Every July, the international community gathers at the United Nations Headquarters in New York for a two-week conference called the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), which assesses progress on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 2025 HLPF convened from 14-23 July and marked the tenth anniversary of the SDGs since their adoption in 2015. QUNO NY joined the Accountability Lab, CIVICUS, the Ford Foundation, Forus, and the Transparency, Accountability & Participation (TAP) Network to co-host “SDGs and Civic Space Under Threat: An Interactive Dialogue on Existential Challenges to Civil Society and Strengthening Resilience”.
The side event included panelist presentations followed by small group discussions. Participants took stock of the current challenges and opportunities for civil society and collectively strategized on approaches for countering current threats to civil society and anti-democratic trends.
As noted in UN reports, progress towards the SDGs has stagnated, and there has been significant backsliding on many fronts. In further challenges to progress, civil society worldwide confronts a convergence of compounding and existential threats. The closing of civic space and the rise in anti-democratic trends are working to stifle civic participation, eroding democratic institutions, impeding inclusive governance, and weakening global development efforts on all fronts. Meanwhile, many civil society organizations, especially those from marginalized communities, face chronic underfunding and resource insecurity because of recent aid cuts, further limiting their ability to respond to crises and community needs and to organize.
The 2025 HLPF provided a critical opportunity to take stock of many of the root causes of SDG inaction at their tenth anniversary, including how threats to civil society impact the ambition, action and accountability for the SDGs overall.
A summary of the discussion can be found below.
