A/HRC/42/48 Chancellor reportedly attended Civil 7 and Civil 20 meetings. 72 At the leaders’ summit during the G7 Canadian presidency in 2018, the Government brought civil society to the table for the first time, including representatives of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council and of engagement groups. 67. Engagement groups have been able to have a positive impact on specific commitments made by some member States of the global governance spaces. For instance, in line with one of Women 7’s key recommendations since its beginnings, the French Government declared that a specific fund would be created, using official development assistance, for associations defending the rights of women and girls in countries of the global South.73 The Independent Expert looks forward to the creation of this fund. However, he regrets that despite Women 7’s advocacy work, there was no reference to women’s and girl’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in a common declaration between G7 States at the gender equality ministerial meeting, owing to opposition by the Government of the United States. 74 Another positive example brought to the attention of the Independent Expert is the commitment by Canada of 3.8 billion Canadian dollars for girls’ education, in particular for girls in conflict zones, after civil society organizations had identified that the issue needed to be addressed. During the 2018 Argentinian G20 presidency, youth representatives stated that they had good relationships with a number of working groups, including on education, employment and development. As a result, some youth issues were taken into consideration in the final communiqué. Similarly, two joint statements were issued by a number of engagement groups during this presidency, which reportedly influenced the G20 leaders’ declaration and ministerial statements by elevating gender to the status of the fourth cross-cutting priority.75 68. These successes, among others, epitomize the valuable contributions that civil society organizations make to the realization of the global governance spaces’ outcomes, and therefore to a democratic and equitable international order. E. Accountability for commitments made in the global governance spaces 69. The issue of public participation in global governance spaces, and the ability to influence their decision-making processes, cannot be seen in isolation from the key issue of the accountability of the member States for the commitments made within them. After each summit, member States issue a collective statement in which they make a series of commitments on various priority issues. While these commitments are declaratory or political in nature and as such not legally binding, member States of the global governance spaces should be accountable for the commitments that they make, with a view to achieving a democratic and equitable international order. 70. G7 and G20 have put in place self-appraisal mechanisms. In 2009, during the Italian presidency of what was then G8, the Accountability Working Group was established, whose task is to prepare every three years a comprehensive review of the Group’s commitments, as well as progress reports on a specific theme every year. Similarly, in 2014, G20 adopted its Accountability Framework, which includes a comprehensive accountability report every three years of all ongoing commitments, and annual progress reports on existing and new commitments. OECD, the World Bank and IMF are the de facto monitoring mechanisms for the implementation of a series of financial and taxation commitments made by G20. 71. However, while acknowledging the willingness of G7 and G20 to devise accountability mechanisms, civil society representatives have repeatedly raised concerns about the inconsistent quality and lack of objectivity of these groups’ accountability reports, which are often merely self-congratulatory and rely on national data, and the standards chosen in undertaking these reviews are reportedly not systematically disclosed. There is 72 73 74 75 16 See the submission by the German NGO Forum on Environment and Development. See the submission by Women 7. Ibid. See the submission by Amnesty International.