drinking water

UNESCO-UNFCCC COP27 webinar #7: Climate Change Education

From April to September, UNESCO-UNFCCC hosted the first six webinars of eight for the Webinar Series, Climate Change Education for Social Transformation: On the Road to COP27, which is dedicated to the goal of greening every education policy and curriculum to be climate ready. Taking place on the last Tuesday of every month, each episode will explore the critical role of climate change education, and how to harness its transformative power, in leading up to COP27.

The seventh session, Getting Ready to Scale Up Climate Change Education at COP27, takes place on Tuesday, 25 October 2022 from 10:00 – 11:00 CET, and reviews the gaps, challenges, and opportunities in promoting climate change education for social transformation in education and sustainable development policies and curriculums. The discussion will present concrete strategies to promote the greening of every education policy and curriculum, particularly around COP27.

Register here!

The session will be in English with interpretation in French. The forthcoming Session 8 (November), next and last in the series, will focus on: “Post-COP27 climate change education: Where do we go from here?”

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CoNGO Notes: 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 Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.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. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights/NY, please visit childrightsny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP.

Focused discussion on identifying ways and means of more meaningful engagement of youth in the work of the General Assembly

Follow-up to the report of the Secretary-General entitled “Our Common Agenda”

Focused discussion on identifying ways and means of more meaningful engagement of youth in the work of the General Assembly

Tuesday, 30 August 2022, at 3:00 pm

Economic and Social Council Chamber, United Nations Headquarters

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in his report entitled “Our Common Agenda” (A/75/982), calls for a renewal of solidarity across generations, particularly with younger generations, and puts forward a number of concrete recommendations to further that objective.

Paragraph 47 of the report includes a proposal recommending that the “Envoy on Youth will prepare recommendations for more meaningful, diverse and effective youth engagement in UN deliberative and decision-making processes for the consideration of the General Assembly, the Security Council and ECOSOC and their respective subsidiary bodies. This will be done in consultation with the world’s young people.”

The SG’s Envoy on Youth has been invited to provide recommendations on youth engagement in the UN processes for consideration by Member States, and a focused discussion during the seventy-sixth session of the General Assembly on identifying ways and means of engagement of youth in the work of the General Assembly convened by the PGA has been announced.

The focused discussion will serve as a platform for Member States and relevant partners, in line with resolution 76/6, to share views on youth engagement vis-à-vis the work of the General Assembly. The meeting on 30 August 2022 will be followed by a series of broad consultations to be conducted by the Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth (OSGEY), including with youth organizations and representatives in line with paragraph 47 of “Our Common Agenda” report, to inform the drafting of the recommendations to be put forward for consideration of Members States ahead of the Summit of the Future.

Please note:

  • Representatives of NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC in possession of valid UN grounds passes are invited to attend.
  • Civil society representatives are welcome to intervene by pressing the microphone button at the appropriate time.

Detailed information, including the Concept Note and Programme can be found at: un.org/pga/76/2022/08/19/letter-from-the-president-of-the-general-assembly-focused-discussion-on-youth-participation-at-the-ga

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the vice chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

European and Central Asian Seminar Contribution of Development to the Enjoyment of all Human Rights

Europe and Central Asia Regional Seminar

Join us in exploring this year’s theme, The Contribution of Development to the Enjoyment of All Human Rights, both online and in-person in Room XXV, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. On Sept. 1 and 2, events will be available to watch live here!

Read the concept note, participation guidelines, and registration information here.

Click here for the flyer with information on registration, program and list of speakers.

Opening Remarks:

  • Ms. Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights
  • H.E. Mr. Federico Villegas, President, Human Rights Council
  • Mr. Dmitry Mariyasin, Deputy Executive Secretary, UNECE

For queries, please write to @Aisha Gilani or @Diego Valadares Vasconcelos Neto.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org. 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 Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.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 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. 

Committee on the Rights of the Child 91st Session

Join in the 91st Session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child via in-person or remote participation at Palais Wilson in Geneva from 29 August to 23 September 2022!

Registration: Please use the given browsers to register here: Google Chrome, Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge or Opera

All public meetings of the Committee will be available through webcast live on the website: https://webtv.un.org/meetings-events.

Please note that the Conference Rooms at Palais Wilson, Ground Floor and First Floor, are open to the public, during the session.  As more information becomes available, it will be posted to the event site here: indico.un.org/event/1001255/overview.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Children’s Rights-NY, please visit childrightsny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Intergenerational Solidarity, please email the co-chair at susanneseperson@gmail.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bknotts@uua.org or bobbinassar@yahoo.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Major Group, please visit ngomg.org.

Racial discrimination and the right to health, Day of General Discussion 2022

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is starting the elaboration of its General Recommendation n°37 on racial discrimination and the right to health under Article 5 (e)(iv) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

To start this process, the Committee will convene a day of general discussion at its 107th session, on 23 August 2022 and is inviting State parties, national human rights institutions, civil society and grassroots organisations, academia, other relevant stakeholders (i.e., health-related entities or laboratories) and international organisations to provide relevant information to participate in this consultation process by providing information on any of the issues raised in this questionnaire [العربية | English | Français | Español] or by making submissions on any other aspects of article 5 (e)(iv) that they deem relevant.

