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Civil Society’s Reform Vision Gains Urgency as the USA Abandons UN Institutions

Opinions & Features
Today’s multiple and connected crises – including conflicts, climate breakdown and democratic regression – are overwhelming the capabilities of the international institutions designed to address problems states can’t or won’t solve.
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Turkey’s Democratic Uprising: A Generation Takes a Stand

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In the heart of Istanbul, a remarkable transformation is underway.
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Digital Democracy at a Crossroads. Key Takeaways from RigthsCon2025

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In an increasingly digital world, democratic practices are evolving to encompass new forms of participation.

Civil Society’s Reform Vision Gains Urgency as the USA Abandons UN Institutions

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin,  Today’s multiple and connected crises – including conflicts, climate breakdown and democratic regression – are overwhelming the capabilities of the international institutions designed to address problems states can’t or won’t solve.
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How to Turn the Tide: Resisting the Global Assault on Gender Rights

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By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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A Test of Humanity: Migrants’ Rights in a World Turning Inward

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By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

Civil Society: The Last Line of Defence in a World of Cascading Crises

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.
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Funding Disruptions Are a Systemic Failure – Philanthropy Must Do What’s Right and Support Local Leadership

Opinions & Features
The slashing of US aid funding by Donald Trump and Elon Musk, and cuts or planned cuts in international support by several European states, threaten to cut off the oxygen supply to a civil society already in a critical condition.
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International Women's Day, 2025 - It's Time for a Feminist Woman Secretary General At the UN

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By Jesselina Rana, CIVICUS UN Advisor, in New York In 2025, the United Nations will celebrate 80 years of shaping global policies, fostering peace, and driving international development.
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A Global Retreat from Solidarity

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By Jessica Corredor Villamil, Chief Officer, Advocacy and Solidarity Action at CIVICUS.

Belarus: A Sham Election That Fools No One

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By Andrew Firmin,  Editor-in-Chief and co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-authors of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Kenya’s Shadow War on Activism

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Colombia’s Historic Child Marriage Ban

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela  Colombia has just marked a historic milestone in the global campaign against child marriage, with the Senate passing one of Latin America and the Caribbean’s most comprehensive bans on child marriage and early unions.

Civil Society Trends for 2025: Nine Global Challenges, One Reason for Hope

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin and Inés M.
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South Korea’s Democracy Defended

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By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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From Outrage to Action: Global Protests Against Gender-based Violence Resonate in Kenya

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By Inés M.
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Corruption in Uganda: A Barrier to Local Leadership and Aspirations

Opinions & Features
By Hannah Stacey Baluka.
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This Year Saw Most of the World Repressed – but in Civil Society there is Hope

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By Mandeep Tiwana, Interim Co-Secretary General, CIVICUS.

COP29 Falls Short on Finance

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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International community: Speak up now about Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians

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By Jesselina Rana, Human rights lawyer and UN adviser at the New York Hub of CIVICUS Every week, the evidence mounts that Israel is committing grave war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip that likely amount to genocide.
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Solidarity is the missing link to a stronger civil society ecosystem

Opinions & Features
Ecosystem is a widespread term today, having grown in popularity in recent years.

A UN 2.0 Needs Robust People’s Civil Society Participation

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, UN advisor at CIVICUS and Mandeep Tiwana, chief of evidence and engagement at CIVICUS plus representative to the UN in New York A cascade of crises endangers our world.

Climate Activists Target Culture Greenwashing

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Venezuela Struggles to Hold on to Hope

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

LOCAL LEADERSHIP LABS’ REFLECTIONS & INSIGHTS: THE SOUNDING BOARD

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By Taís Siqueira (Local Leadership Labs Coordinator) and Joanna Makhlouf (Local Leadership Labs Assistant) The Sounding Board (SB) played a crucial role in the inception of Local Leadership Labs (LLL) by advising on partner selection, identifying priority countries within the two regions, and sense-making the initial LLL framework.
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Cambodia’s Young Environmental Activists Pay a Heavy Price

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report It’s risky to try to protect the environment in authoritarian Cambodia.
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Eswatini: Jailing of Politicians the Latest Act of Repression

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report Two politicians have just been sentenced to long prison terms in Eswatini.

