UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Parallel form(s) of name

  • UNESCO. Sections des organisations non gouvernementales

Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules

Other form(s) of name

  • ERC/RPO/NGO
  • ONG
  • NGO

Identifiers for corporate bodies

Description area

Dates of existence

2006-02-02 - 2011-01-25

History

Article XI, paragraph 4 of UNESCO’s Constitution establishes the basis for co-operation between the Organization and the non-governmental sector. UNESCO’s relations with non-governmental international organizations are further governed by Directives issued by the General Conference. The first Provisional Directives were approved at the first General Conference. Following an examination by the Executive Board, revised Directives were approved at the Second General Conference in 1947. Beyond minor revisions, the Directives were revised significantly in 1960 by the General Conference at its 11th Session, in 1966 at its 14th Session, in 1995 at its 28th Session, and in 2011 at the 36th Session. The Directives establish the requirements and process for admission into official relations with UNESCO. They indicate the different categories of relations according to the nature of the co-operation, as well as the advantages for and obligations of the non-governmental organization (NGO). The Directives also describe the mechanisms for collaboration and financial contributions, as well as the review, renewal and termination of relations.

As per the Directives, the admission of an NGO and assignment of a category of relations is made through a decision by the Executive Board. The 1947 Directives indicated three types of relationship: Consultative Arrangements, Advisory Committees, and Formal Agreements. The policy on financial contributions to NGOs was considered separately by the General Conference up until it was incorporated into the 1960 Revised Directives. The 1960 Directives also called for a Conference of International Non-Governmental Organizations (category A and B – see below) to be held every two years in conjunction with the General Conference. These conferences were held to examine any problems arising out of co-operation with UNESCO and to facilitate co-operation between organizations having common interests. The conferences could also establish a Standing Committee to represent the NGOs as needed between meetings. The possibility of holding regional conferences of NGOs was also added. From 1960 to 1995, the relations were divided into three categories: A - consultative and associate relations; B – information and consultative relations; and C – mutual information relationships. Originally the Director-General accepted or rejected NGOs for category C relations, while the Executive Board admitted organizations to category A or B relations, needing first a proposal of the Director-General for admitting an Organization to category A – the closest working relationship. The 1966 change to the Directives allowed the Executive Board to consider a category A relationship without a proposal first from the Director-General. The 1995 revision of the Directives broke the relations down into Associate relations, Consultative relations and Operational relations. The 2011 revision simplified the classification, breaking the relations down into Associate or Consultative relations. Whereas the Director-General may admit NGOs to Consultative relations, the Executive Board decides on admitting them to Associate relations. The Standing Committee of the International Conference was also renamed the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee and its duties were clarified in the revised Directives.

At the level of UNESCO’s governing bodies, an Executive Board Committee on Relationships with Non-Governmental and Semi-Governmental International Organizations was first set up to examine and report on any matter concerning the relations of UNESCO with non-governmental international organizations in 1947. This Committee existed only until 1948 when it was replaced by a more general Committee on External Relations (later the Programme and External Relations Committee). However, in order to avoid increasingly lengthy discussions in the plenary of the Executive Board, a Committee on International Non-Governmental Organizations was created again in 1966 with responsibility for examining new requests for admission as well as changes of status of relations (UNESCO, 2014). According to the Directives, the Executive Board makes a report every six years to the General Conference on the contributions made by NGOs to UNESCO’s activities. With the 2011 revision of the Directives, the name of the Executive Board body was changed to the Committee on Non-Governmental Partners.

In the Secretariat, UNESCO has had a centralized unit since 1946 to administer these relations and to provide the secretariat for the NGO conferences – see temporal relationships indicated below. For the most part, this unit has been placed under the Sector responsible for external relations. The responsibilities of the unit include liaising with the NGOs, preparing for the NGO Conferences, assuring coordination between UNESCO units and the NGOs, and centralizing and disseminating data on cooperation with NGOs. The unit further supports the Committee on Non-Governmental Partners of the Executive Board by preparing recommendations on requests for admission/reclassification and providing information for its sexennial report to the General Conference (Daniels, 2006). UNESCO Programme Sectors are responsible for the execution of any programme activities undertaken in collaboration with the NGOs.

