I.P.O. ANNUAL REPORT 2017

Vienna, 28 December 2017

P/RE/26740c

UNITED NATIONS

On 15 May 2017 the I.P.O. participated in a hearing at the House of Representatives of the Netherlands on the Hague on "Strategies to Strengthen the United Nations by Increasing Democratic Representation." The meeting was initiated by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA).

On 26 August 2017 the President of the I.P.O. delivered a lecture at a special roundtable meeting on Istanbul, Turkey, on "The United Nations in an Age of Transition: New Balance of Power or Collapse of World Order?" The meeting was sponsored by the Center for Global Studies / Center for Civilizational Studies at the Foundation for Sciences and Arts.

On 29 November 2017 the President of the International Progress Organization delivered the speech on behalf of civil society at the Special Meeting held by the United Nations General Assembly's Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People at the United Nations Office at Vienna.

On 6 October 2017 the I.P.O. presented a special paper on "Challenges to the United Nations System of Collective Security in the Nuclear Age" at the 15th Rhodes Forum on the island of Rhodes, Greece.

CONFLICT IN THE MIDDLE EAST

On 28 February 2017 the I.P.O. delivered a position paper on the Syrian conflict at an international roundtable on "Foreign Actors in the Syrian Conflict, 2017" organized in Berlin, Germany, by the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute (DOC).

MIGRATION CRISIS

On 16 March 2017 the I.P.O. participated on the panel discussion organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on "The OSCE in the Migration and Refugee Crisis" in Vienna, Austria.

On 7 October 2017 the I.P.O. took part in an international panel discussion on the European refugee crisis at the Rhodes Forum 2017 in Rhodes, Greece.

WORLD ALLIANCE OF RELIGIONS FOR PEACE

On 17-18 September 2017 the President of the I.P.O. took part in the Peace Festival and Commemoration Ceremony of the Third Anniversary of the Summit of the World Alliance of Religions for Peace (WARP) in Seoul, Korea.

HUMAN RIGHTS

On 21 November 2017 the I.P.O. sent a special message to the United Nations Security Council concerning the blockade imposed by a Saudi-led coalition on the people of Yemen.

NUCLEAR POLICY

On 20 January 2017 the I.P.O. participated in a consultation on United Nations negotiations on nuclear disarmament. The meeting at the United Nations Center in Vienna was jointly organized by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) and UNFOLD ZERO, in co-operation with the NGO Committee on Peace.

On 30 August 2017 the I.P.O. issued a statement on the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.

In May 2017 the I.P.O. joined the Abolition 2000 working group on the 2018 UN High Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament (UNHLC).

DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS

In March 2017 the I.P.O. took part in the activities of the US-Pakistan Interreligious Consortium in Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan. The program included, inter alia, the 6th International Conference: "Building Bridges: Discovering the Foundations of Interreligious Harmony," sponsored by Intersections International (New York, USA) and University of Management and Technology (Lahore) in Lahore (27 March 2017) and an international conference on "Islam and Modernity in an Age of Transition" at the National Defence University in Islamabad (31 March 2017).

On 6 September 2017 the I.P.O. took part in the annual ceremony of Austria's Intercultural Achievement Award in Vienna, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

On 23 September 2017 the President of the I.P.O. delivered the opening speech at an international conference on "religion and Modernity" in Braunau, Austria, organized by the Association for Contemporary History.

On 1 and 2 December 2017 the I.P.O. participated in the international conference on "The New World, the New Turkey, and the Alliance of Civilizations," organized by the Alliance of Civilizations Office at the Prime Ministry of Turkey and the European University of Lefke on Lefkoşa, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

 

PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

The International Progress Organization took part in the annual Europaforum / Forum Europe of WDR Westdeutscher Rundfunk / West German Radio at the German Foreign Ministry in Berlin, 1 June 2017.

The International Progress Organization took part in the Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy in Berlin, Germany, 19-21 December 2017.

 

SPECIAL LECTURES BY THE PRESIDENT

  •  "Moral Philosophy and the Coming World Order: A Dialogue of Civilizations to Counter Global Hegemony": Keynote Speech, International Conference on Islam and Modernity in an Age of Transition, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan, 31 March 2017.

  • "World Order in an Age of Transition": Opening Plenary Session, XVII International Likhachov Scientific Conference, St. Petersburg University of Humanities and Social Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia, 18 May 2017.

  •  "Formation of the Multipolar World and the Potential for United Nations Reform": First Global Forum of Young Diplomats -- XIXth World Festival of Youth and Students, Sochi, Russia, 17 October 2017)

  • "Cultural Diplomacy in a World of Conflict": Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy, "Promoting Global Collaboration, Unity & Peace through Cultural Diplomacy," Academy for Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin, Germany, 20 December 2017.

SPECIAL MEETINGS OF THE PRESIDENT

  • 25 January 2017: Mr. C. Jayaraj, Advisor at the Ministry of Justice of the Government of the Republic of Seychelles, in Victoria, Seychelles.

  • 31 March 2017: Lieutenant General Rizwan Akhtar, President and Commandant of the National Defence University, former Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, in Islamabad, Pakistan.

  • 15 May 2017: Ms. Margareta Cederfeldt, Member of the Swedish Parliament, in The Hague, Netherlands.

  • 20 May 2017: Mr. Manuel F. Montes, Senior Advisor to the South Centre (Geneva), at St. Petersburg, Russia.

  • 24 August 2017: Mr. Adnan Oktar, Head of A9 TV, in Istanbul, Turkey.

  • 17 September 2017: Dr. E. M. Sudarsana Natchiappan, President, Indian Society of International Law, in Seoul, South Korea.

  • 18 September 2017: Dr. Zulkifli Hasan, Professor, Dean, Faculty of Syariah and Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, in Seoul, South Korea.

  • 17 October 2017: Mr. Konstantin Kolpakov, Chairman, Council of Young Diplomats (Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation), in Sochi, Russia.

  • 1 December 2017: Dr. Bekir Karliga, Professor, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Turkey on the UN Alliance of Civilizations, in Lefkosa, Northern Cyprus.

  • 19 December 2017: Prof. Hrant Bagratyan, former Prime Minister of Armenia, in Berlin, Germany.

  • 20 December 2017: Ms. Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, former President of the Parliament of Luxemburg, in Berlin, Germany.

  • 21 December 2017: Ms. Lilyana Pavlova, Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in Berlin, Germany.

SELECTED MEDIA INTERVIEWS

  • Sputnik News, The World in Focus, Edinburgh, UK (3 February 2017), on the war in Syria

  • A9 TV, Istanbul, Turkey (24 August 2017), live talk show on issues of global peace and Muslim-Western relations

  • Belarus National TV, Channel 1 (7 October 2017), on the emerging multipolar world order

  • NTV Moscow, Russia (19 December 2017), on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

CO-OPERATION WITH NGOs

The International Progress Organization continued cooperation with the Swiss civil society initiative Mut zur Ethik / Courage for Ethics; with the NGO Committees on Peace and on Development at the United Nations Center in Vienna; with Parliamentarians for Global Action; with the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (Berlin); with UNFOLD ZERO, a platform for United Nations focused initiatives and actions for the achievement of a nuclear weapons free world; and with the Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly.

On 12 October 2017, the International Progress Organization took part in the 70th anniversary celebration of the Conference of Non-governmental Organizations (CONGO) in consultative status with the United Nations, at the UN Center in Vienna.

The International Progress Organization established Cooperation with the Council of Young Diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

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