NGO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THREE ORGANIZATIONS FOR CONSULTATIVE STATUS, DEFERS DECISION ON TWO OTHERS

Committee on NGOs

18^th & 19^th Meetings (AM & PM)

NGO COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS THREE ORGANIZATIONS FOR CONSULTATIVE STATUS,

DEFERS DECISION ON TWO OTHERS

Also Discusses UN-NGO-Informal Regional Network (IRENE)

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations recommended consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and deferred decision on two others. 

The Committee also recommended reclassification of status for two organizations and deferred decision on another.  The 19-member Committee makes recommendations on an NGO’s standing or reclassification with ECOSOC using a variety of criteria, including applicant mandate, governance and financial regime. 

Currently, 2,234 NGOs have such status.  Those with roster status can attend meetings; those with special status can attend meetings and circulate statements; and those with general status can attend meetings, circulate statements and propose items for the Council’s agenda.  The NGOs with special and general status are required to submit quadrennial reports on the relevance of their work to that of the United Nations.

The Committee recommended special consultative status to the Tokyo-based Japan Civil Liberties Union and the International Planned Parenthood Federation -- Europe Region, based in Brussels.  The requests of both those international organizations had been previously deferred.  The European Industrial Gases Association was recommended for roster status.  A decision on the request of OneWorld International for special consultative status was deferred.

Two NGOs recommended for reclassification from roster to special consultative status were the International Association of Charities, another Belgium-based international organization, and the Italy-based international organization, Movement for a better world.

Also deferred was the request for reclassification from special to general status for World Vision International.  The representatives of Germany, Chile, Cuba, Colombia, Sudan, Russian Federation, China and United States made statements of support based on the broad range of that NGO’s activities.  Some, however, also wanted more information about the organization’s work, financing and relationship to World Vision Canada.

Information about the organizations considered today can be found in documents E/C.2/2003/CRP.1, 3 and 7.  It is also available to the Committee in electronic form on laptop computers, as part of the “Paperless Committee” being launched during this session of the Committee.  (See Press Release NGO/497 of 5 May.)

Also today, the Committee discussed the voluntary trust fund for the United Nations-Non-Governmental Organization-Informal Regional Network (UN-NGO-IRENE), during which the representative of the United States said that the Committee could help bridge the wide gap in the ratio of developed to developing-world NGOs by acting as a clearing-house to transfer computers from NGOs in the developed world to those in the developing.

The UN-NGO-IRENE initiative promotes NGO participation in development activities of the United Nations system by providing access to information and to the benefits of Information and Communications Technologies.  Spearheaded by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the technology-based system promotes exchange among NGOs, as well as between NGOs and the United Nations.  The Network, launched in April 2001 in Aracaju, Brazil, has a training component that contains a capacity-building portion for strengthening national and regional organizations.  The General Voluntary Trust Fund in Support of the Network was established in July 2002. 

Speaking about the Network, Hanifa Mezoui, Chief of DESA’s NGO Section, outlined the progress made in the UN-NGO-IRENE initiative since the last report in January.  Regional workshops had been held and partnerships formed.  Also, activities had been undertaken in capacity building, training and coordination.  In Africa, for example, two projects for capacity building were initiated.  One was for meeting the Millennium Development Goals and the other was for actions in the areas of human security and local sustainable development.  The network would be launched in Eastern Europe by the end of May this year and in Asia by 2004.

As for the Fund, Ms. Mezoui said, “we have only virtual funding so far”.  Fundraising activities included requests for support, partnerships with multi-stakeholder donors including foundations, and design of technical cooperation projects to build capacity in the areas of human security and development.  That had been done with UN-NGO-IRENE-Africa.

The representatives of Sudan, China, France and Iran took part in the exchange on the Fund’s activities and how it could help bridge the gap in the number of NGOs from the developed and developing world.  What were the criteria used in deciding which projects to develop?  Would the Committee eventually consider potential project recipients?  It was suggested that the outcome of regional workshops should be made available to the Committee.

Ms. Mezoui added that bridging the gap between NGOs in the north and south was a priority.  Teaching and capacity-building workshops were an important tool.  Application forms were brought and NGOs were taught how to fill them out.  The Department could also waive certain requirements to make it easier for NGOs to meet the criteria for consultative status.  Partnerships helped achieve the aims of development goals, such as fighting poverty and directing development from “those who have to those who need”.  Political support was important for implementing the Network.

Current members of the NGO Committee are Cameroon, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, China, Pakistan, India, Iran, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Cuba, Russian Federation, Romania, Germany, France, United States and Turkey.  The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 20 May to continue its consideration of applications for consultative status and for reclassification of status.

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