Paris, November 5 2001

Sir, Madam, Ms.,

We are now one month away from the Assembly and we are very much looking forward to welcoming you shortly to Lille. The events of September 11 have created a new situation which considerably strengthens the opportunity and the urgency of the Assembly as is clearly borne out: international dialogue is today more necessary than ever before.

This circular letter is the last before the beginning of the Assembly. You shall have received by now the former letter concerning the preparatory work participant commits himself to do before the Assembly and information to fill out about your journey. Some of you have already replied, for the others, please answer back rapidly, in particular as regards the journey and the visa requests. Future exchanges will be conducted between you and your contact person. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with him/her.

We are very grateful to participants who have sent us the co-ordinates of their networks and who have helped us to identify journalists. We are at the disposal of the former to provide them with any information which they require, and we will send a Press dossier to the latter. A first Press Release is already available on the web site press section (http://www.alliance21.org/en/press/index.html).

1. The diversity of the participants at the World Assembly
The list of participants is now practically closed. We have succeeded in attracting a wide range of participants: the participants come from more than 125 countries, from 20 sub-regions of the world and from 25 socio-professional groups. For those who can access the Internet easily, we invite you to consult the list of participants  which will very soon be available on the web site of the World Assembly:
http://www.alliance21.org/lille/en/amcparticipants.htm

For those who do not have access to the Internet, a list of participants is attached (annex 5).

To make this diversity visible and to enable each of you to know who are the other participants at the Assembly, we intend with your permission to post on the web site your photo and a short biographical note which you can send to us. To do this, please send us by email (nacera@alliance21.org) AS SOON AS POSSIBLE the attached publication authorisation slip (annex 1), your photo and your biographical details in three lines. Of course this only concerns those participants who have not already forwarded us those particulars.

11. How are you preparing today for the World Assembly?
The theme[s] which you have identified during previous correspondence has/have enabled us to draw up the attached provisional programme (annex 2).

1) The opening ceremony
To illustrate the cultural and geographical diversity of the participants at the opening session, we would like you to wear your country’s traditional costume, if you agree.

2) The contribution to the heritage of Humanity
To illustrate once more the great diversity of the Assembly, we are asking participants to bring “an object” which they feel is representative of their culture (craftwork, poem, proverb, music, costume, etc) together with a brief commentary explaining the choice of this particular object.

3) Preparation for the workshops
The main objectives of the Assembly will be thinking through the drawing up of a Charter of human responsibilities, and drafting proposals and strategies for change with regard to the major challenges confronting the world of tomorrow.

You will find attached the following documents:
* summaries of proposal booklets drafted by the different working groups of the Alliance over the last few months (annex 3)
* the Charter of human responsibilities (annex 4)

To reread the various information documents which we have sent you in the preparatory phase of the Assembly, please consult the web site at the following address (http://alliance21.org/lille/doc/amcdocinfo.html) as well as the other headings for further information.

111. Practical information
For those who have not yet responded, we would ask you reply to the proposed travel arrangements which have been made for your journey, and to send us the documentation necessary to obtain your visa. Please send all of this information AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to: Karine Goasmat and Benoît Verdeaux lillemondeorganisation@fph.fr

The World Assembly will be held in 7 languages. In the plenary sessions, there will be simultaneous interpretation. In the workshops, interpretation will be consecutive and we will see to it that each participant can express him/herself in a language with which he/she is familiar.

The World Assembly will take place during Ramadan. We will make all necessary arrangements to ensure that participants may observe this period of fasting. In order to do this, we need to know in advance the number of people concerned. Please get in touch with your contact person about this.

We hope that this new information will help you to prepare yourselves more easily. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with your contact person who is at your entire disposal to answer any of your questions.

We look forward to seeing you shortly in Lille

Best regards

Pierre Calame

attachments:
* annex 1: publication response slip for web site
* annex 2: provisional programme for the Assembly
* annex 3: compilation of summaries of proposal booklets
* annex 4: the Charter of human responsibilities
* annex 5: list of participants (only for those participants without email addresses)