CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation

Independent dissent being shuttered in South Sudan | An interview with Victor Lowilla of SSLS

Victor Lowilla, senior legal aid attorney at the South Sudan Law Society (SSLS), speaks to CIVICUS about the trajectory of civil society in South Sudan since independence and the growing restrictions on independent media and journalists in the country.

How would you describe the overall operating environment of civil society in South Sudan?

While the current legal framework governing civil society in South Sudan is not particularly restrictive, the government is taking an increasingly hostile approach to organizations which advocate on sensitive issues leading to a severe constriction of operational space for independent dissent. Civil society groups which report on contentious issues, deemed off-limits by the government, do so at the risk of reprisal. The National Security Intelligence, in its mission to insulate the government from criticism, is becoming increasingly vigilant and willing to arrest anyone who openly speaks out against the government.

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Chiara Butti of NCVO Speaks with CIVICUS about the Building Bridges Project in North Africa

Chiara Butti joined the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) in November 2012 and currently coordinates the Building Bridges project in North Africa. After graduating from the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies with a Master's degree in 2009 she moved to Beirut, Lebanon where she lived until October 2012. She has considerable experience working on development projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, including studying the political society of the Middle East, gender, sustainable development and good governance of the region.

What does the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) hope to achieve through the Building Bridges project?

The Building Bridges project is a great opportunity for NCVO to share best practice and knowledge on civil society and its structure, its relations with government and the best ways to participate in the decision making process. We believe, thanks to our decades long experience in representing civil society and its voice in the UK, that we can bring our expertise to a region where civil society has been repressed by harsh dictatorship.

In line with our main visions and mission we hope to promote the emergence of strong civil society coalitions in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt. We believe in the importance of civil society to get together at time of challenges and change.

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Urgent call to Bahraini authorities to disclose whereabouts of Nabeel Rajab

CIVICUS calls on the government of Bahrain to urgently disclose the whereabouts of human rights defender Nabeel Rajab. Nabeel called his wife on 14 May from prison informing her he had witnessed a heinous crime committed by the authorities in Bahrain and as a result the government is intent on silencing him.  The two calls made to his wife lasted a few seconds and were abruptly interrupted indicating that the Bahraini authorities stopped their conversation.  His family now fears for his life as he has been moved from his prison cell and his whereabouts are uknown. His wife believes he has been moved to solitary confinement to break all forms of communication with his family and may be tortured to silence him.  Nabeel, who was sentenced to three years in prison in August 2012 (sentenced reduced to 2 years in December 2012), has been reportedly subjected to different forms of harassment at the hands of the Bahraini authorities.

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This week in e-CIVICUS

• Are NGOs whiners, winners or what? - Fraser Reilly-King
• What’s ‘Development’ with Rights Abuses Along the Way?
• Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and CIVICUS organise the workshop: “Holding government to account through direct citizen engagement – what works for Africa?” Johannesburg, South Africa 16-17 May 2013
• The situation is becoming dire for civil society in Uzbekistan
• Update from the Secretariat of the High Level Panel on the Post 2015 Agenda
• Accreditation procedure threatens to undercut civil society participation at UN meeting
• New global development agenda must have human rights at its core
• European Commission - Progress on equality between women and men has just been released

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The situation is becoming dire for civil society in Uzbekistan | An interview with Sukhrobjon Ismoilov

Sukhrobjon Ismoilov, the founder and director of the Expert Working Group (EWG), speaks to CIVICUS about ongoing restrictions on civil society in Uzbekistan and the need for greater international support following Uzbekistan's recent examination under the UN Universal Period Review (UPR).

Uzbekistan just underwent its examination under the UN Universal Period Review. Can you tell us about the recent threats to civil society activists in the country?

The latest instances of judicial harassment and attacks against national civil society activists in Uzbekistan demonstrate the government's readiness to silence the country's only remaining critical voices. In an attempt to suppress independent dissent, the government has resorted to a number of strong arms tactics. Human rights defenders, including independent journalists, lawyers and CSO staff continue to be prosecuted on trumped-up criminal charges. In addition, the government continues to force activists to leave the country under the threat of criminal charges and imprisonment.

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Post-2015 Agenda needs to address the 1 billion people with disabilities

Dagnachew B. Wakene is a researcher from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, specialising in studies of inclusive development, human rights and law. As a person with disability, Dagnachew currently works as a part-time Research Associate at World Enabled – a disability and youth focused initiative based in Berkeley, California. He is also a Board Member and Youth Representative at the Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (SADPD), as well as an active participant in ongoing regional and global deliberations on the ‘Post-2015 Development Agenda,’ representing the cause of inclusive development and continent.

The term impoverished is often used to describe all groups of society that are victims of poverty. How do impoverished persons with disabilities experience poverty differently or in comparison to persons without disability?

Needless to say, numerous studies over the past decade or two have increasingly reported an alarming rate of disability among individuals living in poverty, affirming the peculiar bi-directional/vicious link between poverty and disability. One is both the cause and consequence of the other such that poverty causes disabilities (through, for instance, poor living conditions, health endangering employment, malnutrition, poor access to healthcare and education opportunities etc.);while disability, on the other hand, results in severe poverty. This means that the most pressing issue faced globally by persons with disabilities is not their specific disability but their lack of equitable access to education, employment, health care and the social and legal support systems. The World Disability Report (2011) stated, in no ambiguous terms, that persons with disabilities comprise 15 to 20 percent of the poorest individuals in developing countries and are often relegated to the margins of society, where they are a perceived as being a 'burden', instead of potential and capable contributors to family and national economic activities.

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