Fwd: WCAR Briefing Note No. 4 - Revised (13 Feb 2001)
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Subject: Fwd: WCAR Briefing Note No. 4 - Revised (13 Feb 2001)
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Laurie Wiseberg <[email protected]>
Fwd: WCAR Briefing Note No. 4 - Revised (13 Feb 2001)
Briefing Note No. 4 - Revised - 10 February 2001
Background Information on the World Conference Against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
>From the NGO Liaison, WCAR
Introduction:
These briefing notes are prepared to assist NGO representatives who
wish to participate in the World Conference process. Feel free to
circulate as widely as possible.
For further information or for clarifications, feel free to contact
the staff at the NGO Liaison Unit of the WCAR using the following
coordinates:
Laurie S. Wiseberg, NGO Liaison WCAR
Room 4-025 OHCHR, Palais Wilson, Geneva
Mailing address: OHCHR, Palais des Nations,
CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel. (41-22) 917-9393
Fax. (41-22) 917-9050
[email protected]
Frej Fenniche, Senior Human Rights Officer
Room 2-026 OHCHR, Palais Wilson, Geneva
Mailing address: OHCHR, Palais des Nations,
CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel. (41-22) 917-9229
Fax. (41-22) 917-9050
[email protected]
Sandra Aragon, Associate Human Rights Officer
Room 4-040 OHCHR, Palais Wilson, Geneva
Mailing address: OHCHR, Palais des Nations,
CH 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Tel. (41-22) 917-9129
Fax. (41-22) 917-9050
E-mail: [email protected]
The NGO Liaison maintains a ListServe to distribute these briefing
notes and other important information or documentation. To be added to
this mailing list, just send a message to the e-mail noted above.
If you want to be removed from this ListServ, send the following
message to <[email protected]>: SIGNOFF OHCHR-NGO. Put this in
the text field and leave the subject blank.
I. Dates and Venue for the World Conference and NGO Forum.
The WCAR will take place in South Africa from 31 August to 7 September
2001. The venue is the International Convention Centre (ICC) in
Durban. The NGO Forum will take place from 28 August-1 September 2001.
The venue is the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium, next to the ICC, in
Durban.
II. Organizing Committee for the NGO Forum
The Organizing Committee for the NGO Forum is being led by the South
African National NGO Coalition, SANGOCO. The Committee offices are
located on the 4th Floor, Sable Centre, 41 De Korte Street,
Braamfontein, Gauteng,
South Africa. Tel. (27-11) 403?7270; Fax. (27-11) 403-5531. E-mail, as
follows:
Moshe More, Program Director: <[email protected]>
Major Kobese, Program Officer: <[email protected]>
Fumane Diseko, Media Coordinator: <[email protected]>
Charl Durand, Coordinator for Forum Exhibition:
<[email protected]>
For registration and basic information on the NGO Forum, go to the NGO
Forum Website at:
www.racism.org.za
Note: NGOs and individuals who wish to attend the NGO Forum do not
need to be "accredited" to the World Conference to participate.
(Accreditation to the WCAR is discussed under XII below.) However,
they do need to register with the NGO Forum. To organize panels,
workshops, roundtables, or other events, it is necessary to do so
through the SANGOCO organizing committee. This Committee will also be
responsible for hotels or other accommodation, for providing space or
booths for exhibits, and for any special events in connection with the
NGO Forum.
III. Secretariat for the World Conference
The High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson is
Secretary-General of the World Conference. A team at the Office of the
High Commissioner (OHCHR), headed by Executive Coordinator Jyoti
Shankar Singh, is doing the preparatory work for the Conference.
IV. How to find documentation for the Conference and the Preparatory
Process
Relevant reports and documents for the World Conference are available
on the website of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
http://www.unhchr.ch
Click on World Conference Against Racism on the left side of the Home
Page.
A great deal of additional information for NGOs has been posted on an
NGO Website for the World Conference:
http://www.hri.ca/racism
This has links to many other sites dealing with racism. NGOs wishing
to post their documentation on this site should send an electronic
version to the NGO Liaison, WCAR.
As noted above, the website for the NGO Forum is: www.racism.org.za
The Office of the High Commissioner is also distributing information
via a newsletter, being published in hard copy as well as on the
website. If you would like to be on the mailing list to receive the
newsletter, contact: [email protected] or write to Gloria
Nwabuogu, OHCHR, Palais Wilson, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. Tel.
(41-22) 917-9394, Fax. (41-22) 917-9050.
