Issue No.77 - November 2007
In this issue:
o Overview
o UN Perspectives
o The UNEPS Project
o UNAs and Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
o NGOs on the Move
o Book Recommendation
o Film Recommendation
Message from WFUNA President Hans Blix
 On 7 November 2007 in Australia, Dr. Hans Blix received the Sydney Peace Prize "for principled and courageous opposition to proponents of war in Iraq, for life long advocacy of humanitarian law and non violence and for leadership of disarmament programs to rid the world of weapons of terror". The following is an excerpt from his acceptance speech:
"The subject of this lecture is globalization of peace. I shall tell you from the outset what my main messages are. First, I believe that in the long term the interdependence of nations that has already led to peace in a growing number of areas in the world, will lead to a globalization of peace, to a continued growth of international law and of common global institutions. Second, we must wake up to the troublesome current reality of new great power tensions, and incipient arms races. We must revive disarmament and further develop the multilateral system of co-operation, including the United Nations. Third, there are short, medium and long term threats both to life and peace if we do not husband the use of the earth's resources, restrain our use of fossil fuels and restrain the growth of the human population".
Read the full text of Dr. Blix's speech at http://peoplesgeography.com/2007/11/07/dr-hans-blix-2007/
WFUNA News- Blix Launches Students for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World
 On the occasion of United Nations Day, 24 October 2007, Dr. Hans Blix, President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations, launched "Students for a Nuclear Weapons-Free World" to engage young people from diverse academic disciplines in the preparations for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 8th Review Conference, 2010 - the most important conference on global disarmament in coming years.
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Who's Who at the UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed three Special Representatives and two Deputy Special Representatives for the African region:
 Former Danish Permanent Representative, Ellen Margrethe Løj will serve as Special Representative for Liberia.
 Former Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea, Choi Young-jin will be the Special Representative for Côte d'Ivoire.
 Former Special Representative of Liberia, Alan Doss will now be the Special Representative to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
 The UNICEF Representative in Burundi, Bintou Keita of Guinea will be the Deputy Special Representative for Burundi.
 Bacre Waly Ndiaye from Senegal, the Director of the Division of Human Rights Procedures at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, will now serve as Deputy Special Representative for the DRC.
 Ugandan Gaetano Kagwa, a past contestant of Big Brother Africa and host of Studio 53, an African lifestyle television program, has been appointed Special Representative for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
Jan Beagle of New Zealand will serve as Deputy Director-General of the UN Office in Geneva.
What's Happening at the UN
NGOs Meeting with GA President
9 November, New York
Second Internet Governance Forum
12 - 15 November 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Heads of National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Asia and the Pacific, thirty-first session
13 - 16 November 2007, Bangkok, Thailand
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's "Climate Change 2007: Synthesis Report" to be issued
16 November 2007, Valencia, Spain
Food and Agriculture Organization Conference
17 - 24 November 2007, Rome, Italy
Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Special Meeting in Observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
29 November 2007, New York
United Nations Climate Change Conference
3-14 December, Bali
Human Rights Council, resumed sixth session
10 - 14 December 2007, Geneva
International Human Rights Day
10 December 2007
UN Partnerships in Action: The Three Tiers
The feature of this issue is peacekeeping and peacebuilding. Please see section: "Issue that people are talking about".
 The 12th UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) will take place in Accra, Ghana from 20-25 April 2008, with the theme of "Addressing the Opportunities and Challenges for Globalization for Development". A civil society forum will be held from 17 to 25 April 2008, with the plenary session taking place on the first two days. Civil society organizations will discuss and finalize a statement to be presented at the opening plenary of the conference. The forum will continue its activities and events in parallel to the UNCTAD conference. NGOs can be accredited to UNCTAD. More information is available at: www.unctadxii.org
The Economic and Social Council adopted the themes for its Annual Ministerial Reviews for 2008 and 2009. The theme for 2008 is "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development" and the theme for 2009 is "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health".
The report detailing the results of the online consultation on the Draft Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights is now available for download on the NGLS website:
www.un-ngls.org
 OHCHR's relations with Civil Society
A Civil Society Unit has been established within the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to act as the main focal point for OHCHR's relations with civil
society actors. The Unit, headed by Ms. June Ray, falls under the direct supervision of the Deputy High Commissioner and aims primarily to be a catalyst for strengthening strategic partnerships with civil society, to increase access of rights holders to the UN HR mechanisms, bodies and the Office, to provide technical tools and advice to NGOs and to OHCHR colleagues working directly with civil society actors. An informal meeting will take place on 19 November 2007 at 15.00 in the Palais Wilson meeting room.
On November 16, The Academic Council of the UN System and the World Wide Education Web will be hosting "The United Nations and the New Media/Information Age:
Education for the Next Generation of "the People of the United Nations" conference both in Austria and online. The first session will deal with teaching UN subjects with the new technologies available, and the second session will be about Human Rights and the new media.
