Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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Worldwide Vigil: Press Release Press Release for the Worldwide Vigil
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For Immediate Release
Contact:
James Paul
Global Policy Forum
(212) 501-7435Sharon McHale
World Federation of UN Associations
(212) 963-5610William Pace
World Federalist Movemt
(212) 599-1320
James Olson
UNA-USA
(212) 907-1324
New York City, October 17, 1996 -- A coalition of NGOs announced today that vigils will be held worldwide on October 23 – the eve of United Nations Day – to protest the UN’s financial crisis and to demand that all countries pay their UN dues on time, in full and without condition. Worldwide Vigil to Protest United Nations Financial Crisis
For over a year, the UN has been on the verge of financial collapse. Member states now owe the organization $2.5 billion, and the United States owes more than all the other members combined. The financial crisis has forced the UN to make crippling budget cuts. NGOs have been organizing a broad movement of protest in dozens of countries around the globe, with petititions, resolutions, letters, parliamentary initiatives, and campaigns to send money directly to the UN.
Organizers today listed sixteen vigils and related activities in the United States -- in New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Amherst (Massachusetts), Long Beach (California), Lincoln (Nebraska), Aurora (Illinois), Queens (New York), Palo Alto (California), Schenectady (New York), Livingston (New Jersey), Sacramento (California), Denver and Boston. There will be a vigil outside the offices of Sen. Jesse Helms in Raleigh, North Carolina on October 21 and one outside the White House on October 23.
Local committees have organized fourteen vigils in cities outside the United States, including Tokyo (Japan), Penang (Malaysia), Ottawa and Victoria (Canada), Copenhagen (Denmark), Guatemala City (Guatemala), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Geneva (Switzerland), Christchurch (New Zealand), London (England), Grahamstown (South Africa), and Milan, Florence and Rome (Italy). Global Policy Forum posts daily the latest vigil list on its world wide web site, at - http://www.globalpolicy.org
In New York City, vigil participants will assemble by candlelight in Ralph Bunche Park, across from UN headquarters, wearing blue ribbons as a sign of support for the UN. Musicians will perform on exotic instruments like conchs and gongs. Leaders will make a statement, then deliver a message to the United States UN Mission.
In Geneva, on October 24, people will march by candlelight from the Church of St. Nicholas de Flue to the Place des Nations, in front of UN headquarters in that city. Spiritual and political figures, along with NGO leaders, will take part in this as in many other vigils.
"Citizens are fed up with the hypocrisy of governments trashing the United Nations and ignoring international law," said William Pace, Executive Director of the World Federalist Movement. "With this vigil we say ‘Enough!’ We are especially concerned at the refusal of the United States, the host government, to pay its legally-obligated dues and arrears," he continued. "It’s time Washington paid up!"
Organizers point out that the United States government currently owes $1.44 billion to the UN, well over half of the outstanding total. The recently-announced US plan to pay $660 million to the UN, spread out over several months, is woefully inadequate, organizers insist, since the US will owe $321 million more for dues on January 1 and will accrue further peacekeeping assessments as well. US-imposed payment conditions are also unacceptable.
"Deadbeat governments have been sending a dangerous message to their own taxpayers" said James Paul, Executive Director of Global Policy Forum. "By refusing to pay UN dues or by imposing conditions on their payment, governments are saying that this kind of behavior is acceptable. We ask: if governments can flout their legal obligations to pay, why not citizen taxpayers, too? What if WE decide to pay our taxes selectively or not at all?"
"The vigil proves that people do care," said Sharon McHale, Program Officer at the World Federation of United Nations Associations in New York. "We have organized these vigils across the world in just a few weeks. It has been a grassroots process with lots of local initiative. People are very excited. Every day we get calls about additional vigils. A global citizen's movement to support the UN is clearly emerging."
The late Erskine Childers, then Secretary General of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA), first proposed a vigil to other NGOs last May. In the summer, Global Policy Forum (GPF) and the World Federalist Movement (WFM) issued a call supporting the vigil idea. Now, WFUNA, GPF and WFM have joined forces to organize the vigil worldwide, along with dozens of other NGOs and NGO coalitions. In the United States, vigils have been organized by local chapters of UNA-USA, the World Federalist Association and other groups.
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