50th Agenda 

50th Session Issues

The Role of NGOs and Civil Society in the Global Community

by
Randy Hill

The term "civil society" refers to an organized community that operates autonomously within a set of legal norms within traditional sovereign states. Civil society interacts with sovereign government, and is a response to the increasing inability of governments to provide certain needs, such as environmental conservation or health care. The growth in information technology and more efficient and cheaper modes of transportation and communication have facilitated a "borderless world," where culture and political views more easily mix together and where people more readily identify with their counterparts in other nations.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) form a major, though certainly not the only, manifestation of the growth of civil society. In certain policy areas such as environmental protection, "NGOs have become necessary to global governance." NGOs also promote international peace and security, disarmament, health issues such as HIV/AIDS, and social welfare services just to name a few.

NGOs and their links to the broader civil society serve several important functions in the global community in general, and the United Nations (UN) in particular. NGOs act in a manner very similar to domestic "interest groups," advocating positions in international debates concerning political, economic and social issues at, for instance, international conferences and during various Special Sessions sponsored by the UN. NGOs also participate as information clearinghouses, informing other members of civil society of the activities of national governments and of the activities of the UN. At global conferences sponsored by the UN, such as the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED or Earth Summit or Rio) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, NGOs played a critical role in the overall success of the meeting.

NGOs have had access to the deliberations of the UN since its founding. The UN Charter (Article 71) states that "The Economic and Social Council may make suitable arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations which are concerned with matters within its competence. . ." But the importance of NGO participation has increased substantially in the 1990's, especially at UNCED where 1,400 NGOs were registered. After Rio, ECOSOC began to consider modifying its rules governing NGO access which had been based on ECOSOC Resolution 1296 (XLIV) adopted in 1968. As described in more detail by Paul (1999), there were surprising disagreements among member States and among the NGOs themselves whether increased NGO access was desirable. Many developing nations viewed NGO advocacy of human rights issues as interfering with their sovereign authority and policy preferences, while many developed nations had similar concerns about NGO interest in disarmament and economic issues.

In 1996, ECOSOC adopted resolution E/1996/31, which contained new rules governing NGO access to and participation in the activities of the Council. Over 1,350 NGOs now have consultative status with ECOSOC.

The Council . . . established three categories of status for NGOs. General consultative status is for large, international NGOs whose area of work covers most of the issues on the Council's agenda. Special consultative status is for NGOs that have special competence in a few fields of the Council's activity. The third category, which is inclusion on the Roster, is for NGOs whose competence enables them to make occasional and useful contributions to the work of the United Nations and who are available for consultation upon request. NGOs on the Roster may also include organizations in consultative status with a specialized agency or other United Nations body (A/53/170).

In an accompanying decision, ECOSOC recommended that the General Assembly examine the question of participation by NGOs in all areas and organs of the UN system. The General Assembly (GA) decided to ask the Secretary-General (SG) to report on the issue; his report was submitted in July 1998 (RES A/52/453).

The Report by the Secretary-General (A/53/170) recognized the "growing operational partnership" between NGOs and the UN, and called for a variety of reforms to ensure and enhance the participation of NGOs in virtually all UN activities." But the report was released amidst a number of events suggesting that NGO participation would be limited, not enhanced. NGOs were subjected to increased security checks and were denied credentials at the 53rd Session of the GA. The United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) hinted at the possibility of imposing a fee for its materials. The United States proposed to the Fifth Committee of the GA (Budgetary and Financial) that NGOs pay the full cost of their participation, including use of meeting rooms, documents, and libraries. The proposal was later withdrawn, but only served to heighten the suspicions of many NGO representatives. Furthermore, an increasing number of NGOs, especially those concerned with human rights issues, are losing their access to UN-sponsored events because of pressure from member States who have been embarrassed by revelations made by such groups.

In addition, with the growth of the role of NGOs in global governance, there has been increased criticism from a variety of sectors that some NGOs are undemocratic organizations that do not reflect the wide range of views of citizens in civil society, or even of the members of a particular NGO. In addition, many NGOs have been established by national governments, or in opposition to national governments, and concern themselves with issues of politically controlling their respective country, rather than issues of concern to global civil society. Such NGOs are generally viewed as inappropriate participants in the process of global governance.

