Blogs

• Staying true to ambition: Priorities from our mid-term strategy review

  Secretary General’s Update

  Dear CIVICUS members and allies,

  January was replete with the signals that the coming months will require significantly increased levels of ambition and action if we, civil society, are to remain relevant to the issues of our times.

  Alongside threats of global military aggression and the devastating consequence of the wildfires in Australia in this first month of the year, we were alarmed to see the rapid escalation of violence against citizen protestors – largely women and youth – in India and dismayed at the massive pushback on civil society in Uganda. The introduction of new registration rules has threatened the operation of over 12,000 NGOs in the country, while also putting the work of the LGBTIQ community at significant risk.

  And yet, despite these difficult times we continue to see civil society act together with courage and determination. While Oxfam’s new report, Time to Care, drew the attention of media and decision-makers globally, the report’s call to ‘abolish billionaires’ and ‘fight inequality’ was converted to street action in over 30 countries through localised protests and public events. At Davos, young climate activists including Vanessa Nakate and Greta Thunberg demanded decisive action on the climate emergency – a call that was reinforced by a joint civil society statement for greater accountability for climate justice from decision-makers at the World Economic Forum.

  CIVICUS also joined the call for a ‘Decade of Action’ to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We celebrated the emphasis on civic freedoms in UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ address to the General Assembly on priorities for 2020, and commend efforts made by governments such as Denmark to ensure that human rights objectives are firmly integrated into strategies for sustainable development.

  For CIVICUS, the impetus to review and refine our strategies for change is both urgent and specific. After a successful Strategy and Action Workshop with CIVICUS members, staff and the Board, the outcomes of our mid-term strategy review are now publicly available, even summarised in this infographic (available in Spanish, Frenchand Arabic) – and point to several important choices that we must make in order to harness the full potential of our strategic ambition. The review report identifies five priority themes – coherence, systems, simplicity, leadership and metamorphosis – and makes eighteen specific recommendations for action. This includes the need to invest in a composite program model for change and future design on one hand, and the importance of working with new actors and strengthening our engagement with ‘people power’ on the other.

  CIVICUS staff and Board members will be reviewing the recommendations that have emerged from the strategy review across February with a view to integrating priorities into immediate and future plans. Your feedback on the directions provided by the review would be immensely helpful at this stage. Do share your insights!

  You can send them directly to me by email or via twitter. I look forward to hearing from you!

  In solidarity,
  Lysa John
  Secretary-General, CIVICUS
  @lysajohn

• Strengthening Citizen Engagement and Participation in the Civic Space: Challenges and Recommendations

  By Deborah Mowesley, Innovation For Change Intern
  
  As an intern at CIVICUS for the past two months, I have had the opportunity to gain valuable insight into the workings of civic engagement and participation. I have come to realize that the issues surrounding citizen engagement and participation are complex and multifaceted, requiring a comprehensive approach to address effectively. Through my experiences and observations, I have identified several critical factors that impact the success of civic engagement efforts, as well as some potential solutions to address them. In this piece, I will share my thoughts and recommendations on how we can strengthen citizen engagement and participation in civic space.

  

  At its core, Human Centered Design is a design philosophy and approach that places human needs, capabilities, and experiences at the center of the design process. It is not only about aesthetics or usability, but also about empathy, creativity, and iteration. It involves four key stages: observation, ideation, prototyping, and testing. At each stage, designers need to engage with users, understand their context and goals, and generate ideas and concepts based on feedback and insights.

  The principles of human-centered design and co-design are not only applicable to product and service design but also to public policy and governance. In fact, involving citizens in the decision-making process and incorporating their perspectives and feedback can lead to more effective and equitable outcomes.

  However, the reality is that our democratic systems are not always designed to prioritize citizen engagement and participation. Moreover, there are institutional and cultural barriers that hinder citizen participation in governance. For example, some countries have outdated or opaque election systems that limit the diversity and representation of the electorate. Others have bureaucratic or legalistic processes that discourage citizen input and feedback. Additionally, there may be social and cultural norms that discourage or stigmatize political engagement, particularly among marginalized or underrepresented groups.

  Citizen engagement and participation are essential components of a thriving democracy, as they enable individuals to actively participate in the decision-making process and hold elected officials accountable. However, despite the significant benefits of citizen engagement, there are several challenges that hinder its effectiveness.

  One of the major issues related to citizen engagement is the lack of awareness and understanding among citizens about their rights and responsibilities. Many citizens are not aware of their role in the decision-making process, and therefore, they do not participate in it. This lack of understanding results in a limited pool of individuals that can be engaged and mobilized, ultimately leading to a loss of diversity in voices and perspectives in the decision-making process.

  Another significant challenge is the lack of access to information and resources that enable citizens to engage in the decision-making process effectively. In many cases, the information provided by the government is limited, confusing, and difficult to access, which makes it difficult for citizens to make informed decisions. Additionally, many citizens lack the resources, including time and finances, to engage fully in the process.

  Furthermore, there is often a significant power imbalance between citizens and elected officials, which can deter citizens from engaging in the decision-making process. The lack of transparency and accountability in the decision-making process can also limit citizens' ability to hold elected officials accountable for their actions and decisions. To address these challenges, several recommendations can be implemented:

  • Firstly, there needs to be an increased effort to educate citizens about their rights and responsibilities in the decision-making process. This can be done through civic education initiatives that inform citizens about the importance of citizen engagement and participation in the decision-making process.
  • Secondly, governments need to make a concerted effort to increase transparency and accessibility in the decision-making process. This can be achieved by providing citizens with clear, concise, and accessible information about the decision-making process and enabling them to access this information easily.
  • Thirdly, there needs to be a shift in power dynamics between citizens and elected officials. This can be achieved by creating more opportunities for citizens to engage in the decision-making process and ensuring that their voices are heard and considered. Elected officials also need to be held accountable for their actions and decisions, which can be achieved by implementing mechanisms for citizen feedback and evaluation of their performance.

  Citizen engagement and participation are crucial for a thriving democracy. More needs to be done to ensure that citizen engagement is effective and meaningful. By implementing the recommendations discussed above, we can create a more engaged and empowered citizenry, which will ultimately lead to better decision-making and governance.

  In conclusion, I am grateful for the opportunity to gain deeper insights into the challenges and opportunities surrounding citizen engagement and participation in civic space. It's clear civic engagement is crucial for a thriving democracy, but also that it is a complex issue that requires sustained effort and attention. Nevertheless, I am optimistic that with the right approach and strategies, we can overcome the challenges that hinder citizen participation and create more inclusive and representative democracies. I look forward to continuing my learning at CIVICUS and contributing to the efforts to strengthen citizen engagement and participation in the future.
  
  

  Image: Cristinapilataxi

• Strengthening Civic Space in Zambia: A Decade of Challenges and Collaborative Efforts

  CIVICUS, in collaboration with our esteemed partners at the GEARS Initiative, recently convened civil society actors in Zambia to delve into the intricacies of citizen-led advocacy aimed at expanding civic freedoms through legislative and policy reform. These gatherings provided invaluable opportunities for reflection, learning, and knowledge-sharing among participants. In this blog, Patrick Kaumba, Executve Director of GEARS Initiative, reflects on some of the topics discussed and how the civic space landscape in Zambia has evolved in the past decade. 

  Over the past decade, Zambia has witnessed a concerning trend of shrinking Civic Space, largely attributed to changes in laws and the constitution. Laws such as the antiquated Public Order Act of 1955, the restrictive NGO Act of 2009, and the more recent Cyber Security and Crimes Act of 2021 have all contributed to limiting the space for civic engagement. Additionally, provisions regarding defamation of the president further exacerbated the situation.

  However, amidst these challenges, there have been concerted efforts to strengthen Civic Space in Zambia. One of the key strategies has been the formation of alliances and networks, which have enabled greater impact and improved platforms for engaging with the government. These efforts, coupled with resilient people, accountable practices, finances, and systems, have played a significant role in pushing back against restrictive measures.

  Crucially, the positive political will of the new administration has provided a favorable environment for advancing Civic Space in Zambia. The culmination of years of lobbying by local, regional, and international human rights defenders and civil society activists has borne fruit, with the government showing readiness to engage in meaningful reforms.

  Key events in this reform process include media statements, engagement meetings with the police and political parties, and media engagements. These activities have served to raise awareness, foster dialogue, and garner support for reform initiatives.

  Looking ahead, there remains much work to be done to further strengthen Civic Space in Zambia. This includes advocating for law reforms and constitutional amendments to address restrictive legislation such as the Public Order Act, the NGO Act, and the Cyber Security and Crimes Act. Electoral legal reforms are also crucial to ensure the participation of marginalized groups, including youth, women, and people with special needs.