The full program is on www.acuns.at.
WFUNA Highlights
 WFUNA would like to congratulate the Executive Director of UNA-Ethiopia, Mussie Hailu for the appointment conferred upon him by the President of Burundi as Honorary Ambassador -At-Large of the Republic of Burundi to promote the peace, national reconciliation and development process of Burundi throughout the world.
The WFUNA delegation to the Bali Conference on Climate Change will be composed of the UNAs of: Australia, Ghana, India, and New Zealand. UNAs around the world are being encouraged to keep themselves informed about the role of the UN in promoting global cooperation on climate change issues. Please see www.wfuna.org/what/climatechange/index.cfm for relevant documents.
 UNAs STAND UP Against Poverty
Over 43.7 million people in 127 countries have broken the Guinness World record by nearly doubling the number of people participating in STAND UP Against Poverty Day since last year. UNAs participating in STAND UP included: Argentina, Belgium, Benin, Canada, Dominican Republic, Iran, Liberia, Malaysia, Norway, Sierra Leone, Turkey, and Uganda, amongst others. Notably, the UNA-Iran organized the first STAND UP event in the country, which saw the participation of 40 schools encompassing 16,854 students. (pictured)
 Regional Meeting of Latin American and Caribbean UNAs and UNICs
In the context of the Regional Model UN conference hosted by the UNA-Dominican Republic in October (see "Model UN News"), a meeting took place between UNAs and UN Information Centers (UNICs) from Latin America and the Caribbean. The participants from 9 UNAs and representatives from DPI emphasized the importance and mutual benefits of strengthening their collaboration. They engaged in a lively and constructive exchange of best practices, and ideas for communicating the messages of the UN. Outcomes included:
- UNIC-UNA partnerships for establishing new UNAs
- Collaboration on the organization of touring UN film festivals
- Possibilities for the establishment of virtual/physical depository libraries at UNAs
- Shared educational outreach such as Cyber Schoolbus
- Unified email and skype addresses for UNAs
 These outcomes were reported to UN Under-Secretary-General for Communication and Public Information, Kiyo Akasaka, and WFUNA Secretary-General, Pera Wells who attended the conference. Follow-up is already under-way in the region.
The UNA-Haiti hosted the "Hearing on a Proposition for an International Conference on Languages to coincide with International Year of Languages (2008)" at the Church Center in New York on 7 November 2007. The UNA is planning to hold a conference on languages in Haiti next year.
The UNA-UK Westminster branch organized the event 'New challenges facing the United Nations and its Member States' with HRH Prince Turki Al-Faisal as the keynote speaker.
The UNA-Sri Lanka organized the 57th annual national observance ceremony of UN Day. As in years past, the event saw the participation of high-level government officials, students, academics, and the UN Resident Coordinator. A 16-year-old student, who won the UNAs Study Circle contest, delivered the keynote address on the theme of 'global warming.' Other prizes were handed out for best Study Circle 2006, and for accomplishments within the UNA.
Other UN Day events organized by UNAs are mentioned in the "Model UN News" and "UNAs and Peacebuilding and Peacekeeping" sections.
 WFUNA, WFUNA-Youth and the Indian Federation of UNAs are organizing the "Global Youth MDG Summit - Mumbai 2008", a project focused on empowering young people to use their motivation, creativity and new communications technologies available to them to take action to achieve the MDGs. Events will include a conference in India August 2008, and will conclude with the production of eight MDG films, which will be featured in a film festival at the UN in New York and on the internet around Stand Up Against Poverty Day in October 2008. More information will soon be available on the WFUNA website.
 The World Federation Latin American and Caribbean Regional Model UN Conference/ International Conference of the Americas hosted in October by the UNA-Dominican Republic , was a success! Congratulations go to Pilar Sandoval and her great team. Over 1,500 students participated in the  Model UN, which simulated 13 different organs of the UN. The conference included morning seminars on UN issues, a corporate social responsibility fair, a cultural dance show, and a "world cup" football match. There was a parallel regional meeting of UNA and UNIC representatives (see above). President of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernández Reyna gave the keynote address at the closing session.
On UN Day the UNA-Democratic Republic of the Congo organized a Model UN Conference in Bukavu, South -Kivu. The Conference brought together more than 150 students from about 45 universities in the country, as well as several senior personalities from provincial authorities and UN Agencies.
