Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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NGOs Comments on the Secretary General's Report
By Beatrice von Roemer
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
November 11, 1998
It is regrettable that the report was prepared without consultation with the persons concerned, the NGO representatives. That CONGO was not even allowed to see an advance copy seems downright surprising. After all, making advance copies of reports available informally is now a widespread practice at the UN. The statement was presented at the CONGO meeting on NGO access.
This being said, I feel that the report does contain many good elements. It is not, however, as comprehensive and accurate as it should be.
I was glad to see mention of the participation of NGOs (as petitioners) in the Special Political and De-colonization Committee. There have also been instances in the past, albeit very few, where NGO representatives were permitted to address the third Committee. In the Second Committee, during one session, NGOs were allowed to make comments during a few internal sessions. At this session, an informal panel discussion was held in the Second Committee in connection with the High-level dialogue on the theme of the social and economic impact of globalization, which consisted entirely of non-governmental personalities, including a representative of the TCFTU. Later, on the occasion of the day for the eradication of poverty, the Second Committee held a formal panel, which included two NGO representatives. This is a practice, which should be promoted.
I was glad to find in paragraph 7 an enumeration of the facilities which the Secretary- General is authorized to offer to NGOs in consultative status and which included ". . . appropriate seating arrangements and facilities for obtaining documents during public meetings of the General Assembly that deal with matters in the economic, social and related fields." Paragraph 77, which recommends making seats available in the General Assembly for NGOs in consultative status and explains why the current arrangement is unsatisfactory, is particularly welcome. I do question the opening statement of that paragraph: "Due to the financial and legal constraints of the Organization, however, NGO demands for prompt and comprehensive information cannot always be adequately satisfied." "Financial constraints" yes, but I don't know of legal constraints that would make it impossible for us to obtain information. I would not call banning us from the floor a "legal constraint".
In paragraph 6, the rights of NGOs in ECOSOC are not correctly described. Resolution 1996/31 does not limit the right to oral presentations to "certain meetings" of the Council. On the other hand, this paragraph ignores the distinction between NGOs in general and in special consultative status, which is likely to further increase the already existing confusion on the subject. (Organizations in special status can only take the floor on items, which were not considered in a subsidiary body.)
The report completely ignores the ever-increasing contributions NGOs are making to the various treaty bodies. CEDAW works intensely with NGOs, accepting so-called "shadow reports" on countries being considered and holding consultations with them. The Human Rights Committee has always welcomed information from NGOs and has also started a practice of holding consultations with some of them. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights devotes meetings to hearing NGOs.
The participation of NGOs from all regions could be improved by making clear that international NGOs consist largely of southern NGOs. Paragraph 70 begins with the sentence stating that often NGOs themselves provide resources to ensure a more balanced geographical representation among their representatives. This would be all right if it meant that individual NGOs are making efforts to bring their colleagues from developing countries to meetings. However, the next sentence seems to indicate that the first refers to NGOs collectively as it refers to "travel and accommodation expenses for selected organizations". It should be made clear that NGOs with affiliates all over the world also need financial help if they are to bc physically present at UN meetings.
