Abstract
In February 1993, the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) established an open-ended working group (OEWG) to update, if necessary, its arrangements for consultation with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and to introduce coherent rules to regulate the participation of NGOs in international conferences organized by the United Nations (UN). 1 The review provides an important opportunity to clarify the roles and functions of NGOs in the international community, issues which have always been controversial. The review also has the potential to contribute to [End Page 107] current debates about the growing importance of civil society 2 in international norm-setting, although this possibility seems, as yet, remote. 3

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