Development Goals Falter as Civil Society Is Shut Out

UN staff members at the SDG Action Zone outside UN Headquarters in New York, 2019. Credit: UN Photo/Laura JarrielOpinion by Samuel King (brussels, belgium / montevideo, uruguay)Wednesday, September 09, 2026Inter Press Service BRUSSELS, Belgium / MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, September 9 (IPS) - When the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) ended in New York in July, it took two recorded votes for states to pass a ministerial declaration that, until recently, would have been adopted without controversy. Uruguay, speaking for the Group of 77 developing countries plus China, pushed through the deletion of a reference to the agreement reached at the COP28 climate summit. Israel forced a vote on a paragraph about self-determination for people under occupation. Russia dissociated itself from the passage on peace and security. The wrangling revealed the extent to which the consensus that in 2015 saw all 193 UN states agree the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a common blueprint to end poverty, tackle climate change and build accountable institutions by 2030 – has been eroded. The problem goes beyond this latest session. Progress is tracked through Voluntary Nationa...