During the COVID-19 pandemic, civil society organisations took action as frontline responders, and as defenders of democracy, civic space and human rights. They often faced greater restrictions, sometimes under the guise of pandemic emergency response. In this episode, we hear from activists and researchers about what this all means.

Debora Leao is a civic space researcher with the CIVICUS Monitor, an online research tool tracking civic freedoms. She describes some of the trends they have seen throughout the pandemic, including the detention of protesters and the use of restrictive laws to crackdown on dissent.

We hear from a voice on the ground in Fiji with feminist and human rights defender, Roshika Deo, as she gives us a glimpse into her daily work while the country is under harsh lockdown restrictions.

Later, Slovenian youth activist and the president of trade union Mladiplus, Tea Jarc, describes how they have used creative methods of political expression despite government pushback, including playing badminton in front of parliament.

We close the show by telling you how you can get practically involved through the CIVICUS #StandAsMyWitness campaign, which has joined successful global calls for the release of 9 activists and Human Rights Defenders so far.

CIVICUS Voices is a podcast produced by CIVICUS and hosted by Aarti Narsee and Mawethu Nkosana. Our producer is Elna Schütz, and this episode’s content producers are Amal Atrakouti and Deborah Walter.

Music in this podcast is One Night In Africa by John Bartmann under CC0 1.

The Covid-19 pandemic halted a lot of activity, giving the environment a brief reprieve, but with governments opening up economies again, climate change activism is more important than ever.

We start the show by discussing these trends with Inés Pousadela, who worked on CIVICUS's recent State of Civil Society Report. She explains how activists have become creative in their methods, but many still face lethal threats in their work.

Hear what a day in their life sounds like for Perk Pomeyie, a youth environmental activist from bustling Ghana, who has mobilised young people for the Fridays for Future mobilisations.

Later we speak to Munnira Katongole, a South African environmental activist fighting for social change and climate justice. She speaks to the historical and intersectional nature of the climate justice fight, and how we are running out of time.

We close the show by telling you how you can get practically involved in your community to make a difference.

CIVICUS Voices is a podcast produced by CIVICUS and hosted by Aarti Narsee and Mawethu Nkosana. Our producer is Elna Schütz, and today’s content producers were Nina Teggarty, Safia Khan and Maame Twum Barima.

Music in this podcast is One Night In Africa by John Bartmann under CC0 1.