1. We NGOs, gathered in Madrid on the tenth anniversary of the inauguration of the Madrid Peace Process, declare that the occupation of Palestine with its closures, settlements, military oppression and economic strangulation by Israel remains the single most prohibitive obstacle to peace.
2. We contend that the immediate protection of the Palestinian civilian population by an international presence is imperative. We urge the United Nations Security Council to immediately place such a force in Palestine to serve as a global watch and physical presence in order to reduce violence.
3. The United Nations and NGOs worldwide have developed a positive working relationship since the International Conference on the Question of Palestine in 1983. We are committed to strengthening the coordination with the United Nations in order to serve our common goals.
4. We acknowledge and applaud the continuing development and usefulness of the United Nations website on the Question of Palestine. It has become an increasingly effective and convenient tool for all those interested in this issue.
5. We gratefully acknowledge the results of the United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine held in Madrid 17-18 July 2001. The invited speakers provided important analytical frameworks and informative updates on the current situation on the ground in Palestine. We thank the UN for including NGOs as observers at this meeting.
6. We mobilize our collective efforts on the Question of Palestine, as we have since 1983, on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions. We are convinced that these resolutions offer the clearest pathway to a true and just peace for all in the region.
7. We further conclude that most of the world remains ignorant or misinformed about the significance of the Occupation and its brutal daily impact on the life of every Palestinian.

Therefore, our Plan of Action includes:
a) Public Awareness Campaign. Focusing public awareness campaigns among the peoples of our countries on "making the Occupation visible." The campaign will focus on crucial elements of the Occupation and the situation of the Palestinians on the ground. Suggested subjects include: An International Campaign Against the Occupation; A campaign over Israel's violations of human rights; campaign to urge governments to fulfill their responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention; campaigns highlighting the plight of women and children in Occupied Palestine; a campaign to oppose the illegal presence, construction and expansion of Israeli settlements, a boycott of settlement products, as well as campaigns around issues such as house demolitions, The settlements, the closure and land expropriation.
The campaigns will effectively use relevant United Nations materials, as well as NGO publications exchanged among ourselves. They will also require the joint development of innovative materials pertinent to our campaigns: information films, power point and slide presentations, traveling exhibits, resource materials, a speakers' bureau, a list of recommended websites and the like. The materials will be presented as easy-to-use and attractive information "kits."
b) A United Nations NGO International Meeting On Protection of the Palestinian People. Our Plan of Action includes a clear request to the United Nations through the Committee and Division to convene as soon as possible a United Nations NGO International Meeting On Protection of the Palestinian People. Such a request has been made by NGO representative throughout this past year at various United Nations meetings and symposia. The goal is to concentrate NGO and public awareness on the immediate needs of the Palestinian people for such assistance and on the urgency for such intervention. We consider this request to be among the highest priorities.
c) An International Civil Society Corps. We NGOs are also exploring the possibility of establishing an International Civil Society Corps of volunteers to express solidarity with the Palestinian people, to monitor events on the ground and to participate, together with universities, academics as well as Palestinian and Israeli NGOs, in appropriate actions opposing the Occupation.
d) An International NGO Solidarity Forum. We propose that the United Nations collaborate with NGO network in the convening of an International NGO Solidarity Forum to be held in Occupied Palestine during the coming year.
e) We request more frequent consultations between the United Nations and NGO networks and coordinating bodies, continued assistance with securing UN publications and collaboration on development of the annual calendar of events and meetings for NGOs sponsored by the UN. In this way we NGOs will be able to more effectively mobilize NGO support for and participation at UN meetings such as this one in Madrid.

The NGOs present at the Madrid meeting express their sincere appreciation to the United Nations Committee and Division for hosting this meeting. In particular we want to publicly acknowledge the long-standing friendship and encouragement we have received from the Chair of the Committee, Ambassador Ibra Deguene Ka. His unwavering support of NGO efforts on behalf of Palestine has been an important element in the relationship between the NGO network and the United Nations.

Madrid, 19 July 2001