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Update #9
Preparatory Meetings and WCAR
4 January 2001
This document provides an update on several preparatory meetings and on the World Conference Against Racism. The information is listed in chronological order and there are several attachments (sorry there
are so many). In addition, there is an update on the US NGO Website and the searchable on-line database that has been developed.
Americas PrepCom
Four regional meetings will take place in
preparation for the World Conference Against Racism. The PrepCom for the Americas Region was held 3-7 December 2000 in Santiago, Chile. A full report on the Americas PrepCom is being written by the US NGO Coordinating Committee and will be disseminated next week. The list of the US NGO Coordinating Committee is attachedDocuments/Reports. We are still waiting for an on-line version of the NGO document and a final
on-line version of the government document. Terrance Pitts was able to find out that the translators at the UN in Geneva will not be back to work until 8 January and therefore we may not see an English version of
the government document until mid- to late January. Once these documents are available, they will be posted on the US NGO website (www.ngoworldconference.org).Participants. Over 100 US NGOs attended the PrepCom, which
included the NGO Citizens Conference (3-4 December) and the Governmental Meeting (5-7 December). The International Human Rights Law Group and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights/Leadership Conference
Education Fund brought large delegations. A "complete" list of the US participants is attached. Kris Paap complied the information she had collected, IPU added to the list/made corrections, and other members of the US NGO Coordinating Committee made further
additions. Please excuse any errors. Corrections and additions should be sent to Professor Kris Paap (kpaap@hamilton.edu). We are just trying to get basic correct information on this list. As
will be discussed below, a searchable database of US people involved in the WCAR will soon be online. That database will contain much more information on each person/organization.
Interagency Task Force Meeting. A meeting to debrief on the Americas PrepCom and to provide an update on US planning efforts for the World Conference will be held Wednesday, 17 January from 2:00 - 4:00 at the
Old Executive Office Building. If you are interested in attending this meeting (you must have clearance), please contact Paula Lynch at (202) 456-2420. Informal Governmental Meeting
The Informal
meeting that was originally scheduled for 19-20 October 2000, will take place 15-16 January in Geneva, Switzerland. The purpose of this meeting is to do further work on the themes of the World Conference
(definitely revisiting "compensatory measures") and identify sub-themes. NGOs can attend this meeting, but they cannot make statements from the floor. Of course they are able to talk to delegates
in the hallways, etc and listen to all deliberations. So far, I know that I (Deborah Robinson) am going, as well as Douglas Scott. We would like to know of others who will attend this meeting and arrange a conference call prior to the meeting. Please complete the attached form and send it to my assistant, Dr. Askhari Hodari (Askhari@ipunlimited.org). We will be in touch about arranging the conference call. NGOs must be
accredited to the WCAR or have consultative status to attend this meeting. You must fax a letter requesting credentials to Ms Sandra Aragon-Parriaux (011 41 22 917-9050) if you have accreditation, or Ms. Catherine
Bremont (011 41 22 917-9011) if you have consultative status, by 8 January if you want to attend this meeting (and receive confirmation before you go).Africa PrepCom
At the Americas PrepCom, Mr. Pitso
Montwedi of the South African mission in Geneva, Switzerland, appealed to US NGOs for assistance in terms of supporting the proposal of the Africa Group on Theme 4 of the WCAR. Specifically, he requested more
information and actually lobbying the African governments in terms of "compensatory measures". It was clear that he, and others, had narrowed the concept of compensatory measures to compensation (and
reparations). He was in fact grateful for the broader definition and the conversations he had with Adjoa Aiyetoro, Ife Williams and others while in Santiago. He urged as many US NGOs as possible to attend the
Africa PrepCom in Dakar. The major problem has been that the dates of the meeting keep changing. Originally, they were 20-24 January, then they were changed to 29 January -2 February, and just yesterday
Terrance Pitts was able to find out that they were changing back to the original dates, but it was still not certain, as they first must confirm that there is space at the hotel. We know of 10 people who
are planning to attend the Africa PrepCom, but again, we would like to get a complete list. For those planning to attend, please
complete and return the Africa PrepCom Participation Form that is attached and send it to my assistant
(Askhari@ipunlimited.org). It is strongly recommended that you do not change or buy your plane
ticket until further notice. Conference Calls. There have been two conference calls concerning participation in the Africa PrepCom and developing a strategy on compensatory measures. We discussed
the need to identify the African countries that are steadfast in their support of compensatory measures (South Africa, Nigeria, ?) and those countries that are wavering. It was also suggested that we all read the
report from the Africa Expert Seminar to give us a better background on some of the issues that the region is dealing with. We were reminded that Pitso had promised to do a "power mapping" of the African
governments to give us more information on who's who. Finally, it was decided that a 1-2 page sheet that discusses the issue of compensatory measures would be developed and disseminated at both the NGO Forum
Planning Meeting in Botswana 8-13 January, and the Africa PrepCom. The Declaration of People of African Origin that was developed in Santiago will also be disseminated. Registration and Credentials.
