UNITED NATIONS — Gaining consultative status to the United Nations is an important touch point for many NGOs. But competing political agendas at the U.N. are placing that goal out of reach for some human rights and LGBTQ organizations that struggle to navigate the complicated system.

Fewer than half of the 632 NGOs that applied last month for consultative status — which secures them physical access to U.N. meetings and special events — with the U.N. Economic and Social Council received accreditation, according to the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, a subset of ECOSOC. The committee, led by 19 member states including Russia, China, Israel, India, and the U.S., is set to defer 339 applicants following its first 2020 session, which ends Friday.

“All of the states in the committee are playing the game. They have an interest. Some, however, are much, much more obviously operating through political interest to keep independent organizations out,” said Eleanor Openshaw, New York director of the International Service for Human Rights, which monitors the accreditation process. Read more via Devex