Experts: Hold power to account, have a sound plan and a fund pool for sustainability

New York - UN processes and IT expert Dr. Rior Santos, trainer of the three-day leadership and advocacy training of a global women’s organization, wrapped up the workshop emphasizing that civil society organizations must hold governments to account. 

"While we are targeting to reach goals, we also need to look at governments to deliver those goals that they have committed to," he said during the closing day of the training where some 35 attendees became certified as UN Advocacy Officers of the Women’s Federation for World Peace International. The UN has marked its Sustainable Development Goals to have reached only 35 percent of its targets and is set to finish in 2030.

The UN has marked its Sustainable Development Goals to have reached only 35 percent of its targets and is set to finish in 2030.

Santos is currently the head of programs of the UN Office for Project Services and is based in Myanmar. He told participants that they were already experts in their own field of work long before the SDGs were promoted. “And as such, the SDGs are mere tools to systematize current developmental work on the ground.”

WFWPI is an active participant in the CSW 70 with its General Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council. It has 128 national chapters worldwide. Its UN Relations Offices are in New York, Geneva, and Vienna and headed by Merly Barlaan who has emphasized on institutionalization of programs and partnerships with government and civil society to create impactful projects and programs.

At the training at New Yorker Hotel on March 6-8, 2026, Santos placed in perspective the need for careful, results-based management to ensure positive results and impact. He encouraged WFWPI to focus on plans that have measurable outputs to ensure sustainability. 

"Success starts with a sound plan. Although plans change on the ground, if you don't plan and plan correctly, you are set to fail."

Meanwhile, WFWP training speaker Carolyn Handschin, president of the NGO CSW Geneva, said that most of the members of civil society organizations feel “not included” in government processes at the UN, despite the well-thought policy and program recommendations they give to member states. “There has to be a sort of report card per country on how they are doing with their commitments and our recommendations,” she told trainees. Handschin has 30 years of people-to-people diplomacy in Geneva.

Rosie Chawla, educator and grants development expert, emphasized the constancy of financial resources to propel programs and ensure the impactful presence of CSO. 

It is without doubt that meaningful projects and programs go hand in hand with a healthy fund pool, which has always been a challenge for CSO. The attitude of women’s groups is always to have grant development experts as partners to realize goals and become sustainable, she said.

Chawla is the director of the Global Education Projects & Partnerships as well the UNESCO Center for Peace.