Interviews

Featured

UNITED STATES: ‘The 2020 election is a political and moral mandate against fascism’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about voter suppression and its implications for US democracy with Yael Bromberg, Chief Counsel for Voting Rights at The Andrew Goodman Foundation, an organisation that works to make the voices of young people – one of the most underrepresented voter groups in the USA – a powerful force for democracy.
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#BEIJING25: ‘All efforts towards gender equality must be built upon intersectionality and power-shifting’

Interviews
For the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
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RUSSIA: ‘Human rights activism can be expected to increase in reaction to repression’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Leonid Drabkin, a coordinator with OVD-Info, an independent human rights civil society organisation (CSO) that documents and helps the victims of political persecution in Russia.
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UGANDA: ‘No candidate can possibly win the election without young people’s votes’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Mohammed Ndifuna, Executive Director of Justice Access Point-Uganda (JAP).
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SOUTH KOREA: ‘North Korean defectors and activists face increasing pressure to stay silent’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ethan Hee-Seok Shin, a legal analyst with the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), a Seoul-based civil society organisation (CSO) founded by human rights advocates and researchers from five countries.
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ITALY: ‘The Sardines movement is all about building self-confidence in the progressive side of politics’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Andrea Garreffa, one of the founders of the Sardines movement (Movimento delle Sardine), a grassroots political movement that began in November 2019 in Bologna, Italy, in protest against the hateful rhetoric of right-wing populist leader Matteo Salvini.
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ARGENTINA: ‘Cultural change enabled legal change, and legal change deepened cultural change’

Interviews
Ten years after the Equal Marriage Law, a milestone for Latin America, was passed in Argentina, CIVICUS speaks with LGBTQI+ leader María Rachid about the strategies that the movement used and the tactics that worked best to advance the equality agenda – tactics that may well still be relevant today.
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COVID-19: ‘This is not just a health crisis but also a justice crisis’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Abigail Moy, Director of the Legal Empowerment Network, the largest community of grassroots justice defenders in the world.
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MYANMAR: ‘Opposition parties complain that the election body censors their messaging'

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to award-winning journalist Cape Diamond about the upcoming elections in Myanmar.
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UN75: ‘Civil society needs to be the conscience of the global community’

Interviews
To mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN), CIVICUS is having conversations with civil society activists, advocates and practitioners about the roles the UN has played so far, the successes it has achieved and the challenges ahead.
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LEBANON: ‘This crisis should be handled with a feminist vision’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Lina Abou Habib, a feminist activist based in Beirut, Lebanon, about the civil society response to the emergency caused by the explosion on 4 August 2020.
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KAZAKHSTAN: ‘The quarantine became a sort of cover for the government to persecute civil society’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Asya Tulesova, an environmental and civic rights defender from Kazakhstan.
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POLAND: ‘The crisis of democracy and human rights will deepen’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Małgorzata Szuleka about Poland’s recent presidential elections, held under the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ruling party’s use of anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric to mobilise its electorate.
Featured

#UN75: ‘The COVID-19 pandemic showed that multilateral institutions are essential’

Interviews
To mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN), CIVICUS is having conversations with civil society activists, advocates and practitioners about the roles the UN has played so far, the successes it has achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

COVID-19: ‘We need a new social contract founded on rights and the principle of shared prosperity’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency measures on labour rights, and the civil society response, with Owen Tudor, Deputy General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
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SERBIA: ‘The political crisis will deepen as a large number of people lack representation’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ivana Teofilović about the causes of recent protests and the government’s reaction to them, as well as about the elections held in Serbia under the COVID-19 pandemic.
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CHILE: ‘This historic constituent moment was achieved by citizens’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Marcela Guillibrand De la Jara, Executive Director of the Chilean Volunteer Network (Red de Voluntarios de Chile) and General Coordinator of Now It’s Our Time to Participate (Ahora Nos Toca Participar).
Featured

NIGERIA: ‘The global anti-racist protests renewed the call for police accountability’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Nelson Olanipekun, a human rights lawyer and the founder and team lead of Citizens’ Gavel, a Nigerian civic tech organisation that works to increase the pace of the delivery of justice by promoting access to justice, citizens’ engagement and the use of digital technologies.
Featured

POLAND: ‘We invented new forms of protest because we had to’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Klementyna Suchanow, an activist, author and researcher based in Warsaw, Poland, about the recent announcement by the Polish government that it will begin the process to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention on Violence against Women.
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HONG KONG: ‘The National Security Law infringes on freedom of expression and is intensifying self-censorship’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Patrick Poon, an independent human rights researcher, on the human rights situation in Hong Kong after a new National Security Law (NSL) was passed in June 2020.
Featured

#BEIJING25: ‘We are outraged at discrimination and are turning our claims into action’

Interviews
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

BURUNDI: ‘The election of new leaders is not synonymous with democracy’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the recent elections in Burundi with a civil society activist who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
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SRI LANKA: ‘Media control gave the government a definite advantage’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Sandun Thudugala, Head of Programmes at the Law and Society Trust (LST), about the legislative elections held in Sri Lanka on 5 August 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Featured

