18 May 2001FIRST INFORMATION NOTE ON ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE WORLD CONFERENCE AGAINST RACISM, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, XENOPHOBIA AND RELATED INTOLERANCE 1. Date and venue of the Conference The Third United Nations World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance will take place at the International Convention Centre (ICC) from 31 August to 7 September 2001 in Durban, South Africa. The Durban Exhibition Centre (DEC) and the Hilton Hotel will also form part of the Conference site. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights sent a Note Verbale to all Permanent Missions on 14 March 2001 confirming the dates and the venue of the Conference, and noting that it will be at the ministerial level. Information has also been sent to interested UN Agencies, other inter- governmental organizations and NGOs. 2. Programme of work The
programme of the World Conference will include: A daily timetable of meetings will be made available on the Order of the Day, issued daily during the World Conference. 3. NGO participation and accreditation Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which are in consultative status with the ECOSOC, indigenous peoples and organizations which have standing with the Council under resolution 1995/32, and other NGOs which have been accredited for the Preparatory Committee for the World Conference will be able to participate in the World Conference. They should inform the World Conference Secretariat at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of their intention to participate in the World Conference. Other NGOs wishing to participate should apply for accreditation to the:
NGO Liaison Officer 4. NGO Forum An NGO Forum will take place from 28 to 31 August 2001 at the Kingsmead Cricket Stadium in Durban. For further information about the Forum, visit the website of the South African NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) at: www. racism.org.za or write to:
South African NGO Coalition 5. Youth Summit A Youth Summit is being organized by an International Youth Steering Committee in cooperation with SANGOCO. It is provisionally scheduled to take place on 27 August 2001 in Durban, South Africa. The Youth Summit will welcome NGO youth representatives from various regions and youth delegates from government delegations. Details regarding the venue of the Youth Summit will be made available soon. 6. Other parallel and associated events There will be limited exhibition space at the DEC for exhibits and displays relating to the Conference. A number of special events and panel meetings are being organized by various UN bodies, specialized agencies and other inter-governmental organizations, national institutions and NGOs, as well as the host country. A programme of activities and events will be made available soon. 7. Accommodation There is limited accommodation for participants in Durban. Conference participants are therefore encouraged to forward their requests soon to Turners Conferences, which has been appointed by the host country to arrange accommodation for all participants. An electronic accommodation booking form is now available at: http://www. turners.co.za/WCAR, (see annex A). The completed form should be forwarded to Turners before 1 July 2001.
Turners Conferences can be contacted at: 8. Accreditation and registration The World Conference is open to the following participants referred to in General Assembly resolution 54/154 of December 1999: (a)
All States Members of the United Nations and States Members of the specializsed
agencies; All participants described therein must register for the Conference. Registration forms and instructions are available from the OHCHR website at:http://www.unhchr.ch/html/racism/index.htm. Registration forms for the NGO Forum is available from the SANGOCO website: www.racism.org.za. For media and press accreditation, see paragraph 9. below. Please note that UN identification badges for Geneva, New York, Vienna and Nairobi will not be valid for the World Conference. Pre-accreditation period for all participants will begin on 21 May 2001 until the deadline date on 15 July 2001. All delegations are kindly requested to submit their official delegation list to the WCAR Secretariat soon. All participants are requested to strictly adhere to the deadline dates and are required to submit a duly completed Conference registration form (see annex B) and to attach two (2) passport size photographs. Each photograph should bear the family name and first name of the participant on the reverse side of the photograph. All the Conference registration forms must be received by the WCAR Secretariat on or before the deadline date of 15 July 2001. Accreditation for spouses will be processed on an ad-hoc basic on-site in South Africa. All completed registration forms should be sent to: The
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights On-site accreditation for the WCAR On-site accreditation during the World Conference will take place at Hall 6 located within the compound of the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban. Participants will be required to complete a Conference registration form which shall be presented to the accrediting officers of the WCAR Secretariat. Once an accreditation has been approved the participant will pass through the photo and badge production stages inside the Hall 6 area. Participants who observe the pre-accreditation deadline will proceed directly to claim their photo-identification participant badge. * The french and spanish versions of the registration form will be posted on the OHCHR website soon. 9. Media Accreditation All media representatives planning to attend the Conference should contact: Ms.
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