Accreditation in General
All NGOs and civil society entities interested in participating in the preparatory process and in the Summit and who are not in consultative status with ECOSOC have to obtain accreditation. At the beginning of each PrepCom, the Preparatory Committee will decide on the requests for accreditation. Accreditation is a continuous process. A NGO or a civil society entity that has been granted accreditation to attend a session of the Preparatory Committee meeting may attend all subsequent preparatory sessions, as well as the Summit events (Geneva and Tunis), unless the PrepCom or the Summit decides otherwise (some restrictions may apply for the Summit events with regard to the number of delegates being able to participate in the Plenary and the Committee meetings).

Any NGO or civil society entity that asks for accreditation must submit the information in accordance with the Arrangements for accreditation adopted at the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee (1-5 July 2002).

NGOs and civil society entities in consultative status with ECOSOC do not have to go through the full accreditation process. They should nevertheless submit to the Executive Secretariat their wish to participate in the PrepComs and the Summit, as Governments have requested in the Arrangements for Accreditation that a list of such entities be submitted to them 2 weeks in advance of each PrepCom.

Registration
Registration is necessary for each PrepCom and for the Summit events. Only accredited NGOs and civil society entities, and NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC can register.  

Costs
Accreditation and registration are free of cost, but participants are responsible for their own hotel and airfare reservation and cost. For the PrepComs and the Summit events, a restricted number of fellowships might be available for participants from developing countries and countries in transition (with special emphasis on participants from Least Developed Countries, LDCs). More information will be posted as available.