TANGO (The Gambia), supporting communities in the North Bank Region, through distribution of improved cooking stoves. Credit: TANGO

By Christelle Kalhoule and Sarah Strack
NEW YORK, Jul 16 2025 (IPS)

As delegates gather in New York over the coming weeks for the 2025 High-Level Political Forum (HLPF), we see this moment as a test. A test of whether world leaders are serious about rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – or content to let the promises of Agenda 2030 drift quietly into irrelevance.

For ten years, governments have pledged to “leave no one behind.” But that promise rings hollow when those at the center of sustainable development—civil society and communities—are excluded from decision-making, denied funding, and sidelined in monitoring processes. The credibility of the SDG agenda now hinges on one urgent question: will the world get serious about #UNMuting civil society and enabling it to fully play its role at all levels?

The evidence is stark. In 2024, Official Development Assistance (ODA) fell by 7.1% (16 billion USD approximately. Projections for 2025 suggest additional drops of up to 17% (38 billion USD approximately). Civil society organisations in many countries recently surveyed report funding cuts. At the same time, an enabling environment continues to shrink, especially in fragile or repressive contexts, limiting civil society’s ability to operate as showcased in most recent EU SEE alerts. And while global declarations reaffirm the importance of partnerships, local organisations—particularly feminist, youth-led, and community-based groups—continue to operate at the margins of power and resources.

From visibility to power

This year’s High-Level Political Forum focuses on the review of SDGs 3 -health, 5 – gender equality, 8 – decent work, 14 – life below water and 17 – partnerships for the Goals. But these Goals are not abstract targets—they are linked to everyday realities that communities and civil society across the globe confront and act upon for a better future.

In communities across the globe, civil society is not waiting for permission to lead. We are co-creators of solutions, watchdogs of accountability, and stewards of public interest. In Vanuatu, Fale mobilised rapidly after the 2024 earthquake, coordinating shelter, food and psychological support where institutional response lagged. In Mexico, local networks spotlighted how legal barriers and discrimination exclude indigenous and migrant communities from accessing public services. In Nepal, young activists from the NGO Federation of Nepal are working to make health, education and employment policies more inclusive of persons living with disabilities. These are not just stories of service delivery- they are blueprints for equity, agency and justice from the ground up.

Yet such models remain largely invisible in global discussions-not because they lack impact, but because they lack recognition, access and resourcing. Civil society’s role is routinely framed as consultative or complementary. It’s time to move beyond visibility and tokenism. Recognition must translate into resourcing, influence, and leadership.

As Silla Ristimäki, Adviser on Global Justice at Finnish Development NGOs (Fingo), puts it: “Concerning global trends of closing civic space must be countered at all levels. A free, diverse and independent civil society lays the foundation for lasting peace, stable societies and sustainable development.”

Localisation is more than a buzzword: it’s the only way forward

Communities, civil society, and their partners are advancing SDGs from the ground up. Forus’ newly released report, Unlocking the Power of Localisation and Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships, reveals that over 65% of SDG targets rely on local delivery. Yet most global financing, planning, and monitoring systems remain top-down and disconnected from the realities of local actors.

The report highlights over 15 case studies—from Fiji to Morocco, Zambia to Argentina—where CSOs are driving Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs), engaging in budget advocacy and developing citizen monitoring tools that track public services. But without long-term, flexible financing and stronger multilevel governance, these efforts risk disappearing.

Centering local feminist leadership for systemic change

Despite being at the forefront of local action and deeply embedded in communities, civil society organisations -especially feminist and youth led groups – continue to operate at the margins of power and financing. The “March With Us” campaign, launched by Forus in 2021, has amplified powerful voices over the years such as Hala al Karib in Sudan, Dianah Kamande in Kenya and many more- women and civil society organisations who are peace builders and system changers.

If governments and multilateral institutions are serious about accelerating SDG progress, , then gender must be seen not as a standalone goal, but as a lens across all policies-especially financing. It must be mainstreamed across all SDG implementation and financing strategies—from public development banks to national budgets.

That is why Forus, on the occasion of the fourth international conference on financing for development (FfD4) in Seville, called for a re-imagination of financial architecture – one that recognises the legitimacy of civil society as both actor and agenda setter for transformative change.

