Subject: [fem-women2000 510] GP Alert #25: Millennium Summit Report Revealed!
From: lalamaziwa <lalamaziwa@jca.apc.org>
Date: Sun, 03 Sep 2000 12:42:28 +0900
Seq: 510
---------------- Original message follows ---------------- From: iwtc <iwtc@iwtc.org> Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 09:01:21 -0700 Subject: GP Alert #25: Millennium Summit Report Revealed! -- GLOBAL POLICY ALERT #25 "Millennium Summit Report Revealed!" August 29, 2000 The Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute, a Right Wing ultra-conservative group based here at the United Nations, has now set its sights on attacking the upcoming Millennium Summit, a meeting of 159 world leaders to be held at the United Nations on September 6, 2000. This gives women's human rights activists a slight reprieve from their attacks I guess, but as they are clearly against many of the same issues that we all stand for, it therefore should be noted. The introductory letter makes several points, including 1) that "the draft document to be negotiated by governments at the Summit is closely guarded and highly controversial" (which it is not on both counts), and 2) that "powerful people within the UN and those closely connected to it want to exponentially expand UN power into all aspects of human life" (this conclusion has apparently been reached because the UN is asking governments to sign several treaties, including treaties on peace, human rights, poverty reduction and environmental protection). I leave it to each of you to make up your own minds about the troubled minds of this group. IWTC is in no way connected with them or their thinking. Anne S. Walker Subj: Friday Fax/Millennium Summit Report Revealed Date: 8/25/00 12:43:57 AM Pacific Daylight Time >From: austinruse@c-fam.org (Austin Ruse -- C-Fam) To: Friday_Fax@c-fam.org (Friday Fax List) Dear Colleague: C-FAM has obtained a copy of the closely guarded and highly controversial draft document that will be negotiated by governments at the upcoming UN Millennium Summit. The document shows the intentions of the UN to increase its influence and move closer to the center of the world stage. It is also meant to burnish what has become an increasingly tarnished UN reputation. Among other things, the document calls for the ratification of seven UN conventions and for a world conference on nuclear disarmament. There is no question that powerful people within the UN and those closely connected to it want to exponentially expand UN power into all aspects of human life. This document, however, does not advance what many see as an impending political apocalypse at the September meeting. Spread the word. Yours sincerely, Austin Ruse President ______________________________________________________ FRIDAY FAX August 25, 2000 Volume 3, Number 39 "PRESIDENT'S WORKING DRAFT" SHOWS INTENTIONS OF UN MILLENNIUM SUMMIT * The working draft document for the upcoming UN Millennium Summit reveals a UN that is eager to regain lost credibility and to demand center stage. This comes after years of UN crises, including notable UN "peace-keeping" failures, ongoing financial and management problems and a string of controversial world conferences that have caused a widening rift between the UN and many governments. * The Summit will bring together what is being called the largest meeting of heads of state and government in history. Up to 150 are expected for the three-day meeting beginning September 6 at UN headquarters in New York City. The meeting, which up to now has been wrapped in the usual pre-conference secrecy, has caused growing alarm among pro-family groups that expect the Summit to be a vehicle for expanded UN power. * The "President's Working Draft," which won't be released to the public until just before the conference, shows the desire of the UN to be the central actor on the world stage. Summit participants will be asked to affirm their "faith in the Organization and its Charter as indispensable foundations of a more peaceful, prosperous and just world." * Over seven sections the draft document calls for increased commitments to peace, human rights, poverty reduction, and environmental protection. Opening sentences give the document's feel "We will spare no effort to free our peoples from the scourge of war." "We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from...conditions of extreme poverty." "We must spare no effort to free all of humanity, and above all our children and grandchildren, from the threat of living on a planet irredeemably spoilt by human activities." "We will spare no effort to promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law." * The document calls for the increased capacity for the UN to conduct peace keeping operations, the timely paying of UN dues, the "speedy reform and enlargement of the Security Council," the elimination of nuclear weapons, the "prevention of trafficking in small arms and light weapons," "debt relief for the least developed nations," and the "promotion of gender equality in its own right." * The document calls for the ratification of seven existing treaties, including the Rome Statutes of the International Criminal Court, the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines, the Kyoto Protocols on global warming, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict . The document calls for one new treaty -- a Convention Against Terrorism -- and a world conference on nuclear disarmament. * The draft document will concern many. If they come to pass, some of the ideas in the draft document will cause problems in the coming years. However, a seasoned diplomat from a very conservative UN the draft document. "My delegation will support it with very few changes," he said. The Summit is not expected to create a follow-up commission and the document will have no force in law. Copyright - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute). Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required. Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute 866 United Nations Plaza, Suite 4038 New York, New York 10017 Phone: (212) 754-5948 Fax: (212) 754-9291 E-mail: c-fam@c-fam.org Website: www.c-fam.org _________________________________________________________________________ fem-Women2000@jca.apc.org for Women 2000, UN Special Session on Beijing+5 Searcheable Archive http://www.jca.apc.org/fem/news/women2000/index.shtml visit fem-net HomePage for other mailing lists http://www.jca.apc.org/fem