In addition to the critical issue of NGO involvement in UN debates and activities, the Secretary-General's Report discusses in detail the issue of how NGOs provide the delivery of social services and conduct many economic development and humanitarian operations for the UN. In addition, NGOs, such as Amnesty International, provide critical information and support to UN efforts to monitor and protect human rights. But NGOs need additional resources and technical capacity to enable them to continue these kinds of assistance activities. Yet many countries fear that UN sponsorship of NGO capacity-building activities may lead to politically stronger NGOs which could impair the sovereignty of member states.

While the SG's Report made several suggestions to enhance the effectiveness of NGO participation including greater technical support, capacity-building, funding, and cooperation with DPI, many NGOs complained that the Secretary-General's Report failed to offer concrete solutions to the problems faced by NGOs in their quest for better UN access, or even to recognize fully the role of NGOs in UN activities. In light of these criticisms, the GA requested the Secretary-General "to seek the views of member States, members of the specialized agencies, observers and intergovernmental organizations, as well as the views of non-governmental organizations from all regions, and submit a further report to the General Assembly, at the 54th Session, taking into account the submissions received "(A/53/452).

This paper has stressed the role of NGOs, but there are other issues that delegates may wish to consider as part of this agenda topic. For instance, there are other elements of civil society such as party systems, elections, and educational institutions that need to be strengthened to promote democratic systems. In addition, the Secretary-General has proposed the holding of a "Millennium Assembly" made up of representatives of civil society. Delegates may wish to discuss whether such a conference should take place and the nature of such a conference.

Questions

  1. What is the appropriate level of NGO access to United Nations debates and activities? Should NGOs be granted access to the Security Council? Should the rules of participation in other UN bodies, particularly the General Assembly and ECOSOC, be modified?
  2. Who should bear the cost of NGO activities at the UN? How can NGOs be provided adequate access to information, especially information strored in electronic form, at a reasonable cost?
  3. Should the United nations endeavor to give access to the points of view of civil society not adequately represented by existing NGOs?
  4. How can NGOs be made more accountable?
  5. How can member states enhance those institutions in developing countries that may contribute to the development of a civil society and reduce the likelihood of conflict (political party systems, elections, educational programs) without interfering with national sovereignty or cultural practices?
  6. Should the United Nations sponsor a Millenium Assembly?
  7. What form should such an Assembly take?
  8. What should it discuss? Who should participate? How should they be selected?
  9. How will the Assembly be funded? When and where should it be held?

Sources

Patricia Birnie, The UN its environment," in United Nations, Divided World: The UN's Roles in International Relations, edit by Adam Roberts and Benedict Kingsbury, New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Paul Lewis, "UN Committee, Under Pressure, Limits Rights Groups," New York Times, June 22, 1999.
Ronnie D. Lipschutz, "Reconstructing World Politics: The Emergence of Global Civil Society," in International Society After the Cold War: Anarchy and Order Reconsidered, Rick Fawn & Jeremy Larkins, eds., New York: St. Martins Press, 1986.
James A. Paul, "NGO Access at the UN," Draft Statement, February 4, 1999 http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/analysis/jap-accs.htm
Thomas G. Weiss and Leon Gordenker, eds. NGOs, the UN, and Global Governance, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1996.
Thomas G. Weiss, David P. Forsythe, and Roger A. Coate, The United Nations and Changing World Politics, Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1997.
Peter Willetts, ed., The Conscience of the World, Washington, DC: Brookings, 1996.
Michael Edwards and David Hume, eds., Non-Governmental Organizations: Performance and Accountability -- Beyond the Magic Bullet, London: Earthscan, 1995.
S. Bruce Schearer, "The Emerging Role of Civil Society: A Force for Social Development," Keynote Paper prepared for the International Council of Social Welfare International Seminar, Montreal, October 31, 1995  www.icnl.org/gendocs/forces.html

UN DOCUMENTS

United Nations, Report of the Secretary General, "Arrangements and practices for the interaction of non-governmental organizations in all activities of the United Nations System," A/53/170, 10 July 1998.
ECOSOC Resolution 1296 (XLIV) 23 May 1968.
ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, 25 July 1996.
General Assembly Decision 52/453 (19 December 1997).
General Assembly Decision 53/452 (18 December 1998).