Vienna, Austria | 20 April 2023 (CoNGO InfoNews) – The first global commemorative event to celebrate the 75 years of CoNGO (the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations) will be held at the Vienna International Center in the City of Vienna in Austria on Friday, April 28, from 14:00 to 16:45.
The event may be attended in person or online by registering in one of these three categories: In-person with a UNOV pass, in-person without a UNOV pass, or online through live streamed broadcast. If you are registering without a UNOV pass, the deadline is Friday, April 21, 18:00 EDT | 23:00 CET.
Attendees will listen to speeches from the Director General of the United Nations Office in Vienna, Mrs. Ghada Fathi Waly and the Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry of Austria, Ambassador Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal. Permanent representatives from missions of UN member states stationed in Vienna and officials from the City of Vienna will also speak. The President of CoNGO, Liberato Bautista, will deliver an Anniversary Presidential Address. Nikhil Seth, Helga Konrad and Manfred Nowak will deliver keynote lectures on timely themes.
Three musical pieces in flute will be performed, and the City of Vienna will tender a vin d’honneur immediately after the program. Please open this link for more information on other speakers and the program and schedule.
To be announced shortly are other global commemorative events in Bangkok, New York and Geneva, including five more global thematic webinars.
New York City | January 26, 2023 (CoNGO InfoNews)—At the core of atrocity crimes is the “ignominious assault on intrinsic human dignity and fundamental human rights.”
This was the gist of the message that President Liberato Bautista of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) issued at the special meeting convened on January 24 by the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Ms. Lachezara Stoeva. The special meeting focused on the “social and economic measures to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity”.
Denying people food and freedom, jobs and justice, land and liberation provides fertile ground for atrocity crimes, Bautista emphasized, noting the meeting’s emphasis on prevention and the responsibility to protect populations from such crimes.
Bautista took the occasion to announce the creation of two NGO committees under the auspices of CoNGO whose agenda will include the concerns addressed at the special meeting.
One committee to be organized will be called the NGO Committee on Racism, Colonialism, Slavery, Xenophobia and All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance and another committee to be called NGO Committee of Youth and Future Generations.
Bautista’s statement, read on his behalf by Ms. Dorothy Davis, ended with the plea that governments and the United Nations consider investing in young people as wise investment in the prevention of atrocity crimes. Ms. Davis is an NGO representative to the UN of the Congressional Black Caucus Institute which is a member of the CoNGO Board.
CoNGO member organizations are invited to join as founding organizations for the two new NGO Committees mentioned above. If interested, please email the CoNGO President at president@ngocongo.org.
Former CoNGO President, Edith Ballantyne (right), in a photo with current CoNGO President, Liberato Bautista (left) and former President, Cyril Ritchie (middle), taken at her house in Geneva, Switzerland on March 19, 2019.
New York City and Geneva, Switzerland | 10 December 2022 (CoNGO InfoNews)—CoNGO, the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations, proclaims, celebrates, and enthuses over the 100 th birthday today, December 10, of one of its outstanding Presidents, Edith Ballantyne, a Canadian citizen who was Secretary General (and later President) of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
(WILPF), headquartered in Geneva.
Edith was born in 1922, on December 10—the date which 26 years later became International Human Rights Day. Nothing could be more fitting, for Edith’s life was wholly devoted to the promotion and protection of all human rights, to the defence of the underprivileged, to the freedom of colonial populations, to countering racism and discrimination, and of course to every aspect of peace and freedom for women.
Edith’s Presidency of CoNGO (1976-1982) took place while the Cold War was still a daily fact of life, and when non-governmental organizations often identified—vocally and sometimes aggressively—with one or another protagonist. As CoNGO President, Edith exercised great diplomatic skill in urging focus on issues that brought NGOs together, and in protecting and enhancing CoNGO’s standing and influence with the United Nations System.
CoNGO salutes Edith Ballantyne for the values she had represented life-long, and wishes her continued health in communion with her family and friends.
In 2021, CoNGO conducted a lengthy interview with Edith, and broadcast it during the 27thCoNGO General Assembly at year-end. Her grasp of issues, her lucidity, and her adherence to principles impressed everyone. The interview gave insights into the illustrious and exceptional life and work of Edith Ballantyne. WILPF also produced an interview of Edith and can be watched here.
Liberato Bautista
President of CoNGO
2007-2011 and 2018-2025
New York City | UPDATED 8 August 2022 (CoNGO InfoNews) — The Global People’s Summit “Co-building a New Eco-social World: Leaving No One Behind” concluded its online meetings on July 2. The Summit run for 24 hours for four days between June 29 and July 2.
