20 March 2013: The Civil20 Dialogue has encouraged citizens from around the world to share their views with world leaders in advance of the G20 Summit, which will take place in Saint-Petersburg, the Russian Federation, in September 2013. The Civil20 Dialogue, which the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the G20 Civil Secretariat of Russia launched in January 2013, collects civil society suggestions and recommendations through seven working groups: anti-corruption; environmental sustainability and energy; food security; financial inclusion and financial education; financial architecture; labor and employment; and the post-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The Civil20 Dialogue enables citizens to discuss ideas and solutions and to vote on a final resolution using an open crowdsourcing approach. According to Alena Peryshkina, Head of the G20 Civil Secretariat, the platform “will allow more transparent and inclusive development of policy recommendations submitted by civil society to the leaders of the G20 Summit.”

The Dialogue is one of several outreach groups launched as part of the Russian Federation’s Presidency of the G20 Summit, including Business 20; Labor 20; Think 20; and Youth 20. In addition to the online platform, anticipated outcomes of the Civil20 Dialogue include: recommendations from the 7 working groups for the G20; a report on mapping the G20 decisions and implementation; and a report on sustained, balanced growth and equitable policies. The Dialogue includes comment sections and background documents for each working group and is available in English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

The G20 Civil Secretariat includes Oxfam Russia, Greenpeace, Higher School of Economics (HSE) International Organizations Research Institute, AIDS Infoshare Russia, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Russian civil society organizations. A G20 Civil Summit will take place in Russia in June 2013, with the aim of facilitating dialogue between civil society and decision-makers on the G20 Summit agenda. [UNDP Story] [Civil20 Dialogue] [Russian Outreach Strategy for G20]