Blogs

• ICSW 2019, New Board, Opportunities: Updates from Lysa John, CIVICUS SG

   

  FRENCH

  For those of us who were in Belgrade a few weeks ago, it is hard to think of April as anything but the culmination of months of preparation towards the International Civil Society Week (ICSW). Themed around the ‘Power of Togetherness’, the ICSW brought together over 700 international delegates from 92 countries to engage with dialogues and actions organised by 42 event partners across 8-12 April. Events on the ground were accompanied a stream of media and online commentary aimed at profiling relevant issues beyond the event.

• Il n'y a plus de mots pour décrire la brutalité de l'armée birmane

  Myra Dahgaypaw, Washington D.C., Etats-Unis

  Myra Dahgaypaw est la directrice de la U.S. Campaign for Burma (Campagne américaine pour la Birmanie), une organisation qui s'efforce de sensibiliser le public aux violations des droits humains et aux atrocités à grande échelle commises par l'armée birmane à l'encontre des minorités ethniques et religieuses. Elle est issue de la communauté Karen, un groupe persécuté vivant dans l'est de la Birmanie, et a une expérience directe des violations commises par la junte militaire.

  ---

  Voici son histoire:

  « Parler de ce qui est arrivé à ma famille me rappelle encore beaucoup de souvenirs douloureux.

  Les troupes militaires birmanes sont arrivées dans mon village, ont entièrement brûlé ma maison et ont forcé ma famille, les autres habitants du village et moi-même à fuir au milieu de la nuit. J'ai subi des frappes aériennes comme celles qui ont lieu actuellement dans l'État de Kachin. Je me souviens que mon école était entourée de tranchées pour que nous puissions y sauter dès que nous entendions les avions de chasse. J'ai vu beaucoup de gens tués, y compris mes propres camarades de classe.

  Craignant pour ma vie, j'ai fui avec seulement mes vêtements sur le dos, un peu comme ce que vivent de nombreux Karens en ce moment. Lorsque j'étais enfant, je n'avais pas le droit de pleurer lorsque j'étais trop fatiguée pour marcher parmi les adultes, de peur d'alerter les militaires birmans de notre position. Je devais dormir sous une bâche en plastique qui n'était pas assez grande pour couvrir mon petit corps. Ma famille et moi avions très peu de nourriture pour survivre et le plus souvent, nous ne mangions pas. Comme j'étais la plus jeune, j'étais la seule à pouvoir manger une petite quantité par jour - un poing de riz.

  Ma plus jeune tante a subi un viol collectif par les troupes birmanes. Elle a ensuite été embarquée et emmenée dans une autre ville.Pendant l'interrogatoire, elle a été suspendue par les pieds, la tête en bas, tandis que les troupes marquaient sa peau de brûlures de cigarettes jusqu'à ce qu'elle donne les réponses qu'ils voulaient. Il a fallu à notre famille plus de dix ans pour la retrouver.

  Son mari, mon oncle, a été détenu arbitrairement. Pendant sa détention, il a été brutalement torturé lors des interrogatoires. Les militaires birmans ont découpé sa peau en lanières et l'ont frotté avec du sel pour qu'il se vide douloureusement de son sang. Lorsqu'ils ont rejoint un ruisseau, les troupes ont pratiqué une forme de waterboarding, noyant partiellement mon oncle pour obtenir les réponses qu'ils voulaient pendant sa confusion. Quand ils ont eu fini, les troupes l'ont poignardé et l'ont laissé se vider de son sang jusqu’à la mort.

  Ce fut un véritable cauchemar jusqu'à ce que je devienne une réfugiée en Thaïlande.

  Ce qui se passe actuellement en Birmanie n'est pas très différent de la Birmanie que j’ai connue quand j'étais enfant - il y a toujours de terribles violations des droits humains et des atrocités à grande échelle, certains crimes pouvant être assimilés à des crimes de guerre, des crimes contre l'humanité et des génocides. La situation dépasse tout ce que je peux exprimer- il n'y a plus de mots pour décrire la brutalité de la junte militaire birmane. 

  Notre équipe, ainsi que de nombreux autres militants en Birmanie et dans le monde entier, tentent d'amplifier la voix de ceux qui sont sur le terrain. Nous protestons devant le bureau de l'attaché militaire birman, les ambassades de Chine, de Russie et d'autres pays, notamment celles qui soutiennent l'armée birmane en lui vendant des armes mortelles ou en la formant.

  Nous adressons également des pétitions à nos représentants gouvernementaux et envoyons des lettres contenant des recommandations importantes et pertinentes, dans l'espoir que le Congrès nous aidera à faire changer les choses en Birmanie. En outre, nous avons également des sympathisants qui utilisent les médias sociaux pour partager des informations sur la situation actuelle en Birmanie, tout en appelant leurs sénateurs et représentants à faire part de leurs préoccupations lors des réunions du Congrès. 

  Les attitudes de persévérance, de résilience et de courage de ceux qui sont sur le terrain sont ma source d'inspiration. Les personnes déplacées à l'intérieur du pays, les réfugiés et maintenant les manifestants du Mouvement pour la désobéissance civile (MDC) doivent vivre au milieu des fusils et des balles qui menacent constamment leur vie. Pourtant ils sont ingénieux pour trouver des moyens de survivre à ces épreuves indicibles. Ce sont eux qui doivent vivre dans la crainte de ce qui leur arrivera demain, mais ils vivent avec une dignité et une reconnaissance très inspirantes.

  

  Amis et collègues du monde entier, le peuple birman risque sa vie pour lutter contre la brutale junte militaire birmane. Ils n'ont pas le temps de réfléchir à ce que leur réserve l'avenir. Vous et moi avons le temps, et si nous pouvons consacrer un peu de notre temps à amplifier les voix des communautés touchées en Birmanie, ainsi qu'à nous informer, à informer notre entourage et à informer nos représentants gouvernementaux, cela sera d'une grande aide. 

  Continuez à faire pression sur vos représentants gouvernementaux pour qu'ils passent de la parole aux actes - les condamnations ne signifient rien pour la junte. Nous avons besoin d'actions tangibles. Vos pétitions, lettres, appels téléphoniques, courriels et partage d'informations sur vos réseaux sociaux respectifs feront la différence.

  En résumé, aujourd'hui plus que jamais, la Birmanie a besoin de vous. J'ai besoin de votre aide pour rejoindre ce combat contre le régime militaire birman. Disons 'PLUS JAMAIS' à la junte militaire birmane, une fois pour toutes ».

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  Légendes : Myra Dahgaypaw ; Myra, à gauche, organise un rassemblement multiethnique devant le bureau de l'attaché militaire birman. (Copyright: Myra Dahgaypaw.)

• In their own words: How youth-led initiatives practice constituent accountability

  Youth leaders from India and South Africa share how they have been practicing accountability to the individuals, communities and groups that their work serves and supports (otherwise known as their constituents). They have each done this by highlighting one of the three dimensions of constituent accountability: giving account (sharing information about who they are and what they do); taking account (continuously listening to and acting on feedback from their constituents); being held to account (including the role of constituents in organisational decision making). 

  

  Giving Account
  

  Enhle Khumalo, CIVICUS Youth Action Lab - Johannesburg, South Africa 
  How the CIVICUS Youth team has worked to clearly explain the process and reasons for selecting its Youth Action Lab participants, thereby boosting transparency, inclusivity, and the strength of the youth network.  

  At CIVICUS, the Youth workstream gathers all members of the alliance under 30. To date, they represent 32% of CIVICUS membership coming from 145 countries. The main means of communication with members are quarterly newsletters, periodic social media posts on the CIVICUS youth united! Facebook group and updates on the website with blog posts, learning stories, or outcomes reports. Since 2020, CIVICUS Youth has been testing a pilot project that was co-created with a group of young grassroots members in 2019 - the Youth Action Lab. In this project we have published the design process, the research and feedback that informed the creation of the prototype and the criteria on why we recruited the 20 activists that we have recruited so far. For this we used the multiple platforms available like the website, social media, webinars and newsletters to make all the announcements in an inclusive manner for members and partners from English, Spanish and French-speaking communities. As a result, over 900 people applied to be part of the Youth Action Lab cohort in 2020 and almost 600 in 2021. When the call for applications closed, all applicants received an email announcing the decision of the youth co-design team who selected the two cohorts and the reasons why they were or were not successful candidates for that round. Additionally, during the course of the pilot project, the coordination team shares learnings, results reports and learning blog posts about the progress the Youth Action Lab is making and the challenges it is encountering. This transparent way of working has allowed the organisation to increase its number of youth members and has allowed the organisation to reach and fund inspiring young human rights defenders and movement builders, especially young activists who are outside of traditional funders circles and generally would not be able to be part of this group had the information not have been clearly explained and disseminated.

  The song that makes me think of this project is “We are young”.

  Taking Account

  Sanaya Patel, One future collective - Bombay, India
  How the One Future Collective uses continuous feedback from both team members and training participants to secure buy-in, adapt activities to changing contexts and expand its reach. 

