Participation of Major Groups

About Major Groups

The United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), according to the resolution E/2000/35 that established it, is open to all States and operates in a transparent and participatory manner. The participation of a wide range of forest-related stakeholders is considered a key component of sustainable management of forests. Thus, the Forum welcomes the participation of the nine major groups as identified in Chapter 23 of Agenda 21, including:

• Women
• Children and Youth
• Indigenous People
• Non-governmental Organizations
• Local Authorities
• Workers and Trade Unions
• Business and Industry
• Scientific and Technological Communities
• Farmers and Small Forest Landowners

Accredited Organizations

Major groups organizations that are accredited with the Economic and Social Council of the UN (ECOSOC) and the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) are encouraged to participate in UNFF Sessions. To verify if your organization is ECOSOC accredited, look under "NGO Search" in the upper right corner of the ECOSOC NGO website. To check if your organzation is accredited with CSD, please review the CSD Roster. Organizations NOT accredited with ECOSOC or CSD may attend as part of the delegation of its country or as part of the delegation of an accredited organization. Please consult our FAQs for further information in this case.

Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue (MSD)

A multi-stakeholder dialogue is regular part of the UNFF sessions, usually a full day during the first week of the session. The dialogue provides an opportunity for dialogue between member States of the UNFF and representatives of major groups on issues relevant to UNFF sessions. Several months in advance of the UNFF session, the UNFF Secretariat issues a call for papers and commentaries from major group representatives related to the topics of the current UNFF session in preparation for the MSD. Major groups can use this opportunity to present their views on the issues being treated at the particular UNFF session in these UNFF MSD Discussion Papers.

In order to facilitate the MSD process, major group networks have nominated focal points to assist in coordination of input of each of the nine different major group networks. If you are interested in finding out more about what your particular major group network is organizing for the next UNFF session, please contact your relevant UNFF major group focal point. For further information on how to attend the next UNFF session, please consult "How my NGO can attend the next UNFF session". You may also want to consult the next UNFF Session page.