| FINANCES |
 projects racism seminar |
Membership Fees
The annual membership fee of EUR 87,50 or $100,- covers administrative costs of meetings, information sessions with specialists, office material, publications, postage, preparations for the International Day of Families on May 15th, as designated by the United Nations, etc, as well as the production and mailing of the quarterly bulletin Families International, which is part of the service provided to the membership.
Sponsoring
All other activities since 1985, such as the World NGO Forum, Launching the International Year of the Family 1994 (IYF), in cooperation with the UN IYF Secretariate and the Government of Malta, 9 International Seminars, several projects, as well as publications and the service of the world-wide network are funded by donors and sponsors, such as those, listed below.
Financial support has been received from the governments of Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Spain, as well as from the governments of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, and from the European Union, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for IYF and the United Nations Trust Fund on Family Activities, and also from business institutions and private donors.
Voluntary Work
Extensive voluntary work-input of individual representatives of member organisations of the Committee assure cost effectiveness.
The Vienna NGO Committee on the Family has contributed US$ 7.000,- to the United NationsTrust Fund on Family Activities by producing and selling the IYF cookery book "Family Favourites" which is still available in UN book stores.
PRESENT PROJECTS
PROJECT TO STUDY THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS TO THE WELL-BEING OF FAMILIES SINCE THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE FAMILY (IYF) IN 1994 AND TO HIGHLIGHT PREPARATIONS FOR THE 10th ANNIVRSARY OF IYF IN 2004
The General Assembly, in its resolution 44/82 of 8 December 1989, proclaimed 1994 as The International Year of the Family. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 56/113 of 19 December 2001, it was decided to observe the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2004.
The Programme on the Family within the Department of Economics and Social Affairs (DESA) of the United Nations has convened a series of consultative meetings with international and regional non-governmental organisations since 1999. At the 4th consultative meeting in 2002 “it was agreed to prepare a study, under the chairmanship of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, on the positive contributions of civil society to the well-being of families since 1994. The study will be submitted to the General Assembly in 2004, at its fifty-ninth session”. (cf. Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the General Assembly - A/57/139, 2002)
“In addition the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (DESA) have agreed to set up an Interactive-Internet-Forum with the support of international NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) to prepare a report on (a) past and present projects carried out for families since 1994 by each international NGO: and (b) plans of each international NGO to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2004. Each NGO willing to join will receive a user identity code thereby enabling it to set up its own section of the web site using a uniform format, applicable to all network members. Categories will be formed according to the substantive issues addressed by the international NGOs, such as education, health promotion, and HIV/Aids. Search engines will seek out organisations clustered in these categories. Each participating organisation can make use of an interactive online conference and discussion board. Information specific to each of the participating organisations, can be updated by each organisation itself. This Interactive Internet Forum will provide a focused channel of communication once created, and encourage civil society organisations to establish partnerships with Governments and international organisations.”
(cf. Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the 41st session of the Commission for Social Development www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/2003.htm).
The Forum is set up at: www.10yearsIYF.org
1. Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC)
With the financial support of the Austrian Federal Government and guided by the CEEC Working Group of the Committee, the project is being carried out in several stages. The main aim is to facilitate the networking of newly formed family-oriented NGOs in Central and Eastern European countries and the acquirement of self-management skills for sustainablility of their organisations.
In the first stage a data base of the organisations was established and published in a compendium "Building Family Networks in Central and Eastern European Countries". This was followed by a compendium up-date and by the seminar "Strategies to Strengthen Family NGOs in Central and Eastern European Countries" at the Vienna International Center, October 1999, with participants from the CEEC, the Council of Europe and the United Nations Family Unit in New York. The emphasis was on communication and management skills development and the establishment of a partnership amongst NGOs, between NGOs and government institutions and between NGOs and the United Nations and European agencies, with a view to family policies and family programmes. A final report on the Proceedings of the seminar was published in May 2000, this publication is still available.