  We are a social purpose organisation that leverages knowledge, advocacy and community building towards a world built on social justice and led by communities of care. I’m going to talk about taking account, which means actively listening to community needs and adapting your work accordingly. For us, community begins within the team, so the first thing that we do is that for all our team members, we have a two-way annual review, which means that at the end of the year, just like you would in any other job of yours, you have a review about your work with your supervisor, but the cool part is that you get to review the supervisor and the organization based on parameters shared prior the review. So we do listen to what people in the organization feel about how we function, about team members, whether they have had any issues and how they have been able to resolve them. The second thing we do is that we have feedback for all of our training programs. We conduct a lot of training based on our core work themes around gender, justice, health and feminist leadership, and it’s often helpful to have feedback mechanisms built into your training, which means that as you conduct your programs and as you work with your stakeholders you are able to incorporate your feedback into your work going forward even if the project hasn’t ended yet. And what this helps with is it helps with the buy-in from the communities that you work in because they understand that you are committed to making the changes that they need because you are actively listening to them. I think that one of the best examples of this within our work is our flagship program called the One future fellowship which is a program to develop social justice lense and just Feminist leadership within young members of the society that we live in. Last year was the first year that we went virtual because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and we realized that having an 8-hour day of training was very exhausting, and by the end of it several people were experiencing zoom fatigue, so what we did for this years cohort is that we first took it to the community that had already been part of the fellowship. We had an Idea’s Lab, and asked them what could work. We went to the previous fellowship and asked if they would prefer a different model of functioning and then eventually came up with a system where we have two cohorts of fellows, break down the hours and have fewer hours on screen. The result was amazing because we got to choose not 20 like we usually do but 40 fellows and we expanded our reach from within India to the whole of South Asia because we were able to adjust timings. This worked well because we have a more diverse group with us. This is an example of how we took account from our community to build better systems.

  The song that reminds me of our experience here is Stand Up For Something by Andra Day and Common, because I feel we need to give our communities the power to speak and when we do, transformative things happen.

  Being held to account

  Kejal Savla, Blue Ribbon Movement - Bombay, India
  How the Blue Ribbon Movement is using consent-based decision-making to give young people more direct control about the leadership programmes it runs with them. 

  Blue Ribbon Movement works with young people to build their leadership skills since 2013, which is almost 8 years now. Around 4 years after doing our work with around 200-300 young people, we were wondering what are these youth leaders doing next, and how can we be sure that the program worked and after the program how can young people really take leadership where they can decide for themselves and there can be spaces which are really youth-led and youth decided. So rather than anybody else deciding and designing programs, and empowering young people, can young people step up to build what empowerment means for them. And let them decide what they would like to learn, how they would like to learn to contribute to society and how they would like to engage in their own learnings in what society would expect in all of them or what they would like to contribute back. So that brought us to the process of designing a youth-led movement and when a movement comes in, movements are citizen-led, so we were wondering how do we make this space youth-led and how do we make decision making open and inclusive because even in young people, there can be hierarchies and there can be a lot of social-economic backgrounds that may be playing out and inclusion may not be really true. We discovered this senior Mohanbhai from Mendhalekha in India who is practicing with 100% consent-based decision making in a tribal village and we learned from him, spoke to him a number of times and we decided to take a better approach. All the key decisions of the movement happen with 100% consent, which means even if 1 person says that they do not agree to what’s happening, all of us are forced to listen to dialogue and then find out what’s a workable solution from them. Of course, when this started, all of us were super nervous and felt that this would take forever. But as times progressed, it helped us learn a lot about each other, so next time we already know what this person will be expecting in this situation and next time we already decide based on their preferences. All in all, this approach has really helped us build ownership in youth leaders. These youth leaders are volunteers and are not full-time employees paid to do this. They decide, they own their decisions, implement their decisions with a lot of ease, and more and more, they own the movement. Anything that happens there happens because they want it to happen, and each of them easily contributes 10-25 hours a week, so it’s been a wonderful experience for us doing this, and I hope some of this can be experimented in different ways at other places.

  The following piece of music by Aao Hum Sab Haath Milayein by Kalangan Baalswar and  Varsha Bhave reminds me of the importance of listening and learning from the feedback of communities and using that to improve the way we do our work.

• India: Rich Land of Poor People

  On International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (9 August), we commend the work of imprisoned lawyer and activist Sudha Bharadwaj, defender of Indigenous communities in India.

   

                                                                                                                Sudha Bharadwaj

   

  By Alina Tiphagne, Human Rights Defenders Alert (HRDA)

  India’s Adivasi community

  For decades, India’s Adivasis, the collective name for the many Indigenous people in India, have borne the brunt of development-induced displacement. Indigenous communities in India have had their lands taken, livelihoods destroyed, and rights trampled on as a result of business activities and urban expansion. Adivasis make-up about 8% of India’s population and rely on their lands and forests for their livelihood.

  Over the past year, the CIVICUS Monitor has tracked several cases of arrests, intimidation and violence carried out by state authorities on Indigenous people and their allies. Such harassment and brutality are active in the mineral-rich state of Chhattisgarh, central India, which has the highest output of coal in the country and where limestone, dolomite and bauxite are found in abundance.

  In Chhattisgarh, a significant proportion of people are Adivasis from tribal and Dalit communities. Many have been displaced due to businesses seizing land and natural resources, and rampant human rights abuses have been reported in the state. To add to this already complex situation, southern Chhattisgarh is the epicentre of a five decades-long insurgency between the Naxalite Maoist group and the Indian government. The fighting has negatively affected the tribal population, densely forested districts and neighbouring states.

  The work of Sudha Bharadwaj, human rights lawyer and former General Secretary of the Chhattisgarh People’s Union for Civil Liberties, lies at this fraught intersection. Sudha has lived in the state for 29 years, fighting for the rights of Indigenous and working-class people. However, she has been in pre-trial detention for nearly two years after being charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, on suspicion of being involved in Maoist terror activities and conspiring to incite public unrest.

  Political Consciousness

  Born in Massachusetts, US, Sudha moved to New Delhi at the age of 11. Her mother, renowned economist Krishna Bharadwaj, founded Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) Centre for Economic Studies and planning. Sudha spent her childhood years at JNU, where her early political consciousness was formed:

  “One of my early memories of JNU in my childhood was when Vietnam won the war against the US. I remember a lot of singing and celebration in the first quadrangle. That was the kind of atmosphere in which I grew up,” Sudha said in a recent interview.

  At 18, Sudha moved to Kanpur, central India, to study. At this time, Kanpur was at the peak of its industrial boom, with a string of mega textile mills, attracting migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. Through her work in the National Service Scheme (NSS) and its outreach programs, Sudha became exposed - for the first time in her life - to the appalling living conditions of the workers.

  She was also introduced to Shankar Guha Niyogi, a trade unionist, and decided to join his organisation in Chhattisgarh in 1986. After Niyogi was assassinated at the behest of a local industrialist, the organisation splintered, with some choosing militant ways and others moderate. It was Bharadwaj who managed to unite the workers.

  Women & Workers’ Rights

  Sudha began working in the mining trade union of Chhattisgarh and strove to involve women in the fight for workers’ rights. She felt women experienced issues that were not being addressed and made sure the Women’s Committee discussed all topics, even sensitive ones including alcohol abuse and domestic violence. Other issues affecting working class wives were the threat of their huts being demolished, and the daily struggle for water and electricity.

  After being involved in the struggles of the working classes for decades, Sudha decided to study law in the early 2000s. She soon gained a reputation as a formidable lawyer and became iconic in the pro-people struggle after standing up to corporate giants and big business. She is now a visiting professor at the National Law University and Vice President of the Indian Association for People’s Lawyers (IAPL).

  Much of Sudha’s legal work has revolved around the rights of Adivasi people in India. Since 2016 Sudha has been fighting for the rights of villagers in Ghatbarra, Chhattisgarh, after the government cancelled the rights of villagers and Adivasi people to live in the forest and surrounding areas. It is alleged that the authorities want to make way for a coal mining facility, even though the move would damage over 1000 hectares of land and disrupt an elephant corridor.

  Smear Campaign & Imprisonment

  Becoming a well-known lawyer who fights for the rights of Indigenous and marginalised communities has pitted Sudha against a government sensitive to any criticism.

  In September 2018, Republic TV, a channel known as the ‘FOX NEWS of India’, alleged that Sudha had written a letter identifying herself as “Comrade Advocate Sudha Bharadwaj” to a Maoist called “Comrade Prakash,” stating that a “Kashmir like situation” has to be created. The television presenter also accused her of receiving money from Maoists.

  The Indian Supreme Court ordered that Sudha be placed under house arrest for four weeks. Her home was raided at midnight by police who seized her laptop, pen drives, work papers and mobile phone. In October 2018, Sudha’s bail plea was rejected and she is currently being held in pre-trial detention at the Byculla jail in Mumbai. Recently, a special court rejected an interim medical bail plea filed by her lawyers after an inmate tested positive for COVID-19. The National Investigation Agency accused Sudha of using the threat of COVID-19 as an excuse to seek bail.

  As we observe The International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples this year, let us not forget the hundreds of Adivasi community workers, social activists, trade unionists, environmental advocates, human rights lawyers, grassroots doctors and nurses who are languishing in prisons - or have lost their lives - fighting for the rights of marginalised people across India. They have shown immense strength and resilience in fighting an increasingly oppressive regime whilst living through a global pandemic.

  #StandAsMyWitness

  As the Narendra-Modi government continues to target grassroots activists, student-leaders, academics and anyone who is critical of the state - let us not forget Sudha’s words:

  “If you try to be safe in the middle, you will never succeed.”

  We urge you not to be safe in the middle. Join our campaign #StandAsMyWitness and demand justice for imprisoned human rights defenders like Sudha. We ask you to stand with them, so they do not stand alone.

