By CIVICUS
Sep 1 2025 (IPS)
CIVICUS discusses civil society’s challenges in engaging with United Nations (UN) processes with an activist from a Salvadoran queer-led organisation who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
The UN recently held its annual High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) to review progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). El Salvador proclaimed the country’s ‘comprehensive transformation’ under President Nayib Bukele’s increasingly autocratic rule. But the Bukele government is attacking civic space, and its domestic repression extends internationally, with civil society facing serious barriers and potential reprisals when engaging with UN processes.
What challenges did you face participating in the 2025 HLPF?
Our participation was made extremely difficult. It was only thanks to the support of international allies that we were able to prepare a civil society response to the state’s Voluntary National Review and attend the forum. Once there, the barriers to reading the civil society statement were significant. We made numerous behind-the-scenes efforts before the Women’s Major Group generously offered to read our statement on our behalf.
Being the only Salvadoran civil society representative in the room, I was forced to give up my speaking space and rely on the solidarity of others. Despite feeling deep companionship and mutual care among civil society, it remained a profoundly painful experience. Not being able to read a statement that had been built collectively and carefully through anonymous consultations felt like erasure: of our presence, our voices and our right to speak truth in global spaces.
Potential reprisals were another major concern. During the HLPF, we closely monitored the situation back home, as just months prior, El Salvador had taken further steps towards full authoritarianism. The arrest of Ruth López, a high-profile human rights lawyer, caused widespread concern. Most Salvadoran organisations dropped out of the UN process afterwards, leaving our organisation as the only one present in New York.
Even after Ruth’s arrest caused international outrage, human rights defenders continued to be targeted. The government wasn’t deterred by the possibility of international scrutiny. Further, the cases of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, deported from the USA by the Trump administration and imprisoned in a maximum-security detention centre, and Venezuelan detainees who experienced torture under custody in El Salvador, illustrate that threats of arrest, torture and death are real risks.
Is this problem widespread beyond El Salvador?
These attacks are not unique to El Salvador: civil society leaders from countries including Guatemala and Nigeria also faced threats during the HLPF. One organisation’s office was raided during the forum. This confirms that the UN remains one of the few spaces where civil society can speak truth to power, which is why repressive governments are willing to go to great lengths to suppress their voices.
However, even if not everybody faces the same level of repression, there was a shared sense that the space for civil society engagement at the UN is also narrowing. This has serious implications. When fear of retaliation shapes who speaks and how, the credibility of the UN as a platform for civil society suffers. It fundamentally changes who is able and willing to speak out. Who will take the mic at the UN when doing so might cost them their freedom?
What needs to change?
The UN needs stronger protection mechanisms for human rights defenders who engage in these spaces. When we reached out to UN officials in Geneva and New York, their support was unfortunately limited. It was civil society, not official UN mechanisms, that stepped in to activate protection networks, establish contacts and contribute to tracking possible reprisals.
The narrowing space for civil society engagement at the UN must be addressed. This has become particularly visible in the planning process for the UN80 initiative – an efficiency drive to mark the UN’s 80th anniversary – which, instead of being a moment of celebration, is increasingly seen as a push for further exclusion.
I deeply hope CIVICUS and other allied networks will continue to push for stronger protection mechanisms and public responses when defenders are under attack for daring to engage in these spaces.
El Salvador is currently on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist, which tracks countries experiencing a serious decline in respect for civic freedoms.
SEE ALSO
SDGs: accountability under threat CIVICUS Lens 11.Aug.2025
Defending the defenders: civil society’s struggle for global space and voice CIVICUS Lens 28.Jul.2025
Key highlights: CIVICUS at 59th Session of the UN Human Rights Council CIVICUS 23.Jul.2025
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The Leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Yasser Arafat, arrived at UN Headquarters by helicopter. A view of the helicopter as it approached the North Lawn of the UN campus on 13 November 1974. But Arafat was denied a US visa for a second visit to the UN in 1988. Credit: UN Photo/Michos Tzovaras
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 1 2025 (IPS)
When Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was denied a US visa to visit New York to address the United Nations back in 1988– under the Ronald Reagan administration– the General Assembly defied the United States by temporarily moving the UN’s highest policy making body to Geneva– for the first time in UN history– providing a less-hostile political environment for the PLO leader.
