The Union of Humanity: Bridging Medicine, Music, Technology & Global NGO for Pandemic Recovery {CoNGO President Speaks at this Event}

Join here: https://stufunitedfund.my.webex.com/stufunitedfund.my/j.php?MTID=me2355e3ac7a7db8d2358b2fa2408254b

STUF United Fund (a member of CoNGO), along with The Permanent Mission of Belize to the United Nations and Helping Overcome Obstacles Peru (HOOP), will present a side event on Tuesday July 6th, during the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. STUF United Fund is honored to have CoNGO President Dr. Liberato C. Bautista join as one of the speakers.

The UN High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) is an essential platform hosted by the United Nations to follow up and review the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals. The side event is entitled “The Union of Humanity: Bridging Medicine, Music, Technology, and Global NGO Partnership for Pandemic Recovery.” It will be held in a hybrid format of virtual and in-person conference. The event includes speeches and Q&A from 6pm to 8pm and live musical performance from 8pm to 8:30pm.

Speakers include:

Ms. Han Wu, Co-Artistic Director of the CMS of Lincoln Center (video speech)
Rev. Liberato C. Bautista, President of CoNGO (The Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations) “Global NGO Partnership for Pandemic Recovery”
Dr. Shang Ju Li, MD, MPH, Senior Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Americares; Co-Founder, Helping Overcome Obstacles Peru (HOOP) USA and Peru “Challenges and Strategies: Pandemic Recovery from the Perspective of Local NGO”
Dr. Alex Chen, MD, PhD, Visiting Professor at Imperial College London, Faculty of Medicine “Global Burden of Disease (GBD), Non-Communicable Disease (NCD), and Digital Solutions”
Mr. Michel Lu, Ph.D in Far-East Research from Université Paris VII, retired diplomat “International Medical and Health Cooperation: Challenges and Opportunities”

Online Webex Meeting Number: 182-627-7918, password: hlpf (lower case of HLPF)

Please RSVP to join the in-person meeting at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center at 129 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023: eventbrite.com/e/stuf-2021-un-high-level-political-forum-side-event-tickets-161241492645

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee for Rare Diseases, please visit rarediseasesinternational.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org.

World Drug Report with focus on Asia & Europe

Webinar on the World Drug Report with focus on Asia and Europe

The Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) together with the UNODC Civil Society Unit will be holding two webinars to present and discuss the World Drug Report 2021, which was launched on 25^th June. The yearly publication is the most comprehensive source of facts and knowledge on drugs and the world drug market, sourced straight from evidence-based studies and data compiled by UNODC experts. The participants of the webinars will learn about the newest trends, both global and regional. The first webinar will be held on 13th July 2021 (10:00-11:30, CEST, Vienna) and will comprise welcome remarks from VNGOC and UNODC, a formal presentation of the World Drug Report 2021 with a respective focus on the different regions by UNODC experts, two civil society panelists, and an open question and answer session.

Register here:https://bit.ly/3pyC5t1

Interpretation in Russian and French will be available. The full agenda can be viewed on the VNGOC website.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Drugs-NY, please visit nyngoc.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Family-NY, please visit ngofamilyny.org.

Open Global Civil Society Consultation on IMRF

First Open Global Civil Society Consultation on the International Migration Review Forum (IMRF)

To prepare for collective civil society self-organizing towards the IMRF, we will review initial civil society ideas, expectations and strategies for our engagement in the IMRF during the consultation. These inputs will then be presented to Member States in a series of dialogues over the next 12 months.

All civil society organizations are invited to join us for this global civil society consultation on the IMRF. Register here! Consultation co-facilitators: Alma Maquitico (NNIRR), Apolinar Tolentino (BWI/CGU), Cecilie Kern (NGO CoM), Marta Verani (MGCY)

Agenda

A. Opening Plenary: Setting the Stage

i. Technical intro

ii. Welcome and introduction to the agenda

iii. Context and road to IMRF, AC survey results, IMRF modalities for civil society etc.

iv. Summary reports on GCM implementation (reports from RMRFs from regional networks) – what has been accomplished, what has not?

i. Africa
ii. Arab States
iii. Asia-Pacific
iv. Europe and North America
v. Latin America and Caribbean

B. Breakout discussions on civil society priorities in GCM implementation, and IMRF modalities

Intro: breakout goals and questions, and Zoom rooms mechanics

2 i. Discussion on civil society benchmarks for GCM implementation (For this discussion, you may choose from one of these following thematic priorities to discuss benchmarks and progress, or use any other themes you wish to highlight…)

Labor Migration and a New Social Contract
Racism, Ethnicity and Discrimination
Detentions and Returns
Regular Pathways and Irregular Migration
Climate Change
Other

a. What benchmarks should be used to measure GCM implementation?

b. What would GCM progress look like in a national/regional context? ii.

