The United Nations Civil Society Conference is the premier event on the civil society calendar in the United Nations. It typically attracts over 3,000 participants representing over 700 civil society organizations from over 100 countries.
Each Conference focuses on a different UN topic of interest related to the work of civil society and NGOs. This international forum also brings together senior UN System officials, prominent international civil society organizations, academicians, public opinion makers, and international media to discuss issues of global concern.
Civil society plays a fundamental role in shaping a future that, today more than ever, needs multilateral approaches to ensure an inclusive, sustainable, and safe society for all. Since 1947,
Sixty-eight UN-supported civil society conferences have resulted in successful outcomes. Based on previous interactions with civil society organizations, we now look forward to the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference in Support of the Summit of the Future, which will be held in Nairobi on 9- 10 May.
BNNRC is in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), accredited with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), SDGs Media Compact of the United Nations, and UN WSIS prize winner 2016, Champion 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 & 2023 for media development and digital transformation.
BNNRC’s approach to media development and building the capacity of CSOs on digital transformation is both knowledge-driven and context-sensitive. It considers the challenges and opportunities created by Bangladesh’s rapidly changing media environment and CSOs in Bangladesh’s digital transformation era.
The Summit of the Future will take place 22-23 September in UNHQ New York, resulting in an intergovernmental Pact for the Future, annexed with a Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations, which all hope to deliver a UN for people and planet in the 21st century and beyond.
The convergence of these processes represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for civil society to play a pivotal role in strategizing the path forward for the United Nations and the global community. Your work, marked by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is crucial in building a world without one being left behind. You are an essential partner in a global endeavor that must bring together solutions and approaches from all sectors of society in a spirit of collaboration and true networked and inclusive multilateralism.
OBJECTIVES: The 2024 UN Civil Society Conference in Support of the Summit of the Future, set to take place from 9 to 10 May in Nairobi, can achieve three main objectives.
- INCLUSIVE. Increase awareness, ambition, and accountability for the Summit of the Future beyond New York and support the amplification of diverse voices and initiatives to inform an inclusive Pact for the Future.
- IMPACTFUL. By May, we will have more clarity on the likely substance of the Pact for the Future. Let’s use the Nairobi moment to build multi-stakeholder ImPACT Coalitions, constituting Member States, civil society, academia, think tanks, foundations, and the private sector. Together, we can champion, act on, and push forward specific issue areas or big-ticket reforms proposed in the consensus language of the Pact. These coalitions seek to both raise the ambition of the Pact for the Future and see through its implementation and action. The civil society-hosted, multistakeholder “ImPACT for the Future Package’ seeks to be a contribution by diverse stakeholders to enhance the implementation of key reforms and issues across the Pact for the Future.
- INNOVATIVE. The conference itself is not just a platform for discussion but an opportunity to innovate how civil society interacts with intergovernmental processes. We aim to showcase an effective intergenerational cooperation and solidarity model, championing diverse expertise and doing something new in a civil society-hosted multi-stakeholder forum. This is a unique chance to be part of an innovative approach to global collaboration. CONTACT: undgccso@un.org