Written submissions must be submitted to ohchr-cerd-gr37@un.org, before 1 July 2022 in one of the official working languages of the Committee: English, French or Spanish and should be limited to a maximum of 10 pages. Additional supporting materials, such as reports, academic studies, and other background materials may be annexed to the submission.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@yahoo.com or bknotts@uua.org.

2022 International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples: The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge

The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated globally on 9 August. It marks the date of the inaugural session of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982. The Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is organizing a virtual commemoration of the International Day from 9 am to 11am (EST) on Tuesday, 9 August 2022, focusing on this year’s theme: “The Role of Indigenous Women in the Preservation and Transmission of Traditional Knowledge. ” Indigenous Peoples, Member States, UN entities, civil society, and the public are all invited.

Background:

Indigenous women are the backbone of indigenous peoples’ communities and play a crucial role in the preservation and transmission of traditional ancestral knowledge. They have an integral collective and community role as carers of natural resources and keepers of scientific knowledge. Many indigenous women are also taking the lead in the defence of lands and territories and advocating for indigenous peoples’ collective rights worldwide.

The significance of indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge is widely acknowledged: “Long before the development of modern science, which is quite young, indigenous peoples have developed their ways of knowing how to survive and also of ideas about meanings, purposes and values.” As noted by the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, the term “scientific knowledge” is also used to underscore that traditional knowledge is contemporary and dynamic, and of equal value to other kinds of knowledge.

International consultations jointly facilitated by UNESCO and the Internal Council of Science (ICSU) states that “Traditional knowledge is a cumulative body of knowledge, know-how, practices and representations maintained and developed by peoples with extended histories of interaction with the natural environment. These sophisticated sets of understandings, interpretations and meanings are part and parcel of a cultural complex that encompasses language, naming and classification systems, resource use practices, ritual, spirituality and worldviews.”

However, despite the crucial role that indigenous women play in their communities as breadwinners, caretakers, knowledge keepers, leaders and human rights defenders, they often suffer from intersecting levels of discrimination on the basis of gender, class, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Their right to self-determination, self-governance and control of resources and ancestral lands have been violated over centuries.

Small but significant progress has been made by indigenous women in decision-making processes in some communities. They are leaders at local and national levels, and stand at the frontlines of defending their lands, their cultures, and their communities. The reality, however, remains that indigenous women are widely under-represented, disproportionately negatively affected by decisions made on their behalf, and are too frequently the victims of multiple expressions of discrimination and violence.

The Committee of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) highlighted some of the major issues encountered by indigenous women, particularly noting the high levels of poverty; low levels of education and illiteracy; limitations in access to health, basic sanitation, credit and employment; limited participation in political life; and the prevalence of domestic and sexual violence.

Format:

The virtual commemoration will include an interactive dialogue segment with invited speakers, moderated by Ms. Rosemary Lane, Acting Chief of the Indigenous Peoples Development Branch – Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Speakers will share their expertise and experience from their indigenous communities in preserving, reviving, retaining, and transmitting the traditional ancestral knowledge in various fields of communal activities, including but not limited to effective and sustainable climate solutions, use of natural resources, protection of biodiversity, ensuring food security, promoting native languages and culture, and managing indigenous science and medicine. Questions to be discussed include:

  • What is the unique position of indigenous women in the preservation and transmission of traditional knowledge?
  • What are some of the brightest examples of indigenous women-led processes in solving contemporary global issues through the effective application of traditional scientific knowledge?
  • How are indigenous languages crucial to the development, preservation, and transmission of indigenous cultural and knowledge systems? How are women leading the way in maintaining indigenous languages?
  • What was the effect of applying indigenous scientific knowledge and medicine in alleviating the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemiologic crisis?

Panel Speakers:

Archana Soreng (Kharia) – Member of UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change

Aili Keskitalo (Sámi)  – Former President of the Sámi Parliament of Norway

Zakiyatou Oualet Halatine (Touareg) – Former Minister of Tourism & Handicrafts, Mali

Hannah McGlade (Noongar) – Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Commentary on Panel Discussion by His Excellency Ambassador Diego Pary Rodriguez(Quechua), Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the United Nations

 

More information about International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2022 available here: un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/international-day-of-the-worlds-indigenous-peoples-2022.html

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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 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 Language and Languages, please email the co-chairs at fmhult@umbc.edu or tonkin@hartford.edu. 

Leadership for Change: A Call to Action from Sisters Supporting Vulnerable Communities

This side event will address SDGs 14, 15, and 17 – under review at this year’s High-Level Political Forum – by featuring panelists with expertise in creating environmental initiatives that serve and support our planet’s most vulnerable communities. Panelists will include Sisters engaged in grassroots advocacy, speakers from civil society sharing best practices for partnerships around the SDGs, and representatives from Member States with experience of collaborating to make the 2030 Agenda a reality for all. With this event, we aim to model effective implementation of SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals. UNANIMA and UISG are partnering to produce a concise and powerful call to action, drawing from the experiences of Sisters as development leaders, with concrete policy recommendations on achieving the relevant SDGs.

