Committee on NGOs

771^st Meeting (PM)

CANADIAN NGO RECOMMENDED FOR ECOSOC CONSULTATIVE STATUS

BY COMMITTEE ON NGOS

The 2000 resumed session of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) this afternoon recommended granting roster status to YWCA of/du Canada and deferred action on requests for reclassification of status of two NGOs.

The 19-member Committee makes recommendations on applications to the Economic and Social Council for consultative status from NGOs, using a variety of criteria including the applicants’ mandates, governance and financial regimes.  NGOs with consultative status have general, special or roster status with different privileges and obligations accorded to each.

Regarding the request from International P.E.N. for reclassification from roster status to special consultative status, the representative of Cuba said she had serious doubts about the performance of the NGO, particularly with respect to a visit it made to Cuba in 1996.  Responses to previous questions were not satisfactory.  The organization had been carrying out interventionist work in her country’s internal affairs.  She asked for broader detail on the organization’s trip to Cuba, particularly regarding its activities during the week the representatives had entered her country on tourist visas.  What organizations did they contact during their stay in 1996, and what did they mean by a “fact-finding mission”, as the organization had no mandate carrying out those activities in Cuba using tourist visas?  She asked what information it had used and whether it had established contact with relevant Cuban authorities, and, if so, which authorities?

During a lengthy debate, the representative of Chile recalled that the organization already had consultative status with ECOSOC and therefore did not need the scrutiny of a new application for consultative status.  The organization had made it clear that they were apologizing for entering Cuba on a tourist visa and that the resulting report was an internal one.  The organization had also made it clear that the situation would not happen again.  She felt that the explanation was sufficient.  The representative of Germany, supporting Chile’s opinion, said many respected intellectuals of the developing world were on the organization’s board, Nadine Gordimer among them.  He felt ashamed to revisit the matter year after year.

Other delegates felt that any Committee member had the right to ask questions, but that the organization already had roster status and would continue to have that status.  The representative of Pakistan said the organization had come to its status through the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and had been working in the field of freedom of expression.  Reclassification was not a matter of “upgrading”.  The Chairman, Levent Bilman (Turkey), said one should look at the range of activities of any NGO when deciding on status.  Representatives of China and Sudan also participated in the debate.  The Committee decided to defer decision on the request for reclassification pending the organization’s response.

The representative of the Russian Federation had questions regarding the request from International Peace Bureau for reclassification from roster status to special consultative status.  He said he was confused by the structure of the organization.  In the June session, the Committee had looked at the Hague Appeal for Peace.  A number of delegations had raised questions about the umbrella nature of that organization and its relation to the International Peace Bureau.  At the June session, it was recommended that the Hague Appeal for Peace present its application in 2000.  Without clarification of that matter, it would be difficult to take a decision on the International Peace Bureau.

After a procedural debate on whether to hear the representative of the NGO, in which the representatives of the United States, India, Sudan, Chile, RussianFederation and Pakistan participated, the representative of International Peace Bureau said her organization was over 120 years old and had won the Nobel Peace Price in 1910.  It was an international network of peace and disarmament organizations and had played an active role in promoting the United Nations both in New York and Geneva.  It was one of the founding members of the Hague Appeal for Peace.  The representative had been elected to be president of both organizations.

To questions asked by representatives of the Russian Federation, Sudan, Pakistan, India, China and Algeria, she answered that the Hague Appeal for Peace had asked for postponement of consideration of its application.  She said that changing International Peace Bureau’s status would enhance the organization’s opportunities to speak.  It was also a status befitting a Nobel Prize winning organization that had devoted so much time to the work of the United Nations.  The Bureau was engaged in peace education, which also encompassed education on human rights, gender and other issues, and the organization worked closely with UNESCO.  Education was part of ECOSOC’s area of interest. 

Regarding a question about the discrepancy between the original application, stating that the organization had political organizations as members, and her statement that she was not aware that political organizations were members of her organization, she answered that she would have to ask the person who had drafted the original application for roster status in 1977.  She also said that her organization had attended the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) conference in 1990, the Vienna Conference on Human Rights in 1993, the Beijing Conference in 1995 on Women and the meeting of the Preparatory Committee on the creation of the International Criminal Court, answering another question.  As to a question about the organization’s archives, she said those archives contained very valuable documents and were available to scholars for study.

As the organization's representative could not answer all questions, the Committee decided to defer action on the request for reclassification pending the organization’s answers.

The Committee then turned its attention to applications received from NGOs for consultative status with the ECOSOC deferred from the Committee’s session held in June 2000.

On the request of representatives of India, Chile and Colombia, the Committee recommended, by consensus, granting roster status for YWCA of/du Canada.

The Committee will meet again tomorrow, 17 January, at 10 a.m.

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