Geneva, Dubai: The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue (the Geneva Centre) has been given a special consultative status by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The NGO Committee of ECOSOC reviewed the Geneva Centre’s candidacy for special consultative status during its session in New York. This session was attended by the Geneva Centre’s Executive Director Ambassador Idriss Jazairy.
After having heard the statement of the Geneva Centre’s executive director during the review session, the NGO Committee adopted unanimously a recommendation to ECOSOC to grant special consultative status to the Geneva Centre.
The committee has 19 rotating member states elected by the UN Economic and Social Council: Azerbaijan, Burundi, China, Cuba, Greece, Guinea, India, Iran, Israel, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa, Sudan, Turkey, Uruguay, the United States (US) and Venezuela. The enhanced status of the Geneva Centre became effective as of July 26 following ECOSOC’s approval of the recommendation of the NGO Committee.
Commenting on the decision of the UN to grant the centre special consultative status, the Geneva Centre’s chairman, Dr Hanif Hassan, said: “During the recent years, the Geneva Centre has undertaken major activities towards promoting a value-driven human rights system, challenging politicisation and building bridges between different human rights narratives.
“The decision to confer special consultative status with ECOSOC enables the Geneva Centre to act as an increasingly effective platform for dialogue between a broad variety of parties involved in the promotion and protection of human rights. Today is the beginning of a new chapter for the Geneva Centre.”
