Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations Wraps Up Session’s Substantive Work, Having Recommended 265 Entities for Status with Economic and Social Council

Resumed 2014 Session Set for 19 May to 6 June

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 16 organizations for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and deferred action on the status of 10 others.

The Committee also postponed action on one organization requesting a name change and recommended withdrawing from consideration 23 organizations.

The 19-member Committee vets applications submitted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), recommending general, special or roster status on the basis of such criteria as the applicant’s mandate, governance and financial regime.  Organizations enjoying general and special status can attend meetings of the Council and issue statements, while those with general status can also speak during meetings and propose agenda items.  Organizations with roster status can only attend meetings.

Committee Rapporteur Ana Pena (Peru) introduced the Committee’s draft report of the current session. 

Recapping the Committee’s work during the session, Committee Chair Gizem Sucuoğlu (Turkey) said it had recommended a total of 265 non-governmental organizations for status and deferred 174.  Among the new applications for status, 145 were recommended, and action on 75 was deferred.  Among deferred applications, 120 were recommended for status, while action on 99 was deferred.  

Further, she reported, the Committee took note of 279 quadrennial reports and deferred 11.  All of the 23 deferred from previous sessions were deferred again.  The Committee’s provisional agenda and documentation for the 2015 session would be presented during its resumed 2014 session, scheduled for 19 May to 6 June.

The representatives of Sudan, China, Morocco and Cuba made closing remarks.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations will meet again at 10 a.m., on Friday, 7 February to conclude its regular session.

Special Consultative Status

The Committee recommended that the Economic and Social Council grant special consultative status to the following 16 organizations:

African Development Solutions (ADESO) (Kenya);

All-Ukrainian Union of Non-Government Organizations "Confederation of Non-Government Organizations of People with Disabilities of Ukraine" (Ukraine);

Association Nationale pour L'évaluation Environnmentale (Democratic Republic of the Congo);

Environment-People-Law (Ukraine);

Fundación Centro de Gestión Tecnológica e Informática Industrial (Costa Rica);

Fundación Contemporánea (Argentina);

Batey Relief Alliance Inc B R A (United States);

Cell of Alternative Youth Activities (Greece);

Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (United States);

IDPC Consortium (United Kingdom);

International Gender Policy Network (Czech Republic);

New York State Bar Association (United States);

Russian Community of Latvia (Latvia);

Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (Singapore);

Management Sciences for Health, Inc. (United States);

Personhood Education (United States);

Action Postponed

The Committee postponed consideration of the following 10 organizations:

APMM Company Limited (China) — as China’s representative asked for more information as to why 96 per cent of the organization’s income was from donations;

ECCO2 Corp (United States) — as the United States’ representative said the Committee formerly sent the organization a cease and desist letter and asked about the status of that matter, as well as a matter concerning the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC);

Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests (United States) — as Nicaragua’s representative asked for a list of countries where the organization worked;

Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) Limited by Guarantee (Uganda) — as Sudan’s representative said the organization had not responded satisfactorily to previous questions seeking more information on its activities in East Africa;

Fundación CADAL (Centro para la Apertura y el Desarrollo de América Latina)   (Argentina) — as China’s representative sought clarification of its position on Falun Gong, and as Cuba’s representative said the organization had yet to respond to a previous question about its local partners in Cuba;

Sonke Gender Justice Network (South Africa) — as China’s representative objected to the organization’s reference to Tibet’s right to self-determination and asked it to clarify its position;

The F W de Klerk Foundation Trust (South Africa) — as China’s representative said the organization continued to refer to Taiwan, on its website, as a country, and asked that it use the correct United Nations terminology, and as Sudan’s representative asked for information on its activities in north-eastern Africa and about its expenditures;    

Center for Constitutional Rights Inc. (United States) — as Israel’s representative asked why the organization had changed its bylaws twice and its name once;

Korea Differently Abled Federation (Republic of Korea) — as Cuba’s representative asked for a list of Asian countries where the organization had plans to establish a presence;

Profesionales por la Ética (Spain) — as Israel’s representative asked for information on its relationship with the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM). 

Name Change

The Committee postponed action on a request for a name change by Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement to End Human Trafficking Now, as the Secretariat noted that the organization had yet to produce a certificate of registration in Switzerland.

Withdrawn

The Committee, taking note that the Association Algerienne d’Alphabetisation continued to have outstanding quadrennial reports, recommended that the organization be withdrawn.

The Committee removed the following 22 organizations deferred from previous sessions from consideration because they had not responded, as of 30 January 2014, to the Committee’s last three reminders: Second Amendment Foundation; Center for International Policy; Peoples Development Organization (PDO); FLARE Freedom Legality and Rights in Europe; Plus Development Foundation; Indo-Global Social Service Society; Society for Human Rights and Prisoners Aid; Solutions for health and development; Phelps Stokes; Global Corps of Jewish Diplomats, INC; The National YWCA of Korea; La Palabre-Het Palabre; The Foundation for Development Cooperation Ltd.; Mindanao Land Acquisition, Housing and Development Foundation, Inc.; Ningim Hope Alive Foundation; Scottish Refugee Council; The Ark Foundation, Ghana; Results Educational Fund, Inc.; NOMADEIS; Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation; Fundación Proyecto Solidario por la Infancia; Jewish National Fund (Keren Kayemeth Le Israel) Inc.