  Human Rights Defenders Alert (HRDA) is a national network for the protection and promotion of human rights defenders in the country and a research partner of the CIVICUS Monitor.

• Innovative 15-year old activist driving social inclusion movement in India

  This article is part of the #StoriesOfResilience series, coordinated by CIVICUS to feature groups and activists on their journey to promote better resourcing practices for civil society and to mobilise meaningful resources to sustain their work.

  

  In January 2019, around 600 people celebrated a unique event in Vadodara, western India. They gathered to play percussion instruments in public, but they were not musicians, in fact, most of them had never played a musical instrument before. Half of them were differently abled* children and youths and the other half were abled peers. They achieved perfect symphony in just a couple of minutes, amusing their families, friends and over 80,000 participants of the Vadodara International Marathon.

  The event, called the ‘Divyang Dost Drum Circle,’ was organised by a group of students led by 15-year-old activist and tech enthusiast Naman Parikh, founder of the DivyangDost Foundation (DDF), a web-based movement and social enterprise promoting social inclusion of differently abled people (called ‘Divyangs’ in India) through friendship, music and technology.

  “Differently abled individuals receive financial and educational aid, but they are deprived of emotional support and friendship, especially from abled children,” explained Naman.

  To help change this issue, Naman created an app that facilitates social connections between differently abled and abled youths and children (called ‘DivyangDosts’).

  The app operates as a sort of supervised Facebook and friendship-matching platform, connecting differently abled and abled youths and children, and NGOs that serve this population in India. Users create a profile, are matched with other users in their area, can befriend and coordinate meetups to spend quality time over educational, sports and leisure activities. ‘DivyangDosts’ can upload pictures and videos of their meetups with ‘Divyangs’ on the platform, gain cumulative points and be rewarded with certificates, medals and trophies as recognition for promoting social inclusion. Additionally, DDF organises large public gatherings, like the drum circle, to provide more spaces for inclusion.

  DivyangDost Foundation has positively impacted almost 500 differently abled children, while 27 NGOs and almost 600 abled youths have joined the movement. Surprisingly, Naman started all of this with a visionary idea, creativity and the power of non-financial resources.

  Thriving without money – how?

  Achieving such impact may seem very costly but, for almost two years, the foundation thrived without funding. Naman invested his own time and technology skills, mobilised the support of valuable volunteers and mentors, established collaborations with NGOs and reached out to local media to promote their work.

  “Knowing your context, connecting back to your roots and your own past experiences can help you see what alternative resources you can use and how to find them,” explains Naman. Having been a volunteer in different social projects in the past and being a student in the present, he was able to find members, volunteers, mentors and build alliances at school, in his community and through the organisations he met and helped before.

  The young activist also emphasises the power of technology. “Young generations see technology as a powerful platform where we can promote change without focusing only on doing field activities, which can be more costly. I think technology is what allowed this project to amplify in a short time and without initial funding,” added Naman.

  

  Divyang Dost Drum Circle 2019 

  Adapting to change

  When the DDF decided to organise the drum circle and other public events, money became a need. Believing in the power of technology and collaborations, Naman and his team set up an online crowdfunding campaign and asked local media to help spread the message. They raised almost USD 10,000 from that single campaign – more than what they needed for the first event.

  “One of my mentors once told me that running a nonprofit doesn’t mean you won’t hold profit. You will and have to learn to deal with it,” highlighted Naman as he recalled how they went from having zero funds to holding a small financial surplus.

  Since DDF continues to operate with minimal organisational costs, this surplus will be used to expand their services. They are creating an online marketplace where differently abled users can order and buy assistive technology directly from suppliers, at a lower cost.

  Naman acknowledges that this will require a bigger financial investment. Therefore, they plan to reach out to high profile investors who can help with funds and mentorship, and to experts and people working in social inclusion and technology, who can provide expertise, volunteer work and connections. Public giving will continue to be a strong pillar of their funding strategy and, why not, they may even apply for traditional grants in the future.

  “We [activists and civil society organisations] have to be more adaptive and not resist change. Needs change and we have to change too,” said Naman. He knows that having a larger and steadier flow of financial and non-financial resources will be key not only for this expansionary phase, but for the entire sustainability of the foundation’s mission. To achieve this, they are consolidating their concept, building plans for the next two years and have put more focus on demonstrating impact. DDF’s dream is to find support to scale their work at a national level.

  Get in touch with DivyangDost Foundation, member of the CIVICUS alliance, through theirwebsite and follow theFacebook,Instagram andTwitter accounts.

  *Note: Regarding the terminology, the DivyangDost Foundation specifically uses the words “abled” and “differently abled” instead of “people with disabilities” or “disabled,” and we are running a local campaign in India to remove that label while addressing this population.

• Inspired and Challenged: Message from Lysa John, CIVICUS SG

  French 

  As I write this, I am heading into my second week as Secretary-General of CIVICUS – and each day has been an opportunity to understand a new dimension of this global alliance. Day one, for instance, was marked by a strong sense of celebration! Many of you – members, partners and allies of the CIVICUS Alliance – have shared messages of support and encouragement to do more to secure and strengthen the work of civil society worldwide. I very much look forward to collaborating with all of you in the coming year!

• Introducing CIVICUS Impact Stories: Understanding our contribution towards expanded civic and democratic space

  A message from Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS   

  Dear CIVICUS members and allies,

  In July 2022, CIVICUS started delivering on ourrevised strategic plan, focusing on one overachieving goal across the alliance: ‘to strengthen civil society and civic action for expanded civic and democratic space.’ Since then, we’ve embarked on a journey to better evidence, understand and share our contributions to defending and improving civic and democratic freedoms. 

  We know that long-term systemic change takes time and cannot be achieved alone. And yet, we are already beginning to see early signals of transformative change from our collective efforts. In this update, I share three examples of impact from a combination of our influencing, organising, and solidarity actions.

  Solidarity Informed Member Engagement

  Within the framework of our revised strategy, our primary objective has been to build counterpower and strengthen solidarity among CIVICUS members. Our Membership and Networks team curates opportunities to enhance capacities and facilitate deeper engagement between members working on similar themes or sharing similar challenges. We’ve been proud to support member participation atCOP28 and the Climate Justice Camp. Our member-driven We RISE! initiative supports 20 organisations to sustain local campaigns to overcome challenges related to the Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (FoPA). 

  CIVICUS Member, HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement shares:“The We RISE! campaign has been a pivotal moment for us, setting a new trajectory for our future endeavours. It has not only reshaped our internal strategies but also fostered a broader regional evaluation among our partners regarding the centrality of FoPA. This campaign is poised to redefine our operational approach and impact in the years ahead, marking the most profound change in our organisation's history.”

  And below, is just one of many examples of how our members are promoting the right to peaceful assembly. See SALAM DHR’s We RISE! campaign video, which draws attention to the legal framework on the right to peaceful protest in Bahrain.

  

  CIVICUS research and analysis drives global public discourse and debate on civic and democratic space

  In a time of mounting global obstacles, conflict, and crisis, our research and analysis remain a steady anchor, highlighting the threats to civic freedoms and identifying trends in civil society action. We are encouraged to see the growing use and reference of our key publications, People Power Under Attack and the State of Civil Society Reports. From January – April of this year alone, CIVICUS research and analysis garnered 1,700 media mentions across 90 countries, in 31 languages.

  Following the release of Power People Under Attack in December 2023, a student organisation at Koblenz University organised an event titled "Day Against Repression” to discuss the implications of the crackdown on climate activism and democracy in Germany. 

  In February 2024, the CIVICUS Monitor also published a historical Global Data Report,Rights Reversed, identifying seven key trends in civic space from 2019 to 2023. I had the opportunity to present this analysis at this year’s Norad Conference on the theme of Rights and Resistance. I used this opportunity to highlight the effectiveness of translational solidarity in achieving gains in climate justice, LGBTIQA+ and women’s movements. Watch the full intervention below.

  Most recently, our State of Civil Society report drew interest from global media, including:

  • The Jurist- covered State of Civil Society report 2024 
  • Climate Home News - cited State of Civil Society report 2024
  • Al Jazeera - referenced the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist 
  • The Guardian - cited the Monitor’s downgrade of Bangladesh to “closed”

  Civil society’s voice and needs are amplified in the United Nations’ process and mechanisms.

  Over the past year, our Geneva and New York Hubs have been playing a critical role in diversifying civil society voices at the United Nations (UN). The Geneva Hub has significantly increased its support for human rights defenders and activists, enabling them to deliver Human Rights Council (HRC) statements and participate in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. CIVICUS members and partners have delivered 51% of our HRC statements, a notable increase from 25% in 2022.  Additionally, we’ve supported grassroots civil society participation in the UPR process, providing a platform for those closest to the issues to share tangible recommendations to improve human rights in their countries. These interventions are complemented by advocacy missions and side events in around the Geneva processes to facilitate ongoing dialogue for renewed commitments.

  Our New York Hub has also supported consultations to refresh long-standing calls for meaningful civil society participation at the UN. The #UNMute global campaign is now driven by 460 partners and 60 member states with key recommendations to enhance the voice of civil society at the UN. Ahead of the Summit of the Future Conference, our UN Advisor Jesselina Ranacautioned how the NairobiSummit of the Futureconference could further sideline civil society, and Mandeep Tiwana, our Chief Officer for Evidence and Engagement,highlighting the campaign's key recommendations, including the appointment of civil society envoy.

