On May 21, 2001, the International Shinto Foundation was officially approved by the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) for Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). ISF thus becomes the 24th Japanese NGO to obtain ECOSOC status.

ECOSOC promotes UN activities in the economic and social fields, organizing conferences and advising the UN General Assembly on pertinent issues. NGOs with expertise in these areas may apply for status with ECOSOC, which gives them the privilege of contributing statements at conferences. Among the three categories of status available, ISF received Special Consultative Status, which refers to expertise in a specific area, such as the environment.

ISF applied for ECOSOC accreditation in May 2000, and the process took about one year, culminating in consideration by the Committee on NGOs, which meets for three weeks every May to consider new applications and review quadrennial reports, which are required of accepted NGOs. The nineteen member-countries of this committee (5 African, 4 Asian, 2 Eastern European, 4 Latin American and Caribbean, and 4 Western European and Other) may question each new NGO applicant about their activities, finances, membership, and their purpose in seeking ECOSOC accreditation. When ISF's turn came before the Committee, six member delegations (Sudan, India, China, Cuba, Russia, and Ethiopia), made statements strongly supporting ISF's application, and as there were no further questions or comments from other members, approval of the application was granted. ISF's delegation to Committee sessions consisted of Director-General Yoshimi Umeda, his Assistant Paul H. Sherbow, and ISF NY Center Chief Officer Hiroko Sugimoto.

As an ECOSOC NGO, ISF will be able to more actively participate in international UN conferences, such as the annual Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and the Rio +10 Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa to be held in 2002.