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17th Plenary Meeting of Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations
Resuming its 2018 session, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 53 groups for special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, and deferred action on the status of 16 others.
Jorge Dotta (Uruguay), Chair of the Committee, in opening remarks, said the subsidiary body would consider 228 new applications for consultative status, 224 applications deferred from previous sessions, 204 new quadrennial reports from non-governmental organizations with general or consultative status, and 84 quadrennial reports deferred from earlier sessions. Noting that the Committee had started discussions on reviewing its method of work, he said it would need to move expeditiously to ensure that all applications were given adequate consideration.
Marion Barthelemy, Director of the Office for Intergovernmental Support and Coordination for Sustainable Development at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development had given new impetus to civil society involvement in the work of the United Nations. Since that Agenda’s adoption, the number of non-governmental organizations applying for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council had grown from 440 in 2014 to a record 774 in 2018. Further efforts were needed to reach out to organizations from the global South and ensure that the overall number of applications better reflected the world’s demographic structure, she said.
Much of the morning was taken up with a discussion among delegates over China’s proposal that the Committee revoke the accreditation of the Society for Threatened Peoples (Germany). The Committee agreed to postpone a decision after setting 25 May as a deadline for that group to respond to China’s concerns, which centred on links it might have with Uygur separatists in Xinjiang Province.
The Committee also failed to reach consensus on whether to allow a non-governmental organization, the International Service for Human Rights, to deliver opening remarks.
Late in the day, the Committee held an interactive dialogue with three non-governmental organizations — the Havtzelet Cultural and Educational Institutions of Hashomer Hatzair (Israel), Operation Underground Railroad (United States) and WomenNC-NC Committee for CSW/CEDAW (United States) — during which it granted all three special consultative status.
The 19-member Committee vets applications submitted by non-governmental organizations, recommending general, special or roster status on the basis of the applicant’s mandate, governance and financial regime. Organizations with roster status can only attend meetings of the Economic and Social Council. Those enjoying special status can attend meetings and issue statements, while those with general status can speak during meetings and propose agenda items. Those with roster status can only attend meetings.
The Committee adopted its 2018 agenda (document E/C.2/2018/1/Rev.1) during its regular session in January.
The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 22 May, to continue its session, which runs from 21 to 30 May, and again on 11 June. In addition, the Committee has scheduled its first-ever round of consultations with non-governmental organizations for 22 June.