Annual Reports > Annual Report 1998

National Office Programmes, Initiatives, and Activities

Fiftieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted by the UN on December 10, 1948) was an important milestone for the global community as a whole, including for UNA-Canada. A significant number of our projects were targeted at activities to ensure broad public awareness and involvement in a wide variety of initiatives to mark the Year. Major under takings included our responsibility for the publication and distribution of the Action Guide: A Human Rights Resource Manual for Secondary Schools; the design and upkeep of a calendar of events relating to Human Rights; and a gala dinner in honour of Her Excellency, Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. We were privileged to collaborate with both the Department of Canadian Heritage and the International Centre for Human Rights and International Development in these endeavours.

The Action Guide was written to be a starting point for secondary students, and their teachers, who are interested in learning more about human rights. Authored by Ian Wildeboer and Corinne Lennox, it was distributed in February of 1998 to every secondary school across Canada. Topics covered included a set of key questions and answers about human rights; a list of potential options for special observances; case studies; and suggestions as to how to get involved in human rights activities. There was also a comprehensive reference section listing selected relevant print, video and Internet resources. There was an overwhelmingly positive response to the Guide.

To help keep Canadians up to date with Human Rights-related events during the anniversary year, UNA-Canada dedicated part of its web site to help promote such happenings. In addition to the calendar of events, the web site also had a list of sites of interest to those wishing to pursue Human Rights issues and connections.

On November 28, 1998, UNA-Canada hosted a gala dinner in honour of Her Excellency, Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Rt. Hon. Ramon J. Hnatyshyn hosted the event, held at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa. David Kilgour, Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa, spoke on behalf of the Government of Canada.

To round out the Fiftieth Anniversary, the UNA-Canada newsletter, Liaison, had a special three- page section on human rights.

An Annual Standard of Recognition for Canada

Once again UNA-Canada was pleased to collaborate with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in the Canadian launch of UNDP’s annual Human Development Report. Canada again ranked first in the central Human Development Index (HDI), for an enviable fifth year in a row. The 1998 Report focused on worldwide consumption patterns and the disparities between rich and poor countries.

While Canada ranked first in the Human Development Index, it is worth noting that in a newly instituted Human Poverty Index, which examines such factors as deprivation in survival (people not expected to survive to age 60), deprivation in knowledge (people who are functionally illiterate), deprivation in income (population below the income poverty line) and social exclusion (long-term unemployment, 12 months or more) Canada only placed 10th.

The Canadian launch , on September 9, 1998 at the National Press Club in Ottawa, featured Normand Lauzon from UNDP, Senator Lois Wilson, and Huguette Labelle, the President of the Canadian International Development Agency, with Maureen O’Neil, President of IDRC, as Chair of the presentations.

Introducing Young Canadians to the UN System

The Youth International Internship Programme was even more successful in 1998 than in the initial year of its operations.. In total, 29 young Canadians were given the opportunity, through UNA-Canada, to work with UN related agencies around the world.

We were delighted to be able to provide interns with professional level work experience in UN organizations in countries ranging from Fiji to Switzerland. These internships enable young Canadians to enrich their understanding of cross-cultural issues, while also providing valuable work experience and an opportunity to begin bridging the gap between academia and the practice of development and international relations. Upon their return, these young qualified Canadians have gained sufficient confidence and experience to pursue their long-term career goals.

The Youth International Internship Programme has enabled UNA-Canada to strengthen its ties with other organizations within the UN system. Similarly, through the placement of young Canadians, these organizations have increased insight into Canadian development and foreign policy priorities and practices.

Funding to support this outstanding initiative came from both the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency. It is anticipated that these young Canadians will carry the message back to other Canadians, as they move forward in their lives, of the important role that the UN plays in our daily lives and in our collective futures.

Special Evenings to Honour Special Guests

Gala events provide an opportunity to recognize special people, a channel through which to inform Canadians about outstanding current international issues, and a means through which to generate essential financial support for the work of the Association. The fall of 1998 was marked by three such gala dinners.On United Nations Day, October 24, the Honourable Maurice Strong was special guest at our first event in Edmonton. Co-hosted with the Edmonton Branch, the dinner significantly helped to improve the image of the organization in the community. Mr. Strong, who has served with the United Nations over many years in different capacities at the rank of Under-Secretary General, spoke to those in attendance about the importance of UN reform and he highlighted current efforts in that direction.

