During the 14th Intergovernmental Committee Meeting (7-14 Dec. 2019, Bogota, Columbia), the ICH NGO Forum adopted its Code of Conduct and Bylaws, which regulate diverse matters and procedures relating to the way ICH NGO Forum functions (texts available here ). Article 21 of Section IV of the ICH NGO Forum Bylaws raised, however, some concerns, its wording being:

"Members of the official delegation of a State Party may not be elected to the Steering Committee. If a member of the Steering Committee becomes a member of the official delegation of a State Party in the course of her or his service in the Steering Committee, membership in the Steering Committee will be terminated."

Thus, the main problem refers to the cumulative functions of the members of the Steering Committee. The question arises on the possible conflict of interest related to these cumulative functions, and the ways to avoid the conflict. The application of Article 21 was thus suspended on exceptional basis by the General Assembly of the ICH NGOs Forum until further discussion could take place (2019 GA minutes available here ). Concerns refer especially to the situation of the Steering Committee Members from underrepresented regions (Group II, Group III, Group IV, Group Va & Vb) who in some cases can only attend UNESCO meetings as part of  their country’s official delegation. These situations occur mainly because of financial constraints, but also as a result of other emerging issues, e.g. natural disasters, political instability etc.

In the framework of the ICH NGO Forum’s activities during the 15. COM (7-19 Dec. 2020, online), the Steering Committee and the General Assembly of ICH NGO Forum decided to form an Ad hoc Working Group on Article 21, comprised of one accredited NGO representing each  electoral group, to conduct broad consultations amongst all accredited NGOs and draft a working document on its results to be distributed prior to the next GA.

Whilst many definitions fall under the term ‘conflict of interest’ in addressing employees or representatives of public, private, governmental and non-governmental organizations (assorted documents may be consulted here), a common core is presented in the Review of Mechanisms and Policies Addressing Conflict of Interest in the United Nations System, which defines it as:

"circumstances in which international civil servants, directly or indirectly, may benefit improperly, or allow a third party to benefit improperly, from their association with their organization."

It is important to note in regard to the NGO Forum Steering Committee, that its members are not international civil servants, and their work is of voluntary character. Nevertheless, as they are chosen to represent their geographic regions, and the ICH NGO Forum functions within the UNESCO-ICH system, their responsibility to comply with UN standards is higher than those of regular members of NGO Forum that solely represent their organizations.

Further important information related to the UN definition of conflict of interest may be found in the above-mentioned document under chapter I.B (paragraphs 12-18).*



* https://www.unjiu.org/sites/www.unjiu.org/files/jiu_rep_2017_9_english.pdf 

We want to learn more of the diversity of positions and experiences regarding the issue of conflict of interest in order to present NGOs voices in the draft working document for the ICH NGO Forum General Assembly. Your answers will be of crucial importance for achieving consensus concerning Article 21 that will be acceptable to NGOs from all regions and that would take into account different circumstances and constraints. To sum up:

- Survey Purpose is to learn the position of each accredited NGO on Article 21 and build a basis for decision making taking into account the interests of as many parties as possible.
- Survey Structure consists of questions on understanding and identifying conflict of interest, as well as coming up with possible suggestions.