Letter to Members of the UN's General Assembly Regarding the ECOSOC Committee on NGOs

To: Member States of the UN General Assembly

Cc: President of ECOSOC, President of the General Assembly, President of the Human Rights Council, UN Secretary General.

Excellencies:

We are five months out from elections to the ECOSOC Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations for the 2023-2026 term. These are key elections for all those who value the expertise of civil society and seek to ensure the UN can benefit from it.

The Secretary General has called civil society the UN’s ‘indispensable partners”. Member States recently committed to boosting partnerships ‘to ensure an effective response to our common challenges’. In recommending approval of the participation of non-governmental organisations in a range of UN bodies and processes, the Committee on NGOs plays a key role in facilitating such partnerships. It is essential that the members of the Committee are committed to fulfilling such a task fairly and judiciously.

With this in mind, we would like to request the following, that:

1. States with an interest in facilitating and safeguarding civil society access to and participation in UN processes stand for election to the Committee.

2. Candidates make public the reasons for their candidacy and their commitment to fulfil their responsibilities as members of the Committee, as per ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31.

3. All regions put up competitive slates, as the Asia-Pacific and GRULAC regions did in the last elections for the Committee in 2018. Competitive elections are important to create buy-in to the process and encourage states to be accountable for their commitments.

4. All regions make public candidacies at least two months before the elections to allow for proper consideration of candidates.

5. All ECOSOC members vote (and be encouraged to vote) only for candidates with positive track records in regard to civil society access and participation. Candidates could be assessed in regard to indicators such as support for relevant UN resolutions, such as those on civil society space and human rights defenders; on responses to cases of intimidation and reprisals; and on national level initiatives to safeguard civic space, press freedom – online as offline – and the right to defend human rights.

6. ECOSOC members should consider introducing term limits for membership of the Committee on NGOs, among other reforms encouraging openness and accountability. As with other UN bodies, states should be required to leave the Committee for a specific interval of time after serving for a maximum agreed period. Term limits would encourage greater diversity in membership over time and encourage states to step up as candidates.

The Committee on NGOs is entrusted with the task of facilitating civil society access so that the expertise and experience of civil society partners can enrich and inform UN debates. It needs members that are committed to fulfilling the Committee’s mandate in a fair, transparent, non-discriminatory, expeditious and apolitical manner. It falls on all member states – as potential candidates and / or electors – to ensure that the Committee membership is fit for purpose.

Please elect to stand up for civil society!

Yours sincerely,

Signatories:

