Opinions & Features

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Internet shutdowns: the “new normal” in government repression?

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By David Kode The Ethiopian government is among at least 30 administrations that have disrupted or shut down domestic internet access in the past two years, in order to restrict communications related to dissent, citizen action or politically sensitive events.
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What future for civil society in Zimbabwe?

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By Teldah Mawarire and David Kode During the stand-off between the military and President Mugabe that led to his historic resignation, there was reason for hope.
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You will agree: escalating repression

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By Mandeep Tiwana Mandeep Tiwana sorts through the many cloaks of authoritarianism donned by the political class as repression becomes the rule rather than the exception.
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Civil Society Meeting Calls for Solidarity, Radical Change to Deal with Global Crises

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By Amy Taylor Our strategies have failed us.
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The struggles of Women Human Rights Defenders in Nepal

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By CIVICUS and ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION (AHRC)  Women in Nepal face many challenges due to issues of inequality and injustice in the society.
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These 6 gender activists are shaking up the world

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Space for the feminist movement is shrinking, yet these brave women and non-binary activists continue to fight for equality.
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Climate refugees need global protection – with or without the US

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By Danny Sriskandarajah The United States’ abandonment of global migration and climate change agreements in the same year could be disastrous for climate refugees.
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Why SADC must reinvent or remain irrelevant

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By Teldah Mawarire  In times of political crises, as was recently experienced in Zimbabwe, citizens expect the regional body to take a bold stance against leaders who disregard human rights and hinder the advancement of democracy.
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As NGOs speak out, expect clampdowns to grow

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By David Kode Across the globe, from East Africa to eastern Europe, there is a trend of increasing attacks on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that support reforms governments are opposed to.

Warm and cuddly global goals? The international community must get real

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By Danny Sriskandarajah Two years into their life, and amid the grim political realities of the last year, the sustainable development goals seem increasingly like warm words with little if any bite.
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How NGOs and social movements can learn to work together better

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By Danny Sriskandarajah There are no shortages of challenges facing civil society, but one that we don’t talk enough about is the relationship between the formal and informal parts of civil society.
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Are Rising Attacks On Human Rights Defenders The ‘New Normal’?

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By Mandeep Tiwana At CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance working to strengthen citizen participation, we receive bad news of attacks on compatriots every day.
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Danny Sriskandarajah: Is it the beginning of the end for the charity sector?

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UK's largest network of civil society leaders, ACEVO, spoke to Danny Sriskandarajah, Secretary General of CIVICUS, as part of its 30th birthday celebrations to get him to expand on his article for Civil Society Futures, where he asks if it is the beginning of the end for the charity sector.
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Nutrition is political and civil society needs to shape those politics

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By Danny Sriskandarajah The two major nutrition meetings - the Global Nutrition Summit in Milan and the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement global gathering in Abidjan – held this month were celebrations of the major progress made in this area in recent years, but also provided a glimpse of the challenges ahead, especially for civil society.
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Putting the Pacific on the Map

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By Danny Sriskandarajah This year, CIVICUS International Civil Society Week will take place in Fiji, and will allow civil society delegates from around the world to explore the frontlines in the global fight against climate change.
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Can INGOs push back against closing civic space? Only if they change their approach.

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By Danny Sriskandarajah Civil society is facing a sustained, multi-faceted, global onslaught.

Faces of Open Government - An interview with Danny Sriskandarajah

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In his interview with Open Government Partnership (OGP), CIVICUS Secretary General, Danny Sriskandarajah shares insights on broad trends affecting civil society globally and how CIVICUS is responding to these.

Is it the beginning of the end for the charity sector?

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By Danny Sriskandarajah For people of my generation, working for a charity was a noble and realistic goal.

Unlocking the Right Investment in the Social Sector

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Alex Sardar and Teresa Crawford  Chief Innovation Officer at CIVICUS, Alex Sardar and Teresa Crawford from the Social Sector Accelerator explore how using business intelligence tools and technologies to gather and share information on organizations applying for funding can help accelerate the practice of qualifying organizations for funding and in so doing unclogging the qualification bottleneck and increasing the number and diversity of groups who receive funding.

Could the annulment of Kenya’s election set a precedent for African civil society?

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By David Kode The ruling by Kenya’s Supreme Court strengthens the independence of the judiciary and places this institution as a key player and arbiter in future elections and on issues that affect peace and security in Kenya.
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Leaders Must Put Migration Back on Global Agenda

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By Danny Sriskandarajah There was much excitement at 2016’s special United Nations summit on migration and refugees.
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Rising Attacks on Environmental Defenders Threaten Human Rights Goals Globally

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By Inés Pousadela  “I have been told that my name is on a hit list…but I haven’t been killed yet.

The Participation Revolution

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By Danny Sriskandarajah The falling levels of public trust in public institutions we see all over the world should be a wake-up call for those of us who support open government.
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Brics: Uma proposta de nova ordem mundial que ignora os direitos básicos dos cidadãos

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Escrito por Fabio de Almeida Pinto, Coordenador Executivo do IDS, e Marianna Belalba Barreto, da CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation Entre 3 e 5 de setembro, o presidente Michel Temer estará em Xiamen, China, para a 9ª Cúpula dos Brics, onde se reunirá com os líderes de Rússia, Índia, China e África do Sul para discutir e aprofundar a cooperação em comércio internacional, desenvolvimento e segurança.
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BRICS bloc’s lofty aims lack legitimacy without civil society

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By Mandeep Tiwana and Cathal Gilbert As Xiamen prepares to host 2017 summit, the group's vision of a "just, equitable and democratic multi-polar international order" is not served well by its member states' disregard for citizens' voices.
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Hope for citizen voice, despite ‘narrowed’ civic space

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By Ine van Severen and Corlett Letlojane President Jacob Zuma heads to China this week to meet with the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China at the the 9th Brics Summit.
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Angolan elections: Different name, same game for civil society?

