Within the larger objective of obtaining universal peace so
that a better world can be created to serve all mankind, the
International Council of Jewish Women seeks to spread knowledge about and
promote support for the United Nations. It currently operates through 47
affiliates in 43 countries on six continents, with a membership of more
than 1.5 million women. The International Council of Jewish Women holds
triennial conventions, and there are regional meetings during the interim
years (e.g., Europe, Latin America and North America).
The International Council of Jewish Women has had consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council, Category II, since 1964. It
has permanent representatives in New York, Geneva and Vienna. The
organization is also accredited to UNICEF, with representation in New
York and Geneva, and to UNESCO, with representation in Paris. It is also
accredited to the Council of Europe and maintains a permanent
representative in Strasbourg.
The International Council of Jewish Women is supportive of
programmes and projects through the services of trained volunteers at
both international and national levels and concentrates its efforts on
international relations, social and community welfare, education, human
rights, the elimination of racial discrimination, the environment and
disarmament. The organization functions as a central representative
body, defining policy for its affiliates and directing affiliate activity
towards cooperative effort with United Nations agencies, national
Governments and non-governmental organizations. It urges, at all times,
the dissemination of information to motivate public opinion. Committed
to the aims and purposes of the United Nations, the International Council
of Jewish Women acts as a liaison between the United Nations and its
affiliates, circulates reports on aspects of United Nations operations
that fall within the purview of its by-laws, supplying information and
materials and requesting responses on local action taken.
Annual directives embodying the guidelines for the observance of
designated years (International Year of Literacy, Shelter for the
Homeless, Status of Women, Year of the Child, International Year for Peace -
for which the organization was awarded the Peace Messenger award in
1987, etc.) are sent to all affiliates. Directives and Calls for Action
are circulated to affiliates to urge their national Governments to
implement United Nations conventions, declarations and resolutions, to
supply information solicited by the various commissions of the Economic
and Social Council and to hold special meetings to commemorate United
Nations Day, Human Rights Day etc.
Representatives of the International Council of Jewish Women attend
the regular and special sessions of the General Assembly, the Economic
and Social Council, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission
on Human Rights, the Commission on Social Development, the Population
Commission, the UNICEF Committee, as well as the International Labour
Organization. Representatives of the organization attended the World
Assembly on Ageing and the three World Conferences on Women and are now
preparing to attend the fourth Conference, to be held in Beijing in 1995.
Representatives will also be in attendance at the Population Conference
in Cairo in September 1994 and the World Summit for Social Development in
Copenhagen in 1995.
All representatives of the International Council of Jewish Women are
active participants in the non-governmental community. In New York, the
chairwoman of the NGO team is a member of the NGO/DPI Executive Committee
and the Executive Committee of the United Nations Association of the
United States of America. She is a member of the editorial staff of the
NGO Reporter - a quarterly publication of news for NGOs, a member of the
NGO Committee on the Status of Women, and serves on the planning
committee and working groups for the Beijing Conference. The UNICEF
representative in New York serves as chairwoman of the NGO Subgroup on
Education of the Girl Child, on the editorial board of Action for
Children and is co-editor of the document on the proceedings of the NGO
UNICEF Forum. Her counterpart in Geneva is Vice-Chair of the NGO Special
Committee on Human Rights. Another representative in Geneva is
Vice-President of the NGO Subcommittee on the Status of Women. The
International Council of Jewish Women also has representation on the NGO
Committees on Ageing and on Youth. The organization has been cited in
the report of the Secretary-General on racism and racial discrimination
(E/CN.4/Sub.2/1992/11) of 1992. As members of these NGO Committees, the
representatives have assisted in the preparation of statements for
submission to the Economic and Social Council and its commissions and
have made interventions before these bodies.
The International Council of Jewish Women publishes a semi-annual
newsletter in English and Spanish and sends annual directives and
guidelines to affiliates proposing specific action in support of such
United Nations events as the International Year of the Child, the
Commission on the Status of Women and the International Year of Disabled
Persons. At each of the organization's triennial conventions, one
session is devoted to the United Nations and its achievements, and the
activities of its bodies, agencies and commissions are reported in
detail. Topical statements relative to current issues are presented for
consideration and approval. Matters that are assured special attention
at each session are: women's issues and the need for women's
participation at all levels of society, peace and the human rights of all
humankind, elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, concern for
the ageing, the disabled, the mentally retarded, care for children and
youth, the juvenile justice system, disarmament and environment.
Although the International Council of Jewish Women does not initiate
and develop projects under its own direction, it proposes and encourages
broad affiliate activity alone and in conjunction with like-minded
agencies and organizations, thus serving as a catalyst for national and
local efforts.
35. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC UNIONS
(Category II)
Aims and purpose
The International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) is an
international non-governmental organization set up in 1931 to encourage
international scientific activity that will promote scientific and
technological progress for the benefit of humanity; to facilitate the
coordination of the activities of its members; to stimulate and design
international, interdisciplinary programmes and to act as a consultative
body on matters of concern to the international scientific community.
Since its creation, ICSU has adopted a policy of non-discrimination,
affirming the rights of all scientists throughout the world - without
regard to race, religion, political stance, ethnic origin, citizenship,
sex or language - to join in international scientific activities. Its
two categories of members comprise 23 international scientific unions,
which promote cooperation in a single field of science through such
activities as the organization of congresses and scientific meetings,
publications, standardization and nomenclature, and 92 national
scientific members (an increase of 16 since the time of the previous
report, notably in countries of the former Soviet Union and in Africa),
which are either scientific academies or research councils promoting, at
the national level, multidisciplinary cooperation and research and
playing important roles in their countries' national development. The
Council is unique in that it brings together these two categories, thus
securing a wide spectrum of scientific expertise enabling members to
address major international, interdisciplinary problems that none of them
could handle alone. This is done notably through the creation of
interdisciplinary bodies, of which there are some 24 at present. ICSU
also has 29 scientific and regional associates. ICSU has several
important joint initiatives which are carried out in cooperation with
UNESCO, WMO and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of
UNESCO.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and
its subsidiary bodies and/or conferences and other
United Nations meetings
The Council's formal participation in the meetings and other
activities of the Economic and Social Council is necessarily limited by
its financial resources and the availability of suitable representatives,
but the individual involvement of members of the scientific community
globally and their expert contribution to the many issues addressed by
the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies is substantial.
The following is a brief overview of the major activities in which ICSU
was involved during the period under review.
ICSU was co-sponsor (with WMO, UNEP, UNESCO and FAO) of the Second
World Climate Conference, in 1990, and principal scientific adviser to
the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED),
held in June 1992, where the President of ICSU addressed the plenary
session. ICSU helped in the preparatory process for UNCED by providing
the names of experts, checking the scientific accuracy of draft papers
and drawing the attention of its national scientific members to the
importance of science in their own national preparations for the
Conference. ICSU was represented at the various Preparatory Committee
meetings for UNCED. ICSU set up a special working party to assist in the
preparation of the science chapter of Agenda 21 on science for
sustainable development (chapter 35), and helped in the formulation of
the text of this chapter on the basis of the results of an international
conference that it had organized for that purpose, the International
Conference on an Agenda of Science for Environment and Development into
the Twenty-First Century (ASCEND 21). In March 1993, ICSU co-sponsored
(with UNESCO and WMO) the International Conference on Hydrology, and in
April joined with WMO, UNEP, UNESCO, FAO and UNDP in sponsoring the
Intergovernmental Meeting on the World Climate Programme. ICSU was well
represented at both the twenty-sixth and the twenty-seventh General
Conferences of UNESCO (October-November 1991 and November 1993) with
delegations that included its President, Secretary General and Executive
Director. Interventions were made by the representatives of ICSU at the
commissions of both General Conferences dealing with the natural
sciences. ICSU was also represented at the eleventh Congress of WMO, at
meetings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and at
meetings of executive heads of agencies on climate issues.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies
and specialized agencies
The Council's relations with the United Nations and its specialized
agencies are numerous and cover many areas (notably environment and
development). At the meetings of its various governing bodies, ICSU
regularly reviews these relations and cooperation continues to expand.
ICSU has formal cooperation agreements with several specialized agencies,
notably with UNESCO since 1946 and WMO since 1960. The most recent
agreement to be concluded was with WIPO in 1993. Others include IAEA
(1960), FAO (1963), WHO (1964), UNEP (1972), UNDRO (1980), the
secretariat of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction
(1989) and the Commission on Sustainable Development (1990).
Of these, cooperation with UNESCO is the most wide-ranging, and that
organization makes a subvention available to ICSU, all of which is used
to fund directly scientific activities. Cooperation with UNESCO covers
fields ranging from biotechnology and global change to ethics and the
development of the basic sciences, particularly given the increased
importance placed by UNESCO member States on the role of science in
development. There are almost daily contacts between UNESCO
headquarters, in particular the science sector, and the ICSU secretariat
and members of the ICSU family, and the ICSU-UNESCO Coordinating
Committee meets annually to review relations and cooperation between the
two bodies. Frequent and close contact is maintained with various
prominent UNESCO programmes, such as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission (IOC), the Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB), the
International Hydrological Programme (IHP) and the Programme for Central
and Eastern European Development (PROCEED). These contacts take place
not only directly through the central ICSU secretariat but also through
the international scientific union members of ICSU in their specific
fields and through the ICSU interdisciplinary bodies, such as the
Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), the
Committee on Data for Science and Technology (CODATA), the Committee on
Biotechnology (COBIOTECH), the Inter-Union Commission on the Lithosphere
(ICL) and the Special Committee on Science in Central Eastern Europe and
the former Soviet Union (COMSCEE), to mention but a few. ICSU was a
founding sponsor of the Earth Council's Organizing Committee, set up
after UNCED, and cooperates closely with the Commission on Sustainable
Development. ICSU also participates as an observer on the Board of
Trustees of UNITAR, through the person of its Executive Director.
Through its Special Committee for the IDNDR, ICSU has been closely
involved in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction and
was asked to prepare Technical Committee Session B on Hazard Resistant
Structures of the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction
(Yokohama, May 1994) and to contribute several poster sessions.
Whenever possible, ICSU aims to harmonize and facilitate cooperation
with the United Nations and its agencies by holding meetings of its
various bodies in conjunction with those of the relevant United Nations
body; for example, the meeting of the ICSU Advisory Committee on the
Environment (ACE) was held in New York at the time of the first session
of the Commission on Sustainable Development (in June 1993), thus
allowing members of ACE to participate in the meeting of the Commission,
which the Chairman of ACE also addressed.
ICSU has several joint initiatives with United Nations agencies but
the space constraints of the present report allow for only a brief
listing here. The Committee on Science and Technology in Developing
Countries/International Biosciences Networks (COSTED/IBN), which is
co-sponsored by UNESCO, was originally two separate bodies set up
respectively in 1966 and 1979. These were merged in 1993 in order to
streamline their activities. The International Geological Correlation
Programme (IGCP) is a joint programme of the International Union of
Geological Sciences (IUGS), an international scientific union member of
ICSU, and UNESCO and was established in 1972. The WMO-ICSU-IOC World
Climate Research Programme (WCRP) was set up in 1980 as the successor to
the Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP). More recently
established joint initiatives are the Global Observing Systems: a
memorandum of understanding between WMO, IOC, UNEP and ICSU for the
Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) was signed in 1992, and between
WMO, ICSU and IOC in 1993 for the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS); a
third, between FAO, ICSU, UNESCO, UNEP and WMO, is in preparation for a
Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS). There is also the joint
UNESCO/ICSU Short-Term Fellowship Programme and the
Lectureships/Professorships in Science and Sustainable Development
Programme, which was begun in 1989 by ICSU and the Third World Academy of
Sciences (TWAS) and which is now also co-sponsored by UNESCO, the
Commonwealth Science Council (CSC) and the Earth Council. The
International Union of Biological Sciences (international scientific
union member of ICSU) is also co-sponsoring with UNESCO and SCOPE a major
programme on biological diversity, "DIVERSITAS", and an international
forum, Biodiversity: Science and Development towards a New Partnership,
will be held in September 1994 at UNESCO headquarters.
Cooperation is also maintained, of a less formal nature (although
this includes working relations), with IAEA, ITU, FAO, WHO, UNDP, UNDRO
and UNIDO. Frequently, members of ICSU governing bodies have also served
as officers of the United Nations University (UNU).
Other relevant activities
As mentioned above, ICSU has a fundamental policy of
non-discrimination, affirming the rights and freedom of all scientists
throughout the world to associate in international scientific activity
without regard to race, religion, political stance, ethnic origin,
citizenship, sex or language. Discrimination of any form hinders the
free communication and exchange of ideas and information which is the
keystone to the progress of science. Thus, the Standing Committee on
Freedom in the Conduct of Science (SCFCS) was created in 1963 (formerly
called the Standing Committee on the Free Circulation of Scientists) and
this Committee acts as ICSU's watchdog on all such matters. All the
rights mentioned above, and which SCFCS vigorously defends, are embodied
in various articles of the International Bill of Human Rights, to which
reference is made in the ICSU Statement on Freedom in the Conduct of
Science, which was adopted in 1989. SCFCS continues to work successfully
towards the resolution of cases involving the potential infringement of
such rights of individual bona fide scientists.
ICSU closely follows progress in the implementation and planning of
the Conventions on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Desertification and
is happy to provide scientific expertise for these if so requested.
Cooperation between the United Nations system and the network of
scientists world wide which constitutes ICSU is active and varied and far
too extensive to be described in detail here. Through its network, ICSU
reaches a million or so individual scientists, who in turn are in contact
with the United Nations system, either directly or through their own
national governmental agencies. ICSU has the advantage of being able to
bring to the United Nations agencies that request its help, impartial,
well-respected scientific advice and is, in its turn, able to interact
with Governments and governmental agencies through the United Nations
system in a way that would not otherwise be possible.
36. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF VOLUNTARY AGENCIES
(Category I)
1. The purposes of the International Council of Voluntary Agencies
(ICVA) are to provide a global forum for consultation and cooperation
among voluntary agencies on matters and questions of common interest; to
enhance recognition of the vital role of voluntary agencies by
Governments, intergovernmental organizations and the international
community in efforts to alleviate human suffering and to foster just and
sustainable development; to promote effective partnership among voluntary
agencies across all regions of the world through dialogue, exchange of
views and efforts to build common perspectives and to coordinate
activities; and to collect, coordinate and disseminate information to
peoples, Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations throughout the world on the humanitarian problems addressed
by voluntary agencies.
2. During the period under review, four national NGOs, 16 national
consortia of NGOs, two regional NGOs and two international NGOs have
joined the Council. At present, ICVA has members in 8 African countries,
9 Asian countries, 10 European countries, 10 countries from Latin America
and the Caribbean, 2 countries in North America and 1 country in Oceania,
making a total of 40 countries. The number of NGO members of the Council
is 94.
3. ICVA has submitted statements to the following United
Nations-sponsored meetings among others:
(a) Forty-sixth session of the Commission on Human Rights
(February 1990);
(b) Forty-seventh session of the Commission on Human Rights
(February 1991);
(c) Substantive session of 1993 of the Economic and Social Council,
relating to:
(i) The World Summit for Social Development;
(ii) Non-governmental organizations; and
(iii) Coordination of the policies and activities of the specialized
agencies and other bodies of the United Nations system related
to the following theme: coordination of humanitarian
assistance: emergency relief and the continuum to
rehabilitation and development;
(d) World Summit for Children (September 1990).
4. In 1991-1992, ICVA was actively involved in the preparatory process
for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED),
as convener of the CONGO Planning Committee for UNCED, as a member of the
NGO International Facilitating Committee, as a member of the Advisory
Group to the UNCED secretariat on the use of the UNCED NGO Fund, and as
co-organizer of the NGO Forum held in parallel with the Conference.
5. ICVA has continued to maintain close working relations with the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. ICVA has
coordinated the NGO statement submitted annually to the UNHCR Executive
Committee. During 1991, ICVA cooperated with UNHCR in a process of
consultation that involved nearly 200 NGOs and that culminated in a
document entitled "Criteria for building NGO/UNHCR partnerships". This
process was brought forward in 1993/94 with a series of six regional
consultations and a global conference on UNHCR/NGO cooperation.
6. ICVA has cooperated closely with the Department of Humanitarian
Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat since its inception in 1992.
ICVA is one of the NGOs that participate regularly in the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee, as well as its working group and several task forces.
In 1993, ICVA seconded a senior adviser on NGO matters to the
Department's Office at Geneva.
7. ICVA has cooperated with the United Nations International Drug
Control Programme as a member of the Steering Committee for a series of
consultations with NGOs that will culminate in a global forum, in
December 1994, on the role of NGOs in drug demand reduction.
8. ICVA has also cooperated closely with UNHCR and UNDP in the process
that led to the International Conference on Central American Refugees
(CIREFCA) and its follow-up, from 1990 to the present time.
9. ICVA has submitted statements to the International Pledging
Conference on the Drought Emergency in Southern Africa (Geneva,
2 June 1992), to the joint ILO/UNHCR meetings on international aid as a
means to reduce the need for emigration (Geneva, 6-8 May 1992), to the
Humanitarian Issues Working Group of the International Conference on the
Former Yugoslavia (Geneva, 4 December 1992 and 16 July 1993), and to the
UNCTAD Standing Committee on Poverty Alleviation (Geneva,
22 January 1993).
10. In 1993, in connection with the preparatory process for the World
Summit for Social Development, ICVA, together with the International
Council on Social Welfare, initiated the production of an NGO newsletter,
the first issue of which was distributed immediately after the
organizational session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit.
37. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ALCOHOL AND ADDICTIONS
(Category II)
The objectives of the organization are to reduce and prevent the
harmful effects resulting from the use of illicit and licit drugs,
including alcohol, and of tobacco. It organizes international
conferences, symposia and expert groups. It conducts research projects.
It organizes training programmes for health and other professionals on
drug and alcohol-related problems, particularly in developing countries.
The organization, through its quarterly newsletter, also disseminates
updated information on issues concerning drug abuse policies, prevention
and treatment programmes and research findings, and serves as a network
among national NGOs throughout the world.
In recent years, the organization's membership has expanded,
including some of the newly emerging Central and Eastern European
countries, as well as countries in Africa. Membership is now composed of
some 400 national organizations in 85 countries.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and
its subsidiary bodies and/or conferences and other
United Nations meetings
The International Council on Alcohol and Addictions (ICAA)
participated regularly at the annual sessions of the United Nations
Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and, in 1993, at the Commission for Social
Development.
The representatives of the organization made oral and/or written
statements during each annual session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs
during the period under review. These statements reflected the
activities of ICAA in support of the various resolutions of that
Commission, in particular in the field of reduction of demand for illicit
drugs.
ICAA was represented at the Expert Meeting on the Negative Social
Consequences of Alcohol Use, held in Oslo in 1990, organized by the
United Nations Office at Vienna and the Norwegian Ministry of Health.
The report of this Expert Meeting was widely publicized throughout the
organization's membership.
The organization participated actively in the preparations for the
International Year of the Family.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies
and specialized agencies
Ongoing consultations with the United Nations International Drug
Control Programme were arranged at regular intervals with the appropriate
officers of the Programme.
Consultations with the United Nations Office at Vienna concerning
the follow-up activities of the above-cited Expert Meeting are
continuing.
ICAA also sends experts to various international meetings, expert
groups etc. arranged by the specialized agencies, in particular by WHO
and ILO, with which it maintains frequent consultations.
During the period under review, in cooperation with UNESCO, ICAA
carried out a project on preventive drug education.
Other relevant activities
Action in implementation of United Nations resolutions
ICAA made several recommendations to its membership, urging them to
implement at the regional and national levels various resolutions of the
United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs concerning demand reduction,
in particular that of the thirty-sixth session, in 1993
(E/CN.7/1993/L.6), and is actively participating in the preparations of
the World Forum on the Role of NGOs in Demand Reduction.
Consultations with NGO offices in Vienna, Geneva and New York
Preparation of papers and other materials at the request of the Economic
and Social Council, its subsidiary bodies and/or the Secretariat
ICAA has regularly submitted reports on its activities to the United
Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
In cooperation with UNDCP and with financial assistance received
from UNDCP, ICAA carried out the following projects during the period
under review:
1991 Fifth Eastern and Southern African Training Course on Substance
Abuse, Lusaka;
Fifth French-speaking West African Training Course on Substance
Abuse, Dakar;
1992 Sixth Eastern and Southern African Training Course on Substance
Abuse, Kampala;
French-speaking Training Course on Substance Abuse for Central
Africa, Bujumbura;
Training Course on Substance Abuse for North Africa, Rabat;
1993 Sixth French-speaking West African Training Course on Substance
Abuse, Niamey;
Preparations for a Portuguese-speaking African Training Course.
ICAA and UNDCP jointly executed the first African Regional Consultation
on Demand Reduction, in Nairobi.
Representatives of UNDCP also participated regularly in the
following ICAA international meetings, using them to publicize the aims
and activities of the body:
Annual International Conference, Berlin, 1990;
International Congress, Glasgow, 1992;
Annual international Conference, Sao Paulo, 1993;
Annual International Conference, Prague, 1994.
ICAA is also actively involved in the work of the NGO Committee on
Narcotic Drugs at the United Nations Office at Vienna and the NGO
Committee on Narcotics and Substance Abuse at United Nations
Headquarters.
38. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON MANAGEMENT OF
POPULATION PROGRAMMES
(Category II)
Introduction
The International Council on Management of Population Programmes
(ICOMP) is an international non-governmental organization set up by heads
of population and family-planning programmes and selected management
institutes in developing countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and
Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, it has 45 members. ICOMP
aims to contribute to the solution of population problems by improving
primary health care and family-planning programme management. General
and project support during the period was provided by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB), the Bixby Foundation, the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA), the Commonwealth Foundation, the Commonwealth
Secretariat, the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the
Ford Foundation, the Government of Norway, the Overseas Development
Administration (ODA), the OPEC Fund, the Packard Foundation, the Swedish
International Development Agency (SIDA) and UNFPA. ICOMP members also
made contributions. The budgets available for 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993
were respectively, $1,635,370, $1,135,938, $987,816 and $896,158.
Participation in meetings and conferences
ICOMP has attended the annual NGO consultative meetings organized by
UNFPA at Geneva, meetings on the family at Vienna and NGO consultations
organized by UNICEF in New York. The ICOMP Executive Director attended
the following international conferences: ESCAP-organized seminar on
Management Information Systems (MIS), Seoul, 20-26 June 1990; UNFPA
meeting, Bangkok, 14-20 October. ICOMP officers participated in the
following conferences: Conference on Islam and Family Planning,
Yogyakarta, 1990; Conference on Development and Effective Use of
Educational Materials for Integrated Projects, Bangkok, 1990; Bali
Conference, August 1992; Seminar on Gender and Migration, Kuantan,
Malaysia, 1992; Asia-Pacific Symposium of NGOs on Women in Development,
Manila, 1993; Seminar on Environment and the Family, Kuala Lumpur, 1993,
supported by UNESCO; and the Fourth Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on
Population and Development, Kuala Lumpur, 1993. The twelfth ICOMP
International Conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, from 12 to
15 November 1990, with the theme "Strategy of quality service delivery in
population programmes". There were six theme/overview papers, three
special case-studies and 12 country papers presented at the Conference.
Two volumes on the Conference have been published. The thirteenth ICOMP
International Conference was held in Nanjing, China, from 3 to
7 May 1993, with the title "Management challenges in population
programmes: issues and opportunities in the 1990s". It drew 44
participants from 22 countries, representing an array of organizations,
including government agencies, population NGOs, women NGOs, management
institutes, and donor agencies.
Project execution
The South Asian Management Programme (SAMP) was concluded in 1992.
It represents ICOMP's largest and most ambitious effort so far as an
executive agency of UNFPA in institutional development. The long-term
objectives of the SAMP projects (two in Pakistan and one each in India
and Bangladesh) were similar: to strengthen and institutionalize
management capabilities in support of family-planning programmes. Within
this broad framework, each country project sought to address
country-specific needs in the field of population programme management
and, accordingly, had different focus and short-term objectives. During
this period, ICOMP also executed certain components of the UNFPA-funded
project in Viet Nam to support the National Committee for Population and
Family Planning (NCPFP). These components included management workshops,
study tours and preparation of training materials and training of NCPFP
staff.
Women in development activities
ICOMP received support from the Asian Development Bank to execute
the technical assistance (TA) in the Regional Training Programme for the
Development of Management and Employment Skills of Women. The first TA
(1990-1991) enabled ICOMP to identify and assess the training needs of
women and improve their leadership management and employment skills.
More than 1,100 women were trained through in-country training programmes
carried out by five NGOs, and a regional workshop was co-sponsored on
management of income-generation projects. Support for the regional
workshop was also provided by ADB, CIDA, SIDA and the Commonwealth
Foundation. The second TA was substantially an expansion of the first
TA. It had the overall objective of promoting the economic welfare and
social status of women in five selected countries and enabling them to
play a catalytic role in the development programme. A regional workshop
on accountability and sustainability of NGOs was organized by ICOMP with
the support of the Asian Development Bank (Manila, April 1993). ICOMP
organized the Regional Workshop of NGOs on Women, Population and
Development, in Kuala Lumpur in October 1992. It was funded by the
Canadian International Development Agency. The Swedish International
Development Agency is supporting women in development programmes in
Thailand and Viet Nam. Trainings for elected rural women leaders were
organized.
Regional training workshops
With UNFPA funding, ICOMP organized various regional workshops in
Africa during 1990 and 1991. Workshops were held in the United Republic
of Tanzania, Ghana and Senegal. In 1991, three other regional workshops
were held, two in Asia (Kuala Lumpur and Nanjing, China) and one in Latin
America (Bogota). About 150 middle-level managers were trained. In the
same year, a regional seminar on NGO management was held in Comilla,
Bangladesh. In 1992, a regional workshop on improving population
programme effectiveness was held in Kuala Lumpur. ICOMP organized study
tours of Chinese population policy officials to Malaysia through the
support of the Population Division of the United Nations Secretariat.
Institutional Development Assistance Programme
The Institutional Development Assistance Programme (IDAP) for
sub-Saharan African countries, started in 1988 with the support of CIDA
and SIDA, was completed with an external evaluation in 1992. The OPEC
Fund is supporting the IDAP for Eastern and Southern African countries.
Communication and dissemination
ICOMP publications issued and disseminated to members and
institutions during this period were: volumes X and XI of ICOMP
Management Contributions to Population Programmes series, entitled
"Managing quality of care in population programs" and "Strategy of
quality services in population programmes - country papers",
respectively; Managerial Challenges - NGOs on Women, Population and
Development; and the quarterly newsletter Feedback.
39. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON SOCIAL WELFARE
(Category I)
In 1947, the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) became
one of the first international non-governmental organizations to be
granted category I consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council. ICSW had held this status for 46 years. The period 1990-1993
has been a very special one in ICSW's history: it can be characterized
as a transition period since ICSW has been undergoing a thorough revision
of its aims, goals and internal structure. The revision will be
completed in the next two years. A new draft mission statement, to be
approved at the ICSW business meetings in July 1994, reiterates that the
main goal of ICSW is to promote social development, social justice and
social welfare. It states that ICSW should act as both agent and forum
for organizations and individuals involved in these issues. The four
main fields of activities emanating from this approach are: to become an
active advocate; to offer a platform for exchange of experience; to reach
out in important information issues; and to serve as a catalyst for
permanent dialogue.
The membership of ICSW has increased in the past four years. New
national organizations from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru,
Venezuela, the Gambia, Senegal, Seychelles and Jordan were admitted.
Owing to political changes and/or civil strife, the member committees in
Somalia and Yugoslavia have ceased to function. Two new international
member organizations were admitted: Association de coope'ration
internationale pour le volontariat africain (ACIVA) and Fondation
belgo-africaine. At the moment, ICSW has 73 national committees and 21
international organizations as members. Approximately two thirds of the
national members are from the developing countries. A process of
revising the membership structure - to admit more than one organization
per country - has been initiated during this quadrennial period.
During the period under review, the Council's sources of funding
have remained fairly constant. A three-year grant by the Finnish
International Development Agency to enhance information activities was
obtained in 1993 and has been very significant in developing information
related to the World Summit for Social Development. In 1993, ICSW also
made a major decision to move its General Secretariat from Vienna to
Montreal. The relocation became effective in early 1994.
ICSW has carried out a great variety of activities related to the
themes promoted and activities organized by the United Nations. The
present report will not try to enumerate them exhaustively but will be
limited to mentioning the principal ones.
ICSW and the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)
presented a joint written statement on the World Summit for Social
Development at the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council
in 1993 at Geneva.
ICSW was one of the early promoters of the International Year of the
Family in the NGO community. The former Secretary General of ICSW
chaired the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family during 1988-1991. The NGO
Committee produced a variety of briefing and background material and
organized a seminar entitled "Family: a topic for international debate
and action", at Vienna on 7-8 February 1991. The Asia and Pacific region
of ICSW organized its biennial regional conference in Singapore from 23
to 27 August 1993 on the theme "Family and development".
ICSW representatives attended the meetings of the United Nations
Commission for Social Development, at Vienna in February 1991 and 1993.
In the latter meeting, ICSW made an oral statement jointly with ICVA on
their preparations for the World Summit for Social Development.
ICSW representatives also attended the meetings of the Commission on
the Status of Women in each of the four years. ICSW organized a workshop
on "Women and access to national development", on 23 February 1990 as
part of the NGO consultation prior to the thirty-fourth session of the
Commission. It presented a joint oral statement on women in extreme
poverty and the integration of women's concerns into national development
planning at the meeting of the Commission in March 1993.
ICSW representatives participated in the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development. A briefing document on social
development and the environment, entitled "Earth Summit", was published
and distributed by ICSW during the preparatory period for the Conference.
The Asia and the Pacific region of ICSW organized its biennial regional
conference from 26 to 31 August 1991 in Hong Kong on the topic
"Environmental protection and social development - role of
non-governmental organizations".
ICSW took part in the World Conference on Human Rights. Its
representative made an oral statement, which was co-signed by a number of
other organizations, at the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee
for the Conference.
ICSW representatives have participated annually in the DPI/NGO
annual conferences and in more than 50 DPI briefings. The ICSW
representative was rapporteur of the NGO UNESCO Committee seminar
"Citoyens de demain - quelle e'ducation fondamentale pour une
citoyennete' active?", which took place in Paris on 2-9 December 1993.
The representative of ICSW gave an expose' on the role of
non-governmental organizations in the United Nations system at the
orientation seminar for newly accredited members of Permanent Missions of
the United Nations
system in Geneva, organized by the United Nations Institute for Training
and Research (UNITAR) on 22 November 1993.
Since the main aim of ICSW is to promote social development, it
welcomed the decision of the United Nations General Assembly to hold a
World Summit for Social Development, at the level of Heads of State, in
Copenhagen in March 1995. ICSW, together with ICVA launched a programme
related to the Summit. In addition to the above-mentioned statements,
they gave a briefing, in Vienna on 11 February 1993 on their planned
programme to selected country delegates attending the Commission for
Social Development. They also published two issues of the NGO summit
Newsletter in 1993. The approximate circulation of the newsletters was
5,000 and 10,000 copies respectively. Moreover, ICSW prepared and
distributed close to 8,000 copies of a set of four fact sheets, in
English, French and Spanish. All information material was distributed
not only to the members of the two organizations but also to the NGO
community as a whole.
ICSW attended the organizational session of the Preparatory
Committee for the World Summit for Social Development, on
12-16 April 1993, and gave an oral and written statement on its views
about the importance of the Summit.
The main themes of the twenty-sixth International Conference on
Social Welfare, to be held in Finland in July 1994, have been selected,
bearing in mind the three core issues of the World Summit for Social
Development. The twenty-sixth Conference provides an excellent
opportunity to discuss the various aspects of poverty alleviation,
enhancement of productive employment and social integration and will
provide a wealth of material for future work.
During the past four years, ICSW has been represented in the United
Nations system by a total of 12 volunteers. In addition to the permanent
representatives at the world level, ICSW has been involved in the work of
the various United Nations regions and has also been represented by
persons nominated by its national member organizations in a number of
meetings held in locations where ICSW has no permanent representatives.
The volunteers have worked in a number of NGO committees, for
example, in the NGO Committee on the Family (chair, 1988-1991);
Subcommittee on the Status of Women, Geneva (chair, 1989-1992); NGO
Committee on UNICEF (Board member, 1993- ); NGO Committee on Ageing, New
York (Board member 1992- ); NGO Committee on Sustainable Development and
CONGO Planning Committee for UNCED; NGO Working Group on Economic
Commission for Europe; and NGO Planning Committee for the Fourth World
Conference on Women.