V. Slogan and Themes of the Conference
The First Session of the PrepCom adopted the following World
Conference Slogan:
"United to combat racism: Equality, Justice, Dignity"
It also adopted the following 5 broad themes of the Provisional
Agenda.
(1) Sources, causes, forms and contemporary manifestations of racism,
racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;
(2) Victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance;
(3) Measures of prevention, education and protection aimed at the
eradication of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related
intolerance, at the national, regional and international levels;
(4) Provision of effective remedies, recourse, redress, [compensatory]
and other measures at the national, regional and international levels;
(5) Strategies to achieve full and effective equality, including
international cooperation and enhancement of the United Nations and
other international mechanisms in combatting racism, racial
discrimination, xenbophobia and related intolerance, and follow-up.
Note that the word "compensatory" in theme 4 is in square brackets
because there was no general agreement for including this term.
VI. Decisions of the First Session of the PrepCom regarding the
structure of the conference
The First Session of the PrepCom elected Ambassador (Mme) Absa Claude
Diallo of Senegal as its Chairperson. Ambassador Diallo chaired the
sessional working group of the 55th Session of the Commission on Human
Rights (1999) on the preparation of the World Conference. Other
members of the Bureau are the following: Tunisia, Islamic Republic of
Iran, Malaysia, FYR of Macedonia, Georgia, Brazil, Mexico
(Rapporteur), France, USA and
South Africa as ex-officio.
In the Rules of Procedures adopted at the First Session of the
PrepCom, it was decided that the Conference would establish one Main
Committee and one Drafting Committee, and these Committees may set up
their own subcommittees or working groups. NGOs will be permitted to
participate in the work of both of these Committees (and any
subcommittees or working groups they establish) on questions within
the scope of their activities.
This means that NGOs will be able to make oral statements as well as
to submit written statements to the Conference.
If written statements of NGOs are to be circulated at the
Inter-sessional Working Group meeting or during the Second Session of
the PrepCom, they must be submitted 10 weeks prior to the respective
meeting. It helps if the statements are submitted electronically, and
especially if text can be provided in English, French and Spanish.
Length is restricted to 1,500 words, except that NGOs which have
"general" consultative status may submitted up to 2,000 words.
VII. Preparatory Process
The report of the first session of the Preparatory Committee
(PrepCom), which took place in Geneva from 1-5 May 2000, is available
as A/CONF.189/PC.1/21 (in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian
and Chinese) on the website of the High Commissioner.
There was a two day Informal Meeting which took place in Geneva from
15-16 January 2001, where States, UN bodies and specialized agencies,
national institutions and NGOs made suggestions regarding the content
of the draft Declaration and Programme of Action. Those are available
at the website of the High Commissioner.
The second session of the PrepCom will take place in Geneva from 21
May - 1 June 2001. In addition, there will be an Open-Ended
Inter-Sessional Working Group Meeting in Geneva, 6-9March 2001. The
Inter-Sessional Working Group will have before it a document prepared
by the Secretariat of the World Conference (i.e., a draft Declaration
and Programme of Action).
NGOs with Consultative Status with ECOSOC or which are accredited to
the World Conference, can attend these meetings as observers.
VIII. Regional Preparatory Meetings
Four Regional Preparatory meetings, and associated NGO meetings, were
scheduled as part of the preparatory process, three have already taken
place, and the fourth is to take place next week - as follows:
Regional Preparatory Meeting for Europe (in Strasbourg, France),
organized by the Council of Europe, 11-13 October 2000. On 10-11
October, there was a European NGO Forum. For further information about
these meetings, see the website of the European Commission against
Racism and Intolerance (ECRI): http://www.ecri.coe.int
Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Americas (in Santiago, Chile),
5-7 December 2000. An NGO Forum, organized by the IDEAS Foundation
and an NGO steering committee for the Americas, was held 3-4 December,
just prior to this meeting.
Regional Preparatory Meeting for Africa (in Dakar, Senegal) took place
22-24 January 2001. An NGO Forum, organized by Rencontre africaine
pour la d�fense des droits de l'homme (RADDHO) and an African NGO
steering
committee, was held on 20-21 January.
Regional Preparatory Meeting for Asia (in Tehran, Iran) is scheduled
to take place take place 19-21 February 2001. An NGO Forum will be
held 17-18 February, organized by the International Movement Against
All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) and an Asian NGO
steering committee, with the assistance of the Tehran-based
Organization for the Defense of Victims of Violence (ODVV).
