On 17thApril the Universal Rights Group (URG) was granted special consultative status by the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Consultative status provides NGOs with access to UN bodies that are open to NGOs, including ECOSOC and the Human Rights Council, and the various UN human rights mechanisms.
Commenting on the news, URG Executive Director Marc Limon said: ‘It has taken a number of years to get to this point, but we’re delighted to be finally granted UN consultative status. This is important for our international standing, but mostly because it will allow URG to more easily access and engage with UN meetings and processes.’
ECOSOC’s Committee on NGOs reviewed the URG’s deferred application on 2 February 2018 and consequently decided to recommend it for special consultative status. ECOSOC as a whole then approved the Committee’s recommendation on 17thApril with the adoption of draft decision I contained in the Committee’s report E/2018/32.
‘URG is already deeply involved in the UN’s work on human rights, in Geneva, New York and in the field,’ said Dr Ahmed Shaheed, chair of the URG’s Board of Trustees. ‘Notwithstanding, ECOSOC accreditation will help us to increase our reach even further in the months and years to come. This is undoubtedly an important milestone for the organisation.’
ENDS
Photo credits: A view of the Secretariat Building, with Members States’ flags flying in the foreground, at United Nations headquarters in New York, 23 February 2017, UN Photo/Rick Bajornas, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
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