  Civil society has been key to influencing the adoption of peaceful resolutions at the UN. Following the 53rd session of the HRC, CIVICUS especially welcomed the adoption of theCivilSocietySpace resolution, which acknowledged the positive role of civil society participation in UN mechanisms. The resolution further asks the Human Rights Commissioner to engage in a comprehensive consultative process to regularly assess civic space trends, which may lead, in the long term, to the development of indicators and benchmarks. This could not have been realised without the civil society. 

  These instanceshave only strengthened our conviction that our work with and for groups affected by the combined impact of civic space restrictions and structural forms ofdiscrimination will drive long-term, systemic change. As we continue this journey, weremain committed to prioritising collective effort and learning, and empowering our members and partners to effect change locally and regionally. Together, we have the power to build a world where civic freedoms thrive.

  In solidarity,

  Lysa John (LinkedIn)

• Investigations into the 2011 human rights violations in Yemen are a matter of urgency

  On 29 January 2014, I attended the side meeting on Yemen, organized by CIVICUS and its partners, as well as the 18th Session of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Yemen. One of the issues that arose in the side meeting and the UPR process was concerning investigations into the human rights violations during the 2011 uprising in Yemen. This issue caught my attention, because it directly touches on the work of human rights activists and human rights defenders in Yemen.

• It is up to you and I to be the pillar for those struggling in Myanmar right now

   Par Tha Hniang, Texas, United States of America

  Par Tha Hniang is a youth member of the Bethel Baptist Church of Texas in Lewisville. She is from the Chin community, a persecuted ethnic group from western Myanmar, and lived there until she was seven. Many of her family members are back home. Lewisville is home to around 4,000 Chin refugees, making it one of the largest ethnic groups in town. Par Hniang is part of the Chin Youth Organization of Dallas (CYO Dallas) and the Chin Youth Organization of North America (CYONA). 

  ---

  This is her story:

  “As I watch my brothers and sisters in Myanmar crying out helplessly, I can’t help but feel heartbroken. I am constantly brought to tears as I hear and see what is happening in Myanmar. Anger at the evil intentions of the military is also inevitable. God tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, but it is certainly hard to contain one's emotions especially when blood is constantly being spilled. 

  As part of the youth at Bethel Baptist Church of Texas we have sold our Chin traditional food, sabuti, as a fundraiser. There were so many supportive people and each time it was sold out within an hour or two. Although we made more each time, it continued to be sold out and many of our parents donated extra as well. 

  As Chin Youth Organization Dallas we have held a concert to fundraise and have participated in protests organised in various places by the ethic groups of Myanmar. As a youth of Chin Baptist Churches of America (CBCUSA), we each have donated $100 or more to the Civil Disobedience Movement. 

  I like to believe that I am active in my community and always looking to improve my home country. The events in Myanmar are slightly different as we know what our brothers and sisters are going through from our own experience. The fact that our friends and family members are suffering fuels us with anger. We want nothing to do with the Burmese Military anymore, it is the feeling of now or never. We are tired of experiencing the same bondage over and over again. It is time for new leaders to arise and build a military that protects its citizens rather than one that is a parasite.

  I have noticed that hashtags regarding Myanmar barely exist compared to other causes. We must tell our friends in our schools, contact our local news, authorities, our representatives and show them there are voters that care about this cause. 

  There should be no country supporting this coup. Even if all you can do is post a picture on social media, that is 100 times better than doing nothing. It is up to you and I to be the pillar for those struggling in Myanmar right now.”

  ---

  Captions: Par Tha Hniang; Par Tha Hniang protesting for Myanmar in Dallas, Texas. (Copyright: Par Tha Hniang.)

• It's time for radical collaboration: Our experience co-designing with CIVICUS

  By: Youth Co-Design Team

  

  The challenges of grassroots activism

  Citizens are organising and mobilising in new and creative ways. New tools have made it easier than ever before for citizens to come together and take collective action. Yet, in far too many parts of the world, there are major threats to civic freedoms and the environment for civil society is highly disabling. Trust and confidence in civil society is being tested like never before. Complicating the situation even more, the resourcing landscape makes it difficult for southern, grassroots organisations to advocate for change sustainably.

  Young people are at the centre of countless movements working to ensure safe communities and a protected environment for themselves and for future generations. They work to resist forms of systemic injustices in their communities, countries, and regions. Yet their work is particularly impacted by the rising threats to civil society.  Young activists in the 21st Century are organising themselves in ways that are decentralised, informal, and radical, often contradictory to traditional ways of working, Increasingly, young activists do not align themselves with the traditional structures of civil society, and face a variety of barriers because of it. 

  Why resourcing youth-led groups is so critical? 

  Based on CIVICUS youth members’ experiences and extensive research on the trends in resourcing youth-led groups in the Global South, CIVICUS has concluded that thinking about an alternative resourcing mechanism while practicing meaningful youth participation is imperative to achieve a sustainable, resilient, diverse and inclusive sector. 

  Currently, the majority youth-led groups are operating under a budget of 10,000 USD per annum. Most of the funding they receive is unsustainable and project based. This often leads to the systemic abuse of the labour of young people, ultimately resulting in burnout and disengagement. 

  The question of how to better resource grassroots activists and movements working in the Global South has provoked interest among donors, funders and civil society organisations. Given this context and with the purpose of advancing towards a more vibrant civil society that has the agency and resources necessary to realise a more just and sustainable world, CIVICUS, and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation signed a three-year agreement in 2018 aimed to design, test and scale a new initiative to fully explore alternative resourcing strategies and techniques to better resource grassroots activists and movements working in the Global South. 

  Co-Designing Solutions Together 

  In July 2019, CIVICUS launched a call for a Youth Co-Design team to embark on a journey to create a unique program for grassroots activists. After a rigorous selection process, our team of nine regionally balanced, diverse, creative and dedicated young activists from Asia-Pacific, East, West and Southern Africa, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean was selected. We were thrilled to embark on this co-creation journey of designing alternative, equitable flexible and innovative ways of working between young activists and civil society organisations. 

  We call ourselves “The Ubuntu Team” as we believe global issues are too complex to address in an isolated manner, but require a collective and connected approach in solving them. The team is centred around the philosophy of “Ubuntu,” meaning ‘’I am, because we are’’. With  diverse and complementary wealth of experiences, we have a collective average of 7 years of expertise around the topics of citizen participation & human rights, democratic innovations, community development, gender equality, diversity and inclusion, education, environment, and food security in the sphere of civil society, governments and NGOs, and international organisations. 

  Designing the Youth Action Lab

  Our team met in September 2019, in Johannesburg, South Africa, and initiated the co-creation process for a new prototype, through which we came up with the Youth Action Lab. 

  The Youth Action Lab is a one year co-creation lab for grassroots youth activists based in the global south which works to support their movements to become more resilient and sustainable in their pursuit of a more sustainable and equitable world. The Lab is an innovative, safe, active, inclusive, collective, representative and connected space, online and physical for grassroots activists, which thoughtfully considers diverse contexts and ecosystems to better resource them to flourish with their communities. Participants in the Lab work to build political solidarity and networks, strengthen capacities in engaging with policy processes, and access resources to support their movement. The Lab will act as a hub for testing new ways of working within civil society and mobilising learnings from across sectors in support of youth-led movements.

  Applications for the Youth Action Lab are now open! Click here for more information. Applications are due 5 February 2020. Contact for more information.

• Keep moving until the departure of the corrupt

  By Ziad Abdul Samad, Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND)

  The popular protests in Lebanon began after the government announced its intention to impose new taxes on citizens and in an atmosphere of tension and mounting fears of continued economic collapse. The spontaneous movement was not surprising because it was an accumulation of anger and humiliation. However, it surprised everyone with its decentralization and rapid spread to all areas in Lebanon and abroad. The diversity of the parties involved in it was also surprising as it targeted all parties involved in governance without exception. The number of participants exceeded hundreds of thousands and in spite of this diversity, the unity has been maintained: the unity of slogans and positions, and unity reflected raising one single flag, the Lebanese flag alone.

  In Lebanon, we are witnessing an economic crisis but political in nature as well. Indeed, the chants of the protesters show us that economic and financial reform cannot be achieved without addressing the structural imbalance in the political system based on sectarian quotas.

  Since the Taif Agreement, it became clear that the cost of this quota system in Lebanon has been high for society and the state and came at the expense of citizens.

  It is no longer possible to continue it without moving to the civil state. Political and economic reform is not possible in the presence of officials involved in the quota system because they will hold onto their privileges and interests and will not easily abandon them. Nevertheless, the protection of the corrupt sectarian system and guarantees through quota system came at the expense of enhancing citizenship, achieving development and activating participation. It is behind the weakening of the public administration, which is burdened with patronage and clientelism. This system has become a burden on the national economy and society, rather than being the catalyst in supporting and providing all its rights and serving to the people.

  Therefore, the right approach in the long term can only be to abolish the system of sectarian quotas and the establishment of the civil state, the rule of law and the separation of powers, to strengthen the independence of the judiciary and rely on efficiency and enhance transparency and mechanisms of control, accountability and accountability. This requires the formation of a transitional technocrat government and the establishment of participatory mechanisms with civil society, independent experts and independent trade and professional unions. These mechanisms are supposed to reflect the movement and its space and those who abstained from participating in the elections.

