Wednesday, November 26, 2008

A few words about the Civil Society Conference

Day 1 has concluded after 10 hours of work, about half of that time spent in plenary sessions and the remainder in focus groups.

Issues focused on were 1) Mobilizing national resources; 2) Systematic issues; 3) Financial integrity; 4) Trade; 5) Debt; and 6) Private capital development.

I attended the group dealing with systematic issues which turned out to be the largest group and produced a very lively discussion. Our purpose was to help "fill out" the draft of the Civil Societies Declaration which will be given during the Review Conference which begins on Saturday, Nov 29. This declaration is the NGOs reaction to the government's "Outcome Document" which is still being reworked by government reps in New York. (We have received two versions of the "Outcome Document" since arriving at the meeting this morning!) Our goal was to try to make sure that the government document reflects the concerns of the NGOs.

Following our sessions in small groups, the groups reported back during a plenary session. Major concerns were the importance of getting a follow-up mechanism/conference with a specific date and the need to strengthen ECOSOC and not create more bodies. It was also pointed out that the Civil Society is not
mentioned in the document.

Repeatedly today strong feelings surfaced that while additional funds are needed to deal with climate control these funds should not come from what has already been agreed to in order to reach the Millennium Development Goals.

Another point that repeatedly raised strong emotion was the need to put people back into the process. The subtitle of the conference-Investing in People-Centered Development-- seems to have gotten lost in subsequent documents.

"Stay engaged" has become the battle cry.

Final Words from the Conference……

Some 370 representatives are attending the 2.5 day conference. There is a large contingent from the so-called south. A significant number of people are attending thanks to the generosity of the Qatar government who provided funding for travel, accomodations, and food.

The Qatar government is also apparently picking up the tab for lunch for all the participants. I was expecting sandwiches but we were treated to an elegant buffet in one of two of the hotel's restaurants. In fact the coffee breaks include sandwiches, hot hors d'oevres and small deserts.

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