The 2026 State of Civil Society Report from CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance and ENSURED partner, presents a sobering picture of a world in which powerful states are rewriting the international rulebook to suit their interests, impunity is becoming normalised in conflict after conflict, and an axis of economic, political, and technological elites is concentrating power without accountability. Yet the report is equally clear that resistance is rising to meet these challenges through mass street protests, community-level organising, strategic litigation and persistent advocacy that is achieving real results.
The report draws on hundreds of interviews across more than 120 countries, covering key themes including democracy, technology, global governance, conflict, climate, migration, gender rights, and Gen Z protest movements.
A Global Governance System Under Stress
The chapter on Global Governance: Power Politics Tests Global Rules holds a stark message: the post-war multilateral order, already flawed, is being actively dismantled.
The Trump administration has withdrawn from over 60 international bodies and processes, including the UN Democracy Fund, UN Women, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Other states are following suit: Argentina, Hungary, and several West African military governments have also distanced themselves from key international institutions. These withdrawals deepen impunity by removing states from scrutiny and shrinking civil society's opportunities to challenge violations.
The funding crisis compounds the institutional one. The UN's 2026 core budget has been cut by 15 percent, with staff reductions of around 19 percent. Human rights — one of the UN's three core pillars — absorbs only around 5 percent of the regular budget and has been hit hardest. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has faced funding shortfalls of around US$90 million, resulting in hundreds of job losses and reduced capacity on issues from LGBTQI+ rights to gender-based violence.
Meanwhile, states are increasingly bypassing formal UN processes, forming ad hoc coalitions and selective bodies. The launch of the so-called Board of Peace at the January 2026 World Economic Forum — a body with no mention of human rights or civil society access in its draft charter — exemplifies the trend toward selective multilateralism, where backroom deals replace universal rules and accountability. The report warns that this kind of approach, however pragmatic it may appear, cannot uphold universal standards and leaves civil society without the institutionalised access that sustained engagement depends on.
International law, too, is under mounting pressure. The report documents how actors like Israel, Russia, and the USA have flouted international humanitarian law, how the International Criminal Court has faced sanctions and political attacks, and how even the European Convention on Human Rights is being challenged by states seeking to make deportation easier.
Civil Society's Calls for Reform
Despite all this, the report shows that civil society is not standing still. CIVICUS highlights campaigns demanding a transparent process for selecting the next UN Secretary-General, with the 1 for 8 billion initiative calling for a feminist woman committed to defending the UN Charter. Civil society continues to advocate for Security Council reform to limit veto powers, stronger Human Rights Council mechanisms and meaningful participation in UN processes.
The report is a reminder that the current crisis in global governance, while serious, also contains an opportunity: to push for a more effective, robust, and democratic international order. As ENSURED's own work on civil society participation in global governance makes clear, this window must not be missed.
"Multilateralism must mean more than states negotiating over their interests. Civil society's vision deserves a fair hearing." — CIVICUS, 2026 State of Civil Society Report
Read the full 2026 State of Civil Society Report and the global governance chapter on the CIVICUS website.
- Authors: Andrew Firmin, Inés M. Pousadela, Mandeep Tiwana
- Researchers: Samuel King, Victoria Ubierna
- Research interns: Isabel Álvarez, Manal Bidar, Elisa Allegra Ferrante
- Comms support: Kgalalelo Gaebee, Lerato Pagiwa, Silvia Puerto Aboy
- Design: Juliana Pecollo
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