Opinions & Features

Beyond Rupture: Strategic Choices for the EU in an Era of Global Disorder

Opinions & Features
By Steven Blockmans Abstract Amid renewed great-power rivalry and a fragmenting rules-based order, the EU faces mounting pressure to safeguard and transform multilateral governance.
A message from CIVICUS Secretary General, Mandeep S. Tiwana 
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A message from CIVICUS Secretary General, Mandeep S. Tiwana 

Opinions & Features
Dear CIVICUS members, partners and allies, At the time of writing, many of us are still reeling from the surprise cancellation of Rights Con, the world’s premier gathering at the intersection of tech and human rights.
Building Pro-Civic Space Narratives Through Collective Action: Asia Centre & CIVICUS
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Building Pro-Civic Space Narratives Through Collective Action: Asia Centre & CIVICUS

Opinions & Features
By Asia Centre Building and sustaining civic space requires more than advocacy, it depends on how civil society tells its stories.

The Ballot Box Illusion: How Authoritarians Repackaged the African Ballot

Opinions & Features
By Chibuzor Nwabueze, Programme and Network Coordinator of the Digital Democracy Initiative and Mighulo Masaka, Project Officer, Host Liaison of the Digital Democracy Initiative In many countries across Africa, people have recently lined up to vote.
When African Women Lead, Democracy Breathes

When African Women Lead, Democracy Breathes

Opinions & Features
By Tanya Lupuwana, Communications Officer - Narratives and Networks Across Africa, women keep democracy alive.

Visibility Alone is Not Liberation

Opinions & Features
By Sarah Omoyemwen Ajokpauwu, FoPA (Freedom of Peaceful Assembly) Learning and Communications Intern.

The WTO Between Two Worlds: Strategic Choices for EU Action

Opinions & Features
By Clara Weinhardt, Michal Parízek Abstract The WTO is navigating parallel worlds: one in which members work to reform the institution, and another in which the very foundations of the multilateral trading system are being dismantled.

Why a Woman at the Helm Makes a More Credible, Effective UN

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, CIVICUS' UN New York Advisor  For 80 years, men have exclusively led the United Nations.

❝As Human Rights Council turns 20, the UN’s founding promise – ‘We the Peoples’ – is under attack

Opinions & Features
By Sigrid Lipott, CIVICUS UN Advisor The United Nations’ foundational commitment to human rights and civic participation is under growing strain, and those meant to protect it are not doing enough, writes Sigrid Lipott, UN adviser to the human rights alliance Civicus.

Can the EU-India Partnership Be One of Values Too?

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS Secretary General EU and India have an opportunity to transform their recently inked trade agreement into a meaningful partnership that benefits the world.

Act Now or Lose Momentum: Delivering on COP30’s Unfinished Climate–Biodiversity Agenda in 2026

Opinions & Features
By Noa Lameire   Abstract At COP30 in Brazil, Parties committed to advancing discussions on the synergies between the climate and biodiversity crises, but political divisions have stalled meaningful progress.

Strengthening Local Voices in the Digital Age

Opinions & Features
In today’s digital age, against a backdrop of shrinking civic space and declining democracy worldwide, the role of local civil society actors in promoting inclusive and equitable access to democratic processes cannot be overemphasised.

Courage in Testing Times

Opinions & Features
A message from CIVICUS Secretary General, Mandeep S.

2025 Unwrapped: Democracy and the In Between

Opinions & Features
While elections were held and institutions nodded, civil society bore the weight of democracy, often with too little support to navigate the shrinking spaces in which it operates.

Venezuela at a Crossroads

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

ICE Enforcement, FBI Raid Show Government is Afraid. Democracy is in Trouble.

Opinions & Features
By Susan Marx, Chief Programmes Officer Standing in solidarity — defending the right to protest, rejecting dehumanisation, supporting civil liberties organisations — is not radical.

Guinea’s Path to Electoral Autocracy

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

Uganda: Democracy in Name Only

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

The Fight Against Femicide: Victories and Setbacks in 2025

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

A Grim Year for Democracy and Civic Freedoms – but in Gen Z There Is Hope

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS Secretary General 2025 has been a terrible year for democracy.

Myanmar’s Sham Election: Trump Legitimises Murderous Military Dictatorship

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.
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2025: A Year of Resistance and Solidarity

Opinions & Features
A message from CIVICUS Secretary General, Mandeep S.

Anchoring Global AI Governance: How the EU Can Leverage the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence

Opinions & Features
By Wade Hoxtell   Abstract As AI evolves faster than regulation, the Council of Europe’s new treaty offers a rare chance to anchor technology in democratic values.

Shrinking Space for Civil Society at the UN

Opinions & Features
By Sigrid Lipott, UN Advisor (Geneva) and Jesaselina Rana, UN Advisor (New York) This piece explores the increasing restrictions facing civil society within UN spaces, highlighting access barriers, shrinking participation, and the urgent need for stronger protection and inclusion of civil society actors in multilateral processes.

BURKINA FASO: Three Years of Broken Promises

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.
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Killing Climate Lies That Kill

Opinions & Features
By Nipuna Kumbalathara, CIVICUS Communications Lead.

