ABSTRACT
During the 1990s the United Nations (UN) system witnessed a dramatic upsurge in the involvement of a diverse range of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in its work. Formal mechanisms for NGO presence and participation at the UN are very limited compared with the breadth and depth of NGO involvement in world affairs. Resolution 1996/31 also specifies certain principles for NGOs concerning their consultative status with Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), as well as NGO consultations with the Secretariat. The importance of working with NGOs as an integral part of UN information activities was recognized when Department of Public Information (DPI) was established in 1946. Close to 1,600 NGOs with effective information programmes on issues of concern to the UN are associated with the department, which gives the UN valuable links to civil society worldwide. The UN/NGO relationship exploded in the early 1990s primarily through a series of UN global conferences.
