NGO participation
NGOs that are accredited
to, and in good standing with, the Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC), are invited to
designate representatives to attend the annual sessions of the Commission
on the Status of Women. These NGOs may:
·
attend open
(public) official meetings
·
submit written
statements prior to sessions
·
meet official
government delegations, including for purposes of lobbying
·
organize and attend
parallel events that take place during the session
·
make oral
statements on behalf of caucuses or coalitions during general discussions
and interactive events (limited numbers because of time constraints)
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Representatives
of ECOSOC-accredited NGOs may attend all open official meetings of the
Commission. Usually, informal consultations on the negotiation of outcomes
(decisions and resolutions) are restricted to government delegates. The
Chairperson of these closed meetings may allow NGOs to observe some of these
consultations during the initial stages of negotiation.
Modalities
of NGO participation in CSW sessions
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Only
NGOs that are accredited
to, and in good standing with, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), may attend
the annual sessions of CSW at UN Headquarters.
NGOs
without ECOSOC accreditation
can, however, organize and attend parallel events held outside UN premises, for
example in the Church Center.
To do so, they should contact
the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (www.ngocsw.org), which is a group of
New York-based women’s NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC.
For
information on how
to apply for ECOSOC accreditation, please visit the DESA NGO Section
website at: http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo.
Eligibility
for CSW54
In addition to ECOSOC-accredited NGOs,
the Economic and Social Council has decided (E/2009/234) to invite those
non-governmental organizations that were accredited to the Fourth World
Conference on Women or to the twenty-third special session of the General
Assembly to attend the fifty-fourth session of the Commission.
Invitation letters are sent to
the organization’s official e-mail address. Organizations are encouraged to
update their profile and contact information on the integrated Civil Society
Organizations (iCSO) System of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(DESA)
Invitation letters to CSW54 have been sent.
Pre-registration began on Monday, 19 October 2009
Pre-registration
There is currently no limit on the
number of representatives each organization may pre-register. However,
organizations should be aware of the limited capacity of United Nations
conference rooms, particularly in the context of current renovations taking
place at United Nations Headquarters. Please note that in this context, entry
into official meetings cannot be guaranteed.
How to pre-register
To
pre-register NGO representatives online, please click here.
Please note that
organization login ID and passwords are strictly confidential.
NGOs should not give their
organization login ID or password to any other organization. Giving an
organization login ID and password to another organization would allow the
recipient organization to tamper with the data.
Instructions for changing / editing names of
representatives who have already been pre-registered
Organizations can review and change the names of their pre-registered
representatives on-line by logging-in on the login page.
Names and contact details of
representatives can be edited by clicking on the relevant name.
While logged-in to the Civil Society Network, organizations can also cancel the pre-registration of a
representative by clicking on the (unlist icon)
button. The name will continue to appear in the system, but the person will no
longer be pre-registered. You can delete the name of the person when updating
your organization’s profile.
Pre-registration
questions
All pre-registration-related
questions should be sent to the official CSW e-mail address. The subject line should read “CSW
pre-registration.”
Confirmation of pre-registration
Following
the completion of pre-registration, NGO representatives will be able to
download and print their confirmation
letters
from the same webpage.
On-site registration
Upon
arrival at the United Nations, each NGO representative should register on site in order to
obtain a UN Grounds Pass. Details regarding on-site registration and issuance
of UN Grounds Passes are provided in the confirmation letter. On-site
registration is a pre-requisite to obtaining a UN grounds pass that is valid
for the duration of the session.
Please
note that DAW will only accept official confirmation letters that have been
posted on its online pre-registration system.
The United Nations will not make travel or visa
arrangements or pay for any expenses in connection with the participation of
NGO representatives in the sessions of CSW. Such
arrangements and costs are the exclusive responsibility of participants.
Participants are encouraged to submit their visa applications well in advance, in
accordance with their local United States Consulate requirements, in order to
allow sufficient time for processing.
Information
regarding possible
accommodation in New York City can be
downloaded here.
In
preparation for each session of CSW, the NGO Committee on the Status of Women,
which is a group of New York-based women’s NGOs in consultative status with
ECOSOC, collaborates with the Division for the Advancement of Women to organize
roundtable discussions at UN headquarters in New York
on the themes to be considered by the CSW.
Written
statements to CSW may be submitted by ECOSOC-accredited NGOs on the thematic issues
considered by CSW in accordance with ECOSOC resolution 1996/31. These statements are submitted
months prior to any session in order to allow time for processing and issuance
of the statements as official United Nations documents for the
Commission.
DEADLINE:
-13 November 2009 for NGOs on the Roster or joint statements
co-signed by one or more NGO(s) on the Roster
-18 November 2009 for individual statements
-23 November 2009 for joint statements
Submission
of written statements
- Written statements shall be
submitted in one of the official languages of the United Nations (Arabic,
Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish).
