World Civil Society Forum

Seble Demeke, UN

The city of Geneva which hosts the second largest United Nations office and several of its specialized agencies, as well as other intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, might very soon be also a seat for the first World Civil Society Forum (WCSF).

The first conference of the WSCF was held in May 2000 following the United Nations declaration of its Millennium Forum. “On 17 December 1998, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted resolution 53/202 by which it decided to designate the fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly that opened on 5 September 2000 as ‘The Millennium Assembly of the United Nations’ and to convene a ‘Millennium Summit of the United Nations’ from 6 to 8 September 2000.” The Millennium Development Goals focus, among others, on 8 specific areas. These are: to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development. These proposed goals indicate that, although the United Nations must play the central role in carrying them out, there is for sure a need for other development actors such as Civil Society Organizations, NGOs and the private sector to share the burden of the responsibility in the efforts being made for reducing the economic and social disparities among nations.

The preparatory meeting of WCSF, held in Geneva 18 to 20 July 2001, attracted over 120 representatives from approximately thirty countries. This working group adopted the goal and objective of the Forum to be held in 2002 to be, among others, the strengthening of international cooperation among Civil Society Organizations as well as the United Nations, including its specialized agencies and other international organizations. This Forum had also the responsibility of deciding whether there is a need for such a WSCF on a continuous basis. The outcome is that an overwhelming majority of the delegates voted for the continuation of the process.

The organization of the Forum was coordinated by Mandat International, a non-governmental organization, which aims to promote the participation of civil society representatives at international conferences as well as to facilitate cooperation among civil society organizations in the various areas of international activities. In doing this it has received support, among others, from the Swiss Confederation, republic and canton of Geneva, City of Geneva as well as the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

The representation at the Forum was worldwide whereby about 1,000 to 1,500 participants from all fields of activities, «including main Civil Society network, NGOs federations, representatives of Indigenous Peoples, academics, media” etc were involved. |Eight thematic working groups were established, geared to the specific needs of the different participants. These included Working Groups on Civil Society and international organizations cooperation (WGIO); on Information Society (WHIFS), on Environment, Trade and Sustainable Development (WGETD), on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (WGHR), on Peace and Disarmament (WGPD), on Right of peoples to Self- Determination and Conflict Prevention (WG RPS), on Indigenous People, Gender and Development (WGIW), on Health promotion (WGHEA) and on Private Sector. Furthermore, the programme included information sessions, workshops, training sessions, exhibitions, cultural activities and youth forums.

Experienced Guest Speakers, including some Heads of United Nations agencies and organizations, Swiss authorities in international development affairs participated. The selection of panellists and moderators reflected the diversity and complexity of development issues to be discussed, as well as view and ideas to be exchanged.

Although the Forum’s sessions were officially opened on Sunday, 14 of July, there were different training programmes provided to participants before the starting of the sessions in the area of journalism, internet, project development, human Rights, construction of solar ovens, preparatory sessions for youth, and moderators.

The WSCF with the aim and responsibility of coordinating and promoting participation of CSOs at different international conferences should be getting itself pre- pared to face the huge challenge of bringing CSOs into the partnership arena of development, if it does not want to be considered as yet one more organization dealing with development issues. This would gain credibility from all involved. This opportunity should be taken as a challenge since a new door, which was long due, for cooperation among CSOs themselves as well as other multilateral organizations is opening. The main focus however must be on how to involve indigenous CSOs in decisions being made at the regional and international level and how to make them part of the globalisation efforts, which otherwise will marginalize them with no voice to be heard from their part. The role of WSCF becomes critical at this juncture. The need for support and assistance from international CSOs to the grass roots level CSOs are mainly in the area of organization, management training, and resources. For any CSOs to be effective they need to be organized and trained on how to deal with development issues at the international level i.e. on how to present their cases, the needs and aspirations of their members. Furthermore, in today’s information technology driven society, training in this area needs to be given the highest priority. Not very many of the CSOs in developing countries have access to Internet and/or e-mails. These are just a few of the challenges, which require very thorough thinking on how best to reach and assist grass roots CSOs and indigenous associations to bring them to the status of effective partners.

When I sit down and try to determine how best to reach CSOs at the field level, in order to encourage and support them so that they could be more effective in what they do, it becomes a huge task and responsibility but one that can be achieved with good organization and commitment on the part of those who are trying to make it happen. One possible channel, among many others, might be to reach out to universities and public libraries, where they are available, as well as elementary and high schools structures and involve teachers and the youth (students) to be in charge of receiving and distributing information to CSOs in their respective regions, cities and villages as well as provide some basic information technology training to trainers. In this aspect the WSCF could be instrumental along with other multilateral organizations by creating a channel for exchanging information between the providers and the beneficiaries.

In addition, the Forum should also seriously consider working closely with the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Information Society of which the first meeting was held in July 2002 in Geneva and the second and third meetings are scheduled to be held also in Geneva during February and September 2003. By becoming involved at this stage of the Summit, it could very well bring the Preparatory Committee up to date on how it is going to participate and what its role should be in the Information domain. Furthermore, it should also try to involve participants from the business sector with the aim of obtaining knowledge and new technologies, in particular computer equipment and communication technologies for the CSOs in need. These are just a few ideas on how to bridge the gap of partnership between international CSOs and other multilateral organizations and CSOs at the practical working level and how WSCF could contribute to this objectives.

The author of this article has participated at the WSCF as a Panellist and as a Moderator.