NGOs have been active in the United Nations (U.N.) system since its inception in 1945. Although the U.N. was created as an intergovernmental organization, there was a need since the early days of the Organization to allow representatives of the civil society to participate, through formal and informal procedures, to agenda-making, negotiation and decision-making processes. A little more than 60 years after the creation of the United Nations, NGOs are now well integrated, sometimes even embedded, in the system. However, the history of the relations between NGOs and the U.N. has not always been a peaceful one, and although NGOs have enjoyed a continuous growth of their powers within the system, they have also known some setbacks. In the process, both the NGOs and the U.N. system have dramatically changed and have had to adapt to new institutional and international environments. Today, they both have to deal with the new challenges that the 21st century has brought.
[...] system can be an advantage only if it is accompanied by an increase in NGO coordination and cooperation. Finally, after the swearing-in of new Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, the improvement of the relations between NGOs and the United Nations will largely depend on his will to work towards that end, especially considering the fact that former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan was personally involved in many of the initiatives that gave NGOs more access and power within the U.N. Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. “NGOs and the Human Rights Movement” August 2003. [...]
[...] Such arrangements may be made with international organizations and, where appropriate, with national organizations after consultation with the Member of the United Nations concerned.”[6] Thanks to their institutional action, these INGOs drew a sketch of what would become a new system of governance at the international level, where an emerging global civil society would be represented by the non-governmental sector. As soon as the Cold War ended in the early 1990s, a new era opened for NGOs working in the U.N. [...]
[...] However, NGOs are not and cannot be by themselves a remedy to the numerous problems that the United Nations faces today. Are NGOs really the legitimate representatives of the global civil society? Do they bring more democracy and accountability to the system? While many would be tempted to answer ‘yes' to both questions, it is necessary to point out that a non- governmental status is not a guarantee of impartiality, accountability and democracy. NGO representatives are not democratically elected, and while NGOs work hard for their constituents they don't have a mandate from the latter, as member state representatives have. [...]
[...] Accessed April 1st Baillat, Aline. NGO's Status at the U.N. December 2000. http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/ngo-un/info/status.htm. Accessed April Department of Public Information. “About NGO Association with the U.N.” http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection/about-ngo-assoc.asp. Accessed April 1sr Mithre J. Sandrasagra. “U.N. Hosts Historic Session with Civil Society” in Inter Press Service June 2005. Global Policy Forum. Response on Advisors' Report to the President of the 60th General Assembly on the Relationship between Member States and Non- Governmental Organizations September 2006. http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/int/un/acess/2006/0901ngoresponse.htm. Accessed April 1st Sandrasagra, supra James Paul. NGOs and [...]
[...] However, a new framework of cooperation appeared to be necessary in order to regulate the relations between the United Nations and the civil society. As a result, the U.N. engaged in a process of formalization of its relations with the civil society, with Resolution 1996/31 that became the new framework for cooperation. At the end of the twentieth century, the NGO community working at the U.N. had little in common with the one that helped to draft the U.N. Charter of 1945. [...]
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