  In addition to legal reforms, sustained public awareness campaigns are needed to educate citizens about their rights and the importance of civic engagement. Monitoring mechanisms and inclusive policy development will help ensure accountability and transparency in governance.

  Furthermore, continued engagement with international partners for technical support and capacity building is essential in addressing Civic Space challenges. Collaboration with organizations such as CIVICUS and CHARM has proven invaluable in raising awareness and building the technical capacity of local initiatives like the GEARS Initiative Zambia.

  In conclusion, while the challenges to Civic Space in Zambia have been significant, the collaborative efforts of civil society, along with the support of the new administration and international partners, have yielded positive outcomes. By continuing to advocate for reform, raise awareness, and build alliances, Zambia can further strengthen its Civic Space and foster a more inclusive and democratic society.

• Strengthening our alliance: Key Outcomes from Board Week, MEM2024, and Team Initiatives

  A message from Interim Co-Secretary Generals, Claire Nylander and Mandeep Tiwana

  Dear CIVICUS members, partners and allies 

  Hope this message finds you well despite the turbulent times we are living in. As we navigate the impact of a surge in authoritarian and populist politics and the senseless cruelty of war, our commitment to strengthening civil society and citizen action to create more peaceful, just, equal and sustainable societies is steadfast. 

  Highlights 

  We continue to amplify civil societyvoices affected by war, join globalcalls for a ceasefire in the Middle East and take ahuman rights perspective on events in the region throughCIVICUS Lens, our rolling analysis initiative. Vitally, we also continue to draw attention to the devasting impacts for civil society of conflicts inMyanmar,Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere. 

  Our most recent CIVICUS MonitorWatchlist, released in September, draws attention to deterioration in civic space conditions in Argentina, Azerbaijan, Thailand and Zimbabwe. In particular, we’ve worked tohighlight the absurdity of Azerbaijan, a petrostate withclosed civic space, hosting the COP29 climate summit at a time when civil society’s demands for climate justice must be heard.

  Our commitment to advocate for the release of arbitrarily imprisoned human rights defenders such as Guatemalan journalistJose Ruben Zamora remains strong. We are ever mindful of the risks of civil society activism. Our communications team has produced a short film on the life of assassinated Honduran environmental and community activist,Juan Lopez.

  Our work on the Digital Democracy Initiative and the EU System for Enabling Environment (SEE) is in full swing, including through the strengthening of our systems and compliance processes. Opportunities for partnership throughdigital resilience and crisis response grants can accessed through our website. Our Freedom of Peaceful Assembly team recently hosted the #WeRiseCampaign Harvesting Week resulting in 15 new partnership agreements. 

  We remain active at the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, the UN Human Rights Council and at the UN headquarters, including in our work to highlight the importance of civic space and civil society participation in theSummit of the Future processes. 

  A Week of Engagement in Johannesburg

  We’re pleased to let you know that we recently concluded a successful board meeting at our offices in Johannesburg during the week of 11 November, when we also launched our annual Membership Engagement Month. Members of our board and staff engaged in strategic discussions and interacted withAffinity Group of National Associations (AGNA) and theYouth Action Team (YAT) representatives. The week provided opportunities to reflect on theUS election results and the resulting risks for civil society around the world. 

  Membership Engagement Month (MEM2024): Connecting, Learning, and Growing Together

  We are now in the midst of our Membership Engagement Month, a key opportunity for CIVICUS members to connect, learn and collaborate on themes that matter the most to our community. With a curated line-up of events, webinars and information sessions, MEM2024 offers a robust schedule to enhance engagement, foster learning and drive change. We encourage all our members to get involved and engage during this month. For more information, please get in touch with our team atmembership@civicus.org.

  Secretary General Transition

  This September’s UN General Assembly meetings in New York offered a stellar opportunity to bid farewell to our outgoing Secretary General, Lysa John, through a heartwarming physical event well attended by our members, partners and staff. During Lysa’s tenure we made vital strides as a secretariat and an alliance. 

  The search for our next Secretary General is on and is currently being led by our Board. If you are interested in applying or know of someone who may be, more information on the job requirements and application process can be foundhere. 

  Looking ahead – Annual General Meeting, Innovation Awards and CIVICUS Monitor Findings 

  We will be holding our Annual General Meeting online on Thursday, 5 December 2024 in two batches to account for different time zones. We encourage all members to participate and learn about our work and achievements. We will be sharing highlights from our latestAnnual Report, which is now out. 

  We are working on the next iteration of theNelson Mandela-Graca Machel Awards with a cohort of previous awardees and will be formally releasing a call for applications before the end of the year. 

  Following a super-election year, our annualCIVICUS Monitor ratings and People Power Under Attack report will be released in early December to coincide with International Human Rights Day. Do watch this space. 

  With gratitude and solidarity, 

  Claire Nylander and Mandeep Tiwana 

• Strengthening young activists by tagging-in local mentors and standing back

  By CIVICUS youth

  On the celebration of the International Youth month in August 2020, CIVICUS Youth launched a new mentorship format for the ten participants of the Youth Action Lab. The Youth Action Lab is a pilot project that seeks to test ways to strengthen youth activism in the global south. In the first year we learned how to better resource the next generation of changemakers in civil society through different approaches and the most valuable one was the mentorship component of the Lab.

  Why mentorship was part of the Youth Action Lab

  During the design phase of the Lab in 2019, the co-design team, composed of nine young grassroots activists itself, said that a mentorship or bespoke support component was necessary to support young activists to strengthen their activism strategies. Furthermore, other research from CIVICUS previous pilot projects with young activists, such as the Goalkeepers and interviews with other organisations working with youth, also highlighted the importance of mentorship and how valued it is by young people. Therefore, we knew that mentorship had to be a key part of the Lab to strengthen the efficiency, resilience and sustainability of youth movements advancing social justice agendas at the local level. With the support of an Advisory Group, we framed the mentorship as a horizontal learning exchange between the Lab participants and experienced civil society partners - not a traditional hierarchical mentorship. We wanted both parties to learn and grow from the experience in a safe and respectful space.

  How did the Lab learning partnership start?

  By the end of August 2020, each of the ten Lab participants identified a thematic and a technical learning partner to engage with over the course of 6 months. The Lab participants chose the themes and technical areas based on their area of work, geographic location, and previous skills needs assessment. Reflecting the diversity of the Lab participants themselves, there was a range of themes such as feminist leadership in the Pacific, Indigenous Rights Advocacy in the Philippines and rights of rural trans sex workers, women and youth in Uganda. Laber’s skills need assessment also showed diverse needs, so there were technical partners covering project management, budget management, and volunteer coordination to mention a few. In two cases, the thematic and technical partners were the same person, but in most cases, these were two separate experienced civil society partners. A really innovative arrangement came from the Lab participant Seif from Tunisia. He was interested in completing a film project during his lab year, so he decided to use his video service provider as his learning partner. This allowed him to learn directly with his partner by completing a project together. It was an arrangement outside of how we had conceived the partnership but led to an impressive body of work and skills transfer.

  Seven of the ten Lab participants identified people they already knew and three were introduced to each other by CIVICUS. We tried to have the learning partner in the same country as the Lab participant and this worked for those that identified their own, but the CIVICUS matches were in different countries than the Lab participant. The CIVICUS matches also took longer to find which meant they did not get the full six months. Having the partner in-country was a high predictor and factor for success.

  Once the learning partner confirmed interest in participating, CIVICUS sent a formal invitation, including the expectations: time commitment of six months, two sessions a month, one hour a session, USD900 stipend for the full commitment. If the learning partner accepted, they sent back their CV and three references. CIVICUS sent them a contract, workplan template and care pack which included information about CIVICUS, the Lab, CIVICUS Diversity & Inclusion Statement, accountability mechanisms, and how to create teams and psychological safety. They had one month to complete the workplan and submit it to the CIVICUS Youth coordination team along with the signed contract. The workplan was a one-pager that asked: what is the knowledge or skill you want to build, the projected outcome, the skills needed and the target completion date that the Lab participant and the learning partner agreed on.

  The workplan was the only formal deliverable in the program. It was up to each of the partnerships to determine the times, ways and methods to best accomplish the desired objectives. Therefore, they had the flexibility to proceed with the meetings in the ways and times that worked best for them. They decided how to best use their time. For many, they had conversations on networking and advocacy plans. The learning partners filled many different roles over the six months – sometimes as advisors, sometimes cheerleaders, and sometimes actively making connections. For example, one learning partner helped connect the Lab participant to someone in government for an interview that furthered their activist objectives.

  What were the key ingredients of the Learning Partnership?

  Offering a stipend to a civil society leader or specialist in the area of interest of the Lab participant for their time mentoring them allowed both the Lab participant and learning partner to engage in a committed relationship structured by a contract moderated by a third party and in a space where the time of both partners was respected and valued. It was an investment in local network strengthening and provided flexibility within clear objectives and structure. Both aspects have been shown to be ways CIVICUS can add value and provide a high-quality experience for participants.