The Summit produced The People’s Charter for an Eco-Social World. The Summit’s website hailed the Charter, “which comprises voices from throughout the world, highlights the importance of participatory democracy in effecting transformational change.”
Liberato Bautista, the President of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), delivered a keynote speech and joined 25 global partners in drafting the Summit’s People’s Charter.
Bautista called on CoNGO members to study the People’s Charter and use it as an advocacy tool and inspiration in pursuing CoNGO’s strategic organizational mantra: “defining the present, shaping the future, making the change, now”.
Delivering one of the Summit’s keynote speeches, Bautista challenged the Summit participants to “co-build an eco-social world that depends largely on the empowerment of the voice and agency of peoples as they identify their concerns and craft their futures.”
Addressing more directly some of the elements of the People’s Charter, Bautista implored everyone to join in the task of increasing hope and decreasing fear. “Decreasing fear and replacing it with increased hope augurs well into assuring people of their dignity and human rights and of the planet’s sustainability,” Bautista added.
“To increase hope, we must build a common future for all the inhabitants of the earth and their natural ecology by promoting and safeguarding the common public goods and services indispensable to life. We must increase hope through arrangements that truly put peoples and the planet at the center of both the local and global public imagination of policy and legislation.”
Bautista stressed the need today for “a cadre of leaders from grassroots, local, national, regional and international arenas to provide leadership for the much needed catalytic strategies and action for transformative change in social and ecological relations” such as those identified in the “Pathway Forward” section of the People’s Charter.
Organizing the Summit and drafting the People’s Charter were done under the joint facilitation by Rory Truell, Secretary-General of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and Paul Ladd, the Director of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).
As you use the People’s Charter in your own contexts, the CoNGO President would like to know your experience. This will enhance our understanding of the elements of the Charter and enrich them. Email him at president@ngocongo.org. Read more about the Global People’s Summit and CoNGO’s collaboration here.
Photo: Co-Building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind
Geneva, Switzerland | 29 June 2022 (CoNGO InfoNews) — The People’s Global Summit, ‘Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind’ starts today, June 29, Wednesday. The Summit will run 24 hours for four days, June 29 – July 2, online. Join here.
Liberato Bautista, the President of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) will be one of the keynote speakers, scheduled to talk on June 30, Thursday (at 17:30 UTC | 19:30 CEST | 13:30 EST). CoNGO members who are partners of the Summit include the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) which is on the CoNGO Board and led the planning of this Summit, Baha’i International Community (BIC), International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW), International Council of Social Welfare (ICSW), and Public Services International (PSI).
Here is the full press release on the Summit:
“During the Summit people will be able to share their experiences and stories in different ways. These will include presentations from people in communities, live panels, open mic rooms, indigenous-led sessions, storytelling, interviews, cultural expression along with workshops, academic presentations, and keynote addresses from political and civil society leaders. All live and video-presentations will have a chat section for your contributions and to interact with the presenters. This process will provide opportunities for co-building a new eco-social world, and generate security, safety and sustainability for this and future generations.
“The summit effectively acts as a people’s assembly that uniquely and proudly comprises differing world cultures and values, with a holistic vision that combines sustainability, social justice and ‘we the people’ working together for an eco-social world. It was initiated by 26 global diverse organizations and represents 100s of millions of people with roots in communities throughout the world. We share the perspective that the lofty pledges made by governments after the second world war – on peace, development and human rights – have not been realized. Inequalities and fractures have grown. Poverty sits alongside extreme wealth. Nature has been stripped, leading to climate warming and environmental destruction. Millions of people have been displaced as a result, adding to the millions more displaced by conflict and violence. The governments that made these commitments have prioritized competition over collaboration, sovereignty over solidarity. They have not yet served the people they represent.
“In the Summit all participants will contribute to The People’s Charter for an Eco-Social World. The process has already started by people and communities submitting their contributions on what values, policies and practices needed to be developed to give everyone and the planet safety and security. During the Summit, the Charter will be developed and drafted from everyone’s contributions. The partners have agreed that the Charter needs to be a living document and will be initially submitted to the world’s leaders as they gather at the 2022 United Nations High-Level Political Forum and General Assembly as an invitation to join us and call to action to work with us for our shared futures.
“This is one step on the journey of a continuing process for sustainability, justice and equality for all.”
New York, USA | 24 May 2022 (CoNGO InfoNews) – An NGO Committee on Language and Languages has been established in New York under the auspices of CoNGO, the Conference of Nongovernmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Some 23 NGOs have joined as founding members of the committee, which aims to give greater attention to language issues in the policies, practice and outreach of the United Nations, especially as these relate to the overall importance of language, linguistic justice, and linguistic non-discrimination.
