IPO ANNUAL REPORT 1991

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

The President of the I.P.O. convened the Second International Conference On A More Democratic United Nations (CAMDUN-2) at the United Nations' Vienna International Centre (17-19 September 1991). The conference was co-sponsored by over 40 national and international non-governmental organizations and attended by approx.. 150 experts from all continents. Among the plenary speakers were Ms. Margarita Papandreou (Greece); Ambassador Layashi Yaker (Algeria), former Minister, member of the Brandt and South Commissions; Mr. Romesh Chandra (India), Honorary President of the World Peace Council; the Hon. Abdul Razzak, member of the Parliament of Bangladesh; Mr. Erskine Childers (Ireland), Senior Advisor to the UN Director-General for Development and International Economic Co-operation; and Dr. Alfred Mechtersheimer (Germany), Chairman of the Peace Committee 2000. The conference heard a message from the Director- General of the United Nations Office at Vienna and presented specific proposals to the member states of the United Nations (see Concluding Statement).

NEW PUBLICATION

The major plenary speeches of the conference mentioned above will be published as volume XVIII of the series Studies in International Relations under the title "The United Nations and the New World Order" (ISBN 3-900704-11-2).

INTERNATIONAL PEACE INITIATIVES

The I.P.O. participated in the "Emergency Conference on the Gulf Crisis" which was convened in Athens (12-13 January 1991) by the World Peace Council and which was attended by delegations of the Peace Committees of Iraq and Kuwait. On 10 April 1991 the President of I.P.O. gave a public lecture at the Liberal Club in Vienna on "The New Order in the Arab World."

The I.P.O. furthermore took part in the regular meeting of the Mediterranean Peace Committee which was held in Malta (29 June 1991) under the Chairmanship of ex-Prime Minister Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.

HUMANITARIAN INITIATIVES

The I.P.O. assisted other international organizations and humanitarian groups in their efforts to provide humanitarian relief to the civilian population afflicted by the Gulf war. The President of the I.P.O. met, in that regard, with Austrian President Kurt Waldheim on 13 May 1991. I.P.O.'s collaborators in Germany, the USA and Austria organized several shipments of medicine and food in co-ordination and with the support of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Executive Delegate of the UN Secretary-General for the UN Humanitarian Programme. On 24 May 1991 the President of the I.P.O. sent a special humanitarian appeal to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

PARTICIPATION IN UNITED NATIONS ACTIVITIES

The I.P.O. attended the 47th session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva (February 1991). The delegate of the I.P.O., Mr. Warren Hamerman, furthermore attended the meeting of the Sub-commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in Geneva (August 1991). On 26 August 1991 a special hearing for experts of the I.P.O. with Mr. van der Stoel, Special Rapporteur for the Sub-commission, was arranged at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

The President of the I.P.O. and Prof. Dr. Gudrun Grabher, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office at Vienna, participated in the meeting of the International Steering Committee for the CAMDUN-project (International Conferences On A More Democratic United Nations) at Unesco headquarters in Paris (22 February 1991).

The President of the I.P.O. gave a lecture at the International Symposion on the Amerindian People and Human Rights (Tripoli, 8 - 10 June 1991).

The I.P.O. participated in the international conference on Palestinian rights in Tunis (3-5 November 1991) at the invitation of the Maghreb Human Rights Associations. Special co-operation was established with the Tunisian League for Human Rights. The President of the I.P.O. met with the President of the Tunisian League for Human Rights, Dr. Moncef Marzouki.

The I.P.O. co-sponsored the World Clean Energy Conference (organized by the Energy Coalition for UNCED – Earth Summit '92, Geneva, 4-7 November 1991) (see the Global Energy Charter).

The President of the I.P.O. gave a lecture on "The United Nations and the New World Order" at the International Conference of Scientists and Engineers "Challenges – Science and Peace in a Rapidly Changing Environment" which was held in Berlin (29 November - 1 December 1991).

ADMISSION OF NEW MEMBERS

The Executive Board will decide about the admission of new members at its next regular session later this year. Applications for membership have been received from Austria, Chad, Denmark, Palestine and the USA.

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDATION OF THE I.P.O.

In October 1992 the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the International Progress Organization will be celebrated. A special information brochure is being prepared for this occasion.