UN Financial Crisis We alerted the worldwide NGO community to the deepening UN financial crisis and we circulated around the world a "Call for Action" statement that was signed by hundreds of well-known advocates of the UN, including Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and CNN chairman Ted Turner. We also organized two public meetings addressed by Susan Mills, the top Secretariat official in charge of member state contributions.

Worldwide Vigil on the UN Financial Crisis In partnership with the World Federalist Movement and the World Federation of United Nations Associations, we organized a worldwide Vigil on the UN Financial Crisis, which attracted thousands of participants in 35 cities. One such vigil was held outside the offices of Senator Jesse Helms in Raleigh, South Carolina, while others were held in New York, Tokyo, Calcutta, Rome and Ottawa.

Security Council We continued to expand the work of the NGO Working Group on the Security Council. We held a public meeting on Council Reform addressed by General Assembly President Diogo Freitas do Amaral. We held another public meeting addressed by Security Council President Juan Somavia, Ambassador of Chile, who discussed the need for the Council to be more open to NGO input. A third meeting, addressed by Ambassador Nabil Elaraby of Egypt, considered the Security Council and nuclear weapons issues. In November, we organized a meeting with 12 delegates and 15 NGO leaders to examine Council accountability. And in December we wrote a letter to the President of the Council proposing regular briefings of NGOs by Council Presidents.

Wellesley Conference on "The Fate of Democracy in the Era of Globalization" After much planning, we co-sponsored a major international conference at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, jointly with the college, the Campaign for Peace and Democracy and the United Nations University. Among the speakers were Dessima Williams, Erskine Childers, Najia Hijab, Clarence Dias, David Held, and Joanne Landy.

Global Social and Economic Policy We began to analyze a number of topics in social and economic policy, especially the role of the World Bank and the International Monetary in re-shaping policy through structural adjustment. Our web site in this area won a modest new reputation for excellence.

Web Site In January, we started working with a consultant on a web site for GPF. In March, the site went online for the first time. Throughout the year we added steadily to the materials posted. Altogether, the site attracted about 125,000 hits.

UN Reform Because of intense activity on reform at the UN, we published analytical papers on this topic, warning that "reform" as used in Washington often means downsizing and diminishing the UN's role.

Sanctions Policy We began to consider the issue of UN sanctions and published GPF's first paper, reviewing Security Council sanctions policy.

International Public Finance As an offshoot of our work on the UN financial crisis, we examined the possibility of global taxes to pay for the costs of the UN and other global institutions and programs. We published a survey article on this topic on our new web site.

Other Events We organized a luncheon in honor of Ambassador Colin Keating, the departing ambassador from New Zealand.

Internship Program We inaugurated the GPF internship program and welcomed three interns during the year, all from Columbia University in New York City.

Global Policy Forum is supported primarily by contributions from generous individuals who join as members. GPF also receives grants from foundations and partner institutions. GPF is incorporated in the State of New York, registered as a charitable organization and recognized by the US Internal Revenue Service as a not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the revenue code.