A/HRC/21/24 A. General Assembly 33. Participation in the General Assembly and its subsidiary organs is restricted to Member States, with membership in the United Nations being open to States under Article 4 of the Charter of the United Nations; non-Member States, entities and intergovernmental organizations and other entities having received a standing invitation to participate as observers in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly and maintaining permanent observer missions or offices at Headquarters; and specialized agencies and related organizations maintaining liaison offices at Headquarters. 34. The General Assembly may invite non-governmental organizations, as observers, for specific and special meetings of the General Assembly. It may also extend invitations to non-governmental organizations for international conferences held under the auspices of the General Assembly. For example, in its resolution 66/197, the General Assembly invited non-governmental organizations and other major groups that were accredited to the World Summit on Sustainable Development and those that were in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to participate in the deliberations of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, as appropriate, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Conference. B. Economic and Social Council 35. The Economic and Social Council comprises 54 States Members of the United Nations elected by the General Assembly, pursuant to Chapter X of the Charter of the United Nations. The Council may invite any Member of the United Nations to participate, without vote, in its deliberations on any matter of particular concern to that Member, pursuant to Article 69 of the Charter. 36. Quite separately, Article 71 of the Charter provides that the Council may make suitable arrangements for consultation with non-governmental organizations which are concerned with matters within its competence. Such arrangements may be made with international organizations and, where appropriate, with national organizations after consultation with the Member of the United Nations concerned. 37. Pursuant to rule 73 of its rules of procedure, the Council may invite any national liberation movement recognized by or in accordance with resolutions of the General Assembly to participate, without the right to vote, in its deliberations on any matter of particular concern to that movement. 38. Participation by non-governmental organizations in the Council, its committees and sessional bodies is regulated by the rules of procedure and Council resolution 1996/31. Under that resolution, the Council created a committee on non-governmental organizations, comprising 19 Member States elected by the Council, which makes recommendations to the Council on the non-governmental organizations to be granted consultative status with the Council. 39. Consultative status with the Council is facilitated through an online application process. Applications are initially reviewed by the Secretariat before submission to the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations. Applications may be deferred where the Committee decides to seek clarification and answers to specific questions. Once the Committee has concluded its deliberations, its recommendations on the granting, suspension or withdrawal of consultative status are submitted to the Council for its approval. 10