REPORT OF MY PARTICIPATION AT THE 58^th UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Dear Catherine,

The purpose of this letter is to answer your request and report briefly about my experience at the 58^th NGO DPI Conference.

It was a great blessing for me to attend the conference, as I reflected a lot about the human rights objectives of the United Nations.  After listening to the NGO presentations I realized that the UN alone is unable to meet the needs of the developing countries, which are plagued with heavy external debt, poverty, war, hunger, violence and ill-treatment of women and children.

At times I had the feeling, while some NGO representatives were expressing nonconformity with their unmet needs, that they were preaching in the desert.  I discovered that politics hinders the fair development of the nations. The UN has been overtaken by government statements and politicians who delay the rhythm of progress. What struck me from that part of the gathering is  that the NGO’s are becoming aware that deep changes are necessary and they struggle -oftentimes anonymously- to defend the people against the miserable situations in which they live.

Speakers said that the world is heading for a foreseeable disaster in terms of human development. Such a disaster could be averted through international collaboration. In this area, I find that UNANIMA International plays a significant role through its many affiliated congregations that look for concrete means of promoting the millennium goals and working for the good of humanity. 

I am happy and grateful that one of the riches of our gathering was to unite the five Spanish-speaking Latin-American sisters. This helped us to communicate, share experiences and reflect together on how we can become aware of current realities and look for concrete actions to support UNANIMA.  We have come to a deep understanding of UNANIMA, which is a living presence in the heart of UN.  Sr. Catherine Ferguson works in solidarity with a really open human team.

As UNANIMA International’s guest sisters representing Argentina, Peru, Mexico, Nicaragua and Chile, we learned through daily exchanges about the mutual realities of our developing countries of origin. We discovered that it is only by uniting our will and common efforts that we can move things ahead in the fields of justice and peace, under the umbrella of UNANIMA International. 

“UNITY MAKES US STRONGER”

Greetings and affection to each of the persons who made possible our presence among you. Thank you for all you did for us.

Marta Alvear, SP