The United Nations system works with Civil Society Organizations at the national and international level. At the UN Secretariat, the Conference of NGOs in consultative relationship with the United Nations (CONGO) is a mechanism for working directly with civil society through its Economic and Social Commission (ECOSOC). The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) has a unit exclusively devoted to CSO relationships. You can click here for further information.

For general information on the different UN Agencies and developments on work with civil society the best place to start is at the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS), which offers an update and one stop site for news, documentation and communication.

Various initiatives focus on different issues notably including gender. FAO’s Dimitra Project–Rural Women and Development encourages exchange of best practices, ideas and know-how among rural women’s organizations through readily accessible information and communication technologies. The goal is to improve rural women’s living conditions and status in Africa and the Near East.