UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Civil Society Advisory Group

When the UN General Assembly established the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), it asked the head of the Entity to “continue the existing practice of effective consultation with civil society organizations and encourage their meaningful contribution to the work of the Entity” (General Assembly resolution 64/289). In response, UN Women has set up civil society advisory groups at the global, regional and national levels to build on existing partnerships and increase strategic dialogue with its civil society partners.

In 2012/2013, to collaborate and jointly advocate within the Europe and Central Asia region, UN Women established two sub-regional Civil Society Advisory Groups, one for Central Asia and one for Central and Southeastern Europe. After the establishment of the UN Women Europe and Central Asia Regional Office in Istanbul in 2014, UN Women established a new Europe and Central Asia Regional Civil Society Advisory Group (ECA CSAG). The newly formed ECA CSAG is a dynamic source of ideas and policy perspectives, partnerships and support to help UN Women achieve its strategic goals in the region.

The ECA CSAG is a consultative forum for regular dialogue between UN Women and civil society in Europe and Central Asia. The group’s goals are to:

• Enable UN Women to consult with civil society and draw upon its rich and diverse perspectives, knowledge, expertise, experience, outreach and networks;
• Foster dialogue and engagement, to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment goals;
• Serve as a consultative forum of ideas and strategies for UN Women’s programming, including identifying the region’s most pertinent and emerging gender equality issues.

The list of ECA CSAG members can be found here.