PI/971

DPI/NGO CONFERENCE CONCLUDES THREE-DAY DISCUSSION OF CHALLENGES FACING UNITED NATIONS IN CHANGING WORLD

Mr. Galbraith was speaking in a panel discussion on the theme "Exploring visions for the future", as the Conference continued its consideration of the challenges facing the United Nations in a changing world. He stated that the work of several United Nations agencies neither reflected nor responded adequately to the present-day reality. The United Nations risked obsolescence if it did not incorporate the great changes taking place in the national and international context, he warned.

Civil society should be integrated in the work of the United Nations and in its decision-making process, Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said. "International relations are no longer the monopoly of the States", he stressed, adding that new actors such as private enterprises and universities had emerged and should be taken into account by the multilateral organizations.

Juan Somav�a (Chile) said that a mechanism to use the knowledge of development and humanitarian aid workers in conflict resolution needed to be developed. Stressing that at present the international community did not have appropriate mechanisms to deal with conflicts which were non-traditional, he said there was a need to deepen the Security Council's understanding of the humanitarian aspects of conflicts. In addition, a methodology had to be developed where sanctions could be applied only to leaders and not to whole societies.

Rodrigo Carazo Odio, former President of Costa Rica and President of the University for Peace, said most of the problems affecting the United Nations were much more than economic. Emphasizing that violence arose from social injustice, he said it was closely related to migration, concentration of wealth and poverty. Peace was not related to nuclear explosions, but to the resolution of problems of poverty and social injustice, he added.

DPI/NGO Forth-ninth - 1a - Press Release PI/971 Annual Conference 12 September 1996 PM Meeting

Also participating in the discussion were Grace S. Yellowhammer, co-Chair of the Subcommission on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; Jules Dunham, of the International Youth Foundation; Michio Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics, City University of New York; and Nancy M. Barry, President of Women's World Banking.

At the outset of the meeting, the Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, Samir Sanbar, paid tribute to the memory of Erskine Childers, Secretary-General of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) and a former senior official of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Mr. Childers died on 25 August while attending a WFUNA conference in Geneva. Stating that Mr. Childers was an extraordinary man who had died as he had lived, working for and in support of the United Nations, Mr. Sanbar invited Conference participants to observe a minute of silence in memory of Mr. Childers.

In concluding remarks, Monica Willard, chair of the forty-ninth DPI/NGO Conference and Director of The Ribbon International, thanked participants and the Department of Public Information (DPI), particularly Mr. Sanbar, for his role in making a success of the Conference.

In a closing statement, Mr. Sanbar said the DPI would continue to work closely with the non-governmental organizations, stressing that "we share with you the commitment and the vision".

DPI/NGO Conference Work Programme

The forty-ninth annual Conference for Non-Governmental Organizations organized by the Department of Public Information (DPI) met this afternoon to discuss, in two panel discussions, the following theme: "Exploring visions for the future". The Conference is discussing the challenges facing the United Nations in a changing world.

Statements on Visions for Future

SAMIR SANBAR, Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, acting as the discussion's moderator, introduced the panellists.

RODRIGO CARAZO ODIO, former President of Costa Rica and President of the University for Peace, said the United Nations had, year after year, faced a lack of financing and understanding. Most of the problems affecting the United Nations were much more than economic. Those were social problems. In Latin America, there was widespread recognition that violence arose, among other reasons, from social injustice. It was closely related to migration, concentration of wealth and poverty. Peace was not related to nuclear explosions any longer, but related to the resolution of the problems of poverty and social injustice. Stating that the twenty-first century would be the century of migration, he called for tolerance.

JUAN SOMAVIA (Chile) said there could be no safe and democratic world unless there was a strong civil society. There was a need to deepen the Security Council's understanding of the humanitarian aspect of the problems that came before it. The Council had humanitarian responsibilities. Peace could no longer be viewed only as peace among nations, he said, adding that peace within nations was as important. Also, security of nations was important, but so was security of people within nations. Many of the current conflicts were different from conflicts that had been defined in the United Nations Charter.

The role of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the new breed of conflicts was crucial, he said. Humanitarian organizations often provided stability and assistance to societies in conflict situations. The international community did not have appropriate instruments to deal with new conflict situations. The traditional concepts were not applicable to internal conflicts. Therefore, new experts with knowledge of interpersonal conflict resolution were needed, such as development workers and people engaged in humanitarian tasks. So far, there were no mechanisms to use their knowledge. A link, therefore, had to be created. Moreover, a methodology had to be developed where sanctions could be applied only to leaders and not to societies.

DPI/NGO Forty-ninth - 3 - Press Release PI/971 Annual Conference 12 September 1996 PM Meeting

GRACE S. YELLOWHAMMER, co-Chairman of the Subcommission on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, said that until recently indigenous peoples had not had the opportunity to fully participate in the work of the Organization. Their voice had been missing. She called for their representation in the work of the various bodies of the United Nations. All must learn to speak with one voice and to come together as one mind and body.

As an indigenous woman, she looked forward to the next generation to come. She called for a partnership between peoples with mutual respect between indigenous people and the United Nations. Different cultures should be respected. Women, as mothers and sisters, must work together. Indigenous peoples in the United States were being pushed out of their lands. Their natural resources were being sold, and their sacred sites disrespected. Their lives were a nightmare, while others lived the "American dream".

