UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke to the NGO community, welcoming the declaration adopted at the 64th Department of Public Information (DPI)/NGO Conference.
He highlighted sustainable development as an area where NGO efforts could be especially important and noted the importance of coalitions and multistakeholder platforms.
26 October 2011: Speaking to the non-governmental (NGO) community at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 26 October 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon praised NGOs’ active role and commitment, and highlighted sustainable development as an area where NGO efforts could be especially important.
Ban said the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) will be an opportunity to build on the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, or Rio) spirit of increasing global awareness and NGO engagement.
He welcomed the declaration adopted at the 64th Department of Public Information (DPI)/NGO Conference, held in Bonn, Germany, in September 2011, which emphasizes the importance of coalitions, alliances and multistakeholder platforms, and has been forwarded to the UNCSD Secretariat for consideration. [Statement of UN Secretary-General] [Declaration from UNDPI/NGO Conference, or “Chair’s Text”] [Invitation to Briefing] [Sustainable Development Policy & Practice Story on DPI/NGO Conference]