ICSW representatives have taken part in the editorial panel of the
book series Women and World Development, organized by the joint UN/NGO
Group on Women and Development. This Group was established in 1980 for
the production and distribution of joint United Nations/NGO development
education materials. It was the first time that United Nations agencies
and non-governmental organizations collaborated in this way and it
remains a unique example of such cooperation. ICSW representatives also
participated in the editorial working group of the NGO Action for
Children Section of UNICEF's quarterly publication First Call for
Children. ICSW was one of the international partners in Facts for life
and collaborated in the production of the publication.
The ICSW General Secretariat had close relations to the former
United Nations Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs in
Vienna. The members of the Centre were invited to visit the ICSW General
Secretariat, and vice versa, to discuss important current issues and
activities. In May 1993, ICSW signed a work plan on cooperation with the
World Health Organization.
The representatives of the United Nations and its specialized
agencies have been invited to ICSW conferences and activities. A
representative of UNIFEM was the keynote speaker at the plenary session
on "Local development: content and context" and a representative of UNDP
introduced the topic in the special seminar on environment at the
twenty-fifth International Conference on Social Welfare, in Marrakech,
Morocco, on 24-29 June 1990.
UNICEF regional and field offices gave financial support to ICSW
members from the developing countries to a special interest meeting on
"Collaborative action at the local level", held in connection with the
above-mentioned twenty-fifth Conference, and to the ICSW strategic
planning seminar held in Washington, D.C., in July 1992. A joint film
project by ICSW-Canada and ICSW International on promotion of adult
literacy in 17 francophone countries has received substantial support
from UNESCO. The project is expected to be finalized in summer 1994.
ICSW has continued to publish information on activities and
campaigns organized by the United Nations in its quarterly newsletter,
which carries a special section on United Nations activities. United
Nations conferences and events have been included in the calendar of
events. "ICSW Information" is circulated to approximately 1,000
organizations.
In connection with "ICSW Information", ICSW has provided its members
information material prepared by the United Nations and its specialized
agencies on the aged, the disabled, children and women. Material
prepared by the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS)
was also distributed to all members and members were encouraged to add
themselves to its mailing list. On a number of occasions, ICSW has also
provided the address labels of its member organizations to the World
Health Organization and UNICEF NGO Unit.
40. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WOMEN
(Category I)
The International Federation of Business and Professional Women
(IFBPW) was founded in 1930 to bring together business and professional
women in all parts of the world regardless of race, nationality or
religion. Its purpose is to work for equal opportunities for all women
in the economic, civil and political life of the societies in which they
live, with the elimination of discrimination based on sex. It aims to
encourage education and occupational training in order to acquire
income-producing skills, to improve the status of women and to secure
increased opportunities for the employment of women at all levels.
During the period under review, emphasis has been placed on economic
issues. The objective has been "economic independence" for women world
wide with access to capital and resources as well as training.
Membership has increased, particularly in Eastern Europe and in the
developing countries. Federations in Romania and Lithuania, clubs in 11
additional countries, the first being in Poland, and individual members
in another 10 countries, brings the total to 107 countries in which IFBPW
has affiliates, with applications for membership from China and Paraguay.
Pending affiliate members of IFBPW receive publications without cost,
including a list of forthcoming United Nations meetings on subjects
related to the advancement of women, and communications from the Standing
Committee Chair with suggestions for programmes and action. The ability
of IFBPW to make known and to support the work of the United Nations has
increased.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council, its
subsidiary bodies and other United Nations meetings
IFBPW maintains permanent representatives in New York, Geneva and
Vienna, who attend meetings and work with the Secretariat in each
location.
The subsidiary bodies in which IFBPW participates, including by
attending sessions and recommending the implementation of action by
affiliates, are the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on
Human Rights, the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Population
Commission and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women.
Other United Nations bodies with which IFBPW cooperates are UNIFEM
and UNICEF. IFBPW seeks to further their programmes and secure financial
support by affiliates and Governments. It has helped to establish
national committees to make their work known. It has secured the
distribution of UNIFEM publications to 300 IFBPW leaders world wide.
World conferences and consultations, and their preparatory meetings,
in which IFBPW has participated include the following: International
Consultation Meeting on Statistics and Information on Ageing, New York,
28-30 May 1991; International Conference on Sustainable Development,
Vienna, 9-13 December 1991; World Congress for a Healthy Planet, Miami,
Florida, 1992; United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
Rio de Janeiro, 1-12 June 1992; World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna,
12-14 May 1993, at which IFBPW supported measures to proclaim women's
rights as human rights and to appoint a Special Rapporteur on violence
against women.
IFBPW also attended preparatory meetings for the International
Conference on Population and Development, for the World Summit for Social
Development and for the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Written and oral statements have been submitted by IFBPW to various
meetings of United Nations bodies, in particular to the Commission on the
Status of Women. IFBPW contributions to the work of the Commission on
the Status of Women include the following: statements were submitted to
the Commission at its thirty-fourth session (E/CN.6/1990/NGO/5 and
E/CN.6/1990/NGO/9), and at its thirty-fifth session (E/CN.6/1991/NGO/4
and E/CN.6/1991/NGO/9). On 22 May 1991, during the session of the
Economic and Social Council, IFBPW made an intervention on item 9
(Advancement of women). In 1992, several joint statements were signed
and an oral intervention was made. In March 1993, at the thirty-seventh
session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the President of IFBPW
spoke on item 5 (Priority themes) and an intervention was made by the
IFBPW representative on behalf of 18 non-governmental organizations in
consultative status, on the work of UNIFEM. IFBPW is a member of the NGO
Committees on the Status of Women, Ageing, the Family and Sustainable
Development, the NGO Population Task Force and the NGO Committees on
UNICEF and UNIFEM. Its United Nations representative in New York founded
and chaired the NGO Committee on UNIFEM. IFBPW has initiated and
attended NGO consultations and working parties sponsored by NGO
committees.
The Fourth World Conference on Women, its regional and national
preparatory meetings and the drafting of the programme of action to be
adopted by the World Conference have been a major concern. IFBPW is a
member of the NGO Planning Committee for the World Conference. Reprints
of information sheets received from the NGO Planning Committee are
included in the IFBPW news bulletin, along with dates of meetings and
preparatory action being taken. In 1992, the President sent a letter to
all affiliates urging support, and in 1993 a questionnaire was sent
seeking information on steps taken to implement the Forward-looking
Strategies and statistics on the number of women holding top government
positions for a report to be submitted to the World Conference.
IFBPW holds a seminar before each of its Congresses - in 1991, in
the Bahamas, in 1993, in Nagoya, Japan - to review issues and resolutions
proposed for adoption by the Congress and to implement action recommended
by United Nations bodies that relate to its objectives. Proposed
resolutions are discussed at workshops during the Congress and those
adopted are made known to all members through reports and publications
and incorporated in the work programmes of the standing committees. In
addition, forums are held nationally on special issues, such as the
three-day consultation on the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women, in New York in 1993 and the conference on
women and sustainable development, held in Amman in 1993, for eight Arab
countries.
Involvement in the work of the United Nations and support for the
attainment of its world-wide objectives continues to be the policy of
IFBPW.
41. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF SETTLEMENTS AND
NEIGHBORHOOD CENTERS
(Category II)
Introduction
The International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers
(IFS), founded in 1926, brings together multi-purpose community-based
organizations that seek to improve the quality of life in their
neighborhoods. Currently, IFS membership consists of organizations and
individuals from 22 countries, which together represent some 4,500 local
groups and organizations. Its headquarters remain in the United Kingdom
but have been transferred from Birmingham Settlement to the Derwent
Center in Derby. IFS is in the process of transferring its incorporation
as a non-profit charitable organization from the United Kingdom to the
United States, but its headquarters are expected to remain in the United
Kingdom. Funding for IFS comes from membership dues (national and local
federations and individual settlements), from grants obtained from
foundations and from special projects (technical assistance in most
cases) which IFS administers. Most of the recent projects are concerned
with East-West economic and social issues. IFS operates a strong East-
West group which has brought together social work leaders, youth
representatives and community developers throughout Europe. At the
present time, IFS is initiating similar activities in the Americas. It
is also establishing an African group, but this is still in the early
stages.
Participation with the Economic and Social Council
IFS has consistently participated in those meetings of the Economic
and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies which deal with issues
related to IFS objectives. These include the regular sessions of the
Council and the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Commission on
the Status of Women, the Commission on Human Rights, the Population
Commission and the Commission for Social Development. In addition, IFS
representatives have participated in the Preparatory Committees for the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the World
Conference on Human Rights, the World Summit for Children, the World
Summit for Social Development, Habitat II, and the International
Conference on Population and Development, as well as the Fourth World
Conference on Women.
Whenever appropriate, IFS has either submitted a written statement
or made an oral presentation. Most recently, IFS made oral presentations
to the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit
for Social Development (31 January to 11 February 1994), the final
session of the Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on
Population and Development (4 April 1994) and the second session of the
Commission for Sustainable Development (16 to 27 May 1994). The focus of
these statements was on the extent to which NGOs such as IFS can be of
assistance in implementing and monitoring programmes operated by
Governments as a result of the intergovernmental decisions reached at the
United Nations.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies and
specialized agencies
IFS cooperates in United Nations programme primarily through
membership in those NGO committees that deal with the issues of IFS
concern. Specifically, IFS is an active member of the NGO Committee on
Sustainable Development, and its subcommittee dealing with trade and
employment. It has taken the lead as a member of its steering committee
in developing programmes. IFS serves on the NGO Committee on the Family
and on its task force, organizing programmes for the International Year
of the Family. The IFS representative is an executive member of the NGO
Committee on Shelter and the Community and IFS representatives have taken
part in each of the symposiums and workshops organized by the Committee
during the past four years. Direct participation in UNIFEM is obtained
through the NGO Advisory Committee which meets monthly with the UNIFEM
secretariat. IFS is represented at the NGO Committee on the Status of
Women and has participated in each of the forums that have been organized
in connection with the sessions of the Commission on the Status of Women.
An IFS representative served as a facilitator at the last forum, which
met parallel with the Commission meeting in March 1994.
IFS has consistently taken part in UNICEF activities, including
membership not only in the NGO Committee on UNICEF but also in the
Working Group on the Rights of the Child. In the field of human rights,
an IFS representative took part and made an oral intervention in the
final Preparatory Committee meeting in Geneva in 1993. IFS also serves
on the NGO Committee on the International Year for the World's Indigenous
People, which deals largely with human rights issues. IFS has continued
its effective participation in the NGO Committee on Ageing, where its
representative serves on the Executive Committee and its various task
forces and caucuses. IFS also took an active role in the activities
sponsored by the United Nations to commemorate the tenth anniversary of
the adoption by the General Assembly of the International Plan of Action
on Ageing.
In addition to its activities with the Economic and Social Council
and its subsidiary organs, IFS has annually attended the sessions of the
Second and Third Committees of the General Assembly and has made its
views known on issues such as human rights (especially advocating the
establishment of a United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights),
migration and refugee problems, employment and training requirements in
the field of development, and the special needs of youth, the disabled,
women and the ageing.
Other relevant activities
At its last quadrennial Conference, "Organizing for Social Change:
Neighborhood Responses to Local and Global Issues", held in Toronto, on
4-10 June 1992, IFS organized a workshop entitled "Settlements and the
United Nations", at which participants from settlements world wide
examined the United Nations social and economic programmes and indicated
those areas in which they felt that settlement activities could assist in
the local implementation of programmes.
In consequence of a decision reached at the Toronto Conference, IFS
has begun a series of regional activities, beginning with the
establishment of a EUROGROUP, which has received accreditation from the
Council of Europe and works on a more informal basis with the European
Community and the Economic Commission for Europe. Both at its meetings
in Budapest on 28-31 March 1993 and in Prague on 14-16 April 1994, the
subject was "understanding the needs and concerns of minorities" and the
emphasis was on the role of local, national and international
organizations - governmental and private. The role of the United
Nations, especially with respect to ethnic issues and the problems of
countries in transition, was generally supported.
In February 1994, as part of its Executive Committee's New York
meeting, IFS organized a programme on challenges to NGOs to participate
more effectively in the United Nations. The meeting was attended by
about 100 members of non-governmental organizations, several United
Nations staff members and some government representatives. The keynote
address by the Director of the ILO Liaison Office to the United Nations
set the challenge in terms of the work of the entire United Nations
system. The responses outlined possible new future directions.
In July 1994, IFS will hold its first seminar and general meeting of
the Americas, in Curac'ao. The leadership for this meeting has been
undertaken by the President of a settlement in Curac'ao. It is hoped
that it will lead to the establishment of an American regional group
parallel to that of the IFS Eurogroups, but with issues related to the
Americas - North and South.
Information and publications
At each of the semi-annual meetings of its Executive Committee, the
United Nations representative outlines United Nations developments and,
in addition, provides quarterly summaries in writing, which are
distributed to all IFS members.
IFS publishes a periodic newsletter and issues reports on its own
activities. In each of these a summary of United Nations activities and
meetings is included.
42. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS
(Category II)
Introductory statement
Since submitting its last quadrennial report, in April 1990, the
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) has increased its
membership to 55 national associations of social workers world wide, with
a total of more than 350,000 professional social workers as members in
the member associations. The Federation was founded in 1956, but has a
history going back to 1928.
The four main aims of IFSW are:
1. To promote social work as a profession through cooperation and
action on an international basis, especially as regards professional
standards, training, ethics and working conditions, and to promote the
establishment of national associations of social workers where they do
not yet exist;
2. To support national associations in promoting the participation
of social workers in social planning, and the formulation of social
policies, nationally and internationally;
3. To encourage and facilitate contacts between social workers of
all countries and to provide media for discussion and an exchange of
ideas, through meetings, study visits, research projects, exchange of
publications and other means of communication;
4. To present the point of the profession on an international level
by establishing relations with international organizations, governmental
or voluntary, operating in, or interested in, the field of social
welfare, and to assist in the carrying out of social planning, social
action and welfare programmes sponsored by such organizations.
Human rights
The commitment of IFSW to the protection and advancement of human
rights has been strengthened, not only by the work of its own Human
Rights Commission intervening on behalf of social workers and others who
are persecuted and imprisoned but also by its close cooperation with the
Centre for Human Rights, United Nations Office at Geneva. This
cooperation has led to a manual for schools of social work and the social
work profession, entitled Teaching and Learning about Human Rights,
published by the Centre for Human Rights in 1992. The manual has been
widely disseminated to social workers and educational institutions
throughout the world. It has also been used at many conferences and
workshops, and will be published in French and Spanish, in addition to
English, to achieve a wider circulation. IFSW participated in the World
Conference on Human Rights, held at Vienna on 14-25 June 1993, and
presented written and oral statements to that major Conference,
concentrating on the links between human rights and social development.
International Year of the Family
Based upon the Federation's representation at the United Nations
Office at Vienna, IFSW has been engaged in the preparations for the
International Year of the Family (IYF). The Federation's main
representative in Vienna has served as a Board member of the Vienna NGO
Committee on the Family and as an editor of the newsletter "Families
international". In connection with the Federation's representation at
the World NGO Forum Launching the International Year of the Family, in
Valletta, Malta, on 28 November-2 December 1993, IFSW was designated IYF
patron for exemplary support to the United Nations programme on the IYF.
The IYF will also be one of the main focuses of the World Conference for
Social Workers, to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 9-13 July 1994.
Cooperation with the United Nations
Throughout the period 1990-1993, IFSW has cooperated with the United
Nations through a network of representatives, based in Geneva, New York,
Paris (at UNESCO) and Vienna. Some highlights of activities during the
quadrennium include the following:
1990
Responsible for a workshop on "Coalition building", at the NGO
consultation held on 22-23 February, preceding the extended session of
the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Vienna;
Represented at the Global Conference on Education for All, sponsored
by UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank, Jomtien, Thailand 5-9 March;
Participated in the seventh annual Social Work Day, United Nations
Headquarters, 21 March, focusing on "Empowerment through literacy and
education: international opportunities";
Participated in NGO activities in preparation for the World Summit
for Children, New York, 29-30 September and in furthering the Convention
on the Rights of the Child;
Participated in the NGO activities in preparation for the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992;
1991
At the eighth annual Social Work Day, United Nations Headquarters,
in March, on the theme "Global upheavals: social consequences for the
family", introduced the keynote speaker, the Chief of the Middle East and
North Africa Section of UNICEF;
IFSW representatives were elected Deputy Presidents of the NGO
Committee on UNICEF and the NGO/DPI Executive Committee;
Represented at the symposium organized by the Department of Public
Information of the United Nations Secretariat and the NGO Committee on
Ageing, entitled "Humanity comes of age: promise or peril", New York,
3 October;
Represented at the NGO Committee on UNICEF Forum on "Effective
participation in local and global child development", Kadoma, Zimbabwe,
4-8 November;
Published the monograph "Beyond medicine: the social work response
to the growing challenge of AIDS", funded by the Social and Behavioural
Research Unit, Global Programme on AIDS, WHO. The monograph has been,
and still is widely disseminated to social workers throughout the world;
1992
Actively involved in activities related to the United Nation work on
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations programme
of action on "Combating the sale of children, child prostitution and
child pornography", and the NGO Committee on Human Rights Subcommittee on
Southern Africa;
Participated in the ninth annual Social Work Day, United Nations
Headquarters, 24 March, devoted to "AIDS: an international crisis; a
social work call to action", at which one of the main speakers was
Mr. Jerry Kilker of WHO;
Participated in the planning of the DPI conference on "Regional
conflicts: threats to world peace and progress";
1993
Participated in the tenth annual Social Work Day, United Nations
Headquarters, 23 March, featuring the theme "A global challenge: ethnic
conflict and humanitarian issues" at which the Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs was the main speaker;
Took active part in the NGO activities in preparation for the three
landmark United Nations Conferences, on Population and Development,
Cairo, 1994, the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 1995,
and the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995.
Information provided to social workers world wide
IFSW is continuing to inform its membership and other readers about
United Nations activities and initiatives in its Newsletter, published
three times a year. Coverage of news about the United Nations is part of
every edition.
Conferences focusing on United Nations initiatives
The Federation's World Conferences for Social Workers (Buenos Aires,
1990, with 2,500 participants, and Washington, D.C., 1992, with 3,300
participants) always focus on several topics related to United Nations
initiatives. The regional seminars, gathering hundreds of social workers
(Hong Kong, 1991, Glasgow, 1991, Debrecen, Hungary, 1993), have focused
on such topics as ecology and deprivation, child care and poverty in
Europe.
Eastern and Central Europe
During the period under review, IFSW has given increased attention
to the development of social work and social work training in Eastern and
Central Europe. In the Russian Federation, Poland and Hungary, social
worker associations have been established in cooperation with IFSW. The
same development is now taking place in Albania, Romania and Ukraine,
with more countries to come. In 1992, the Chinese Social Workers'
Association was affiliated to the global Federation.
Distribution of policy statements and documents on
human rights and AIDS
In the period 1990-1993, IFSW has initiated a system for
distributing its international policy papers to individuals world wide on
the following topics: child welfare, elderly people, health, HIV-AIDS,
human rights, migration, peace and disarmament, protection of personal
information, refugees, rural communities, self-help, youth and the
advancement of women. The policy papers have been compiled partly on the
basis of United Nations documents, and promote global social development.
Also, the previously mentioned monograph on AIDS and the manual on human
rights are distributed in this manner.
43. INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN
(Category II)
Introduction
The International Federation of University Women (IFUW) is in a
period of rapid growth, particularly in developing countries and in
Central and Eastern Europe. Some 59 national associations, representing
150,000 graduate women, are members of IFUW. From 1990 to 1993, 10 new
national associations have joined and 15 are in the process of
affiliation.
Through its conferences and seminars, IFUW provides a world-wide
forum where highly educated women interact on international issues. The
Federation is committed to improve the status of women and girls, to
further the development of education and to protect human rights and
promote peace. IFUW undertakes activities in support of these issues and
encourages its members to apply their knowledge and skills to the
problems that arise at all levels of public life and to participate in
decision-making at the local, national and international levels. IFUW
offers an international fellowships programme.
The 1992 to 1995 study and action programme is entitled "Women's
Future, World Future: Education for Survival and Progress". This
emphasizes the Federation's commitment to education as the key to
confronting global challenges and to empowering women as agents of
change, which is achieved through development of pressure groups,
lobbying governments, cooperation with other women's organizations,
international networking and local projects.
For its funding, IFUW continues to rely on subscriptions from
members for its core budget. In addition, IFUW has recently received
grants from UNICEF and some national development agencies for its
programme on capacity-building.
IFUW cooperates with four international non-governmental
organizations in consultative status on women and development projects in
Project 5-0, a UNESCO co-action project.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council
IFUW representatives attend most meetings of the Economic and Social
Council, giving special attention to the sessions of the Commission on
the Status of Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women, the Commission on Human Rights and the Committee on the
Rights of the Child.
Conferences
IFUW has been represented at world conferences during the period
1990 to 1993, including meetings of preparatory committees and regional
meetings. IFUW cooperated with other NGOs to ensure that the role of
women and girls was mainstreamed through the conference documentation and
that it received specific attention.
At the World Conference on Education for All, held in Thailand in
March 1993 IFUW was represented by an expert in education.
The Secretary General of IFUW accepted the invitation to attend the
World Summit for Children, held in New York in September 1990.
At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio
de Janeiro, June 1992, IFUW established an environment and development
network of experts, which contributed to working groups and meetings on
issues related to environment and sustainable development. An expert
ecologist represented IFUW at the Conference.
The Secretary General of IFUW and three other representatives
attended the World Conference on Human Rights, at Vienna in June 1993.
Preparations for future world conferences
IFUW is participating in preparatory and regional meetings for the
International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit
on Social Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women.
Statements
At the thirty-fourth session of the Commission on the Status of
Women, the President of IFUW made an oral presentation on the question of
equality and participation and decision-making. A joint NGO written
statement was also made on the same question. On the subject women and
the environment, a joint NGO written statement was made.
At the thirty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of
Women, the President of IFUW made oral presentations on the role of women
in the peace process, and on education of the girl child.
At the thirty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of
Women, the President of IFUW made an oral presentation on the
preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women. Two joint NGO
written statements were also made on that subject. The President of IFUW
also made an oral statement concerning women's place in peace
negotiations. Joint NGO written statements were made on the following
questions: equal participation in all efforts to promote international
cooperation, peace and disarmament; monitoring the implementation of the
Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies - Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women; integration of women in the process of
development; and elimination of de jure and de facto discrimination
against women.
At the thirty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of
Women, joint NGO statements (written and oral) were made on the following
questions: women in extreme poverty and the integration of women's
concerns into national development planning; men and women in
partnership; preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women;
monitoring the implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies;
and Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Joint NGO statements (written and oral) were made at the forty-ninth
session of the Commission on Human Rights on the following subjects:
torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;
preparatory meeting for the World Conference on Human Rights; and human
rights of women.
At the seventy-seventh session of the ILO Conference, IFUW submitted
a statement on the promotion of self-employment.
During the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, a joint NGO
statement was made on women and environment and development. At the
third session of the Preparatory Committee, oral statements were made on
environmental education and on women and environment and development.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes
and bodies and specialized agencies
IFUW is cooperating with the United Nations and its specialized
agencies in particular in the fields of education and the advancement of
women, through its excellent consultative relations with the Division for
the Advancement of Women, UNIFEM and INSTRAW in programmes and the
preparation of meetings relating to women's issues.
IFUW cooperates with UNICEF in the Girl Child Priority for
Development Programme. IFUW is Treasurer and Board member of the NGO
Committee on UNICEF. The programmes on the education of the girl child
and cross-disciplinary approaches to discrimination of girls have been
featured at IFUW meetings and conferences. At the 1992 triennial
Conference, which was attended by 1,700 members, a panel discussion was
held on the girl child, with the participation of UNICEF staff.
At UNESCO, IFUW is an active member of the Collective Consultation
on Higher Education, cooperating with UNESCO in the study and publication
of a report on women in higher education management. The IFUW Secretary
General has attended meetings of the Consultation, and expert members
have contributed to studies and symposia. IFUW is cooperating with the
Higher Education Division in the preparation of a publication on women in
higher education for the Fourth World Conference on Women. The findings
of this study will be presented as a round table at the NGO Forum in
Beijing.
Action in implementation of United Nations resolutions
At the IFUW triennial Conference, in August 1992, a number of
resolutions were adopted relating to United Nations resolutions and
programmes, demonstrating the commitment of IFUW to implement United
Nations resolutions at the international and national level within its
areas of competence.
IFUW is also cooperating with UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World
Bank in the follow-up to the World Conference on Education for All. The
IFUW Secretary General is a member of the Committee for the Education for
All Network, which is planning regional seminars. At the recent New
Delhi summit for the nine most populous nations, to review programmes on
Education for All, the IFUW President represented the NGO Committees of
UNESCO and UNICEF, and presented a joint statement which drew special
attention to the imperative educational needs of women and girls.
Following UNCED, there was a panel discussion at the 1992 IFUW
triennial Conference on the implementation of Agenda 21, with a keynote
speaker from the UNCED secretariat.
Several United Nations departments and specialized agencies have
recognized the urgent need for capacity-building. IFUW is cooperating
with training programmes for women leaders of NGOs, particularly in
Eastern Europe and developing countries. This has received financial
support from UNICEF.
IFUW representatives in Geneva are closely following the Commission
on Human Rights and cooperating with the Secretariat in ensuring that the
resolutions in the Vienna Declaration to mainstream women's human rights
into all activities of the Centre for Human Rights are implemented.
44. INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
(Category II)
The International League for Human Rights, founded in 1942, works to
end torture, disappearances, religious intolerance, censorship and other
human rights abuses. Taking the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as
its charter, the League acts to strengthen the implementation of human
rights through the relevant international bodies; to protect the human
rights of individuals world wide; and to bolster the activities of
domestic human rights monitoring groups around the world. The League is
a private, non-governmental international human rights organization in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. It also has
been afforded similar status with UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the
African Commission on Human and People's Rights. As a matter of
principle, the League accepts no funding from any Government or
intergovernmental body.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and its
subsidiary bodies and/or conferences and other United
Nations meetings and cooperation with United Nations
programmes and bodies and specialized agencies
Representatives of the League have participated actively in the
Economic and Social Council and in other United Nations conferences and
meetings. During each of the past four years, the Executive Director and
other League representatives have attended the sessions of the Commission
on Human Rights, where they have addressed a number of agenda items.
League representatives have also attended sessions of the Subcommission
on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. The League
has periodically appeared before the Trusteeship Council to submit
petitions on non-self-governing territories. For example, in May 1990,
the League submitted to the Trusteeship Council a petition on the Trust
Territory of the Pacific Islands. Several League representatives took
part in the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and
the Treatment of Offenders in August and September 1990. In 1992 and
1993, a League Vice-President spoke on the question of East Timor before
the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation
of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples.
The League has continued working to support the activities of the
United Nations committees that supervise human rights treaties that they
have ratified. League representatives have attended meetings of the
Human Rights Committee, the Committee against Torture and the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The League has
assisted members of the treaty committees in the development of general
comments and recommendations. The League has also worked closely with
members of the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women to draft general comments and
recommendations adopted by those committees interpreting the conventions.
In January 1992, the League assisted the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women in drafting a general recommendation on
violence against women; the League has also provided comments to the
Human Rights Committee in connection with a draft general comment on
freedom on religion, conscience and beliefs.
Each year, the League convenes a series of workshops on human rights
issues before the Third Committee of the General Assembly. Between 30
and 45 delegates from all world regions attend each of the autumn
workshops, which have dealt with topics ranging from new standards to
protect the rights of minorities, indigenous peoples and others to the
proposal to establish a High Commissioner for Human Rights. The League
convened a special briefing at Geneva in February 1992 for delegates to
the Commission on Human Rights. The League continues to prepare In
Briefs, specialized background studies on various human rights matters
before the United Nations human rights bodies. Synthesizing complex and
current information about country situations and human rights mechanisms,
recent In Briefs have dealt with such issues as advancing United Nations
enforcement of women's human rights, the rights of refugees and
procedures to protect human rights.
In preparation for the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, the
League organized a satellite meeting, which was held at Yale University
in May. The meeting's proceedings were distributed to both United
Nations delegates and non-governmental organizations prior to and during
the World Conference, as was the League report, "Combating violence
against women". League representatives attended the World Conference on
Human Rights in Vienna and participated in successful NGO effort to
identify violence against women and other women's human rights issues as
part of the World Conference. The League played a prominent role in the
NGO drive to create a High Commissioner for Human Rights and has also
joined in post-Vienna NGO coalition efforts to establish a Special
Rapporteur on violence against women.
In January 1994, a League mission travelled to Afghanistan. Its
findings on the human rights situation in Afghanistan were transmitted to
the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan and the Special Rapporteur on
religious intolerance.
In January 1992, the League sponsored an international conference on
violence against women, which brought together members of the Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, members of other
United Nations treaty bodies, activists from all over the world who work
to promote women's rights at the national level, government officials
from various regions, and leading international law scholars. The
conference culminated in a series of recommendations for United Nations
action, as well as for measures that Governments and private
organizations can take to promote an end to violence against women. In
the weeks following the conference, the League worked with members of the
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and assisted
them in drafting a general recommendation on violence against women.
Adopted on 29 January 1992, the general recommendation drew extensively
on the League's suggestions, setting forth a comprehensive analysis of
gender-specific violence as a violation of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The general
recommendation has already had far-reaching significance for
interpretations of other human rights treaties and for various human
rights enforcement mechanisms at the United Nations. The general
recommendation strengthened the drive to establish a Special Rapporteur
on violence against women in the Commission on Human Rights.
The League has closely monitored the conflict in the former
Yugoslavia since hostilities first broke out. Based on the findings of
three fact-finding missions, the League formulated recommendations for
United Nations and international action, including the establishment of a
war crimes tribunal, and pressed for their realization.
Other League activities include a campaign in May and June 1990 to
get mayors of major United States cities to endorse the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and to have their cities' agencies comply with it.
In 1991, the League participated in two fact-finding missions to Nagorny
Karabakh to report on the ethnic cleansing taking place there.
45. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION
(Category I)
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a world-
wide federation of national standards bodies from some 100 countries, one
from each country. ISO is a non-governmental organization established in
1947. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of
standardization and related activities in the world, with a view to
facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to
developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific,
technological and economic activity. The work of ISO results in
international agreements which are published as international standards.
ISO representatives attend the sessions of the Economic and Social
Council or its committees at which matters of concern to ISO are
discussed. The main ISO contributions to the Council have been through
the regional commissions (mainly ECE), other United Nations organs (e.g.,
UNCHS, UNCTAD, UNEP) and committees such as the Committee of Experts on
the Transport of Dangerous Goods and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses
of Outer Space. In addition, there is active collaboration between ISO
and most of the specialized agencies of the United Nations system.
Cooperation with the regional commissions
Economic Commission for Europe
In addition to attending meetings of its regular sessions, ISO is
actively involved in a large proportion of the activities of ECE. ISO
representatives participate in the meetings of the Working Party on
Standardization Policies. ISO is making direct contributions to the work
of, and attending meetings of, among others, the following ECE principal
subsidiary bodies and/or their subordinate bodies:
(a) Committee on Energy;
(b) Committee on Housing, Building and Planning;
(c) Inland Transport Committee;
(d) Committee on the Development of Trade/Working Party on
Facilitation of International Trade Procedures;
(e) Working Party on Engineering Industries and Automation;
(f) Timber Committee.
ISO representatives participate in 40 to 50 meetings of the above
bodies each year, in addition to numerous informal discussions with the
ECE secretariat. Nearly 60 ISO technical committees in various fields
have liaison with ECE.
In relation to UN/EDIFACT, ISO and ECE are developing a memorandum
of understanding to finalize collaboration in the fields of electronic
data interchange (EDI) and open-EDI.
Economic Commission for Africa
Relations between ECA and ISO have been sustained by the exchange of
documentation and invitations to meetings of mutual interest.
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
A good deal of the Commission's interest in ISO work lies in the
field of transportation, including transportation by inland waterways in
the context of ECLAC activity on integrated river basin planning. At the
request of ECLAC, regular liaison has been arranged between ECLAC and the
ISO technical committee on freight containers and the ISO subcommittee on
inland navigation.
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
ISO is represented at many ESCAP meetings, both at regional
workshops on technical subjects of interest to ISO and at ESCAP regular
sessions. Cooperation between ISO and ESCAP is particularly active in
the field of hydrometric determination and agricultural machinery. ESCAP
receives the annual reports of 25 ISO technical committees in various
fields. The Trade Information Service of ESCAP is supplied, on demand,
with copies of standards publications of ISO.
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
ESCWA is in liaison with some 12 ISO technical committees and
subcommittees.
Cooperation with other United Nations organs
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)
ISO continues to have contacts with UNCHS, by means of the normal
ISO liaison procedures for committees in which UNCHS has an interest.
