60th Annual United Nations Department of Public Information/Nongovernmental Organization (DPI/NGO) Conference

On September 5 - 7, 2007, the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice (IPJ) was represented (by three staff members) at the 60th Annual United Nations Department of Public Information/Nongovernmental Organization (DPI/NGO) Conference, "Climate Change: How it Impacts Us All."

The final report from this conference is now available.

Program officers Diana Kutlow and Elena McCollim and program coordinator Karla Alvarez participated in the conference, with an eye to informing institute programming, including the Joan B. Kroc Distinguished Lecture Series and WorldLink: Connecting Youth to Global Affairs, both of which are focusing on the environment for the 2007 – 2008 academic year.  

The DPI/NGO Conference brought together over 1,700 representatives from 469 nongovernmental organizations around the world on the eve of the High-Level Event on Climate Change convened by UN Secretary-General Ban-ki Moon. The High-Level Event was itself convened to build momentum for official talks of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which took place in December in Bali, Indonesia.

After the conference, the IPJ carried forward the experience through presentations at the University of San Diego’s 18th Annual Social Issues Conference, on "Climate Change and the Responsibility to Protect;" and during International Education Week at San Diego Community College, "Did the Nobel Committee Get it Right?" (powerpoint to come) and through co-sponsoring, with the University of San Diego’s Social Issues Committee, a screening of "An Inconvenient Truth."