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By David Kode Over the last 38 years, particularly since the end of the civil war in 2002, President Dos Santos has ruled Angola through securitisation of the society, repressing all dissent and restricting freedom of expression, association and assembly.
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Squeezing civil society hurts India’s economy and democracy

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By Mandeep Tiwana India played a key moral role in international affairs during the anti-colonial struggles and as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement during the cold war.
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Harmonisation, Participation and Coherence are Key to Realising the 2030 Agenda

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By Mandeep Tiwana and Tor Hodenfield  Two challenges – overlapping reporting requirements and less than universal compliance with human rights obligations – could be addressed by involving civil society more meaningfully in substantive processes.
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From Venezuela to US: People power

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By Danny Sriskandarajah Goldman Sachs’ decision to bailout the Venezuelan government has, unsurprisingly, attracted widespread global condemnation.
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Trends and Challenges in Global Civil Society

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Bernadette Johnson interviews CIVICUS’ Secretary General Danny Sriskandarajah on broad trends affecting civil society spaces globally.
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To Achieve Ambitious Goals – We Need to Start with our Basic Rights

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By Oliver Henman and Andrew Firmin Recent protests in Ethiopia have seen people demonstrate in their thousands, angry at their authoritarian government, its favouritism towards those close to the ruling elite, and its failure to share the country’s wealth more equally.
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It's time for G20 leaders to embrace civil society

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By Cathal Gilbert  There is a growing list of critical problems in the G20's inbox, namely a faltering global economy, terrorist threats in a majority of G20 member states, and a patched-up climate change agreement.
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Attacks On Citizen Rights In SA: Five Trends And Countrywide Threats

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By Kgalalelo Gaebee  From the large city centres to the rural townships, South Africans are witnessing a nationwide crackdown on their civic rights.
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CIVICUS Monitor: a new effort to study civic space

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After two years of deep thinking and hard work, the global civil society alliance CIVICUS has launched the beta version of the CIVICUS Monitor – the first ever online tool specifically designed to track and rate respect for civic space, in as close to real-time as possible.
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Big business and activists finally agree. On this one issue

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By Danny Sriskandarajah With some of the world’s biggest economies now companies, not states, the benefits for civil society of working more closely with business are clear.

A quest to find our generation’s mission

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Based in Johannesburg since 2002, CIVICUS: World Alliance is commemorating Youth Day in South Africa by initiating a conversation to find this generation of young people’s mission and empower youth to organise, mobilise and take action throughout the world to better our communities.
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We Know We Can’t Do It Alone, But How Can We Work Together?

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By Amy Taylor We’re living through a crisis of democracy where progressive internationalism is under attack.
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Promoting prosperity means starting with the basics

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By Danny Sriskandarajah Emerging challenges such as the impending rise of automation calls for new and innovative solutions.

Activism and the state: How African civil society responds to repression

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By David Kode and Mouna Ben Garga In most African countries, freedom of expression, assembly and association are stifled by state and non-state actors through the use of restrictive legislation, policies, and judicial persecution as well as physical attacks, threats and detention of activists and journalists.
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A Free and Diverse Media is Essential to Protecting Democracy in the 21st Century

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By Danny Sriskandarajah Images of protestors flooding the streets – whether in Caracas, Bucharest, Istanbul or Washington DC – send a powerful message to those in power, especially when they are plastered across newspaper front pages.
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Togetherness Against the Riptide of Restrictions

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By Ellie Stephens and Katie Mattern We’ve all heard it repeated multiple times in our lives:  we all work better together.
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Journalists on the front lines of global assault

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By Cathal Gilbert, David Kode and Teldah Mawarire With reporters under attack the world over, it is imperative that citizens rally to protect press freedom.
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How do we make sure older people aren’t left behind?

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People around the world are living longer.
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The CIVICUS Monitor – global data provides picture of a global crackdown

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By Cathal Gilbert, Dom Perera and Marianna Belalba Today we launch ratings for all UN Member States on the CIVICUS Monitor – the first ever online tool specifically designed to track and rate respect for civic space, in as close to real time as possible.
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Democracy campaigner: governments are scared of the participation revolution

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Closing space for civil society is undermining the ability of citizens to organise and mobilise.
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How to Undermine Democracy – Curtail Civil Society Rights

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By Cathal Gilbert, Dom Perera, and Marianna Belalba Recent elections and referendums in a growing number of countries from Turkey to the USA and beyond are producing leaders and policies, which directly threaten some of the core principles of democracy.
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Backsliding on civic space in democracies

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By Mandeep Tiwana It’s no secret that democracy is facing a global stress test.
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Can Democracy Stand Up to the Cult of the Strongman Leader?

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By Mandeep Tiwana and Andrew Firmin Donald Trump’s presidency, recent protests in Russia and South Africa and the referendum to consolidate presidential power in Turkey have reignited debate about an emerging form of macho conservative politics called ‘Putinism’.

Gender and inclusion in civic space

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Just after International Women’s Day this year, Amal Clooney, accomplished international human rights lawyer, addressed the UN.

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