3rd Meeting (PM)
NGO/911

Continuing Regular Session, Non-Governmental Organizations Committee Recommends 65 Groups for Status, Defers Action on 20 Others

Continuing its 2021 regular session, the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations today recommended 65 organizations for special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council and deferred action on the status of 20 others.

The 19-member Committee considers applications for consultative status and requests for reclassification submitted by non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  Once an application has been reviewed and approved by the Committee it is considered recommended for consultative status.  Organizations which were granted general and special status can attend meetings of the Council and issue statements, while those with general status can also speak during meetings and propose agenda items.  Organizations with roster status can only attend meetings.

Action on several applications was postponed because Committee members requested further information from the candidates about, among other items, details of their respective organizations’ activities, partners, expenditures and sources of funding.

The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations will meet again at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 19 May, to continue its session.

Special Consultative Status

The Committee recommended that the Economic and Social Council grant special consultative status to the following organizations:

Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network (Cameroon);

Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala;

Committee of Friends for Humanity (Nigeria);

Community Initiative for Enhanced Peace and Development (Nigeria);

Connected Development Initiative (Nigeria);

Conseil pour l'éducation et le développement (Burundi);

Consultoría Para Los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (Colombia);

Croissant Vert Nigérien (CVN) (Niger);

Cyber café avenir pour tous (Democratic Republic of the Congo);

Debarasser L'environement Des Plastiques PVC (Mali);

Democratic Network for Action (Ghana);

Development Initiative for Community Impact (Nigeria);

Didi Oparaku Health Foundation (Nigeria);

Disabled Rehabilitation and Research Association (DRRA) (Bangladesh);

Dream Factory Foundation (South Africa);

Eden Foundation (Thailand);

Eden Spring of Hope (Ghana);

Education and English For You (EEFY) (Côte d’Ivoire);

Eko Greater Tomorrow Foundation (Nigeria);

Empowerment Initiative for Women and Youth Uganda (Uganda);

Enrich Personal Development Limited (China);

Environmental Care Foundation (Nigeria);

Esperantra (Peru);

Family Ark Mission (Nigeria);

Fondation Général Akissi pour la promotion des droits de l’enfant et de la femme (Côte d’Ivoire);

Fondation Zizi Care (Democratic Republic of the Congo);

Fondation emploi décent (Burkina Faso);

Fondation pour l'étude et la promotion des droits humains en Afrique (Burkina Faso);

Forevergreen Fenosoa (Madagascar);

Foundation for Helpless Old People in African Sub-Region, Warri (Nigeria);

Fundacion Global (Argentina);

Fundación Regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos (Ecuador);

Fundação Terra dos Servos de Deus (Brazil);

Gammun Centre for Care and Development Nigeria (Nigeria);

Garden of Hope Foundation, Community Based Organization (Kenya);

Global Aid Hand (Sudan);

Golden Age Foundation Limited (China);

Grassroot Entrepreneurship Skill Acquisition Initiative (Nigeria);

Green Crescent of Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo);

Groupe d'appui aux projets de développement de la confédération générale des cadres de Togo (Togo);

Hope for All (United Republic of Tanzania);

Hrvatska udruga za promicanje prava pacijenata (Croatia);

I Love Afrika – Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo);

Iepe - Instituto de Pesquisa e Formacao Indigena (Brazil);

Ijeoma Foundation For The Old People (Nigeria);

Imaging the World Africa (Uganda);

Impart Change (Kenya);

Independent Medico-Legal Unit (Kenya);

Institute of Environmental Science for Social Change, Inc. (Philippines);

International Initiative for Inter Religious Communion (Nigeria);

Intervention Council for Women in Africa (Nigeria);

Iran Alzheimer Association - Imam Ali Charitable Foundation (Iran);

Joseph Adedayo Foundation (Nigeria);

L'ONG action contre le sida (Guinea);

Lebanese Cyberspace Association (Lebanon);

Meg Wah (My Earth) (Cameroon);

Mentoring Assistance for Youths and Entrepreneurs Initiative (Nigeria);

Misère Option Zéro (Togo);

Mouvement d’organisation des ruraux pour le développement (MORD) (Togo);

Network of African Youths for Development (NAYD) (Cameroon); and

Nigeria Network of Non-Governmental Organisations (NNNGO) (Nigeria).

The Committee postponed action on the application of the following organizations:

Commonwealth Association of Architects (Pakistan) — as the representative of Pakistan asked the entity what projects are undertaken in Pakistan;

ERA - LGBTI Equal Rights Association (Serbia) — as the representative of the Russian Federation asked the organization to specify in which meetings of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women it participated;

Engraced Royale International Foundation (Nigeria) — as the representative of the United States sought details about its programmes to tackle malaria, including funding, outcomes and performance indicators;

Entrepreneurs Council of India — as the representative of Pakistan asked the entity to explain its relationship with the Government;

Fondacioni “Yesilay” (Albania) — as the representative of Greece sought the names of organizations providing funds to the entity;

Fonds pour les Femmes Congolaises (Democratic Republic of the Congo) — as the representative of Nicaragua wished to know which Governments provided funding to the organization;

Fundación Género con Clase (Venezuela) — as the representative of the United States sought information about the entity’s past and current legislative work with the Parliament;

Gracia Raina Foundation (India) — as the representative of Pakistan sought information about the group’s projects on reproductive health undertaken over the past five years;

