Interviews

UNITED STATES: ‘At a time of widespread violence and division, Pope Leo XIV is prepared to be a Pope of peace’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the election of Pope Leo XIV with Paul Elie, senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, and regular contributor to The New Yorker.

NEPAL: ‘Despite deep-rooted prejudice against Dalits, encouraging shifts are emerging among young urban people’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the challenges facing Nepal’s Dalit community with Rup Sunar, chairperson of the Dignity Initiative, a Kathmandu-based research and advocacy organisation working to dismantle caste-based discrimination.

INDONESIA: ‘Rather than strengthening democratic institutions, the government is entrenching military power’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses amendments to Indonesia’s national military law with Andrie Yunus, Deputy Coordinator for External Affairs at the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS), an organisation that advocates for human rights and the abolition of the death penalty.

UNITED STATES: ‘Our legal challenge of the funding freeze is testing the judiciary’s ability to check executive power’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Eric Bjornlund, President and CEO of Democracy International, about the impacts of the US foreign aid freeze and the resulting legal challenges the Trump administration is facing.

United Kingdom: ‘Trans rights are human rights, and those don’t stop at borders’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses a UK court ruling on gender definitions with Keyne Walker, political and strategic director at TransActual, a trans-led civil society organisation that focuses on healthcare and legal protections.
Featured

ROMANIA: ‘Our weak and corrupt institutions acted too late to address manipulation that destabilised democracy’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Romania’s presidential election with Anda Serban, Executive Director of Resource Center for Public Participation (CERE), a civil society organisation (CSO) that focuses on public participation and transparency in decision-making processes.

POLAND: ‘Despite the repeal of ‘LGBT-free zones’, LGBTQI+ people still lack basic legal protections’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses progress on LGBTQI+ rights in Poland with Annamaria Linczowska, Advocacy and Litigation Officer at Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH), a Polish LGBTQI+ rights group that works to counter violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity through political, social and legal advocacy.

UNITED STATES: ‘Trump is advancing a 21st-century US variant of fascism, backed by a white nationalist ideology’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about democratic decline in the USA with humanitarian and civil society activist Samuel Worthington, former president of the US civil society alliance InterAction and author of a new book, Prisoners of Hope: Global Action and the Evolving Roles of US NGOs.

AUSTRALIA: ‘Civil society groups play a vital role in protecting electoral integrity’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the Australian election with Saffron Zomer, Executive Director of the Australian Democracy Network, a local organisation that campaigns for a more accountable, fair, open and participatory democracy.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO: ‘Our fight for LGBTQI+ rights isn’t isolated from broader global south struggles against colonial legacies’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Trinidad and Tobago’s recent recriminalisation of same-sex relations with Angelique Nixon, Director of CAISO: Sex and Gender Justice, a feminist civil society organisation that promotes LGBTQI+ rights.
Featured

GREECE: ‘Without channels for constructive engagement, this crisis of legitimacy could empower far-right populist forces’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses protests in Greece with Stefanos Loukopoulos, Director of Vouliwatch, a civil society organisation that monitors parliamentary work and strengthens democratic institutions.

PERU: ‘In the name of transparency, the anti-NGO law seeks to silence civil society’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Peru’s controversial anti-NGO law with Álvaro Henzler, President of Asociación Civil Transparencia, an organisation working for quality democracy and fair political representation.

UNITED KINGDOM: ‘It takes non-violent, disruptive actions to make our government pay attention’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with members of Youth Demand about a recent police raid on their meeting.

CANADA: ‘We help combat disinformation aimed at eroding trust in democratic institutions’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Canada’s 28 April election with Beatrice Wayne, Director of Research and Policy at the Samara Centre for Democracy, a non-partisan civil society organisation (CSO) dedicated to strengthening Canadian democracy.

TURKEY: ‘If civil society doesn’t speak now, we risk having nothing left to defend in just a couple of years’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Turkey’s ongoing protests with Rümeysa Çamdereli, Research Director of the YADA foundation, a civil society organisation (CSO) that works to strengthen civil society’s impact.
Featured

PAKISTAN: ‘Protecting Afghan refugees is not merely a humanitarian gesture – it is a legal obligation’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with human rights lawyer Moniza Kakar about Pakistan’s controversial campaign to expel Afghan refugees.
Featured

ECUADOR: ‘Noboa did not receive a blank cheque: he will have to show tangible results’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Ecuador’s presidential election with Jorge Tapia de los Reyes, Coordinator of the Democracy and Politics Department and the Political Funding Observatory of the Citizenship and Development Foundation (FCD).
Featured