Six ISO committees maintain liaison with UNCHS.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
ISO is closely involved with UNCTAD in the discussions regarding
availability of international standards for freight containers and the
question of the possibility of drawing up a flexible international
agreement on the application of these standards. ISO has participated in
discussions at the secretariat level and in meetings of the
intergovernmental group on this subject during the past years. ISO
participates in meetings of the Committee on Transfer of Technology and
the Services Development Committee (Shipping), and is represented at
UNCTAD sessions. Cooperation also exists, within the framework of ITC-
UNCTAD/GATT, on questions concerning export inspection and related
aspects of quality certification. Seven ISO technical committees in
various fields have liaison with UNCTAD.
United Nations Environment Programme
ISO technical committees dealing with terminology, sampling and
analysis of pollutants in the atmosphere and in water, measurement of
environmental noise and vibrations, and soil quality contribute
information of relevance to UNEP. In addition to corresponding with the
office in Nairobi, close contacts are maintained with the UNEP offices in
Geneva and Paris. Three ISO technical committees have liaison with UNEP.
An active collaboration is being established with the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
in the area of animal identification.
Cooperation with the specialized agencies of the
United Nations system
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
The close cooperation between ISO and UNIDO, particularly in the
area of standardization in the industrializing process, continues. UNIDO
is invited to send representatives to attend ISO meetings of relevance to
UNIDO programmes and ISO is invited to UNIDO meetings concerned with
standardization and its applications in developing countries. As a
result of the Memorandum of Understanding signed in 1979 by the ISO
Secretary-General and the UNIDO Executive Director (now Director-
General), the special joint UNIDO/ISO Committee continues to meet every
year alternately in Geneva and Vienna. The next phase of the UNIDO/ISO
collaboration scheme involves the implementation of a training programme
for African countries in the application of international quality
management standards (ISO 9000), for which UNIDO is seeking financing
through the Industrial Development Decade for Africa and other sources.
Other specialized agencies and related organizations of the United
Nations system
Close contacts and active collaboration are also maintained between
relevant ISO technical committees and the specialized agencies and
related organizations of the United Nations system, particularly FAO,
GATT, IAEA, ICAO, ILO, IMO, ITU, UPU, WHO, WIPO and WMO, on subjects of
mutual interest. There is particularly sustained close collaboration in
the field of food products where ISO is in constant contact with the
secretariat and subsidiary bodies of the Codex Alimentarius Commission.
Also, because of the rapid development in the field of information
technology, the relations between ISO and ITU have become highly
interactive owing to the growing convergence of information technology
and telecommunications; representatives of both sides hold joint meetings
or attend each other's meetings several times a year.
46. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE ELIMINATION
OF ALL FORMS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
(Category II)
Objectives and principles
The purpose of the organization is humanitarian, emanating from the
principle of the equality in dignity and rights of all human beings and
peoples. The specific principles and objectives of the organization are
those of the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms
of Racial Discrimination. The organization adopts all legitimate means
of contributing to the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination
everywhere, and attempts to organize efforts for that purpose to ensure a
greater measure of effectiveness, including the following:
(a) Collection of information and preparation of studies and
references on racism in general and the dissemination thereof;
(b) Development of awareness of the racist problem and its danger to
the human community, human dignity and world peace through publications,
conferences, seminars and other methods;
(c) Confirmation of the moral and human values of equality and
justice without discrimination;
(d) Exposure of the interrelationship between racism, colonialism
and imperialism;
(e) Cooperation with and support of efforts of NGOs engaged in
combating racism and racial discrimination;
(f) Performance of such other activities as may contribute to
greater understanding among people on the basis of equal worth and
dignity of all human beings. For example, the organization occasionally
grants fellowship awards to graduate students and presents an
International Award for the Promotion of Human Understanding.
Activities
As it has done over the past decade, the International Organization
for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD)
continues to engage in a number of activities and projects, often in
cooperation with the United Nations or other NGOs concerned with human
rights and the elimination of racial discrimination. All activities of
EAFORD are directed towards the realization of the objectives of the
United Nations by fighting discrimination in all fields. These
activities during the period under review included:
(a) Convening seminars and conferences under joint auspices with
universities, NGOs and the United Nations on racism and racial
discrimination in general, and on apartheid and rights and conditions of
indigenous peoples, in Geneva, New York, Vienna, Washington, D.C., Latin
America, Canada, South Africa etc.;
(b) Participating, through oral and written interventions, in at
least 60 conferences and seminars organized by NGOs and the United
Nations and its agencies, including the World Conference on Human Rights,
in Vienna, in June 1993;
(c) Participating in the NGO Forum of the World Conference on Human
Rights;
(d) Participating in all sessions of the Commission on Human Rights;
(e) Participating in all sessions of the Subcommission on Prevention
of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, especially in connection
with agenda items on self-determination, racism and racial
discrimination, decolonization and violations of human rights in any part
of the world;
(f) Participating in all NGO symposiums on the question of
Palestine;
(g) Served on the NGO Subcommittee on Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Apartheid and Decolonization;
(h) Member of the International Coordinating Committee of NGOs on
the Question of Palestine;
(i) Member of the Special NGO Committee on Human Rights;
(j) Member of the Conference of NGOs in consultative status with the
Economic and Social Council (CONGO);
(k) Publishes a biannual newsletter, with "UN update" sections;
(l) Provides information to United Nations bodies dealing with
specific questions on racism and racial discrimination;
(m) Organized a panel on "barriers to housing rights" at the United
Nations NGO co-sponsored conference on sustainable housing in
industrialized States;
(n) Assisted in organizing a fact-finding mission in Palestine to
investigate matters in connection with the Habitat International
Coalition "Campaign against forced eviction";
(o) Was invited to take part in the human rights panel of the Native
Housing Rights Conference, Sudbury, Ontario;
(p) The Secretary General of EAFORD, at the request of the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO) after the signature of the Declaration of
Principles, prepared a draft basic law for the emerging Palestinian
entity, emphasizing human rights and the rule of law on the basis of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two International
Covenants;
(q) An Executive Council member of EAFORD, at an international
conference organized by the University of Bophuthatswana, was presented a
certificate in recognition of his publications, lectures and other
activities in support of the rights of the indigenous African peoples.
At Ankara University, in Turkey, he introduced courses on Africa and
wrote a textbook entitled African National Liberation Movements, which
took the liberation issue from 1918 up to the present, analysing it
country by country and also continent-wise. He also recently completed a
research project for UNESCO on "Discrimination as a source of conflict";
(r) In June 1993, an Executive Council member convened a meeting of
the Pan African Movement in Toronto which was attended by participants
from Angola, Nigeria, Guyana, the Bahamas and the United States;
(s) An executive Council member finished a book, the title of which
is Peace for Palestine. The book is a comprehensive review, reflecting
50 years of struggle in defence of the rights of Palestinians;
(t) EAFORD received the "Award of Peace Messenger" from the
Secretary-General of the United Nations;
(u) Continued efforts of previous years to focus comparatively on
Palestine, South Africa, ex-Yugoslavia, indigenous peoples and
minorities.
EAFORD publications included:
The Demolition of Palestinian Homes and Other Structures by Israeli
Authorities
Armas e infiltracio'n: Israel en America Latina
South Africa and Israel: Entering the 1990s
Cro'nica de una discriminacio'n institucionalizada: Israel en
Palestina
The Debate on Zionism and Racism
The Facts on Zionism and Racism
Applying the Anti-Apartheid Principles to the Middle East
International Law and Indigenous People's Organizations Regarding
Housing and Habitat
State Planning, Development Programs and Indigenous Groups
Without Prejudice (the EAFORD international journal on racial
discrimination)
The publications of EAFORD, as well as its newsletter, special
reports and studies, information sheets and bulletins are sent regularly
to United Nations offices and to 2,000 other NGOs and international and
national offices and agencies. Information is continually provided
regarding United Nations activities, and the role that EAFORD plays with
the Organization, as well as the contact EAFORD maintains throughout the
year with the United Nations.
47. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF CONSUMER UNIONS
(Category I)
Aims and purposes of the organization
The International Organization of Consumer Unions (IOCU) is a world-
wide federation of consumer organizations dedicated to the protection and
promotion of consumer rights and interests through research, information
and education.
During the period 1990-1993, 38 new organizations became members of
IOCU. Total membership is now 180 organizations from 72 countries. The
principal regions for membership growth were Asia and the Pacific, Latin
America, Eastern Europe and Africa. In addition to its Programme for the
Developed Economies (PRODEC) and its Regional Offices for Latin America
and the Caribbean (ROLAC) and Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), IOCU has set
up a new Programme for the Economies in Transition (PROECT) and, at the
end of 1993, prepared for the opening of a Regional Office for Africa
(ROAF) in Zimbabwe.
IOCU works closely with the Pesticide Action Network (PAN), the
International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN) and Health Action
International (HAI), hosting the Asian wing of HAI, known as Action for
Rational Drugs in Asia.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and its
subsidiary bodies
Economic activities
Between 1990 and 1993, IOCU attended the meetings of the Commission
on Transnational Corporations, where it organized the adoption of a
United Nations code of conduct on TNCs. In October 1992, IOCU
participated in an ECLAC seminar on TNCs and economic growth in Latin
America.
IOCU closely followed the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade
negotiations and presented position papers to GATT on consumers and the
Uruguay Round and on trade and the environment. In December 1993, IOCU
commented on the outcome of the Uruguay Round.
Environmental activities
IOCU participated in the Preparatory Committee meetings for UNCED
and hosted a panel discussion on consumers and the environment at the NGO
Global Forum held parallel to the Earth Summit. In 1991, ROAP attended
ESCAP/UNDP meetings on the environment.
During the quadrennium, IOCU has been involved with the
International Programme on Chemical Safety, attending regional meetings
on Prior Informed Consent in Toxic Chemicals and contributing towards the
development of a code of ethics for the international trade in toxic
chemicals.
Welfare, health and food activities
Throughout the period 1990-1993, IOCU has been represented at the
Economic and Social Council's permanent working groups on ageing, the
status of women, literacy and education for human rights. IOCU helped to
launch a working group on the family as an economic unit and has been
involved in the preparations for the 1994 International Year of the
Family. In June 1993, a representative from ROLAC attended the World
Conference on Human Rights.
In association with IBFAN and HAI, IOCU has continued to participate
in the work of WHO on baby foods and in its drug action programme. IOCU
sent delegations to the WHO meetings on ethical criteria for medicinal
drug promotion. Representatives from ROAP attended the WHO meeting on
the Philippine pharmaceutical industry in September 1993. IOCU has
contributed to WHO anti-tobacco activities and work on AIDS through the
testing of condoms.
IOCU has taken an active part in the Codex Alimentarius Commission
throughout the quadrennium, at the Commission itself and at the regional
and special subject committees. IOCU representatives attended an FAO/WHO
Conference on Food Standards, Chemicals in Food and the Food Trade, in
Rome in March 1991. IOCU sent a large delegation to the 1992 FAO/WHO
International Conference on Nutrition. IOCU also attends the FAO
Council. In June 1993, representatives from ROAP attended the FAO Expert
Consultation on the Integration of Consumer Interests in Food Control.
IOCU is an active member of the Nutrition Working Group of the NGO
Committee on UNICEF.
Representatives from ROAP attended a meeting on food irradiation
with WHO, IAEA and FAO, in Kuala Lumpur in January 1992. IOCU was
invited to participate in the IAEA annual General Conference for the
first time in 1992.
Air transport activities
In June 1992, IOCU was represented at ICAO, the European Civil
Aviation Conference and the International Air Transport Association, and
participated in the 1992 triennial General Assembly of ICAO.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies
and specialized agencies
1990
In June, IOCU was an organizing partner with ESCAP in the United
Nations-sponsored Asia Pacific Seminar on Consumer Protection, in
Bangkok.
1991
ROLAC established a formal partnership agreement with UNESCO in 1991
to introduce consumer education into Latin American schools.
1992
Speakers from the Codex and from the GATT secretariat participated
in an IOCU seminar in May on food standards.
In collaboration with and sponsorship from UNIDO, ROLAC held a joint
Regional Workshop on Consumer Protection and Product Standards, in Puerto
Rico in June.
IOCU held a joint meeting with ECLAC and UNESCO on Adult Education
in Latin America, in Santiago in September.
1993
IOCU held a joint seminar with IAEA and the International
Consultative Group on Food Irradiation in September.
ROLAC submitted a paper on consumer education for youth and adults
to the UNESCO meeting on adult education.
Other relevant activities
Consultation with officials
In November 1992, members of the IOCU Executive Committee and the
IOCU Director General met directly with the United Nations Secretary-
General to discuss consumer rights. In October 1993, an IOCU delegation
met with the Director-General of GATT.
Preparation of materials for the United Nations
In 1992, IOCU representatives in New York gave considerable support
to the publication and distribution of a new revised edition of the
Consolidated List of Products Whose Consumption and/or Sale Have Been
Banned, Withdrawn, Severely Restricted or not Approved by Governments.
Financial assistance received from the United Nations
UNESCO has helped to fund ROLAC's consumer education work and PROECT
has received funding from UNDP to help develop consumer organizations in
Eastern Europe. ROAP has received grants from the United Nations
Development Fund for Women and UNEP for work on pesticide education.
ECLAC sponsored an IOCU economic seminar in Costa Rica in 1993.
48. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF INDIGENOUS
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(Category II)
On 10 May 1989, the International Organization of Indigenous
Resource Development (IOIRD) was granted category II consultative status
with the Economic and Social Council. The organization's original aim
was to promote the international interest of indigenous peoples,
particularly indigenous community development of natural resources,
through means that are compatible with the protection of indigenous
culture, indigenous human rights, traditional economy and protection of
the environment. In pursuit of its purposes, IOIRD has participated,
with oral and written statements, in at least 35 United Nations
conferences and meetings.
Since one of the major objectives of IOIRD is to promote the aims,
objectives and purposes of the United Nations and its affiliated bodies
and the furtherance of the undertaking of their work among indigenous
peoples, representatives of IOIRD have attended United Nations meetings
to support the development of international instruments. In particular,
oral and written statements have been presented to the United Nations
Working Group on indigenous populations, the Subcommission on Prevention
of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities and the Commission on
Human Rights. The agenda items included, among others, the Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the International Year of the
World's Indigenous People, the United Nations Treaty Study, ILO
Convention 169, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Several meetings and conferences have been held by IOIRD at the
regional and local level to provide information about the United Nations
and its affiliated bodies. Reports have been submitted to the respective
IOIRD membership, leaders and community members in the Council, Board or
general meetings. This information and public education is an ongoing
activity of IOIRD in pursuit of its goals. Other regional international
meetings have been attended in Mexico, Guatemala, Greenland, Canada and
the United States. The United Nations Meeting of Experts in Nuuk,
Greenland, on Indigenous Self-Government, the Indigenous Summits and the
Indigenous Parliament were all forums to promote knowledge and encourage
an exchange of information.
Action and cooperation by participation of IOIRD delegations in the
Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies and/or conferences
and other United Nations meetings in Geneva and New York included:
1990
12-17 July, Geneva, United Nations Working Group; 27 July-3 August,
Geneva, Subcommission;
8-12 October, Guatemala, indigenous Parliament, relating to Rio
Conference on Environment and Development, United Nations Treaty
Study, ILO Convention 169, Convention on the Rights of the Child,
International Year of the World's Indigenous People, draft
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People;
1991
February, Geneva, Commission on Human Rights, relating to Canada's
report;
April, Geneva, Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination;
July, Geneva, United Nations Working Group;
August, Geneva, United Nations Subcommission, relating to the draft
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and United Nations
Treaty Study;
September, Nuuk, Greenland, the United Nations Meeting of Experts on
Indigenous Self-Government;
1992
February, Geneva, Commission on Human Rights;
16-18 June, Denver, Tribal Summit (E/C.4/Sub.2/AC.4/1992/3/Add.1);
July, Geneva, United Nations Working Group;
November, New York, Geneva, Washington, D.C., United Nations draft
declaration, Organization of American States Declaration;
10-12 November, Ottawa, Indigenous Parliament;
10-12 December, New York, Economic and Social Council International
Year;
1993
24-28 May, Guatemala, United Nations Treaty Study, International
Decade;
14-25 June, Vienna, World Conference on Human Rights;
July, Geneva, United Nations Working Group;
August, Geneva, United Nations Subcommission;
15-17 September, Geneva, NGO consultations on Decade on Racism;
5 October, Mexico, United Nations Treaty Study, International
Decade;
29-30 October, Montana, Four Nations, regarding United Nations
Treaty Study.
The financial commitment by the Four Nations of Hobbema has been
extremely helpful, enabling IOIRD to support the United Nations in its
activities. The most recent accomplishments were an IOIRD representative
meeting with Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 19 November 1993
with the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Ms. Rigoberta Menchu, the
General Assembly resolution on the International Decade of the World's
Indigenous Peoples and the Action Plan for the Decade.
49. INTERNATIONAL PRISONERS AID ASSOCIATION
(Category II)
General background
The International Prisoners Aid Association (IPAA) was founded 40
years ago by voluntary organizations in North America devoted to the
after-care of prisoners and related activities. Since its foundation in
1950, IPAA membership has grown, reaching more than 40 organizations
representing about 30 countries throughout the world. In 1965, the
Association was granted consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council; it was granted the same status by the Council of Europe in 1971,
and became a charter member of the NGO Alliance in 1972. In recent
years, IPAA has endured some difficulties owing to budget shortages and
lack of paid staff. Through volunteer service, however, its endeavours
in offenders care has continued and it is now preparing a world-wide
directory of offenders care agencies.
Main objectives
The principal purpose of IPAA is to provide for the international
dissemination and exchange of information and experiences regarding
offender rehabilitation and crime prevention; to encourage the
establishment and growth of local and national non-governmental agencies
that render needed services to offenders and their families; and to
promote cross-cultural correctional research and facilitate contact among
correctional workers throughout the world.
Publications and reports
IPAA issues a regular newsletter three times a year, an informative
periodical directory of offenders care agencies around the world, and
special reports and pamphlets that deal with international correction.
Since 1990, the newsletter has covered numerous news items on prisoners
aid agencies and correctional conferences in various parts of the world,
and several articles and research reports relevant to offenders
rehabilitation and crime prevention, including resolutions and other
activities of United Nations bodies.
Topics covered by the IPAA newsletter in recent years include: 100
years of prisoner's aid in New Zealand; IPAA at 40 moving forward; plan
for regionalization of prisoner's care agencies; sports help prisoners in
Papua New Guinea; Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of
Crime and the Treatment of Offenders; new trends of community offenders
care in Italy; prisons in Cuba; development of Taiwan After-Care
Association; Wisconsin prison system adopts computer literacy programme;
activities of the NGO Alliance on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
at the United Nations, New York; human rights of indigenous people;
Australian Association of Prisoner Support Organizations; recommendation
on the treatment of foreign prisoners; children in prison with their
mothers; prisons in the Soviet Union; new Human Rights Treaty; National
Conference on Sentencing Advocacy; International Society of Social
Defence; National Juvenile Services Training Institute; correctional
health care; international trends in crime, residential treatment and the
family; International Institute on Victimology, and Victoria Association
for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders.
Conferences and seminars
In addition to its business meetings, IPAA holds a general
membership meeting, combined with an international conference, twice
every five years, one of which corresponds in time and place with the
United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of
Offenders, held in a different country every five years. During 1990-
1993, IPAA has conducted several international conferences, including a
meeting dealing with "after-care in the Middle East", which was held in
Cairo in January 1990 in collaboration with the Egyptian Union for
Prisoner Care. The Cairo conference dealt with trends in offender
rehabilitation, problems faced by discharged prisoners, and after-care of
special categories of offenders, and ended with a resolution to form a
regional Arab union for prisoners care agencies. While attending the
Eighth United Nations Congress, held in Cuba in August 1990, IPAA
conducted its own seminar on "exchange of new ideas and experiences in
offenders care", and participated in two of the ancillary meetings of the
non-governmental organizations: one on "community participation in
corrections", the other on "implementation of United Nations standards
and rules". During the 1990-1993 period, IPAA participated through its
representatives in several international events concerning offender
rehabilitation, held, for example, in San Sebastian, Spain, Rio de
Janeiro, Milan, Vienna, Paris, Versailles, Courmayeur, Italy, and New
York.
Representation at the United Nations and NGO Alliance
IPAA affiliation with the United Nations has enhanced the exchange
of information worldwide with other groups interested in improving and
humanizing policies dealing with crime prevention and the treatment of
offenders. Delegates of IPAA meet and work regularly with delegates of
similar groups through the Alliance of Non-Governmental Organizations for
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in New York. During the past four
years, the IPAA representative at the United Nations has served as
Executive Secretary of the Alliance. IPAA has also maintained a regular
representative at the Vienna International Centre. The continued
cooperation and support of the Economic and Social Council is earnestly
solicited to facilitate the progress of the Association's important
involvement world wide.
Requests and inquiries
During the past four years, IPAA has received numerous inquiries and
requests for assistance or advice from agencies and individuals around
the world, especially the United States. The secretariat has made a
special effort to respond to these letter and, in many cases, has had to
refer requests to other specialized agencies. In this regard, several of
these requests were announced in the IPAA newsletter under "Letters to
the Editor", and through that medium many prisoners, ex-offenders and
other individuals were assisted by concerned groups or agencies.
50. INTERNATIONAL ROAD FEDERATION
(Category II)
The purpose of the International Road Federation (IRF), as stated in
article II of the IRF By-Laws is as follows:
1. To promote the education of both the public and the Governments
of all countries of the world concerning the social and economic benefits
to be derived from adequate road systems;
2. To encourage and support the planning and execution by
Governments of sound programmes for the improvement and extension of the
road systems of all countries of the world;
3. To collect and collate statistical, technical, economic,
educational and other material pertaining to the betterment of road
systems and the advantages to be derived from them, and to publish and
distribute such material as widely as seems advantageous;
4. To cooperate with other international and local groups having
objectives similar to those of this corporation, and to sponsor the
formation and affiliation with this corporation of local and regional
road federations in all countries and regions of the world.
IRF is an international, non-political, professional organization
representing all business groups having a major interest in the planning,
development, operation and construction of roads and related
infrastructures. IRF acts as a source of support for national road
associations and collaborates with governmental and intergovernmental
bodies, while maintaining close liaison with other international
organizations involved in roads and transport.
Roads will always be necessary to our society and economy, but their
public image today is increasingly negative. The purpose of IRF is to
give the road its rightful priority in spirit and budgets. Within this
framework, IRF establishes, with its members, common standards for road
planning, materials, equipment and operation. It promotes before public
agencies and public opinion the implementation of projects likely to
improve the economy of specific regions. These efforts can apply to
projects launched by other organizations such as the Trans-European
Motorway (TEM) initiated by ECE or the VIABALTICA, now also under
consideration by ECE, or to projects initiated by IRF itself (for
example, the Gibraltar Straits fixed link or the Advanced Integrated
Motorway System in Europe (AIMSE)). The AIMSE project was launched in
1990 and is updated continuously. It was inspired by the drastic changes
in the geography of Europe. In this respect, the report proposes the
integration and extension of existing national motorway networks from the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Russian
Federation and from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, in order to cope
with the heavy increase in road traffic across Europe, which is
contemplated by even the most conservative forecasts up to the years 2000
and 2010.
IRF has grown from 549 member organizations in 1989 to 899 at the
end of 1993. Pakistan, Haiti, Nepal, Thailand, Ecuador, New Zealand,
Slovenia, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Albania, the Czech
Republic, Georgia, Lithuania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,
Poland and the Russian Federation are just a few of the new member
countries in which IRF is now represented. Funding for educational
grants have been received from organizations in Lebanon, the United
States, Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the Sudan, Yemen, Hong Kong,
the Republic of Korea and Canada.
IRF encourages attendance at all United Nations meetings by its
member organizations and was represented at the meeting of ESCAP, held in
Bangkok in 1993. In Geneva, IRF takes an active part in the ECE Inland
Transport Committee sessions, especially concerning transport trends,
statistics, experts on noise, AGR-mapping and TEM. Additionally, IRF has
participated actively in the following conferences: Road Conference,
Prague, 1991; Seventeenth International Study Week on Traffic Engineering
and Safety, Warsaw, 1992; ECE Second Pan-European Transport Conference,
Crete, 1992; OECD Conference, Szczecin, 1992; East-West European Road
Conference, Warsaw, 1993; Expert team surveying the layout of the East-
West transport corridor through the territories of Albania, the former
Yugoslavia Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, Sofia, 1993; meeting of
ECA and IRF officials, Addis Ababa, 1994.
The IRF office at Geneva has had working groups for several years on
road safety (vertical, horizontal signing, safety barriers and temporary
road signing) and noise control. Complete reports submitted by these
groups to the EU in Brussels are available. Various United Nations
personnel as well as participants of United Nations-sponsored projects
regularly attend the annual Executive Conferences (on traffic management,
motor vehicles and the environment, road management) organized by IRF.
United Nations staff return to Headquarters and disseminate information
to interested committees about this form of technology transfer. United
Nations staff and United Nations-sponsored delegations regularly attend
IRF regional and world meetings: regional meetings have been held in
Yugoslavia and Australia; a world meeting was held in Madrid in 1993.
IRF has an ongoing relationship with ECLAC for a joint project involving
the Government of Germany (GTZ) and the World Bank. IRF provides
training programmes, videotape training, regional and world meetings,
along with the Executive Conferences, as a means of providing effective
training and technology transfer to developing, third-world countries.
The videotape training programme now includes 62 tapes inf six different
languages. IRF is in the second year of a $1.4 million contract with the
Federal Highway Administration to produce an additional 40 tapes in six
languages. Videos have recently been used in the United Republic of
Tanzania, Nigeria, the Philippines, Egypt and Morocco. The Federation's
world-renowned fellowship programme provides grants to engineers and road
transportation professionals for study at primarily United States
colleges and universities to obtain advanced degrees. These students are
required to return to their home country as part of their acceptance of
the grant. The 956 IRF Fellows from 103 countries comprise a highly
skilled, efficient and productive body of experts who have a strong
influence on the orderly development of transportation systems around the
world. Many of these Fellows work on United Nations-supported projects
around the world.
IRF provides the transportation community with several outstanding
publications. World Highways is a magazine geared towards the transfer
of technology and is a source of information with regard to ongoing
projects. Produced eight times a year, the publication is distributed to
more than 25,000 road professionals. World Road Statistics is a
compilation of statistics printed in English, French and German and soon
in Russian. In its thirtieth year of print, the questionnaires sent
around the world use the ECE Glossary of Transport Statistics, to which
IRF contributed. This report contains information regarding the number
of automobiles in use, motor fuel information, kilometres of paved roads,
road user tax information, road accidents, and other pertinent facts.
IRF develops and organizes many in-depth conferences, as interest in
developing areas increases. The following conferences have been
organized in the past several years:
(a) Development of Traffic Infrastructure in Northern Europe,
Hamburg, 1991. This conference was attended by Ministers of Transport of
all States bordering the Baltic Sea, including, for the first time,
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The conference was organized in
cooperation with Deutsche Strassenliga;
(b) Roads between East and West Europe after 1992, Belgrade, 1991.
The conference was organized in cooperation with the Highway Institute,
Belgrade;
(c) VIABALTICA, Helsinki-Tallinn, 1992. This international
symposium was a cooperative effort of IRF, the International Road
Transport Union, the Finnish Road Association and the Estonian Road
Association;
(d) IRF Statutory Meeting, Sofia, 1993. This meeting was organized
and supported by the Bulgarian Organization of Roads and Transport
(AEBTRI).
51. INTERNATIONAL ROAD TRANSPORT UNION
(Category II)
The International Road Transport Union (IRU), founded in 1948, was
granted consultative status by the Economic and Social Council in 1949.
According to article 2 of its Constitution, its aims are to contribute to
promotion and prosperity, in all countries, of national and international
road transport and to safeguard the interests of professional road
transport and transport on own account.
Cooperation with the Economic Commission for Europe
IRU is represented at all major meetings of the Transport Division
of the Economic Commission for Europe, including those of the Inland
Transport Committee and its Working Parties on Road Transport, Combined
Transport, Transport of Dangerous Goods, Statistics, Transport Trends and
Economics, Customs Questions affecting Transport, Construction of
Vehicles (and its subsidiary groups) and Road Safety. It regularly puts
forward proposals to all of these groups and their subsidiary bodies.
It has taken an active part in the meetings devoted to the revision
of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic (1968), the TIR Convention,
1975, and the amendments of the European Agreement concerning the work of
crews and vehicles engaged in international road traffic, AETR (1970).
IRU took an active part in the work to prepare the United Nations
Convention on civil liability for damage caused during the carriage of
dangerous goods by road, rail and inland navigation vessels (CRTD),
finalized on 10 October 1990.
It was represented at the seminars on container harmonization
organized by the ECE Transport Division in Geneva (1989 and 1992) and it
contributed to the organization of the workshops on transport statistics.
IRU also participated actively in the work of the Working Party on
Trade Facilitation of the ECE Trade and Commerce Division.
The Executive Secretary of ECE spoke on behalf of the United Nations
at the twenty-third IRU World Congress in Barcelona in 1992.
The IRU Secretariat-General has a close working relationship with
the Transport Division of the Economic Commission for Europe.
Cooperation with the other regional commissions
IRU maintains a working relationship with the Economic Commission
for Africa, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
and Western Asia and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean and has invited them to attend its biennial World Congresses.
The Chief of the Transport Division of ECLAC represented the United
Nations at the twenty-second IRU World Congress, held in Rio de Janeiro
in 1990. At the end of 1993, IRU set up a South American office, one of
whose tasks is to cooperate with ECLAC.
Cooperation with the International Labour Organization
IRU cooperates with ILO in relation to working conditions and
training in the road transport industry. It regularly participates in
the meetings of the Inland Transport Committee and was represented at its
twenty-seventh session in January 1992.
Cooperation with the Economic and Social Council
in the field of narcotics
IRU is regularly represented at meetings of the Commission on
Narcotic Drugs and its subsidiary bodies.
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
IRU participated in the work on the preparation of a convention on
the liability of transport terminal operators in international trade and
collaborated in the work on electronic data interchange.
Publications
IRU reproduces, in its Handbook of International Road Transport, the
texts of the United Nations Convention on the contract for the
international carriage of goods by road and of the Customs Convention on
the international transport of goods under cover of TIR carnets, together
with its annexes and appendices.
It also publishes, jointly with one its member associations, a Guide
to the European agreement on the international transport of dangerous
goods by road (ADR), signed under the auspices of ECE.
52. INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SERVICE
(Category II)
Aims and activities
The International Social Service (ISS) is an international,
non-governmental organization founded in 1924. Its aims are:
1. To assist those who have to overcome personal or family
difficulties, the solution of which requires coordinated actions in one
or several countries;
2. To study the conditions and consequences of migration in
relation to individual and family life;
3. To contribute to the prevention of social problems linked to
migration or intercountry mobility;
4. To inform professionals and the public of the needs of migrant
individuals and families;
5. To develop and maintain an international network of national
bodies able to meet those needs.
ISS currently has 18 national branches and affiliated bureaux, and
correspondents in 96 other countries.
Participation in United Nations meetings
ISS has regularly been represented at sessions of the Economic and
Social Council, the Commission for Social Development, the Commission on
Narcotic Drugs, the Commission on Human Rights, the Committee on the
Rights of the Child, the UNICEF Executive Board, the Executive Committee
of the UNHCR and annual conferences for NGOs organized by the Department
of Public Information of the United Nations Secretariat. It has
contributed annually to the statements submitted by the International
Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) to the UNHCR Executive Committee,
and contributed to the statement presented by 29 international agencies
to the World Summit for Children, in September 1990.
ISS has also participated in the following conferences and seminars:
(a) NGO/UNCHR consultation on refugee education issues, Geneva,
November 1990;
(b) Latin American seminar on the adoption of minors and child-
trafficking, Quito, April 1991, organized under the auspices of UNICEF
and the Inter-American Children's Institute;
(c) Round table on "Movements of people in the 1990s: challenges
for policy makers", organized by the North/South Round Table, in
collaboration with UNHCR, Evian, France;
(d) Fortieth anniversary of UNHCR, at which ISS represented ICVA;
(e) First session of the International Advisory Scientific and
Professional Council of the United Nations Crime Prevention and Criminal
Justice Programme, Milan, September 1991;
(f) Workshop organized by the International Advisory Scientific and
Professional Council, Courmayeur, March 1992;
(g) ILO/UNHCR joint consultation on "International aid as a means to
reduce the need for emigration", Geneva, May 1992;
(h) UNHCR consultation on protection, Geneva, July 1992;
(i) Tenth Seminar on Migration and Development, organized by the
International Organization for Migration, Geneva, September 1992;
(j) Workshop on refugee children, organized under the auspices of
UNHCR and the ICVA task force on refugee children, Geneva, July 1993;
(k) Workshop on international migration and sustainable development,
organized by UNDP and IOM, Buenos Aires, November 1993.
