Opinions & Features

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COVID-19 is a reminder that civil society is vital to the defence of our collective well-being

Opinions & Features
This article was originally published on Revista da Plataforma Portuguesa das ONGD By Lysa JohnSecretary-General, CIVICUS@LysaJohn Covid-19 victims dying in hospital corridors and on the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador.
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OPINION: Want a better post-pandemic world? Civil society has the answers

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief  Many of us continue to live in states of lockdown, but even as we do so the debate about what kind of world we want to re-emerge to should be an urgent one.
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To face COVID-19, the human rights community must first protect its own workers

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By Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS This crisis should be a wakeup call to all of us in civil society to strengthen social protection measures in our own sector.
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Undercurrents: Protecting workers during COVID-19

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Discussion between Lysa John and Agnes Frimston for Chatham House Undercurrent podcast  In this week's episode of Chatham House's podcast Undercurrents, Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS joins Agnes in discussing the impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on worker's rights across the world.
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'Can job security be guaranteed?' Interview with Lysa John

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Interview with Lysa John about why protecting workers during the COVID-19 crisis is crucial.

Here’s what we are achieving through our COVID-19 efforts

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Secretary General's Update Dear CIVICUS members and allies, This has been a particularly tumultuous period for both civil society and the wider world.
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Future of Civil Society Organisations

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The COVID-19 pandemic can re-energise the demands of civil society organisations to put people at the heart of the changes we need: to protect the planet from degradation, to ensure that all human beings can enjoy prosperous and fulfilling lives, that economic, social and technological progress occurs in harmony with nature and fosters peaceful, just and inclusive societies.
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World Press Freedom Day: The assault on media freedom in Asia worsens during COVID-19 pandemic

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By Josef Benedict, civic space researcher at CIVICUS May 3rd marks World Press Freedom Day around the world.
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Fit for the future: Can we emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis?

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By Lysa John (CIVICUS), Chris Worman (TechSoup) and Benjamin Bellegy (WINGS) It seems ironic that only a few months ago, we were celebrating 2019 as the ‘Year of People Power’ and a mass global uprising against autocratic regimes across the world seemed achievable.
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On World Press Freedom Day, the EU must rescue media independence in Hungary before it’s too late

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By Aarti Narsee, civic space research officer at CIVICUS Censorship, smear campaigns and harassment.
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Reimagining a post-COVID world: Key principles for the future

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By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS Today, the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting our lives and livelihoods in wholly unanticipated ways, testing the resilience of our social, economic and political structures.

Leading with our values: Protecting our co-workers during COVID-19 must be a priority

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Secretary General’s Update  Dear CIVICUS members and allies, The past few weeks have been unlike anything we have known or could have imagined.
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7 Q&As about participatory grantmaking

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In February, CIVICUS hosted an animated webinar called ‘Participatory grantmaking in action’ in partnership with UHAI EASHRI, Africa’s first indigenous activist fund supporting sexual and gender minorities and sex worker human rights, and Candid, an organisation that has extensively researched and promoted participatory grantmaking.
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Resources for civil society in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

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Defending civil society, democratic rights, and our fundamental freedoms can be challenging, let alone having to do it while under “lockdown” practicing social distancing in the midst of a global health crisis spreading rapidly across the world.

5 amazing funds that are making a difference for women

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Did you know that only 4% of the total Official Development Assistance (ODA) supports programmes that integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment as the main objective? And only 3% of that fraction goes to women’s rights organisations.
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Elections test Africa’s democracy

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By David Kode,  advocacy and campaigns lead for CIVICUS Once again, the state of democracy on the continent will be tested as millions of Africans go to the polls this year to decide who will lead them for the next few years.
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Smeared and vilified by Duterte, activists in the Philippines are fighting back

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By Josef Benedict, civic space researcher at CIVICUS One tactic that CIVICUS has seen increasingly being used by the government to target activists and NGOs is to label them as “terrorists” or “communist fronts”, particularly those who have been critical of Duterte’s deadly “war on drugs” that has killed thousands.
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Alpha Condé wants a third term in Guinea. The AU must stop him

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By David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead  President Ramaphosa and the AU have a crucial role in aiding the continuation of Guinea's democracy.
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Staying true to ambition: Priorities from our mid-term strategy review

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Secretary General’s Update Dear CIVICUS members and allies, January was replete with the signals that the coming months will require significantly increased levels of ambition and action if we, civil society, are to remain relevant to the issues of our times.
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Democratising information is key to democratise funding access for grassroots and activists

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By Anna Kolotovkina, a civil society resourcing intern at CIVICUS, social volunteer and activist.
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The Republic at 71: faced with an unbending government, Indians continue to speak out

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By Lysa John Berna, Secretary-General of CIVICUS and Mandeep Singh Tiwana Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS A respected woman social activist and political leader beaten and kicked in the stomach at a police station for recording a public protest.

The CIVICUS Diversity and Inclusion journey continued

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Diversity and Inclusion has become a hot topic within civil society in recent years.
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Counter-terrorism laws provide a smokescreen for civil society restrictions

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By Susan Wilding, Head of Geneva Office at CIVICUS In all regions of the world, spontaneous people’s movements are demanding better governance, rule of law and justice.

