On 1-2 November 2012, the Sub-Ministerial Meeting of the 9th Forum for the Future, co-chaired by the governments of USA and Tunisia, will be held in Washington.
The aim of the meeting, which will bring together civil society and government representatives of G8 and Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) countries, is to discuss and agree on a platform of key reform priorities to jointly address regional and national challenges related to women’s empowerment, economic governance and entrepreneurship, and freedom of expression and association. These initial proposals will continue to be discussed until agreement is reached at the Forum for the Future Ministerial Meeting to take place in Tunis on 13 December 2012.
No Peace Without Justice, who has been working since 2004 to promote, within the framework of the Forum for the Future, continuous and inclusive consultation between governments and civil society representatives, will participate in the Sub-Ministerial meeting.
Statement by Gianluca Eramo, MENA Program Coordinator of No Peace Without Justice:
“Since 2004, NPWJ has been working to promote, within the framework of the Forum for the Future, continuous and inclusive consultation between governments and civil society representatives, aiming at the development of joint proposals to promote political reforms and human rights in the MENA Region.
“The preparatory regional workshops convened in El Jadida, Morocco, and Amman, Jordan, provided the first opportunities for democracy advocates, civil society activists and government representatives of the MENA Region to meet this year in the framework of the Forum for the Future, and to discuss key prior measures and strategies to advance women’s empowerment as well as economic governance and entrepreneurship issues.
“Considering the recent developments and ongoing process of transition in several countries of the region, today it is even more urgent to provide full support to this process in order to ensure that citizens can actively engage in democratic reform and contribute to their country’s future based on freedom and respect for fundamental human rights, good governance and economic prosperity. No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) recommits itself to standing by their side in the struggle to secure the full establishment of democratic and open institutions in their countries.”
“We look forward to see the engagement of governments further expanded and reinforced during Sub-Ministerial meeting in Washington in order to enhance a regular and substantive dialogue with civil society, based on peer-to-peer and mutual recognition, and achieve a set of joint and constructive proposals and recommendations at the Ministerial meeting in Tunis”.
- Draft Program of the meeting
- Visit the website of the 9th Forum for the Future
For further information, please contact: Gianluca Eramo, email: geramo@npwj.org, phone: +1 212 9802558 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32 2 548 39 15.
