Civil society plays a key role in the advancement of the sustainable development goals and all global socio-economic ambitions.

Now more than ever as we shape a post-coronavirus world, we need communities and groups of civil society to come together to define what recovery should look like and who it should serve.

The UNCTAD15 Civil Society Forum will do so in the run up to the main UNCTAD15 conference. The forum will be organized from 22 to 24 September 2021 with a continuation from 3 to 7 October 2021, as part of the official programme of UNCTAD15.

Plenary (22-24 September 2021)

The plenary sessions of the Civil Society Forum will precede the official opening of UNCTAD15 to provide an opportunity for representatives of participating organizations to discuss and share their views on issues related to the Conference agenda, build consensus and finalize a Civil Society Declaration, which will be presented at UNCTAD15.

Participating organizations will also have the opportunity to organize workshops, seminars and other events on issues related to the theme of UNCTAD15. 

Interest in organizing sessions in the context of the Civil Society Forum should be directed to the secretariat of the host civil society organization in Barbados at [email protected]. Please send a completed submission form.

The deadline to submit a proposal for a session is 6 September 2021.

Continuation of the forum (3-7 October 2021)

The Civil Society Forum will continue its activities in parallel to UNCTAD15. To bring forward the views of their constituencies to the debate on delivering the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, representatives from civil society will contribute to the opening and closing plenaries of UNCTAD15, as well as the roundtables.

As at previous UNCTAD ministerial conferences held in São Paulo (Brazil, 2004), Accra (Ghana, 2008), Doha (Qatar, 2012) and Nairobi (Kenya, 2016), participants will have the opportunity to interact and exchange views with leading experts and high-level representatives, such as the United Nations and UNCTAD Secretaries-General, Governmental officials, policymakers and leaders in the private sector.

Registration 

The programme of the forum will be released soon. Registration is now open and you can find out how do go about it and fill in the registration form here.