UNEP Major Groups and Stakeholders Branch

United Nations Environment Programme

Civil Society

Civil Society in the Regions

UNEP has six regional offices, the Regional Office for Africa (ROA), the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), the Regional Office for Europe (ROE), the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC), the Regional Office for North America (RONA), and the Regional Office for West Asia (ROWA).

The role of the regional offices has been enhanced by the recent GC22/14 decision adopted in February 2003. The decision calls upon UNEP "to establish and strengthen partnership at the regional and sub regional level with other United Nations bodies, development banks and other institutions, including major groups, with a view of enhancing the effectiveness of the development and delivery of the programme of work of the United Nations Environment Programme in the Regions." Civil Society organizations work at a national and regional level. Therefore they are well placed to participate in the implementation of the UNEP work programme at regional level through co-operation with the regional office.

Since 2004, the Global Civil Society Forum (GCSF) preceding the annual UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GC/GMEF) has become the core of UNEP’s engagement with civil society. It is the main entry point for civil society participation at the highest level at UNEP dealing with a range of environmental governance issues. This growing network also represents opportunities to further engage civil society at programmatic level.

The GCSF is built through six regional consultation meetings (one per UNEP region). According to the current practice, representatives of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are invited to convene two to three-day consultation meetings in each region, three to four months prior to the GCSF. Each region engages in a substantive dialogue on environmental issues that will be discussed during the next GC/GMEF and associated GCSF, and produces a regional statement. Representatives of major groups are also elected at the regional consultation meetings to attend the GCSF. In the 2005-2006 cycle, around 300 representatives were involved in the process at the regional level.