December 2005

Dear Friends,

As the year 2005 draws to a close, we recall all that we have accomplished together as the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO).

From the historic General Assembly hearings with civil society in June, to the DPI NGO Conference in September, to the World Summit on the Information Society in November in Tunis, CONGO continued to have a major presence at the United Nations on behalf of civil society. As the co-organizer of the Millennium+5 NGO Network, CONGO ensured that a broad range of NGOs across various issue areas and networks were able to participate and impact on the UN’s review of the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Development Goals.

We continued our important work expanding our outreach into the regions and grassroots with the Asian civil society workshop on UN reform in Bangkok in June and the Eastern and Central European Crime Prevention Conference in Vienna in October. Our expanding membership shows the fruits of our work in the regions.

Looking ahead to 2006 and beyond, we will work to build upon the important precedent set by the first General Assembly hearing with civil society to other interactive exchanges with governments and the United Nations throughout the year. As governments debate the structures and mandates of new UN bodies – including the Peacebuilding Commission, the Human Rights Council, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the Internet Governance Forum – we will be right there to ensure that civil society can observe, participate in and contribute to these new bodies effectively.

We are happy to announce that we will soon be re-launching our website http.//www.ngocongo.org to better serve our members, committees and the broader civil society community. This will build upon our already extensive communications activities via our e-Update email news service, our print newsletter CONGO CONNECTIONS, and our other publications and information briefings we produce. Throughout all our work we are, as always, committed to deliver on our engagements toward our members and civil society at large.

I would like to express personal gratitude to our staff, interns and volunteers at the CONGO secretariat who have served us all with professionalism, dedication and spirit.

We wish you all restful and peaceful holidays and a rewarding and happy New Year.

In Peace,

Renata Bloem
President
CONGO