  The transitional government should work on two parallel tracks. The first is moving towards the adoption of a just democratic electoral law that achieves transparency and validity of representation. The second track begins by discussing the reform steps that allow the approval of the general budget, to eliminate wasteful public spending based on quotas, patronage and clientelism, and boosting the income.

  Further austerity measures should not be proposed; but rather focus should be on a review of the social protection system and a fair distribution of the burden of reform to society. The next government should abolish monopolies, which are protected in the confessional system, especially in the basic sectors of oil, medicine, wheat and other markets and strengthen customs levies, especially on some consumer goods that are considered luxury. It should work on restructuring the public debt through negotiations with creditor banks to reduce interest rates.

  It must achieve a fair and progressive tax system that addresses evasion and reconsider exemptions. New types of taxes should be imposed aiming at achieving justice and balance in revenues such as tax on land ownership and tax on the investment of marine and river properties. Customs exemptions and customs evasion (based on the control of land, sea and air crossings) should be reexamined as well.

  Public sector should be restructured, starting with the abolition of public institutions and funds that are distributed among the sects. Restructuring of the wage mass in the public sector (in which 7% of senior officials are heads of departments and general managers account for 50% of wages in addition to additional compensation exceeding 50 times the wages in some cases) is equally important.

  Only as such, Lebanon can send positive signals to the people and to the international community and restore the lost confidence of people in Lebanon to Lebanon as a sovereign and independent state.

  To achieve all these, the street should keep on moving. The movement must coordinate to develop a new model of shared governance. A dialogue among its constituents on the requirements for continuation until the demands are fulfilled is critical. It is utmost importance that the movement should not give up, particularly with regard to any attempt to eliminate the power of mobilization. It must be aware of the traditional methods resorted by some of the forces of power who aim at wreaking havoc and abuse and create the justification for the security forces to use force. We have seen this since the second day in the streets of Beirut, where the security forces used tear gas and arrested hundreds of demonstrators in violation of the right to peaceful assembly, demonstrate and express opinion. The protection of the right to demonstrate and assembly is the responsibility of the security forces and the task entrusted to them.
  
  --

  This piece is an edited version of the article written by ANND Executive Director for Annahar on 19 October 2019.

• Key Lessons from Testing Non-Traditional Development Approaches in Malawi

  By Dinah Sandoval & Alexis Banks,Root Change

  This article is part of the #StoriesOfResilience series, coordinated by CIVICUS to feature groups and activists on their journey to promote better resourcing practices for civil society and to mobilise meaningful resources to sustain their work.

  Real change happens when local communities are in the lead—leveraging their assets, ideas, and expertise to implement solutions to their own problems. Unfortunately, too often, development initiatives bypass local communities and local resources in designing and carrying out programmes. At Root Change, we aim to break this pattern within the development sector. Our recent work with the USAID-funded Local Works programme has given us the opportunity to test alternative approaches to the traditional development model.

  Over the course of two years, we teamed up with the innovative thinkers at Keystone Accountability and the leading Malawian civil society organisation Youth and Society (YAS) to convene two social labs in Malawi. The labs brought together diverse local stakeholders to create, test, and reflect on short-term experiments to address local challenges, while improving trust, voice, and accountability at a local level.

  This work surfaced critical insights about the importance of listening to communities before engaging, developing partnerships based on trust and mutual accountability, and creating an environment for communities to recognise and leverage local resources. Below, we share the key lessons that we learned from each approach.

  Listening Tour

  

  To gain an understanding of the climate around foreign assistance and development in Malawi, our work began with a listening tour with 120 diverse stakeholders throughout the country. We asked the simple question: "What does it feel like to be on the receiving end of aid?"

  Participants voiced frustration with the “extractive” nature of endless surveys, needs assessments, and field visits. Most could not recall a time when results were shared and explored through dialogue and reflection and some believe that these learning and evaluative exercises are simply ways to validate the power holder’s pre-existing agendas.

  From the listening tour, we identified four recurring development “traps”:

  1. restrictive financing that has created dependence;
  2. lack of established channels for constituent engagement and feedback;
  3. capacity development efforts that ignore complexity; and
  4. extractive measurement practices that prevent communities from benefiting from data they produce.

  A Local Partnership Based on Mutual Accountability

  The idea to convene the social labs was born out of the listening tour. However, the feedback we had received made it clear that we needed to radically rethink the way we, as international NGOs, engaged with local actors. We needed a trusted local partner and an alternative partnership model.

  YAS was nominated by many during the listening tour as a dynamic local change maker with a deep and trusted social network in Malawi. Unlike traditional, highly directive funding relationships, Root Change and Keystone Accountability sought to establish a partnership with YAS built on respect, mutual accountability, collaborative decision making, financial transparency, and dignity. YAS was involved throughout the entire decision-making process: facilitating programme activities, creating tools and engaging as an equal partner in budget and project planning discussions. The "value of radical equality was present in our partnership and in the social lab," confirmed YAS founder, Charles Kajoloweka.

  In order to create a partnership based on mutual accountability, we needed to develop a new set of skills. The teams at Root Change and Keystone Accountability had to develop a comfort with letting go of control, engaging authentically, genuinely believing in the capacity of the local partner, and accepting that there are many ways to achieve our shared goals.

  Social Labs & Micro-Action Grants

  Two social labs were launched – one in Rumphi in the North and another in Mulanje in the South – through a 5-day design workshop that convened representatives from civil society, district governments, community leaders, and citizens. Over 60 people participated in each lab to identify local problems, design, and test solutions through two-month experiments called micro-actions. They formed 11 teams to lead micro-actions ranging from incorporating citizen feedback into local government decision making, to drafting a citizen charter to hold local NGOs accountable for the projects they implement. Every two months, teams came back together to reflect on the results of their micro-actions and learning, and iterate on their designs.

  Each team received US $500 micro-grants to facilitate transportation and meetings to carry out their micro-actions. We did not require teams to submit traditional grant reports, rather short feedback surveys were used to enable discussions among lab participants about the use of funds by the entire social lab. Through these discussions, the lab itself surfaced and resolved issues of misuse and distrust related to the grant, building internal accountability.

  The Changemaker Innovation Challenge

  

  Throughout the experimentation process, the social labs’ teams encountered a systemic and cultural challenge created by the foreign aid system: demand for allowances (or monetary compensation). In the beginning, teams struggled to engage community members in their micro-action activities because community members requested allowances to participate.

  To tackle this problem, the teams decided to crowd-source a solution: they published a solicitation in the national newspaper to identify innovative ideas to increase participation without allowances, and called it the Changemakers Innovation Challenge. Of the many submissions from throughout the country, three winners were selected to join the lab and test out their recommendations. All three proposed to engage community members in the entire lifecycle of the micro-action experiments, from project identification to implementation. They argued that involvement was critical to fostering transparency, accountability, and ownership of the experiments, which they anticipated would drive greater participation. Their approaches are being tested and the initial feedback indicates that the demand for allowances is no longer a substantial obstacle. “That tells you that we have solutions locally,” said Kajoloweka.

  Through Local Works, we have had the opportunity to explore alternative models of development that surface and leverage local resources. While reflecting on the social labs' sustainability and its participants, Kajoloweka said “today they are no longer ‘participants’, today they are active players, they are the owners of the social lab. They have even opened their own bank account and started putting together their own resources into this initiative."

  Get in touch with Root Change through theirwebsite or follow@RootChange on Twitter

• La constitution d'une équipe mondiale diversifiée de militants pour la transformation sociale : Accueillons l'équipe d'action jeunesse CIVICUS 2021-22

  Nous, l'équipe de jeunesse de CIVICUS, sommes très reconnaissants à l'équipe d'action jeunesse (YAT) 2019-2020, un groupe de jeunes leaders accomplis et inspirants du monde entier qui travaillent ensemble pendant un an et demi pour insuffler une vision plus adaptée aux jeunes au sein de CIVICUS et servir d'inspiration à d'autres organisations à travers le monde pour que les jeunes soient au centre et prennent des décisions qui ne laissent pas derrière eux le pouvoir de 1,8 milliard, la plus grande génération de jeunes que le monde ait jamais connue.

  Le YAT a participé activement au processus de conception, de sélection et d'identification de la prochaine génération de cette équipe. Chacun est devenu un ambassadeur dans sa propre région pour diffuser l'appel à candidatures auprès des militants locaux, nous aidant ainsi à avoir une présence dans des communautés qui, autrement, nous auraient échappé. Ensuite, ils ont fourni des idées utiles pour mieux évaluer les candidatures, comme le fait d'avoir des questions moins nombreuses mais plus provocantes qui ont atteint le cœur de l'activisme des candidats. Enfin, ils ont aidé à évaluer les profils des YAT entrantset à choisir les profils les plus prometteurs pour créer une équipe qui soit complémentaire et qui puisse exploiter la diversité comme un atout clé pour favoriser l'innovation et une communauté mondiale prête à relever les défis locaux.

  Les principaux critères utilisés sont les suivants : avoir une expérience de militant et faire partie d'une organisation plus large dirigée par des jeunes, être passionné, engagé et plein de ressources ; avoir une bonne compréhension de CIVICUS Youth ; avoir des compétences et des ressources qui peuvent nourrir et être entretenues par une communauté mondiale de militants ; et avoir l'aval d'une organisation/mouvement ou d'un collectif qui peut évaluer avec confiance ses compétences de leadership, sa proactivité et sa capacité de mobilisation pour des causes sociales. Grâce à ces éléments, il a été plus facile d'identifier des profils holistiques qui bénéficieraient grandement de l'appartenance à un réseau plus large ayant une portée et une influence mondiales.

