IPA at the United Nations

The International Presentation Association has a full-time representative at the United Nations (UN), Dr Despoina Afroditi Milaki. She is based in New York and works on our priority issues. She is involved in five NGO Committees and working groups: The NGO Committees on Stop Trafficking in Persons, Status of Women, Social Development, Migration and the Working Group on Girls. The IPA UN Advocacy Focus for 2020-2022 is the elimination of violence against women and children.

 

Dr Milaki works tirelessly to influence policies and decisions on behalf of people in need around the world. Her work at the UN is underpinned by our international association which gathers and reports to her on the lived experiences of the poor and marginalised at the grassroots level. 

 

Along with representatives from Member States and UN entities, Dr Milaki is involved in a number of NGO Committees working for systemic justice, which are listed below.

Despoina at a desk at the UN in New York
Dr Despoina Afroditi Milaki

 

Dr Milaki has produced a number of key resources, which contain guidance and information for taking action towards the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children. These essential publications contains tools to help groups respond to, advocate against and endeavour to prevent such violence.

IPA UN Advocacy Focus 2020-2022

The IPA UN Advocacy Focus for 2020-2022 is the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children. Dr Milaki and our team have produced an extensive range of statements, reports and other documents on this and other priorities as part of our engagement with the United Nations.

 

Scroll down the page to read and download these documents from our online library.

The IPA was at the NGO Collaboration Session of the Civil Society Forum, held during 60th Session CSocD (7-16 February 2022)
Graphic of scales of justice
Policies for Gender Justice. Practices in addressing domestic violence and gender stereotypes, 2023
Cover of Making Uncomfortable Conversations Comfortable
Making Uncomfortable Conversations Comfortable: Gender Stereotypes and Domestic Violence in India, United States and Zimbabwe, 2022
IPA's Advocacy Toolkit for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children, 2021

Our UN accreditation

We are proud to have a long history with the United Nations (UN). We were first accredited with the United Nation’s Department of Public Information (DPI) in 1997 and later received consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2000.

ECOSOC gives rights to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as the IPA, so that we can both observe and contribute to its work.

We are able to use this consultative status to influence policies at the United Nations. Together with other like-minded NGOs and religious organisations, such as Edmund Rice International the Justice Coalition of Religious (JCoR) and the Red Dot Foundation Global we advocate for systemic justice at the UN.

 

These are the five working UN groups in which Dr Despoina Afroditi Milaki is involved. Click on the boxes below to find out more about each working group.

IPA at the United Nations (UN) | Statements & Reports

Read and download the IPA’s Statements and Reports relating to our work in the above five working groups. Use the search box to organise the documents by date, theme or keyword. For details about any of these documents, or more information about our work at the United Nations (UN), please contact us.

 

Click the magnifying glass icon to preview the document, or click the green download button to save it to read later. 

File Type Published Download
IPA SDG Projects Report 2023 PDF 08/18/2023 Download
CSocD 61 2023 | IPA-Soroptimist International | Joint Oral Statement PDF 02/17/2023 Download
CRC Review of Ireland | Brian O'Toole PDF 02/17/2023 Download
Advocating for a better world | Dr Despoina Afroditi Milaki | Synodal Times PDF 02/02/2023 Download
CSW67-2023 UNANIMA written statement | IPA Endorsement PDF 01/20/2023 Download
CSW67-2023 IBVM written statement | IPA Endorsement PDF 01/20/2023 Download
CSW67-2023 IPA-RDF written statement PDF 01/20/2023 Download
CSW67-2023 JCoR Statement PDF 01/20/2023 Download
CSW67-2023 Make Mothers Matter written statement | IPA Endorsement PDF 01/20/2023 Download
CSW67-2023 Soroptomist written statement | IPA Endorsement PDF 01/20/2023 Download
CSW67-2023 Dominicans Written Statement | IPA Endorsement PDF 01/20/2023 Download
Policies for Gender Justice 2023 | Practices in addressing domestic violence and gender stereotypes PDF 01/17/2023 Download
Making Uncomfortable Conversations Comfortable PDF 06/01/2022 Download
Red Dot Foundation | Safe City Project PDF 02/11/2022 Download
CSW 61 Oral Statement on Economic Empowerment of Girls and Women in Poverty PDF 01/28/2022 Download
Civil Society Calls for Human Right to Water and Sanitation 2015 PDF 01/28/2022 Download
Agreed conclusions 51st session Elimination of Violence against the Girl Child PDF 01/28/2022 Download
What are the SDGs and why should we care? PDF 01/28/2022 Download
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016 PDF 01/28/2022 Download
Oral Statement at International Youth for Human Rights Summit 2016 PDF 01/28/2022 Download
Commission on the Status of Women: Social Protection Systems for Indigenous Women and Girls | March 2019 PDF 10/14/2021 Download
Toolkit: Elimination of Violence Against Women & Children | Respond - Advocate - Prevent PDF 05/01/2021 Download
IPA Written Statement CSW65 | March 2021 PDF 03/01/2021 Download
WGG Written Statement CSW65 | March 2021 PDF 03/01/2021 Download
Statement to CSW 64th Session March 2020 PDF 03/01/2020 Download
CSW Commission on Status of Women: Sixty-fourth Session | March 2020 PDF 03/01/2020 Download
Statement to the Commission on the Status of Women March 2019 PDF 03/01/2019 Download
GA Declaration for Refugees and Migrants 16 September 2016 PDF 09/16/2016 Download
Statement for the Commission on the Status of Women March 2016 PDF 03/01/2016 Download
Report on the rights of indigenous peoples by James Anaya 2011 PDF 01/01/2011 Download

IPA and the SDGs

The IPA is committed to working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are universal goals for everyone, everywhere. Their motto is to ‘leave no one behind’.

Our work sits within the SDGs framework, so that we can ensure we are contributing towards achieving these goals and having the maximum impact.
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals