By David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead at CIVICUS  Matiullah Wesa’s crime was to try to ensure young people got an education in Afghanistan.

By Ines Pousadela, CIVICUS Senior Research Specialist The uncertainty that’s the hallmark of a democratic election was absent on 26 March, the day Cubans were summoned to appoint members of the National Assembly of People’s Power, the country’s legislative body.

By Deborah Mowesley, Innovation For Change InternAs an intern at CIVICUS for the past two months, I have had the opportunity to gain valuable insight into the workings of civic engagement and participation.

By Inés M.

By Andrew Firmin and Inés M.

By Andrew Firmin is CIVICUS Editor-in-Chief, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report.

By Mandeep Tiwana, Chief of Programmes, CIVICUS On 29 and 30 March, the US government, in partnership with Costa Rica, Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia, will co-host the second virtual Summit for Democracy.

By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief, CIVICUS Last October, Ales Bialiatski was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

By David Kode, Advocacy and Campaigns Lead at CIVICUS In the space of less than three weeks, Tunisian President Kais Saied has rounded up and arrested at least thirteen people from different walks of life who share one thing in common: they have all publicly criticized the consolidation of power by the president.

A message from Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS    Dear CIVICUS members and allies,    Across 10 November to 10 December last year, we coordinated a series of events to mark our very first ‘Membership Engagement Month’.

By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS Over the year since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, on one side of the border civil society has shown itself to be a vital part of the effort to save lives and protect rights – but on the other, it’s been repressed more ruthlessly than ever.

By Inés M.

Excited to have completed my first month as the Communications Intern at CIVICUS under the Innovation for Change Cluster.

By Inés M.

By Andrew Firmin, Editor-in-Chief at CIVICUS Thulani Maseko knew speaking out in Eswatini was a risky business.

By Inés M.

By David Kobe, Advocacy and campaigns Lead for CIVICUS When President Samia Suluhu Hassan took over as President of Tanzania on 19 March 2021, following the death of President John Magufuli, civil society in Tanzania was under siege.

By Ine Van Severen, Civic Space Researcher at CIVICUS Over the past year, protests have been recorded in more than 30 countries across the continent, finds a new global report by the Civicus Monitor.

A message from Lysa John, Secretary-General of CIVICUS Dear CIVICUS members and allies, We were excited to host the CIVICUS Board and representatives from our key networks – Affinity Group of National Associations (AGNA) and the Youth Action Team (YAT) – in Johannesburg this November! It is the first time we have met together in South Africa since the start of the pandemic.

Horia Mosadiq, is an Afghan women human rights defender (HRD) and founder of Safety and Risk Mitigation Organization (SRMO) and a CIVICUS member.

By Ana Addobbati, CIVICUS Board Member and Feminist Activist Photo credit: Andressa Anholete / Getty Images   Brazil has one of the largest democratic populations in the world.

By Nosibabalwe Socikwa, Membership and Network Intern.

The month of October is officially declared as CyberSecurityAwarenessMonth, and the digital age has ushered in a new era of human rights activism, journalism, and social justice.

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.