You must fill out a registration form for the African NGO meeting. This form is attached and should be sent to the organizer of the meeting, Mr. Alioune Tine of Rencontre Africaine pour la Defense des Droits de
l'Homme (RADDHO) at raddho@telecomplus.sn
. NGOs must be accredited to the WCAR or have consultative status to attend the governmental meeting. You must fax a letter requesting credentials to Ms Sandra Aragon-Parriaux (011 41 22 917-9050) if you have accreditation, or Ms. Catherine Bremont (011 41 22 917-9011) if you have consultative status, by 12 January if you want to attend this meeting. If you do not have either of these statuses, you must get credentials from an organization that does.
Documents. There are several documents that are relevant to the meeting that I have attached. Terrance Pitts was able to get a copy of the draft government Declaration and Plan of Action that will be discussed
in Dakar. Adjoa's submission to the High Commissioner on compensatory measures is also attached, as is a 28-page document that Ray Winbush sent. There is also an excellent article in Harper's Magazine,
November 2000, entitled, "Making the Case for Racial Reparations". We are trying to get permission to put that up on the US NGO Website, as it is not on-line anywhere currently. Youth Meeting
There will be a meeting at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in New York on 7 February to discuss youth and young adult participation in the WCAR. In Santiago, Mary Robinson, the High
Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed her support for a Youth Consultation one day prior to the beginning of the NGO Forum in Durban. Bomani Johnson (bomanij@yahoo.com) and Jalida Bennett at (jalidab@yahoo.com) should be contacted for more information about this meeting.
Intercessional Governmental Meeting
This meeting was originally scheduled for 15-19 January, but has been moved to 5-9 March. The purpose of the meeting will be to draft the provisional agenda for the
second session of the PrepCom meeting that will be held in Geneva 21 May-1 June, and to work on the draft declaration and the draft Programme of Action for the World Conference. In fact, that will be the first time we
will be able to see the draft Declaration and Programme of Action. The final documents from the regional PrepComs will have been incorporated into these draft documents. Again, NGOs must be accredited to the
WCAR or have consultative status to attend the Intercessional Meeting. You must fax a letter requesting credentials to Ms Sandra Aragon-Parriaux (011 41 22 917-9050) if you have accreditation, or Ms. Catherine
Bremont (011 41 22 917-9011) if you have consultative status, by 26 February if you want to attend this meeting. If you do not have either of these statuses, you must get credentials through an organization that
does. NGO Forum Planning Meeting for the Americas
This meeting is now scheduled for 13-16 March in Quito, Ecuador. The purposes of the meeting are to 1) offer civil society from the region an
opportunity to present its views on the themes of the World Conference, 2) establish consensus on proposals and priorities to take to the World Conference, 3) seek agreement on proposals for the NGO World Forum, 4) give
visibility to various actors and sectors and 5) develop future plans and strategies. The meeting is being organized by ALAI in Ecuador, Human Rights Internet in Canada, and the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights. We will
be providing more information as it becomes available, but the contact person for the meeting is Ms. Irene Leon, ALAI, 011 (593 2) 505 074 phone, 011 (593 2) 505 073
fax, ddhh@alainet.org.
