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Press Release
Humanists to be Represented at UN Conference
(Washington, D.C., September 8, 2004) The American Humanist Association will be well represented at the 57th Annual United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference to be held at UN headquarters in New York City, September 8 to 10, 2004. AHA board member Maddy Urken, AHA UN NGO representative Beth Lamont, and AHA program staffer Anne Lyster will hear Secretary General Kofi Annan address an expected 2000 NGO delegates at the opening session. Entitled, "Millennium Development Goals: Civil Society Take Action," the conference will focus on the roles of NGOs, civil society and governments in the implementation of the eight Millennium Development Goals which were adopted by 189 UN Member States at their high-level millennium session in 2000.
Specific Millennium Development Goals are set to: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development.
Since 1976 the AHA UN NGO office has served as an advocate for humanitarian aims like these. The AHA has issued resolutions in support of a shared vision, highlighting the Humanist support of the United Nations and its treaties and conventions, which support religious freedom, environmental treaties, disarmament, arms control, women's rights, and other multilateral agreements which lead to a just and safer world.
Conference delegates will attend five plenary sessions with governmental, UN Agency, NGO, civil society, and local community leaders to assess the progress each sector has made on the goals. Emphasis will be placed on reviewing successful programs to be replicated, possible strategies for raising resources required for the implementation of the MDGs, and heightening public awareness of the Goals. After interactive workshops, delegates will consider recommending a plan of action for use by their NGOs and other civil society members to help meet the Millennium Development Goals by the target date of 2015.
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The American Humanist Association is the oldest and largest Humanist
organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for
those with a positive nontheistic outlook, based on reason and experience,
which embraces all of humanity.
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