Interviews

Featured

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: ‘The times ahead may bring positive change’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the recent elections in the Dominican Republic, held in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Hamilk Chahin, coordinator of the Citizen Manifesto for Electoral Transparency, and Addys Then Marte, executive director of Alianza ONG.
Featured

SINGAPORE: ‘Opposition parties were given unfavourable coverage by the state media and had difficulty accessing voters’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to human rights defender Jolovan Wham about the recent elections in Singapore, which were held in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Featured

ARGENTINA: ‘We must stop attempts to go back to the injustices of the pre-pandemic era’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the COVID-19 crisis and civil society responses with Sebastián Pilo, co-director of Civil Association for Equality and Justice (Asociación Civil por la Igualdad y la Justicia, ACIJ), a civil society organisation (CSO) dedicated to defending the rights of the most disadvantaged groups and strengthening democracy in Argentina.
Featured

HUNGARY: ‘Trans people are having our rights being taken away’

Interviews
  A new law in Hungary, passed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, prevents trans people from legally changing their gender.
Featured

TUNISIA: ‘The official response has failed to consider the gendered aspects of the pandemic’

Interviews
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

COSTA RICA: ‘Once legal change achieved, public policy should continue to focus on structural exclusion’

Interviews
On 26 May 2020, Costa Rica became the first country in Central America to recognise same-sex marriage.
Featured

MEXICO: ‘Violence against women is a historical pandemic’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Wendy Figueroa, director of the Red Nacional de Refugios (National Network of Shelters), a Mexican civil society organisation (CSO) that has been active for more than 20 years.
Featured

MALAWI: ‘Girls need protection against COVID-19, and against endemic violations of their rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ephraim Chimwaza, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Concern and Development (CESOCODE), a Malawian reproductive health and women’s rights civil society organisation (CSO).
Featured

LEBANON: ‘Change begins by handing over the mic to grassroots feminist organisations’

Interviews
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

JAPAN: ‘The vulnerability of the homeless is the result of contemporary society’s built-in social exclusion’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Tsubasa Yuki of Moyai Support Centre for Independent Living about the situation of homeless people amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
Featured

ASIA: ‘Under the pandemic, racism against Indigenous peoples has intensified’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Gam Shimray, Secretary General of the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), about the situation of Indigenous groups in Asia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Featured

MALAYSIA: ‘Migrants are amongst the first to be victimised and discriminated during the pandemic’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Adrian Pereira, the Executive Director of North South Initiative (NSI), about the situation of migrant workers in Malaysia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Featured

POLAND: ‘People are more understanding and supportive of LGBTQI+ issues than politicians’

Interviews
  Following our 2019 special report on anti-rights groups and civil society responses, we are interviewing civil society activists and leaders about their experiences in facing anti-rights backlash and their strategies to strengthen progressive narratives and civil society responses.
Featured

Letter from Jail: West Papuan activists speak about their prosecution in Indonesia

Interviews
CIVICUS has received letters from Dano Anes Tabuni and Charles Kossay around their arrest and detention.
Featured

WOMEN’S RIGHTS: ‘At this pace, it will take us nearly a century to reach equality’

Interviews
In the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, due in September 2020, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the progress achieved and the challenges ahead.
Featured

EGYPT: ‘There's been severe deterioration in the rule of law & respect for human rights’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about recent protests in Egypt and their repression with a woman activist and protester who, for security reasons, asked to remain anonymous.
Featured

GHANA: ‘Work in the corner of your community has a potential to cause change at the top’

Interviews
Following a year marked by massive mobilisation on the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face in their contexts and the actions they are taking.
Featured

ETHIOPIA: ‘For civil society, 2019 has been a new beginning’

Interviews
In 2019, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed Ali, “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea.
Featured

#UN75: ‘There is often a lack of transparency on how civil society’s inputs are reflected in UN work’

Interviews
2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

COLOMBIA: ‘The protection of the environment is inseparable from the success of the peace process’

Interviews
Following a year marked by massive mobilisation on the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face in their contexts and the actions they are taking.
Featured

ARMS CONTROLS: ‘Greater women’s participation in male-dominated mechanisms would increase prospects for peace’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Aaron Lainé, Policy and Government Liaison Officer, and Raluca Muresan, Programme Manager at Control Arms, a civil society coalition that advocates for greater controls in the international arms trade to end the human suffering caused by the irresponsible arms trade, and to stop arms transfers that fuel conflict, systemic armed violence, poverty and serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Featured

AGAINST DISINFORMATION: ‘Enabling each to tell their story offers an opportunity to share our truths’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Chris Worman, Vice President of Alliances and Program Development at TechSoup, a non-profit international network that provides technical support and technological tools to civil society organisations (CSOs).
Featured

BANGLADESH: ‘Protecting water amounts to protecting basic human rights in all nations’

Interviews
Following a year marked by massive mobilisation on the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face in their contexts and the actions they are taking.
Featured

DISINFORMATION: ‘The fact that profit drives content creation on the internet is dangerous to democracy’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Rory Daniels about the 2019 elections in the UK and the dangers that disinformation poses to democracy.
Featured

G20: ‘Civil society is treated as a second-class partner; its recommendations often go unheard’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with María Emilia Berazategui, Transparency International’s Global Advocacy Coordinator, about the role of civil society in international and inter-governmental forums and the degree to which it can influence decision-making processes, and the successes achieved and challenges encountered in 2019 by the C20, the engagement group for civil society within the G20.
Featured

