Executive Board Hundred and seventy-sixth session 176 EX/65 PARIS, 24 April 2007 Original: French REPORT AND DRAFT DECISIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS 1. The Executive Board s Committee on International Non-Governmental Organizations met four times on 12 and 13 April 2007, in order to consider item 45 Relations with non-governmental organizations, foundations and similar institutions (176 EX/45) and item 46 Sexennial report by the Executive Board to the General Conference on the contributions made to UNESCO s activities by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (176 EX/46 and 176 EX/INF.6). 2. With Mr András Lakatos (Hungary) in the Chair, the NGO Committee conducted its work in the presence of 24 members. The meeting was also attended by 62 representatives from 58 international non-governmental organizations in official relations with UNESCO. The Committee, pursuant to Rule 16.2 of the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board, elected a temporary Chairperson, Mr Felipe Michelini (Uruguay) and adopted its agenda. 3. The Chairperson of the Committee began proceedings by recalling the ground covered since adopting the Plan of Action for the revitalization of its role. He also stressed the success of that revitalization, even if it was only a first step towards genuine close, reinforced cooperation with civil society. He expressed his wish to see this partnership take its proper place in the draft Medium- Term Strategy to be adopted during the next session of the General Conference. Lastly, the Chairperson called for vigilance in the face of changes linked to United Nations reform in order to ensure that the place of NGOs as privileged partners of UNESCO was maintained. 4. Following his opening remarks, Mr Xinsheng Zhang (China), Chairperson of the Executive Board, congratulated the Chairperson of the Committee and its members on the work that they had jointly undertaken over the previous 18 months in harmony with the growing demand for greater participation by civil society in formulating policy and responding to current international challenges. He also stressed the importance of the themes chosen for the session of the Committee relating to national and regional cooperation with NGOs. He then recalled the specific nature of UNESCO, constituted by its network of National Commissions and the need for those to continue as key players in mobilizing civil society organizations, whose knowledge of the field and their ability to reach a significant portion of the public and to participate in political dialogue made them indispensable partners in attaining UNESCO s objectives. 5. Mr Ahmed Sayyad, Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Cooperation, representative of the Director-General, then took the floor. Firstly, he expressed his satisfaction at the efforts undertaken to improve the NGO Committee s working methods, which had led to the Committee being truly revitalized. He followed this with a detailed presentation of the agenda for the Committee s two working days. He also stressed the Sector for External Relations and Cooperation s commitment to boosting cooperation with civil society and announced that an international forum on civil society would be held during the 34th session of the General Conference.
176 EX/65 page 2 6. In connection with the implementation of the Plan of Action for the revitalization of its role, the NGO Committee welcomed three Assistant Directors-General for thematic presentations on social and human sciences, culture and Africa. These presentations were followed by a Round Table on Regional Cooperation between UNESCO and NGOs, attended by the Deputy Director-General and an Open Forum on Cooperation with National Commissions for UNESCO and NGOs. Sixteen Committee members took the floor during the proceedings that were conducted in a highly constructive climate, leading to a valuable and lively exchange of ideas with NGO representatives. Thematic presentations: social and human sciences, culture, Africa 7. The NGO Committee welcomed during the morning of 12 April the Assistant Director- General for Social and Human Sciences (ADG/SHS), the Assistant Director-General for Culture (ADG/CLT), and the Assistant Director-General for Africa (ADG/AFR). 8. The Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences based his presentation on the support of NGOs in the sector s work, which he divided into three major fields: standard-setting and policy-making, promoting social and human sciences and organization and participation in forums and dialogues. Regarding standard-setting and policy-making, he stressed that cooperation took place on the basis of a tripartite dialogue between the Ministers for Social Development, researchers and NGOs in an approach encompassing research, policies and, ultimately, action. He stressed the importance of recognizing the identity and role of each of the three actors and the existence of critical dialogue between them. An example of this type of tripartite partnership could be found in the project entitled Coalition of Cities against Racism. Social and human sciences were promoted through long-standing partnerships with two major professional organizations in the fields of social and human sciences and philosophy. The ADG/SHS then outlined UNESCO s participation since 2001 in various global social forums, creating a highly significant opportunity for dialogue with NGOs. 9. The Assistant Director-General for Culture began her presentation by recalling that cooperation between UNESCO and NGOs was integral to the Organization. That was particularly true in the cultural field, which, by its very nature, was partly untouched by government action. ADG/CLT also stressed that cooperation with NGOs in the Culture Sector was essentially intellectual, rather than financial. She then noted the diverse relations that existed between UNESCO and NGOs, assuming various forms. Firstly, there was diversification of nongovernmental partners, no longer necessarily all organizations classed as cultural, but organizations that had begun their cooperation with other sectors