The by-laws of the new committee were approved at a May 18 meeting and an executive board elected. The meeting featured briefings by UNESCO personnel on the organization’s programmes in the field of languages, particularly multilingual education, the International Decade of Indigenous Languages, and the new World Atlas of Languages.
Francis M. Hult and Humphrey Tonkin, representatives of the Universal Esperanto Association to the UN, were elected as chair and vice-chair respectively. Francis Hult is Professor Education at the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), and Humphrey Tonkin is President Emeritus of the University of Hartford.
Elected as secretary was Linda Fitchett, former president of the International Association of Conference Interpreters. Hans E. Becklin, of the Esperanto youth organization TEJO, was elected as treasurer. Daniel LeBlanc, of VIVAT International, and Allison Rodriguez, of the International Federation of Translators (FIT) were elected as at-large members of the board.
The work of the committee actually began before the formal May 18 meeting: in December 2021, the committee founders sponsored a briefing meeting with the UN Coordinator for Multilingualism, Under Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, H.E. Mr. Movses Abelian, the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh, H.E. Ms. Rabab Fatima, and the Deputy Director of the News and Information Branch of the Department of Global Communications, Ms. Mita Hosali. The committee, along with a number of other organizations, also sponsored a symposium on “Multilingualism and COVID-19: Lessons Learned and Looking Forward” on May 3 and 4, 2022.
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For information about this statement and the work of the NGO Committee on Language and Languages, email its Chair, Francis M. Hult (fmhult@umbc.edu). Visit www.ngocongo.org to learn more about the work of CoNGO and its substantive committees.
Vienna, Austria, 18 May 2022 (CoNGO InfoNews) – Close to 50 non-governmental organizations in consultative relationship with the United Nations Economic and Social Council have joined to endorse a statement that asserted “the imperative for the international community to strengthen the international legal framework and international cooperation in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice”.
The statement was drafted under the leadership of the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development in Vienna (NGO CSD Vienna). It was submitted to the thirty-first Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) now meeting in Vienna, Austria, from 16th to 20th of May. Accredited NGOs participate in meetings of CCPCJ. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participation in person remains severely limited. Side events to the ongoing session are only online.
In the statement, civil society leaders asserted that “criminal law has a crucial role to play in drawing up and enforcing the legal and moral ‘red lines’ upon which the global population’s very ability to thrive and survive in its planetary home may well depend.”
Ingeborg Geyer, Chair of the NGO CSD Vienna, described the work of the committee, saying that “it started two years ago on topics of crimes that affect the environment and followed up with resolutions which were tabled in previous sessions of UNTOC, Crime Congress and CCPCJ sessions.” This statement reinstates and spotlights once more the need to develop the international legal framework and cooperation in preventing what the statement calls “ecocide”.
The Conference of NGOs (CoNGO) and the NGO CSD Vienna collaborated in gathering endorsements of the statement by NGOs around the world. Many NGOs, including CoNGO members, engage the agenda of CCPCJ through the Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. See their event here. To learn more about the work of CCPCJ, visit https://twitter.com/CCPCJ. Watch the 31st session live, here.
FULL STATEMENT
NGO Statement to the 31st Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (Vienna, Austria, 16-20 May 2022)
Strengthening the international legal framework and international cooperation in the context of crimes that affect the environment
“If crime crosses borders, so must law enforcement. If the rule of law is undermined not only in one country, but in many, then those who defend it cannot limit themselves to purely national means.” (Kofi Annan, address to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000).
In the context of crime prevention and criminal justice as they pertain to the environment, the international community faces two major challenges. The first challenge relates to the urgent need to respond forcefully to the rapid rise in crimes affecting the environment. Eurojust,1 the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation, ranks environmental crime as the fourth largest criminal activity in the world – on a par with drug-trafficking. Most regrettably, law enforcement in this sector remains pitifully low and out of all proportion to the threat it poses. The reasons are manifold. The most significant factors are: (i) the failure of the criteria set out in the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime2 to categorize numerous environmental crimes as ‘serious’; and (ii) the inadequacy of training in the law enforcement agencies, whose staff frequently lack the all-essential investigation and prosecution capabilities.
The second challenge relates to the absence of legal provisions addressing the many and varied instances of severe widespread or long-term harm to the environment. All too frequently, the environmental damage caused is a deleterious side-effect of industrial practices which, though patently dangerous, are nonetheless permissible under law. Similarly, those outcomes represent all too common a breach of civil environmental regulations or are attributable to sheer negligence with regard to safety protocols. In many cases, the environmental damage qualifies as a transnational offence as set out in article 3.2 (a) (b) and (d) of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.
