C4UN: Mobilising Civil Society Perspectives for the Pact of the Future

In a bid to foster understanding of the content of the Pact for the Future and equip civil society actors with the requisite knowledge and skills to actively engage in the intergovernmental process leading up to and following the SOTF, C4UN hosted a side workshop at the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference (UNCSC2024) themed: SOTF 101: Unpacking the Pact for the Future. 

The 2024 UN Civil Society Conference (UNCSC2024) in Support of the Summit of the Future (SOTF) took place on May 9-10 in Nairobi, Kenya, under the theme: “Shaping a Future of Global and Sustainable Progress.”  UNCSC2024 offered an important opportunity for civil society and all stakeholders to input into the SOTF – scheduled for September 22 – 23 in New York – and promoted as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to renew and reform the UN system. The SOTF’s climax would be the adoption of the Pact for the Future.

In March 2023, as part of the preparatory process for the SOTF and ahead of the 2023 SOTF Ministerial Forum, the Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN), a civil society coalition working towards strengthening and transforming multilateralism and international cooperation, and its partners hosted the Global Futures Forum (GFF) to harness diverse intergenerational civil society perspectives on UN reforms. The GFF’s key outcome was the Interim People’s Pact for the Future.

The People’s Pact articulates a set of civil society recommendations necessary for the UN to meet the needs of people and the planet. The basis for its content were online consultations, regional convenings, thematic gatherings and the GFF, all of which captured the diverse voices of communities and constituencies from across the world. It contains a chapeau and five chapters that integrate cross-cutting issues from gender equality to human rights and education to the environment.

In a bid to foster understanding of the content of the Pact for the Future and equip civil society actors with the requisite knowledge and skills to actively engage in the intergovernmental process leading up to and following the SOTF, C4UN hosted a side workshop at the 69th UN civil society conference themed: SOTF 101: Unpacking the Pact for the Future. 

The team of the Information Clearinghouse (ICH) project, a joint initiative between C4UN and partners reporting on the SOTF processes, presented the current state of negotiations for the Pact’s 5 chapters and the 2 annexes. This was followed by a presentation of regional perspectives gathered through the C4UN regional convenings for the SOTF. The workshop was organized in partnership with the Baha’i International Community, Club de Madrid, Global Women Leaders Voices, SDGs Kenya Forum and Stimson Center, among others.  

The workshop afforded civic actors a comprehensive understanding of the different negotiating tracks and likely outcomes of the SOTF, fostering collaboration towards collective advocacy as well as encouraging civil society actors to analyze and discuss critical topics across the five chapters of the Pact for the Future, namely, Sustainable Development and Financing for Development; International Peace and Security; Science, Technology and Innovation and Digital Cooperation; Youth and Future Generations; as well as Transforming Global Governance and its 2 annexes i.e.  the Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations

SOTF101: Unpacking the Pact for the Future

The Pact for the Future is to be intergovernmentally negotiated and agreed upon by consensus by the UN General Assembly as the SOTF’s main outcome document, along with the Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations. The Pact’s formulation process began with the UN75 Declaration in 2020 and the subsequent publication of the UN Secretary General’s Our Common Agenda (OCA) report, followed by various policy briefs, consultations, and meetings to inform the intergovernmental processes that will culminate with the Pact. 

The Pact’s Chapter 1: Sustainable Development and Financing for Development focuses on the fundamental need to turbocharge the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the importance of the eradication of poverty in all its forms and dimensions, ensuring food security, improved nutrition, eradicating hunger and addressing water scarcity as well as improving access to quality education – in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. 

Whereas Chapter 2: International Peace and Security discusses a broad range of issues on international peace and security such as disarmament, cybersecurity and autonomous weapons, among others. Some of the issues discussed in this chapter reiterate the  progress made in other UN processes, such as the decision to use assessed contributions, on a case-by-case basis, to fund peace operations authorized by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter and carried out by regional organizations such as the African Union.

