General Assembly Hearings with Civil Society
Opening Statement by
Renate Bloem
President of the Conference of NGOs (CONGO)
Mr. President
Madam Deputy Secretary-General
Excellencies
Colleagues and friends
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today is a historic moment in time: for the first time ever, since the founding of the United Nations, the General Assembly is holding hearings with civil society and the private sector. These hearings represent a significant step forward for the United Nations itself, and for all of us in civil society, which overall is such a constant supporter of the principles of the United Nations and of Multilateralism. At the Opening of the hearings my own emotion is strong since the Conference of NGOs (CONGO) has for 57 years worked intensively to enhance the participation of civil society in UN fora.
This moment was long awaited by NGOs that have advocated for decades to have a special relationship with the General Assembly, the highest deliberative body of the Organisation. Our appeal has been heard by the Secretary General himself who, following the Cardoso Report, in his report “In larger freedom” agrees that “the goals of the United Nations can only be achieved if civil society and Governments are fully engaged” and that “prior to major events, the Assembly could institute the practice of holding interactive hearings between Member States and Civil Society representatives that have the necessary expertise on the issues on the agenda”. This moment has now come, and I welcome all Governments who are here to interact with us.
The Summit in September does indeed constitute a “major event” that will take place in this very Assembly Hall. The seats will be occupied by world leaders who have the capacity to make decisions that will affect not only the future of the United Nations, but the kind of world we and our children will be living in. It is time for all of us to speak up for what we believe in and for the voices of the world's peoples –particularly women, youth, the elderly and indigenous peoples – to be heard. We come from a great diversity of backgrounds, traditions, interests and values, but we do share a profound conviction that the United Nations is essential and that its effectiveness depends on giving operational reality to the interdependence of development, security and human rights in all its programs.
If today is indeed a crucial moment in history, it builds on a long history of growing interaction between governments and civil society. The founders of the United Nations themselves have granted to NGOs, through article 71 of the Charter, a consultative relationship with the Economic and Social Council. The extraordinary cycle of the UN World Conferences held before and especially throughout the 1990's and the process of democratization has in turn led to a remarkable growth in the number of NGOs and civil society movements and the scope and the diversity of their activities. The 2000 Millennium Forum and the activities of the Millennium+5 NGO Network have further enhanced communality through diversity.
When on 26 June we celebrate the 60 th anniversary of the signing of the Charter of the United Nations we mark the evolution of international relations and the emergence of a global civil society which at this time as never before rallies around the Millennium Development Goals and the Campaign and Global Call to Action against Poverty.
So it is vital that member states will listen to these voices and we are grateful to you, Mr. President and to you, Madam Deputy Secretary-General, for your leadership in making this happen. However, the September 2005 General Assembly is very close, and these hearings constitute one of the last moments to take our input into consideration.
Representatives of NGOs, civil society and the private sector have come prepared to offer their ideas and recommendations, often based on first-hand experience of the issues they are going to address: on poverty and development, on human rights, on peace and security and on the need to shape a more democratic system of global governance by reforming and strengthening the United Nations. This civil society experience and competence in real-world issues is surely what led the Cardoso Panel to call for greater integration of civil society viewpoints at all levels of the United Nations policy discussions. Responsible civil society input enhances responsible government output!
We thus hope that in 2005 our voices will not only be listened to but heard, so that we may have a substantive impact on the document to be submitted to the Summit in September. We have the draft of this document to hand and we are therefore in a position to assess the extent to which our contributions to the negotiations are valued by member states. We shall be watching very closely to see which of our recommendations are reflected in the final document.
Let me also express the hope that this hearing will not constitute an isolated event, but that it will help us to move from an historical precedent to a more formal institutionalized way of Civil Society interacting with the work of the General Assembly. This Hearing is a very good beginning and could be repeated at every session of the General Assembly.
Finally I want to pay tribute to you, Mr President, for setting up a Civil Society Task Force to assist you in preparing for the Hearings and to thank the members of the Task Force for the tremendous amount of work they have done in a very short time.
We have come to a point in time where multi stake holder partnerships between governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector are not an option any more, but a vital necessity for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
We are entering a new era when governments and civil society must work hand in hand to relegate wars, poverty and violations of human rights to the dustbin of history. That is the new Millennium the world needs.