United Nations Department of Public Information Non-Governmental Organizations -UN-DPI-NGO Briefings – NGO Meetings with with Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information - Jan 30, 2014.

“The UN is a reflection of the world as it is.."

Summary by Suna SENMAN

[Lightmillennium.Org] UN - Department of Outreach Director Maher Nasser moderated the meeting and started with Happy New Year wishes. Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal added notice for the Chinese calendar’s new Year of the Horse. With 1400 NGOs, the organization is looking to expand membership around the world and will be holding a special summit on Sept 23 of this year focused on climate change.

The United Nations Department of Public Information for Non Governmental Organizations (UNDPINGO) has the mission of explaining the UN Millennial goals, explore how to add additional goals, and ameliorate the original 8 goals in partnership with the NGOs participation. Since the UN only sets direction, the motor for moving forward comes from governments’ assets, business investment, and NGOs efforts. The long titled organization, UNDPINGO, is the connector between gears and engine.

Questions of concerns that arose during this meeting include:

1. How can we shift the UN from appearing like a subsidiary of USA into a globally representative organization?
2. How can we increase the attendance from more NGOs to UN special events such as the Holocaust conference?
3. What direction does UNDPINGO have for youth representatives in 2014?
4. Why was UNDPINGO not included in the new UN budget?
5. How can UNDPINGO help NGOs be more effective and have more clout?
6. What are the efforts to include the least developed countries into UNDPINGO?
7. What efforts are made to include the quality of education in refinement of the UN Millennium Development Goals to provide education to all children in the world?

Lunsky-Tieffenthal explained the importance of the UN activities, which include negotiating for experts and inspectors, aiding refugees in collaboration with NGOS, getting opposing parties to speak to each other, and holding responsible parties accountable for human rights violations.

The reduced budget reflects the economic situation in the world. “The financial situation of the member states doesn’t allow for greater financial support now,” Lunsky-Tieffenthal clarifies adding, “The UN is a reflection of the world as it is, not as we want it to be.” The UNDPINGO team works together to meet their objectives within less expense with the new director, Jeff Brez.

Lunsky-Tieffenthal encourages NGO representatives to meet with UN Ambassadors, take action and use communication technology. The goals and aspirations of the NGOS, many of which are shared by UN officials, require all our efforts. “The UN is an organization that helps us move a little closer to the world as we want it to be,” Lunsky-Tieffenthal reminds us.

Many favor extending the age range of the youth representatives up to 30 or 32, as young people are seen as a strong force in bringing about the changes we hope for. Correlating with the potential of youth is the UN goal of providing education universally by focusing on access, quality of education and focus on fostering global citizenship.

Overall, UNDPINGO is looking to include more NGOs from around the world in their membership in order to strengthen our collaborative ability to reach the UN goals for a greater humanity. Accordingly, the UNDPI NGO annual conference will be August 28- 29 and possibly include the 27th . The anticipation is to include more NGOs from around the world.

Posted on by Lightmillennium.org on May 20, 2014.