CoNGO and NGO Branch at UN DESA collaborate on a civil society briefing and UN75 dialogue

New York, 5 March 2020 (CoNGO InfoNews) — A civil society briefing on UN-NGO relations and access is scheduled for March 5 at the Church Center for the United Nations in New York City. The event is a collaboration between CoNGO (The Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations) and the office of the acting chief of the NGO Branch of the Office of Intergovernmental Support and Coordination for Sustainable Development at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations.

The briefing will focus on UN and NGO relations, including issues of access and NGO participation at UN processes. The briefing will also feature the chair of the Committee on NGOs of the UN Economic and Social Council, Mr. Mohamed Awadalla Sallam Adam of Sudan.

The dialogue will feature the co-facilitators of the UN seventy-fifth anniversary   commemoration, the permanent representatives of Sweden and Qatar at the United Nations. Other prominent speakers include current and former UN officials and several civil society representatives.

The dialogue is CoNGO’s contribution to the call made by the UN Secretary General to the people of the world to engage in debates and conversations about the future we want.

CoNGO prepared to engage in the conversations and dialogues. It issued in October 2019 a declaration that called for the 75th Anniversary to be “an occasion for strengthening the United Nations, expanding its role to more effectively engage civil society everywhere.” It also urged “all governments to strengthen their commitment to the United Nations not only morally but also financially and materially.”

The briefing and dialogue are being held in conjunction with the meeting in New York City of the CoNGO Board of Directors.

The programme of the event can be found here. The CoNGO Declaration, in four languages, can be found here.