CoNGO Issues Statement Ahead of the United Nations 75th Anniversary; President to Hold Briefings in Geneva, Vienna and New York
For full version, see: English, Esperanto, French and Spanish.
Geneva, 9 December 2019
Vienna, 11 December 2019
New York, 18 December 2019
(New York, 22 November 2019) President Liberato Bautista of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO) will be holding presidential briefings in Geneva, Vienna and New York this December.
The briefings will focus on CoNGO’s Declaration on the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. This thoughtful and challenging document was adopted by the CoNGO Board when it met in Geneva this past October.
The Declaration was a product of intense consultations involving many CoNGO members and leaders of CoNGO Substantive Committees worldwide.
The Declaration honors the United Nations System as the essential multilateral mechanism that the world needs to mobilize, coordinate and manage solutions to the planet’s ”Problems without Borders”.
CoNGO calls for the 75th Anniversary to be the occasion for the United Nations System to be strengthened, better structured, better used by governments, and considerably better financed.
CoNGO calls for the UN System to make greater use of the competence and experience of NGOs and the broader Civil Society as essential partners in ensuring a peaceful and just world built upon achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
President Bautista will hold these Presidential Briefings to expound upon the Declaration, and to seek further input and participation in conveying the central messages to Civil Society worldwide, to all governments, to all elements and entities of the UN System, and to the people of the planet.
President Bautista will make use of the occasion to discuss CoNGO’s invitation to other NGO and civil society groups with similar initiatives of revisiting the 75 years of the UN and proposing visions of the “world we need”, the world we want” and the UN that is responsive, accountable and well-funded to meet these needs and wants.
Bautista hopes for the development of he calls “CS75 at UN75”. These 75 unities that will be developed through NGO and civil society consultations will be short statements on agreed issues and concerns that shall be conveyed to all entities within the UN System and its member states as the UN approaches its 75th anniversary next year and plan for the years ahead.
The CoNGO Declaration is for use throughout the whole Anniversary Year, and in all UN and Civil Society fora. It is available in English, French and Spanish versions.
Your presence and active participation in any of these three briefings is most welcome.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
December 9 Briefing in Geneva, Switzerland
15.00 to 17.00 | John Knox International Center | Room 3
27 Chemin des Crêts de Pregny, Grand Saconnex
(The John Knox Center has two free parking lots. Room 3 is downstairs in the main building. Tea and coffee will be available in Room 3 from 14.30. Please confirm your presence to Cyril Ritchie at firstvp@ngocongo.org)
December 11 Briefing in Vienna, Austria
15.00 to 17.00 | Vienna International Center | Room C0213
Wagramer Str. 5, 1400 Wien, Austria
The Presidential Briefing will be part of a special event organized by CoNGO’s Second Vice President, Dr. Martina Gredler, together with leaders of NGO Committees in Vienna. The theme of this special meeting is “Working Effectively Within the CoNGO Committees: Present and Future”. The event will include reports from the CoNGO committees in Vienna and a brief introduction to CoNGO—its history and activities. Please confirm your presence to Martina Gredler at secondvp@ngocongo.org or zahnaerztin@yahoo.com.
December 18 Briefing and Holiday Celebration in New York, USA
15.00 to 17.30 | Church Center for the United Nations | 10th Floor Conference Room
777 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 USA
This Presidential Briefing will include a discussion by a panel of reactors to the CoNGO Declaration. Panelists will come from civil society, the UN system and UN member states. The event will also serve as a holiday celebration for NGO leaders in the area. Please confirm your presence to Liberato Bautista at president@ngocongo.org.
