CIVICUS discusses the upcoming Summit of the Future with Jennifer Rauch, Global Advocacy Officer at Fòs Feminista, a global feminist organisation that promotes sexual reproductive health and rights around the world.
In September, world leaders will gather at the United Nations (UN) World Summit of the Future to adopt the Pact for the Future. In preparation for the Summit, civil society, academia and the private sector have contributed to the pact’s draft. Civil society sees the process as an opportunity to strengthen commitments on the environment, human rights and social justice, and CIVICUS advocates for the inclusion of language on the protection and expansion of civic space. But much work remains to be done before, during and after the summit to ensure ambitious commitments are adopted and then realised.
What’s the purpose of the Summit of the Future?
The Summit of the Future was originally designed to explore how states could cooperate to realise the aspirations and goals of previous multilateral and high-level agreements, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 2030 Agenda’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
The summit aims to accelerate efforts to meet these international commitments, address new and emerging challenges and galvanise support for their full implementation. States will agree on three action-oriented outcome documents: the Pact for the Future and its two annexes, the Declaration for Future Generations and the Global Digital Compact.
Scheduled for 22 and 23 September, it will take place during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly’s 79th session, and will feature plenary meetings and interactive dialogues.
What’s the Pact for the Future and how was it drafted?
The Pact for the Future will be adopted on the summit’s first day, after which member states and UN agencies will make statements in response to its adoption. It will be a negotiated document with five chapters on sustainable development and financing for development, international peace and security, science, technology and innovation and digital cooperation, youth and future generations, and transforming global governance.
The drafting process began in November 2023, with the permanent missions of Germany and Namibia acting as co-facilitators. They conducted informal consultations with member states to gather general themes and substantive priorities. In December, the co-facilitators also hosted a multi-stakeholder dialogue where civil society also shared substantive priorities for the pact. They also issued a call for written inputs from various stakeholders, including states, civil society, UN agencies and the private sector.
Based on all these inputs, the co-facilitators presented the zero draft in January 2024. Since then, several versions of the pact have been released.
How much influence has civil society had in this process?
There is a difference between civil society engagement and influence. Civil society has been presented with several opportunities to engage in the process. After each draft of the pact was released, the co-facilitators hosted virtual consultations for civil society to voice their opinions directly to the co-facilitators and advocate for changes, such as inclusion of stronger language related to their priority areas.
In May, civil society organisations (CSOs) around the world were also invited to attend the UN Civil Society Conference in Nairobi, where participants discussed their aspirations for the pact and strategised on potential opportunities to influence its language. For example, as Fòs Feminista, we submitted written inputs, attended all civil society consultations and briefings and encouraged our partners across different regions to join as well. We engaged directly with states to advocate for gender equality and encouraged our partners in different countries to lobby their national governments.
In May, we participated in the Nairobi conference, where we advocated for the strengthened inclusion in the pact of language on sexual and reproductive health, justice and gender equality.
But engagement of civil society does not necessarily mean civil society has had adequate influence. While Fòs Feminista, our partners and allies have been present in the briefings and at the Nairobi conference, it remains unclear how much of our inputs and advocacy have influenced each draft of the pact.
We would have loved the virtual briefings to be more inclusive of diverse, global civil society; the virtual briefings are only available in English and during the mornings in New York. This unfortunately does not allow the participation of our non-English speaking, global south, or Asia Pacific allies to share their lived experiences and priorities for a more equitable and just future.
Likewise, while the Nairobi conference was a refreshing change of pace from meetings at UN headquarters, it was unclear how its outcomes would influence the draft pact. By the time the conference began, negotiations for the pact had progressed for almost three months, and therefore the ability for tangible, robust and progressive changes had already passed.
For these reasons, Fòs Feminista co-wrote and shared a letter, co-signed by over 360 CSOs, detailing our concerns with the lack of transparency over civil society engagement, influence and accountability mechanisms in the summit processes. Despite having different opportunities for engagement, it remains clear that the summit and its outcome documents are an intergovernmental process and negotiation. Overall, our influence ultimately depends on states’ political will and willingness to adopt a progressive agenda.
What recommendations have you made, and what are your expectations?
Unfortunately, the pact does not have a chapter dedicated to gender equality, so in each version of the pact we have pushed for a cross-cutting gender lens in all five chapters. Our recommendations focused on integrating a human rights-based approach to health and gender equality, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, universal health coverage, inclusive and quality education and protection from sexual and gender-based violence.
We also advocated for disaggregated data on gender equality, the empowerment of women, girls and gender-diverse people and the reaffirmation of human rights instruments such as the International Conference on Population Development’s Programme of Action and the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
As a feminist organisation, we have also called for stronger language on civil society participation, particularly for feminist and youth-led organisations, ensuring that historically and structurally excluded groups are prioritised and truly not left behind. Overall, we have advocated for a pact based on human rights and gender equality principles, to ensure the summit helps achieves the SDGs and holds governments accountable to their prior commitments.
Fortunately, many of the issues that we advocate for, such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, the prevention of gender-based violence and the empowerment of women and girls, have been included in the most recent version of the pact. But it is one thing is to have them mentioned, and another to have member states make strong commitments to achieve these goals.
Initially, our ambition was high, but as negotiations went on, we began to temper our expectations. We hoped for more ambitious and progressive language related to gender and human rights, but contentious topics such as gender-transformative approaches to climate change, sexual and reproductive health and rights and the eradication of poverty were watered down. However, we remain hopeful that our ally states will continue to push for progressive and gender-equal language
What’s next for civil society in the run-up to the summit?
Civil society will closely monitor the release of the final draft of the pact and its annexes and we will make last-minute advocacy efforts before the document is adopted in September.
Before the summit, the UN Secretary-General will host two Action Days that bring together diverse stakeholders, including civil society, the private sector, youth-led organisations and anyone who has helped shape the pact and its annexes. This will provide opportunities for civil society to discuss the pact’s contents, attend side events, engage with stakeholders and connect with like-minded organisations and UN officials.
Civil society will also have the chance to attend the summit during the high-level week. Registration is open to all civil society organisations, not just those accredited to the UN Economic and Social Council.
What are your hopes for the summit?
We hope the summit will galvanise support for the commitments made in previous multi-stakeholder processes and offer a chance to review progress made on the SDGs, while addressing existing gaps and failures in their implementation. It will bring diverse stakeholders together to assess progress and chart the way forward. We hope the summit will provide actionable steps for member states to achieve these unmet goals and create accountability mechanisms, in partnership with civil society, to ensure no one is left behind.
But its lasting impact will depend on states’ political will. Civil society is ready to push for ambition and hold governments accountable over their commitments, as we have always done. But the effectiveness of our efforts will ultimately depend on states. Civil society has already played its part to advocate for an inclusive future – now it’s up to states and governments to make it happen.
Get in touch with Fòs Feminista through its website or Facebook or Instagram pages, and follow @Fos_Feminista on Twitter.
This interview was conducted as part of the ENSURED Horizon research project funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.