3rd Informal Meeting

Location: WebEx
15 Mar 2021, 17:00 - 18:30 (GMT+1)

Informal Meeting of the Alliance for Vienna-based Representatives of International NGOs – 3/2021  
March 15th, 2021 17:00 – 18:05 (via Webex)

Participants: Anna Alvazzi del Frate (Chair), Phil Reichel, Cecilia ODywer, David Peters, Gerson Nozea, Ilija Zivotic, Ingeborg Geyer (Treasurer), Ian Tennant, Jay Albanese, Marion Prechtl, Martina Gredler, Mirjam Beike, Nuno Maria Roque Jorge, Olivia Rope, Herta Kaschitz-Wüstenhagen, Ugoji A. Eze., Tobias Krachler (Secretary)

UNODC CST: Anders Frantzen, Mariana Cirmaciu

Anna Alvazzi del Frate

The Alliance is planning a side event for the CCPCJ focused on the implementation of the Kyoto declaration. It is aimed at improving the participation and representation of the civil society in preparation of the next Crime Congress. The communication between the civil society and the Secretariat of the governing bodies was much improved and the Alliance was asked to coordinate CS statements for the first time. Side events at the CCPCJ will have to be hosted virtually, on a platform of their choosing, by the organizers. Many questions surrounding this have yet to be answered but more detailed instructions will follow. NGOs with ECOSOC status can organize on their own, without the need of a Country or the UNODC as partners. But only one event can be organized by organization. The Alliance is going to hold its General Assembly on May 19th, during the CCPCJ. There will be another election of board members and it will be facilitated completely remote.

Inge Geyer, Treasurer

Reminded the members again to pay their membership fees before the General Assembly, because only members in good standing will be eligible to vote or be elected. Further it is important to have a solid financial basis for the continuation of the work the Alliance is doing.

Anders Frantzen, UNODC CST

For the UNODC it was a steep learning curve to facilitate such a massive hybrid Congress through an online platform. It was probably among the most attended virtual events held within the UN since the outbreak of the pandemic. The issues of many participants are being recognized, but in the end 90 ECOSOC and 18 non-ECOSOC NGOs were present at the Congress. In total, 283 civil society participants were registered, along with about 31 NGO delegates for in-person participation and approximately 100 NGO representatives registered as individual experts. Despite some technical limitations, UNODC and the Civil Society Unit tried its best to provide as much space for civil society as possible. We also appreciated a lot the support and coordination of the NGO Alliance throughout the process.

Tour de table

Many participants shared impressions on the 14th Crime Congress. Topics included positive and negative aspects of the Congress; the time zone issue; technical issues and overall user experience with the hosting platform inevent. The Chair invited all participants to send their comments and suggestions on their Congress experience to the Secretary, with a view to constructively sharing them with UNODC.

Follow-up

The next Informal Meeting will be on April 7th, from 14:00 to 15:30 CET .