Opinions & Features

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It’s time to change the future of funding for youth action

Opinions & Features
By Vanessa Stevens, Elisa Novoa, Freya Seath, and Sonya Friel This year’s International Youth Day provided an opportunity to recognize how young people have endured the pandemic and to celebrate their actions for community recovery and resilience.

Standing up Against Gender-based Violence

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Hello! I am Mohaiminul Raqib and I am a citizen of Bangladesh.
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Scenario planning for agile strategic alignment

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By Tamryn Lee Fourie, Jerusha Govender and Khotso Tsotsotso For CIVICUS, and civil society as a whole, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically shifted the way we work, and the world we work in.
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The relationship between civic space restrictions and soaring inequality needs our urgent attention

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Message from Lysa John, CIVICUS Secretary-General In May this year, we published the 10th edition of the annual State of Civil Society report.

We need help from the international community

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Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, Switzerland Wai Hnin Pwint Thon is a Senior Advocacy Officer at Burma Campaign UK based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The coup in Myanmar spurred me to action

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 Supyae Yadanar, Dublin, Ireland  Supyae Yadanar was born and raised in Yangon and is currently studying medicine at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.

The coup is a catastrophe for our motherland

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Thant Tun, Manchester, United Kingdom  Thant Tun has been involved in the struggle for democracy in Myanmar since birth.
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Pandemic and protests show the essential value of civil society

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By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS Economic inequality soared while the super-wealthy cashed in.

Teenagers my age are dropping out of school to protest

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 Bawi Hnem Sung, Texas, United States of America 17 year old high school student Bawi Hnem Sung is also from the Chin community in Lewisville, Texas, and is part of the Lewisville High School Chin Club.
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There are no words left to describe the brutality of the Burmese military

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Myra Dahgaypaw, Washington D.
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10 world-changing protests you should know about

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By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS Protest works.
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3 Reasons Why Relationships are Vital to Expanding Youth Networks

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The Youth Action Team (YAT) and Youth Action Lab at CIVICUS has now had several rounds of calls for candidates to champion youth engagement and civic space.

21st century activism is complex, persistent and all-pervasive. Governments and businesses will have to reinvent themselves

Opinions & Features
Message from Lysa John, CIVICUS Secretary-General The nature of civic space has changed significantly since the start of the pandemic.
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Fighting for democracy from afar: Myanmar activists in the diaspora

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In Myanmar, thousands of pro-democracy supporters have taken to the streets since February to demand an end to the military coup.
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Tracking 10 years of protests: here’s what we’ve learned

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By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief of CIVICUS Protests have been rebuffed, brutally, by states.

It is up to you and I to be the pillar for those struggling in Myanmar right now

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 Par Tha Hniang, Texas, United States of America Par Tha Hniang is a youth member of the Bethel Baptist Church of Texas in Lewisville.
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#BLM beyond the US: Anti-racist struggles in Latin America

Opinions & Features
By Inés Pousadela, Senior Research Specialist at CIVICUS In the year that has passed since the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement has circled the globe.
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People Power: Why mobilisations matter even in a pandemic

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS Major political transformations in modern history have been catalysed through largely peaceful protests.
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Fightbacks led by the young offer hope for democracy in Africa

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By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief of CIVICUS Elections should offer opportunities for citizens to make demands of their political leaders, debate alternatives and express dissent.
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Why are African countries undermining the rights bodies they created?

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By David Kode, Advocacy & Campaigns Lead at CIVICUS The 68th Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has just concluded.
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Labour activists and unions stepped up to defend workers during the pandemic

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  By Josef Benedict, CIVICUS Monitor Across the globe every year, workers and trade unions gather together on 1 May which is Labour Day to commemorate the hard-fought struggle for labour rights and to make demands of their governments’ where they are failing to protect workers.
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Press freedom vital in the fight against the pandemic

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Freelance journalist Hopewell Chin'ono.
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What Oscar-nominated film ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ tells us about protest rights

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Source: Open Democracy By Susan Wilding, Head of CIVICUS' Geneva office The Trial of the Chicago 7’ is up for six Oscars at the Academy Awards, to be announced on 25 April.
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Chad elections: President Déby seeks a sixth term in a region for old men

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President Idriss Déby of Chad has been in power since 1990.
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Five human rights trends in South Africa

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Photo by Sharon Seretlo/Gallo Images via Getty Images By Mawethu Nkosana, LGBTQI+ Advocacy and Campaigns Lead at CIVICUS & Safia Khan, Innovation and Communications Officer at CIVICUS From the rise in student activism to the rise in levels of xenophobia in South Africa, Mawethu and Safia list five human rights trends since COVID-19 took over.
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We are tired, so we must take turns to rest: Women's advocacy during crisis

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Source: Wikicommons By Masana Ndinga-Kanga, the Crisis Response Fund Lead and Advocacy Officer for the Middle East/North Africa region at CIVICUS In recognising how moments of crisis heighten already existing inequalities, it is worth reflecting on how women activists have been able to conduct advocacy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Intimidation, censorship and defamation in the virtual sphere

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In Syria, hundreds of thousands of people have died since 2011.
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CIVICUS calls on social media platforms, govt to address 'hostile virtual environment for women'

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Aarti Narsee, Civic Space Reseacher at CIVICUS spoke to JacarandaFM about the challenges faced by women human rights defenders, activists, feminists and journalists when online.
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Harassment goes virtual: Women activists and journalists speak out

Opinions & Features
  Women journalists, feminists, activists, and human rights defenders around the world are facing virtual harassment.