Building trust through investing in civil society

Civil society is doing more than delivering services, it is building trust. At Forus, we are investing in storytelling, civic diplomacy, and digital governance to counter disinformation and revitalize democratic participation. Our Local Power Working Group and We Are Leaving No One Behind campaign uplift lived experiences that show not just what’s wrong with current systems—but what’s possible.

These are not “human interest” stories. They are powerful contributions to shaping policies for just and sustainable development.

What needs to change—Now

As the world moves into the final five years before 2030, the window for course correction is rapidly closing. At the 2025 High-Level Political Forum Forus urges governments, donors and international institutions to;

· Fund civil society through long-term, flexible, and core support—not project crumbs.
· Recognise community-led monitoring and data as legitimate contributions to SDG review and accountability.
· Invest in localization, not just through technical support but through the transfer of power and resources
· Embed civil society in financing and planning systems for development processes – including financing for development and public development bank strategies, and not as observers but architects of change.
· Shift power—not just through consultation, but through redistribution of voice, visibility, and resources.

In a world of growing polycrisis and democratic erosion, civil society is not optional. We are an essential part of the ecosystem for social justice, resilience and transformation. If the SDGs are to be saved, it won’t be through declarations-but through redistribution. Of resources. Of voice. Of power.

IPS UN Bureau

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Farmer in Colombia. Credit: Both Nomads/Forus

By Sarah Strack and Christelle Kalhoule
SEVILLE, Spain , Jun 23 2025 (IPS)

Can the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) be a turning point? The stakes are high. The international financial system—so important to each and every one of us—feels out of reach and resistant to change, because it is deeply entrenched in unjust power imbalances that keep it in place. We deserve better.

Under its current form, the Compromiso de Sevilla – the outcome document of FFD4 adopted on June 17 ahead of the conference – reads like a mildly improved version of business as usual with weak commitments. To avoid being derailed, decision-makers at FFD4 must act with clarity and courage, and here’s why.

With predatory interest rates, the international financial system is pushing hundreds of millions into misery as several nations continue to be shackled by a deepening debt crisis. While millions struggle without adequate food, healthcare, or education – basic services and rights – their governments must funnel billions to creditors.

Shockingly, 3.3 billion people – almost half of humanity – disproportionately in Global South nations, live in countries where debt interest payments outstrip education, health budgets and urgent climate action. This imbalance is particularly pernicious toward women, who bear the brunt of the failure of the gender-blind global financial architecture. This system fails to acknowledge and redistribute care and social reproduction responsibilities, resulting in women, especially those located in the Global South, lacking access to adequate essential services and decent jobs.

“The current model of international cooperation is not working, and its financing is also not working while we are facing a series of interconnected crises,” says Mafalda Infante, Advocacy and Communications Officer at the Portuguese Platform of Development NGOs, sharing their recently released Civil Society Manifesto for Global Justice calling for change and a restoration of fairness at FFD4 and beyond.

“Gender equality perspectives are absolutely central to how we understand global justice and financial reform, because let’s be clear: the current system isn’t neutral. It produces and reinforces inequalities, including gender-based ones. The debt crisis and climate emergency disproportionately affect women and girls, especially in the global south. We’ve seen it again and again when public services are cut, when healthcare is underfunded or when food systems collapse, it’s women who carry the heaviest burden. But at the same time, feminist economics also offer solutions. They challenge the idea that GDP growth is the ultimate goal. They prioritise care, sustainability and community well-being. They demand that financing should be people-centered and rights-based and accountable as well. So the role of civil society has been to bring these ideas into the FFD4 space to connect macroeconomic reform with everyday realities and to insist that justice – economic, climate, racial, gender justice – is indivisible,” Infante adds.

FFD4 offers an opportunity to reimagine a financial architecture that can be just, inclusive, and rights-based. This is not a technical summit for experts alone. It is the only global forum where governments, international institutions, civil society organisations, community representatives and the private sector sit together to shape the future of global finance, and it’s happening after 10 years since the latest edition in Addis Ababa.

But there are realities that decision-makers just can’t shy away from. While some powerful countries borrow at rock-bottom rates, other nations face interest charges nearly four times higher. We must thus ask ourselves: is this really a pathway to truly sustainable development or a continuation of profound financial injustices through something akin to “financial colonialism” ?