of the Organization and which today extended their field of work to encompass culture. Moreover, diversification could be seen in the development of increasingly significant cooperation with organizations without official relations with UNESCO and organizations of regional, national or local scope. The range of areas for cooperation was also expanding to include themes such as interreligious or intercultural dialogue, or even cultural approaches to efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. ADG/CLT then listed several fields of cooperation that would be of utmost importance in the future. Those related to NGO participation in standard-setting activities including both the preparation and implementation of agreements, their valued assistance in the field, particularly in favouring intercultural and interreligious dialogue and lastly, a field which is taking on increasing importance today: activities to assist post-conflict countries, where culture became a cornerstone of reconstruction, both for development (craftsmanship) and for social cohesion. 10. The Assistant Director-General for Africa firstly stressed the crucial role played by NGOs in consolidating democracy and peace, promoting UNESCO s standard-setting activities, mobilizing human resources from the private sector, the return of knowledge and skills of the Diaspora to the African continent, bringing UNESCO s activities closer to the local communities and authorities and promoting academic mobility and intercultural exchanges, as well as in providing technical support for implementing projects and operational activities. He also recalled the stages of the recent birth of civil society in Africa, which explained the scant representation of NGOs from the region in the Organization. He then evoked the NGOs which cooperated with UNESCO in Africa and stressed
176 EX/65 page 3 the need to give greater recognition to national and regional African organizations. He then called for greater dialogue between NGOs, National Commissions and field offices and greater coordination of activities between the UNESCO Secretariat and the National Commissions in the light of NGO participation. Round Table on Regional Cooperation between UNESCO and NGOs 11. The Round Table on Regional Cooperation between UNESCO and NGOs was opened by the Director of the Bureau of Field Coordination. In her opening remarks, she indicated the importance of cooperation by the units away from Headquarters with NGOs, including with many organizations without official relations with UNESCO. She also remarked that partnerships are being established today in a much broader framework, including United Nations country teams, ministries or national institutions and NGOs. Lastly, she stressed the difficulties for field offices and National Commissions, with their scant means to fully discharge the role attributed to them by the Guidelines for interface and cooperation between UNESCO field offices and National Commissions for UNESCO in the face of the rising number of NGOs. 12. Three representatives of UNESCO field offices, the Director of the Bangkok Office, the Director of the Bujumbura Office and the former Director of the Santiago, Chile, Office and Deputy Assistant Director-General for Education, then outlined the ways in which their respective offices cooperated with NGOs. All three recognized the dynamism of NGOs and the added value that they bring to the units away from Headquarters. They praised the flexibility, resourcefulness and innovative abilities of NGOs, as well as the manner in which they are rooted in the beneficiary populations. One of the speakers also evoked UNESCO s support to national NGOs by providing training to enable them to be more involved in political dialogue. With a view to reinforcing such cooperation, it was suggested that national NGOs should be better informed about UNESCO s missions and operation, that the dissemination of information between the various partners should be improved and that the National Commissions should be more involved. The Programme Activities Officer for the International Council of Museums (ICOM) then outlined the cornerstones of the cooperation between ICOM and UNESCO at the regional level. 13. The ensuing debates addressed, above all, the need to make the field offices better acquainted with the national and regional branches of NGOs in official relations. The need to develop exchanges between the field offices and the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee was also highlighted, particularly relating to the work of the Joint Programmatic Commissions. Moreover, several participants expressed the hope that mechanisms would be identified enabling good cooperation practice to be disseminated regionally. Open Forum on Cooperation with National Commissions for UNESCO 14. The Open Forum on Cooperation with National Commissions for UNESCO was held during the afternoon of 12 April. In his opening address, the Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Cooperation, Director of the Division of Relations with Member States and National Commissions, stressed the importance of this cooperation, the rise in power of civil society and the key role that National Commissions could play in assisting NGOs in implementing UNESCO s programmes, particularly in terms of disseminating information, communication and coordination. The need to encourage dialogue and enhance UNESCO s visibility nationally through such cooperation between NGOs and National Commissions was also mentioned, as was the possibility of designating NGO focal points within each National Commission in order to foster and facilitate such cooperation. 15. Representatives of the National Commissions and NGOs put forward their visions of such cooperation at the national level and some examples of good practice in that field. The Secretary- Generals of the National Commissions of Switzerland and Lebanon both stressed the major role played by civil society in their respective countries and the need for UNESCO to work with its nongovernmental partners through the widespread network of National Commissions for UNESCO.
