Message from the ICVA Secretariat: 9 March 2007

Call for Input on Improving the Drafting of NGO Statements, Final NGO Statements, and Volunteers to Draft for June Standing Committee

E-mail Message to ICVA Members, NGOs invited to Standing Committee, and Pre-EXCOM 2006 NGO Participants

*Call for Input on Improving the Drafting of NGO Statements, Final NGO Statements from March St Cte, June StCte*

To: ICVA Members, NGOs invited to Standing Committee, Pre-EXCOM 2006 NGO Participants
From: ICVA Secretariat
Date: 9 March 2007
SUBJECT: CALL FOR INPUT ON IMPROVING THE DRAFTING OF NGO STATEMENTS, FINAL NGO STATEMENTS, AND VOLUNTEERS TO DRAFT FOR JUNE STANDING COMMITTEE

Dear Colleagues,

IMPROVING THE DRAFTING PROCESS

As you know, ICVA hosted a side meeting yesterday to begin a discussion on how to improve the drafting of NGO statements. We will be producing a short note from that meeting, which we will send to you in the coming days.

In the meantime, we have created a page on our website dedicated to Improving the Drafting of NGO Statements: http://www.icva.ch/doc00002088.html. On this page we have posted the discussion paper that we sent out earlier this week http://www.icva.ch/doc00002087.doc and we are starting to post comments submitted by NGOs.

We would like to invite NGOs to provide us with their feedback/comments on the paper and on ways to improve the drafting of NGO statements. We will post those comments (with your permission, of course) publicly on the website so that NGOs from around the world have the possibility to comment. We will post messages in any language, but unfortunately cannot ensure their translation into English.

NGO STATEMENTS

We have posted the NGO statements from this March Standing Committee on our website: http://www.icva.ch/doc00002078.html.

JUNE STANDING COMMITTEE

For you to do some planning for the next Standing Committee in terms of thinking ahead of which NGO statements you may wish to contribute to (in terms of input and/or taking the lead to draft), please note that the JUNE Standing Committee will take place from 25-27 June 2007.

The DRAFT Calendar for Standing Committee meetings (EC/58/SC/CRP/2) and which is available on UNHCR's website: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.pdf?tbl=SUBSITES&id=45c3023a2&page=exec, indicates the subjects that will be up for discussion.

You may wish to look at the list of items on that draft calendar and already start to think about issues that you and, particularly, field colleagues would like to address in an NGO statement. You may even wish to start volunteer now to draft statements. The actual agenda for the meeting, however, will likely only be issue about a month in advance of the meeting.

We look forward to hearing from you in terms of your input for improving the drafting of NGO statements, as well as in terms of your interest in volunteering to draft NGO statements.

With best regards,
ICVA Secretariat