Cooperation with United Nations bodies
and specialized agencies
The main areas of cooperation are related to family and child
welfare, refugee work and migration:
(a) With UNHCR, through project agreements: ISS branches in Greece,
Hong Kong, Italy and France; close contact between the ISS General
Secretariat and the Office of UNHCR in Geneva;
(b) Between UNICEF and the ISS General Secretariat on projects
relating to intercountry adoption and family-based alternatives for
abandoned children in Romania and Albania, and on the organization of a
seminar on the same issues for Eastern and Central European countries.
Other relevant activities
Implementation of United Nations resolutions
The General Secretariat regularly circulates United Nations
documents and information relating to areas of special interest to ISS
units, for action by national authorities and for information of local
services. Reports on ISS cooperation with the United Nations are made to
the Executive Committee once a year, and to the full International
Council every three years.
The ISS in Brief, published three times a year in English and
French, contains information on United Nations activities, resolutions,
reports and documents. It is distributed to 300 members world wide. The
ISS network is actively involved in the promotion of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child, urging Governments to sign and
ratify it.
As an observer to the Special Commission on intercountry adoption of
the Hague Conference on International Private Law, ISS presented two
studies based on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
As a means to promote the implementation of the Convention, ISS
carried out the following projects:
(a) Investigation by a group of experts on the implementation of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child regarding intercountry adoption in
Romania, 1991 (jointly with Defence for Children International);
(b) Reintegration of Romanian children into their birth families - a
joint programme between ISS and Salvati Copiii, a local agency, 1992-
1994;
(c) Courses for planning the future of abandoned children and at-
risk families in Romania, 1991-1992 (jointly with DCI);
(d) Mission to assist in drafting a new law on adoption and
facilitating its implementation in Albania (jointly with UNICEF and DCI,
and in cooperation with the Hague Conference on International Private
Law);
(e) Regional seminar for East and Central Europe on "implementation
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Seeking Family-based
Alternatives for Children Who Are Abandoned or at Risk of Abandonment",
Sofia, Bulgaria, 28 September-2 October 1992 (jointly with UNICEF, DCI
and the International Catholic Child Bureau);
(f) Workshop on "Substitute families" at the NGO Forum held in Malta
on 28 November to 2 December 1993, to launch the International Year of
the Family (lead agency and in cooperation with NGO Committee on UNICEF);
(g) Setting up of an Intercountry Adoption Resource Documentation
Centre on laws, procedures, competent authorities and agencies (started
February 1994).
Consultations
Through the General Secretariat in Geneva, ISS branches and ISS
representatives in New York have ongoing consultations with UNICEF
concerning the Convention on the Rights of the Child and with UNHCR
concerning refugee children (in particular from ex-Yugoslavia) and
Indochinese refugees.
ISS is a member of the NGO group on the implementation of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and is co-chairing the subgroup on
substitute families (lead agency on article 21 of the Convention).
Publications
The following publications contain abstracts from or texts of
relevant United Nations documents and are widely circulated:
La pratique de l'adoption Manuel, juin 1991 (French and Romanian);
Menores no acompan~ados en situaciones de emergencia: guia de
trabajo, September 1991;
Guidelines on Procedures for Intercountry Adoption, April 1992
(English and Spanish);
Seeking Family-based Alternatives for Children Who Are Abandoned or
at Risk of Being Abandoned: A Framework for a Plan of Action, July 1993
(joint publication in English, French and Russian).
53. INTERNATIONAL TOURING ALLIANCE
(Category II)
The International Touring Alliance (AIT) is a federation of
automobile associations, touring clubs and tourist bodies, comprising 132
member associations divided among 94 countries. The active member
associations of AIT number more than 90 million individual club members
world wide. As an organization of such wide scope and importance,
representing both the interests of the motorist and those of the tourist
in general, its opinions carry weight and it enjoys considerable
international prestige.
Since its founding in 1898, AIT has supported and encouraged the
essential role played by tourism in promoting international
understanding. One of its main objectives is to facilitate tourist
travel, particularly with regard to the barriers restricting movement
across national borders. In view of the increase in motorization, which
now accounts for the major part of tourist and private daily travel, AIT
is working to harmonize international traffic regulations and to protect
road users from abusive and restrictive taxation, control and
legislation.
It recognizes the vital importance of travel by private car and of
public transport in improving people's standard of living and for the
national economy. AIT therefore aims to promote all measures that may
contribute to road safety and the responsible use of all means of
transport.
In order to achieve these objectives, AIT publishes public policy
statements (in conjunction with the International Automobile Federation),
together with recommendations which are regularly updated. AIT also
maintains relations and cooperates directly with the various
international governmental and non-governmental organizations
specializing in its areas of interest. For many years, it has worked in
close cooperation with the United Nations and other specialized
institutions.
The Alliance's principal areas of competence include all questions
relating to the movement of people: tourism, mobility, facilitation, the
automobile, roads, infrastructure, traffic safety, energy conservation
and protection of the environment.
Cooperation with the United Nations
Each year, AIT takes part in numerous meetings of various United
Nations working groups, principally those within the framework of the
Economic Commission for Europe, in Geneva. AIT is also represented at
United Nations Headquarters, where it attends meetings involving
non-governmental organizations, and, albeit less frequently, is
represented in Vienna as well.
Within the Economic Commission for Europe, AIT takes an active part
in the work of the specialized working parties, to which it submits
frequent reports on subjects related to transport, road safety, the
construction of vehicles, customs and other matters. AIT participates in
the following working groups: Inland Transport Committee, Working Party
on Road Transport, Working Party on Customs Questions, Working Party on
Road Traffic Safety, Working Party on the Construction of Vehicles,
Working Party on Inland Water Transport, Group of Experts on Pollution
and Energy, Group of Experts on Passive Safety, Working Party on
Transport Trends and Economics and the Ad Hoc Meeting on Implementation
of the European Agreement on Main International Traffic Arteries.
Within the framework of the activities of the United Nations
specialized working parties, AIT plays a significant role in certain
sectors. AIT has been actively involved in the recent revision of the
United Nations Customs Conventions on the Temporary Importation of
Private Road Vehicles (1954) and Commercial Road Vehicles (1956), and the
Conventions on Road Traffic and Signs and Signals (1968). In connection
with the aforementioned Vehicles Convention, AIT is one of the major
international organizations that coordinates and oversees the customs
documents network (Carnets de passages and triptyques) facilitating the
movement of private and commercial vehicles across borders.
In addition to the above, AIT attends the meetings of United Nations
programmes and specialized agencies, including the following:
UNESCO - meetings on social touring and the transmission of tourist
information;
ILO - meetings on training in the fields of industry and tourism;
WHO - meetings on road accident control and prevention, tourist
health and the transmission of epidemiological diseases by the movement
of people;
UNEP - various meetings, particularly of the Industry and
Environment Department, in Paris.
AIT closely follows the activities of UNCTAD relating essentially to
international exchanges in the field of tourism and transport, as well as
the work of ICAO on facilitation. It keeps informed of the work carried
out in connection with tourism and transport by the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean, the Economic Commission for Africa and the
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.
AIT attaches considerable importance to the activities of the United
Nations and its specialized agencies and takes an active part in their
work in so far as it relates to the Alliance's field of competence.
Members of the AIT secretariat and delegates of AIT associations follow
closely and contribute actively to the work carried out by the United
Nations.
54. INTERNATIONAL WORK GROUP FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
(Category II)
The aim of the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
(IWGIA) is to document the situation of indigenous peoples throughout the
world. IWGIA initiates and carries out research projects. Documents are
published, a Journal comes out four times a year, and an annual report,
the Yearbook, analyses the main events relating to indigenous peoples on
all continents. These publications appear in English and in Spanish. A
specific aim of IWGIA is to support, facilitate and promote the
participation of indigenous representatives in meetings in international
forums.
IWGIA has an international secretariat in Copenhagen. The
organization is governed by an international board made up of individual
members and delegates from the national groups. For a number of years,
there have been national groups in Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and
Denmark, and, in 1992, a national group was formed in the Russian
Federation.
The work of IWGIA is funded by subscribers to its publications,
individual donations, donations from the Nordic Governments, income from
projects, private funds and other types of funds.
For the period 1990-1993, the main focus of IWGIA within the United
Nations has been the Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the
Commission on Human Rights. In each of these years, IWGIA has sent a
delegation of 5 to 10 members to the Working Group. Oral statements have
been made at each meeting and the delegates have been active in the
drafting of a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In each year, a delegation of one to five persons participated in
the Commission on Human Rights and oral statements were made on items of
relevance to indigenous peoples.
Each year, the IWGIA Yearbook features the most recent version of
the draft Universal Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Statements from indigenous representatives to the Working Group and to
the Commission on Human Rights are reprinted in the Newsletter.
IWGIA is one of the founding members of the Human Rights Fund for
Indigenous Peoples. The aim of the Fund is to raise money to cover
expenses for indigenous peoples to participate in United Nations
meetings. From 1990 to 1993, funding has been raised for 10 to 18
indigenous representatives from around the world to participate in the
meetings of the Working Group, and, since 1991, two to five indigenous
people have participated in the Commission on Human Rights, paid for by
the Fund. The Fund receives money from churches, private foundations and
public institutions.
Through IWGIA and through the Human Rights Fund for Indigenous
Peoples, IWGIA has facilitated the participation for the first time of
indigenous representatives from the former Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, Taiwan, Province of China, the United Republic of Tanzania,
Botswana and South Africa in United Nations meetings, i.e., the Working
Group on Indigenous Populations and the Commission on Human Rights.
IWGIA is in regular contact with the United Nations Centre for Human
Rights and is currently preparing a joint publication with the Centre
containing speeches given by indigenous peoples in United Nations and
other international meetings.
IWGIA works continuously to have Governments recognize the rights of
indigenous peoples, and organizes seminars and meetings in this respect,
including meetings under the Conference on Security and Cooperation in
Europe (CSCE) process. In 1992, IWGIA (with four other organizations)
established an office in Brussels with the specific aim of promoting the
rights of indigenous peoples with the European Community (European
Union).
55. ITALIAN CENTRE OF SOLIDARITY
(Category II)
The aims and purposes of the Italian Centre of Solidarity are:
(a) Prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts;
(b) Community development;
(c) Establishment of social and health networks;
(d) Training of staff.
There have been no relevant changes in its geographical membership.
Some substantial changes in sources of funding have occurred as a result
of the new extended collaboration of the Centre and the European Union.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council
and United Nations meetings
The Centre has permanent representatives in Vienna and New York who
participate regularly in the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and in all its
preparatory meetings, as well as in conferences organized by the United
Nations International Drug Control Programme and other United Nations
agencies, including "Drugs in the workplace" (Seville) and "Mayors of the
world against drugs" (Macao).
The Centre is also participating in the preparatory committee of the
forthcoming NGO World Forum to be held in Bangkok in December 1994. The
Centre plays an important role in various United Nations non-governmental
organization committees, in Vienna and in New York.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies
and specialized agencies
The Centre cooperates with UNDCP in executing projects in South
America (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) and is involved
with other United Nations bodies and specialized agencies such as UNICEF
and WHO.
Other relevant activities
The Centre is involved in a large number of relevant United Nations
activities. Most of them have been carried out through local UNDP
representatives:
(a) Health training at the regional level, in cooperation with UNDCP
and the Government of Bolivia, Coroico Hospital, Los Yungas, Bolivia;
(b) Intervention in land disasters in Llipi, Province of Guanay,
Bolivia;
(c) Publication of several books, in collaboration with UNDCP, on
issues related to the various projects the Centre executes in South
America.
56. LIBERAL INTERNATIONAL
(Category II)
Liberal International (LI), the world liberal union founded in 1947,
comprises 73 liberal parties in 46 countries. The organization
coordinates the foreign policy work of its member parties and promotes
freedom, tolerance, democracy, international understanding, the
protection of human rights and an economy based on free market
principles. Liberal International has been an NGO in category II
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council since 1985. At
the time of the previous quadrennial report, LI had 48 member parties in
35 countries; the increase in membership since 1989 has mainly been in
South America, Africa, East and Central Europe and Asia.
On 23 February 1990, LI presented its first statement to the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights. Since then, the representative of
Liberal International has taken part in the meetings of this Commission
on a regular basis; the Secretary General of LI took part in the
February 1993 session.
LI was represented by delegates of its member parties at the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
LI sent a delegation to participate in the World Conference on Human
Rights in Vienna in 1993 and participated actively in the preparatory
process, most notably in the regional meetings in France and Costa Rica.
During the Conference, Liberal International put forward a joint
statement, together with Christian Democrat International and Socialist
International (A/CONF.157/10). During the World Conference on Human
Rights the three political Internationals organized a round-table
discussion of the chairpersons of their respective Human Rights
Committees, which was addressed by the Secretary-General of the
Conference.
Liberal International has taken an active interest in the
development of the Uruguay Round of GATT. At the LI congress in Mainz,
Germany, in September 1992, Liberal International adopted a comprehensive
resolution on free trade in a changing world. Also, on other occasions,
LI has actively called for a successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round.
In November 1993, under the auspices of UNFPA, Liberal International
organized a second round-table debate, together with the International
Democrat Union, Christian Democrat International and Socialist
International, on population and development. This debate was a follow-
up to a similar meeting that took place in 1986. During the meeting, the
four organizations adopted a joint statement. As a consequence, Liberal
International has taken an active interest in the preparatory process for
the Population Conference in Cairo.
A committee of Liberal International, chaired by the Foreign
Minister of Finland, completed a report entitled "Strengthening of the
United Nations", which was presented to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations in December 1992 by the President of Liberal International
and the Foreign Minister of Finland. On the occasion of this
presentation, Liberal International organized a symposium, together with
the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, on the question of strengthening of the
United Nations, which was held in New York on 17 December 1992.
Since the beginning of 1992, Liberal International has consistently
paid attention to developments within the United Nations in its
publications, the London Aerogramme and the Liberal Times.
LI has consistently followed the activities of UNESCO (in which it
has consultative status).
In addition, Liberal International has organized a number of
congresses and conferences, at which matters of relevance to the Economic
and Social Council have been discussed.
In October 1990, Liberal International organized a congress in
Finland, where the main theme was "ecologically sustainable development".
The Congress adopted resolutions on the United Nations Decade of
International Law; the promotion of democracy in developing countries;
human and political rights in Africa; the growth of racist and xenophobic
tendencies; development cooperation; the protection of the Earth's
atmosphere; the protection of tropical rain forests and the Gulf crisis.
During a conference in Ottawa in February 1992, the arms trade and
UNCED were discussed. A similar conference, organized in Brussels in
June 1992, discussed the development of democracy in Africa.
In September 1991, LI organized a congress in Luzern, Switzerland,
where a resolution on minorities was adopted. Other issues discussed at
that congress included development countries and democracy and
strengthening of the United Nations.
At the LI congress in September 1992, the situation in Latin
America, the situation in former Yugoslavia, global responsibility and
energy strategy, the treatment of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran
and the plight of children were discussed. In January 1993, the problem
of population and development was discussed in the presence of invited
guests from UNFPA and the World Food Programme. In July 1993, the
Executive Committee debated population growth and development and the
issue of economic change: from a state-oriented to a market-oriented
approach.
LI organized a Liberal World Conference in Budapest in
November 1993, at which the key themes were the spreading of xenophobia
and intolerance; security and the new world order and economic
modernization.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations and representatives of
GATT, UNESCO, UNFPA, the Commission on Human Rights and the Economic and
Social Council were invited to the congresses organized by Liberal
International in the four years reflected in this report.
57. LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION
(Category II)
The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a communion of 114 Lutheran
member churches on six continents. LWF serves to further the united
witness, self-understanding and communion of its member churches. It
serves to further Christian service (diakonia), alleviation of human
need, promotion of peace and human rights, social and economic justice,
care for God's creation and sharing of resources.
A primary partner of LWF since its founding in 1947 has been the
United Nations. LWF is authorized to serve as an international Lutheran
agency which can be recognized by relevant United Nations agencies, as
well as by governmental, intergovernmental and voluntary organizations;
to represent member churches before such agencies; and to enter into such
agreements with them as will facilitate the work of LWF.
LWF maintains close contact on an ongoing basis with a large number
of United Nations bodies. Among these are the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). LWF also
works with the Department for Humanitarian Affairs, the Department of
Public Information and the Centre for Human Rights of the United Nations
Secretariat.
In cooperation with relevant United Nations agencies, non-
governmental organizations and local churches, LWF has long been deeply
involved in refugee assistance programmes, especially in Africa, Asia and
Central America. This concern is intimately linked to the commitment of
LWF to uphold the human rights of all people. In harmony with the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, LWF understands human rights to
include not only the rights of individuals to freedom of speech,
religion, the press and assembly, but also the rights to food,
development, self-determination and participation in political and social
life. The relationship between human rights violations and refugee
migration has long been understood by LWF and its member churches.
LWF responds to global emergencies as its means allow and upon
request from its member churches, field offices, ecumenical partners or
national Governments. Assistance is provided to victims of both natural
disasters and complex emergencies. LWF chairs the Steering Committee for
Humanitarian Response and, in this capacity, participates in the Inter-
Agency Standing Committee, which serves as the primary mechanism for
inter-agency coordination of policy issues relating to humanitarian
assistance and for formulating coherent and timely responses to major and
complex emergencies. In the field, LWF and other NGOs often form
emergency groups on a nationwide basis to provide coordination of their
response.
There has been close contact with the Office of the Secretary-
General and the Department of Political Affairs with respect to peace in
Central America. On various occasions, LWF has also formally presented
documented issues of human rights concern to the United Nations
Commission on Human Rights.
LWF is active within the community of non-governmental organizations
in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council. LWF
representatives serve on the steering committees of the New York NGO
Committees on Human Rights, Southern Africa, Sustainable Development, and
Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Some selected examples of cooperation between LWF and the United
Nations during the 1990-1993 quadrennium include:
(a) Sponsorship of meetings related to the Guatemala peace process
involving the civil sector and the political dialogue;
(b) Response to critical emergencies in Africa, e.g., in Mozambique,
Angola, Liberia, the Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia;
(c) Advocacy for the implementation of Security Council resolution
435 (1978) with respect to Namibia and assistance in the resettlement and
rehabilitation of Namibian returnees;
(d) Repatriation of Guatemalan refugees from Mexico;
(e) Participation in the United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development, 1992, and the World Conference on Human Rights, 1993;
(f) Humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in the
occupied Territories, particularly the operation of the Augusta Victoria
Hospital in Jerusalem and a related village health programme;
(g) Presentation of information on the Ecumenical Monitoring
Programme in South Africa in October 1991 to the Special Committee
against Apartheid;
(h) Attendance at annual meetings of the UNHCR Executive Committee,
as well as selected meetings of the General Assembly and its committees;
preparatory committees for the World Summit for Social Development and
the Fourth World Conference on Women; the Economic and Social Council,
its committees and Commissions (Sustainable Development and Human
Rights); and meetings called by other United Nations organs, as well as
subsidiary bodies and specialized agencies.
LWF appreciates the Charter provision concerning consultative status
for non-governmental organizations. Its relationship with the United
Nations is highly valued and has proved beneficial to the common goals
and activities of both organizations.
58. OXFAM (UNITED KINGDOM AND IRELAND)
(Category II)
Oxfam UKI exists to relieve poverty, distress and avoidable
suffering throughout the world; to educate people about the nature,
causes and effects of poverty, distress and avoidable suffering; and to
campaign for a world without poverty, distress and avoidable suffering.
Oxfam UKI works towards achieving these aims through support for
development, relief and advocacy to realize all people's basic rights and
support their sustainable livelihoods.
At the end of 1993, Oxfam UKI was working in 77 countries in Africa,
Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. During the period under review,
new needs have led Oxfam UKI to begin programmes in, among other regions,
the Transcaucasian countries, Albania and the former Yugoslavia, where
the work is closely coordinated with UNHCR and the United Nations
Protection Force (UNPROFOR).
The income of Oxfam UKI increased from œ62.078 million in the
financial year 1989/90 to œ78.9 million in the most recent financial
year, 1992/93.
Oxfam UKI has welcomed the opportunity to make considerable inputs
into a wide range of United Nations bodies and conferences. Highlights
among these inputs have included:
(a) The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,
Rio de Janeiro, June 1992, at which Oxfam UKI was one of two NGOs on the
United Kingdom delegation, and for which Oxfam UKI published the book No
Time to Waste;
(b) The United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Geneva,
February 1993, at which Oxfam UKI supplied information to delegations;
(c) The World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, June 1993, which
Oxfam UKI attended, and facilitated and funded the attendance of a number
of Southern NGOs. Oxfam UKI advocated the recognition of women's rights
as human rights, which was agreed to by the Conference;
(d) The Economic and Social Council session, Geneva, July 1993, for
which Oxfam UKI, with Action Aid, produced a briefing for delegations on
the Department for Humanitarian Affairs;
(e) Preparations for the 1994 International Conference on Population
and Development, including the production of five position papers and the
initiation, with other NGOs, of Voices '94 (a petition for the
integration of a gender perspective). Oxfam UKI was invited to join the
United Kingdom delegation to the Conference;
(f) Preparations for the World Summit on Social Development, 1995,
including the production of a position paper, assistance in the
production of the paper of the European NGO network, Eurostep, and the
production of a paper on women's poverty and the globalization of the
world economy;
(g) Preparations for the World Conference on Women, 1995, including
inputs into the United Kingdom National Report and preparatory materials
for a member of the Beijing Advisory Board.
Oxfam UKI also works closely with UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP and
United Nations specialized agencies in the field in a large number of
countries, and with United Nations peace-keeping operations and special
representatives of the Secretary-General.
In 1991, Oxfam UKI published a briefing entitled "United Nations
response to humanitarian emergencies: a challenge to the international
community" as a contribution to the discussions leading up to the
adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 46/182, which led to the
establishment of the Department for Humanitarian Affairs.
Since then, Oxfam UKI has had considerable contacts on the United
Nations humanitarian coordination with the Department for Humanitarian
Affairs, other officials of the United Nations Secretariat, including the
Secretary-General, as well as with United Nations specialized agencies.
In 1993, Oxfam UKI published a briefing entitled "Improving the
United Nations response to conflict-related emergencies".
To commemorate its fiftieth anniversary, in 1992, Oxfam UKI and the
other members of the global Oxfam family of NGOs held a "hunger banquet"
at UNICEF headquarters, in New York, which was opened by the Secretary-
General of the United Nations.
In September 1993, the Secretary-General sent a recorded message of
greetings to open the annual conference of the Oxfam UKI, in Durham,
United Kingdom.
59. PAN PACIFIC AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION
(Category II)
The aims and purpose of the Pan Pacific and South-East Asia Women's
Association (PPSEAWA), founded in 1928, are to strengthen the bonds of
peace, by fostering better understanding and friendship among the women
of the Pacific and South-East Asian region. This is done through study
and by assisting in the development of social, economic and cultural
conditions.
PPSEAWA representatives followed sessions of the General Assembly
(Third Committee and other committees, as appropriate); sessions of the
Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies in New York, Vienna
and Geneva; sessions of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok; sessions of UNESCO in Paris and UNICEF in
New York. Representatives attended the weekly briefings conducted by the
Department of Public Information of the United Nations Secretariat.
The Association was represented at the following United Nations
conferences and meetings:
(a) Commission on the Status of Women, Vienna, 26 February-
9 March 1990, 27 February-8 March 1991, 11-20 March 1992, 17-
26 March 1993;
(b) Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, New York, 22 January-2 February 1990, 20-30 January 1992;
(c) World Summit for Children, New York, 30 September 1990;
(d) Conference on Education for All, Jomtien, Thailand, March 1990;
(e) Annual conference of the Department of Public Information for
non-governmental organizations, New York, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993;
(f) Informal consultation of NGOs with the Committee on NGOs, New
York, 23 May 1991;
(g) ESCAP Symposium on Rural Poverty Alleviation, Bangkok, 16-
19 December 1991;
(h) Human Rights Committee, Geneva, 8-26 July and 21 October-
8 November 1991;
(i) UNEP, Global Assembly of Women and the Environment: Partners in
Life, Miami, United States of America, 4-8 November 1991;
(j) UNESCO, Collective Consultation for NGOs on Literacy - Education
for All, Paris, 9-13 December 1991;
(k) Forty-eighth session of ESCAP, Beijing, 14-23 April 1992;
(l) Fourth session of the Preparatory Committee for the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, New York, 2 March-
3 April 1992;
(m) UNCED and NGO Forum '92, Rio de Janeiro, 28 May-14 June 1992;
(n) Symposium on Climate Change and the Future of Small Island
States, New York, 14 February 1992;
(o) World NGO Forum launching the 1994 International Year of the
Family, Malta, 28 November-2 December 1993. A representative received
the Testimonial Award;
(p) Second session of the Preparatory Committee for the
International Conference on Population and Development, New York, 10-
21 May 1993;
(q) First session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, New
York, 14-25 June 1993;
(r) Forty-ninth session of ESCAP, Bangkok, 21-29 April 1993. The
President made an oral statement on "family and peace";
(s) Conference on Disarmament, Peace-building and Global Security,
New York, 20-23 April 1993;
(t) World Conference on Human Rights, regional meeting, Costa Rica,
18-22 January 1993, and World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 14-
25 June 1993;
(u) ESCAP, Asia and Pacific Regional Symposium of NGOs on Women in
Development, Manila, 16-20 November 1993. The President served as
Chairperson of the NGO Working Group.
PPSEAWA submitted the following written and oral statements, with
other non-governmental organizations:
Commission for Social Development
Launching the International Year of the Family, 1994
(E/CN.5/1991/NGO/3);
Commission on the Status of Women
Participation of women and men in contemporary family life
(E/CN.6/1990/NGO/3);
Equality in political participation and decision-making
(E/CN.6/1990/NGO/4);
Programming and coordination matters related to the United Nations
and the United Nations system (E/CN.6/1991/NGO/9);
Peace: refugees and displaced women and children
(E/CN.6/1991/NGO/10);
Women's place in peace negotiations (E/CN.6/1992/NGO/2);
Development: integration of women in the process of development
(E/CN.6/1992/NGO/13);
Women and men in partnership (E/CN.6/1993/NGO/8);
Moving forward for women's health (E/CN.6/1993/NGO/12);
Oral statement on economic independence as a means for alleviating
poverty.
PPSEAWA representatives consulted on a number of occasions with
delegates of member States of the Asia/Pacific region, and with
Secretariat officials regarding literacy, women's issues, family, social
development, ageing, environment, refugees and human rights.
PPSEAWA is committed to activities and programmes under relevant
United Nations resolutions and plans of action. The following is a
partial list of programmes and activities of some of its national
affiliates:
PPSEAWA, in cooperation with UNESCO and/or UNEP, held regional
seminars on women and family and the environment in India, Malaysia, New
Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States of America;
Australia: members donated funds to the Cranio Maxillo Facial
Foundation - Royal Children's Hospital, Adelaide;
Fiji: members organized an anti-drug campaign march, culminating in
the presentation of a petition to the Minister for Women, Culture and
Social Welfare for submission to the Cabinet;
Japan: members established a Scholarship Fund for Asian students
and scholars studying in Japanese universities; donated funds for
earthquake relief in the Philippines;
New Zealand: members have sent teaching aids to the South Pacific
Commission's Training Fund in Suva, Fiji, and books to the Solomon
Islands;
Thailand: members run a project for the elderly; development and
preservation of the environment; and Asia/Pacific studies;
Tonga: in cooperation with the Government and churches, members
launched the International Year of the Family.
Information activities
PPSEAWA publishes the International Bulletin. Reports on the United
Nations from representatives are a permanent feature of each issue of the
Bulletin. United Nations materials and documents are sent, at the
expense of PPSEAWA, to national affiliates and international officers.
The Association's eighteenth International Conference was held in
Thailand on 4-11 November 1990. A three-day pre-conference (1-
3 November 1990) on "The role of women in environmentally sound
programmes" was sponsored by, among others, UNESCO and UNEP.
Plans are under way for the next PPSEAWA International Conference to
be held in Tonga on 24 August-1 September 1994, with the theme "Women of
wisdom are pillars of nations".
In preparation for the 1995 NGO Forum and the Fourth United Nations
Conference on Women, the President organized the Asia and Pacific NGO
Working Group to facilitate NGOs in the region. She was requested by the
Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in consultative status with
the Economic and Social Council (CONGO) to serve as focal point.
60. PATHWAYS TO PEACE
(Category II)
Pathways to Peace (PTP) is an international, multicultural, non-
partisan and non-profit organization whose primary purpose is to serve
international and multilateral peace-building and cooperation at all
levels through consultation with international organizations, and through
convening peace initiatives and programmes. The mission of Pathways to
Peace is to assist leaders and their organizations in decision-making and
concerted actions which support the spirit, purpose and principles of the
United Nations.
Regarding an increase in geographical membership, affiliations of
key individuals and organizations have been increasing in all regions
through regional and international conferences related to the "We the
Peoples" Initiative and through various coalitions of international NGOs
of which PTP is part and to which it consults as the coordinating
secretariat for the United Nations Peace Messenger Initiative. Sources
of funding are derived primarily from individual contributions,
foundation grants, consulting fees and honorariums.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and its
subsidiary bodies and cooperation with United Nations
programmes, bodies and specialized agencies
Since 1987, Pathways to Peace has been engaged in ongoing
consultations with the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements
(Habitat) in carrying out the work and objectives of the International
Year of Shelter for the Homeless (IYSH), specifically in relation to the
Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000 and the annual World Habitat
Day. For example, as a contributing organization of the NGO Committee on
Shelter and Community, PTP contributed to the design of and provided
trained facilitators for the October 1990 Conference on Sustainable
Development in Industrialized Countries, which focused attention on the
growing phenomenon of homelessness and innovative measures producing
affordable housing. The Conference, within the context of the Global
Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000, was co-sponsored by the NGO
Committee on Shelter and Community and UNCHS. In addition, at World
Habitat Days, 1990-1993, PTP provided design ideas, speakers and written
statements for ceremonies at United Nations Headquarters. PTP is also a
member of the Habitat International Coalition.
Pathways to Peace provided consultation to the former Peace Studies
Unit, Department of Political and Security Council Affairs, United
Nations Secretariat, with regard to programmes and policies related to
the International Day of Peace, and the annual United Nations conferences
and meetings of Peace Messengers. As the designated secretariat for the
"We the Peoples" Initiative, PTP provides consultation to numerous NGOs
and Peace Messengers throughout the year on various United Nations-
related issues, United Nations conferences, and International Day of
Peace observances. PTP also sends an annual international mailing that
includes 3,500 organizations and key individuals, including 312 Peace
Messenger organizations, more than 500 NGOs and 75 Peace Messenger
cities.
The primary focus of Pathways to Peace is coordination with the
United Nations of the "We the Peoples" Initiative, which, in 1989, was
granted Peace Messenger Initiative status through the year 2000 by
Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar. This Initiative is the outgrowth of
a project originated by PTP in 1983 in consultation with former Assistant
Secretary-General Robert Muller and representatives of diverse
organizations. The Initiative was formally introduced to all Peace
Messenger organizations and cities at a United Nations conference on the
International Day of Peace, 18 September 1990, at United Nations
Headquarters, under the auspices of the Peace Studies Unit, Department of
Political and Security Council Affairs. The purposes of the Initiative
are (a) to encourage citizens, organizations and cities world wide to
work in concert with one another and with the United Nations; and (b) to
contribute collective activities which strengthen the United Nations as
an instrument for building and maintaining peace.
Through a series of international educational and planning
conferences and annual peace symposia organized by Pathways to Peace,
participation in the Initiative has expanded. These conferences unite
the strengths of existing organizations and build towards the culminating
world-wide event on the International Day of Peace celebrating the
fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations in 1995 and the fifty-fifth
anniversary in 2000. During the period under review, 22 events have been
held, with more than 250 organizations participating internationally in
the Initiative.
Under the banner of the "We the Peoples" Initiative, Pathways to
Peace and a coalition of NGOs have been facilitating the involvement of
young people - children and youth - in the work of the United Nations.
