IUPsyS ‐ United Nations Activities

Abstract

At its 49th plenary meeting in July 1996, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) reaffirmed the importance of the contributions of non‐governmental organizations to the work it accomplishes within the United Nations framework. It decided to recommend that the General Assembly examine the question of the participation of non‐governmental organizations in all areas of the work of the UN, including the General Assembly.The following excerpts are taken from a recent report written by the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, for consideration at the fifty‐third session (that started in September 1998) of the General Assembly. In view of its length and its importance, we will present this report in two parts. The first part (this column) presents a thorough description of the actual work done by the NGOs within the UN system, and especially within those bodies of particular interest to the IUPsyS (UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO, etc…), while the second part (that will be presented in our next column) will look at ways of further enhancing the active participation of NGOs.This report, which is presented in association with Item 58 (“Strengthening of the United Nations system”) of the provisional agenda of the General Assembly, comes at a time when the IUPsyS has just been officially granted a special consultative status with ECOSOC, as well as consultative status with the UN Department of Public Information, and is in the process of planning its actions and getting organized for an optimal contribution to the work of the United Nations.