Bonn, Germany. Just a couple of months after WE- the Claretian Missionaries, were approved as an Associated NGO of the United Nations Dept. of Public Information (UN DPI), we participated in our first UN Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organizations Conference which was held in Bonn, Germany from the 3- 5th of September 2011.

This was the 64th (UN DPI)Conference under the thematic focus ‘Sustainable Societies; Responsive Citizens’.

We were represented by a four member delegation consisting of Fr Fr. Eddie de Leon cmf -United States Province ; Fr Gasper Masilamani cmf the General Mission Procure, Rome; Fr Javier Ojeda cmf -Proclade , Province of Santiago; and Bro Omondi Robert cmf the JPIC coordinator .

Other issues that were addressed in this global forum included offering the NGO community the opportunity to prepare a consensus statement containing their input on sustainable development and its relationship to volunteerism, as well as reflecting their views on the upcoming major United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development scheduled for 4-6 June 2012 in Brazil, known as Rio+20, and the General Assembly’s discussion in December 2011 on the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10). Br. Robert Omondi cmf. (Photos)