A gala dinner in Montreal on November 17, in honour of Dr. Klaus Töpfer, the new Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), helped to promote Montreal’s place as a leader in global environmental issues. The event successfully brought together members of Montreal’s business and environmental communities. Dr. Topfer took the opportunity to speak about the need for environmental controls and about UNEP’s current priorities. Canada’s former Ambassador to the UN, Yves Fortier, was the host for the evening.

The third and final gala of 1998 took place on December 15. As part of the programme for her first official visit to Canada, Her Excellency Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, was our guest of honour. The Right Honourable Ramon Hnatyshyn hosted a memorable evening that was attended by some 200 people.

“Civil Society” and the UN

The Civil Society and the UN project has been a UNA-Canada under-taking since June of 1996, when Angus Archer, Director of Development, met Bill White, Presi-dent of the Flint Michigan-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, at a CIVICUS meeting in Toronto. In 1997 we received a grant of US$30,000 to conduct a “feasibility study” on the relationship of “Civil Society” to the United Nation system.

“Civil Society” is defined as the third sector - after government and business - but including mass membership organizations (e.g. cooperatives and trade unions) and business/trade/professional association, as well as what we currently know as non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The feasibility study recommended an elaboration of the project into a substantial study (to result in a 250 page book) as a fundamental base for the several world conferences on this subject being planned for late 1999 and throughout 2000. The Mott Foundation, in 1998, agreed to further significant funding (US$100,000) in support of this second phase.

There was an important parallel development in 1998. A steering committee of NGO representatives accepted an offer from Canada (with funding support from both CIDA and the Quebec Ministry of International Relations) to hold a World Conference on Civil Society in Montréal, December 8-11, 1999. The conference will invite some 500 civil society organization representatives (at least one from every member state of the UN) to convene at the Sheraton Hotel in Montréal to consider “building global governance partnerships”. UNA-Canada’s book will be a key background document for this conference, as well as for the Millennium Peoples Assembly in New York in August, 2000.

Public Education and Outreach

For over 50 years the UN Association has been the de facto UN Information Centre in Canada. Its mandate has been to provide access to information about and from the UN system to Canadians from all walks of life and all interests, to ensure that the mandate and objectives of the UN are understood by Canadians and that the government and public retain the UN system as a central facet of this country’s foreign policy. It is a fascinating challenge and task.

The Information Service fields queries that cover the spectrum of the UN’s agenda and of the Canadian public. There are young people doing research projects or preparing for Model UN simulations; MPs and government officials seeking information on UN decisions or documents; citizens wishing to know how to access UN offices or find employment in the UN system; people wishing to question or applaud UN actions. We do our best to service them all.

Increasingly the conduit of choice for many Canadians is the Internet. UNA-Canada has embraced the new technology, and its web site (www.unac.org) has become an electronic focal point for Canadians seeking access to information on and from the UN. There is creative input from both the National Office and a few of our key Branches. The site includes both Canadian perspectives on key UN issues such as human rights, sustainable development and UN reform and an annotated roadmap to the maze of UN and UN-related sources on the burgeoning Internet highway.

While the Internet may be becoming a major channel through which to reach our members and the broader Canadian public with fact sheets, school curricula materials, and UNA-Canada news, we have not abandoned the more traditional paper route. We use our direct mail campaigns to focus on specific issues of current importance and we offer feed-back mechanisms (surveys or petitions) to provide members with an opportunity to act as advocates for change. Our newsletter, Liaison, is available on a subscription basis, as well as on the Internet, to those who wish up-to-date information on Association news. Background and/or summary discussion papers are often produced in conjunction with seminars or public meetings and are available free, or at minimal cost. Last, but not least, the Association is also a sales agent for many of the sales publications produced by the UN itself.

UNA-Canada draws its strength, as well as its raison d’être, from its individual members and supporters. It will always place a priority emphasis on personal contacts and communications.

