INTERNA TIONAL CONFERENCE OF NGOs
UNESCO Headquarters, 15-17 December 2014
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Resolution
As a result of its proceedings, the International Conference of NGOs in official partnership
with UNESCO, meeting in Paris from 1S to 17 December 2014 under the theme “Reenchanting
the world for the post-201S development agenda”, adopted the following
resolution:
Recognizing that UNESCO seeks to achieve its overarching objectives of a Culture of Peace
and Sustainable Development in its fields of competence (education, the SCiences, culture,
communication and information), around its global priorities (Africa and Gender Qualities)
and for identified priority groups (Youth, Least Developed Countries as well as Small Island
and Developing States);
Noting that the UNESCO partnership with non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
representing civil society constitutes a valuable cooperation for achieving these objectives
among organizations concerned with matters within the competence of the Organisation;
Considering that NGOs playa key role in complementing the action of governmental and
intergovernmental bodies such as UNESCO because they operate on the ground, are flexible
and independent of government politiCS, able to create awareness and to mobilise;
Acknowledging the Directives concerning UNESCO’s partnership with NGOs adopted by the
36th session of the General Conference, the UNESCO medium-term strategy (2014-2021),
and the recent release of the Synthesis Report of the UN Secretary General regarding the
post-201S Agenda “The Road to Dignity by 2030”;
Supporting the need for measurable, realistic and inspirational targets, we make the
following recommendations:
1. To the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee
Supportive of the strategic approach adopted by previous Liaison Committees, we
encourage the incoming Committee to develop a Plan of Action that clearly reflects
consideration of the goals of the post-201S development agenda;
Recognising the important opportunity that NGO fora in different regions of the world
offer to involve local, national and regional NGOs in the collective work of NGOs, we
invite the Liaison Committee to continue the organization of these fora on issues
related to the post-201S development agenda;
Convinced that the geographical diversity of the Liaison Committee is a major asset
for the collective collaboration of NGOs, we invite the Committee to maximize the
joint potential of its members when implementing the Plan of Action and defining its
working methods;
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Acknowledging the value of the advice and suggestions gathered during the
brainstorming session of the International Conference (to be annexed), we invite t he
Liaison Committee to take them into account when elaborat ing its Plan of Action;
In light of the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-201S development agenda
which take place at the UN until September 201S, we invite the Liaison Committee to
steer NGO collaboration across fields of competence in order to advocate an agenda
that addresses the broad range of concerns that NGOs are working on today.
2. To the NGO Community
Acknowledging the limited time remaining for influencing the preparation of the post-
201S development agenda, we urge the NGO community to thoroughly examine the
key documents of this process and to express their views for the final agenda to
allow all stakeholders to build “the future we want “;
Encouraged by the general consensus on the need for cross-cutting collaborations,
we challenge NGOs in all UNESCO regions to form st rategic alliances with partners
from other areas of competence to contribute to the implementation of the post-201S
development agenda via jointly prepared studies, events and projects;
Having taken note of the reports on the th ree NGO fora held during the past
biennium, we invite NGOs to work individually and collectively to follow up on the
outcomes of these fora and of the thematic debates held at the International
Conference;
We encourage NGOs to consider strategies for the inclusion of marginalized groups of
people as both actors and beneficiaries of their work.
3. To UNESCO Member States and the Director-General
Committed to maximizing impact of efforts when working towards the targets of the
post-201S development agenda, and concerned over the risk of fragmentation of
these efforts, we challenge UNESCO Member States and the Director-General to
a. work w ith the Liaison Committee to continue to enhance the procedures for
consultation and cooperat ion between UNESCO and NGO’s in official
partnership with a view to further improving these processes;
b. promote cross-cutting initiatives by reinforcing partnerships with NGOs across
all regions and where feasible, providing support for cross-cutting
collaborations.
Encouraged by the positive experience of the NGO fora, we strongly recommend that
Member States and the UNESCO Secretariat continue to support these and explore
ways of taking into account the conclusions and recommendations of these fora.
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