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Participation in CSD-17
New York, 4-15 May 2009

Summary

Building on their participation at the CSD-17 IPM, more than 600 representatives from 118 different Major Groups’ organizations participated in CSD-17. During the meeting, the Commission considered the contributions of MG as they participated through the following entry points:

In preparation for the CSD-17 session, the Major Groups Organizing Partners for each sector prepared an official document outlining their Priorities for Action, the main points of which are outlined in a summary grid.

Overall, MGs participated interactively in all official segments open to their participation, including 29 interventions and a full day of multi-stakholder dialogues. Several MGs’ experts served as panelists in the Ministerial Roundtables, and many other MGs’ organizations contributed substantively to the CSD-17 Partnerships Fair, the Learning Centre, 60 side events and some 20 related activities held during the session. MGs’ statements and interventions can be found on the CSD-17 official statements webpage or by accessing the individual MGs' sectors webpages.

The CSD Secretariat funded the participation of 16 major group representatives from developing countries and countries with economies in transition, while the Governments of Germany and Sweden supported an additional 3 Youth from Africa. Some Countries included in their official delegations representatives of MGs, including Youth and Children (these are Belgium, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands).

About 60 MGs led coordination meetings have been held during CSD-17, to discuss common concerns and solutions.

Apart from the official session, a number of weekend activities organized by MGs took place around the New York City area before and during CSD-17. These included orientation workshops organized by the NGO sector and the CSD Youth Caucus on 3 May, Urban-Rural Linkages Showcase Tours on 9 May, and a Youth Farmers’ Market on 13 May. For more information, refer to the main Meetings & Workshops page.

The seating arrangements for the sessions in Conference Rooms 2 and 4 followed previous practices and included designated seats for speakers from all nine MGs’ sectors. Other participating MGs’ representatives sat in the galleries. All meetings were open to organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC adn CSD, and a conference room with access to computers, printers and copiers was allocated to MGs for their coordination meetings.

Major Groups Activities