  ‘Relationships are key to building leadership and that takes time. Therefore, a space within a program to really invest in challenges and working
  with young leaders expands our understanding of the reality they live in while also working together to grow through it. The Program is quite
  open and flexible without a lot of complicated systems or interference from the CIVICUS team, thus giving ownership to the participant to work
  the way that is best for them.’ - Youth Action Lab Learning Partner

  We evaluated the programme with the most recognised standard, the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and it scored 92, which falls into the highest range: World-class. The learning partners all showed up for a final reflection session to share what worked and what to improve for the next round. The learning partners said it was a good experience because they learned about how to be mentors and about the struggle of the work of young activists in their countries. Because the learning partners were in the same country as the Lab participant in most cases, they could really provide specific and personalised advice better than what CIVICUS could provide. The Lab participants noted how important this was and it highlighted that for a global organisation like CIVICUS, it could not provide such bespoke support that a local experienced civil society leader could for these youth activists. They specifically mentioned that they really appreciated the workplan template, the autonomy, and the flexibility.

  ‘The learning partners helped expand on practical and contextualized knowledge I needed in my work, especially because they were also focused
  on the same area, which for me is Indigenous knowledge in the Philippines. The programme also allowed me to gain more relevant skills such
  as comms.’ - Kinja Tauli, Youth Action Lab participant

  Despite the high score, the learning partners and lab participants still had ways we could improve. They highlighted that six months was too short, therefore, the 2021 cohort of the Youth Action Lab will have a ten month instead of six-month learning partner engagement. From the feedback session, we learned that some additional support on tracking the journey and sharing what is learned would be welcomed. As such, the new resources will include tools to track the progress of their learning journey through outcomes and story harvesting. And if interested, they will also have the possibility to write a blog post capturing the highlights of their work as learning partners.

  To keep following the progress and learnings of the Youth Action Lab, subscribe to e-CIVICUS and join the Facebook group: CIVICUS youth united!

• Stronger Together: Strengthening the Dynamic Accountability Community of Practice
  • Summary of our consultation and the way forward
  • Full consultation report

  The Dynamic Accountability Community of Practice (DACoP) is a joint initiative by Restless Development, CIVICUS, and Accountable Now as the Secretariat of the Global Standard Partnership. Its purpose is to provide a space where a wide range of civil society practitioners can come together to share good practice, deepen knowledge, and build solidarity on the topic.

  While there has been positive feedback on the DACoP and its activities, a key challenge remains; that there has been limited interaction from members. An in-depth consultation with current members and wider stakeholders was therefore undertaken to explore options for the future of the DACoP. More specifically, this included how to increase its long-term sustainability and be more member-led, along with an examination of what resourcing this would require.

  The consultation has suggested that the DACoP is viable and worthy of our continued time and investment, but only if we can make the changes required to sustainably increase coordination capacity, boost engagement, and deliver more practical outcomes for community members. This summary provides an overview of the consultation process’ findings, along with an initial proposal on the way forward from the current DACoP coordinators.

• Supporting grassroots groups better through shifts in resourcing and practices

  By Nosibabalwe Socikwa, Membership and Network Intern.

  Having worked in the human rights and social justice space, I have realised the impact of grassroots movements, organisations, and activists and their role in fighting against inequality, oppression, and unmet social, political, economic, or cultural demand. In the face of political power challenges brought by a global economic crisis, there has been a growing network of social movements, organisations, groups, and activists collectively coming together to fight against the power dynamics that often threaten their fundamental human rights.

  However, despite their efforts in fighting against these injustices, they often lack funds to catalyse their growth. These grassroots groups and movements are often unregistered and have limited capacity in comparison to large and established civil society organisations. The grant-making system that supports civil society is built in a way that excludes these types of group, as they are unable to comply with donors’ bureaucratic and sometimes illogical eligibility requirements to access resources and funding.

  Such donor requirements include being formally registered, providing financial audits, Monitorig, Learning and Evaluation plans and/ or recommendation letters. This is near impossible for informal or small groups that perhaps are in their starting stage and have limited capacity and resources. These groups face challenges to secure funding and tend to have a short lifespan, thus limiting their potential to drive for locally led lasting change.

  To continue functioning, some groups rely on personal contributions from the communities they serve, who are closer to the problem and understand the urgency of a solution. Of course, this furthers their disappointment with donors. It is counterproductive, unfair and reinforces colonial thinking that donors continue to undermine local communities' work by excluding them from accessing urgent resources. It also enforces power dynamics and promotes donor-driven projects that have no standing to represent and reflect the grassroots groups' struggles. Grassroots groups must determine their destinies, lead their own paths towards development, and participate in decision-making. However, the current support system for civil society makes it difficult for grassroots groups to sustainably thrive.

  We need an urgent shift in how grant-making strategies for grassroots groups are designed and implemented to achieve social justice. To achieve social justice for all, no one must be left behind, so it is crucial for donors and grantees, together, to transform the grant-making space with more collaborate and meaningful relationships and support practices.

  The CIVICUS Solidarity Fund (CSF) is one of the initiatives I have learnt about, through my internship at CIVICUS, that has undergone such a transformation. Recently, the CSF put its grant application process under review because it was not as accessible and inclusive as they thought it was. The CSF team decided to look inward, listen to their grantee-members, understand the costs and barriers they face when applying for their grants, and make some changes to make the CSF more accessible. This process involved redesigning the application, reporting, monitoring, and learning processes by considering the power relations at play, limited financial and non-financial resources available to grassroots groups, and thinking of new ways to avoid propagating the culture of competition. Through this transformation, the CIVICUS Solidarity Fund team learnt that building relationships and trust with its grantee-members is very important to the grantees.

  I hope to see the CSF improve even more and inspire and empower others who are resourcing grassroots groups. Donors and grantees need to build friendly relationships based on trust and respect to maintain civil society's long-term longevity and development.

• Take Action: 16 campaigns tackling women’s rights and gender inequality

  Across the world, brave and resolute women rights defenders are taking action on everything from advocating for equality, access, and justice, to standing up to corruption, environmental violations, and even persecution of fellow activists. For many, the COVID-19 pandemic made already difficult operating environments even worse: an increasing number of governments have used COVID-19 as a smokescreen to implement repressive measures that strangle civil society, as well as roll back progress made for gender equality and reproductive rights. Yet, the fightback continues. Here are 16 people-powered movements and campaigns to add your voice to this 16 Days of Activism.

  1. #Lifeinleggings

  #Lifeinleggings is one of the winners of this year’s Nelson Mandela - Graca Machel Innovation Awards. This campaign was founded in 2016, speaking to gender-based issues and discrimination faced by women and changing the mindset and the lives of women in the Caribbean. The campaign started with the hashtag #LifeinLeggings in virtual spaces as a safe space for women who experienced sexual harassment and sexual assault. It was a call of solidarity and empowerment to speak across social media platforms. While the hashtag spread in the Caribbean and the diaspora, they transferred the conversations to the physical spaces. They transformed it into a grassroots movement called for social transformation and committed to dismantling the rape culture within the Caribbean through advocacy, education, empowerment and community outreach and forward to dismantling the patriarchal system that affects both men and women.

  Be part of the transformation and spread the word about#Lifeinleggings

  2. #OrangeTheWorld Campaign 

  Are you ready to #OrangeTheWorld during the #16Days of Activism and stand united against gender-based violence?
  
  Here's all the info you need: https://t.co/Gu7P7gpXt5 pic.twitter.com/ZSEFpT6oqs

  — UN Women 🧡 (@UN_Women) November 24, 2021

  Each year, the United Nations invites people to Orange the World, in support of ending Violence Against Women. Civil society and women's rights organisations, governments, schools, universities, the private sector and individuals host orange themed events - film screenings, exhibits, radio shows, etc - to raise awareness and get people talking. The campaign helps share knowledge and innovations, amplify stories, and promote women and girls' leadership. COVID-19 has triggered a rise in gender based violence and women's rights violations,  making this campaign more important than ever.

  Join the movement, take action and orange the world. 

  3. Drop Case 173 

  In Egypt, Case 173 of 2011, also known as NGO Foreign Funding Case, continues to undermine women’s rights and civil society organisations working towards defending human rights. After a decade of the systematic targeting of organisations and persecuting activists, women human rights defenders, and feminists, Egypt refuses to close the case entirely and stop the judicial harassment of women’s rights defenders like Magda Adly, Suzanne Fayyad, Aida Seif ElDawla and Azza Soliman. 

  #DropCase173,a campaign led by regional and international feminists, women’s rights and human rights organisations, calls on the Egyptian state to dismiss cases against civil society activists and organisations persecuted under Case 173 and immediately drop the charges and lift any travel bans and asset freezes against them. 

  Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) in Egypt should not be silenced and harassed for carrying out their work, call on the government to #DropCase173 

  4. GHANA: Reject the anti-LGBTI+ bill

  While some progress has been made in a number of countries towards LGBTI+ rights, the rights of this community continue to be under threat in many parts of the world. Ghana, is one such example. The government of Ghana has brought forward the “Family values” draft bill that would criminalise the country’s LGBTI+ community and its allies. If passed the bill will amongst many other things discriminate LGBTI+ community and criminalise the promotion and funding of their activities.

  This bill and many others that criminalise rights of people based on their gender stands to reverse the remarkable gains made over the years in LGBTI+ equality. In order to achieve equality and inclusivity we need to step up the struggle for LGBTI+ rights, especially in countries like Ghana. Here’s a first step you can take, show solidarity by signing a petition calling lawmakers to reject this bill

  5. Stand As My Witness 

  High numbers of women human rights defenders are facing persecution for their activism, making the global Stand As My Witness campaign mportant to support right now.

  Launched in 2020, the campaign calls for the release of human rights defenders jailed as a result of their work and who they are.  The campaign  is currently calling for the release of Teresita Naul- an advocate for the rights of poor and marginalised people,  María Esperanza Sánchez García - a Nicaraguan human rights defender targeted for her civic activism, and Sudha Bharadwaj - a human rights lawyer who defends Indigenous people’s rights, and many more.  The #StandAsMyWitness campaign urges people to write letters on behalf of the defenders, sign a petition rallying for their freedom, and share the defenders’ individual stories on social media using the hashtag #StandAsMyWitness

  Find out more about the campaign and how you can get involved here. 

  6. Free Saudi Activists

  The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a long history of forcefully silencing men and women who dare to stand up to the country’s unjust laws and patriarchal gender norms. The crackdown on freedom of expression, association and assembly in Saudi Arabia continues to worsen, with the CIVICUS Monitor rating the state of the country’s civic space as closed.

  On 15 May 2018, a few weeks before Saudi Arabia lifted a ban on women driving, authorities launched a large-scale coordinated crackdown against women human rights defenders in the kingdom. Tens of prominent WHRDs, among many others, have since been arrested. Saudi authorities targeted WHRDs who fought to lift the country’s driving ban on women, and those calling for an end to the male guardianship system, which requires women to get permission from a male relative to travel, marry or work. While some women's rights activists, including Loujain al- Hathloul,  who spoke against this system have been released, some remain in jail and others continue to have travel bans and asset freezes imposed against them. 

  Stand in solidarity with women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia, sign this petition today. 

  7.FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders

  What does #FeministLeadership mean? What can it look like?
  
  We spent eight weeks exploring this question with a vibrant community of experienced and curious Feminist Leaders from across the sector. Here's a glimpse into the conversations we had. 👇🏾https://t.co/lD9fSkCyy5

  — FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders (@fair_wl) November 19, 2021

  Women are under-represented in leadership positions in many sectors including the social impact sector. FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders is an initiative established to advocate for Feminist Leadership and accelerate gender equity in the social impact sector by monitoring the proportion of women in leadership and advocating for Feminist Leadership. Recently, FAIR SHARE of Women Leaders hosted 8-week-long series where they explored many topics around Feminist Leadership, from accountability and authenticity to collective leadership and sisterhood.  With the belief that “true and lasting transformation is not a matter of checking boxes, but rather the sum of small changes we live and breathe in our everyday life”, the initiative continues to take tremendous strides towards ensuring that more women are in places of leadership. 

  Join the movement and be an advocate for Feminist Leadership.

  8. #JusticeForFikileNtshangase

  On 22 October 2020, Fikile Ntshangase, a grandmother in her sixties, and an activist from the Mfolozi Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO) who resisted and spoke out against the activities and expansion of the Tendele anthracite mine on her community's doorstep, was murdered in her home in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Despite many public outcries from civil society actors and world leaders, her family are still waiting for her murderers to be apprehended. Fikile joins a long list of environmental defenders who have been brutally killed for defending their community’s land and environment. 

  This campaign draws our attention to the plight of many environmental women human rights defenders who are killed with impunity around the world. Sign this open letter calling for #JusticeForFikileNtshangase

  9. She Changes Climate 

  From the sinking small islands to drought-stricken villages, women bear the lion’s share of the burden of the climate change crisis. It is for this reason and many others that now more than ever, women, women’s rights activists and organisations are calling for meaningful inclusion in climate decision making processes. #SheChangesClimate was launched in November 2020 with a #5050 vision to address women leadership in decisions and policymaking related to the climate crisis. 

  The campaign calls for greater representation of women, in all their diversity, at the top levels of all future climate delegations. In the lead up to and during this year’s COP meeting, #SheChangesClimate actively ensured that gender imbalance of decision-making didn’t go unnoticed. There is no denying that we need urgent solutions to the climate change crisis, for #SheChangesClimate, the need for women's voices and insights in the climate discussions is equally important.

  Together, let’s call for women’s participation in climate decision making processes : She Changes Climate 

  10. #FreeViasna Campaign

  Tatsiana Lasitsa and Marfa Rabkova, the two WHRDs among other members from the Viasna group in Belarus, are currently in prison. Since 2003, the Belarusian authorities have been harassing Viasna because they have been actively monitoring and documenting human rights violations. The reprisals against Viasna are a part of the broader repression and the systematic silencing of the civil society in Belarus. More than 200 civil society organisations have been shut down or in the process of being closed down. 

  The #FreeViasna Campaign was launched in September 2021 by a group of international human rights organisations. They demand the release of Viasna members and hundreds of the victims of politically motivated prosecutio. Further to this, the campaign calls on the government to respect and protect human rights defenders' work and ensure the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly, and expression of all people in Belarus.

  The members of Viasna and other human rights defenders need your action, support #FreeViasna

  11. #TurkeyTribunal

  Erin Keskin, a lawyer and a human rights activist in Turkey, who dedicated her life to amlifying the voices of women and exposing abuses happening to them in Turkish prisons. Keskin has been among many other activists and human rights defenders, arrested, imprisoned, and subjected to numerous lawsuits related to her human rights activity and now she is one of the leading witnesses in the Turkey Tribunal.

  The Turkey Tribunal was founded in 2020 to document and investigate the increasing number of human rights violations committed by the Turkish government towards activists, lawyers, journalists and human rights defenders. This tribunal aims to break the silence by providing information, raising awareness towards the issue, and mobilising the international community. 

  Learn more about this campaign here.

  12. #FreeNasrin Campaign

  Nasrin Sotoudeh, an Iranian lawyer and a human rights defender, has been sentenced to 33 years of prison and 148 lashes for defending women’s rights in Iran. Sotoudeh, PEN America’s 2011 Freedom to Write Award honoree and a co-winner of the European Parliament’s 2012 Sakharov Prize, is one of Iran’s most prominent voices. She has been harassed and targeted by the Iranian government, imprisoned multiple times. In June 2018, she was incarcerated on national security-related charges levied after advocating on behalf of women detained for protesting Iran’s compulsory hijab law. 

  This campaign calls on Iranian authorities to drop all charges against Sotoudeh, release her and stop their harassment of her family, allow their access to their finances and drop charges against her daughter. It also calls for the release of all political prisoners currently held in Iranian prisons on unjust charges. 

  Amplify the voice of Nasrin and hundreds of WHRDs in Iran, sign the petition.

  13. #StrajkKobiet

  Around the world, women and girls face extreme barriers to accessing legal abortions. This is no different in Poland. In October 2020,  Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal imposed a near total ban on abortion, sparking mass protests, most of which were organised by the Strajk Kobiet (Women’s Strike) movement. Strajk Kobiet has worked relentlessly to stop the various initiatives proposing an almost complete ban on abortion in Poland. A year on, many women human rights defenders who took part in the protests continue to face an increasingly hostile and dangerous environment. Among many others, Marta Lempart, co-founder of Strajk Kobiet has become a target of repeated threats for leading demonstrations supporting legal abortion and women’s rights. Despite this, Strajk Kobiet continues to bravely campaign for women’s rights in Poland.

  Check their website to know more about their work of defending women’s rights:Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet 

  14. Justice forMarielle Franco

  Berta Cáceres and Marielle Franco were human rights defenders in one of the most dangerous regions in the world for such activities.
  
  Fighting for human rights is a human right, and it is the state’s responsibility to protect activists https://t.co/VznbHQ9UEj

  — openDemocracy (@openDemocracy) November 15, 2021

  It has been 3 years since the murder of one of Brazil's most courageous social leaders, Marielle Franco and to this day no one has been brought to book. On 14 March 2018, Marielle was brutally assassinated on the streets of Rio de Janeiro shortly after leaving a gathering of young Black activists.  

