August 5, 2010
The Fund Forum and Mehr Nuri (Ray of mercy) Charitable Foundation - organizations headed by Gulnara Karimova - have been granted Special Consultative Status by the UN Economic and Social Council. In July 2010, the NGO Committee at one of its last sessions recommended that the foundations be granted the Status. This is the first time the Status has been granted to public organizations in Uzbekistan.
Once granted a Consultative Status, a nongovernmental organization gets an opportunity to contribute to the UN activities and particularly to the ECOSOC, its commissions and other subsidiary bodies. Representatives of NGOs with this status may participate in events and activities of the UN and its structures, make statements, swap experience, designate official representatives to the United Nations – to the UN Headquarters in New York and the UN offices in Geneva and Vienna. The Special Consultative Status enables the Fund Forum and Mehr Nuri Charitable Foundation participate in the activities of the UN regarding issues related to international cultural and humanitarian cooperation, development of a dialog among nations, education, science, culture and arts, healthy lifestyle and charity.
It is noteworthy that the granting of the Consultative Status points to the recognition of the effectiveness and international significance of the Fund Forum. Although the UN`s cooperation with nongovernmental organizations can be traced back to the times of the League of Nations, receiving a status allowing for more active participation in the UN`s activities is difficult task for public organizations. In order to get a consultative status, an NGO must meet a series of requirements. More specifically, its activities must be in tune with the purposes of the UN, be engaged in issues that are under the ECOSOC competence, have a democratic inner structure and oversee international activities. According to practice, an NGO may be considered an international entity if it has offices in at least three countries.
The Fund Forum was the first among public organizations of Uzbekistan became the official partner of UNESCO. In March 2007 Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two organizations. Also Memorandums of cooperation were signed with British Council, Swiss Cooperation Office in Uzbekistan, China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Cristiano Ronaldo Foundation, Austrian Association of Retirees, China Association for the Advancement of International Friendship, National Museum of Korea, Nagoya State University and Samuel Eto`o Foundation. The Foundation has representative offices in Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Paris, Vienna, Geneva, New York, Madrid and Berlin.
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