Committee on NGOs

1^st & 2^nd Meetings (AM & PM)

COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, OPENING 2008 SESSION, WINS PRAISE

AS ‘ENTRY GATE’ FOR UNITED NATIONS-CIVIL SOCIETY PARTNERSHIP

Members Elect New Chair, 4 Vice-Chairpersons, Defers Vote on Rapporteur

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations had opened the door to new partnerships with civil society, serving as the “entry gate of our NGO partners” wishing to support United Nations action to advance the global development agenda, the Committee heard today, as it began its 2008 session by recommending consultative status with the Economic and Social Council for 26 more organizations.

Antonio Pedro Monteiro Lima ( Cape Verde), Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), said the Committee set the tone in terms of defining priorities and policy consensus aimed at specific courses of action in the development sphere, and in evolving multi-stakeholders partnerships for pursuing them.  In full recognition of the Committee’s strategic role, the Council’s efforts towards a coherent and consistent approach to the common development goals included its civil society partners, particularly, non-governmental organizations.

Since the early 1990s, he said, the Council had systematically concentrated on the most critical issues on the development agenda, adjusting its working methods to respond to the changing global economic and social environment.  The new mechanisms that had emerged from the reformed ECOSOC had strengthened the capacity to bring together the United Nations system and representatives of civil society and the private sector in addressing economic and social issues in an integrated way.  That was especially evident in the conduct of the Council’s high-level segment.

Serving as temporary Committee Chairman, Bilal Hayee ( Pakistan) acknowledged the outgoing Chairs of the 2006 and 2007 sessions, Beatriz Londono and Pedro Roa Arboleda of Colombia, noting that, in 2007, the Committee had recommended 333 non-governmental organizations for consultative status in the general and special categories.  Those organizations had been largely from underrepresented regions, developing countries, and countries with economies in transition.  The Committee had also recommended the reclassification of 9 out of 12 organizations seeking to upgrade their current status.

Paying due regard to the Section’s outreach programme, a growing, diverse NGO presence in the Council would become increasingly important in the coming years, he said.  The evolving relationship between non-governmental organizations and the United Nations was entering a new phase and had reached a crucial point in contributing to the global development agenda.  Despite its heavy workload, the Committee had continued, in 2006 and 2007, to provide the support that enabled NGO representatives to respond directly to questions posed by Committee members.

As the gavel passed to the new Chair for the 2008 session, the Committee elected the following by acclamation this morning:  Hassan Hamid Hassan ( Sudan), Chairperson; Serhat Aksen ( Turkey), Alexandru Ciorobea ( Romania), Luis Amoros ( Cuba) and Mr. Bilal ( Pakistan), Vice-Chairpersons.  Consultations on the election of the Rapporteur were continuing.

Mr. Hassan ( Sudan), the new Chairperson, said the Committee faced a heavy workload, as always, and a large number of submissions.  It would also review its working methods and the long-standing issue of the growing number of non-governmental organizations that had failed to submit their quadrennial reports.  On that topic, it was understood that two draft decisions would be presented.

He congratulated the Committee for granting consultative status to an increasingly diverse corps of organizations, which played a substantial role in advancing international development aims.

Hanifa Mezoui, Chief of the NGO Section, said that, as always, the Committee faced a very heavy workload as it prepared to examine the requests of 103 organizations seeking status with the Council for the first time.  It would also be reviewing four requests for reclassification, and 135 new quadrennial reports submitted by organizations in the general and special categories of consultative status.  The Committee would also resume its consideration of 42 applications deferred from past sessions, seven deferred quadrennial reports and one deferred reclassification request.

Reporting positive feedback from the informal sessions, she said they had served as great examples of partnerships with the NGO Sections of the Departments of Public Information, Economic and Social Affairs and other parts of the United Nations system.  Also notable had been the four regional round-table meetings held in Paris, Algiers, Brasilia and Beijing on realizing the Millennium Development Goals through education and training that was better adapted to civil society actors, particularly in countries that the Millennium Declaration considered to be of priority importance.  The NGO outreach programme also had much to offer, including the possibilities of providing national and regional organizations with the practical tools to make a tangible contribution to the work of the Economic and Social Council.

Noting that the United Nations was seeking partners to share in the creation of a truly global community, she said that, together with the NGO Committee, the Organization had been making efforts for 10 years to find such high-quality partners.  The NGO Section stood ready to continue to lend its support to that endeavour.

In other business today, the Committee adopted its agenda for the 2008 session (document E/C.2/ 2008/1) and approved its programme of work, as contained in working paper 1, as well as its provisional schedule of work, as contained in a chart circulated among delegations. 

The 19-member Committee uses various criteria to recommend general, special or roster consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, including the applicant’s mandate, governance and financial regime.  Organizations with general and special status can attend meetings of the Council and circulate statements of a certain length.  Those enjoying general status can, in addition, speak at meetings and propose items for the Council’s agenda.  NGOs with roster status can only attend meetings.

In two meetings today, the Committee approved the applications of 21 non-governmental organizations for special consultative status and five for roster status, postponing consideration of seven others.