• Aboriginal Corporation
• Aboriginal Drug & Alcohol Council (SA)
• Acceso a la Justicia
• Access Now
• Acción Solidaria
• Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights
• Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer)
• AfricaNPUD
• AfroLatin@Project
• Agir Ensemble pour les Droits Humains
• Agência Piaget para o Desenvolvimento (APDES)
• AIDS Action Europe
• Al-Erada Organization for Relief and Development
• Al-Haq
• Alcohol and Drug Foundation Australia
• Al Hub Wa Al Salam Iraqi Globally
• Alliance for Diversity and Equality (AfED)
• Alliance Nationale des Communautés pour la Santé Sénégal (ANCS)
• Alliance of NGOs on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
• Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights
• ALQST for Human Rights
• Altaqwa Association for Women and Child Rights
• Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
• Amman Center for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS)
• Amnesty International
• Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice
• Anhur Foundation
• Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU)
• Arab Network for Knowledge about Human Rights (ANKH)
• ARTICLE 19
• ASEAN SOGIE Caucus
• Asian Conference on Education & International Development (ACEID)
• Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
• Asociación Civil Red Ciudadana
• Association de Parents et Amis de Disparus au Maroc
• Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
• Association Margina from Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Association Mauritanienne pour la Promotion des Droits de l'Homme (AMPDH)
• Association of Anti-bribery Management System Practitioners Malaysia
• Association pour le Respect du Droit des Populations Autochtones, du
• ASUD
• Australian Alcohol and other Drugs Council (AADC)
• Autistic Minority International
• AWTAD Anti-Corruption Organization
• Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRDBH)
• Bahrain Transparency Association
• Beneby Enterprises, LLC
• Bensther Development Foundation
• Berkeley Patients Group
• Botswana Watch Organization
• Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
• Caleidoscopio Humano
• Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Center for Innovative and Pragmatic
• Center for Investigative Reporting (CIN)
• Center for Reproductive Rights
• Center Women and Modern World
• Centre for Human Rights Movement
• Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation (CDPE)
• Centro de Convivência É de Lei
• Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)
• Centro de Justicia y Paz (Cepaz)
• Centro de Orientación e Investigación Integral (COIN)
• Centro InterculturaCidade (ACI)
• Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental, A.C. (CEMDA)
• Centro por la Justicia y Derechos Humanos de la Costa Atlántica de Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN)
• Centros de Integración Juvenil (CIJ)
• Child Rights Connect
• CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality
• Chronic Illness Advocacy & Awareness Group (CIAAG)
• CityWide Drugs Crisis Campaign Ireland
• CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
• Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
• Coalición Boliviana de Colectivos LGBTI
• Coalition Ivoirienne des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (CIDDH)
• Coexistence Organisation for Relief and Development
• Collectif des Associations Contre l'Impunité au Togo (CACIT)
• Collectif des Familles de Disparu(e)s en Algérie (CFDA)
• Collectif Urgence Toxida
• Comisión Colombiana de Juristas
• Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
• Concile Mondiale de Congrès Diplomatiques des Aumoniers pour la Paix Universelle des Droits Humains et Juridiques
• Conectados Pela Vida
• Conectas Direitos Humanos
• Consejo Regional Indígena y Popular de Xpujil
• Conselho Indigenista Missionário (CIMI)
• Corporación Viso Mutop Colombia
• Correlation European Harm Reduction Network
• Czech AIDS Help Society
• DaMigra
• Dar Africa
• Darya Organization for Developing Women and Community
• Dawei Probono Lawyer Network
• DefendDefenders - East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
• Derechos Humanos y Litigio Estratégico Mexicano (DLM - Mexico)
• Deutsche Aidshilfe
• Development Association FHRRDA
• Development Initiative (CIPDI)
• Dianova International
• DRCNet Foundation Inc
• Drug Policy Network South East Europe
• Društvo AREAL
• Développement Durable et du Droit de l'Homme (ARPA2DH)
• Elternkreis Wien Verein zur Förderung der Selbsthilfe für Angehörige von Suchtkranken
• Empowerment for Sustainable Livelihood (EFSL)
• Engineering Association for Development and Environment
• Epikeia DDHH
• Episteme. Investigación e Intervención Social
• ERA - LGBTI Equal Rights Association for the Western Balkans and Turkey
• Ethiopian Initiative for Human Rights (EIHR)
• Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA)
• European AIDS Treatment Group
• European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD)
• Eurothink - Center for European Strategies
• Expert Forum (EFOR)
• FAAAT Think & Do Tank
• FIACAT
• Fields of Green for ALL
• Forum Droghe
• Forum Réfugiés-Cosi
• Franciscans International
• Fundación de Ayuda contra la Drogadicción (FAD)
• Fundación Gente Positiva CR
• Fundación Multitudes
• Fundación Red por la Infancia
• Fundamental Human Rights & Rural
• Fundação Portuguesa “A Comunidade Contra a SIDA” (FPCCSIDA)
• Fédération Addiction
• Fédération Euro-Méditerranéenne Contre les Disparitions Forcées (FEMED)
• Fédération Internationale pour les Droits Humains (FIDH)
• Fòs Feminista
• F’INE Pasifika Aotearoa Trust
• Global Action for Trans Equality
• Global Black Gay Men Connect (GBGMC)
• Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
• Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
• Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR)
• Global Justice Center
• Green Crescent Ethiopia
• Green Development Advocates (GDA)
• Guatemala (UDEFEGUA)
• Gulf Centre for Human Rights
• Guyanese Association of Harm Reduction (AGRRR)
• Harm Reduction Australia (HRA)
• Harm Reduction International
• Health Poverty Action
• Healthy Options Project Skopje (HOPS)
• Hearts On Venezuela
• Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
• Hepatitis Australia
• HIV Justice Network
• HIV Legal Network
• Hope and Trust
• HPLGBT
• Humanists International
• Human Rights Campaign
• Human Rights Defenders Network – Sierra Leone (HRDN-SL)
• Human Rights House Foundation
• Human Rights Watch
• IFEX
• Indonesian Harm Reduction Network (JANGKAR)
• Institute for Development of Freedom of Information
• Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH)
• Institute of Legislative Ideas
• Integrity Initiatives International
• Intercambios Asociación Civil
• International Accountability Project
• International Association of Applied Psychology
• International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI)
• International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS)
• International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
• International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
• International Council of Women; National Council of Women Austria
• International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN)
• International Drug Law Advocacy and Resource Center (IDLARC)
• International Drug Policy Consortium
• International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers
• International Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights (Race and Equality)
• International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA World)
• International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR)
• International Movement for Advancement of Education Culture Social & Economic Development (IMAECSED)
• International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse
• International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD)
• International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
• International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
• Iranti South Africa
• Iraqi Al-Amal Association
• Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights
• Japan Advocacy Network for Drug Policy
• Jeunesse pour une Nouvelle Société (JNS)
• Jordan Transparency Center
• Just Fair
• Justice for All
• Justitia Center for Legal Protection of Human Rights in Algeria
• Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (Campaign Against Homophobia)
• Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
• Khairat Al-Nahraeen of Human Organization
• Kilómetro 0
• KIOS Foundation
• Kuchlak Welfare Society (KWS) Balochistan Pakistan
• Laboratorio de Paz
• LakanBini Advocates Pilipinas
• Larsa Organization
• Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC)
• LEAP Europe
• Legal Resources Centre (LRC)
• Louisiana Veterans for Medical Cannabis
• Maecenata Foundation
• Mainline Foundation
• Mangfoldhuset
• MANODIVERSA
• Mediterranean Dialogue Center
• MENA Rights Group
• Mesa de Trabajo Nacional (MTN)
• Mother and Child Development Organization (MCDO)
• Mother Teresa Foundation
• Movement for Democracy and Prosperity in Azerbaijan
• Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies Canada
• Mwatana for Human Rights
• México Unido Contra la Delincuencia (MUCD)
• Namibia Diverse Women's Association (NDWA)
• Narasha Community Development Group
• Narconon Nigeria Initiative
• National Birth Equity Collaborative (NBEC)
• Neengar Society
• Network of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in North Africa (CIDH AFRICA)
• New York NGO Committee on Drugs
• No Borders Humanity Organization (NBH)
• NORML France
• Northern Citizen Community Board (NCCB)
• Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Los Andes
• Observatorio Penal Mérida (OPEM DDHH)
• Observatório de Economia e Gestão de Fraude (OBEGEF)
• OpenMedia
• Option2world Initiative Against Drug Abuse
• Organization for Addiction Prevention Treatment and Rehabilitation (OAPTAR)
• OutRight Action International
• Oyu Tolgoi Watch
• Pan Africa ILGA (PAI)
• Paropakar Primary Health Care Centre
• Partnership for Justice, Nigeria
• Pathways for Women's Empowerment and Development (PaWED)
• Peace Track Initiative (PTI)
• Pink Human Rights Defender NGO
• Pioneer Filipino Transgender Men Movement
• Planet Ally
• Plan International
• Plateforme Droits de l'Homme (PDH)
• Pont de la Solidarité
• Positiiviset ry HivFinland
• Positive Voice
• Positive Women
• PPUK
• Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and Research (PODER)
• Promoting Empowerment Through Awareness for Lesbian and Bisexual Women (PETAL)
• Protección Internacional Mesoamérica
• Proyecto Centros de Atención Laboral, Escuela Nacional Sindical, Colombia
• Purity Care Investment
• Queer Singapore
• Rainbow Community Kampuchea Organisation (RoCK)
• Rainbow Pride Foundation (RPF)
• Recovering Justice
• Recovering Nepal (RN)
• Rede Nacional de Mulheres Negras no Combate á Violência
• Red Internacional de Derechos Humanos (RIDH, Suiza/Ginebra)
• ReLeaf Malta
• Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF)
• Research Institute Without Walls
• REVS PLUS
• Rights Realization Centre (RRC)
• Rivers Without Boundaries Coalition - Mongolia
• Romanian Association Against AIDS (ARAS)
• Réseau Nigérien des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (RNDDH)
• Réseau Ouest Africain des Défenseurs des Droits Humains
• Sadaa Center for Human Development
• Safoi Konibodom
• SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR)
• San Patrignano Foundation
• SEDRA-Federación de Planificación Familiar (SEDRA-FPFE)
• Shine Africa Foundation - Teso (SAFTESO)
• Sisters of Charity Federation
• Skilled Iraqi Woman Foundation
• Social Research & Evaluation Pty Limited
• Solace Initiative
• Solidarité Internationale LGBTQI
• SOS Africaines en Danger
• South Asian Drugs and Addictions Research Council
• Spero
• Students for Sensible Drug Policy
• Sudanese Women Rights Action
• Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
• Ta'afi Initiative Syria
• The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation
• The Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya (GALCK)
• The Global Alliance for LGBT Education (GALE)
• The Global Interfaith Network (GINSSOGIE)
• The Good Lobby
• The Institute for Studies of Society, Economy & Environment (iSEE)
• The International Youth Parliament (IYP)
• The Jus Semper Global Alliance
• The Lesbian and Gay Association of Liberia (LEGAL)
• The National Organization of Yemeni Reporters SADA
• The Stockholm Drug Users Union
• The WPS Group
• Together for Responsible Use and Cannabis Education (TRUCE)
• Tournons La Page
• Trans* Support Organization - Kenya
• Transformation Self Motivation (TSM) Consultants
• Transform Drug Policy Foundation
• Transgender Europe (TGEU)
• Transparency International
• Transparency International Taiwan
• Transvanilla Transgender Association
• Uganda Key Populations Consortium (UKPC)
• Ukrainian Network of People who Use Drugs (PUD.UA/ VOLNA)
• Ukrainian Network of Women who Use Drugs (UNWUD)
• UNANIMA International
• UNCAC Coalition
• Unchained At Last
• Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanos de
• UNIDOS - Rede Nacional de Redução de Danos
• Union contre la Co-infection VIH/Hépatites/Tuberculose (UNICO HIV/HV/TB)
• Union for Equity and Health, Moldova
• Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA)
• Unitarian Universalist Association
• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
• United Nations Association, UK
• United Nations Program, Occidental College
• Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights
• Urnas Abiertas
• Uzbek Forum for Human Rights
• Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC)
• VIVAT International
• Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
• West Africa Drug Policy Network (WADPN)
• West African Human Rights Defenders' Network
• Western Pacific Palliative Care Advocacy Network; Australasian Palliative Link International
• Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)
• Women's Human Rights International Association
• Women Nest
• Women Supporting Women Association (WSW)
• World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
• World Organization Safety Montenegro
• Yemeni Youth Forum for Peace
• Young Feminist Europe
• Young Queer Alliance
• Youth for Human Rights Pakistan
• Youth RISE
• Ágora México
• مؤسسة الحق لحقوق االنسان - العراق
• مؤسسة المرأة العراقية الماهرة
• مؤسسة نخبة المستقبل لحقوق االنسان
• منظمة سما للدعم النفسي واالجتماعي -حقوق االنسان
• منظمة نور الرحمه لحقوق االنسان