  Après ce processus de sélection minutieux, le nouveau YAT comprend un groupe équilibré entre les sexes, avec 7 femmes et 6 hommes, représentant les Amériques et les Caraïbes, l'Afrique subsaharienne, l'Asie, l'Europe et le Moyen-Orient et l'Afrique du Nord. Il compte des militants âgés de 18 à 30 ans, dont l'expérience va d'organisations mondiales comme l'UNICEF, One Young World et Amnesty International, à des réseaux régionaux comme l'Afrika Youth Movement et des groupes locaux comme Ayudando a Honduras ou One Future Collective. Mélange de conteurs, de militants de base, de défenseurs internationaux, d'entrepreneurs sociaux, d'organisateurs, de mobilisateurs et de chercheurs, l'équipe possède un large éventail de compétences pour aborder les défis locaux dans une perspective mondiale. L'équipe YAT 2021-22 comprend un militant des droits LGBTI et un champion de l'intégration des jeunes vivant avec un handicap. Bien qu'individuellement, chacun ait son propre créneau d'intervention, collectivement, ils peuvent insuffler un changement social. Cependant, il ne s'agit pas seulement des jeunes. Kejal Slava, d'Inde, le responsable du Mouvement du Ruban Bleu - un groupe visant à redéfinir la structure de leadership et à utiliser des pratiques non violentes - dit qu'un monde avec un engagement significatif des jeunes serait peint avec les couleurs de la sagesse intergénérationnelle, qui crée un espace pour que chacun puisse apprendre et agir de façon créative ensemble. Yi Kang Choo, étudiant en législation sur les droits de l'homme de Malaisie, ajoute que c'est un monde où les dirigeants nationaux et les jeunes dirigent ensemble, en travaillant comme partenaires avec une pertinence et une valeur égales.

  Il n'a fallu que peu de temps pour se connaître jusqu'à présent et ils ont eu le courage de créer un puissant écosystème de transformation, où la jeunesse est au centre et remet en question le statu quo par l'unité et la diversité. Cela pourrait être le début d'un changement qui s'étend à l'ensemble de l'alliance CIVICUS et au-delà.

   

• La planification de scénarios pour un alignement stratégique agile

  Par Tamryn Lee Fourie, Jerusha Govender et Khotso Tsotsotso

  Pour CIVICUS, et la société civile dans son ensemble, la pandémie de COVID-19 a radicalement changé la façon dont nous travaillons, et le monde dans lequel nous travaillons. En gardant cela à l'esprit, à l'approche de la fin de l'actuel plan stratégique 2017-2022 de l'Alliance, nous nous sommes demandés : comment pouvons-nous rester stratégiquement pertinents, étant donné le manque de clarté sur ce qui nous attend, et en réalisant que les capacités du personnel et des membres sont déjà fortement sollicitées ?

  En ces temps d'incertitude, les approches prospectives telles que la planification de scénarios sont un outil potentiel pour le développement de stratégies, et constituent un élément clé du processus actuel de la réorientation stratégique de l'Alliance CIVICUS.

  En février et mars 2021, nous avons engagé Data Innovators pour examiner les documents existants d'analyse prospective et de planification de scénarios des membres et partenaires, interagir avec les membres de CIVICUS et produire des scénarios futurs liés à l'espace civique et à l'action citoyenne. Nous avons ensuite vérifié ces scénarios avec des alliés d'autres secteurs afin d'identifier les perturbateurs potentiels et les opportunités stratégiques que nous aurions pu ne pas détecter.

  Les Scénarios

  Quatre scénarios ont émergé pour guider le leadership de CIVICUS et soutenir d'autres OSC dans des étapes similaires de révision de la stratégie, documentés du point de vue d' « Olwethu », un activiste civique et notre personnage. Les quatre scénarios sont résumés ci-dessous:

   

  <En savoir plus sur les scénarios ici>

  Ces scénarios aident CIVICUS à aborder les amendements nécessaires à notre stratégie existante, à utiliser les quatre futurs potentiels pour ouvrir la discussion sur les domaines où une mise en œuvre spécifique est nécessaire et à garder nos constituants (c'est-à-dire « Olwethu ») au centre. De la même manière, d'autres OSC peuvent également trouver ces scénarios utiles lorsqu'elles envisagent un ajustement stratégique.

  Comment vous pouvez utiliser ces scénarios pour réorienter vos propres stratégies :

  Cet exercice met à l'épreuve les stratégies actuelles dans différents contextes. C'est une bonne pratique que d'identifier les stratégies « sans surprise », c'est-à-dire celles qui sont robustes quel que soit le scénario. Cependant, les scénarios peuvent aussi être suffisamment diversifiés pour nécessiter des stratégies uniques à chaque contexte.

  Les étapes recommandées pour tester les stratégies par rapport à ces scenarios:

  Étape 1 : Prenez un scénario à la fois, et pendant un instant, supposez que ce scénario se produise. Discutez et explorez les différents aspects, en vous assurant que tous les participants comprennent les éléments essentiels.

  Étape 2 : Une fois le scénario compris, posez les questions suivantes et documentez les réponses :

  • Votre ensemble d'objectifs stratégiques est-il approprié dans le scénario ?
  • Quelles sont les lacunes évidentes de la stratégie actuelle pour le scénario ?
  • Quelles stratégies supplémentaires/alternatives devraient être développées pour combler ces lacunes ?
  • Compte tenu des lacunes/alternatives, comment la théorie du changement (TdC)[1] devrait-elle être ajustée ?

  Étape 3 :Répétez les étapes 1 et 2 pour chaque scénario jusqu'à ce que tous les scénarios soient couverts.

  Si vous avez suffisamment de temps, passez à l'étape 4...

  Étape 4 : Prenez du recul, regardez les listes d'options stratégiques pour chaque scénario. Identifiez celles qui apparaissent dans tous ou presque tous les scénarios. Ce sont les options stratégiques qui semblent bonnes dans tous les scénarios. Commencez à travailler sur une théorie du changement consolidée qui s'appuie sur les options stratégiques communes, les lacunes étant couvertes/remplacées par des stratégies alternatives. Prenez des mesures pour remédier à la partialité potentielle en demandant à des personnes extérieures à votre "cercle" habituel d'examiner et de valider votre travail.

  Étape 5 : Testez la logique de la TdC et affinez-la. Et enfin, mettez à jour la stratégie actuelle.

  Nous espérons que vous trouverez ces conseils utiles ! N'hésitez pas à nous faire part de vos commentaires sur la façon dont vous avez utilisé ces scénarios dans vos révisions de stratégie. Nous serions très intéressés de connaître vos expériences et vos idées !

  [1] https://www.civicus.org/monitoring-toolkits/fr/toolkit/theory-of-change/

• La relation entre les restrictions de l'espace civique et la montée en flèche des inégalités requiert notre attention urgente

  

  Message de Lysa John, Secrétaire générale de CIVICUS

  En mai dernier, nous avons publié la 10ème édition du rapport annuel sur l'état de la société civile. En plus de donner un aperçu des tendances qui ont inspiré l'action civique au cours de la dernière décennie, le rapport regorge d'exemples montrant comment, un pays après l'autre, des choix politiques délibérés des gouvernements ont provoqué l'indignation du public. Des choix qui ont suscité des réactions lorsqu'ils ont été perçus comme profitant systématiquement à un petit groupe d'élite, tout en ignorant ou en sapant de manière flagrante les droits et les besoins de populations qui vivent déjà dans un état de privation et de désespoir. Si la crise financière de la dernière décennie a été révélatrice d'un système économique défaillant, les profits tirés de la pandémie en cours et les impacts négatifs disproportionnés ressentis par les populations exclues ont prouvé que le système actuel n'est pas seulement défaillant, mais délibérément malveillant. 

  A travers le monde, des protestations ont été déclenchées par des signes indiquant que la pandémie est utilisée comme un prétexte pour accroître les difficultés économiques des gens ordinaires tout en créant des profits obscènes pour les politiciens et les entreprises privées. Oxfam a notamment souligné que les dix hommes les plus riches du monde ont vu leur fortune cumulée augmenter de cinq cents milliards de dollars depuis le début de la pandémie. Cette somme permettrait non seulement de financer la couverture universelle du vaccin contre le COVID-19, mais aussi de financer des politiques de protection sociale afin de s'assurer que personne ne soit précipité dans la pauvreté par la pandémie.

  Des mobilisations massives, notamment en Inde et en Irak, ont vu le jour en réaction aux politiques gouvernementales qui menacent d'alourdir le fardeau de populations déjà accablées. La brutalité avec laquelle certains gouvernements ont réagi aux protestations de ceux qui réclamaient de meilleurs droits du travail et un meilleur accès aux services publics met en évidence le lien pernicieux entre les ultra-riches et les détenteurs du pouvoir politique, sur tous les continents. Cela soulève des questions essentielles sur le rôle joué par les intérêts particuliers dans la dissolution des mécanismes de contrôle démocratique des processus économiques et politiques.