An offence is transnational in nature if:
(a) It is committed in more than one State;
(b)It is committed in one State but a substantial part of its preparation, planning, direction or control takes place in another State;
(d)It is committed in one State but has substantial effects in another State.
Both of the above challenges arise in the highly perturbing context of the critical global interlinkage between climate change, pollution and nature (biodiversity) loss. Furthermore, recent international reports3 tell us that these crises must be addressed with immediate urgency if we are to maintain the ability to support human civilization without severe, even irreversible loss and damage, mass migration and food crises.4
Moreover, the two challenges above relate both directly and causally to the current global crisis. The destruction or removal of carbon sinks and keystone species (e.g. via deforestation, poaching and trafficking), as well as severe soil, water and atmospheric pollution are all factors that inevitably exacerbate ecosystem collapse and climate change.
In the light of the foregoing, the imperative for the international community to strengthen the international legal framework and international cooperation in the field of crime prevention and criminal justice could not be clearer. Criminal law has a crucial role to play in drawing up and enforcing the legal and moral ‘red lines’ upon which the global population’s very ability to thrive and survive in its planetary home may well depend.
What form should this strengthening of frameworks and cooperation take? Recent meetings of this Commission have pointed in some useful directions, as indicated in the Chair’s summary documents of November 2021 and February 20225. Themes that emerged from those meetings included: ‘a robust legislative framework’; ‘measuring the impact of crime prevention’; and ‘treating environmental crimes as serious crimes.
The types of cooperation suggested are noteworthy in that they involve both international and cross-sector cooperation. They include the need for: ‘alternative sustainable livelihoods’, ‘the involvement of the private sector’; and ‘consideration of a crime prevention and criminal justice perspective within the broader “nature agenda”’.
Public perception and understanding are acknowledged as key elements in the successful enactment of criminal law: impunity was mentioned as a factor that undermined trust and perception of security, while a number of speakers noted that a culture of integrity was of crucial importance to crime prevention.
Inclusion was also a recurrent theme. Emphasis was placed on the importance that ‘governments and the international community as a whole, including the UN, listen [to] and support youth voices and recommendations.’
In this context it is worth focusing on the consistent demand for the recognition of ecocide as a crime before the International Criminal Court that the young as well as citizens’ assemblies6 have voiced in recent years. Criminalizing ecocide would serve several purposes: to hold to account the leaders of criminal organisations and key decision-makers in government and industry alike; remove impunity; and to deter dangerous practices that incur environmental damage, thus strengthening the efficacy of current civil regulations.
We note that an independent expert panel convened by the Stop Ecocide Foundation reached consensus on the legal definition of ‘ecocide’ in 20217. The definition has since gained significant political traction around the world, while the European Law Institute, for its part, is moving ahead on a related EU- specific definition8.
In the light of the foregoing, the undersigned non-governmental organizations in consultative relationship with the United Nations urge the participants in the 31st Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in particular the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, to strengthen the international legal framework and international cooperation in the context of crimes that affect the environment.
We call on Member States to:
(a) strengthen the sanctioning of crimes incurring severe environmental effects, especially transborder effects, and treating them as ‘serious’ crimes as defined in the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime;
(b) encourage international cooperation between law enforcement agencies so as to improve awareness-building and training related to investigation into and prosecution of transnational offences that affect the environment;
(c) encourage consideration of criminal law frameworks in the context of the broader ‘nature agenda’;
(d) assess current international legal frameworks in the context of the global ‘triple crisis’ and their impact on climate change, pollution and nature loss;
(e) acknowledge and support the recommendations of civil society, in particular the voices of the young, with respect to the international legal framework in the context of the ‘triple crisis’;
(f) ensure participation of local populations and stakeholders in the scope of the Aarhus Convention and Escazú Agreement;
(g) support expansion of existing international legal frameworks for combating crimes affecting the environment, including hazardous legacies, abandoned sites and zones afflicted by war and other belligerent activities;
(h) recognize ‘ecocide’ as a new international crime;
(i) enact policies and enforce legislation with the highest integrity, as well as investigate and punish corruption with respect to crimes that affect the environment;
(j) encourage consideration of the relationship between economic factors and environmental neglect, and its impact on criminal activities;
(k) secure the support of the private sector by providing a reliable framework for combating the destruction of nature and the persistence of corruption, thus enabling those concerned to proceed without incurring existential risks;
(l) strengthen communication with and cooperation between secretariats of the relevant UN agencies so as to sharpen the focus on crimes affecting the environment; and
(m) cooperate with the relevant UN agencies in the implementation of reporting systems so as to facilitate assessment of the impact of crime prevention measures.