Building a diverse global team of activist for social transformation: Welcoming the CIVICUS Youth Action Team 2021-22

Opinions & Features
We at CIVICUS Youth are very thankful to the Youth Action Team (YAT) 2019-2020, a group of accomplished and inspiring young leaders from all over the world who work together for a year and a half to instill a more youth-friendly vision within CIVICUS and act as an inspiration for other organisations across the world to have youth at the center and make decisions that do not leave behind the power of 1.
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Is the USA fit to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council?

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By Emily Standfield, CIVICUS Member and data volunteer A month into Joe Biden’s presidency, the U.
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The advocate championing citizen action and organizing to enable change

Opinions & Features
Champions of Change is an initiative started by the Pathfinders to highlight advocates who have made an impact in their communities and have helped to create peaceful, just and inclusive societies (SDG16+).

Strengthening young activists by tagging-in local mentors and standing back

Opinions & Features
By CIVICUS youth On the celebration of the International Youth month in August 2020, CIVICUS Youth launched a new mentorship format for the ten participants of the Youth Action Lab.
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Angola decriminalises homosexuality

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Angola has officially decriminalised same-sex relationships and prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Deepening Roots: How our partners are doing nine months on

Opinions & Features
Photo: Projet Jeune Leader By Jack Cornforth, Resilient Roots Coordinator, CIVICUS Towards the end of 2020, we spoke to many of our national partners from the initial phase of the Resilient Roots initiative to find out how they are doing nine months after our financial and technical support for their pilot accountability projects ended (see them on our interactive map).
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Saudi activist, Loujain Al-Hathloul spends 1000+ days in prison: Masana Ndinga-Kanga

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Prominent Saudi female activist, Loujain al-Hathloul, who campaigned for women's right to drive, was sentenced to more than five years in prison in December 2020, after having already spent two years in detention.
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Abortion Law | Mass protests across Poland

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Protests against new abortion laws have erupted across Poland.
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Europeans’ right to protest under threat

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By Aarti Narsee, Civic Space Researcher for Europe and Central Asia at CIVICUS The year 2020 tested democracy and civic freedoms in many ways.

Shaping post-pandemic politics

Opinions & Features
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted politics and power for years to come, pushing the boundaries of political systems, impacting or delaying election outcomes and fuelling popular movements.
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Another Republic Day, another mass protest and another year of repression?

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS It’s an anathema that in the 21st century when humanity claims to have made great progress in cultural and technological spheres that we should still have prisoners of conscience.
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Imprisoned Saudi activist and other rights defenders seek justice in 2021

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS Two events generated significant interest and global solidarity in the final days of December 2020.
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How to create a UN that listens

Opinions & Features
By Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS & Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS The UN was conceived as a ground-breaking experiment in global cooperation and people-centred multilateralism.
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What is the Health of SDG Targets on Civic Freedoms after 2020?

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By Emily Standfield, Data Volunteer with CIVICUS & Matthew Reading-Smith, Communications Coordinator at CIVICUS The events of 2020 accelerated the decline of civic freedoms.
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2020 to reshape the future of humanity

Opinions & Features
By Hafiz Jawad Sohail, Climate Reality Leader and SDGs Advocate from Pakistan 2020 was a year of real superheroes.
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Fundamental civic rights have deteriorated across Africa in 2020 - CIVICUS report finds

Opinions & Features
Advocacy and Campaigns Head at CIVICUS David Kode explains to SABC News the several drivers of civic space violations in Africa including mass protests that were met with violent repression, and electoral processes, mostly presidential elections.
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USA Downgraded as Civil Liberties Deteriorate Across the Americas

Opinions & Features
By Débora Leão, Civic Space Researcher at CIVICUS and Suraj K.
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People power under attack as world celebrates International Human Rights Day

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is 72 years old, but still the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights it protects remain fiercely contested, with 87% of the world's population living in countries with very poor civic space conditions.
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Persevering through the pandemic

Opinions & Features
Message from Lysa John, CIVICUS SG Dear CIVICUS members and allies, What a year it has been! 2020 came with so many new challenges - both personally and professionally.
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Africa: Civic rights were eroded across Africa in 2020

Opinions & Features
By Sylvia Mbataru and Ine Van Severen, Civic Space Researchers at CIVICUS Fundamental civic rights, including freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression, deteriorated across Africa in 2020.

#SiConLasOSC - Yes with CSOs!

Opinions & Features
By Oriana Castillo, CIVICUS In July 2019, the VUKA! Coalition, a group working to coordinate civil society actors to reclaim civic space across the globe, supported VUKA! ally Alternativas y Capacidades to bring together 25 CSOs from across Mexico for a pilot workshop on strategies to counteract the stigmatisation and demonisation of civil society in the country.

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