Dear Friends,
It is with great pleasure that I invite you to participate in the 2012 CIVICUS World Assembly that will take place from 3 to 7 September 2012 in Montreal, Canada.
As you may know, the 2012 CIVICUS World Assembly will focus on defining a new social contract, through discussions on three key themes: 'changing nations through citizens', 'building partnerships for social innovation' and 'redefining global governance'. Your participation in this year’s Assembly would be particularly important, asthe 2012 Assembly will see the launch of a comprehensive, multi-stakeholder process, led by CIVICUS, on defining a new social contract that will culminate in the presentation of recommendations to the United Nations in 2015. The 2012 World Assembly participants will set the guiding principles of this process, so your voice really can count!
In addition, the 2012 World Assembly, the 12th such event, promises an extraordinary variety of cutting-edge debate and encounters. The World Assembly programme offers 43 activity sessions from 5 to 7 September, while from 3 to 4 September, the Youth Assembly welcomes all participants under the age of 30 for 10 additional sessions.
I believe that aspects of our programme that will be of particular interest to you include the sessions on Good Governance Through Citizen Action; Regional institutions – an inclusive governance framework: failures, possibilities, solutions; and Multiple voices, effective partnerships – strengthening coherent and participatory civil society processes, position and strategy for the post-2015 development agenda. Considering your interest in Human Rights, these and many other sessions might be valuable for you and your organisation.In addition to these sessions and the networking opportunities at our Citizen Cafe, the plenary discussions will also bring many powerful insights to the proceedings from the local, national and global levels. From Marina Silva, social leader and former Minister of Environment in Brazil, to Daniel Ben-Horin, Founder and CEO of TechSoup, and from Olav Kjørven, Assistant Secretary General for development policy at UNDP to Caroline Anstey, Managing Director at the World Bank, our ground-breaking keynote speakers will join inspirational participants from across the board, including policy-makers, government decision-makers, donors, civil society leaders, activists, academics, artists, bloggers and many, many more.
I invite you to find out more about the full programme, and to view our thematic videos and to check our brochure for further information.
The CIVICUS World Assembly builds bridges between local and international organisations and processes, and between generations, and convenes usually disconnected stakeholders from all sectors of society. Register nowto attend and interact with representatives from all sectors: citizens established civil society and NGOs, government and business to contribute your solutions to the challenges facing society.
As an EHHR partner, you will benefit from a unique discount registration rate. I invite you to register through this link using the promotional code CIVPRO, to benefit from the best rate available.
We hope to see you in Montreal. The World Assembly comes at a pivotal moment for citizens to redefine the relationships and conditions we want for a sustainable future in a changing and volatile world. But even ahead of Montreal, we want to start the process of defining a new social contract now. So as well as inviting you to register, we also invite you now to submit your key pieces of research, analysis, commentary and other essential documents that can help inform our upcoming discussions. We will then make them available to all World Assembly participants to feed into our reflection! Find out more here.
We look forward to welcoming you in Montreal in September.
Yours in solidarity and support and on behalf of the team,
Lerato
Every Human Has Rights Team Coordinator