Taken from the World Right-to-Die Newsletter issue no. 46, Januray 2005.
By Michael Irwin
Contact information about the World Federation appears now on a list of “NGOs with Expertise in Fundamental Rights”, produced by the European Union (an organization of 25 countries, headquartered in Brussels).
Others on this list of exactly 100 organizations include Amnesty International, the European Humanist Federation, Friends of the Earth, Human Rights Watch, and Greenpeace.
In 2002, the World Federation applied to the Council of Europe (a different institution, in Strasbourg) for NGO consultative status. Unfortunately, our application was rejected, but we were encouraged to “establish working relations with the appropriate services” of that organization (which we have done), and we can re-apply next year.
Also, in 2005, an application for NGO consultative status will be made to the United Nations.