NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS CONSULTATIVE STATUS FOR TWO ORGANIZATIONS, DEFERS DECISION ON THREE OTHERS

Press Release
NGO/360

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS CONSULTATIVE STATUS FOR TWO ORGANIZATIONS, DEFERS DECISION ON THREE OTHERS

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) this afternoon continued its considerations of new applications for consultative status within the Economic and Social Council and recommended consultative status for the Asian- Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women and the China Association of Women Entrepreneurs.

As the Committee continued the second part of it 2000 session it also deferred review of the Triglav Circle and the International Commission on Distance Education until its next session in January 2001, and deferred consideration of the International Energy Foundation pending submission of responses by the organization to questions put to it by the Committee.

The Committee reviews requests by various organizations for consultative status. Based on profiles and answers provided to questions posed by its members, the Committee then recommends whether a particular NGO should or should not be granted such status.

Organizations wishing to apply for the “general” category must be concerned with most of the activities of the Council and its subsidiary bodies. “Special” category is granted to organizations involved specifically with only a few fields of activity covered by the Council. Organizations that can make occasional and useful contributions to the Council or its subsidiary bodies are included on the “roster”.

The Committee recommended that special consultative status be granted to the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women -- an international NGO that had requested general status.

The Centre, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is a regional non-profit NGO concerned with ensuring that development policies and plans include women’s and gender perspectives. It also aims to improve the capacity of women NGOs to influence health, population and family planning organizations at all levels.

The Committee also decided to recommend that the China Association of Women Entrepreneurs, a national NGO based in Beijing, be granted roster status.

The Association connects women entrepreneurs and the Government’s functional departments. It helps women to learn about the Governments’s latest policies. The NGO further enables the Government’s functional departments to learn about the entrepreneur’s situations and difficulties, help solve problems between enterprises, and carry out economic and trade talks and technological cooperation activities, so as to promote economic development.

Committee on NGOs - 2 - Press Release NGO/360 755th Meeting (PM) 19 June 2000

Despite the Committee’s decision to grant the Association roster status, attention was drawn to the fact that the organization had expressed the hope that a decision on its status would be deferred. Any discussions on the NGO should, therefore, have been taken at the resumed meeting in 2001. It was then suggested the NGO be informed of its inscription as a roster status through a fax by the Secretariat. If the NGO had a problem, it should then inform the Committee.

The Committee deferred its consideration of the application by the Triglav Circle, an international NGO requesting special status, to its resumed session in January 2001, so that any confusion about the organization’s legal date of establishment could be alleviated.

The Circle, located in Tyngsboro, United States, is a non-profit organization whose aim is to foster the core messages of the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995). Those messages call for societies to respond more effectively to the material and spiritual needs of individuals, their families and communities. They also call for commitment to a political, economic, ethical and spiritual vision for social development that is based on human dignity and rights, equality, respect, democracy, mutual responsibility and cooperation, and full respect for the various religious, ethical and cultural values and backgrounds of people.

One speaker said there was a question about the date of the legal establishment of the organization and stated that it was in fact 1998. A number of speakers said, however, that the organization had been legally established in 1996 and that its legal status was considered in 1998. It was then pointed out that the certificate of incorporation by the United States Internal Revenue Service had recognized the organization in 1996. The only development in 1998 was recognition of the organization’s non-profit status. It was further pointed out that both documents were on file in the Secretariat.

The Committee also deferred consideration of an application by International Commission on Distance Education, an international NGO requesting special consultative status, until January 2001, pending responses to a number of questions raised this afternoon by members.

The Commission, based in Zurich, Switzerland, aims to develop distance education globally as a precondition for the improvement of the socio-economic and personal conditions of all individuals. That development is based on the improvement of academic conditions, the study of new technologies and ongoing support for students around the world, to enable them to take advantage of a system of education which is cheaper, simpler and more accessible and humane.

One delegation said that the Commission was already a member of an international organization with consultative capacity -- the Organization of North-South Cooperation. Several questions to be considered were: Why did the organization want separate consultative status? What was the relationship of this organization to the parent? What funding arrangements existed?

Another speaker said that the existence of a parent should not preclude another organization from seeking status. It was also stressed that the nature of an organization should be considered in more depth than the Committee had undertaken so far. Questions to be considered would include the kinds of projects an organization could undertake and the sources of funding for them.

Another speaker said that there were several other questions to be put to organizations. What could you contribute? What could be contributed if consultative status was not granted?

A number of delegations also asked for a clarification of the misadvised use of the United Nations logo by the Commission. They wanted to know whether there were any sanctions for such misuse and what happened to organizations that started using the logo before consultative status was given? It was stressed that, regardless of consultative status, the logo should not be used without United Nations approval.

Also this afternoon, consideration of an application by the International Energy Foundation, an international NGO requesting general consultative status, was also deferred pending the submission of responses by that organization to questions put to it by the Committee.

The Foundation, located in Tripoli, Libya, is a non-political, non-profit- making organization with international membership available to those interested and working in the field of energy. It disseminates information and establishes cooperation links among its members for the benefit of mankind and the environment, particularly in developing countries. It also cooperates with other relevant international bodies to foster world education and scientific research.

During a lengthy debate, a number of delegations recommended special rather than general status for the Foundation. Questions were raised regarding the organization’s finances and clarification was asked on why there were such radical shifts in funds available.

Attention was drawn to the fact that the Committee had already supported consultative status for the organization. The question to be asked was, how long was it before an organization could come before the Committee again? Reiterating that point, another speaker said a vote had been taken on the organization’s status previously and procedural issues should be considered. When an application was withdrawn, an organization could come back within one, two or three years. When rejected, there was no answer on how soon the organization could return. Another representative pointed out that the application had already been considered. Asking questions now seemed irrelevant.

The representatives of Algeria, Chile, China, Cuba, France, Germany, India, Romania, Tunisia and the United States all made interventions during the Committee’s afternoon session. Israel also made an intervention in its capacity as an observer. The representative of International Energy Foundation also responded to questions from members of the Committee.

The Acting Chairperson for the afternoon session was Ilham Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed (Sudan).

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 20 June, to continue its review of new applications for consultative status within the Council.

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