Mr. Nikhil Chandavarkar, Chief of the DESA Division for Sustainable Development Outreach and Communications Branch. Moderator: Ms. Susan Alzner, Officer ...
INVITATION
Institutionalising civil society in the Post-‐2015 Agenda Side Event during the May Post-‐2015 Intergovernmental Negotiation Session
Tuesday, 19 May 2015 1:15-‐2:30PM Conference Room 9, UN Headquarters (Level 1b) In 2008, the Accra Agenda for Action acknowledged Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as development actors in their own right, committing governments and donors to “work with CSOs to provide an enabling environment that maximizes their contributions to development” (§20c).
Civil society has played a critical role in processes leading up to the Post-‐ 2015 Development Agenda, introducing progressive discourses around development effectiveness, gender equality, democratic participation, and a human-‐rights based approach to development.
In this regard, it is important to recognise that the road for civil society has been far from smooth, and problems plague the pursuit of an enabling environment for CSOs at a global and country level, not least the lack of internal capacity on the part of CSOs to engage meaningfully in the day to day affairs of development cooperation. While gains have been made toward institutionalising civil society participation at the global level, at a country l evel, r ecent y ears h ave s een r enewed threats to CSO autonomy, and restrictions on civil society in official policy engagements in countries both north and south. The dialogue will focus on the potential for institutionalising CSO participation at all relevant levels of governance in the post-‐2015 Agenda -‐ national, regional, and global.
The dialogue will be guided by the following questions: -‐ What are the critical elements of an enabling environment for cooperation between government and civil society on the post-‐2015 development agenda? -‐ What are the expectations of government and of civil society for an effective development cooperation? -‐ What are examples of well-‐functioning development cooperation between government and civil society at national, regional and global levels? -‐ What are the most important lessons learned from the development cooperation and development effectiveness contexts for implementation, follow up and review of the post-‐2015 development agenda? Speakers: H.E. Ambassador Guillermo Rishchynski, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations H.E. Ambassador Julio Garro, Director General of Multilateral Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru Ms. Tiina Nummi-‐Södergren, My Right and member of the Swedish delegation to the UN on Post-‐2015 Ms. Maria Theresa Lauron, CSO Partnership for Development Effectiveness and the Asia-‐Pacific Regional CSO Engagement Mechanism Ms. Barbara Adams, Global Policy Forum Mr. Nikhil Chandavarkar, Chief of the DESA Division for Sustainable Development Outreach and Communications Branch
Moderator: Ms. Susan Alzner, Officer in Charge, UN Non-‐Governmental Liaison Service (UN-‐NGLS), New York Office Co-‐organizers
SIDE EVENT In the context of the 18-‐22 MAY POST-‐2015 INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATION SESSION UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS -‐ NEW YORK
