Conference Background

Since 1981, each of ICVA's General Assemblies has been combined with a debate on a particular theme. The 12th General Assembly (16-17 February 2003) will be preceded by a two-day conference on NGOs in a Changing World Order: Dilemmas and Challenges.

NGOs are confronted increasingly with the effects of the post-11 September world order in their daily work, whether in terms of human rights, development, or humanitarian issues. The military – both peacekeeping forces and combat forces – are in the same areas where humanitarian, peace-building, and development efforts are taking place; “forgotten crises” risk remaining forgotten or ignored unless there is a strategic interest in ending the crises, as happened in Afghanistan; and the rights of displaced persons (asylum-seekers, refugees, and internally displaced persons) and migrants are increasingly threatened.

NGOs need to confront the implications of this changing world order for their work and they need to do so together. Otherwise, NGOs risk becoming irrelevant or marginal in their efforts to effect change, particularly when those challenges are only likely to be compounded in the future. Given the pressing need for NGOs to explore the possibility of common positions on how to tackle these dilemmas and challenges, the ICVA Conference that will precede the ICVA General Assembly, will look at the theme NGOs in a Changing World Order: Dilemmas and Challenges.

By engaging NGOs and their partners from the governmental and UN sectors in a frank dialogue about the current challenges, it is expected that NGOs will be able to more clearly articulate means in which to confront various dilemmas related to the “war on terror.” Within the overarching theme of NGOs in a Changing World Order: Dilemmas and Challenges, three areas of particular concern and relevance to the work of ICVA’s members have been identified that will form the basis of more focused discussion during the Conference:

1. The Increasing Presence of Military Forces and the Independence of NGOs
2. The Strategic Value of Forgotten Crises: The Determining Factor?
3. The Effects of the Changing World Order on the Protection of Displaced Persons and Migrants

Members and partners will be approached to produce papers that will appear on the website as on-line publications and/or in a special edition of Talk Back to be produced in early February. Such efforts will allow people to react on various issues prior to the General Assembly. Other processes that are taking place will inform preparations for the General Assembly and Conference so that the February Conference will see the culmination of this debate.