Programme Regional Seminar Latvia (37 KB)
The recent international seminar, which was attended by 25 participants and held from Oct. 19 - 23, 2001 in Sigulda, Latvia, was made possible through a grant from the Austrian Ministry of Social Security and Generations, and organised by a working group of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family under the leadership of Ms Benko, co-ordinated by Ms Tupay and Mr. Leonids Mucenieks, who led the local organising committee in Latvia. The seminar was co-chaired by the Chairperson of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, Peter Crowley, with Ms Rosi Weiss from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Affairs and Generations and representatives of NGOs from the Baltic countries. It was a follow-up to the CEEC Seminar held in Vienna in October 1999 and was organised at the request of organisations in the Baltic countries. The programme included 24 presentations, which were made from representatives of the Latvian Ministry for Social Welfare, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the PHARE Acess Programme and representatives of Family-oriented organisations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
2. Project: Building Networks of Family-Oriented Organisations in Eastern African Countries - Established of an Interactive-Internet-Forum
An evaluation of a pilot project on building networks of family-oriented organisations with over 50 family-oriented NGOs in Kenya led to a decision by the Board and Full Committee to pursue and extend this project into it's next stage in Mozambique, Malawi, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia & Zimbabwe, by setting up an interactive-Internet-forum with the participating organisations. A special section of the Web-site has become a forum for the Eastern African NGOs to interact with each other at will and with the help of a coded password to update their own section of the Home-page. This information, including a descriptive sociological analysis and statistical index of the data from the projects, is also available to all those visitors who click into the Committee home-page.
1. Building Networks of Family-Oriented Organisations in The Iberian Peninsula of Spain and Portugal
The Committee has decided to also set up an Interactive-Internet-Forum for family-oriented NGOs in Spain and Portugal, which will facilitate the participating members of the network, with the help of their own individual password, to update the information on their organisation and it's activities. Organisations grouped under various categories, such as education, health, poverty eradication, Aids/HIV, human rights and gender issues, are further accessible. A sociological descriptive analysis and statistical index of the data will be included.
Family-oriented NGOs who are interested in joining the emerging network, free of charge, can contact the Office of the Chairperson directly at: peter.crowley@t-online.de
The annual membership fee of EUR 87,50 or $100,- covers administrative costs of meetings, information sessions with specialists, office material, publications, postage, preparations for the International Day of Families on May 15th, as designated by the United Nations, etc, as well as the production and mailing of the quarterly bulletin Families International, which is part of the service provided to the membership.
Sponsoring
All other activities since 1985, such as the World NGO Forum, Launching the International Year of the Family 1994 (IYF), in cooperation with the UN IYF Secretariate and the Government of Malta, 9 International Seminars, several projects, as well as publications and the service of the world-wide network are funded by donors and sponsors, such as those, listed below.
Financial support has been received from the governments of Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Spain, as well as from the governments of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia, and from the European Union, the United Nations Voluntary Fund for IYF and the United Nations Trust Fund on Family Activities, and also from business institutions and private donors.
Voluntary Work
Extensive voluntary work-input of individual representatives of member organisations of the Committee assure cost effectiveness.
The Vienna NGO Committee on the Family has contributed US$ 7.000,- to the United NationsTrust Fund on Family Activities by producing and selling the IYF cookery book "Family Favourites" which is still available in UN book stores.
PRESENT PROJECTS
PROJECT TO STUDY THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS TO THE WELL-BEING OF FAMILIES SINCE THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE FAMILY (IYF) IN 1994 AND TO HIGHLIGHT PREPARATIONS FOR THE 10th ANNIVRSARY OF IYF IN 2004
The General Assembly, in its resolution 44/82 of 8 December 1989, proclaimed 1994 as The International Year of the Family. Pursuant to General Assembly resolution 56/113 of 19 December 2001, it was decided to observe the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2004.
