BRIEFING NOTE 3 ON THE WORLD CONFERENCE
August 24, 2000
NGO Liason for the WCAR
Friends:
Briefing Note 3 is intended to update
you on new developments and to
provide information in response to frequently asked questions.
(1) Regional Meeting for the Americas
The Group of Latin American and Caribbean
States (GRULAC) has decided that
Canada and the USA will be full participants in the Regional meeting in
Santiago, Chile, 4-6 December.
(2) Information Concerning NGO Participation
in the Regional Expert
Seminars
NGOs wishing to participate in the
regional expert seminars being organized
by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in preparation for
the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and
Related Intolerance (WCAR) should note the following:
a. If your organization has consultative
status with the United Nations
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) or has been accredited to the WCAR,
your NGO will receive an invitation to participate as an "observer".
Observers may take part in the Seminar discussions and distribute
documents.
b. If your organization has neither
ECOSOC consultative status nor
accreditation to the WCAR, your representative(s) may follow the seminar as
from the public gallery. However, persons in the public gallery do not
participate in the seminar discussions; nor can they distribute
documentation.
c. In order to ensure access to the
Seminar, any NGO wishing to attend,
must forward to our Office by mail or facsimile, on official letterhead,
the names of its designated representative(s) as soon as possible.
d. For further inquiries on specific
expert seminars, please contact the
following persons:
Expert Seminar for Asia (Bangkok),
5-7 September 2000. Theme:
"Migrants and Trafficking of Persons, with Particular Reference to
Women and Children" (Point Person: Gloria
Nwabuogu. Tel. 41-22 917-9394.)
Expert Seminar for Africa (Addis
Ababa), 4-6 October 2000. Theme:
"Preventing Ethnic and Racial Conflict" (Point Person: Aziz
Ndiaye.
Tel. 41-22 917-9826.)
Expert Seminar for Latin America
(Santiago de Chile), 25-27 October
2000. Theme: Economic, Social and Legal Measures to Combat Racial
Discrimination, with Particular Reference to Vulnerable Groups (Point
Person:. Tel. 41-22 917-9129).
(3) Financial Support for NGO Participation
in the Regional Preparatory
Meetings
The Office of the High Commissioner
has secured funding to subsidize the
participation of NGOs in the Regional Preparatory meetings for Africa
(Dakar, Senegal, 2-4 November 2000), the Americas (Santiago, Chile, 4-6
December) and Asia (Teheran, Iran, 19-21 February). In each case, NGOs will
meet for at least one day prior to the Regional Preparatory meeting.
For each region, one NGO has been
asked to take charge of the logistical
arrangements for NGOs for that meeting, and to establish a steering
committee for the region (approximately 8-10 organizations, representing
all geographic sub-regions and relevant social sectors, e.g., minorities,
indigenous, women, youth). The regional steering committees are presently
establishing criteria for selecting the NGOs to be subsidized in their
region. They will then select the NGOs which will receive financial
assistance on the basis of these criteria.
NGOs wishing to attend the Regional
Preparatory meetings and in need of
financial assistance should write to the organization charged with
logistical arrangements for that region (as noted below).
For Africa (in Dakar, Senegal, 1-4
November). at
Rencontre africaine pour la défense des droits de l'homme (RADDHO)
or fax. (221) 824-6052.
For the Americas (in Santiago, Chile,
3-6 December 2000). Ms. Inés
Reichel, at the Instituto Inter-Americano de Derechos Humanos (IIDH) or
fax. (506) 234-0955.
For Asia (in Teheran, Iran, 18-21
February 2001.
at the International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and
Racism (IMADR) or fax. (94-1) 682-505.
All NGOs wishing to attend the Regional
Preparatory meetings have to be
accredited to the World Conference if they do not have Consultative Status.
(Please see Briefing Note 2 for details on accreditation.)
(4) Financial Support for NGO Participation in Other Regional NGO Meetings
As noted in Briefing Note 3, the
OHCHR is supporting four other regional
meetings at which NGOs will be able to plan their input into the NGO Forum
to take place in South Africa in parallel with the World Conference. The
dates and venues of these meetings are not yet firmly established. However,
the following organizations are charged with organizing the regional
consultations. In each case, regional steering committees are being
established to elaborate the criteria for selecting NGOs to participate,
selecting participants, and planning the programme.
As is the case with the Regional
Preparatory meetings described above, if
your NGO wishes to participate in these regional NGO meetings, please
contact the organizing NGO and describe (in a few paragraphs) their NGO
and its involvement in the struggle against racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia or related intolerance; why it is important that a
representative of their organization attend the NGO consultation; and the
contribution they expect to make. NGOs should also feel free to nominate
other organizations they think should attend. Since time is short, if at
all possible, use e-mail -- if not, use fax -- as follows:
For Africa (in Botswana, probably
in the week 21-26 January 2001).
Contact: , Human
Rights Centre, University of Pretoria, or Fax. (27-12) 362-5125.
For Asia and the Pacific (probably
in Amman, Jordan). Contact: Mr.
Nizam Assaf, Arab Organization for Human Rights or Fax. (962-6) 465-4262.
For the Americas (Quito, Ecuador).
Contact: at Agencia
Latinoamerican de Informacion (ALAI) or Fax.
(593-2) 505-073; or contact
at Human Rights Internet
(HRI) at or Fax. (1-613) 789-7414.
For Eastern and Central Europe (Warsaw,
Poland, 13-18 November).
Contact, , Helsinki
Foundation for Human Rights, at
or fax. (48-22) 828-1008, 828-6996 or
826-9875.
(5) NGO Forum in South Africa
At this point in time, I have no
further information on the NGO Forum or on
assistance to NGOs to attend the World Conference itself. The OHCHR is
working on this and, as soon as information is available, I will share it
with you.
(6) Information to Post on the Web
NGOs who have information concerning
the World Conference that they wish to
post on the web, please send it to me electronically and it will be posted
on <www.hri.ca/racism>.
Also, remember that all official information is
posted on the website of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights, click on World Conference Against Racism.
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