As expected, the UN Summit of the Future side-lined democracy. The Summit, which met on 22-23 September, agreed a “Pact for the Future”, after fraught negotiations between governments. This pact does not mention democracy as an important value for national political systems but does commit to making the multilateral system and the UN Security Council more “democratic”.
The Summit was framed as a long-awaited moment that would “forge a new international consensus on how we deliver a better present and safeguard the future”. But in reality, it mainly repackaged existing strategies and commitments. While the Pact for the Future covers a wide range of action areas – like accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), reforming the global financial architecture, addressing digital governance, and peace and security – democracy is strikingly absent.
A Missed Opportunity
The absence of democracy as a focal point of discussions on sustainable development reveals the ongoing reluctance of world leaders to prioritise democratic governance in the multilateral arena. Discussing democracy at UN-level remains problematic, which prevented the Summit from addressing growing calls for democracy by citizens around the world, and especially young people. Ahead of the Summit, a civil society coalition emphasised the importance of democracy to achieve the SDGs, and pushed for the Summit’s high-level discussions to integrate a stronger focus on democracy and inclusive governance within the UN framework.
However, the Summit repackaged traditional discourses focused on the importance of multilateralism to achieve the SDGs without a parallel focus on democratic governance. This laid bare the disconnect between the actions of politicians and the aspirations of civil society, especially those of younger generations. While the inauguration placed youth at the heart of the Summit, recognising the youth agenda as an essential cross-cutting element, young activists complained their presence at the Summit was reduced to “tokenism”, stating “our voices occupy rooms, but then fall on silent ears”. The Summit did nothing to address democratic backsliding around the world and how this is undermining meaningful political participation of citizens, and especially that of young people, who represent the strongest voice for sustaining democracy. While the UN expressed a commitment to enhancing civil society and especially youth participation for the Summit, with initiatives like the Action Days and side events, the more decisive high-level discussions were restricted to governmental actors.
Not even supposedly pro-democracy actors pushed hard for any focus on democracy, including the EU that describes itself as a “firm promoter of democracy”. The EU has for a long time refrained from seeking to advance democracy support at the UN level because of the potential backlash from the other countries, particularly China. In doing so, the EU missed what has been presented as a “once in generation” opportunity to finally seek to align the multilateral agenda with its own values and emphasise the mutually reinforcing nature of multilateralism, the SDGs, and democracy.
Democracy as a Vehicle for Change
The Summit of the Future was a much-awaited event. The natural linkages between democracy and sustainable development mean that neglecting one could potentially undermine the other. It is more than urgent that democratic leaders place a greater emphasis on democracy and recognise that this is essential to implement effective policies on issues like poverty, inequality, and climate change.
The persistent side lining of democracy signals a worrying perpetuation of the status quo, where multilateralism remains separated and prioritised over democracy. Multilateral approaches remain subject to democratic deficits, with barriers preventing meaningful participation of civil society and youth, undermining the very principles that the Pact for the Future seeks to uphold in its vision and actions for the future.
The Summit has illustrated leaders’ comfort in maintaining a discourse and proposing actions focused on the “operational level”, while civil society seeks a focus on the “aspirational level” to draw a more democratic vision of a future world. The drive for change needs to transcend the UN system and stress more global citizen participation and involvement of all to achieve multilateral aims. By failing to make democracy a priority, the Summit risks further alienating the young generation and a majority of people who see democracy as a vehicle for change and progress. Ignoring these voices contradicts the Summit’s stated goal of creating a future that is inclusive and equitable.
Author
Hélène Ramaroson is Research Assistant at the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) where she contributes to research on EU democracy support and multiple tasks to support European Democracy Hub initiatives. Prior to joining EPD, Hélène completed a Bachelor’s in European Studies at King’s College London and a Master’s in EU International Relations and Diplomacy at the College of Europe. Her interests and prior research experience have focused on the aspects of democracy and human rights for the European Union, multilateralism, and EU-Africa relations.
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
Photo credit: Jérémy Apert
