NEW YORK, Sep 13 (IPS) – A series of crises are putting our world at risk. Wars fought without rules, governance without democratic principles, rising discrimination against women and marginalized groups, accelerating climate change, environmental degradation driven by greed, and undue economic deprivation in an age of abundance threaten to roll back decades of human progress achieved by the international community.
The UN of September Top of the future offers a rare opportunity to address these challenges through greater participation in UN decision-making. World leaders will gather in New York later this month to conclude a Pact for the Future, expected to provide a blueprint for international cooperation in the 21st century.
But civil society’s attempts to create a final document that meets today’s needs are running into diplomatic posturing among powerful states that want to maintain the status quo.
State-oriented decisions
The world has changed dramatically since the UN was founded in 1945, when much of humanity was still under colonial rule. Since then, significant steps have been taken to promote democratic governance around the world. Yet decision-making processes at the UN remain stubbornly state-centric, favoring a handful of powerful states that control decisions and key appointments.
Civil society has presented several innovative proposals to the Pact of the Future co-facilitators, the governments of Germany and Namibia, to enable meaningful participation and people-centred decision-making at the UN. Proposals include a parliamentary assembly representing the peoples of the world, a global citizens’ initiative to empower people to raise issues of transnational importance at the UN, and the appointment of a civil society or people’s envoy to drive the UN’s outreach to communities around the world. However, these forward-looking proposals have failed to gain traction in several drafts of the Pact, which has been criticised for its lack of ambition and specificity.
It is no surprise that diplomatic negotiations on the pact between representatives of countries have been stalled by linguistic disputes. As a result of diplomatic wrangling, the provisions in the draft are largely generic and repetitive.
This is unfortunate, as civil society representatives have invested a great deal of time and energy in engaging with the Summit of the Future processes over the past year. Despite tight deadlines, civil society organizations came together at short notice to make comprehensive recommendations on successive drafts of the Pact. Hundreds of civil society delegates participated in the long-awaited meeting at considerable expense. Civil Society Conference in Nairobiintended to gather input for the summit outcomes.
Overall, the gains to date have been modest. They include broad commitments to reform the UN Security Council and international financial institutions. One significant positive aspect of the Compact’s design is a commitment to strengthening the UN’s human rights pillar, which many of us in civil society rely on to raise concerns about egregious violations. However, deep-seated tensions among member states in New York have led to the regrettable removal of references to human rights defenders, who play a crucial role in protecting and promoting human rights. This has been evident in the recent Revision 3 design of the Pact, which was released on August 27.
Strengthening human rights
It is significant that the pillar of human rights is approximately five percent of the UN’s regular budget, leaving new initiatives dependent on underfunded voluntary contributions. This needs to change. The human rights pillar needs to be strengthened. This would help to more strongly connect and reinforce each of the three pillars of the UN – the others being peace and security and sustainable development.
To strengthen the human rights pillar, we outline five priority areas for action.
First, substantial resources should be allocated to the UN’s independent thematic and country-focused human rights experts, who amplify the impact of civil society but are forced to operate on a limited budget. Given the UN’s limited funding, the experts are forced to rely on voluntary contributions to support their essential activities.
Second, an accessible and transparently managed pooled fund should be created to enable greater civil society participation in UN meetings. Many smaller civil society organisations, particularly from the Global South, find it extremely difficult to cover the costs of participation in key UN arenas.
Third, accountability measures must be strengthened to ensure follow-up in cases of reprisals against people involved in UN human rights mechanisms. The latest UN reprisals report shows that reprisals have taken place against more than 150 individuals in more than 30 states. This must be addressed immediately.
Fourth, the UN’s investigative capacities for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide must be strengthened to ensure justice for victims. The need for this has been made tragically clear by the resurgence of authoritarian rule and military dictatorships around the world, coupled with flagrant rights violations in conflicts in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, Yemen and others.
Finally, the human rights pillar can be supported by ensuring the implementation of the UN goals. Guidelines on civic spaceThis calls for protecting civil society personnel and human rights defenders from intimidation and reprisals, facilitating meaningful and safe participation in governance processes, and promoting laws and policies that support these goals.
The role that human rights defenders and civil society activists play in ensuring peaceful resolution of conflicts, addressing gender-based violence, and promoting economic justice – among many other vital issues – is crucial. In calling for the strengthening of the human rights pillar, the penholders of the Compact recognise the importance of human rights-based approaches. They must extend this recognition to the participation of people and civil society. If they do not, they miss an opportunity to create a transformative UN 2.0 that puts people and rights at the centre.
Jesselina Rana is a UN advisor at CIVICUS, the global alliance of civil society organisations. Mandeep Tiwana is Head of Evidence and Engagement at CIVICUS and also a representative to the UN in New York.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service