Interviews

LEBANON: ‘Civil society has once again stepped in to fill the gaps left by the state in this crisis’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon with Ziad Abdel Samad, Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), an independent network working to strengthen civil society and promote democracy, human rights and sustainable development in Arab countries.

MEXICO: ‘Despite the stated aim of democratising the judiciary, the government seeks to undermine its independence’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses constitutional amendments affecting the judiciary in Mexico with Carlos Pelayo Moller, constitutional lawyer, human rights expert and Doctor of Laws from the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

‘The closure of the last coal-fired power station marks a crucial shift from fossil fuels to renewable energies’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Anne Harris, a campaigner with Coal Action Network, which works to end the use, mining and importation of coal and to secure justice for communities affected by the UK’s current and historic involvement with coal.

GHANA: ‘We demand an immediate ban on illegal mining and strict enforcement of environmental laws’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses recent protests in Ghana with Jeremiah Sam, executive director of Pen Plus Bytes, a Ghanaian civil society organisation (CSO) working to promote effective governance through technology on a range of issues including climate change and environmental protection.

KENYA: ‘The protests mark the beginning of a new era in which Kenyans refuse to remain silent’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recent impeachment of Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua with Nerima Wako, political analyst and Executive Director of Siasa Place, a youth-led civic tech organisation that promotes young people’s engagement in politics, governance and civic life.

GLOBAL: ‘Civil society will help bring the UN Declaration on Future Generations to life’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recently adopted Declaration on Future Generations with Cecilia Schirmeister, youth lead and representative of the Baha’i International Community United Nations (UN) Office, an international civil society organisation with a long history of cooperation with the UN.

GLOBAL: ‘Civil society must be alert to the warning signs of autocratisation and respond with mass mobilisation’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the state of democracy around the world with Staffan I Lindberg, professor of Political Science and director of the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.

MYANMAR: ‘Genuine peace cannot be achieved as long as the military remains in control’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the conflict in Myanmar with Kyaw Win, founder and executive director of the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN).

GAMBIA: ‘We must remain vigilant against patriarchal attempts to assert control over women’s bodies’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the role of civil society in defeating a recent attempt to make female genital mutilation (FGM) legal in The Gambia with Isatou Touray, co-founder of the Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP), a leading Gambian women’s and children’s rights civil society organisation.

MOZAMBIQUE: 'For a genuine democratic transition to take place, young people must have a real voice in decision-making’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Mozambique’s recent election with Umar Aly, a development specialist and member of the National Union of Students (UNE), a platform of Mozambican student associations and a CIVICUS Digital Democracy Initiative partner.

SOUTH FRICA: ‘Civil society has a voice within BRICS, but its influence remains limited’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the upcoming BRICS summit with Gustavo de Carvalho, Senior Researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), an independent public policy think tank.

‘States must take action to ensure effective implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the upcoming biodiversity summit with Ximena Barrera Rey, Director of Governance and International Relations at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), one of the world’s largest conservation organisations.

PARAGUAY: ‘The new law’s purpose is to increase government control over civil society’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses a recently passed law regulating civil society organisations (CSOs) in Paraguay with Marta Ferrara and Olga Caballero, executive directors of Semillas para la Democracia (Seeds for Democracy) and Alma Cívica (Civic Soul), two of the organisations leading the civil society response to the closing of civic space.

TUNISIA: ‘Political choices were so limited that most people saw no point in voting’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Tunisia’s recent presidential election with Siwar Gmati of IWatch, a Tunisian civil society organisation (CSO) and CIVICUS Digital Democracy Initiative partner.

COTE D’IVOIRE: ‘The new decree restricts freedom of association, including by allowing the authorities to dissolve organisations’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the challenges facing civil society in Côte d’Ivoire with Marthe Coulibaly, National Coordinator of the Ivorian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (CIDDH).

HONDURAS: ‘Violence ensures that extractive activities can continue unchallenged’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the dangers of environmental activism in Honduras with Carlos Leonel George, communications officer for the Municipal Committee in Defence of the Commons and Public Goods of Tocoa, a Honduran organisation fighting against mining and for the protection of the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers.