  Dans plusieurs cas, l'action du public et de la société civile a permis de corriger le tir. Au Guatemala et au Costa Rica, les gouvernements ont été contraints d'annuler les mesures d'austérité qui avaient été convenues dans le cadre des plans de relance de la pandémie avec les institutions financières internationales. En Indonésie, des propositions visant à porter atteinte aux droits environnementaux sans examen public adéquat ont été remises en question. En Tunisie, les mobilisations exigeant des garanties économiques pour les moyens de subsistance menacés par la pandémie ont été menées par des femmes et des jeunes. Alors que les manifestations #BlackLivesMatter à travers le monde ont forcé les institutions publiques et privées à examiner de près leur propre rôle dans la perpétuation de l'injustice systémique, des mouvements tels que End SARS au Nigeria et #ZimbabeweanLivesMatter ont attiré l'attention sur l'utilisation abusive de l'appareil d'État pour intimider les citoyens et limiter l'action civique.

  Si les échecs de gouvernance au niveau local ont été la principale cause de la colère du public en 2020, l'incapacité à fournir et à distribuer équitablement le vaccin contre le coronavirus pourrait bien être l'élément déclencheur d'un désenchantement durable à l'égard de la gouvernance mondiale et des institutions multilatérales. La décennie d'action promise par l'Agenda 2030 se transforme rapidement en une décennie d'impatience. Alors que les dirigeants et les institutions détournent manifestement le regard, des millions de personnes dans le monde découvrent que le pouvoir populaire est leur seule option.

  En Solidarité,
  Lysa John

• La solidarité face à l'adversité

  Message de Lysa John, Secrétaire générale de CIVICUS

  Chers membres et alliés de CIVICUS,

  Une nouvelle année touche à sa fin. L'année 2021 a commencé avec une lueur d'espoir, puisque nous avons assisté à la concrétisation du développement promis d'un vaccin contre le COVID-19. Cependant, les défis complexes, le manque de collaboration mondiale et l'impact considérable de la pandémie sur tous les aspects de la société ont fait que, cette année encore, nous avons continué à opérer dans un monde désormais radicalement différent.

  La pandémie a exercé une pression intense sur la société civile et sur les individus qui sont au cœur du pouvoir citoyen. Ce qui m'inspire, c'est que malgré tout ce qui se passe dans le monde, les gens continuent à agir collectivement pour le changement. Au cours de l'année écoulée, des millions de personnes ont défié les grandes entreprises en protestant contre les changements apportés à la politique de confidentialité de WhatsApp, obligeant l'une des entreprises les plus influentes du monde à faire machine arrière face à une réaction mondiale inattendue. Dans le même temps, nous avons vu se multiplier les appels à la justice raciale et à l'action climatique.

  D'autre part, la société civile est toujours confrontée à un nombre alarmant de cas de harcèlement et d'intimidation. Les conclusions du rapport Le pouvoir du peuple attaqué 2021 du CIVICUS Monitor montrent que 9 personnes sur 10 vivent dans des pays où les libertés civiques sont sévèrement restreintes, notamment le droit à la liberté d'expression, d'association et de réunion pacifique.

  Ce contexte critique rend encore plus urgent le travail que nous accomplissons pour renforcer l'importance de la société civile et des libertés civiques. Au Secrétariat, nous nous efforçons d'améliorer la manière dont nous engageons le public et les parties prenantes non traditionnelles. Avec nos engagements médiatiques, nous nous efforçons de rayonner au-delà de la société civile, tandis que notre appartenance à des réseaux multisectoriels nous permet de participer à toute une série de cercles de gouvernance et de stratégie. Travaillant ensemble pour répondre aux défis et aux violations de l'espace civique à travers le monde, l'Alliance CIVICUS continue de progresser et nous sommes fiers de partager les points forts suivants :

  • Nous avons poursuivi nos efforts de plaidoyer, en nous joignant aux appels mondiaux pour la libération des défenseurs des droits humains dans le cadre de la campagne Soyez mon témoin #StandAsMyWitness. Nous avons célébré la libération de trois défenseures des droits humains, à savoir Loujain al-Hathloul, Teresita Naul et Sudha Bharadwaj.
  • Nous avons continué à créer des plateformes et des espaces qui soutiennent la mise à disposition de ressources à long terme pour l'espace civique, nous avons lancé l’Outil de recherche de donateurs et la campagne Révolution de la Solidarité avec les Militants.
  • Le réseau AGNA a lancé avec succès trois projets pilotes nationaux pour tester le cadre de travail Reconstruire pour de bon.
  • Le CIVICUS Monitor, qui a célébré son 5^ème anniversaire cette année, a produit une note de recherche sur la COVID-19 qui incite à la réflexion, ainsi qu'un document sur la justice climatique pendant la COP26.

  Au Secrétariat de CIVICUS, nous nous sommes également penchés sur nous-mêmes, afin d'améliorer les processus et les politiques, ainsi que pour revoir notre stratégie organisationnelle. Cela a inclus : une révision des amendements stratégiques, une révision en matière de justice raciale, et la rédaction d'une stratégie opérationnelle sur les données et les droits numériques. Nous avons tenu notre Assemblée Générale Annuelle virtuelle du 1^er au 7 décembre 2021, qui a souligné les efforts de CIVICUS pour favoriser une culture de la responsabilité - au niveau du Conseil d'administration, du Secrétariat et à travers l'alliance.

  Les bureaux de CIVICUS seront fermés du 23 décembre au 3 janvier. Merci pour votre solidarité, votre persévérance et vos efforts. C'est un honneur de travailler avec une alliance aussi diverse et remarquable de militants et d'organisations. Nous nous réjouissons de vous retrouver l'année prochaine avec une énergie et une ambition renouvelées.

  Lysa John
  Secrétaire générale de CIVICUS
  @lysajohn 

• Labour activists and unions stepped up to defend workers during the pandemic

  

   

  By Josef Benedict, CIVICUS Monitor

  Across the globe every year, workers and trade unions gather together on 1 May which is Labour Day to commemorate the hard-fought struggle for labour rights and to make demands of their governments’ where they are failing to protect workers. 

  The last year has been particular painful for workers across the Asia Pacific region. According to the International Labour Organisation, a total of 81 million jobs are estimated to have been lost in the region in 2020, due to the pandemic.  The impact of the crisis was far-reaching, with underemployment surging as millions of workers were asked to work reduced hours or no hours at all.

  Although there have been various commitments made at the national and international level to address inequalities exposed during the pandemic and to ‘build back better', in a number of countries in the Asia region, governments and businesses attempted to use the opportunity of the pandemic to erode and restrict workers’ and unions’ rights, deny them wages and force them to work in unsafe conditions and even remove them from their jobs. 

  One glaring example has been in Indonesia where the authorities bulldozed a controversial job creation law through parliament during the pandemic. The government claimed the law was aimed to improve bureaucratic efficiency and cut red tape, particularly in regard to business permits and investment but has been criticised by workers, human rights activists, academics fearing that that it would erode workers’ protections and trigger job insecurity. 

  Thousands of workers and trade unions took to the streets in 2020 to protest the law but were met with arbitrary arrests, excessive use of force by the police. Even journalists were not spared. Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security affairs Mohammad Mahfud also attempted to smear the protesters, by telling a televised news conference that the protests were being led by anarchists “aimed at creating chaos and fear in society”. 

  In Malaysia, in March 2020, police arrested and charged five labour activists and supporters of the National Union of Workers in Hospital Support and Allied Services (NUWHSAS) who has organised a protest outside a hospital in Ipoh to highlight concerns about cleaners working in state-run hospitals who lacked adequate protective gear against infections, which puts them at risk during the pandemic. Health workers have also been subjected to harassment, victimisation and union-busting activities. 

  Malaysian union leader N. Gopal Kishnam also faced government harassment after speaking in a news report by a United Kingdom broadcast, Channel 4 News in June 2020 on the safety and health of workers exporting personal protective equipment at rubber glove manufacturer Top Glove. 

  Migrant workers have also faced the brunt of the pandemic with many forced to work in unsafe conditions or not paid wages and others facing racism and xenophobia.  Often, they had very few avenues for redress and when they did speak up, often faced reprisals. 

  In the Maldives, in June 2020 migrant workers At least 80 persons – mostly migrant workers - were detained for protesting against unpaid salaries, inhumane conditions and labour rights violations.  Authorities invoked national security to detain the workers.

  Despite this, the  CIVICUS Monitor, a global tool tracking civic space, documented how labour activists, trade unions and others also mobilised to push back on these violations despite attempts to silence their voices.

  In South Korea, in November 2020,  tens of thousands of workers demonstrated across South Korea calling on the government to withdraw a regressive labour law revision which would ban workers from occupying certain facilities at workplaces during strikes. These amendments were in violation of the principles of freedom of association existing recommendations by the tripartite ILO Committee on Freedom of Association.

  Unions leaders also took on businesses trying to use the opportunity of the pandemic to target trade unions and sack workers. In Cambodia, Soy Sros, a female union leader, stepped up when approximately 100 workers in a handbag factory were told their jobs would not be renewed in March 2020 due to the coronavirus crisis. The factory also suspended unions members including a pregnant woman. When the management refused to meet her, she criticised the decision on social media. Subsequently, all the workers had their contracts renewed. However, Soy Sros ended in detention because of the social media post. After mobilisation by activists and trade unions, Soy Sros was subsequently released after being detained without trial for nearly two months. 

  In Taiwan, Migrants Empowerment Network in Taiwan (MENT), an alliance of migrant workers’ groups mobilised protests in May 2020 outside the Ministry of Labour in Taipei calling on the government to guarantee safer working conditions for migrant workers. The protesters said that employers had barred migrant workers from going outside due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while other workers have been unable to return to their jobs in Taiwan or visit their home countries.