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ENDNOTES
1 Eurojust, Report on Eurojust’s Casework on Environmental Crime, January 2021 2 UNCTOC Article 2 (b) 3 IPCC WGII & WGIII, 2022 4 In the context of preparations for Stockholm+50 conference, there have even been references to the current mindset of humanity as “war on nature”. 5 https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/commissions/CCPCJ/session/31_Session_2022/docu mentation.html 6 Citizens Climate Assembly, France 2020; Global Citizens Assembly, Glasgow 2022 7 See https://ecocidelaw.com/legal-definition-and-commentary-2021/ 8 See https://www.europeanlawinstitute.eu/projectspublications/current- projects/current- projects/ecocide
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Endorsing organizations as of 11 May 2022 were gathered under the auspices of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) and its NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna which drafted this statement. Endorsements for purposes of showing continued collaboration among NGOs on the issues raised in this statement are still welcome. To endorse the statement, send an email to the CoNGO President atpresident@ngocongo.org.
African Action on Aids (AAA)
American Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation (AAPR)
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP)
CGFNS International, Inc.
Credo-Action (Lomé, Togo)
Criminologists Without Borders
Fracarita International
Graduate Women International (GWI)
Imam Mahdi Association of Marjaeya (I.M.A.M.)
International Alliance of Women (IAW)
International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP)
International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
International Council of Psychologists (ICP)
International Council of Women (ICW)
International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW)
International Federation of Women Lawyers (IFWL)
International Federation of Women in Legal Careers (IFWLC)
International Federation on Ageing (IFA)
International Inner Wheel (IIW)
International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD)
International Progress Organization (IPO)
International Women’s Year Liaison Group, Japan (IWYLG)
Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW)
Japan Asia Cultural Exchanges, Inc. (JACE)
Le Comite Francais des ONG pour la Liaison et l’ Information des Nations
New Humanity
Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV).
Pan Pacific and South East Asia Women’s Association (PPSEAWA)
Pax Romana | ICMICA
Servas International
Sisters of Charity Federation (SCF)
Socialist International Women (SIW)
Soroptimist International
Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem (OSMTH)
Teresian Association
United Methodist Church-General Board of Church and Society (UMC-GBCS)
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)
Universal Peace Federation International (UPFI)
Verein zur Förderung der Völkerverständigung
VIVAT International
WUZDA Ghana
Women’s Federation for World Peace International (WFWPI)
New York City, 4 March 2022 (CoNGO Infonews) – Civil society organizations that are predominantly women’s NGOs today issued a statement against the war in Ukraine. The seven initiating groups called for “an immediate halt to hostilities, for all troops to be withdrawn, and for good-faith, peaceful, diplomatic negotiations to begin in a neutral territory.” They issued the statement after the United Nations General Assembly and UN Secretary-General António Guterres have called for an immediate cessation to the conflict, outlining that it contravenes the UN Charter.
CoNGO President Liberato Bautista welcomed the initiative of the organizations, stating that the joint drafting process demonstrated “the best example of NGO good practice”. The call to endorse the statement leverages CoNGO’s convening platform for NGOs to consult, collaborate and cooperate together.
The original proponents of the statement welcome endorsement of the statement by other civil society organizations. To add your endorsement, please send an email to infonews@ngocongo.org with the name and headquarter location of the organization, and the name of the responsible person agreeing to the endorsement.
Statement Against the War in Ukraine
5 March 2022
Soroptimist International, Associated Country Women of the World, International Federation of Business and Professional Women, Graduate Women International, International Alliance of Women, Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, Zonta International and the NGO Committee on Aging-Vienna stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who have found themselves in an unwanted conflict.
During the 20th Century, Europe and the world strove to recover from devastating wars. Now, war has returned to the continent to the detriment of humanity. The human impacts of this war will reach far into the future. This conflict is in clear violation of international law, which forbids acts of aggression, the UN Charter and human rights for all. International humanitarian and human rights law must be upheld; the targeting of civilians constitutes a crime against humanity and a war crime.
Together, we call for an immediate halt to hostilities, for all troops to be withdrawn, and for good-faith, peaceful, diplomatic negotiations to begin in a neutral territory. The actions of states must place the good of citizens and humanity at their heart, accordingly, all civilians must be protected.
War is never gender-neutral. Women and girls in all their diversity are always disproportionately affected by war, and it is no different in this conflict. The projections that millions will be displaced and will become refugees, are being realised with thousands fleeing daily. Many of those on the move are women and girls; specific, targeted, gender-transformative programmes must be immediately developed and implemented to ensure that their lives, hopes and dreams are not irreparably damaged by this war.
