Panel on Civil Society
Cardoso Panel Holds Its First Meeting
Press Release
The Secretary-General's High Level Panel on Civil Society, chaired by the former president of
Brazil Mr. H. F. Cardoso, held its first meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, on 2-3 June 2003. The
Panel members also had working lunch meetings with Secretary-General Kofi Annan (on 3 June) and with
the Under Secretary-General for economic and social affairs Nitin Desai (on 2 June).
This first meeting of the Panel reviewed in detail its terms of reference and the modalities with
which it would conduct its work. The Panel will use multiple means and vehicles to reach civil
society and other relevant actors including surveys, consultation meetings, hearings, briefings, and
analytic studies. Further detail on these modalities will be announced by end of June. The Panel's
second meeting is scheduled for December 2003. The coming summer and fall months will engage the Panel
members in various consultation efforts.
Background materials, including a contextual piece by President Cardoso on the role of civil society
in today's world and a review of UN's relationships with civil society prepared by the Panel's
secretariat, were used by the Panel members during this meeting. These papers will be available at
http://www.un.org/reform/ by mid-June.
Opening the meeting, President Cardoso reflected on the growing civil society engagement at all
levels, but especially at the multi-lateral level, coupled with a growing public disenchantment with
the current world order. Civil society wants a voice, not a vote, in shaping the future; and dialogue
with the diverse civil society actors helps expand democracy.
In the course of the meeting, the panelists highlighted a number of concerns regarding the UN and
civil society relationship. These included the need to clarify the rules of engagement to align them
with the realities of the 21st century, the need for improvements in the relationship with civil
society at both international and other levels (national and regional), and the need to create
environments and opportunities for genuine dialogue. Many challenges are before the panel in
developing the practical recommendations it has to deliver to the Secretary-General by April 2004.
Among these are how to continue reinforcing the relationship between civil society and the United
Nations in the absence of upcoming large global conferences, how to increase the influence of civil
society experience in the making of global decisions, how to define the concept of 'civil society',
and how to balance concerns of civil society with those of the states while also responding to the
scale and quality pressures.
The Secretary-General established the Cardoso Panel in February 2003, as part of his broad set of
reform measures, announced on 30 September 2002 in a report to the General Assembly. The reform
process aims to make the United Nations more able to respond to the new demands of the 21st century,
and highlights the growing interaction between civil society and the United Nations as one of the
areas that need improvements. The Panel's expected output is a set of practical recommendations on
how and in which areas such improvements can or need to be made.
In addition to its Chairperson, the Cardoso Panel is composed of 12 individuals with backgrounds that
span across governmental and non-governmental sectors: Ambassador Bagher Asadi (Iran), Dr. Manuel
Castells (Spain), Ms. Birgitta Dahl (Sweden), Ms. Peggy Dulany (USA), Ambassador Andre Erdos
(Hungary), Ms. Asma Khader (Jordan), Mr. Juan Mayr (Columbia), Ms. Malini Mehra (India), Mr. Kumi
Naidoo (South Africa), Ms. Mary Racelis (the Philippines), Mr. Prakash Ratilal (Mozambique), and Ms.
Aminata Traore (Mali). Short biographies of the Panel members are available at
http://www.un.org/reform/civilsociety/bios.shtml.
Background to Civil Society at the UN
Non-governmental actors have been part of broad range of UN activities from humanitarian missions and development projects to campaigns around inter-governmental norm setting processes. They have been instrumental in framing the global agenda by directing public attention to areas such as poverty reduction, environmental protection and human rights. In turn, the United Nations has been a beacon for civil society through its Charter principles and the global targets, norms and standards it has set at major summits. However, the successful relationship between the UN and civil society currently appears to be strained in some areas. The Secretary-General, in his reform report of September 2002, mentions for example the wariness of member states in response to civil society demands for more space in inter-governmental deliberations and the civil society's frustrations with the lack of meaningful participation. There is also a continuing disparity between participation of non-governmental actors from developed versus developing countries, which needs to be addressed. The Secretary-General's report highlights the fact that "…. all concerned would benefit from engagement with civil society actors based on procedures and policies reflecting greater coherence, consistency and predictability."
For more information contact Zehra Aydin, Secretariat of the High Level Panel on Civil Society, telephone: 212-963-8811, email: aydin@un.org, or Tim Wall of the UN Department of Public Information, Development Section telephone: 212-963-5851, email: wallt@un.org.
