Sep 19, 2014

UNPO to Participate in 4th New World Summit 'Stateless State'


The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) will participate in a three day 4th New World Summit (NWS) entitled 'Stateless State', which will be held in the Royal Flemish Theatre of Brussels between 19 and 21 September 2014. The NWS will focus on the current concept of the ‘State’ exploring the question to what extent the ‘State’ is still capable of representing and protecting the people’s right to self-determination in the 21st century.  

During the summit, twenty stateless political organizations will gather to discuss the meaning, potential and obstacles that the concept of the ‘State’ carries. These organizations have been denied representation, but continue to struggle to secure the legal right of people to decide their own political future, either in the form of autonomy or independence. . Among the participants are representatives from Kurdistan, Oromia, West Papua, Balochistan, East Turkestan, Ahwaz, Southern Azerbaijan, Basque Country and Azawad, who will be delivering potent interventions on this timely subject.

The NWS is an innovative organization attempting to combine both art and politics. It is dedicated to hosting organizations that currently find themselves unrepresented, unacknowledged or excluded from democratic processes due to various, but interconnected geopolitical, economic and political interests. To achieve its goals, the NWS sees the potential of art as political statement and as a space where emancipatory  aspirations can be fulfilled.  

UNPO as an international, nonviolent, and democratic membership organisation, which also gives importance to the question of statelessness and is therefore pleased to be able to participate keeping in mind the successes of the previous summits organised in Germany, the Netherlands and India. Moreover, UNPO and the New World Summit Organisation have supported each other’s activities in the past. For example, Treasurer of UNPO,  Mr. Jeroen Zandberg, will be speaking at the launch of the project called ‘New World Embassy: Azawad in Utrecht’ on the 9 September 2014. This initiative is focused on the intersection between art, theory and activism in the form of a temporary operating Embassy as an extra-territorial space of representation, negotiation, and international exchange. Therefore, UNPO is delighted not only participate in the 4th New World Summit, but also to take part in the inauguration of such an innovative project.