Johannesburg, South Africa
- Civil society organisations come together on 29 January 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa to launch a new initiative to anticipate and react to changes in the enabling environment - an environment where civil society can thrive, express itself freely and actively engage in shaping its context.
- The initiative named the European Union System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (EU SEE) is led and implemented by civil society in 86 countries.
- In South Africa, the Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA) will lead the implementation for the next five years.
- EU SEE seeks to anticipate and address threats and opportunities, providing timely information to facilitate advocacy actions and financial support mechanisms to civil society.
The European Union System for an Enabling Environment for Civil Society (EU SEE) is launching on January 29, 2025 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The initiative, which will be implemented by civil society in 86 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, implements and maintains an early warning and monitoring mechanism to document changes and shed light on critical trends in the enabling environment for civil society. It will provide a clear understanding of the conditions necessary for civil society to thrive, which is important for maintaining social stability, trust, and supporting collective action to address shared challenges.
A Platform for Action: The EU SEE Digital Hub
At the heart of this initiative is the EU SEE Digital Hub, an interactive early warning and monitoring system that will document real-time shifts - deteriorations or improvements - in the enabling environment for civil society across 86 countries. This hub will provide data and analysis on:
- Key legislative changes affecting civil society
- New threats, attacks, or restrictions on civic actors
- Trends and opportunities for civil society strengthening
- Best practices in advocacy and resilience-building
Flexible Support to Civil Society
In countries where participating monitors issue alerts on restrictive actions, EU SEE will use its Flexible Support Mechanism (FSM) to provide funding to civil society organisations to mount campaigns or strengthen their internal systems to withstand threats to their operations.
“The implementation of the EU SEE in 86 countries including South Africa will provide valuable insights on the state of the enabling environment for civil society and prompt advocacy actions and financial support mechanisms that address restrictions, opportunities and capacity gaps.” Corlett Letlojane, Executive Director of the Human Rights Institute for South Africa.
The EU SEE began its work in 2024 as a response to the ever-increasing restrictions on civic freedoms and the enabling environment. Across the world, in both authoritarian states and established democracies, citizens engaged in policy, advocacy, and community work frequently face diverse restrictions on their rights to form associations and organise or are prevented from freely expressing their views.
Through this initiative, concerted advocacy actions at national, regional and international level will mobilise support for civil society actors in their efforts to address challenges to the enabling environment and to promote conditions that allow civil society to thrive.
A Global Coalition
EU SEE has been co-designed with the broad participation of partner civil society organisations and aims to reach diverse groups such as those outside of capital cities and those representing marginalised communities including civil society organisations headed by women, youth, and other vulnerable groups at the grassroots.
The launch in Johannesburg will bring together representatives of civil society organisations and grassroots communities in all nine provinces in South Africa, civil society formations from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa and the Pacific.
At the global level, EU SEE is coordinated by a diverse consortium of organisations with extensive expertise in monitoring, protecting, and strengthening civic space with members in over 190 countries. The initiative is implemented by: CIVICUS, Democracy Reporting International, European Partnership for Democracy, Forus, Hivos, Transparency International, Oxfam Novib, Protection International, and Urgent Action Fund – Latin America and the Caribbean (UAF-LAC).
For more information, please contact: Hivos - Tanja Brok, Communication Coordinator, , +31643972208
