Civil Society

Once your online designation in the iCSO database has been approved under “Geneva”, it is considered that you are duly accredited to the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG).

UNOG supports the UN global efforts to promote, expand and strengthen the role of NGOs, particularly those in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a status that enables NGOs to engage in multiple ways with the UN, including by: 

• designating official NGO representatives to be accredited at UNOG and thereby receive a UNOG annual or temporary grounds pass
• taking part in meetings/events, international conferences, and other activities of the UN, while having the possibility to make written and/or oral statements at such events
• organizing stand-alone meetings or side events and having opportunities to network and explore possible partnerships and joint ventures with various stakeholders
• having access to the Center for NGOs, the Library, and UNOG press documentation
• receiving monthly newsletters with useful information on how to engage with UN Geneva

Learn more about civil society at United Nations Office at Geneva

Only representatives of NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC can be accredited with the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG). Accreditation needs to be renewed every year. To learn more about consultative status with ECOSOC, please consult the following website. To learn more about NGO accreditation at UNOG, please visit our web page at this link.

Once an NGO is granted consultative status with ECOSOC, its representatives can be accredited with UNOG and receive annual or temporary grounds passes to enter the Palais des Nations. You will need to follow the three steps described below to receive UNOG annual or temporary grounds passes for the ongoing year:

1. The President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of your NGO should be registered in the iCSO database at United Nations Civil Society Participation (iCSO);
2. Other possible annual representatives of your NGO should be registered in the iCSO database;
3. A designation letter should be sent to the NGO Liaison Unit at UNOG by email at unog.ngo@un.org. Please consult the user guide and template designation letter. Once the above steps have been completed and the required documents have been sent to the NGO Liaison Unit via email (unog.no@un.org), the requests will be processed within 3 business days or more during peak periods.

If you are not in possession of your login and/or password but have access to the headquarters email address registered in your organization’s profile section of the iCSO database, you may retrieve your login details by clicking on the link below. Enter the email address registered in the NGO’s profile section, in the box designated by the sentence "Forgot your login details?" and click “Submit”. You should receive your login and password within a few minutes.  https://esango.un.org/civilsociety/newLogin.do?locale=en.

If you do not have access to the email address registered in your NGO profile section of the iCSO database, a new login and password should be requested by e-mail to the NGO Branch/DESA, through the “contact us” section of the website at United Nations Correspondence.

Please refer to the annual accreditation procedure available here.

Every year, an NGO can designate up to seven representatives to obtain UNOG annual grounds passes (valid until 31 December).

An NGO can have:

1. One (1) designation as “President/ Chief Executive Officer” (Head of the NGO);
2. One (1) designation as “Chief Administrative Officer” (Second Head of the NGO who can act on behalf of the President/CEO);
3. One (1) designation as “Main representative” (who can act on behalf of the President/CEO and CAO, with limited or without accrediting rights);
4. Maximum four (4) designations with the representative type as “Additional representative”. NGOs need to attribute these designations to their representatives who might have different functional titles within the NGO (e.g. an NGO’s Executive Director could be designated as “Chief Administrative Officer”, or an NGO’s Project Officer could be designated as “Additional representative”).

When communicating with the NGO Liaison Unit, NGO representatives are invited to refer themselves to the four representative types recognized by the UN mentioned above and as designated in the iCSO database.

It is compulsory to designate the President/CEO or the Chief Administrative Officer at the beginning of each year. There can only be one President and one Chief Administrative Officer for all three duty stations (New York, Geneva and Vienna). Main and additional representatives may vary from one duty station to another.

In line with the procedure at the UN Headquarters in New York, at UNOG, NGOs may also request up to a total of 9 temporary Grounds passes at UNOG in any given year. The temporary Grounds passes are for a maximum of 3 months at a time.

• The President/ Chief Executive Officer can request the issuance and cancellation of annual and temporary grounds passes, reserve meeting rooms as well as participate in meetings.
• The Chief Administrative Officer (who can act on behalf of the President/CEO) can request the issuance and cancellation of annual and temporary grounds passes (except for the cancellation of the President/CEO’s grounds pass), reserve meeting rooms, as well as participate in meetings.
• The main representative (who can act on behalf of the President/CEO and CAO, with limited or without accrediting rights) can request the issuance and cancellation of temporary grounds passes, reserve meeting rooms (provided he/she has been granted accrediting rights by the NGO through the iCSO database), as well as participate in meetings.
• The additional representative can participate in meetings.

You can check the status of your request by logging into your NGO profile in the iCSO database at United Nations Civil Society Participation (iCSO) – Login . If your name is listed under “Geneva designations”, it means we have approved your accreditation and the issuance of your grounds pass. If your name is still listed as "pending", it means we have not approved it yet. Please verify that you have finalized all required steps as outlined on our web page. When the NGO Liaison Unit approves your request, you will receive an automated confirmation sent to the email address registered in your profile in the iCSO database, stating when and where to pick up your UNOG grounds pass. 

Once your UNOG annual or temporary designation has been approved in the iCSO database by the NGO Liaison Unit, you may pick up your grounds pass at the Pregny Pavilion of the United Nations Office at Geneva (Palais des Nations, 14 Avenue de la Paix), upon presentation of a valid passport (UN Member or Observer State), Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 4:45 pm. ID cards from the Schengen Zone are also accepted. 

There is no deadline to collect your grounds pass for the ongoing year.

NB: While it is required to print the security form to withdraw your grounds pass at UN Headquarters in New York, this requirement does not apply to UN Geneva.

