ESD

NGO Committee on Financing for Development monthly meeting

Dear NGO Committee on FfD members & interested NGO colleagues,

The next  NGO Committee on Financing for Development meeting will take place by Zoom on December 8 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm EST.  The agenda and minutes of the meeting are posted to the meeting folder, which can be accessed here. Additional documents will be posted over the weekend. Kindly review the documents before the meeting
The Zoom invitation is included below. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
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CoNGO Notes: The NGO Committee on Financing for Development is a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations. Likewise, 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 congocsd.wordpress.com.

The Climate Emergency: Does Religion Matter?

You are invited to “The Climate Emergency: Does Religion Matter?”, the latest installment of the Temple of Understanding’s ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL Dialogues. These are special intimate discussions about the climate emergency with international ChangeMakers.

ECO JUSTICE FOR ALL interviews and dialogues are ongoing programs presented by the Temple of Understanding, incorporating our outreach in the area of environmental awareness and advocacy. We present a diverse range of perspectives, from scientific to spiritual views, on the climate emergency and offer a variety of solutions that we can all do easily and effectively in our everyday lives. World religious and spiritual visionaries, Indigenous leaders, scientists and social scientists, environmental activists, artists, musicians and writers, youth and elders, local and global people, all come together to address the urgency of the climate crisis through these ongoing interviews and dialogues.

Register here!

Speakers:

Rabbi Ellen Bernstein is an eco-theologian, spiritual leader, writer and creative. She founded Shomrei Adamah, Keepers of the Earth, the first national Jewish environmental organization in 1988. Her books include Let the Earth Teach You Torah, Ecology and the Jewish Spirit, and The Splendor of Creation. Ellen also created the first ecologically-centered Tu B’Sh’vat (Jewish New Year of theTrees) seder in 1988 and popularized Tu B’Sh’vat as a community-wide inter-spiritual ecological arts celebration for all peoples. Her most recent book, The Promise of the Land, A Passover Haggadah is the first comprehensive, ecological haggadah (guidebook) for Passover (Behrman House, 2020). In 2020 during the pandemic, Ellen launched the Earth Seder movement, helping to organize several dozen world-wide Earth Seders on Zoom. Ellen continues to write and teach on the ecology of the Hebrew Bible, and serves on the advisory board of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology. To learn more please visit ellenbernstein.org and thepromiseoftheland.com.

Theodore Hiebert writes about biblical perspectives on the environment and about biblical views of identity and difference. His book The Yahwist’s Landscape: Nature and Religion in Early Israel challenges claims that the Bible privileges humans and separates them from nature, and it shows how biblical religion is grounded in the natural world. He has made contributions about biblical perspectives on nature to such works as The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, The Oxford Companion to the Bible, Earth and Word: Classic Sermons on Saving the Planet, and Interpretation. He is the author of the article on Genesis for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of the Bible and Ecology. Ted was the lead translator of the Book of Genesis and one of the editors for the recent English translation, the Common English Bible (CEB). He wrote the notes to Genesis for the CEB Study Bible and for the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, based on the New Revised Standard Version. He is the Old Testament editor for Abingdon Press’s Covenant Bible Study. Ted also writes about biblical views of identity and difference. His book The Beginning of Difference: Discovering Identity in God’s Diverse World challenges exclusivist cultural interpretations of the book of Genesis and reveals a text that embraces and celebrates ethnic identities and differences. It contains a reinterpretation of the story of Babel as positive account of the origin of the world’s cultures. God’s Big Plan, which he co-authored with Elizabeth Caldwell, is a children’s story of Babel based on this new interpretation. Ted is currently at work on a study of the book of Genesis as migration literature. Ted is a member of the Mennonite Church and has served as pastor of the Boston Mennonite Congregation. He is a frequent lecturer and teacher in adult education programs in churches in the Chicago area. He is Francis A. McGaw Professor of Old Testament and Dean of the Faculty Emeritus at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and lives in Homewood, IL.

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CoNGO Notes: 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 Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com.

