In July of 2014, the Open Working Group (OWG) on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed 17 goals that will inform intergovernmental negotiations on a 15-year agenda, beginning in 2015. If these are to be achieved, the process to engage communities must be transparent, responsive, inclusive and accountable. Unfortunately, lack of trust in public institutions can be a serious barrier to such engagement. Too often tensions exists between the "formal" rules that define these institutions, say, through constitutions and laws, and the "informal" rules that also shape them, in the form of sanctions, taboos, customs, traditions, and codes of conduct. Citizen engagement is seen by many as a way of rebuilding this relationship by creating coherence within the formal system. The Expert Group Meeting on Formal/Informal Institutions for Citizen Engagement for implementing the Post 2015 Development Agenda was convened to consider the potential of citizen engagement to achieve this kind of transformation; and to mobilize communities behind efforts to realize the SDGs.
Part 1. Introduction -- Part 2. Summary of discussions -- Part 3. Conclusions and recommendations.

31 p.