The President of the General Assembly convened a two-day preparatory meeting from 15-16 February 2017 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, chaired by H.E. Mr. Alvaro Mendonçae Moura, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the UN, and H.E. Mr. Burhan Gafoor, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the UN, the two co-facilitators, that considered the themes for the partnership dialogues and elements for a "Call for Action" outcome document.
The co-facilitators agreed to present a concise draft "Call for Action" no later than March 2017, taking into account the deliberations of the preparatory meeting and other inputs, without prejudice to the processes established by the General Assembly in its resolution 69/292 of 19 June 2015.
The intergovernmental consultations on a "Call for Action" were agreed to be concluded by May 2017.
The President of the General Assembly agreed to finalize the organizational arrangements for the Conference no later than April 2017.
The General Assembly encouraged States and international donors, as well as the private sector, financial institutions, foundations and other donors in a position to do so, to support the preparations for the Conference through voluntary contributions to a trust fund in support of preparations for the Conference, and to support the participation of representatives of developing countries, priority being given to representatives of the least-developed countries and Small Island Developing States, including coverage of economy-class air tickets, daily subsistence allowances and terminal expenses, in the meetings of the Conference and its preparatory meeting.
The Ocean Conference and its preparatory meeting were open to a broad range of stakeholders including non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academic institutions, the scientific community, the private sector, philanthropic organizations and other actors.
Pre-registration was required for eligible representatives of non-governmental organizations and major groups identified in Agenda 21 to participate in the preparatory meeting. Pre-registration is now closed.
Click here to download the logistics note for stakeholders on the preparatory meeting.
Please click here to find a printable version of the side events calendar.
Number of statements/presentations: 95
