Major Groups & other Stakeholders
About
A network of volunteers, recognised by the UN, mobilising civil society’s meaningful engagement and active involvement on sustainable development. Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS) is the catch phrase for civil society engaging with the 2030 Agenda. Our coordination mechanism coordinates this network.
Background
The first United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, also known as the “Earth Summit”, recognized that achieving sustainable development would require the active participation of all sectors of society and all types of people. Agenda 21, adopted at the Earth Summit, recognised nine core constituencies of society through which broad participation of as many people as possible would be encouraged in UN activities related to sustainable development. These sectors are officially referred to as “Major Groups”. Two decades later during the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), also known as the Rio+20, other constituencies were recognised and invited to participate in UN processes related to sustainable development. Today, there are 21 Major Groups and other Stakeholder constituencies, and the list continues to grow.
At the global level, Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS) have been granted comprehensive participatory opportunities in the High Level Political Forum through the UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/67/290. Paragraph 15 of the Resolution states that, while retaining the intergovernmental character of the HLPF, Major Group representatives and other relevant Stakeholders shall be allowed to:
- Attend all official meetings of the forum
- Have access to all official information and documents
- Intervene in official meetings
- Submit documents and present written and oral contributions
- Make recommendations
- Organise side events and roundtables, in cooperation with Member States and the Secretariat
Read our guiding document
Coordination mechanism & governing structure
Elected by each constituency the Organising Partners from each of the MGoS constituencies form the “MGoS Coordination Mechanism”. This is an autonomous and self-organising space to coordinate all processes around the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including its follow-up and review processes. Focusing primarily on the all-year round preparations for the High Level Political Forum. The MGoS Coordination Mechanism is coordinated by two or three elected co-chairs from different MGoS constituencies, striving to ensure a North-South and gender balance.
The co-chairs inform and strategize with the United Nations and Member States, around available advocacy opportunities for civil society. Their core mandate is to facilitate and ensure that civil society’s right to participation is upheld. They work tirelessly to make the 2030 Agenda processes more open and meaningful for ALL of civil society – and not just a few. The coordination mechanism is working hard to ensure the meaningful participation of civil society and promote inclusion of representatives of the Global South. Civil society is powerful in its diversity! The MGoS coordination mechanism is driving the work to ensure that those most affected by injustice, poverty, exclusion, environmental degradation and climate change should be fully involved in guiding the 2030 Agenda implementation.
What does it mean?
Coordination mechanism
A volunteer network set up to coordinate the Major Group & other Stakeholders. In other words, it facilitates civil society’s engagement in the 2030 Agenda. Each one of the 21 constituencies selects 2-3 representatives from their constituency to join the coordination mechanism.
Co-chairs
The coordination mechanism has 2-3 co-chairs leading the work of the network. They are elected from the MGoS 21 constituencies. They are the primary contacts with the United Nations, primarily its branch “UN DESA”. Their role is to coordinate the work of the coordination mechanism, to set up deadlines and make sure the various working groups follow through with their tasks. The co-chairs are elected every two years, and can sit a maximum of 4 years (two terms).
Constituency
Agroup of people with shared interests or political opinions. The MGoS currently has 21 constituencies, but welcomes groups who self-organise. Meaning, the current list is not final. Do you think a constituency is missing from our list? Contact the co-chairs who can inform you of the process to set up a new constituency.
Organising Partners
The constituencies are led by elected people/organisations, these are called “Organising Partners” and sometimes just “OPs”.
Word from our current co-chairs
Rashima Kwatra
Constituency: LGBTI Stakeholder group (elected Mar 2023) Organisation: RFSL - The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex Persons' Rights
The MGOS are and have been instrumental to the acceleration of sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. I am eager to centralize the voices of those most often left behind in the priorities of the MGOS and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Oli Henman
Constituency: NGO Major Group (elected July 2023) Organisation: Action for Sustainable Development
Since 2015, we have worked to support and connect community organisations to share their perspectives on the SDGs, the MGOS provides a vital avenue for direct participation of diverse voices at key meetings of the UN.
