Committee on NGOs

5^th & 6^th Meetings (AM & PM)

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVES TWO CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS

FOR SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

Defers 11 More Applications

As the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations concluded day three of its session, it approved two Latin American organizations for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and deferred or left pending 11 more, as debate persisted over whether or not to await word from the Member State concerned when considering an application from a national organization.

Triggering that discussion today was a letter sent by the Committee Secretariat yesterday to the Permanent Missions in New York, following up a letter sent to them on 29 December 2008.  Both communications were a reminder to the Missions to avail themselves of the opportunity, if they so wished, to offer comments about national non-governmental organizations (NGO) based in their countries, slated to be considered by the Committee during its 2009 session.  This was in accordance with ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, which guides the Committee’s work. 

As in the past two days, debate on that question centred on interpretation of paragraph 8 of the resolution, concerning consultation with the Member State concerned when considering an application from a national NGO.  Additional questions arose about the letter sent yesterday by the Secretariat.  The Secretariat was pressed to address those in the formal meeting this morning, including by some of the observers. 

The observer for Italy said it seemed clear that the Committee would examine national NGO applications only upon receipt of comments from the Member States concerned, however, he did not have instructions on all applications.  He wanted to know whether the Committee was establishing a new practice.  Similarly, Chile’s observer wished to be informed about any change in practice, and added that her reading of the resolution was that it was inclusive and aimed at increasing, and not reducing, the participation of civil society in the work of the United Nations.  The Moroccan observer felt the matter at hand should be discussed in the formal, and not informal, meeting, so as not to exclude observer States.  The letter had been addressed to all Missions, he noted.

Explaining the motivation behind the Secretariat’s letter of yesterday, Hanifa Mezoui, Chief of the Non-Governmental Organizations Section, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, noted that a review of applications had been conducted for the past 10 years without any such questions from any Member State.  However, when this session began, one Member State had expressed concern about the lack of replies to applications from national NGOs.  She pointed out that, in the past, when a reply had been received from a Member State, it was either a letter praising the NGO “to the sky”, or saying that it did not recommend the NGO. 

Now, however, the Committee was facing a situation where national NGOs comprised more than half its work for the session, and –- either national or international –- it was seeking to help them gain status.  However, that process had been slowed tremendously because of this issue.  It had been suggested to her by a Bureau member that she might want to send a reminder to the Missions to speed up the process, and she had done so. 

During her 10 years in the Section, more than 2,000 NGOs had gained status, so she must have done something right.  The current session would be her last and, if she was doing something wrong, she asked the Committee to be flexible; she was only trying, in the interest of the Committee and the NGOs being considered, to advance the Committee’s work.  The Committee had also expressed an interest, as a body with extraordinary influence in the work of the United Nations, for NGOs to be regarded as partners and contributors to ECOSOC. 

Informal discussions on the question were held during the lunch break, as agreed yesterday.  Those resumed immediately following the close of this afternoon’s meeting.  Still, applications from national civil-society groups were deferred or left pending throughout the day, owing to a lack of response from the concerned Member States, an insufficient response from the organization to questions posed by the Committee, or additional requests for clarification.

The Committee decided to return later in the session to the new application from the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.14).  This national organization in Addis Ababa states that it has three fundamental objectives, namely, striving for the establishment of a democratic system in Ethiopia, promoting the rule of law and due process and encouraging and monitoring respect and protection of human rights in the country.  The observer for Ethiopia, however, informed the Committee that the NGO has “no legal existence” in the country owing to a new proclamation recently adopted by Parliament, which states that NGOs registered under the old law must re-register.  Divergent views were expressed by Committee members about how to handle the application, ranging from closing it without prejudice to asking the civil-society group about its intentions, in light of the new law. 

The candidature of the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.6), an international organization based in Washington, D.C., which advocates on behalf of victims of armed conflict, was deferred as Egypt’s representative sought more information on its programmes in Afghanistan and Iraq.  He also asked whether the group’s focus on helping civilians was physical, or also psychological assistance.  And he sought more details on its activities in the Middle East, as well as how it worked “to change the outcome of war on the ground when civilians are harmed”, and whether it dealt with the causes of conflict.  He also wanted a breakdown of the group’s private-sector resources, which amounted to two thirds of its available resources, as well as a list of its projects and how much it spent on each.

Also deferred was the application of a national organization based in Mexico, Catolicas Por El Derecho A Decidir –- Latin America (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.5), which shapes and advances reproductive and sexual ethics that are based on social justice, reflect a commitment to women’s well-being, and affirm the moral capacity of women and men to make responsible decisions about their lives.  The observer for Mexico said his understanding of paragraph 8 of resolution 1996/31 was that, if a Member State did not comment on the NGO under review, that silence was indicative of a lack of objection to the organization.

Nevertheless, owing to questions posed by Egypt’s representative, mainly concerning a request to the organization to disclose the sources of two unnamed private donors, the application was deferred.  However, that decision was revisited at the request of the representatives of Romania and Israel, who said that question had already been put to the NGO.  They disputed the view held by Egypt that, under resolution 1996/31, the organization was obliged to reveal the donors by name.  A debate ensued, including on whether there had been a precedent for such a case and whether rephrasing the question to the NGO would or would not be redundant.  In the end, the application was left pending.

India’s representative had several questions for Dalit Freedom Network, (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.1) a United States-based international organization that partners with the Dalits (the “Untouchables”) in their quest for religious freedom, social justice, and human dignity by mobilizing human, informational and financial resources.  She sought more details about its stated plans to introduce formal legislation.  She also asked whether the group had made any statements at the Durban Conference and, if so, whether she could obtain copies of them, and of any pamphlets it might have issued there.  Among other things, she asked for copies of the reports it had submitted to United Nations delegates about Dalit rights and persecution in India.  She wanted to know if the group had offices in India or Europe and, if so, where.

