Lobbying

COMMITTEES

The ultimate goal in lobbying a Committee is to persuade the Committee firstly to question the government about your concerns and secondly to comment on it in their final statement.

If you want to be certain that your written submission is taken on board by a Committee, you need to go to the hearing and lobby Committee members. This is expensive both in terms of time and money, but is worth considering if the issue is very important or your organisation will be regularly using the UN human rights machinery. If you cannot afford to attend a hearing, see below for some alternative ideas.

Four of the Committees – the Human Rights Committee and the Committees on women, children and economic, social and cultural rights – allow NGOs to attend the pre-sessional meetings at which they draw up the list of questions to be put to the government when its report is considered. See the tables at the end of this guide for details. If you want to influence the questions put to the government, it is well worth attending this meeting also, despite the extra cost involved. Strictly speaking, you cannot lobby at this meeting, but you can address the Committee directly and enter into a dialogue with them, which is extremely useful. Only a couple of hours will be allocated to the NGOs, so how much time you have will depend on how many NGOs attend. As a general rule, it is best to keep your presentation as short as possible, in order to allow more time for discussion. If other NGOs are attending, liaise with them and co-ordinate your presentations so that you make the best use of the time available. Try to avoid repeating one another unless you feel that a particular point needs to be emphasised or reinforced.

What follows applies to lobbying at the full hearing, although some of it will also be relevant to attendance at a pre-sessional meeting.

If you do decide to lobby, the first thing to do is to find out who else is likely to be going to the same hearing. NGOs with consultative status (see Appendix A for domestic representatives) will probably be able to tell you. NGOs are increasingly beginning to co-ordinate their lobbying, and there may well be an informal group of NGOs planning to attend a particular hearing. By getting in touch with others, you can exchange information and make sure that your lobbying activities compliment each other rather than cancelling each other out. This is vitally important, as the opportunities for lobbying are very limited and you need to make the most of them.

Talking to other NGOs is the best way to find out what is known about individual Committee members: what their particular interests are, how much weight they carry on the Committee, how they react to lobbying, and so on. The International Service for Human Rights – see APPENDIX C – can also provide information about Committee members, as can members of the United Kingdom’s and Ireland’s permanent missions at the UN – see APPENDIX D.

Next, find out when and where - Geneva or New York - the Committee will be discussing the item in which you are interested. If the hearing is in Geneva, find out whether it is in the Palais des Nations or the Palais Wilson (see page 5). Although the dates beginning and ending a Committee session will be fixed reasonably far in advance, the date on which a particular country or item will come up for consideration can vary. You will need to liaise closely with the Committee Secretary to keep track of this, and check just before you leave to make sure that the date has not slipped. Incidentally, this makes booking cheap aeroplane tickets difficult, but there is no point in having a non-variable ticket booked months in advance for entirely the wrong dates. You will usually be reasonably safe booking a fortnight in advance, but it is risky to book much earlier than that. If you are going at a busy time of year for the UN, such as during the Commission or Sub-Commission, it is advisable to book a hotel in advance.

Make sure that you understand the Committee’s procedures. This varies from one Committee to another (see tables on each Committee for outline details) - what follows is a general description that may not apply exactly to any particular Committee. The Committee will have a standard procedure for considering periodic reports from countries. This is set out in writing and you can obtain details from the Secretary to the Committee (see relevant table) or the website at http://www.unhchr.ch – see site map at page 59. Usually, the Committee appoints one or two of its members to act as Country Rapporteur. This Rapporteur will make a particular study of the government’s report and any NGO submissions. He or she, or sometimes the whole Committee or a working party made up of Committee members, will then draw up a list of questions to put to the government. This usually happens at a pre-sessional meeting before the full hearing, but for the Committees on torture and racial discrimination it may happen at the beginning of the session, or at some point during the session. Sometimes, only the Country Rapporteur reads all the submissions on a particular country.

