The Regional Consultations with civil society should be held prior to the next Governing Council meetings scheduled in February 2010. These Regional Consultations with civil society will be under the responsibility and funding of the UNEP Regional Offices and held prior to or in conjunction with relevant major regional meetings/events/fora starting this year. These changes were introduced following amendments made to the Guidelines for Participation of Major Groups and Stakeholders in Policy Design at UNEP (Available at http://www.unep.org/civil_society/PDF_docs/Guidelines-for-CSO-participation-Aug2609.pdf).

The Regional Consultations with civil society will be dedicated to discussing relevant policy and programme issues, possible cooperative actions, and/or preparing the Major Groups’ inputs into those relevant major regional meetings/events/fora. They will serve as capacity building and networking exercises for the Major Groups in the regions, and constitute platforms for Regional Offices to engage with major groups and stakeholders on an annual basis. More flexibility is thereby given to the Regional Offices to organize workshops/meeting with a stronger regional focus in coherence with identified needs. This will in particular respond to the need for increasing and making more visible UNEP’s presence at the regional level.