Discussion on IMRF modalities

a. Based on the current IMRF modalities for civil society participation, do you see any challenges that you and your members will face to participate fully in the IMRF?
b. How do you think the official civil society rapporteur for the IMRF should be selected?

C. Plenary discussion on main points

i. Short reports by group rapporteurs
ii. Summary of the discussions and identifying key inputs to present to Member States

D. Closing remarks and next steps

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

Sustainable Recovery pledge launch

Join the launch of the Sustainable Recovery pledge

COVID-19 continues to have a devastating effect on people and countries across the world. Not only does it take lives and affect livelihoods, economies and societies – it also poses serious threats to the enjoyment of human rights. And it is hampering progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

As countries are preparing to build back after the pandemic, it is important that this is done using the 2030 Agenda, grounded in States’ human rights obligations, as well as the Paris Agreement, as the blueprint. But how exactly?

Join the high-level online event on Wednesday 30 June at 2:00-3:00 PM (CEST) and follow the launch of the Sustainable Recovery Pledge which until now has backing from 39 states across the world.

Learn more & register here: humanrights.dk/events/launch-pledge-building-better-future-all-human-rights-its-heart

Among speakers will be senior UN officials and high level members of governments, including:

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Michelle Bachelet
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Mr. Jeppe Kofod
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile, Mr. Andrés Allamand

You will also meet representatives from civil society and business alongside human rights experts. The event will have interpretation to English, Spanish and French. It will be recorded and made publicly available.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee for Rare Diseases, please visit ngocommitteerarediseases.org.

Principles and Process: Civil Society Mobilization for Meaningful Post-UN75 Implementation Roundtable

The Coalition for the UN We Need and the Stimson Center will host a roundtable discussion to review recommendations from the Fulfilling the UN75 Declaration Expert Roundtable Series through the lens of a framework of principles for civil society engagement and mobilization – “A People’s Commitment” – that formed part of the UN75 People’s Declaration and Plan for Global Action, adopted in May 2020.

Register here!

Featured Speakers

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Member, Group of Women Leaders: Voices for Change and Inclusion and former President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Dan Perell, Representative to the United Nations, Baha’i International Community
Natalie Samarasinghe, Executive Director, United Nations Association of the United Kingdom
Jeffery Huffines, Senior Advisor, Coalition for the UN We Need
Maja Groff, Convenor, Climate Governance Commission (Global Challenges Foundation)
Cristina Petcu, Research Analyst, Global Governance, Justice & Security Program, Stimson Center

Moderated by Fergus Watt, Coordinator, Coalition for the UN We Need

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com.

A gathering to foster the basic principles of a new approach for a fairer and more inclusive Digital Society

Grand Conversation:

A gathering to foster the basic principles of a new approach for a fairer and more inclusive Digital Society

21 June 2021, Monday

Opening 6:00 AM PDT | 9:00 AM EDT | 2:00 PM WEST | 3:00 PM CEST | 4:00 PM EAT

Watch live on facebook.com/occam.milano.

This year 2021 is turning out to be rich in mutations. People are taking back their hopes and activities after the dark months of the Covid confinement. The great rendezvous of G7, G20 and COP26 are proving to be rich in contents and looks promising in terms of a step towards new global assets. The “Next Generation EU” Plan aims at reinforcing not only the new generation, but also at reforming countries in a more just and efficient way. The wind of digitalization blows strong and gives the feeling of a new world in gestation. All of us understand that we can be the protagonists: this is the reason for this Grand Conversation and the invitation to take part to actively discuss how to build the future rather than being a passive audience

21 June 2021

Live on facebook.com/occam.milano

This year 2021 is turning out to be rich in mutations. People are taking back their hopes and activities after the dark
months of the Covid confinement. The great rendez-vous of G7, G20 and COP26 are proving to be rich in contents and
looks promising in terms of a step towards new global assets. The “Next Generation EU” Plan aims at reinforcing not only
the new generation, but also at reforming countries in a more just and efficient way.
The wind of digitalization blows strong and gives the feeling of a new world in gestation. All of us understand that we can
be the protagonists: this is the reason for this Grand Conversation and the invitation to take part to actively discuss how to
build the future rather than being a passive audience.

Preliminary Agenda

Opening 6:00 AM PDT 9:00 AM EDT 2:00 PM WEST 3:00 PM CEST 4:00 PM EAT
Greetings: Daniela Bas, Director, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs – Division for Inclusive Social Development, USA
Maurizio Molinari, Director, European Parliament Office in Milan, Italy
General introduction: Pierpaolo Saporito, President, OCCAM and Infopoverty Programme, Italy

Session 1: Policies and Strategies Fostering the Next Digital Society

We are living in a moment of gestation towards new forms of society that are arising all over the world in different shapes, operated by digital
innovations that are now part of the common practices of life, work and governance. They are growing up in their global assets to give life to the Next Digital Society.

