By Sigrid Lipott, CIVICUS UN Advisor
The United Nations’ foundational commitment to human rights and civic participation is under growing strain, and those meant to protect it are not doing enough, writes Sigrid Lipott, UN adviser to the human rights alliance Civicus.
Only seven per cent of the world now lives in open or relatively open civic space. The numbers from Civicus Monitor point to growing and increasingly complex risks to civil society worldwide – and not just in countries with appalling human rights records. The assault on civic freedoms is also visible in barriers to civil society access, participation and protection at the UN itself. The first three words of the Charter of the UN, “We the Peoples”, declare that the organisation derives its power directly from the citizens.
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