NGO COMMITTEE, CONCLUDING RESUMED 2001 SESSION, RECOMMENDS ONE ORGANIZATION FOR SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Committee on NGOs                                           NGO/460*

50^th Meeting (PM)                                            25 January 2002

NGO COMMITTEE, CONCLUDING RESUMED 2001 SESSION, RECOMMENDS ONE ORGANIZATION

FOR SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Over Two-Week Session,

Committee Recommended Total of 57 NGOs for Consultative Status

As it completed its resumed 2001 session, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) recommended the “International Federation of Training and Development Organizations, Ltd” for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council this afternoon. 

Also this afternoon, the Committee adopted its 2002 agenda, approved its draft report to the Council and a working group’s draft report on accreditation of NGO representatives.  It took note of one NGO’s quadrennial report.

Over the full two-week session, from 14 to 25 January, the Committee recommended 57 NGOs for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, decided that one applicant did not meet the criteria for such status and closed the files on one application.  It recommended seven other organizations for upward reclassification of their current status.

In regard to the two pending issues taken up this afternoon, the application of the “International Federation of Training and Development Organizations, Ltd” for special consultative status had been submitted for the first time in the 2001 session and may be found in document E/C.2/2001/R.2/Add.8.  This afternoon, the Committee took note of the quadrennial report of the “International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies” in document E/C.2/2001.CRP.6.  Note was taken after the representative of China said that explanations given by the NGO, concerning an article about Tibetan refugees in its newsletter, were satisfactory.

As the Committee moved towards closing its session, the Chief of the United Nations Secretariat’s NGO Section, Hanifa Mezoui, thanked the outgoing Chairman for the improved working methods he had presided over, which had cut down on the backlog of cases, along with the improved coordination with the Commission on Human Rights, which had clarified relevant issues.  His efforts on building consensus within the Committee were also appreciated.

With 2,100 NGOs in consultative status, approximately 14,700 NGO representatives needed to be accredited ever year.  Given that workload, she

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*     Press Release AFR/374-DEV/2366-NGO/356 of 24 January should have been numbered AFR/374-DEV/2366-NGO/456.

expressed gratitude for support from Member States for two extra posts in the NGO section, but was disappointment over the Fifth Committee’s refusal to reclassify posts upward there.  She also described the development of an informal NGO regional network, which was intended to strengthen the capacity of NGOs to participate in operational activities and policy formulation. 

The representative of Tunisia thanked the NGO Section, Ms. Mezoui in particular, for its efforts, underlining the importance of the NGO network, for which there had been a workshop in his country.  The representative of the Sudan emphasized that such networking should be a priority of the Committee, along with efforts to strengthen the NGO Section.  Concurring with those views were representatives of the Russian Federation, Senegal, Cuba, India, Algeria, Pakistan, China, United States, Germany, France, Turkey, Romania, Lebanon and Israel, speaking as an observer.

The Committee’s draft report (document E.C.2/2001/L.3) was introduced by its Rapporteur, Mihaela Blajan (Romania), who explained it would contain two draft decisions on matters calling for action by the Economic and Social Council.  

The representative of France introduced the draft report of the working group on the accreditation of representatives of NGOs.  After a procedural discussion that included the representatives of Cuba, Algeria, Sudan and India, it was approved by the Committee.

In his closing statement, Chairman Levent Bilman (Turkey) thanked Committee members and the NGO section for their work.  It considered, in total, 69 applications for consultative status and 14 reclassifications.  It had also taken note of 17 quadrennial reports and reviewed all special reports before it.  Twenty-seven NGO representatives had been accommodated.  One great achievement of the session was the adoption of a new questionnaire for status applications.

Enhancing the consultative process for NGOs was the most important work of the Committee, he said.  As it was the last time he chaired, he would make a farewell speech in the opening of the next session.  However, he said he believed that the Committee had made a positive difference during his tenure.  Challenges presented by Committee members had pushed him, he said, to build more meaningful consensus. 

Committee Background

The 19-member Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations makes recommendations on applications from NGOs for standing with the Economic and Social Council, and on requests for reclassification of that standing.  NGOs may be granted either general, special or roster consultative status, according to their work, with different privileges and obligations, according to the different categories.

General consultative status is intended for NGOs concerned with most of the activities of the Council that are broadly representative of society in different regions of the world.  Once accorded general status, NGOs can propose items for the Economic and Social Council agenda, attend and speak at its meetings and circulate statements.  Organizations concerned with only a few of the fields of the Council’s activity may be considered for special consultative status, which would allow them to attend meetings and circulate statements.  Roster status is accorded to those NGOs which can make occasional and useful contributions to

the Council or to other United Nations bodies.  Roster status NGOs can attend meetings and are available for consultation at the request of the Economic and Social Council.

Members of the Committee are:  Algeria, Bolivia, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Lebanon, Pakistan, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey and the United States.  

Levent Bilman (Turkey) is the Committee Chairman.  The Vice-Chairmen are Orlando Requeijo Gual (Cuba), Ilham Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed (Sudan), Ishtiag H. Andrabi (Pakistan) and Mihaela Blajan (Romania), who is also the Committee Rapporteur.  Otto Gustafik is the Committee Secretary.

As agreed this afternoon, the first part of the 2002 session of the Committee is scheduled for 13-31 May. 

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