The WFUNA Secretariat is creating a calendar of UNA Model UN conferences around the world, as a tool for connecting the organizers and participants of the conferences with each other. This is the first step in compiling a document of best-practices that UNAs can draw on for ideas and advise on planning and implementing a Model UN. To have your event included, please send information to: pant@wfuna.org
New Faces at the Secretariat
Interning at the Geneva office, Yining Li from China is a student of the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels, pursuing her second Masters Degree in Human Ecology. Yining is interested in combining her skills and interest to develop projects on environmental and humanitarian issues. In the future she would like to work in Africa, Asia, or the Middle East in the area of sustainable development.
Rayane Ben Amor from Tunis is a recent graduate of the University of Lausanne (Switzerland) in political sciences. He is interested in political theory, and the topic of struggle of powers. Rayane is interning at the Geneva office.
Keltoum Irbah has a doctorate in sociology from the University of Geneva, with a focus on the issue of refugees. She has worked as an assistant lecturer, a coordinator of an educational program for an NGO, and has taken part in the organization of the Human Rights Festival in Geneva. Currently interning at the Geneva office, Keltoum would like to pursue a professional career in human rights.
Millennium Project News
2007 International Futures Conference: Futures Intelligence Capacity - making the future relevant today
From 6-8 November 2007 at Stellenbosch University, the South African Node of the Millennium Project is organizing the International Futures Conference, which offers delegates a powerful three-day learning experience to obtain the latest thinking on, and insight into future issues. The central focus of the Conference is the creation and use of 'future intelligence capacity' to promote the goals of a successful knowledge society. With leading international and African speakers, groundbreaking new content and ample time for networking, this is an investment in your future. Visit the Conference website at www.sampnode.co.za or www.ifr.sun.ac.za
Topic of the Month: Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
Overview on Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
 The United Nations was established 'to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.' Two mechanisms used to facilitate this are Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding.
Peacekeeping is a third-party intervention (often, but not always done by military forces) to assist parties in transitioning from conflict to peace. The Department of Peacekeeping Operations, lead by Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guéhenno, aims to alleviate human suffering, and create conditions and build institutions for self-sustaining peace.
Successful peacekeeping operations require sustained interest from the international community, along with detailed plans for state-building based on the intrinsic goals of disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and reconstruction.
At the beginning of 2006, UN peacekeeping supported 18 peace operations and 13 other field missions and offices, involving approximately 85,000 deployed personnel. By August 2007, this number had grown to over 100,000 personnel, excluding the highly complex African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur.
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Creating a UN Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding capacity to Prevent Massive Loss of Human Life: the UNEPS Project
Robert Zuber, Global Action to Prevent War and UNEPS Project
 The United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS) project is being developed by a group of international experts and civil society leaders as an individually recruited, gender integrated, rapid-response, standing UN capacity that can help put an end to genocide and crimes against humanity occurring anywhere in the world. As a 'first in, first out' service, UNEPS will work in tandem with other UN and regional capacities, positively impacting both the duration and cost of peacekeeping operations that are often insufficiently trained and arrive on the scene too late to stop violence in its formative stages. Now in its fourth year, the UNEPS initiative is well on its way to becoming a permanent capacity to help the international community honor its 'responsibility to protect' civilians in times of genocidal violence and other humanitarian crises.
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UN Perspectives : Ms. Marjatta Rasi
 In September, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed former Finnish Permanent Representative to the UN, Ms. Marjatta Rasi as the first Chair of the Peacebuilding Fund Advisory Group. Ms. Rasi is currently the Under-Secretary of State for Development in Finland and the Governor for Finland in the Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. During her tenure as Permanent Representative, she was involved in the creation of the ECOSOC ad hoc advisory mechanism on countries emerging from conflict. In the following interview with UN Connections, Ms. Rasi talks about her new appointment, the role of UN peacebuilding, and the work of the Fund:
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UNAs and Peacebuilding a nd Peacekeeping
Please see UNA-Georgia’s activities on Peacekeeping in the “UNA of the Month” section.
In the context of their UN Day celebrations, the UNA-Australia New South Wales division celebrated the 60th Anniversary of Australia's Involvement in UN Peacekeeping Operations at the Cenotaph Ceremony, and the Conference/Luncheon at Parliament House the next day.
 UNA-UK and Globe for Darfur held a rally of 1,200 people outside the Sudanese Embassy in L ondon before moving on to Downing Street . Several high profile speakers addressed the rally, among them L ord Malloch-Brown, Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow International Development Secretary, and several Darfur survivors. The day’s theme was ‘don’t look away now’, symbolized by the participants wearing blindfolds.
 UNA-UK is holding its 5th Annual conference to mark International Day of UN Peacekeepers in L ondon on 21 May 2008. The conference theme will be ‘Better preparation and shared experiences lead to better UN peacekeeping’. The event will provide an important opportunity to discuss the challenges facing the military, police and civilians serving the UN in the fields of peacekeeping and peace building.
