Abstract
Highpoints: The focus is on the preparation for meetings and international conferences, as well as their management and how to use them to advance diplomatic initiatives. Great attention is given to the role of conference Secretariats, special committees, and staff. In addition, the roles of Administrative and Protocol Officer are introduced.
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Notes
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UN Department of Public Information Non-Governmental Organizations
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By way of interest, the first international conference to which the United States officially participated was the 1853 Maritime Conference in Brussels in 1853. Sponsored by the US government, it was established to create a uniform system of maritime meteorological observations. The conference was a technical conference due to the subject matter. Of course, many international conferences had been held before then with US government and NGO officials as observers or in their personal capacity. The United States also intended to officially attend the 1826 Panama Congress, but one delegate died at the sea, and the other was unable to attend while the event was in session. The first truly diplomatic conference was the First Red Cross Conference in Geneva in 1864 “Conference international pour la neutralization du service de santa militaire en champagne.” American NGOs did however heavily participate in conferences, e.g., the General Peace Congress of 1851 in London and the 1848 General Peace Conference in Brussels.
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The purpose of the Global Risk Forum is to “bridge the gap between science and practice, to promote the worldwide exchange of know-how and experience, to target solutions and promote good practice in integral risk management and climate change adaptation for an improved understanding, assessment and management of disasters and risks that affect human safety, security, health, the environment, critical infrastructures, the economy and society at large, to provide and manage a network for decision-makers, practitioners and experts from politics, government, IGOs, business, science, NGOs, media and the public” (Amman, Goals of the Global Risk Forum).
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We also need to keep in mind that the chief negotiator might have been incorrect. It does happen.
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Climate Caucus was a partnership of NGOs in the CoNGO and DPI/NGO alliances which examined aspects of climate change on everything from the impact on women to the indigenous.
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Sustainable Development is a catchall for issues like risk management. In the past, disasters were considered temporary disruptions that could be managed only by response or their impacts reduced by technical interventions. Today, we know that risk management is intertwined with sustainable development and that risks like famine, epidemics, and economic depressions exacerbate the impact of disasters. This is one reason diplomacy can be complex. Will the proposed solution to one risk undermine efforts to solve others? Will the solution fit into a multinational grand strategy?
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Roeder, L.W., Simard, A. (2013). Meetings and Conferences. In: Diplomacy and Negotiation for Humanitarian NGOs. Humanitarian Solutions in the 21st Century. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7113-4_10
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