Monitoring Sustainable Development

One of the key concepts that cuts across much of the work of the UN and its various agencies is that of sustainable development. Short-term emergency and humanitarian assistance is often critical, but in the long term both local communities and the globe as a whole need to develop practices and methods of operation which are directed to durability and to the benefit of all life forms on the planet. Many of these issues were at the core of a series of major UN conferences held in the early 1990s, and continue to be central to UN programmes, such as the UN Development Programme, the UN Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Bank.

UNA-Canada is working to monitor the work of the UN system in this realm, with a view to providing an explanation of the initiatives under the UN’s aegis and a channel through which Canadians can access relevant information. We are grateful to the International Development Research Centre for financial support which is underwriting the production of an extensive set of research fact sheets and Internet linkages which will be a significant component of our web page when it is completed.

Promoting Sustainable Agriculture

With funding from the International Development Research Centre, and support from the Museum of Agriculture, UNA-Canada has a project that seeks to promote environmentally sustainable agriculture, nutritional food habits and an appreciation of the importance of medicinal plants. The overall thrust is to promote the potential opportunities and benefits of adapting farming practices that draw on experiences in other countries.

The Sustainable Agriculture Project Officer, Priyantha Wijeweera has been instrumental in a number of initiatives, including seminar presentations and a poster competition at two Ottawa area high schools; a summer demonstration Multicultural Herbal Garden at the Agriculture Museum , opened on July 1 with a special focus on Caribbean plants; and Thanksgiving Day exhibits and demonstrations related to rice, sorghum and millet varieties at the Museum .

A Security Council Role for Canada

In 1998 Canada was actively seeking re-election to a sixth term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. The Association supported that successful bid through various educational endeavours. The aim was to explain both the opportunities and challenges involved in Council membership. There were relevant articles in Liaison, references in communications with our members, and an informative background brochure that formed the core of a section of our Internet site.

The Association also collaborated with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) in a round-table seminar on international security issues, with a particular focus on the new human security agenda that Canada is actively promoting. Participants included senior Canadian officials from DFAIT, CIDA, and National Defence, some Canadian university academics, and a number of Permanent Representatives to the UN who are also accredited representatives to Canada. Both the preparatory background papers and a seminar summary are available in print form and on our Internet site.

Honouring A Canadian Who Makes a Difference

UNA-Canada is proud of its annual tradition through which it pays tribute to an individual who has followed in the footsteps of Lester B. Pearson and has outstanding achievements in the field of international service and understanding. The 20th recipient of the Pearson Peace Medal is Pat Roy Mooney - a leader in “global civil society” for over two decades and an internationally recognized expert on issues of food security, sustainable development and plant genetics. The award was presented by the Honorary Patron of UNA-Canada, His Excellency, the Right Honourable Roméo LeBlanc, Governor General of Canada, during a ceremony on December 15th at Rideau Hall.

Mr. Mooney has earned an enviable international reputation among friends and opponents alike for his ground-breaking research and advocacy around the issues of agricultural genetic erosion. Beginning in the 1970s, he and colleagues have laboured to alert the world to the loss of plant genetic resources and to lobby for strategies to conserve biodiversity and agricultural diversity. Through the 1980s he anchored a global campaign against the concept of control of intellectual property rights over the world’s food supply, winning organizational allies on all continents. He and his non-government organization, Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI), continue to provide inspired leadership in a growing international campaign against “life patenting”.

Carrying a Torch for the United Nations

UNA-Canada is committed to an effective and energetic United Nations. Like many, we are deeply concerned at the UN’s continuing financial crisis, brought on in large part by the refusal of some Member States, led by the United States of America, to meet their financial obligations and to pay their dues. Equally, we are proud that Canada has always paid its dues, in full and on time.

To protest this imposed financial crisis the Association and the World Federalists of Canada held a candlelight vigil in Ottawa on October 23, the eve of UN Day. Similar vigils were held in at least eight cities in Canada, including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. Candles were also lit in other countries, including in many American cities, where concerned Americans asked their own government to honour its convention obligations.

In the Ottawa event over 40 people walked through downtown Ottawa to the recently dedicated Human Rights Monument and then to Parliament Hill, opposite the American Embassy. Fergus Watt, Executive Director of the World Federalists of Canada, and Harry Qualman, Executive Director of UNA-Canada gave short presentations.