The UNA-Canada peacekeeping project together with the Children and Armed Conflict Forum held a public dialogue in Toronto on UN peacekeeping and children affected by war. The discussion emphasized the point that peacekeepers can play an important role as technical advisors to local child protection authorities, such as local community leaders, local police, etc. In general, greater focus on child protection by peacekeeping missions was endorsed.
During its 2007 UN Day celebrations, the UNA-Sri Lanka observed a moment of silence to remember all those who had served under the UN flag and passed away during the past year in UN peacekeeping activities across the World, including a few Sri Lankan Defense and Police personnel.
NGOs on the Move
 Nairobi Peace Initiative Africa (NPI Africa) holds an annual training for NGOs and Faith Based Organizations on issues such as conflict analysis, conflict transformation, peacebuilding skills, and peace and reconciliation after protracted violence, with an emphasis on Africa. www.npi-africa.org
 Search for Common Ground promotes the project Radio for Peacebuilding in Africa. The project is based on the belief that radio has huge potential to have a positive impact on conflict in Africa, where it is the most effective method of communication. It aims to develop, spread, and encourage the use of radio broadcasting techniques and content for peacebuilding. www.radiopeaceafrica.org
 OneVoice is a grassroots movement designed to empower Israelis and Palestinians to achieve a consensus on core issues that can form a roadmap for conflict resolution. Through the Youth Leadership Program, young leaders learn how to lead and organize their communities against extremism. Over the last 18 months, over 1,500 young Palestinian and Israeli activists have completed the training. www.onevoicemovement.org
 Hague Appeal for Peace is an international network of organizations and individuals dedicated to the abolition of war and making peace a human right. It coordinates the Global Campaign for Peace Education, which seeks to develop the capacities, in teachers and students, to face challenges of unprecedented proportion, such as the continued development of weapons of mass destruction, armed conflicts between states and ethnic groups, racism and community violence. The goal is to assure that all educational systems throughout the world will educate for a culture of peace. www.haguepeace.org
Iniciativa de Mujeres Colombianas por la Paz (Initiative of Colombian Women for Peace) is an alliance of women's organizations that works to achieve the participation of women in the negotiation and dialogues relating to armed conflict. Through the campaign Operation Sirirí the organizations puts pressure on government and the armed actors to achieve humanitarian agreements and the liberation of all kidnapped people. www.mujeresporlapaz.org
Book Recommenda tion:
Building Sustainable Peace
Edited by Thomas F. Keating and W. Andy Knight, 2004, United Nations University Press
 This collection of fifteen papers by various authors addresses peace building in the context of a post-Cold War and globalizing sociopolitical environment. Building Sustainable Peace highlights the importance of engaging stakeholder groups including civil society, and it critically analyzes examples of peace building strategies through a diversity of perspectives. Building Sustainable Peace presents a timely and original overview of the field of peace studies and offers fresh analytical tools that promote a critical reconceptualization of peace and conflict, while also making specific reference to peacebuilding strategies employed in recent international conflicts.
WFUNA Honorary President Douglas Roche is a contributor to this book.
Film Recommendation:
The Peacekeepers
2005 Directed by: Paul Cowan
 The Peacekeepers follows the determined and often desperate attempts to avert another Rwandan disaster, this time in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Keeping the peace in the DRC, a war torn country, is no easy task. The soldiers and civilians deployed under the flag of the UN face many difficulties and dangers as they try to prevent massacres, promote reconciliation, and help rebuild a fragmented nation. The crisis described in the film takes place in the northeastern region of the DRC, where rival tribes, militias and foreign invaders all seek to gain from instability and violence, and to exploit the region's rich mineral wealth. The Peacekeepers gives unprecedented insight into the major issues and dilemmas of peacekeeping in conflict zones. Focusing on the UN mission, the film switches back and forth between UN headquarters in New York and events on the ground in the DRC. In the background, but often impinging on peacekeeping decisions, are the painful memory of Rwanda, the worsening crisis in Iraq, global terrorism, and American hegemony in world affairs. The way the UN wrestled with the crisis presented in the film illustrates many of the roles, responsibilities, challenges and risks of peacekeeping and nation-building. The film is available on DVD, and the film's website provides a free study guide to accompany the film. www.onf.ca/webextension/peace/en/
UNA of the Month: UNA-Georgia
Peace & Confidence Building Camps
Founded in 1995 UNA-Georgia (UNAG) is successfully implementing programs in the field of Peace & Confidence Building in Georgia and in the South Caucasus region.
 UNAG International Educational Center near Tbilisi, hosted Peace & Confidence Building Camps this summer, with youth participation from Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. The one-week program included seminars and trainings on peacebuilding and conflict resolution. The students were involved in various sports and intellectual competitions. The friendly atmosphere helped the participants to remain in constant intercultural discussions on different issues, arrange various cultural evenings, stage performances and offer their traditional cuisine to each other.
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