Wild Migration Granted ECOSOC Special Consultative Status

src="http://www.wildmigration.org/graphics_bin/baby_elephant.jpg"
align="left" hspace="20" border="0">The Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations has granted Wild Migration
special consultative status during the coordination and management
meeting 25th July 2016.

Wild Migration extends our gratitude to each of ECOSOC Committee on
Non-Governmental Organizations members for support of our
application.

We look forward to greater involvement with the ECOSOC NGOs Major
Group and to advocating for the thematic issue of civil society and
wildlife.

The ECOSOC Committee on NGOs

The Committee on Non-
Governmental Organizations is a standing committee of ECOSOC,
established by the Council in 1946. It reports directly to ECOSOC,
and the two reports of its annual regular session (usually at the
end of January) and resumed session (in May) include draft
resolutions or decisions on matters calling for action by the
Council.

The Committee has 19 members who are elected on the basis of
equitable geographical representation:

• 5 members from
  African States;
• 4 members from Asian States;
• 2
  members from Eastern European States;
• 4 members from Latin
  American and Caribbean States; and
• 4 members from Western
  European and other States.

The term of office of its
members is four years. For the period 2015-2018, members of the NGO
Committee are the following: Azerbaijan, Burundi, China, Cuba,
Greece, Guinea, India, Iran, Israel, Mauritania, Nicaragua,
Pakistan, Russian Federation, South Africa, Sudan, Turkey, United
States of America, Uruguay and Venezuela (Bolivarian Rep.). Wild
Migration extends our gratitude to each of these committee members
for support of our application.

The United Nations Economic
and Social Council (ECOSOC)

ECOSOC is one of the 6 principal
organs of the United Nations System established by the UN Charter in
1945. It consists of 54 Members of the United Nations elected by the
General Assembly. ECOSOC coordinates economic, social, and related
work of the fourteen United Nations specialized agencies, functional
commissions and five regional commissions. It serves as the central
forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and
for formulating policy recommendations addressed to Member States
and the United Nations system.

In carrying out its mandate, ECOSOC consults with academics,
business sector representatives and more than 3,200 registered non-
governmental organizations. The work of the Council is conducted
through several sessions and preparatory meetings, round tables and
panel discussions with members of civil society throughout the year,
to deal with the organization of its work. Once a year, it meets for
a four-week substantive session in July, alternating between New
York and Geneva.

ECOSOC Consultative Status

Consultative status is an accreditation framework that benefits
both the United Nations and the NGOs. As stated by resolution
1996/31: “... Consultative arrangements are to be made, on the
one hand, for the purpose of enabling the Council or one of its
bodies to secure expert information or advice from organizations
having special competence in the subjects for which consultative
arrangements are made, and, on the other hand, to enable
international, regional, sub-regional and national organizations
that represent important elements of public opinion to express their
views”. - ECOSOC resolution 1996/31, part II, paragraph 20

Special Consultative status is for NGOs that have a special
competence in, and are concerned specifically with, specific fields
of activity covered by ECOSOC.

Consultative status provides NGOs with access to not only ECOSOC,
but also to its many subsidiary bodies, to the various human rights
mechanisms of the United Nations, ad-hoc processes on small arms, as
well as special events organized by the President of the General
Assembly.

In addition to contributing to the work of ECOSOC directly, Wild
Migration looks forward to contributing to the href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/hlpf"
target="_blank">High Level Political Forum on Sustainable
Development (HLPF) and to becoming an active participant in the
target="_blank">NGO Major Group