At the hearing, the Committee chairperson will invite the government delegation to introduce its report. The UK always sends civil servants as its delegation, whereas the Irish government has tended to send a mixture of civil servants and government ministers. The government delegation introduces the report and updates the Committee on any developments that have occurred since it was submitted, usually many months previously. The government delegation usually begins by answering the questions that have been notified to them in advance of the hearing. The Country Rapporteur then asks further questions, followed by other members of the Committee. The chairperson does not usually ask questions, and nor does any member of the Committee who has been nominated by the government whose report is under consideration. There is little point, therefore, in lobbying either of these members. The government delegation then replies to the further questions, and Committee members make final comments on their presentation. The Committee then goes into closed (private) session, in order to draw up its final statement, which is then publicly read out. This whole process can happen in a single day, or can take place over two or more days, depending on the amount of time allocated. In particular, the reading out of the final statement may be deferred if time has become short. It is not unusual for the statement to be issued a week after the hearing, or right at the end of the Committee session.

As can be seen from the above description, NGOs’ opportunity to be involved in Committee proceedings is limited. You may attend public sessions of Committees, but only in order to observe. You may not address the Committee and you may not attempt to communicate with Committee members inside the committee room while the committee is in session, even by passing them notes. While the Committee is considering your own country, you may sit in the seats round the edge of the committee room; at other times, you should use the public gallery and leave those seats for other NGOs whose country is under discussion.

There are two opportunities for lobbying a Committee: when the Country Rapporteur or working party is drawing up the list of questions, and during the session itself. If you can find out who the Country Rapporteur is, and how to contact him or her other than care of the UN, there is nothing to stop you getting in touch in advance and offering to provide a list of draft issues on which to base questions. You can also offer to meet the Rapporteur, either at the UN or in your own or a nearby country, should s/he happen to be visiting. If the Rapporteur is visiting your country, you can offer not just a meeting, but a site visit to a project that illustrates the problem you wish to highlight. Another useful tactic is to include in your written submission a list of questions you would like to see put to the government. If there is to be a pre-sessional meeting to draw up questions, you should consider being present as this is the best way to influence what questions are asked.

So far as lobbying during the session is concerned, timing is important. If a Committee is receiving, say, half a dozen country reports during one session, if you lobby too early in the session members’ minds will be on another country altogether, and you may also find yourself competing with NGOs from other countries who are engaged in lobbying on their own behalf. Equally, you cannot leave your lobbying until the actual day when your item is being discussed, because by then Committee members will have decided what additional questions to ask. Ideally, therefore, you need to be present a couple of days before your item is due for discussion, assuming that your item is not the first on the agenda.

On the first day, you can sit in the public gallery and listen to the proceedings on another item. This will help you to identify the Committee members and to gain some idea of what sort of issues are of concern to them. Headphones are supplied to enable you to listen to translations - an English translation is always available. The acoustics are very bad in some of the rooms at the UN, so sometimes it is necessary to use the headphones even though a person is speaking English. When it comes to identifying Committee members, it is useful to know that they usually sit in alphabetical order, so once you have identified one person you can usually identify his or her neighbours, bearing in mind that someone may be temporarily absent from the room or prevented from attending the session. The chairperson often addresses Committee members by name, which assists in identifying them.

On the second day, you will have four opportunities to lobby: before the session starts, during coffee breaks, at lunch time and after the session. Committees usually sit between 10:00 am and 1:00 pm and between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Coffee breaks are often informal and it is simply a matter of noticing that a member is slipping out of the room. You are probably best situated in the corridor outside the committee room rather than in the public gallery, for these purposes. On a practical point, find out the difference, if any, between the direction of the coffee room and that of the lavatories, and accost members on their way to the former and the way back from the latter! Bearing in mind that the Committee members are still concentrating on another item, it is best to introduce yourself, saying why you have come, and ask whether you can talk to them then and there, or make an appointment to see them later. Very often, if you approach someone before the start of the session, they will make such an appointment. Keep a note of appointments - otherwise you may become double-booked - and make sure that you keep them; you will not get a second chance. Obviously, you can start lobbying on the first day, if opportunity permits.

When you do get a chance to actually lobby someone, you may have as little as five or ten minutes in which to do so. You will rarely get more than half an hour at maximum. Also, do not assume that the member will have read your submission. Committee members often do not receive all the papers until they physically arrive at the UN, and they often have no opportunity to read submissions until the night before the day on which they are due for consideration. Successful lobbying, therefore, consists in being able to summarise, very briefly and clearly, your major concerns, and being clear about what you are asking the member to do. It can be helpful to have a single sheet of paper, clearly laid out with good use of headings and bullet points, that summarises your concerns and the questions you would like raised. However, do not forget that you are dealing with independent experts. They will need to be convinced, and do not usually accept spoon-feeding. You must be ready to answer questions, and to change tack in response to the member’s reactions to your initial approach. Most members are very open to being lobbied, but if someone refuses to speak to you, perhaps because they are too busy, it is counterproductive to argue.

