OEWG Accreditation
What are the benefits of Accreditation?
All NGOs with an interest in older people’s rights can accredit to the OEWG process. Accreditation gives your organisation official standing in the OEWG process, which could be influential in your national level advocacy. If your organisation is accredited you will be able to respond to the UN calls for submissions and other consultation opportunities related to the process. Even if you are unable to attend the OEWG meetings in New York, you can still submit documentation that will be displayed on the official OEWG website.
New NGO Accreditations are read out and approved at the beginning of each OEWG meeting in New York and this sends an important signal to Member States of the growing civil society interest and engagement in this debate.
If your NGO has UN ECOSOC consultative status, then you are automatically accredited to the OEWG process and need not apply for specific OEWG accreditation.
How can my organisation apply?
It is free to apply for OEWG Accreditation. You will be asked to complete an online survey, upload some documents about your organisation, and set up an online profile. UN Member States will then approve all new applications in their next session in New York.
More information about how NGOs can apply for Accreditation is available on the relevant session page of the UN website: https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/index.shtml.
Any questions about the Accreditation process should be directed to the UN Focal Point on Ageing using these email addresses: ageing-working-group@un.org, ngo@un.org.
What if my organisation is already accredited?
You only need to apply for accreditation to the OEWG once. If you are not sure whether your organisation already has accreditation or not, refer to this list on the official website: https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/accreditedngos.shtml.
If your organisation already has OEWG accreditation and you wish to register for the OEWG session, then you will still need to pre-register. More information about how to pre-register will be published on the relevant session page of the official UN website in advance: https://social.un.org/ageing-working-group/index.shtml