Arafat, who first addressed the UN in 1974, took a swipe at Washington when he prefaced his statement in Geneva by pointing out that “it never occurred to me that my second meeting with this honorable Assembly, would take place in the hospitable city of Geneva”.
And now, 37 years later, there is a campaign to once again temporarily move the General Assembly sessions to Geneva to provide a platform for Palestinian delegates who are being denied visas to enter the US.
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director DAWN, a nonprofit organization that seeks to reform U.S. policy in the Middle East, told IPS: “It’s clear that the US is trying to deter any discussion about the genocide in Gaza and Palestinian statehood by revoking the visas of Palestinian officials”.
But it’s also pretty clear, “that the world is fed up with the savage Israeli atrocities we are witnessing every day, so we very much hope they will act promptly to move the General Assembly meeting to Geneva just as they did the last time the US pulled such a stunt,” said Whitson, a former director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
Moving the meeting to Geneva, she argued, will send a message to the Trump administration that the international community does not tolerate these breaches of long-standing law requiring access to all UN representatives.
In a statement released last week, DAWN said the 1947 US-UN Headquarters Agreement requires the United States to provide unfettered access to UN proceedings for all representatives, regardless of bilateral disputes.
Section 11 establishes an “unrestricted right” for officials to enter the U.S. for UN business, while Section 12 states these provisions apply “irrespective of the relations existing between the Governments” and the U.S.
This is not the first time the United States has violated its obligations under the UN Headquarters Agreement. In 1988, the U.S. denied a visa to PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat to attend the UN General Assembly session, DAWN said.
The UN responded by adopting a resolution concluding that Washington had violated its obligations under the 1947 Agreement and, as a rebuke, moved its General Assembly meeting from New York to Geneva to allow the Palestinian leader to speak.
Asked for his comments, Martin S. Edwards, Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, at Seton Hall University, told IPS: “In a very real sense, the call to move the meeting is to be expected.”
The Trump administration delights in pursuing policies without regard to the opinions of other countries, so it’s no accident that America First is becoming America Alone, he said.
If countries who have proposed Palestinian recognition follow through, the US will be the only P-5 country on the Security Council yet to do so.
The recent countries that have proposed Palestinian recognition are doing so to shape the Israeli conduct of the Gaza War.
“It makes every bit of sense to use the threat of moving the meeting to Geneva in the very same way. And this points to a second lesson that this White House has yet to learn: when you push on the rest of the world, it can and will push back”, declared Edwards.
Andreas Bummel, executive director, Democracy Without Borders told IPS: the host agreement is clear. It is not up to the host country to decide who may or may not enter the halls of the United Nations.
As a permanent observer state, Palestine has every right to send representatives. If the General Assembly or other UN bodies find they are hindered from functioning properly in New York, it would be reasonable for them to consider convening elsewhere, said Bummel.
Asked about the denial of visas, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters August 29: “We are going to discuss this with the State Department. I mean, the Headquarters Agreement deserves to be read – notably, I think, sections 11 and 12.”
“We obviously hope that this will be resolved. It is important that all Member States, permanent observers, be able to be represented – especially, I think in this case, as we know, with the upcoming two-state solution meeting that France and Saudi Arabia will host at the beginning of the GA”
“We would like to see all diplomats and delegates who are entitled to come here to be able to travel freely”, he said.
Meanwhile, a State Department Press Release, August 29, says “in accordance with U.S. law, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.”
“The Trump Administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace.”
“Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism — including the October 7 massacre — and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by U.S. law and as promised by the PLO.
The PA must also end its attempts to bypass negotiations through international lawfare campaigns, including appeals to the ICC and ICJ, and efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state. Both steps materially contributed to Hamas’s refusal to release its hostages, and to the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire talks.”
The PA Mission to the UN will receive waivers per the UN Headquarters Agreement, the State Department said. The United States remains open to re-engagement that is consistent with our laws, should the PA/PLO meet their obligations and demonstrably take concrete steps to return to a constructive path of compromise and peaceful coexistence with the State of Israel.
So far, the State of Palestine has been recognized as a sovereign nation state by 147 of the 193 member states, or just over 76% of all UN members. It has been “a non-member observer state” of the UN General Assembly since November 2012.
Meanwhile Western countries, who are US allies – including UK, France, Australia and Canada– have announced plans to recognize Palestine as a sovereign nation state during the General Assembly sessions in mid-September.
