The United Nations and civil society – 70 years working together: how do we make a difference from Geneva?

Deputy High Commissioner,
Ambassador Cho,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,


It is a pleasure to welcome you at the Palais des Nations, together with our partners - the World Federation of United Nations Associations, the Non-Governmental Liaison Service (UN-NGLS) and the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO). Today, we hope to have an open discussion on how the United Nations and civil society actors have worked together in partnership for the last 70 years, and how we can increase Geneva’ impact in the maintenance of peace and security, the realization of development, and the promotion and protection of human rights on the ground.

Changing world

The world we live in is in rapid transformation. It is more interconnected than ever. Individuals are more empowered to claim their rights. The role and function of the State and its relationship with various stakeholders is in flux, including the way the multilateral agenda is shaped. Multilateralism today is a combination of national public debate, international policy dialogue and innovative action to respond to emerging challenges. Partnerships and multi-constituency coalitions of States, public and private actors, civil society and academia, are increasingly central to the achievement of common goals. These are important elements to factor into our work, if we want to remain relevant and true to the expectations of “We, the Peoples of the United Nations”.

Civil society and NGOs in the United Nations – overview of engagement

Civil society actors and NGOs assisted as mid-wives at the birth of the United Nations Organization, while States as doctors played the decisive role. A handful of non-governmental organizations were involved in the drafting of the UN Charter in 1945, in partnership with governmental delegations. The credit for the reference to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to make suitable arrangements for consultation with NGOs goes to those few NGOs. This provision paved the way for the institutionalization of the role of NGOs at the international level. Thanks to their partnership with governmental delegations, the reference to human rights is reflected in the Charter. A founding example of the important contributions of NGOs to the modern multilateral system.

Since then, the role of civil society continues to increase. It plays an important role in multilateral diplomacy and action, whether as actors, allies and partners in meeting rooms where new agreements are negotiated, or in the field, distributing food and relief supplies to the most vulnerable. Civil society has advanced and shaped, often through synergies and partnerships with States and International Organizations, a long and diverse list of vital issues, including gender issues, AIDS, landmines, rights of persons with disabilities, issues of indigenous peoples, and child soldiers, to name but a few, making a clear difference in the United Nations context. NGOs have mobilized to get various United Nations organs to pass resolutions on disarmament, development, the environment, human rights, and on other subjects related to the underlying sources of conflicts. They have helped to develop new United Nations institutions, such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. NGOs played an active role in the development of the International Criminal Court. They have delivered humanitarian assistance and worked in conflict and post-conflict areas to build peace, often hand in hand with the United Nations. The United Nations system relies on the expertise and active involvement of civil society actors at all levels. We look forward to hearing more examples of our collaboration from you today.

Statistics of NGO participation

Archives tell us that there were 41 NGOs associated with the work of the United Nations in 1945. Seventy years later, there are more than 4,000 NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC, and some 1,300 NGOs are associated with the Department of Public Information. The database of Civil Society Organizations maintained by the DESA NGO Branch contains thousands of NGOs. I do not think that we even possess reliable statistics on how many civil society organizations work with the United Nations in the world – both at Headquarters and at the country and grass roots level.

Geneva and NGOs

Geneva is home to some 400 NGOs in consultative status, and many more come here from all over the world to participate in events and conferences. At the Human Rights Council, NGO participation continues to grow by session: 275 NGOs – 102 more than the total number of UN Member States represented in Geneva - participated in the last session in March. We continuously try to make the Palais des Nations as NGO-friendly as possible, providing various facilities, including the NGO Resource Centre, which has been upgraded with additional computer capacity. More than 3,300 NGO representatives were accredited to UNOG last year. NGOs organized 70 meetings at the Palais des Nations - not counting the side events NGOs held on the margins of various conferences.

NGOs are also important partners of our Perception Change Project, which we launched last year to showcase the extraordinary substance generated in Geneva in the vital areas of peace, rights and well-being.

Some pertinent questions and issues to address

There are several issues we can reflect upon today in a forward-looking manner regarding the relationship between civil society and the United Nations.

One issue concerns ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, which governs NGO consultative engagement with ECOSOC. NGOs complain about the difficulties in applying and receiving consultative status, and criticize the process as heavy, lengthy, politicized, putting those working on human rights issues at a disadvantage. These are valid concerns.

We also hear concerns about various United Nations bodies requiring different registration practices for NGOs, uneven levels of civil society engagement among United Nations bodies, and no formal involvement of civil society in some of them, like the Conference on Disarmament, for example. In order to remedy the situation, I initiated an informal CD - Civil Society Forum last March, both member States and NGOs have expressed their desire to build on that first successful meeting, so we will organize future similar events.

There is plenty of scope for us to look across the United Nations system in order to identify ways and means of associating civil society more closely to our daily work. It is becoming an increasing necessity to do so.

Building an institutional culture within the United Nations, that considers civil society organizations as valuable partner in the implementation of our shared mission, should be stepped up. The United Nations and its partner organizations should take a greater leadership role in creating an enabling environment for civil society.

The post-2015 development agenda is very much on our mind this year. Its success will depend to a great extent on strong, open, accessible, inclusive and participatory mechanisms and partnerships, and new ways of thinking. Consultations in the elaboration of the Sustainable Development Goals is a good example of the engagement of a multitude of stakeholders, and should serve as model for future reference. This is particularly true when we enter into the implementation phase, when it is going to be “all hand on deck” if we want to have even the slightest chance of success.

Today is an opportunity for us to examine the relationship between United Nations and civil society actors in an appreciative and forward-looking way; an opportunity to learn from the exchange of experiences, practices and lessons learned of our engagement; a way to find inspiration and ideas; and to focus on the Geneva dimension and its contribution for the world.

In closing, I would like to reaffirm my personal commitment to ensuring that civil society space at the Palais des Nations is defended, sustained and enlarged.

Thank you.