Moreover, Chapter 3: Science, Technology and Innovation and Digital Cooperation deliberates the importance of innovation and technology, emphasizing the need for inclusivity i.e. leaving no one behind in science and technology developments. This chapter discusses cooperation, research, and innovation as tools to address challenges and find solutions, particularly in the context of global issues like COVID-19. It also stresses the importance of sharing knowledge and ensuring that the so-called Global South is not left out of technological advancements. 

The Pact’s Chapter 4: Youth and Future Generations debates children’s inclusion and the importance of ensuring meaningful youth engagement remains a priority, including in intergovernmental spaces, particularly for young people in developing countries that need support to participate effectively, without barriers or discrimination, in decision-making processes. It calls on Member States to establish national youth consultative bodies and include young people in their delegations.

The closing Chapter 5: Transforming Global Governance discusses issues such as the reforms of the international financial architecture and the UN Security Council, as well as the UN’s role in global economic governance. Chapter 5 also calls for increased funding for the UN human rights bodies and revitalizing the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW). It is worthy of note that the negotiations for this chapter are particularly influenced by discussions outside the SOTF process and events outside the UNGA like the World Bank and IMF Board Meetings. 

Understanding the Summit of the Future

While speaking at a panel discussion themed: Understanding the Summit of the Future and the Pact for the Future, Ishaan Shah of the SOTF Youth Working Group said the SOTF was about the UN reimagining itself and what it could do better as an institution as well as what kind of shifts are necessary within Member States and the dynamics between Member States and other stakeholders to deliver on the SDGs, against the backdrop of the 2023 SDGs Summit, when governments reaffirmed their commitment to the 2030 Agenda. 

“The SOTF is seen as a moment to reinvigorate multilateralism, build trust within Member States and between Member States and civil society. The 2024 UN Civil Society Conference is about recognizing the fact that the intergovernmental process has limitations and restrictions but we, as a civil society, have a greater vision for the UN we need. And despite the fact that Member States are not able to implement their own decisions, it will not stop the civil society and young people from pursuing the changes that we envisage getting from the SDGs.” 

In his remarks, Jebilson Joslin, the C4UN Information Clearing House (ICH) Program Coordinator, described the Pact for the Future as an important milestone in a process started during the UN@75 anniversary when Member States requested the UNSG to develop the Our Common Agenda (OCA) report, after which the UNSG set up a High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism whose report advances 6 transformative shifts that the global governance system needs to deliver a breakthrough for people and planet – helping us avoid a collective breakdown that will put the very existence of future generations at risk.

“The series of formal negotiations began with the SOTF Ministerial Meeting in 2023, which set out the scope for SOTF i.e. the 5 chapters and 2 annexes. Since then, we have had formal and informal consultations, thematic deep-dives and written inputs from Member States and stakeholders stretching from Dec 2023 to March 2024, as a contribution to the negotiations led by the three sets of Co-Facilitators for the Pact  for the Future, the Global Digital Compact and Declaration of Future Generations,” Joslin recalled.

While speaking on why the civil society should be engaged in shaping the future envisaged by SOTF and the Pact, Ms Mwendwa Kiogora, C4UN’s Communications Coordinator, said civil society organizations need to be on the table because they not only represent the interest of the people rather, they were also well-positioned to engage with governments, on behalf of the people, serving as a link between governments and the people.

“As a civil society, we work across diverse thematic areas i.e., climate change, gender etc. So, we need a space to contribute to the process and make sure the voices of the people are heard through us. This means we are able to serve as a link between the people and the government and guarantee access to information to the people. I therefore believe it is important for civil society to be integrated in the intergovernmental process of shaping the future,” Ms Kiogora asserted.

Highlights of C4UN’s Regional Civil Society Convenings on SOTF

In the’ build up to the Nairobi conference and as part of the preparations for the SOTF aimed at ensuring a diversity of voices in the Summit and Pact, C4UN and its partners held a series of regional dialogues and forums across the different UN regions of the world, namely Africa, the Europe and North America, Latin America and Caribbean as well as Asia. Rebecca Malay, Convener of Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) Philippines, shared outcomes of such virtual and in-person consultations from Asia.

