The first venue by which non-governmental
organizations took a role in formal UN deliberations was through the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). 41 NGOs were granted
consultativestatus by the council in 1946; by 1992 more that 700 NGOs
had attained consultative statusand the number has been steadily
increasing ever since to 3,400 organizations today.Article 71 of
the UN Charter opened the door providing for suitable arrangements for
consultationwith non-governmental organizations. The consultative
relationship with ECOSOC is governedtoday by ECOSOC resolution 1996/31,
which outlines the eligibility requirements for consultativestatus,
rights and obligations of NGOs in consultative status, procedures for
the withdrawal orsuspension of consultative status, the role and
functions of the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs,and the responsibilities of
the UN Secretariat in supporting the consultative relationship.Consultative
status is granted by ECOSOC upon recommendation of the ECOSOC
Committeeon NGOs, which is comprised of 19 Member States.
Who is Eligible?
Consultative
relationships may be established with international, regional, sub
regionalandnational non-governmental, non-profit public or voluntary
organizations. NGOs affiliated toan international organization already
in status may be admitted provided that they can demonstratethat their
programme of work is of direct relevance to the aims and purposes of the
United Nations.In the case of national organizations consultation with
the Member State concerned is required.To be eligible for
consultative status, an NGO must have been in existence (officially
registeredwith the appropriate government authorities as an
NGO/non-profit) for at least two years, musthave an established
headquarters, a democratically adopted constitution, authority to speak
forits members, a representative structure, appropriate mechanisms of
accountability and democraticand transparent decision-making processes.
The basic resources of the organization must bederived in the main part
from contributions of the national affiliates or other components
orfrom individual members.Organizations established by governments or intergovernmental agreements are not considered NGOs.
General, Special and Roster status
There are three categories of status: General consultative status, Special consultative status andRoster status.General
consultative status is reserved for large international NGOs whose area
of work coversmost of the issues on the agenda of ECOSOC and its
subsidiary bodies. These tend to be fairly large,established
international NGOs with a broad geographical reach.Special
consultative status is granted to NGOs which have a special competence
in, and areconcerned specifically with, only a few of the fields of
activity covered by the ECOSOC.These NGOs tend to be smaller and more
recently established.Organizations that apply for consultative
status but do not fit in any of the other categoriesare usually included
in the Roster. These NGOs tend to have a rather narrow and/or technical
focus.NGOs that have formal status with other UN bodies or specialized
agencies (FAO, ILO, UNCTAD,UNESCO, UNIDO, WHO and others), can be
included on the ECOSOC Roster. The roster lists NGOsthat ECOSOC or the
UN Secretary-General considers can make "occasional and useful
contributionsto the work of the Council or its subsidiary bodies."
Participation in International Conferences
Moreinfo: http://esango.un.org/paperless/Web?page=static&content=intro
