NGOs and Transnational Advocacy Networks

Non-governmental organizations occupy a distinctive place in global governance: unlike states or intergovernmental bodies such as the UN, they are private associations, yet many have achieved significant formal and informal influence over international norms and policy. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), founded in Geneva in 1863 by Swiss businessman Henry Dunant after he witnessed the aftermath of the 1859 Battle of Solferino, is among the oldest and most institutionally embedded, having drafted or inspired the successive Geneva Conventions (1864, 1906, 1929, and the four 1949 conventions that remain the core of international humanitarian law) and having received the Nobel Peace Prize three times (1917, 1944, 1963), a record unmatched by any other organization or individual. Article 71 of the UN Charter formally provides for ECOSOC to grant "consultative status" to NGOs, a mechanism used by thousands of organizations to gain access to UN bodies, submit written statements, and, in some cases, address UN conferences directly.