Consideration of the application of the Paris-based Centre National d’Information sur les Droits des Femmes et des Familles (CNIDFF) (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.14) touched off a debate on language.  Pakistan’s representative requested that the three-page reply from the NGO to the Committee’s questions be translated in writing before evaluating the candidate.  France’s observer reminded members that French was a working language of the United Nations and that action on this application should not be delayed because of a request for translation. 

This prompted intensive discussion, in which members pointed out that a representative of the NGO had been invited to the podium yesterday, yet no one had asked her any questions.  She could have supplied the necessary information then, some members asserted, adding that it was difficult enough for an NGO member to travel from France to the United States only to be turned away by the Committee, which then found it could not take a decision after all.  Israel’s representative said the Committee, having only recommended 21 organizations since the start of the session, was moving very slowly.  The situation was very worrying because the Committee was “missing” the responsibility given to it by ECOSOC, he said.

However, given the request for the NGO’s lengthy response in French to be supplied to members in English to enable careful study of the application, the Chair said the Committee would return to the application later.

The two civil-society organizations granted special consultative status were:  Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos y Justicia de Genero (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.2), a national organization based in Santiago, Chile, which has as its main objective to promote and protect women’s human rights and gender justice in Latin America; and Colombia Unida por el Respeto al Adulto Mayor (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/ Add.4), a national organization based in Bogata whose purpose is to stimulate and promote respect for the elderly in Colombia; to encourage the inter-institution and inter-general solidarity facilitating the communication and the active participation of the elderly in the society. 

Also deferred or left pending were:

-- Centre des Droits des Gens-Maroc (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.5), based in Fez, Morocco, a national organization seeking to promote human rights education by focusing on human rights and gender awareness and on legal literacy training for women and training for law-enforcement personnel;  

-- Centre d’Accueil de l’Espoir (CAES) (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.11), based in Yaounde, Cameroon, this national organization, among other things, provides AIDS orphans and vulnerable children with a mentoring structure and support for their social reintegration and socio-occupational integration;

On behalf of the African Group, the Egyptian representative asked the Committee to consider that application later, in light of the need to continue the discussion about the host countries in the informal setting.

-- Confederation of Organisations in Road Transport Enforcement (CORTE) (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.7) an international organization permanently headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, which seeks to bring together national bodies from various European Union member States in the field of road transport, by gathering and coordinating expertise on issues connected to road transport improvement at the European and international level;

-- Erevna International Peace Center (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.13) an international organization based in Limassol, Cyprus, whose aims and purposes include conflict resolution, the training of mediators, and research in conflict resolution methodology;

-- Centre Internacional Escarre per a les Minories Etniques I les Nacions (CIEMEN) (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.3) a national organization based in Barcelona, Spain, which has as its first objective to enhance and disseminate knowledge and information on the situation of oppressed peoples;

-- Congregation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (document E/C.2/2009/R.2/Add.3) a United States-based international organization with the aim of participating in creating a more peaceful, just and loving world as it ministered to the needs of God’s people.  Its purpose is to care for the spiritual and human needs of the human family and the environment.

In the period set aside for direct interaction with NGOs, the Committee heard first from a representative of Erevna International Peace Center, who replied to several requests for clarification about the application from Turkey’s representative.  She explained that there were four separate organizations, all of which served the Erevna International Peace Center.  They were listed separately and were separate legal entities because of the roughly 1,000 tax supporters around the world.  However, everything outside the Cyprus-incorporated organization existed solely for the basis of that group.  As for her group, yes, the fund was registered in the United States, but it was not applying.  EIPC was applying. 

Turkey’s representative said there were two different legal entities before the Committee, and he asked the speaker to respond in writing so the Committee could consider the issue further.  The application was then deferred. 

The same representative had several questions for the speaker from the Centre Internacional Escarre per a les Minories Etniques I les Nacions (CIEMEN), including what the group meant by oppressed peoples, non-recognized peoples’ nations, and collective rights of people’s exhibition space.  He also asked what the NGO considered to be Stateless peoples and Stateless nations and if it could provide a list of participants and nationalities for the European Stateless Nations Conference, held since 2001, and copies of its journal, Europe of the Nations, published since 2005. 

The NGO representative explained that, by oppressed peoples, the NGO meant peoples not yet recognized as such in international law, suffering persecutions in the practice of their languages and cultures.  It was about a process of recognition for those peoples, the best example of which was the process of the indigenous peoples, which, through inputs in the United Nations system over 20 years of deliberations, had resulted in adoption of their Declaration.  CIEMEN collaborated only with and within civil society and had no links or cooperation with political parties, movements or entities, she stressed. 

She also addressed her replies to questions about the group’s Linguistic Rights Declaration, explaining that she understood it could never be accepted by States.  However, the NGO hoped that, one day, ECOSOC would give a mandate to take up the drafting of such a declaration.  She pointed out that CIEMEN’s motto was “enhancing rights to promote peace”. 

Israel’s representative also had questions about who were the NGO’s relevant partners in the Palestinian Authority, to which the speaker offered an explanation about a programme in Palestine involving school training in refugee camps.  The main partner for that project was BADIL ( Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights), which already held consultative status with ECOSOC.  The project was financed by the government of Catalonia. 

Replying to questions about links on CIEMEN’s website, the NGO representative said the website to which the Israeli speaker referred was a blog and CIEMEN could not be responsible for those images. 

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 22 January, to continue its work.

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For information media • not an official record