All NGO documents which emerged from these meetings are posted on the
website www.hri.ca/racism under the section headed NGO Meetings.
IX. NGO Participation in the formal Preparatory Process
NGOs wishing to participate in the formal preparatory meetings
(whether in Geneva or in the regions) must either have Consultative
Status with ECOSOC or be accredited to the World Conference. The
procedure for getting accreditation to the WCAR is noted below. In
response to frequently asked questions, please take note of the
following:
(a) NGOs which have Consultative Status with ECOSOC, indigenous
peoples or organizations accredited to ECOSOC under Resolution
1995/32, or NGOs which have been specifically accredited to the WCAR
may participate in any of the preparatory meetings. For each meeting
at which the organization will be represented, the NGO must send a
separate letter on letterhead, signed by the person authorized to do
so, stating which persons will be attending and requesting that
credentials be prepared for them. This letter should be addressed to
Sandra Aragon, OHCHR, Palais Wilson, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland.
It can be sent by fax to: (41-22) 917-9050. E-mail communications are
not acceptable for this purpose.
(b) A list of NGO which have been specifically accredited to the World
Conference is posted on both the website of the High Commissioner
www.unhchr.ch and on the NGO website <www.hri.ca/racism> (under
section on accreditation).
X. Regional Expert Seminars
A number of expert regional seminars have been organized in the
context of the World Conference to spur consideration of important
issues, culminate in effective suggestions to the second Preparatory
Committee and the World Conference itself, commence a distillation of
the issues and suggest practical strategies, and create a groundswell
of governmental, institutional and public support for the World
Conference and its objectives. The following seminars have already
taken place:
Expert Seminar for Western Europe, Geneva, 6-8 December 1999 on:
"Racism, Refugees & Multiethnic States."
Expert Seminar for Western Europe, Geneva, 16-18 February 2000 on:
"Remedies Available to Victims of Acts of Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance and Good National
Practices in this
Field."
Expert Seminar for Eastern Europe, 5-7 July 2000, Warsaw on:
"Protection of Minorities and Other Vulnerable Groups and
Strengthening Human Rights Capacity at the National Level".
Expert Seminar for Asia, 5-7 September 2000, Bangkok on: "Migrant
Workers and Trafficking of Persons, with Particular Reference to Women
and Children."
Expert Seminar for Africa, 4-6 October 2000, Addis Ababa on:
"Preventing Ethnic and Racial Conflict"
Expert Seminar for Latin America, 25-27 October 2000, Santiago, on:
"Economic, Social and Legal Measures to Combat Racial Discrimination,
with Particular Reference to Vulnerable Groups".
The recommendations of these expert seminars are available on the
website of the High Commissioner.
XI. Other Regional NGO Meetings
The Secretariat of the OHCHR has also been supporting regional NGO
meetings intended to feed into the NGO Forum. To date, three meetings
have taken place and two additional one are scheduled, as follows:
For Eastern and Central Europe, in Warsaw, organized by Helsinki
Foundation for Human Rights in Poland, 15-18 November 2000.
For Africa, in Gabarone, Botswana, organized by the Centre for Human
Rights, University of Pretoria, 8-12 January 2001.
For Asian Arab NGOs, in Amman, Jordan, organized by the Arab
Organization for Human Rights in Jordan (AOHRJ), 5-8 February 2001.
Forthcoming:
For the Americas, in Quito, Ecuador, 13-16 March 2001: contact Irene
Leon or Sally Burch at Agencia Latinoamerican de Informacion (ALAI) at
<[email protected]> or contact Mark Hecht at Human Rights Internet
(HRI) at <[email protected]>. Application forms are available at
<www.hri.ca/racism> (under section entitled NGO Meetings).
For Asia, in Kathmandu, 2-5 April 2001. Contact: IMADR at
<[email protected]>. (These arrangements are still tentative, to be
confirmed when the NGOs meet in Tehran.)
XII. Accreditation of NGOs
NGOs which have Consultative Status with ECOSOC may participate in the
World Conference and its preparatory processes.
Representatives of Indigenous Peoples or Indigenous Peoples
Organizations which have been accredited under Resolution 1995/32 to
participate in the Working Group of the Commission on Human Rights on
the draft declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, may
participate in the World Conference and its preparatory processes.
