G20: A different advocacy opportunity for civil society
As the G20’s rotating presidency was assumed by Saudi Arabia, in January 2020 over 220 CSOs endorsed a statement issued by Amnesty International, CIVICUS and Transparency International in which they announced that they would not participate in a sham C20 process hosted by a country characterised by the complete absence of civic space and a government that remained relentless in its persecution of civil society, and of women’s rights activists in particular. Civil society took the opportunity to focus joint advocacy on the human rights abuses of the Saudi regime.
By participating in the very limited space that the Saudi government would be able to provide, we would only help launder Saudi Arabia’s international reputation. In response, an overwhelming number of CSOs from all over the world joined their voices together and decided to boycott the C20 hosted by Saudi Arabia.
María Emilia Berazategui