The Programme on the Family within the Department of Economics and Social Affairs (DESA) of the United Nations has convened a series of consultative meetings with international and regional non-governmental organisations since 1999. At the 4th consultative meeting in 2002 “it was agreed to prepare a study, under the chairmanship of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, on the positive contributions of civil society to the well-being of families since 1994. The study will be submitted to the General Assembly in 2004, at its fifty-ninth session”. (cf. Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the General Assembly - A/57/139, 2002)
“In addition the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (DESA) have agreed to set up an Interactive-Internet-Forum with the support of international NGOs in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) to prepare a report on (a) past and present projects carried out for families since 1994 by each international NGO: and (b) plans of each international NGO to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the International Year of the Family in 2004. Each NGO willing to join will receive a user identity code thereby enabling it to set up its own section of the web site using a uniform format, applicable to all network members. Categories will be formed according to the substantive issues addressed by the international NGOs, such as education, health promotion, and HIV/Aids. Search engines will seek out organisations clustered in these categories. Each participating organisation can make use of an interactive online conference and discussion board. Information specific to each of the participating organisations, can be updated by each organisation itself. This Interactive Internet Forum will provide a focused channel of communication once created, and encourage civil society organisations to establish partnerships with Governments and international organisations.”
(cf. Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the 41st session of the Commission for Social Development www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/2003.htm).
The Forum is set up at: www.10yearsIYF.org
1. Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC)
With the financial support of the Austrian Federal Government and guided by the CEEC Working Group of the Committee, the project is being carried out in several stages. The main aim is to facilitate the networking of newly formed family-oriented NGOs in Central and Eastern European countries and the acquirement of self-management skills for sustainablility of their organisations.
In the first stage a data base of the organisations was established and published in a compendium "Building Family Networks in Central and Eastern European Countries". This was followed by a compendium up-date and by the seminar "Strategies to Strengthen Family NGOs in Central and Eastern European Countries" at the Vienna International Center, October 1999, with participants from the CEEC, the Council of Europe and the United Nations Family Unit in New York. The emphasis was on communication and management skills development and the establishment of a partnership amongst NGOs, between NGOs and government institutions and between NGOs and the United Nations and European agencies, with a view to family policies and family programmes. A final report on the Proceedings of the seminar was published in May 2000, this publication is still available.
Programme Regional Seminar Latvia (37 KB)
The recent international seminar, which was attended by 25 participants and held from Oct. 19 - 23, 2001 in Sigulda, Latvia, was made possible through a grant from the Austrian Ministry of Social Security and Generations, and organised by a working group of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family under the leadership of Ms Benko, co-ordinated by Ms Tupay and Mr. Leonids Mucenieks, who led the local organising committee in Latvia. The seminar was co-chaired by the Chairperson of the Vienna NGO Committee on the Family, Peter Crowley, with Ms Rosi Weiss from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Affairs and Generations and representatives of NGOs from the Baltic countries. It was a follow-up to the CEEC Seminar held in Vienna in October 1999 and was organised at the request of organisations in the Baltic countries. The programme included 24 presentations, which were made from representatives of the Latvian Ministry for Social Welfare, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, the PHARE Acess Programme and representatives of Family-oriented organisations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
1. Building Networks of Family-Oriented Organisations in Central and Eastern European Countries
The Committee further set up in 2002 an Interactive-Internet-Forum for the 50 members of the network of family-oriented NGOs in 10 Central and Eastern European Countries. This allows the participating members of the network with the help of their own individual password to update the information on their organisation and it's activities. Organisations grouped under various categories, such as education, health, poverty eradication, Aids/HIV, human rights and gender issues, are further accessible. A sociological descriptive analysis and statistical index of the data are included.