As UN Rights Council Probes Sudan Atrocities, It Should Take a Hard Look At Its Members

Opinions & Features
By Sigrid Lipott, CIVICUS UN Advisor As the Human Rights Council prepares to judge grave violations in Sudan, some of its own members – responsible for abuses themselves – are evading accountability, hurting the UN body’s credibility, writes Sigrid Lipott, UN adviser to CIVICUS.
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From New York to Nairobi: Strengthening Solidarity and Reimagining Democracy

Opinions & Features
A message from CIVICUS Secretary General, Mandeep Tiwana   Dear CIVICUS members, partners and allies I’m writing to you amid the busyness and final preparations for our International Civil Society Week in Bangkok from November 1-5.

One Piece: Activism’s Missing Piece?

Opinions & Features
Sailing for Justice: How did an Anime Pirate Flag Become a Protest Banner in Indonesia? By Vincy Mighulo Masaka and Takaedza Tafirei Ever wondered how fandoms shape different cultures? Think about it: in the music world, fandoms dictate the latest fashion trends, with K-Pop, EDM, and Rock fans wearing their leather jackets and devotion.

Mali’s Blocked Transition: Five Years of Deepening Authoritarianism

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

UN Might Tolerate Netanyahu, and White House Might Welcome Him, But He’s Still Guilty of Genocide

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS Secretary General  Benjamin Netanyahu took the stage at the UN General Assembly just over a week after an independent UN Commission concluded that Israel has committed genocide — the worst crime under international law.

Multilateralism Minus the People: 80 Years of the UN’s Broken Promise

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, CIVICUS UN New York Adviser  Last week, the United Nations (UN) marked its 80th anniversary against the backdrop of an unprecedented global crisis.

UN at 80: Civil Society Must Have a Say in the Struggle for Renewal

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.

Outsourcing Cruelty: Trump’s Mass Deportation Machine

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

Mamdani’s stand on genocide is more important than dynamics of arresting Netanyahu

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Secretary General of CIVICUS  No leader responsible for mass atrocities enjoys greater impunity on the international stage than Benjamin Netanyahu.
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Without Free Speech, Democracy Dies

Opinions & Features
By Nipuna Kumbalathara, CIVICUS Communications Lead.

Ctrl + Alt + Resist: Reducing the Pixels of Silence

Opinions & Features
By Vincy Mighulo Masaka and Asma Darwish “Don’t shoot to kill, shoot the leg.

Charlie Kirk’s killing: Political violence, guns and the fight for cohesion in US

Opinions & Features
 By Mandeep Tiwana, CIVICUS Secretary General The assassination of well-known conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk on September 10 has exposed significant fault-lines in American public life.
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Latin America Needs More Than Just Going to the Polls

Opinions & Features
Only 5% of people in Latin America live in countries that fully guarantee their basic freedoms.

Togo’s Young Generation Challenges Six Decades of Dynastic Rule

Opinions & Features
By Inés M.

Overtourism: Civil Society Mobilising

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.

When digital democracy disappears, so does the power of the people

Opinions & Features
By Muhammed Bello Buhari, Programme Intern - Learning & Communications at CIVICUS  Democracy today is shaped as much online as it is offline.
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Advancing Civic Action in Challenging Times: A message from CIVICUS Secretary General

Opinions & Features
A message from CIVICUS Secretary General, Mandeep Tiwana   Dear CIVICUS members, partners and allies As we navigate through the second half of 2025, we find ourselves both energized and challenged.

How Trump’s Second Term Is Isolating the US on Human Rights

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, secretary-general of CIVICUS and Mariya Parodi, media adviser to CIVICUS.

The Constitution Isn’t Optional: Why USA Belongs on the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist

Opinions & Features
By Mandeep Tiwana, Secretary General of CIVICUS Successive United States governments have prided themselves on being governed by the Constitution of 1788.

Why Locally Led Development Works and How Funders Can Get It Right

Opinions & Features
By Naomi Ayot Oyaro, Executive Director of CAPAIDS Uganda and Tais Siqueira, Local Leadership Lab Coordinator at CIVICUS In Uganda, local communities are routinely sidelined in development processes, despite knowing most about their own needs.

Imprisoned activist MPs in Eswatini highlight a growing crisis of civic freedoms across Africa

Opinions & Features
By Kgalalelo Gaebee, CIVICUS' Communications Officer and Paul Mulindwa,  CIVICUS' Advocacy and Campaigns Regional Lead for Africa  Mduduzi Mabuza and Mthandeni Dube’s ongoing imprisonment is more than a national tragedy.

Intersectional Feminist Leadership Needed to Realise Global Goals

Opinions & Features
By Jesselina Rana, UN advisor at CIVICUS In its 80-year history the UN has never once been led by a woman.

Strengthening the UN Human Rights Council: Pathways to Enhanced Credibility and Effectiveness

Opinions & Features
By Samuel King, Inés Pousadela   Abstract The UN Human Rights Council is at a critical juncture.

Repressive Laws Are Increasingly Being Used to Silence Activists Across Asia

Opinions & Features
  By Josef Benedict, Asia Pacific researcher and Rajavelu Karunanithi, Asia advocacy and campaigns lead for CIVICUS From Hong Kong to India, governments are passing and weaponizing new laws to pursue and jail whoever speaks up for human rights.

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