Palestine, which was never afforded the status of a full-fledged UN member state pulled off a coup when the 134-member Group of 77, the largest single economic coalition at the UN, elected Palestine as its chairman, back in 2018, much against US protests.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former UN assistant secretary-general (ASG) told IPS since the US does not have a veto power in the General Assembly (GA) –unlike the Security Council—a GA resolution could be effortlessly adopted – perhaps a resolution sponsored by the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
IPS UN Bureau Report
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Why do business allies (not) defect from authoritarian regimes? An emerging scholarship shows that connected businesses face high political risk, and the autocrat can financially pressure business allies during economic crises. And yet, despite their disruptive power, the business elite rarely switch to opposition. I argue that this unexpected loyalty does not always stem from credible power-sharing. The more material quid pro quo the business elite engage in with the dictator, the less they can credibly threaten the dictator with defection. I present a bargaining game between the dictatorship and its business allies and test it using a country-year-level dataset of 76 countries for 1992–2019. The results indicate that higher degrees of patrimonial co-optation lower the risk of business opposition. This effect is partly mediated through the government’s control over the media landscape. These findings suggest that even informal, non-institutional tools of co-optation can effectively deter defection.
Why do business allies (not) defect from authoritarian regimes? An emerging scholarship shows that connected businesses face high political risk, and the autocrat can financially pressure business allies during economic crises. And yet, despite their disruptive power, the business elite rarely switch to opposition. I argue that this unexpected loyalty does not always stem from credible power-sharing. The more material quid pro quo the business elite engage in with the dictator, the less they can credibly threaten the dictator with defection. I present a bargaining game between the dictatorship and its business allies and test it using a country-year-level dataset of 76 countries for 1992–2019. The results indicate that higher degrees of patrimonial co-optation lower the risk of business opposition. This effect is partly mediated through the government’s control over the media landscape. These findings suggest that even informal, non-institutional tools of co-optation can effectively deter defection.
Why do business allies (not) defect from authoritarian regimes? An emerging scholarship shows that connected businesses face high political risk, and the autocrat can financially pressure business allies during economic crises. And yet, despite their disruptive power, the business elite rarely switch to opposition. I argue that this unexpected loyalty does not always stem from credible power-sharing. The more material quid pro quo the business elite engage in with the dictator, the less they can credibly threaten the dictator with defection. I present a bargaining game between the dictatorship and its business allies and test it using a country-year-level dataset of 76 countries for 1992–2019. The results indicate that higher degrees of patrimonial co-optation lower the risk of business opposition. This effect is partly mediated through the government’s control over the media landscape. These findings suggest that even informal, non-institutional tools of co-optation can effectively deter defection.
Georgien, gelegen im Herzen des Kaukasus, verbindet Europa und Asien auf faszinierende Weise. Die natürliche Schönheit und die reiche Geschichte dieses Landes ziehen immer mehr Aufmerksamkeit auf sich. Mit seiner strategischen Lage am Schwarzen Meer bietet Georgien eine einzigartige Mischung aus vielfältigen Landschaften, von majestätischen Bergen bis hin zu sonnigen Stränden.
Die Hauptstadt Tiflis ist nicht nur ein wirtschaftliches Zentrum, sondern auch das kulturelle Herz des Landes. Sie vereint historische Architektur mit modernem Leben und zeigt die georgische Kultur und Gastfreundschaft in ihrer besten Form. Erkunden Sie durch diese detaillierte „Georgien Karte Europa“ die vielen Facetten dieses faszinierenden Landes.
Das Wichtigste in KürzeGeorgien liegt am Schnittpunkt Europas und Asiens und wird oft als Brücke zwischen zwei Kontinenten bezeichnet. Dank seiner geographischen Lage entlang des historischen Handelswegs, bekannt als die Seidenstraße, hat das Land eine reiche kulturelle Vielfalt und historische Bedeutung erlangt. Die strategische Position von Georgien macht es zu einem vitalen Knotenpunkt für Wirtschaft und Kultur.