Global Leadership Challenges in Higher Education for Effective Multilateralism and Sustainable Human Security

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to the 5th International Conference on Future Education: Global Leadership Challenges in Higher Education for Effective Multilateralism and Sustainable Human Security on Dec 6-8, 2021. Please find attached the Conference Agenda and a Discussion Paper for the Conference by the Conference Organizing Committee.
You will need to register using these two links in order to attend the various sessions:
For the Inaugural, Closing, and all Parallel Sessions A – https://bit.ly/3FJiQ6U
For all Parallel Sessions B – https://bit.ly/3CNtk2Y
The registration links can be found on the new WAAS website. Upon registration, you will receive two links from Zoom that you can use to log in to the two sets of sessions.
Do spread the word about the 5th International Conference on Future Education and share the agenda with your networks and on social media.
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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 Disarmament, Peace, and Security, please visit ngocdps.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on 

Remembering Past Massacres: Honoring the legacy and resilience of the victims | EUROPE

The webinar is part of a series of regional webinars organized by the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in collaboration with the WCC Spiritual Life.

It is part of the many virtual events organized this year to mark the 75th anniversary of the CCIA.

Realizing that several of these massacres have lost relevance over the years, or are simply forgotten, the purpose of these regional webinars is to reflect on how these fallen heroes and heroines are remembered and honoured today.

Moderator: Rev. Karin van den Broeke, WCC Executive Committee member

The following speakers will share country perspectives:

  • Dr. Geraldine Smyth, Northern Ireland
  • Rev. Assoc. Prof. Habil. Cristian Sonea, Roumania
  • Eugenia Koukoura, Greece
  • Rev. Prof. Dr Konrad Raiser, former WCC General Secretary, will also be on the panel, and will bring insights the role of healing of memories.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-a7AJvGURAeQmQ5DiQx05Q

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CoNGO Notes: 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 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 bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. 

Asia-Pacific Environmental Human Rights Defenders Forum

Dear Friends/Colleagues,

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific,  United Nations Environment Programme – Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Asia Pacific Network of Environment Defenders, together with our partner organizations, will be conducting the Asia-Pacific Environmental Human Rights Defenders (EHRDs) Forum with the theme Building safe spaces for dialogue and support among environmental human rights defenders on 17-19 November 2021 at 10:00-13:00 GMT+7 / Bangkok time. The Forum aims to provide a venue for EHRDs discussion, learning exchange, and formulation of recommendations among EHRDs in the region. The recommendations will become a foundation to raise awareness amongst policymakers, the private sector, and other stakeholders in order to encourage policies and practices recognizing the vital and positive role of EHRDs. The recommendations developed at the Forum can further guide UN programming and advocacy at the country and regional levels to continue to support the contribution of EHRDs.

Register here: https://events1.social27.com/EHRDForum/auth/register

If you have questions, please contact the Forum team at ap.ehrd.forum@gmail.com.

#Asia-PacificEHRDForum2021

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

Civil Society Prep Meeting for the 9th Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC (COSP9)

Dear Civil Society Representatives, 

Since you have been invited to participate as an observer in the ninth session of the Conference of the States Parties to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (COSP9 UNCAC), which will be held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 13 to 17 December 2021, we would like to inform you that on 12 December 2021, UNODC and the UNCAC Coalition will carry out a CSO Preparatory session and we would like to invite you to participate.

Civil Society Preparatory Meeting 9th Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC (COSP 9)

Opening:

  • Mathias Huter, Managing Director, UNCAC Coalition
  • Member of the Bureau (TBC)
  • John Brandolino, Director, Division for Treaty Affairs, UNODC (TBC)

UNODC Session: Briefing on COSP & Explaining the role of CSOs at the Conference

Moderator: Mirella Dummar Frahi, Chief, Civil Society Unit, UNODC

Speakers:

  • Brigitte Strobel-Shaw, Chief, Corruption and Economic Crime Branch (CEB), UNODC
  • Livia Krings, Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Officer, CEB, UNODC

UNCAC Coalition Session: Coordinating civil society advocacy and messaging at the Conference

Moderator: UNCAC Coalition representative

  • Overview of on-site CSO activitiesLightning talks on priority topics: Preventive measures
  • Beneficial ownership transparency
  • Asset recovery
  • Civic space & improved UNCAC review mechanism
  • Follow-up to the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on corruption
  • Other issues (identified by participants, dependent on proposed resolutions

Register here: indico.un.org/event/1000235

*An official letter indicating the names of the persons constituting your organization’s delegation, including individual email addresses, must be uploaded to the INDICO system, together with the mandatory details for each participant (name, title, individual email address, photo, in-person or online participation and copy of passport). Registration requests will be approved by the secretariat only after being cross-checked against the official letter of the organisation, uploaded to INDICO. In line with requirements by the Host Country, participants are requested to complete the registration process as early as possible before the Conference and not later than 12 November 2021.

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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 Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP

Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons

Dear colleagues,

I hope that this message finds you well and safe.