176 EX/65 page 4 The National Commissions functioned as an interface and gateway, mobilizing civil society actors to take action. Such cooperation was therefore beneficial for the National Commissions, but also for NGOs, which, according to the Secretary-General of the Swiss National Commission, should use that network of facilitators even more than they did, since the authorities recognized National Commissions and they were not competing with NGOs. The Secretary-General of the Lebanese National Commission stressed civil society s dynamism and the crucial role played by NGOs in her country, meaning that the National Commission intended to foster the creation of partnerships with NGOs active in the fields of competence of UNESCO. Those two presentations highlighted the productive and dynamic nature of the partnership with NGOs and encouraged its expansion. 16. The NGO panellists, representing Rotary International, International PEN (PEN) and the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (ICPHS), all stressed the close relationship between their organizations and UNESCO, their shared goals and the need to boost that cooperation, particularly at the national level, where most of their activities took place. They cited some examples of good practice, recognizing the results that could be attained through good coordination nationally. 17. Several members of the Committee, along with Indonesia, and various NGO representatives, took part in the subsequent debate. They all stressed the need for and importance of such cooperation at the national level, also recalling that certain members of the National Commissions came from the non-governmental world. The role of mediator or gateway played by the National Commissions was referred to several times, as was the expertise provided by NGOs to National Commissions in implementing UNESCO s programmes. The NGO representatives, and also the representatives of the Member States, stressed the need to develop better information so that National Commissions could communicate with the national branches or national members of international NGOs maintaining official relations with UNESCO. The latter were often present in numerous countries through their affiliates, without UNESCO necessarily being aware of that, owing to the varying names and the diversity present in the field. Therefore, the idea of establishing a corresponding database was raised, along with the importance of the role of NGOs, in that context, which must acquire the means to make themselves known at all levels. The NGO representatives welcomed the idea of national focal points. 18. The Chairperson of the Committee referred to the existence of National Commissions for UNESCO as the Organization s principal asset and a true step forward, enabling UNESCO to be present at all levels. Lastly, the need for better dissemination of information was stressed on more than one occasion, as was the major asset of civil society actors, the access that they offered to the most disadvantaged and marginalized populations. Intervention by the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to UNESCO 19. The Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, submitted to the NGO Committee, at the invitation of the Chairperson, the conclusions of the international seminar on the Dialogue of cultures and civilizations: the bridge between human rights and moral values, which took place at UNESCO Headquarters on 13 and 14 March 2007. He also stressed the Russian Federation s efforts to strengthen its relationship with civil society and the growing importance of NGOs and civil society in the international arena. International Ciak Junior Festival (Treviso, Italy) 20. On the Chairperson s initiative, the members of the Committee were able to attend the screening of four films from the International Ciak Junior Festival, supported by the UNESCO Culture Sector, which has worked for some years with the UNESCO Office in Venice.
