A message from Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS  Dear CIVICUS members and allies,  For the first time in three years, this September, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session and associated meetings were organised in person.

By Mandeep Tiwana, Head of Programs and United Nations Representative at CIVICUS This week is a momentous one for the world’s premier human rights body.

By Kgalalelo Gaebee, Communications Officer and David Kode, Lead of Advocacy and Campaigns at CIVICUS Twenty-one years on, the legacy of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 still reverberate.

A message from Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS Dear CIVICUS members and allies, On July 1st, we marked the beginning of a new strategy period for the CIVICUS alliance.

The UN High-Level Global Conference on Youth-Inclusive Peace-Processes

Summary of our consultation and the way forward Full consultation report The Dynamic Accountability Community of Practice (DACoP) is a joint initiative by Restless Development, CIVICUS, and Accountable Now as the Secretariat of the Global Standard Partnership.

By Ine Van Severan, Civic Space Researcher & David Kode, Lead of Advocacy and Campaigns cluster Chad’s return to civilian rule is under threat.

By Benjamin Tonga and Mandeep Tiwana On 18 July, people in South Africa and around the world will mark Nelson Mandela Day to commemorate the courage and sacrifice of one of the greatest political leaders and human rights defenders of our times.

By Andrew Firmin, Editor-In-Chief at CIVICUS For the past couple of weeks, mass protests have brought the South American nation of Ecuador to a standstill.

By David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead at CIVICUS Tunisia will slide further into authoritarianism if nothing is done by the international community – and especially Tunisia’s main allies, the US and the EU before a crucial referendum is held in a month’s time.

By Yessenia Soto, Community Engagement Officer on Civil Society Resourcing We are witnessing a widespread recognition of the importance to shift power to local communities, localise resources and agendas, decolonise aid, make philanthropy more participatory and trust based.

By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS 2022 is halfway through.

Civil society actors and leaders from around the world gathered from 30 May to 3 June 2022 at the World Justice Forum in The Hague, the home of the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, and online to share insights and recommendations on three important priorities for strengthening justice and the rule of law.

By David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Cluster Lead In Zimbabwe, the electoral commission remains one of the least trusted institutions in the country; it is heavily staffed by former military members and, historically, has never demonstrated independence from the state.

By Inés M.

For the past three months, CIVICUS’ Resilient Roots project and Youth Action team have engaged youth-led initiatives to explore how they understand and practice accountability to their constituencies, i.

By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS Economic crisis has provoked a great wave of protests in Sri Lanka.

By Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS & Oli Henman, Global Coordinator for Action 4 Sustainable Development  Russia’s war in Ukraine has left many communities facing catastrophe.

By Aarti Narsee, Civic Space Research for CIVICUS Monitor As the coronavirus pandemic moves into its third year, there is no doubt that it will have lasting effects on civic and democratic freedoms.

By Aarti Narsee, Civic Space Research for CIVICUS Monitor Women land, environmental, and Indigenous defenders are on the frontline in tackling the climate crisis and calling out the failure of governments to take adequate action – but they face repression aimed at silencing them.

By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS With thousands dead and millions displaced in Ukraine, Europe is now in the throes of its most acute refugee crisis since the Second World War.

Secretary-General Update: March 2022 We are pleased to report on the adoption of a revised strategic plan for the period 2022 to 2027.

By Inés M.

By Andrew Firmin, Editor in Chief, CIVICUS It is now clear diplomacy matters little to Vladimir Putin.

By Soo Suh, Program Manager at the Asia Democracy Network (ADN) and Josef Benedict, Asia Pacific Researcher for the CIVICUS Monitor Photo Credit: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images Voters in South Korea will go to the polls in presidential elections on 9 March 2022, in what is expected to be the tightest race in 20 years.

2021 Reflections By Elisa Novoa, Enhle Khumalo and Leonardo Párraga   Thanks to the richness and power that the CIVICUS Youth communities hold, the CIVICUS Youth coordination team learned and built up our practices in 2021 around:  How to run a genuinely inclusive recruitment process by shifting the decision-making power  How to bring onboard new members and transfer information in an effective way  How to create opportunities and spaces for networking and visibility  How to create a culture of peer accountability and solidarity The following series shares the learnings and reflections encountered by the CIVICUS Youth team during 2021 while engaging with our different youth communities.

