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A growing number of countries are introducing laws, policies and practices that stifle individuals’ rights to free association, assembly and expression and therefore the ability of civil society to operate freely. In every country, civil society faces a multitude of such threats to its existence. These threats, however, are often only addressed after they have already restricted civil society work, frightened staff members and volunteers, and even closed organisations. CIVICUS and the International Center for Not-for-profit Law are working together to develop an Early Warning System to identify and respond to the initial signs of threats to civil society. CIVICUS and ICNL believe that by addressing the first signs of danger, we can alert both activists and decision-makers and possibly prevent such threats from progressing further. The Early Warning System aims to identify the preparation of restrictive laws or the move towards restrictive practices so that effective advocacy can take place before enactment rather than after, once governments are vested in the result. CIVICUS piloted the Early Warning System from September 2008 to March 2009 in Vietnam, Philippines, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, USA, Lebanon and the Solomon Islands. An evaluation and revision of the methodology is currently underway, however, country updates continue. We invite you to read the regular updates by clicking on the links below. Early Warning System Updates Ethiopia Kazakhstan Lebanon Philippines Solomon Islands USA Vietnam A workshop to orientate country partners on the Early Warning System project was organised at Johannesburg from 17-19 September. The workshop was attended by civil society partners from 12 countries. Substantive discussions were held on the methodology for the project including supplementation of indicators which are presently under review. The project is now poised to move into its full implementation phase beginning 1 October 2009. To read more about the project, methodology and access toolkit, click here. For more information, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . |