Non-governmental organizations have criticized a
United Nations policy to restrict the entry of NGOs to the General Assembly and
critical high-level meetings due to “enhanced security measures.”
The 10-day ban, which will begin on Sept. 20 — the
day before U.S. President Barack Obama is set to address the General Assembly —
has been labeled as ”counterproductive” and “contradictory” to the United
Nations’ policy on NGO participation and monitoring.
Only a handful of NGOs pre-selected by the United
Nations will be permitted into the U.N. building upon presentation of special
access cards and regular NGO passes.
NGOs have always been treated as political and social
outcasts in the annual U.N. event, Inter-Press News reports. But this year
triggered more protests because most NGOs have been banned from the high-level
meetings on desertification and poverty eradication, racism and xenophobia, and
prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases. NGOs have likewise been
banned from attending a nuclear security summit.
Back in 2007, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose
Migiro told delegates the United Nations relies on its partnership with the NGO
community “in virtually everything the world body does.”
Jem Bendell of Griffith
University, Australia,
said the restrictions suggest a lack of clarity in the U.N. system and the
General Assembly in particular, on what NGOs bring to deliberations.
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