PHILIPPINES: ‘If we don’t fight against the system, people will continue to die’

Interviews
Following a year marked by massive mobilisation on the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face in their contexts and the actions they are taking.
Featured

LEBANON: ‘Increased popular awareness is irreversible, it will remain despite any setbacks’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Ziad Abdel Samad, Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), and Zahra Bazzi, ANND Programmes Manager, about the protests that began in Lebanon in October 2019, the changes achieved and the challenges encountered.
Featured

#UN75: ‘The UN cannot afford to miss opportunities for civil society engagement’

Interviews
2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

COLOMBIA: ‘Citizens are outraged and tired of the policies that have plunged them into poverty’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Alexandra González Zapata, coordinator for democracy and social protest at the Solidarity Committee with Political Prisoners Foundation, and a member of the Campaign to Defend Freedom.
Featured

SDGs: ‘Gaps in data coverage are most likely to exclude the poorest people’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Dr Claire Melamed, CEO of the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, an open, independent, multi-stakeholder network aimed at harnessing the data revolution for sustainable development.
Featured

LGBTQI+ RIGHTS IN UGANDA: ‘Intolerance is fuelled by anti-rights groups and leaders’

Interviews
Following our 2019 special report on anti-rights groups and civil society responses, we are interviewing civil society activists and leaders about their experiences of backlash from anti-rights groups and their strategies to strengthen progressive narratives and civil society responses.
Featured

DIGITAL DIVIDE: ‘The uncritical adoption of technology is particularly risky in humanitarian crises’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks to Barnaby Willitts-King, Senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).
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PAPUA NEW GUINEA: ‘If we allow seabed mining everyone is at risk’

Interviews
Following a year marked by massive mobilisation around the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face and the actions they are taking.
Featured

CHINA: ‘Its international role both originates in and enables domestic political control’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about China’s growing international role with Sharon Hom, Executive Director of Human Rights in China (HRIC), Adjunct Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law and Professor of Law Emerita at the City University of New York School of Law.
Featured

#UN75: ‘Commitments to the Women, Peace and Security agenda are going unfulfilled’

Interviews
2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

‘Chile has entirely privatised water, which means that theft is institutionalised’

Interviews
  Following a year marked by massive mobilisation on the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face in their contexts and the actions they are taking.
Featured

BOLIVIA: ‘We empower young people so they can lead the climate movement’

Interviews
Following a year marked by massive mobilisation on the climate emergency, CIVICUS is interviewing civil society activists, leaders and experts about the main environmental challenges they face in their contexts and the actions they are taking.
Featured

HONG KONG: ‘This is a leader-full movement, ran by countless small networks of talented people’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the protests that have rocked Hong Kong since June 2019 with Johnson Ching-Yin Yeung, democracy movement organiser and chairperson of the Hong Kong Civil Hub.
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BOLIVIA: ‘Civil society, like political society, is deeply divided’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the 2019 protests and elections in Bolivia with Eliana Quiroz, Executive Director of Fundación Internet Bolivia (Bolivia Internet Foundation), an organisation dedicated to strengthening free and secure access to the web.
Featured

ANTI-RIGHTS GROUPS: ‘Protesting once is not enough; we need to fight back every single day’

Interviews
Following our 2019 special report on anti-rights groups and civil society responses, we are interviewing civil society activists and leaders about their experiences of backlash from anti-rights groups and their strategies to strengthen progressive narratives and civil society responses.
Featured

#UN75: ‘The system is slow and not at all agile’

Interviews
2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

#UN75: ‘It is time for the UN to be bold again!’

Interviews
2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

#UN75: ‘The Human Rights Council has made a positive difference in addressing human rights violations’

Interviews
2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

#UN75: ‘Governments use the UN to sanitise their image before the international community’

Interviews
2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

SPAIN: ‘Democratic rules are being used to promote an anti-rights ideology’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks about the recent election in Spain with Núria Valls, president of the Ibero-American League of Civil Society Organisations (Liga Iberoamericana), a platform that brings together 29 civil society organisations from 17 Ibero-American countries, specialising in human, social and community development.
Featured

PAKISTAN: ‘I was told the people who detained me were from the Army Intelligence Agency’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Mohammed Ismail, a longstanding member of CIVICUS’ Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA), a network of 90 national and regional civil society platforms from around the world.
Featured

CUBA: ‘Dissidents are in the millions; there aren't enough jail cells for so many people’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Juan Antonio Blanco, director of the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts (Observatorio Cubano de Conflictos), an autonomous civil society project supported by the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (Fundación para los Derechos Humanos en Cuba).
Featured

#UN75: ‘Human rights are at the centre of multilateral diplomacy’

Interviews
  2020 marks 75 years since the founding of the United Nations (UN).
Featured

CHILE: ‘There's radical discontent with how the country's been ruled for decades’

Interviews
Protests broke out in Chile in October 2019, initially led by students rejecting an increase in the price of transport and quickly escalating into mass demonstrations urging structural change.
Featured

‘Due to the communications blockade in Kashmir, news of protests went largely underreported’

Interviews
On 5 August 2019, the government of India revoked Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, which guaranteed the autonomous status and rights of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

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