The Committee recommended that ECOSOC grant special consultative status to:

-- International Paralympic Committee (document E/C.2/2008/R.2), established in May 1998, with headquarters in Bonn, Germany.  It seeks to enable paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence;

-- Women’s Association for a Better Aging Society (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.1), a national organization based in Tokyo, Japan, which aims to promote the welfare and social education of the aging, and to create a better aging society for everyone from the viewpoint of gender equality;

-- God’s Harvest Foundation (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.2), a national organization headquartered in Accra, Ghana, which works to alleviate setbacks among underprivileged sections of society, prepare them to take their place in life, and more generally, to assist in the fight against poverty in Africa;

-- SustainUS (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.3), a New York-based national organization established in August 2004, self-described as a non-profit, non-partisan organization of young people seeking to advance sustainable development and youth empowerment in the United States;

-- The Black Sea Civil Society Solidarity Association (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.4), a national organization founded in October 2003, which aims to protect and enhance the natural beauties of the Black Sea region;

-- Nigeria-Togo Association (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.5), headquartered in Lagos and established in October 1995 as an international organization to combat poverty in West and Central Africa, as well as the rest of the continent;

-- Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.6), a United States-based international network of women and men professionals dedicated to increasing rural women’s access to and control of resources to manage agricultural and natural resources, in order to enhance livelihoods and alleviate poverty;

-- Women’s General Association of Macau (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.6), established in May 1950 as a national organization seeking to enhance the patriotism and unity of the women of China’s Macau Special Administrative Region, strengthen the links connecting women in different strata, promote community caring, serve the society, manage welfare projects, and uphold women’s legal rights;

-- Carter Center (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.7), a United States-based international organization established in October 1981 in partnership with Emory University, which is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering;

-- Environic Foundation International (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.9), a United States-based international organization established in September 1970 with the aim of achieving sustainable societies for all;

-- New Future Foundation (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.9), a United States-based international organization established in 1968 with the aim of mobilizing and empowering youth and women, with a view to facilitating sustainable living and development using information, education and cultural exchange;

-- Physicians for Peace (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.9), an international organization headquartered in the United States and established in March 1989, it trains health professionals to work in multiple disciplines in developing countries;

-- Rural Africa Water Development Project (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.9), a Nigeria-based international organization whose objective is to reduce poverty and improve living conditions and the quality of life in poor, remote rural communities where water is often difficult to obtain and of poor quality;

-- Agence de developpement economique et culturel nord-sud (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.10), an international organization established in June 2004 and based in Toulouse, France, participating in economic and cultural exchanges, with a view to strengthening dialogue and international relations among local authorities, public and private training institutions, companies in France and elsewhere in Europe, as well as countries in the Mediterranean region and the Arab world;

-- Association coeur africain (document A/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.11), based in Congo and established in February 2005 as a national organization aiming to promote literacy and vocational training for children living in rural areas and persons living in prisons;

-- Bharat Sevashram Sangha (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.11), headquartered in India and established in June 1927 as an international organization working in the areas of relief and welfare, health care, tribal welfare, education, spiritual harmony and outreach, education and birth control;

-- Fundacion Guayasamin (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.3), an organization headquartered in Ecuador and founded in July 1976, seeking to implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights, the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small (a decision on this NGO was deferred this morning following a request by the Russian Federation for more time to study its written replies to the Committee’s questions);

-- Fundacao de Assistencia Medica Internacional (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.11), based in Portugal and established in December 1984 as an international organization supported by an efficient structure, with the purpose of taking action in emergency humanitarian situations against underdevelopment, famine, and providing assistance to victims of war or natural disasters worldwide;

-- Advisory Network for African Information Society (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.12), headquartered in Cameroon and established in May 2001 as a national organization promoting the development of social uses of new information and communications technology in the Central African subregion in general and Cameroon in particular; and

-- Centre for European Constitutional Law (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.12), a national organization based in Athens and founded in July 1995 that aspires to contribute to the promotion of democratic institutions and the welfare State under the rule of law, the deepening of European integration and the strengthening of international cooperation with respect for the cultural identity of each State;

The Committee recommended roster status:

-- Fundacio Futbol Club Barcelona (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.3), an international organization established in October 1994 to promote and disseminate the social dimension of the club, in support of football, a global phenomenon, by developing social, cultural and educational activities;

-- Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.4), a Washington, D.C.-based international organization established in February 2005 to promote efficiency standards and labels in developing countries and those with economies in transition;

-- International Osteoporosis Foundation (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.6), an organization based in Nyon, Switzerland, founded in July 1987 to increase awareness and understanding of osteoporosis;

-- Beckley Foundation (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.10), headquartered in Oxford and established as a national organization in June 2003 to promote investigation of consciousness and its modulation from a multidisciplinary perspective, supporting world-class research into the science, health, politics and history of practices used to alter consciousness, ranging from meditation to the use of psychoactive substances; and

-- Association pour le developpement du Dja (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.12), based in Cameroon and established in August 1985 as a national organization working towards poverty reduction, environmental conservation, protection of minority rights, as well as economic, social and cultural development.

The Committee postponed decisions on the following applications owing to additional questions posed by delegations or requests for clarification:

School of Human Genetics and Population Health (document E/C.2/2008/R.2); European Renewable Energy Council (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.4); Peace Parks Foundation (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.7); General Research Institute on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.8); Grupo Ecologico Sierra Gorda (E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.8); and Association malienne d’initiatives et d’actions pour le developpement (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.11).

In accordance with established practice, the Committee allocated the final hour of the afternoon meeting to hearing replies from representatives of non-governmental organizations whose applications were under consideration during the current session.

Following responses from a representative of Global Hand (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.3), an international organization headquartered in China and founded in December 2001 to facilitate public-private partnerships in response to disasters and development scenarios, the Committee decided to revisit the application later in the session.

The Committee then heard responses from a representative of the Society for the Protection and Assistance of Socially Disadvantaged Individuals (document E/C.2/2008/R.2/Add.8), a national organization based in Iran with a mandate to conduct research, studies and statistical projects, in order to identify social distress and establish a national databank.  Following that exchange, the Committee recommended special consultative status for the non-governmental organization.

Members of the Committee are Angola, Burundi, China, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Guinea, India, Israel, Pakistan, Peru, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Sudan, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

The Committee will continue its work at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, 22 January.

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For information media • not an official record