What We Aim To Achieve
The Strategic Plan 2024-2027 was approved by the UNPO membership at the XIX General Assembly held in Munich the 14th and 15th May 2024.
Within the new strategy, the UNPO membership acknowledged that over the past 34 years, the organization has encountered numerous opportunities in its pursuit of a world where the right to self-determination is universally respected, allowing all nations and peoples to live in dignity, freedom, and peace.
Challenges and geopolitical realities
As the organization has expanded and evolved, the challenges it faces have also increased. Embracing these challenges as catalysts for positive change, the UNPO has undertaken essential internal reforms to modernize its governance systems. Additionally, it has seen the necessity to adapt to the dramatically shifting geopolitical realities, ensuring its continued relevance and effectiveness in advocating for its members’ rights. In order to do so, the UNPO is taking into account the following current trends:
Shifts in the geopolitical paradigm is seeing the established multilateral system losing legitimacy.
Tension between great powers, with autocratic states gaining ground and a growth of populism and the far right in the democratic states are weakening the systems of democratic governance.
The climate crisis increases the magnitude and frequency of severe weather events while scarcity of resources and over exploitation are disproportionately affecting the environment, land and socioeconomic stability of excluded communities such as UNPO members
State’s increasing use of assimilation policies are leading to the erasure of People’s identities.
The emergence of new technologies have the potential to change the balance of powers, increase the potential for cyber-attacks and other forms of digital sabotage and disrupt global systems and infrastructures leaving most marginalised peoples further behind.
First of all, and acknowledging all these challenges as well as the increasing of tensions and global violence, the UNPO General Assembly reaffirmed the importance of non-violent resistance against oppression as the most effective tool for positive change, and the importance of diversity as a necessity for truly inclusive and vibrant pluralistic societies. Secondly, the General Assembly approved the continuation of internal reforms initiated after the General Assembly XVIII held in Barcelona in May 2023.
Third, the overall aim of the Strategic Plan 2024-2027 was defined as to effectively continue the UNPO’s mission, whilst considering the new geopolitical reality and modernizing the organisation’s internal structures.
What We Want to Focus On
Within the current strategy, the UNPO staff works towards encouraging a better understanding of peoples’ collective rights as a key element for a sustainable and peaceful future. This way, the organization supports communities to protect their identities and regain ownership of their narratives. The UNPO also acknowledges the importance of the people’s voice as key for the preservation and development of environmental and societal resilience and will support members’ engagement with international environmental fora.
In order to achieve this, we support our members through the development of our cross-cutting campaigns, inviting experts and academia to work alongside the members to ensure a valuable exchange of expertise and capacity building, and through a new communication strategy to improve our capacity to raise awareness on members’ situations, while better explaining the organization’s work and mission.
Through our programmes we aim to:
Work towards strengthening democratic values worldwide spreading the use of the principles, methodology and practice of Gandhian non-violence and nonviolent civil resistance as the most effective means of pursuing and enforcing both collective and individual rights.
Support our members in effectively participating in decision-making processes.
Assist our members in preserving their collective identities.
Help our members to positively contribute to global discussions around current environmental and geopolitical challenges.
Continue our advocacy and policy work, raising awareness around human rights abuses faced by UNPO members.
The key areas we aim to develop to increase the impact of our work:
- Strengthening cross-regional projects and solidarity among members around issues of common concern.
- Emphasizing in all areas of our work the necessity of non-violent resistance against oppression.
- Boosting our UNPO Youth Network and increasing the participation of women from underrepresented communities.
- Establishing partnership and building relationships with like-minded organizations, academia and key international actors.
- Raising awareness of members’ situations through high level research as a basis for our advocacy and public communication.
- Developing the UNPO Academy and capacity-building training to effectively support members to have their voices heard.
Thanks for considering supporting our work. To partner with us, please contact us. To support us with the resources we need to conduct our work, please see our donations page.
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