The sixty-ninth United Nations Civil Society Conference was held at the UN Office in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme “Shaping a Future of Global and Sustainable Progress.” Organized by the UN Department of Global Communications, the conference was held in support of the UN Summit of the Future taking place in September 2024. Additionally, it was the first of its kind to be held on the African continent, which was reflected in the composition of the attendees—some 70% from the region, most of whom were youth.

At the conference on 9 and 10 May 2024, over 2,000 civil society organizations came together to discuss issues of global concern with senior UN System officials, youth changemakers, academia, public opinion makers and international media. One outcome of the conference was an initiative to build and scale-up multi-stakeholder collaborations in the form of ImPACT Coalitions. SGI took part in various ImPACT Coalitions—first, as a co-convener for the Arts, Culture and Faith-based Solutions coalition; second, as rapporteur for the Gender Equality coalition; and lastly, as participants in two coalitions related to youth engagement, intergenerational solidarity and future generations.

Ivy Koek and Lucy Plummer of SGI attended the conference. In her capacity as the Co-Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, New York, Koek co-organized and gave final remarks at a workshop on “The Road from the Summit of the Future to Beijing+30 and Beyond.” The objective behind the workshop, which consisted mostly of breakout sessions, was to devise mobilization strategies in advance of the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) in 2025. BPfA continues to be the most comprehensive blueprint for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls that exists. It was adopted by 189 Member States at the fourth World Conference on Women in 1995 in China. The 12 Critical Areas of Concern outlined in the document are still relevant today and need to be implemented.

The ImPACT Coalition on Arts, Culture and Faith-based Solutions, initially met and then separated into two coalitions in order to address the specific needs and unique constituencies they represent. As the lead of the Faith-based Solutions ImPACT Coalition, Koek moderated a discussion on the coalition’s recommendations for the Pact of the Future. Some highlights of the conversation were to: integrate language throughout the document that recognizes the contribution of faith actors in building a better world which would maintain the tradition of UN documents which have included faith references; identify faith actors as key partners for reaching those that are unreachable; and acknowledge the potential for interreligious dialogue to contribute to peace as religion is often used as a catalyst for conflict. Key themes identified in the initial proposal for the coalition and serve as its core principles are: human rights, human dignity, and human security.

The ImPACT Coalition for Intergenerational Solidarity and Youth Engagement (which later became known as Youth and Intergenerational Engagement: Collective Action for Youth, Adolescents and Older Generations) was attended by the Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, Dr. Felipe Paullier who commented in his opening remarks on the recent establishment of the first UN Youth Office as a great victory for the political recognition of the youth agenda at the UN, an issue which young people have been working towards for more than two decades. Dr. Paullier added that a key task for the Youth Office is to effectively create more spaces for young people's voices at the UN and advance the system at the UN for amplifying young people's voices.

The main topic of conversation for the Future Generations ImPACT Coalition was the Declaration on Future Generations, an international treaty currently under negotiation that commits governments to take future generations not yet born into account in decision-making. The Declaration on Future Generations will be part of the outcome package of the Summit of the Future, alongside the Pact for the Future and Global Digital Compact to overcome digital, data and innovation divides.