The Congress featured seven special symposia.

The first special symposium dealt with The Human Rights-Humanitarian Action Interface in Conflict Situations: Cooperation, Antagonism, and Ethical Dilemmas. .This session dealt with the fact that although in many areas, the efforts of humanitarian action and human rights NGOs have complementary agendas, there are also intersects that are antagonistic. Sometimes humanitarian aid is intertwined with the forces that drive the conflicts, exacerbating the crisis and human rights abuses. For example, aid may be stolen and redirected to fighting parties and NGO infrastructure may help military troops. Among the many dilemmas posed by this panel were: Is the embrace of a human rights conflict resolution agenda by humanitarian agencies an abandonment of their principle of neutrality, making them an agent of politics rather than humanity? What should one do in the case of a manipulation of aid to prolong the conflict or use of the aid by one side to perpetrate human rights abuses? Should aid be provided if it is known that, while helping individuals it is also supporting or prolonging the hostilities? What if the aid is used to prop up illegitimate or immoral governments? Should an NGO compromise democratic values and use of human rights vocabulary in order to get the aid to victims? Can military intervention to remove a dictator be considered a humanitarian action if the goal is to protect civilian populations from a grave human rights violation? Are soldiers intervening to prevent massacres or giving out aid considered to be humanitarians? Is the humanitarian principle of impartiality (assistance provided on the basis of need and need alone) justified if one knows those will be ultimately killed—the “well-fed dead” scenario?

Chaired by Dr. Thomas J. Ward, Dean of the International College at the University of Bridgeport, the session included as presenters Marshall Wallace, President of CDA Collaborative Learning Projects and Director of CDA Do No Harm Project; Zoe Nielsen, Deputy Director of the Human Security Report Project; and Dr. Dave O. Benjamin, Assistant Professor of International Political Economy at the University of Bridgeport. Mr. Wallace, whose organization directly deals with this issue of “do no harm,” addressed saving lives while not contributing to conflict. Ms. Nielsen contributed hard data on world conflict, noting a 40% decrease in armed conflicts worldwide in the last decade, a dramatic decline in the number of innocent citizens killed in wars, and plummeting of the genocides and politicides, as well as the longest interval of uninterrupted peace between major powers in hundreds of years. While international terrorism has been increasing, and there have been massive conflict deaths in some nations, overall there has been an encouraging trend, tied statistically and in a complex manner to increasing democratization, with the increase in NGOs a likely important factor as well. Dr. Benjamin presented on advocacy and action in the 21^st century and how NGOs and INGOs have distinguished themselves in many areas, including public information, advocacy, and relief work. He addressed their vital roles and their challenges, such as challenges to their very legitimacy and survival by governments, warlords, international organizations, and private corporations.

The second special symposium dealt with Women Fostering Peace and Development. This session examined the key role played by women and women NGOs in peacemaking and peacekeeping, and in development. Chaired by Princess Hayat F. Arslan, President of Society of Lebanon the Giver, the session featured presentations from Ruta Pels, President of People to People Estonia, and Dr. Anna Snyder, Assistant Professor in the Conflict Resolution Program of Menno Simons College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They dealt with both personal experiences and philosophical insights, and the women learning about each other’s issues and working in solidarity not conflict. It was also noted that women and men (who were 1/3 of the audience) need to work together as two wings in order to fly.

The third special symposium was on the issue of Learning to Live Together in Peace – From Early Childhood. This session examined what children understand about peace, what adults understand about peace, values education, developing a peace education curriculum, and understanding how to impact the formation of values. It dealt with the importance of early childhood education, when the fundamental aspects of a person’s personality consolidate, and the preparation of the child, before the age of six or seven, for a responsible life in a free society. The session was chaired by Elvira Sánchez, Communications Manager of the World Association of Early Childhood Educators (WAECE). The two presenters were Juan Sánchez Muliterno, President of WAECE, and Francisco Quizua, Early Childhood Development Network Coordinator of the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development. Among highlights was Mr. Quizua’s presentation on the successful creation of a free encyclopedia on early childhood development and an overview of the remarkable activity of WAECE, as well as insights on early childhood education relative to peace.

