IMADR is in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and maintains a UN liaison office in Geneva. IMADR lobbies at UN meetings and major world conferences, linking grassroots minority groups with UN human rights bodies and mechanisms. As one of the few international human rights NGOs based outside the North Atlantic region, IMADR is viewed as an important support vehicle for many local and regional organizations. It also takes an active part in the ongoing discussion on the institution building process of the newly- launched Human Rights Council, calling for the maintaining of important special procedures that enable adequate discussion on specific issues such as minority rights and discrimination based on work and descent, and the creation of an effective system that provides adequate participation for NGOs and grassroots minority groups.
IMADR produces oral and written statements in relation to its areas of action in various UN meetings, including the Commission on Human Rights and its working groups, the Human Rights Council and committees on various international treaties. It also creates reports on meetings, such as the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and the working group of Indigenous populations (WGIP).