COVID-19: ‘Refugees paid a heavier price during a crisis that many believed impacted on us all equally’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the situation of climate refugees and increasing challenges under the COVID-19 pandemic with Amali Tower, founder and executive director of Climate Refugees.
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: ‘We are part of a global anti-racist movement’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Elena Lorac, coordinator of Reconoci.
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COVID-19: ‘We need public policies that reduce and redistribute unpaid care work’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender inequalities and civil society responses with Gala Díaz Langou, director of the Social Protection Programme of the Center for the Implementation of Public Policies for Equity and Growth (Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento, CIPPEC).
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BOLIVIA: ‘The pandemic became a justification for tightening information control’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the Bolivian political landscape and upcoming elections in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic with Cristian León, programme director of Asuntos del Sur and coordinator of Public Innovation 360, a project focused on strengthening democracy at the subnational level which is currently being implemented in three Latin American countries.
Featured

TURKEY: ‘If we withdraw from Istanbul Convention, it means we don't believe in gender equality’

Interviews
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

MALAWI: ‘Civil society expects new gov. to place rights at the top of its agenda’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Michael Kaiyatsa, acting Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), about the recent presidential election in Malawi, which were held in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and led to a change of government.
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: ‘The times ahead may bring positive change’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the recent elections in the Dominican Republic, held in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Hamilk Chahin, coordinator of the Citizen Manifesto for Electoral Transparency, and Addys Then Marte, executive director of Alianza ONG.
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SINGAPORE: ‘Opposition parties were given unfavourable coverage by the state media and had difficulty accessing voters’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to human rights defender Jolovan Wham about the recent elections in Singapore, which were held in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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ARGENTINA: ‘We must stop attempts to go back to the injustices of the pre-pandemic era’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the COVID-19 crisis and civil society responses with Sebastián Pilo, co-director of Civil Association for Equality and Justice (Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia, ACIJ), a civil society organisation (CSO) dedicated to defending the rights of the most disadvantaged groups and strengthening democracy in Argentina.
Featured

HUNGARY: ‘Trans people are having our rights being taken away’

Interviews
  A new law in Hungary, passed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, prevents trans people from legally changing their gender.
Featured

TUNISIA: ‘The official response has failed to consider the gendered aspects of the pandemic’

Interviews
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

COSTA RICA: ‘Once legal change achieved, public policy should continue to focus on structural exclusion’

Interviews
On 26 May 2020, Costa Rica became the first country in Central America to recognise same-sex marriage.
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MEXICO: ‘Violence against women is a historical pandemic’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Wendy Figueroa, director of the Red Nacional de Refugios (National Network of Shelters), a Mexican civil society organisation (CSO) that has been active for more than 20 years.
Featured

MALAWI: ‘Girls need protection against COVID-19, and against endemic violations of their rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ephraim Chimwaza, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Concern and Development (CESOCODE), a Malawian reproductive health and women’s rights civil society organisation (CSO).
Featured

LEBANON: ‘Change begins by handing over the mic to grassroots feminist organisations’

Interviews
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

JAPAN: ‘The vulnerability of the homeless is the result of contemporary society’s built-in social exclusion’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Tsubasa Yuki of Moyai Support Centre for Independent Living about the situation of homeless people amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
Featured

ASIA: ‘Under the pandemic, racism against Indigenous peoples has intensified’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Gam Shimray, Secretary General of the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), about the situation of Indigenous groups in Asia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Featured

MALAYSIA: ‘Migrants are amongst the first to be victimised and discriminated during the pandemic’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Adrian Pereira, the Executive Director of North South Initiative (NSI), about the situation of migrant workers in Malaysia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Featured

POLAND: ‘People are more understanding and supportive of LGBTQI+ issues than politicians’

Interviews
  Following our 2019 special report on anti-rights groups and civil society responses, we are interviewing civil society activists and leaders about their experiences in facing anti-rights backlash and their strategies to strengthen progressive narratives and civil society responses.
Featured

Letter from Jail: West Papuan activists speak about their prosecution in Indonesia

Interviews
CIVICUS has received letters from Dano Anes Tabuni and Charles Kossay around their arrest and detention.
Featured

WOMEN’S RIGHTS: ‘At this pace, it will take us nearly a century to reach equality’

Interviews
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

EGYPT: ‘There's been severe deterioration in the rule of law & respect for human rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about recent protests in Egypt and their repression with a woman activist and protester who, for security reasons, asked to remain anonymous.
Featured

GHANA: ‘Work in the corner of your community has a potential to cause change at the top’

Interviews
Following a year marked by massive mobilisation on the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face in their contexts and the actions they are taking.
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ETHIOPIA: ‘For civil society, 2019 has been a new beginning’

Interviews
In 2019, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed Ali, “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
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#UN75: ‘There is often a lack of transparency on how civil society’s inputs are reflected in UN work’

Interviews
2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

COLOMBIA: ‘The protection of the environment is inseparable from the success of the peace process’

Interviews
Following a year marked by massive mobilisation on the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face in their contexts and the actions they are taking.
Featured

ARMS CONTROLS: ‘Greater women’s participation in male-dominated mechanisms would increase prospects for peace’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Aaron Lainé, Policy and Government Liaison Officer, and Raluca Muresan, Programme Manager at Control Arms, a civil society coalition that advocates for greater controls in the international arms trade to end the human suffering caused by the irresponsible arms trade, and to stop arms transfers that fuel conflict, systemic armed violence, poverty and serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

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