AFGHANISTAN: ‘We continue working to make sure Afghan girls and women are heard and not forgotten’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Afghanistan’s system of gender apartheid with Shaharzad Akbar, Executive Director of Rawadari, a human rights organisation founded by Afghans in exile.

ALGERIA: ‘Fear of repression prevents the formation of a united opposition that could challenge the government’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Algeria’s recent presidential election with a member of the Independent Commission for Human Rights in North Africa (CIDH), a regional human rights organisation based in Morocco.

UNITED KINGDOM: ‘By supporting its domestic arms industry, the UK is enabling Israel to commit war crimes in Gaza’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the UK’s partial ban on arms sales to Israel with Emily Apple, Media Coordinator at the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), a UK-based civil society organisation working to end the international arms trade.

ASIA: ‘This ASEAN summit matters because it will set priorities and policies’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the latest summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with Cornelius Damar Hanung, Southeast Asia Programme Manager at the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), a regional human rights organisation.

ETHIOPIA: ‘The international community must stop enabling the war on Ethiopia’s Amhara people’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses conflict and human rights violations in Ethiopia’s Amhara region with Robel Alemu, Communications Director of the Amhara Association of North America (AAA), a US-based organisation working to promote human rights in Ethiopia.

UNITED KINGDOM: ‘The partial ban on UK arms sales to Israel is largely symbolic’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Martin Butcher, Policy Advisor on Arms, Conflict and International Humanitarian Law at Oxfam, about the UK’s partial ban on arms sales to Israel and Oxfam’s role in supporting a judicial review of the decision.

SUDAN: ‘Sudan is experiencing the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, but remains largely ignored by the international community’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Sudan’s humanitarian crisis with a Sudanese women’s rights activist with extensive experience in peacebuilding.

BRAZIL: ‘The focus should be on holding social media companies accountable, not punishing individual users’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recent Twitter/X ban in Brazil with Iná Jost, lawyer and head of research at InternetLab, an independent Brazilian think tank focused on human rights and digital technologies.

NIGERIA: ‘Art is the most powerful way to communicate messages that resonate deeply and inspire action’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the potential of artivism with Ezenwa Okoro, a playwright, poet and Programme Director of the Street Project Foundation, a Nigerian organisation that promotes youth political participation and active citizenship.

RWANDA: ‘Art is a universal language that transcends borders – its universality gives it immense power for change’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Hope Azeda, a playwright, director and founder of Mashirika Performing Arts and Media Company, about her use of art as a tool for peacebuilding.

INDONESIA: ‘The international community should help amplify the voices of Indonesians standing up to corrupt elites’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses recent protests following the Indonesian government’s attempt to change election rules with Alvin Nicola, Democratic Governance Program Manager at Transparency International Indonesia (TII).

SAMOA: ‘Australia must turn its climate rhetoric into action’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recent Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) meeting in Tonga with Jacynta Fa’amau, Pacific Campaigner at 350.

AUSTRIA: ‘Politics should be about changing the conditions that cause racism, not exploiting them’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses Austria’s parliamentary election with Andreas Kranebitter, Director of the Documentation Centre of the Austrian Resistance research institute (DÖW).

UN: ‘We need competitive elections so only truly committed states are elected to the UN Human Rights Council’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the upcoming election of new members of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council with Madeleine Sinclair, New York Office Director and Legal Counsel at the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR).

‘Hostile narratives and stigmatisation create a vicious cycle of repression’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the state of civic space with Gina Romero, United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

GERMANY: ‘Democratic parties must take a firm stand against far-right anti-democratic and hateful politics’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses far-right successes in recent regional elections in Germany with Viktoria Kamuf, research associate at the Institute for Democracy and Civil Society, a research organisation based in the German state of Thuringia.

‘It’s easier and cheaper than ever to spread disinformation on a massive scale’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses online disinformation and hate speech, and the role of civil society in combating them, with Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).

‘Whether the Cybercrime Convention will do more good than harm will hinge on implementation and monitoring’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recently approved United Nations (UN) Cybercrime Convention with Pavlina Pavlova, a cyber policy expert and a #ShareTheMicInCyber fellow at New America, who took part in the negotiations.

