List members may be interested in the following new List, which provides an opportunity to give the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) input into its future direction. ******************************************************** INVITATION TO THE UNDP-FUTURE INTERNET LIST DISCUSSION by Eimi Watanabe, Assistant Administrator and Director Bureau for Development Policy, UNDP PURPOSE OF THE UNDP-future LIST The approaching new millennium is generating a host of new and novel activities in many quarters. The United Nations is examining the possibility of convening a Millennium Assembly and a Millennium Forum, which will be the subject of intergovernmental deliberations later this year. For its part, UNDP sees the approaching year 2000 as a rare opportunity to focus on its past record, its current activities, and ideas for future orientations, approaches and strategies. This is an undertaking which must engage all involved in UNDP's work - including staff at all levels and at all locations, the broad range of development partners with whom we conduct our regular activities, as well as the governments, the private sector and civil society which are the intended beneficiaries of our projects and programmes. Using the new information and communications technologies, we seek to reach out to many of this constituency and to solicit a wide range of views in an open, participatory manner. We at UNDP therefore invite you to participate in this novel global brainstorming process, which we will also conduct internally. We are also eager to receive contributions from those as yet without Internet access. We hope you will share your views, experiences and suggestions regarding: * what UNDP has done and is doing well, including concrete examples of good practices * where improvements can be made, including concrete examples of efforts that failed to achieve their goals * the future of development cooperation, and what UNDP's role and orientation should be as we enter the new millennium * what concrete steps can UNDP take to effectively use new electronic information and communications technologies to support sustainable development We assure you that your views will be greatly valued as UNDP prepares its own contribution to the upcoming special events being conducted in 1999, and will constitute important, concrete input into UNDP's deliberations shaping its vision and strategy. We thank you in advance for your participation in this project. HOW TO JOIN THE UNDP-future LIST Anyone who has electronic mail with Internet access can subscribe to the UNDP-future List. To join please send an e-mail to the LISTSERV host: [log in to unmask] Do *not* enter a subject. In the body of the message, type the text: SUBSCRIBE UNDP-future Do *not* put anything after UNDP-future. You will receive a Welcome Letter to the List. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE EMAIL National NGOs with networks to grassroots offices, with or without email, are encouraged to solicit the views and comments of those offices. Those without email can also contribute comments directly via fax to the UNDP contact, Hans d'Orville, at the number provided below. WORLD WIDE WEB SITES FOR THE LIST The Global Knowledge for Development Web site <http://www.globalknowledge.org> provides information about the UNDP-future List, as well as archives of UNDP-future messages. UNDP's Web site <http://www.undp.org> also contains materials related to the issues discussed by the UNDP-future list. LIST ADMINISTRATOR This List is administered and moderated by Education Development Center, a nonprofit organization. EDC is working collaboratively with the UN system and is directly supported by UNDP for the activities in this project. The UNDP Contact Person for this project is Hans d'Orville <[log in to unmask]>, who can also be reached in the US by fax at (212) 906-5023 or, via conventional mail, at UNDP Room 2092, One UN Plaza, New York, NY 10017 USA. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION For further information about UNDP-future, please contact: Janice Brodman EDC [log in to unmask]