Daniela Rondinelli, Member of the European Parliament, Commission on Employment and Social Affairs, Belgium
Uma Rani, Senior Economist, International Labour Organization (UN-ILO), Switzerland
George Hara, Special Advisor, Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister of Japan
Liberato C. Bautista, President, Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), USA

Session 2: The New Post-Covid Paradigm

The Covid-19 emergency is still pressing, imposing a hard change of behaviour to the society. After the pandemic, other priorities will emerge in the field of health security and in the expansion of human relationships, thanks to the increased digital opportunities. The whole world is now connected, and the ancient North-South gap can be easily overcome, changing the paradigm from charity and support, to transferring knowledge and competences. Africa woke up and started producing many innovations adaptable to its context without the influence of big, for-profit multinational enterprises. This should be a further motivation to renew win-win collaborations. How can emerging countries enter the digital development process? How to exploit human and material resources that are pivotal for the industrial development?Tony Ojobo,

President, African ICT Foundation, Nigeria
Nicolas Boissez, Head of Communication and External Relations, Fondation Hirondelle, Switzerland
Sofia Khadiri, Innovation Manager, LDV20 – Sparkasse, Italy
Andrea Cuomo, President Sacertis Knowledge, IW Bank, Switzerland

Session 3: e-Services for Development

The flow of change is exposed to different accelerations: enterprises are putting in place codes of conduct; governments are understanding how to use them, especially in the post-pandemic phase; consumers are still very much depending on the global supply. Much space can and must be covered by digital innovations to tackle the needs of consumers and the society as a whole, in fields such as health, education, jobs, agriculture, creative production. The aim is to ensure an e-welfare able to grant a dignified lifestyle and access to jobs for every individual.

Food Security and Agriculture
Jawoo Koo, Senior Research Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, USA
Giulia Bartezzaghi, Director, Food Sustainability Observatory – Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Giovanna Seddaiu, Project Coordinator, EWA-BELT EU Horizon2020 Project, Italy

Telemedicine
Francesco Sicurello, President, International Institute of Telemedicine, Italy
Claudio Azzolini, Professor Emeritus, University of Insubria, Italy
Fabrizio Conicella, General Manager, OpenZone, Italy
Hassan Ghazal, Founder and President, Moroccan Society for Telemedicine and e-Health, Morocco

Education

Toky Ravoavy, NGO Ligne Verte, Madagascar
David Neely, President, Affecting Change International, USA
Michael Mathews, Vice-President for Innovation and Technology, Oral Roberts University, USA

Session 4: How the Digital Communication can Drive the Process to Envisage a New, Better Digital Society

Cinema always anticipated new, visionary societies: what we live now was already done in films. The audio-visual language became universal, a new koiné, and everyone can be a producer, diffuser and consumer. Billions of movies are uploaded every day on the platforms, and the virtual world creates the reality. How to empower this collective creativity towards trends able to register and feed new aspirations of young people, in open dimensions that even democracy can benefit of?

Melita Zajc, Associate Professor of Media Communication, AMEU ISH Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jasmina Bojic, Founder and Director, UN Association Film Festival, USA
Firdaus Kharas, Founder, Chocolate Moose Media, USA
Giacomo Mazzone, Secretary-General, Eurovisioni, Italy

Roundtable: New Approaches to Build the Next Digital Society

The ancient régime is dying, and we need to find new perspectives, opening to younger generations to allow the growth of a world based on their vision. Traditional, hierarchical systems based on archaic powers are inconsistent with the new digital nature. This new DNA shall be made explicit and become the instrument for the development of the new SDG-inspired society, where software and hardware merge for the transformation of ideas into things and for the creation of correct actions enhanced by artificial yet intimately human intelligences.Participants to the Conversation, plus:

Heidi Tworek, Senior Fellow, Center for International Governance Innovation, USA
Nicol Turner-Lee, Senior Fellow, Brookings, USA
Giuseppe Enne, Founder and Scientific Advisor, Desertification Research Centre, Italy

Conclusion 10:15 AM PDT | 1:15 PM EDT | 6:15 PM WEST | 7:15 PM CEST | 8:15 PM EAT

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org.

Religious Actors: Ally or Threat for Achieving Gender Equality?

You are warmly invited to a pre-Event to Generation Equality Forum and the High Level Political Forum

Religious Actors: Ally or Threat for Achieving Gender Equality?

