Monitoring Policy Making at the United Nations |
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NGOs CONGO Statement to the ECOSOC
Compiled by CONGO
Committee on NGOs with a Summary of
NGO Recommendations
January 26, 2000
Merci, Monsieur le President. Permettez-moi de continuer en anglais.
Good afternoon Excellencies, colleagues and friends,
Thank you all for the opportunity of speaking today. Addressing you is always a special pleasure. This opportunity to speak reflects the traditional and special partnership CONGO or the Conference of NGOs has had with your distinguished Committee over the years.
First of all, allow me to express my personal thanks to the distinguished chair with whom we have had a wonderful working relationship as well as to all of you distinguished members of the Committee.
Also, I would like to seize the opportunity and thank the NGO Section particularly Chief Hanifa Mezoui, Michele Federoff, Joyce Buchanan, Maria Gibson, Ajit Ysumdrom and all their colleagues for the continuous support they provide for all of us members of CONGO and to all NGOS with consultative status.
And I would like finally to welcome aboard, Mr. Otto Gustafik, the new Committee Secretary.
Once again, I wanted to reiterate what we know: which is that you, Mr. Chair and all of you distinguished Delegates; Members of the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs can be counted on for your strong belief in the implementation of Article 71 of the Charter as well as Resolution 1996/31.
I am here today to reiterate the support of the Conference of NGOs and I would be so bold as to say the support of most NGOs worldwide for Resolution 1996/31. This provides a firm basis for the relationship between NGOs and the United Nations, and contains, it appears to us, the basis for solutions to most questions likely to come up regarding the UN/NGO relationship.
Now as you may recall,
At the June 1999 session of the ECOSOC Committee on NGOS, the Conference of NGOs committed to convening a series of consultations to review issues relating to NGO participation in UN meetings having arisen in connection with the work of the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs, as well as upon other occasions, and to suggest avenues for resolving points of difficulty that are of deep concern to the NGO community, and have been raised by Member States. Most of these issues related to the perception or -should I say misperception that is hard to accommodate the presence of NGO representatives in the United Nations Headquarters because of their increasing number. Another point has been linked to issues of security and lastly the problem of conduct or misconduct of a very few number of NGO representatives. Subsequently, consultations took place on October 1st, November 3rd, and December 1st. NGO representatives, Member State delegates, and Secretariat staff were all invited to attend. Throughout the consultation process, Member State delegates were invited to submit comments and to pose questions.
The following summary of the proceedings of three NGO consultations this past Fall, and emerging recommendations, emphasizes the interest that NGOs have in adopting pragmatic, flexible modalities for ensuring the rights of NGO access and participation under Resolution 1996/31, at the same time as ensuring the smooth and effective running of ECOSOC Commissions and other meetings.
At all three consultations, discussions addressed experiences arising from 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. The consultations identified three primary areas of interest:
1) Numbers of NGO representatives at the UN, and attending specific meetings of the ECOSOC Commissions 2) NGO oral statements at official sessions 3) NGO conduct at meetings, and dynamics between NGOs and government delegates
Following are brief descriptions of the discussions around each item, followed by a summary of recommendations for future action.
NGO Numbers The two most important issues discussed in the three NGO consultations were related to access and effective participation of NGOs in the meetings of ECOSOC Commissions and Committees. These three consultations did not address the overarching issues of general access to United Nations Headquarters in New York and security, because there is an ongoing discussion on security and general access of NGOs which is taking place with the office of Assistant Secretary General Gillian Sorensen.
As asserted on a preliminary basis by staff of the NGO Section, and confirmed by NGO impressions over the years, there tends to be a discrepancy between the number of NGO representatives who register to attend meetings, and those who actually attend, with the attendees often being far fewer than those registered. This is probably for two reasons. First, NGO representatives cannot attend meetings for which they pre-register, because of financial or logistical limitations. Also, NGOs may wish to be on record as having attended, but do not intend to do so. This certainly applies to the Commissions on Social Development, Population and Development (including the ICPD+5 PrepCom), Sustainable Development and the Status of Women. In these sessions, preliminary data suggests that since 1988 there has been between a 30-50% discrepancy between pre-registrants and actual attendees. The only Commission for which no such data exists is Human Rights. The NGO Section stated that it would gather data in a more precise manner at this and other meetings of ECOSOC Commissions. NGOs warmly applaud the important data-gathering effort and commitment of the NGO Section.