Women and girls caught up in this humanitarian crisis will miss out on valuable education. They are at increased risks of early or child marriage, trafficking, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence. Women and girls will now be unable to access vital medical services, including sexual and reproductive health treatment and support. The UN Population Fund has shared how pregnant women, new mothers and babies are having to be cared for in make-shift underground bunkers or are giving birth in metro stations as health facilities become unsafe or are too damaged to function.
Older and disabled women struggle to escape conflict areas as transportation becomes unsafe and usual support is no longer available. Girls and women of all ages are now facing an uncertain future with increasing fear under shelling. Many will be left with long-term trauma. The infrastructure damage caused by war sets back sustainable development, and the achievement of gender equality.
With the presence of working nuclear power plants in a war zone, the environmental risks are significant during a time when the world is already facing a climate crisis. Now, Russian nuclear forces are on high alert. The consequences of any nuclear fallout would be unimaginable and devastating to the Ukrainian people, the environment of neighbouring countries and the world. International institutions and the global political system have been constructed to avoid just such an eventuality. In 2017, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was negotiated and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, both major steps towards a non-nuclear world. Any nuclear threats must be stepped down.
Civil society organisations such as Soroptimist International, Associated Country Women of the World, International Federation of Business and Professional Women, Graduate Women International, International Alliance of Women, Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, Zonta International and the NGO Committee on Aging-Vienna are frequently the first responders on-the-ground, as they live in the affected communities, witnessing these challenges first hand, finding immediate solutions and distributing aid.
Members of civil society open their homes to refugees, feeding those on the move, and promoting their safety. This is already happening in Ukraine and neighbouring countries; these humanitarian efforts must be supported. Due to the nature of refugee dispersal and internally displaced persons, collecting thorough and reliable disaggregated data on women and girls in all their diversity will be almost impossible. This will make it difficult to assess the total impacts of this war on women and girls, including those living in rural and remote communities and those from indigenous communities less well-known outside of Ukraine.
The United Nations General Assembly and UN Secretary-General António Guterres have called for an immediate cessation to the conflict, outlining that it contravenes the UN Charter. The UN General Assembly has now voted overwhelmingly to condemn the invasion of Ukraine and has called for Russia to withdraw its forces. Soroptimist International, Associated Country Women of the World, International Federation of Business and Professional Women, Graduate Women International, International Alliance of Women, Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, Zonta International and the NGO Committee on Aging-Vienna support these calls.
Soldiers must be withdrawn from hostilities on Ukrainian soil and political leaders must seek a peaceful resolution. International law and diplomacy should always be the mechanism to peacefully address disagreements between states; the needless destruction of war is only to the detriment of all people. In our interconnected world, we can see first-hand the rapidly increasing impacts of this conflict. We can all learn from the human stories which demonstrate the pointlessness, futility and devastation of war. Protests and acts of resistance and human understanding are being joined worldwide. The signatories of this statement join the call of many across the world for this war to end now.
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{To endorse the statement, send email to infonews@ngocongo.org, including the name and headquarter location of the organization, and the name of the responsible person agreeing to the endorsement).
ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS (As of March 11, 2022, 01:030PM EDT):
Original Proponents
Soroptimist International
Associated Country Women of the World | ACWW | United Kingdom
International Federation of Business and Professional Women | IFBPW
Graduate Women International | GWI
International Alliance of Women | IAW
Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas | FAWCO
Zonta International NGO Committee on Aging-Vienna
Co-endorsers in the order received
Pan Pacific South East Asia Women’s Association | PPSEAWA
Universal Esperanto Association | UEA
Servas International
International Association of Applied Psychology | IAAP | France
World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation | WAPR
L’Association des Femmes de l’Europe Méridionale | AFEM | France
International Office for Catholic Education | OIEC | Italy
Sisters of Charity Federation | SCF
Mother’s Legacy Project | MLP | USA
World Council for Psychotherapy | WCP
Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem | OSMTH | Scotland
Greek League for Women’s Rights | GLWR | Greece
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers | USA
World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women | WFMUCW | Global
Credo Action | Togo
Maryknoll Sisters | USA
Virinoj por la Mondo | Women for the World
International Women’s Development Agency | IWDA | Australia
VIVAT International | USA
Japan Asia Cultural Exchanges, Inc. | JACE | USA
Soka Gakkai International | SGI | Japan
International Women’s Year Liaison Group | IWYLG | Japan
International Council of Women
Make Mothers Matter | MMM | France
Young Global Leadership Foundation | YGLF
United Methodist Church—General Board of Church and Society | UMC-GBCS | USA
Mercy International Association | Sisters of Mercy of the Americas
Pax Christi International | PCI
United Methodist Women | UMW | USA
International Federation on Ageing | IFA | Canada
Servicio Profesionales Desarollo Rural / Agricultura | SEDRA | Chile
World Organization for Early Childhood Education | OMEP |
US Women’s Caucus at the UN | USA
The Imam Mahdi Association of Marjaeya | I.M.A.M. | USA
Generations United | GU | USA
The World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations | WFUWO | Canada
Women First International Fund | USA
CGFNS International | USA
Miriam College (Philippines)
International Council of Women | ICW-CIF |
Kolping International | Germany
STUF United Fund | USA
Club Ohada Thies | Senegal
International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Center | IFSNC | Sweden/Finland
Inner Wheel International | IIC | United Kingdom)
Council of Organizations of the United Nations Association of the USA
The Unforgotten | unforgotten.org
National Grange | USA
National Judicial Conduct and Disability Law Project, Inc. | NJCDLP | USA
NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY
New York City, 28 October 2021 (CoNGO InfoNews) – Measures and actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change need to be taken without delay. This is the message conveyed by sixty-one NGOs that joined in issuing the statement “Challenges of Climate Change” under the banner of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO).
