UN Geneva – Important Information for UN ECOSOC NGO’s for Annual Geneva Accreditation + Guide for ICSO New Database System
Author: WUNRN
Date: March 2, 2018
Letter Also Available in French & Spanish
OFFICE DES NATIONS UNIES A GENEVE UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT GENEVA
_________ ___________
Office of the Director-General
Non-Governmental Organizations Liaison Unit Offices S 141-145
Telephone: (41) 22 917 1304 / 2178 Palais des Nations
Fax: (41) 22 917 0583 1211 GENEVA 10
Email: ungeneva.ngoliaison@unog.ch Website: www.unog.ch/ngo
11 December 2017
Dear NGO representatives,
NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC can designate representatives to obtain grounds passes valid through 31 December of each year to access UN premises in Geneva, New York and
Vienna. The application procedure at each duty station is separate. Therefore, passes issued in one duty station cannot be used in another.
Below you will find practical information for requesting grounds passes / accreditation at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) for 2018.
Eligible NGOs are invited to submit their requests for 2018 accreditation as of 18 December 2017 by designating their representatives both online and in writing as per established procedure. No request will be considered before that date. The procedure to request grounds passes / accreditation is outlined in the Annex to this letter. Requests will be processed within three working days, provided they comply with the established procedure. Delays can be expected during the last week of December.
Each eligible NGO can request up to a maximum of 7 annual passes for its representatives in each duty station. Two of these are reserved for the President/Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Administrative Officer, who should be the same persons in all three duty stations. Once an NGO has the President/Chief Executive Officer or Chief Administrative Officer nominated and approved in a duty station, the NGO is considered accredited for that year in that duty station. Failure to nominate at least one of the two representatives will prevent approval of any request for accreditation for other NGO representatives, including accreditation to relevant sessions of UN mechanisms.
A maximum of 5 grounds passes can be requested as such: 1 for the Main representative and up to 4 for the Additional representatives. For UNOG, NGOs may choose to entrust the Main representative with the right to request temporary grounds passes.
Temporary grounds passes at UNOG can be requested for a maximum duration of 3 months, renewable once (total of 6 months). The NGO Liaison Unit reserves the right to apply limitations to the number of temporary grounds passes requested based on capacity or security constraints at the time of the request, and NGOs may be requested to provide relevant justifications.
With annual and temporary grounds passes, NGO representatives obtain access to UNOG premises. However, separate registration / accreditation procedure may be required to attend specific meetings organized at UNOG. Please check with the meeting organizer if additional registration is required.
Requests for accreditation of NGO representatives to sessions of the Human Rights Council and relevant mechanisms, such as the Universal Periodic Review Working Group, should be addressed to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which processes accreditation to these sessions via UNOG’s new online accreditation and registration system called Indico. Before requesting such accreditation, NGOs should finalize their annual accreditation at UNOG as outlined above.
Requests to replace the NGO President in the course of the year should be addressed to the NGO Branch in DESA, New York, by filling an online form while uploading a letter bearing the letterhead of the NGO, signed by the outgoing President designated before the United Nations. In case of replacement of accredited NGO representatives in the course of the year, the NGO is responsible to ensure that the grounds pass of the outgoing representative is returned before submitting a request for a replacement representative.
By designating representatives for a grounds pass, NGOs entitle them to interact with UN staff, Government representatives and other entities on behalf of their organization.
Holders of UNOG grounds passes are subject to relevant UN rules and regulations and must fully comply with the processes and directions set forth by UNOG Security and Safety Service and the NGO Liaison Unit. Sanctions may be taken in cases of misuse of the accreditation or grounds passes as well as any transgression of the rules while on UNOG premises.
For more information concerning accreditation / grounds passes, including the User guide for the online accreditation of NGO representatives in the iCSO database and template designation letters, please visitwww.unog.ch/ngo/accreditation.
I hope this information is helpful and let me use this opportunity to wish all the best for you and your families in 2018.
Best regards,
Lidiya Grigoreva
Chief, NGO Liaison Unit
Office of the Director-General
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