Lectures, Meetings & Other Outreach
Lectures and Conferences
Jim Paul traveled to Canada twice in January to speak about Canada's new membership in the Security Council. On January 8, he gave the keynote speech at a meeting in Saint John, New Brunswick, organized by the Canadian Center for Foreign Policy Development and on January 22, he was one of four principal speakers at a day-long conference in Ottawa, jointly organized by the United Nations Association of Canada and the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At other times during the year, Jim participated in a weekend conference of the Stanley Foundation on NGOs at the UN. He gave a presentation at a conference on sustainable development at the American University and he was a keynote speaker at a conference at Smith College on "world order." He also went to Berlin to chair a panel at a conference International Financial Flows, co-sponsored by UNDP and the Development and Peace Foundation.
Among other events, he spoke to meetings organized by the Quaker UN Office, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the Swedish International Development Agency, the Greater Hartford (Connecticut) United Nations Association, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and the School of International Training.
Support for Researchers, Experts, and NGO Advocacy Campaigners
Throughout 1999, many experts, researchers and NGO advocacy campaigners came to GPF for information, support, manuscript review and research assistance. Such requests came from (among many others) the German Foreign Ministry, the UK Foreign Office, UN Missions of France and China, the Norwegian Institute of International Relations, the Watson Institute of Brown University, the journal Global Governance, Fourth Freedom Forum, Human Rights Watch, the Heinrich Bí¶ll Foundation, Global Witness, CARE, Save the Children-UK and the World Council of Churches. Requests also came from unaffiliated authors and students preparing theses and dissertations for advanced degrees.
GPF helped these visitors make contact with key diplomats, NGO leaders and UN officials. GPF also provided interpretive advice and assistance of various other kinds. Requests grew dramatically during 1999.
Response to Email and Phone Inquiries
During 1999, GPF responded to hundreds of email messages and phone calls from students, NGOs, media and ordinary citizens. These inquirers expected GPF to know an astonishing variety of information. Some questions we could not answer, but we did our best to be responsive, and to encourage the many students who are enthusiastically encountering the United Nations for the first time through Model UN programs or academic courses. When we cannot answer a question directly, we try to send inquirers to sources where they can reasonably expect to get the information they seek.
Meetings, Receptions, Consultations and Contact with Policymakers
GPF participated in an unprecedented number of high-level meetings and consultations of all kinds around the United Nations during 1999. These occasions offered important opportunities to raise policy questions and to engage in informal negotiations in the fields of development, security policy, NGO access and other GPF policy areas. Among the many events of this kind during 1999 (in addition to our frequent meetings with Security Council members) were -- a meeting with Secretary General Kofi Annan, a small luncheon with former Secretary General Boutros Ghali, meetings with Assistant Secretary General Gillian Sorensen and with UN Chief of Security Michael McCann, a luncheon with German Deputy Development Minister Uschi Eid, a meeting with Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, receptions at the personal residences of a number of UN ambassadors, and events at a dozen other missions and agencies. During 1999, we were also invited for the first time to many of the monthly receptions of the President of the Security Council, including the Millennium Reception of the Security Council,
In addition, GPF participated in a number of meetings organized by NGOs, including the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Status with the UN (CONGO) on NGO access, meetings of human rights NGOs, the annual DPI-NGO Conference, seminar of the International Peace Academy, the Carnegie Council on Ethics in International Affairs, the Council on Foreign Relations, etc. GPF was also the lead organizer of NGO consultations with the United Nations General Assembly Working Group on Financing for Development.
Global Policy Forum is supported primarily by contributions from generous individuals who join as members. GPF also receives grants from foundations and partner institutions. GPF is incorporated in the State of New York, registered as a charitable organization and recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the revenue code.
