The United Nations, NGOs and Global Governance

Table of Contents

• FOREWARD
• OVERVIEW OF THE CONFERENCE DEBATE
• INTRODUCTION
• THE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA
• THE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA AND COOPERATION, CONFERENCE FOLLOW-UP, AND UN-NGO COLLABORATION
• WHITHER THE UNITED NATIONS?
• NGOS AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE
• THE GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AGENDA AND DEMOCRACY, EFFECTIVE ADVOCACY WORK, AND THE ECOSOC REVIEW ON NGO ARRANGEMENTS
• STRENGTHENING UN-NGO COOPERATION: VIEWS FROM THE UN SYSTEM
• THE UN, NGOS AND GLOBAL GOVERNANCE: CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
• CLOSURE
• Annex I: PROGRAMME
• Annex II: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
• Annex III: LIST OF ACRONYMS

CLOSURE

When closing the conference, Tony Hill said it had thrown considerable light on a range of issues at the core of UN-NGO cooperation, and cooperation between NGOs in their international advocacy work. Participants had contributed valuable insights and observations on vital, substantive issues such as the international development agenda, global governance and the reform of the UN. The conference had also examined in some detail how NGOs work on international issues at the UN, and issues related to the NGO role, including representation, accountability and transparency.

Participants had recognised that international advocacy work has to begin at, and be taken back to, the national level if it is to be meaningful. Being effective at the international level depends upon being effective at the national level, which requires better national-level NGO organization and cooperation. At the international level, equitable, transparent and accountable systems of NGO participation will require more dialogue, collaboration, trust and solidarity among the NGO community. At the same time NGOs are challenged to improve the effectiveness and transparency of their work at the international level and to link this clearly to the concerns of people in their countries.

Perhaps the most important contribution of the conference had been to establish the framework, agenda and impetus to take this dialogue forward. For its part, the United Nations has been challenged to become more democratic, effective and coherent in the pursuit of its goals, and more flexible and user-friendly vis-à-vis the NGO community. At the same time NGOs are challenged to improve the effectiveness and transparency of their work at the international level and to link this clearly to the concerns of people in their countries. Many of the issues raised by the conference will be at the heart of the UN-NGO dialogue in the period ahead.