Data Privacy Brasil Joins the UN System with ECOSOC Consultative Status
Data Privacy Brasil has a strong track record of engagement in international processes, including those within the United Nations system. Now, in 2026, it officially becomes part of this system: we are an organization with consultative status with ECOSOC.
Data Privacy Brasil has a strong track record of engagement in international processes, including those within the United Nations system. Now, in 2026, it officially becomes part of this system: we are an organization with consultative status with ECOSOC.
The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), established by the 1945 UN Charter, created mechanisms for participation and consultation with civil society entities. Although the UN has taken steps to broaden civil society participation more generally, ECOSOC remains the only formal gateway for access to key commission processes.
Among the many commissions and spaces within this Council is the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD), which currently hosts a specific working group on Data Governance, where Data Privacy Brasil already participates as an observer. The Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Sustainable Development, and the Commission for Social Development are other examples of technical commissions. In addition, there are also regional commissions, such as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
Consultative status allows NGOs to gain facilitated access and accreditation to UN system events and meetings; opportunities to speak and present assessments and recommendations in specific areas; and the ability to work within a network of organizations to monitor and raise alerts on internationally relevant issues, such as Human Rights. The Human Rights Council, in particular, is one of the most prominent bodies that enables the participation of NGOs with consultative status, even though it is not a subsidiary body of ECOSOC. It is responsible for examining violations, promoting respect for Human Rights, and coordinating them within the United Nations system.
In a context of significant challenges to multilateralism and to the UN system itself, it is crucial to ensure civil society participation so that state policies and practices are shaped in a plural and participatory manner, with the legitimacy and political authority that only the UN system possesses at the global level. Although many transnational agendas seek “sovereign” and individual solutions, both the problems and the solutions are collective, grounded in relationships of interdependence among countries and sectors. In this sense, the UN remains a space of influence, decision-making, and authority for development policies and practices that have direct effects on domestic policies and on relations among peoples.
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