Gramin Vikas Vigyan Samiti (India) — as the representative of Pakistan sought details of the group’s foreign funding and its breakdown;

Green Mentoring and Solutions Private Limited (India) — as the representative of Pakistan wished to know the number of countries in which the entity established green schools and details of their curriculum;

Human Welfare Charitable Trust (India) — as the representative of Pakistan wished to know how many digital school centres were established, their regional locations and sources of funding;

Humanitarian Aid International (India) — as the representative of Pakistan sought details of the group’s projects on climate change and natural disasters over the past five years;

Instance démocratique pour la citoyenneté et les droits de l'homme (Morocco) — as the representative of Nigeria asked the entity how it intends to contribute to the work of the United Nations;

Justice Foundation for Development & Human Rights (Egypt) — as the representative of the Russian Federation sought details about the organization’s funding from Save the Children and its operational relationship;

Lahore Educational and Welfare Society (Pakistan) — as the representative of Pakistan wished to know how many schools have been established by the organization and the sources and breakdown of funding for these projects;

Lebanon Support — as the representative of Israel asked the organization to provide the sources of data and explain how data sets are used in conflict analysis;

Mukti (India) — as the representative of Pakistan sought more details about the sources of foreign funding, asking the entity to outline projects;

Nadam Foundation (India) — as the representative of Pakistan asked the entity to elaborate on its awareness raising projects in a State that is not a party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and

National Agro Foundation (India) — as the representative of Pakistan sought details of the group’s projects initiated to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on farmers.

Interactive Discussion

During a question-and-answer session in the afternoon, NGO representatives faced queries from Committee members.

A representative of the Asociación Latinoamericana para los Derechos Humanos (Chile) said that her organization emerged following the brutality and rampant human-rights violations of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship and works to protect and advocate for the human rights and fundamental democratic freedoms of all people living in Chile.  She detailed her group’s democratic decision-making procedures and its work in upholding the international legal framework for human rights — including working with indigenous groups at the borders of Colombia and Ecuador — and said that it looks forward to working with the Economic and Social Council, the United Nations and other actors to mainstream the implementation of human rights in the Sustainable Development Goals.

The representative of China, noting that the organization had received consultative status in 1987, asked for clarification regarding the reason the group has since lost that status.

She replied that her organization held such status from 1987 to 2010, but then had to change its headquarters from Ecuador to Chile due to a lack of political support for its work.  She said that, for this reason, the organization lost its relationship with the Council.

The representative of China pointed out that a change in headquarters should not affect an organization’s status with the Council and asked for clarification from the Secretariat on this point.

She then expressed the belief that the loss in status had to do with political changes.

A representative of the Secretariat then confirmed that a change in headquarters would not result in an organization’s loss of consultative status with the Council and suggested that the organization might not have submitted its quadrennial report, as that is the primary reason for withdrawal of such status.

The Committee then decided to defer the organization’s application.

A representative of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikyo Parishad, USA, Inc. (United States), recalling that he had lived in a refugee camp in 1971, said that his organization was established in 2014 to protect the human rights of religious and ethnic minorities in Bangladesh.  Pointing out that many human-rights violations in that country are unreported or underreported, he stated that the organization attempts to unveil the truth to afford human-rights protections to those affected.  He added that the organization — primarily funded by members and individual donors — carries out its work by holding meetings and conferences in addition to sending contributions to Bangladesh.

The Committee then decided to recommend the organization’s application.

A representative of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (Turkey) said that the forum is an international, nonpartisan organization that aims to help youth attain sustainable development for their communities by focusing on the unique challenges affecting the same.  She said that the organization is able to tap into a broad youth network to hear the voices and concerns of this group around the world, which it can then transmit to the Economic and Social Council and subsequently return the organ’s message to young people.

The Committee then decided to recommend the organization’s application.

A representative of the Center for Health and Development (India) said that her organization aims to reach out through human efforts and articulated frameworks to advance conversations in health and government, forming strategic collaborations to strengthen community health and engage in public-health diplomacy.  She added that its work coincides with several of the Sustainable Development Goals — such as eliminating hunger, climate action and providing clean water — and has helped more than a million people in India across 28 states and 6,000 villages.

The Committee then decided to recommend the organization’s application.

A representative of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (France) said that her organization is involved with three major international conventions — the World Heritage Convention, the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage — and works closely with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  She added that it has 10,000 members in 130 countries and authors authoritative texts for preserving cultural heritage.

The representative of China, noting that the organization previously held consultative status 15 years ago, asked the Secretariat to confirm whether the reason for loss of status was a failure to submit required quadrennial reports.

A representative of the Secretariat so confirmed.

The representative of Cuba, pointing out his familiarity with the organization’s work at the regional level and recalling that 2020 was a difficult year in financial terms due to the pandemic, asked about the organization’s work during that year to preserve cultural heritage.

She acknowledged the difficulty of 2020 but said that, despite the constraints imposed by the pandemic, the organization was able to send 15 people on missions to nomination sites under the World Heritage Convention.  She added that the organization also published work on climate change — including case studies used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — and that, while on-site work was limited in 2020, work at desks was not.

The Chair then said that the Secretariat determined that the organization’s loss of status was due to a lack of submission of quadrennial reports in 2010.

The Committee then decided to recommend the organization’s application.

For information media. Not an official record.