By Aarti Narsee, civic space research for CIVICUS Monitor Janša was once branded a national hero, having played an important role in leading his country to the path to independence: an independence formally recognised by the European Union 30 years ago, on January 15, 1992.

At CIVICUS, redistributing funds to our members and partners is a crucial way in which we work towards the alliance's strategic goals.

By Lysa John and Mandeep Tiwana  Despite a percentage point decline in trust in NGOs in the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, these institutions actually delivered a strong performance during the COVID-19 pandemic — especially in comparison with the well-documented failures of many governments and businesses in dealing with the crisis.

Message from Lysa John, CIVICUS Secretary-General Dear CIVICUS members and allies, Another year is now drawing to a close.

By David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns lead at CIVICUS International Human Rights Day 2021 on 10 December is commemorated at a time when being a human rights defender in many countries is risky and, for many, a matter of life and death.

By Aarti Narsee, Civic Space Research Officer at CIVICUS, Susannah Fitzgerald, Coordinator of UK Anti-Corruption Coalition & Karla Mclaren, Government and political relations manager at Amnesty International UK The US-led Summit for Democracy, taking place on the 9-10 December 2021, promises to kick off a year of action to reduce corruption, defend against authoritarianism and protect human rights that will end in an in-person summit in December 2022.

By Josef Benedict, Civic Space Researcher at CIVICUS Two years on from the election of Gotabaya Rajapaksa as President of Sri Lanka, the state of civic freedoms in the country continues to regress.

By Aarti Narsee, civic space researcher at CIVICUS This year marks 30 years of fighting to live free of gender-based violence through the 16 Days of Activism campaign, which commences every November 25 on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Across the world, brave and resolute women rights defenders are taking action on everything from advocating for equality, access, and justice, to standing up to corruption, environmental violations, and even persecution of fellow activists.

Secretary-General Update: October 2021 In 2020, the Human Rights Committee published its interpretation of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in its General Comment No.

Youth leaders from India and South Africa share how they have been practicing accountability to the individuals, communities and groups that their work serves and supports (otherwise known as their constituents).

By Aarti Narsee, civic space research at CIVICUS & Camille Butin Advocacy Advisor at International Planned Parenthood Federation European Network (IPPF) In its latest politically motivated ruling, Poland's Constitutional Tribunal last week ruled that the Polish Constitution was not subject to EU law.

Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn, Human Rights Lawyer and Gender Equality Advocate Dunia Mekonnen Tegegn is a human rights lawyer and Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy.

By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer Although, people around the world generally hold positive opinions about the UN, its ability to respond to global crises remains constrained by state-centric bureaucratic impulses and the assertion of narrow interests by powerful countries.

By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief Programmes Officer at CIVICUS Following the negotiated departure of international security forces and overthrow of the internationally backed government in Afghanistan, the Taliban ominously claimed freedom and sovereignty.

Secretary-General Update: August 2021 In June this year, we presented the CIVICUS Board with our annual plan for 2021/22.

By Kgalalelo Gaebee, Communications Officer at CIVICUS & David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead for CIVICUS As the global community commemorates the two decades since the abhorrent attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, it should also be time to reflect on the impact of what followed on human rights and rule of law in Africa.

By Vanessa Stevens, Elisa Novoa, Freya Seath, and Sonya Friel This year’s International Youth Day provided an opportunity to recognize how young people have endured the pandemic and to celebrate their actions for community recovery and resilience.

Hello! I am Mohaiminul Raqib and I am a citizen of Bangladesh.

By Tamryn Lee Fourie, Jerusha Govender and Khotso Tsotsotso For CIVICUS, and civil society as a whole, the COVID-19 pandemic drastically shifted the way we work, and the world we work in.

Message from Lysa John, CIVICUS Secretary-General In May this year, we published the 10th edition of the annual State of Civil Society report.

Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, Switzerland Wai Hnin Pwint Thon is a Senior Advocacy Officer at Burma Campaign UK based in Geneva, Switzerland.

 Supyae Yadanar, Dublin, Ireland  Supyae Yadanar was born and raised in Yangon and is currently studying medicine at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland.

Thant Tun, Manchester, United Kingdom  Thant Tun has been involved in the struggle for democracy in Myanmar since birth.