  We remember Marielle for bravely mobilising for social and economic change in the lives of people living in Rio’s favelas and for unapologetically advocating for women and LGBTI+ rights.

  Recognise the work of Marielle, remember her story and call for her justice.

  15. #StandWithThe6 

  Shatha Odeh, a prominent Palestinian healthcare expert, and the Middle East and North Africa regional coordinator of the People’s Health Movement (PHM) was detained by Israeli security forces on July 2021. The Israeli campaign against Shatha extended to further criminalise 6 prominent Palestinian civil society organisations by targeting and labelling them as "terror organisations". Among the targeted is the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC), a feminist grassroots organisation which has been defending women's rights since 1980. 

  The decision puts at risk the legitimate and fundamental work of hundreds of human rights defenders, activists and organisations documenting human rights violations, conducting advocacy campaigns for freedom, justice and equality and providing tools for protection as well as legal social and health/medical support for Palestinian citizens. 

  #StandWithThe6 is launched to build solidarity with the Palestinian civil society, pressure the international community, policymakers, and representatives to take the needed measures, and stand with the Palestinian civil society against the Israeli assaults on human rights and human rights defenders.

  Stand with Palestianian civil society, #StandWithThe6

  16.Write for rights Campaign

  Write For Rightsis a campaign run by Amnesty International yearly over the months of November and December. The campaign encourages individuals to write messages of solidarity to activists, organisations and movements that have suffered injustice and abuse. 

  This year, the Write for Rights campaign is asking that you stand in solidarity with 10 human rights defenders and activists. Among them, 15-year-old Janna Jihad who is facing death threats and intimidation for her work speaking up for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, 22-year-old Rung who is is facing life in prison for speaking out for freedom and democracy in Thailand and Ciham Ali who has been missing for over 8 years and was last seen taken by the Eritrean authorities while trying to leave the country.

  Follow this link: Write a letter, sign a petition and protect their rights today.

• Teenagers my age are dropping out of school to protest

   Bawi Hnem Sung, Texas,United States of America

  17 year old high school student Bawi Hnem Sung is also from the Chin community in Lewisville, Texas, and is part of the Lewisville High School Chin Club. Her family fled Myanmar when she was three.

  ---

  This is her story:

  “I got to visit Myanmar back in the winter of 2019, and it absolutely breaks my heart that the streets I strolled are now where shots are fired day and night, the people I met are either in hiding, or fighting for their lives, and the future of going back to embrace my family members once again is now blurred. 

  I am heartbroken, and I am angered that the citizens of Myanmar have to face the oppression of the military once again.

  To be quite honest, this coup truly opened my eyes to see how oppressed the people of Myanmar are. This is the first Myanmar military oppression that I have witnessed, and although I heard many stories from families and friends, I never truly understood the anger and brokenness that the Myanmar government, as a whole, holds. 

  When I say I have the uttermost respect for the protesters in Myanmar, it is an understatement. I have seen videos, and read news, about how parents are sending off their children every morning, with the thought that their children may not walk through the doors of their home ever again, teenagers my age dropping out of school so they can protest for their future and freedom, and just seeing the society in Myanmar work together, really just moves me so much and leaves me in awe of the resilience and strength the people have. 

  Being in a different country has definitely created barriers between us and the people in Myanmar, but I have done everything in my power to try and help. With the help of teachers, and my fellow activist friends, we’ve managed to raise donations for the people in our birth country, we’ve shown our support for the people by participating in protests, and we’ve tried our best to let the world hear the people of Myanmar’s voices. 

  We’ve also organised a call to action day to our senators and representatives, and shared what’s happening in Myanmar on our social media. In our annual Chin festival show, we made a segment dedicated to the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in the hope that it would bring more awareness to the community around us. The Lewisville High School Chin Club also managed to raise over 1,000 dollars. 

   

  The Military has put on a fake front to the world by shutting down internet lines, kidnapping famous celebrities who loathe the Military,  and silencing the voices of the people in Myanmar, so it's clear they don't want their evil acts to be shown and blasted on the internet, so the international community can help by posting what’s going on. 

  People of Burmese origin have been protesting in many countries all over the world, including South Korea, Australia, Canada and so much more. It means the world to us when we see many of our different ethnic brothers and sisters come and join our protest against the military coup. 

  I understand now how much international recognition and help the people in Myanmar need - they need their voices to be heard. They have waited for over 70 years for the world to listen, and I want to make sure that the years are not prolonged.”

  ---

  Captions: Bawi Hnem Sung; Bawi Sung protesting in Dallas, Texas. (Copyright: Bawi Hnem Sung)

• The CIVICUS Diversity and Inclusion journey

  Spanish | French

  Diversity and Inclusion has become a hot topic within civil society in recent years which has prompted the sector to take a step back and evaluate its own programmes and operations. CIVICUS has also had many moments of reflection over the past year in particular in order to increase its principles on diversity and inclusion (D&I) within the actions of the secretariat and to best serve its wide and diverse membership.

  At the Global Learning Exchange the participants brainstormed and created the following working definitions of diversity and inclusion: Diversity is a free and safe space in which complex perspectives, differences and intersectionality are celebrated as strengths and opportunities for innovation, acceptance and collaboration. Trust is a key concept, between and within diverse communities and groups. Inclusion is the action point of diversity, a dynamic and continuous process that works on multiple political, economic and social levels, and leaves no one behind. It works to build meaningful connections between groups, and sometimes unlikely allies, toward a positive outcome for disenfranchised populations. Tokenism and quotas vs meaningful inclusion as a complex system (there is no ‘one size fits all’) was emphasized

  CIVICUS members from across the globe convened on the 16 December 2018 in Montevideo, Uruguay at the Global Learning Exhange to i) discuss what diversity & inclusion means within the civil society sector, ii) identify obstacles that organisations and individual activists face, and iii) share best practices and tips. The exchange drew perspectives from a wide breadth of civil society geographically and thematically, with representation from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, India, Ireland, Macedonia, Malawi, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa and Zambia.

  The exchange led to positive learning opportunities as each participant had unique perspectives and had tested different approaches to diversity and inclusion. This led to a discussion on the need to continuing this conversation with broader civil society to continue the positive learning exchange. This group continued to keep in touch after the exchange to begin identifying the needs of a safe space to discuss diverse and inclusive principles within civil society.

  The conversation continued into International Civil Society Week (ICSW) that took place in Belgrade, Serbia on the week of the 8 – 12 April 2019. CIVICUS members held a session on the practicalities of D&I within different spheres. These discussions focused on the workplace, education systems, intergenerational collaboration and access to justice. The discussions in Serbia reinforced the need for deep dive dialogues as many excluded groups felt that civil society is still only practicing D&I on the surface level rather than pursuing meaningful culture shifts.

  CIVICUS members from the Global Learning Exchange as well as interested members from ICSW and the Youth Assembly then took these conversations online and contributed to a brainstorm document. Using an online google document, questions were posed on what kind of space was needed, what was the purpose, what were the long term objectives, what is the best way to run, is a structure necessary etc. Members then had the opportunity to enter their input and interact with each other’s input to add on and track the progression of the conversation. This method was a great way to capture everyone’s input without a note-taker’s implicit bias, and was also easy to find the points of intersection amongst everyone’s perspectives.

  Using the brainstorm document we pulled out the most agreed upon steps forward and circulated an informal concept note proposing the concrete steps forward. The agreed upon steps were as follows:

  • The group will use Facebook as its initial base as many people already use this platform and it will be easy to access the group. Once the group grows we will consider moving some conversations to more secure platforms like slack
  • The name of this group will be The Diversity & Inclusion Group for Networking and Action (DIGNA). In Spanish DIGNA means worthy, dignified or deserving, which we think is very fitting for this group.
  • We will have a rotating advisory group (8-10 people) to help moderate this space. We will begin with an incubation advisory group that represents each region and after 6 months we will rotate half of the group out and have an open call for new members. Each 6 months half of the group will step out to ensure continuity but also fresh perspectives.
  • We will help collect the resources shared on the platform and post them on CIVICUS’ toolkit page under Diversity and Inclusion so that everything is in one place
  • The purpose of this group is:
    • The Diversity & Inclusion Group for Networking and Action (DIGNA) brings together change-makers and thought leaders passionate about strengthening an inclusive and diverse civil society – including CIVICUS members, civil society organisations, groups, and activists, and their allies. This working group seeks to understand, conceptualise and identify innovative practices on what diversity and inclusion (D&I) can look like within different thematic areas and operating models.  
    • The group is a safe space where members can support each other to improve organisational structure and processes, ways of working and impact with a focus on D&I. Regardless of our fight against all the backlash and consequences of inequality and segregation, we will shine a spotlight and learn from positive examples and benchmarks from around the globe. This group encourages discussion and debate on D&I issues, is a space for sharing positive experiences and practices, resources and tools, and lessons learned, and offers a channel to request for help, support and collaboration, and post potential opportunities.

