CIAL

from TRP in NYC

(via email)

Lee@espernato.net

New York, May 26, 1998

dear Professor Lee,

Thank you very much for you prompt reply to our letter.

As you may remember, the Committee on NGOs is poorly staffed, and the organization of the two-week session is the biggest problem that delegates must face. As of last Friday, they think that the proposed item on Esperanto will come up Friday May 29.

As regards CIAL, to further avoid other misunderstandings, we would like to remind you that at the end of last year, Mark Fettes was kindly asked to freeze the publication of the newsletter for some problems raised by UEA linked to the inclusion of ERA in the coalition. This is why the publication and mailing of the CIAL's newsletter caught us by surprise.

Moreover, we do not understand to whom the bulletin has been sent, how much money has been spent, out of whose budget, and the total number of copies distributed. These may seem "bureaucratic" issues that may delay the whole process, but a Coalition is a group of individuals and organizations and it seems odd that someone acts on behalf of the entire group without any previous agreement on the strategy.

As co-founding members of the Coalition, we believe that there should have been some sort of contact (emails, faxes, phone calls etc) before a common action like this.

Lastly, as regards your desire to hold another CIAL meeting, we fear that there is another misunderstanding. Our proposal for the ECOSOC agenda, as well as UEA reclassification request (for which we will keep our fingers crossed), will be taken into consideration during this session - May 18-28 - of the Committee on NGOs. To convene a steering committee meeting a month after the Committee's decision seems to be ineffective in terms of lobbying efforts as well as a bit late to assess the situation.

Incidentally, June 23 is not a suitable date for us, because we will be in Rome for the Diplomatic Conference for the establishment of an International Criminal Court, and therefore incapable of participating in person, once again, in the proposed event.

Sorry that things have taken this unfortunate direction. We are looking forward to the Committee's pronouncement on Esperanto and to UEA re-qualification. Best wishes.

Cordially,

Marco Cappato

Marco PerDuca

UN Representatives

4778, 27-Mag-98, 00:42, I-----, 257, M.Perduca, US, New York

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ESPERANTO

dal comitato per le ong ci hanno detto che l'esperanto sara' discusso venerdi' pomeriggio.

il presidente del comitato puo' comunque cambiare a piacimento l'agenda. se dovesse essere posticipato, la possima sessione sara' a meta' giugno.

saluti