The Commission on Population and Development will hold its forty-second session from 30 March to 3 April 2009 at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The theme of the session is "the contribution of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development to the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals". Documents for the Commission’s session are posted on the web site of the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, www.unpopulation.org.

Only ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) may participate in the Commission’s session. The steps to follow by an organization wishing to participate are:

1. Pre-registration

ECOSOC-accredited NGO’s wishing to participate in the forty-second session of the Commission should pre-register online through the following web page:

http://esango.un.org/event/ngo.html?page=viewEvent&nr=661

If you have not received your login credentials to pre-register, please contact the Non-Governmental Organizations Section of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (NGO Section of DESA) at:

e-mail:  desangosection@un.org
Tel:       (212) 963-8652
Fax:      (212) 963-9248

Further information can be found at

http://esa.un.org/coordination/ngo/new/index.asp?page=contact

Because there is great interest both among governments and civil society in participating in the forty-second session of the Commission on Population and Development, and because only one conference room is available for its meetings, please be advised that not all representatives of an organization may find seats in the conference room, especially at peak attendance periods.

The deadline for pre-registration is Monday 23 March 2009.

2. Access to UN Headquarters

Passes to enter UN Headquarters are issued by the NGO Section of DESA located at the 14th floor of DC1 Building (One United Nations Plaza, on First Avenue corner of 44th St).  Pre-registered participants should go to that location to obtain passes. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 12.45 p.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.

3. Statements

Time permitting, participating accredited NGOs may be given the opportunity to make an oral intervention during the session, under agenda item 4. The statement should not exceed three minutes. To be included in the speakers list under agenda item 4, NGO representatives should address themselves to the Secretary of the Commission at the forty-second session anytime before the Commission starts consideration of item 4 and should submit 30 copies of their statement to the Secretary.
Organizations wishing to circulate the text of their oral statements should provide at least 250 copies to the Conference Officer. It is no longer possible for accredited NGOs to submit written statements as official documents for consideration of the Commission at its forty-second session (the deadline for submission was 16 January 2009).