On Monday, May 16, the Society of the Sacred Heart's Justice and Peace Committee sponsored a US Province conference call on the Society's NGO office at the United Nations and on the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's). The following are prepared comments made during the conference call:

Presentation by Cecile Meijer, RSCJ and Evanne Hunter, IBVM from the NGO office in New York:

Introduction

Cecile:  Good evening to all, this is Cecile.  Thank you for making time to participate.  Last February I was invited to the meeting of the Justice & Peace Committee in Washington DC.  While I was explaining how to understand our partnership with the IBVMs and what an NGO is, it became quickly clear to all of us that this information needed to be shared with a wider audience in the Province, and the idea of an optional teleconference was born.  I have no illusion that we will cover all that can be said about these topics in a 1- hour phone call, but we can start the conversation by beginning to explore how we as RSCJ in the United States can become a part of this larger global movement where people work for a better world.

We have heard from Ellen already who the other presenters are tonight, Evanne Hunter, Bernadette Porter and Joan Kirby.  Evanne Hunter IBVM sits right next to me here in the living room of the 80^th Street community to which both of us belong.  (“Hello, I am glad to be here”)

Now let me explain to you how we are going to proceed.  Evanne and I will begin with a 6-8 minute general overview of what NGOs are, who the members are, what they do etc., and in particular we want to explain the RSCJ-IBVM partnership at the UN.  It is most likely not possible to answer all the questions you may have, but let me tell you that next month’s posting for our web site is called “What is an NGO: Frequently Asked Questions”.  

Evanne:  For the second part, we will move to the Millennium Development Goals.  Cecile and I will begin by sketching some of the background and context of these goals by situating them within the larger, global development agenda.  We will look at some of the actions we can take, as individuals or communities.  Bernadette Porter will join us to speak about the MDGs and how people rally behind the Make Poverty History campaign in Great Britain, as one concrete example of what is being done in another western country like ours.  Finally, Joan Kirby will talk about how interfaith dialogue and religion can become an important force to effectively address global challenges of today.

So let us begin with the NGO Office and the RSCJ-IBVM partnership.

What is an NGO

Cecile:  As you know, the Society of the Sacred Heart applied for and received in 2002 associative status as an NGO with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations.  What does this mean?  It means that we asked the United Nations to recognize the Society as a whole as a non-governmental organization (NGO).  This is how the UN describes an NGO: “a non-governmental organization is a not-for-profit, voluntary citizens’ group, which is organized on a local, national or international level to address issues in support of the public good”. 

There are thousands of NGOs around the world.  Not all of them choose to work at the United Nations.  NGOs typically each have their own mandate and area of expertise, and they have different goals.  NGOs like Doctors Without Borders, for example, perform medical services, Jesuit Refugee Service provides a host of services to refugees, while groups like Caritas and Oxfam provide other humanitarian services.  But there are also NGOs that focus more on policy, research and analysis, or advocacy - think for example of Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International. 

It is essential to remember that we didn’t create any new entity because the Society as such is the NGO.  This means that the members of the Society are the principal members of the NGO, all RSCJ wherever they work and live.  Through our ministries and relationships the circle of members expands and encompasses students, faculties, alumni, associates, co-workers, in other words the larger Sacred Heart family.  The second important thing to remember is that as NGO Representative I am a member of the NGO like all of you are, but I am not the NGO itself, only its Representative at the UN, where we want to bring our spirituality and charism to bear on the discussion of global issues.

RSCJ-IBVM partnership

Evanne:  My congregation, the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in many aspects similar to the Society of the Sacred Heart.  We were founded in 1615 by Mary Ward in England, and today we are working in 18 countries, gathered into 10 Provinces and 1 Region.  Some of our Provinces overlap with RSCJ Provinces.  For example both IBVM and RSCJ are present in the USA, Canada, Ireland, England, Spain, Kenya, Peru, India and Australia.  But there are also place where we are but the RSCJ are not, for example in South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, Ghana, Morocco, and Ecuador.  Other similarities are that both congregations are educators with an Ignatian spirituality and both focus, as educators, on issues concerning women, children, refugees, the poor and the earth.

Like the RSCJ, the IBVM requested and received associative status with the UN Department of Public Information in 2002.  So the IBVM is an NGO at the UN, just like the RSCJ.  But because of the many similarities, the two General Councils in Rome decided to pool together for the operations of the two NGOs and form a partnership so as to share the work and resources.  This resulted in one common NGO Office, although we are two separate NGOs.

The NGO Office is at the 80^th Street community, where I also live because there are no other IBVM sisters in New York.  Cecile and I share as much of the work as possible and whenever we go to meetings we go on behalf of both congregations.  Needless to say this requires us to keep each other updated constantly which we do almost daily, sometimes in the bus going to the UN, over lunch or in the office. 

