67th General Assembly adopts resolution for the arrangements for the Organization of the Special Session of the General Assembly on the follow-up to the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development beyond 2014
In December 2012 the 67th Session of the General Assembly adopted a resolution that sets out the modalities for the Special Session of the General Assembly for ICPD Beyond 2014.
Special session of the General Assembly
The Special Session will be a Plenary Meeting to be held in New York on 22 September 2014 from 13.00 to 21.00 hours. Member and Observer States and Observers are asked to be represented at the highest political level, including by Head of State or Head of Government. Speakers will include the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, the Executive Director of UNFPA and member and observer states. In addition there will be five representatives of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC chosen by the President of the General Assembly taking into account geographic balance.
The resolution also reaffirms that “the Special Session will be undertaken on the basis of and with full respect for the Programme of Action and that there will be no renegotiation of the existing agreements.”
NGO participation
As has been the case at previous Special Sessions, the President of the General Assembly will draw up a list of NGOs in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council who will be invited to participate. In addition he will also draw up a list of other relevant non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academic institutions, youth groups as well the private sector who may participate in the Special Session taking into account equitable geographic representation. The lists will be approved by the General Assembly. Governments are also urged to include NGOs on their delegations.
Process leading up to Special Session
The 47th session of the Commission on Population and Development will play an important role in the preparations leading up to the Special Session and the General Assembly has decided that it will be open-ended. In addition to inviting regional and international organizations (including those in the UN system) to contribute to its work, the resolution calls for the effective participation of civil society including NGOs.
As agreed in Resolution A/65/234 relevant issues identified during sessions of the Commission on Population and Development will be compiled and forwarded to Governments at the sixty-ninth session of the General Assembly, with an index report that indicates “recurrent themes and key elements” together with the findings of the operational review.
This resolution is extremely important for us as civil society organizations and NGOs as it provides for our full involvement in the international processes that will be taking place in 2014 leading up to and at the Special Session of the General Assembly. During 2013 we should be working to ensure that our issues are included in the Regional Conferences, which will also feed into the processes in 2014.