Interviews

Featured

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: ‘Civil society has failed to spark people’s activist side’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about deteriorating civic space in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) with Aida Daguda and Dajana Cvjetkovic, director and programme manager at the Centre for Civil Society Promotion (CPCD).
Featured

MEXICO: ‘When climate activism threatens powerful interests, it is labelled on the same level as terrorists and drug traffickers’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the role of civil society and its expectations for the upcoming COP28 climate summit with María Reyes, a young human rights and environmental activist from the Mexican state of Puebla.
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ECUADOR: ‘The election provided a temporary escape valve, but instability is not over’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the results of the 15 October runoff vote in Ecuador’s presidential election with Humberto Salazar, executive director of Fundación Esquel.
Featured

ARMENIA: ‘Lack of compelling international action allowed the attack on Nagorno-Karabakh to occur’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh – the disputed territory within Azerbaijan that until recently was governed by ethnic Armenians – with Lida Minasyan, a feminist peace activist and Resource Mobilisation Consultant at the Central Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central and North Asia (CEECCNA) Collaborative Fund.
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MAURITIUS: ‘LGBTQI+ people no longer need to live with the constant fear of being criminalised’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Najeeb Ahmad Fokeerbux, founder of the Young Queer Alliance (YQA), about the recent ruling by the Mauritius Supreme Court that declared the criminalisation of same-sex relations unconstitutional.
Featured

ARMENIA: ‘As people leave their homes in search of safety, humanitarian organisations must support their basic needs’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the civil society humanitarian response to the Azerbaijani blockade and military offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh – the disputed territory within Azerbaijan that until recently was governed by ethnic Armenians – with Shushanik Nersesyan, Media and Communication Manager at People in Need (PIN) Armenia.
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ECUADOR: ‘The new government must dialogue and seek political agreements that are public, not under the table’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the results of the 15 October runoff vote in Ecuador’s presidential election with Ruth Hidalgo, executive director of Participación Ciudadana (Citizen Participation).
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NORTH KOREA: ‘Since Kim Jong-un came to power, the surveillance and security system has increased dramatically’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about activism in the closed civic space of North Korea with Bada Nam, Secretary General of People for Successful Corean Reunification (PSCORE).
Featured

BOTSWANA: ‘We must strategise so that we don’t merely react to crises and anti-rights action’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the struggle for LGBTQI+ rights in Botswana with Dumiso Gatsha, an LGBTQI+ activist and founder of Success Capital.
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AUSTRALIA: ‘There will be little change on First Nations people’s recognition, representation and rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Peter Lewis, president of Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR), about the recent defeat in a referendum of a proposal to recognise Indigenous Australians in the constitution and create a permanent institution so they can speak directly to government and parliament on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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MOROCCO: ‘Support those who were there before the earthquake hit and will stay when the cameras are gone’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the role of civil society in the response to the recent earthquake in Morocco with Victoria Vrana, Chief Executive Officer at GlobalGiving.
Featured

JAPAN: ‘Each victory brings backlash, but LGBTQI+ people will keep fighting for equality and dignity'

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the struggle for LGBTQI+ rights in Japan with Akira Nishiyama, Deputy Secretary General of the Japan Alliance for Legislation to Remove Social Barriers based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation, J-ALL).
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UGANDA: ‘Closure of the UN office will result in the loss of a crucial player in the field of human rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the human rights situation and the closure of the United Nations (UN) office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Uganda with Dr Livingstone Sewanyana, founder and Executive Director of the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) and UN independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order.
Featured

BELGIUM: ‘Small extremist groups are reacting to all advances in women’s rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Céline Danhier, director of O’YES, about the recent conservative backlash to the implementation of a sex and relationships education programme in state schools in Belgium’s Walloon region.
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ETHIOPIA: ‘The state of emergency has impeded people’s ability to advocate for their rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Jerusalem Girmay, Chief Communications Officer of Omna Tigray, about the state of emergency imposed in Ethiopia and its implications for the Tigray region.
Featured

