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.

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.

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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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.