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

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

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, who serves as a member of the Presidential High Level Council on Women and Girls, highlighted a recent public statement issued by the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS), speaking against 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.

“Not surprisingly, of all the Nigerian NGOs which rallied to convene the pre-Global Partnership for Education replenishment meeting in Abuja on September 15 and launch the Abuja Call to Action on Sustainable Education Financing, few actually made it to the New York replenishment meeting on September 23,” Walker disclosed.

She described the unfortunate absence of others as a monumental setback, pointing out that the 3.5 billion dollars global education financing replenishment meeting was led by Nigeria for the first time in the existence of the GPE.

Walker in a statement, further identified the glaring absence of Nigerian CSOs at a special convening of seven Northwest governors, who met on the margins of UNGA 81 to advance a shared regional agenda for sustainable peace, community resilience, and economic opportunity, as another significant missed opportunity.

She pointed that an engaging International IDEA session prominently featured Maria Fernanda Espinosa, a leading candidate for the next UN Secretary General with discussions focused heavily on global conflicts and democratic governance.

Quoting an academic, Robert Orr, who spoke extensively at the high-level session, Walker noted that “Sixty five countries in the world are currently affected by active conflicts of different kinds I, the highest number since the end of the Second World War.”

Orr further observed that the greatest political danger lies in countries with mid to low levels of democratic performance, which lack institutional mechanisms to channel conflicts peacefully and prevent the abuse of executive power.

Advocating for better inclusion, Walker stressed that UNGA remains a strategic space for shaping country level commitments and reporting on critical development and humanitarian issues.

She said that “Ring fencing resources to support African CSOs’ participation at UNGA is a strategic and important step for ensuring that civic groups which feel the pulse of local people have a seat at global tables where national policies are shaped and even made.”