Global Policy Forum

Overview

In 1998, the global economic system entered its worst crisis since the 1930s. Wars spread in Africa and conflict simmered in the Middle East. In this tumultuous international environment, Global Policy Forum completed its fifth and most productive year. Throughout the year, GPF worked to bring democracy to the global policy process and we promoted human values and priorities in a variety of policy fields.

In 1998, GPF worked on three primary project areas. Our project on the United Nations Security Council brought the values of human security into the Council's deliberations through an unprecedented dialogue between leading NGOs and Council members. Our program on UN finance affirmed the importance of adequate financial support for the UN and encouraged citizens to help find solutions. And our program in social and economic policy brought together policy analysts and NGO leaders to re-think the policy making framework, especially the role of the UN for a democratized policy process.

Our special projects during the year included sanctions, with emphasis on the need for a more reliable, humane and targeted sanctions policy. We also worked hard to promote enlarged access for NGOs at the UN. And we explored the possibility of developing global financing for international institutions and programs.

To make our work more efficient, we set up our new office and provided it with comfortable furnishings and new computer equipment, enabling us to raise our staffing level to 4-5 people, with the help of many excellent interns from a half-dozen different countries.

In 1998, we worked with an unprecedented number of partners across the globe, including NGOs, parliamentarians, trade unions and religious organizations, as well as scholars and research institutes. We also enjoyed close working relations with a number of UN offices and government delegations.

During the year, GPF also had the opportunity to speak at a number of major conferences and meetings, to provide background to the media and to participate in significant NGO groups and consultation sessions. GPF Executive Director James Paul appeared twice on national television programs and gave more than a dozen major speeches and lectures.

GPF developed its site on the world wide web through regular daily additions that enlarged the site nearly five hundred pages. As a result of timely, high-quality content, the number of visitors using the site more an doubled, reaching a million hits in total for the year.

GPFs income and expenditures expanded during the year. It is to be hoped that additional funds can be found in 1999 to strengthen and consolidate GPF's programs, to meet the challenges of this stormy time.