RSCJ at the UN: Consultative Status with ECOSOC

 
After three years of review by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and lobby on our part, the Society of the Sacred Heart has been granted special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations (UN).
 
In her article on the website of the NGO office, Cecile Meijer RSCJ explains what this new status means, what difference it makes to the close to 2,300 RSCJ in the world and our partners in mission, and what new opportunities have opened up to us as we continue our presence at the UN. 
 
Click on this link (http://sacredheartattheun.org/article/consultative-status-ecosoc) to read the full article, and learn:
  • the difference between "DPI status" (being associated with the UN Department of Public Information) and "ECOSOC status";
  • how the Society of the Sacred Heart can now actively engage with governments, ECOSOC, its subsidiary bodies, and the UN Secretariat;
  • the concrete opportunities that are open to us;
  • our newly acquired responsibilities and obligations; and,
  • the strict prohibitions against misrepresentation of our status at the UN, be it consultative status or DPI status.
 
We thank Cecile for helping the Society to obtain this new status.  Together, we share the conviction that:
 
"The Society’s commitment to Mother Earth, people living in poverty, women, migrants, and children,
lived out in multiple cultural, religious, socio-economic and socio-political settings around the world, is our strength.
Our new status calls us to use that strength at the international level."