On April 5, a pre-meeting of the society was held, at which representatives of various organizations and activists from different countries of the region were represented. The purpose of the meeting is to consider pressing issues and develop joined positions that are read by selected speakers at the open events of the Regional Forum. In this meeting, Nelya Rakhimova, coordinator of the coalition, moderated the society's discussion on SDGs, which is in the spotlight around the world this year: SDG 4 (Quality education), SDG 5 (Gender equality) SDG 14 (Preservation of the marine ecosystem) SDG 15 (Conserve the terrestrial ecosystem) and SDG 17 (Partnership in the ban on the territory of the United States). Also within this discussion, Elena Zharkova, a CSDR expert of the SDG 14, presented the current problems of the seas and oceans of the region, as well as the main recommendations for achieving this SDG.
The forum itself has the two main plenary sessions - opening and closing of the forum, which were also broadcast online. Throughout the forum, round tables were held, where participants represented the interests of various groups, discussed the SDGs, which are in the spotlight this year. So Elena Zharkova spoke at the round table on SDG14, presenting recommendations of civil society.
Side events were also held during the forum. This year the coalition hosted the event “Women and COVID-19: Gender Issues and Solutions in ECE Region”, where representatives of society from different countries of the region were represented and discussed the pressing issues of women. Yulia Ostrovskaya, an expert on SDGs 5 and 8, represented CSDR at the event, Nelya Rakhimova moderated the event.
Also presented CSDR members were speakers in a parallel event "Achieving effective, meaningful and inclusive civil society participation to build forward for a just and sustainable region." Elena Zharkova presented the results of the public discussion on SDG 14. Nelya Rakhimova, in turn, spoke about the VNR processes in the region, and about the level of engagement of civil society in these processes this year. Among other things, Nelya discussed with a representative of the delegation from the Netherlands how it is necessary to involve civil society in the preparation of the VNR.
Nelya Rakhimova also moderated the event “SDGs and Migration in Europe”, where, among other things, the problem of refugees from Ukraine was actively discussed. This event was organized by GCAP, the main part of the event was devoted to the presentation of the report on migration, which was released by this organization shortly before the forum.