IOGT International is a truly global movement – when it comes to scope and numbers of our membership, when it comes to our mission and philosophy and also when it comes to our concrete work, our advocacy activities.
A great way to experience the truth of this fact first hand is to come to our World Congress in October in Thailand. If you don’t want to wait so long, you can also just take a look at what’s going on right now: March 2014.
I am writing this post from Vienna, Austria. I am here together with our Executive Director Esbjörn Hörnberg for the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND 57).
At the same time, IOGT International’s Vice President Kristina Sperkova and our Policy Officer Maik Dünnbier are currently in New York, on the other side of the Atlantic for the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW58).
From New York to Vienna…
Kristina and Maik are later today arraigning our groundbreaking event at CSW58, addressing the three major epidemics burdening women and girls in the 21st century. You can read all about in Kristina’s blog.
They started already on Saturday, joined the NGO CSW Consultation Day on Sunday and have been participating in high-level events throughout the week – networking and advocating, learning and raising awareness. Overall they are advocating for gender equality and Women’s Rights, and for a stand-alone goal in the post-2015 agenda for the elimination of violence against women and women empowerment.
http://vimeo.com/88876000
I am proud of IOGT International and us being able to be so active and so engaged with high-level processes in the United Nations system. It is especially pleasing to be able to bring along heart-driven members, too.
Esbjörn and myself, together with our members Dag Endal and Carl-Åke Andersson, are up to similar work like Kristina and Maik, who will be joined by Dalida Chomille Bollig later this week, to promote a life set free from harmful substances.
Today we are participating in the VNGOC Informal Civil Society Hearing.
From tomorrow on we’ll join the High Level Segment “Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation Towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem”.
And like Kristina and Maik in New York, we will also arrange an important Side Event together with SAM, Drug Policy Futures and WFAD: “CANNABIS POLICY: THE EXPERIENCE OF COLORADO UNDER LEGALIZATION“, on March 17 next week.
So, keep posted and follow us here in our blogs and in the social media.