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NGOs Letter Concerning the Participation of NGOs
at the ICPD+5 PrepComNGOs write to the Secretary General to gain increased participation in the Preparatory Commission for the review of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) +5
July 2, 1999His Excellency Kofi Annan,
Secretary General of the United Nations
First Avenue at 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Dear Mr. Secretary General:
As facilitators for NGO activities at the ICPD+5 PrepCom and the Special Session of the General Assembly, we are sending you the enclosed letter signed by NGO representatives on July 2,1999. We pledge you our support and our cooperation in the implementation of the recommendations made in this letter.
Our warmest congratulations to you on the successful outcome of the General Assembly Special Session.
Yours,
David J. Andrews, President
Population Communications International (PCI)President Afaf Mahfouz
Conference of NGOs (CONGO)
2 July 1999
His Excellency Kofi Annan,
Secretary General of the United Nations First Avenue at 42nd Street
New York, NY 10017
Dear Mr. Secretary General:
We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who have actively participated in the process leading-up to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Population and Development (Cairo+5), are writing with the urgent request that you actively reconsider the process by which the implementation of important LTN conferences are reviewed and appraised. The United Nations deserves credit for the leadership and vision that emerged in Cairo five years ago. It is generally agreed that the Cairo Consensus is an example of international decision-making at its best. The linkage of population with broader development concepts and principles of human rights including goals of gender equity and equality represented a paradigm shift that has profoundly influenced the scope and quality of reproductive health services. Concrete improvements in the lives and health of women, in particular, are the visible result. As you so aptly put it in your remarks to the UNGASS, "the implementation of the Cairo Plan of Action is perhaps the greatest challenge for us in the next century."
Regrettably, a process designed to be a review and appraisal of the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action became a debate about some of the fundamentals that were resoundingly agreed and firmly established in Cairo. During the Hague Forum, Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of LTNFPA, implored us to make certain that the ICPD Programme of Action should not simply become a "paper promise." We believe that the review and appraisal mandated by the General Assembly has been diverted from its original intention during the preparatory process leading up to the LTNGASS. The consequence is a situation in which procedures are prevailing over substance, and the scarce human and financial resources of the UN, governments and also of civil society are apparently being wasted.
Of equally grave concern is the extent to which the principles of equity, transparency, democracy, full participation of partners, and consensus building, which form the basis of the ICPD Programme of Action, and the UN process itself, have been challenged. As the Cairo+5 review process has evolved, NGOs have been increasingly marginalized, which has limited their meaningful input. Yet the critical role of NGOs in the full implementation of the Cairo agenda has been emphasized time and again. Further, procedures established at the UN to facilitate progress in meetings such as the Prep Corn, notably the practice of single spokespersons acting on behalf of blocks of countries, have unfortunately permitted a very small number of UN members to have a disproportionate voice to express their own ends at the expense of the vast majority of governments and civil society representatives. This fact has contributed to the prevention of a genuine consensus from emerging on key future actions for the implementation of the Cairo Consensus over the next fifteen years.
We would ask that you arrange to hold a consultation involving expert representatives of governments, NGOS, the Secretariat of the United Nations, its relevant specialized agencies, and other bodies, at the level of your own office, to discuss the implications that the ICPD+5 review and appraisal process has for future assessments of the implementation of important UN plans of action including, in the immediate term, the World Summit on Social Development and the Beijing Platform for Action. To facilitate this, NGOs resolve to provide a detailed analysis of the current five-year review and appraisal process.
It is our sincere hope that such an initiative will enhance the success of cost-effective reviews and appraisals of the practical implementation of major UN conferences. We are committed to assisting you in any way possible.
Sincerely,
NGO signatories
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