  It is really important that the DIGNA remains a safe space for all to engage within, so before joining the group everyone must read and accept the community guidelines. We hope you join us on this journey and check out the platform!

  The diversity and inclusion journey is one that civil society must embark on as a collective. Organizations may be at different stages of this fluid journey but we must encourage each other to push forward and engage in dynamic accountability. This area of focus is forever expanding so there is no end point that we are striving for, but instead we must ensure that we go beyond surface level commitments to tackle institutional structures from all perspectives.

  Let’s push forward together!

• The CIVICUS Diversity and Inclusion journey continued

  Diversity and Inclusion has become a hot topic within civil society in recent years. Knowing there is no ‘people power’ without true principles of diversity of inclusion, many in the sector are taking a step back and evaluating how this core principle is being integrated into programmes and operations.

  The CIVICUS alliance sees the diversity and inclusion journey as one that civil society must embark on as a collective. Organisations may be at different stages of this fluid journey but we must encourage each other to push forward and engage in dynamic accountability. This area of focus is forever expanding so there is no end point that we are striving for, but instead we must ensure that we go beyond surface level commitments to tackle institutional structures from all perspectives.

  CIVICUS has also had many moments of reflection over the past year in particular, on the principles of diversity and inclusion (D&I). CIVICUS also launched the Social Inclusion Toolkit in 2018 to help members assess their work on social inclusion.

  December 2018

  A delegation of CIVICUS members from across the globe convened on the 16 December 2018 in Montevideo, Uruguay at the Global Learning Exchange to i) discuss what diversity & inclusion means within the civil society sector, ii) identify obstacles that organisations and individual activists face, and iii) share best practices and tips. The exchange drew perspectives from a wide breadth of civil society geographically and thematically, with representation from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, India, Ireland, North Macedonia, Malawi, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa and Zambia. 

  Each participant had unique perspectives and had tested different approaches to diversity and inclusion, they had the opportunity to share and learn from each other. This led to discussions on the need to continue this conversation with broader civil society, to further the positive learning exchange. After the exchange, this group kept in touch, and identified the need for a safe space to discuss diverse and inclusive principles within civil society.

  At the Global Learning Exchange the participants brainstormed and created the following working definitions of diversity and inclusion: Diversity is a free and safe space in which complex perspectives, differences and intersectionality are celebrated as strengths and opportunities for innovation, acceptance and collaboration. Trust is a key concept, between and within diverse communities and groups. Inclusion is the action point of diversity, a dynamic and continuous process that works on multiple political, economic and social levels, and leaves no one behind. It works to build meaningful connections between groups, and sometimes unlikely allies, toward a positive outcome for disenfranchised populations. Tokenism and quotas vs meaningful inclusion as a complex system (there is no ‘one size fits all’) was emphasized

  January 2019
  As the conversation on D&I within the CIVICUS alliance took off, the secretariat decided to launch its own commitment to diversity and inclusion by publishing the CIVICUS Diversity and Inclusion Statement that went through each of the main functions of the CIVICUS secretariat and added how that function would commit to ensure diversity and inclusion.

  April 2019
  The conversation from the Global Learning Exchange continued into International Civil Society Week (ICSW),held in Belgrade, Serbia 8 – 12 April 2019. CIVICUS members held a session on the practicalities of D&I within different spheres. These discussions focused on the workplace, education systems, intergenerational collaboration and access to justice. The discussions in Serbia reinforced the need for deep dive dialogues as many excluded groups felt that civil society still only practices D&I on the surface level rather than pursuing meaningful culture shifts.

  April – June 2019
  CIVICUS members from the Global Learning Exchange, as well as interested members from ICSW and the Youth Assembly, then took these conversations online and contributed to a brainstorm document. Using an online google document, questions were posed on what kind of space was needed, what was the purpose, what were the long term objectives, what is the best way to run, is a structure necessary etc. Members then had the opportunity to enter their input and interact with each other’s input to add on and track the progression of the conversation. This method was a great way to capture everyone’s input without a note-taker’s implicit bias, and was also easy to find the points of intersection amongst everyone’s perspectives. These conversations led to launching an online platform in July 2019 (please see further below).

  May 2019
  CIVICUS facilitated a peer exchange learning experience for its AGNA members on incorporating diversity and inclusion within their organisation and networks. This workshop focused on unpacking concepts (ie. diversity, inclusion, intersectionality and power), looked at the benefits of diversity and inclusion within civil society, analyzed case studies within the sector, and worked on mapping all of the different areas within an organisation that could require a D&I strategy. This conversation led to the AGNA members present share the findings and importance of D&I at the AGNA Annual General meeting in June 2019 where AGNA decided that D&I was going to be a priority for organisations within the network.

  July 2019 Launching DIGNA: Diversity & Inclusion Group for Networking and Action
  Using the brainstorm document, the alliance pulled out the most agreed upon steps forward and circulated an informal concept note proposing concrete steps forward:

  • The Diversity & Inclusion Group for Networking and Action (DIGNA) will use facebook as its platform for people to interact directly.
  • A rotating advisory group (8-10 people) will help moderate this space, beginning with an incubation advisory group that represents each region.
  • The purpose of this group is:
    • The Diversity & Inclusion Group for Networking and Action (DIGNA) brings together change-makers and thought leaders passionate about strengthening an inclusive and diverse civil society – including CIVICUS members, civil society organisations, groups, and activists, and their allies. This working group seeks to understand, conceptualise and identify innovative practices on what diversity and inclusion (D&I) can look like within different thematic areas and operating models.
    • The group is a safe space where members can support each other to improve organisational structure and processes, ways of working and impact with a focus on D&I. Regardless of our fight against all the backlash and consequences of inequality and segregation, we will shine a spotlight and learn from positive examples and benchmarks from around the globe. This group encourages discussion and debate on D&I issues, is a space for sharing positive experiences and practices, resources and tools, and lessons learned, and offers a channel to request for help, support and collaboration, and post potential opportunities.
  • The group was launched in July 2019 and has already now amassed almost 1000 members interested in making civil society a more diverse and inclusive place.
  • In September 2019 the Incubation Advisory group met in Tbilisi, Georgia to analyze how the group was being received and how to plan activities accordingly.

  September 2019 Launching the D&I Pilot Programme
  In September the Diversity and Inclusion Pilot Programme was launched as 8 member organisations were selected through an open call to enter into a 9 month programme designed to help increase the organisations’ commitment to Diversity and Inclusion. Each organisation went through a stocktaking audit exercise where external consultants spent time in the organisation and provided recommendations on how to improve policies in place, create new policies, and how to address workplace culture to ensure diversity and inclusion are championed principles on all levels of the organisation. The pilot organisations have been working on action plans on how to address the recommendations and had a meeting in December 2019 in Manila, the Philippines with each other to share and learn from each other’s experiences.

  November 2019
  CIVICUS organized a training on Feminist Leadership for its AGNA members facilitated by a member of the DIGNA Advisory Group. This training unpacked concepts such as power, intersectional feminism, leadership and systems of oppression such as capitalism, colonialism and patriarchy. Through the understanding of traditional leadership, participants were able to identify how traditional power structures lead to exclusion and harmful cultural practices. Participants were able to identify areas within their organisation that could benefit from a Feminist Leadership approach that focused more on values and principles.

  2020 and onwards!
  There is so much coming up from the CIVICUS alliance surrounding diversity and inclusion that is to be excited about! Keep an eye out for engagement opportunities and reach out to with any questions or inquiries.

  Read part one of the Diversity and Inclusion journey here. 
  
  [Image Iain Merchant]

• The coup in Myanmar spurred me to action

   Supyae Yadanar, Dublin, Ireland 

  Supyae Yadanar was born and raised in Yangon and is currently studying medicine at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. She is Advocacy Co-Lead ofGlobal Movement for Myanmar Democracy (GM4DM), an international coalition of grassroots organisations and individuals working to support Myanmar’s democracy. 

  ---

  This is her story:

  “Myanmar is and will always be my home, the streets of Yangon are where I grew up, and my heart is and will always belong to Myanmar.

  Watching my countrymen, my chosen family - for our shared love for our country and our revolutionary spirits make our bonds as strong as a blood bond - get shot at, get brutalised, at the hands of the Myanmar military, evokes the strongest sense of fury and determination. Although I may not be in the country to fight together on the ground with my fellow protesters, it is within my power and ability to carry on the resistance from miles away.