Further, NGO experience suggests that even when NGOs who pre-register for particular Commission meetings are able to attend Commission meetings, they are unable to attend all the time. Again, a frequent reason for this is financial, with NGO representatives unable to afford attendance for more than a short span of time. An additional reason is that NGOs, not unlike Member State delegates and Agency representatives, tend to flock to agenda items of particular interest. The result can be quite widely fluctuating numbers of NGOs present on any given day of a Commission meeting, with attendance tending to cluster in the first days. However, there is little doubt that NGO representatives from the North tend to predominate at Commission meetings for reasons of greater affluence and/or being based at headquarters. CONGO, in partnership with a wide number of NGOs, is committed to facilitating greater NGO representation from developing countries at meetings at UN headquarters, including addressing the problem of financing.
NGO Oral Statements
Concerning the issue of NGO oral statements, NGOs agreed that greater coordination is necessary to manage the requests to speak in a fair, representative and consistent manner, and to allow for more effective time management. There has already been some consultation among NGOs regarding oral statements. While certain NGOs want to speak on every agenda item, many see this as inappropriate, and NGOs are now debating what can be done. One idea is to limit the number of times an NGO can speak. Another is to emphasize joint or collective NGO statements, but there are very mixed views about that option. Generally, it is not seen as appropriate to ask NGOs to screen who should be able to speak. Rather, NGO representatives should be encouraged to share views on a collaborative basis with government delegates so that they can be more easily taken up by the Secretariat.
NGO Comportment
We all know that NGOs need to be respectful of the perogatives of governments, but that there is no need to formalize a code of conduct. However, there was a shared sense that NGOs need to learn more about the "do's and don'ts" in orientation sessions and via the written guidelines promised by the NGO Section so that they do not mistakenly overstep NGO rules. When NGOs do overstep those rules, Resolution 1996/31 provides adequate coverage, and there appears to be no need for additional structures.
Recommendations
There is no need for new regulations to resolve numbers-related issues in connection with Commission meetings. These issues can be solved on a case-by-case basis, with the help of data being gathered by the NGO Section. The Conference of NGOs would be pleased to assist in the NGO Section's more precise data-gathering, especially in attempting to track fluctuations in NGO numbers across longer-lasting Commission meetings.
The UN Secretariat has expressed the intention of devising ways to measure who enters UN headquarters on a day-to-day basis. NGOs applaud this idea, since such a system would be extremely helpful in tracking the pattern of usage of UN facilities by NGO representatives in an ongoing fashion, including during New York-based Commission meetings.
All concerned should advocate for the creation of a special fund to assist to underwrite NGO participation from developing countries in key Commission meetings. This would be of great practical and symbolic utility in achieving greater representation from the South at UN meetings. The Conference of NGOs would be pleased to assist in whatever way possible.
NGOs should work with Commission Bureaus to set up liaison committees in advance of Commission meetings that can flexibly and fairly address specific issues of NGO numbers, statements, and comportment that are likely to arise. Committees should be comprised of a small, representative selection of NGO representatives, the Commission Secretariat, members of the Commission Bureau, and perhaps a few representatives of other appropriate UN Agencies, Inter-Agency Units, or Programs. A case-by-case analysis of difficulties having arisen would be a good first start, with NGOs then looking toward the creation of clear and transparent procedures.
ECOSOC and NGOs should provide support to the NGO Section in its effort to compile and publish guidelines for NGOs to observe when they are visiting UN headquarters in New York City, and when they attend Commission meetings, and to explore possible complementary activities, such as convening joint orientation sessions with Member State representatives. All efforts should be part of a process that is flexible and continuing.
Conclusion
This is a preliminary report on the discussions having been undertaken this fall. However, we recognize the complexity of these issues, and are committed to continuing to work collaboratively on them. In particular, we shall welcome input and guidance from our colleagues in Geneva and Vienna, who have hosted similar consultations over the past months. As this process advances, we shall explore the creation of small working groups comprised of NGO representatives and members of the Committee on NGOs where we can consider these issues in more depth. We shall also reiterate our invitation to NGOs worldwide to submit their input into our discussions.
The Conference of NGOs (CONGO) has long been committed to facilitating effective and productive working relations between the United Nations system and Member States, and NGOs. This role has only increased in importance as the numbers of NGOs at the United Nations with Consultative Status, and their sophistication concerning the UN itself, has grown. There can be little doubt-as demonstrated by the intense attention directed by NGOs to the recent World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle-that NGOs are eager to be increasingly active partners in global development and governance, and that traditional means of mediating that relationship need to be constantly improved. My colleagues and I at the Conference of NGOs look forward to your feedback as well as to your response to our invitation for creating several, small, informal working groups to finalize the report we started and to enable us to present a more comprehensive version to you before the beginning of your next meeting.
Thank you.
