Chair,

At the start of the work of the NGO Committee this year, the EU and its Member States thank the Chair and the members of the Committee for undertaking this important responsibility.

We reiterate our strong commitment to foster and support civil society engagement, be it at home, abroad, as well as here at the UN. An active, diverse and independent civil society is a cornerstone of a democratic society.

The EU is therefore a staunch supporter of the meaningful, free and open participation of civil society at the work in the UN. Civil society plays an essential role in advancing the ideals and visions of the United Nations by contributing to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, foster peaceful societies and uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms. Many civil society organizations also contribute significantly to response efforts in conflict and crisis situations, providing emergency relief, health care and other essential support to persons in need.

As the dedicated subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council, the NGO Committee has a critical role and responsibility to ensure and promote NGO participation in the UN. The EU firmly believes that the NGO Committee must be guided by the sole consideration of the general interest when reviewing applications and that spirit and provisions of ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31 must be respected.

The EU remains concerned about the inefficiencies of the Committee, particularly the continued unjustified deferral of the accreditation of some NGOs, sometimes for years, on the basis of dubious arguments and repetitive questions, contrary to the spirit of Resolution 1996/31. For the current session, we see no justification for the NGO Committee to delay further the applications of a number of EU-based NGOs, as well as from other regions of the world, that have been pending for a long time. We call on the members of the Committee to grant accreditation to these NGOs without any further delay. 

The EU therefore reiterates that a reform of the NGO Committee is overdue. It should allow for a more inclusive, effective, fair and transparent functioning of the Committee, including through limitations to unjustified deferrals and finding effective solutions to other challenges related to the work of the NGO Committee.

We welcome the initiative taken by Costa Rica and the United Kingdom last year to explore ways to improve the work of the NGO Committee, and the subsequent decision that was adopted by ECOSOC in July last year.

We welcome the reconfirmation of the annual consultations with NGOs by the Committee and the request to the Secretary General to increase his support to the NGO Section of the Secretariat in order to fulfil the Committee’s mandate as set out in ECOSOC resolution 1996/31. We expect that these annual consultations will take place in 2025 and kindly ask for an update on the planning in this regard.

We stress the importance of continued deliberations in the informal working group to consider further options to improve its methods of work, and hope to see some concrete outcome and recommendations of the Committee in this regard to the ECOSOC Management Segment this summer. We encourage the informal working group to be open for input by all Member States and consult civil society in order to identify recommendations for meaningful reform of the NGO Committee. One of the issues that deserves further discussion is hybrid participation of NGOs in the Q&A session, which would facilitate participation of more NGOs from all regions.

Let me conclude by confirming that the EU and its Member States remain ready to work in an open, transparent and constructive manner with all UN Member States to resolve any issues relating to the important role and work of this Committee.

We wish you all a constructive and successful session in the coming days and weeks.

Thank you.