  From the 1st of February, I started articulating my feelings about the coup into prose and poetry, which was widely read and shared by Burmese diaspora and Burmese people residing within Myanmar; I also read out my poetry on virtual demonstrations of defiance as my prose has themes of defiance and the revolution running throughout, which is what resonates with people, the will that we must succeed.

  As soon as the news of the coup broke, I quickly put together an advocacy plan within Trinity College and Ireland, with a group of college students, writing to our Members of Parliament, the Foreign Minister, and appealing to the general public with petitions to gain support to get Ireland to take a stronger stance against the Myanmar military.  

  

   Within Ireland, I have written an article on Myanmar which gained traction within Trinity; I went on podcasts, I gave talks and spoke on panels about Myanmar, organised by the University Philosophical Society, the world’s oldest and largest student society, advocacy efforts with the aim to let as many people know about the situation, that no matter how much the military tries to silence the people of Myanmar by cutting off their Internet, our voices will still ring true and ring loud, amplified by diaspora abroad. 

  I also attended a physical protest in Ireland as well as a global virtual protest on March 27th, Revolution Day, to protest against the military, to show that the Resistance transcends oceans and borders.

  Admittedly, I have not been a strong advocate until the coup in Myanmar despite my enormous interest in activism and social issues. However, the coup in Myanmar spurred me to action as I know I have a responsibility to my people and my country to stand up for them in another country. 

  Additionally, my passion for fighting for women’s rights and LGBTQI+ rights was made stronger by the Htamein (Sarong) Revolution in Myanmar on International Women’s Day, when people brandished flags of sarongs to rebel against the patriarchy, and more, and I am certain when the revolution falls, I and the rest of the activists will continue on our advocacy efforts until society as a whole is just and inclusive, and leaves no one behind.  

  I urge you to keep reading about Myanmar, and if you are financially capable, donate to fundraisers set up that provide medical aid to people in Myanmar or to support the Civil Disobedience Movement. Ultimately, it is within our duty to speak up for people who are not able to, we owe it to ourselves and to them to use the freedom we have, the freedom to speak up without fear of repercussion."

  ---

   

  Photo captions: Supyae Yadanar; Supyae protesting outside the General Post Office, Dublin. (Copyright: Supyae Yadanar.)

• The coup is a catastrophe for our motherland

  Thant Tun, Manchester, United Kingdom 

  Thant Tun has been involved in the struggle for democracy in Myanmar since birth. She grew up in the compound of Rangoon University, where her mother was a librarian, and witnessed the arrest of many students during the U Thant uprising in 1974. In 1988 she became involved in the ‘8888’ student revolution and was forced to leave Burma the following year. Her late uncle was a political activist and journalist who wrote a book on federal democracy, he died at age 93 and was arrested many times in his life for speaking out for democracy.
  Thant works as a NHS nurse clinician but spends her spare time fighting for democracy in Myanmar. She supported the Saffron Revolution in 2007; during the recent unrest her god-daughter, Khin Nyein Thu, was arbitrarily detained in Yangon on 17th April by the military and later tortured. There is no news of her release.

  ---

  This is Thant’s story:

  “First we became aware of my god-daughter’s unlawful arrest on the evening of 17th April, after that the state media run by the military junta released pictures of her and other youths, showing they had been beaten ruthlessly - she had facial injuries consistent with fractures, her face was not recognisable, which was very distressing for family and friends. 

  This needs to stop. I would like to make the international community aware that these types of human rights violations and atrocities affect many in Myanmar, people who are arbitrarily detained have no access to medicine or legal assistance. 

  It was a huge blow to hear about the Myanmar military staged coup on 1st February; it was about 22:45 hour GMT time and a friend from Myanmar sent a message - I was shocked and saddened. All the freedom that we have fought for, our hopes and dreams are destroyed. 

  After three decades of fighting for democracy we felt that we finally got some freedom under the civilian government - the country has developed so much and young people are far more educated than before. The coup was a catastrophe for our motherland. 

  Our family has always believed in the voice of people and against the junta, so I started working with a few friends to speak out for Myanmar. We wrote to our MPs and to the foreign minister urging them to condemn the military coup and demand the release of political prisoners; we called on the British government to impose targeted sanctions on companies owned by the Myanmar military and their associates. 

  We also called on the U.K. government to build a global coalition of countries imposing arms embargoes on Myanmar, and asked the government to join the genocide case at the International Court of Justice and to publicly support the referral of the Myanmar situation to the International Court of Justice.

  We also raise funds to support people of Myanmar for their food, shelter and basic commodities.

  The international community must act soon to stop the human rights abuse and torture of innocent civilians.”

  ---

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

• The humanising power of art in virtual events

  By Bistra Kumbaroska

  “...Do whatever it takes to fuel the fire, fuel the fight
  Take a knee, march for your lives…
  They will give us hashtags and petitions
  We will rewrite the narrative, we will be the revolutionaries...”

  -Tarryn Booysen, South Africa

   

  In May, we hosted a webinar that opened up our eyes about how powerful art could be to deepen connection in online events. During the event, “Why Positive Narratives are Critical to People Power” organised with Innovation for Change, participants joined different breakout rooms and one was hosted byArtLords, an Afghanistan-based grassroots movement that shared how they promote social transformation through wall murals and art. The interest and engagement in that breakout room were outstanding! Participants could not get enough of the murals and community building activities presented by ArtLords. They also shared their own passion and similar projects using art for change in their countries.

  At that moment, we were a couple of months into the pandemic and most online event organisers had noticed that people were experiencing online fatigue and low energy, were bored of stiff webinar formats and uninspiring content and needed more human connection. Planning for our next event, we knew that we needed to go beyond the panel format. Inspired by the wonderful experience with ArtLords, we decided to dedicate our next webinar completely to art.

  Our colleagues at DIGNA, the Diversity & Inclusion Group for Networking and Action, co-organised and co-hosted that webinar with us. They came up with a brilliant concept that resulted in the most unusual, vibrant and human event of our ICSW/virtual series: a live art showcase under the title Artivism for Inclusion (artivism is the intersection between art and activism).

  The DIGNA team opened a call for art submissions and received a vast number of submissions from artivists all around the world. Ten artivists were chosen to present their work or perform during the live show. The group was a mix of talented poets, writers, musicians, muralists and collage artists who are activists in areas like feminism, land rights, human rights, youth activism, anti-racism and LGBTI rights, among others.

  The Artivism for Inclusion showcase went live on July 1st, 2020. The artivists delivered the most powerful, vulnerable, honest and courageous performances and interventions to present their work and share the stories behind it. From the first presentation and until the last one, attendees flooded the chatbox with admiration and thank you messages.

  On top of the performances, DIGNA members hosted follow-up breakout rooms where the artists and the show attendees, also from diverse backgrounds and locations, engaged in inspiring conversations about art, activism, change and life in general. It was great to see attendees open up to share and express themselves. It felt like everyone had something to say and this was the exact place where they wanted to say it.

  “Art connects straight to the heart and makes everyone feel like home. Everyone who performed was pure joy and love. I saw so much strength in each one of them. I was so happy to be part of it!,” wrote one participant. Another person said that the session felt like “nurturing radical kindness.”

  Thanks to the power of art, this event allowed us to experience kindness, unity, togetherness, self-exploration and creativity, things that are especially cherished in these difficult times. It allowed us to simply be human together.

  The showcase recording is available on our Youtube channel. Additionally, DIGNA published a collection of the work presented that day, and curated a truly unique online gallery including submissions from other artivists who were not featured on the online event. The response from our community to this event and publications has been so positive that we plan to feature the art gallery in future local or regional ICSW events in 2021, and we definitely will continue to include art in our events, either virtual or face-to-face.

• The Power of Art in Activism

  By Mohammad Issa, Yes Theatre, Palestine, CIVICUS Voting Organisation Member

  Some people say that our world is a mess right now. Others predict that it could be worse. This depends on who you are and what it is your vision for the future.

  In the light of the ever-growing list of challenges, the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) 2019 taken place in Belgrade - the Capital of Serbia. CIVICUS and other partners have mobilized a group of 900 activists to address the shrinking space for civil society.

  I had the pleasure to represent my country (Palestine) and contribute effectively to this global debate. The shrinking space is not only connected with civil society in Palestine. It is more connected with the space that people use to live in. I was not really interested to share with ICSW participants stories about my country.

  I was there to convince activists that art is a part of the fabric of our societies. It is a tool that could be used by anyone to convey strong messages and resonate with large audiences. It is the context that makes our work more creative and understandable by others, especially the people with fewer opportunities.

  In our world today, we have a lot of things that connect us. Art is one of the main methods that make us inter-connected. This interconnection was very clear in the workshop that I delivered: “DramaNass” was a professional journey to accompany activists while they were discovering a new theatre methodology called Youth-Quake. This methodology is unique in that it gathered the energy and commitment of 14 activists to foster new dialogue necessary to encourage people to take an active role in order to work together and address the shrinking of civil society.

