Conference of NGOs (CoNGO)

Language and Migration: Experience and Memory

Language is a vital, but under-explored, factor in the lives of migrants, immigrants and refugees. It has a direct impact on the experiences and choices of individuals displaced by war, terror, or natural disasters and the decisions made by agents who provide (or fail to provide) relief, services, and status. Distilled through memory, it shapes the fictions, poems, memoirs, films and song lyrics in which migrants render loss and displacement, integration and discovery, the translation of history and culture, and the trials of identity.

This interdisciplinary symposium will convene humanists and social scientists, field-workers and policy-makers, artists and writers, to think together about migrants as resourceful users, interpreters, and creators of language.

The symposium will take place online between Monday, April 19 and Saturday May 1, 2021. Amid the disappointment of not being able to hold the symposium in person, we’ve managed to find two advantages to the virtual format: to enable participation by those without the means or time to attend, and to achieve a more satisfying exchange among humanists, social scientists, and people who work in the fields of education, language policy and language justice. We encourage you to attend as many sessions of the symposium as you can, which are spread out over two weeks to avoid zoom fatigue.

Special events: Our symposium will feature two keynote speakers: Prof. Sarah Dryden-Peterson of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, who will open our symposium with a lecture on Monday April 19; and ProfViet Thanh Nguyen, Aerol Arnold Professor of English, University of Southern California, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Sympathizer, who will give the closing lecture on Saturday May 1. On Friday evening, April 30, we are delighted to host a reading by Jhumpa LahiriYiyun Li and Aleksandar Hemon, three distinguished members of Princeton’s Creative Writing faculty.

Access the full detailed program here: https://migration.princeton.edu/symposium/program

Learn more here: https://princeton.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GNf33xbFR1O9wdsn38Hk6Q

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Migration, please visit ngo-migration.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN.

IFA 15th Global Conference on Ageing: Rights Matter

The IFA is thrilled to announce that the 15th Global Conference on Ageing “Rights Matter” will be convened, for the first time, both virtually and in person in Niagara Falls, Canada from 10-12 November 2021, with pre-conference summits and master classes to be held on 9 November 2021.

Join together – in person or virtually – with industry leaders, speakers and engage in one-on-one interaction with other industry peers in Niagara Falls, Canada or from the comfort of a home office.

The IFA greatly looks forward to discussing, learning and connecting at the 15th Global Conference on Ageing regarding policies and practices that create an environment that will enable older people to do what they have reason to value.

Register now to join the community at the IFA 15th Global Conference on Ageing in 2021.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. 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.

IFA 15th Global Conference on Ageing: Rights Matter

The IFA is thrilled to announce that the 15th Global Conference on Ageing “Rights Matter” will be convened, for the first time, both virtually and in person in Niagara Falls, Canada from 10-12 November 2021, with pre-conference summits and master classes to be held on 9 November 2021.

Join together – in person or virtually – with industry leaders, speakers and engage in one-on-one interaction with other industry peers in Niagara Falls, Canada or from the comfort of a home office.

The IFA greatly looks forward to discussing, learning and connecting at the 15th Global Conference on Ageing regarding policies and practices that create an environment that will enable older people to do what they have reason to value.

Register now to join the community at the IFA 15th Global Conference on Ageing in 2021.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Ageing-Geneva, please visit ageingcommitteegeneva.org. 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.

Race and Ethnicity in Migration

We invite you to join the second discussion in a series of five global webinars that cover key themes and mobilize civil society around the world.

The webinar will take the form of a global civil society discussion on race, ethnicity and discrimination in the context of migration, proposing both a global outlook and a closer look at some regional and national specificities.

This series will mark the start of an extended global civil society process highlighting priorities on the ground and bringing to light ambitious interpretations of the Global Compact for Migration and states obligations under it. This will be the beginning of an extensive and inclusive civil society mobilization culminating in the International Migration Review Forum.

Register here!

Jointly organised by 7 Global & Regional Civil Society Networks; Migrant Forum Asia (MFA), the Global Research Forum on Diaspora and Transnationalism (GRFDT), the Cross Regional Center for Refugees and Migrants (CCRM), the Civil Society Action Committee (CSAC), the Alianza Americas, the Climate, Migration, and Displacement Platform (CMDP) and the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)

Don’t miss the upcoming events of the Civil Society Priorities Webinar Series:
  • Regular Pathways and Irregular Migration (4 May)
  • Detention and Return (11 May)
  • Climate Change and Migration (18 May)

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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.

Identity at the Intersection of Indigeneity and Christianity: An Indigenous Dilemma

You are invited to a virtual side event on the margins of the 20th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Identity at the intersection of Indigeneity and Christianity: An Indigenous Dilemma

Indigenous Christians are an important group with a distinct voice that must be represented on the global stage. Reconciliation processes between Christianity and indigeneity have already begun, within churches and with indigenous people at the centre. As Christian networks and organizations, we are hosting this event in an effort to facilitate these difficult conversations in an open forum, giving all participants an opportunity to contribute their stories and lived experiences.

This conversation aims to make room for the voices of Indigenous Christians at the UNPFII and to engage in a dialogue with partners and other stakeholders, fostering mutual respect and enhance collaboration on the most important issues facing indigenous communities today.

Organized by:

Anglican Communion, Lutheran World Federation, United Methodist Church – General Board of Church & Society, the Episcopal Church, and the World Council of Churches

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com

The way forward: developing gender-sensitive treatment programs to eradicate barriers for women

Side-event to the 64th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Women who use drugs face specific barriers that limit their access to recovery programs. The online event will review ways to remove these barriers and improve their adherence to treatment. It will feature an infographic prepared for this event, and emphasize the need to focus on women’s needs in strategies and policies and will offer an Action Plan for a way forward – while highlighting best practice examples from different world regions.

