THE 'PREHISTORY' OF Social Watch

7- NGO Alliances

7.1 - People´s Alliance and El Taller

The People's Alliance had not secured a lot of funding for its work by the first PrepCom. Novib had agreed a symbolic contribution, and had also agreed to work with, but not as part, of the People's Alliance.31 The most extensive network engaged in the People's Alliance was El Taller, an NGO based in Tunis. Novib originally established el Taller and at that time was still heavily dependent upon Novib funding. The involvement of El Taller in the Social Summit gave Novib an opportunity to bring together partners involved in both the board of El Taller and the reference group.32 As a result there was very much overlap, particularly in the beginning, between the reference group and the EL Taller group - and hence with the People's Alliance.

7.2 - Linking into the APC network

In November 1993, El Taller held its General Assembly, which coincided with a regional consultation on the Social Summit organised with the People's Alliance. At this meeting the problem was identified that Southern NGOs lacked information with regards to what was happening in the preparations of the Social Summit. A proposal was drafted to develop a project for an 'information officer' in New York which would channel information on the preparations to the Southern (and Northern) NGOs. Several NGOs, all member of the board of El Taller, were identified as focal points for further disbursement of information in the region. The proposal was submitted to Novib, and after approval the position was put out as a tender to the NGO community. November 29th of 1993 Novib offered the job to the candidate from Instituto Tercer Mundo after consideration of a number of Southern candidates.33 The offer, which the information officer accepted, was to:

"assume the post of information broker in New York (..) and disseminate (..) throughout the network of NGOs participating in the events that will lead to Copenhagen, - regional consultations - PrepComs - other relevant meetings - updating agenda's of meetings and monitoring of the Preparation Commission in the UN."34

The appointment of the candidate of ITeM, which was a member of electronic network APC that promoted electronic information dissemination for Non Governmental Organisations, created an enormous potential for the mobilisation of participation at local and national level in the Summit.

7.3 - WEDO

A few other NGOs were instrumental in organising alliances of NGOs during the first PrepCom. The Women's' Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO), whose chair was the famous activist and politician Bella Abzug, well connected to Washington. WEDO had a vast experience in engaging in the UN conferences and worked predominantly with women's' organisations. WEDO's work in the conferences had the objective to engage as many NGOs as possible in a productive process of engagement with the official process. WEDO provided a space for meeting and exchange in the 'Women's Caucus' that they established. It provided important information on the developments in the official process as well as exchanges with representatives of government. The tools produced by WEDO and the Women's Caucus included precise language for inclusion in the official texts distributed to the official delegates.

The Women's Caucus also had a direct link to Somavía, whose wife participated in the Caucus. The Caucus included organisations that participated in the Summit with direct support from WEDO, but it was open to anybody interested in contributing to the issues on which the Caucus was working. WEDO's experience in following UN conferences provided an excellent space for obtaining relevant information and opportunities to learn strategies of engagement with the official process that had a real possibility of influencing the process.35 During the first PrepCom the Novib reference group began to attend the morning Women's Caucus in its entirety. The participation of more Southern and Northern groups related to the 'reference group' gave WEDO an even greater political weight.36 The very close co-operation and trust between Abzug and Novib's van den Berg - also expressed in a 'symbolic' financial contribution from Novib to WEDO, was an important aspect of the NGO alliances established during the Social Summit process.37

7.4 - Eurostep

At the Eurostep Steering Committee meeting of the 24th March 1993 it was agreed that a list of UN meetings should be produced and steps should be made to co-ordinate efforts of the member organisations in these meetings.38 Novib produced this list in April. In June 1993 Novib and the Danish NGO MS raised the question of the participation in the Social Summit in the General Assembly, consisting of its 23 Directors of European Development Organisations. At the same time Mani Tese, one of the member organisations, was organising a Convention to take place in Florence in November 1993 on "People's participation", in part as an input in the Social Summit.39 On 9 December 1993 Somavía attended an informal meeting with the General Assembly of Eurostep.40 A working group of Members active in the Social Summit was established.41 Together with Novib the secretariat of Eurostep prepared a Eurostep statement for the first PrepCom and organised regular meetings for the Members present in the PrepCom.

Eurostep emphasised that a focus should be developed of advocacy towards the EU and EU Member States. The secretariat attended all the PrepComs in order to co-ordinate the work of the several Member organisations involved in the process.42 In doing so it provided a specific focus on the negotiations from a regional reality. In the case of the EU this was particularly complex because positions between EU Member States were co-ordinated and presented by the EU Presidency. Eurostep ensured that advocacy and national and EU level would not be contradictory. It also gave continuity and consistency in relations with the different actors, including the individual Member States, the European Council, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Presidency.