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Commission

9 to 13 April 2018, New York

Written statements

Information for NGOs submitting written statements for the 51st session of the Commission on Population and Development

The special theme of the session is: "Sustainable cities, human mobility and international migration”.

NGOs in General and Special Consultative Status with ECOSOC can submit written statements to the 51st session of the Commission on Population and Development to be held from 9 to 13 April 2018 at UN Headquarters in New York.

Written statements by eligible NGOs, to be circulated as official documents for consideration by the Commission at its fifty-first session, can be submitted from 1 November 2017 to 1 December 2017.

The first twenty statements received by 1 December 2017 will be processed by the UN Secretariat and published as formal documents that will be posted on the session’s webpage.

You will be notified if your statement has been accepted by 15 January 2018.

If you have questions concerning the submission of written statements to the Commission, please send an email to [email protected]. The subject line should read “CPD51 written statement”.

General Instructions:

Statements have to be submitted through CSO-Net;
Statements should adhere to the topic of the special theme of the session: "Sustainable cities, human mobility and international migration";
Statements must be submitted in English or French;
Statements submitted by an organization in general consultative status should not exceed 2,000 words (including footnotes);
Statements submitted by an organization in special consultative status should not exceed 1,500 words (including footnotes);
Incomprehensible and repetitive text will be edited or deleted;
Information on processed documents will appear in the UN Daily Journal in the days prior to the opening of the session.

Suggested guidelines for preparing written statements:

Format

Statements must be written in English or French;
Use generic fonts and formatting;
New paragraphs should begin after a double line break; paragraphs should not be numbered;
Proof read and spell check;
Avoid abbreviations and acronyms, as well as footnotes.

Substance

Be accurate in your facts and figures;
Consult UN terminology;
Avoid quotations and acronyms: The rules are very restrictive. For the permissible acronyms (first time - you will need to use the full title), please see UN editorial manual.
All others, including the acronym for the Commission on Population and Development ("CPD") and for your organization are not allowed in written statements;
Do not be critical of a UN Member State or Government leader/s;
Do not make critical generalizations of a group or persons/countries/organizations;
Chose brevity for greater advocacy impact;
Highlight a key idea at the beginning of a paragraph;
Avoid repeating information and ideas;
Strive for clarity and coherence;
Avoid jargon;
Avoid repetition of information;
Organize material using the principle of one thought per paragraph; make reading effortless;
Verify references to titles and dates of United Nations events and conferences.

Structure

Title of the statement and name of NGO submitting (Acronym in parentheses);
Introduction, objective and purpose of statement;
Overview of the issue as it relates to the work of the NGO;
A way forward: expectations, specific recommendations;
Closing sentence.

Steps for submitting a written statement:

Statements have to be submitted through CSO-Net. Deadline for submission: 1 December 2017.

Prepare your statement in Microsoft Word or a similar application for text processing and save it on your PC. If you don't save it in advance, you might lose it later during submission, e.g. if your PC loses the connection to the online system. Once you have finalized your statement, copy-paste the final text from your document onto the statement submission page. Please note the online system removes formatting;
Select the language of your submission;
If this is a joint statement, please type the name of other NGO submitter(s) into the field "Search and add organization" and click "Search". The system will return a list of NGOs (in case you cannot find the NGO that you are looking for, try again to search for just a part of the NGO name). Click "Add" next to the NGO name that you want to designate as a joint submitter. Repeat this step to add more organizations;
Click "Add" to submit your statement. From this point on, you will not be able to make changes to the statement.

Additional information on modalities for written statements as described in paragraphs 36 and 37 of ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31

The following conditions shall be observed regarding the submission and circulation of such written statements:

The written statement shall be submitted in English or French;
The written statement shall be submitted in sufficient time for appropriate consultation, if necessary, to take place between the Secretary-General and the organization before circulation;
NGO statements will not be edited by DGACM, with the necessary footnote added;
Only the first 20 statements will be translated into English, French and Spanish;
A written statement submitted by an organization in general consultative status will be circulated in full if it does not exceed 2,000 words (including footnotes and official UN signage, approximately 50 works). Where a statement is in excess of 2,000 words (including footnotes and official UN signage, approximately 50 works), the organization shall submit a summary, which will be circulated, or shall supply sufficient copies of the full text in the working languages for distribution. A statement will also be circulated in full, however, upon the specific request of the commission or other subsidiary organs;
A written statement submitted by an organization in special consultative status will be circulated in full if it does not exceed 1,500 words (including footnotes and official UN signage, approximately 50 works). Where a statement is in excess of 1,500 words (including footnotes and official UN signage, approximately 50 works), the organization shall submit a summary, which will be circulated, or shall supply sufficient copies of the full text in the working languages for distribution. A statement will also be circulated in full, however, upon the specific request of the Commission or other subsidiary organs;
Joint submissions of more than one NGO are encouraged; all co-signers must agree to the statement. Joint submissions word limit will depend on the consultative status of individual NGOs. I.e. If one or more NGOs are in General Consultative status the word limit will the 2,000 words (including footnotes and official UN signage, approximately 50 works). If all NGOs are in Special Consultative Status then the word limit will be 1,500 (including footnotes and official UN signage, approximately 50 works);
If the statement is supported by another NGO(s) in consultative status with the Council, a note to that effect should be added at the end of the document. The names of the NGOs should be in alphabetical order.

In the News

NGO Registration

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Events

Expert Group Meeting on "Sustainable cities, human mobility and international migration"
New York, 7-8 September 2017

Side Events

Information for organizers