Baltic Sea NGO Forum 5-7 October

The 6th Baltic Sea NGO Forum will take place at Grand Hotel in Saltsjöbaden (just South of Stockholm) 5-7 October 2006. As Sweden 2006/2007 holds the presidency of the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS), the Swedish organization Forum Syd is the host for this conference. Forum Syd has about 200 Swedish NGO members and cooperates with networks worldwide aiming at global justice. The main goal of the NGO Forum is to further develop the quality of the NGOs' networking in the countries around the Baltic Sea (plus Norway and Island), and become a valuable partner in the cooperation between the civil society and the governments. Participating countries in the Baltic Sea NGO Network are Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland and Germany. Organisations from Belarus and Ukraine are also invited to the NGO Forum. The participants represent national and international NGO's, the public sector and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. We expect about 150 persons to participate in the conference. What's the issue? The Baltic Sea is an inland sea whose surrounding regions are home to some 85 million people. There is a huge amount of research done and knowledge accumulated in different areas. Despite all research and data available, the marine environment is deteriorating fast, trafficking in human beings is increasing and nuclear contamination of the Baltic Sea is becoming a serious problem. In addition, a new Russian NGO law was passed in April 2006 and NGOs say the new rules are arbitrary and that authorities are using them to crack down against government critics. Program The participants will have four thematic perspectives to reflect upon in different seminars: 1. Civil Security - trafficking, violence against women/children, criminality and drugs as development obstacles Lead agency: The National Organization for Women's Shelters and Young Women's Shelters in Sweden, www.roks.se Contact person: Mildred Hedberg, Member of the board, mildred.hedberg@roks.se 2. Discrimination and Social Inclusion Lead agency: The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights, www.rfsl.se Contact person: Maria Sjödin, Activity Manager, maria.sjodin@rfsl.se 3. Environment and Sustainability Lead agency: Coalition Clean Baltic, Estonian secretariat, www.ccb.se Contact person: Maret Merisaar, Water Policy Officer, maret.merisaar@ccb.se 4. NGO-legislation, Legal Security and Civil Society Lead agency: Center Strategy, Russia, http://www.strategy-spb.ru Contact person: Michael Gorny, Executive Director, mg@strateg.spb.su The seminars, prepared by groups of NGOs working actively in the different fields, will include analysis of the problems, discussions on working methods and concrete proposals for future cooperation in Thematic Working Groups. The NGO Forum starts the 5th of October at 1.00 pm with registration and ends in the afternoon the 7th with a Final plenary session. Further details about participating organisations and the program can be found at our website www.bsngoforum.org Questions? Interested? Send us a mail Don't hesitate to contact us. For the time being we do not plan special press meetings but you are most welcome to the conference and to meet with the participants from the different countries and organisations. We appreciate if you can contact us in advance about your requirements, by Monday 2nd October at the latest. Aase Fosshaug, Coordinator Baltic Sea NGO Forum 2006, Phone 08-506 371 88, aase.fosshaug@forumsyd.org Anna-Maria Norman, Assistant Coordinator, Phone 08-506 370 85, anna-maria.norman@forumsyd.org Margoth Sonnebo, Press Officer Forum Syd, Phone 08-506 371 38, 070-341 08 78, margoth.sonnebo@forumsyd.org Welcome to the 6th Baltic Sea NGO Forum 5-7 October! Margoth Sonnebo Press Officer Forum Syd Box 15407 SE-104 65 Stockholm, Sweden tel +46 8 506 371 38 mob +46 70 341 08 78 margoth.sonnebo@forumsyd.org www.forumsyd.org Forum Syd has more than 200 member organisations in Sweden and cooperates with organisations and networks worldwide. Our common aim is global justice.