Next week at the largest annual global women’s rights forum - the 61st session of the Commission on the Status of Women - CIVICUS will be calling on the governments to prioritse gender equality and to foster women´s rights movements taking the world by storm.

When: 15 March 2016, 10:30AM-12PM  Where: Chapel of UN Church Center, New York City As the Sustainable Development Goals are a priority theme of the 60th Session on the Status of Women(CSW60), 27 Global South and international civil society organizations will co-host a parallel event  to address the role of feminist organizations and women human rights defenders (WHRDs) in realizing Goal 16, which focuses on building peace, justice and strong Institutions.

We write to you as members of the Civic Space Initiative, a global program jointly implemented by the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, ARTICLE 19, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, and the World Movement for Democracy, who are committed to the creation of an enabling environment for civil society.

This e-newsletter will share with you the latest updates on our SD2015 projects and the most recent information on different post-2015 activities and processes.

Following the release of the reports of the Open Working Group and the Experts Committee on SD Financing this summer, we invite you to prepare for the 65th Annual UN DPI/NGO Conference on "2015 and Beyond: Our Action Agenda" taking place at UN HQ (NY), 27-29 August 2014.

DEADLINE for NOMINATIONS 8 September: Expert Group meeting on Mainstreaming Sustainable Development in National Development Strategies UN DESA is inviting each Major Group to nominate up to 3 people each to participate in the following national capacity building Workshop and Expert Group Meeting on mainstreaming sustainable development in developing countries.

Major Groups and Other Stakeholders Briefing Days20 and 22 September 2013 New York City, USA The United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs (UNDESA) in partnership with Stakeholder Forum and CIVICUS is organising two briefing days for Major Groups and other stakeholders in preparation for the High Level Segment of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly taking place in New York this September.

Statement by Jeffery Huffines, CIVICUS, NGO Major Group Organizing Partner on behalf of Major Groups and other Organizations HLPF Informal Informals, 14 May 2013 Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to OP 16 on Major Groups and other stakeholders that includes “enhanced consultative role and participation of the Major Groups”.

Modalities for Stakeholder Engagement in the high level political forum 14 May 2013 This document reflects an ongoing discussion among Major Groups (MGs) and relevant stakeholders on modalities for MG/CSO participation in the HLPF and builds on modalities granted the major groups by the UNGA  and in general decisions taken at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in Rio, June 2012 (also called Rio+20) and found in the Outcome Document, “The Future We Want.

Draft Inputs from the Food and Agriculture Cluster of the NGO Major Group for upcoming thematic discussion at the third session of the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in New York, 22-24 May, 2013The Food and Agriculture Cluster was formed in New York to support messages from Major Groups and Civil Society before, during and following the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

Major Groups/Post 2015 constituency consultation on post Rio+20/Post 2015 16 April 2013, NY Submitted by Jeffery Huffines (CIVICUS) and Debra Jones (Save the Children), Meeting Co-Facilitators The meeting co-facilitators opened the meeting highlighting the objectives of the meeting which focused on bringing together Major Groups and Civil Society Organizations (MG/CSOs) that are engaged with post Rio+20 and post 2015 processes.

October 20, 2011 To: All Member States of the UN General Assembly   Dear Ambassador, In light of the Security Council’s failure to address the violence by Syria’s security forces against their own people, we call on the UN General Assembly urgently to adopt a resolution demanding that the Syrian government immediately halt all unlawful use of lethal and excessive force against demonstrators, end the arbitrary arrest and torture of detainees, account for all those who have been subject to enforced disappearances, cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry established by the UN Human Rights Council, allow the unrestricted deployment of human rights monitors, and grant access to humanitarian organizations and independent journalists.

Johannesburg 23 February 2011.