The UN convenes the climate change conference on the heels of the 2021 report of the International Panel on Climate Change—the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. The IPCC 2021 report, released on August 9, characterized climate change as widespread, rapid and intensifying.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, included attention to climate change among ways to save succeeding generations. In his “Our Common Agenda” report to the General Assembly, Guterres said, “Just as the founders of the United Nations came together determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, we must now come together to save succeeding generations from war, climate change, pandemics, hunger, poverty, injustice and a host of risks that we may not yet foresee entirely.”
The NGO statement was drafted and finalized by the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development Vienna, one of more than 30 substantive committees of CoNGO. Thirteen of the committee’s organizational members in consultative status with the UN approved the statement.
The full statement follows:
Challenges of Climate Change: An NGO statement to the 2021 UN climate change conference, COP 26, in Glasgow
For many years the scientific community, the Member States of the United Nations, and civil society have discussed the impact on our planet of climate change and identified measures needed to protect the world in which we live.
To date, the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have convened 25 conferences. They have signed and ratified decisions, protocols and agreements on the reduction of CO2.
Measures and actions to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change need to be taken without delay. The undersigned NGOs admitted with Observer Status by the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC and joined by other NGOs in Consultative Status with the United Nations thus urge the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC to act promptly on the following challenges:
1) Mitigation
The scientific community worldwide should coordinate research and innovation so as to draw up procedures to reduce CO2 emissions. Systems need to be developed that are sufficiently robust to operate under varying conditions, e.g., excessive drought or flooding, changes in flora and fauna due to rising temperatures, and the loss of biodiversity. The ultimate aim should be to halt global warming and achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
2) Adaptation
Recent months have shown that the impact of climate change is palpable on every continent and in every region, and is driven by the physical environment, such as mountains, oceans, and permafrost. Therefore, local decisions are critical to effective adaptation to changing weather and climate conditions. The regional focus should be on planning, land use, settlements and infrastructure, as well as forestry and agriculture. The global rise in temperatures and the related changes in the spread of disease pose an inordinate challenge for public health systems. Moreover, it is evident that with regard to energy systems, limiting changes to electric vehicles alone will not suffice.
3) Participation and cooperation
Action plans for adaptation may result in significant changes to regional patterns of settlement and lifestyles and may have a disproportionate effect on marginalised populations including minorities, women and children. New formats for democratic participation are thus called for. They should be so designed as to inform all stakeholders and secure their participation in the decision-making processes. Only if the consistency of such measures is upheld can aims be reached ensuring that the most marginalised groups do not bear the brunt of the climate crisis.
On the international level, UN cooperation in particular needs to be reliable and accountable. International treaties and conventions must be respected, reports must be verifiable, obligations implemented without delay, and enforcement transparent. Matters would be improved where an international panel set up empowered to monitor progress independently and make reluctant states confront their responsibilities.
4) Financial frameworks
The costs for all necessary measures and actions will be very high, yet far lower than the costs of damages incurred in the case of “business as usual”. Countries should provide sustainable, long-term financial plans, which may require modifying tax systems. An international fund – administered by the UN – should provide assistance to the developing countries.
The challenges posed by climate change are global and cannot be successfully met by countries or regions in isolation, and even less by competition between nations. Cooperation and transparency are critical and indispensable to solving climate change.
October 4, 2021
Submitted by NGOs in Observer Status with the Conference of Parties of UNFCCC:
Association pour le Développement Durable (ADD)
Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD)
Haiti Cholera Research Funding Foundation, Inc. USA
International Council of Women (ICW)
Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, Inc.
