Statement at the UN Human Rights Council 60th Session
General Debate item 3
Delivered by Sigrid Lipott
Thank you, Mr President.
CIVICUS welcomes the thematic reports of the Secretary General and the High Commissioner.
Recent CIVICUS Monitor data shows that more than 72% of the world’s population lives in countries with repressed or closed civic space, amid increasingly sophisticated risks, threats, attacks facing civil society. The consequences are reflected in numerous barriers to civil society participation and protection in regional and international organisations, often left without sufficient response from States and the UN system itself.
Safe and effective protection and promotion of civic space, that is, meaningful and inclusive, is essential to ensure the protection and promotion of all human rights and to guarantee that the UN human rights system remains relevant and responsive to the situation on the ground. The UN Guidance Note on Protection and Promotion of Civic Space, published in September 2020, reaffirms civic space as a threshold issue for successful implementation of all three pillars of the UN and commits all UN entities to supporting more systematic participation of civil society in UN bodies and agencies.
However, five years after the adoption of this landmark document, reporting on the Guidance Note has not been undertaken yet. Civil society space must be expanded and protected, including by integrating all previous recommendations contained in the Guidance Note for the UN system to be able to take credible steps in protecting and promoting civic space at the global and country levels.
We encourage the Office of the High Commissioner to ensure compliance of the UN Guidance Note by all UN agencies and offices, including instituting an action taken or status on implementation report providing information on extent of implementation and barriers to full implementation of the Note.
Establishing full accountability through system-wide dissemination, evaluation and audits would move it from paper to practice, equipping the UN with further tools to guarantee coordinated responsiveness.
We thank you.