Ms Malay said civil society stakeholders from Asia “cautiously welcomed” the Pact for the Future’s Zero Draft and expressed their concern about its “lack of bold, concrete and transformative action in the draft. The document is replete with diplomatic rhetoric found in previous UN documents yet lacks an implementation strategy. Everything seems to be framed in the business-as-usual approach. We want the governments negotiating the Pact to refrain from rhetorical narratives and advocate for a more urgent climate action plan.” 

Likewise, Prof Tim Murithi of the UN Charter Reform Coalition reflected on the Africa SOTF Dialogue hosted at Abuja, Nigeria, which gave special attention to African perspectives and priorities in the SOTF conversation. Prof Murithi said stakeholders at the dialogue were critical of the so-called “Rules-Based Order” and therefore advocated for the transformation of the global security system and the global financial architecture.

“From an African perspective, the UN system of collective security dominated by the P-5 countries (United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and China) is not fair. Although 60% of the UNSC’s agenda deals with African conflicts, Africa is not even a key decision maker with regard to its own conflicts; it is a bystander and a spectator in the so-called multilateral system. Therefore, the UN Charter, which was established in 1945, is not fit-for-purpose in the 21st century; there is absolutely no way it can effectively deal with 21st century crises.

“It was not designed to deal with the climate crisis or Artificial Intelligence. Therefore, the UN Charter’s reform is an idea we have to engage with. We need to collectively work towards the reform of the Charter. Article 109, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations categorically calls for its reform 10 years after its establishment, i.e. in 1955. Paragraph 3 asks us to convene a general conference by a simple majority of 97 members of the UN General Assembly to review the Charter. It didn’t happen. It was sabotaged!”  Murithi decried.

The Road to Summit of the Future

In his concluding remarks at the C4UN workshop, Luis Flores Mimica, Civil Society Liaison Officer at the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC), called for more capacity building for governments and civil society stakeholders to enhance their understanding of the issues around the Summit and Pact calling on the civil society mechanisms at regional levels to engage in more sustainable dialogues with governments and other stakeholders toward the realization of the objectives of the Pact. 

“The UN regional commissions are not connected with the regional dialogues taking place at the regional level, the process leading to the SOTF is a great opportunity for that to happen because it offers tangible discussions about concrete subjects and at the same time allows us to get together to brainstorm. These are very complex conversations that should happen at different levels, hence the need for a methodology for dialogue with each other. Simply being together is a good start, building trust is a good start, but it has to be sustained,” Mimica ended.

While closing the workshop, Jeffery Huffines, C4UN’s Senior Adviser, thanked the workshop participants for their active participation and engagement in the conversation at the Pact of the Future workshop during which the C4UN introduced its Summit of the Future Information Clearing House (SOTF- ICH) as a tool for civil society’s advocacy of demanding UN Member States use the SOTF as an opportunity “to bridge the critical gap between rhetoric and action, between the status quo and transformative action.”

“We have introduced the C4UN-ICH Bulletin as a critical tool for you to follow the multiple negotiations now in play as a tool to help you in your collective advocacy going forward and influence political decision-making at national capitals, and at regional and global levels on shaping the future of multilateralism. Pulling Member States and political groups from their entrenched rhetorical positions requires focus and commitment to a political strategy informed by the key recommendations we have generated through these regional SOTF consultations.” 

The main priority areas identified for negotiations around the SOTF and the Pact of the Future by participants at the C4UN workshop were peace and security, human rights, reforms of the international financial architecture and the UN Security Council, climate justice, gender equality and youth empowerment. Participants also highlighted the importance of implementing sustainable development policies as well as engaging youth and civil society in the negotiation of the Pact and decision-making processes in general.