ANGOC is a member of the steering committee of the World Civil Society Conference (WOCSOC) 1999. The conference, scheduled for December 8 to 11, 1999 in Montreal, is a project initiated by the United Nations University.

In 1996 the UN University launched an initiative to convene a “World NGO Conference” involving NGO practitioners and scholars to build on the 1995 Commission on Global Governance, to highlight goals and opportunities shared by civil society and the UN, and to seek innovative ways to strengthen international cooperation in the next millenium. After an initial seminar at UNU headquarters in Tokyo in September 1996, an international Steering Committee of civil society leaders was established to organize the Conference. The Committee met again in Geneva in November 1998 following the decision to host WOCSOC in Montreal.

The objectives of the Conference are:

• Enhance and broaden cooperation among civil society actors by formulating practical proposals for increased cross-national, cross-cultural, cross-sectoral, gender-balanced cooperation to meet the needs of the 21st century.

• Contribute an effective and timely implementation of summit agreements by developing new action by civil society to oblige and assist governments to fulfill the promises and commitments made at recent World Conferences.

• Draw lessons through the sharing of strategies, plans, successes, failures and new opportunities in working with the UN system on issues where civil society and the UN have a common and imperative agenda.

• Develop concrete proposals for year 2000 and beyond, including making a substantive contribution to the Millenium Assembly and its preparatory processes, called for by the UN secretary-general for the year 2000.  

For information, contact the WOCSOC 1999 secretariat:

FIM
380 St-Antoine West
Suite 3200
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H2Y 3X7
Tel: (514) 499-9468
Fax: (514) 987-1567
Email: [email protected]