What does consultative status at the United Nations mean?
Is it more than a hamster wheel for do-gooders?
Over 5400 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with consultative status are registered with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC). There are several categories. Most of them - over 4300 - have "special consultative status", but this is not an outstanding status, as it requires the least commitment from the NGOs.
The registered NGOs have a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. They also include religious organisations, such as the Baha'i International Community or the Quaker peace movement. Many NGOs do very good work at the United Nations within the scope of their possibilities and represent their special interests progressively. They work together and form coalitions. Other NGOs, on the other hand, do nothing substantial and have often only applied for consultative status in order to impress the public or simply to make themselves important. These include a whole range of groups from the esoteric and New Age scene. Some of them even have dubious objectives. There are also front organisations of the Unification Church (Moon sect) and the "Russian Academy of Natural Sciences" (not to be confused with the "Russian Academy of Sciences"). It is a commercial collection of quacks, charlatans, pseudo-scientists and fraudsters. Here is the official information on how to obtain consultative status and here is a list of registered NGOs.
It can often lead to misunderstandings if, for example, the press provides incorrect information. In September 2023, for example, BBC NEWS reported that Londonderry in Northern Ireland had been declared a "UN International City of Peace". In reality, it was only admitted to the private organisation of "International Cities of Peace" (ICP). This organisation has special consultative status with ECOSOC and states this on its website. However, it has no authorisation to represent the United Nations. The chairman of the ICP has corrected this in a statement.
Unfortunately, the NGOs campaigning for reform and further development of the UN system, which is no longer fit for purpose, have been treading water for decades. There is a detailed report on the UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi in May 2024 on the Democracy Without Borders blog. It contains the clear statement of an official UN diplomat:
Discussion with the Pact’s co-facilitator
A large part of the session on the second day was dedicated to an interaction with the German UN Ambassador Antje Leendertse, one of the co-facilitators of the Pact for the Future. Following a presentation of the proposals, she pointed out that in her view they all “have the right direction of creating a global democratic space”. However, in her assessment, none of the proposals can be included in the Pact as a number of member states were explicitly against civil society involvement and the negotiations were based on consensus. But she said she would explore the possibility of including stronger language on protecting civic space.
It is very nice when civil society is tolerated at the very least. The only question is what the whole theatre of conferences is supposed to achieve. DWB sums up in the latest newsletter from 14 June:
Pact for the Future // Following the Nairobi UN conference, a new draft of the so-called Pact for the Future was presented and is now discussed by UN Member States. The draft does not acknowledge the UN's support of democracy and does not propose meaningful changes for better inclusion of civil society, elected representatives or citizens.
That is unmistakable. If the progressive groups in civil society no longer want to give themselves false hope and tread water, they need to get off this hamster wheel and come up with something else.
My proposal: an initiative for a new world organisation, for United Mankind.