Dui Hua :: Special Consultative Status with UN

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Dui Hua Granted “Special Consultative Status” with the United Nations

At a meeting held in early February 2005, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC) decided to grant The Dui Hua Foundation “Special Consultative Status.” The ECOSOC has responsibility for overseeing a range of United Nations activities, including the work of the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Dui Hua’s application for consultative status was first considered by the ECOSOC’s Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in January 2005. Dui Hua was recognized as an “international organization, based in the United States, dedicated to advancing the protection of human rights by means of a well-informed dialogue between the United States and China.” The NGO Committee recommended that the ECOSOC grant Dui Hua consultative status, which allows the foundation to send representatives to meetings of the ECOSOC and its subordinate bodies, make statements, and submit reports and other materials.

Since receiving this status, Dui Hua has developed relationships with several UN human rights mechanisms, including working with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and provided information about China to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak prior to his 2005 fact-finding mission to the country. In addition, Dui Hua has attended sessions of the UN Human Rights Council and the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and issued numerous statements on human rights conditions in China.

China is a member of both the full Council and the 19-member NGO Committee which examines and approves applications by NGOs for “Special Consultative Status” and “General Consultative Status.” Its representatives scrutinize applications of groups that work on human rights issues in China. Dui Hua’s application was submitted in July 2004 and moved quickly, without objection, through both the NGO Committee and the ECOSOC.

“Dui Hua appreciates the Chinese government’s decision not to block our application for consultative status, thereby allowing us to attend and present reports on our work at meetings of the Human Rights Commission and its treaty bodies and thematic mechanisms,” said John Kamm, chairman and executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation.

“I understand this is the first time that the Chinese government has allowed the granting of this important status to an independent, overseas organization focused on questions related to human rights in China. This is a welcome step in the direction of greater openness. We hope that more NGOs working on China, including those who take critical stances towards the government’s policies, will be granted consultative status with the United Nations, thereby enriching the work of the body and its human rights mechanisms.”