Nigerian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called for the immediate removal of accreditation barriers and the reversal of badge suspensions imposed by the United Nations to ensure adequate representation of African non-governmental organisations on global decision-making platforms.

The Executive Director of the Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), Dr Judith-Ann Walker, stated that systemic obstacles hindered NGOs’ active participation.

She expressed concern over the severe underrepresentation of African civic groups at the recently concluded 81st session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Walker, a member of the Presidential High-Level Council on Women and Girls, highlighted a recent public statement by the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) opposing these barriers.

She noted that the global civil society alliance strongly condemned the UN’s accreditation system for imposing frustrating barriers and suspending badges for ECOSOC-accredited Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

Walker insisted that despite these significant institutional hurdles, the dRPC successfully navigated the restrictions to participate in several strategic side events, including high-level meetings hosted by International IDEA, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the Global Campaign for Education US.

She, however, lamented that a lack of domestic funding and dwindling philanthropic investments, compounded by defunding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), prevented many Nigerian NGOs from attending crucial international sessions.

Walker described the unfortunate absence of others as a monumental setback, noting that the $3.5 billion global education financing replenishment meeting was led by Nigeria for the first time in GPE’s history.