Nigeria, Oct. 5 -- The high-level General Debate of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly ended on 28 September 2026. This year's theme, "Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All," coming together with a search for a new Secretary-General, was especially meaningful for African CSOs. While African governments and private sector delegations to UNGA 81 were significant, African CSOs were underrepresented. In a public statement issued on 7 September, the CSO umbrella platform CIVICUS called out the UN's CSO accredited system for "barriers and suspension of badges for ECOSOC-accredited NGOs."

For CSOs which failed to secure accreditation for General Assembly sessions, there were still opportunitie...