As reported in an earlier posting the meetings of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts on Sustainable Development Financing are closed, although a multi-stakeholder dialogue has been scheduled for its second session in December and there will be further such dialogues at future sessions.
It has also been reported by Hilkka Vuorenmaa of Vaestoliitto in Finland to the EruoNGOs that the Committee Co-chairs have decided to form a steering committee of "non-state actors" for the duration of the work of the committee. This steering committee will act as an interface between the committee and non-state actors and help to organize interactive hearings when the Committee meets, including on the selection of speakers. It will comprise eight members: four from the Major Groups and four (NGOs and business sector) from the Financing for Development (FfD) process. UN DESA Secretariat (DESA and FfD) will make recommendations to the Co-chairs who will be responsible for the final selection.
As stated in its draft proposal the Committee includes the following activities within its concept of communication and consultations activities:
1 Multi-stakeholder consultations
Written contributions
A general call for inputs will be made online building on previous experiences of intergovernmental processes. The target constituencies will be Member States, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, business sector and other Major Groups engaged in the Rio+20 Conference, the Financing for Development processes and the post-2015 development agenda.
In addition, at the request of the Committee, targeted calls for contributions will be addressed to the UNTT, intergovernmental organizations, multilateral, regional and sub-regional development banks, as well as global and regional think tanks and institutes that have a sharper focus on development finance.
Dialogues
Some regional and other multi-stakeholder meetings and hearings may be organized, for example, back-to-back with important international meetings and fora. Co-chairs will play an important role in this process and experts are also encouraged to actively inform and interlink with their major national stakeholder groups.
2 Dedicated periods reserved for interaction with Members States and other relevant stakeholders at each Committee session
At each Committee session, one half to one day will be reserved for interactions with Member States, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, business sector and other Major Groups[1] engaged in the Rio+20 Conference, the Financing for Development processes and the post-2015 development agenda. This can follow the practice of the Open Working Group on SDGs, or other modalities as decided by the Committee.
3 Outside expert interventions at Committee meetings
Outside experts from various sectors (for example, academics, think tanks, regional development banks and representatives from the private sector and institutional investors) will be invited to complement the work and expertise of the Committee. These experts will be invited to share specific insights at the session of the Committee in relation with current themes on the Committee’s agenda.
4 Regional meetings organized by the UN regional commissions
Regional dialogues with relevant stakeholders could be held by the UN regional commissions, in collaboration with regional development banks or other actors, with participation of interested members of the Committee.
At the request of the Co-chairs, the Secretariat will explore the possibility and interest of the regional commissions to organize such meetings.
Regional commissions could also facilitate communication between regional members of the Committee and relevant processes and institutions in their regions.
5 Other activities
In addition to the activities listed above, standard communication–related activities in the UN context will be undertaken by the Secretariat, including through DESANews and DPI press releases during each Committee session. The Secretariat will support the organization of other activities that the Committee may see fit (e.g. press conferences by the Co-chairs).
Other activities relating to the communication between the Committee as a UN process and other UN processes will be organized through the Co-chairs and supported by the Secretariat as necessary. Committee Co-chairs will be invited to relevant events at the General Assembly and ECOSOC, such as the High-level Dialogue on Financing for Development on 7-8 October 2013 and the Special high-level meeting of ECOSOC with BWIs, WTO and UNCTAD.
In addition, according the Co-chair, Ambassador Majanen, there are plans to arrange an outreach event next spring in Helsinki, Finland to discuss how to get private sector to commit to poverty eradication and sustainable development goals. In addition there will be a further two outreach events, one in Africa, one in Latin America.