176 EX/65 page 5 Item 46 Sexennial report by the Executive Board to the General Conference on the contributions made to UNESCO s activities by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (176 EX/46 and 176 EX/INF.6) 21. During the introduction to the item, the Chairperson of the working group, Senior Programme Officer at the Permanent Delegation of Canada highlighted the convivial working atmosphere between the representatives of the Member States, NGOs and the Secretariat throughout the process of preparing the sexennial report. She also thanked the members of the Section for Non- Governmental Organizations who provided valued support in those efforts and in producing the report. She then outlined the report s salient points. Lastly, the Chairperson stated that the list of NGOs in Annex III of the document was a provisional list and thus subject to change. 22. The Chairperson of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee also congratulated the working group and fully endorsed the report s recommendations. She stressed the report s constructive aspects, which highlighted national and regional cooperation, the role of NGOs in defining programmes and the need to strike a better balance between the Joint Programmatic Commissions and UNESCO s priorities. She bemoaned the consistent fall in resources earmarked for NGOs. 23. Eleven members of the NGO Committee and one NGO representative took the floor during the debate. All the speakers expressed their satisfaction with the quality of the report and said that they endorsed the development of a partnership culture, as was put forward in document 176 EX/46. The various speakers welcomed the report s recommendations on expanding the NGO database to include the national and regional branches of organizations maintaining official relations. Regarding a more standard application of the Directives concerning operational relations, which would enable relations with some organizations working informally with UNESCO to be made official, several Member States stressed the need to act cautiously and maintain the role of the National Commissions in screening NGOs, particularly national NGOs. The issue of the reduction in funds for cooperation with NGOs, which appeared contradictory to the stated desire to bolster such cooperation, was also addressed. 24. The representatives of three Member States (Mexico, Azerbaijan, Switzerland) proposed an amendment to the draft resolution in paragraph 166 of document 176 EX/46. 25. The Committee decided to recommend that the Executive Board submit the following resolution to the General Conference for adoption at its 34th session: The General Conference, Having examined the sexennial report submitted to it by the Executive Board on the contribution made to UNESCO s activities by non-governmental organizations from 2001 to 2006, in pursuance of Section V.3 of the Directives concerning UNESCO s relations with non-governmental organizations adopted at its 28th session in 1995 (28 C/Resolution 13.42), Considering that the participation of non-governmental organizations in UNESCO s action is a crucial element in the achievement of the Organization s missions and goals, Recalling that such cooperation rests on Article XI of the Constitution of the Organization and is governed by the above-mentioned Directives, which constitute the framework for its implementation, 1. Thanks the National Commissions, the non-governmental organizations maintaining official relations with UNESCO, the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee and all Secretariat units at Headquarters and in the field, which have contributed widely to this evaluation and reflection exercise;
176 EX/65 page 6 2. Reaffirms the basic goals of the Directives, in particular the revitalization and diversification of partners and the strengthening of cooperation to benefit developing and transition countries; 3. Stresses the importance of the development of strategic partnerships with nongovernmental organizations in order to take up the many challenges facing the Organization in a changing world; 4. Recognizes the need to develop a genuine partnership culture as a process aimed at improving the efficiency of UNESCO s action, having regard to both the definition of policies and the operational implementation of projects, and involving all the parties concerned, in particular the non-governmental organizations with which it maintains special ties; 5. Adopts the following recommendations: (1) Recommendations to the Secretariat (a) Promoting a partnership culture at the highest level: include the partnership culture as one of UNESCO s main lines of action in the Medium-Term Strategy and programme and budget documents; wherever possible, organize meetings or events involving members of NGOs maintaining official relations when the Director-General or Assistant Directors-General make official visits to the Member States. (b) Ensuring coherence with the United Nations system: as part of the ongoing reform within the United Nations system (in particular the recommendations in the Delivering as One report), ensure sustainability of the cooperation system established with civil society representatives and keep the latter informed about developments concerning them. (c) Keeping cooperation partners informed: (iii) prepare and disseminate to all partners a practical handbook on cooperation and a complete list of NGOs that maintain official relations for the information of the various partners: National Commissions, NGOs, Headquarters Secretariat and field offices; improve the functionalities of the NGO database and develop the existing Internet interface in order to identify members or branches of international NGOs maintaining official relations with UNESCO and active at the national and/or regional level; develop transparent mechanisms for informing NGOs about the programme sectors cooperation requirements. (d) Managing working relations: apply the provisions of the Directives concerning operational relations in the selection of NGOs and in the management of all regular relations with them. The Section for Non-Governmental Organizations should be informed systematically so that the database can be updated in real time and the Executive Board informed in due course.
