The informal hearings are a clear demonstration that ”member states of the U.N. are prepared not only to work with civil society but also to give serious consideration to proposals and ideas presented at these discussions,” said Jean Ping of Gabon, president of the General Assembly.
U.N. officials say that Ping has invited over 200 participants representing a ”broad and balanced cross-section of civil society, NGOs and the private sector, both high-level leadership and grassroots membership,” to present their views.
But many NGOs disagree. ”We do not know how they selected speakers,” Esmeralda Brown of the Southern Caucus of NGOs for Sustainable Development told IPS.
”Civil society plays an important role, they are not marginalised,” Ping stressed. ”NGOs today are a player that we can not ignore.”
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