Inter Press Service: A former UN Secretary-General once paid a supreme compliment to the work of civil society groups when he described non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as the world's "third super power" -- presumably ranking behind the United States and Russia.
Still, despite the political clout they wield, NGOs continue to be barred from the Secretariat building in New York every year during the two-week annual high-level summit meeting of world leaders, come September.
The U.N.-issued NGO ground pass, security...