RUBENS RICUPERO, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said there was a crisis of multilateralism, and a message of hope was needed for the world community. Part of that crisis had been brought about by the crisis of a historic generation. The United Nations belonged to the same generation as many great American leaders, and today most of their values, including the "New Deal", were being questioned. Moreover, there was a fatigue with the United Nations conferences system. It was seen as providing inadequate solutions to problems of peace and poverty. Today, new actors in international relations, including private enterprises and universities, had emerged. "International relations were no longer the monopoly of the States", he said, adding that multilateral organizations had not been able to deal with that new reality.

Issues, such as human rights and the environment, had been pushed to the forefront by NGOs, he said. There was a need to make those NGOs a part of the decision-making process. Mere tokenism would not do. The question then arose as to how civil society should be integrated in the work of the United Nations. In integrating the NGOs in the decision-making process, there was the problem of representativeness to which a solution should be found.

NANCY M. BARRY, President of the Women's World Banking, said she was convinced that people must change if they wanted to change the world. The challenge was to create a new global effort, forging a new way for working together, and creating structures and new relationships. Over the coming years, they would have to define themselves in how they dealt with crisis situations and responded to the challenges. They must start building relationships, first, one on one and with institutions, while being honest to themselves and respectful of each other. A tremendous amount of confidence would be required to embrace change and be an agent of it.

DPI/NGO Forty-ninth - 4 - Press Release PI/971 Annual Conference 12 September 1996 PM Meeting

The NGOs should be critical of themselves, she said. They must focus on promoting services for the poor, ensuring that the poor were the owners and not merely beneficiaries. The challenge was to work with institutions such as the World Bank, to help them to be more creative. The Women's World Banking had had a great influence when its local affiliates were reaching out to people. The economic and social needs of poor people must be put at the centre of policies. The NGOs must build concrete mechanisms to solving problems and must also be pragmatic, work with people and help prove that problems could be resolved and things made to work profitably.

MICHIO KAKU, a professor of theoretical physics at the City University of New York, said he supported the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty adopted by the General Assembly this week. The Treaty, however, had some flaws. The next step was to ban entire nuclear infrastructures. The "laboratories of death" should be turned into "laboratories of life", he said. Nuclear scientists and others who might be redundant should be made to work on scientific research which could be beneficial to mankind, such as creating new industries.

He said the time had come for laboratories on nuclear infrastructures to be closed down and for military budgets to be reduced. He expressed the hope participants at the Conference would all live to see the day when there would be no more wars. He called for life, not death.

JULES DUNHAM, of the International Youth Foundation, said she had a vision of partnership between the United Nations and youth, stressing that youth had been involved in all United Nations conferences. In Istanbul, at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), youth's involvement in the United Nations had mushroomed. Youth representatives were able to speak to all governments about their vision on the matters before the Conference, she said, adding "we want to be heard. We want to be an active part of creating our own solutions."

The youth's direct involvement with the Organization had to be encouraged and it had to be ensured that young people understood their role, she said. However, they should not be patronized. "Youth participation is actively engaging young people in a process of developing their own ideas and solutions to the problems of civil society." Just as the other NGOs had anchored themselves in the United Nations, so should the youth NGOs. She called on other NGOs to offer their expertise to young people. "Teach us, mentor us", she said, adding, "We don't just want to sit in the room, we want to be at the table."

JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH, former diplomat and professor of economics at Harvard University, said the United Nations was risking obsolescence if it did not incorporate the great changes taking place in the national and

DPI/NGO Forty-ninth - 5 - Press Release PI/971 Annual Conference 12 September 1996 PM Meeting

international context. The Organization had significantly remained in both structure and competence in the age of the dominant nation State. Their then unchallenged dominance had brought the United Nations into existence. The Second World War had shown beyond any conceivable doubt the need for a mediating instrument, one that would, in the future, avert another such tragedy.

At the centre was still the older question of the relations between nation States, he continued. "That problem has, in substantial measure, succumbed to the larger thrust of history. Not for years now has the United Nations reacted to a military problem between major countries". Even perpetually troubled areas, such as the Middle East, had largely avoided the reality of open conflict. In the former Yugoslavia and in troubled African countries, the United Nations had indeed intervened. "This, however, has been to arrest internal conflict", which was a continuing problem.

The several organs of the United Nations, including the Economic and Social Council and the new Department of Humanitarian Affairs, and the outlying work of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as of other international agencies, did not reflect and respond in a unified and adequate way the present-day reality. "The United Nations agencies have discussions, but alas, not power. This we must now correct."

The United Nations role must now be open to major discussion and change, he said. The day might come for a legislative oversight of the world economic and social system, the first step towards world government and a tax base, a beginning of which might well be tax on international financial transactions. "This would be a worthy alternative to the present American default on United Nations support", he said. "And more generally and urgently it must have responsibility in keeping with the new problems -- economic, financial, cultural -- of internationalism, of the modern global village and the protection of the welfare State". That was not in the area of fantasy, but of action to accommodate modern reality.

* *** *

United Nations