Third Committee: Second ever informal meeting with civil society

The second ever informal meeting between the Third Committee and civil society since the last one in 2019 is welcomed by civil society, with the hope that the meeting becomes a fixture in all future Third Committee sessions. 

We welcomed the continued tradition from the 2019 meeting of mixing the seating arrangement in the UNGA hall of States and civil society.  This is a symbolic recognition of the indispensable partnership between civil society and Member states in advancing human rights.

In his opening statement the Third Committee Chair emphasised civil society’s invaluable contributions to the UN’s work and reiterated the UN Charter, acknowledging that the Charter can only be fulfilled by participation and voices of civil society including those most marginalised and vulnerable.  

Civil society representatives provided powerful interventions relevant to the last session of the Third Committee including a substantial summary on developments, an analysis also reflected in a joint statement of various NGOs engaging at the Third Committee. Member States also provided analyses of thematic resolutions and interactive discussions during the session. Beyond outcomes of the session, Member States mentioned reprisals, the NGO Committee, and overwhelmingly many discussed unprecedented barriers for civil society access to the Third Committee. Specifically, we welcome statements from Poland, Costa Rica, Denmark, UK, Liechtenstein, Costa Rica and Palestine who expressed appreciation for civil society contributions, and the importance of the meeting itself taking place. Luxembourg, the convenor of the first ever such meeting, advanced a recommendation to increase interaction with civil society during the Third Committee including through organising interactive dialogues with civil society during the Committee session.

Despite the various supporting voices in the room, Cuba sought to challenge any notion that this meeting created a precedent for future such meetings, while China claimed the Chair was not authorised to convene the meeting as Committee members had not all agreed on its occurrence.

ISHR’s Tess McEvoy  welcomed the meeting as the result of sustained efforts by civil society and several States. She emphasized that  civil society looked forward to engaging in this space on an annual basis going forward and highlighted the exacerbated impact of COVID-19 on human rights defenders while welcoming the passage of the Norway led resolution on this theme.

‘We welcome the convening of this important meeting by the Third Committee Chair, building on the precedent created by Luxembourg in 2019, and deeply regret that this important event was not convened last session,’ said ISHR’s Maithili Pai. This is an essential space for interaction and dialogue between  two crucial stakeholders to effectively advance human rights. We  look forward to more inclusive and rigorous dialogues,’ she added.