Sample Timeline for a UN Summit

“All the member states in a conference essentially put their items on the table in the first few rounds. These inputs come from all directions. They come from regional meetings. They come from national consultations. Some of the agencies will have done special papers. All of these things are poured into the process.”

This hypothetical timeline gives an idea of what kinds of strategies funders could pursue at various stages of the summit process. A foundation looking to make a major commitment might take on funding at all stages, while smaller or local grant makers might be attracted to such discrete items as follow-up feedback forums. In all cases, as the quote above by a U.N. official suggests, donors should identify their grantmaking strategies as early as possible.

Indeed, the preliminary lead-up to a summit is generally packed with windows of opportunity that may close as the summit approaches. For example, the deadline for NGO registration for a summit may very well fall more than a year before the meeting dates, with implications for what grantees will then be able to attend. Advocacy training is another item that should take place well before the summit, ideally before even the PrepComs. Organizing space and the necessary technological infrastructure for an on-site Internet café can also call for considerable advance negotiation and preparation. So, while a summit process suggests particular grant making strategies at various points along the way, most of these should be in the works from the beginning.

Three Years Prior to Summit

The United Nations makes the initial decision to hold an international summit on a specific issue. Among other items accomplished early in the process are the selection of the host country, the convening of the Preparatory Committee (consisting of the functional commission most relevant to the summit topic), the establishment of the secretariat, and the framing of preliminary rules guiding NGO participation in the process.

Funding Suggestions:

• Provide support for technical assistance and training to NGOs on such issues as working with the media, how to participate within summit processes, government advocacy, and translation services.
• Support communications, coalition building, and networking among grantees and others to hash out positions and strategies in advance of the official sessions.
• Fund activities to strengthen groups in the host country and to ensure their exposure to counterparts around the world.

Two Years Prior to Summit

The Preparatory Committee holds the first of two or more planning sessions (PrepComs). The committee meets in conjunction with a regular session of the relevant functional commission. Among other matters, the committee and secretariat finalize logistical details on issues such as the number of NGOs that will be permitted to attend the summit, and the accreditation process. Regional preparatory meetings, generally organized by the U.N. Economic Commissions (such as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, known as ECLAC) are convened to feed into the PrepCom process. Intergovernmental groups and/or individual governments also convene their own planning meetings.

Funding Suggestions:

• Continue support for earlier strategies, and
• Support attendance of grantees and others at regional preparatory meetings and PrepComs, and provide assistance for NGO gatherings in connection with those meetings.
• Provide support for the infrastructure of the NGO Forum and/or host institution, and consider targeted support for the Summit Secretariat on such issues as outreach to civil society.

One Year Prior to Summit

The deadline for accreditation passes. The second PrepCom takes place, commanding more focus than the first, as negotiations pick up speed closer to the summit. The time allotted for the PrepCom usually proves insufficient for finalizing preliminary negotiations, so that the Preparatory Committee both extends the session and plans to reconvene shortly before the summit. Logistical details, such as visas, housing, and transportation, begin to assume more importance. The secretariat needs to facilitate such matters with the host country on behalf of NGOs.

Funding Suggestions

• Continue support for earlier strategies, and
• Fund work to generate positive media coverage, such as outreach and training for journalists, and exploration of other non-traditional media strategies.
• Provide travel assistance.

The Summit

The summit usually lasts for about two weeks and is a complex and crowded event. Internal negotiations take uncharted pathways, and at times are closed to NGOs.

Funding Suggestions:

• Support briefing and orientation activities at the summit, including the cost of simultaneous and written translation, as well as on- and off-site meetings on key issues of interest.
• Support communications mechanisms to keep summit participants informed, such as daily NGO bulletins or newspapers, as well as ways for them to stay in touch with home country communities, such as Internet cafés and related training.

One Year Later

Following the summit, governments return home theoretically to put in place the vision codified in summit outcome documents. At the U.N., responsibility for reviewing government and, in some cases, agency actions to implement commitments made at the summit reverts to the relevant commission at its yearly session.

Funding Suggestions

• Fund debriefing and feedback sessions among grantees and in various local communities.
• Provide support for communicating summit outcomes to home communities, including translation and distribution of key official documents.
• Provide assistance to organizations that will monitor implementation of summit agreements by governments, as well as summit follow-up at the U.N.
• Fund new organizations or networks created to continue work on summit goals.
• Support mechanisms such as consultancies to monitor the summit’s impact over time on grantees.