CSW 52 - February - March 2008

Review of the World Fit for Children : December 2007

The NGO Committee on UNICEF hosted 2 major events at the December meetings.

One was a breakfast to celebrate the contributions made by individuals and countries to further the Agenda of the World Fit for Children document.

The other was a side event - Voices from the Regions.  The NGOC's 3 Working Groups also hosted side events.

REPORTS OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS

Annual General Meeting of the NGO Committee on UNICEF :

5 June 2007

The meeting took place on 5th June at the Church centre, New York. Minutes.

51st Session of the Committee on the Status of Women

The 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is now history, but it won't be forgotten. Perhaps it wasn't the first time girls had addressed the CSW (that was 1998), but it was definitely the largest number of under age 18 NGO delegates, 207, to be seen at the United Nations Headquarters. (Only the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in 2002 might have had more.)

Members of the Working Group on Girls of the NGO Committee on UNICEF, which sought to make girls visible at the meetings, certainly achieved its goal. For example, a girl delegate from South Africa delivered her country's statement; over 80 girls took part in the girls' orientation, three spoke at the NGO consultation day conference, over 50 parallel events had girl participants, and a girls' speak out held in the overflowing ECOSOC Chamber drew international press coverage.

Each afternoon at 3:00 p.m., the 50-member girls' caucus met in "the girls' tent". Their activities included: reading and suggesting changes to the draft-agreed conclusions; planning how to deliver these suggestions to government delegates; discussing plans for combating violence against girls in their own communities and countries; and preparing a daily report and list of suggestions for next year to deliver at the morning NGO briefings.

The Working Group had also raised money to sponsor girls to come for the CSW, calling it the Mary Purcell Grant for Girls, in honour of their co-founder Mary Purcell.  The warm reception for the Mary Purcell travelship grantees from nine different countries brought all ages together to reaffirm their belief in empowering girls to be their own advocates. The event featured a presentation of $100 to each girl to undertake projects at home, and ended with the girls' version of an international favorite, "Kumbaya". (Report submitted by Carolyn Donovan, Virginia Gildersleeve International Fund)

World Summit - September 2005
2005 United Nations World Summit
UN Headquarters, New York
14-16 September 2005

Overview of the UN World Summit
http://www.un.org/ga/59/hl60_plenarymeeting.html

The 2005 UN World Summit
Draft Outcome Document
http://www.un.org/ga/59/hlpm_rev.2.pdf

NGOC AGM - June 2006
Annual General Meeting of the NGOC on UNICEF took place on 8 June 2006 at the Church Center, New York.

Agenda included "Looking Back" at the NGOC's work in the last year and "Looking Forward". Special emphasis was made to the road to the 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW in March 2007) focusing on "The elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child". Minutes.

NGOC AGM - June 5, 2005
The 2005 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the NGO Committee on UNICEF was held in New York. More than thirty members were present and significantly more participated through regional and working group meetings leading up to the AGM. A number of new initiatives were introduced, including a strategic plan for the future of the NGOC, the new working group on Children with Disabilities, and a new Website design plan. Download at: http://ngocomunicef.org/images/agmminutes05.doc.


NGOC AGM - June 2004
The 2005 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the NGO Committee on UNICEF was held in New York. Download AGM Minutes.


NGOC AGM - January 2003
Minutes of the NGO Committee on UNICEF AGM from 2003 are located at: http://detirossii.ru/ComUN010603.htm.