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International Bulletin - Fall 1997

President's Message

PPSEAWA's Twentieth International Conference, and its Pre-Conference Workshop, held in Malaysia, were marvelously successful. We all owe a tremendous vote of thanks to Datin Ann Majeed and her team, who all worked so hard to give us such a wonderful experience. At the Council meetings held immediately after the close of the Conference, Datin Ann, our new First Vice-President, said that the recommendations of the Pre-Conference Workshop and those of the Conference itself should be combined into a single document, which would serve as our guideline for future actions, and that PPSEAWA-Malaysia would not consider its work complete until they had accomplished that synthesis. It's a big job, and will take some considerable time to finish, and we thank PPSEAWA-Malaysia for undertaking it.

I have been traveling almost continuously since the end of the Conference. I visited three of PPSEAWA-USA's local Chapters and then represented us at the Triennial General Assembly at CONGO (Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations) in Geneva, Switzerland. CONGO is a voluntary organization of 230 accredited NGOs, which serves as an important liason between the NGO community and the UN Secretariat.

The main theme of the CONGO meeting was "Defining the Future," with discussions which considered topics including: the definitions of "NGO" and "civil society"; the achievement of true partnership between NGOs and the UN; interaction of NGOs with market/economic forces; the future of the UN end its prospects for reform.

The CONGO, of which PPSEAWA has been a member for many years, is active in preparatory discussions for two future major meetings: a "World NGO Conference," to be held in Japan in 1999 and a "Forum of the Millennium," proposed by the new UN Secretary General to be held in New York in the year 2000. Both of these meetings are just in the planning stages, and nothing definite has been decided as yet. Our United Nations Representatives and I will keep you posted.

Last Modified: November 29, 2002