SOUTH SUDAN: ‘The risk of a return to full-scale war is very high – it’s only a matter of time’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about an escalating crisis in South Sudan with Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) South Sudan.
Featured

SOUTH AFRICA: ‘The recent attacks on activists echo apartheid-era repression, although this is supposedly a democracy’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the dangers facing civil society activists and whistleblowers in South Africa with Corlett Letlojane.
Featured

UKRAINE: ‘The international response should follow the principle of ‘nothing about us, without us’’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ukrainian gender rights activist Maryna Rudenko about the gendered impacts of the war in Ukraine and the importance of including women in peacebuilding efforts.
Featured

FRANCE: ‘As civil society, we must mobilise our forces to defend the democratic principles of our country’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses recent changes in the French political landscape with Valentin Stel, Co-Director of SOS Racisme, a civil society organisation that has been working for 40 years to improve public policy and tackle racism, antisemitism and racial discrimination in France.
Featured

NORTH MACEDONIA: ‘Protesters are calling for immediate justice and long-term reforms’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses recent protests in North Macedonia with Borjan Eftimov, a student activist from the local group YOUth Choose.
Featured

BOTSWANA: ‘Political leadership may have changed, but the state still controls the narrative and excludes civil society’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Botswana’s new government with Dumiso Gatsha, director of Success Capital, a local youth-led LGBTQI+ organisation.
Featured

USA: ‘Rebuilding trust in democracy requires reclaiming power from the few to ensure it delivers for all’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses global democratic decline with Soheïla Comninos, consultant at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and lead author alongside Scott Warren, Fellow at the Institute, of its new report, Global Democracy Theory of Change.
Featured

MEXICO: ‘The discovery of the torture centre exposed the state’s complicity with organised crime’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses enforced disappearances in Mexico with Anna Karolina Chimiak, co-director of the Justice Centre for Peace and Development (CEPAD).
Featured

TURKEY: ‘This new law will push LGBTQI+ people and communities into deeper invisibility and precarity’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Turkey’s proposed law targeting LGBTQI+ rights with an activist from Women for Women’s Human Rights Association, a civil society organisation fighting for equality and non-discrimination in Turkey.
Featured

PHILIPPINES: ‘Duterte’s arrest reinforces the principle that leaders are not above international law’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the arrest of former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte with Maria Sol Taule, deputy secretary general of the human rights organisation Karapatan.
Featured

GLOBAL: ‘Energy Transfer’s lawsuit against Greenpeace is an attempt to drain our resources and silence dissent’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Daniel Simons, Senior Legal Counsel Strategic Defence for Greenpeace International, about the lawsuit brought by an oil and gas company against Greenpeace and its broader implications for civil society.
Featured

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: The new foreign agents’ law isn’t about transparency – it’s about silencing dissent’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the foreign agents’ law recently adopted in Republika Srpska, one of the two main political entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Damjan Ožegović, Senior Researcher and Legal Affairs Associate at Transparency International (TI) Bosnia.
Featured

SERBIA: ‘Student protests have sparked solidarity, empathy and a renewed belief in collective action’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses recent protests in Serbia with Alma Mustajbašić, researcher at Civic Initiatives, a Serbian civil society organisation that advocates for democracy, human rights and citizen engagement.
Featured

GLOBAL: ‘Civil society is pushing for transparent, rights-centred AI governance’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses military applications of AI and the urgent need for regulation with Franco Giandana Gigena, Policy Analyst at Access Now, a digital rights organisation that advocates for human rights in the technological age.
Featured

KOSOVO: ‘Civil society works day in and day out to build democracy’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses challenges following Kosovo’s election with Taulant Hoxha, Executive Director of the Kosovar Civil Society Foundation (KCSF), an independent civil society organisation (CSO) that supports local groups to develop a more participatory and democratic society.
Featured

AMERICAS: ‘The exclusion of women limits the options and talent available to lead the OAS’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the election of the next Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General with Viviana Krsticevic, Executive Director of the Centre for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), a civil society organisation that works to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights in the Americas through the use of the inter-American system and other international mechanisms.
Featured

DRC: ‘If the root causes of the conflict are not addressed, the cycle of violence is likely to persist’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses recent developments in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with Reagan Miviri, researcher and analyst at Ebuteli (‘staircase’), a Congolese research institute focused on issues of politics, governance and conflict.
Featured

