NGO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS EIGHT ORGANIZATIONS FOR SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Committee on NGOS

45^th & 46^th Meetings (AM & PM)

NGO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS EIGHT ORGANIZATIONS FOR SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS

WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) recommended eight organizations for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council today as it considered replies to the Committee’s questions about new and previously deferred applications for such status, as part of its 2002 resumed session.

Organizations that have special consultative status with the Council can attend its meetings and circulate statements of a certain length.  They are required to submit reports on their activities in support of the United Nations every four years.

The Committee left pending the applications of eight other organizations, awaiting further clarification or consideration.  It deferred a decision on three applications until the Committee’s 2003 session, to begin in May.

Recommended for special consultative status today were:  the International Commission on Distance Education, an international organization based in Zurich; the International Religious Liberty Association, based in the United States; the Non-Aligned Students and Youth Association, a national organizationfrom Iraq; RICS Foundation, an international sustainable-development organization based in London; the International Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, based in Washington D.C.; the World Council for Psychotherapy, based in Vienna, the New Japan Women’s Association; and the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens.

Left pending were:  Le Foyer Musulman, Association Internationale pour les droits de l’Homme, the Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems International, the Millennium Institute, the Asian-Eurasian Human Rights Forum, the World Council of Muslim Communities, the World Assembly of Muslim Youth and ProChoix.

Consideration of the International Society for Human Rights, the Russian Public Movement “For Civil Rights” and the International Crisis Group was deferred until the Committee’s next session.

During today’s proceedings, Germany’s representative agreed to recommending the Non-Aligned Students and Youth Association for special status despite his confusion over their connection to neo-liberalism and slavery and his objection to their use of the term “Zionist oppression”.  He said he would request that such terminology be avoided in the future.

The application of the International Society for Human Rights was deferred after the representatives of Cuba, Iran, China, Sudan, Pakistan and the Russian Federation asked for more clarification of such matters as the organization’s criteria for selecting sources of information and its method of selecting countries of focus.  The representatives of Iran and Pakistan also pointed to the organization’s ranking of persecutors of Christians as problematic. 

Strongly supporting the application, Germany’s representative asked if the process of questioning would go on ad infinitum, as the process was now in its fourth year.  In deference to new members of the Committee, he agreed to defer a decision one more time.  The United States, Chile, Colombia, Romania and Peru echoed Germany’s view.

Also speaking today were the representatives of India, Zimbabwe, France and Turkey, and the observer delegate of Nigeria.

A representative of the International Association of Homes and Services for the Aging made a brief clarification.

Applications considered today are contained in documents E/C.2/2002/CRP.5, and E/C.2/2002/R.2, Adds.7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13.

The NGO Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. Thursday, 23 January, to take up a variety of issues pending on its agenda.

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