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Soroptimist International is delighted to share with you the final version of the DPI/NGO conference declaration.

This statement is the product of over 3 months consultation, culminating in the DPI/NGO conference in Bonn, held earlier this month. The conference provided a vital opportunity for over 1500 representatives from NGOs and Civil Society to meet, discuss and debate the declaration, make amendments and tighten language.

The declaration addresses the alarming state of the environment, poverty and global inequalities. It also expresses its disappointment with the failure of governments to live up to the commitments of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio and calls on governments worldwide not to miss the opportunity of Rio+20 to embark on radical change.

During the final session of DPI/NGO, Felix Dodds, Chair of the sixty-fourth annual DPI/NGO Conference, asked for a consensus vote through a show of hands by those in favour of the Declaration as debated and agreed during the closing session, and of his taking the next step of handing it over to the representative of the German Government, the Mayor of Bonn and the Chair of the meeting, Mr Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.The declaration was passed.

 The declaration focuses on the following two broad topics:

1. Green Economy in the context of Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication (para 184)
2. The Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development (para 413)

SI is delighted to see that the suggestions made both prior to the conference and during the feedback sessions have been incorporated. We are delighted that we have been able to push for more gender sensitive language and, in particular, we are pleased to see the recognition of women as producers and consumers included in the declaration:

“Recognise and support by all means possible, the important role and special needs of women as the primary producers and purchasers of food, along with the implementation of women’s property and inheritance rights” (line 577-578).

In addition to these areas, the statement also forwards a number of other issues to be considered at Rio+20. Finally, several Sustainable Development Goals have been crafted which address the wide array of issues taken in by the Sustainable Development agenda. These can be found in lines 442 - 622.

The content of the Declaration will be submitted as input to the “zero draft” outcome document for Rio+20, ahead of the November deadline for submissions, which Member States decided should be open to all stakeholders from around the world. It will also be taken to the UN General Assembly by the German Government later this month.

Visit: http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/ngoconference/resources/final to read the final statement.

In depth analysis of the DPI/NGO declaration to follow next week!