Non-Governmental Organizations and the United Nations System History, Problems and Prospects

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. [...]

[...] The eligibility requirements are very broad, since any non-governmental organization, non-profit or voluntary organization can be granted consultative status, whether it is a national, sub-regional, regional or international organization.[12] The only restriction is that the organization has to demonstrate that its programme of work is directly relevant to the aims and purposes of the United Nations. Good governance and accountability have also been introduced as requirements, but there are doubts as to whether the U.N. can actually investigate each NGO applying for consultative status in order to insure that it meets certain criteria. [...]