SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL RECOMMENDED FOR TWO GROUPS; TWO OTHER APPLICATIONS DEFERRED
| Press Release NGO/471 |
Committee on NGOs
19th & 20th Meetings (AM & PM)
SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
RECOMMENDED FOR TWO GROUPS; TWO OTHER APPLICATIONS DEFERRED
Committee Also Recommends Reclassification for 2 Groups
The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) today gave two recommendations for special consultative status and deferred two others as it met to consider requests for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and applications for reclassification.
It also recommended reclassification from special to general status for two organization.
Prior to recommending special consultative status for the Geneva-based international organization United Nations Watch, the Committee rejected a proposal by the delegation of Lebanon to deny a recommendation. It took that action by a roll-call vote of 8 in favour (Algeria, China, Cuba, Lebanon, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia) to 9 against (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Romania, Turkey, United States), with 2 abstentions (India, Russian Federation).
Following that action, the representative of Lebanon proposed a no-action motion, which the Committee rejected by a roll-call vote of 7 in favour (Algeria, China, Cuba, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sudan, Tunisia) to 9 against (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Romania, Turkey, United States), with 3 abstentions (India, Russian Federation, Senegal).
In a further action, the Committee adopted a decision to recommend special consultative status for United Nations Watch by a roll-call vote of 9 in favour (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Romania, Turkey, United States) to 8 against (Algeria, China, Cuba, Lebanon, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia), with 2 abstentions (India, Russian Federation).
Information on United Nations Watch can be found in document E/C.2/2000/R.2/Add.12.
The 19-member Committee uses various criteria to recommend general, special and roster status. Organizations that have general and special consultative status can attend meetings of the Council and circulate statements of a certain length; those with general status can, in addition, speak at meetings and propose items for the Council's agenda. Organizations with roster status can only attend meetings.
Earlier, the Committee recommended special consultative status for the Comité International pour le Respect et l’Application de la Charte Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples. The application of the Geneva-based international NGO had previously been deferred.
The Committee once again deferred a request for general status submitted by Nonviolence International, an NGO based in Washington, D.C. It then deferred an application for special status by the Tokyo-based national NGO Japan Civil Liberties Union.
Information on those three organizations can be found in documents E/C.2/2000/R.2/Add.8, E/C.2/2001/R.2/Add.1 and E/C.2/2001/R.2/Add.2 respectively.
Later, the Committee recommended reclassification from special to general status for the Rome-based February ’74 Centre for Research and Documentation. It also recommended reclassification from roster status with the specialized institutions to roster status with the Economic and Social Council for the International Confederation of Midwives, based in the Netherlands.
Information on those international NGOs can be found in document E/C.2/2002/R.3.
The Committee on NGOs will meet again at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 29 May.
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