| Numerous
proposals to strengthen
the United Nations give
priority to development,
security and human rights
issues. The NGO community
is concerned that the Organization’s
current structures do not
adequately facilitate civil
society engagement with
Member States to bring about
far-reaching changes that
would empower the United
Nations to meet the challenges
of the 21st century. As
highlighted in the report
of the High-level Panel
on United Nations-Civil
Society Relations, there
are many innovative proposals
to enhance the Organization’s
engagement with civil society
organizations. Most NGOs
advocate that Member States
enter into serious and sustained
dialogue with major stakeholders,
particularly in regard to
structural changes aimed
at improving policies and
programmes and holding all
parties to their commitments.
At the request of the
Secretary-General and
in recognition of the
dynamic input of the NGO
community, the President
of the Fifty-ninth Session
of the General Assembly
convened the informal
General Assembly Hearings
with Civil Society in
June. He received specific
recommendations that he
has presented to Member
States in anticipation
of the 2005 World Summit.
For the first time, this
Conference features a
series of encounters between
representatives of civil
society and Member States
in a step to further this
valuable dialogue. These
roundtable discussions
feature representative
voices from diverse sectors
of society addressing
the platform issues of
the 2005 Summit. The Secretary-General’s
Chef de Cabinet of Staff
will introduce a United
Nations perspective on
the future of United Nations-civil
society relations. |
