
USUN PRESS RELEASE # 13 (02)
February 5, 2002
U.S. to Host Reception of Arctic Council |
The Arctic Council,
a unique regional forum for cooperation between national governments and indigenous people
addressing environmental protection and sustainable development challenges in the Arctic,
is holding a reception Wednesday, February 6th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in UN
Delegates Dining Room 6. The "Arctic Connections: Local/Global Linkages for
Sustainable Development" reception will build new links between Arctic and non-Arctic
communities and nations by means of conversation, traditional indigenous songs and crafts,
and making available information about the work of the Council. Saami and Aleut crafts
will be exhibited and Inuit throat singers will perform. The reception is being hosted by
the Governments of the United States, Canada and the Alaskan NGO, Northern Forum.
The Council is made up of the eight countries that surround the Arctic
Ocean - Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Russian Federation and the
United States. It was founded ten years ago, and is presently chaired by Finland. Aleuts,
Athabaskians, Gwichin, Inuit, Saami and a Russian Association of some forty
indigenous communities are involved in the work of the Council on a de facto equal footing
with governments.
As part of the preparatory meeting
for the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, this is an opportunity for the Council to share with others the lessons
people have learned about regional and multi-stakeholder cooperation, and in turn, to
benefit from the experience of others.