Is the act of delivering a speech at the UN during the official sessions (at the thematic or VNR sessions) or at side events. To “intervene” is to share your concerns, analysis and expertise on the issue, usually on topics that have been omitted by Member States. The MGoS have a few opportunities to deliver an intervention towards the end of some official sessions and forums. The MGoS coordination mechanism coordinates civil society’s interventions to ensure these speaking slots are evenly and equitably divided amongst MGoS. Individual constituencies then organise collectively for each of their slots. For example, there might be a flag at the UN that says “Farmers Major Group”, but that doesn’t mean that anyone who is a farmer can sit down there and speak on behalf of farmers. The Farmers Major Group coordinates within themselves who will represent them during the session. If you are interested in delivering an intervention, we strongly encourage you to reach out to the Organising Partners of your constituency, you can find contact details here. They will inform you of the internal selection and drafting process. One of the main mandates of the MGoS coordination mechanism is to coordinate the VNR interventions, or “questions” as they are called. This process usually starts around march/april. If your country is presenting a VNR, then ask your constituency how you can engage in preparing and delivering the VNR statement

Every year, the HLPF has sessions for each of the Sustainable Development Goals under review. In these sessions, the MGoS coordination mechanism has the possibility to designate a lead discussant and nominate speakers from the floor (interventions). The lead discussant officially speaks from the floor, while the nominated speakers speak based on the comments and questions from the Member States.

At each HLPF the first week of official sessions consists of thematic reviews, based on the SDGs that are in focus at that year’s forum. In each of these sessions the MGoS gets a few slots to deliver a 2-3min intervention towards the end. The constituencies submit their nominations for speakers to the MGoS coordination mechanism (composed of volunteers), who in turn then selects and offers the slots. This is to ensure these speaking slots are evenly and equitably divided amongst the MGoS. The selection committee takes into account not just an equal division of slots amongst the MGoS but also a balance and diversity amongst the speakers selected, including geographic, language, gender, ability, age diversity and beyond. The process for how to nominate speakers for interventions is up to the Organising Partners of each MGoS constituency. Similarly, the process for how the intervention is drafted varies per MGoS.

The Ministerial Declaration is the outcome document of the HLPF, reinforcing commitment to the implementation of the SDGs, and containing guidance and recommendations for Member States for SDGs follow-up and review. Before HLPF begins, Member States conduct a series of informal consultations and begin to negotiate on the Ministerial Declaration. The process is co-facilitated by two member states, which rotate each year. Based on these consultations, all the Member States agree on a set of paragraphs which compose a final Ministerial Declaration addressing the SDGs as well as cross-cutting issues, which is adopted at the end of each HLPF.

Or “bilaterals” for short, are essentially conversations between two groups, such as between a government delegation and a civil society group. Most high-level delegations as well as MGoS schedule bilateral meetings during HLPF. Bilaterals have different purposes, such as looking for collaborations, gaining insight into the negotiations, as well as advocacy.

In each of the Voluntary National Review (VNR) sessions, which take place during the second week of the HLPF, the MGoS coordination mechanism has the possibility to propose one speaker from civil society to intervene at their country’s session. For this, the coordination mechanism has a process led by its VNR task team of volunteers that sends out a survey for all interested civil society (belonging to an MGoS) from each country to collectively draft an intervention and select a speaker to deliver it at the VNR session. After the official VNR presentation by the Member State representatives, time allowing, the designated MGoS speaker gets to make a brief 2-3 minute intervention presenting questions, comments and concerns on the country level progress and implementation of Agenda 2030.

is an informal platform for experience sharing and reflection on the Voluntary National Review process. The Labs are held under the Chatham House rule and are open to Member States, the UN system and representatives of MGoS. Chatham House rule: “When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.” (Source: Chatham House)

The MGoS has the right to organise a multitude of side events and special events on 2030 Agenda and the HLPF’s thematic issues, and these can happen in cooperation with Member States and UN institutions. These events aim to review progress and implementation of the SDGs at the global level. They are also crucial for learning from civil society voices and spreading greater awareness about the 2030 Agenda at all levels. The events can be self-organised by civil society, or organised by Member States, the UN agencies or other participants at the HLPF.

Exhibitions can be organised during HLPF by civil society, Member States, private sector, UN agencies and other organisations. Civil society must have a Member State or UN institution to co-sponsor their exhibition. The exhibitions act as disseminators of information and showcase work or different perspectives regarding the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda

Use the hashtags for the conference, usually it’s HLPF and the year, like this: #HLPF2022, go to UN DESA’s twitter account and check which one they use. Some decision-makers just use the generic #HLPF. It can be strategic to alternate between the two, but keep an eye on which one has the most recent content.

If the negotiations on the Ministerial Declaration are not going the way we want, e.g. member states are moving back on their original commitments to Agenda 2030 and watering down the text, then the MGoS coordination mechanism and the constituencies usually write advocacy statements to raise their concerns. These are usually sent to heads at the United Nations as well as decision-makers.