NEW YORK - Attacks on global aid, rising securitisation, and the dismantling of the international aid architecture pose an urgent threat to fundamental freedoms, a UN expert warned today.
"The collapse of global aid greatly endangers the survival of civil society organisations and threatens the entire civil society ecosystem, as well as the future of international solidarity, collective action, and participation in multilateral forums," said Gina Romero, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association in her report to the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.
Romero noted that, since the beginning of 2025, thousands of civil society associations that have been filling critical gaps by providing life-saving services, supporting victims of human rights violations, delivering vital humanitarian responses, and working to fight corruption, protect the environment, and advance peacebuilding, are either disappearing or severely reducing their operations. The impact has been especially severe for grassroots organisations and those led by women, LGBTQI groups, and marginalised communities.
"What is unfolding is not merely a funding issue, it is a structural crisis in the international solidarity ecosystem," the Special Rapporteur said. "Civic space globally is suffocating, not only because States are intensifying the scale and gravity of repression, but also because the lifelines that kept it alive are fundamentally challenged."
The expert stressed that securitisation of the global agenda is driving a shift in funds and political priorities towards strengthening defence and military capabilities at the expense of democratisation and human rights. She noted that States are increasingly misusing national security grounds and discourse to justify the repression civil society and social movements.
"The securitisation and militarisation of State responses to non-violent collective actions, which are increasingly led by youth activists and have resulted in serious violations, are deeply alarming," Romero said.
The Special Rapporteur called for urgent action to rebuild international solidarity and redesign a strengthened, fairer global aid architecture. "This requires reimagining international aid architecture, through a participatory and transparent process, and ensuring that it is equitable, inclusive, people-centred and rights-based," she said.
The expert warned that severe restrictions on fundamental freedoms threaten decades of progress on human rights and democratisation, jeopardising the fulfilment of global commitments towards the Sustainable Development Goals, peace and security, inclusion and equality, and climate justice.
"States should implement a human rights-based approach to security, ensuring security policies and decisions are firmly rooted in international human rights standards; enable freedoms; and foster democratic resilience and inclusive governance," Romero said.
