MOSCOW, December 11 (Itar-Tass) — Sherpa meeting of the Group of Twenty member states is opening in the Russian capital on Tuesday. It is the first major event under Russia’s Presidency in the G20 that the country assumed on December 1. G20 unites the world’s major economies.
The sherpa name is derived from the Sherpa people, a Nepalese ethnic group, who serve as guides and porters in the Himalayas, a reference to the fact that the sherpa clears the way for a head of state at a major summit. In the political lexicon, the term is used for the emissaries of the G20 leaders that are involved in the planning and preparation of summit-level meetings, coordinate the agenda, prepare draft declarations and other related documents for the leaders. Russia’s sherpa – presidential envoy for the affairs of the G20 leading industrial countries and relations with their leaders is head of the Presidential Experts' Directorate Ksenia Yudayeva.
The current meeting in Moscow is called Civil 20, as the main topic of discussion will be “G20 Civil Society Vision for the Russian Presidency.” Among the issues that will attract special attention are – the civil society expectation from the Russian G20 Presidency, ways and forms of civil society integration in processes taking place within the G20 framework, assessments of the effectiveness of decisions of the G20 countries’ leaders for their populations and the world community in general. The main purpose of Civil 20 is the organisation and maintenance of a productive dialogue within the framework of the global civil society with the participation of politicians and decision-makers on the basis of the priorities stated in the official agenda of the Russian presidency.
The Civil 20 conference participants are representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics, think-tanks. The conference discussion will focus on the findings and recommendations from the Report on G20 Implementation of Key Decisions Made by G20 Leaders, and the ideas for the thematic report on enhancing G20 efficiency in promoting economic equality and well-being of citizens will be presented. The participants will discuss a plan of Civil G20 activities for 2013.
The working groups on ecology and energy, food security, financial issues, anti-corruption, as well as on labour and employment will act within Civil 20. On all these issues Civil 20 plans to hold consultations with the international civil society and work out a consolidated position for its presentation to the G20 leaders.
In addition to the sherpa meeting, on December 13, within the framework of Russia’s G20 presidency, the conference “Promoting economic growth and sustainable development” will be held in Moscow, on February 15–16 – a meeting of the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors will be held, on June 4–5, a conference on the activities of rating agencies will be held in St. Petersburg, on June 13–14, a conference on financial literacy and education will be held in Moscow, on June 18–21, St. Petersburg will host theG20 Youth Summit, then – G20 Citizens Summit and Business Summit, and the meeting of the G20 Heads of State and Government will be held in St. Petersburg on September 5–6.