Can Citizen Action Save the World?

Watch live webcast from New York

Tags: Worldwide , Civil Society Building

Date: 21st October 2010

Time: 1.15 pm - 2.45 pm (New York Time)
Venue: The Simon Wiesenthal Center/New York Tolerance Center, Screening Room, 226 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017 (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)

As part of the UNU Midday ForumProgramme, the United Nations University Office at the UN, New York (UNU-ONY) is holding an event entitled Can Citizen Action Save the World? in association with the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation.

This event, in the form of a talk and a discussion, will address the question Can Citizen Action Save the World? Engaging with the issue of the role of citizen action in global politics (in the form of formal and informal institutions, practices and initiatives), it will analyse the incorporation of non-state actors into international relations. It will address the importance and the potential of citizen action in the form of participation by civil society agencies and social movement activists. The role of citizens, in the form of NGOs and social movements, has had an increasingly vital influence on socio-political spheres. Evaluating the participation of civil society actors, this dialogue will attempt to blend pragmatism with principles, seeking to have an impact on policy processes while considering the implications of citizen action for domestic and global governance.

The event is part of the UNU Midday Forum Programme, which offers an intimate and informal platform of discussion to the UN Permanent Missions, the UN Secretariat, UN agencies, academia, NGOs and the private sector, to discuss and exchange ideas and experiences on important topics related to the UN.

The event will be based on the recent publication 'Boiling Point: Can Citizen Action Save the World' by Kumi Naidoo, available here.

This event will include a simultaneous live, interactive webcast, for those who are not able to attend in person. Register here to acces the free webcast on the day of the event.

Speakers:

• Mark Weitzman, Director Government Affairs and the Director of the Task Force against Hate and Terrorism for the Simon Wiesenthal Center (Tolerance Center)
• Henning Melber, Executive Director of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation
• Benjamin Ferencz, Professor of International Law and former Nuremberg Prosecutor

Moderator:

• Dr Jean-Marc Coicaud, Director of United Nations University Office at the UN, New York

Website with speakers' profiles and more: http://www.ony.unu.edu/events-forums/new/MDForums/2010/-liberty-melly-1200-normal.php