The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted this week to make Christian Solidarity International (CSI) a non-governmental organization (NGO) with consultative status. Consultative status provides NGOs with access to not only ECOSOC, but also to its many subsidiary bodies, to the various human rights mechanisms of the United Nations, ad-hoc processes on small arms, as well as special events organized by the President of the General Assembly. See News and Events for samples. Currently, 4,045 NGOs enjoy consultative status with ECOSOC.
“ECOSOC’s decision to grant consultative status is a rare positive sign that the voices of truly independent civil society groups are still welcome at the United Nations,” commented Dr. John Eibner, the international president of CSI. “CSI fully intends to use its consultative status to pursue its calling to speak out for the persecuted, without fear or favor, particularly in cases where their interests of the persecuted run against the interests of powerful states.”
Christian Solidarity International is a Christian human rights group, campaigning for religious liberty and human dignity. It provides aid to victims of persecution in fourteen countries, and works to expose states, ideologies, and policies that drive religious persecution.
