Nearly 700 major groups' representatives from 126 organizations participated in the CSD-16 Review Session, by reporting on and sharing their results-oriented activities in the form of case studies, lessons learned, and best practices. They also identified obstacles, constraints, challenges and opportunities for the way forward.

Contributions by major groups were channeled through the following entry points:

• Opening plenary: on Monday 5 May, all major groups made opening statements;

• Thematic and regional discussions: from Monday 5 May through Friday 9 May, major groups participated throughout regional reviews and interactive discussions on the thematic issues;

• Multi-stakeholder dialogue: on Tuesday 6 May, major groups introduced their discussion papers during an interactive dialogue with Governments on progress in implementation;

• Multi-stakeholder dialogue with representatives of partnership initiatives: on Friday 9 May, a new and innovative format for an interactive dialogue was introduced that included major groups and representatives of partnerships engaging in discussion with Governments on their implementation efforts;

• SIDS Day: on Monday 12 May, major groups were included in SIDS day discussions;

• Review of CSD-13 decisions on water and sanitation: on Monday 12 May and Tuesday 13 May, major groups contributed information to the review of progress in implementing water and sanitation decisions;

• Ministerial roundtables: on Wednesday 14 May, major groups participated in two parallel roundtables on "Investing in Africa to Achieve the MDGs, and Interlinkages Among the Thematic Issues";

• Ministerial dialogue: a high-level interactive discussion with major groups and Ministers was held on Thursday 15 May, focusing on the way forward;

• Closing plenary: on Friday 16 May, major groups offered closing statements.

During the course of CSD-16, major groups made a total of 152 interventions-- a record number for any CSD meeting. Many of their statements and interventions can be found on the official statements page or by accessing the individual major groups' sectors pages.

Experts from major groups served as panelists in the thematic and regional discussions, and actively participated in the CSD-16 Partnerships Fair, the Learning Centre, and the many side events held during the meeting.
 

In preparation for the session, the major groups organizing partners for each sector prepared CSD-16 major groups' discussion papers, the highlights of which are outlined in a summary table.

Apart from the official session, a number of weekend activities organized by major groups took place around the New York City area before and during CSD-16. These included:

• Orientation meeting for all participating major groups organized by SDIN (Sunday 4 May 2008)
• Youth Blast (Sunday 4 May 2008)
• City and Farm Linkages CSD Showcase: Food System Tours and Learning Events in New York (9-11 May 2008)

• CSD-16 Major Groups organizing partners
• Documents
• Statements and Web-cast
• Outreach Issues (daily major groups' newsletter)
• Major groups involvement in Regional and National levels preparations
• Case studies database
• Matrix
• Trade Union Country-by-Country Profiles
• Guidelines for participation
• CSD-16 Main page

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