2nd PrepCom in Geneva
This meeting will be held 21 May - 1 June in Geneva, Switzerland. Most of the decisions on the document and WCAR (including the NGO Forum) will be made at this two-week meeting.
All of these preparatory meetings are very important, as 99% of what will happen in Durban at the World Conference will be decided at these meetings. World Conference Against Racism and NGO Forum
The
Secretariat for the NGO Forum has been established and there are 9 staff members. That secretariat will be in place until April 2002 to deal with follow-up after the World Conference. A website has been
established, www.sangoco.org.za/wcar, and from
that site you can both register for the NGO Forum and reserve exhibition space. Although there are great concerns about the numbers of people interested in attending the World Conference vs. the capacity in Durban to accommodate that many people,
the secretariat has put the registration form on-line. I believe exhibition space is $400, but there are other options available. Again, it seems contradictory that on the one hand there is a regional
process to determine what will come from that region to the NGO Forum and this open reservation system on the other. I would suggest that you go ahead and register for the conference and reserve exhibition
space. Keep in mind though, they may have to come up with a different system if they see that people from the US have reserved most of the exhibition space. :) The e-mail contact to the secretariat is
wcar@sangoco.org.za. Other Meetings Scheduled
23 February
Reparations
Race Relations Institute at Fisk University, Nashville TN
Contact: Dr. Raymond Win bush,
28-29 April
African Diaspora NGO Meeting
African Organization for Human Rights in Austria, Vienna, Austria
Contact: Rev. Ihueghian Victor ahda@chello
at 011 43 1 319-3119 phone
There has been great debate globally about the need for and focus of this conference on the
www.icare.to listserv.
US NGO Website
As you should know by now, Project Change (Anti-Racism Net) and the Institute for
Global Communication have established a website for US NGOs in preparation for the WCAR. The URL is
www.ngoworldconference.org. The goal of the site is to have all the information, documents, contact information, listservs, and databases
relevant for US NGOs interested in the WCAR on one site. Searchable Database. Shortly, a searchable on-line database of people/organizations involved in anti-racism work will be up on the site.
This database will not only include the basic contact information, but also information on organizational areas of focus, expertise/methodology and constituents served. Organizations will be able to enter this
information on-line. In addition, they will be able to search by numerous keywords and fields. As a start, the 100+ people who attended the Americas PrepCom will be sent the form via e-mail to
complete. That information will be entered into the database by the content coordinator of the site. Once the database is up, people will be able to enter their own information online. This database has
taken 4 months to create and will be very sophisticated. Every organization has their own database and list of groups. The goal of this initiative is to have ALL the groups involved with the issue of racism
in the United States to be in one database AND for everyone to have access to that information! This will be a major accomplishment. Working Groups. Several Working Groups around specific topics
have developed and the coordinators of those groups (with their contact information) will be listed on the US NGO Website by the end of the week. As other groups emerge, the coordinator of the Working Group should
contact Leslie Inman (lkinman@igc.apc.org), who is
the content coordinator for the website, and give her that information. The purpose of the Working Groups is for people around the country who are interested in the same issues, to work together and develop
strategy, statements, documents, etc. related to the WCAR. Listserv. The US NGO Coordinating Committee and people working on the US NGO website are creating several listservs to facilitate
communication between people involved in the WCAR. There will be a general "mega" listserv where general information such as these IPU Updates will be posted, and there will be a listserv for each
Working Group so that those members can communicate more effectively. Since we did not want to just sign everyone up on the large general listserv, you will be sent a message giving you instructions on how to join
the list. The coordinators of the Working Groups are providing Leslie Inman with the e-mail addresses for those who are already working together. The Working Group Coordinators will see to it that new
members of the group are added to that particular list. New Working Groups that develop can also have a listserv created by contacting Leslie Inman (lkinman@igc.apc.org). She will need a brief description of the Working Group, the coordinator(s)
contact information and the e-mail addresses of the members.Documents. Any and all relevant documents should be sent to Leslie Inman (lkinman@igc.apc.org)
to be posted on the US NGO Website. There are a number of papers/documents already there, but we want the site to be as comprehensive as possible and contain all relevant documents. |
