NGO COMMITTEE SUSPENDS 2003 SESSION; APPROVES DRAFT RESOLUTION, TWO DRAFT DECISIONS ON RESULTS OF ‘PAPERLESS COMMITTEE’ INITIATIVE

Committee on NGOs

26^th & 27^th Meetings (AM & PM)

NGO COMMITTEE SUSPENDS 2003 SESSION; APPROVES DRAFT RESOLUTION, TWO DRAFT

DECISIONS ON RESULTS OF ‘PAPERLESS COMMITTEE’ INITIATIVE

Recommends Two Organizations for Special Consultative Status

The Committee on Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) this afternoon suspended its 2003 regular session by approving a draft resolution and two draft decisions for submission to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) on the results of its “Paperless Committee” initiative which could be a prototype for possible system-wide implementation by other paper-intensive committees.

Also in morning and afternoon meetings, the Committee recommended special consultative status with the ECOSOC for two NGOs previously deferred while another was again deferred.  It closed the file on one of two special reports and deferred consideration of the other.  Finally, it took up procedural matters.

The 19-member Committee makes recommendations on an organization’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 consultative status can attend meetings; those with special consultative status can attend meetings and circulate statements; and those with general consultative 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 activities related to ECOSOC’s work.  They may also be asked to submit special reports on matters of interest to the Committee.

By the draft resolution, the NGO Committee recommended that the “Paperless Committee” pilot project initiating an “electronic meeting system” be made a normal mode of operation for the Committee for a one-year trial period to facilitate deliberations and reduce the need for paper documentation.  This would be undertaken with a view to implementing it on a permanent basis.  Further, the Committee would request the Secretariat to provide detailed information on the resource requirements of the decision, including the possibilities for offsetting the needs against cost savings.  An oral statement from the Secretariat’s Programme Planning and Budget Division was included.  After approval of the resolution, Cuba’s representative made a statement on the budget implications.

By the first draft decision, the Committee would have ECOSOC take note of the resolution, approve the plan to implement the electronic meeting system and request the Secretary-General to ensure that adequate staff and facilities were provided.

In brief, the “Paperless Committee” initiative was launched on the session’s first day.  It is a fully electronic mode of operation in which individual laptops would eventually replace the 160 binders and 40,000 pages of documentation Committee members receive each session.  The Committee took the initiative to reduce its backlog in NGO applications, which had increased 318 per cent over four years -- an increase of 40 per cent per annum.

Implementation of the electronic meeting system would speed the processing of applications and archiving.  The electronic database would replace some 650 documents, eliminating the need to photocopy up to 80,000 pages per year.  Hewlett-Packard Corporation had provided hardware, and the Mumbai Educational Trust of India had provided technical support.  Following a short orientation meeting, nine Mumbai graduate students offered personal assistance and continual updating into a server during the entire session.  By the end of the session, all documents were accessible in the “e-format” in the six official languages. 

By a second oral draft decision, ECOSOC would approve a resumed Committee session from 15 to 19 December.  Committee Secretary Sangeeta Sharma said conference facilities and services were available for 10 meetings at an estimated cost of $316,308. 

In other work, the Committee today closed the file on France Liberté:  Fondation Danielle Mitterrand, an international NGO in special consultative status with ECOSOC.  A special report had been requested by China to clarify statements the NGO had made regarding Tibet and China’s territorial integrity.  Following a statement by an NGO member, China’s representative said the NGO had expressed a commitment to the Charter principles and hoped its actions would reflect that commitment.  France’s representative supported the view expressed by China, as did Sudan’s, while also stating a strong commitment to China’s territorial integrity.  The representatives of Pakistan, Iran, Cuba, Côte d’Ivoire and Turkey all called on NGOs to respect their obligations by the Charter and by ECOSOC resolution 1996/31 governing NGO responsibilities.

On another special report, the Committee deferred consideration of Libya’s complaint against the Simon Wiesenthal Center until the resumed session in December.  The complaint concerns distribution of a letter by the NGO urging Members States to oppose Libya’s candidacy for President of the Human Rights Commission as a member of the Africa Group.  Speaking after the decision to defer, Libya’s representative, speaking as an observer, said his country had been flexible considering the NGO’s interference in the internal affairs of a Member State.  The Committee had been inflexible about considering the matter during the current session.  

On matters related to consultative status, the Committee today recommended special status for two NGOs whose requests had been previous deferred.

Cuba dissociated itself when the Committee, by consensus, recommended special consultative status for The Heritage Foundation, a United States-based international NGO.  Following a statement by the United States, the representatives of France, Chile, Peru, Zimbabwe, and Germany made statements to concur with consensus, stating they didn’t necessarily agree with the NGO’s conservative views but ECOSOC benefited from diversity.  Cuba’s representative said he could not consider granting consultative status to the NGO without further reassurance that it could contribute to ECOSOC’s work and was not a tool for unilateral defence of a single country.  Iran’s representative clarified that his questions were withdrawn in the spirit of consensus.

Special status was also recommended for Focus on the Family, a United States-based international NGO, following expressions of views by Pakistan, Sudan, China, France, Germany and Côte d’Ivoire.

Following a request for further clarification, consideration of consultative status was deferred for Christian Conference of Asia, a China-based international NGO.

On other matters today, the Committee adopted the format and guidelines to be used for quadrennial reports by NGOs in general and special consultative status, as presented by the working group, and introduced by Turkey’s representative. 

The Committee then adopted a draft report of its work and an informal paper summarizing the statistical overview of the three-week session.  The NGO Committee Rapporteur Ishtiaq Andrabi (Pakistan) presented the paper.

Overall, during this session, the Committee recommended 43 NGOs for special consultative status and 14 for roster status.  In addition, it took note of 67 quadrennial reports.

In closing statements, Committee Chair Mihaela Blajan (Romania) described the session as a success and recalled that the United Nations NGO Informal Regional Network (IRENE) for the Eastern European region would be launched next week.  Hannifa Mezoui, Head of the NGO section within the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said more than 720 documents were being made available to the Committee in electronic format (CD-ROM) for use between now and the resumed session.

Information about organizations and issues considered today was available to Committee members in the electronic form on laptop computers and overhead projection as part of the “Paperless Committee” initiative.  It was also contained in documents E/C.2/2003/3 and E/C.2/2003/CRP.1.

Current NGO Committee members 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.

Mihaela Blajan (Romania) is the Committee Chairperson.  The Vice-Chairs are Pedro Augustin Roa (Colombia), Meshack Kitchen (Zimbabwe), Hakan Riza Tekin (Turkey) and Ishtiaq Andrabi (Pakistan), who is also Committee Rapporteur.

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