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Kaukasusgebirge: Natürliche Grenze und Landschaftsmerkmal Georgien Karte Europa: Ein geografischer StreifzugDas Kaukasusgebirge erstreckt sich majestätisch durch Georgien und bildet eine beeindruckende natürliche Grenze zwischen Europa und Asien. Diese Gebirgskette, die auch geografisch zu den höchsten Bergen gehört, bietet mit ihren schneebedeckten Gipfeln und vielfältigen Landschaften ein wahres Paradies für Naturliebhaber. Die Region ist bekannt für Ihre atemberaubenden Wanderrouten und historischen Pfade, die tief in die Kultur und Geschichte des Landes verwoben sind.
Georgien ist wie ein kleiner Kosmos, in dem die Schönheit der Natur und die Tiefe der Geschichte in einmaliger Weise verschmelzen. – Peter Nasmyth, britischer Autor und Geograph.
Tiflis: Hauptstadt und kulturelles ZentrumTiflis, die Hauptstadt Georgiens, ist bekannt als ein kulturelles Zentrum der Region. Die Stadt liegt malerisch eingebettet am Ufer des Flusses Kura und bietet eine beeindruckende Mischung aus traditioneller und moderner Architektur. Besonders hervorzuheben sind die vielen historischen Gebäude und Museen, die einen Einblick in die reiche Geschichte und Kultur Georgiens gewähren.
Schwarzmeerküste: Strategische Lage und KlimaDie Schwarzmeerküste Georgiens zeichnet sich durch Ihre strategische Lage und das angenehme Klima aus. Die Nähe zum Meer sorgt für milde Winter und warme Sommer, was Sie nicht nur zu einem beliebten Urlaubsziel macht, sondern auch den Weinbau fördert. Besonders die Stadt Batumi ist bekannt für ihren Hafen, der als wichtiger Handelsplatz dient und sowohl wirtschaftlich als auch kulturell eine bedeutende Rolle spielt.
Vertiefende Einblicke: Die schönsten Urlaubsorte in Europa
.table-responsiv {width: 100%;padding: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;overflow-y: hidden;border: 1px solid #DDD;overflow-x: auto;min-height: 0.01%;} Sehenswürdigkeit Ort Beschreibung Narikala Festung Tiflis Historische Festung mit spektakulärer Aussicht auf die Stadt. Kazbek Berg Kaukasusgebirge Einer der höchsten Gipfel im Kaukasus, beliebt bei Wanderern. Batumi Boulevard Batumi Schöne Uferpromenade mit Parks und modernen Skulpturen. Historische Sehenswürdigkeiten: Kultur- und Naturstätten erkunden Historische Sehenswürdigkeiten: Kultur- und Naturstätten erkunden – Georgien Karte Europa: Ein geografischer StreifzugGeorgien ist reich an historischen Sehenswürdigkeiten, die es zu erkunden gilt. Die Svetitskhoveli-Kathedrale in Mzcheta und das Kloster Gelati sind nur zwei Beispiele für bemerkenswerte Bauwerke. Diese Stätten sind nicht nur Zeugen der georgischen Geschichte und Architektur, sondern auch UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe. Darüber hinaus bietet Georgien eine Vielzahl von Naturwundern wie die Höhlenstadt Wardsia und den Kazbegi-Nationalpark. Diese Orte sind ideal für Reisende, die Kultur und Natur gleichermaßen schätzen.
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Weinbau: Tradition und lokale SpezialitätenGeorgien ist bekannt für seinen traditionsreichen Weinbau, der auf eine mehr als 8000-jährige Geschichte zurückblickt. Mit über 500 einheimischen Rebsorten bietet das Land eine große Vielfalt, die einzigartig auf der Welt ist.
Besondere Erwähnung verdient der Kvevri-Wein, der in tonnenförmigen Tongefäßen fermentiert und gelagert wird. Diese Methode ist von der UNESCO als immaterielles Kulturerbe anerkannt und verleiht dem georgischen Wein seine charakteristischen Aromen.
Bei einem Besuch in Georgien sollten Sie unbedingt lokale Spezialitäten wie den halbtrockenen Rotwein „Saperavi“ oder den weißen „Rkatsiteli“ probieren. Die Weingüter des Landes bieten oft Verkostungen an, bei denen Sie die Vielfalt und Qualität georgischer Weine entdecken können.
