Comments on the Presented Papers by Dr. Argyriades

Dr. Demetrios Argyriades,
Professor & Consultant Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations

July 17, 2004

Thank you Professor Suzuki. Thank you Professor Kataoka.

As the moderator just said and I have to go very rapidly, so my remarks will be very brief. I think Professor Kataoka reported very clearly. NGOs are the latest source of social capital. The Yanofu caused products of the dialogue between the states on the other hand and on the one hand civil society each other. And sometimes as seen in the past, the growth of nation-states not only contracts, but also sees Narrow Square. Combined part of the church of some countries lowered a voice of the organs in like civil society. Now in recent years there are various reasons we cannot explore uncharted.

NGOs have reasons of importance in the role in economic and social development as well as in the defense of human rights. All of these of course are causes in which the United Nations is deeply disturbed. As you know, the UN has been likely the source of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. And of course we all know Professor Suzuki and I worked through the successful development of the decade of the United Nations mostly in the public administration. So, the UN has great importance in the development of NGOs. The development of independent voice through civil society and the development of institution that cannot teach you the positions affect the diversity of civil society.

Now of course in modern nature, in a contemporary world, technology has governed with a great pull in support of this endeavor. E-governance is well known and from nods we have several experts on the subject, so I’m not going to venture and suggest that I know much about it. But it has a tremendous tool in several ways, mainly I would say, in helping NGOs articulate the message and delivery the message to a wide diversity of audiences throughout the world. It has always been a tool for committed small groups in sometimes isolated countries to network with one another again on global scale. So, the UN has in plain support of both these governments and the development of non-governmental organizations. As you well know, the latest motivated publication covers the theme of e-governance, 2003 World Public Sector Report: E-government published by the UN.

And, I think it provides a rich array of information on the subject of e-government both in a state level and in the level of civil society. The UN also has created a network, what is called, the United Nation’s Public Administration Network, which allows NGOs as well as government agencies to network with one another. That’s what the whole thing is about to beam like information to all governments and non-governments throughout the world.

All networks provide information not only by governmental activities but also in the activities of NGOs. While insisting on the strengths of NGOs, we should not forget that there are weaknesses in most part of the world. NGOs are small, and financially very vulnerable and very weak. Many of them depend very large on handouts from the government, and of course they refuse their freedom to speak.

You can deny the hand that feeds you. However, there again I think that e-government has been a help in several countries. Cambodia comes to my mind where there shows good reservations on its government by planning more heavily on international ratios that sometimes plan for activities. So these are some of the issues that come to my mind. The UN also sometimes helps their children in the world by using jobs as a background for its programs. And you’ll probably hear much more from the speakers of the subject. But this is all to say that NGOs and e-governments are powerful tools that can use domination for committed use in the parts of all economic and social developments, and the billions of things that profess the program also effects on human lives and promotion of human remarks.