BEYOND WAR ADMITTED AS OBSERVER ORGANIZATION AT COP17

We are delighted to report that Beyond War has been notified that it has been provisionally granted Observer status as an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) at the 2011 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which will take place from November 28 to December 9, 2011 in Durban, South Africa. We need volunteers to participate as Beyond War delegates to this conference. Delegates would be expected to pay their own expenses.

The provisional admission is an administrative action. We will receive our official admission at the conference when the decision of the administrator is formally ratified by the Conference of the Parties (COP). The parties are the 190 plus nation states who are parties to the convention.

As delegates for Beyond War you would be expected to represent Beyond War, network with other NGOs and with delegates and work as part of the Beyond War team.  You would be entitled to attend all meetings open to civil society (i.e. NGO’s). In addition, there are numerous “Side Events” open to observer delegates. These are educational programs offered by parties and observers.  We have applied for an opportunity to present a side event and to have an exhibit booth where we can distribute information about our organization.. This is a wonderful opportunity to put Beyond War on the map. Both governmental delegates and observer delegates will have a chance to review our materials and participate in our side event.

If you are interested in being a delegate for Beyond War, please contact Bill Hallmark at whallmark@beyondwar.org. Please respond as soon as possible. We will need to do some preliminary training for those attending the conference. The magnitude and scope of this meeting is incomprehensible without studying in advance the history of the negotiations which have been going on for the last seventeen years.