In furtherance of this goal, PTP representatives have been active
participants in many United Nations committees and conferences, including
the Committee on the Rights of the Child, meetings of the Preparatory
Committee for the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations, and the
World Conference on Human Rights. A specific activity is highlighted
below:
World Conference on Human Rights and preparatory events
(a) In August 1992, PTP organized the third Preparatory Committee
for 88 international young people from 37 countries, representing the
major world regions, and a symposium with high-level officials of the
United Nations Centre for Human Rights;
(b) PTP representatives attended the third and fourth Preparatory
Committees, in Geneva, and made oral (15 September 1992) and written
submissions. One document written by Pathways to Peace provided a
summary of substantive conclusions and recommendations of children and
youth for the remaining Preparatory Committees, the World Conference on
Human Rights and the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations
(A/CONF.157/PC/46/Add.6, 14 September 1992). This document is being used
as a basis for the active participation of young people in United Nations
conferences and summits;
(c) In June 1993, PTP organized the Children's World Conference on
Human Rights, for 200 young people, in Vienna; there were working
sessions with representatives of relevant United Nations bodies such as
the Centre for Human Rights, UNICEF, UNESCO and ILO; all young
participants were invited to VIP seating, while two of their
representatives made lead formal addresses to official delegates at the
plenary session on 21 June 1993.
Additional participation and cooperation related
to the United Nations during 1990-1993
On 14-15 May 1992, the PTP President attended the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) Global Youth Forum at United Nations
Headquarters, marking the twentieth anniversary of the Programme's
founding. Consultation was provided to youth facilitators.
On 11 November 1992, the President and other United Nations
representatives of PTP attended the meeting of the Third Committee of the
General Assembly concerning the item on implementation of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
On 9 December 1992, Pathways to Peace participated in the
"Celebration for the Children of the World", at United Nations
Headquarters, honouring Agenda 21 and the International Year of the
World's Indigenous People.
In September 1992 and January 1993, PTP participated as an observer
in the Committee on the Rights of the Child, Geneva.
PTP representatives from New York and Geneva participated in several
of the meetings of the Preparatory Committee for the Fiftieth Anniversary
of the United Nations at United Nations Headquarters, beginning
30 November 1992 and continuing through 1993.
In consultation and cooperation with the Executive Director of the
San Francisco UN 50 Committee, Pathways to Peace has convened
representatives of diverse organizations to form working groups and to
expand coalitions of NGOs towards cooperative activities for the fiftieth
anniversary of the United Nations. For example, as a founding member of
the Action Coalition for Global Change, PTP designed and facilitated
initial formal planning meetings for a preparatory conference on global
governance and sustainable development in June 1994.
During 1990-1993, PTP, as one of the principal participating
organizations, has convened numerous planning conferences for several
1995 events, including the following: World Summit for Children, June
1995 (in concert with the Coalition for Children for the Earth), with
preparatory conferences in all world regions, as a parallel fiftieth
anniversary event during the gathering of world leaders; the Constructive
Role of Business in Building Peace in the Twenty-first Century (with the
World Business Academy).
61. THE POPULATION COUNCIL
(Category II)
The Population Council seeks to help improve the well-being and
reproductive health of current and future generations around the world
and to help achieve a humane, equitable and sustainable balance between
people and resources. The Council analyses population issues and trends;
conducts biomedical research to develop new contraceptives; works with
public and private agencies to improve the quality and outreach of
family-planning and reproductive health services; helps Governments to
influence demographic behaviour; communicates the results of research in
the population field to appropriate audiences; and helps build research
capacities in developing countries. The Council, a non-profit, non-
governmental research organization established in 1952, has a
multinational Board of Trustees; its New York headquarters supports a
global network of regional and country offices.
The Population Council has maintained an active role as an
organization in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council,
categories I and II, not only through participation in conferences and
lectures sponsored by United Nations functional commissions and expert
bodies but also through cooperation with specialized agencies. During
the period 1990-1993, representatives of the Population Council have
participated in numerous United Nations-related activities.
Participation in conferences and other
United Nations meetings
During the period under review, the President of the organization
delivered the following speeches:
A speech entitled "Safe motherhood and the status of women" to the
Safe Motherhood Conference, Lahore, Pakistan, 25 March 1990;
A speech to the preparatory meeting of the Population Commission on
the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development,
5 March 1991;
A speech to the Governing Council of the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), 3 June 1991;
A board member of the organization delivered an acceptance speech,
which was written by the President, upon receipt of the 1992 United
Nations Population Award, at United Nations Headquarters,
17 September 1992;
A keynote address, "Towards Cairo and beyond: organizing for the
1994 International Conference on Population and Development", to the
twelfth annual NGO United Nations Population Consultation, New York,
20 April 1993;
A speech entitled "Explosions, eclipses and escapes: charting a
course on global population issues", the 1993 Paul Hoffman Lecture
sponsored by UNDP, New York, 7 June 1993.
The President participated in the following seminars/sessions:
A seminar entitled "Giving voice to children: strengthening
advocacy for child health and well-being", Mt. Kisco, New York, 12-
13 January 1993, co-sponsored by UNICEF;
North-south round-table session entitled "The United Nations and the
Bretton Woods institutions: new challenges for the twenty-first
century", Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, 1-3 September 1993.
Representatives of the Population Council participated in the
following seminars/meetings:
A Council representative served as Chairman of the World Health
Organization Resources for Research Committee meeting in Switzerland,
1990;
Expert Group Meeting on the Cost of Contraceptive Commodities Until
the Year 2000, sponsored by UNFPA, 1990;
Expert Group Meeting on Family Planning, Fertility Decline and Child
Survival, UNFPA, 1990;
WHO-sponsored inter-agency meeting on "Birth control vaccines -
current status and future needs", Washington, D.C., 1991;
A UNFPA-funded four-year programme to expand the use of Norplant
implants to several countries was completed by the Council in 1991;
Investigators' meeting for a Norplant post-marketing surveillance
study, in collaboration with WHO and Family Health International (FHI),
Bangkok, 1991;
"Population and international development assistance - the role of
non-governmental organizations", organized by the Department of Public
Information, NGO Section, New York, 1991;
A Council representative gave seminars at the World Bank on the
demographic impact of family-planning programmes, 1991 and 1992;
The Council acted as secretariat for the Inter-Agency Group for Safe
Motherhood (which also includes UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, IPPF, WHO and the
World Bank), 1992;
Council staff have collaborated in a WHO initiative to bring
together scientists, researchers, feminists and programme managers to
discuss areas of shared interest about the contraceptive choices
available to women, 1992;
A Council representative was a team leader in the UNFPA Mission to
India on Contraceptive Commodity Requirements, 1992;
The Council was represented at the United Nations Expert Group
Meeting on Population Growth and Demographic Structure, Paris, 1992;
UNICEF/WHO breast-feeding indicators meeting, New York, 1992;
A Council representative was a panellist at the World Bank
discussion entitled "Effective family-planning programmes", 1992;
A Council representative served as a consultant to UNFPA on copper
T IUD specifications, New Delhi, 1992;
WHO Barrier-method Meeting, Geneva, 1993;
UNFPA Working Group meetings on Contraceptive Requirements in
Developing Countries, 1993;
WHO Working Group on African Social Research Programme, Geneva,
1993;
"Prep Com II, NGO Parallel Activities in Cairo - ICPD", New York,
1993;
WHO-sponsored international symposium, "Contraceptive research and
development for the year 2000 and beyond: the Message of Mexico", Mexico
City, 1993;
Twelfth annual NGO United Nations Population Consultation, "Towards
Cairo and beyond", organized by the NGO/Population Task Force, New York,
1993;
Council staff were involved with preparations for the 1994 ICPD in
Cairo, and a staff member was elected to the NGO Steering Committee,
1993;
A Council representative gave two presentations, entitled "Access to
family planning and MCH services in developing countries", and "Trends in
contraceptive prevalence in national sample surveys", at a seminar on
population and social development goals, sponsored by UNFPA;
A Council representative was a member of the Scientific and
Technical Advisory Group of the WHO Safe Motherhood Programme;
A Council representative is an adviser to the WHO/Rockefeller
Foundation Project on the Role of Industry in Contraceptive Research and
Development.
Representation on WHO steering committees
The Population Council is represented on the following:
Task Force on Long-acting Systemic Agents for Fertility Regulation,
Geneva, 1990-1993;
Task Force for Epidemiological Research on Reproductive Health,
Geneva, 1990-1993;
Task Force on Vaccines for Fertility Regulation, Geneva, 1990-1993.
Submission of papers
A Council representative presented a paper entitled "Increasing
contraceptive choice and development in the 1990s: an expanded role for
public sector agencies", at the Symposium on Reproductive Health: A Key
to a Brighter Future, Tokyo, 1991.
A Council representative presented a paper entitled "Future
population growth and global warming", at the United Nations Expert Group
Meeting on Population, Environment and Development, 1992.
A Council representative presented a paper on "The role of public
sector agencies in human reproduction research", at the second Inter-
agency Consultation on Meeting the Challenges of the 1990s in Human
Reproduction Research, sponsored by WHO, Mexico City, 1993.
62. SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL
(Category II)
Socialist International (SI) is the world-wide association of
socialist, social democratic and labour parties and related
organizations. Originally founded in 1864, it was re-established in its
present form in 1951. SI provides its members with a forum for political
action, policy discussion, dialogue and exchange. Its statements and
decisions advise member organizations and the international community of
consensus views within the global social democratic movement.
In recent years, SI membership has increased with new members from
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Benin, Cape Verde, the Central African
Republic, Chile, Colombia, Co^te d'Ivoire, the Czech Republic, Fiji,
Haiti, Hungary, Italy, Mongolia, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Saint Kitts
and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Uruguay. Its affiliates
now total 111 parties and organizations from all continents.
In October 1990, at its Council meeting in New York, SI strongly
reiterated its support for the United Nations and for all measures
destined to enable it to become a reliable system for maintaining peace
and security.
In December 1991, at its Council meeting in Santiago, Chile, SI
pledged to spare no effort to contribute to the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED). Accordingly, SI held a series of
international meetings during 1991 and 1992 and during UNCED in Rio de
Janeiro. SI delegates were accredited to UNCED, and meetings hosted by
SI served as a forum for members of national government delegations to
meet and exchange views. After an intense programme of discussions, SI
issued the "SI Declaration of Rio de Janeiro, which was submitted to
UNCED.
In January 1993, SI responded positively to an invitation from the
Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for
Haiti to collaborate in a proposed United Nations mission to monitor the
human rights situation in Haiti.
In February 1993, in contact with the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General of the United Nations in Mogadishu, an SI mission was
sent to Somalia in support of the United Nations operation in that
country.
In May 1993, in collaboration with the United Nations Transitional
Authority for Cambodia, Socialist International sent observers to
Cambodia during the elections for the constituent assembly. SI welcomed
the peace process in Cambodia and urged full support for the United
Nations operation.
In June 1993, SI, in line with its work for the promotion of human,
civil and political rights throughout the world, took an active part in
the World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna, as well as in the
preparatory meetings for that Conference. The Socialist International
Committee on Human Rights (SICOHR) submitted a memorandum to the World
Conference, which included a chapter on the strengthening of United
Nations machinery in order to provide effective means to monitor and
promote the implementation of international human rights treaties. Also,
during the World Conference, a round table on the agenda of the
Conference was organized by SI, along with other political Internationals
(CDI and LI), hosted by the President of the Austrian Parliament and
attended by the Secretary-General of the World Conference. A statement
to the World Conference on Human Rights, containing a number of
recommendations, was subsequently issued and distributed as an official
Conference document.
In subsequent meetings, SI has reviewed the status of follow-up
measures to the World Conference and welcomed in particular the
appointment of the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
In 1993, the Socialist International Peace, Security and Disarmament
Council (SIPSAD) established a working group on reform of the United
Nations in matters related to peace and security. The working group, in
preparation of its report, met several times and visited United Nations
Headquarters, holding meetings with senior United Nations officials
responsible for peace-keeping and for political affairs, with the
President of the Security Council and with permanent representatives from
the different regional groups at the United Nations.
SI has actively participated, together with the other political
Internationals, in a number of round tables organized by the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). At the most recent event, held in
Vienna in November 1993, delegations of the political Internationals were
joined by the Executive Director of UNFPA and the Secretary-General of
the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
Discussions centred on the priorities of the political Internationals for
ICPD, and a joint manifesto was adopted, which was later distributed at
preparatory meetings for ICPD.
For Socialist International and its member parties, securing peace
depends on furthering democratic, economic and social development. Thus,
the work of the United Nations and its agencies in these fields is
followed by SI with great attention. In this respect, the Socialist
International Committee on Economic Policy, Development and Environment
(SICEDE) decided, at its meeting in London in July 1993, to organize a
meeting at the United Nations Office at Geneva on the reform of the
international financial institutions established at Bretton Woods, with
the participation of representatives of the World Bank, the International
Monetary Fund and the United Nations regional commissions. This meeting
was subsequently held in February 1994.
During this period, the attention of SI has also focused on the
continuing tragedy in former Yugoslavia. SI has supported all efforts to
achieve peace, urging ever greater commitment by the international
community towards that end. A number of resolutions have been adopted
and other statements issued in support of the United Nations operations.
63. SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL WOMEN
(Category II)
Socialist International Women (SIW), founded in 1907, is an
international organization composed of women's organizations of
socialist, social democratic and labour parties. Its aim is to struggle
for and obtain political rights for women and to promote action
programmes to overcome any discrimination in society, including any
inequality between men and women, and to work for human rights in
general, development and peace. Since 1990, 25 new member organizations,
in the main from Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America and the
Caribbean, have joined SIW.
SIW has permanent representatives at the three United Nations
centres, New York, Vienna and Geneva, who attend meetings of United
Nations bodies on a regular basis, including those of the Board of the
Conference of NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council, to which SIW was elected in 1991.
One of the main focuses of SIW support for the work of the United
Nations during this period was the World Conference on Human rights: SIW
representatives attended the preparatory meeting for Africa (1992) and
the Preparatory Committee in Geneva (1993). There was a substantial SIW
delegation to the NGO Forum, where a workshop was held and an information
stall run. Representatives of SIW member organizations were also
included in government delegations to the Conference.
In 1993, SIW was actively involved in the preparatory work for the
International Year of the Family (IYF). SIW participated in preparatory
meetings of the European and North American region, the Asian and Pacific
region, the Latin American and Caribbean region and the African and
Western Asia region. In recognition of its contribution towards the
cause of families and the promotion of the International Year of the
Family, SIW was designated a recipient of the IYF Testimonial and thus
recognized as an IYF Patron.
With regard to the work of UNFPA, SIW attended the sixteenth
UNFPA/NGO Consultation in Europe (1990) and the second round table of the
four Internationals on population, environment and migration, in Vienna
(1993).
In addition, SIW was represented at the NGO Workshop on Popular
Participation in the Implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking
Strategies, in Vienna (1990); the twenty-third session of the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, in Caracas (1990); the
UNESCO seventh Collective Consultation of NGOs on Literacy and Adult
Education, in Hamburg (1990); the ECLAC Conference, in Curac'ao (1991);
the eighteenth General Assembly of CONGO, in Geneva (1991); the thirty-
third Plenary Assembly of WFUNA, in Barcelona (1991); the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro (1992); the
round table entitled "The human being as the focus for United Nations
action: challenges to NGOs", in Geneva (1992); and the awarding of the
UNESCO Simo'n Bolivar prize to its nominee, San Suu Kyi, and
Julius Nyerere, in Paris (1992).
SIW continued its involvement with the NGO Committee on the Status
of Women, attending its meetings in Vienna (1991 and 1992).
SIW regularly receives information from United Nations bodies and
transmits that information, where appropriate, to member organizations.
SIW sends its resolutions to the Secretary-General of the United Nations
as well as to the Division for the Advancement of Women and to
specialized agencies, where appropriate.
Much of the participation of SIW in the work of the United Nations
is through its member organizations. SIW member organizations are
currently serving as members of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women.
64. SUSILA DHARMA INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
(Category II)
The organization was formed to support Subud* members (* Subud is a
spiritual and humanitarian movement which for the past 35 years has been
slowly spreading throughout the world. Members of Subud belong to all
races, creeds and religions and are united in a simple exercise and
worship of God which benefits their inner and outer lives equally.) who
are working to serve humanity through charitable activities, i.e., the
advancement of health, education and community development by
distribution of funds and provision of communications and services to its
members. The members of Susila Dharma International Association (SDIA)
are (a) national SD organizations created to support project initiatives
in their own countries and overseas, (b) established projects and
(c) individuals working in the field of social development. SDIA does
not direct the activities of its members, but facilitates members' own
charitable initiatives. Therefore, all activities mentioned in this
report are by nature not SDIA activities but projects run and sponsored
by members of SDIA.
Participation in United Nations meetings
SDIA participated in the following:
Conference on Education for All, Jomtien, Thailand, 1990;
Sixth annual NGO Forum, "Reaching the unreached", New York,
19-20 April 1990;
NGO Committee on UNICEF, New York, 10 September 1991;
NGO Committee on Narcotics Prevention, Vienna, 14 October 1991;
Annual NGO Forum, "Effective participation in local and global child
development", Kadoma, Zimbabwe, 4-8 November 1991;
NGO Committee on AIDS, weekly meetings in New York, from 1989 to
1993;
Earth Summit Preparatory Committee meetings, Geneva, 21-26 March
1991 and 20 August-4 September 1991;
The Earth Summit: United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992.
The SDIA team participated in action-oriented NGO meetings and their
drafting groups, which were a major influence in the writing of entire
chapters of Agenda 21. They also participated in workshops on literacy,
environmental degradation and the problems facing women in urban situations.
An address on the overuse of drugs in conventional medicine was given at a
seminar on holistic medicine, held as part of the Global Forum.
Representatives of Susila Dharma actively participate in the Earth
Summit follow-up in Germany and the Earth Summit follow-up network in the
United Kingdom.
SDIA also participated in the meeting entitled "The human being as
the focus of united action: challenges for NGOs", at Geneva, on
21 October 1992.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies
and specialized agencies
Registered in Norway and a member of SDIA, the International Child
Development Programme (ICDP) represents the work of an international
group of experts with experience in assisting disadvantaged children.
ICDP has been working closely with the WHO Division of Mental Health, at
Geneva, and has helped in the preparation of materials related to the WHO
programme on early childhood development. ICDP programmes have been
implemented in Ethiopia, with families in urban slums; in Angola,
training staff of a Methodist Church programme working with street
children; in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, in cooperation with Redd Barna
(Norway); training staff; in Sri Lanka, on the invitation of UNICEF; in
Brazil, in cooperation with WHO; in Colombia, with children suffering
from poverty, malnutrition and psychosocial deprivation; in Indonesia,
with children in poor communities; in Bangladesh, in cooperation with
Worldview International; in Portugal, with pre-school children of poor
refugees; in Spain, with Gypsy children; in Romania, with children in
institutions; in Norway, with "at risk" children of high-risk mothers at
health control stations; and in Sweden, with pre-school children. ICDP
has collaborated with Redd Barna (Sweden), which has implemented the ICDP
programme in refugee camps.
SDIA member Asociacio'n Vivir, based and registered in Quito,
Ecuador, is a health centre providing health care and training to women
and the community at large to promote individual awareness,
responsibility and self-help. This project is also sponsored by ESQUEL,
the development agency of the Rockefeller Foundation. Since July 1993,
Asociacio'n Vivir has been contracted by UNICEF to duplicate its holistic
health training programme in 40 centres throughout Ecuador until 1997.
The SDIA Refugee Coordinator in Norway has been working in
cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) since the mid-1970s.
The GOBI Programme is being implemented through the Suhadha
Community Development Project, an SDIA member in Sri Lanka.
Other relevant activities
Convention on the Rights of the Child
On 23 September 1990, SDIA members participated in candlelight
vigils to draw public attention to the start of the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of the Child. SDIA contributed to the
organization of the vigils around the world. SDIA contacted people in a
number of countries, including Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador,
Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Suriname and the United
Kingdom.
Since 1990, Susila Dharma Canada has actively participated in the
Ottawa-based Coalition on the Rights of the Child, which works to
implement the Convention.
SDIA participated in the publication of Facts for Life - a
Communication Challenge, published by UNICEF, WHO and UNESCO, on the
inside cover of which is a quote by the founder of SDIA.
SDIA has been active in Germany since 1992 in establishing an NGO
network, Eine Welt Netzwerk (Hamburg), including a study/action group
promoting education and public relations on all North-South issues.
Susila Dharma Germany was actively involved in preparing and
conducting a conference, Leben und Lernen in der Einen Welt (Living and
Learning in One World), held in cooperation with UNICEF, in Hamburg, in
November 1993.
Susila Dharma Germany is assisting in a UNICEF conference on art
therapy, to be held in Berlin in October 1994.
65. VIENNA INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION
(Category II)
The major aim of the Vienna Institute for Development and
Cooperation (VIDC) is to promote international understanding in general,
and North-South cooperation in particular. In pursuing these goals the
Institute has been assisting in the North-South dialogue process, mainly
through the organization of international conferences and lectures, by
its own research activities, as well as by its participation in various
public relations campaigns. In addition, it is also active in promoting
and implementing particular development projects in the South, in
facilitating the establishment of partnerships between communities in
Austria and in countries of the South (i.e., "city twinning"), as well as
in organizing cultural exchanges between North and South.
The organization's representative attended meetings observing the
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, in 1990,
1991, 1992 and 1993, at the United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV).
The organization's representative attended the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in
June 1992. He was part of the official Austrian delegation, but also
participated in NGO activities.
The Executive Director chaired a symposium on the occasion of the
launching of the 1993 Human Development Report, at UNOV on 28 May 1993.
Several of the organization's representatives attended the NGO Forum
of the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 14-25 June 1993.
In April 1991, a group of 42 education experts from 37 developing
countries undertook an extensive study tour through Austria. They also
undertook an analysis of the Austrian educational system. The tour was
organized jointly by VIDC and the International Institute for Educational
Planning of UNESCO.
In close cooperation with the UNCED secretariat, VIDC organized a
round table in preparation of UNCED, at Vienna on 31 January 1992. The
meeting was attended by a number of Ministers for Environment from North,
South and East, as well as other high officials. It dealt with items on
the agenda of UNCED relating to "financial resources", "technology
transfer" and "institutional issues". A report was submitted to all
Governments attending the Conference.
In close cooperation with UNFPA and the ICPD secretariat, VIDC
organized an ad hoc round-table meeting on population and communications,
at Vienna on 2-3 December 1993. The meeting was intended as a
contribution to the ICPD process, in particular, by highlighting the
relevance and significance of communication in the context of population
activities. Recommendations emanating from the round table were
submitted to the ICPD Preparatory Committee for consideration.
Following the recommendations of UNCED, especially Agenda 21, VIDC
has planned and implemented a series of projects intended to protect rain
forests. With the financial support of the Austrian Government, VIDC is
currently undertaking such projects in Brazil, Panama, the Lao People's
Democratic Republic and the Philippines (i.e., land demarcation, health,
legal advisory service, non-wood forest products).
In 1990, VIDC organized a round table, "The opening of the East:
implications for the South", at Vienna on 6-7 July. One of the main
contributors was an official from the Office of the Director-General for
Development and International Economic Cooperation of the United Nations
Secretariat.
On 24 April 1990, VIDC organized a public lecture by the Deputy
Director-General of ILO on employment policies in the South.
In May 1991, VIDC organized a private visit by the Deputy Prime
Minister of Uganda, during which extensive consultations with high-level
representatives of UNIDO were arranged (Uganda is a focal country of
Austrian official development assistance).
In addition, a fairly close working relationship exists between VIDC
and officials of the United Nations Secretariat, especially UNOV.
Numerous consultations and cooperation with these officials, on a wide
variety of topics, have taken place during the period under review.
The Vice-President of VIDC submitted a report to the UNDP Round
Table on Global Development Challenges (Antalya, Turkey, 7 to 9 September
1990). The report dealt with the implications for the developing
countries of the opening of the East.
The Vice-President of VIDC submitted a report entitled "The future
of countries in transition in a new global system", to the UNDP Round
Table on Global Change, "Change: systems and people", held at Bucharest
on 4-6 September 1992.
In 1991 and 1992, VIDC organized, jointly with UNOV, a lecture
series on global issues. Among the speakers were the President of the
ECD Development Centre, the Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations, the
Deputy Director-General of UNFPA, the former President of Nigeria and the
Director-General of the International Press Service.
66. WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION
(Category I)
The Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) holds
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, UNESCO, UNICEF
and UNIDO and is on the list of ILO. Through its affiliates, WIDF
supports the agenda and activities of the United Nations and contributes
to implementing its goals.
WIDF adheres to the goals enunciated at its founding in Paris in
1945 - the defence of women's and children's rights, peace and disarmament and
national independence. With changing world conditions, WIDF added
development and human rights as goals, recognizing their indivisibility
with peace and true security. At its 1991 Congress, attended by
68 affiliates from 62 countries, WIDF delegates asserted the necessity of
meeting new challenges. They adopted a constitution which increased the
role of the regions and the affiliated organizations.
WIDF continues to support all United Nations efforts to advance
women's rights. Its representatives regularly attend meetings of the
Commission on the Status of Women and the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). WIDF urges affiliates to lobby for
the universal ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women by the year 2000 and to monitor the
implementation of the Convention and the Nairobi Forward-looking
Strategies for the Advancement of Women; supported the international
campaign "Women's Rights are Human Rights", which culminated in the
Vienna Declaration on Women, and was represented at the World Conference
on Human Rights in Vienna. WIDF has served on the NGO Planning
Committees for the International Conference on Population and
Development, the World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth World
Conference on Women. Representatives are active participants in the NGO
Committee on the Status of Women Working Group on Women and the Media,
which is formulating recommendations for media policy for the Platform
for Action. Affiliates are also planning workshops for Forum '95 in
Beijing.
In the preparations for UNCED, WIDF representatives attended United
Nations briefings in New York and worked with the North American caucus
in developing the NGO community's recommendations for Agenda 21. The
Cuban affiliate held a regional forum in Rio de Janeiro in support of
UNCED, emphasizing the special concerns of women in the Caribbean and in
Central and South America.
Representatives of WIDF have attended sessions of the Economic and
Social Council and, at is request, have made oral statements. Under its
own aegis and in concert with other NGOs, WIDF submits written statements
on issues of concern to its membership. At the request of the
Secretariat, WIDF statements have been submitted to the Special Committee
against Apartheid and published in official documents. WIDF closely
follows the meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women and the
deliberations of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations. WIDF
representatives attend DPI weekly briefings, annual DPI NGO conferences,
monthly meetings organized by the NGO Unit for chairpersons of NGO
committees and are observers on the CONGO Board in New York and Geneva.
WIDF representatives attended sessions of the Commission on Human
Rights and the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities. In oral and written statements, information
was provided on human rights in El Salvador, Haiti and the occupied
Territories. WIDF has been a constant advocate of the Second United
Nations Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination and supported
the resolution for a Third Decade. WIDF urged its affiliates to lobby
their Governments to ratify the International Convention on the
Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families.
Cooperation between WIDF and UNESCO, starting with the International
Literacy Year, was expanded with its membership on the Steering Committee
of the Education for All Conference. In New York, WIDF has been involved
in various working groups of the NGO Committee on UNICEF, namely,
concerning the girl child, children in especially difficult
circumstances, and street children. Affiliates pressured their
Governments to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Seminars, workshops and teach-ins were held in the United States, France,
Portugal, the Nordic countries, Zimbabwe, Australia, Sri Lanka, the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Cuba and Guyana.
Continuous efforts have been made by affiliates to translate the
Convention into local languages so as to inform citizens of the measures
designed to protect children.
WIDF has followed the work of the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities as well as the Working Group
on Indigenous Populations of the Commission on Human Rights. WIDF was an
active member of the NGO Committee on the International Year of the
World's Indigenous People and disseminated information to its affiliates
around the world. It joined with networks of indigenous organizations to
prepare for observances of the International Year of Indigenous People.
Information and advocacy activities were held by affiliates in the United
States, Australia, Portugal, Viet Nam, Lebanon and other countries in the
Middle East and Africa.
WIDF has supported the work of the Committee on the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination. Throughout the Second Decade to Combat Racism and
Racial Discrimination, WIDF publications in Portuguese, French, Greek,
English, German, Russian, Spanish and other languages relayed pertinent
information. At the initiative of the WIDF New York representative, a
dormant subcommittee on Southern Africa was revived and after much
activity is now a standing committee of the Conference of Non-
Governmental Organizations in consultative status with the Economic and
Social Council (CONGO).
WIDF has permanent representatives at United Nations Headquarters in
New York, at the United Nations Offices at Geneva and Vienna and at
UNESCO headquarters in Paris. This facilitates WIDF involvement in
United Nations activities. WIDF informs its national affiliates of
United Nations observances. It has given special recognition to the
Decades for Disabled Persons, and for Cultural Development, the Third
Disarmament Decade, the Second Decade to Combat Racism and Racial
Discrimination and the Decade against Drug Abuse.
67. WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM
(Category II)
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is an
international organization with national sections in 40 countries. It
works for disarmament; political solutions to international conflicts;
the elimination of racism and all forms of discrimination and
exploitation; respect for fundamental human rights; the right to develop
in a sustainable environment; and the promotion of women to full and
equal participation in all society's activities. WILPF seeks to educate,
inform and mobilize women for action to achieve those goals. It works to
promote specific United Nations resolutions and programmes and to make
the work of the United Nations known to WILPF members and the general
public. In the past four years, WILPF has experienced an expansion in
membership, particulary in Latin America, opening new branches in
Argentina, Panama, Peru and Uruguay.
WILPF participates in meetings of various subsidiary bodies of the
Economic and Social Council, including the Commission on Human Rights,
the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities, and the Commission on the Status of Women. WILPF
participation in those bodies during the period 1990-1993 is described
below.
Commission on Human Rights
At the forty-sixth session, WILPF made oral statements on agenda
items 12 and 19.
At the forty-seventh session, WILPF made an oral statement under
agenda item 12.
At the forty-eighth session, WILPF made oral statements under agenda
items 4, 12 and 18.
At the second special session, WILPF made an oral statement.
At the forty-ninth session, WILPF made oral statements under agenda
items 3, 4, 7 12, 13 and 20.
WILPF also participated in and corresponded with mechanisms of the
Commission on Human Rights. In November 1993, WILPF read a statement to
its Working Group on Development. Also in 1993, pursuant to Commission
resolution 1993/12 and to assist the Secretary-General and contribute to
the formulation of policies, WILPF provided his representative with
information on the repercussions and prospects of the debt crisis and
adjustment programmes for the effective enjoyment of economic, social and
cultural rights of developing countries.
Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities
At the forty-second session, WILPF made oral statements under agenda
items 6 and 17.
At the forty-third session, WILPF made oral statements under agenda
items 6 and 17.
At the forty-fourth session, WILPF made oral statements under agenda
items 6, 7 and 14.
At the forty-fifth session, WILPF made oral statements under agenda
items 7 and 8.
WILPF also provides information for the mechanisms of the
Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities. In 1992, WILPF provided information through a joint non-
governmental organization communication to the Special Rapporteur on
Impunity. In 1993, pursuant to Commission resolution 1993/36, WILPF
provided information to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Housing.
Commission on the Status of Women
At the thirty-fifth session, WILPF made an oral statement.
At the thirty-seventh session, WILPF delivered a joint statement
with other NGOs.
Other United Nations bodies
WILPF also participated in the following United Nations conferences
in the period 1990-1993;
(a) United Nations Committee on the Inalienable Right of the
Palestinian People (Stockholm, 1990). Members of the Swedish branch of
WILPF attended;
(b) United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. A
WILPF delegation attended and WILPF was also involved in the UNCED
Women's Conference in Miami, which drafted the Miami Declaration;
(c) World Conference on Human Rights. A WILPF delegation attended
and WILPF was also active in lobbying members of the Preparatory
Committee, networking with NGOs and presenting workshops in the
concurrent NGO Forum.
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom cooperates on
an ongoing basis with several United Nations programmes, bodies and
specialized agencies, including:
(a) International Labour Organization (Geneva, seventy-eighth
session). WILPF delivered an oral statement;
(b) Joint United Nations Information Committee (Geneva). WILPF has
been very active on the editorial panel in the production and promotion
of the Women and World Development Series;
(c) United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Geneva,
fourth executive session and thirty-eighth and fortieth sessions). WILPF
attended.
Other activities in which WILPF participated with the United Nations
included providing the Secretariat with information on the International
Year of the Family. WILPF is in permanent contact with the Centre for
Human Rights and collaborates with it in many areas. WILPF also worked
with other NGOs based in Geneva to organize seminars on women's rights,
disarmament, racism, development and global governance, at which guests
from the United Nations were invited to participate. WILPF has an
ongoing internship programme, under which three young women from various
regions of the world spend eight months in Geneva and four months in New
York participating in WILPF activities and attending meetings of United
Nations committees, conferences and working groups in the areas of human
rights, development and disarmament.
The present quadrennial report has been completed in accordance with
Economic and Social Council resolution 1296 (XLIV) and is intended to
provide a clear picture of the activities of WILPF as they relate to the
United Nations. The brief format required has prevented WILPF from
elaborating further on its participation in the various areas mentioned.
68. WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL ZIONIST ORGANIZATION
(Category II)
Introduction
The Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO) is an
international voluntary movement of 300,000 women, with federations in 52
countries. Since it was founded more than 70 years ago, it has provided
services to children, women and families, regardless of their race or
religious affiliation.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council and
its subsidiary bodies and/or conferences, and other
United Nations meetings
During the past four years, WIZO multiplied its efforts to ensure
implementation, both in spirit and in the letter, of the objectives of
the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women to
safeguard the full equality of women. WIZO has insisted on the creation
of full and equal opportunities for women to develop their talents and
creative abilities and to facilitate their involvement in the process of
development. Throughout its federations, WIZO has promoted educational
programmes of friendship and mutual cooperation and exchanges in the
achievement of peace. In the past four years, a major concern for WIZO
has been to develop services geared specifically to women in the throes
of family violence through the creation of legal advice bureaus and
shelters for battered women and their children. Towards the advancement
of the status of women, WIZO opened additional day-care centres,
pedagogic centres and therapeutic centres. WIZO also opened additional
youth clubs, including some in Arab villages.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes, bodies
and specialized agencies
Since its establishment, WIZO's main efforts have been dedicated to
the welfare of children and adolescents. WIZO applauded the unanimous
adoption by the General Assembly of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, especially the new rights that appear for the first time in an
international human rights document, such as consideration of a child's
ethnic, religious or linguistic heritage when providing alternative
family care. WIZO federations have continued to actively support the
work of UNICEF either by participating in the national committees for
UNICEF or in fund-raising campaigns throughout the world. WIZO organized
seminars and other events to strengthen families in ways that increase
equality, mutual respect and responsibilities, while taking into account
and respecting existing family structures. A WIZO expert participated in
a seminar on the theme "Family and environment: a partnership", held in
Vienna in 1993 and organized by the NGO Committee on the Family.
Other relevant activities
Action taken to implement United Nations resolutions
WIZO encourages the dissemination of information on United Nations
bodies among its federations, and visits and tours to United Nations
Headquarters were organized frequently.
WIZO attendance at United Nations meetings in New York, Geneva and Vienna
WIZO representatives attended meetings of and/or held consultations
with members of the following United Nations bodies or agencies:
(a) Commission on the Status of Women (Vienna);
(b) Commission on Human Rights (Geneva);
(c) Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities (Geneva);
(d) Third Committee of the General Assembly;
(e) Economic and Social Council (New York and Geneva);
(f) UNICEF Executive Board (New York).
Preparation of papers and/or other material
Prior to the extended thirty-fourth session of the Commission on the
Status of Women in Vienna, during two days of consultations with
representatives of international organizations, WIZO representatives
organized a workshop on the theme "Changing attitudes towards women's
work, salaried and non-salaried", with the following subheadings:
(a) Stress on women, physical and mental;
(b) The gap between law and reality;
(c) Effects on family situations;
(d) Conflicts in women's lives, public and private;
(e) Effects of these changes on volunteering.
Other examples of consultative and substantive activities
WIZO representatives in New York, Geneva and Vienna regularly
attend:
(a) Meetings of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in
consultative status with the Economic and Social Council;
(b) Weekly briefings of the Department of Public Information of the
United Nations Secretariat for the non-governmental organizations
community (New York);
(c) Meetings of the Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on
UNICEF;
(d) Meetings of the Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on the
Status of Women (New York);
(e) Annual Conference of the Department of Public Information of the
United Nations Secretariat for Non-Governmental Organizations.
69. WORLD ALLIANCE OF YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS
(Category II)
Introduction
The role of the World Alliance can be summarized in the following
way:
(a) To interpret and express the Christ-centre nature of the YMCA;
(b) To work for equal opportunity and justice for all;
(c) To work for and maintain an environment in which relationships
among people are characterized by love and understanding.
Since 1990, there has been extensive growth of the YMCA Movement in
primarily four regions of the world: Central America (Nicaragua,
Honduras, El Salvador); eastern and central Europe (Russian Federation,
Latvia, Estonia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Armenia etc.); Africa
(Namibia, Ethiopia, Burundi etc.); and the Caribbean (Cuba and Haiti).
Today, the World Alliance represents 129 countries, with YMCA national
movements operating and offering a full range of programmes and services.
The United Nations and its specialized agencies
The World Alliance continued to maintain contacts with the
Commission on Human Rights, the Commission for Social Development and
other subsidiary bodies of the Economic and Social Council, and has
participated in activities related to various international years and
international conferences, on such subjects as women, indigenous peoples,
Palestine and racism.
As a member of CONGO, the World Alliance participated actively in
some of its special committees, including those dealing with human rights
and sustainable development.
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
The World Alliance played a significant role in UNCED, actively
participating in the CONGO Planning Committee for UNCED from 1991 and
attending the two world youth preparatory forums for UNCED. There was
also a delegation of 11 YMCA representatives of UNCED. The delegation
focused its attention on the Global Forum and the International NGO
Forum. The International NGO Forum coordinated the negotiation of a
series of "treaties" on specific issues. Several YMCA delegates became
actively involved in developing the treaties, particularly those on
education, consumption and lifestyle, energy and appropriate technology.
Others participated in meetings and workshops to share YMCA perspectives
and experiences and gather information of value to YMCA. As a follow-up,
YMCA has established several initiatives to further promote the
environment and development agenda: regional structures in Asia, Africa
and Latin America to develop regional strategies; an Asian regional
conference held in Beijing in 1993, bringing together 23 participants
from 12 countries in Asia; and a world YMCA workshop for over 100
participants world wide, scheduled for 1995 in Seoul.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
The World Alliance has maintained contacts with UNESCO programmes
related to youth and physical education. YMCA representatives attended
the seventh session of the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical
Education and Sport, from 22 to 26 October 1990. The World Alliance
participated in the collective consultations of youth NGOs convened by
the UNESCO secretariat and attended the 18th Collective Consultation of
Youth NGOs, held in Beijing from 10 to 15 November 1992.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The World Alliance regularly attends the meetings of UNHCR and works
in close cooperation in certain refugee situations, such as those in the
Sudan, Costa Rica and Mozambique, and in the repatriation of refugees to
South Africa and Cambodia.
There continues to be ongoing cooperation with UNICEF and United
Nations bodies operating in the area of development such as UNDP. Among
the major events of the last four years, the World Alliance participated
in an international NGOs conference on the relationship between
disarmament and development and presented a statement at the United
Nations conference held in New York in May 1990 on the relationship
between disarmament and development.
The World Alliance formerly acted as Chairperson and now acts as
Treasurer of the NGOs Special Committee on Development in Geneva.
Several workshops and seminars were organized by the Committee on issues
such as debt crisis and human rights. In New York, the World Alliance
representative was Secretary to the NGOs Committee on Sustainable
Development.
Non-governmental organizations with similar
interests and concerns
The World Alliance has participated actively on the International
Council of Voluntary Agencies Refugee Working Group and in programmes
related to special areas of YMCA concern, such as those in the Sudan,
El Salvador and Yugoslavia. The World Alliance chaired meetings of the
subcommittee dealing with Armenia, at which United Nations bodies were
represented.
Ecumenical Global Gathering of Youth and Students
The World Alliance has been an active member of the staff working
group responsible for all facets of preparatory meetings since 1988. The
Gathering, which assembled 500 delegates world wide, took place in July
1993 in Mendes, Brazil, with over 50 YMCA representatives. The major
themes discussed by the youth participants were environment, human
rights, economics, education and women.
The World Alliance has also maintained ongoing contacts and
involvement with the Geneva Informal Meeting of International Youth
organizations (GIM) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies. Special collaborations have continued on issues of
common concern with ecumenical bodies, such as the World Council of
Churches (WCC), the World YWCA, the International Movement of Catholic
Students (IMCS), the Vatican and the World Student Christian Federations
(WSCF).
YMCA programmes
While many of the programmes and bodies active in the last four
years in support of United Nations resolutions are too numerous to
mention here, they include:
(a) The Third Inter-Area Consultation of YMCAs in Development
Countries (United Republic of Tanzania, 17-21 July 1990);
(b) A YMCA task group on apartheid;
(c) A YMCA task force on Palestinian issues;
(d) Round-table meetings on the Sudan;
(e) A workshop on drought in Africa.
In addition, the World Assembly of the World Alliance, held in Seoul
in 1991, attracted over 900 participants, who focused on such major
themes as environment, racism, migrant workers, women, peace and
disarmament, and poverty and development.
As an international organization, the World Alliance assumes its
representative functions with the support and collaboration of its member
movements and the area organizations.
70. WORLD ASSEMBLY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES
(Category II)
Introduction
The goals of the World Assembly of Small and Medium Enterprises
(WASME) have been the achievement of economic growth with social justice
and stability by accelerating the generation of new opportunities for
entrepreneurs and the self-employed; the development of human resources;
and the widening of the entrepreneurial base.
Highlights of WASME activities
WASME has provided updated information on policies, strategies and
support systems for the promotion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
to its members and associates in various countries of the world, as
reflected in WASME statements at meetings of various United Nations
bodies.
WASME has actively participated in high-level expert group meetings,
seminars, symposia, conferences etc. organized by various United Nations
bodies and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. WASME
has also undertaken research studies on issues related to SMEs, and
prepared a project for an elaborate database for providing the latest
data on industry, technology, innovation and trade.
Geographical membership
As of 31 December 1993, WASME had members and associates in 84
countries in all five continents, as compared to 65 as of 31 March 1990.
Sources of funding
WASME initially depended entirely on membership dues. Since
1 April 1992, however, it has also been raising revenue from various
activities, such as conferences, seminars, symposia, publications and
research work, although that represents only 15 per cent of its total
annual revenue. Annual audited statements of accounts and annual reports
have been placed before the WASME governing body, as stipulated in its
constitution.
Discussion with United Nations officials
The WASME Secretary-General, advisers and other officials have held
discussions with senior United Nations officials in New York, Geneva,
Vienna, Bangkok and Addis Ababa on issues related to the strengthening of
SMEs.
WASME collaboration with United Nations agencies
WASME collaborated with ESCAP by providing local hospitality to 30
foreign delegates who participated in a workshop on financing SMEs. It
also provided training to two officials from Cameroon sponsored by ILO
and gave logistic support to a 20-member delegation from ECA on a visit
to India.
WASME publications
WASME issued a large number of publications in English during 1990-
1993, in which there were a number of references to UNIDO documents.
WASME also circulated the conclusions and recommendations of a UNIDO
global consultation on SMEs of a South Asia workshop held in New Delhi on
economic cooperation and entrepreneurship development, organized by the
former Department of International Economic and Social Affairs of the
United Nations Secretariat.
WASME publishes a regular newsletter in English, almost 10 per cent
of which is devoted to a prominent display of United Nations activities.
WASME participated in the following United Nations-sponsored events,
at most of which WASME representatives made statements:
(a) First session of the Committee on Industry, Technology and Human
Settlements of ESCAP (Bangkok, 11-15 September 1989);
(b) Meeting of a high-level committee on the review of technical
cooperation among developing countries (New York, 18-23 September 1989);
(c) First UNIDO Global Consultation on Small and Medium Enterprises
and Cooperatives (Bari, Italy, 9-13 October 1989);
(d) Third General Conference of UNIDO (Vienna, 20-24 November 1989);
(e) A UNDP international workshop on the theme "Transfer of
technology in small and medium industries" (Addis Ababa, 11-
15 December 1989);
(f) Eighth session of the Industrial Development Board of UNIDO;
(g) A UNIDO investment forum organized by the Nigerian Industrial
Development Bank;
(h) Forty-sixth session of ESCAP (Bangkok, 5-13 June 1990);
(i) Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed
Countries (Paris, 3-14 September 1990), and an expert group meeting to
define the role of the enterprise sector in the development of the least
developed countries (Helsinki);
(j) Thirty-seventh session of the Trade and Development Board of
UNCTAD;
(k) Eighth session of the UNCTAD Committee on the Transfer of
Technology (22-30 April 1991);
(l) Meeting of an ad hoc working group of UNCTAD on comparative
experiences with privatization (Geneva, 11 June 1991);
(m) A regional symposium on entrepreneurship and economic
development in Asia, organized jointly by the Department of International
Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat and WASME
(New Delhi, 22-25 October 1991);
(n) Fourth General Conference of UNIDO (Vienna, 18-
22 November 1991);
(o) Eighth session of UNCTAD (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia,
8-23 February 1992);
(p) An ESCAP meeting of ministers of industry and technology
(Tehran, June 1992);
(q) An ESCAP steering group meeting for regional cooperation (New
Delhi, 24-27 November 1992);
(r) Meeting of an ESCAP committee on regional cooperation
(18-19 April 1993);
(s) Forty-ninth session of ESCAP (Bangkok, 21-29 April 1993);
(t) Eleventh Meeting of the Conference of African Ministers of
Industry (Mauritius, 31 May-4 June 1993);
(u) Sessions of the Trade and Development Board of UNCTAD;
(v) Forty-sixth United Nations Annual Conference on Non-Governmental
Organizations (New York, 8 September 1993);
(w) First session of the ESCAP Committee on Poverty Alleviation
through Economic Group and Social Development (Bangkok, 20-
24 September 1993);
(x) Second session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Expansion of
Trading Opportunities in Developing Countries of UNCTAD (Geneva, 4-
8 October 1993);
(y) Second session of the Standing Committee on Developing Services
of UNCTAD (Geneva, 11-15 October 1993);
(z) An ESCAP/WASME symposium on financing small and medium
enterprises (New Delhi, 12-14 November 1993);
(aa) An ESCAP seminar on expanding the export of SME manufactures
(30 November-2 December 1993).
71. WORLD ASSEMBLY OF YOUTH
(Category I)
Aims and purpose of the organization
The aims of the World Assembly of Youth (WAY) are to:
(a) Increase inter-ethnic respect and foster intercultural and
international understanding and cooperation;
(b) Facilitate the collection of information on the needs and
problems of youth;
(c) Disseminate information on the methods, techniques and
activities of youth organizations;
(d) Promote the interchange of ideas between youth of all countries;
(e) Assist in the development of youth work activities and promote,
by mutual aid, the extension of the work of the voluntary youth
organizations;
(f) Cooperate in the development of national coordinating committees
of voluntary youth organizations;
(g) Promote the democratic participation of young people both in
their own organizations and in society as a whole;
(h) Establish and maintain relations with the international
organizations, both voluntary and governmental;
(i) Support and encourage the national movements of
Non-Self-Governing Territories in their struggle for national liberation;
(j) Promote tolerance, understanding, solidarity and cooperation
among young men and women irrespective of race, sex, language, religion
or political orientation;
(k) Encourage the full participation of young men and women in the
development process of their countries.
Increase in geographical membership
The following organizations have joined WAY during 1990-1993: the
Asian Youth Council, the Council of European National Youth Committees,
the Bhutan Youth Association, the National Youth Council of Chile, the
Youth Council of Czech Moravia and Silesia, the Danish Youth Council, the
Finnish Youth Cooperation-Alliance, the National Youth Bureau (Gambia),
the National Council of Hellenic Youth (Greece), the National Youth
Council of Iceland, the Jamaican National Youth Council, the National
Union of Jordanian Youth, the Youth Council of Macedonia, the Mongolian
Youth Federation, the National Youth Council of Montserrat, the SWAPO
Youth League (Namibia), the Social Youth Council of Nepal, the Nicaraguan
Youth Council, the Platform of Peruvian Youth Organizations, the Polish
Youth Council, the Youth Council of Slovakia, the National Youth Council
of Slovenia and the National Council of Swedish Youth.
Substantial changes in sources of funding
During 1990-1993, WAY has received funding, in addition to the usual
sources, from the Swedish International Development Authority.
Participation in the Economic and Social Council
and its subsidiary bodies, conferences and other
United Nations meetings
WAY has participated in the following meetings sponsored by United
Nations bodies during the years 1990-1993:
(a) A UNICEF youth NGO round table for children (Geneva, 1990);
(b) A UNCED Preparatory Committee meeting (Geneva, 1991);
(c) A UNFPA youth consultation (United States of America, 1991);
(d) A UNESCO youth consultation (Romania, 1991);
(e) A United Nations youth forum (Vienna, 1991);
(f) A World Bank seminar on adolescent health (United States of
America, 1991);
(g) A UNESCO youth consultation (Beijing, 1992);
(h) The ninety-first session of the WHO Executive Board (Geneva,
1992);
(i) The NGO Forum on Human Rights and the World Conference on Human
Rights (Vienna, 1993);
(j) The twenty-seventh session of the General Conference of UNESCO
(Paris, 1993);
(k) A UNESCO youth consultation (Paris, 1993).
Cooperation with United Nations programmes and bodies
and specialized agencies
United Nations
WAY is a member of CONGO. WAY has representatives at United Nations
offices in Vienna, Geneva, Bangkok, New York and Nairobi. WAY
participated in the preparations of the United Nations Youth Forum and
has contributed to the drafting of the United Nations World Youth
Programme. The Secretary-General of the United Nations sent a message to
the WAY General Assembly in 1993.
ILO
A representative of ILO participated in the World Youth Award
ceremony in Malaysia in 1990.
UNDP
A UNDP representative spoke at a WAY international symposium on
development and environment (Baghdad, 1990). UNDP participated in the
World Youth Award ceremony in Malaysia in 1990 and 1993.
UNEP
WAY attended UNCED Preparatory Committee meetings in Geneva.
UNESCO
UNESCO participated in the World Youth Award ceremony in 1990 and
1993. WAY is a member of the Working Group for the UNESCO Youth
Consultation. WAY conducted a feasibility study on youth press service
for UNESCO in 1993.
UNFPA
WAY made a youth population chart, a film on youth and population,
and a training kit on population, continued to run the Youth Press
Service, and held the following events with the support of UNFPA:
(a) A Latin American youth workshop on population and development
(Uruguay, 1990);
(b) An intercountry workshop of youth NGOs and Governments on
adolescent health (Ghana, 1990);
(c) A national workshop on youth participation in population and
environment (Uganda, 1991);
(d) A regional workshop on population, environment and development
(Malaysia, 1992);
(e) An international youth workshop on adolescent health (Malaysia,
1993).
UNICEF
WAY is a member of the NGO Committee on UNICEF and participated in a
youth round table for children in Geneva in 1990.
WHO
WAY, WHO and the World Organization of the Scout Movement conducted
a survey on adolescent health in 11 African countries. WAY conducted
AIDS, drug-abuse prevention and leprosy-control activities and a safe
motherhood project in Bangladesh, and organized the following events with
the support of WHO:
(a) An Andean youth workshop (1990);
(b) A workshop on AIDS and organized youth (1990);
(c) An intercountry workshop on youth involvement in leprosy control
(Pakistan, 1991);
(d) An intercountry workshop on youth for the prevention and control
of AIDS (India, 1991);
(e) A Caribbean regional youth workshop on health (Barbados, 1992);
(f) An adolescent health workshop (Senegal, 1993).
World Bank
With the support of the World Bank, WAY conducted an intercountry
workshop of youth NGOs and Governments to promote adolescent health in
Ghana in 1990.
72. WORLD ASSOCIATION OF FORMER UNITED NATIONS
INTERNES AND FELLOWS
(Category II)
The World Association of Former United Nations Internes and Fellows
(WAFUNIF) has members in 136 countries and all regions of the world. Its
constitutional mandate and activities, implemented since its creation in
1978, are oriented towards advancing the work of its Alma Mater, the
United Nations system. WAFUNIF's main aims and purposes are to:
(a) Continue to maintain a channel of communication between the
United Nations system and those whom it has serviced through its multiple
internships and fellowships over the past 45 years and more;
(b) Use the collective and individual resources of its members to
promote research, information and education at all levels to help improve
public understanding of the principles, activities and potentialities of
the United Nations;
(c) Support and encourage the maintenance and further development of
internships, fellowships and other types of training programmes within
the United Nations system.
Accordingly, WAFUNIF has historically supported the implementation of
relevant resolutions of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social
Council and other intergovernmental bodies.
During 1990-1993, WAFUNIF participated in the work of the Economic
and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, as well as in several
United Nations conferences and other meetings (either attending or
submitting oral and/or written statements, or both), including:
(a) Twenty-third session of the Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean (Caracas, 3-11 May 1990);
(b) Eighteenth special session of the General Assembly (New York,
23 April-1 May 1990);
(c) Meeting of the United Nations peace messenger organizations,
organized by the former Department of Political and Security Council
Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (Sochi, former USSR, 10-
14 June 1991);
(d) Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed
Countries (Paris, 3-14 September 1990);
(e) Seventh session of the High-level Committee on the Review of
Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (New York, 28 May-
6 June 1991);
(f) Eighth session of the Committee on the Transfer of Technology of
UNCTAD (Geneva, 22-30 April 1991). The WAFUNIF contribution is recorded
in document TD/B/1298;
(g) Second, third and fourth sessions of the Preparatory Committee
for UNCED;
(h) UNCED. The statement submitted by WAFUNIF to UNCED highlighted
salient recommendations adopted by an international symposium on the
theme "The challenges to Agenda 21 for international cooperation:
finance, capacity-building and the transfer of environmentally sound
technologies for sustainable development", organized by WAFUNIF in
cooperation with UNIDO and UNCTAD (Rio de Janeiro, 4-6 June 1992);
(i) Fifth International Workshop on the Transfer of Knowledge
through Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN) (Manila, 13-17 November 1991),
jointly sponsored by the Government of the Philippines and UNDP;
(j) An expert group seminar on the theme "International migration:
the impact of employment policies, trade and direct and indirect foreign
investment" (New York, 20-22 November 1991), organized by the Friedrich
Ebert Stiftung in cooperation with the former Centre on Transnational
Corporations of the United Nations Secretariat, UNCTAD and IOM;
(k) Forty-fourth session of the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Under agenda item 10 (a),
WAFUNIF supported a written petition (E/C.4/Sub.2/1992/NGO/20) requesting
that the question of impunity be considered by the Commission on Human
Rights at its forty-ninth session;
(l) Round table on the theme "Understanding the role of
international non-governmental organizations", sponsored by CONGO (New
York, 9 April 1991);
(m) First session of the Preparatory Committee for the Global
Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing
States;
(n) A workshop on international migration and sustainable human
development (Buenos Aires, November 1992), organized by the Government of
Argentina, UNDP and IOM.
The tradition of close cooperation links between WAFUNIF and various
United Nations bodies was further strengthened during the period under
review. A number of projects, meetings and other activities were
undertaken in collaboration with United Nations bodies and research and
educational institutions. For example, progress was made on the joint
WAFUNIF/UNITAR pilot project to establish a computerized information
system on all forms of training opportunities available throughout the
United Nations system. WAFUNIF assisted the Office of Human Resources
Management of the United Nations Secretariat in conducting orientations
for participants in the United Nations Headquarters Internship Programme.
WAFUNIF also assisted UNEP with its global youth forums. Research by the
WAFUNIF President on issues of international migration, particularly the
reverse transfer of technology (RTT), was used by UNDP in its Human
Development Report 1992. Activities in the area of science and
technology for development focused on salient issues of endogenous
capacity and capability-building; scientific and technological
applications for the eradication of poverty; the social implications of
frontier technologies, such as biotechnology and micro-electronics; the
full and equal participation of women in scientific education and
pursuits, and their access to the fruits of scientific discoveries and
technological application; and the role of training delivery systems,
including internships, fellowships, workshops, seminars and study groups
of the United Nations system, in strengthening the scientific,
technological and managerial base of developing countries and the ability
of their young nationals to access and manage environmentally sound
technologies for development.
Among the meetings organized by WAFUNIF during this period were:
(a) a public forum on the theme "The 1990s and beyond: the United
Nations system and emerging issues of international law" (New York,
20 June 1990), a contribution to promoting the goals of the United
Nations Decade of International Law; and (b) an international symposium
on visual disabilities in children (New York, 1 and 2 October 1992),
organized in cooperation with the Eyes of Children Foundation as a
contribution to the implementation of the Plan of Action adopted by the
World Summit for Children, the Global Strategy for Health for All by the
Year 2000, the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons to
the Year 2000 and Beyond, chapters 6 and 25 of Agenda 21, and
preparations for the World Summit for Social Development.
During the period under review, WAFUNIF continued along the
substantive path established by its constitution and assembly for
fulfilling its responsibilities as a category II NGO in consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council. WAFUNIF has continuously
upgraded its explorations of innovative ways that United Nations alumni
can actively support the work of their Alma Mater to establish peace,
progress and development with equity and social justice in accordance
with the principles and objective embodied in the Charter of the United
Nations.
73. WORLD ASSOCIATION OF GIRL GUIDES AND GIRL SCOUTS
(Category II)
Introduction
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is a
voluntary educational organization for girls and young women. In
accordance with the principles of membership, member organizations are
self-governing, are independent of any political organization and do not
support any political parties. Membership is voluntary and open to all
girls and young women without distinction of creed, race, nationality or
any other circumstance. WAGGGS' objective is to promote, throughout the
world, unity of purpose and common understanding based on its fundamental
principles; to further the aim of the Girl Guide/Girl Scout movement,
which is to provide girls and young women with opportunities for self-
training in the development of character, responsible citizenship and a
service ethic in their own and world communities; and to encourage
friendship among girls and young women of all nations within countries
and world wide.
The number of WAGGGS member organizations increased by 10 at its
Twenty-Eighth World Conference in Denmark in 1993 (full member: Belize;
associate members: Aruba, Cook Islands, Namibia, San Marino, Saint
Christopher and Nevis, Hungary, Romania, Estonia and Latvia) to a total
of 128, with a membership of almost 9 million girls and young women world
wide.
WAGGGS acquired category "A" status with UNESCO and renegotiated
relations with WHO for a further three years.
WAGGGS involvement at the United Nations
WAGGGS volunteer teams are based in six cities: Geneva, Nairobi,
New York, Paris, Rome and Vienna. WAGGGS representatives are active
members of a variety of NGO committees and working groups at the United
Nations. In New York, one of the team members is Co-Chairperson of the
NGO Committee on UNICEF. The WAGGGS representative at the United Nations
Office at Vienna is Coordinator of NGO activities at the NGO Forum
scheduled to take place in Beijing in September 1995 concurrently with
the Fourth World Conference on Women. One of the WAGGGS team members
from Paris has been elected Co-President of the UNESCO NGO Consultation
on the theme "Literacy and education for all". WAGGGS has been nominated
as member of the Bureau of the Standing Committee. Another WAGGGS
representative at UNESCO in Paris has been elected Co-President of the
Collective Consultation of Non-Governmental Youth Organizations. A
WAGGGS representative in Geneva was Chairman of the NGO Family Life
Education Subcommittee, which planned a youth consultation for the
International Conference on Population and Development.
WAGGGS issued or signed a number of position statements to support
its work. WAGGGS endorsed the UNICEF statement from the World Summit for
Children in New York in 1990, drawing the attention of world leaders to
the need for supporting the rights of children. WAGGGS sent a statement
on the Gulf War to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. WAGGGS
signed a statement issued by the NGO Committee on the Family to be
submitted to the Commission on Social Development. WAGGGS issued a
position statement for UNCED, reflecting interest and involvement in
development issues. WAGGGS endorsed the Plan of Action of the
International Conference on Nutrition. A WAGGGS representative made an
oral statement at the NGO Forum on Human Rights.
WAGGGS has been represented at a multitude of United Nations and
other meetings by representatives of member organizations, members of its
World Committee and staff of its World Bureau. WAGGGS attended:
(a) The Second Round-Table Meeting of UNEP Regional Youth Focal
Points (Nairobi);
(b) The sessions of the general conferences of UNESCO, FAO, WHO and
UNEP;
(c) The Child Development Conference (Kadoma, Zimbabwe);
(d) The Africa Regional Conference (Abidjan, Ivory Coast);
(e) The Global Assembly of Women (Florida, United States of
America);
(f) The World Women's Congress (Florida, United States of America);
(g) The Conference for the Prevention of Drug and Substance Abuse
(Manila);
(h) The meeting on successful and replicable approaches to
adolescent health (Geneva);
(i) The NGO Consultative Meeting on the United Nations Decade for
Disabled Persons (Vienna);
(j) The Collective Consultation of NGOs on Literacy (Paris and
Cairo);
(k) The Collective Consultation of Youth NGOs (Bucharest and
Beijing);
(l) The World Youth Preparatory Forum for UNCED (San Jose', Costa
Rica);
(m) UNCED;
(n) The Literacy Conference (Benin);
(o) A schools' drug-abuse prevention seminar (Brisbane, Australia);
(p) The International Conference on Nutrition (Rome);
(q) The World Conference on Human Rights;
(r) The International Year of the Family NGO Forum (Malta).
Cooperation with United Nations agencies
In September 1990, seven young WAGGGS representatives participated
in the round-table meeting discussions on the Convention on the Rights of
the Child. The WAGGGS representatives to that meeting have since
undertaken important follow-up work on the Convention on the Rights of
the Child within their own countries.
Following a youth NGO round-table meeting, an action kit was
produced by UNICEF. WAGGGS, in its capacity as a member of the
Consultative Group of NGOs at UNICEF, was involved in drafting the
chapter on environment for the action kit. The input of the WAGGGS team
in Geneva in drafting the chapter was invaluable.
A joint WAGGGS/UNEP project entitled "Water is Life" has been
undertaken. The "Water is Life" package comprises two volumes written by
a WAGGGS member in collaboration with UNEP, a Water Badge scheme, a
promotional "Water is Life" poster and a WAGGGS Water Badge group
certificate. WAGGGS was among the recipients of UNESCO youth travel
grants in 1992, receiving grants for two young leaders from Burundi and
Rwanda. One young leader (Columbia) in 1992 and two young leaders
(Lebanon and Philippines) in 1993 received grants from UNESCO to attend
the "Youth in Action" programme.
WAGGGS was the recipient of a FAO grant for the publication of
WAGGGS World Issues Series booklet entitled "Food and nutrition, a choice
for life".
WAGGGS/UNHCR collaboration resulted in a refugee project, including
a refugee training module, a World Issues booklet on refugees, a Refugee
Badge project and the nomination of a group of young women to form a
UNHCR-coordinated youth service team working with refugees in 1995.
WAGGGS is forging new links with WFP.
Other relevant activities
WAGGGS produced a WAGGGS/United Nations information kit to help its
member organizations to better understand the United Nations and
encourage them to approach United Nations bodies in their countries or
regions.
WAGGGS produces a series of community development booklets that
address issues affecting the lives of girls and young women and provide
basic information about issues, options for local projects, and further
resource contacts and addresses. The series includes booklets on street
children, AIDS, food and nutrition, trade in women, and refugees. The
forthcoming issue will cover child exploitation.
WAGGGS publishes Our World News, a bi-monthly newsletter, in which a
column is devoted to United Nations news.
74. WORLD CONFERENCE ON RELIGION AND PEACE
(Category II)
Aims and purposes
The World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP) is dedicated to
promoting cooperation for peace among the world's religions in the
following nine programme areas, which closely complement United Nations
organizational agenda and goals:
(a) Promoting religious tolerance;
(b) Assisting in conflict resolution;
(c) Working for disarmament;
(d) Developing peace studies and peace education;
(e) Encouraging equitable and sustainable development;
(f) Furthering human rights;
(g) Fostering the welfare of children and youth;
(h) Caring for displaced persons;
(i) Sponsoring environmental projects.
WCRP has an international secretariat in New York; 4 regional
offices in South Africa, Europe, Australia and Japan; 30 national
chapters in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas; and membership in 70
countries. Since 1990, a new regional (African) office has been
established in South Africa and four new national chapters has been
constituted, in Croatia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Sweden.
Institutional membership has surged, with the addition of scores of
national and international religious organizations, and individual
membership has doubled.
Due to an increase in membership as well as in funding by religious
institutions and sympathetic foundations, the WCRP operating budget has
increased fourfold since 1990 and the organization has also been able to
facilitate a number of specially budgeted projects in the fields of
humanitarian relief, conflict resolution and religious cooperation for
support of United Nations events, summits and international conferences.
WCRP is an active and founding member of the CONGO Committee for
Freedom of Religion or Belief. In addition, there are a number of
organizations that are either members of WCRP or work in close
cooperation with WCRP that are in their own right NGOs in consultative
status with the Economic and Social Council, including the Commission of
the Churches on International Affairs; Conference on European Churches;
Franciscans International; Greek Orthodox Archdiocese; International
Association for Religious Freedom; International Catholic Child Bureau;
International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of
Torture; International Fellowship of Reconciliation; Lutheran World
Federation; Muslim World League; Pax Christi International; Pax Romana;
Wainwright House; and World Muslim Congress.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes, bodies and agencies
Since its establishment in 1970, WCRP has had a special relationship
with the United Nations. In many programme areas, WCRP references its
own organizational agenda to that of the United Nations.