176 EX/65 page 7 (e) Evaluating cooperation and improving its visibility: in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Directives and other documents of the governing bodies, ensure a regular evaluation based on the results of the activities carried out in conjunction with NGOs, especially when this cooperation has financial implications; disseminate the lessons learned from the partnerships that have been undertaken, in particular through information and communication technology tools; (iii) systematically include NGO contributions to the formulation and implementation of the programme in the reports of meetings and in the reports of the governing bodies. (f) National and regional cooperation (iii) widely disseminate the Guidelines for interface and cooperation between UNESCO field offices and National Commissions for UNESCO, inter alia, international NGOs and their national members, and work out arrangements for undertaking partnerships with civil society; assign focal points for partnerships with civil society within the UNESCO Secretariat away from Headquarters; entrust the field offices, in cooperation with the National Commissions and the Section of International Non-Governmental Organizations, with producing an inventory of NGOs with expertise that may be useful for the Organization s activities at the national and/or regional levels and incorporate this information into the database in order to facilitate their admission to official relations; (iv) promote NGO consultations at the national, subregional and regional levels, inter alia during the Director-General s biennial consultations on the C/4 and C/5 documents; (v) build the capacities of national and regional NGOs from developing countries with a view to their full participation in UNESCO s activities, taking as the main inspiration the experiments carried out under the Education for All programme. (g) Collective consultations on specific subjects extend collective consultations on specific subjects to other sectors by drawing upon not only the best practices of the consultations on Education for All and on higher education but also the consultative mechanisms to be found at other intergovernmental organizations. (h) The Director-General s consultations on the C/4 and C/5 documents in cooperation with the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee, adapt the consultation documents for NGOs, inter alia by simplifying them and paying particular attention to the goals of that consultation.
176 EX/65 page 8 Joint Programmatic Commissions increase the involvement of the programme sectors in the functioning of the Joint Programmatic Commissions. (j) Financial management tools and funding arrangements improve the use of computerized management systems to facilitate inclusion in the sexennial report of an accurate and comprehensive evaluation of the various contracts applied with NGOs; submit for adoption by the Executive Board at its 179th session a revised version of the financial and material arrangements for cooperation with NGOs (154 EX/Decision 7.3), taking into account the evaluation carried out in connection with the sexennial report and its recommendations. (k) NGO focal points and the Section of International Non-Governmental Organizations: strengthen the role and the resources of the NGO focal points within the programme sectors, the Section of International Non-Governmental Organizations, and the Sector for External Relations and Cooperation, in order to improve and facilitate the effective implementation of the Directives. (2) Recommendations to NGOs (a) Enabling more effective involvement of the NGO community maintaining official relations with UNESCO in the formulation of the Organization s programme taking into account the existing consultative mechanisms, bring the dates of relevant NGO meetings, including that of the International Conference of NGOs, into line with UNESCO s programming cycle, so as to facilitate the transmission of the collective recommendations by NGOs to the Secretariat when drawing up the draft Medium-Term Strategy (C/4) and the Draft Programme and Budget (C/5); at the same time, contemplate the introduction of appropriate information procedures to increase the rate of responses to the Director-General s consultations. (b) Strengthening the role of the NGO-UNESCO Liaison Committee use modern technologies to improve the exchange of information and communication with all NGOs maintaining official relations; make better use of the expertise and the resources of the community of NGOs maintaining official relations, not only for technical reasons, but also in order to foster greater openness towards NGOs without representatives in France, for example by appointing regional focal points. (c) Functioning of the Joint Programmatic Commissions (JPCs) organize a working cycle that tallies with UNESCO s biennial programming in terms of planning, follow-up and evaluation; strengthen the link with the programme sectors;
