Abstract
NGOs have been active in the United Nations (U.N.) system since its inception in 1945. Although the U.N. was created as an intergovernmental organization, there was a need since the early days of the Organization to allow representatives of the civil society to participate, through formal and informal procedures, to agenda-making, negotiation and decision-making processes. A little more than 60 years after the creation of the United Nations, NGOs are now well integrated, sometimes even embedded, in the system. However, the history of the relations between NGOs and the U.N. has not always been a peaceful one, and although NGOs have enjoyed a continuous growth of their powers within the system, they have also known some setbacks. In the process, both the NGOs and the U.N. system have dramatically changed and have had to adapt to new institutional and international environments. Today, they both have to deal with the new challenges that the 21st century has brought.
