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Our work together with civil society partners

""Our times demand a new definition of leadership - global leadership. They demand a new constellation of international cooperation - governments, civil society and the private sector, working together for a collective global good."

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Speech at World Economic Forum
Davos, Switzerland (29 January 2009)

All through the United Nations system, an increasingly global civil society participates in proactive and engaged ways to the work of UN offices, programmes and agencies, making the UN both a counterpart and a witness to its contribution. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations (CSOs) are more and more UN system partners and constitute a valuable link for the UN to civil society and "people out there".

CSOs play a key role at major United Nations Conferences, they are indispensable partners for UN efforts at the country level, and they are consulted on UN policy and programme matters. The UNCCD is committed to enhancing the participation in, and active involvement in the implementation process, on a regular basis, of representatives from CSOs accredited to the Conference of the Parties at its meetings and conferences.

The Facilitation, Capacity Building and Monitoring of Implementation unit (FCMI), through its CSO Officer, oversees and facilitates partnerships with accredited CSOs and provides them with services aimed at enhancing their involvement in this intergovernmental process. The regular interaction with and feedback from the CSOs is essential to ensure that such services are effective and timely.

Over 900 CSOs are accredited tothe UNCCD Conference of the Parties and the secretariat maintains a database of accredited CSOs. The vast majority of these organizations are NGOs; there are also institutions, foundations, associations, local government bodies, trade unions, cooperatives and private sector entities at various levels.

Once accredited to the COP, CSOs can apply for support to attend as observers the UNCCD meetings: the Conference of the Parties (COP) and its subsidiary bodies, the Committee for the Reveiw of the Implementation (CRIC) and the Committee on Science and Technology (CST).

" Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. "

Margaret Mead
(Anthropologist and Ethnologist, 1901-1978)