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61st Annual Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information
For the first time in its history, this important meeting of civil society took place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from 3 to 5 September 2008. Some 1700 NGOs associated with the United Nations gathered for three days of debate held under the banner of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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61st Annual Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations organized by the United Nations Department of Public InformationThis year's Conference was significant for two main reasons. One is the fact that for the first time in its 60-year history the annual meeting took place outside of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The second reason is the fact that 2008 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Paris, the capital city of France, is the place where the Declaration was signed some 60 years ago. It is therefore fitting, that it was the host city for the premier NGO event of the year. Held at UNESCO's Headquarters, it attracted more than 2,000 NGO representatives from some 90 countries.

The aim of the Conference was to highlight effective ways in which civil society, in partnership with other actors, can contribute to the advancement of human rights at the international, regional, national and local levels. It aimed to raise awareness among the worldwide NGO community, especially among those not working specifically in this field, on the important role that the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and its attendant Convenants, has on all facets of NGO work.

The Conference provided:
  • background on the human rights treaty system (Day 1);
  • perspectives on the implementation of human rights in the context of on-going challenges as well as emerging issues worldwide (Day 2); and
  • outlooks on how to make better use of existing mechanisms for the protection of human rights at the international and national levels, as well as to examine ways to empower civil society at the local level (Day 3).
On 3 September 2008, it was opened by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon via video-conference.

This 61st annual Conference was organized by the Department of Public Information of the United Nations in cooperation with the NGO community (DPI/NGO), this year with the assistance of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Government of France.

Contact at UNESCO : Marie-Ange Théobald, ma.theobald@unesco.org 

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61st Annual Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information
Author(s) DPI/NGO / UNESCO - Sector for Social and Human Sciences
Publication Date 07-09-2008
Source DPI/NGO / UNESCO



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