Nurses Across the Borders (NAB)
UNANIMA International
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)
United Methodist Church—General Board of Church and Society (UMC-GBCS)
VIVAT International
Endorsed by NGOs in Consultative, Associated and Observer relations with the United Nations:
Abraham’s Children Foundation
African Action on Aids (AAA)
Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS)
Arab Society for Academic Freedoms(ASAF)
Asia and Pacific Alliance of YMCAs
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
Asociación Latinoamericana para Los Derechos Humanos (ALDHU)
Association of Presbyterian Women Aotearoa New Zealand
Awaz Centre for Development Services (AwazCDS-Pakistan)
Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CACCI)
Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO)
Congregations of St. Joseph
Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute (CBCI)
Dianova International
ECPAT-USA
Election Network in the Arab Region(ENAR)
GCS International
Global Action on Aging (GAN)
Graduate Women International (GWI)
Initiatives of Change
Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Loreto Generalate
International Alliance of Women (IAW)
International Council on Environmental Economics and Development (ICEED)
International Federation of Business and Professional Women (IFBPW)
International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW)
International Federation of Women in Legal Careers (FIFCJ)
International Federation on Ageing (IFA)
International Inner Wheel (IIW)
International Presentation Association, The (IPA)
International Progress Organization (IPO)
Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP)
League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS)
Organization for Defending Victims of Violence (ODVV)
Pan Pacific South East Asia Women’s Association (PPSEAWA)
Pax Romana
Servas International
Sisters of Charity Federation
Society for International Development (SID)
Socialist International Women (SIW)
Soroptimist International (SI)
Temple of Understanding
Tiye International
Universal Peace Federation (UPF)
Verein zur Förderung der Völkerverständigung
Women’s Federation for World Peace International (WFWPI)
Women’s International Zionist Organisation (WIZO)
Women’s Missionary Society of the African Methodist Episcopal Church
World Association for Psychological Rehabilitation (WAPR)
World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ)
WUZDA Ghana
Zonta International
The statement above was drafted and finalized by the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development in Vienna and was officially endorsed by the following NGO members with ECOSOC consultative status: Graduate Women International, Initiatives of Change, International Inner Wheel, International Federation of Business and Professional Women, Pax Romana, Servas International, Soroptimist International, Society for International Development, Socialist International Women, Verein zur Förderung der Völkerverständigung, Women’s Federation for World Peace International, Women’s International Zionist Organisation, and World Union for Progressive Judaism.
New York City 20 October 2021 (CoNGO InfoNews) – A civil society summit on substantive issues will be held on October 25, Monday, on the occasion of United Nations Day 2021. The summit is organized by CoNGO—the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations.The summit is open to the public and registration is ongoing.
The summit brings to a virtual conference some 45 UN, NGO and civil society leaders from all geographic regions of the world, from grassroots to international arenas, and from a cross section of fields of focus and expertise, leading seven thematic panels that will address the overall theme “shaping the future: the UN we need for the world we want”.
CoNGO president, Liberato Bautista, emphasized the word “for” in the theme. “It addresses the coherence needed between the UN we need and the world we want. That coherence happens only if the multilateral infrastructure is built around the true and urgent needs of the world, not just for today, but into the future, both immediate and long term.”
There are other renditions of the same theme, Bautista said, but many use the word “and” rather than “for”. The “UN for the world” provides a necessary if urgent orientation for this multilateral institution called UN, and for civil society organizations to be decisively organized and working in the service of people, the planet and their futures, Bautista asserted.
Impetus for the summit partly came from the report of the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, Our Common Agenda. A high-level opening panel will explore the subtheme “the future in the present tense”. This civil society summit is not unlike Mr. Guterres’s concern for the future, Bautista opined, and hence the SG’s expressed desire to convene a Summit of the Future in 2023.
CoNGO’s declaration on the seventy-fifth anniversary of the UN called this global body and its Member States, “to enter into a dialogue with civil society to create innovative partnerships” and to recognize “the vast potential of civil society as an essential element of the international system, defining the present and shaping the future.”
The year 2023 will be CoNGO’s seventy-fifth anniversary. CoNGO since 2008 has had for its organizational theme, “defining the present, shaping the future”. Today’s UN undertaking has been more than a decade-old theme for CoNGO.
Moving into its seventy-fifth year, CoNGO is poised to join the UN and civil society worldwide in shaping the future. What kind of future(s) and what actions to undertake to achieve a just, peaceable, and sustainable world is an undertaking the civil society summit will try to elicit recommendations for from participants.
The summit on Monday will inform the work of CoNGO. A synthesis report will be submitted to the upcoming twenty-seventh CoNGO General Assembly scheduled for November 29 to December 1.