Kenya’s Protests: More than a Question of Tax

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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The UK’s Chance for Change

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report The political tide has turned in the UK – and civil society will be hoping for an end to government hostility.
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HLPF 2024: Protecting Civic Space Critical for SDGs Success

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By Jesselina Rana, CIVICUS UN Advisor at UN Hub in New York City.

UAE Complicit in Sudan Slaughter

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Myanmar: International Action Urgently Needed

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By Andrew Firmin,  CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report Myanmar’s army, at war with pro-democracy forces and ethnic militias, must know it’s nowhere near victory.
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Thailand’s LGBTQI+ Rights Breakthrough

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By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report At the height of 2024 Pride season, decades of civil society campaigning came to fruition in Thailand.
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Haiti: Transitional Administration Faces Stern Test

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report There’s been recent change in violence-torn Haiti – but whether much-needed progress results remains to be seen.
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India’s Election: Cracks Start to Show in Authoritarian Rule

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.
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Panama’s Elections: Has Impunity Prevailed?

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By Ines Pousadela Regional experts called it Panama’s most important election since the 1989 US invasion that deposed de facto president General Manuel Noriega.
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EU’S ‘Foreign agent law’ is misguided

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By Tara Petrovic, leads research on Europe and Central Asia for the CIVICUS Monitor.
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South Africa’s post-apartheid democracy is sustained by protest

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By Safia Khan and Tarryn Booysen  On April 27, South Africa marks the 30th anniversary of the end of apartheid, when we, South Africans, finally won the fight for all to be recognised as equal citizens.

The Climate Alarm Is Ringing – It’s Time to Stop Silencing It

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin The heat records keep tumbling – 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history.
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Fixing the rules-based order: Start with the UN

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By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Officer - Evidence and Engagement at CIVICUS U.
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The criminalisation of climate activists must stop now

Opinions & Features
Andrew Firmin is the co-author of the State of Civil Society report and Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS, where he leads research into climate activism around the world.

Strengthening Civic Space in Zambia: A Decade of Challenges and Collaborative Efforts

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CIVICUS, in collaboration with our esteemed partners at the GEARS Initiative, recently convened civil society actors in Zambia to delve into the intricacies of citizen-led advocacy aimed at expanding civic freedoms through legislative and policy reform.
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2024: A Big Year for Women and Democracy

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By Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS  The year 2024 is a bumper election year.
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International Women’s Day, 2024 Progress Hinges on Feminist Leadership

Opinions & Features
By Lysa John, Secretary General of CIVICUS Investing in inclusion requires more than electing and initiating women leaders.
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Greece: Another First for LGBTQI+ Rights

Opinions & Features
By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report After almost two decades of civil society campaigning, Greece’s parliament has passed a law enabling same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.
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Russia: Moments of Dissent after Two Years of War

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine marked its second anniversary on 24 February.
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Pakistan’s Election Outcomes Leave Many Unhappy

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By Andrew Firmin, CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report Pakistan’s 8 February election has resulted in an uneasy compromise that few wanted or expected.

“Imagine if the Haitian revolutionaries had to write a proposal?”: Reflections from the Shift the Power Summit

Opinions & Features
By Taís Siqueira, Local Leadership lab Coordinator This quote represents what Shift the Power Summit was to me, a space to hear uncomfortable truths and to collectively reimagine solutions.
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Civil Society Trends for 2025: Nine Global Challenges, One Reason for Hope

Opinions & Features
By Andrew Firmin and Inés Pousadela It’s been a tumultuous year, and a tough one for struggles for human rights.

CIVICUS at Festival de Datos: Advancing action on inclusive, timely, and accountable data processes

Opinions & Features
Julieta Zurbrigg, Civic Space Research Advisor Faith Pienaar, Impact and Accountability Officer In the dynamic realm of data innovation, global challenges call for timely and impactful solutions.

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