NAMIBIA: ‘Legal rights must translate into real protections, and the fight for marriage equality must continue’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses LGBTQI+ rights struggles and the backlash in Namibia with Miguel Gomes Antonio, Executive Director of the Southern African Christian Initiative (SACHI), a regional civil society organisation (CSO) that advocates for social and political development, democracy and good governance, social and economic justice and peace, religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue.
Featured

GUYANA: ‘Journalists often avoid critical reporting to protect themselves from harassment’

Interviews
Tensions between Guyana and Venezuela have escalated following an alleged attack on Guyanese soldiers near the Cuyuni River.
Featured

NEPAL: ‘The Social Network Bill is part of a broader strategy to tighten control over digital communication’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Nepal’s Social Network Bill with Dikshya Khadgi, a Nepali feminist digital rights lawyer and activist and a member of AALAWYA, a feminist advocacy and movement lawyering collective rooted in the values of justice, equality, radical care and cross-movement building.
Featured

ARGENTINA: ‘Society must prepare to act collectively to defend rights and democracy’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses attacks on women’s and LGBTQI+ people’s rights with Natalia Gherardi, Executive Director of the Latin American Team on Justice and Gender (ELA), an Argentinean civil society organisation that works at the regional level.
Featured

KENYA: ‘The Family Protection Bill threatens to escalate violence against LGBTQI+ people’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Kenya’s proposed Family Protection Bill with Arsenekah Ezekiel, executive director of World Post Changers Network, a Kenyan civil society organisation (CSO) that advocates for LGBTQI+ rights.
Featured

UKRAINE: ‘Civil society remains resilient and responsive, but financial constraints now hamper its efforts’

Interviews
After three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, CIVICUS discusses the civil society response with Mykhailo Savva, member of the Expert Council of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, a civil society organisation (CSO) dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights.
Featured

NICARAGUA: ‘The regime counts on the disappearance of civil society, but people will always look for ways to organise themselves’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses civil society in Nicaragua with Amaru Ruiz, a Nicaraguan activist, president of Fundación del Río and president of the board of the Central American Association for Development and Democracy (ACDD).
Featured

CAR: ‘Civil society must be at the heart of any human rights protection system’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the current crisis in the Central African Republic (CAR) with an activist and human rights defender who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.
Featured

GAZA: ‘True peace requires an inclusive approach, where everyone involved has a voice’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas with Yossi Mekelberg, Professor of International Relations and Senior Consulting Fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
Featured

MYANMAR: ‘The junta’s sham election cannot pave the way for real political change and should not be legitimised’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Myanmar’s upcoming election with Nyein, a human rights advocate and researcher with the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (ALTSEAN-Burma).
Featured

GREENLAND: ‘Greenland’s people have the right to decide the nature of their relations with other countries’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the USA’s ambitions towards Greenland with Rachael Lorna Johnstone, Professor of Law at the University of Akureyri in Iceland and the University of Greenland, and Fulbright Arctic IV Scholar.
Featured

INDIA: ‘The new criminal laws mark a shift from a ‘rule of law’ to a ‘rule by law’ model that prioritises state control’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses India’s new criminal laws with Aditya Shrivastava, a human rights lawyer, civil society activist and researcher with the Contested Democracy Platform at Södertörn University in Sweden.
Featured

BELARUS: ‘The work of human rights defenders in exile is crucial in keeping the democratic movement alive’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Natallia Satsunkevich, human rights defender and interim board member of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, about the state of civil society in Belarus, the impact of repression on opposition movements and the role of the international community in supporting democracy.
Featured

CARIBBEAN: ‘We need to accept people with disabilities and include them in our communities’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Andrew Sharpe, president of the Authentic Caribbean Foundation (ACF) and the newly formed Caribbean Disability Network, about civil society work for disability rights in the Caribbean.
Featured

GERMANY: ‘A key element of resistance to the far right is the firewall – which a major party has just breached’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the growth of the right-wing extremist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with Cynthia Freund-Möller and Matthias Meyer, project lead and research associate at the Right-Wing Studies Knowledge Network (Wi-REX).
Featured

AUSTRALIA: ‘Attacks on the right to protest are escalating’

Interviews
Brenna McNeil is coordinator of Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS), an all-volunteer organisation that provides training for protest movements, offers information and resources on the right to protest and trains and fields legal observer teams that monitor and report on the policing of protests in Australia’s Victoria state.

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