MANY TO MANY 65 – Report on the Pilot People's Assembly

Issue 65
Sept 1998
Report on the Pilot People's Assembly

Action Coalition for Global Change
Report on the Pilot People's Assembly, San Francisco, June 1998

The pilot People's Assembly (PA) which took place in San Francisco, June 20-21, 1998, has begun plans for a worldwide campaign to give people a new voice toward solving global problems. The goal is to democratise the United Nations by increasing citizen input and decision-making on issues that affect all people.

The People's Assembly meeting were sponsored by the Action Coalition for Global Change (ACGC). Of the 125 participants, many came from countries such as Ethiopia, India, China, Japan, and Samoa. Activists from New York and Los Angeles as well as organisers from San Francisco Bay Area were present.

Consensus was reached on the desirability of some form of people's assembly at the United Nations, although details of such a body in terms of representation and election methods, as well as degree of input and decision-making power, were left open for future PA dialogue. Some activists prefer a permanent people's assembly with legislative authority that could allow the United Nations to represent the world's public interests. Others see the PA as a forum to provide grass-roots input to the UN, perhaps through non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It was agreed to work with the Millennium People's Assembly Network (MPAN) to provide a people's forum and companion People's Assembly parallel to the United Nations General Assembly, as suggested by the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

The body also agreed to support and encourage a series of world-wide people's assembly meetings leading up to the Year 2000 millennium events at the UN. Plans were announced by numerous attendees for future people's assembly events: Samoan Parliament member Le Tagaloa Pita will host People's Assembly meetings for Asian Pacific nations in late 1999; Dr Rashmi Mayur of Global Futures Network will hold an assembly in Bombay, India, and other assemblies will be created across the country. Also, according to activist Alan Moore, head of the Butterfly Gardeners Association, a Great Millennium Peace March is being planned for next year.

Contact: Dr Lucile Green, Action Coalition for Global Change, 55 Montgomery Street, Suite 219, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. Fax: 415-227-4878.

Many to Many
a quarterly publication issued by
Operation Peace through Unity
An accredited NGO in association with the UN Dept of Public Information

Anthony Brooke and Gita Brooke, co-founders
Te Rangi, 4 Allison Street, Wanganui 5001, New Zealand
phone/fax: +64-6-345-5714 ~ e-mail: larrym@clear.net.nz

Many to Many
under the aegis of
Operation Peace Through Unity
is a communicating link between
'we, the peoples' of all nations, races, creeds and ideologies offering in the spirit of the preamble of the United Nations Charter an instrument for the furthering of better relationships based on deepening mutual understanding and the aspiration to promote unity and cooperation beyond all differences.