Being associated with the UN obliges us to disseminate information about the UN and issues the UN and UN agencies work on to our networks.  Thus far our outreach and information dissemination happens in three different ways.  First, we get many visitors, sisters from the US and abroad, who walk with us for a day or more, attend a weekly briefing at the UN if possible, and experience first hand what our NGO status at the UN means.  In recent months we have also had some schools linking up with us when they were in town.  Second, we give presentations, sometimes together, other times individually, to audiences that range from communities to schools to Province Assemblies to international gatherings.  Our third way of outreach is through email and the web site – I think you receive these communications via Joan Hopkins who is the liaison person to the NGO Office for the RSCJ US Province.

We would like to turn now to the MDGs, the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations and tell you more about what they are and why 2005 is such an important year for the UN.  Working towards achieving the MDGs is another way of partnering, but now on the global level.

The Millennium Development Goals

Cecile:  This year, 2005, is an important year for the United Nations, because in September the General Assembly of heads of government and ministers will meet for the so-called Millennium +5 Summit to discuss, among other issues, how far individual countries are in implementing the Millennium Development Goals and the Millennium Declaration. 

To understand the MDGs and the Millennium +5 meeting better, it is necessary to go back to September 2000 when the UN General Assembly held the so-called Millennium Summit in New York.  189 Heads of State or Government agreed to work together to meet the challenges facing humanity at the dawn of the 21^st century.  The Millennium Declaration emanated from this meeting and as a plan of action was adopted by all member states.

The Millennium Development Goals are solemn pledges that are distilled from this Millennium Declaration, but in a way they are not new commitments.  Many of these goals rearticulate commitments made at world conferences or summits in the 1990s, for example the Women’s Conference in Beijing in 1995. 

There are a total of 8 MDGs with 18 so-called targets that are measurable.  The goals and targets are to be achieved by 2015.  The MDGs address the most critical problems that plague our world today such as extreme poverty and hunger, illiteracy, gender inequality, child and maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS and malaria, the lack of safe drinking water, and others.  You can’t say that one size fits all because not all 8 MDGs apply equally to each country.  For example, the level and nature of extreme poverty and disease in Sub-Sahara Africa is different from the level and nature of poverty and disease in first world countries like Canada and Holland.

During the past few months, we as a Province have, in fact, heard about all of the MDGs several times: in a piece Sheila Hammond wrote for the Province web site, in the letter Kathleen wrote to President Bush following our November Assembly, and in Advent and Lenten reflections sent out by the Justice & Peace Committee.

Evanne:  We would like to highlight, however, one specific MDG because of its particular relevance to the United States, and that is MDG # 8.  Goal # 8 is called “Develop a global partnership for development” and in the targets governments committed themselves to develop an open trading and financial system, to work towards debt relief for the poorest countries, to be more generous in foreign development aid, and to address the special needs of the least developed countries.  Seen from a global perspective and put in a simplistic way, the promises made in Goal # 8 boil down to providing the funds so the developing world can reach the MDGs 1-7.  Without help from us, how can more than 1 billion people climb out of their extreme poverty?  Or how will we be able to stop or at least slow down the death toll of 150,000 children each month due to malaria, something Jeffrey Sachs calls the “silent tsunami” of global poverty?  And what about the nearly 1 billion people in the world who do not have access to safe drinking water?

What can we do?

Cecile:  The Millennium Development Goals are an expression of the global development agenda and with the September Summit on the horizon, people around the world are organizing themselves to speak out – to tell their governments that they want them to keep the promises they made back in 2000.  Several global actions and campaigns have been initiated in view of this important year 2005 when governments will take the pulse of how far they are in implementing the MDGs now that 5 of the 15 years have passed.  

So what can we do in the United States?

Evanne: First, I suggest we familiarize ourselves more with the MDGs.  There are some very good websites, for example:

• the website of the UN itself, www.un.org/millenniumgoals
• the website of the UN Development Program (UNDP), www.undp.org
• the Cyber School Bus on the UN website has a new youth website where students can see what to do to help eliminate poverty in the world: http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus
• the Millennium Campaign, www.millenniumcampaign.org, is an initiative of the United Nations itself and supports citizens’ efforts to hold their governments to account for the Millennium promises.  Through this very elaborate website you can access country reports on the implementation of the MDGs at the local level, but you can also find out how grass roots organizations are coming together to campaign for fulfillment of the MDGs.

Once we are more comfortable with the MDGs, I suggest we talk about them at home, at work, with faculty and staff, with the kids in class, in the parish, in prayer groups, in newsletters, or when we give talks, whenever appropriate, because real change begins at home and we need to spread the word by raising consciousness.  You can even find lesson plans, class exercises, quizzes, assembly ideas at the website of Make Poverty History (www.makepovertyhistory.org/education.html) and on the site of CAFOD  (www.cafod.org.uk).

