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Below are answers to some commonly asked questions. Do not
hesitate to contact us if you have questions that are not
answered here.
Which organs, agencies
and other entities does UN Observer.org cover?
UN Observer.org covers all the principal organs of the
United Nations and its dependent and related entities: the
International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Security Council
(UNSC), the General Assembly (UNGA), the Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council - currently inactive
- and the Secretariat.
Under the Security Council, the ICTY and the ICTR and Peacekeeping
Operations and Missions are covered.
Under the General Assembly, the following programs, funds
and other entities are covered: UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNRWA,
UNFPA, UNDP, UNV, UNIFEM, UNHSP, UNEO, UNDCP, UNCTAD, ITC,
OCHR, UNOPS, UNU, UNSSC, UNAIDS, INSTRAW, UNICRI, UNITAR,
UNRISD and UNIDIR.
Under ECOSOC, functional commissions such as the Commission
on Human Rights, the Commission for Social Development,
the Commission on Population Development, the Commission
on the Status of Women, the Commission on Sustainable Development,
the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice,
the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Commission on Science
and Technology for Development and other Regional Commissions
are covered.
The following specialized agencies are also covered: ILO,
FAO, UNESCO, WHO and other specialized agencies.
All departments under the Secretariat are also covered,
including but not limited to OIOS, OLA, DPKO, OCHA, DESA,
DPI and DM.
In addition, UN Observer.org also covers certain treaty-based
organizations, tribunals and committees such as the International
Criminal Court and the International Tribunal for the Law
of the Sea, the Human Rights Committee under the ICCPR,
the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
under CERD, the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women under CEDAW, the Committee Against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
under CAT, and the Committee on the Rights of the Child
under CRC.
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Who are UN Observer.org's constituents?
UN Observer.org does not have constituents per se since
it is neither an elected nor a membership-based organization.
Our role, among other things, is to act as a two-way conduit
between the United Nations system and those people affected
by it.
The types of affected people will vary greatly according
to the issue at stake:
- In the case of equitable employment practices for instance,
affected people are past, present and future employees
of the United Nations system.
- In the case of certain types of humanitarian missions,
affected people are refugee populations under the care
of UN agencies or their agents.
- In the case of socially and environmentally responsible
investing, the affected people are all of us who live
on our common, finite planet earth.
The best measure of our success will always be our ability
to address the needs and grievances of those affected people
by promoting change within the UN system where and when
needed. The result will unquestionably be a strengthened
UN system and a better world.
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How does UN Observer.org select
the issues it covers?
We have developed a formal mechanism by which we assess
issues as they come to our attention. This mechanism takes
into account a number of criteria, including first and foremost
whether a particular issue falls within the framework of
our core mission of supporting human rights and environmental
principles within the UN system.
Other criteria include how grave the issue is from a human
rights and/or environmental degradation standpoint, how
many people are affected by the issue, and the reasonable
likelihood that we can actually have an impact in resolving
the issue.
Since building coalitions around an issue is an essential
component of our work, we also look at whether the issue
is supported by people in the media, the academic community,
the foundation world, the UN system and the general public.
Each component of the issue is given a weight and graded,
and the final score allows us to determine which issues
to focus on given our limited financial and human resources.
The issues we assess are suggested to us by members of
our team, news articles, people in academia and within the
UN system, other NGOs as well as by people like you. Please
do not hesitate to contact
us if you would like to suggest an issue.
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How is UN Observer.org financed?
Currently UN Observer.org is entirely self-financed. We
have applied for 501.c.3 tax-exempt status with the United
States IRS. This will allow us to seek financing from a
broad range of sources in the future.
We expect our financing to be from a combination of sources,
primarily from the general public and private foundations.
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Is UN Observer.org another
UN-bashing organization?
Simply put: no.
Unlike other UN watchdogs, we believe in the usefulness
and necessity of the existence of the United Nations system.
We are also very appreciative of the work accomplished everyday
by the many people who work for the United Nations system
around the world, often under difficult circumstances and
with limited means.
Our clearly stated aim is to strengthen the UN system by
promoting compliance with the same human rights and environmental
principles that it promotes. We regret and reject any and
all attempts to undermine or weaken the United Nations system.
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Isn't your work weakening
the very institution you claim to strengthen?
No, quite the contrary.
We believe that transparency, accountability,
the ability to take into account constructive criticism
and respect for human rights and environmental principles
form the basis of strong, healthy human organizations.
In open societies, the ability for citizens to criticize
their own government and lobby for change does not mean
that they are attacking, weakening or undermining their
own institutions - on the contrary, this process is at the
very source of the strength of these open societies. The
United Nations is no exception to this.
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Why do you include a non-voting
seat on the Board of Directors to be filed at the discretion
of the Secretary-General of the United Nations?
By offering a non-voting seat to a representative appointed
by the Secretary-General of the United Nations we wish to
emphasize the public, open nature of our work. In order
to ensure that our necessary independence is not compromised,
this seat is a non-voting seat.
To the extent possible, we hope to work in collaboration
with the United Nations system, not in conflict with it.
Since our objective is to strengthen the UN system, we believe
that it will benefit from having access to the functionings
and deliberations of our Board of Directors.
We also believe that UN Observer.org will benefit by having
someone who can share with us the perspectives of the UN
system on the issues we deal with.
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