In 2011 the FAO Committee on Fisheries tasked FAO with the development of an international instrument in the form of guidelines for securing sustainable small-scale fisheries (SSF Guidelines). The SSF Guidelines will facilitate the empowerment and mobilization of stakeholders to promote change towards sustainable small-scale fisheries and hence facilitate the realisation of the sector’s potential to contribute to poverty alleviation, food and nutrition security, and economic growth. This process needs strong catalysts and follow-up to stimulate lasting and efficient change and there is a need to build bridges between different stakeholder visions, within the fisheries sector as well as outside, to ensure coherence and build political will. The session discussed modalities of engagement of different stakeholders to facilitate the future implementation of the SSF Guidelines, in particular with regard to information and research, capacity development, institutional arrangements and incentive structures