Click to expand Image United Nations Headquarters in New York City, US, July 16, 2024. © 2024 Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via AP Photo The United Nations will hold elections in April for the 19 members of the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, which controls UN accreditation for nongovernmental groups. The election to the UN’s gatekeeper for civil society comes at a difficult time for human rights and civil society groups around the world, with governments defunding these groups, blocking foreign grants, and suppressing and often criminalizing their work.The candidates for this year’s largely uncompetitive election are mostly countries whose governments are hostile to civil society.Only the Central and Eastern Europe Group has any competition so far. Belarus, which has effectively outlawed civil society and prosecutes human rights defenders, is vying with Estonia and Ukraine for two spots and should be rejected.Abusive governments that restrict civil society at home have long held a majority on the panel, turning into a de facto anti-NGO committee. Instead of vetting applications responsibly so that organizations can interact with UN bodies and officials, the committee has largely blocked their applications, particularly of human rights groups.All four candidates for the Asia-Pacific Group have a track record of abusive practices with civil society. Saudi Arabia,the United Arab Emirates, and India silence activist and human rights groups, including arbitrarily arresting their members under counterterrorism laws. China has not only prevented human rights groups from functioning inside the country, but has for years retaliated against Chinese activists seeking to participate in UN forums.In the Western group, Israel, Türkiye, and the United States under the Trump administration have demonstrated open hostility to civil society groups. The United Kingdom has said it is “committed to championing civil society participation” though it has adopted multiple laws restricting protest, criminalized those supporting Palestinian rights and action on climate change, and used counterterrorism laws to ban a pro-Palestine direct action group.Running for the Latin America and Caribbean seat are Cuba, which suppresses criticism and detains critics, Nicaragua, which has closed down thousands of groups, and Peru, which recently approved a law suppressing civil society. The African Group has yet to declare any candidates.The UK has called for reforming the NGO committee. Meaningful reform should start with its membership so that governments that support civil society engagement outnumber governments hostile to them. Doing so will require better candidates and competitive elections to keep out countries like Belarus and others unfit for membership.