Committee on NGOs

13^th & 14^th Meetings (AM & PM)

COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS RECOMMENDS TWO INTERNATIONAL BODIES

FOR CONSULTATIVE STATUS, REVIEWS 53 QUADRENNIAL REPORTS

 

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) today decided to recommend two civil-society groups for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and to review the reports submitted by 53 entities as well as the reclassification of four others.  It also decided to review innovations in its working methods and other matters.

As it continued its 2008 regular session, the Committee recommended special consultative status for Peace Parks Foundation, a South Africa-based international organization that promotes the creation of trans-border conservation areas on the continent, and for Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, an international organization based in India, which focuses on urban poverty.

The 19-member Committee recommends general, special or roster status with the Council in accordance with such criteria as the applicant’s mandate, governance and financial regime.  Organizations enjoying general and special consultative status can attend meetings of the Council and circulate statements.  Those with general status can, in addition, speak at meetings and propose items for the Council’s agenda, while NGOs that have roster status can only attend meetings.

Seeking further clarifications of their goals, financing and activities, the Committee left pending the applications of:  Human Rights House Foundation, a Norway-based international networking organization for rights groups; European Renewable Energy Council, an international networking organization based in Belgium; Comitato Ev-K2-CNR, an Italian national organization that seeks the sustainable development of remote, high altitude areas; The Kabbalah Centre, an educational and charitable organization based in the United Kingdom; and Coordination internationale pour la decennie, an international organization based in France that aims to promote the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010) proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly.

The Committee also left pending an application submitted by Red Venezolana de Organizaciones para el Desarrollo Social (REDSOC), a Venezuelan networking organization of social development groups, after that country’s observer sought further clarification of its financing mechanisms and other issues.  Similarly, the representative of Egypt asked whether the Trance Research Foundation, an international psychology education and research organization based in the United States, used drugs in its studies.  Consideration of the Agape International Spiritual Center, an international organization promoting world harmony, was also postponed because China’s representative expressed uncertainty over its claim of non-involvement in political activities, given its affinity for the Dalai Lama.

A decision on the application of Associacao Brasileira de Gays, Lesbicas e Transgeneros, a Brazilian organization that promotes human rights and fights HIV and AIDS, was also left pending after a representative of the group appeared in person to stress, in response to numerous questions, that it did not tolerate paedophilia.  He explained that the organization had developed its anti-AIDS strategy over the past 20 years and had helped build organizations throughout all the states of Brazil through its “Somos” project, in collaboration with the national Government.  The group required all its member organizations to abide by the United Nations Charter.

Concerning other matters, the Committee decided that the International Association of Women Judges would have to apply as a new organization, even though it had merged with the International Women Judges Foundation, which had enjoyed special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council since 1999.

Recommended for reclassification from roster to special status were Yachay Wasi, a United States-based international organization involved with indigenous issues, and the Foundation for Subjective Experience and Research, an international organization based in Germany that promotes reconciliation and peace.

The Committee decided against reclassifying from special to general status the International Real Estate Federation, a global organization of real estate professionals based in France, and the Institute of International Social Development, an international organization based in India, after delegates expressed doubts as to whether their scope and scale were broad enough.

Also this afternoon, the Committee took up its review of quadrennial reports required of all organizations with special and general status.  Satisfied with the information provided, it took note of the reports submitted by:  Forum for Women and Development; International Volunteerism Organization for Women, Education and Development; Order of St. John; Prison Fellowship International; World Blind Union; Chinese Association for International Understanding; International Confederation for Family Support; Millennium Institute; National Alliance of Women’s Organizations; International Federation of Business and Professional Women; International Institute for the Rights of the Child; International Kolping Society; Rural Women Environmental Protection Association; and the Academy for Future Science.

It also took note of reports submitted by:  All-India Women’s Education Fund Association; International Social Service; International Association for Religious Freedom; United States Committee for the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM); Earthjustice; Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society; Women in Development Initiative; International Fellowship of Reconciliation; Shimin Gaikou Centre; Korea Federation for Environmental Movements; Organization for Defending Victims of Violence; People’s Decade for Human Rights Education; Union Nationale de la Femme Tunisienne; Federation for Women and Family Planning; FEM Vision; Girl Scouts of the United States of America; and the International Islamic Committee for Women and Children.

Other reports that the Committee noted were those submitted by:  Associated Country Women of the World; Bangladesh Nari Progali Sangha; Human Rights Information and Documentation Systems International; National Women’s Council of Catalonia; Arab Lawyers Union; Center for the International Earth Science Information Network; Congregation of St. Joseph; International Bureau for Children’s Rights; Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions; Human Relief Foundation; International Federation for Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida; Mandate International; New Japan’s Women’s Association; Association pour le Developpement Economique Social Environmental du Nord; Australian Council for International Development; International Multicultural and Shared Cultural Organization; New York County Lawyers’ Association; Simon Wiesenthal Center; Akina Mama wa Afrika; Asociacion Cubana de las Naciones Unidas; Human Rights Defence Centre; and the Japan Fellowship of Reconciliation.

The Committee postponed taking note of the reports submitted by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies after China’s representative pointed out that the organization seemed to have merged with another group, requiring further information and, possibly, a new application process.  Similarly, the representative of the Russian Federation sought clarifications regarding mention of the famine of the 1930s in the report of the Ukrainian World Congress.  Requesting other clarifications, the Committee also postponed consideration of the reports submitted by:  Pax Christi International; Human Rights Internet; Armenian Assembly of America; and the Centre d’Accompagnement des Autochtones Pygmees et Minoritaires Vulnerables.

With regard to working methods, Hanifa Mezoui, Chief of the Non-Governmental Section of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and her technical staff introduced new features of the civil society integrated system, a web-based extension of the “paperless committee” strategy instituted in 2003, and demonstrated that complete information on the Committee’s activities and relevant NGOs could be accessed there.  The Committee had used 162,000 sheets of paper per session prior to the introduction of electronic information distribution.  The new system saved, in addition, $1.5 million per year in manpower costs and rendered two-way communications with NGO delegates much more effective.

[Information on the system can be found online at www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/, though access to the complete “paperless committee” functions requires a password.]

Ms. Mezoui reported on the results of the Economic and Social Council’s Annual Ministerial Review, which took place last July in Geneva, and on the Council’s Innovation Fair, a forum for NGOs to share best practices and an important component of the Committee’s extensive networking activities.  She also noted increased participation in Council activities by organizations from Africa and Asia.

In response to that presentation, the representatives of China, Sudan, India and Cuba praised the team’s continuous innovations and suggested further improvements, as well as ways to increase participation by NGOs from developing countries even further.

Members of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations 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 meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, 30 January, to discuss the NGO network and continue its considerations of new applications for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record