Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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NGOs Consultation Meeting on the
November 3, 1999
NGO/UN Relationship
This meeting was the second in a series of consultations convened by the Conference of NGOs to review issues relating to NGO participation in UN meetings having arisen in connection with the work of the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs, and to suggest avenues for resolving points of difficulty that have been circulating among NGOs, Missions and the Secretariat. NGO representatives, Member State delegates, and Secretariat staff were all invited to attend. Approximately 50 persons participated in the meeting, with member state representatives attending from Cuba, Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway and the USA.
Building on the preliminary session of October 1st, discussion on each agenda addressed experiences having arisen in connection with Commission meetings and other UN sessions, and sought to identify what might be flexible yet effective frameworks to ensure both order and broad-based NGO representation and participation in UN meetings, as codified by Resolution 1996/31.
Before beginning the meeting's business, the group observed a moment of silence in memory of our friend and colleague Eleanor Brown, whose recent passing has saddened us greatly.
Afaf Mahfouz, CONGO President, who chaired the meeting, began by announcing that these Minutes will be posted for feedback on the CONGO access listserv and website , and suggested that member state representatives submit any comments in writing, so that there is no danger of misquoting.
How to gather data on the number of people who register for, and those who actually attend, Commissions and other UN meetings
In announcing the first agenda item, Afaf observed that most NGOs do not understand why NGO numbers are perceived to be a problem. In her remarks, Hanifa Mezoui of the UN NGO Section concurred, and asked Michele Fedoroff to present preliminary data which suggests that the numbers of NGOs registered for specific Commission meetings generally exceeds the number that actually attend. Michele presented information from the Commissions on Social Development, Population and Development (including the ICPD+5 PrepCom), Sustainable Development and the Status of Women. In all of them, numbers suggests that since 1988 there has been between a 30-50% discrepancy between pre-registrants and actual attendees. The only Commission for which there is not such data is Human Rights, but it will be gathered going forward. Similarly, greater attention will be paid to gathering this information at other future Commission meetings.
In the discussion, a participant observed that this data, when examined over time, will help us to identify general trends and fluctuations, such as those relating to Special Sessions and their PrepCom, which generally attract more NGO attendees than regular Commission meetings. It was also commented that it was a pity that a representative of UN Security was not in attendance, given their past promise to help us gather relevant data and come up with related solutions.
Further defining the need for data, another person asked whether there is a way to know how many NGO representatives are at a particular UN meeting at any given time. While the NGO Section does not feel that they have the human resources to do such detailed tracking at this time, it was suggested that an informal survey could be taken with NGO assistance, perhaps via sheets at the Conference Officer's desk in each official meeting room, which NGOs could sign up every time they entered. The representative from Cuba observed that this is difficult information to gather, but others felt that even a general picture would be helpful. An NGO representative asked whether similar information could not be gathered for the Second and Third Committees, where NGO numbers have been quite low, and should increase. Another person made a plea for lists of NGO participants at Commission meetings, which would be useful for networking.
Esmerelda Brown, Chair of the NGO Steering Committee for Sustainable Development, observed that at the Commission for Sustainable Development there were more actual attendees than the number gathered by the NGO Section. She conjectured that this could be because a large number of participants attending had ECOSOC status (and hence needed not register). She also observed that numbers of attendees might be generally lower than registrants because many participants from developing countries register for meetings in the hope of attending, then are unable to do so because of scarce resources. Another person drew notice to another possible cause, that people sometimes do not expect to attend, but wish to see their name in the program anyway. These observations supported the idea of an informal survey instrument to get to the true numbers of NGOs at specific meetings.
Techeste Ahderom, CONGO Secretary, who co-chaired a portion of the meeting, observed that NGO instinct on numbers not being a problem in and of themselves has been borne out, but mentioned that we still need more information on where bottlenecks do occur. We need to look at each Commission on a case-by-case basis, including those where numbers have never been perceived to be a problem (eg. Statistics), and learn which agenda items bring overcrowding, and who the NGOs are that attend for all agenda items. This information should be extended to learn who is requesting to speak when.
