On Wednesday, 13 April, members of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) elected 19 members to the UN Committee on NGOs, a body frequently criticised for restricting civil society participation at the UN.
The elections to the Committee on NGOs are three weeks away. We now know the full list of 20 candidates for membership. They include some of the most egregious human rights violators on the planet. ECOSOC members should not give them their vote. It is also not too late for better candidates to stand.
Voices from around the world took to Twitter to join the conversation about why civil society is so important to the UN and to demand that the UN #OpenTheDoorToNGOs.
In April, elections will be held to the UN Committee on NGOs, a body mandated to accredit NGOs to the UN. 349 national, regional and international NGOs have called for States to take NGO participation seriously and vote accordingly.
A new ISHR report maps China’s presence and influence in the UN economic and social affairs system, highlighting potential risks for civil society participation and the promotion and protection of human rights.
To date, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights’ (the African Commission) recommendations to the Kenyan Government on reparations for the eviction of Endorois indigenous people from their ancestral lands in the 1970s remain largely unimplemented. On 13 April 2021, the NGO Forum met to discuss the status of the implementation of the African Commission’s 2010 decision 276/2003 on the rights of the Endorois people.
The ECOSOC Committee on NGOs has just completed its first 2021 session after two postponed sessions due to Covid-19 restrictions. Failing to move with the times, the Committee did not allow for virtual participation of NGOs in Q&As, something States called out and which must be addressed at the next session in August.
The International Service for Human Rights (ISHR) publishes yearly Chinese Human Rights Monitors (CHRM), aiming to support Chinese human rights defenders and civil society working on human rights in China in acceding to the UN human rights mechanisms.
In April 2022 elections will be held for membership of the UN’s Committee on NGOs. A group of national, regional and international NGOs have come together to call on States – as candidates and electors – to use these elections as a means to make real the UN’s commitment to partnership with civil society. #OpenDoorsToNGOs
After reviewing reports from the Hong Kong government and wide range of Hong Kong and international civil society groups last month, UN experts tasked with monitoring human rights implementation compiled a list of hard questions. These pinpoint the need for clear answers on how Hong Kong and Beijing will act to protect and respect fundamental freedoms in the territory.
