Civil society is being tested like never before by a series of accelerating crises. Amid growing conflict and repression, in 2023, civil society faced mounting obstacles that made it harder to do its vital work of helping people, making their voices heard and upholding human rights. But civil society still managed to hold the line and make a difference to many. The way out of crises is to listen to, work with and enable civil society.
What is more: Global governance institutions are flailing as states make hypocritical decisions that undermine the rules-based international order. Today’s multiple crises are exposing the fundamental design flaws of UN institutions, testing them beyond their limits. Civil society has solutions for global governance reform but is not getting a seat at the table. States and the UN must take civil society’s practical reform ideas seriously.
In its 2024 State of Civil Society Report, CIVICUS – the global civil society alliance – looks back at 2023 to identify trends in civil society action, at every level and in every arena, from responses to conflicts and struggles for democracy, inclusion, and climate justice to demands for global governance reform. This year’s report draws from their rolling analysis and commentary initiative, CIVICUS Lens, and is directly informed by the voices of civil society affected by and responding to the major issues and challenges of the day. It reflects over 250 interviews and articles published by CIVICUS covering over 100 countries and territories.
Civil society’s suggested reforms are all just steps towards making the global governance system more open, democratic and accountable. They are no magic bullets, but should be the start of a journey.
As the Global Governance chapter sets out, 2023 was a year of conflicts: in Gaza and Ukraine, but also in Myanmar, Nagorno-Karabakh and Sudan, to name but a few. There is overwhelming evidence in these conflicts of ‘barbarous acts’ that have flouted fundamental human rights principles, with mass-scale crimes including genocide and crimes against humanity. States and other belligerents are normalising the breaching of principles intended to prevent atrocities, based on the near certainty of impunity from a failing international system.
The need for a more democratic, effective and robust global governance system became increasingly clear during 2023. Civil society is a key source of solutions to strengthen international rules, and is looking for some matching moral leadership from states, their heads and international institutions, in a world where that seems in short supply. Civil society needs a seat at the table, something it is so often denied.
Civil society’s suggested reforms are all just steps towards making the global governance system more open, democratic and accountable. They are no magic bullets, but should be the start of a journey. Supportive states must step up and show their willingness to embrace the change civil society urges. Otherwise, global leaders risk allowing the world to fragment as the UN becomes irrelevant and repressive states create authoritarian alternatives. Global crises like conflict, climate change, inequality and poverty will spiral out of control because states cannot solve them alone. It is time for leaders to create the systems the world needs, a shift that is only possible if they work with civil society.
(Photo: Clem Onojeghuo / Unsplash)
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