27-29 March

International Expert Workshop on Indigenous Peoples' Rights, Corporate Accountability and the Extractive Industries in Manila, Philippines. The International Expert Group Workshop will be organized by Tebtebba Foundation in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The workshop will provide the opportunity for dialogues among participants with the aim of improving the situation of indigenous peoples in relation to extractive industries.

14-16 April

"Family policy in a changing world: Promoting social protection and intergenerational solidarity" in Doha, Qatar. The Meeting is organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development of UN DESA in cooperation with the Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development.

14-16 April

"Mainstreaming Disability in MDG Policies, Processes and Mechanisms: Development for All" organized by the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNDESA) in collaboration with the World Health Organization is organizing an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The EGM will review existing policy frameworks, resources, mechanisms and tools for mainstreaming disability in the implementation of the MDGs. It will also provide policy recommendations that will link the MDG processes with other internationally agreed development goals.

28-30 April

"Cooperatives in a world in crisis" organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in coordination with the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) in New York. The EGM will discuss broadly the role of cooperatives in a world in crisis.

Specifically, the EGM will:

1. Assess the contributions of cooperatives to socio-economic development especially in poverty reduction, employment creation and safety net provision, focusing in particular, on the role of agricultural and financial cooperatives in light of the current food and financial crisis;
2. Provide the forum for the sharing of national and regional experiences and lessons learned on strengthening cooperatives and to identify policy measures to enhance and scale up the impact of cooperatives on socio-economic development;
3. Discuss the proposed International Year of Cooperatives, and lay the groundwork for setting objectives, desired outcomes, programs and activities, resource requirements and partnerships.

5-7 May

“Rights of Older Persons” organized by the Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in Bonn, Germany. The overall objectives of the Expert Group Meeting are to explore how fundamental human rights of older persons could be assured and deepened and how the Madrid Plan of Action on Ageing could be better implemented concerning the rights of older persons. In this context, analysis, approaches and documents of rights enforced in the past, of institutional settings, and of overall capacity to further implement policies and laws concerning the rights of older persons will be discussed during the meeting.

Specific objectives of the meeting:

1. Identify and evaluate good national practices regarding protecting and promoting the rights of older persons, including measures to prevent discrimination, neglect, abuse and violence
2. Select innovative approaches to widening and deepening the rights of older persons nationally and internationally
3. Identify capacity tools that are required and could be recommended to policy makers when addressing the rights of older persons
4. Elaborate recommendations on how to promote the rights of older persons at the level of member states and the United Nations
5. Explore feasibility and possible approaches to elaborating an international legal framework on the rights of older persons, including:
(a) declaration on the rights of older persons,
(b) enhanced UN Principles for older persons,
(c) convention on the rights of older persons,
(d) special rapporteur on the rights of older persons

Aide Memoire

Annotated Agenda

List of Participants