Vielseitige Landschaften: Von Bergen zu SträndenGeorgien Karte Europa zeigt eine erstaunliche Vielfalt an Landschaften. Im Westen zieht die Schwarzmeerküste mit ihren angenehmen Stränden Besucher an, während sich im Osten das majestätische Kaukasusgebirge erhebt. Dieses kontrastreiche Terrain macht das Land zu einem Paradies für Naturliebhaber, vom Wandern in den Bergen bis zum Entspannen an der Küste. Besonders bemerkenswert sind die grünen Täler und Weinregionen, die ebenfalls Teil dieser landschaftlichen Vielfalt sind.
Bevölkerungsstruktur: Vielfalt und GastfreundschaftGeorgien zeichnet sich durch eine bemerkenswerte Bevölkerungsstruktur aus, die von großer ethnischer und kultureller Vielfalt geprägt ist. Verschiedene Volksgruppen leben hier nebeneinander, und diese Vielfalt spiegelt sich auch in den Traditionen und der Küche des Landes wider. Die Menschen in Georgien sind bekannt für Ihre außergewöhnliche Gastfreundschaft, die als ein integraler Bestandteil ihrer Kultur gilt. Besucher werden oft wie Familienmitglieder empfangen, was zu einem unvergleichlichen Reiseerlebnis beiträgt.
FAQ: Antworten auf häufig gestellte Fragen Benötigt man ein Visum, um nach Georgien zu reisen? Bürger vieler Länder, darunter diejenigen aus der EU, den USA und Kanada, benötigen für Aufenthalte von bis zu einem Jahr kein Visum für Georgien. Es wird jedoch empfohlen, sich bei der georgischen Botschaft oder dem Konsulat über aktuelle Bestimmungen zu informieren. Was ist die beste Reisezeit für Georgien? Die beste Reisezeit hängt von den geplanten Aktivitäten ab. Für Wander- und Bergtouren sind die Monate Mai bis Oktober ideal. Die Schwarzmeerküste bietet hingegen in den Sommermonaten von Juni bis September die angenehmsten Bedingungen. Welche Sprache wird in Georgien gesprochen? In Georgien wird Georgisch gesprochen. Englisch und Russisch sind ebenfalls weit verbreitet, besonders in den touristischen Gebieten. Wie ist die medizinische Versorgung in Georgien? Die medizinische Versorgung in größeren Städten wie Tiflis ist gut und es gibt zahlreiche Krankenhäuser und Kliniken. In ländlichen Gebieten kann die medizinische Infrastruktur jedoch eingeschränkter sein. Es wird empfohlen, eine umfassende Reiseversicherung abzuschließen. Ist Georgien ein sicheres Reiseziel? Georgien gilt allgemein als sicheres Reiseziel für Touristen. Wie in jedem anderen Land sollte man jedoch grundlegende Sicherheitsvorkehrungen treffen, darunter das Bewachen von Wertsachen und das Vermeiden bestimmter abgelegener Gebiete bei Dunkelheit. Wie komme ich am besten von Tiflis nach Batumi? Es gibt mehrere Möglichkeiten, von Tiflis nach Batumi zu reisen. Dazu gehören direkte Flüge, Fernbusse und eine malerische Zugfahrt entlang der Schwarzmeerküste. Jede dieser Optionen bietet verschiedene Vorteile in Bezug auf Komfort und Reisezeit. Was sind die traditionellen georgischen Gerichte, die man probieren sollte? Zu den traditionellen georgischen Gerichten gehören Khinkali (gefüllte Teigtaschen), Khachapuri (Käsebrot), Satsivi (Geflügel in Walnusssauce) und Chakapuli (Lammgericht mit Pflaumen). Diese Gerichte spiegeln die reiche kulinarische Tradition des Landes wider. Welche Währung wird in Georgien verwendet? Die offizielle Währung in Georgien ist der georgische Lari (GEL). In größeren Städten gibt es zahlreiche Geldautomaten und Wechselstuben, in kleineren Orten kann die Bargeldversorgung jedoch eingeschränkt sein. Gibt es in Georgien Nationalparks? Ja, Georgien verfügt über mehrere Nationalparks, darunter den Borjomi-Kharagauli Nationalpark, den Kazbegi Nationalpark und den Tusheti Nationalpark. Diese Schutzgebiete bieten vielfältige Möglichkeiten für Outdoor-Aktivitäten und die Erkundung der Natur.Der Beitrag Georgien Karte Europa: Ein geografischer Streifzug erschien zuerst auf Neurope.eu - News aus Europa.