If there are a number of NGOs present, it is helpful to co-ordinate your lobbying, either meeting a member together in a group, or splitting up the lobbying and exchanging information with one another. There is everything to be said for co-operating with other NGOs, and much to be lost by competing with them. It is always worth jointly requesting the Secretary of the Committee to organise an informal meeting with NGOs who can provide information on a particular country. Not all the Committee members may attend, but those who do are likely to take up your concerns if they are well presented. If such a meeting takes place at lunchtime, it is worth investing in providing sandwiches for Committee members, who are much more likely to attend if it does not mean missing their lunch. Only NGOs with consultative status can book rooms at the UN for meetings, so you will need their help.

If a Rapporteur is visiting your own country, organising a joint NGO meeting with him or her, perhaps followed by a tour of relevant projects, if this does not involve too much travelling, can help to deepen the Rapportuer’s understanding of a range of problems and the context in which they arise.

Attending the UN and lobbying gives you a number of further opportunities or media coverage. You can press release the fact that you will be attending, and that you have attended. If a Committee meeting is especially important, or of particular importance to a given publication or programme, you can sometimes persuade domestic journalists to attend the hearing and send back reports, including radio and television coverage. The UN has a press office and has good facilities for journalists. Journalists who want to film or record UN proceedings will need to liaise with the Press Office. It is also worth trying to obtain media coverage in Geneva or, especially, New York.

If the Committee meeting is in the Palais des Nations, you will need to obtain a security pass. In theory, Committee meetings are open to the public, but access to the Palais will be much simper if you acquire a pass. Write to the Secretary of the Committee giving the names of your representatives exactly as they appear on their passports, and the dates when they will be present. Ask the Secretary to ensure that the staff at the Villa Les Feuillantines (in the avenue de la Paix, close to the Place des Nations) have their names. Send your letter on headed paper, describe your representative as “our accredited representative”, and give the dates when they will be in Geneva. Passes should be obtained from the Villa before going to the Palais, and at least 45 minutes should be allowed for this. Your representatives will need a copy of your letter and their passports. If the meeting is in the Palais Wilson, ask the Secretary to give your name to the guards at the security gate. They will issue you with a pass. You will need to show your passport, and they will probably keep it until you return your pass.

THE COMMISSION AND SUB-COMMISSION

The ultimate goal in lobbying the Commission and Sub-Commission is to persuade members to ask questions about your concerns, ideally during the session, or, failing that, privately. If the government is stung into exercising its right of reply, you will know that you have been very successful. You will also want the staff of the permanent mission to raise your concerns with the civil servants back home.

Only NGOs with consultative status have access to the Commission and Sub-Commission. They can circulate written statements related to an item on the agenda, of 2,000 words if they have category I status and 1,500 words if category II. They can also make oral statements of up to 5 minutes while the session is in progress, and can lobby members about resolutions. Member States can reply to both written and oral statements by NGOs, and, of course, by Commission members.

Since the Commission is made up of representatives of Member States, it is one of the few places where it is possible to engage in public dialogue with the government. The United Kingdom is currently a member of the Commission, but Ireland is not. In practice this makes little difference, as non-Member States are entitled to attend as observers and can speak and reply to points raised.

Although the Sub-Commission is made up of independent human rights experts, every Member State is entitled to attend sessional hearings, and to reply to statements made by members of the Sub-Commission or NGOs, so indirect dialogue is also possible here.

It is worth lobbying your own country’s delegation, even though they will obviously not criticise their own government publicly. Not only will what you say to them be reported back to the government at home, but comments made by other delegations will also be reported. It will do your issue no harm if a report is received saying that there was considerable concern on the floor of the UN about your particular topic.

The staff of the permanent missions of the United Kingdom and Ireland at the UN (see APPENDIX D for contact details) can provide valuable information about which countries to lobby and can also perform introductions to members of other missions. The Irish mission appear to regard it as part of their work to assist, and even entertain when time permits, NGOs from Ireland or working on Irish issues. The UK mission staff seem to be more focussed on other work. Bear in mind that staff from both missions are usually very busy, although they can usually find the time to answer a quick question.

