Department of Global Communications Selects Co-Chairs for 2024 United Nations Civil Society Conference in Support of Summit of the Future

14 February 2024 - The United Nations Department of Global Communications today announced the selection of Carole Osero-Ageng’o, Global Initiatives Lead and Africa Regional Representative at HelpAge International, and Nudhara Yusuf, Executive Coordinator for Global Governance Innovation Network at The Stimson Center, as Co-Chairs of the 2024 United Nations Civil Society Conference in Support of the Summit of the Future.  The conference will take place on 9 and 10 May 2024, at the United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya.

Carole Osero-Ageng’o is a highly regarded human rights lawyer and gender expert, recognized for her impactful advocacy at national, regional, and global levels.  As the Global Initiatives Lead and Africa Regional Representative for HelpAge International, Ms. Osero-Ageng’o excels as a negotiator, people connector, mentor and policy influencer.  With extensive experience in aging, women’s rights, sexual reproductive health and rights, gender, governance, climate change and conflict management, she is pivotal in advancing HelpAge’s priorities in Africa.  In her dual capacity, Ms. Osero-Ageng’o leads regional policy advocacy on income security, healthy aging, and inclusive humanitarian action for older people.  She addresses ageism, violence, abuse, and neglect while amplifying the voice and agency of older individuals.  Ms. Osero-Ageng’o represents HelpAge International globally and actively engages in the Coordinating Mechanism of Major Groups and Other Stakeholders, focusing on the Stakeholders Group on Ageing.

With profound knowledge of UN processes and rules, she has led multiple organizations in engaging with the UN, notably contributing to the Commission on the Status of Women and the SDG Summit.  Ms. Osero-Ageng’o is a skilled trainer and organizer, having managed large-scale international events.  Her involvement in key conferences, such as the Nairobi Summit (ICPD+25) and Maputo@20 celebrations, underscores her commitment to advancing human rights.  Carole’s distinguished career includes roles at Planned Parenthood Global, the International Women’s Program of the Open Society Foundations, Equality Now, and FIDA Kenya.  She holds an LLB (Hons) law degree and a master’s degree in international conflict management from the University of Nairobi.  Ms. Osero-Ageng’o is fluent in English, French, German, Kiswahili, and Dholuo and has a fair knowledge of Gikuyu and Spanish.

Nudhara Yusuf is Executive Coordinator of the Global Governance Innovation Network at the Stimson Center and serves as Coordinator of the Global Futures Forum and Youth Coordinator at the Coalition for the UN We Need.

Prior to this, Ms. Yusuf worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Integration Team and the UNDP Regional Bureau for the Asia-Pacific’s Strategic Foresight Unit.  Previously, she worked on Education and Training with the World Federation of United Nations Associations and supported the British Shadow Secretary of State for Justice in the United Kingdom’s Parliament.  Ms. Yusuf is the founder and trustee of several grassroots non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society organizations across India, the United Kingdom and globally.  She also has extensive experience building multistakeholder communities of practice, networks, and movements — including towards the UN Summit of the Future.  Her research and action primarily focus on governance of and with future generations, the role of globalization, emerging technologies, and development in the shifting multilateral architecture, and engaging youth and civil society in governance and multilateral institutions.

In addition to her role at Stimson and at Coalition for the UN We Need, Ms. Yusuf also serves as Research Associate with the Global Governance, Justice and Security Programme, is a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, and was formerly a fellow with UN University’s Centre for Policy Research to support the UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Board for Effective Multilateralism.  She is a Dean’s List graduate from University College London.

“That civil society engagement remains a critical cog in the wheel of development is well established,” says Ms. Osero-Ageng’o.  “Greater collaboration between civil society organizations, Governments and the private sector can therefore not be more urgent at this time as we gear up for the Summit of the Future.  I look forward to a fruitful and effective partnership with my Co-Chair, Nudhara Yusuf, in putting together and delivering a successful UN Civil Society Conference to fully anchor civil society participation in the subsequent processes leading up to and including the Summit of the Future” Ms. Osero-Ageng’o added.  “Indeed, civil society participation will contribute greatly towards meeting the aspiration of “an international system that is better prepared to manage the challenges we face now and in the future for the sake of all humanity and for future generations.”

Ms. Yusuf added that “the Summit of the Future, above all, is a call to rethink the way things have always been done.  I believe, along with my Co-Chair Carole, and many other civil society leaders, that Nairobi could and should be a moment for civil society to show, not just call for, process innovation; how civil society engages with intergovernmental processes.  Come May 2024, we should have a clearer picture of what a Pact for the Future is likely to constitute, while the Nairobi moment would look to meaningfully feed civil society perspectives into the process, we hope it will also be a place to start the critical multistakeholder conversation about how to land the Pact for the Future.”  Ms. Yusuf concluded:  “We hope we can capitalize on the multistakeholder and intergenerational convening to build smart coalitions of Member States, civil society, and UN and other entities, who will help take forth key issue areas and reforms.  We hope the Nairobi moment will be a civil society hosted space to move the international community from language to an action oriented networked and inclusive multilateralism.”

The United Nations Civil Society Conference, formerly known as the United Nations Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organizations (UN DPI/NGO) Conference, is the premier event in the civil society calendar at the United Nations.  Each conference focuses on a different UN topic of interest related to the work of civil society and NGOs.  This international forum also brings together senior UN system officials, prominent international civil society organizations, private sector representatives, academicians, public opinion makers and international media to discuss issues of global concern.

The 2024 United Nations Civil Society Conference will provide an opportunity for multi-stakeholder engagement ahead of the Summit of the Future and a venue for civil society to participate in the preparations process.  The conference will provide civil society with an additional platform to speak out and share ideas that could contribute to the Pact for the Future negotiations, in line with SDG 17 and the Common Agenda’s vision of networked multilateralism.

The conference is made possible thanks to generous contributions from the European Union, the Government of Denmark, the Ford Foundation and the United Nations Foundation.  The Department of Global Communications reiterates its thanks and appreciation to these donors for their generous and invaluable support. 

Two key partners, the Open Society Foundations and the SDG Action Campaign, will also play a key role in strengthening civil society participation from across the globe to the gathering in Kenya, by providing financial contributions directly to the collaborating civil society networks to ensure a global participation at the conference, from non-state actors and other relevant stakeholders.

The conference is expected to produce tangible outcomes and a positive contribution to the deliberations ahead of the Summit of the Future.  These will include policy recommendations, action plans, initiatives, collaborations, or even projects that address specific challenges or issues relevant to the Summit of the Future’s objectives.  Several engagement and contributing opportunities will take place after the Nairobi conference, in close collaboration and coordination with the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, that include a townhall to discuss the path forward to ensure a stronger engagement of civil society in the leadup to the Summit, as well as briefings for United Nations Information Centres, Resident Coordinator’s offices and country teams, and special sessions with the civil society focal points across the UN system, as part of the recommendations of the Secretary-General in his report Our Common Agenda.

Participation in the conference is open to representatives of civil society organizations associated with the Department of Global Communications and/or in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.  Civil society organizations not included in these groups that are legally registered with the national/federal Government of a Member or Observer State of the United Nations are also welcome to register for the conference.  Further details on the conference may be found on the official website at www.un.org/en/civil-society/2024-un-civil-society-conference.

For more information, please reach out to Felipe Queipo, Communications Officer, in the Civil Society & Advocacy Section of the Department of Global Communications at queipo@un.org.