NORTH KOREA: ‘It is time for the international community to adopt a ‘human rights up front’ approach’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the activism of North Korean escapees with Greg Scarlatoiu, Executive Director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK).
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SYRIA: ‘We spread the culture of human rights in a country with one of the world’s worst human rights records’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about Syria’s ongoing civil war and human rights crisis and its prospects for democratic change with Fadel Abdul Ghany, founder and Executive Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).
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ERITREA: ‘When the government reacts to our work, we know what we do is making an impact’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with about civil society work in Eritrea’s context of closed civic space with Helen Kidan, chairperson of the Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (EMDHR).
Featured

MEXICO: ‘The Supreme Court’s ruling marks a before and after in the struggle for reproductive justice’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the recent Supreme Court ruling decriminalising abortion in Mexico with Brenda Rodriguez, communications coordinator of Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE, Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida).
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VIETNAM: ‘The government hates losing face and has zero tolerance for criticism’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about recent arrests of leading environmental activists in Vietnam with Penelope Faulkner, President of Quê Me: Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR).
Featured

UGANDA: ‘The UN human rights office was instrumental in addressing human rights concerns in the conflict and post-conflict period’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the closure of the United Nations (UN) office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Uganda with Robert Kirenga, Executive Director of the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders-Uganda (NCHRD-U).
Featured

THE NETHERLANDS: ‘Restrictions on the right to protest should be the exception rather than the rule’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Sieger Sloot, an actor and climate activist from a Dutch branch of Extinction Rebellion (XR), and Marjolein Kuijers, policy officer on the right to protest at the Dutch section of Amnesty International, about the government’s reaction to climate protests in the run-up to parliamentary elections in the Netherlands in November.
Featured

MEXICO: ‘The decriminalisation of abortion is a huge collective achievement for the feminist movement’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Alba Adriana Jiménez Patlán, director of the Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Mexico (ddeser), about the historic ruling of the Mexican Supreme Court decriminalising abortion at the federal level.
Featured

ECUADOR: ‘Indigenous peoples are the forgotten ones of public policies’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Indigenous peoples' environmental activism and civil society's hopes for the upcoming COP28 climate summit with Fausto Daniel Santi Gualina, a leader of the Indigenous Sarayaku people of the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Featured

SPAIN: ‘Explicit manifestations of gender-based violence are just the tip of the iceberg’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Isabel Abella Ruiz de Mendoza about the systemic macho violence faced by women in sport, evidenced in a recent case of abuse of power by the highest authority of the Spanish football federation.
Featured

SPAIN: ‘Women are no longer willing to tolerate disrespect or abuse of power’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Eleonora Giovio, sports editor of the Spanish newspaper El País, about the systemic abuses faced by women in sport, evidenced in a recent case of abuse of power by the highest authority in the Spanish football federation.
Featured

GABON: ‘Under the old regime civil society was not taken into account’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the military coup in Gabon with Pepecy Ogouliguende, expert in human rights, governance, gender and peace mediation and founder and president of Malachie.
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BAHRAIN: ‘Had there been civic freedoms, the authorities would have known of the deep suffering at Jau Prison’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the situation of political prisoners on hunger strike in Bahrain with Jawad Fairooz, founder and director of Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (Salam DHR).
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EGYPT: ‘Activists who work from abroad are being targeted through their families’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the ongoing repression of dissent in Egypt with Ahmed Attalla, Executive Director of the Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR).
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ZIMBABWE: ‘This so-called election was a circus and a waste of resources’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about Zimbabwe’s August general election and its aftermath with Obert Masaraure, national president of Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and spokesperson of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, which brings together 84 Zimbabwean civil society organisations (CSOs).
Featured

IRAN: ‘The severity of the crackdown only shows how scared the regime is of the protest movement’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Sohrab Razaghi, executive director of Volunteer Activists (VA), about the situation in Iran on the anniversary of the anti-regime protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of morality police.
Featured

GLOBAL: ‘With a wealth tax on the biggest fortunes, extreme poverty can be eradicated’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about climate change, global inequality and the need for redistribution with Adrien Fabre, a France-based climate economist and founder of Global Redistribution Advocates (GRA).
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NAMIBIA: ‘We have seen some progress on LGBTQI+ rights, but there is a lot of work still to be done’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about recent moves to ban same-sex marriage in Namibia with Kevin Wessels, a young activist and a seasoned consultant and social entrepreneur working to advance human rights in Namibia.
Featured

