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The world's leaders, meeting at United Nations Headquarters
in New York from 14 to 16 September, agreed to take action on a range
of global challenges: DEVELOPMENT
- Strong and unambiguous commitment by all governments, in donor
and developing nations alike, to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals by 2015.
- Additional $50 billion a year by 2010 for fighting poverty.
- Commitment by all developing countries to adopt national plans
for achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2006.
- Agreement to provide immediate support for quick impact
initiatives to support anti-malaria efforts, education, and
healthcare.
- Commitment to innovative sources of financing for development,
including efforts by groups of countries to implement an
International Finance Facility and other initiatives to finance
development projects, in particular in the health sector.
- Agreement to consider additional measures to ensure long-term
debt sustainability through increased grant based financing,
cancellation of 100 per cent of the official multilateral and
bilateral debt of heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs). Where
appropriate, to consider significant debt relief or restructuring
for low and middle-income developing countries with unsustainable
debt burdens that are not part of the HIPC initiative.
- Commitment to trade liberalization and expeditious work towards
implementing the development dimensions of the Doha work programme.
TERRORISM
- Clear and unqualified condemnation by all governments, for the
first time of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,
committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes.
- Strong political push for a comprehensive convention against
terrorism within a year. Support for early entry into force of the
Nuclear Terrorism Convention. All states are encouraged to join
and implement it as well as the 12 other antiterrorism
conventions.
- Agreement to fashion a strategy to fight terrorism in a way
that makes the international community stronger and terrorists
weaker.
PEACEBUILDING, PEACEKEEPING, AND PEACEMAKING
- Decision to create a Peace building Commission to help
countries transition from war to peace, backed by a support
office and a standing fund.
- New standing police capacity for UN peacekeeping operations.
- Agreement to strengthen the Secretary-General's capacity for
mediation and good offices.
RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT
Clear and unambiguous acceptance by all governments of the
collective international responsibility to protect populations
from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against
humanity. Willingness to take timely and decisive collective
action for this purpose, through the Security Council, when
peaceful means prove inadequate and national authorities are
manifestly failing to do it. HUMAN RIGHTS,
DEMOCRACY AND RULE OF LAW
- Decisive steps to strengthen the UN human rights
machinery, backing the action plan and doubling the budget of
the High Commissioner.
- Agreement to establish a UN Human Rights Council during
the coming year.
- Reaffirmation of democracy as a universal value, and
welcome for new Democracy Fund which has already received
pledges of $32 million from 13 countries.
- Commitment to eliminate pervasive gender discrimination,
such as inequalities in education and ownership of property,
violence against women and girls and to end impunity for such
violence.
- Ratification action taken during the Summit triggered the
entry into force of the Convention Against Corruption.
MANAGEMENT REFORM
- Broad strengthening of the UN's oversight capacity,
including the Office of Internal Oversight Services,
expanding oversight services to additional agencies, calling
for developing an independent oversight advisory committee,
and further developing a new ethics office.
- Update the UN by reviewing all mandates older than five
years, so that obsolete ones can be dropped to make room for
new priorities.
- Commitment to overhauling rules and policies on budget,
finance and human resources so the Organization can better
respond to current needs; and a one-time staff buy-out to
ensure that the UN has the appropriate staff for today's
challenges.
ENVIRONMENT
- Recognition of the serious challenge posed by climate
change and a commitment to take action through the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change. Assistance will be
provided to those most vulnerable, like small island
developing states.
- Agreement to create a worldwide early warning
system for all natural hazards.
INTERNATIONAL HEALTH
- A scaling up of responses to HIV/AIDS, TB, and
malaria, through prevention, care, treatment and
support, and the mobilization of additional resources
from national, bilateral, multilateral and private
sources.
- Commitment to fight infectious diseases, including a
commitment to ensure full implementation of the new
International Health Regulations, and support for the
Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network of the World
Health Organization.
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
- Improved Central Emergency Revolving Fund to
ensure that relief arrives reliably and immediately
when disasters happen.
- Recognition of the Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement as an important international framework
for the protection of internally displaced persons.
UPDATING THE UN CHARTER A decision
to revise and update the Charter by:
- Winding up the Trusteeship Council, marking
completion of UN's historic decolonisation role;
- Deleting anachronistic references to "enemy
states" in the Charter.
The full text of the document is
available on the Summit website:
www.un.org/summit2005
17 May 2004
Outstanding Online Volunteers for 2004 Named
BONN, 17 May 2004 -- The United Nations Volunteers (UNV)
programme today announced the 2004 "Online
Volunteers of the Year". The 10 individuals hail
from Australia, India, Kenya, the Philippines,
Spain, the United States and Zimbabwe and were
singled out for their outstanding contributions to
organizations in Asia, Africa and Latin America ,
via UNV's Online Volunteering service.
12
February 2004
 Claire
has contributed her professional expertise in law,
training and organizational consulting as an online
volunteer to the recently founded Bureau for
Reconstruction and Development (BRD). The mission of
the new Afghan non-governmental organization (NGO)
is to facilitate community development, as part of
reconstructing Afghanistan after over 20 years of
devastating conflict.
Back in the USA after working on a Rule of Law
project in Central Asia, Claire was looking into
opportunities to go back into international
fieldwork. She applied with the UN Volunteers
programme to go to a development project as a law
and training specialist. While processing her
application, she found out about UNV’s Online
Volunteering service, immediately discovered an
assignment that matched her professional background,
and so opted for volunteering online. BRD was
looking for an online volunteer to help prepare
training material for local Afghan NGOs, a kind of
task Claire had gained a lot of experience in during
her job in Central Asia. Moreover, as an American,
she felt that she wanted to make a personal
contribution to the people of Afghanistan.
Apart from creating NGO training material on
subjects such as human rights, peace education,
conflict resolution, non-violence, civil society and
civic education, Claire has advised the organization
on a variety of issues. Within five months of online
consultancy on a daily basis, she has shared
substantial knowledge with BRD, and has further
developed its capacity. For instance when revising
proposals together via email, Claire brought up
issues of financial management and governance
standards, and discussed with Khan Dawoodzai, BRD
director, how the organization could enhance
accountability and transparency vis-à-vis
international donors.
Inspired by her former research on post conflict
countries, she had the idea that BRD could be a
well-suited organization to coordinate a “conflict
mapping” exercise for Afghanistan. Also aware of
donor organizations interested in sponsoring such
programmes in the country, she prepared the BRD to
propose its services to conduct a “conflict mapping”
activity. Claire not only
provided her experience as online volunteer with BRD,
but she also developed her own skills, motivated by
the needs of the organization. BRD wanted to have
its own website, and Khan Dawoodzai asked Claire if
she wanted to contribute to this project. Claire
took the opportunity, taught herself basic web
development skills, and created a simple website,
both for BRD, and now that she had the skills, also
for herself.
“From my perspective
a world away, and from the comparative ease of my
life as compared to the workers in BRD and its
constituents, the question becomes not one of why
I have helped, but a question of how one could do
otherwise. I have learnt much about Afghanistan. I
have been given the gift of viewing the
circumstances of the Afghan people removed from
nationalistic consideration, and absent its
politics.”
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