Update on the Millennium Forum for 25 February 2000
World Development Movement

To: All non-governmental organizations, humanitarian and community-based organizations, private voluntary organizations, religious groups, academic institutions, unions, parliamentarians, local authorities and other representatives and groups of civil society.
From: The Millennium Forum
Date: 25 February 2000
Re: Update on the Millennium Forum for 25 February 2000

Dear Friend(s),

The preliminary program for the Millennium Forum was finalized this week. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is scheduled to speak at the opening plenary on 22 May 2000 in the UN General Assembly Hall. The complete preliminary program can be found on our website at:

http://www.millenniumfourm.org

As we explained in our initial message last week, we plan to send out weekly updates on the progress toward The Millennium Forum to those of you who have been involved in previous UN or civil society events around the world.

So far, with three months to go before the opening of the Forum, we have received applications from more than 380 individuals and organizations from more than 80 countries, giving a strong indication of the global nature of the themes and discussion process of the Forum. Applications to the Forum can be made on-line at our website or via the attached emailable registration form. Do not wait too long.

In other news this week, The Earth Times published a major article on the Forum. It can be read by setting your web browser to:

http://www.earthtimes.org/feb/unitednationswhatisthenextfeb25_99.htm

if that link fails, try the main Earth Times site at http://www.earthtimes.org

The Millennium Forum strives to solicit the best thinking of civil society in all its sectors worldwide as they relate to six broad themes: PEACE, the eradication of POVERY, HUMAN RIGHTS, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, GLOBALIZATION, and "STRENGTHENING AND DEMOCRATIZING" THE UNITED NATIONS. The Forum will also be gender balanced in its representation.

In tackling such a wide range of issues, and in its attempts to reach a new level of global diversity and participation, the Forum is unique for a United Nations-related civil society conference.

We continue to seek your participation in this process, which we believe will result in more effective efforts by NGOs and civil society organizations in global decision-making and the implementation of action plans, especially at the United Nations and in other international organizations.

In particular, we hope that you will take one or more of the following actions:

• Log-on to our Website at http://www.millenniumforum.org and read through the various draft papers on the themes that interest your organization and send comments on those drafts to the thematic convenors, which are listed on the website. YOUR INPUT INTO THESE PAPERS IS VITAL IF WE ARE TRULY TO REPRESENT THE VIEWS OF CIVIL SOCIETY WORLDWIDE.

• Log-on to our Website at http://www.millenniumforum.org and register for participation in the Forum's main meeting in May via our on-line registration form (which can be found under the "How to get involved" section). (Please note: we do hope to have some travel funds available in the near future for organizations from the Global South.)

-- Send this message to other NGOs and civil society organizations in your network and/or to the appropriate person within your own organization. WE WANT, PARTICULARLY, TO WIDEN THE NETWORK. SO PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO OTHER PEOPLE YOU ARE WORKING WITH ON LOCAL-TO-GLOBAL ISSUES.

-- Print out this message and share it with others at various NGO/Civil Society organization meetings such as you may be attending or organizing in the next few weeks. We do understand that many organizations in the Global South do not have email, so we are counting on those that do to spread this message.

-- Publish news about the Forum in your organization's newsletter, magazine or website. We have on our website a range of press releases and publishable background materials that are available for downloading and publication.

If you have any questions, please contact us by email reply at our main address: mngof@bic.org.

Up to 1,400 representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other groups of civil society will be able to gather at the United Nations in May to discuss these topics through an innovative program of "interactive plenaries" that have been designed to advance the often overly "compartmentalized" processes of discussion that often takes place at international meetings.

Plans are also being made to allow representatives of civil society worldwide to participate through various on-line and satellite meetings. In all Millennium Forum events, achieving a gender and geographically representative balance will be a priority.

In the planning process for more than two years, the Forum has been an up-by-the-bootstraps process of cross-boundary networking by some of civil society's most prominent organizations. Members of the Forum's Steering Committee, for example, include representatives of groups ranging from the World Federation of United Nations Associations to the All-India Women's Federation; from the Earth Council to the Third World Network.

Among the main expected outcomes of the Forum will be an extended document on the topics of peace, poverty, human rights, environment, globalization and "strengthening and democratizing the United Nations and other International Organizations," all under the main theme of "the United Nations for the Twenty-First Century." This document will be presented to the world leaders who gather at the Millennium Summit in September.

The Millennium Forum
mngof@bic.org
866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 120
New York, NY 10017, USA
Phone: USA 212-803-2522
Fax: USA 212-803-2561