  Participant activists went through a simulated exercise that use drama exercises, music, painting and theatre in a creative way to activate people and mobilize resources in oppressed contexts. The main slogan of this process is: “Art is everywhere in our daily life. Art connects us to others. It is the best way to support people in raising up their voices and achieve the social change that they are looking for”.

  The workshop participants came from different countries. They had different academic and professional backgrounds but they were unified thanks to the power of art. Art was able to unify them and gather them to achieve one vision and same goals.

• The power of togetherness: standing against the shrinking space for action

  By Laura Brown, Movement and Network Capacity Manager at Womankind Worldwide

  Last week I attended the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) conference in Belgrade hosted by CIVICUS. The conference was an opportunity for civil society organisations to discuss and generate solutions to the most pressing challenges affecting their ability to realise their human rights, sustain democratic values and achieve lasting impact.

• The quest for resilience

  By  Patricia Deniz, Senior Research and Development Officer CIVICUS 

  Civil society, more than ever, is in dire need to reinvent itself, at least figure out how to be flexible, adaptable and resurgent in an ever-changing, uncertain and increasingly restrictive environment. Sustaining the status quo or surviving a crisis are no longer sufficient in contexts in which change happens unpredictably and drastically, requiring innovative responses to old problematics and new complex challenges. Instead, civil society aspires to becoming resilient, a term well known in the environmental and humanitarian spheres that is yet to be further analysed and explored in the CSO world.   

• The relationship between civic space restrictions and soaring inequality needs our urgent attention

  

  Message from Lysa John, CIVICUS Secretary-General

  In May this year, we published the 10th edition of the annual State of Civil Society report. In addition to providing an overview of trends that have inspired civic action in the last decade, the report is full of examples of how, in country after country, public outrage has been provoked by deliberate policy choices made by governments. Such choices that have generated upheaval when seen as deliberately benefitting a small group of elite while blatantly ignoring or undermining the rights and needs of populations who already live in a state of deprivation and despair. If the financial crisis of the last decade signaled a broken economic system, then the profiteering from the ongoing pandemic and the disproportionately negative impacts felt by the excluded have proven that the present system is not merely broken but deliberately malevolent. 

  Across regions, protests have been spurred by indications that the pandemic is being used as a pretext to increase the economic hardship of ordinary people while creating obscene profits for politicians and private businesses. Oxfam has notably pointed out that the world’s ten richest men have seen their combined wealth increase by half a trillion dollars since the pandemic began. This amount could not only pay for universal coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine but also underwrite social protection policies to help ensure that no one is pushed into poverty by the pandemic.

  Massive mobilisations, including in India and Iraq, have cropped up in response to government policies threatening to increase burdens on already overburdened populations. The brutality with which some governments have responded to protests by those seeking better labour rights and enhanced access to public services highlight the perverse nexus between the super-rich and the politically powerful in continent after continent, raising critical questions about the role played by vested interests in diluting mechanisms for democratic oversight on economic and political processes.

  In several instances, public and civil society action led to course corrections. In Guatemala and Costa Rica, governments were forced to reverse austerity measures that were agreed as part of pandemic recovery packages with international financial institutions. In Indonesia, proposals to undermine environmental rights without adequate public scrutiny have been questioned. In Tunisia, mobilisations demanding economic safeguards for livelihoods threatened by the pandemic have been spearheaded by women and young people. While #BlackLivesMatter protests across the world forced public and private institutions to take a hard look at their own role in perpetuating systemic injustice, movements such as End SARS in Nigeria and #ZimbabeweanLivesMatter drew further attention to the misuse of state machinery to intimidate publics and restrict civic action. 

  If localised governance failures were a key provocation for public anger in 2020, then the inability to equitably resource and distribute the coronavirus vaccine may well be the trigger for long-lasting disenchantment with global governance and multilateral institutions. The Decade of Action promised by the 2030 Agenda is rapidly turning into a decade of impatience. As leaders and institutions patently look the other way, millions around the globe are discovering that people power is their only option.

  In Solidarity, 
  Lysa John

• The world has changed; why haven’t we?

  French | Spanish

  

  The world has changed dramatically since the turn of the century.  Selfies, smart phones, and instant communication are the norm across much of the world. Our lives are on the cloud and our offices are virtual. We're connecting across borders like never before.

  We’re being confronted by our failures, such as the increasing number of scary weather events caused by global warming, along with deepening divides between the rich and those living in poverty. But we are also seeing people fighting back in new and creative ways, from the #MeToo movement in the United States to #FeesMustFall in South Africa. Innovative tools have made it easier than ever before for people to come together and take collective action, injecting new ideas, formations and energy into civil society.

  For the past 25 years, CIVICUS has had a consistent mission, namely “to strengthen citizen action and civil society”. Yet, over the years, CIVICUS has worked mainly on the conditions for and effectiveness of civil society organisations, rather than the broader spectrum of citizen participation and action.

• There are no words left to describe the brutality of the Burmese military

  Myra Dahgaypaw, Washington D.C., United States of America

  Myra Dahgaypaw is the director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, an organisation that works to raise awareness on the human rights violations and mass atrocities against ethnic and religious minorities committed by the Burmese military. She is from the Karen community, a persecuted group living in eastern Burma, and has first-hand experience of the violations committed by the military junta. 

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  This is her story:

  “Talking about what happened to my family still brings about a lot of painful memories.

  The Burmese military troops came to my village, burnt my house down to the ground, and forced my family, those in the village, and myself to flee in the middle of the night. I experienced airstrikes like those in Kachin state now. I remember my school was surrounded by trenches so that we could jump into them as soon as we heard the fighter jets. I saw many people killed, including my own classmates. 

  Fearing for my life, I fled with just my clothes on my back, similar to what many Karen are experiencing right now. When I was a child, I was not allowed to cry when I was too tired to walk among the adults, in fear of alerting the Burmese military of our location. I had to sleep under a plastic tarp that wasn’t big enough to cover my little body. My family and I had very little food to survive on and more often than not, we did not eat. Because I was the youngest, I was the only one who got to eat a small amount per day - a fist of rice. 

  My youngest aunt was gang-raped by the Burmese troops.  She was then dragged away and taken to another city. During interrogation, she was hung upside down by her feet while troops dotted her skin with cigarette burns until she gave the answers they wanted. It took our family over a decade to find her again. 

  Her husband, my uncle, was arbitrarily detained. While detained he was brutally tortured during interrogation. The Burmese military sliced his skin into strips and rubbed with salt so he would painfully bleed out. When they came across a stream, the troops did a form of waterboarding, partially drowning my uncle to obtain answers they wanted during his confusion. When they were done, the troops stabbed him and left him bleeding to death. 

  It was a living nightmare until I became a refugee in Thailand.

  What's happening in Burma now is not far off from the Burma I knew from when I was a child - there are still terrible human rights violations and mass atrocities taking place, with some crimes amounting to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The situation is beyond what I can express - there are no words left to describe the brutality of the Burmese military junta. 

  Our team, along with many other activists in Burma and across the world, are trying to amplify the voices of those on the ground. We protest at the Burmese military attaché office, Chinese, Russian and other embassies, particularly ones who support the Burmese military by selling deadly weaponry or training the Burma army. 

  We also petition our government officials and send out letters with important and relevant recommendations with the hope that Congress will help us bring change to Burma. Besides this, we also have supporters who use social media channels to help share information about the current situation in Burma while calling on their Senators and Representatives to help raise concerns in Congressional meetings. 

  The attitudes of perseverance, resilience, and courage of those on the ground are my inspiration. Internally displaced people, refugees and now the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) protesters must live among guns and bullets as a constant threat on their lives, and yet they are smart in finding ways to survive these unspeakable hardships. They are the ones who have to live in fear of what will happen to them tomorrow, but live with a dignity and appreciation that is very much inspiring.

  Friends and colleagues around the world - the people of Burma are the ones who put their lives on the line to fight against the brutal Burmese military junta. They don’t have the time to figure out what their future holds. You and I have the time, and if we can spare some of our time to amplify the voices of the impacted communities in Burma, as well as educating yourself, those around you, and your government officials, this will help greatly. 

  Please keep advocating for your government officials to put their words into action - condemnations don’t mean anything to the junta. We need tangible action. Your petitions, letters, phone calls, emails, and information sharing on your respective social outlets will make a difference. 

  All in all, now more than ever, Burma needs you. I need your help to join me in this fight against the Burmese military regime. Let’s say ‘NEVER AGAIN’ to the Burmese military junta once and for all.”

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  Photo captions: Myra Dahgaypaw; Myra on left, organising a multi-ethnic rally in front of the Burmese military attaché office. (Copyright: Myra Dahgaypaw.)