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---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Members, The NGO Committee on UNICEF (NGOC) has certainly not been hibernating through the cold winter months in the Northern Hemisphere.
In our last report at the beginning of 2005, we summarized a number of the accomplishments of the NGO Committee on UNICEF during the year 2004. Last year has been an equally busy and productive one, starting with a consultation organised by the NGOC on UNICEF's Draft Medium Term Strategic Plan (MTSP). UNICEF representatives gave a presentation on the MTSP and invited the participants to ask questions and make suggestions. UNICEF's newly appointed Deputy Executive Director, Rima Salah also attended, and thanked NGOs for their valuable contribution in the field and acknowledged the fact that UNICEF need to work with NGOs as partners to achieve the goals that the draft MTSP has set.
The NGOC AGM was held on June 4, 2005 and was well attended by members of the NGO Community as well as UNICEF staff members. Besides presentations on the draft MTSP and the Millennium Development Goals the Regional Coordinators of the NGOC also had the opportunity to report on their region's activities. The AGM was followed on June 7 th by a breakfast meeting with the new Executive Director of UNICEF, Ms. Ann Veneman. Heads of member organisations of the NGOC welcomed Ms. Veneman and asserted their support for UNICEF's mission, to promote the best interests of the child.
June was a busy month for the NGOC as we also made a statement at the UNICEF Executive Board session. The statement, while supporting the general outline of the draft MTSP, asked “ for recognition of child protection in emergencies and conflict situations, for more efforts for quality education in both formal and informal settings, for more cross-cutting recognition of children with disabilities in all five focus areas of the MTSP, for child participation and for continued enhancement of partnership building where UNICEF and NGOs work together sharing common goals in our mutually supportive roles for children's rights.”
On the 18 th of October 2005, the NGOC organised a briefing regarding a variety of topics of interest to the NGO Community. Ms Wivina Belmonte introduced UNICEF's Global Campaign Against AIDS, which was launched on October 25, 2005. Ms Farida Ali, informed the group of UNICEF's Islamic Initiative, the launch of a booklet, “Investing in the Islamic Child”. There was a presentation on the progress of the World Fit for Children document and finally the meeting concluded with a report on the United Nations Secretary General's Study on Violence Against Children.
We anticipate that the coming months will be equally active as we prepare for our Annual Meeting in June and launch additional, new initiatives. We have relaunched our website www.ngocomunicef.org .and invite your comments and suggestions.
We hope you will agree that the NGO Committee has grown, expanded its reach globally, produced first-class advocacy work, and enhanced its profile within UNICEF. These accomplishments reflect the vision and hard work of our membership, and also your financial support. Sincerely yours, Tom Kennedy Hourig Babikian Co-Chairs,
NGO Committee on UNICEF Minutes of the AGM of the NGO Committee on UNICEF from 2005 are located at: http://ngocomunicef.org/images/agmminutes05.doc
Minutes from the 2004 NGO Committee on UNICEF AGM will be made available soon. 2004 NGOC Report
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Minutes of the AGM of the
NGO Committee on UNICEF from 2003 are located at: http://detirossii.ru/ComUN010603.htm.
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