Global Policy Forum

Other Programs

NGO Access to the UN

Secretary General Kofi Annan has called NGOs the "conscience of humanity" and "essential partners of the United Nations." Over the years, NGOs have gained considerable access to meetings and documents at the UN, in order to lobby for human rights, disarmament, the environment and many other causes. But in spite of a positive long-term trend, NGOs have recently faced new restrictions on their access, hampering their advocacy efforts.

Many member states are sensitive to NGO criticism and pressure and they are unhappy at growing NGO strength. They hope to lessen NGO influence by these new regulations. So NGOs must lobby more vigorously than ever for improved access - for the ability to receive documents electronically, to attend sessions of the General Assembly, and to circulate freely in the buildings at UN headquarters, as well as other essential conditions of work

. During 1998, Global Policy Forum was a leader in the NGO community's effort to gain improved access. GPF participated in two NGO strategy groups, we drafted a key NGO statement in May, and we published a major analytical paper on the access question in December. GPF was asked to speak on access at a number of NGO events, including the Conference of NGOs' Fiftieth Anniversary meeting. The UN Secretariat also invited GPF to consult on a number of occasions: we gave input on the restructuring of the Department of Public Information, we participated in a review of the Non-Governmental Liaison Service, and we attended a private consultation on access convened by Assistant Secretary General Gillian Sorensen. NGOs, foundations and scholars also asked GPF for advice on access. And the GPF web site, constantly expanded, provided the major information resource for many others worldwide. Associate Lara Tessaro was particular active in GPF's work on NGO access.

Unfortunately, some member states are now proposing new limits to NGO access, including limits on numbers of accredited representatives and limits of access to certain committees and other bodies. So GPF faces a major challenge in its work in this area. In 1999, GPF will continue to provide analysis and leadership in this critical policy issue.

Sanctions

The UN Security Council frequently imposes sanctions, as a means to enforce its resolutions. GPF believes that sanctions are a useful policy tool to enforce international law without military force. But like many other NGOs, we are concerned about the negative impact that general trade sanctions have on the lives of innocent civilians by depriving them of basic foods and medicines. So GPF has been a leader in the effort to evaluate sanctions and to make them more fairly applied, more humane and more "targeted" on those in leadership positions.

In January 1998, the Development and Peace Foundation invited GPF Executive Director James Paul to Bonn to a conference on sanctions that included many top German analysts and policy makers. In March, he again traveled to Bonn to speak to a special hearing of German parliamentarians on sanctions. In June, he spoke at an NGO conference in New York entitled "A Hard Look at Sanctions." And in December, he participated in a private conference on sanctions in New York that included all members of the Security Council. Throughout the year, scholars and policy makers consulted with GPF on this issue. Among them was Andrew Mack, the new Director of the Secretary General's Strategic Planning Unit.

Associate Senwan Akhtar greatly contributed to GPF's work on sanctions during 1998, by vastly increasing the materials on our web site and by researching and updating our sanctions publications. She and Jim co-authored a revised version of the major GPF sanctions paper, to be published in early 1999 in an academic journal and in a new book on human rights. Jim's new paper "Sixteen Policy Recommendations on Sanctions" enjoyed great circulation and contributed to the enlarged sanctions debate. These materials were republished in four other languages during 1998.

GPF also worked through private meetings and discussions with delegations, as well as the "dialogue" meetings of the NGO Working Group on the Security Council. All these efforts bore fruit, as the Council began to re-consider its approach to sanctions in 1998 and to move towards more human-centered approaches, including more "targeted" sanctions. Members of the NGO Working Group were asked in November to provide comments on a Council draft document on sanctions -- the first time NGOs had ever been involved in this way in the Council's private deliberations.

International Public Finance: Global Taxes & Fees

GPF's work on the finance of international public institutions grew out of our work on the UN financial crisis. Some analysts have proposed that global tax revenues could be used to fund the UN and to fund a number of other global policy purposes at the same time, such as development finance and environmental protection. Further, the tax instruments themselves can have positive policy results. The "Tobin Tax" on foreign exchange transactions, for instance, can slow down foreign exchange speculation and a "Carbon Tax" can reduce carbon emissions and slow or halt global warming.

GPF's contribution in this field has been to monitor and report on the global discussions and negotiations and to help create a broader understanding of the issues among policy makers and the public. GPF has also produced original analyses, commentary and proposals.

In 1998, GPF made a major advance in its work in this area with the help of Associate Kevin Baumert, of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. Kevin brought together a tremendous amount of information on the GPF web site and he authored two outstanding policy papers, one of which compared emissions taxes with trading, the main policy options now under debate in the Kyoto process.

In May, GPF organized a briefing at the UN on the question of global taxes, in cooperation with the International Student and Youth Movement for the UN. Among the speakers were Amb. Hans Dahlgren of Sweden, GPF Director James Paul, and GPF Associate Kevin Baumert. In July, GPF Assciate Devaleena Das spoke to the plenary session of ECOSOC on the question of global taxes. Though Baumert is now on the staff of the World Resources Institute in Washington, his project continues at GPF as a responsibility of Associate Miwa Shirato.

Many in the United States are inclined to dismiss the practical possibility of implementing global taxes and fees because of the hostility of Sen. Jesse Helms and his Republican allies in Congress. But at GPF we feel that economic globalization will increasingly require stronger international organizations and that only global taxes and fees can provide a solid financial basis in the long run to pay for them.

In 1999 GPF plans to continue active monitoring in this area. We are also considering organizing an international conference, if funding support can be obtained.

UN Reform

GPF promotes UN reform resulting in a strengthened and democratized institution. Founding board member Erskine Childers was one of the great reform advocates and his books with Brian Urquhart remain a compelling blueprint for UN reform.

In 1998, GPF continued to analyze UN reform proposals and to promote more informed and critical thinking about the reform issue. In particular, we raised questions about the approach that equates UN reform with budget-cutting, downsizing and weakening the organization -- a perspective that is popular in Washington, particularly in the Congress. During the year, GPF monitored the proposals of a number of conservative and business-oriented think tanks that are hostile to the UN, publicizing the names of their corporate sponsors and discussing why they see the UN as inimicable to their interests.

GPF's commentary was constantly in demand. In January, Director James Paul gave a keynote speech in Bonn at a conference on UN reform organized by the Development and Peace Foundation, attended by high-level government officials, parliamentarians, NGO leaders and media reporters. During the year, he gave a number of other public lectures on UN reform or Security Council reform to university, NGO and other audiences.

GPF built its web site sections on UN reform by adding many dozens of new documents and links, as well as a wealth of other information. On the issue of Security Council reform alone, we posted more than two dozen new documents, reflecting the position of many different governments.

GPF was also consulted directly by the UN on the reform of the Department of Public Information. We had ongoing discussions with the UN staff unions about deteriorating staff conditions in various UN offices. We worked closely with several NGO partners, especially the World Federalist Movement, on reform issues. And we produced several analytical papers which discussed the pros and cons of reform strategies.

In 1999, GPF will continue its work on reform, with an emphasis on: (1) publishing a broad reform assessment and (2) working with a wider NGO network to address the UN's reform crisis.