An Expert Advisory Group of 14 experts from a variety of sectors sat alongside the YAG to bring expertise from relevant sectors, providing input and challenging thinking. The Covenant is also relevant across the UK in policy areas where responsibilities are reserved to the UK government and not devolved to the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Covenant is intended to complement and respect existing governance and partnership arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, working alongside the distinct frameworks in each nation. The UK government will continue to work in partnership with civil society organisations in all four parts of the UK. Governments may also limit participation, particularly in policy development or decision-making processes.
Advanced search for Civil Society Organizations
The Accord has helped raise the profile of civil society organisations with local public sector leaders and put a spotlight on the value and expertise that they can bring. One resulting partnership is the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit (GMVRU) between government, police, health, education, youth justice services, local authorities, other statutory agencies and civil society. This approach acknowledges the value and strength of civil society organisations in working closely with communities, to understand their needs, challenges and strengths in relation to violence prevention. It also places decision-making in the hands of communities, including setting priorities and agreeing funding for projects and interventions aimed at engaging children, young people and families.
Key Findings and Insights
One aspect that remains relatively understudied is how environmental policy actors perceive climate concerns and willingness to act among the global public. This is important as public opinion can, under some circumstances, have an agenda-setting effect on political objectives4,5,6. Additionally, participation and buy-in among diverse groups of people is crucial for successfully implementing climate solutions7. However, there is growing evidence that individuals tend to underestimate how much others are concerned about climate change and willing to act on it, a phenomenon known as pluralistic ignorance3,8,9,10. At the global level, there is a 26-percentage-point gap between the actual proportion of respondents who report being willing to contribute to support climate action (69%) and the average perceived proportions of fellow citizens willing to contribute (43%)3. A limited but growing number of studies have also documented that national or local policy officials are not always aware of the public views of their constituencies, including climate change attitudes11,12,13,14.
Analyses and additional evidence
They also partnered with the Scottish Government to develop Principles for Positive Partnership, to enhance the relationship between grant managers and grant holders, providing practical advice to strengthen both parties. The grants also supported four national organisations (one each in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) and a number of regional organisations, ensuring UK-wide access to services. An example includes ‘Citizens Advice Scotland’, with 1,000 advisers in 200 outreach locations, delivering EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) advice, including benefits, housing, and debt support, enhancing community wellbeing. Barnsley Council established ‘Ward Alliances’, each with elected members and community representatives, a devolved budget, and decision making powers. The Ward Alliances involved local residents and groups to inform local shared priorities and budget allocation. A Litter and Environmental Crime Plan for 2024 to 2030 was co-produced with community members and volunteers whose experiences informed the strategy, fostering shared ownership.
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The UN must do all it can to protect, expand and in some cases, stem the shrinkage of civil society united nations civil society participation space both inside and outside the UN. Determined work on this front will help the UN earn legitimacy with the ‘peoples of the United Nations’ and strengthen public understanding and support for the Organisation. There are many ways in which the views of ordinary people are reflected at the UN, through governments, parliaments and the private sector for example, as well as through UN officials and experts.
- We invite the Secretary-General to shine a light on this agenda and drive it forwards where possible, and ask member states and decision-makers to support Mr Guterres in his work.
- Additional reactions from BFFP members and allies (including additional countries and languages) are being added here.
- NGOs can channel critical voices and provide meaningful contributions, while also holding States accountable for their human rights record, promises and shortcomings, and putting them in the spotlight.
- They also thank Kieren Mayers, Joshua Aslan, and Rupert Younger for their support and feedback, as well as Sam Barratt and United Nations Environment Programme staff for helping enable us to conduct this research at UNEA-6.
- To enable this, we know that bold change and ambitious leadership is needed on both sides to overcome entrenched barriers, amplify good practice, and make the most of the opportunities ahead.
In recent years, several large charities, including some international development organisations, have been attacked in the media and then reported to the Charity Commission, mostly for speaking out on issues that some in society consider to be contentious, such as poverty, migration, or racism. These attacks, as well as other restrictions such as those on protest rights, the use of anti-advocacy clauses and limits on campaigning ahead of elections, have had a broader chilling effect on UK civil society, including international NGOs. Over £32.5 million was successfully allocated to over 70 civil society organisations, enabling them to provide essential assistance to more than 500,000 vulnerable citizens who might not have applied to the scheme otherwise. This critical initiative supported individuals with understanding the scheme, completing applications, and accessing legal or translation services. It presents the opportunity to forge a new relationship where government, both national and local, can partner with civil society to create change that lasts generations.
Data collection
- The Home Office is also working with Coalition partners to provide a platform for youth voice and their perspectives on the core issues around knife crime, increasing public safety and supporting those who need it most, ensuring young people’s lived experiences contribute to shaping government policy.
- It presents the opportunity to forge a new relationship where government, both national and local, can partner with civil society to create change that lasts generations.
- Where there is such rapid innovation taking place today in how services can be transformed through advances in science and technology, the government wants to broaden the eco-system of providers.
Most common are the use of funding restrictions and other bureaucratic measures, such as imposing excessive registration or reporting requirements on organisations, or placing undue restrictions on the kinds of issues they can work on or types of activities they can undertake. Whilst the collection touches on a variety of areas of the UN’s work, the span is by no means exhaustive. Despite this, we believe the publication highlights important areas of concern and makes a compelling case for improvements to the way the UN engages civil society. After two devastating world wars, people across the globe felt keenly that they had a stake in this new organisation, created to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. Civil society was engaged in discussions on the shape of the UN from the outset, feeding into the drafting of the UN Charter which went on to be proclaimed in 1945, not in the name of governments, but in the name of “We the peoples of the United Nations”. The opinions in this magazine are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the United Nations, or its specialized agencies.
Case study: Evaluation Support Scotland (ESS) – improving services by measuring impact
It is pushing through another anti-protest law and has used counter-terrorism powers to proscribe a non-violent protest group, while police are increasingly using of AI-powered facial recognition software to monitor protests and public assemblies. Civic space is the environment in which civil society can exist and act, both online or offline. More specifically, it refers to the political, legal, regulatory, policy, social, cultural, economic and security context in which civil society operates.
The Covenant is inclusive of organisations of all purposes, sizes, geographical locations, and those that are led by underrepresented groups. An enduring covenant between government and all those across civil society who invest their time and money in the service of others. You can also expand the headings “Areas of Expertise & Fields of activity”, “Meeting participation” and “Additional search options” for more combinations. The offices of several migration and refugee charities were attacked during the 2024 race riots, and these organisations continue to be targeted by right wing actors. Environmental activists and pro-Palestine campaigners are the primary target of new anti-protest powers. The criminalisation of activism and protest using counter-terrorism regulations, public order legislation and, increasingly, defamation and cyber-security laws is another common technique.
This finding highlights the gap between policy ambitions and public support for climate action. Future research can also expand on our findings through a larger, more representative sample, especially to understand perceptions among distinct subgroups of attendees such as negotiators, governmental advisors, advocates, and other environmental policy actors. Qualitative methods, such as interviews and focus groups, could help uncover the influences that shape policy actors’ perceptions of public opinions related to climate change. Questions could seek to understand to what extent lobbying by special interest groups, exposure to media coverage, and other specific factors shape their perceptions of how diverse members of the public feel, think, and act upon climate change. It would also be valuable to measure perceptions of public views on specific types of climate policies beyond contributing to fight climate change in general39, as well as realized behaviors rather than behavioral intentions. Equally, while this study directly sought to elicit participants’ perceptions about Andre et al.’s3 findings, future research could benchmark results against a wider range of opinion polls by adopting different question framings.



