Since 5 June, Plataforma per la Llengua has had consultative status with the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the six main bodies of the UN. This status will allow it to advise the organisation, take part in the events it organises, and access the facilities of the United Nations.

ECOSOC is in charge of coordinating the UN's economic and social spheres via five regional commissions, eight functional committees and 15 specialised agencies. These agencies include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

With this recognition, the UN's Economic and Social Council will be able to request advice, specialised information and studies from Plataforma per la Llengua and will allow it to take part in UN conferences and events, make written and oral statements and organise parallel undertakings.

Although ECOSOC's recommendations are not mandatory, the fact that Plataforma per la Llengua can express its points of view in this body should give greater political weight to the protection of Catalan and increase the organisation's influence. It should be borne in mind that this recognition means NGOs can be heard around the world, helping generate more public awareness about their areas of action and establishing relationships and building networks with many important political figures.

A precedent Plataforma per la Llengua wants to see repeated: the UN expresses concern about the TSJC's verdicts against immersive teaching

Plataforma per la Llengua has been working with the United Nations for years to denounce the violation of Catalan-speakers' language rights. So far, the relationship has been mainly with the UN special rapporteur for minorities, who has shown concern about the situation of Catalan in schools, asking for a review of the judgements of the TSJC (High Court of Justice of Catalonia) against immersive teaching and calling on Spain to respect Catalan-speakers' rights.

Now, however, Plataforma per la Llengua wants to take a step further to gain influence in the United Nations and, for this reason, it applied for consultative status with ECOSOC. The decision came on 5 June, when the Management Segment of the UN's Economic and Social Council granted its recognition after the UN's Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations made a positive recommendation in January without any objections or questions.

Specifically, the status granted is that of a special consultative body - the most common type. This is for organisations with a restricted scope of action, specifically focusing on just one of ECOSOC's missions. In addition to special consultative status, there is also the status of general consultative body, reserved for global NGOs covering most of the topics on the agenda of the UN's Economic and Social Council, and a third status for organisations that do not quite fit into either of the other two categories.

With this recognition, Plataforma per la Llengua hopes that positions like that of the UN rapporteur for minorities on the judgements of the TSJC against immersion will be repeated, with an impact on all of ECOSOC's spheres of action. For the Catalan organisation, this is a big step forward in helping legitimise its work around the world, and it should make possible many more international synergies.