UPDATE #6
Americas PrepCom
Nov 17th Dear Friends,The Americas PrepCom is a little over two weeks away and there is still so
much to do. Many NGOs still have not heard about their accreditation and I have just received new information about that. Please read below. There is other essential paperwork that also must be
completed. Accreditation The Bureau for the World Conference considered 114 NGOs when it met 16 November. We do not have the results of that meeting yet, but you can check to
make sure your NGO was in that group by going to the website www.hri.ca/racism/accreditation/index.shtml
. This list comes from Laurie Wiseberg in the NGO Liaison Office in Geneva. She indicates that NGOs will be notified by the Secretariat of the World Conference shortly after the November 16th meeting, if they have been accredited to the WCAR. At least it helps to see your organization in the list, and most likely you will not have a problem being accredited. There are a few cases though, when NGOs have been denied accreditation.
Registration It is necessary for those attending the Citizens Conference 3-4 December (the NGO meeting) to register on-line. Please go to the conference website www.confciudadana.cl , click on Participants and complete the
registration. Your organization must be registered first, so if it isn't you must answer some questions to complete that section before you register as an individual. If you are going as a member of a
delegation, you still must register as an individual participant. The organizers of the conference have asked that you do that by
Monday, November 20th!!! US Participation
There are so many participants from the United States, we are trying to get an accurate sense of who is going to Chile. You will be able to see the list
of who is going (by organization) on Monday, November 20th on the website www.ngoworldconference.org
. This list will be updated on Monday, November 27th. There are people who are interested in the same issues that may not know each other. It really is a benefit to all involved to know who else is going and the issues they are focusing on. It also helps us to know what kinds of information you need to be better prepared for this meeting. We called it a registration form and that may have caused some confusion, but it is really a US Participation Form. Please complete the form and send it back by e-mail, or fax it to me at (202) 723-5637 as soon as possible. The form is attached.
Credentials For those NGOs that have been accredited, you need to fax a letter to Ms. Sandra Aragon (on your organization's letterhead) with a list of
the people that want to attend the Americas PrepCom (the governmental meeting 5-7 Dec.) You are requesting that they receive credentials to attend the Americas PrepCom. There is no limit to the size of the
delegation. I have received information from Geneva concerning seats for NGOs if there is a space problem at any of the preparatory meetings or the World Conference itself. "NGOs should bear in mind
that if the number of NGO representatives exceeds the number of available seats, it will be necessary to allocate seats based on the number of NGOs accredited to the meeting. Should the number of NGOs accredited
to the meeting be larger than the number of available seats, a rotation system will be put into place on the basis of 1 seat per NGO." There should not be a space problem in Chile. The letter for
credentials should be sent to:Ms. Sandra Aragon-Parriaux
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Palais des Nations
Room PW-RS181
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
011 41 22 917-9050 fax I guess
that is all for now. Please remember that the "mega conference call" will be on Tuesday at 1:00 EST. I will send the call in information at the end of the day today (Friday). Deborah Robinson |
