Hope for the nations

Global Issues to be addressed

Faith-based and secular aid agencies will sit side by side this week when Kelowna hosts a UN-sponsored development conference. More than 100 groups are already confirmed for the event, which is being hosted by Hope for the Nations, a Kelownabased charity that operates orphanages and development centres worldwide. The participating groups have a diverse background, ranging from Christian-sponsored charities to feminist organizations, pro-democracy foundations to environmentalists. But whatever their differences in philosophy or funding, the groups share the common purpose of trying to make daily life better for ordinary people in Third World countries

"The United Nations will deal with any organization, so long as they have a humanitarian bent," said Nick Arkle, who's helping to co-ordinate the conference on behalf of Hope for the Nations, said. "The ways in which these groups try to help people varies considerably." "Some might have representatives in the field working on specific projects, others would be involved in research, some would be working as advocates on issues that affect the developing world." There are more than 80 non-governmental organizations in Canada that have a working relationship with the United Nations. Of these, almost half have already confirmed their intention to attend the Kelowna conference

"It's a chance to get to know other people who are working in the development field," said Philippe Tremblay of the Montreal-based International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development

"We have many perspectives, but we are all interested in helping the UN reach the millennium goals." Those goals, adopted in 2000, include such things as eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education and reducing infant mortality by 2015

Other confirmed attendees for the Kelowna forum include Focus on the Family, Global Institute, Canadian International Development Agency, Canadian Federation of University Women and REAL Women.
"We don't have any representatives in the field in developing countries, but we're interested in policy issues that strengthen the family around the world," said Amrita Moore of Focus on the Family

The UN will be represented at theconference by Hanifa Mezoui and Najet Karaborni, two top officials who oversee development work done in partnership with non-governmental organizations

Mezoui is in Japan this week, and will be in Africa after the Kelowna conference. Her presence in Kelowna is testament to the importance the UN places in working with non-governmental organizations, Tremblay said. "These kind of conferences usually happen in places like New York, or major international cities," he said. "It's really quite an achievement for Hope for the Nations to be able to put something like this on in Kelowna." The conference runs Wednesday through Friday at the Rotary Centre for the Arts.

By RON SEYMOUR The Daily Courier