29th Special Session of the Generally Assembly on the Follow-up to the ICPD beyond 2014 and civil society participation
Thursday, June 5, 2014 at 7:30AM
Dr Babatunde Osotimehin, Executive Director of UNFPA, met with representatives of civil society on Wednesday 4 July 2014 at which he briefed them on arrangements for the forthcoming 29th Special Session of the Generally Assembly on the Follow-up to the ICPD beyond 2014, which will be held in New York on 22 September 2014 from 1-9 PM in the General Assembly Hall.
As he said, UNFPA has been working with the Office of the President of the General Assembly (PGA) and the UN Secretariat to ensure that civil society organizations (CSOs) can effectively participate in the Special Session. Registration is open until 15 June for both ECOSOC and non-ECOSOC accredited CSOs on the United Nations web site. Non-ECOSOC accredited CSOs will have to be approved by the General Assembly on a non-objection basis. It is foreseen that NGOs will be notified of their selection by the end of July.
Five representatives of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC will be chosen by mid-July by the President of the General Assembly to speak at the Special Session. UNFPA has been in contact with CSOs since the regional conferences last year on the need to consider criteria to ensure that both the speakers and statements represent the widest possible constituencies of the ICPD CSO community. CSOs are encouraged to work closely together in and across all the regions to ensure that the ECOSOC accredited CSOs that have registered will make proposals from their region to the PGA that leads to effective voice for all CSOs. It is very important that the five speakers work with their regions and constituencies to ensure that their statements reflect priority interests and concerns.
The Special Session itself
The Special Session provides a crucial opportunity for world leaders to endorse the contents of the findings and recommendations of the entire review process, including the Global ICPD Report, the SG’s reports on the follow-up to the ICPD beyond 2014 (A/69/62), the Index Report and the regional review outcomes. The participation of Heads of State or Government will significantly endorse the review outcomes and facilitate linking them to further implementation of the Programme of Action and the Post 2015 Development Agenda.
Dr Babatunde poited out that an outstanding issue is the logistical challenge of being able to hear all statements on 22nd September. If this is not possible, the Special Session will have to be resumed after the completion of the general debate of the 69th session of the General Assembly. Adjourning the session to October has several implications, including the fact that the conclusion of the UNGASS will have diminished status and impact, in the absence of world leaders. Since NGOs will also speak at the end, if the session is adjourned, they will not have a chance to share their views with world leaders. Moreover, the presence of the Heads of State and Government will determine the importance which the General Assembly will attach to the UNGASS and its conclusion. It is important therefore that the PGA, the Secretariat and the supportive Member States work together to complete the UNGASS on 22 September.
The Outcome of the UNGASS should be an oral summary of the statements made that day by the President of the General Assembly, which is gaveled by the end of the session. This would enable the Secretariat to move forward with these recommendations.
Another key component of the preparation towards the UNGASS is the preparation of the index report of the Secretary-General on the key issues that emerged from the 47th session of the CPD that are critical for the further implementation of the ICPD agenda. In view of the mandate given to UNFPA to lead the ICPD review in GA Resolution 65/234 as well as the legislative mandate for UNFPA’s leadership on population and development matters, UNFPA has been tasked with the responsibility to prepare the consolidated draft index report. The draft report will be submitted to DESA on 9 June for review. CSOs are invited to share any inputs they might have regarding the recurrent themes and key issues that came up in the 47th session of the CPD by Friday 6 June with Noemi Espinoza: nespinoza@unfpa.org.
He also acknowledges that after the 47th CPD several CSOs made public statements regarding the CPD and the importance of harnessing the gains of the entire review process as we move forward. Notable are the large regional groups, like the Africa CSO Coalition on Population and Development, with 102 Organizational members from South Saharan Africa and the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Alliance for Cairo+20, with 53 organizational members. In the discussions following his briefing, he noted rhe importance of cross-regional advocacy, as is being done by the HLTF for ICPD for the post 2015 and the fact that the most progressive outcome in the regional conference process came from Latin America and the Caribbean.