The Millennium+5 NGO Network conducted a series of consultations with various communities of civil society organizations over the course of 2005, collecting the views of hundreds of organizations on the main issues coming before the General Assembly this year. The following points are what we have found in our consultations with civil society to be the main messages, proposals and ideas that they wish to be reflected in the 2005 High Level Segment of the General Assembly. We urge member states to consider as a matter of priority these concerns:
· A Holistic Vision of Development, Peace and Security and Human Rights. Civil society organizations support the Secretary-General’s call for a holistic “package” of measures to be taken by governments to address the interconnected challenges related to sustainable development, human rights, peace and security.
· Gender Justice and Equality as a Priority. The gender perspective should be applied comprehensively to the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals. Women should be accorded a greater role in the planning, implementation and evaluation of the MDGs.
·
Fair Trade, Debt Relief, and Increased
Development
Aid. Civil
society strongly supports debt relief for the most highly indebted
countries, as well as an increase in Official Development Assistance
from
current levels to 0.7% of gross national product, as supported by
numerous
bodies. In addition, civil society
draws attention to the root causes of inequity in the global trading
system
which make it difficult for developing countries to gain entry into
developed
country markets.
· Linkage between Funds for Development and Military Spending. Civil society emphasizes the imbalance between funds dedicated to military expenditure and those directed to development. Specific objectives and targets should be developed linking military spending to development funding, in both developed and developing countries.
· Responsibility to Protect / Human-centered Security. Civil society organizations welcomed the Secretary-General’s support for the “Responsibility to Protect” principle. They noted that in the face of massive violations of human rights, the international community has a responsibility to protect people from genocide, mass rape and other human rights violations.
· The Human-Rights Based Approach to Development. Whether it be pertaining to poverty eradication, gender justice, children’s rights, indigenous peoples, or the right to clean water, civil society groups as a whole reaffirmed their commitment to the human rights-based approach to development and to the United Nations work across the system.
· The “Commitment Gap.” Civil society observes that while governments might agree to various treaties, conventions and plans of action, they are often behind in the actual implementation of those commitments. In order to address this “commitment gap,” global monitoring bodies should be strengthened and supported.
·
Civil Society Participation in the UN
General
Assembly. The time is ripe at
the 2005
General Assembly for NGOs to be allowed to formally attend the six main
committees of the UN General Assembly. It is urged that the important
proposals
contained in the report of the Panel of Eminent Persons on United
Nations–Civil
Society Relations be acknowledged and debated at the General Assembly
as soon
as possible.
Next Section: Acknowledgements