How we work
- Collective voice – we believe that we are stronger together. Civil society is very diverse, and so is our expertise and lived realities. That is why we encourage our members collectively to write our advocacy papers, statements and speeches. We believe that those most impacted by an issue should themselves share their experiences, acts of resistance, examples of positive change and give recommendations for action.
- We are a self-organised civil society space. We are not an extension of the United Nations, nor an organisation, but a network of volunteers. We dedicate our time to hold our decision-makers and the staff of the United Nations accountable to uphold the obligations and our human rights. We do not have core funding, nor a secretariat. We are so thankful for the many volunteers out there that dedicate their time and soul to make our space inclusive and transparent.
- Geographic scope – the MGoS coordination mechanism is a global network, working specifically on the global 2030 Agenda processes. There are also regional coordination mechanisms, following the UN’s regional 2030 Agenda work. These regional mechanisms are different from the MGoS and should not be confused with each other. The regional mechanisms are among the 21 constituencies forming MGoS.
- Task groups – to manage the workload, the coordination mechanism is split into several task groups including: overall coordination; advocacy; events, VNR engagement; communication; selection processes; MGoS organisation & development. Get in contact with us if you would like to learn more about how you engage in these groups!
Our core values
Human rights
Centrality of human rights for all as the critical cornerstone of the sustainable development agenda and democratic governance at all levels;
System change
Recognition that the inherent interconnectedness of all domains of life requires systemic and holistic responses in both policy-making and programme development and implementation;
End all discrimination
Utmost commitment to gender equality; to social, economic, ecological, climate, gender, racial and intergenerational justice, as well as to the eradication of all forms of discrimination and violence and recognizing Peace it's basic to reach the SDGs.
Multilateralism
Centrality of inclusive and democratic multilateralism, centred on the United Nations and based upon human rights, people-centeredness, equity and justice, solidarity, cooperation and common but differentiated responsibilities, to ensure the democratic management of our commons and the advancement of the sustainable development agenda.
Find your constituency
You can think of the MGoS as a parliament, and the 21 constituencies are the different parties sitting in that parliament. We encourage you to learn more about the constituencies and join those who best align with your values. Life is intersectional, and you are not limited to just one constituency, but can join several. Through the constituencies you can do more issue-based and strategic advocacy, influence position papers and participate in strategy meetings and bilaterals.
- Website: missing info
- Twitter: @ARMMGoS
- Email: missing info
The Africa Regional Mechanism of the Major Groups and other Stakeholders (ARMMGOS) ia an independent mechanism that facilitates the participation of major groups and other stakeholders (MGoS) and civil society organizations (CSOs) based in Africa in regional and global United Nations sustainable development processes.
- Website: asiapacificrcem.org
- Email: aprcem@asiapacificrcem.org
- Twitter: @ap_rcem
- Facebook: CSOAsiaPacific
APRCEM is a civil society platform aimed to enable stronger cross constituency coordination and ensure that voices of all sub-regions of Asia Pacific are heard in intergovernmental processes in regional and global level. The platform is initiated, owned and driven by the CSOs, and seeks to engage with UN agencies and Member States on the Post-2015 as well as other development related issues/processes. As an open, inclusive, and flexible mechanism, RCEM is designed to reach the broadest number of CSOs in the region, harness the voice of grassroots and peoples’ movements to advance development justice that address the inequalities of wealth, power, resources between countries, between rich and poor and between men and women.
