to the increasing relationship between them and the UN family. As Under-Secretary-General Desai has put it, "NGOs... no longer simply have a consumer relationship with the United Nations. They have increasingly assumed the role of promoters of new ideas, they have alerted the world community to emerging issues, and they have developed expertise and talent which... have become vital for the work of the United Nations, both at the policy and operational levels". This changing relationship is the topic of this paper, which is offered as a contribution by the Union of International Associations to the general reexamination of the global multilateral system now under way upon the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the United Nations' creation in 1945. It seems fitting that the UAI (Union des associations internationales) should make such a contribution, since it is the oldest (established in 1910) independent centre of documentation and publication on international NGOs. Both of the study's authors are members of the UAI Executive Council and represent the UAI to the United Nations. The authors have drawn on the UAI's substantial archives. More importantly, perhaps, they have drawn heavily on the experience of their own personal participation in INGO activities, each over nearly 40 years, as well as on the information and ideas provided by many other individuals who have been involved, in one way or another, in the connections between the international inter-governmental system and the international NGO world. We are grateful to them, and we honour their contribution on a roll deposited with the UAI headquarters. In examining these issues, the authors have chosen to concentrate on what seem to them the most important. Before 1990, the literature on INGO/UN relations was rather slim; in the years since then it has vastly increased. Readers of this report who seek data on questions only briefly touched on this paper, or who are interested in INGO relationships with members of the UN system other than the UN itself, will therefore find the attached list of h a useful source of additional information. Background As a background to the issues discussed in this paper, it may be helpful to offer a very brief sketch of UN/INGO relations as they have developed over the past 50 years. Article 71 of the UN Charter may be seen as the starting point for INGO involvement with the UN, Its inclusion in the document adopted in San Francisco came about largely, it is generally agreed, because the United States Government, eager to build public support for the new world body, included a substantial number of NGO leaders in the U.S. delegation to the conference. Reflecting their influence, Article 71 provides that the UN Economic and Social Council could establish "suitable arrangements for consultation" with INGOs. After taking some initial interim steps, ECOSOC did establish such arrangements at its tenth session by Resolution 288B (1950) which created a three-category system of NGO recognition with different privileges of consultation accorded to each category. In 1968 this system was somewhat modified by ECOSOC Resolution 1296, although the essential provision of three