Durban Watch

EYEontheUN ALERT - October 8, 2008

Durban II preparatory process raises prospect of new NGO Forum

October 7, 2008, Geneva, Switzerland.
The Second Substantive Session of the Durban II Preparatory Committee

South Africa and members of the NGO community are now raising the prospects of an NGO Forum alongside the Durban II Conference to be held in Geneva next April. The NGO Forum of the 2001 UN "anti-racism" conference provided a global platform for virulent anti-semitism.

South African representative, October 7, 2008: "I think we are now all in full agreement about the maximum participation of NGOs...And I think there are also other opportunities, as happened at the World Conference Against Racism, that NGOs in fact can gather in their own setting and they can then come up with constructive input that they can then deliver at the point in time that [they are] allowed to make such interventions. That would certainly help the process. But it has to be in some sort of forum setting so that at least they have an opportunity to talk amongst themselves as to how best to take the process forward from their point of view and to assist the intergovernmental process."

On October 8, 2008, a flyer was distributed in Palais Des Nations room XXI, which announced that on Wednesday, October 15th members of the NGO Committee Against Racism and Racial Discrimination (CONGO) and World Against Racism Network (WARN) are organizing a discussion on "Preparing the NGO Forum for the Durban Review Conference 2009".