In preparation for the World Summit for Children, UNICEF, in an
effort to enlist active constituencies for children through religious
communities, invited WCRP to convene a summit of religious leaders to
establish an interreligious strategy for translating the goals of the
World Summit into practical action for children. A conference was
organized on the theme "The world's religions for the world's children"
(Princeton, United States of America, 25-27 July 1990). Some 150
religious leaders from six continents attended. The conference was
sponsored by UNICEF and staffed by WCRP. The WCRP Declaration and Action
Plan adopted at the conference was translated into six languages and has
been distributed around the world by both UNICEF and WCRP. Since then,
two similar assemblies of religious leaders have been convened on child-
related issues in cooperation with UNICEF, one for religious leaders from
Africa (Harare, 1992) and another for religious leaders from Asia and the
Pacific (Melbourne, 1993).
WCRP spent three years preparing for UNCED. In 1990, WCRP was a
founding member of the North American Environmental Sabbath Committee of
UNEP and was instrumental in the publication of Only One Earth, a
sourcebook for NGOs and educators in preparation for UNCED. That work
was supplemented in 1991 with the WCRP production of Religious Voices for
Our Earth, for use during UNCED and beyond. WCRP was deeply involved in
the four Preparatory Committee meetings for UNCED, with its Secretary-
General serving as co-chair for the CONGO Planning Committee for UNCED.
At the fourth Preparatory Committee meeting, WCRP, together with UNEP,
sponsored a symposium on the theme: "Environmental ethics, equity and
sustainable development". The Director of the North American Regional
Office of UNEP was the keynote speaker of the event, which attracted more
than 250 NGOs. WCRP convened a conference in Brazil just before UNCED on
the theme "Religion's responsibilities for environment and development",
aimed at helping world religious leaders to prepare themselves and their
organizations for UNCED. Finally, WCRP organized the major
interreligious gathering at UNCED itself.
During 1993, WCRP convened a Task Force on Ethical and Legal Issues
in Humanitarian Assistance, which produced a document entitled "The
Mohonk criteria for humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies". The
Task Force was composed of experts in humanitarian assistance issues as
well as individuals and staff from major relief NGOs, the organizations
and bodies of the United Nations system, including the International
Court of Justice; UNICEF; the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the
Department of Peace-keeping Operations; the Office of Programme Planning,
Budget and Finance; the Office of Legal Counsel and the Department of
Political Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat; UNHCR; and UNIFEM.
The Mohonk criteria make recommendations on the range of issues
confronting agencies that are responsible for the delivery of
humanitarian assistance when the introduction of military forces into
complex emergencies complicates the implementation of the humanitarian
mandate. The guidelines have been distributed to the United Nations,
permanent delegations, non-governmental relief organizations, institutes
of peace studies and religious communities by means of the WCRP network.
In addition to the above-mentioned activities, WCRP has dealt
repeatedly with UNICEF, holding yearly programmes in commemoration of the
Day of the African Child; UNESCO, holding a Global Ethic Programme at the
Dag Hammarskjo"ld Library Auditorium in early 1994; UNHCR, providing
humanitarian aid to former Yugoslavia in 1993; the office of the
Secretary-General, coordinating religious responses to the Gulf crisis in
1990 and the Gulf war in 1991, and creating "corridors of peace" in Iraq
in cooperation with UNICEF; the Centre for Human Rights of the United
Nations Secretariat, monitoring compliance to the United Nations
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief; and the Department of Public
Information of the United Nations Secretariat, moderating the opening and
closing sessions of the Forty-Fifth Annual NGO/DPI Annual Conference, as
well as making a presentation at a morning session of the Conference and
moderating the same day's afternoon session. Finally, WCRP national
chapters around the world work on an ongoing basis to further cooperation
with the United Nations system on the regional and national levels.
75. WORLD FEDERALIST MOVEMENT
(Category II)
The World Federalist Movement (WFM) (formerly the World Association
for World Federation (WAWF)* (* WAWF changed its name to WFM at its
Congress in June 1991.) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization
working to strengthen the United Nations and the international legal
system in order to create a more just and peaceful world. WFM works
through an office in New York, an international secretariat in Amsterdam,
15 national organizations and members in some 30 countries. WFM is
formally represented at the United Nations in New York and Geneva.
Summary of WFM activities
The WFM representative to the United Nations and other WFM staff
have participated in the meetings of Economic and Social Council
conferences and preparatory committees, the General Assembly, the Sixth
Committee and the Charter Committee. The WFM representative sends out
regular reports to its national organizations on United Nations
resolutions and activities on current issues; meets with diplomats from
the permanent missions of many countries, Secretariat officials and
visiting WFM members; and works closely through meetings, correspondence,
electronic mail and forums with other non-governmental organizations.
The WFM international secretariat office in Amsterdam coordinates the
activities of WFM national organizations.
Participation in United Nations meetings and conferences
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
WFM staff participated in meetings of the preparatory committee for
UNCED as well as in UNCED itself. WFM organized and co-chaired the
International NGO Task Group on Legal and Institutional Matters
(INTGLIM), a coalition of several hundred NGOs from both North and South,
which issued several mailings with information on UNCED. At the fourth
meeting of the Preparatory Committee, INTGLIM and WFM hosted two
luncheons for representatives of permanent missions and NGOs to discuss
key UNCED legal and institutional issues, and gathered the signatures of
200 NGOs supporting the creation of the Commission on Sustainable
Development.
Decade of International Law
At the invitation of the Secretary-General, WFM submitted
recommendations for the programme of the Decade, which were published in
full in the report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Decade
of International Law (A/45/430, 1990) and in summary form in similar
reports in 1991 and 1992 (A/46/372 and A/47/384). WFM organized a
network of scholars and NGOs interested in the Decade, and sent out several
mailings and analyses related to the Decade. WFM sponsored round-table
discussions with scholars and representatives of permanent missions on the
following themes: (a) "Strategies for supporting the United Nations Decade of
International Law" (November 1990); (b) Future challenges of the
international legal system" (May 1990); (c) Strengthening the preventive
role of the Security Council: innovations in law and practice" (April
1991); (d) "Strengthening the role of the International Law Commission
during the Decade of International Law" (May 1992); (e) "The Security
Council during the Decade of International Law: politics and law"
(June 1992); (f) "Developing an international criminal jurisdiction
during the Decade of International Law: problems and progress" (July
1992); (g) "An international criminal court: why now?" (1992); and
(h) "Comparing ideas for the statute for an international criminal
tribunal: the Security Council mandate" (March 1993). The discussions
were published as reports and sent to permanent missions, scholars and
NGOs.
Implementation of United Nations resolutions calling for
response by non-governmental organizations
WFM studied and supported a variety of United Nations resolutions,
including those concerning the creation of an international criminal
court; the Balkans Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia; the Commission on
Sustainable Development; the United Nations Decade of International Law;
strengthening United Nations peace-keeping operations; the programme of
assistance in the teaching and dissemination of international law; the
draft code of crimes against peace and security of mankind; and Charter
Committee resolutions on strengthening the role of the United Nations.
Dissemination of information on the United Nations
(articles, reports, programmes)
Distribution of United Nations and related material on, inter alia,
the creation of an international criminal court; the draft code of
crimes; the International Law Commission; security and peace-keeping
operations; the selection of the Secretary-General; ICJ; United Nations
reform; the Commission on Human Rights; the Commission on Sustainable
Development; the Security Council; the Special Committee on the Charter
of the United Nations; An Agenda for Peace; and disarmament.
Selected publications of the World Federalist Movement and
its national organizations
The following is a list of selected WFM-related publications:
1. Proposal for a General United Nations System for Protection of the
Environment (Norway, WFM, 1991). Preface by Gro Harlem Brundtland.
2. Walter Hoffman, ed. New World Order: Can It Bring Security to the
World's People? (Washington, D.C., World Federalist Association,
1991).
3. Earth Ideas. A Resource Guide for Parents and Teachers (WFM, 1992).
Preface by Sir Peter Ustinov.
4. Dieter Heinrich, The Case for a United Nations Parliamentary
Assembly, (New York, WFM, 1992).
5. Finn Larsen, Unity with Diversity, Federalist Essays (Amsterdam,
Institute for Global Policy Studies, 1992).
6. Charlotte Waterlow, The Global Management of Basic Resources:
Minerals, Energy & Food Production (London, Association of World
Federalists, 1992).
7. Twenty-First Congress of the World Federalist Movement: Summaries
of Speeches and Resolutions (Amsterdam, WFM, 1993).
8. Barbara Walker, ed. Uniting the Nations and Peoples: Readings in
World Federalism (New York and Washington, D.C., WFM and World
Federalist Association, 1993).
9. Toward Common Goals: Report of the Independent Commission on the
Future of the United Nations (World Federalist of Canada, 1993).
10. Dieter Heinrich, The Future Begins Now: World Federalism in the
1990s (New York, WFM, 1994).
11. World Federalist News (WFM, issued three times a year).
12. Canadian World Federalists (Canada, issued quarterly).
13. World Federalist (United States of America, issued quarterly).
14. World Federalist Bulletin (United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, issued quarterly).
15. Sekai Renpo Shinbun (World Federalist Newspaper) (Japan, issued
monthly).
16. En Verden (One World) (Norway, issued annually).
Publications of the Center for United Nations
Reform Education*
* Educational affiliate of the World Federalist Association, WFM
national organization in the United States of America.
Recent Center publications include:
Lowell Ashby, The United Nations Economic Institutions and the Need
for Restructuring (Washington, D.C., 1991).
Bryan F. MacPherson, An International Criminal Court: Applying
World Law to Individuals (Washington, D.C., 1992).
Harris O. Schoenberg, We're Not Bananas! The Concept of "People" in
the Principle of Self-Determination and Its Implications for the United
Nations, Monograph No. 11 (Washington, D.C., 1993).
Estelle Siegal Perry, Streamlining the United Nations System, Part
A. Wanted: A United Nations Personnel System that Works (Livingston, New
Jersey, 1993).
Other publications
Related publications include:
1. The Federalist Debate (Pavia, Italy, issued quarterly), Altiero
Spinelli Institute for Federalist Studies.
2. The Federalist (Pavia, issued quarterly), Fondazione Europea Luciano
Bolis.
76. WORLD FEDERATION FOR MENTAL HEALTH
(Category II)
Introduction
The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH), founded in London on
21 August 1948, is the world's oldest international non-governmental
voluntary mental health association, representing professionals, consumers
and volunteers. WFMH's purpose is to improve the quality of mental health
services and protect the rights of persons defined as mentally ill. In
addition to being in consultative status with the Economic and Social
Council, WFMH has official relations with WHO, PAHO, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNHCR
and the ILO.
WFMH is incorporated in the United States of America. It is governed
by an Assembly of Voting Members and an elected Board of Directors, with an
appointed Secretary-General who functions as the Chief Executive Officer.
There are 3,701 individual members and 274 member organizations (153 voting
member organizations and 121 affiliate members). Among the Federation's
more important projects are biennial world congresses (1993 in Tokyo, in
1995 in Dublin), regional conferences and the organization of World Mental
Health Day, co-sponsored with WHO, which includes an international
teleconference.
Selected activities
1990
WFMH signed a contract with PAHO/WHO to administer funds and
co-sponsor the Regional Conference on the Restructuring of Psychiatric Care
in Latin America (Caracas, 12-14 November 1990).
WFMH was also a participant in the following conferences and meetings:
Eleventh session of the Committee on Crime Prevention and Control (Vienna,
5-16 February 1990); International Conference on Indo-Chinese Refugees
(Geneva, 15 March 1990); Informal Consultation on Quality Assurance of
Mental Health Care (Geneva, 10-12 September 1990); Eleventh United Nations
Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (Havana,
27 August-7 September 1990).
1991
WFMH participated in the negotiations leading to the adoption of
General Assembly resolution 46/119 of 17 December 1991 on the protection of
persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental health care.
WFMH was represented at the following conferences and meetings:
Special session of the NGO Committee on UNICEF (New York, 19 February
1991); consultation of the NGO Committee on UNICEF on children in
especially difficult circumstances (20 April 1991); Alliance of NGOs on
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: international advisory, scientific
and professional council meeting (Milan, September 1991); a meeting of the
Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (New York, 8
November 1991); UNICEF: conference on television programming (Acapulco,
11-13 December 1991); ministerial meeting on the creation of an effective
United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme (Versailles,
21-23 November 1991).
1992
On 14 October 1992, the WFMH Secretary-General and the Chairman of the
WFMH International Committee on Refugees and Other Migrants (also Director
of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, a WFMH Collaborating Center) met
in Geneva with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to discuss
mental health issues affecting refugees.
Since March 1992, WFMH participated in the NGO planning process for
the International Conference on Population and Development through its
representation on the NGO steering committee in New York.
WFMH was represented at the following conferences and meetings:
Global Coordinating Group for the WHO Mental Health Programme (Geneva,
February 1992); United Nations Committee on Torture (Geneva, 27 April-8 May
1991); Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice:
consultation on the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation
for victims of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms
(Maastricht, The Netherlands, 10-14 March 1992); NGO Committee on UNICEF:
conference on education for girls (New York, 21-22 April 1992); NGO group
meeting on primary health care (Geneva, 4 May 1992); UNEP: 1992 Global
Youth Forum (New York, 14-15 May 1992); WHO consultation on substance abuse
(Geneva, 5 May 1992); Open meeting of the NGO Committee on UNICEF (Geneva,
18 May 1992); CONGO meeting on United Nations/NGO relations (New York, 5
August 1992); planning for the tenth anniversary celebration of the World
Plan of Action on Ageing (New York, 30 September-2 October 1992).
1993
WFMH participated in the preparations conducted by the Commission on
Human Rights for the World Conference on Human Rights, attending four
meetings of the Preparatory Committee. At the NGO Forum (Vienna, 10-12
June 1993), WFMH submitted two joint statements with the World Association
for Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Richmond Fellowship International on
(a) the human rights of the mentally ill and their need for greater
support, and (b) the indivisibility of health from human rights, especially
for disabled people.
UNESCO, in conjunction with WFMH and the International Social Science
Council, published Biomedical Technology and Human Rights, an examination
of ethical problems by the WFMH Secretary-General.
In 1993, UNHCR, WFMH and the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma signed
an agreement for consultation on the mental health needs of refugees and
worked on the preparation of a manual on the subject. On 8 September 1993,
at the Forty-sixth Annual DPI/NGO Conference, the Secretary-General of the
United Nations referred to the agreement between WFMH and UNHCR as a
productive United Nations/NGO collaboration.
On 13 May 1993, a WFMH representative organized a full-day meeting of
NGOs on mental health at United Nations Headquarters.
77. WORLD FEDERATION OF THE DEAF
(Category II)
The World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) is an international non-
governmental organization of national deaf associations. WFD objectives
are to promote the human, social and linguistic (sign language) rights of
deaf persons, and their full participation and equalization of
opportunities in society; to encourage and support deaf people to
establish and run organizations of their own; and to encourage those
organizations to work for a better overall situation for the deaf
community in each country. Key priorities are to strengthen the status
of sign languages, and to increase educational opportunities for deaf
persons and promote their access to information. In its work, WFD gives
priority to deaf persons and their organizations in developing countries.
During the period under review, a record number of 20 national
associations of the deaf joined WFD as a member. The number of WFD
ordinary members had reached 94 by the end of 1993. WFD increased its
cooperation with the United Nations during the period under review.
The WFD President, General Secretary and management committee
members had an audience on 10 January 1990 with the Director-General of
the United Nations Office at Vienna in order to introduce her to the deaf
cause and to urge a more prominent status for the deaf cause in the
United Nations Disability Programme. Joint meetings between WFD
representatives (President, General Secretary and members of the
management committee) and staff of the Office of the Special
Representative for the Promotion of the United Nations Decade of Disabled
Persons as well as representatives of the Disabled Persons Unit of the
former Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the
United Nations Office at Vienna were held on 11 January 1990. The
discussions focused on harmonizing each party's plan of action and
strategies to provide the deaf cause with greater prominence in the
United Nations Disability Programme and in the key United Nations
documents under preparation.
A deaf leader from Kenya participated as a deaf expert at an expert
meeting on alternative ways to mark the end of the United Nations Decade
of Disabled Persons (Ja"rvenpa"a", Finland, 7-11 May 1990). The WFD
President attended as a special guest and the WFD General Secretary as a
resource person.
WFD stimulated its cooperation with UNESCO by initiating joint
meetings, which were held from 1-4 February 1991 at UNESCO headquarters
in Paris. At an audience with the Director-General of UNESCO, the WFD
General Secretary and President introduced the Director-General to WFD
policy on the education of deaf persons. Ways to cooperate and issues of
common interest in education were discussed with the Assistant Director-
General and with the staff of the UNESCO Special Education Programme.
The possibility of organizing a conference on the bilingual education of
deaf people was also discussed.
The United Nations was represented at the WFD World Congress (Tokyo,
5-11 July 1991), by a staff member who delivered a speech on behalf of
the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Vienna. The
Director-General of UNESCO and other United Nations representatives also
sent messages.
The WFD General Secretary and a member of the WFD Bureau represented
WFD at sessions of the United Nations Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group to
Elaborate Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for
Disabled Persons, held during 1992-1993. WFD representatives focused on
the recognition and use of sign languages and the promotion of deaf
education and barrier free communication as issues of special importance
for deaf persons that should be reflected in the standard rules.
The WFD President and a member of the executive board represented
WFD at a United Nations expert meeting on the drafting of a long-term
strategy to further the implementation of the World Programme of Action
Concerning Disabled Persons (Vancouver, 26-29 April 1992). The WFD
representatives focused on communication and the education of deaf
people.
In 1992, the Secretary-General of the United Nations awarded WFD a
testimonial in recognition of its dedicated service in support of the
United Nations Programme on Disability.
The WFD President addressed the General Assembly using Gestuno at
the extraordinary briefing held on 12 and 13 October 1992 in conjunction
with the special plenary meetings. He requested the United Nations to
include in its future documents measures that could provide barrier-free
environments for deaf people.
WFD increased its cooperation with the ILO. The Director-General of
the ILO gave the WFD President and General Secretary an audience in
March 1993. Measures to promote the equalization of opportunities for
deaf people in the labour market were discussed. Cooperation between WFD
and the ILO was further discussed at joint meetings between WFD and the
ILO Vocational Rehabilitation Branch.
The WFD President, General Secretary, executive board members and
regional directors had a meeting with the Assistant Secretary-General for
Human Rights of the United Nations Secretariat on 24 March 1993 in
Geneva. The WFD representatives brought up the human rights aspects of
deafness.
WFD representatives (WFD President, General Secretary, executive
board members and regional directors) held discussions on 23 March 1993
in Geneva with the WHO Office of Rehabilitation on future cooperation in
information distribution, community-based rehabilitation programmes and
policy regarding cochlear implantation operations. A member of the WFD
executive board participated in a WHO-NGO meeting on rehabilitation
programmes, with particular reference to developing countries (Geneva, 2-
3 November 1993).
UNESCO was represented at the International Conference on
Bilingualism in Deaf Education (Stockholm, 16-20 August 1993), organized
jointly by the Swedish National Association of the Deaf, University of
Stockholm and WFD.
WFD was represented (President, General Secretary, executive board
members, experts and exhibitors) at the NGO Forum of the World Congress
on Human Rights.
Representatives or observers of WFD attended United Nations meetings
on disability held on a regular basis during the period under review,
such as annual NGO consultative meetings and inter-agency meetings.
Moreover, WFD regional directors or other representatives participated in
United Nations regional conferences and consultations dealing with WFD
interests. By the end of 1993, WFD had made available to United Nations
bodies its newly published manual on how to establish and run
organizations of deaf people. Funding for translating the manual into
the official United Nations languages was received from United Nations
sources. WFD informed its members at the United Nations Standard Rules
on the Equalization of Opportunities for Disabled Persons and provided
information for the United Nations Clearing-house Database on Disability.
WFD also focused on United Nations international days, years and decades,
and increased its information exchange with the United Nations.
78. WORLD FEDERATION OF UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATIONS
General
The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) is an
international non-governmental organization devoted entirely to
supporting the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United
Nations and promoting public awareness and understanding of the
activities of the United Nations system. WFUNA member associations are
established in all parts of the world, in countries of various political,
economic and social systems and at different stages of development.
During the period under review, WFUNA membership increased to 82
associations (new members from developing countries). There has been no
substantial change in sources of funding.
Participation in United Nations meetings
Attendance
WFUNA representatives attended all sessions of the Economic and
Social Council, the Commission on Human Rights, the Commission on the
Status of Women and the Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination
and Protection of Minorities; several meetings of other functional
commissions and regional commissions (mainly ECE and ESCAP); UNCED; the
World Conference on Human Rights; and meetings of the Preparatory
Committee for the International Conference on Population and Development.
Altogether during the period under review, WFUNA representatives attended
65 United Nations meetings, participating actively in the annual
consultations between the Committee on NGOs and NGOs in consultative
status and in the two round tables convened by the Chairman of the
Committee in 1991 and 1992.
Statements
WFUNA made an oral statement, at the first regular session of the
Economic and Social Council, on non-governmental organizations; at the
substantive session of 1992, also on non-governmental organizations; at
the organizational session of 1993, on institutional arrangements to
follow up UNCED; and at the substantive session of 1993, on the review of
arrangements for non-governmental organizations.
At a meeting of the Committee on NGOs, WFUNA made an oral statement
on the re-examination of Council resolution 1296 (XLIV).
At the forty-eighth session of the Commission on Human Rights, WFUNA
joined in a collective oral statement on racism and racial
discrimination.
At the thirty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of
Women, WFUNA joined in a collective written statement on women in extreme
poverty and the integration of women concerns in national development
planning.
At the third session of the Preparatory Committee for the World
Conference on Human Rights, WFUNA made a written statement on science,
technology and human rights.
WFUNA also made an oral statement at the general debate of the
Conference itself.
At a meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Fiftieth
Anniversary of the United Nations, WFUNA made an oral statement on WFUNA
projects.
Cooperation with United Nations bodies and
specialized agencies
WFUNA has consultative and working relations with UNESCO, WHO, the
ILO, UNICEF, WMO, FAO and other United Nations bodies. It also closely
follows the activities of UNCTAD and UNHCR. During the past four years,
WFUNA representatives attended 74 meetings organized by United Nations
bodies.
Other relevant activities
The range of interests of WFUNA and its member associations includes
the improvement of the functioning of the United Nations; the maintenance
of international peace and security; disarmament; human rights;
sustainable development; environment; and other crucial problems
challenging the international community. This was reflected in WFUNA
programmes on strengthening the role of the United Nations in furthering
global security; environmental protection and sustainable development
(Plenary Assembly 1991); global governance or global chaos (Plenary
Assembly 1993); teaching about the United Nations; training programmes
for leaders of United Nations associations (held in the United Republic
of Tanzania and Mexico); regional cooperation (conferences were held in
Senegal, Japan, India, Sweden and Cyprus); education for international
understanding, peace and human rights; the arts; and philately.
Through communication/information services, WFUNA provides its
members with United Nations documents that are difficult to obtain at the
national level and urges them to reflect on major initiatives, such as
the reports of the Secretary-General on an Agenda for Peace and on "new
dimensions of arms regulation and disarmament in the post cold-war era".
The WFUNA Issue Discussion Papers series, intended for use by UNAs and
other NGOs, provides informed comment on key issues on the United Nations
agenda.
As the main international NGO working in support of the United
Nations, WFUNA has focused its attention on the preparations for the
fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations. In mid-1993, WFUNA urged its
members to take the lead in the establishment of broad-based national
committees, and at its Thirty-Fourth Plenary Assembly (November 1993), it
adopted a programme for UN50 activities. The President of WFUNA is a
member of the International Advisory Group for the Fiftieth Anniversary
of the United Nations, which was established by the Secretary-General.
WFUNA works to involve outstanding individuals, institutions and
business organizations in an effort to consolidate and expand the pro-
United Nations constituency. With a view to broadening its outreach and
to developing an ongoing relationship with world leaders in business and
industry, the WFUNA World Business Council for the United Nations was
launched in 1992.
During the past four years, members of WFUNA leadership were
received by the Secretary-General on several occasions, and other high-
level consultations were maintained at United Nations Headquarters and in
Geneva. At a working level, the WFUNA relationship with the Secretariat
continued to be very fruitful. WFUNA cooperated with UNITAR, INSTRAW and
UNPA, as well as the Department for Public Information, the Centre for
Human Rights, the Centre against Apartheid and other sectors of the
United Nations Secretariat, as necessary. Close cooperation was
developed with the United Nations Secretariat in preparations for the
fiftieth anniversary. Traditional excellent relations were maintained
with NGO liaison officers in New York, Geneva and Vienna.
WFUNA continued to be active in CONGO. The Secretary-General of
WFUNA served until autumn 1991 as President of CONGO, and in that
capacity maintained liaison with the Committee on NGOs. The Secretary-
General of WFUNA was a member of the CONGO Planning Committee for UNCED
and a member of the Joint Planning Committee for NGO activities in
connection with the World Conference on Human Rights.
WFUNA has been designated one of the Patrons of the International
Year of the Family and received a testimonial to that effect.
79. WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS
(Category II)
Introduction
The quadrennial period through 1990-1993 has been marked for the
World Jewish Congress (WJC) by profound changes on the international
scene. During that time, the national membership of the Jewish
communities of WJC has grown from somewhat more than 70 to just under 90,
following the breakup of the former USSR and the affiliation of the
communities of most of the members of the Commonwealth of Independent
States to WJC.
WJC has been concerned with the deteriorating human rights of its
member communities, which have been exposed to the vicissitudes of
conflicts, ethnic strife and the destabilization of populations in many
areas of the world, particularly eastern and central Europe. WJC has
also been preoccupied with the social deterioration occurring in those
areas, which have experienced an alarming resurgence of anti-Semitism,
xenophobia, intolerance and inter-ethnic tension.
As a result, during the period under review, the WJC purpose of
seeking to secure the rights, status and interest of Jews and Jewish
communities, as well as cooperation with all peoples on the basis of the
universal ideals of peace, freedom and justice, has been pursued with
even greater urgency.
As in the past, WJC has maintained its links with and information
channels through the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary
bodies, with concentration on the two principal human rights organs, the
Commission on Human Rights and the Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. WJC has continued to
manifest its interest in the work of the human rights treaty bodies and
to monitor the sessions of the Human Rights Committee and the Committee
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It has followed with renewed
interest the meetings of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination; the Committee on the Rights of the Child, following the
entry into effect of the Convention on the Rights of the Child on
2 September 1990, in whose drafting WJC actively participated; and the
Committee against Torture.
WJC has also been following closely the work of UNHCR, and has
maintained a close liaison with its Geneva office both on matters
pertaining to the international legal protection of refugees and on
procedures for granting asylum.
Commission on Human Rights
WJC participated in the forty-sixth, forty-seventh, forty-eighth and
forty-ninth sessions of the Commission on Human Rights, at which WJC made
oral statements on the following subjects:
(a) Current status of the International Covenants on Human Rights
and the effective functioning of bodies established under the relevant
human rights instruments, under item 17 of the agenda of the forty-sixth
session;
(b) Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All
Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
WJC made statements on item 23 of the agenda at the forty-sixth session
and on item 22 of the agenda at the forty-seventh session, and made an
oral statement on item 22 of the agenda at the forty-ninth session;
(c) Measures to be taken against all totalitarian or other
ideologies and practices based on racial, ethnic exclusiveness or
intolerance, hatred, terror or systematic denial of human rights and
fundamental freedoms. WJC made a statement on item 21 of the agenda at
the forty-sixth session;
(d) Rise of intolerance, discrimination, xenophobia, racism, racial,
ethnic and religious hatred. WJC joined in a collective statement on
behalf of 30 NGOs made at the forty-eighth session. WJC co-drafted the
text;
(e) Implementation of the programme of action for the Second Decade
against Racism and Racial Discrimination. WJC made a statement on item
16 of the agenda at the forty-ninth session;
(f) Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or
Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. Under resolution 1990/45 of
6 March 1990 of the Commission on Human Rights, WJC submitted comments on
the draft declaration to the Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights.
The WJC representative also participated in the working group on the
drafting of the declaration at the forty-seventh session as well as at
the inter-sessional working group of the Commission on the subject held
in December 1991, which prepared the final text adopted by the Commission
in its resolution 1992/16 of 21 February 1992 and subsequently by the
General Assembly in its resolution 47/135 of 18 December 1992.
World Conference on Human Rights
WJC was represented at the three meetings of the Preparatory
Committee for the World Conference on Human Rights held in Geneva in
September 1991, March and April 1992, and September 1992. WJC had
previously submitted detailed proposals on issues for discussion at the
World Conference. The WJC representative to the World Conference
addressed the plenary on 18 June 1993. WJC also contributed to a
discussion session organized by the United Nations Secretariat during the
World Conference on the theme "Combating racism and racial discrimination -
a quest for new strategies". In addition, acting through Member States
delegations on the drafting committee of the Conference, WJC made various
proposals for the elaboration of the Final Document of the Conference.
Throughout the reporting period, WJC made repeated representations
to the thematic rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights, in
particular the Special Rapporteur on the Implementation of the
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief.
Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of
Minorities
WJC took part in the forty-second, forty-third and forty-fourth
sessions. At the forty-second session, the WJC representative made an
oral statement on item 6 of the agenda, concerning the resurgence of
incitement to hatred and violence on the grounds of race, religion or
nationality.
At the forty-third session, the WJC representative made a statement
on item 13 of the agenda, concerning the elimination of all forms of
intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief.
At the forty-fourth session of the Subcommission, the WJC
representative made a statement on item 5 (a) of the agenda, concerning
measures to combat racism and racial discrimination and the role of the
Subcommission.
Human Rights Committee (International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights)
Throughout the period under review, the WJC representative followed
the work of the Committee and was present at its thirty-ninth, fortieth,
forty-first, forty-second, forty-third, forty-fourth, forty-fifth, forty-
sixth and forty-ninth sessions. The WJC representative had informal
contacts with the Chairman and members of the Committee concerning the
reports of certain countries examined by the Committee.
Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
WJC followed the fifth through the ninth sessions of the Committee,
examining the reports of countries submitted in compliance with the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The WJC
observer had informal contacts with the Chairman and Rapporteur of the
Committee concerning issues arising in particular country reports.
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination)
The WJC observer in Geneva followed the thirty-eighth through forty-
second sessions of the Committee and made informal representations to the
Chairman and members of the Committee concerning several country reports.
Committee against Torture (Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment)
The WJC observer attended the fourth through eleventh sessions of
the Committee and informally discussed certain features of individual
country reports with the Chairman and members of the Committee.
WJC has continued to act in various other capacities to further the
promotion and protection of human rights during the period covered by
this quadrennial report, as follows:
(a) As Treasurer of the Congo Special Committee of International
NGOs on Human Rights (Geneva), WJC acted as convenor of a steering
committee to prepare a colloquium held in Geneva on the theme "Human
rights doctrine and the limitation of State sovereignty";
(b) In the same capacity, WJC contributed to the efforts of the
Joint Planning Committee of Non-Governmental Organizations for the NGO
Forum that was held from 10 to 12 June 1993 as a precursor to the World
Conference on Human Rights;
(c) WJC participated in a colloquy organized by CONGO in
October 1990 on the theme: "Non-governmental organizations in a changing
world and cooperation for peace";
(d) At the Eighteenth General Assembly of CONGO, WJC reported on the
role of NGOs with regard to information presented to human rights bodies;
possible reforms to human rights machinery in anticipation of the World
Conference on Human Rights; the importance of elaborating a convention on
freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief; extending the
content of the 1981 declaration on that subject; and the need for
decisive international measures to monitor and combat racism, intolerance
and xenophobia;
(e) In February 1993, WJC formed part of a newly constituted NGO
group on freedom of religion or belief, which met under the auspices of
CONGO;
(f) WJC continued to take part as an observer in the meetings of a
working group of the Commission on Human Rights on the drafting of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. Following the entry into force of
the Convention, WJC participated in a working group on international
children's rights, which discussed the initial procedures of the newly
constituted Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Cooperation with United Nations bodies and
specialized agencies
WJC has continued to cooperate closely with the Geneva office of
UNHCR on issues of international protection.
The WJC observer took part in consultations organized annually by
UNHCR throughout the period under review.
WJC also attended the substantive sessions of the Economic and
Social Council that were held in Geneva during the reporting period,
paying special attention to agenda items relevant to human rights
questions.
During the period under review, WJC representatives were in close
contact with relevant officials of the United Nations Secretariat and a
number of meetings were held between the WJC President and the Secretary-
General of the United Nations.