- Website: missing info
- Email: missing info
Missing info
- Website: csoforffd.org
- Email: addiscoordinatinggroup@gmail.com
- Twitter: @cs_ffd
- Facebook: CSOforFFD
- Youtube: visit channel
The Civil Financing for Development (FfD) Group is an open civil society mechanism developed to ensure coordinated and consistent engagement of all interested civil society constituencies in the United Nations Financing for Development process. The Group has a fundamentally thematic focus, bringing together civil society organizations, networks and federations that are interested and active in the Financing for Development Process and its interrelated domains. In various conformations, the CS FfD Group’s engagement dates back to the Preparatory Committee process leading up to the first International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey (March 2002), and then continues through the preparation and follow-up of the Financing for Development Conference in Doha (November 2008) and the Third Financing for Development Conference in Addis Ababa (July 2015). The CS FfD Group includes the Women’s Working Group on FfD. Participating organizations includes movements, networks, federations and coalitions among various constituencies (both those formally recognised within the current structure of the Major Groups and other Stakeholders, such as NGOs, women, children and youth, and trade unions, but also Persons with Disabilities and others) as well as regional and thematic groupings. The Civil Society FfD Group is facilitated by the Addis Ababa CSO Coordination Group (ACG), which was formed through an open, inclusive and transparent process, taking into full consideration regional, gender and constituency balance (including the Major Groups’ constituencies).
- Website: ece-rcem.org
- Email: ecercem2030@gmail.com
- Twitter: @ECE_RCEM
- Become a member: register here
ECE-RCEM is a civil society platform aimed to enable stronger cross constituency coordination and ensure that voices of all these constituencies in each sub-region of UN ECE are heard in intergovernmental processes at regional and global level. The platform is initiated, owned and driven by the CSOs.
- Website: educationacademia.org
- Contact
The Education and Academia Stakeholder Group (EASG) brings together human rights-based education civil society organisations as well as academia organisations and networks that work on the right to education, which self-organise to engage with the monitoring and review of the Sustainable Development Goals. The EASG is open to all organisations working for the full realisation of the right to free, inclusive quality education for all, the implementation of Agenda 2030, and of SDG 4 in particular.
- Email: Maria Giulia de Castro, giulia.decastro@wfo-oma.org
The Farmers Major Group seeks to prioritize participation of peasants, farmers, pastoralists and fishermen that are from the Global South and Least Developed Countries. This particularly includes women, the youth and those who have been historically subjected to racial, ethnic and gender discrimination. It is farmers and peasants who produce the food and agricultural products that the world consumes, and who make significant economic, social and cultural contributions at the local, regional and global levels. As such, the members of the Farmers Major Group must be actively engaged within the UN system to ensure that our voices are heard and respected.
- Website: indigenouspeoples-sdg.org
- Email: communications@indigenouspeoples-sdg.org
- Twitter: @IPMGSDG
- Facebook: IPMGSDG
Indigenous peoples have been engaging in relevant processes on sustainable development since the Earth Summit (Rio Conference) in 1992. The main advocacy agenda of indigenous peoples in these processes are the respect, protection and fulfillment of the rights of indigenous peoples as affirmed by the UN Declaration on the Rights of indigenous Peoples; as well as the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples in the development, implementation, monitoring and review process of actions plans and programmes on sustainable development at all levels. The main mechanism of engagement is the Indigenous Peoples Major Group (IPMG) which is a forum for coordination and planning.
- Website: lgbtistakeholdergroup.com
- Email: rashima.kwatra@rfsl.se
The LGBTI Stakeholder Group is organized as a governing structure of a coalition of civil society organizations across all regions working to advance the rights and achieve highest development outcomes for LGBTI people. It is organized as a few different spaces, including a virtual space, through a listserv and conference calls, and physical space, through in-person preparatory, strategy and debriefing meetings before, during and after the High Level Political Forum (HLPF). It is a space for LGBTI advocates and allies to reflect and strategize on the issues around the implementation of the Agenda 2030, its relevance to the lives of LGBTI persons and ways forward. The LGBTI Stakeholder Group spaces aim at providing opportunities to focus on collective advocacy goals, map the state of implementation of the SDGs and inclusion of LGBTI issues, as well as challenges around these and potential solutions. Most of all, the LGBTI Stakeholder Groups is an opportunity for LGBTI advocates to support and learn from each other through best practices exchange, capacity building for newcomers, and continuous dialogue.
- Website: www.global-taskforce.org
- Email: policy@uclg.org
- Twitter: @GlobalTaskforce
The Local Authorities Major Group (LAMG), gathered under the Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, brings together international networks and organizations representing local and regional governments from all continents to ensure that they are included and listened to in international policy processes. Local and regional governments have a unique role to play in achieving the universal development agendas, policies, strategies, standards, programs and actions.
The Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments, which gathers the Local Authorities Major group, was setup in 2012 and is a coordination and consultation mechanism that brings together over 26 of the major international networks of local governments to undertake joint advocacy work relating to global policy processes. It was set up in 2013 to bring the perspectives of local and regional governments to the SDGs, climate change agenda and New Urban Agenda in particular.
- Website: unmgcy.org
- Email: op@childrenyouth.org
- Twitter: @unmgcy
- Facebook: unmgcy
- Instagram: @majorgroupcy
- Youtube: visit channel
This is your constituency within the Sustainable Development negotiations at the UN if you are under 30 years old. We strive to represent the voice of children and youth around the world. We are a dynamic international network of young people and organizations bringing about change in the world. We care about the future, the sustainability of our planet and the development of the people on it. We are here as a space for the voices of children and youth globally. At the UN and in our local communities, we are changing the way the world works. We are designing the future.
- Website: ngomg.org
- Email: ngomajorgroupopny@gmail.com
- Twitter: @NGOMajorGroup
- Facebook: NGOMajorGroup
- Instagram: @ngomajorgroup
- Youtube: visit channel
The NGO Major Group supports and facilitates the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the processes directly and indirectly related to the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. The membership is broad and varied and we are actively seeking to widen engagement and reach out to NGOs active in any thematic area linked to sustainable development. When possible, we work to organize positions on behalf of the members to be delivered in various United Nations spaces. Because of the diversity of voices and perspectives within this group, we are organized around thematic clusters which act as hubs of expertise on numerous issues and/or Sustainable Development Goals.
- Website: internationaldisabilityalliance.org
- Email: info@ida-secretariat.org
- Twitter: @IDA_CRPD_Forum
- Facebook: InternationalDisabilityAllianceIDA
Together we promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities across global efforts to advance human rights and sustainable development. We support organisations of persons with disabilities to hold their governments to account and advocate for change locally, nationally and internationally.
- Website: council.science/science-technology-major-group
- Email: secretariat@council.science
- Twitter: @ScienceTechUN
The ISC, together with the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), is a co-organizing partner of the Scientific and Technological Community Major Group at the United Nations. The Scientific and Technological (STC) Major Group provides governments, policy makers and society the understanding of the limitations and parameters imposed by the laws of Nature and indicates what is scientifically and technologically achievable based on what we know now and on what we can do with the knowledge and technological tools we have in hand – including those being developed with potential success.
- Website: www.undrr.org/implementing-sendai-framework-partners-and-stakeholders/stakeholder-engagement-mechanism
- Email: missing info
The Sendai Group (referred as the SEM) aims to leverage the convening, advocacy and implementing power of stakeholders in support of the implementation of the Sendai Framework and the integration of disaster risk reduction into the broader 2030 Agenda. SEM works in encouraging behavioural change through: 1) global and regional advocacy and communication initiatives; 2) reaching out to stakeholders and CSO groups engaged in other 2030 agenda processes to support cross-sectoral and transdisciplinary collaboration; and 3) bringing case studies, lessons learned and expertise from the ground to the attention of global and regional policy processes to enhance implementation of risk reduction action. Aligned with Sendai paragraphs 362 and 483, SEM brings together representatives of all UN Major Groups and other Stakeholders (MGoS), CSO Groups focusing on specific 2030 Agenda policy processes as well as UNDRR partner groups such as ARISE and STAG. The SEM is governed by the SEM Advisory Group which consists of two appointed representatives of each of the Major groups and other stakeholder groups.
- Website: globalforumcdwd.org
- Email: gfod@globalforumcdwd.org
- Twitter: @CastoutSlavery
- Facebook: GFoD-102146648789744
- Instagram: @globalforumcdwd
- Youtube: visit channel
The Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD) numbering more than 260 million people across the world, are among the most marginalised and excluded peoples, many of whom are persons living in conditions of slavery often tied to descent. They transcend religious, geographical and ethnic boundaries and are a global phenomenon. Previously described as persons part of who face “caste and analogous systems” and “discrimination based on work and descent”1, they are commonly known as Dalits, Roma-Sinti, Quilombola, Burakumin, Haratine, Oru, Shambara amongst many other names and fall under the umbrella term Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent (CDWD).