GABON: ‘Civic space and the conditions for the exercise of human rights were difficult under the former regime’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the military coup in Gabon with Georges Mpaga, National Executive President of the Network of Free Civil Society Organisations of Gabon (ROLBG).
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VENEZUELA: ‘The Darién Gap is claiming many lives that governments cannot even quantify’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ana María Diez, president of Coalition for Venezuela, about the humanitarian crisis of Venezuelan migrants trying to reach the USA by land.
Featured

BANGLADESH: ‘The legal vulnerability of LGBTQI+ people leads to harassment and discrimination’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the state of civic space and the rights of excluded groups in Bangladesh with Shahanur Islam, founder secretary general of JusticeMakers Bangladesh (JMBD) and founder president of JMBD in France.
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PHILIPPINES: ‘The government is headed by a former dictator’s son who reached power in a suspicious manner’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Nymia Pimentel-Simbulan about the human rights situation in the Philippines since the start of Ferdinand Marcos Junior’s government.
Featured

CHAD: ‘The government, local groups and society at large have all joined efforts to help refugees’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Monim Haroon, Emergency Communications Manager at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), about the situation of Sudanese migrants in Chad’s refugee camps and civil society’s work to support them.
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PALESTINE: ‘People have lost confidence in an international system that fails to protect the powerless against the powerful’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about ongoing repression in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and the international response to Israeli aggression with Susan Power, Head of Legal Research and Advocacy at Al-Haq.
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PHILIPPINES: ‘Historical memory of martial law under Marcos Senior gives us strength to persevere’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Cristina Palabay, Secretary General of Karapatan, about the human rights situation in the Philippines since the start of Ferdinand Marcos Junior’s government.
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MALDIVES: ‘Calling this a free and fair election would be a betrayal to the people of Maldives’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the upcoming presidential election in Maldives with Shahindha Ismail, founder of the Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN).
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UGANDA: ‘We’ll participate in COP28 to pressure world leaders to divert funding away from oil and gas’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about recent developments involving the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project and civil society’s efforts to stop it with Zaki Mamdoo, Campaign Coordinator of Stop EACOP.
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ZIMBABWE: ‘Election violence is a cover for ideological ambivalence and lack of substantive programmes’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the general election in Zimbabwe and the role of civil society with Wellington Mbofana, former director of the Civic Education Network Trust (CIVNET), a civil society organisation (CSO) that recently shut down due to lack of funding, and a former board member of several Zimbabwean CSOs.
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AI: ‘The biggest challenges are the biases and lack of transparency of algorithms’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) for civil society’s work with Omran Najjar, Kshitij Sharma, Leen D’hondt, Nasilele Amatende and Petya Kangalova of Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT).
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BULGARIA: ‘Our society has finally become sensitised to domestic and gender-based violence’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Victoria Petrova, Communications and Development Director at the Bulgarian Fund for Women (BFW), about civil society’s struggles to end domestic and gender-based violence in Bulgaria.
Featured

COP28: ‘For us, climate change is not an abstract concept of future concern but an urgent reality of the present’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the hopes and roles of civil society at the forthcoming COP28 climate summit with climate justice activist Disha Ravi, founder of India’s branch of the youth-led climate movement Fridays for Future.
Featured

NIGER: ‘Threats don’t solve problems; the international response must emphasise dialogue and negotiation’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recent military coup in Niger with Clément Kocou Gbedey, Niger’s National Coordinator of the West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP).
Featured

ECUADOR: ‘Democracy has allowed room for organised crime and narco-politics to grow’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Mauricio Alarcón Salvador, executive director of Fundación Ciudadanía y Desarrollo (Citizenship and Development Foundation, FCD), about the elections that will be held in Ecuador on 20 August, the eruption of political violence and organised crime and the implications for civil society and the future of the country.
Featured

SENEGAL: ‘The situation is becoming more tense as we approach the 2024 elections’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the deterioration of civic space in the run-up to next year’s elections in Senegal with Sadikh Niass, Secretary General of the African Meeting for the Defence of Human Rights (Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme, RADDHO), and Iba Sarr, Director of Programmes at RADDHO.
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KYRGYZSTAN: ‘True freedom cannot be granted by external forces; it needs to be claimed by people’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the restrictive conditions for civil society in Kyrgyzstan with Tolekan Ismailova, founding president of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society and director of the human rights movement One World-Kyrgyzstan (Bir Duino-Kyrgyzstan, BDK).

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