The fourth special symposium addressed the theme NGO Shared Values and Principles. This session dealt with the fact that ethical NGOs exhibit some core values and principles, such as service to others and accountability. William D. Lay, an attorney who served for years as a leader in the nonprofit sector, and who chairs WANGO’s Code of Ethics Initiative, moderated the session, which included presentations from Jane Garthson, President of the Garthson Leadership Centre and Past Chair of the Ethics Practitioners Association of Canada, and by Dr. Eric D. Werker, Assistant Professor for the Business, Government and International Economy Unit of Harvard Business School. On the recommendation of the presenters, this was a largely interactive session, with the participants encouraged to interrupt the presentations with comments or questions. The high-level of the prepared remarks, which included a great deal of research findings and findings borne of work in the sector, combined with the high-level of the audience, made for a spirited and valuable session. Among the numerous insights was Ms. Garthson’s emphasis on NGOs having primary accountability to the people they serve, with accountability to donors a distant second. Dr. Werker presented on “An NGO Dilemma: Sustaining values-driven management in a competitive industry,” noting that NGOs are about values – they are essential to the NGO model – yet values are threatened by the reality of the NGO industry. In particular, he spent time analyzing the values of accountability, effectiveness, solidarity, and transparency, presenting date on the sector as well as highlighting such NGOs as World Vision and Feed the Children, two organizations represented at the Congress.

The Rt. Honorable Edward Schreyer, former Premier of Manitoba and Governor General of Canada, and current Chancellor of Brandon University, chaired a session on Environment and Development: Focus on Canada and Russia. Hon. Edward Schreyer has long championed women’s issues and been an advocate for the environment, including instituting the Governor General’s Conservation Awards and donating his pension to the Canadian Shield Foundation, an environmental organization. Addressing the session were Slava Trigubovich, Founder of the Altai Foundation in Siberia, Russia, and Susan Tanner, Executive Director of the Canadian Environmental Network. Mr. Trigubovich, one of Russia’s most well-known and dedicated leaders in wilderness protection, introduced Russian environmental history and programs. He discussed both Russia’s systems of nature reserves, or zapovedniks, and the work of the Altai Foundation, which is devoted to protecting the natural and cultural heritage of the Altai Mountains, a region in Siberia at the juncture of Russia, China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. Ms. Tanner presented on the urgency for environmental protection and the work of the Canadian Environmental Network (Le Réseau Canadien de l’environnement, RCEN), which facilitates networking between environmental organizations and others who share its mandate — To Protect The Earth And Promote Ecologically Sound Ways Of Life.

Honorable Mark Anderson, a state legislator from Arizona in the United States, and a person who has authored and sponsored a lot of substantive legislation aided at strengthening families, including ground-breaking laws, chaired the symposium on the theme of Building Healthy Families as a Foundation for Global Peace. Other speakers were Glendolyn Landolt, co-Founder and National Vice President and Real Women of Canada, and Rev. Anthony L. Stevenson, Founder of the Healthy Relationship/Marriage Outreach Center, and a Trainer for the National Fatherhood Initiative. Ms. Landolt expanded on the message, “If there is no peace in the family, there cannot be peace in the nation,” while Rev. Stevenson addressed the critical importance of fathers in the family and efforts to get fathers involved who had not been involved.

The seventh symposium was on the theme The Role of NGOs in Advancing Peace in Areas of Conflict. Chairing the session was H. E. Sir James R. Mancham, Founding President of the nation of Seychelles and President of the Global Peace Council for the Universal Peace Federation. Other speakers were Serge Duss, Senior Advisor for Global Affairs for World Vision; Jane E. Durgom-Powers, President and Founder of the International Federation of Family Associations of Missing Persons from Armed Conflicts (IFFAMPAC); and Debra Joy Eklove of the Art of Living Foundation. In his role with World Vision, a major Christian relief and development organization, Serge Duss has been dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. He promotes justice through World Vision’s global ministry and advocates with foreign governments and international institutions on behalf of the poor and marginalized. As founder of IFFAMPAC, an international humanitarian non-governmental organization, Ms. Durgom-Powers has been focused on helping the surviving families of armed conflict who face tremendous social, economic, legal, and cultural challenges when a primary economic provider of the family vanishes and cannot be accounted for as a result of conflict. Debra Joy Eklove, through her work with the Art of Living Foundation (founded by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar), is involved in a wide array of humanitarian and educational programs to foster global change, uplift individuals, and make a difference in local communities, including programs for stress reduction, trauma relief, and social transformation that have changed the lives of people in war-torn and conflict areas.