On January 30, 2014, the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, which grants coveted UN NGO status to selected applicants, wrapped up its latest session in New York. UN NGO status allows NGOs to participate in UN meetings, and can include circulating documents on the official UN website and speaking rights. However, the very UN NGO body that accredits NGOs includes countries infamous for NGO harassment and intimidation such as China, Cuba, Pakistan, Sudan. These countries frequently manage to derail many applications of western NGOs. During this session, for example, the Committee postponed applications of an organization that focuses on genocide research and prevention, a Muslim feminist NGO and an organization that represents individual prisoners of conscience.
On January 30, 2014 the UN Committee announced removal of the Jewish National Fund's application from consideration because "they had not responded, as of 30 January 2014, to the Committee's last three reminders." The Jewish National Fund first applied for UN consultative status in 2006, was deferred in January 2007 pending the receipt of responses to the questions, and was ultimately voted down by such human rights stalwarts as Burundi, China, Cuba, Egypt, Guinea, Qatar, the Russian Federation, and Sudan in May 2007 after complaints of support for "settlements," and "discrimination."
At the session just concluded, on January 30, 2014 China blocked decision on "Sonke Gender Justice Network," a South African-based NGO on the grounds that the organization "referenced Tibet's right to self-determination." The F W de Klerk Foundation Trust's application was also postponed after China demanded it "use the correct United Nations terminology" for Taiwan on its website and Sudan questioned the organization's activities in "north-eastern Africa".