‘The Cybercrime Convention risks becoming a tool for global surveillance and cross-border human rights violations’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recently approved United Nations (UN) Cybercrime Convention with Deborah Brown, deputy director of the Technology, Rights and Investigations division of Human Rights Watch, who took part in the negotiations.

GHANA: ‘People are frustrated with a system that has consistently blocked avenues for dissent’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses a ban on protests in Ghana with Eunice Agbenyadzi, Head of Programmes at STAR-Ghana Foundation, a Ghanaian civil society organisation (CSO) that promotes active citizenship and supports civil society to engage with government.

‘Thanks to art, climate change stops being a distant issue—it becomes personal, immediate and visceral’

Interviews
CIVICUS speaks with Nicola Haskins, a choreographer, dancer and lecturer at South Africa’s Tshwane University of Technology Performing Arts Dance Stream, about her approach to climate activism through the arts.

‘We first thought hosting COP29 could ease the pressure on local civil society – but we were wrong’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the human rights situation in Azerbaijan as the country prepares to host the COP29 climate summit with Emin Huseynov, an Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist in exile.
Featured

‘We urge governments not to authorise, sponsor or subsidise deep-sea mining’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the role of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) and the implications of the agency’s new leadership with Juressa Lee, Deep-Sea Mining Campaigner at Greenpeace Aotearoa, New Zealand’s national office of the global environmental organisation Greenpeace.
Featured

‘Civic space is closed and prospects for change are limited, if not non-existent’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses a new wave of closures of civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nicaragua with the team from the Central American Association for Development and Democracy (ACDD).
Featured

‘The government’s response to the protests followed a predictable pattern of repression’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses anti-corruption protests in Uganda with Mohammed Ndifuna, Executive Director of Justice Access Point (JAP), a civil society organisation (CSO) that promotes human rights and the rule of law.
Featured

AFGHANISTAN: ‘The Taliban have effectively silenced women’s voices’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses deteriorating women’s rights in Afghanistan with Mohammad Mohmadi, the director of the Afghanistan Human Rights Center, a civil society organisation working to promote and defend human rights.
Featured

COLOMBIA: ‘The Chiquita case shows it’s possible to hold corporations accountable for human rights abuses’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses a recent court victory that held multinational banana company Chiquita accountable for human rights violations in Colombia with Gabriela Valentín Díaz, a member of the EarthRights International legal team that represented victims in the case.
Featured

TIMOR-LESTE: ‘Restrictions on solidarity protests are unconstitutional’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses restrictions on civil society activism in Timor-Leste with human rights activist Nelson Roldão.
Featured

ZIMBABWE: ‘The government is using widespread intimidation to silence pro-democracy voices’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the challenges for civil society in Zimbabwe with Tapiwanashe Chiriga, Advocacy and Communications Officer at Heal Zimbabwe Trust, a local human rights organisation.
Featured

TOGO: ‘The international community must send a clear message that power grabs won’t be tolerated’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the crackdown on civil society in Togo with a human rights defender who asked to stay anonymous for security reasons.
Featured

GUATEMALA: ‘Corrupt elites see defenders of justice as a threat to their interests and try to silence them’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the state of civic space and justice in Guatemala with former anti-corruption prosecutor Virginia Laparra.
Featured

INDIA: ‘Civil society organisations are at the forefront of the fight against gender-based violence’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the recent wave of protests against gender-based violence (GBV) in India with Dr Kavitha Ravi, a member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Featured

VENEZUELA: ‘The government wants a civil society aligned with its interests, tamed and silent’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the ‘anti-NGO law’ recently passed in Venezuela with Alí Daniels, Co-Director of Acceso a la Justicia, a civil society organisation (CSO) dedicated to monitoring justice administration and the rule of law in Venezuela.
Featured

PHILIPPINES: ‘Increased US military aid will worsen the already dire human rights situation’

Interviews
CIVICUS discusses the human rights impacts of US aid to the Philippines with Cristina Palabay, Secretary General of Karapatan.

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