NGOs that do not have consultative status are dependent upon those that do for access to the Commission and Sub-Commission. The domestic representatives of such NGOs (see Appendix A for list) can ask those with consultative status to raise issues on their behalf, circulate statements prepared by them, and allow them to use some of their speaking time. NGOs that are not domestic representatives will usually need to obtain the co-operation of those that are if they want access. Sometimes, though, an NGO with consultative status will deal directly with an NGO that is not their domestic representative, if that NGO can assist them on a specific issue. NGOs that want to attend sessions must be accredited by an NGO with consultative status, in order to obtain the necessary security pass. Passes for the Commission and Sub-Commission are obtained from the Villa Les Feuillantines in the avenue de la Paix, close to the Place des Nations. You need to obtain your pass before going to the Palais, and you should allow at least 45 minutes for this. Also, make sure that the NGO that accredits you has your name spelled exactly as it appears on your passport, otherwise you will be refused a pass. If your name is unusual, or would seem unusual, for example, to someone unfamiliar with the spelling of Irish names, you will need to impress upon the accrediting NGO the need for accuracy.

NGOs with consultative status are usually working to a broader agenda than that which you may want to raise, and it may therefore be better to take your issue up directly with a Special Rapporteur or a Working Group (see below). However, if you are working with an NGO with consultative status at the Commission or Sub-Commission, you will have to co-ordinate your lobbying through them. Such sponsoring NGOs can assist you by identifying members of the Commission or Sub-Commission and introducing you, and helping you to lobby. They will probably have other NGOs to look after as well as you, though, so you may find yourself on your own, especially during agenda items that do not concern you. The general information about lobbying given above in relation to Committees will apply, especially in terms of how to approach members. As with Committees, you are not supposed to lobby members in the chamber itself, although occasionally members may approach you or pass you a note asking for information, in which case it is acceptable to have a brief, quiet discussion or to pass them a note in reply.

Timing at the Commission and Sub-Commission is even more difficult to predict than it is for Committees, because the agenda is not always taken in the published order. You will need to keep in close touch with your sponsoring NGO, and to be flexible about travelling arrangements.

Both the Commission and the Sub-Commission take place in much larger chambers than the Committees, with many hundreds of people present. You will have to find a seat in the limited number of seats reserved for NGOs with consultative status, and be sensitive about giving up those seats to other NGOs when necessary. The only way to hear what is going on is to use the headphones. Before people speak, they raise their hands so that the interpreters can see them and switch to their individual microphones; in this way, you can at least tell from what part of the chamber a speech is coming. Members sit in a single or multiple horseshoe at the front of the chamber, arranged alphabetically by name, flanked by an outer ring of government representatives, also arranged alphabetically by the French name of the country - the UK is thus under “R” for “Royaume Uni”. The only way to identify members is to stand unobtrusively near the front for a while until you can recognise them. Beyond them is a ring of advisors, then government observers (again in French alphabetical order), other observers such as specialist agencies, intergovernmental organisations and so on, and finally there are seats for NGOs with consultative status.

WORKING GROUPS AND SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS

It is not usually necessary or appropriate to lobby Working Groups or Special Rapporteurs. Most of their work is done on paper, and, with the exception of Working Group meetings, away from the UN.

However, Special Rapporteurs often travel considerably in pursuit of their work, and there is no harm in offering to meet them in your own or a nearby country, especially if you have referred a number of cases to them. Similarly, they will be present at the UN when they are reporting to the Commission or Sub-Commission, and it is often possible to meet them then. Such opportunities should be used to impress upon the Rapporteur and his or her assistant your own reliability as a source of information, and to gently chase progress on submissions. However, bear in mind that they are greatly overloaded and under-resourced and that a critical approach on your part may well prove counter-productive.

It is equally important to build up a relationship with the assistants to Special Rapporteurs and the Secretaries of Working Groups as it is with the Rapporteurs or Groups themselves. See MAKING A SUBMISSION for how to chase progress on a submission.

NGOs usually have one of two gaols when they refer cases to Special Rapporteurs. They either want the rapporteur to raise the case with the government, or, in very serious situations, they want to persuade the rapporteur to undertake a mission to the United Kingdom or Ireland to report on the situation.

Most of the Working Groups of the Commission meet in closed session, and do not expect to be lobbied, whereas all but one of the Working Groups of the Sub-Commission are open to NGO participation.