UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and NGOs

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as an organ of the United Nations General Assembly , but in reality it acts as a separate organization. One hundred and ninety two Member States comprise UNCTAD, with its governance lead by the Member States at the Quadrennial Conference and, between meetings of the Quadrennial Conference, by the Trade and Development Board (TDB). As its name implies, the role of UNCTAD is to deal with trade, development, and investment issues and aid developing countries in the world economy.

The Trade and Development Board has three Commissions to address specific areas (Commission on Trade in Goods, Services, and Commodities; Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues, Commission on Enterprise, Business Facilitation and Development) and the UNCTAD secretariat also services ECOSOC’s Commission on Science and Technology for Development.

Legal Basis for NGO-UNCTAD Relations

NGOs derive their ability to relate to UNCTAD from the 1964 resolution that established UNCTAD, UN General Assembly Resolution 1995.This resolution authorizes UNCTAD to offer NGOS a nonvoting opportunity to participate in the deliberations of this body and any subsidiaries established by it. As a result, the Trade and Development Board established Rule 77 that provided a legal basis for NGOs to have observer status and participatory rights. Other rules and decisions further clarified the relationship, including Decision 43 (VIII) that established the criteria and procedures for NGOs to be granted observer status.

NGOs relate both formally with the intergovernmental organs of UNCTAD -- through participating in meetings, forums, and hearings -- and informally with the UNCTAD, through participating in meetings, workshops and seminars, co-publishing materials, implementations of cooperative programs, and so forth.

The Civil Society Outreach (CSO) unit within the UNCTAD Secretariat was created in 2000 to serve as a liaison between NGOs and UNCTAD.

Categories for NGOs Officially Recognized by UNCTAD

Those NGOs formally associated with UNCTAD are each assigned to one of three categories, as delineated by Decision 43:

1. General Category. International NGOs that have a wide scope of interest in most of UNCTAD activities are placed into this category, including most such NGOs dealing with development issues.
2. Special Category. International NGOs that have special competence in only one or two areas of the activities covered by UNCTAD are placed into this category. They are assigned to a particular Commission (or two Commissions) at the time of accreditation.
3. Register. National NGOs that can make a significant contribution to the work of UNCTAD are placed into this category, pending approval of the Member State to which the NGO belongs.

NGOs that belong to the first two categories are called “NGOs with observer status.” As of March 2009, there were 198 NGOs officially recognized by UNCTAD, of which 110 were placed in the General Category, 88 in the Special Category, and 21 on the Register.

NGO Opportunities

NGOs with observer status can have representatives participate as observers at public meetings of the Trade and Development Board and its subsidiary bodies, submit written statements, and make oral statements when invited by the President/Chairman and approved by the Trade and Development Board or subsidiary organs. NGOs in observer status also have opportunities to participate in the Quadrennial Conference without additional accreditation.

While General Category NGOs can participate in all public meetings of all UNCTAD intergovernmental organs (Conference, TDB, three commissions, etc.), NGOs in Special Category are restricted to the Conference, the TDB, and the public meetings of the particular commission to which assigned when accredited, as well as the subsidiary bodies of that commission. NGOs on the Register and NGOs not officially recognized by UNCTAD need to request accreditation to the Conference. The Quadrennial Conference, UNCTAD XIII, is scheduled for Doha, Qatar in 2012.

References

This article utilized as a main source: S. Rapinsky and P. van den Bossche. 2007. NGO Involvement in International Organizations: A Legal Analysis. London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law.