Annual Civil Society Briefing

Ladies and Gentlemen
Dear Colleagues:

First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to you for attending this very important meeting. It is important to me because partnerships with NGOs and civil society are a priority for me in our daily work.

I would like to start by making a short statement on our priorities, and then I am ready to listen to your comments and answer your questions.

At our meeting last year, I shared with you the Secretary-General’s five-year action plan. The five priority areas in the plan are: sustainable development; prevention; supporting nations in transition; building a more secure world; and empowering women and young people. All our current work takes place within that framework. Partnerships – with civil society and other stakeholders – are critical to progress across all of the five areas.

Today, I would like to highlight a number of challenges where I see a particular role for civil society, given the strengths of the United Nations system in Geneva.

First, sustainable development. Last week, we entered the final 1,000 days before the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals – the MDGs. And the sustainable development challenge remains urgent. Despite important progress in improving peoples’ well-being, more than one billion people still live in poverty. Inequality and exclusion are daily realities for far too many.

The MDGs have provided a strong, clear and measurable framework for development. We need to build on the achievements with equally strong Sustainable Development Goals after 2015. The MDGs and the SDGs are mutually supporting concepts.

NGOs must be an integral part of the process of follow-up to Rio+20 and in elaborating the Sustainable Development Goals. NGOs have specialized competence, hands-on experience and flexibility that is of great value. They need to bring to the table their knowledge of the challenges on the ground and of practical solutions that work.

A number of key forthcoming meetings present opportunities for civil society to contribute to this work. The annual substantive session of the Economic and Social Council will take place from 1 to 26 July here in Geneva. The Annual Ministerial Review will focus on the central theme of “Science, technology and innovation, and the potential of culture, for promoting sustainable development and achieving the MDGs”. I particularly encourage NGOs to engage themselves in the Innovation Fair which will take place during the High-level Segment, exhibiting solutions for the reduction of hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

In September, there will be a High-level special event in New York on the Millennium Development Goals to assess progress and discuss the post-2015 development framework. Towards this end, the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel of Eminent Persons will hold regular consultations and report to him at the end of May. In addition, the Secretary-General’s “Network Solutions for Sustainable Development” and the national consultation process initiated by the United Nations Development Group represent valuable avenues for discussion and exchange of best practice. I have no doubt that the expertise of civil society here in Geneva will feed into these different processes.

Second, disarmament. As the world’s disarmament capital, Geneva remains a key platform for advancing international peace and security through arms control and disarmament. The stalemate in the Conference on Disarmament and the very serious challenges to non-proliferation in North East Asia are causes for deep concern. We need to create momentum for meaningful progress in multilateral disarmament, and today I reiterate my call to civil society to continue engaging fully on the disarmament agenda to help create that momentum.

Against this background, the adoption by the General Assembly last week – after seven years of discussion – of the first-ever treaty to regulate the international trade of conventional weapons, with a total value of over 70 billion dollars, is particularly important. The concerted efforts of civil society advocates were essential to sustaining momentum for action in this area. It is my hope that lessons can be learned from this process of advocacy to be applied in other disarmament areas.
Third, empowerment. Gender equality and promotion of the role of youth are not only key objectives in their own right but also the foundation for achieving other goals, such as poverty reduction and sustainable development. In this context, I should like to commend the engagement of many civil society actors here in Geneva in promoting the empowerment of women and youth, including by joining in the fight against violence against women and female genital mutilation.

Nevertheless, the continued prevalence of violence against women and girls demonstrates that this global pandemic is yet to be tackled with the necessary political commitment and resources. Recent assessments by UNICEF indicate that at least 120 million girls and women have suffered mutilation operations in 29 countries. According to UN Women, in some countries, up to 7 out of 10 women are beaten, raped, abused or mutilated in their lives. A more coherent and strategic approach is needed from Governments, the international community and civil society. The Secretary-General’s UNiTE to End Violence against Women campaign aims to raise public awareness and increase political will and resources for preventing and ending all forms of violence against women and girls. Civil society has a key role to play in support of this initiative.

Fourth, human rights. There is no doubt that the extensive human rights machinery in Geneva benefits from the active engagement of civil society. The work of human rights defenders, across the globe, needs to be encouraged and human rights defenders themselves must be protected. I welcome the continued focus on the protection of human rights defenders by civil society here in Geneva. The contributions to the Human Rights Council are particularly important, and UNOG continues its work to ensure appropriate participation of civil society in this key body.

In the context of human rights, I should like to highlight the importance that I place on improving access for persons with disabilities. This is a challenge that is shared by the entire United Nations system. The estimated one billion people worldwide who live with disabilities are still excluded from fair access to resources such as education, employment, healthcare and social and legal support systems. Within a context of limited resources, UNOG continues its efforts to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities as a priority.

The one-day high-level meeting of the General Assembly on disability on 23 September this year, taking place under the title “The way forward: a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond”, will be another important occasion for strengthening efforts to ensure accessibility for and inclusion of persons with disabilities.

In conclusion, allow me to add a few words about our support for the Secretary-General’s reform agenda and the impact of the current economic situation on our work. As you know, the Secretary-General last year requested the Secretariat to reduce its support budget submission by 5%. The General Assembly subsequently requested an additional budget reduction in the order of 100 million dollars. Like the rest of the UN Secretariat, UNOG is complying and absorbing these budget cuts, and is consequently rationalizing its programme delivery.

We strive to minimize the effect of cuts on services. But, as highlighted by the Secretary-General, it is unrealistic to think that substantial budget reductions will have no impact. A number of posts will be phased out over a period ending in 2015. 29 posts are affected at UNOG. We have so far managed to ensure that services provided to civil society are not going to be impacted at this stage.

As you know, through the NGO Liaison Unit we have increased and improved the outreach to civil society here in Geneva, with substantive briefings on current priorities and forthcoming meetings. We will continue to emphasize this substantive engagement, and we look forward to working closely with all of you in this regard.

Dear Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen:

As Director-General, I am firmly committed to facilitating the participation of civil society in the work of the United Nations, in line with the framework established by Member States.

Civil society voices and views are critical to a meaningful global debate, and I commend your dedication and achievements.

Serving as an active civil society is an important role and also a big responsibility. It requires respect for the views of others and for the rules and regulations in place. You may rely on my support, just as I count on your understanding and cooperation.

I have no doubt that we shall have a fruitful debate as in previous years and a good exchange.
Allow me also to introduce my senior staff who are with me today: Mr. Clemens Adams who is Director of Administration and Mr. Joshua Lincoln who is my Chef de Cabinet.

I thank you for attending and for listening and I look forward to your questions and comments.

Thank you very much.