Speakers:

Dr. Gisela Hansen – Dianova International
Britt Fredenman – Women’s Organisations Committee on Alcohol and Drug Issues (WOCAD)
Sara Esmizade – Asian Drug Demand Reduction NGOs Association (ADNA)

Moderator: Regina Mattsson, WFAD

The side-event is organized in partnership with World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD, Dianova International, the Women’s Organizations Committee on Alcohol and Drugs (WOCAD), and Celebrate Recovery.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Drugs, 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 the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. 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-Geneva, please visit ngocsw-geneva.ch

Strengthening the prevention and treatment of cannabis problematic use

Strengthening the prevention and treatment of problematic cannabis use

a side event of the 64th annual session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND64)

Regardless of the debates on how best to control the use of cannabis through legal channels, it is urgent to respond to the needs of those for whom cannabis use is becoming a real problem. This online event will address on how to improve prevention and treatment programs, focusing on the implementation of science-based programs based on the needs identified by professionals from the field of drugs.

Speakers

  • Antonio Jesús Molina Fernández – Universidad Complutense de Madrid
  • Heidi Heilman – Rotary Action Group for Addiction Prevention (RAG AP)
  • Phaedon Kaloterakis –  European Federation of Therapeutic Communities (EFTC)
  • Ana Afuera – European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD)

Moderator

  • Lucia Goberna Lehmann – Dianova International

Organized by Dianova International with the support of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, the European Federation of Therapeutic Communities and Rotary Action Group for Addiction Prevention

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the Vienna NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs, please visit vngoc.org. For more information on the New York NGO Committee on Drugs, please visit nyngoc.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org.

Indigenous Healing Ways for Mental Health

The Indigenous Health Subcommittee is offering a side event during the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

Indigenous practices for physical and mental healthcare have always been used in their communities and there are now attempts to revive and promote them in the mainstream, even in the COVID-19 era.This panel will feature US-based and global young indigenous mental health professionals who will discuss the current utilization of traditional healing practices for mental health based on their experiences, and current research on effectiveness of indigenous treatment outcomes. It will foster dialogue between mainstream and traditional medicine practices, and their integration as the best way forward for mental health care services in general.

Join us on April 29, 12-2PM for an important discussion with our NGO Committee Members, Rick Chavolla (as the discussant) and Rashmi Jaipal (as the moderator), and our incredible panel of young mental health professionals, featuring:

  • Maria Crouch, MS, PhD(c) – Doctoral Candidate in Psychology at the University of Alaska and Pre-Doc Fellow at Yale School of Medicine, of Deg Hit’an, Coahuiltecan, and Scandinavian origin
  • Stefanie Gillson, MD – Public Psychiatry Fellow at Yale School of Medicine and Institute Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, of Dakota/Mdewakanton and Swedish origin
  • Kyle Hill, MPH, PhD – Psychologist and Assistant Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health (Great Lakes Hub) and Bloomberg School of Public Health, of Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota origin
  • Ningsangrenla Longkumer, PhD – Assistant Professor (Psychology) and researcher at the North Eastern Christian University, Nagaland, India, of Naga origin

Hope you can join us! Register here: indigenoushealing-mentalhealth.eventbrite.com

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CoNGO Notes: 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 Mental Health, please visit  ngomentalhealth.org

NGO access to and at the UN is also UN’s access to the voice, expertise and support of civil society to the multilateral body, CoNGO President asserted at a meeting called by the ECOSOC President

New York City, 7 April 2021 (CoNGO InfoNews) – The United Nations and non-governmental organizations are each the poorer without the other. Grassroots, national, regional and international diplomacy have benefited from UN and NGO consultation and collaboration in addressing wide-ranging issues and problems confronted by governments, peoples, and humanity’s shared habitat.

This is the gist of the presentation by Liberato Bautista at the February 1, 2021 joint meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with the Chairs of its functional commissions and expert bodies. Bautista, the president of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations, was invited  to address the meeting by the ECOSOC President, Ambassador Munir Akram.

“It was a laudable gesture by Ambassador Akram to invite me to address the meeting, and calling me to speak in the middle of a crowded two-hour schedule, when all participants were still online to hear what the sole NGO representative had to say,” Bautista recollected.

“Engaging in dialogue and maintaining accessible lines of communication is critical to the consultative relation between NGOs and the UN System. NGO support for robust multilateralism entails access by NGOs to and at the UN, which in the same measure, also means UN’s access to the voice, expertise and support offered by civil society,” Bautista stated.

Bautista, addressing the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected NGO access to and at the UN, asserted that NGOs, like CoNGO, “stand ready to secure together the public space so that inclusive, participatory and democratic institutions thrive and prosper” rather than curtailed and pushed back during the pandemic.

The challenges that lay ahead for both the UN and NGOs for which their consultation and collaboration are needed were laid bare by Bautista. “It is time that the multistakeholder actors of our collaboration, including us NGOs, are put to work to address this coronavirus pandemic and the intersecting pandemics resulting from climate change, from hunger and poverty, from forced migration, from racism and xenophobia, employing every principle and approach, not the least of which include whole-of-government and all-of-society.”

Advocating for robust consultation and collaboration between the UN and NGOs is at the core of CoNGO’s key aims and objectives. And addressing the ECOSOC at this meeting is not CoNGO’s first time. Before this February meeting this year, Bautista also addressed the briefing for civil society organized by the ECOSOC presidency of Norway on May 4, 2020.

At the May 2020 meeting, Bautista maintained that “policy-making in a time of pandemic must strengthen our resolve to work together to address underlying fundamental inequalities in our society that hinder the full realization of the SDGs. In this important task,  a genuine engagement of civil society at the national and global levels is primordial.”

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