If you have the NGO credentials to log into your NGO profile on the iCSO database, follow the steps as outlined on our web page. Tip: In the iCSO database, you may select “Copy” next to the name of your representative, update his/her details, and press “Submit”. This can only be done when the existing pass has already expired. If not, create a new profile for yourself by clicking on “New Designation” twice, and then fill out the boxes and press “Submit.”

If you don’t have the credentials to log into your NGO profile on the iCSO database, please contact the President or Chief Administrative Officer of your NGO who will register you in the database and will send us the request via a designation letter.

If you leave the NGO, ask your President/CEO or CAO to inform us via a signed letter and please return your grounds pass to the UNOG Identification Pregny Pavilion (Palais des Nations, 14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland) either in person or by mail. 

The NGO can accredit your successor as follows:

1. Register him/her in the iCSO database at United Nations Civil Society Participation (iCSO);
2. Send a designation letter to the NGO Liaison Unit at UNOG as per usual procedure. For additional information please consult the template designation letter and the user guide. 

1. The President/CEO or Chief Administrative Officer of an NGO should send a signed letter to the NGO Liaison Unit with the request for cancelation.
2. If the grounds pass has already been withdrawn from the UNOG Security Identification Desk, it needs to be returned either in person at Pregny Pavilion (Palais des Nations, 14 Avenue de la Paix) or by mail (NGO Liaison Unit, H Building. 4^th floor, Palais des Nations, 14 Avenue de la Paix 1211, Geneva, Switzerland).

Please inform first the NGO Branch of DESA in New York here while uploading the relevant documentation for the recognition of the new President: 

1. A letter from the new President, on the letterhead of the NGO, stating when s/he was appointed/elected to take over, accompanied by either the:

(a) Minutes of the meeting of the General Assembly or Executive Board, announcing the decision to appoint a new leader; or

(b) A letter from the outgoing President/CEO stating when s/he left his/her position as the head of the organization.

The NGO Liaison Unit at UNOG will only be able to recognize the new President of the NGO and approve related requests for Grounds passes, once the new President is officially recognized by the NGO Branch of DESA, UNHQ, and duly approved in the iCSO database, under “New York”.

1. Immediately inform the Security at the Palais des Nations – call +41 (0) 22 917 2900;
2. Go to the Pregny gate with a valid picture ID, and you will receive a new UN grounds pass. (Address: Avenue de la Paix, from Monday to Friday, 8 am to 5 pm).

Learn about the benefits of establishing a consultative relationship with ECOSOC – download the brochure . You may also consult the website of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ NGO branch. 

Please refer to the NGO Branch of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs page here.

Follow these steps:

1. Check here if your NGO is eligible;
2. Register your organizational profile here in the iCSO database;
3. Submit your application online by 1 June. The Committee will review your application the following year. 

Check the list of NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC at the following link Symbol Explorer E/2023/INF/5 - Système de Diffusion Électronique des Documents (un.org) or the list of NGOs accredited at the UN Office at Geneva.

The NGO Liaison Unit at UNOG is the focal point for relations between the United Nations and NGOs. The office maintains liaison with NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC and facilitates their participation in United Nations activities. Through the NGO Liaison Unit, NGOs may receive guidance on their contribution to the work of the United Nations, participate in meetings/conferences, request UNOG accreditations and grounds passes, and reserve conference rooms at the Palais des Nations.

Learn more about the NGO Liaison Unit. The office can be reached from 9:00 to 11:30 am at +41 (0)22 917 1304. Our Offices are located at the Palais des Nations.

There is a Center for NGOs which is the E building, 1^st floor, in room E.2079 (close to door 41). It has several computers with Internet connection, a printer (bring your own paper) a Wi-Fi, a reading area, and a meeting area for groups of up to 15 persons (upon reservation).

Yes. Accredited NGOs can reserve the semi-private space of the Center for NGOs for smaller gatherings up to 15 participants:

1. Check out our webpage on the NGO Resource and Service Center and fill out the form. 
2. Send us a signed form at least 3 working days prior to the desired date of meeting.

Yes. Please refer to this page.

1. Check out our step-by-step guide for meeting organizers. 
2. Send us by email the booking request form and submit a detailed programme/agenda and a concept note at least 6 weeks prior to the planned date of the meeting.
3. We will check for availability of rooms and will revert to you soon.

The NGO Liaison Unit does not provide funding or financial support of any kind. Please visit the website of the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) at http://www.un.org/democracyfund. 

We recommend that NGOs wishing to collaborate with the United Nations on various projects contact the national offices of the UN Specialized Agencies, Funds and Programmes (UNDP, UNICEF, UNEP, UNESCO, FAO, UN Women, UNAIDS, etc). The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) remains the primary body for providing orientation at a national level in your activities with the United Nations.

1. Visit the UN Geneva meetings and events page on the website
2. Consult the Indico calendar of meetings. It is searchable by day, week or month. Click on the title of the event to see if it is public or private. Public events can be attended by NGOs. For private meetings, please check with the meeting organizer.
3. Sign up for the mailing lists from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNCTAD, etc.

With a valid UNOG grounds pass, you are entitled to participate in any public UN Conference at the Palais des Nations. However, we recommend that you check for any additional registration requirements with the secretariat organizing the meeting you are interested in. We also advise you to consult Indico, the UN registration platform for meetings in Geneva, where you will find detailed information about the event you are interested in. 

Tours can be booked online. As tour capacities are limited, please make sure to book early.

1. Consult OHCHR’s Handbook for Civil Society - a guide on how the various UN human rights mechanisms work and how to engage with them.
2. Visit the webpage of OHCHR Civil Society Section.
3. Register in Indico, OHCHR events platform.