The UN NGO Committee: Civil Society’s Gatekeeper in Hostile Hands By Samuel King Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service.

https://www.ipsnews.net/2026/05/the-un-ngo-committee-civil-societys-gatekeeper-in-hostile-hands/?utm_source=email_marketing&utm_admin=146128&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Days_No_Outcry_The_Cost_of_Speaking_Out_UN_Staff_Advised_to_Keep_Off_Campaign_for_New_SecretaryGener BRUSSELS, Belgium, May 4 2026 (IPS) - In January, the government of Algeria succeeded in locking two civil society groups out of access to the United Nations (UN). It raised questions at the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, known as the NGO Committee, about two civil society groups with accreditation. It alleged that Italian organisation Il Cenacolo was making politically motivated statements at the UN Human Rights Council and the Geneva-based International Committee for the Respect and Implementation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (CIRAC) was selling UN grounds passes. Four days later, it called a vote to revoke their status. Other states urged delay, but the no-action motion failed, and 11 of the body’s 19 members voted to recommend that the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) revoke Il Cenacolo’s accreditation and suspend CIRAC’s for a year. Copyright © 2026 IPS-Inter Press Service.