176 EX/65 page 9 (iii) explore all possibilities of opening the JPCs to NGOs without representatives in Paris, for example through the use of electronic tools. (d) Participating in the International Conference of NGOs identify and, with the support of the UNESCO Secretariat, obtain the resources needed to fund the participation in the International Conference of NGOs by NGOs without representatives in Paris, especially regional NGOs. (e) Participation Programme systematically send to the National Commissions which have lent it their support the outcome of the requests and the reports concerning the implementation of their projects; urge NGOs, in particular those already receiving financial support under framework agreements, to give priority in their requests to projects in aid of developing countries and/or disadvantaged populations. (3) Recommendations to the Member States (a) Role of the National Commissions play to the full their role as catalysts for cooperation at the national level and as UNESCO focal points for the purposes of reaching and mobilizing national civil society; in cooperation with the field offices, compile an inventory of NGOs with expertise useful to the Organization s activities at the national level. (b) United Nations reform actively promote the partnership culture when implementing the United Nations reform in the field, as recommended by the Delivering as One report. (4) Recommendations to the Executive Board continue to revitalize the Executive Board s Committee on International Non-Governmental Organizations, at the Board s two annual sessions, by opening up to NGO representatives the Committee s round tables and the thematic forums it holds with the Member States and the Secretariat; in order to allow more time for these debates, apply Section VI.1 of the Directives, according to which The Executive Board shall rule once a year on matters within its mandate relating to the establishment of relations between UNESCO and non-governmental organizations and decide the ruling will be made at the spring session. The Secretariat should provide the relevant documents on time; 6. Decides to amend the Directives concerning UNESCO s relations with nongovernmental organizations as follows:
176 EX/65 page 10 Section I Formal relations 6. Modification, termination and suspension of relations 6.1 Where the Director-General considers that circumstances make it necessary to move an organization from one type of relations to another, he shall refer the matter to the Executive Board for a decision. Section II Operational relations 4. Advantages ( ) 4.1(b) in accordance with the provisions of Article IV, paragraph 14, of the Constitution, the Executive Board may invite them to be represented as observers at specified plenary meetings of the General Conference and meetings of its commissions. (The remainder of the paragraph remains unchanged.) ( ) 4.1(d) they may be invited to participate in various collective consultations of NGOs organized by UNESCO in connection with the implementation of its programme; ( ) 4.1(f) they shall be invited to be represented at the Conference of International Non- Governmental Organizations provided for in Section III, Article 1, below. Section IV Financial and material arrangements for cooperation 3. Forms of contribution 3.1 The various forms of financial contribution shall comprise the awarding of various types of contract (contracts for the implementation of framework agreements; other contracts for the implementation of UNESCO s regular programmes; and contributions under the Participation Programme. Section VI. Requests for the establishment or modification of relations ( ) 3. Requests for the establishment or modification of formal relations shall be submitted no later than 30 September of each year. Item 45 Reclassification, admissions and other issues related to cooperation with NGOs and foundations 26. On opening debate on item 45 Relations with non-governmental organizations, foundations and similar institutions, Mr Sayyad, Assistant Director-General for External Relations and Cooperation, took the floor to present the second part of document 176 EX/45. The Committee endorsed the recommendations and the Director-General s decisions concerning the reclassification of an NGO to formal consultative relations and the admission of five NGOs to operational relations. 27. The members of the Committee were informed of the Intervida Foundation s wish to postpone their request to be admitted to official relations with UNESCO.
176 EX/65 page 11 28. The members of the Committee took note of the two NGO mergers mentioned in paragraphs 9 and 10 of document 176 EX/45. 29. Concerning the draft decision contained in paragraph 11 of document 176 EX/45, the Committee first adopted operative paragraph 3. Following the debates of Thursday 12 April, amendments were adopted by the Committee and introduced as new paragraphs 4 and 5. The Committee then adopted operative paragraphs 6 to 8 without amendment. Paragraph 9, on the Intervida Foundation, was deleted following the information brought to the Committee s notice. 30. The Committee therefore recommends that the Executive Board adopt the following draft decision: The Executive Board, 1. Recalling 174 EX/Decision 31 and 175 EX/Decision 40, 2. Having examined document 176 EX/45, 3. Welcomes the continued efforts made by the NGO Committee to further stimulate a better dialogue and improve interaction among Member States, NGOs and the Secretariat; 4. Stresses the importance of cooperation with NGOs at the international, regional and national levels, the need to reinforce triangular cooperation between the Secretariat, at Headquarters and in the field, National Commissions and NGOs, and to improve communication and the dissemination of information among the various partners in order to obtain better mutual understanding and better results in attaining UNESCO s overarching objectives; 5. Requests that the NGO Committee continue constructive dialogue among the different partners in order to attain these essential goals; 6. Decides to allocate the NGO Committee an additional working day in its 177th session; 7. Further decides to admit to formal consultative relations the World Fellowship of Buddhists; 8. Takes note of the Director-General s decision to admit to operational relations five organizations: International Association of Art (IAA); International Consortium of Landslides (ICL); Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (MIO-ECSDE); National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC); and Yachay Wasi (House of Learning in Quechua). Printed on recycled paper