Eighth session of the Conference of Parties

List of participants
DCE/21/8.CP/INF.3

List of candidates for the Committee
DCE/21/8.CP/INF.14REV

Elections of the Members of the Committee
DCE/21/8.CP/14

1. Participation of civil society organisations in the eighth session of the Conference of Parties 

In accordance with Rule 2.3 of the Rules of Procedure of the Conference of Parties, intergovernmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) having interests and activities in the field covered by the Convention who wish to participate as observers to a session or all sessions of the Conference of Parties, are asked to submit a written request to the Director-General of UNESCO. Only NGOs which meet the criteria outlined in Annex to the operational guidelines of Article 11 (Role and participation of civil society) are eligible. The request must be accompanied by the documents mentioned in paragraph 2 of the Annex.

2. Civil Society Forum (31 May 2021) 

In accordance with Decision 14.IGC 15 of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the third edition of the Civil Society Forum will be held before the eighth session of the Conference of Parties, on 31 May 2021. The Civil Society Forum provides a framework for exchange and cooperation among CSOs and strengthens their contributions to the governing bodies' agenda. Its main goals are to enable representatives of CSOs to examine their current concerns and discuss issues related to the implementation of the Convention and to allow them to make proposals to the Conference of the Parties on issues or problems that they consider to be priorities and that they would like to see reflected in the work of the Convention’s governing bodies.

The third edition of the Civil Society Forum will be held entirely online on 31 May 2021. More information, including the registration link and the agenda, can be found here: https://en.unesco.org/creativity/events/third-civil-society-forum. 

A. Registration

All participants, delegates, observers and those wishing to attend the eighth session of the Conference of Parties are strongly advised to register no later than 17 May 2021. This is to allow enough time to process all the relevant information and to ensure that all online arrangements are in place before the opening of the session. Please complete the online registration form at the following address: https://unesco-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcpf-mpqDwuHdJtMsge3zYzhfjDwmbEqc9C

Participants without an active connection to the meeting allowing them to take the floor (see "Active Participants" below for more information) will be able to follow the session via an online webcast. 

B. Modalities of the online meeting

The eighth session of the Conference of Parties will take place online on the Zoom platform and will be webcast via a link that will be available on the Convention’s website. 

Technical setup and troubleshooting

It is suggested that participants check their technical setup in advance in order to ensure an optimal meeting experience. In this regard, participants should:

• Join the meeting on a laptop or desktop computer (not a phone or a tablet).
• Favour a wired connection to the Internet.
• Use a headset with a microphone, if possible.
• Download Zoom (free) in advance of the meeting through the Zoom Download Centre at: https://zoom.us/download.
• Login 60 minutes in advance on the first day of the meeting.

When you first join the meeting, you should click on “Test Speaker and Microphone” and follow the instructions. Once you have joined the meeting, you will be in the “Waiting Room/Lobby” until you are let into the meeting by the host. Please note this may take some time on the first day of the meeting due to the number of participants.

You need to accept “Access the Microphone” and “Access the Camera.” The microphone and video, which can be found in the bottom left corner are ‘on’ when there is no red line over them. Participants’ microphones should be kept on mute at all times except when invited by the Chairperson to take the floor.

If you encounter technical difficulties during the meeting, it is suggested that you first try exiting and re-entering the meeting or try connecting from a different browser.

For any other technical question or issue, please contact:

Marcos Van der Valk Tavera
m.van-der-valk-taver@unesco.org  
+33 1 45 68 03 33

Active participants 

The Zoom platform can accommodate up to 500 active participants. Active participants may take the floor during the debate and intervene using camera/audio. All other participants may follow the online webcast via a link available on the event webpage. Each Party to the Convention is guaranteed two active connections. UNESCO Member States not Party to the Convention are garanteed one active connection. Similarly, intergovernmental and civil society organizations invited to participate in the session will receive one active connection per organization and each Category 2 Centre and UNESCO Chair will receive one active connection. Additional connections may be provided upon request and depending on availability.

Naming of speakers 

All participants are required by the system to name themselves when they enter the meeting. It is suggested that participants use the format below for their names so that they can be easily be identified by the Chairperson: 

• If you represent a Party to the Convention
  P-Country (Last name of the representative)
• If you represent a Member State not Party to the Convention:
  NP-Country (Last name of the representative)
• If you represent an intergovernmental organisation:
  IGO-Name of the organisation (Last name of the representative)
• If you represent an NGO:
  NGO-Name of the organisation (Last name of the representative)
• If you represent a Category 2 Centre:
  C2C-Centre name (Last name of the representative)
• If you represent a UNESCO Chair:
  UNESCO Chair - Name of the Chair (Last name of the representative)

Taking the floor 

Participants who have an active connection are able to request to take the floor by pressing the “raise hand” button, which will display a blue hand beside the participant’s name. This button can be found at the bottom of the list of participants.

Once the blue hand is raised, it will signal to the Chairperson that the participant would like to take the floor and they will be added to the list of speakers. When the Chairperson calls on a participant to take the floor, they should unmute their microphone using the microphone button in the bottom right corner. Ideally, as long as the internet connection allows, participants should also use their video. After the participant has finished their intervention, they should put their microphone on mute again to avoid background noise.

Chat box

The chat box is located in the bottom right hand corner of your screen. It can be used to signal a technical problem to the Secretariat. It can also be used by participants wishing to raise a point of order. In this case, the participant should raise their hand to indicate that they wish to speak and type "Point of order" in the chat box. The discussion window should not be used to submit amendments. Amendments should be sent by Parties to the Convention via e-mail to convention2005@unesco.org.