UN Sustainability Conference will congregate 2,000 NGOs representatives

JOSÉ DOMINGO GUARIGLIA

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 26- The 64th Annual United Nations DPI/NGO Conference will set a new record of participation with 2,000 expected NGOs representatives from more than 100 countries, the Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Public Information (DPI), Kiyo Akasaka, told reporters Friday.

Akasaka remembered the conference will take place this year between 3-5 September in Bonn, Germany, and will focus on sustainable development and volunteerism under the name “Sustainable Societies: Responsive Citizens”. He also said that a large number of young people and students will be involved in order to get ideas to poverty eradication through the establishment of a “green economy”.

The United Nations DPI/NGO Conference will work as a preparation for the Rio+20 Conference that will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012. At the same time, the meeting celebrates the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers.

The Deputy Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations, Ambassador Miguel Berger, said his country is “extremely glad” that Bonn has been chosen to host the conference and that they are ready to receive all the participants and to activate many side events.

Berger explained that Bonn is the UN city in Germany, because 16 UN organizations and offices that work in the field of sustainable development and environment are located there. “This will be a lively and interactive event”, he said.

The Chief of the Partnerships and Communications Division of the UN Volunteers programme in Bonn, Donna Keher, emphasized the importance of the world “sustainability”. “If the next generations have to benefit from development, then development has to be sustainable”, she remarked.

In order to create sustainability, Keher called the civil society to actively participate with the governments and institutions. “People must involve, we need volunteers. This conference is showing the importance of partnership and the value of working together”, she expressed.

The UN DPI/NGO Conference will be the first of three meetings that will take place in Germany between September and November, as confirmed by the Chair of the Conference Felix Dodds.

Among the challenges the three meetings and Rio+20 will have to face, Dodds remembered climate change, food and water security, the consumption model and the disparity between developed and developing countries. Outcome documents are expected to come after each event.