UN: Learning lessons from online engagement

Any strategy to enhance civil society participation in the UN should learn the lessons from civil society’s 2020 engagement with UN institutions, which was largely conducted online with minimal real-world interaction. As the pandemic struck, civil society access to UN institutions, such as the UN Human Rights Council and the Commission on the Status of Women, rapidly went online. The situation was never going to be perfect and was bound to give rise to challenges, but it may also have opened up opportunities.