Global Policy Forum

Ref.: UN/NYt/093/04

Ms Louise Fréchette
Deputy-Secretary General
United Nations
Room S- 3810
New York

31 August 2004

Dear Deputy Secretary-General,

As a non-governmental organization (NGO), Amnesty International has actively contributed to the work of the United Nations for some forty years and values the opportunity to engage with UN member states and the UN Secretariat to further the promotion and protection of human rights. We have read the report of the Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations-Civil Society Relations, transmitted to member states on 11 June 2004, with great interest.

Our organization welcomes the premise of the report that enhancing dialogue and cooperation with civil society will make the United Nations more effective. We support the report's recommendation that the General Assembly should involve civil society organizations more regularly in its affairs. We also support the priority the report places on engagement at the country level – notably by increased participation from civil society organizations in the south – since important action to promote and protect human rights takes place at that level. On access to UN fora, we strongly endorse the panel's views that there is a need to depoliticize the current accreditation process, which, as the report also acknowledges, has prevented some well qualified civil society organizations from making their valuable contribution. Difficulties have particularly been encountered by NGOs in the human rights field.

We urge the Secretary-General to use the report as a basis for taking all practical steps that will make depoliticization of the accreditation process a reality. For example, proposal 20 - laudably - aims to increase the technical focus of the accreditation process for NGO's. It envisages an advisory body to an Accreditation Unit that would be based in the General Assembly Secretariat. Amnesty International urges that any such advisory body should be constituted with maximum safeguards for independence. Its work should be informed by the expertise and experience of relevant NGO's.

However, we also have concerns about several aspects of the report. The panel places considerable emphasis on broadening the participation of civil society and other actors in UN processes, among them the private sector and parliamentarians. As you know from our organization's active involvement in the Global Compact, we believe that businesses certainly have an important role to play in the global context, notably in upholding human rights and protecting the environment. However, the role of the private sector, and that of parliamentarians - as manifestations of government – are all brought together under the broad definition of NGO's used in the report, as explained in the Glossary. Yet the respective roles of business associations, parliamentarians and local authorities are essentially different from that of public-benefit NGO's, such as those engaged in development, human rights, peace and the environment. The UN has clearly recognised the latter's unique role and contribution since 1945 in Article 71 of the UN Charter and also in ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, which lays down the principles, privileges and responsibilities of NGO's for such engagement.

Amnesty International believes it is important that the Secretary-General ensures that the opportunity for public-benefit NGO's to make their specific Charter-based contribution to the UN is fully preserved and enhanced in the process of acting upon the report's recommendations. The distinct character and contribution of NGO's must continue to be recognized not only with regard to any alterations in the accreditation process, but also in the consideration of creating any new Secretariat structures, such as a possible Office of Constituency Engagement and Partnerships. We also believe that the process of follow-up to the report must remedy the absence of rules for private and other actors to engage with the UN, including by addressing their respective responsibilities and accountability.

Proposal 12 makes several recommendations to strengthen the Security Council's dialogue with civil society. Amnesty International broadly supports the recommendations, notably improved effectiveness of Arria formula meetings and regularised Security Council meetings with NGO's during field missions, which could enhance the Council's engagement with NGO's in developing countries. Security Council seminars to discuss issues of emerging importance to the Council are welcome but could build upon initiatives already taken by Council members and NGO's. The involvement of United Nations specialists in such meetings, especially from the Commission on Human Rights, would be a particularly welcome development. The automatic convening of independent commissions of inquiry after Council-mandated operations requires more thought, although independent end-of-mission evaluations and the extraction of best practices and lessons learned should be routine.

Finally, it is not clear how many of the report's broadly-phrased recommendations would be implemented. The general nature of these recommendations provide as much potential for misuse by those opposing increased engagement with civil society as an opportunity to genuinely enhance and deepen the relationship. Given the broad nature of many of the report's recommendations, Amnesty International requests the Secretary-General to ensure that NGO's will be invited to participate actively in an inclusive follow-up process to the report. Indeed, the manner in which the panel itself has sought to engage with civil society organizations all over the world has set an example, which we hope will be continued through structured NGO input in the follow-up stage of this important report.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Yvonne Terlingen
Amnesty International Representative at the United Nations

cc. Ms Marta Maurás, Director, Office of the Deputy Secretary-General