2. Project: Building Networks of Family-Oriented Organisations in Eastern African Countries - Established of an Interactive-Internet-Forum
An evaluation of a pilot project on building networks of family-oriented organisations with over 50 family-oriented NGOs in Kenya led to a decision by the Board and Full Committee to pursue and extend this project into it's next stage in Mozambique, Malawi, Somalia, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia & Zimbabwe, by setting up an interactive-Internet-forum with the participating organisations. A special section of the Web-site has become a forum for the Eastern African NGOs to interact with each other at will and with the help of a coded password to update their own section of the Home-page. This information, including a descriptive sociological analysis and statistical index of the data from the projects, is also available to all those visitors who click into the Committee home-page.
1. Building Networks of Family-Oriented Organisations in The Iberian Peninsula of Spain and Portugal
The Committee has decided to also set up an Interactive-Internet-Forum for family-oriented NGOs in Spain and Portugal, which will facilitate the participating members of the network, with the help of their own individual password, to update the information on their organisation and it's activities. Organisations grouped under various categories, such as education, health, poverty eradication, Aids/HIV, human rights and gender issues, are further accessible. A sociological descriptive analysis and statistical index of the data will be included.
Family-oriented NGOs who are interested in joining the emerging network, free of charge, can contact the Office of the Chairperson directly at: peter.crowley@t-online.de
COOPERATION WITH UNOV COMMITTEES
Cooperation with other NGO Committees at the United Nations in Vienna:
International Seminar on Racism and Xenophobia, May 7th, 2001, Vienna International Center.
The Seminar will be held in conjunction with the following NGO Committees:
Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
NGO Committee on Aging
NGO Committee on Development
NGO Committee on the Family
NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
NGO Committee on Peace
NGO Committee on the Status of Women
at the United Nations Office Vienna
INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR
"RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA"
Highlighting the United Nations International Year 2001 of Mobilization against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance
Statement adopted by the Seminar participants for submission to the United Nations Conference on Racism, Xenophobia and Related Intolerances, to be held in South Africa in August/September 2001:
Statement
We, the participants in the International Seminar on Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna, jointly organized by CONGO Vienna and all seven NGO Committees (Ageing, Crime Prevention, Development, Family, Narcotic Drugs, Peace and Status of Women), Welcoming the holding of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Expressing our full support for the United Nations Declaration and International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Programme of Action for the 3rd Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, 1993-2003, and Recognizing the crucial role that civil society plays Are very concerned that the above-mentioned Convention and the Programme of Action are still far from being fully implemented. We therefore urge the World Conference to take appropriate decisions and include the following measures in its Programme of Action, whereby Governments are urged to:
1. Intensify the work towards the prevention and elimination of all forms and acts of racial and other discrimination and xenophobia;
2. Ensure protection for people who are victims of, or vulnerable to, such discrimination;
3. Empower migrants and immigrants to participate actively in the life of their countries of residence, while maintaining their own cultural identities;
4. Support the rights of indigenous people;
5. Stress the importance of formal and informal education and training for all people at all levels, including the family level, as a means to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance as well as promote respect for diversity. This education and training should be mandatory, in particular for teachers, police, personnel in the administration of justice, law enforcement agencies and other state-related institutions;
6. Take necessary measures to curb the dissemination of violence and propagation of hate through the media, especially the Internet, and particularly aimed at young people;
7. Pay specific attention to the relationship between racial discrimination and discrimination based on gender and age and develop measures to curb the effects of this particular kind of discrimination and promote equality;
8. Pay specific attention to the reunification of families;
9. Enforce policies to eradicate poverty since efforts to combat racism and xenophobia are often closely linked to policies aimed at enhancing economic and social development;
10. Co-operate fully with all actors of society, in particular in partnership with non-governmental organizations, to eliminate racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in fostering a vision of world citizenship in unity and diversity;
11. To facilitate and support actively all forms of intercultural youth exchange on an international level with a view to eliminating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are very often the cause and pretext for wars and armed conflict; overcoming these phenomena is a vital contribution to world peace. We commit ourselves to integrating in our organizations at all levels those who have experienced discrimination and xenophobia.
Vienna, 7 May 2001