UN GROUND PASSES

ACCESS TO THE  UN HEADQUARTERS COMPLEX IN 2024  

 Access is granted to all the public areas in the General Assembly Building as well as to conference rooms in the Conference Building, for meetings open to civil society. Please note that it may be necessary to register online and obtain a Special Event Ticket (SET) for most UN meetings, which are separate from the UN grounds pass. It is also necessary to abide by requirements that may be established to enable in-person participation at some events. 

The NGO Branch, DESA will approve requests for UN grounds passes from NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC that have been submitted through our online system on a ‘first-come first-served basis.’ 

1. HOW TO OBTAIN GROUNDS PASSES AT THE UN HEADQUARTERS

• To obtain grounds passes at the United Nations in Geneva, and for all queries related to grounds passes for Geneva, please click here: https://www.ungeneva.org/en/practical-information/civil-society
• To obtain grounds passes at the United Nations in Vienna, and for all queries related to grounds passes for Vienna, please click here: https://www.unov.org/unov/en/ngo_liaison_service.html

1. REQUIREMENTS FOR OBTAINING UN GROUNDS PASSES IN NEW YORK

Organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC may choose to request annual and/or temporary passes for a maximum of 16 representatives of the organization. The minimum age for requesting passes is 18 years. 

A breakdown of the annual passes means: 

• A total of 7 annual passes can be requested in any given year; 
• The first pass(es) must be designated for either the head/President/CEO of the organization and/or the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). Please note that unless at least one of these two designations are first approved in our system, no other designations will be approved; 
• After the CEO or the CAO or both are designated in the system, they can request annual passes for 5 other representatives of the NGO as additional or main representatives of the organization; 
• Annual passes will be valid from 3 January until 31 December 2024.

A breakdown of the temporary passes means: 

• No more than 9 temporary passes can be requested at any given time within a calendar year; 
• The duration of temporary passes must be at least for 1 month, up to a maximum of 3 months, and valid only during the 2024 calendar year. 

All requests for passes must be made online as explained below. Fax, emails to UN staff members and/or requests by mail will not be considered. 

Please also note that if a grounds pass request is denied by the NGO Branch due to incomplete, incorrect or inconsistent information, it is the responsibility of the NGO to re-submit a corrected request online for our approval. 

 C. TO APPLY FOR EITHER AN ANNUAL OR TEMPORARY UN GROUNDS PASS, NGO REPRESENTATIVES WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING: 

1. For all NGOs that have been granted consultative status by ECOSOC in 2023, or have never requested grounds passes in New York before, a signed official letter (click here for the new sample) from the President/CEO must be submitted on the official letterhead of the organization, requesting a UN grounds pass for himself/herself. Please note that the President/CEO signing this letter must also be the same person designated as the President/CEO in our system. 
2. To send the letter, please follow the steps below:  
   1. First, login into the database at: https://esango.un.org/civilsociety/newLogin.do
   2. Second, click on the link to “Contact us” (on the left side of the screen);  
   3. Third, select “Grounds Pass” as the category of your message; and  
   4. Fourth, draft your message and include the letter as an attachment and then click “Send”. 

After you have submitted the letter from the President/CEO (for a maximum of 15 representatives, in addition to himself or herself, for any combination of annual and temporary passes), please follow up by submitting the online requests through our system for the selected NGO representatives mentioned in the letter for approval by following the steps explained in section D below.  

Please also note that the duration of the annual passes must be for the 2024 calendar year only, i.e., between January and December 2024. The duration of temporary passes can range from 1 month to 3 months maximum within the 2024 calendar year only. Requests that include dates beyond 2024 will not be approved. 

3. It is important for any change in the leadership of the NGO (the head or President/CEO) to be communicated to the NGO Branch. Please note that transitions in leadership of an organization need to be properly documented in our system to ensure that we take evidence-based action. 
4. For all other NGOs that were either granted consultative status with ECOSOC prior to 2023, or had grounds passes approved before 2023, requests should be submitted online by following the 4 steps in section D

 Please note the following restrictions: 

For official meetings and UN events that require prior registration online, NGOs will be issued separate tickets/passes for the specific events by the event organizers. Please review participation guidelines for each event carefully on their respective registration websites. 

