National and Regional Preparations for MEA Meetings

1. National and Regional Preparations for MEA Meetings Session Three Felix Dodds

2. What you need to address • Learn about national and regional preparations for UN meetings. • Explore possible roles for NGOs and civil society. • National and regional reporting processes • Coordinating networks - are you in the club or outside? How to get information and onto list-serves etc • Advice for effective NGO contributions

3. Diary for MEA • January: Contact the international NGO coalition • February: Arrange a meeting of the country’s NGOs or stakeholders • March and April: More national meetings • May-July:Input to regional / global coalition positions • August: Informal meetings with national government • September: Formal meeting with national government • October:Initiate a debate in parliament on the issue • November: Meetings with government • December: Meeting of the MEA

4. What are the possible roles and input of civil society at these levels? • By having fluid relationships with national executive administration as well as with regional administrative bodies; • By participating in national and regional official or non-official committees; • By providing individual input of an organization into national and regional preparations;

5. What are the possible roles and input of civil society at these levels? • By furnishing technical information to national authorities and regional bodies on subjects of a particular MEA; • By providing specific input into drafting of national reports and regional inputs; and/or • By contracting with national governments and regional bodies to generate national or regional reporting or preparations.

6. Guidelines on effective NGO contributions • Be focused and targeted • Offer specific language and proposals • Be clear • Time is of the essence • Build your information and knowledge

7. National and regional reporting processes • Know the timelines • Know the officials • Contact the UN relevant official to find out if you can submit independently • Consider a shadow report • If it is a regional report eg UNECE then cooperate with other stakeholders in the region

8. Guidelines on effective NGO contributions • Coalesce within civil society • Coordinate at the national level • Ensure that national instructional structure permits civil society groups’ participation • Work with different strata and sectors of government's • Build a relationship with sub-national areas of government

9. Summary • Participation by, and consultation with, non-state actors in national preparations for MEAs is an issue of rights under Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. • Contributions by civil society can provide information, points of view, research input, and sub-national contributions to the MEA national reporting process. • To be effective, ensure your contributions are targeted, timely, and well grounded by evidence and experience.

10. Summary • Working in coalition with other civil society stakeholders, and with a wide range of government departments can advance the uptake of your positions. • Even if divergences in opinion arise (e.g. between government and civil society), the process of participation should be considered constructive. • Civil society input to national preparations can result in more fluid and improved processes of MEA negotiation and application.

11. Exercise: Insider vs. outsider roles • Outsider: Marches in the streets to protest a certain issue or official position. Pros? Cons? • Insider: Engaging in policy dialogues with decision-makers. Pros? Cons? • Outsider: Presenting an alternative/shadow report to an MEA meeting. Pros? Cons? • Insider: Lobbying for the insertion of text in declaration/report or other such documents. Pros? Cons?