By Dr. Nelya Rakhimova, founder of Openshkola and a keynote speaker at the Civil Society Forum (CSF) Annual Conference on Participation, Cross-Border Engagement and Global Advocacy. She actively participates in international processes at the United Nations on sustainable development, focusing on cross-border collaboration and global advocacy.
From my experience participating in international processes at the United Nations on sustainable development, I can say with confidence: the situation today is critical. Even within my relatively short time working within the UN system, I have witnessed a clear decline in many areas, and multilateralism is really under pressure.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the situation in the UN got very difficult. Governments can barely agree on anything. The culture of consensus, when governments could just come together and decide something, is not happening anymore. The discussions are tense, diplomats don’t shake hands and even conversations behind closed doors are no longer taking place.
“We spend more time debating words than solving problems”
And what does this look like in practice? Negotiations that once took hours now stretch all night and sometimes for several days. Language that was agreed years or even decades ago is suddenly blocked. Even humanitarian issues—things like basic aid to civilians—are now politicised and used as bargaining chips. This constant deadlock means we spend more time debating words than solving problems, and at the end, very often, nothing is agreed at all.
As a consequence, we have seen more disagreements, endless negotiations and very few real outcomes.
Russia plays a crucial role in these processes. It strategically pushes for conservative views, refuses to accept gender equality and climate action as necessary and promotes its own interpretation of human rights—focusing on the right to development above everything else. Russia is building blocs of conservative countries united under the umbrella of these views and pure economic or military interests. It also strengthens its influence in the Global South, especially through BRICS—where, let us not forget, there is no space for civil society engagement at all.
With the Trump administration, the situation got even worse. The United States, which used to support human rights and gender equality, stepped back completely from this agenda. It detached itself from climate action, denounced the 2030 Agenda and even refused to present its Universal Periodic Review at the Human Rights Council.
And because the US funds many UN agencies, we now see a kind of internal censorship: words like gender equality and climate crisis are disappearing from UN language, even on social media.
On top of that, we face UN reform and the liquidity crisis, which means many spaces for progressive development will be shut down. This also means fewer opportunities for civil society to engage and make an impact on global agendas. And what about civil society itself? We see more and more pressure. You all know what is happening in Russia, and also in Belarus.
But what is alarming is that even inside the UN, many civil society representatives are now afraid to speak up. They fear criticising their governments—even though that is exactly what they came to do. Restrictive governments are learning from each other how to block civil society at the earliest stage—through registration laws, so-called “foreign agent” laws, funding cuts and intimidation.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development belongs to everyone
But still, we have not lost everything. We have the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. And let me be very clear: sustainable development is not just a UN agenda. It is a people’s agenda. It was created for all of us—to make life better, to reduce inequality, to protect the planet and to give future generations the same chances that we enjoy today.
Sustainable development is not just about negotiations in New York. It is about people’s everyday lives. It means clean water, good schools, safe communities and decent jobs. It means that young people today will inherit a planet where they can still live in dignity. It also means living in freedom, including political freedoms, and in peace—because without rights, without political participation, and without safety from all types of violence and war, there can be no sustainable future.
When governments fail to act, it is not abstract—it is people who pay the price.
That is why every citizen should know what their government promised when it signed the 2030 Agenda, and every person has the right to demand: what are you doing to deliver?
Sustainable development is the only internationally agreed political agenda for the future. It runs across every UN agency, but it goes beyond the UN too. It is discussed at the G7, the G20 and even at BRICS. Negotiations continue, and despite everything,even Russia is still formally committed to the 2030 Agenda and its 17 Goals. Very soon, governments will start discussing what comes after 2030. For civil society, this is our chance to bring back gender equality, climate action and human rights.
Is there still hope?
We also have some hopeful signs. In 2023, governments adopted the Pact for the Future. This Pact is far from perfect, but it shows that cooperation is still possible. It addresses peace and security, sustainable development, digital cooperation, youth and more. And importantly, it opens the door to reforming the Security Council—so that global governance reflects today’s world, not the world of 1945. For civil society, the Pact creates an entry point to push harder for accountability and participation.
The positive news is that many governments are uniting against conservative views, and coalitions are forming that can still make a difference. Here, the European Union plays a key role.
Of course, we know the EU is not perfect—it has divisions andit struggles with nationalism inside its own borders. But it still stands as one of the main defenders of multilateralism, human rights and civic space.
What is civil society’s role here?
This is where our work matters most: to support colleagues in countries where civic space is shrinking, to protect our common values and to make sure that the commitments made by governments are not forgotten.
Multilateralism is under pressure, but it is not without a future. The future will not only be decided by governments. It will also be shaped by people—by civil society, by us. Our role is clear: to defend rights, to connect across borders and to remind the world that the UN belongs not only to states but to all of humanity.
Yes, the pressure is real. But so is the hope. Hope in civil society that refuses to be silent. Hope in communities that keep building solutions. And hope in actors like the EU that still choose cooperation over confrontation.
Let us use this conference to strengthen solidarity, to share strategies and to show that another multilateralism is possible: one that serves peace, planet and people.