1. APPLYING FOR UN GROUNDS PASSES IN THE SYSTEM IN NEW YORK – 4 STEPS
2. Log in and Review. 
   Login here to access your profile in our system, using the username and password assigned to your organization. On your profile page, click on the tab for “Consultative Status.” From the drop-down menu, select “Designations” and then select “New York”. This page will list all your existing representatives, if you have any. 
3. Request new passes or renew or add representatives. 
   The process to renew passes or to request new passes is the same. Select “New Designation”, insert the information in all the required fields of the online form, and then press “Submit” at the bottom of the page. If the information is not complete, incorrect or missing in any of the required fields, your request will not be approved. Please be sure to specify the duration of the new pass (annual passes through 31 December of 2024, and temporary passes for at least 1 month, but no more than 3 months).
4. Wait for confirmation email. 
   Due to the high volume of requests, applications for passes will be reviewed with due care to ensure compliance with the new guidelines. As such, requests will only be endorsed after a thorough check, which will require a longer than usual wait period. As soon as the requirements have been verified, an email notification will be sent to the email address of your organization on your profile which will provide instructions to print a security form. 
5. Collect your pass:
   1. Once you receive the email confirmation that will be sent to the contact address provided by your organization on your profile in our system, please read the detailed instructions in the email carefully. 
   2. To collect your pass, you must first print the security form by clicking on the “print” icon next to your name. 
   3. Bring both the security form and a valid photo ID issued by a governmental authority, such as a passport or a driver’s license, to the UN Pass and ID Office located at 320 East 45th Street, New York, NY 10017, Ground Floor, between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm, Monday through Friday.  
   4. Please note that passes will NOT be issued if representatives present themselves at the UN Pass & ID Office without the printed security form and a valid photo ID. The form and the Photo ID should only be presented at the Pass & ID Office. Each representative is responsible for collecting his or her own grounds pass. 

Please note that the organizational arrangements for collecting ground passes are subject to change depending on the health situation in New York and related arrangements at the United Nations. 

NOTE: NGOs ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING AND UPDATING THEIR CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS ON THEIR PROFILES IN OUR SYSTEM AT ALL TIMES TO ENABLE US TO COMMUNICATE CRITICAL INFORMATION AS AND WHEN NECESSARY. 

NGOs in consultative status with the ECOSOC are invited to submit their request for their 2024 accreditation at UNOG as of Tuesday, 2 January 2024, by designating their representatives both online and in writing, as per established procedure at UNOG. Requests should be submitted at least one week before the desired date of entrance to the Palais des Nations, using a formal designation letter containing all the mandatory elements as per the established template. The NGO Liaison Unit will continue to do its utmost to process the accreditation requests within 3 working days, provided they comply with the established procedure, but delays can be expected during peak periods and holidays. NGOs are therefore kindly requested to plan accordingly.  

While holding a UNOG Grounds pass, NGO representatives can enter the Palais des Nations premises. However, some official meetings and UN events may require additional online registration through the online registration platform Indico. As different UN entities may have different modalities for NGO participation, for more specific and detailed information on how to engage with various UN mechanisms, please refer to the respective organizing Secretariat (e.g. WHO for the World Health Assembly, OHCHR for the sessions of the Human Rights Council).  

 Please be reminded that NGO representatives in possession of UNOG grounds passes represent the NGO in full by participating in UN meetings as well as engaging with UN staff, Member States, and other entities on behalf of the NGO. In addition, holders of UNOG grounds passes are subject to relevant UN rules and regulations and must fully comply with the General guidelines for NGO representatives accredited at UNOG, as well as directions set forth by the Security and Safety Service. UNOG reserves the right to deny or withdraw accreditation of NGO representatives whose activities run counter to the principles of the UN Charter or who act in a way inconsistent with the principles of the Organization, who abuse their privileges or put their accreditation to improper use.  

For any further information concerning accreditation and grounds passes at UNOG, please visit the UN Geneva Civil Society web page where you can find the following documents:  

• Procedure for NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC to request accreditation at UNOG in 2024  

• User guide for the online accreditation of NGO representatives in the iCSO database 

 Template designation letter  

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the ongoing collaboration as we navigated together through 2023 and its multiple complex and interlocking crises. On behalf of the entire NGO Liaison Unit team, let me take this opportunity to wish you and your relatives a happy holiday season and all the best for 2024.