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International Law |
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SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS with THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS |
SPECIAL CONSULTATIVE STATUS with THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada - LRWC was granted Special Consultative Status by the Economic and Social Council – ECOSOC of the United Nations on 21 July 2005.
The United Nations Committee on Non-Government Organizations, composed of representatives of 19 member states, had recommended LRWC for this status on 18 May 2005. Special Consultative Status is granted to Non-Government Organizations - NGOs that “have a special competence in, and are concerned specifically with, only a few of the fields of activity covered by the ECOSOC”.
NGO participation is now seen as essential for the success of most major United Nations meetings and events. NGOs with General Consultative Status, Special Consultative Status and on the Roster, that express their wish to attend the relevant international conferences convened by the United Nations and the meetings of the preparatory bodies of the said conferences shall as a rule be accredited for participation.
NGOs with General or Special Consultative Status have a political relationship with ECOSOC and have rights and obligations. The rights and privileges of LRWC as an NGO with Special Consultative Status, as enumerated in ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, entitle LRWC;
o to designate official representatives to the United Nations – to the United National Headquarters in New York and the United Nations in Geneva and Vienna; and,
o to make a contribution to the work programs and goals of the United Nations by serving as technical experts, advisers and consultants to governments and Secretariat; and
o as an advocacy group, to espouse UN themes and to implement plans of action, programs and declarations adopted by the United Nations; and,
o to participate in ECOSOC and its various subsidiary bodies through attendance at meetings, and through presenting oral interventions and written statements on agenda items of these bodies; and,
o to attend international conferences called by the UN General Assembly special sessions, and other intergovernmental bodies. (The participation modalities for NGOs are governed by the rules of procedure of those bodies); and,
o to circulate statements of a maximum of 500 words at ECOSOC meetings; and,
o to circulate statements of a maximum of 1,500 words at meetings of ECOSOC subsidiary bodies.
LRWC is obliged to submit a quadrennial report on their UN-related work for review by the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs.
A calendar of meetings and other NGO-related information is available on the NGOs section homepage
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