Opinions & Features

Kenya’s Protests: More than a Question of Tax

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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The UK’s Chance for Change

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report The political tide has turned in the UK – and civil society will be hoping for an end to government hostility.
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HLPF 2024: Protecting Civic Space Critical for SDGs Success

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, CIVICUS UN Advisor at UN Hub in New York City.

UAE Complicit in Sudan Slaughter

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Myanmar: International Action Urgently Needed

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin,  CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report Myanmar’s army, at war with pro-democracy forces and ethnic militias, must know it’s nowhere near victory.
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Thailand’s LGBTQI+ Rights Breakthrough

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report At the height of 2024 Pride season, decades of civil society campaigning came to fruition in Thailand.
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Haiti: Transitional Administration Faces Stern Test

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report There’s been recent change in violence-torn Haiti – but whether much-needed progress results remains to be seen.
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India’s Election: Cracks Start to Show in Authoritarian Rule

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Panama’s Elections: Has Impunity Prevailed?

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela Regional experts called it Panama’s most important election since the 1989 US invasion that deposed de facto president General Manuel Noriega.
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EU’S ‘Foreign agent law’ is misguided

Opinions & Features
By Tara Petrovic, leads research on Europe and Central Asia for the CIVICUS Monitor.
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South Africa’s post-apartheid democracy is sustained by protest

Opinions & Features
By Safia Khan and Tarryn Booysen  On April 27, South Africa marks the 30th anniversary of the end of apartheid, when we, South Africans, finally won the fight for all to be recognised as equal citizens.

The Climate Alarm Is Ringing – It’s Time to Stop Silencing It

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin The heat records keep tumbling – 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history.
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Fixing the rules-based order: Start with the UN

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Officer - Evidence and Engagement at CIVICUS U.
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The criminalisation of climate activists must stop now

Opinions & Features
Andrew Firmin is the co-author of the State of Civil Society report and Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS, where he leads research into climate activism around the world.

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

Opinions & Features
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.
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2024: A Big Year for Women and Democracy

Opinions & Features
By Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS  The year 2024 is a bumper election year.
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International Women’s Day, 2024 Progress Hinges on Feminist Leadership

Opinions & Features
By Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS Investing in inclusion requires more than electing and initiating women leaders.
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Greece: Another First for LGBTQI+ Rights

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report After almost two decades of civil society campaigning, Greece’s parliament has passed a law enabling same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.
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Russia: Moments of Dissent after Two Years of War

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine marked its second anniversary on 24 February.
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Pakistan’s Election Outcomes Leave Many Unhappy

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report Pakistan’s 8 February election has resulted in an uneasy compromise that few wanted or expected.

“Imagine if the Haitian revolutionaries had to write a proposal?”: Reflections from the Shift the Power Summit

Opinions & Features
By Taís Siqueira, Local Leadership lab Coordinator This quote represents what Shift the Power Summit was to me, a space to hear uncomfortable truths and to collectively reimagine solutions.
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Civil Society Trends for 2025: Nine Global Challenges, One Reason for Hope

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin and Inés Pousadela It’s been a tumultuous year, and a tough one for struggles for human rights.

CIVICUS at Festival de Datos: Advancing action on inclusive, timely, and accountable data processes

Opinions & Features
Julieta Zurbrigg, Civic Space Research Advisor Faith Pienaar, Impact and Accountability Officer In the dynamic realm of data innovation, global challenges call for timely and impactful solutions.
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Bangladesh: Election with a Foregone Conclusion

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin,  CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Sudan’s Conflict Needs Civil Society Solutions

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin,  CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Netherlands Latest Country to Tilt to the Right

Opinions & Features
By Andew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Mauritius' court ruling shows southern Africa leads the way in LGBTQIA+ rights in Africa

Opinions & Features
By Sylvia Mbataru and Mawethu Nkosana The Mauritius decision is part of a wider trend of Southern African courts protecting LGBTQIA+ rights following sustained strategic litigation and advocacy by activists and civil society organisations.
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Gaza: Immediate ceasefire needed

Opinions & Features
Long-term solutions must also be advanced to respect human rights By CIVICUS Staff An immediate ceasefire is needed to stop the slaughter of civilians in Gaza and enable full humanitarian access to supply the essentials a besieged population needs and is currently being denied.
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UN's impact is hamstrung by scant civil society participation

Opinions & Features
Mandeep Tiwana, chief officer for evidence and engagement at CIVICUS and Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS Let’s not beat around the bush: this year’s United Nations General Assembly was a letdown.
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The UN’s Own Relevance Is at Stake at This Year’s General Assembly

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Officer for evidence and engagement + representative to the UN headquarters at CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance This September, world leaders and public policy advocates from around the world will descend on New York for the UN General Assembly.
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The Civic Space Crisis in Africa and How Civil Society Responds

Opinions & Features
Introduction The state of civic space globally and the environment for civil society continues to deteriorate.
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Cloud Lingers over Sierra Leone’s Election

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Guatemala Clings to Democratic Promise

Opinions & Features
by Inés M.
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MYANMAR: MILITARY JUNTA GETS A FREE PASS

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Climate Change Gets Its Day in Court

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.
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Thailand: Time for Democracy

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Chile: New Constitution in the Hands of the Far Right

Opinions & Features
By Inés Pousadela, Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Civil society in a world of crisis: An overview of the 2023 State of Civil Society Report

Opinions & Features
Mandeep S.
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Agenda 2030: Why civic participation is key to meeting UN sustainability targets

Opinions & Features
Mandeep S.
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Uzbekistan: A President for Life?

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin Where will you be in 2040? For Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the answer is: in the Kuksaroy Presidential Palace.

Localisation: A Paradigm Shift Towards Local Leadership in the Global South

Opinions & Features
By Deborah Mowesley, Innovation For Change InternIn recent years, words like “localisation” and “locally-led” have garnered significant attention.
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Fiji: Deeper Democracy or Continuing Danger?

Opinions & Features
 It’s been a time of significant change in Fiji following the country’s December 2022 election.
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Global solidarity needed to address Taliban’s attacks on women’s rights

Opinions & Features
By David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead at CIVICUS  Matiullah Wesa’s crime was to try to ensure young people got an education in Afghanistan.
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Cuba: elections without choices

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist The uncertainty that’s the hallmark of a democratic election was absent on 26 March, the day Cubans were summoned to appoint members of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the country’s legislative body.

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

Opinions & Features
By Deborah Mowesley, Innovation For Change InternAs 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.
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Civil Society a Vital Force for Change Against the Odds

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin and Inés M.
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Georgia: danger averted, for now

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Civic space – the bedrock of democracy – is scarce and contested

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief of Programmes, CIVICUS On 29 and 30 March, the US government, in partnership with Costa Rica, Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia, will co-host the second virtual Summit for Democracy.
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Tunisia’s nascent democracy is fast eroding

Opinions & Features
By David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead at CIVICUS In the space of less than three weeks, Tunisian President Kais Saied has rounded up and arrested at least thirteen people from different walks of life who share one thing in common: they have all publicly criticized the consolidation of power by the president.
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Year in review – Protesters take to the streets across Africa in 2022 despite restrictions

Opinions & Features
By Ine Van Severen, Civic Space Researcher at CIVICUS Over the past year, protests have been recorded in more than 30 countries across the continent, finds a new global report by the Civicus Monitor.

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