Thiruvananthapuram: Mitraniketan, a Gandhian based organization that has pioneered people centered rural development in Kerala, has received UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Special Consultative Status.
The ECOSOC has adopted the recommendation of the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to grant special consultative status to Mitraniketan, sources said on Friday.
Consultative status for an organization enables it to engage in a number of ways with ECOSOC and its subsidiary bodies, the Human Rights Council and, under specific conditions, some meetings of the General Assembly and other inter-governmental bodies, as well as with the United Nations Secretariat.
Consultative relationship with NGOs also enables the Council or one of its bodies to seek expert information or advice from organizations with special competence in a subject matter.
Organizations in general and special consultative status are able to submit written statements relevant to the work of the Council on subjects in which these organizations have a special competence.
These statements may be circulated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the members of the Council.
Organizations in general and special consultative status are required to submit a report on the activities of their organizations in support of the work of ECOSOC and the United Nations once every four years, known as quadrennial reports, as per ECOSOC resolution 1996/31.
This requirement is reinforced through ECOCOC resolution 2008/4 on “Measures to improve the quadrennial reporting procedures.”
In keeping with these requirements, the organization will be required to submit its first report for 2023-2026 reporting period by no later than June 1, 2027 for review by the Committee on NGOs.
