Facilitating Committee as a governing body of the UNECE RCEM

We, CSOs from UNECE region, have started our work to strengthen our cooperation as one CSO platforms in UNECE region since 2016. In June 2018, a Concept Note and RCEM action plan for the Regional Civil Society Engagement Mechanism (RCEM) was approved after long discussions in the platform.

We are currently in the phase of setting up our Facilitating Committee as a governing body of the UNECE RCEM and are looking for 22 representatives – one representative from each of the thematic and sub-regional constituency groups. As members of the temporary task force to prepare for setting up governing body, we are therefore reaching out to you to nominate a member of your constituency from our region (deadline 30 November).

We recognize our own institutional challenges in selection/election process of our governing body – a facilitating committee. Some constituencies are ready to nominate because they have good regional coverage and governance process for nominating. Some constituencies are either not well involved in the RCEM and or have only few countries in their membership, and have not yet governance process for nominating. In order to provide space for CSOs from our wide region that are not engaged in SDG processes and UNECE RCEM and not to leave them behind we suggest a two-step process for this:  

1. during coming month, identify and nominate constituency representatives – for established constituencies with wide coverage of our countries and with working governance process – deadline 30 November
2. during several  months – mobilize and prepare not yet ready constituencies to send their nominations to the FC. For the new FC – to assist other constituencies in this process– for them to send their representatives  – no deadline- so anytime when they have process they will join

Facilitating Committee:

1 representative (and alternate) from each constituency and sub-region        

14 constituencies + 8 sub-regions= 22 members of the Facilitating Committee

Women, children and youth, indigenous peoples, NGOs, workers and trade Unions, scientific and technological community, small-scale food producers, persons with disability, diaspora/migrants, LGBTIQ, urban poor, older persons, small and medium enterprises, civil society FfD group in:

1.     Baltic Sea
2.     Black Sea
3.     Caspian Sea
4.     Caucasus
5.     Central Asia
6.     Eastern Europe
7.     Mediterranean/South Eastern Europe
8.     USA, Canada, Israel

The roles of the facilitating committee are formulated in the Concept.

What we need from you

•         A copy of your governance structure
•         You will follow your own governance structure and nominate a member of your constituency from our region to take on this role (deadline: 30 November)

Timeline

•         deadline for nominations – 30 November
•         announce facilitation committee – 10 December
•         26 October: finish draft invitation to constituency groups
•         29 October: send to constituency groups
•         30 November: deadline for constituency groups to send us their governance structure & name of regional representative
•         5-7 December: announce the facilitation committee
•         Dec-Feb:  the facilitating committee must reach out to constituencies that are not yet recognised constituency groups (thematic and sub-regional), and facilitate their engagement as well as appointment
•         For the new FC – to assist other constituencies – for them to send their representatives  – no deadline – anytime when they have process they will join

Please feel free to contact nurguldj@gmail.com if you have any queries regarding the process. The temporary facilitating committee will try and answer them as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Temporary task force preparing the setting up of a governing body of the UNECE RCEM