Update from the NGO Section on guidelines for NGOs when visiting UN Headquarters
On this agenda item, Hanifa Mezoui stated that guidelines for NGOs are all over the UN, and for example are included in publications by NGLS and DPI, and in the recent report by the Secretary-General. She also mentioned document A/54/329, which contains member state and NGO responses to that report. She committed the NGO Section to gathering and publishing those guidelines, along the lines of their publication of more substantive guidelines for NGO work at the UN. Hanifa asked CONGO and DPI participate with the NGO Section in reviewing this material, in consultation with other NGOs, to finalize a publication by March 2000. It was also suggested that the guidelines eventually appear on the NGO Section's Web site.
Lessons from the NGO Commission on Sustainable Development-how to open and maintain clear channels of communication and problem-solving with Bureaus and member states
On Agenda Item #3, Esmerelda Brown, Chair of the NGO Steering Committee on Sustainable Development, recounted the development of NGO facilitation for the Commission on Sustainable Development. It dates back to the post-UNCED period, when NGOs decided to organize strategically to eliminate potential misunderstandings. This process culminated in the creation of the Steering Committee, comprised of NGO representatives from South and North, and in the decision to seek regular meetings with the Commission Secretariat. This arrangement has functioned well for 5 years, with a Secretariat liaison person assigned to work with the Committee, member states increasingly comfortable with NGO input, and NGOs able to highlight their expertise. To manage the diversity of the caucuses and regional groupings attending Commission meetings, the committee provides basic orientation on procedures and comportment, and each day conducts meetings to strategize on the handling of available NGO speaker slots, with an emphasis on speaking from consensus. Esmerelda allowed that this can be tricky, but that it keeps decisionmaking in NGO hands. The Committees main challenge is finding resources to get people to meetings, and for translation. The use of internet technology has been very useful for the Committee.
Additional lessons from the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Human Rights, and Commission on Social Development
In the discussion, Afaf raised the importance for all NGOs to balance coordination with the need to allow NGOs at large to participate in UN consultative processes. The Chair of the Committee on Social Development said that their procedures are similar to the Steering Committee, though it is a less formal process due to fewer people being involved. The Chair of the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development noted that the committee has interlocking membership with the Steering Committee, and coordinates closely. Another NGO representative observed that few NGO committees emerge as directly from a UN world conference as did the Steering Committee, with this and other dimensions of its history not entirely easy to replicate.
Adding to this discussion, the former Chair of the Committee on the Status of Women described the past four CSW sessions as increasingly productive. The committee sets up topical task forces, which then turn into caucuses at the actual Commission meeting. The group selects spokespersons on the basis of diversity criteria, but among problems: there is no guarantee that people on the NGO speakers list will be called; and there is a bias against individual NGOs making independent statements. On the latter point, a representative of UNIFEM observed that there is no reason to expect that a diverse grouping of NGOs will all be able to speak with a single voice. Other NGO representatives concurred with this point.
Techeste, speaking from the experience of the Commission on Human Rights, remarked that NGOs should anticipate problems at forthcoming commission meetings, and take necessary steps, for example control the number of times each NGO can speak. We do not want to end up in a situation where we are relegated to speak after delegates, who will then just leave. We need to keep our current rights, but respond intelligently to some government concerns. Another NGO participant agreed that we ought to affirm the notion that all NGOs have the right to speak and circulate statements, but seek opportunities for common action as appropriate. Member states reserve the right to speak individually, and as clusters, so such a principle should be applicable to NGO contributions as well.
On a final note, a participant observed that NGOs must keep from being paralyzed by the thought that they are not welcome at the UN. Instead, they should focus on the existing prerogatives in ECOSCO Resolution 1996/31 and what they are therefore able to do. It may be a role for CONGO to assist in this regard.
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