Join live here on July 7 at 1pm Eastern / 7pm CET:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82672796766?pwd=uuOs9L9gjyMT_WOZAq3SV38ZlU4CWs.1&mc_cid=13e5b4d572&mc_eid=e1bba69d46#success

Through this event, UNANIMA International and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) will bring to Member States the distinctive voices of Catholic Sisters – women leaders supporting marginalized communities around the world – with a strong call to action on SDGs 14, 15 and 17, under review at this Forum.

The Goals:

SDGs 14 and 15 were established by the UN in 2015. Life Below Water aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.” Life on Land was created to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.” The Earth’s delicate ecosystems sustain and nourish life for all humans.

However, extractive industries, plastic pollution, and many other toxic practices are disrupting the relationship between people and our planet. Marginalized groups, Small-Island Developing States, and countries in the global south are particularly reliant on oceans and land for food security and wellbeing. Habitat loss caused by rising sea levels, deforestation, and other climate-related factors is wreaking havoc around the globe, forcing people to seek out temporary, crowded, and unsafe shelters where illness and infection spread quickly.

Climate injustice – including the loss of homes, biodiversity, and essential food and water supplies – is one of the most pressing obstacles to achieving the SDGs. Indigenous and local communities suffering from changes to their environments can often provide solutions to the challenges we face below water and on land: their insights will be essential in caring for the Earth as we approach 2030.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship at the United Nations, please visit  ngocsw.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.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.

Universal Access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Draws Closer to Epic Goal Despite Global Pandemic

50 Years and Billions Spent: New Reporting Shows Universal Access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Draws Closer to Epic Goal Despite Global Pandemic

Join a special session with Ambassador Mark Green featuring groundbreaking reporting on one of the most stubborn challenges in human history—universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene.

Register here: https://engage.wilsoncenter.org/a/50-years-and-billions-spent?_ga=2.257362504.2142016265.1620277195-242578209.1620277195

Over the last half century a global galaxy of projects, programs, banks, philanthropies, government departments, idea centers, utilities, service companies, research groups, and consultancies devoted itself to one objective—providing every person on Earth clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. In 2020, many of the sector’s leaders worried that the COVID-19 pandemic would sidetrack investment and slow progress. But while the signs of a potential catastrophe were apparent, the actual effects of the pandemic in delivering water and sanitation to people who needed it were not nearly as dire as anticipated.

Decades of frontline experience provided the WASH sector keen understanding of the various components of their ecosystem—finance, governance, installation, management, operations, oversight—and how each influenced the other. In essence, the WASH community developed a set of approaches that simplified the complexity of what they were after. Achieving universal access to clean water and hygiene is reachable by 2030. Universal access to sanitation could come by mid-century.

Program

Opening Remarks:

  • Ambassador Mark Green – President, Director, & CEO, Wilson Center

Framing Remarks:

  • Maura Barry – Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security and interim Global Water Coordinator, U.S. Agency for International Development

Reporting Presentation:

  • Keith Schneider – Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent, Circle of Blue

Panelists:

  • Sheila Kibuthu – Communications Director, Sanergy
  • Joel Kolker – Program Manager, Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership, World Bank
  • Duncan McNicholl – Director and Co-founder, Uptime
  • Tanvi Nagpal – Director, International Development Program, School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University
  • Keith Schneider – Senior Editor and Chief Correspondent, Circle of Blue

Closing Remarks:

  • Peter Laugharn – President and Chief Executive Officer, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.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 

24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion [call for abstracts]

Under the conference theme “Promoting policies for health, well-being and equity”, the Call for Abstracts is now open for the 24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion – IUHPE 2022, being held in Montréal (Québec) Canada and in hybrid format from 15 to 19 May 2022. Submissions can be made in English, French and Spanish.

We invite all abstract submitters, including individual contributors, to interact and collaborate with other presenters and participants wherever possible. Participatory, collaborative and non-traditional session formats will be given priority in the selection process.

Abstracts can be submitted in eight different formats: 1) symposium, 2) workshop, 3) research oral/poster presentation, 4) innovation in policy and practice oral/poster presentation, 5) round table discussion, 6) alternative showing/new technology, 7) alternative showing/art, and 8) lunch with an author. For further information on each of these formats, please click here.

The deadline to submit an abstract is Friday 17 September 2021.

Registration and hotel reservations for the 24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion will open in May.

We look forward to welcoming you to Montreal, or online, in May 2022. For any questions, please contact the IUHPE 2022 Conference Secretariat – JPdL (iuhpe2022@jpdl.com).

Sincerely,

Carl-Ardy Dubois
Dean, École de santé publique de l’Université de Montréal
Co-Chair 24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion

Margaret Barry
President, IUHPE
Co-Chair 24th IUHPE World Conference on Health Promotion
IUHPE 2022 Conference Secretariat – JPdL

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Mental Health, please visit ngomentalhealth.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Human Rights, please email the co-chairs at bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

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