80. WORLD LEISURE AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION
(Category II)
The World Leisure and Recreation Association (WLRA) was founded in
1956. WLRA is a world-wide, non-profit organization with members in over
50 countries on all the continents and is based in Sharbot Lake, Canada.
To date, WLRA has two regional organizations: one for Europe based in
England and one for Latin America currently based in Brazil. The
feasibility of establishing an Asia and Pacific regional organization is
presently being examined by members in the region. WLRA:
(a) Provides practitioners, educators and researchers with the
opportunity to enhance the knowledge base and the management and delivery
of leisure services world wide;
(b) Acts as a catalyst to that end by organizing international
congresses, seminars, courses and study sessions;
(c) Through an extensive network of experts in all aspects of
leisure, recreation and free time, makes word-wide expertise available to
educational institutions, public and private agencies and other
organizations;
(d) Supports the exchange of information, stimulates research and
the development of leaders, and promotes work in areas of special concern
to the United Nations.
WLRA was represented through its Vice-President for United Nations
Affairs and other representatives, as observers, at the following
meetings:
(a) Thirty-fourth through thirty-seventh sessions of the Commission
on the Status of Women;
(b) Tenth session of the Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women;
(c) Thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth sessions of the Commission on
Narcotic Drugs;
(d) Thirty-third session of the Commission for Social Development.
WLRA made an oral statement on item 4;
(e) World Conference on Human Rights. WLRA made an oral statement
to the Main Committee on item 11;
(f) Seminar on the theme "Integration of women in development"
(Vienna, 1991);
(g) Fourth NGO Consultative Meeting on Disability (Vienna, 1992).
WLRA requested permission to send an observer to UNCED, considering
the importance for WLRA of the issue of environment and development.
However, despite repeated attempts the request was unanswered and WLRA
was therefore not represented at UNCED.
United Nations
Through active membership on various NGO committees in New York,
Geneva, Vienna and Paris in the areas of its competence, WLRA cooperates
with a large number of United Nations programmes. In addition to regular
meetings, WLRA representatives actively participated in:
(a) NGO consultations in connection with the Commission on the
Status of Women (1990 and 1991);
(b) NGO consultations in preparation for the Fourth World Conference
on Women (as Rapporteur, 1992 and 1993);
(c) An NGO/UNICEF forum on the theme "Effective participation in
local and global child development" (Kadoma, Zimbabwe, November 1991).
WLRA presented a paper entitled "Integrating efforts on parents'
education toward total child development";
(d) An NGO seminar on the disabled (as Rapporteur, 1991); an NGO
seminar on the theme "Family and the environment" (1992). WLRA submitted
a paper entitled "The family and the environment: leisure options";
(e) A world NGO forum to launch the International Year of the Family
(Malta, 1993). WLRA presented a paper entitled "Recreation: a
determinant of family cohesion".
As a member of the Board of the Vienna NGO Committee for the Family,
WLRA actively participated in preparations for IYF and the NGO World
Forum. WLRA, in cooperation with the IYF secretariat in Vienna, has also
been collecting and editing family reminiscences and recipes for a
publication to be issued as a contribution to IYF. A WLRA representative
was presented with the IYF Testimonial Award in 1993 for its support to
the United Nations IYF programme.
WHO
A WLRA representative attended an international symposium on the
theme "Women, health and urban policies" (Vienna, May 1991).
UNESCO
WLRA's consultative status with UNESCO was upgraded to category B in
1991. WLRA representatives to UNESCO attended, as observers, the 1991
and 1993 UNESCO General Conference (Paris, 1991 and 1993), and took part
in an NGO/UNESCO consultation on the theme "Basic education" (Cairo,
1992), and an NGO conference on the theme "Education and the family"
(Paris, 1991).
WLRA activities in connection with UNESCO programmes included
holding a workshop at the International Sociological Association Congress
on the theme "Leisure, recreation and development" (Madrid, 1991), which
was recognized by UNESCO as an official activity of the World Decade for
Cultural Development.
An international conference on the theme "Youth and leisure", which
was held jointly by WLRA and the International Sociological Association's
Committee on Leisure Research, was sponsored by UNESCO.
The WLRA World Congress on the theme "Leisure, tourism and the
environment: issues for human development", which was held in Jaipur,
India (December 1993), was recognized as an official activity of the
World Decade for Cultural Development.
WLRA promotes United Nations conventions, resolutions,
recommendations etc. that are relevant to its field of competence,
through the work of its commissions,* task forces,* publications and
educational institutions, and its organization of international
conferences and seminars. (* WLRA commissions cover (a) education; (b)
research; and (c) management. WLRA task forces cover (a) women; (b)
disability; (c) HIV/AIDS; and (d) information. Further details are
available from WLRA on request.)
The WLRA International Centre of Excellence (WICE), based in the
Netherlands, provides advanced courses in leisure, recreation and free
time from a world-wide, cross-cultural perspective. To date, 40 graduate
students from 20 countries, mostly developing countries, have completed
the first two-year course.
The WLRA journal World Leisure and Recreation and its biannual
Newsletter regularly feature articles on United Nations activities and
are often oriented towards subjects of United Nations concern.
International conferences and seminars
WLRA organized and/or participated in the following:
(a) Second WLRA World Congress, on the theme "Leisure and tourism:
social and environmental change" (Sydney, 1991);
(b) Third WLRA World Congress, on the theme "Leisure, tourism and
the environment: issues for human development" (Jaipur, India, 1993);
(c) An International Seminar on the theme "Leisure education towards
the 21st century" (Jerusalem, 1993);
(d) Fourth International Congress of the Asociacio'n Latinoamericano
para el Tiempo Libre y Recreacio'n (ALATIR, WLRA's Latin American
regional organization), on the theme "Economic development and the use of
free time" (Puerto Rico, 1990);
(e) Fifth ALATIR International Congress on the theme "National
leisure trends" (Brazil, 1993);
(f) Seventh Triennial Congress of the European Leisure and
Recreation Association (ELRA, WLRA's European regional organization), on
the theme "Leisure and the new citizen" (Spain, 1992).
In 1992, WLRA launched a youth programme that addresses the
important issue of youth and free time, in line with the draft world
youth programme of action to the year 2000 and beyond; various
consultations took place with officials of the United Nations Office at
Vienna.
81. WORLD SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF ANIMALS
(Category II)
Introduction
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) was founded
in 1981 as the result of a merger of the International Society for the
Protection of Animals, founded in 1959, and the World Fund for the
Protection of Animals, founded in 1950.
WSPA aims to promote effective means for the protection of animals,
the prevention of cruelty to animals and the relief of suffering to
animals. This is carried out through international programmes of
education and direct aid administered by WSPA's eight regional offices in
Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Kenya, the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of
America.
WSPA membership includes more than 300 animal protection
organizations in over 70 countries, as well as tens of thousands of
individual members; all are serviced through the regional offices. The
WSPA publication Animals International is published four times a year in
German, Spanish, French and English, and once a year in Portuguese.
Due to its status with the Economic and Social Council, WSPA
receives requests for assistance from many member States on a variety of
issues.
World Health Organization
In 1990, WSPA and the World Health Organization jointly published a
116-page book, Guidelines for Dog Population Management
(WHO/ZOON/90.165). This book is widely distributed in developing
countries, where large urban dog populations pose a continuing threat to
human health through more than 100 zoonotic diseases transmitted from dog
to man. Through this programme, WSPA has:
(a) Conducted veterinary training programmes in South and Central
America to demonstrate safe, rapid sterilization techniques and
population monitoring programmes for reducing urban canine populations,
1991 and 1992;
(b) Constructed a model animal shelter with a diagnostic clinic in
Costa Rica (turned over to national organization in 1993) and provided
funds to build another shelter in Colombia;
(c) Provided vehicles for animal control in Colombia (1993);
(d) Provided vaccines when the threat of rabies was imminent
(Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1992 and 1993);
(e) Brought delegates from central and eastern Europe to Berlin for
World Health Organization training on zoonosis control (5-
12 December 1993). This programme also included developing education
programmes in eastern and central Europe.
Economic and Social Council
Member States looking for advice on animal-related issues often use
NGOs listed with the Economic and Social Council. These countries are
updating their legislation and need assistance.
In 1992, WSPA began a programme to assist Governments in eastern and
central Europe. Staff experts have been working with government
representatives from Romania, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria,
Ukraine and the Czech Republic to develop more effective laws.
In the area of economics/livestock production in November 1993 WSPA
jointly sponsored a course in the economics of improved methods of
transport and slaughter of livestock. Eighteen delegates from
Governments in eastern, central and western Europe attended this course
at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.
United Nations Disaster Relief Office
Since its inception, WSPA has served as the only international NGO
providing direct relief to animals affected by man-made and natural
disasters. Member States are in direct contact with WSPA through the
secretariat of the International Decade of Natural Disaster Reduction.
WSPA is currently greatly expanding its International Disaster Programme
and will be working closely with the Department of Humanitarian Affairs
of the United Nations Secretariat.
Gulf War (1991)
At the request of Member States, WSPA advised and carried out the
rescue and rehabilitation of oiled sea birds and marine turtles on the
Saudi Arabian coast. WSPA administered the National Zoological Park upon
the liberation of Kuwait City and set up a veterinary aid programme for
affected livestock, camels and companion animals.
Western Samoa cyclone (1991)
WSPA sent a representative and a veterinarian, donated veterinary
supplies, and aided livestock and pets.
Croatia hostilities (1991)
WSPA set up a programme to provide urgently needed veterinary
pharmaceuticals and assorted equipment to the Government to aid animals
affected by the hostilities.
Bosnia and Herzegovina hostilities (1992)
WSPA set up an ongoing network of distribution of urgently needed
veterinary pharmaceuticals, food concentrates etc. to keep the remnants
of the former government dairy/beef industry intact. WSPA also provided
assorted supplies, equipment and vaccines to aid animals in Member States
at the request of their ministers of agriculture. The United Nations
Protection Force requested WSPA to remove a caged bear from an area under
siege in Bosnia; the bear was tranquillized and temporarily relocated to
Amsterdam until hostilities cease.
Lithuania, Hungary, Estonia and the Czech Republic (1992)
WSPA provided veterinary and livestock supplies.
La Coruna, Spain: oil slick (1992)
WSPA aided in the clean-up.
Shetlands: oil slick (1993)
Aided in assisting affected waterfowl.
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
WSPA environmental experts attended and participated in UNCED. The
resulting resolutions have served as a framework for WSPA in considering
its future programmes. In 1990, WSPA agreed to continue its three-year-
old pilot education programme currently operating in the public schools
of Costa Rica. That programme involves more than 500 teachers and 20,000
students and is a joint venture between WSPA and the Government of Costa
Rica. The object of this much acclaimed pilot education programme is to
develop a humane ethic in children that encompasses respect for all forms
of life as described at UNCED. WSPA has received many requests from
Governments in South and Central America that wish to develop a similar
environmental education programme in their national public school
systems.
82. WORLD UNION OF CATHOLIC WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS
(Category II)
Aims
The World Union of Catholic Women's Organizations (WUCWO) has as its
aim and purpose the advancement of women and the contribution of Catholic
women to the ecclesiastical and lay communities. Founded in 1910, it
numbers among its members 90 affiliated national organizations from 60
countries, representing all continents, and four affiliated international
organizations. In the period under review, four new affiliations were
welcomed, three from Africa and one from central Europe.
WUCWO is represented at United Nations Headquarters in New York, at
the United Nations offices at Geneva and Vienna, and at the other United
Nations bodies with which it has consultative status, namely UNICEF,
UNESCO, FAO and the ILO (special list). The reports of its
representatives and the exchange of information that is channelled
through its headquarters office to national affiliates facilitate a
coordinated information/action approach to issues of concern to the
United Nations system.
Participation
WUCWO representatives attended the regular sessions of the Economic
and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights, Commission for Social
Development, Commission on the Status of Women, Population Commission,
Subcommission on the Prevention of Discrimination, Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the UNICEF
Executive Board, as well as meetings of the General Assembly, the
executive Councils and general conferences of UNESCO and FAO, and
selected sessions of the ILO annual conferences. In addition, WUCWO
participated in the preparatory committees and relevant NGO planning
committees for UNCED, the International Conference on Nutrition and the
World Conference on Human Rights, as well as the first two meetings of
the Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on Population
and Development and the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit for
Social Development. WUCWO has been intensively engaged in preparations
for the Fourth World Conference on Women through the Commission on the
Status of Women, acting as the Preparatory Committee, and through NGO
Planning Committee consultations and regional meetings. Other
conferences in which WUCWO participated included a conference on popular
participation in the recovery and development process in Africa (Arusha,
United Republic of Tanzania, 1990), the Second United Nations Conference
on the Least Developed Countries (Paris, 3-14 September 1990) an
OAU/UNICEF conference on aid to African children (Dakar, 1992) and an FAO
regional conference (Accra, 1992).
Statements
Oral and written statements, which are often submitted jointly with
other non-governmental organizations, have death, inter alia, with the
right to development; women and men in family life; elderly women;
environment; food security; traditional practices affecting women; the
International Year of the Family; women and men in partnership; gender
stereotyping in the media; women's health; limit and flexibility of
working hours; support for women farmers; nutrition education;
discriminations affecting women and their status; racial discrimination;
elimination of the exploitation of child labour; sexual violence against
children; sale of children; child prostitution and pornography; extreme
poverty and human rights; families and strategies of development;
ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women; rape as a war crime;
prohibition of land mines; violence against women; women's unpaid work;
access to planning and decision-making at all levels; and implementation
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
United Nations-related activities
WUCWO maintains commissions on human rights, the family, and
development cooperation; an international committee that deals with
representation at the United Nations and its agencies; and working
committees on AIDS and on the environment. Regional conferences for
member organizations were held on technology and human reproduction
(Europe, 1990), the family (North America, 1991 and Asia and the Pacific,
1993), and environment (North America, 1993).
WUCWO participates actively in the NGO committees on, inter alia,
ageing, human rights, narcotics and substance abuse, sustainable
development, status of women, women refugees, women and employment,
family and shelter and the homeless as well as in the alliance of NGOs on
Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, Advocates for African Food
Security, and the NGO committees on UNICEF and FAO and their
subcommittees.
WUCWO served on the Board of CONGO from 1988 to 1991.
Priorities
The priorities chosen by WUCWO for special attention and action by
member organizations in the period under review were AIDS, the
elimination of violence against women and children, efforts to overcome
poverty in all its forms, and environment. Pertinent activities
undertaken by member organizations, in addition to the regular
dissemination of information and mounting of awareness campaigns,
included the following:
(a) Human rights: providing education, especially for rural women;
conducting programmes to counter sex tourism and traffic in persons; and
providing training on laws affecting human rights;
(b) Family: holding seminars to link the family to various other
issues of United Nations concern, with an emphasis on the above-mentioned
priorities; assuming chairmanship of the NGO Committee on the Family in
New York; and participating in leadership of the NGO Forum on the Family
and in the preparation of a statement submitted to the General Assembly
that launched IYF (6 December 1993);
(c) AIDS: providing training in family health programmes; providing
aid, care and counselling for AIDS victims; adopting AIDS orphans;
funding a convalescent home for sick children; and initiating special
programmes on HIV/AIDS prevention for youth;
(d) Violence: providing shelters for battered women; establishing
child protection programmes; conducting workshops on all types of
violence against women and children; and mounting campaigns for the
rights of women and children as well as of families;
(e) Environment: establishing sensitization programmes; mounting
tree-planting projects; promoting energy-efficient stoves; monitoring
industrial pollution; conducting courses on the environment; preparing
guidance manuals for families on home health and environmental sanitation
("primary environmental care"); and publishing leaflets and action kits;
(f) Poverty: establishing revolving funds and credit cooperatives;
holding seminars on methods of increasing food production; and providing
training in small-scale entrepreneurship and family economic management;
(g) Other: promoting child immunization and child survival
campaigns; providing financial assistance to safe drinking water
programmes; launching income-generating projects; and funding maternal
and child health clinics and projects.
Affiliates are sent information literature on United Nations
decisions and programmes, on UNICEF, UNIFEM, UNESCO, FAO and the ILO, and
on cooperation with the United Nations system. Specific documents,
publications and other materials issued by organizations or bodies of the
United Nations system are sent to affiliates involved in a particular
subject or activity. WUCWO representatives to the United Nations send
regular reports to its headquarters, and make special presentations to
annual meetings of its Board when subjects of particular concern are
chosen for discussion and action.
Publications
The WUCWO Newsletter, published quarterly in English, French and
Spanish, disseminates information on the United Nations and the issues
with which it is concerned. Recent issues of the Newsletter have dealt
with AIDS, single women, violence against women, indigenous peoples,
migrant women, and the family and IYF. WUCWO representatives
participated in studies leading to a publication on health in prisons, in
cooperation with the editors of Women and Literacy (JUNIC/NGO Group on
Women and Development); they also participated in the preparation of
UNESCO/NGO publications on the family and education, and on cultural
development.
83. WORLD UNIVERSITY SERVICE
(Category II)
Introduction
The World University Service (WUS) is an international
non-governmental organization focusing on education, development and
human rights. WUS comprises a network of national committees in 40
countries in Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Europe and North America, and
Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing together members from the
academic community (academics, administrators and students) with other
sectors of civil society in national and international programmes.
WUS seeks:
(a) To resist all forms of interference in the freedom of study,
teaching or research, and to project the WUS vision of the social
responsibility of the university, in the context of a holistic vision of
education;
(b) To harness the resources of the academic community in
strengthening civil society through educational programmes that stimulate
popular participation and self-reliance, promote human rights and combat
gender discrimination.
WUS works in five main areas, as described below.
Major programmes
Education and refugees programmes
These seek to provide educational opportunities for victims of
discrimination and persecution, and consist primarily of humanitarian
assistance in the form of scholarship programmes for refugees, returnees
and displaced persons in Africa and in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this area, an important development has been the new programme in
the Commonwealth of Independent States, which WUS started in early 1992
to enable African, Asian, and Latin American and Caribbean foreign
students that lost governmental support with the disintegration of the
former Soviet Union to continue or terminate their studies. Special
study grants were given in 1992 and 1993 to 1,500 students studying in
the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Azerbaijan. In
cooperation with the CEPES/UNESCO office in Bucharest, WUS is also
assisting 150 students in Romania who are in a similar situation.
Programme for human rights in the educational sector
The programme aims to promote the right to education, monitors and
promotes academic freedom and university autonomy, and defends and
promotes the human rights of members of the academic community.
This programme has expanded considerably during the period under
review. Volumes I and II of Academic Freedom Report, an annual WUS
survey on academic freedom and educational rights in selected countries,
were published and widely distributed. The quarterly bulletin WUS and
Human Rights has continued to appear on a regular basis. Several
training workshops on human rights issues are under preparation and are
planned to take place in 1994 and 1995.
Education and women programme
This programme endeavours to provide education and training
opportunities to women, promote gender awareness, and support research
initiatives on gender and related issues.
The issue of women and education was fixed as one of two priority
areas for WUS action during the period 1988-1991. During 1992 and 1993,
a regional education programme for the development and participation of
women in Latin America and the Caribbean was formulated. The year 1993
saw the first WUS postgraduate course on the human rights of women. The
course covered the international human rights system and its relevant
instruments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, and various gender issues were discussed in
depth, including reproductive rights, women under Islam, violence and
women, refugee women, and women's rights and democracy. Also in 1993, a
postgraduate course on the theme "Gender relations, education and
development" was drawn up in cooperation with the Chilean Quakers'
Service; the course is scheduled for 1994 in Santiago and will cover an
introduction to gender studies; gender-based planning in the third world;
women's economic, political and social participation; psychology and
gender; gender and education; women and gender in development; and women
and education for development.
Academic cooperation and exchange programme
This programme aims to discuss and reflect on the role of the
university in contemporary society, to promote a critical scientific
culture that contributes to social change, and to enhance academic
cooperation that links universities and NGOs involved in education with
social movements. Several seminars have taken place during the period
under review, mostly in Latin America.
University and Education for All (EFA) programme
The programme strives to analyse the shortcomings in the provision
of education to achieve EFA, to mobilize the academic community in
additional activities for EFA, and to empower organized groups of civil
society through joint university/NGO education activities.
Conceptual framework of WUS
Two declarations adopted by WUS provide the conceptual basis for the
organization's views on the essence of the university and on broader
educational issues: the Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom and
Autonomy of Institutions of Higher Education, adopted by the WUS General
Assembly in 1988, and the New Delhi Declaration for a Holistic Vision of
Education for All, adopted by the WUS General Assembly in 1991.
Affiliation
WUS is a long-standing member of the International Council of
Voluntary Agencies (ICVA). Since 1993, WUS has enjoyed observer status
with the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights of the
Organization of African Unity.
Participation in United Nations conferences/meetings
WUS participated very actively in the NGO forums at UNCED and at the
World Conference on Human Rights. Together with the International
Council and the Latin American Council for Adult Education, WUS co-
organized the major event on education and environment at the UNCED NGO
Forum and was heavily involved in drafting NGO proposed amendments to the
UNCED final document and in formulating the NGO treaty on environmental
education for sustainable societies and global responsibility. Within
the framework of the NGO Forum on Human Rights, WUS organized a meeting
on the right to education together with two other international NGOs, the
International Organization for the Development of Freedom of Education
and the International Union of Students. At the World Conference itself,
WUS delivered a statement on educational rights and human rights
education on behalf of 25 NGOs.
WUS is also actively preparing at the national, regional and
international levels to participate in the World Summit for Social
Development and the preparatory process for the Fourth World Conference
on Women, including participating in regional NGO consultations and
meetings of the Preparatory Committee for the Conference.
Participation in initiatives of the specialized agencies
WUS is actively participating in the UNHCR/NGO Partnership in Action
(PARINAC) initiative. The WUS regional coordinator for Latin America and
the Caribbean, on behalf of the NGOs accredited to UNHCR, co-chaired a
meeting in Caracas. The WUS regional coordinator for Asia and the
Pacific participated in a meeting in Kathmandu and the WUS regional
coordinator for Africa participated in a meeting in Addis Ababa. WUS
representatives will attend a conference in Oslo in June 1994.
WUS is co-convener of the UNHCR/NGO Working Group on Refugee
Education, which meets in Geneva.
Participation in subcommissions of the Economic
and Social Council
During the period under review, WUS participated regularly in the
deliberations of the Commission on Human Rights and the Subcommission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. WUS submitted
several written and oral statements on the issues of the right to
education and academic freedom.
The WUS international secretariat participates regularly at the
meetings of the Subcommittee on the Status of Women and its working group
on the NGO Forum on Women.
84. WORLD VETERANS FEDERATION
(Category I)
Aims
The World Veterans Federation (WVF) aims to promote international
peace and security by the application of the Charter of the United
Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to defend the
spiritual and material interests of veterans and victims of war, and to
establish permanent relations among their organizations and encourage
international cooperation and understanding.
WVF's geographical range has increased from 53 to 65 countries, with
the admission of national associations in Angola, Cyprus, Hungary,
Mozambique, Poland and Taiwan Province of China in 1990; the Czech
Republic, Slovakia and the Sudan in 1991; and Croatia, Romania, Slovenia,
South Africa and Ukraine in 1993.
Numerous resolutions supporting the United Nations and its
activities have been adopted at WVF statutory meetings and have been
widely publicized and supported by member associations in their
respective countries.
United Nations interest in WVF and its activities was demonstrated
on several occasions during the period under review, in particular by the
representation of the United Nations at WVF meetings, as follows:
(a) At the Forty-Eighth WVF Council Meeting (Bangkok, November 1990)
marking the forty-fifth anniversary of the United Nations, the Executive
Secretary of ESCAP attended a special session on the theme "Four decades
in support of the Charter of the United Nations";
(b) At the Twentieth WVF General Assembly (Helsinki, October 1991),
the Executive Secretary of ECE, the Secretary-General's Special
Representative for the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, read a
message from the Secretary-General, and a former Commander-in-Chief of
UNIFIL spoke on United Nations peace-keeping forces at a special session
on the theme "Psycho-social effects of war and the maintenance of peace";
(c) At the International Conference on War Veterans in Face of
Changes in Central and Eastern Europe (Warsaw, September 1992), the
Special Representative for the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons
was in attendance.
Participation in meetings of the subsidiary bodies of the
Economic and Social Council and/or conferences and other
United Nations meetings
Commission for Social Development
WVF attended the thirty-third session of the Commission and has
informed the United Nations Secretariat that it will participate in the
preparation and holding of the World Summit for Social Development.
Commission on the Status of Women
At the thirty-fourth session of the Commission, WVF submitted a
statement (E/CN.6/1990/NGO/2). WVF attended a Commission seminar on
disabled women (Vienna, August 1990). At the thirty-fifth session of the
Commission, WVF made a statement on refugee and displaced women and
children. At the thirty-sixth session of the Commission, WVF submitted
two statements prepared by its Standing Committee on Women under the
priority themes of equality (E/CN.6/1992/NGO/14) and development
(E/CN.6/1992/NGO/13). WVF also participated in the NGO consultation
preceding the session.
ECE
WVF attended the Third Working Group on Rehabilitation Engineering
(Trebon, Czech Republic, May 1992).
ESCAP
WVF attended the forty-sixth, forty-seventh, forty-eighth and forty-
ninth sessions of ESCAP, as well as the Asian and Pacific Ministerial
Conference on Social Welfare and Social Development (Manila, October
1991).
ESCWA
WVF representatives to ESCWA have discussed with the Executive
Secretary of ESCWA the work of WVF and its cooperation with ESCWA.
Other cooperation and participation in United Nations
programmes, bodies and specialized agencies
United Nations Secretariat
The WVF Secretary-General made an oral statement to the General
Assembly at its forty-seventh session during the celebration of the
completion of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, and attended
the sessions of the Third Committee during its discussion of standard
rules for the equalization of opportunities for disabled persons at the
forty-eighth session of the General Assembly.
WVF participated in a United Nations expert meeting on the Decade of
Disabled Persons (Jarvena"a", Finland, May 1990); meetings of a working
group on the standard rules (Vienna, September 1991, May 1992, and
September and October 1992); in an expert meeting to define a long-term
strategy on disabled persons to the year 2000 and beyond (Vancouver,
April 1992); and in inter-agency meetings on matters related to disabled
persons (Vienna, 1991 and 1992).
In addition:
(a) WVF is a member of the Planning Committee for NGO Activities in
Relation to the Fourth World Conference on Women;
(b) WVF participated in the work of the Preparatory Committee for
the World Conference on Human Rights and attended the World Conference
itself;
(c) WVF attended a Centre for Human Rights/NGO Committee on Human
Rights satellite conference (May 1993); two NGO/Department of Public
Information of the United Nations Secretariat annual conferences on the
themes "Peace, justice and development: ingredients for an emerging
world order" (September 1991) and "Social development: a new definition
of security" (September 1993);
(d) WVF was a member of the NGO Planning Committee for UNCED and
participated in UNCED itself;
(e) WVF participated in a United Nations mission to Belarus
(January 1993), in legislation for the war disabled and disabled persons,
and in UNDP fact-finding missions to former Yugoslavia to assess needs,
supplying information at the request of the Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights and Disabled Persons.
FAO
WVF attended the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh FAO Conferences, as
well as sessions of the FAO Committee on Food Aid Policies and Programmes
October 1993).
ILO
WVF attended the seventy-seventh, seventy-eighth and eightieth
sessions of the International Labour Conference.
WHO
WVF attended the forty-fourth, forty-fifth, and forty-sixth World
Health Assemblies, as well as regional committee meetings (Washington,
D.C., September 1991; Copenhagen, September 1990 and September 1992 and
Athens, September 1993; New Delhi, September 1990, Kathmandu, September
1992 and New Delhi, September 1993; and Tokyo, September 1991 and Manila,
September 1993). WVF also attended WHO discussions on rehabilitation in
developing countries (Geneva, 2 and 3 November 1993).
UNESCO
WVF attended the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh sessions of the
UNESCO General Conference, as well as the twenty-third NGO Conference on
UNESCO (June 1992) and a UNESCO working group on children in armed
conflicts (December 1993).
UNHCR
WVF attended annual meetings of the UNHCR Executive Committee.
UNICEF
WVF attended meetings of the NGO Committee on UNICEF.
UNCTAD
WVF attended the Second United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries.
Other relevant activities
In consultations during the period under review with officials of
the United Nations Secretariat, the Secretary-General cited WVF action in
support of General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on the
situation of the Mediterranean region; his visits to Cyprus in March and
August 1990, during which he had discussions with veteran association
leaders, senior officials and the representative of United Nations peace-
keeping forces in the north and south; the WVF International Conference
on Peace and Security in the Mediterranean (Taormina, Italy, December
1990); and the WVF missions to Israel, Jordan and Syria, in May 1991, and
to former Yugoslavia in October and November 1991. The Secretary-General
also discussed WVF participation in the World Summit for Social
Development.
A major WVF activity in 1993 was the preparatory work for the Sixth
WVF International Conference on Legislation Concerning Veterans and
Victims of War (Lisbon, March 1994).
85. WORLD VISION INTERNATIONAL
(Category II)
Introduction
World Vision International (WVI) is a partnership of organizations
working to achieve transformational development in the lives of poor
children, their families and communities in over 65 countries. The
largest WVI programmes are in community development, although WVI also
implements relief and rehabilitation programmes in a number of countries.
The largest community development programmes are situated in India,
Ethiopia and Brazil; the largest relief and rehabilitation programmes, in
Mozambique and Cambodia. WVI is a member of CONGO.
Conferences
UNCED
A WVI representative attended one session of the Preparatory
Committee for UNCED in New York and one session in Geneva. Ten WVI
representatives attended UNCED. All national WVI offices received
regular information on the UNCED process and outcome, and were encouraged
to call upon their Governments to support the agreements that emanated
from UNCED, including providing increased funding for sustainable
development and ensuring an important role for the Commission on
Sustainable Development.
IYF
Two WVI representatives attended the NGO Forum on IYF (Malta,
December 1993); one WVI representative participated in IYF meetings held
in Vienna.
World Conference on Human Rights
One WVI representative attended a session of the Preparatory
Committee for the World Conference held in Bangkok. Three
representatives attended the World Conference itself, and one of them
made an intervention on behalf of the rights of girl children.
World Summit for Social Development
One representative attended the first session of the Preparatory
Committee for the World Summit.
Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States
A WVI representative attended the Conference.
INCD
Two WVI representatives attended an INCD session in Geneva in 1993;
several representatives attended regional meetings in Africa.
Cooperation with United Nations programmes
United Nations Children's Fund
The WVI President had several meetings with the Executive Director
of UNICEF to discuss mutual concerns, including the problem of land-mines
and the impact of war on children. A WVI representative of the
organization served on the NGO Committee on UNICEF. A WVI representative
worked with UNICEF staff in Geneva on issues related to the
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A WVI
representative has also worked regularly with UNICEF on the issue of AIDS
orphans and children with AIDS.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The WVI President met with the Executive Director of UNHCR to
explore areas of common concern. WVI representatives worked in
cooperation with UNHCR programmes in such countries as Cambodia,
Mozambique, the Sudan and Kenya.
Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat
The WVI President met with the Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs to discuss a number of issues, including the problem
of land-mines and the need for improved coordination in complex
humanitarian emergencies. A representative participated regularly in the
briefings for NGOs that have been held in New York.
United Nations Development Programme
Representatives of WVI participated in training seminars organized
by UNDP in several countries.
World Health Organization
A representative of WVI participates in regular WHO meetings as part
of the accredited relationship with WHO. The WVI Director of
International Health worked with the Global Programme on AIDS and other
WHO initiatives. The WVI Director of International Health attended the
World Health Assembly in 1993 and 1994.
World Food Programme
Representatives of WVI have collaborated with WFP in operational
programmes of food distribution utilizing WFP resources that were carried
out in the Sudan, Angola, Mozambique and the Lao People's Democratic
Republic.
Other activities
Operational collaboration
A recent survey of national offices indicated that many WVI
programmes benefit from United Nations system programmes, particularly
through such bodies as UNICEF and UNDP. Benefits included funding for
local operations and a significant number of training opportunities.
Participatory rural appraisal
A representative of WVI conducted several training sessions in PRA
that were attended by government and United Nations personnel in
different parts of India.
UNDP/World Bank Water Sanitation Programme
Several representatives of WVI have benefited from training
programmes offered by this collaborative agency.
Rights of the child
Many WVI offices endorsed the Convention on the Rights of the Child
and participated in national activities in support of government
ratification of the convention. WVI staff have continued to work with
local NGOs and UNICEF representatives on mechanisms for strengthening the
enforcement of the provisions of the Convention. A WVI representative
has participated in each of the annual NGO executive meetings in Geneva
that review progress on the implementation of the Convention.
Global Environment Facility
Representatives from WVI have participated in several meetings for
NGOs to consult with staff from GEF. World Vision offices have attended
updated briefings that focus on implementation of the GEF agenda.
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