The International Service for Human Rights are calling for sign-ons to an open letter to members of the UN General Assembly, asking that the new membership of the UN Committee on NGOs is selected through a competitive process that elects States with a record of standing up for civil society.
The ECOSOC Committee is the UN body that recommends NGOs for ECOSOC accreditation, a necessary document for NGOs to be able to intervene in many UN processes.
In recent years, the ECOSOC Committee has been denying accreditation to many human rights and progressive NGOs. DPNSEE’s application have been deferred for 5 times so far! In part, this is due to the current composition of the Committee, which is very conservative.
As elections are due in April, It is important that in the next mandate the Committee is comprised of states that are more favourable to civil society, so that it stops acting as an impediment to NGO access to the UN.
We also strongly encourage you to sign on the letter using this link>>>.