With apologies for the lengthy delay, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) is pleased to inform you that your organization’s request for accreditation to the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has been provisionally approved, subject to a final decision by the Review Conference.

As you may know, the NPT Review Conference will be held from 4 to 28 January 2022, per notification from the President-designate to all States Parties dated 25 October 2021.

Next steps:

Between 1 and 14 December, each participant from your organization must complete the registration form at https://indico.un.org/event/1000162/registrations/. Online registrations must include the accreditation request letter, including the name of the participant. Additional representatives may be included in a revised accreditation request letter, which should be submitted to diane.barnes@un.org by no later than 14 December 2021.

Kindly note that as a result of public health restrictions implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, participation in the Tenth Review Conference by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is expected to be fully virtual.

It is tentatively expected that open discussions will be viewable on UN Web TV. Accredited organizations wishing to deliver a pre-recorded video presentation to the Review Conference may coordinate with the NGO point of contact, Ms. Allison Pytlak of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

For additional details, kindly refer to the attached draft information note.

Please contact diane.barnes@un.org with any questions concerning registration.

Kind regards,

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs

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CoNGO Notes: 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 bobbinassar@gmail.com or bknotts@uua.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP

The Global Biodiversity Framework: A Key Building Block for Local Implementation of the 2030 Agenda

You are invited to attend the launch of a new initiative: a global research and action network to explore the promise of a new eco-social contract as a way of responding to pressing social and ecological challenges.

Built in partnership with the Green Economy Coalition (GEC), the network will be a space for dialogue, debate, co-construction and action around the meaning of a new eco-social contract; good practices for its design; and mechanisms for its application. It will bring together research, practice, advocacy and policy decision-making communities working for social, climate and environmental justice in a progressive knowledge and action alliance. Information about the network is available here.

Find out more by joining us for the network launch, taking place both in-person at the Bonn Symposium
as well as virtually, on 10 November 2021 at 16:00 – 17:30 CET.

Register here: sef-bonn.org/en/events/bonn-symposium/2021/registration-bosy-2021

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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 Education, Learning, and Literacy, please visit facebook.com/NGOCELLatUN. For more information on the NGO Major Group, please visit ngomg.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 Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit congocsd.wordpress.com

Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development Online Dialogue with Civil Society

The purpose of this dialogue is to provide a platform for the Expert Mechanism to engage with Civil Society Organizations and Movements (CSOs) on promoting and operationalizing the right to development.

The Right to Development offers a useful framework for advocacy on a wide range of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, particularly related with inequalities and sovereignty and the duty to cooperate. However, many right-holders and civil society organizations and movements do not use the Right to Development in their advocacy work as widely and effectively as they can. In some cases, civil society groups are unaware of the Right to Development and the possibilities it holds as a tool for legal and social advocacy. Although the Declaration on the Right to Development itself does not create a cause of legal action, many of the elements of the right to development are reaffirmed in binding international law. The right to development is also affirmed in some legally-binding regional human rights instruments.

This EMRTD Dialogue offers a forum to promote the Right to Development among civil society groups, especially grassroots movements and organizations, learn from them, and inform them on the possibilities of the right to development as an instrument of human rights advocacy and development practice. A key focus of the dialogue will be identifying and addressing the conceptual and practical difficulties of using the right to development in human rights advocacy. A related goal of the dialogue is to encourage CSOs’ engagement in the drafting process of a global legally binding instrument on the right to development.

Programme:

  • Session 1 on The Right to Development Agenda – 16:00-17:00 CET and;
  • Session 2 on Civil Society Organizations and Movements and their perspectives about Development and the Right to Development –  17h10-19:30 (with a 10-min break included)

Preparatory Documents:

· Declaration on the Right to Development [English/French/Spanish]

· Draft Covenant on the Right to Development [English/French/Spanish]

· EMRTD Position Document on Legally Binding Instrument (LBI)

· EMRTD Thematic Studies

· Right to Development promotional publications of the OHCHR

The dialogue has the following specific aims:

  • To assess civil society engagement with the right to development in their agendas and activities
  • To address challenges and barriers that civil society groups face in their engagement with the right to development
  • To explore strategies for enhancing civil society engagement with the right to development
  • To share good practices, initiatives, and strategies on using the right to development framework for human rights advocacy and development work
  • To encourage CSOs’ engagement in the drafting process of a global legally binding instrument on the right to development

French and Spanish translations of the concept note will available shortly on the website. Do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development at ohchr-emrtd@un.org in case of questions.

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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 congocsd.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Social Development, please visit ngosocdev.org.

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