CRITICAL EVALUATION OF PROMOTING PARTICIPATION OF NGOs IN THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL

Informal relationships have been developed between the UN Security Council (SC) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Some scholars and politicians have suggested that these informal relationships should be strengthened through the provision of more formal access mechanisms such as consultative status. On the other hand, increasing participation by NGOs on the SC is questioned by others on the grounds of accountability, fairness and objectivity, the purported threat to international legal order of such participation, and the undermining of the SC’s effectiveness. The current study critically evaluates these reservations regarding the promotion of access for NGOs to the SC. It examines whether or not the provision of formal access justifies these concerns, concluding that while some reservations might be valid, they should not be considered as insuperable obstacles. This is firstly because the SC could develop a mechanism for granting formal access to NGOs that could address these concerns, and secondly that, given that the SC itself already suffers from a lack of accountability, fairness, objectivity and effectiveness, such access by NGOs could help enhance the SC’s capacities in these areas. There is a limited amount of literature on increasing access for NGOs to the SC, but to the best of the author’s knowledge no study has evaluated criticisms of such access in particular, as opposed to NGO’s participation in international organizations in general. The present paper would therefore contribute to the literature in this regard.