Ｃｈｉｅｆ ｏｆ ＵＮＤＰＩ ＮＧＯ Ｓｅｃｔｉｏｎ Ｖｉｓｉｔｓ Ｃｈｉｎａ

Paul Hoeffel， chief of the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) Section of the Department of Public Information (DPI) of the United Nations， and his wife Helene Hoedl visited Beijing， Xi’an and Shanghai from September 16 to October 1， 2004 at the invitation of the CPAFFC.

CPAFFC Vice President Li Xiaolin met with Mr. and Mrs. Hoeffel. She exchanged views with them on China’s NGOs’ participation in UN activities and discussed the cooperation programmes for 2005， and expressed hope that the two organizations would strengthen exchanges and cooperation. A meeting was organized by the CPAFFC and attended by representatives from about 20 relevant NGOs in Beijing. Mr. Hoeffel made a speech entitled “The United Nations and Chinese Non-Governmental Organizations: Emerging Opportunities for Dialogue and Partnerships”. He briefed the participants on the NGOs’ activities in the world， the relationship between NGOs and the UNDPI， the UN millennium Development Goals and the procedure to become a NGO in association with the DPI. In Beijing， Hoeffel called on the Department of International Organizations and Conferences under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， the Chinese Association for International Understanding， the United Nations Association of China， and the China National Committee on Ageing.

During his visit in Xi’an and Shanghai， Hoeffel had meetings with the Shaanxi Women’s Federation， Woman Photographers’ Association， leading members of the Red Phoenix Project and the Woman Legal Workers Association， the China Welfare Institute， the Shanghai Red Cross Society and the NPO Development Centre of Shanghai， learned about the work these grassroots NGOs had done and the role they had played in the environmental protection， protection of the rights of women and children， poverty relieving， medical aid， NGO capacity building， etc. He also visited family and children environmental protection programmes in Xi’an.