It's time for radical collaboration: Our experience co-designing with CIVICUS

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By: Youth Co-Design Team The challenges of grassroots activism Citizens are organising and mobilising in new and creative ways.
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Here’s how civil society can push rising hate back to the fringes

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By Andrew Firmin, editor-in-chief of CIVICUS Our efforts as civil society will work best when paired with mass mobilisations that demonstrate popular support for rights and defiance in the face of those who seek to deny rights, including by counter-protesting when anti-rights forces seek to claim public space and dominate public discourse.
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Handy tips and techniques to help you with your next proposal

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CIVICUS invited its member, the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI) to facilitate a proposal writing and resource mobilisation workshop for staff in 2019.
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2019 Was a Dark Year for Civic Freedoms in Asia

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By Josef Benedict, civic space research officer at CIVICUS The assault on fundamental freedoms and civil society is escalating across the globe.
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Defiant and undeterred: Looking back at a year of extraordinary civic activism

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Dear CIVICUS members and allies, We are ending the year as we began – with awe for how civil society and citizens have been unstoppable despite widespread and often brutal backlash by governments, and with a stronger resolve to do more - much more - to reinforce struggles for human rights and social justice across countries and communities.

3 lessons learned about resourcing civil society in the 21st century

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By Yessenia Soto, Community Engagement Officer on Civil Society Resourcing at CIVICUS In 2019, CIVICUS set out to find ways to better support and resource citizen action in the 21st century.
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CIVICUS Annual General Meeting

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From the 30th October to the 8th November 2019 members gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa from all over the world for the CIVICUS Annual General meeting.
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COP25, UN Climate Change Conference, 2-15 December, Madrid, Spain

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From 2 to 15 December, more than 20,000 people from almost 200 countries attended COP25, the UN climate change conference.

CIVICUS strategy review workshop: a step into social cohesion and sustainable development

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By Mohammad Hasan, Yes Theatre Palestine CIVICUS’ process to mid-term review its strategic plan (2017-2022) is almost finished.
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Innovative 15-year old activist driving social inclusion movement in India

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This article is part of the #StoriesOfResilience series, coordinated by CIVICUS to feature groups and activists on their journey to promote better resourcing practices for civil society and to mobilise meaningful resources to sustain their work.
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Burundi: A president “chosen by God” and those who disagree

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By Paul Mulindwa, advocacy and campaigns officer at CIVICUS Four years after Burundi’s crisis began, 300,000 people have fled the country for safety.
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Fiji’s review at the Human Rights Council highlights lack of progress on civic freedoms

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By Josef Benedict, civic space research officer at CIVICUS This November in Geneva, the United Nations examined Fiji’s human rights record for the third time.
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Out in the cold: The plight of the UWC 143

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By Masana Ndinga-Kanga, Crisis Response Fund lead at CIVICUS and Lundi Mazizi, co-ordinator of the UWC Ex-Workers Movement So much can happen in 900 days.
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The UN at 75: Time to Give Citizens a Voice

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By Andreas Bummel the Executive Director of Democracy Without Borders, Lysa John Secretary-General of CIVICUS and Bruno Kaufmann is co-president of the Global Forum on Modern Direct Democracy and board member of Democracy International Next year the United Nations will commemorate its 75th anniversary.
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The Rapid Decline in Civic Freedoms: 5 Countries to Keep an Eye on

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By Ine Van Severen, Civic Space Researcher at CIVICUS 2019 has been a year of protest.
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Donors aren't investing in a resilient civil society in Latin America, but philanthropy bodies stand out

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By Clara Bosco, civil society resourcing advisor at CIVICUS These last years have marked the tipping point of a growing disconnect between citizens and public institutions in Latin America.
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Celebrating our right to protest!

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Secretary General’s Update (Aug-Sep 2019) In the context of increasing attacks on civic space around the world, it seems far more unusual to have an opportunity to celebrate the progress being made through civil society and citizen activism around the world.

Keep moving until the departure of the corrupt

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By Ziad Abdul Samad, Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND) The popular protests in Lebanon began after the government announced its intention to impose new taxes on citizens and in an atmosphere of tension and mounting fears of continued economic collapse.

What Constituents Say about CIVICUS in 2019!

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By Marina Cherbonnier, CIVICUS member engagement specialist Each year, CIVICUS Constituents are asked what they think about CIVICUS - a global alliance of over 8000 organisations, movements and individuals.
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Vibrant Civil Society Essential for Sustainable Development in Iran

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By Masana Ndinga-Kanga, Crisis Response Fund Lead at CIVICUS & Sohrab Razzaghi is Executive Director of Volunteer Activists Institute  2019 has not been a good year for Iranian human rights activists.
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Interview with AfricaNews: Concern over human rights violations in Egypt

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In an interview with @africanews @DaveKode speaks about the recent crackdown on protests and mass arrests of #HRDs, academics and journalists in #Egypt https://t.

Why do we need to #RewriteHerStory?

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Female leaders in 2018 top films were 4 times more likely to be shown in revealing clothing.

Human Rights Council Elections 2019

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In October 2019, in New York, the UN General Assembly will elect 14 new members of the 47-member State Human Rights Council.
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Exposing human rights violations through sport in Eritrea — is anyone taking notice?

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By David Kode, advocacy and campaigns lead at CIVICUS Sport is a major unifier among all nations and the plight of Eritrean athletes should be enough to force the international community, particularly states that now host many Eritreans, to exert pressure on President Isaias Afwerki to implement reforms, 26 years after taking power.
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Khashoggi paid the price for being a 'different Saudi'

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By Masana Ndinga-Kanga, Crisis Response Fund Lead at CIVICUS Since Jamal Khashoggi disappeared on October 2, 2018, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Saudi authorities have continuously changed their narrative of what happened.
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A seat at the table for civil society

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By Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS & Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS 2019 may well be remembered as the year in which ordinary citizens finally lost patience with incremental changes and called for the bold and urgent actions we need to address the challenges we face.
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Listen to the future – how 26 youth-led organizations are supercharging the UN's Global Goals

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By Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS From gun control marches in the United States to impassioned climate change speeches on the global stage of the UN, youth are leading the charge to hold governments accountable and address our biggest challenges.

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