Register via Eventbrite

Program:

Opening remarks: Khushwant Singh, Head of Secretariat, PaRD
Launching new report: Dr. Nora Khalaf-Elledge, Post-Doc Fellow, Joint Learning Initiative

Looking Back to Look Forward: The Role of Religious Actors since the Beijing Declaration

Zainah Anwar, Executive Director, Musawah
Karin Ericsson, Programme Specialist Gender Equality, Sida
Umyra Ahmad, Advancing Universal Rights and Justice Coordinator, AWID
Dr. Nontando Hadebe, International Coordinator, Side by Side

Moderator: Shahin Ashraf MBE, Head of Global Advocacy, Islamic Relief Worldwide

Launching a new report co-published by ACT Alliance, Act Church of Sweden, Side by Side, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Joint Learning Initiative on Faith Communities, SVRI, Goldsmiths and PaRD. With live illustrator and Q&A.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com.

International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict

2021 observance: “Building back better: Supporting survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in the context of pandemic recovery”

Join us from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm EDT on Thursday, 17 June 2021 via UN WebTV live webcast

Commemorating the 7^th official observance, this year’s virtual event is co-hosted by the Office of the SRSG on Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Office of the SRSG on Children and Armed Conflict and the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations.

The purpose of the event is to stand in solidarity with the survivors and those working to support them on the frontlines, often at great personal risk, particularly in the current climate of intersecting crises. The event will provide a platform for strategic reflection on ways to integrate the specific rights, needs and perspectives of survivors of CRSV into national and regional COVID-19 response and recovery plans, to ensure they are not forgotten in a climate of intersecting crises and constrained resources.

The impact of COVID-19 on survivors of conflict-related sexual violence

The chronic underreporting of conflict-related sexual violence, due to stigma, insecurity, fear of reprisals, and lack of services, has been compounded by COVID-19 containment measures. Lockdowns, curfews, quarantines, fears of contracting or transmitting the virus, mobility restrictions, and limited access to services and safe spaces, as shelters closed and clinics were repurposed for the pandemic response, added a layer of complexity to existing structural, institutional and sociocultural barriers to reporting.

Proactive measures to foster an enabling environment for survivors to safely come forward and seek redress have become more urgent than ever. The pandemic has laid bare the intersecting inequalities that plague our societies, as compounded by conflict, displacement, and institutional fragility. The only solution for these overlapping ills is an injection of political resolve and resources equal to the scale of the challenge.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, please visit ngocsw.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch. For more information on the NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@gmail.com.

World Refugee Day

World Refugee Day 2021 focuses on the power of inclusion.

The shared experience of COVID-19 has showed us that we only succeed if we stand together. We have all had to do our part to keep each other safe and despite the challenges, refugees and displaced people have stepped up.

Given the chance, refugees will continue to contribute to a stronger, safer and more vibrant world. Therefore UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s World Refugee Day campaign this year is calling for the greater inclusion of refugees in health systems, schools and sport. Only by working together can we recover from the pandemic. Together we heal, learn and shine.

Background

Every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror. There are several types of forcibly displaced persons:

Refugees

A refugee is someone who fled his or her home and country owing to “a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion”, according to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention. Many refugees are in exile to escape the effects of natural or human-made disasters.

Asylum Seekers

Asylum seekers say they are refugees and have fled their homes as refugees do, but their claim to refugee status is not yet definitively evaluated in the country to which they fled.

Internally Displaced Persons

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are people who have not crossed an international border but have moved to a different region than the one they call home within their own country.

Stateless Persons

Stateless persons do not have a recognized nationality and do not belong to any country. Statelessness situations are usually caused by discrimination against certain groups. Their lack of identification — a citizenship certificate — can exclude them from access to important government services, including health care, education or employment.

Returnees

Returnees are former refugees who return to their own countries or regions of origin after time in exile. Returnees need continuous support and reintegration assistance to ensure that they can rebuild their lives at home.

To learn more about how/why the UN commemorates this observance, including how the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol helps protect refugees, explore un.org/en/observances/refugee-day.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org.

[IFA Global Cafe] Conversation w/ Dr. Sara Ulla Díez on the Importance of Evaluation in the Growth of Age-friendly Communities

IFA Global Cafe: In Conversation with Dr. Sara Ulla Díez on the Importance of Evaluation in the Growth of Age-friendly Communities

In 2007, the WHO launched the Age-Friendly Communities (AFCs) initiative to promote a more thoughtful approach to the development of communities that could advance the well-being of individuals of all ages. In recent years, age-friendly communities around the world are meeting new milestones and are turning their attention to the crucial need for evaluation and the establishment of strong evaluative frameworks.

As an experienced research director and statistics advisor, Dr. Sara Ulla Díez has dedicated more than 20 years to evaluation and applied research in health and international cooperation for development.

Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAtcO2orzorHNPE-7lpiPbdhagMCNa4tD2p

This Global Cafe will be recorded and streamed live on Facebook. Should you be unable to participate, a recording will be available on the IFA Facebook page at facebook.com/intfedageing and resources will be available at: ifa.ngo/ifa-virtual-town-hall-resources.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-NY, please visit ngocoa-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Vienna, please visit ngoageingvie.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN.

health

Recent Posts