“Progress towards an equitable world” must be more than a promise!

The C7 Communiqué, the official document with policy positions and priorities of theinternational civil society, has been handed over to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This marked the highlight of this year’s Civil7 process in which civil society organisation from over 40 countries actively participated in 5 Working Groups to formulate their recommendations to this year’s German G7 presidency.

The C7 is the official G7 engagement group for civil society actors to ensure that civil society voices and priorities are heard by the G7 leaders. Over the past two months, the C7 Working Groups formulated their key demands on the topics around open Societies, Humanitarian Assistance and Conflict, Economic Justice and Transformation, Climate and Environmental Justice, and Global Health. The final Communiqué not only comprises of voices from G7 countries, but includes positions and recommendations from civil society actors worldwide. Therefore, the C7 process can also be a guiding example for the G7: „We call on the G7 to enable the equal participation of developing countries in global policy processes and to seriously consider their needs and demands,” said Dereje Alemayehu, a member of the C7 International Steering Committee.

The two-day Summit gave the international civil society the opportunity to discuss their demands with representatives of the German Government. On May 4, the Summit opened virtually with a plenary discussion between the Working Group Coordinators and the two Sous-Sherpas from Germany and the UK on the role of the G7 today and current G7 priorities. The discussion was followed by thematic roundtable discussions around the five Working Group topics and the overarching topic of gender equality. On May 5, the Summit took place as an on-site event in Berlin with more than 120 participants. Those who were not able to attend in person had the chance to join the 2^nd day of the C7 Summit via livestream. Right after lunchtime, the event started with a presentation of the key recommendation by representatives of the 5 Working Groups. In his subsequent keynote, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz strengthened the role of a vibrant civil society for a lived democracy: „Democracy needs a vibrant civil society. It needs you!“ He then officially received the C7 Communiqué. To watch the full speech of Olaf Scholz click here.

The official handover was followed by a discussion of the German Sherpa Dr Jörg Kukies with Mathias Mogge (Venro), Maritta Strasser (Forum on Environment and Development) and the two Steering Committee Members Emilia Reyes and Dereje Alemayehu. In the lively discussion contrary points of view also became apparent, for example concerning a fair distribution of vaccines or the establishment of a Civic Space Task Force, which is a key recommendation of Civil7.

The C7 Secretariat thanks the many people involved in this process, who dedicated their time and energy to show a clear message to the G7 leaders: Progress to an equitable world must be more than a promise and the time to act is now.