“Many countries like us in the South, are totally concerned that there can be no development with the current debt situation not discussed. The issue of debt vis-a-vis taxes is vitally important. The money that countries are collecting from the domestic mobilization of resources is all channeled to self-debt servicing. And debt handcuffs social policy. Without these resources, these countries cannot deliver on public services like health and education. There can be no way of improving people’s social indicators without addressing the question of debt stress,” says Moses Isooba , Executive Director of the Uganda National NGO Forum (UNNGOF).

“The Seville conference should decide whether to continue sustaining a system that perpetuates injustices or, once and for all, listen to decency and commit to a world without extreme inequalities. Thousands of organisations around the world demand that public money should not finance weapons, but rather schools, hospitals, healthy environments and a culture of peace. The present and the future are at stake; at stake are the rules we have given ourselves to order the world and the very survival of democracy,” says Carlos Botella, from La Coordinadora, the Spanish NGO for Development Platform.

Forus is attending FFD4 as a global civil society network with one clear message: the current model must change.

We call for a radical transformation of global finance that moves away from a system that enables “tax abuse” and outsized influence from a powerful few.

A crucial step for transformation is creating a UN Convention on Sovereign Debt to fairly and transparently restructure and cancel illegitimate debt, as many countries spend more on debt than on essential services.

In today’s context of shrinking development aid, the role of public development banks is ever more important in support of Agenda 2030 and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Forus therefore calls on public development banks to work in partnership with civil society and community representatives through a formal global coalition and local engagement to ensure development finance is locally-led and reflects the real needs of people, rooted in consent and mutual trust.

Official development assistance (ODA) must be protected and increased, reversing harmful aid cuts that damage civil society as well as urgent and basic services. The UN has warned that aid funding for dozens of crises around the world has dropped by a third, largely due to the decrease in US funding slashed US funding and announced cuts from other nations.

Finally, governments should support a new UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, adopting gender-responsive, environmentally sustainable fiscal policies while disincentivizing polluters and extractive industries.

“Development financing must not perpetuate cycles of debt, austerity, and dependency. Instead, it must be grounded in democratic governance, fair taxation, climate justice, and respect for human rights. It’s also crucial to promote inclusive decision-making by strengthening the role of the United Nations in global economic governance, countering the dominance of informal and exclusive clubs such as the OECD,” says Henrique Frota, Executive Director of the Brazilian Association of NGOs (ABONG) and former C20 Brazil Chair.

FFD4 must ensure that there is a genuine space for civil society engagement, where all voices are heard and can influence financial decision making, to strengthen accountability and transparency, and to promote greater inclusion.

“This ensures the creation of appropriate spaces and mechanisms for meaningful engagement. Only through this inclusive approach can we fundamentally rethink and redesign the architecture of aid to work effectively,” says Elisa Lopez Alvarado, Forus project coordinator for the EU System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society – EU SEE, a consortium of international and national civil society organisations in 86 countries, that monitors an enabling environment guided by six diverse principles.

“This partnership is essential for building healthy democracies, strengthening the rule of law, and establishing robust national institutions that guarantee rights. It ensures that development truly follows an inclusive path toward social justice and more equitable societies. Importantly, when strong democratic institutions are in place, they create an environment where diverse initiatives from development banks, private sector actors, and other stakeholders can also thrive and contribute effectively to development goals and social justice,” she adds.

Civil society must be included as an equal partner at the table, with full consideration of the enabling environment in which they operate and their specific contextual circumstances – which goes hand in hand with the real needs of communities.

“The voices of the communities most affected should be included, otherwise large-scale development projects are not sustainable. Local communities and local civil society are the point of contact to make implementation more inclusive,” says Pallavi Rekhi, Programmes Lead at Voluntary Action Network India (VANI), reinforcing that FFD4 must shift from vague aspirations to binding, systemic reforms that rebalance power and serve justice.

“Don’t take stock of what has been done. Instead, look at what has not yet been done at this conference and you will see the immense challenges that lie ahead for the future of our planet,” says Marcelline Mensah-Pierucci, President of FONGTO, the national platform of civil society organisations in Togo.

“The continuous cycle of unfairness and social inequality must come to an end. The time to act is now,” adds Zia ur Rehman, Chairperson of Pakistan Development Alliance.

For many, the road to Sevilla has been long and hard and still, the world’s majority are left behind on this journey. The hard work continues after FFD4 on the need for bold leadership, real action and transformative change that can lead to a more effective and responsive global financial architecture.

IPS UN Bureau

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