NGOs which have been accredited to any of the Regional Meetings for
the World Conference (i.e., Strasbourg, Dakar, Santiago, Teheran) will
be considered accredited to the World Conference and its preparatory
processes unless such accreditation was specifically given only for
that meeting. This pertains to many NGOs accredited through a
"fast-track" for Santiago and those similarly approved only for Dakar
or Tehran. Such NGOs must complete the application process and be
accepted by the Bureau of the World Conference in order to be eligible
to attend the inter-governmental WCAR in Durban, as set out below.
NGOs which do not have Consultative Status can be accredited to the
World Conference under Resolution 1996/31, and Decision PC 1/5 of the
First Session of the PrepCom as follows:
(a) An NGO applies to the Conference Secretariat with required
documentation (see information note for NGOs not having
Consultative Status, on the website of the OHCHR and/or
questionnaire on the web).
(b) This documentation is reviewed by the Secretariat to ensure
that it is complete and that the NGO meets the criteria for
accreditation.
(c) When 10 applications have been received, the Secretariat sends a
note verbale to all governments with a list of the NGOs applying.
Governments have 14 days to raise any concerns they have.
(d) Where no concerns have been raised, the Secretariat will forward
the name of the applying NGOs to the Bureau of the PrepCom for
accreditation.
(e) If concerns are raised about an NGO, the Secretariat will inform
the NGO about the government's comments and give the NGO the
opportunity to reply. It will then forward the government's
concerns, the NGOs comments and its own recommendation to the
Bureau for action. The Bureau, in consultation with the regions,
will decide whether or not to accredit the NGO.
(f) If the Bureau decides not to accredit, the matter will go to the
Second Session of the PrepCom (in May 2000) for final decision.
Since accreditation is a complicated/lengthy process please apply for
accreditation as early as possible. A minimum of a 6 weeks is
generally required by the Secretariat to process an application. You
should send your applications to: Ms. Sandra Aragon, OHCHR, Palais
Wilson, 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland. Tel. (41-22) 917-9129. Fax.
(41-22) 917-9050. Email: [email protected]
XIII. Funding NGO Participation in the World Conference Process
The Office of the High Commissioner secured funding to subsidize the
participation of NGOs in the Regional Preparatory meetings for Africa,
Asia and the Americas and in five NGO networking meetings (see XI
above). The OHCHR also hopes to raise funds to assist NGOs in getting
to the NGO Forum in South Africa and to the World Conference. This is
unprecedented in the history of the UN's World Conferences, as NGOs
have always had to raise their own funds for this purpose.
To ensure that these funds support a broad range of NGO input into the
World Conference and its preparatory processes, and are distributed in
a transparent and fair manner, the following procedure has been
established.
While for each meeting, one NGO was asked to take charge of the
logistical arrangements, for each region in which meetings are being
organized (Africa, Asia, Americas, Eastern and Central Europe) a
steering committee of approximately 8-10 organizations was
established, with representation from geographic sub-regions and
relevant social sectors (e.g., minorities, indigenous, women, youth).
These regional steering committees established criteria for selecting
the NGOs to be subsidized in their region, prepared appropriate
application forms, and selected (or will select) participants from
amongst those which apply on the basis of the criteria established.
Normally, funding for a meeting in a specific region has been
restricted to NGOs from that region, or which focus their work on that
region.
The criteria for selecting NGOs to subsidize to attend the NGO Forum
and World Conference will be established at a later date by SANGOCO
(the NGO coordinating the NGO Forum) together with an international
steering committee whose composition and rules of procedure still need
to be determined.
Note: At this time, there are no funds to assist NGOs which want to
attend the Inter-sessional Working Group meeting or the Second Session
of the Preparatory Committee meeting in Geneva. NGOs must find their
own resources to attend these meetings.
XV. Youth Participation
There is likely to be a youth component to the NGO Forum and World
Conference. However, no definite plans are as yet in place. A youth
caucus is, however, in formation. To get in touch with the youth,
contact:
Bomani Johnson at <[email protected]>
Saeed Fotouhinia <[email protected]>
XVI. Discontinuance of Practice of Designating Certain Meetings as
Satellite Meeting
The OHCHR has decided it will no longer apply "satellite" status to
meetings organized by NGOs in the framework of the WCAR. The reason
for this decision is that there has been a multiplication of
activities at the national, regional and international level and a
correspondingly large increase in requests for the secretariat to
grant meetings satellite status. OHCHR is not in a position to take
part in all of these activities nor can it evaluate every request and
apply a uniform criteria for granting satellite status. Hence, it is
simply discontinuing the practice. It also applies retroactively,
i.e., to the five NGOs which had been granted "satellite" status after
the first session of the Preparatory Committee.
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