Cecile: Third, you may want to consider linking up with an international or national campaign.  For example, the Global Campaign to Action Against Poverty (www.whiteband.org) and join the White Band campaign.  The Global Call to Action Against Poverty is a world-wide alliance committed to forcing world leaders to live up to their promises, and to make a breakthrough on poverty in 2005.  Wearing a white band on your arm or wrist indicates that your support the MDGs, that you are serious in wanting your government to keep the promises, and it makes you part of this global community asking for accountability. 

Wouldn’t it be great if we could participate with our ministries and wear these white bands on the three designated days: July 1, September 10, and December 10?  Through our vast networks of schools, alums and associates we have the capacity of reaching an awful lot of people.  

You can easily make a white band yourself with a piece of cloth or you can buy plastic white bands from www.whiteband.org

Finally, some of us might want to get involved with the national campaign in the US, The One Campaign (www.one.org).  This is a coalition of large development and humanitarian assistance groups which have joined forces to promote the MDGs.  On the website you can sign The One Declaration and find out how to get involved locally. 

Evanne:  We realize that this was an avalanche of information but all we wanted to show is that we don’t have to invent the wheel ourselves because there are existing activities and global campaigns which we can join.

Let’s now hear from Bernadette Porter how they do that in England.

Bernie: Realising that we are a much smaller country than the USA, and a much smaller Province also, I offer the following account of our activities in support of the Millennium Development Goals.

National: The UK interpretation of the MDG’s, being supported by all the major charities,  is the ‘Make Poverty History’ campaign. This has been a significant feature in the recent election campaign, and has also been taken up by the media in the last 50 days leading up to the G8 summit in Edinburgh. There was a major overnight rally in London in April, attended by about 25,000 people, including numerous coach-loads from Christian parishes around the Country. The number at the rally in Edinburgh on July 1^st  is expected to exceed 250,000. The BBC is said to be clearing its schedules to cover the rally. Both our Prime Minister (Tony Blair) and the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Gordon Brown) have gone on public record as being determined to make a difference to the scandal of world poverty.

RSCJ and other religious orders involvement: When I came back from the UN/DPI conference last September, I visited as many communities as possible, to talk about the Conference and the MDG’s . I also went to talk with AMASC UK, and found the members very keen to understand the contribution they can make in the campaign. At the same time, the Conference of Religious Superiors here have been active in planning a lobby of Parliament. This actually happened the same week as the teleconference, and was a fantastic experience of solidarity among religious orders in the UK. About 1000 of us converged on Parliament to talk with our MP’s about the reality of global situations where we have first hand experience through our ministries and communities.

The local situation in Roehampton: As a small example of how an area can develop awareness of the global agenda, I shared with the teleconference participants how we have begun a CAFOD group here in Roehampton parish. This has taken up some advocacy work, writing to MP’s and to the Prime Minister. We have, as a parish, signed a number of white sashes which will be taken to Edinburgh by some of the group. We have also started a Fair Trade outlet, selling food and other goods from the Fair Trade organisation.

Cecile:  Thank you Bernie, that was fantastic and very inspiring.  Now we want to hear from Joan Kirby [NGO representative from the Temple of Understanding] about the contribution of religion and how interfaith dialogue can become an important force to effectively address today’s global challenges.

Joan: Thank you Cecile and Evanne. Your report was comprehensive, clear and interesting. I’ve not heard a better explanation of NGO status at the United Nations. And Bernadette, your nation is our model of Interfaith Cooperation. It was great to hear from you.

Thank you for including me in your report on the UN. I have three things to say:

• To spread the word about the urgency of achieving the Millennium Development goals, The Temple of Understanding and our partners are planning a one day Conference on Religions and the MDGs. We have invited religious and social action leaders from many Traditions to ponder the responsibility of religions in making sure that the MDGs are achieved by the target year, 2015.  Eveline Herfkens, the Director of the Millennium Campaign and several of Task Force members are speakers; our goal is to form a coalition of religious leaders committed to spreading the word among their congregations.
• I have joined the M+5 Network to work out the possibilities of having the NGO’s voice heard at the General Assembly Hearings June 23-25.  It is really important that the rich experience of NGOs in the field is allowed to shape policy made by the Member States. This is not as easy as it sounds since, for many reasons such as the number of NGOs (3000), a wide gulf usually separates the Member States and the NGOs at the UN. We have been working with a Task Force named by the General Assembly to facilitate NGO speakers at the official Hearings.
• Given that difficulty of influencing the decisions of Member States, imagine our surprise to be approached by three Ambassadors, together with UNESCO and the Department of Social and Economic Affairs (DESA) to offer a partnership in preparing a Conference on Interfaith Cooperation for Peace. The original three nations (Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan) has now expanded to thirteen states (Argentina, , Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Senegal, Spain, Tunisia and the UK and the USA are subject to confirmation). UNESCO, DESA, The World Bank and the Committee of Religious NGOs all are co-sponsors.  This is an unprecedented event at the UN and it is my good fortune to be part of it.