- Website: stakeholdergrouponageing.org
- Email: sgageing@gmail.com
The Stakeholder Group on Ageing (SGA) is a member of the Major Groups and Other Stakeholders involved in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 whose basic principle is to leave no one behind. The SGA serves as the voice of older persons at the global level. Additionally, the SGA brings together global and national networks of organizations concerned with issues of ageing, representing 800 million older women and men in all regions of the world.
- Website: together2030.org
- Email: contact@together2030.org
- Twitter: @together_2030
- Facebook: Together2030
- Youtube: visit channel
Together 2030 is a global, action-oriented initiative aiming to generate and share knowledge on the implementation and accountability of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and project the voices of different civil society and stakeholders around the world on the challenges and opportunities of implementing this Agenda. Our Unifying Vision is the commitments of the 2030 Agenda are made a reality, with civil society contributing in a meaningful way. Together 2030 is about creating and strengthening capacities. Together 2030 aims at contributing to overcoming the huge disparities within the capacities of civil society organizations all over the world, and to support civil society to play a full and meaningful role in the implementation and follow up of Agenda 2030 at all levels. Together 2030 is about action. As an action-oriented initiative, Together 2030 focus on ensuring that civil society organizations and stakeholders are able to share knowledge and experiences of implementation and accountability; work together on global, regional and national advocacy and track whether commitments made on Agenda 2030 are effectively turned into action. We believe that participatory processes have to be developed, experienced and monitored at sub-national, local and national level as well as at the regional and global level in all engagements related to the 2030 Agenda.
- Website: forum-ids.org/about/vga
- Email: VolunteerGroupsAlliance@gmail.com
- Twitter: @volunteergroups
- Facebook: voluntergroups
The Volunteer Groups Alliance (VGA) is a global coalition bringing together organisation and networks working in over 150 countries that contribute to sustainable development through volunteering in all its forms. It seeks to promote and highlight the contribution of volunteers in delivering the SDGs; connect organizations working with Volunteer Groups across the world to help amplify the collective impact of volunteers in national, regional, and global SDG follow up and review processes; gain recognition for the crucial role of volunteers in successfully monitoring and ultimately achieving the SDGs.
- Website: womensmajorgroup.org
- Email: contact@womensmajorgroup.org
- Twitter: @Women_Rio20
- Facebook: WomensMajorGroup
- Instagram: @womensmajorgroup
- Youtube: visit channel
- Join listserve: bit.ly/WMGlistservs
The Women’s Major Group has the responsibility to facilitate women’s civil society active participation, information sharing and input into the policy space provided by the United Nations (e.g., participation, speaking, submission of proposals, access to documents, development of sessions). The WMG is self-organised and open to all interested organisations working to promote human rights-based sustainable development with a focus on women’s human rights, the empowerment of women and gender equality.
- Website: www.ituc-csi.org/development-cooperation
- Email: tudcn@ituc-csi.org
- Twitter: @TUDCN_rscd
- Facebook: @TUDCN.RSCD
- Instagram: @ituc_global
- Youtube: visit channel
Workers and Trade Unions represent the voices and interests of hundreds of millions of workers from across the globe. Our Major Group brings together several different types of worker organizations from national trade union centres, to regional trade union organizations, global union federations and trade union solidarity support organizations. We defend the interests of workers, regardless of whether they belong to the union movement, are employed in the formal sector, or work in the informal economy. Our mission is to ensure that all people have access to a decent life and decent work in a healthy environment, access to quality public services and to quality education and skills training as means to achieving the Decent Work Agenda. We are determined to organize to defend human rights and labour standards everywhere, and to promote the growth of trade unions for the benefit of all working people and their families. We are resolute to overcome poverty and inequality through social justice.