Places

Legal status

Functions, occupations and activities

Mandates/sources of authority

Internal structures/genealogy

General context

Relationships area

Related entity

UNESCO. Sector for External Relations and Public Information (2010-09-06-)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

hierarchical

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Sector for External Relations and Public Information controls UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

2010-09-06 - 2011-01-25

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history on relations with NGOs.

Related entity

UNESCO. Sector for External Relations and Cooperation (2000-10-01 - 2010-09-05)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

hierarchical

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Sector for External Relations and Cooperation controls UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

2006-01-02 - 2010-09-05

Description of relationship

Related entity

UNESCO. Non-Governmental Organizations and Foundations Section (1992-07-29 - 2000-09-31)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Non-Governmental Organizations and Foundations Section is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1992-07-29 - 2000-09-31

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Non-Governmental Organizations Unit (1985-07-27 - 1989-06-30)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Non-Governmental Organizations Unit is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1985-07-27 - 1989-06-30

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Section for Relations with Non-Governmental Organizations (1977 - 1985-07-26)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Section for Relations with Non-Governmental Organizations is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1977- 1985-07-26

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Division of Non-Governmental Organizations (1974-1975)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Division of Non-Governmental Organizations is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1974-1975

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Section of Relations with International Non-Governmental Organizations (1967 - 1969-10-31)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Section of Relations with International Non-Governmental Organizations is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1967 - 1969-10-31

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Division of Relations with International Organizations (1953-01-01 - 1967)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Division of Relations with International Organizations is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1957-1967

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Non-Governmental Organizations Unit (1950-01-15 - 1952-12-31)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Non-Governmental Organizations Unit is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1950-01-15 - 1952-12-31

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. International Non-Governmental Organizations Unit (1946 - 1948-07-14)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. International Non-Governmental Organizations Unit is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1946 - 1948-07-14

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Intergovernmental and Non-Governmental Organizations Desk (2014-05-01 -)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Intergovernmental and Non-Governmental Organizations Desk is the successor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

2014-05-01 -

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Intergovernmental and Non-Governmental Organizations Section (2013-06-26 - 2014-04-30)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Intergovernmental and Non-Governmental Organizations Section is the successor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

2013-06-26 - 2014-04-30

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Section of Non-Governmental Organizations (2011-01-26 - 2013-06-25)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Section of Non-Governmental Organizations is the successor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

2011-01-26 - 2013-06-25

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Division of International Non-Governmental Organizations and Foundations (1989-07-01 - 1992-07-28)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Division of International Non-Governmental Organizations and Foundations is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1989-07-01 - 1992-07-28

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. External Relations Division (1975-1977)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. External Relations Division is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1975-1977

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history pertaining to relations with NGOs.

Related entity

UNESCO. Division of Relations with International Organizations (1969-11-01 - 1974)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Division of Relations with International Organizations is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1969-11-1 - 1974

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Related entity

UNESCO. Bureau of Official and External Relations (1948-07-15 - 1950-01-14)

Identifier of the related entity

Category of the relationship

temporal

Type of relationship

UNESCO. Bureau of Official and External Relations is the predecessor of UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations

Dates of the relationship

1948-07-15 - 1950-01-14

Description of relationship

See UNESCO. Section for Non-Governmental Organizations (ERC/RPO/NGO) for administrative history.

Access points area

Occupations

Control area

Authority record identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Following RAD Rule 24.1A, authorized form of name comes from UNESCO Terminology database as reference source.

Status

Final

Level of detail

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Created by AWT with review of Chief Archivist, 4-5-2015.

Language(s)

Script(s)

Sources


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  • UNESCO Archives, AG 6: Secretariat Documents, Staff Lists.

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