UN CONFERENCE TO EXPLORE WAYS TO HELP REBUILD SOCIETIES EMERGING FROM CONFLICT

Einar Michelsen of  Drammen will be representing First Week Foundation and Children of the Earth at a conference, entitled "Rebuilding Societies Emerging from Conflict: A Shared Responsibility", to be held at the United Nations from 9 to 11 September 2002. The Conference will explore the role of the international community in supporting societies emerging from conflict with a special focus on post-conflict societies that have been the subject of concerted United Nations involvement.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Han Seung-soo, President of the fifty­-sixth session of the UN General Assembly, and Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, are among the dignitaries that are expected to address the opening session of the Conference. Other featured speakers will include United Nations and government officials, NGO representatives and civil society leaders who have first hand field experience in post-conflict societies and are in the forefront of the struggle to maintain the peace and rebuild the society. To fully appreciate the painstaking efforts and enormous resources needed to restore a sense of normality to societies emerging from conflict, the Conference will also hear from citizens who have lived through the violence faced by these communities, as well as from cultural leaders, journalists,  academics and other professionals whose work has focused on understanding the process of recovery and reconciliation.

First Week Foundation is dedicated to work for peace and are in strong support of the role of United Nastions in regards to human rights and the other issues currently enganged by United Nations. Einar Michelsen has been elected to the Board of Directors of UNICEF, Norway from May 2002.

Organized by the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Section of the United Nations' Department of Public Information (DPI), in cooperation with the Executive Committee of NGOs associated with DPI, the Conference is open only to representatives of NGOs associated with DPI, those in consultative status with the United Nations through the Economic and Social Council or those working with UN agencies and programmes or with UN Information Centres and Services. Additional information on the Conference is available on the NGO Section's website: www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/55conf.htm . Inquiries can be addressed to the NGO Section at DPI/NGO Resource Centre, Room L-1B-31, United Nations, New York, NY 10017, USA, or e-mail: dpingo@un.org or fax: 212-963-6914.