  According to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), the pandemic has shown the key role played by labour activists and unions in defending employment and wages and campaigning for decent health and safety at work. In some cases, the pandemic has also accelerated the experience of virtual organising – over Zoom or other internet platforms. Unions represented workers threatened with being laid off, pushed for adequate severance pay, sought expanded access to social protection and raised the concerns of women workers who faced even greater discrimination and of migrant workers denied equal access and equal treatment.

  Instead of repressing their voices, it is crucial that moving forward that governments and businesses in the Asia region recognise the vital role that labour activists and unions play in representing working people ,  respect the fundamental rights and freedoms and engage them with them if they truly want to build back better.  

   
• Lack of funding slowing down young African changemakers

  This article is part of the #StoriesOfResilience series, coordinated by CIVICUS to feature groups and activists on their journey to promote better resourcing practices for civil society and to mobilise meaningful resources to sustain their work.

  Never before have there been so many young people in the world, reports the United Nations. There are 1.8 billion people between the ages of 10-24 on our planet, who are increasingly taking action to drive change, development and innovation for themselves and their communities. They are also loudly expressing their discontent with Governments, corporations and other power holders who have failed to effectively address many of their needs and challenges. But while they are many and daring, young people still lack the resources, recognition and spaces to reach their full potential as agents of change.

• Le coup d'État au Myanmar m'a incité à agir

   Supyae Yadanar, Dublin, Irlande 

  Supyae Yadanar est née et a grandi à Yangon et étudie actuellement la médecine au Trinity College de Dublin en Irlande. Elle est co-responsable du plaidoyer du Global Movement for Myanmar Democracy (GM4DM), une coalition internationale d'organisations de base et d'individus qui travaillent pour soutenir la démocratie au Myanmar.

  ---

  Voici son histoire :

  « Le Myanmar est et sera toujours mon chez-moi, les rues de Yangon sont celles où j'ai grandi, et mon cœur appartient et appartiendra toujours au Myanmar.

  Voir mes compatriotes, ma famille choisie - car notre amour commun pour notre pays et nos esprits révolutionnaires rendent nos liens aussi forts que les liens du sang - se faire tirer dessus, se faire brutaliser, aux mains des militaires du Myanmar, suscite un sentiment de fureur et de détermination des plus forts. Même si je ne suis pas dans le pays pour me battre sur le terrain avec mes camarades manifestants, j'ai néanmoins le pouvoir et la capacité de poursuivre la résistance à des kilomètres de distance.

  À partir du 1er février, j'ai commencé à exprimer mes sentiments sur le coup d'État en prose et en poésie, qui ont été largement lus et partagés par la diaspora birmane et les Birmans résidant au Myanmar ; j'ai également lu mes poèmes lors de manifestations virtuelles de résistance, car les thèmes de la résistance et de la révolution sont omniprésents dans ma prose, et c'est ce qui résonne chez les gens, la volonté de triompher.

  Dès que la nouvelle du coup d'État est tombée, j'ai rapidement mis en place un plan de plaidoyer au sein du Trinity College et en Irlande, avec un groupe d'étudiants, en écrivant à nos députés, au ministre des affaires étrangères et en faisant appel au grand public avec des pétitions pour obtenir un soutien afin que l'Irlande adopte une position plus forte contre l'armée du Myanmar.  

  

  En Irlande, j'ai écrit un article sur le Myanmar qui a suscité un certain intérêt au sein de Trinity ; j'ai participé à des podcasts, j'ai donné des conférences et pris la parole lors de tables rondes sur le Myanmar, organisées par la Société philosophique de l'université, la plus ancienne et la plus grande société d'étudiants au monde. Ces actions de plaidoyer visent à informer le plus grand nombre de personnes possible de la situation, et à leur faire comprendre que peu importe les efforts déployés par l'armée pour réduire au silence le peuple du Myanmar en lui coupant l'accès à l'internet, nos voix résonneront toujours, amplifiées par la diaspora à l'étranger.

  J'ai également participé à une manifestation physique en Irlande ainsi qu'à une manifestation virtuelle mondiale le 27 mars, jour de la Révolution, pour protester contre les militaires, pour montrer que la Résistance transcende les océans et les frontières.

  Certes, je n'ai pas été une grande militante avant le coup d'État au Myanmar, malgré mon énorme intérêt pour le militantisme et les questions sociales. Cependant, le coup d'État au Myanmar m'a poussée à agir, car je sais que j'ai une responsabilité envers mon peuple et mon pays, celle de les représenter depuis un autre pays.

  En outre, ma passion pour la lutte en faveur des droits des femmes et des droits des LGBTQI+ a été renforcée par la révolution Htamein (Sarong) au Myanmar lors de la Journée internationale de la femme, lorsque les gens ont brandi des drapeaux de sarong pour se rebeller contre le patriarcat. Plus encore, je suis certaine que lorsque la révolution sera passée, le reste des militants et moi-même poursuivrons nos efforts de plaidoyer jusqu'à ce que la société dans son ensemble soit juste et inclusive, et ne laisse personne de côté.  

  Je vous invite à continuer à lire sur le Myanmar et, si vous en avez les moyens financiers, à faire des dons aux collectes de fonds organisées pour fournir une aide médicale aux habitants du Myanmar ou pour soutenir le mouvement de désobéissance civile. En fin de compte, il est de notre devoir de parler pour les personnes qui ne sont pas en mesure de le faire, nous nous devons à nous-mêmes et à ces dernières d'utiliser la liberté que nous avons, la liberté de s'exprimer sans crainte de répercussion. »

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  Photos : Supyae Yadanar ; Supyae manifestant devant le bureau de poste général, Dublin. (Droits d'auteur : Supyae Yadanar.)
  

• Le coup est une catastrophe pour notre patrie

  

  Thant Tun, Manchester, Royaume-Uni

  Thant Tun est impliquée dans la lutte pour la démocratie au Myanmar depuis sa naissance. Elle a grandi dans l'enceinte de l'université de Rangoon, où sa mère était bibliothécaire, et a assisté à l'arrestation de nombreux étudiants lors du soulèvement d'U Thant en 1974. En 1988, elle a participé à la révolution étudiante "8888" et a été contrainte de quitter la Birmanie l'année suivante. Son défunt oncle était un militant politique et un journaliste qui a écrit un livre sur la démocratie fédérale. Il est mort à l'âge de 93 ans et a été arrêté à plusieurs reprises au cours de sa vie pour avoir défendu la démocratie.
  Thant travaille comme infirmière clinicienne au sein du NHS mais consacre son temps libre à la lutte pour la démocratie au Myanmar. Elle a soutenu la Saffron Revolution en 2007 ; lors des récents troubles, sa filleule, Khin Nyein Thu, a été détenue arbitrairement à Yangon le 17 avril par les militaires, puis torturée. Il n'y a aucune nouvelle de sa libération.

  ---

  Voici l'histoire de Thant:

  « Nous avons d'abord appris l'arrestation illégale de ma filleule dans la soirée du 17 avril, après quoi les médias d'État dirigés par la junte militaire ont diffusé des photos d'elle et d'autres jeunes, montrant qu'ils avaient été battus sans pitié - elle avait des blessures au visage correspondant à des fractures, son visage n'était pas reconnaissable, ce qui a été très pénible pour la famille et les amis. 

  Il faut que cela cesse. Je voudrais faire savoir à la communauté internationale que ces types de violations des droits humains et d'atrocités touchent de nombreuses personnes au Myanmar. Les personnes détenues arbitrairement n'ont pas accès à des médicaments ou à une assistance juridique.

  La nouvelle du coup d'État organisé par l'armée du Myanmar le 1er février a été un choc énorme ; il était environ 22h45 heure GMT et un ami du Myanmar a envoyé un message - j'ai été choquée et attristée. Toutes les libertés pour lesquelles nous nous sommes battus, nos espoirs et nos rêves sont détruits.

  Après trois décennies de lutte pour la démocratie, nous avions l'impression d'avoir enfin obtenu une certaine liberté sous le gouvernement civil - le pays s'est énormément développé et les jeunes sont beaucoup plus instruits qu'auparavant. Le coup d'État est une catastrophe pour notre mère-patrie.

  

  Notre famille a toujours défendu la voix du peuple et s'est opposée à la junte. J'ai donc commencé à travailler avec quelques amis pour plaider la cause du Myanmar. Nous avons écrit à nos députés et au ministre des affaires étrangères pour leur demander de condamner le coup d'État militaire et d'exiger la libération des prisonniers politiques ; nous avons demandé au gouvernement britannique d'imposer des sanctions ciblées aux entreprises appartenant aux militaires du Myanmar et à leurs associés.

  Nous avons demandé au gouvernement britannique de créer une coalition mondiale de pays imposant des embargos sur les armes à destination du Myanmar. Nous lui avons également demandé de se rallier à la procédure de génocide engagée devant la Cour internationale de justice et de soutenir publiquement le renvoi de la situation du Myanmar devant la Cour internationale de justice.

  Nous collectons également des fonds pour aider la population du Myanmar à se nourrir, à se loger et à se procurer des produits de base.

  La communauté internationale doit agir rapidement pour mettre fin aux violations des droits humains et à la torture de civils innocents. »

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  Photo captions: Thant Tun; Thant Tun doing 3-finger ‘Hunger Games’ democracy salute for Myanmar (Copyright: Thant Tun.)