Organizations
wishing to submit their statement in more than one official language must
specify which language version is the original, and which other language
versions are to be used as references for translation;
- Statements
by organizations in general
consultative status should not exceed 2000 words;
statements by organizations in special
consultative status should not exceed 1500 words;
- Please
note that the word count includes the required title and agenda item;
Please use attached sample
- The
list of signatories (all of whom must be ECOSOC-accredited organizations)
should appear in alphabetical order;
- The names
of organizations should be written as they appear on the integrated
Civil Society Organizations (iCSO) System;
- Statements
should be submitted in their final form. Once submitted they will
immediately enter the processing procedure;
- Statements
should be written in a Times New Roman text font, size 12.
- Statements
should be submitted as Word documents with ‘NGO name written statement’ as
the filename; and
- Statements
should be e-mailed to the
official CSW e-mail address, with 'Written statement / Name of
NGO' in the subject line.
DEADLINE: 26 February 2010 for
requests to make an oral statement
General discussion
Oral
statements may be made during the general discussion by a limited number of
NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC. The number of oral statements to be
delivered at the session will depend on the time available.
Oral
statements should not exceed three minutes.
In an
effort to bring broad-based views of the NGO community to the intergovernmental
process, preference is given to NGOs speaking on behalf of groups of
organizations, caucuses, or coalitions. NGO representatives are therefore
encouraged to prepare joint oral statements.
Requests should clearly indicate:
- the
topic(s) covered by the statement (in summary form)
- the
organization(s)
- the name
of the speaker
- the
speaker's e-mail contact address
- the
speaker's local (New York)
telephone contact number
Procedural details will be posted at a
later date.
Interactive expert panels on CSW54
themes
Interventions
should not exceed three minutes.
These
interventions should NOT be in the form of prepared statements and NGOs are
therefore not required to submit copies of such interventions. Interventions must
be focused on the issue being considered. Inputs on other issues will not be
accommodated. Theses interventions may take the form of comments or questions
to the experts on the panels.
Parallel events held on UN premises
Parallel
events may be organized on UN premises during the CSW session by Permanent
Missions, UN entities and ECOSOC-accredited NGOs collaborating with Member
States or UN entities.
The
sponsoring Permanent Mission or UN entity should request rooms and equipment
through the Parallel Event Request System for Permanent Missions and
UN entities. The sponsoring Permanent Mission or UN entity assumes
responsibility for paying any expenses related to the event, and should be
present at the event.
Parallel events held in the Church
Center and other
locations
Parallel
events organized by NGOs take place outside
UN premises, usually in the Church Center
(located at the intersection of 44th Street and First
Avenue, across from the UN Secretariat building). NGOs, both with and
without ECOSOC accreditation, may organize and attend these events. No
equipment (computers, projectors, etc) will be provided. NGOs organizing the
events can however bring their own equipment.
NGOs
wishing to organize a parallel event during the CSW session should directly
contact the NGO Committee on the Status of Women (www.ngocsw.org), which is a
group of New York-based women’s NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC. Please
do not contact DAW with queries related to parallel events organized by NGOs.
Calendar of parallel events
A calendar of parallel events
organized by Permanent Missions and UN entities is posted on the DAW web site one week prior to the CSW session,
and updated regularly.
A calendar of parallel events
organized by NGOs is posted on the website of the NGO Committee on the Status
of Women (www.ngocsw.org).
If NGOs organize parallel events in venues other than the Church
Center, the organizer is encouraged
to inform the NGO Committee on the Status of Women in order to have the events
listed in the calendar of events.
Questions
on parallel events organized by NGOs
All
questions on NGO-sponsored events should be directed to the NGO Committee on
the Status of Women (www.ngocsw.org) and NOT to DAW.
Eligibility
/ accreditation
Is my NGO eligible to participate in CSW?
How does an NGO become eligible to participate in CSW?
How does an NGO become ECOSOC-accredited?
Invitation
/ pre-registration
What do I do if my NGO is ECOSOC-accredited but has not
received an invitation?
How do I pre-register representatives?
How many representatives can my NGO register?
What do I do if login to pre-registration fails?
How can I retrieve my organization login ID or password?
Parallel
events
What is the deadline for requesting parallel events?
Who can hold parallel events on UN premises?
Who schedules parallel events in the Church Center?
Written
statements
What is the deadline for submitting written statements?
What language can I submit a written statement in?
Oral
statements
What is the deadline for oral statement requests?
How long should oral statements be?
Travel
and visas
Can the UN help me obtain a visa to the United States?
Can the UN fund my travel or my stay in New York?
Can the UN help me find a hotel in New York?
Other
What is the NGO Committee on the Status of Women?
How can I contact the NGO Committee on the Status of
Women?
How can media representatives attend CSW?
I have other unanswered questions –
who can I contact?
Please e-mail your question to the official CSW e-mail address.
csw54@un.org
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